Archive of Our Own

The buildings and the streets pass by him in a blur. The different neon signs stretch through his vision, and he sometimes wonders if he can go even faster. His eyes adjust behind the mask, applying night vision as he ducks into a dark alley. His feet twists as he rounds a few wires, the hoverboard sliding up and down in the air, and if it wasn’t for the weight attached to his legs, he’d probably feel like he’s flying. A sharp turn of his feet signals the hoverboard to stop, and he checks the bar name, crouching down to detach the hoverboard and check his pockets. It's always a thought that crosses his mind; what if he drops the package, though he’s never done it till now. He turns his head up, layers and layers of black and metal and concrete. Sometimes he wonders if it’s day or night; if their clocks actually function, but he was born and raised long after the war, and no one sane would dare to go up higher to check the sky.

So, with a sigh, he turns his head forward again and enters the bar with the hoverboard tucked in his arms, a familiar face greets him with a warm smile behind the bar, and he sends her a smile back before he turns to look for his client. They always find him first, the hoverboard a dead giveaway of who he is, and a man signals to him with a subtle wave of his hand, so Jon walks over to him, sliding in the seat across from him and fetching the small package from his pocket. When the man reaches for it, Jon slides it back slightly and cocks an eyebrow.

“Payment first.”

“It’s not like this is your first delivery with us,” the man replies, but he still reaches beside him for the sachet, dropping it on the table between them, and Jon pushes the package across the table and reaches for the sachet instead, opening it and humming in agreement as he feels the weight of the coins against his palm. “Too bad you can’t be carrying bigger packages,” the man speaks up again, and Jon shrugs at him before he’s standing up and heading to the counter instead. Kara is still serving a customer, so he waits for a minute, and then she stands in front of him, arms crossed over the counter.

“What have you been delivering to that guy?” Her eyes glance behind him. “He looks shady.”

“I never enquire about what’s inside, Kara. You know that,” he replies. “It’s why they keep hiring me.”

“I just don’t want you to collide with the wrong people, Jon,” Kara sighs. “And I worry about you, too. You’ve been on the streets for the majority of your day that even I don’t get to see you unless you’re dropping by a package in the bar.” She leans closer to him. “Why is this chase after money? Planning to buy an airplane?”

“They don’t exist anymore,” Jon reminds her. “And, we don’t even have the space needed for it. Plus the fact that it can’t really fly up there.”

“Then why are you beating yourself over it?” She asks with a genuine worried gaze, and Jon reaches to run her hand with a smile.

“I’m alright, Kara,” he assures her. “I just like going out. It’s fun.”

“Until it’s not.”

“I’m being careful.”

“I’m just saying,” she leans back and glances across the counter. “Maybe you need a break?” She turns back to him. “You know, have human contact in your miserable life.”

“My life is very much exciting right now, thank you very much.”

“There’s this guy-”

“Of course, there is.” Jon rolls his eyes.

“Listen,” Kara points a finger at him. “He’s nice. He’s single. He’s been coming around for a few weeks now, and I think you guys might hit it.” And when Jon begins to back off the counter, she purses her lips at him. “Promise me you’ll think about it.”

“I will,” he replies, already dropping his hoverboard to the floor and attaching it back to his legs. “See you around!” He’s dashing out before she can say her goodbye, and Jon really likes Kara, but she keeps pushing him to feel something other than what he wants, and he knows she means well, but her definition of break isn’t what he has in mind at the moment. The wind rushes around his face, and he keeps going until he’s back home. It’s quiet, the type of quiet he likes when he’s done with a busy day, and as he throws his body at the bed, he thinks about her offer. Well … Maybe he needs some human contact that isn’t Kara.

⩩

When Jon finds Kara the next day, she’s enthusiastically speaking with a pink-haired guy at the bar. She looks up at him with a wink, and Jon realizes that this must be his blind date. The guy looks over with a smile, and Jon honestly doesn’t have a type, so he awkwardly sits on the stool next to him and tries to give the guy a genuine smile.

“Jon, this is Jay,” she introduces. “Jay, this is Jon. He can be a little shy with people he’s not doing a business deal with, but he’s nice, I promise.”

“I’m not shy,” Jon argues with a frown.

“Socially awkward,” Kara continues. “I can count on one hand the number of people who aren’t me that are his friends.”

“Did she tell you my favorite color and how I got my first scar falling from a rooftop when I was a child yet?” Jon turns briefly to Jay.

“Well …” Jay shrugs.

“Here are your drinks!” Kara slides two glasses their way. “Enjoy your date!” She pats their shoulders before she’s turning towards other customers, and Jay chuckles.

“She’s a good friend,” Jay starts.

“I’m sorry,” Jon shakes his head. “Please forget whatever she told you about me.”

“She did mention the fall, but not the favorite color,” Jay says. “Said that it would be pretty easy to figure out.”

“Is it?” Jon frowns again, and Jay grins at him.

“Depends on how you’ll carry the conversation, I guess.” Jay shrugs. “Any deliveries for today?” Jay nods at the hoverboard. “I get that it might be uncomfortable under her watching eyes.” He turns to look at Kara. “If you would like, we can go somewhere else.”

“I don’t mind her.” Jon glances up at her. “Kara is like a sibling to me. She’s seen worse.”

“She sets you up a lot, huh?”

“I don’t mind half of them,” Jon replies. “And I’m not saying that she’s forcing me or anything,” he hurries to add. “I showed up.” He reaches for his drink; something light to keep him sober. “It’s kind of unfair that you know a lot about me though when I know nothing about you.”

“Well, I work at the workshop across the street,” Jay nods towards the door. “It’s how I see Kara every day,” he pauses. “And you, too. When you decide to show up.”

“I get a lot of work sometimes.”

“You’re fast, I get why.” Jay glances at the hoverboard again, and Jon truly wishes he doesn’t ask the repetitive question he gets every time. “So-”

“You’re the courier guy, right?” Someone interrupts them, and Jon turns to the side to see the man. “Hi, sorry, I know this might be too sudden, but any chance you have an empty slot for like … right now?” The man looks desperate, and Jon had cleared his schedule to entertain Kara’s blind date. “I’ve sort of lost my package; they’re tools for my work, and I hate to hang the ‘closed’ sign again.”

“Um,” Jon glances at Jay.

“Right, this is rude, sorry. I’m Richard Grayson,” the man introduces himself with an extended hand. “Owner of a tattoo shop. The location isn’t too far from here, and the warehouse is just about … five hours away? If I’ll do the walking, I mean.” Richard glances at Jay then. “Oh, fuck. I’m not interrupting something important, am I?”

“It’s fine,” Jay says, looking at Jon.

“Five hours?” Jon turns to Richard again. “I can cut that down to half an hour.”

“You’re a life saver,” Richard sighs out of relief. “It’s a bit of a big box though.”

“I haven’t dropped a package before,” Jon assures him with a smile.

“I know you haven’t,” Richard replies with a light laugh as he pulls a card out of his pocket. “I’ll be expecting you then.” He hands the card to Jon, a clear address of where he’ll pick up Richard’s tools. With a nod, Richard leaves the bar, and Jon is soon met by Kara’s unapproving face.

“It’s an emergency.”

“When hasn’t it been?” Kara sighs.

“Another time, then?” He turns to look at Jay who simply smiles and raises his glass his way, so Jon throws a smile back and heads out the bar. He swears he hears Jay telling Kara that Jon looked happier to get out more than he was to meet him, which isn’t true. Well, partially, he’s not going to lie, he barely knows the guy. Jon steps on his hoverboard and ascends a little higher where he knows he’ll get less obstacles his way. With a press of his heel, the hoverboard starts dashing through the buildings.

Long ago, they’ve lost loads of ways of transportation that it became a relic. He can count on his fingers few lucky ones who have their hands on anything that remained from before the war, including himself. Whenever he ascends higher, he can’t help but glance upwards towards the black sky, hearing less noises, and smelling more smoke. It’s a sign that he needs to get down again. When he’s at the correct location, he finds an old lady sitting on a chair outside of a dimly-lit shop, and he drops completely to the ground.

“I came to pick Richard Grayson’s tools.”

“Oh, so he had sent you?” She raises her brows at him. “Wasn’t the one expecting.”

“He had lost his courier, I believe,” he replies, and she snorts, but she gets up and invites him inside the shop.

“It’s a bit heavy,” the woman tells him as pats a box on the floor. “Wouldn’t it affect your weight?” She glances at his hoverboard.

“I’ll manage,” Jon replies as he bends down to carry the box, and well, it is heavy. The woman shrugs at him, and he gets out of the shop and into the streets again. His muscles might strain a little bit from the maneuvers he has to do with the box in his arms, but it’s not going to affect his speed, and so, Jon takes off towards the address written on the card. The sign for the tattoo shop appears in front of him, and he descends to the ground again, deactivating the hoverboard and carrying the box inside. There’s a blonde girl at the register, hair tied into double ponytails with bat clips, and she beams at him as she notices the box he’s carrying.

“Right on time!”

“Is Richard around?”

“He’s tending to a client, but I can handle the payment,” she tells him. “You can leave the box at the corner.” She points for him, and he sets the box down. “Sorry we made you carry all that equipment,” she gives him an apologetic smile. “We had other ways of transportation, but …”

“Yeah, I figured,” Jon nods at her. “Extra payment for me, so I don’t really mind.” He shrugs, and she chuckles at him.

“I’ll be right back,” she tells him, moving from behind the register. “You can use the chairs, you know?” She points behind him, and heads for the hallway, and Jon turns to sit on a chair. “Oh, look who’s finally awake,” the girl speaks up again as she pauses in the middle of the hallway, and Jon looks up to see someone descending from the staircase. The person groans as a response and pulls on one of the ponytails when he passes by her. She hits him back after a small yelp. “Richard had to pay for the delivery that you missed,” she scolds him. “You’ll have to compensate with an extra full day,” she continues, pointing towards a door, and the person follows inside as she turns to a different room. Jon can hear a faint sound coming from one of the rooms next to some hushed voices before the person is out of the room and closing the door behind him at the same time the girl comes back with his payment.

Out of the hallway, Jon can see the person is better light, hair shaved off the sides in an undercut while the remaining gathered into a tiny messy bun with a hair tie. There are about four piercings in his right ear with two others in his left ear. He’s dressed in a fitting long sleeved turtleneck crop top and tight pants that reveal a line of fishnets beneath, along with combat boots, all in black. He looks up at Jon, green eyes contrasting his surroundings before the girl steps in front of him and approaches Jon with the money.

“That’s the delivery boy. Not a customer,” the girl says behind her shoulder, and the guy merely acknowledges him with another glance before he’s disappearing behind a third door. “Here,” the girl drops the sachet of coins into Jon’s hands. “Thank you for the delivery.”

“Glad to be of help,” Jon replies back with a smile.

“It’s Stephanie, by the way,” she tells him.

“Jon.”

“Yeah, I know who you are.”

“Right,” Jon huffs a short laugh. “I’ll be on my way then.” He nods at her and turns to leave. He stands outside the tattoo shop, contemplating if he should go back to the bar and get lectured by Kara, or back home since he has no deliveries for a while. After a minute, he decides that he would rather go home. Kara is going to lecture him anyway, so might as well postpone that to later.

⩩

Surprisingly, Kara doesn’t look mad when he visits her the next day. She’s rather wearing a smile on her face, one that Jon actually doesn’t like too much as it keeps growing the closer he gets to the bar.

“Well, hello there, lover boy.”

“I haven’t even managed to talk to Jay properly,” Jon replies. “In fact, I thought you’d be lecturing me by now.”

“I would have,” Kara agrees. “Thought about it all night, even, but I guess I pushed you too hard.”

“You didn’t,” Jon replies. “It’s not like I hated it.”

“Well, you do need to apologize,” Kara tells him. “Jay is here tonight,” she nods behind him. “I haven’t known you to be unkind.”

“I will-”

“But!” She cuts him off, that wicked smile back on her face again that makes Jon groan. “I’m proud of you for making new friends.”

“What new friends?” Jon asks with furrowed brows.

“A really cute blondie asked about you not long ago.”

“A blondie?”

“Goes by the name Stephanie.” She leans closer to him. “Looks like you still have the charm in you, Kent. She doesn’t even come by that often.” Kara looks behind him again, and Jon turns to look over the place. He spots Jay first, his pink hair easy to identify. Then he sees Richard, accompanied by Stephanie, and the latter raises her head and looks at him, offering him a smile. Jon smiles back and turns to Kara again.

“We haven’t even talked much.”

“It’s called attraction, Jon.” Kara rolls her eyes at him. “Richard is a very decent guy. I actually like him very much. Dating his sister would be good, I believe.”

“You’re jumping to conclusions way too fast.”

“Before you disappear into the streets again, please say something that would hopefully get you naked in bed.” Jon chokes on his own spit. “Naked with someone else.”

“You’re saying it like I’m a virgin,” Jon replies with a cough.

“You haven’t dated in so long that I’m starting to believe that you are one.”

“Who sleeps with their date after one conversation?”

“Then work on multiplying that number, god knows you need it.” Jon manages not to choke on his spit this time, but he glares at Kara before he’s retreating from the bar and approaching Jay first. The boy notices him, and he excuses himself from his group of friends to approach Jon.

“Hey,” Jon starts.

“Hey.”

“Look, I’m sorry I blew up our date like that, the last time.”

“Business needs come up in most unusual times,” Jay replies. “Kara said that a few times before we met.” He glances back at the table with his friends. “Would you like to join us? We’ve got room for one more,” he tells Jon. “Or … If you would like, we can get another table?” Jay suggests, and Jon stands there awkwardly for a second. He still doesn’t know Jay, isn’t feeling the attraction Kara talked about, but he seems like a genuine nice guy and he would hate to reject him without even trying.

“Yeah, sure. A table for two would be nice.” Jay smiles wider at his reply, and turns to his friends to inform him of his departure as Jon finds them an empty table. There’s one right next to Richard and Stephanie who immediately recognizes his presence once he’s close enough, and it’s Richard who waves at him first.

“Jon!”

“Richard,” Jon greets him back.

“I had to bother Kara about your whereabouts for a minute,” Stephanie admits, eyes darting to Jay when he approaches the table. “Oh.” She frowns. “You’re here with a date?”

“Well …” Jon glances at Jay. “Kind of first date?”

“Oh my god,” Richard looks between the two. “I totally blew up your date last time, didn’t I?”

“It’s fine,” Jay dismisses him.

“No, it’s not,” Richard replies. “Let me buy you a drink as an apology.” And he’s already calling a waiter to their table. Stephanie doesn’t turn her eyes away, but Jon doesn’t want to be the awkward person in the room, so he clears his throat and turns to his own table instead.

“It’s not necessary, but thanks anyway.” When he sits down with Jay, Stephanie finally turns to Richard with a huff of breath.

“I should’ve gone with Damian instead,” Stephanie complains.

“You two never like my company,” Richard pouts.

“What was that place he said he was going to? Bat cave?”

“It’s a very noisy club,” Richard tells her. “You barely mind the music Damian plays in the garage. You wouldn’t stand a minute there.”

“It’s pretty crowded today,” Jay points out, and Jon turns his attention to him again. He hasn’t meant to eavesdrop, but Richard and Stephanie’s table is literally next to them, and he can’t help but wonder if Damian was the green-eyed guy he saw inside the tattoo shop. He’s heard about the ‘Bat Cave’ before, but he’s never been inside.

“Weekend nights,” Jon explains. “Kara says they’re always busy.”

“Well, it’s very noisy here,” Stephanie scoffs.

“And here I thought you actually wanted to tag along for my company,” Richard complains.

“Last time I came with you, there were like, how many girls with you?”

“Three,” Richard replies. “And I haven’t invited them.”

“Right.” Stephanie rolls her eyes. “I had to third wheel, no, fifth wheel, all of you.”

“You kept picking them apart with your comments with Damian.”

“He’s a very good company when you want to hear some insults,” Stephanie says, and Richard sighs deeply.

“I truly miss Jason.”

“So, this is why they don’t get a band playing on weekends,” Jay comments. “Although I believe they would gain extra profit from it.”

“People come to talk rather than listen, I assume.” Jon shrugs.

“Yeah, it’s the cozy vibe,” Jon agrees.

“Oh my god, I’m going home,” Stephanie groans, and Jon doesn’t know why, but his eyes glance up, and he notices a red-haired girl approaching Richard. True to her words, Stephanie pulls on her jacket and stands up from the table, throwing one last glance at Jon before she heads off.

“Yeah, they sure don’t listen.” Jay nods his head, narrowing his eyes slightly at Jon who gives him an apologetic smile in return.

“I um- It’s been a rough day,” he tells Jay, even though Jon isn’t exactly exhausted from the constant back and forth trips, but Kara would literally kill him if he left early without a proper excuse. “Would you like to meet somewhere that isn’t … this?”

“Yeah, sure.” Jay laughs at him. “I don’t believe you would be comfortable with Kara around anyway.”

“Kara isn’t-”

“I can feel your anxiousness from across the table.” Not because of Kara, but Jon let it slide. “I’ll be heading back,” he points at the table where his group of friends are still there. “I’ll see you around then.” Jon smiles back at him and waits until he’s back with his friends, then he stands to leave. Kara is busy with some customers so she doesn’t see him leaving, and when he glances at Richard’s table, there’s another girl joining them, and okay, he would admit that Richard is quite handsome, and according to Kara, he’s also a nice guy; a combo that would definitely attract girls his way. With a shake of his head, he exits the bar and activates his hoverboard.

Jon intended to go home, but he doesn’t know why his legs shift to a different route, one that he doesn’t go through often. It’s a dead end, a road that Jon doesn’t prefer to take when he’s doing deliveries, but he keeps going until he sees the big sign with the words ‘Bat Cave’ written in bold letters. The music can be heard faintly from outside, and he keeps his hoverboard close as he steps inside. Like Richard said, the music here is way too loud, the beat and the lights and the smell are all too much, and Jon visibly grimaces at everything. He decides that if he’s going to stay here for the next five minutes at least, he would need a strong drink to ease up his nerves a little, so he approaches the bar where a girl turns to him with dark lipstick and bald head, her shirt ripped, revealing a neon green bra beneath.

“Hello there, gorgeous,” she greets him. “You’re a first timer,” she notes, and he gives her a sheepish smile.

“Not my usual taste,” he admits, and she laughs at him as she pours a drink and slides it his way.

“On the club,” she says with a wink. “I do admire looking at a handsome face.”

“Uh … Thanks,” Jon replies with a faint blush. She’s about to say something else when someone leans over the counter next to him, and her smile falls, replaced by a bored expression.

“And I sure do hate brooding ones,” she comments, and the man glares at her.

“Where’s he?”

“He doesn’t do second rounds,” she replies nonchalantly, reaching to clean the counter with a towel.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion.”

“I didn’t ask for your presence, but here we are,” she counters. The man is flaring, Jon can feel it from where they’re standing next to each other, and he flips her off as he turns around, eyes searching the place for whoever he’s looking for until apparently, he finds what he’s looking for and leaves. The bartender sighs and turns to Jon again. “Sorry, we do get some troublemakers around, but I bet you a hundred coins that he’ll be licking the dirt off the ground by the next hour or so.” Jon furrows his brows and downs his drink, his throat burning slightly. The song changes, something wilder than the one before, still just as loud that Jon can’t differentiate between the singer’s voice and the crowd’s cheer. The bartender’s eyes lock on something behind him before a new customer comes in, and she turns away from Jon.

Jon sets the glass down and turns, eyes landing on the wild crowd as they jump and dance, but whenever they part, he gets a glimpse of what the bartender was staring at, and sure enough, Jon is met with the same person from the tattoo shop. Damian? He’s wearing an oversized black hoodie, neckline wide enough to show his collarbones with a choker around his neck. The sleeves are covering most of his hands as they lay beside his head on the wall. There’s someone pressing him to the wall, hands between Damian’s legs that are covered by thigh-high socks and similar combat boots to the one he wore before. Jon can’t see everything from the people swaying left and right, but he got a very good idea of what’s happening, especially when the man removes his hands and presses his hips closer, thrusting while his mouth gets busy on somewhere near Damian’s choker. Jon gets a view of Damian’s blissful face, lips parted on a moan that Jon can’t hear over the music, before his vision is completely blocked and Jon finds himself staring at the crowd instead.

When the song changes again, the dance floor clears for a moment, and he notices Damian leaving, and the man who annoyed the bartender earlier following him with a haste in his steps. Jon furrows his brows, not sure if the man’s malice intent is to harm Damian, and he usually stays out of people’s business, but his legs move regardless, and his ears are forever thankful once he exits the club completely.

“Damian!” The man shouts, and Damian turns to look at him, gaze unfazed. “I know you faked your orgasm just to steal his keys.” Damian cocks an eyebrow. “You’re hiding them inside your sleeves.”

Damian walks towards the man slowly, flexing his wrist, but what comes out of it aren’t the keys, rather a very sharp blade that, in a swift move, lands dangerously close to the man’s throat. “You wanna know what else I got up my sleeves?” He asks in a deadly calm tone, and the man freezes on spot. “Get lost,” he pulls back. “You’re not special. I faked my orgasm with you, too.” Damian turns to leave again, still with a calm demeanor, like he’s merely having a picnic. The man brings a hand to his throat as he glares at Damian’s back, but he says nothing, and instead takes a different route.

Jon is about to turn to leave as well, but he’s stopped with a hand on his shoulder and he turns back. “You’re the courier boy, right?” The man glances at the hoverboard tucked in Jon’s arms. “We would like to ask for a delivery.”

⩩

“Be careful with it.” The man hands him a small bag. “What you’ll be carrying is very delicate.” Jon presses slightly over the fabric of the bag; small glass bottles inside.

“Nothing will get damaged,” Jon assures him as he slings the bag over his shoulder then secures his jacket around it. His package is light, so he tightens the strap until it’s hugging his body and bends down to activate his hoverboard. He’s dashing away before the man can say another word, the timing a little late after midnight, if Jon can ever tell day from night. The thing about the underground life is that there’s always someone walking down the street, always someone hanging by a balcony, always a sound coming from somewhere. He angles himself slightly upward to jump over some barrels, unable to help his eyes straying for a moment. It’s black. It’s always black. Like a closed ceiling they were doomed to live under, and perhaps it’s true, judging from how no one comes alive if they ever come up. With a sigh, he drops his gaze down again, and he curses under his breath as he almost loses balance, ducking just in time before an electric cable chokes his throat, but something suddenly hits his hoverboard and he loses balance, barely managing to avoid crashing into the wall in front of him, and he’s about to angle his feet so he can slide up the wall, but something red flashes right before his eyes, and he barely registers the two shots landing on his thigh, his legs straining, and he loses control over the hoverboard, making him fall to the ground. “Fuck.” The package is still not damaged, and Jon briefly turns to look behind him before he attempts to move his legs again, but it’s like he’s been completely paralyzed, and so, he’s left staring at a group of masked people approaching him with guns.

“Hand us the package, boy,” one of the men tells him. Jon scans over their outfit, red masks, guns fueled with purple substances, and he curses again. “We won’t harm you … severely.” There’s a gun pointed at him again, and Jon raises his arms in the air slowly. He thinks he hears a snicker as the man walks closer to him, but as Jon gets his hands down to untie the bag from around him, a gun is raised to his face, and his heart stops for a moment, seeing Kara’s unapproving face as she looks at him with a deep sigh, but the shot never hits him. There’s something that drops over the man’s shoulder that makes him miss, and Jon loses his breath as the shot lands mere inches from his face, penetrating the wall instead.

“Shooting an unarmed man after he surrenders?” A voice comes from above, and the men startle for a second. Jon has heard this voice before. “A bunch of cowards.” Then Jon sees him, hopping off a building and landing on the ground in front of him in a graceful movement. “Is that the hood’s new vision?” It’s Damian; his hair is let loose this time so it falls over the sides of his face. He’s wearing a leather jacket with gloves, a tank top underneath, a pair of fitting pants, and his signature combat boots, still all in black.

“Back off, baby bird,” one of the men scoffs at him. “We outnumber you.”

“First,” Damian picks a metal pipe off the ground. “Don’t call me that stupid nickname. And second,” he turns to the man again with a smirk. “We outnumber you.” And Jon’s eyes go wide as a dark shadow covers them from above, and he’s barely registering the giant red monster that descends from the sky, but Damian is already on the move as well, using the pipe as a weapon to knock the masked men down as the beast slashes at them from the other side. They’re shooting in a panicked rhythm, hitting everything but their targets. Jon barely misses a few shots himself, grateful that his upper body is still able to move, but his vision has started to waver. “Easy there, Goliath,” Damian addresses the monster quietly. “I promised Richard we wouldn’t kill anyone.” He looks over the group of men, now twisting in agony on the ground. “Too bad though,” he clicks his tongue. “Would have definitely preferred Jason’s way.” He turns to Jon then, walking towards him with a furrow to his brows. “You alright?”

“I can’t feel anything below the waist,” Jon admits. “And I think my consciousness is drifting away.”

“It’s the bullet,” Damian crouches next to him as he eyes his injury. “You need medical attention.” But Damian’s face is blurring and his voice is fading, and soon Jon is met with absolute darkness.

When he wakes up again, it’s to a foreign room, and he thinks he can feel his legs slightly. When he looks down, he sees bright blonde hair, and when he tries to move, Stephanie turns to look at him. “Oh, hello there, pretty boy!”

“Steph?”

“The injury is pretty nasty, but we’ve got our own professional doctor in house!” She beams at him, and when she leans back off him, he sees Damian, hair pulled back and jacket discarded as he focuses on getting the bullets out of his thighs, and Jon registers that while he still has his shirt and jacket on, his shoes and pants were taken off, leaving him in his underwear. “We didn’t wanna rip off your pants,” Stephanie notices his gaze. “The drug should be wearing off by now, so we’ve injected you with a local anesthetic.”

“And I would appreciate if you don’t move,” Damian tells him, and Jon stares at the bullet as it leaves his body.

“That’ll leave a scar.” Stephanie grimaces. Damian doesn’t seem to be seeing something new though, and he bandages Jon’s thighs before he’s leaning away and putting down his equipment. “You can’t be moving around with that,” Stephanie turns to look at him again with a bright smile. “Guess we’ll be having you here for a while, big boy.” And Jon hopes that his cheeks aren’t as red as he feels them, so he turns his gaze away from Stephanie instead.

Damian is leaving the room quietly, and Jon is about to thank him when the door opens to reveal Richard, and he glances between the three of them in a silent moment before he settles back on Damian. “We need to talk.” Damian doesn’t say anything, but Richard allows Damian to walk past him, and Jon finds Richard’s gaze back on him. “Sorry about all of this.”

“Damian saved my life. I don’t see why you’re apologizing.”

“You were attacked by the Red Hood,” Richard explains. “They’re … They’re Jason’s group. My brother’s group. He’s … Not well in the head at the moment.”

“I still don’t see why you’re apologizing for someone else’s mistake.”

“Yeah, well,” Richard laughs softly. “He’s still family.”

“I got you some food,” Stephanie announces from his side. “To compensate for the loss of blood.”

“Thanks,” Jon smiles at her, noticing his bag on the floor along with his clothes and hoverboard. He needs to check for the package as well as any damages that might have happened to the hoverboard. But his eyes land on something else on the floor, a red motorcycle helmet. “You guys own a bike?” He raises his brows.

“Oh, that’s Jason’s,” Stephanie tells him as she turns to look at the helmet. “Damian can drive it though. If it’s fixed, that is.”

“You think I can get a ride back home?” Stephanie turns to him with a pout. “You’ve already done enough. I hate to be an unwanted guest.”

“You aren’t,” Richard smiles at him. “But if you wish to go, you’ll have to ask Damian.” Jon attempts to sit up, and Stephanie frowns at him.

“You can barely stand,” Stephanie notes. “I’ll get you a walking aid.”

Richard leaves to attend to customers downstairs, and Stephanie helps him on his feet and back into his clothes until he’s one more level below. His ears bleed from a familiar loud metal music, and Stephanie coughs as they get close to Damian who’s sitting crossed legged in front of the motorcycle, attaching a part with a spanner. Jon recognizes the opened box next to him as the one he personally delivered, and when Damian turns to look at them, there’s a cigarette between his lips, only that he isn’t exactly smoking it. The only one who doesn’t seem to bother Damian’s choices is the red giant sleeping in the corner comfortably on a bed of blankets.

“You’re really into this music?” Jon can’t help but ask.

“It keeps Richard away,” Damian replies with a shrug, and it earns a roll of eyes from Stephanie.

“Jon needs a drive back home,” Stephanie tells him, and Damian looks at Jon up and down in confusion.

“Right now?”

“If it’s fixed,” Jon nods at the motorcycle, and Damian turns to look back at it.

“It’s not broken,” Damian replies and stands up.

“Yeah, well, try not to break him, this time, D,” Stephanie scolds Damian, and the latter simply glares at her. “You know Richard hadn’t said anything about the bike, but he’ll have a lot to say about a human being.” Stephanie throws the red helmet at Damian, and he catches it with an irritated huff. “Come on, I’ll help you on the bike,” Stephanie turns to Jon with a softer tone, and Damian waits as he puts on his helmet. Jon pulls out his own visor to shield his eyes. “Hold on tight. Damian likes to use irrational speeds.”

“He likes to use irrational speeds, too,” Damian reminds her, but Stephanie ignores him. Jon chuckles quietly, carefully positioning his legs and securing his arms around Damian’s waist. Stephanie opens the garage door for them, and Damian doesn’t warn Jon before they’re taking off. Just like him, Damian seems to have memorized every turn and every obstacle, and the bike seems to be powered by a different type of fuel, one that Jon might know too well. It’s also extremely durable and Damian uses it to partially fly between buildings. It’s still not a match to his hoverboard; his is lighter, and can move up and down in the air, though Damian can probably carry heavier weights on the bike. He’s not a delivery boy though, so Jon’s line of work is safe.

When they arrive at Jon’s place, he carefully gets down and reaches for a sachet of coins he keeps on himself and hands it over to Damian. “Here. For saving my ass, offering medical assistance, and driving me back home. Which I truly appreciate, Damian, so thank you.”

Damian looks at the sachet for a second before he’s turning his head away. “See you later, delivery boy.” And he takes off, leaving Jon stunned for a moment. He smiles and shakes his head before he limps towards his door.

Jon sits on his bed with a deep sigh and lifts his hoverboard on his lap. He traces a pattern on the underside and it lights up, allowing him to slide open the metal. He stares at the blue stone before he closes it again and attempting to stand up. There’s a closed manhole right inside his room, which isn’t uncommon in the underground. People don’t open them anymore, throwing some carpets to cover them. Jon kneels beside the plate, turning the wheel to get it opened, and he slides it to the side, noticing his injury bleeding through the bandages, tainting the fabric of his pants with more blood. Jon attaches the hoverboard to his feet and activates it, standing up slowly and using minimal movements as he descends down the manhole. The water shines with a yellow toxic substance, one that would kill him if he ever loses his balance right now. The hoverboard creates the required distance, and he keeps moving through the tunnel until he gets to a large room, and he’s able to drop to the ground.

Jon recalls the first time he ever stepped foot inside this place; how dirty and messy it was. It’s been a place someone owned before the war. The research papers and destroyed equipment indicates that perhaps it was a scientist. Jon opens a container filled with blue vials and takes one of them, emptying its content into a syringe and sitting down before he dives the needle into his thigh. It’s a painful experience; he’s learned that the first time, but it’s not like any one would hear his screams. Jon leans his head back on the wall and focuses his gaze on the floor to ceiling glass separating him from the toxic water on the other side. Sometimes he wonders if it’s the ocean, if the toxins had reached that far, or if it’s simply one big lake surrounding this area. A giant distorted fish comes near the glass, moving in slow waves before it goes away again, and Jon looks down at his thigh when the pain finally subdues. He slowly removes the bandages to reveal a perfectly healed skin, like the bullets never penetrated him, and he is able to stand up like nothing happened. Getting on his hoverboard again, he leaves the place and gets back into his room, not forgetting to close the plate back into its place.

Curious, for the very first time ever since he started doing this job, Jon opens the small package he’s supposed to be delivering. The pink vials glitter inside the bag, and Jon is able to easily identify it.

⩩

Kara is alarmed when she sees him the next day, hurrying to him from behind the counter and looking him up and down. “They said you got shot!” She pats all over his body. “God, damn it, Jon! What have you gotten yourself into?!” The thing is, Jon knows that people would rather watch than interfere. The only reason Damian saved his life was because the Red Hood is linked to his brother.

“I’m fine,” Jon tells her. “They didn’t hit anything vital.” Kara’s eyes go back to his, intense, but glossy. “I’m fine,” he assures her again, a hand squeezing her own until she sighs and steps back.

“Jon?” Jon turns to find Jay, an expression mirroring Kara’s.

“I’m fine,” he repeats for the third time. “I’ll have to run though,” he glances between the two. “I’ll try to get back by the evening,” he tells Kara.

“Jon!”

“I’m alright!” He shouts over his shoulder yet again, watching Kara’s shoulders drop as she turns to Jay with her hands rubbing at her temples. Jon can already imagine her telling Jay how worried she is, and how stupid Jon is along with his reckless ideals. It still puts a smile on his face though to know that he’s got a friend he can lean on when he needs to.

He arrives at the familiar tattoo shop, greeted by both Stephanie and Richard once he gets inside.

“How are you walking?” Stephanie’s smile turns to a frown as she looks over him.

“I can handle myself,” Jon simply says and turns to Richard. “Look, I’m only saying this because I owe you, but the Red Hood were after Shimmer. The package I was delivering was Shimmer.”

“I thought you didn’t look into what you were delivering.”

“Yeah, well, I didn’t get shot down in most.”

“And where is it now?”

“Delivered,” Jon replies, and Richard’s brows furrows slightly.

“Why would you deliver it if you know what it is?”

“Because it’s my job.” Richard stares at him silently, not angry, not judging, but Jon can’t exactly tell what he’s thinking about. A door opens, revealing Damian, and Jon looks between the siblings before he turns back on his heels and heads out.

“What was this about?” He hears Damian asking.

“You’re not getting away from our conversation earlier, Dame,” Richard says instead. “I said no solo trips to the upside.” The word gets Jon’s feet to freeze on the streets. The door to the tattoo shop is right behind him, and he wants to believe that he had heard wrong but- “Don’t make me ground you again.”

“I’m an adult,” Damian groans.

“You’re still my baby brother.” And it makes Damian groan even louder.

⩩

Jon has promised to get back to Kara that evening, but he finds himself surrounded by heavy metal music instead. The bartender from before greets him with a smile, but Jon’s eyes are searching for one specific individual, and he hates to be the one scolded by her tonight, so he smiles back politely. To his luck, the one he’s looking for isn’t grinding on anyone, leaning over the counter with no drink in hand, and Jon steps closer to him. Damian turns to look at him, eyes darting to his supposedly injured leg before he looks back up at Jon’s face. His hair is let loose again, styled neatly to one side as his earrings reflect the lights around them. He’s wearing a mesh crop top with X nipple stickers beneath and high-waisted cargo pants with his usual combat boots along with fingerless gloves.

“This isn’t your usual definition of a party night.”

“I’m not a regular, I’ll admit.”

“You’re here for business then?”

“I did get a deal finished here once.”

“Want me to get you boys something to drink?” The bartender interrupts them.

“I’ll pass,” Damian replies.

“I’m alright, thanks,” Jon dismisses as well.

“He’s a good kid, Dame,” the bartender tells Damian. “Please tell me you didn’t fuck him yet.” Damian rolls his eyes and moves away from the counter, leaving Jon alone. “He can be an asshole, sometimes,” she turns to Jon, but the latter’s eyes haven’t left Damian yet.

“Sorry,” Jon turns to her then. “Another time, maybe.” He gives her a smile and decides to follow after Damian where the music is still just as loud, but less crowded people. “I didn’t mean to, but on my way out, I heard Richard say you went to the topside.” Damian turns to look at him, probably confused as why Jon is following him. “You should be dead by now. The mere air there is toxic.”

“You shouldn’t be standing on your leg right now,” Damian counters, eyes narrowing at him.

“Why would you risk your life like that?”

“Isn’t the question you meant to be asking is how?” Damian retorts. “Tell me, Jon.” Damian tilts his head and looks at the hoverboard Jon has tucked under his arm. “Did you make that yourself?”

Jon glances at the hoverboard. “Sort of.” And Damian steps closer to him with an easy smirk playing on his lips. Jon can see a black line drawn over his lids.

“Liar,” Damian says and turns to leave again, but Jon doesn’t attempt to follow him again. Not wanting to stand there looking like an idiot, he turns to leave the club, passing by the bar and noticing the bartender’s eyes on him for a brief moment.

So, Jon ends up showing up to Kara’s bar as promised. Wasn’t exactly planned, but he’s here now, with an itch under his skin that makes him feel extremely unsettled. Kara gets him a non-alcoholic drink and stares at his face for a long moment.

“You completed the delivery.”

“I did.”

“And you’ll continue to do your job like nothing happened.”

“I will.”

“Jon,” she sighs.

“How many times do I have to tell you that I’m alright?”

“You don’t look alright,” Kara tells him. “Someone wanted you dead, Jon. That’s not alright.” Jon sighs. “Just take a break, Jon. I’m begging you at this point.” Jon isn’t going to, but Kara doesn’t need to know that right now, so he keeps his lips sealed and sips on his drink instead. “Jay is here, by the way. In case you haven’t noticed,” Kara informs him. “He has been worried, too.”

“Because you kept talking about it, I’m sure.”

“Besides the point,” Kara dismisses him. “I’m seeing no progress with blondie, either.”

“Do you expect me to date two people at the same time?”

“I’m just pointing out that both are interested in you, pretty boy. And you’re making no moves.” Jon leans back a little, turning his head to scan the bar. He spots Jay and he turns to look at Kara again.

“Fine.” Jon stands up and walks over to Jay, and even though he can’t see Kara’s face right now, he bets she’s grinning from ear to ear. Jay smiles up at him when he approaches him. “You’re not with your friends tonight?”

“It’s not weekend, no,” Jay shakes his head.

“Mind if I take a seat?”

“Of course not.” And so, Jon sits across from him, still holding the drink in his hands. “I would have asked how you’ve been, but I guess Kara had said it way too many times already that’s getting annoying.”

“She did, yes,” Jon confirms with a nod. “And yes, it is getting annoying.”

“You know, there’s been this place that I usually go to,” Jay says. “I bet not a lot of people know about it, and I would honestly rather it stays that way, but … It’s quiet, it’s nice, with a beautiful scenery.”

“The underground hardly has any beautiful scenery.” Jon snorts.

“So, what do you say?” Jay cocks an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, sure, I’d love to.” Jon shrugs. “When do we go?”

“I’d say the morning, but, we get no sun anyway, so,” Jay shrugs. “How about now?” Sun. Topside. Damian. Jon’s mind is racing with too many thoughts, so he shakes his head instead and downs the rest of his drink.

“Yeah, why not?” They’re standing after a minute, and when Jon glances at Kara before they leave, she gives him two thumbs up, and he chuckles at her. They walk through a long path, and Jay talks about his day, his taste in music, where he lives. And Jon is thankful he doesn’t try to question him about the hoverboard or his job in general. He also doesn’t mention the shooting, which still, in fact, occupies his thoughts. Jon has been to a lot of places, but not one too deep down like this since he can’t possibly ride on his hoverboard there due to the extremely narrow passages, and to say he’s surprised is an understatement.

“Holy God …” Jon’s eyes are wide as he notices the big tree in the middle. Fireflies dancing around the branches, and Jon hadn’t seen anything green in a long while. His mind supplements him with a striking pair of green eyes, but he’s trying not to think about it right now. “How did you find this?”

“I was upset one day, and I think I took a really long walk.” Jay chuckles. “I’m positive a lot of people don’t bother coming down here, but it’s a surprise that it’s still living without sunlight.”

Jon crouches down near the roots, fingers tracing the wood texture. “Maybe it’s feeding on something else. I wouldn’t really say it’s adapting to the extreme darkness.”

“Maybe,” Jay shrugs. “But it’s beautiful.”

“It is,” Jon agrees as he looks up at the tree.

“Look, Jon,” Jay appears beside him. “I don’t want to be that guy that’s being forced on anyone.” Jon turns to look at him. “I know Kara means well, but if you don’t want this-”

“You’re nice, Jay,” Jon interrupts him. “She might have arranged it, but I don’t feel pressured when I’m around you.”

“Right.” Jay looks between his eyes. “Okay.”

“We can take our time.”

“Okay,” Jay repeats. And Jon gives him a genuine smile, turning towards the tree again. “By the way, I already figured your favorite color.”

“You did?” Jon frowns.

“You have so many blues in your outfits,” Jay points out, and Jon looks down at himself.

“Oh …” It makes Jay laugh at him, and Jon pouts. He bets Damian’s favorite color is black; it’s all he wears. Or it could be red, he seemed to really like his beast companion. Is he capable of flying up there without getting hit with the toxins? How did Damian even find that?

“You’re ready to call it a night,” Jay says from beside him, and Jon hasn’t even noticed he started frowning so deeply at the tree.

“Sorry, I …”

“You’ve been through a lot, I know,” Jay says. “It’s getting late anyway. I have work tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Jon agrees. “We’ll um … see each other again?”

“Sure,” Jay replies with a smile before he’s turning on his heels and leaving. Jon waits there for a moment before he also drags his feet away.

Hopping on his hoverboard, Jon decides to go home, but a certain red mask catches his eyes, and he quickly hides behind the nearest wall he can find, trying to assess his surroundings in attempt to make a swift escape. They’re not after him though, and when Jon gets to have a glance, he sees a brooding familiar figure; a lazy posture with his hands in his pockets, Damian stands with no weapons, and no sidekick beasts, but his gaze is sharp and calculating. And just because he owes Damian one, he bends down and presses a side button on his hoverboard that gets him dashing in a faster speed than he would normally use. The Red Hood group is startled, barely able to catch him with their eyes, and Damian is surprised, too as Jon scoops him out of their sight.

“What the hell are you doing?!”

“Saving you ass,” Jon tells him as he keeps ascending higher enough that he knows the Red Hood can’t follow, but still low enough that his lungs don’t get poisoned. “You’re welcome.” Damian sighs, and Jon puts him down when he comes to a stop.

“You’ll put a mark on your back,” Damian tells him. “I didn’t need help.”

“Sure you didn’t.”

“And next time, stay out of my family’s business.” Damian pauses. “Also, don’t tell Richard about this.”

“Richard said that your brother isn’t right in the head,” Jon starts. “If they’re after Shimmer, then he’s definitely infected with it.”

“Tell me something I don’t already know.” Damian crosses his arms over his chest. “Like, I don’t know … Who’s trading it?”

“And then what? You’ll go after them yourself?”

“Says the one who got shot down.”

“I know you got plenty of stuff up your sleeves,” Jon says. “But there’s a reason why Richard isn’t letting you on ‘solo’ trips. Not to mention the ones up there.”

“You’re just a delivery boy. Who are you to get involved with whatever the hell I do with my life?”

“For the sake of your brother, who actually seems like a nice person, don’t get too far, Damian.”

“You won’t tell Richard.” Damian narrows his eyes at him.

“About this? Or about your future plans? Which, by the way, I doubt that he doesn’t know already.”

“He already got too much on his plate. He doesn’t need to add more to it,” Damian mumbles as he drops his arms to the sides. “Just don’t tell him anything, and we’re even.”

“I can help,” Jon offers, and Damian looks at him like he’s lost his mind, and probably Jon did.

“In exchange of what exactly?”

“I want you to take me up there,” Jon says, and Damian looks at him with a sharp gaze, contemplating the thought in his mind. “Alive,” he adds with a warning glare.

“No offence, Jon,” Damian walks closer to him. “But I barely know you.”

“We can get to know each other,” Jon suggests, and Damian stares at him for a long moment before he shakes his head with a laugh. He pats Jon’s shoulder and walks past him.

“Goodbye, Jon!”

⩩

Another day, another delivery.

Jon tries to steer away from trouble. Tries. But when he stands in the location for the pickup and there are men struggling to breathe on the ground, he doesn’t turn on his heels. Mainly because he recognizes the ugly big scratches they have on their bodies, ones that have been inflected by a familiar large red monster that he knows of, and perhaps because he recognizes one of the men, too; he’s been the one fucking Damian in the Bat Cave, the one who Damian had stolen the keys from. He also recognizes the large hole plate that have been forcibly removed to the side; one that’s big enough that Jon knows no human could be lifting it on their own. So, with a deep sigh, he moves forward until he’s hovering on top of the opened hole, staring at the yellow waters before he's descending, and he realizes that this might be even a bigger tunnel than the one he has under his own home.

Jon sees Goliath first, fierce eyes alert and teeth ready to tear him apart, and a frustrated Damian turns to look at him, too.

“Easy there, buddy,” Damian calls Goliath with a gentle hand to his red fur, and Goliath turns to a cute puppy by his side. A cute giant puppy. “The fuck you want, Kent?”

“You knocked off a client of mine.”

“Should I be concerned?” Damian’s tone is sarcastic, but he ignores Jon in the sake of trying -and failing- to open the door in front of him.

“Your giant friend can’t break it down?”

“And risk we both end up under a pile of rocks?” Damian throws the keys with annoyance, clearly none of them work on the door. “Or drowned in filth instead?” He glances at the waters.

“You didn’t swim on your way here, did you?” Jon lands next to him and picks up the keys.

“In case you’ve gone blind, I’m not wet.”

“Where does this door lead to?” Jon asks as he turns to look at him, but Damian ignores him, turning to Goliath instead, and the beast leans down enough for Damian to ride on top of him. Jon sighs, but he pockets the keys for later. As Goliath spreads his wings to fly over the waters, a ripple disrupts from below, and he pushes Damian back to where Jon is standing as something inhuman rises from the waters. Jon doesn’t know what it is; too distorted to be an animal, too distorted to be a human. It’s something that they would all turn to if they ever make it alive after submerging into the toxins. It manages a bite to Goliath’s neck before the red beast slashes at it with his sharp claws. Jon believes that whatever comes out of its body must be blood, but it’s purple, and when it lands on the floor next to them, it acts like acid, melting the area where it touches. “Fuck.”

“Goliath!” Damian shouts, and the red beast drops again to his side, the water-monster dropping dead, back to the waters again. There are purple marks where it had bitten Goliath, and Jon moves quickly to stop Damian from touching it.

“It could be poisoned!” And for the first time, Damian isn’t composed, isn’t calm. His green eyes are wide, and his brain is racing through a thousand thought. “I have something that might heal him.” Damian turns to him, desperate, but careful, but when he glances at Goliath again, he gives in.

“Fine,” Damian replies, reluctantly. Goliath can still fly, so Damian rides on top of him as Jon rides on his hoverboard in front of him. He glances at the men still lying helplessly on the ground before he’s out of there and back into his own place. Damian doesn’t look surprised when Jon opens the man hole he has inside his house, but he is definitely shocked when they pass the tunnel and they land inside the abandoned laboratory. “So, this is where you found your hoverboard, huh?”

“No,” Jon replies as he goes for the container with the blue vials. “I actually found it inside a pile of garbage.” Damian looks at him with furrowed brows. “People throw things they can’t really use, and well … It wasn’t of use back then.” He repeats the same procedure from before, emptying the content in a syringe, but when he approaches Goliath, he’s growling at him, and Damian takes the syringe from him.

“So that’s what you used to heal your leg.” Damian rubs Goliath’s face gently to get him to lie down, and once his face is resting in Damian’s lap, he presses the needle into the ugly purply veins, and Goliath whines, claws digging into the floor, but he nuzzles his head further into Damian. “We’re done, buddy,” Damian whispers to him, holding Goliaths face in both hands now and pressing a kiss to his fur. Jon knows he must weight a ton, but Damian doesn’t seem to mind at all. “Can this …” Damian watches as the purple veins start to fade. “Can this heal Shimmer’s effect?”

“It can.”

Damian whips his head towards him and stares at him with a gaped mouth before he scolds his expression again and scoffs at him instead. “You sure do know a lot for a mere delivery boy.”

“You underestimate me way too much.”

Goliath is fully healed, but he seems to enjoy the head rubs from Damian, purring like a kitten in his lap. Jon is positive that Goliath is spoiled rotten by Damian, and it cracks a smile on his face to imagine how the two would normally spend their day. Well, when they’re not knocking down people, and Goliath looks like a hellish nightmare to anyone who dares approach his master.

“Fine, I’ll take you to the topside,” Damian tells him. “And in return, you’ll lend me one of those vials. But,” he looks at Jon sharply. “Richard isn’t to know anything about this.”

“Deal,” Jon agrees with a wide grin on his face.

⩩

Damian arrives at his door with a backpack over his shoulder, and a brooding expression. He’s covered in the same attire he had when the Red Hood was after Jon, but his jacket has a hood now covering his hair. He places his backpack over a table and takes a folded paper out of it before he spreads it on the table.

“Alright, big guy, here’s a map of the topside.” Jon’s eyes trail over the map slowly. “The Red Hood headquarters is placed a little far off to the right,” Damian points at an area where a big red mark had been drawn over it. “They usually don’t bother with the rest of the city knowing that there aren’t many stupid people willing to go on a suicide mission.”

“Apart from you.” Damian merely looks at him, unimpressed. “Did you steal this like you stole the keys?” Jon glances at him. “I’ve been finishing a deal in the Bat Cave. Saw you there.”

“We’ll go up from there,” Damian ignores him, pointing at a point that is way too far from the red spot. “You’ll need this,” he pulls a gas mask from the bag. “It’ll help purify the air that you breathe.” He hands it to Jon. “And …” he looks Jon up and down. “For the love of god, change your clothes to something that won’t get us noticed straight away.”

“Topside doesn’t have loads of colors, I assume,” Jon glances down at himself; a red hoodie and faded blue jeans. “Is that how you blend in naturally?” He looks up at Damian, dressed in all black. “Fine, I’ll change,” he huffs, turning to his closet and picking up a similar outfit to Damian’s. All black. “You’re taking your big kitten?”

“Goliath?” Damian asks with furrowed brows. “No, you idiot. Any living being cannot survive up there. And unfortunately, we do not own a big enough mask that can fit him.”

“Oh?” Jon turns to Damian when he’s finished dressing, gaining an approval hum. “I thought you might have found him up there.”

“I found Goliath in the underground,” Damian tells him. “He was still a baby back then.” A small smile tugs at Damian’s lips. “Anyway, I don’t have much time to entertain you, so let’s go before Richard finds out I’ve taken the masks.”

“How the fuck does the Red Hood live up there?” Jon asks as they leave the house.

“Shimmer has healing effects,” Damian explains. “Faster than a normal human. Helps them survive the toxins, but also develops an addiction. Hence why they’re after acquiring it.” They arrive at an abandoned air vent, and Jon squints his eyes at it. “It’s been closed for a long while now,” Damian tells him. “We have functional vents that purify the air across the underground.” He secures the mask over his face, and Jon does the same. “This one though, no one could open it, thus why it’s abandoned.”

“And you somehow can?” Jon questions, and Damian turns to look at him with irritated gaze.

“Don’t hit me with the stupid questions, Jon.” He turns towards the air vent again, getting it opened before he’s lighting up a flashlight and crawling inside, and Jon sighs as he follows him. It’s a tiny space, barely fitting, and Jon contemplates for a moment if he can just lie on his stomach over the hoverboard and slide all the way there instead. When Jon sees a dead end approaching, Damian rises to his full height again, and when Jon looks up, there’s a long trail of ladder steps.

“Alright, we’re hovering up,” Jon decides, activating his hoverboard and attaching his legs to it. “You coming?” Damian looks at him for a long moment before he sighs and drops his shoulders. There isn’t much space for the two of them to stand on the hoverboard, so Jon carries Damian, much to the latter’s annoyance. They’re up in seconds, and Jon looks at Damian with a smug smirk, but the latter ignores him, reaching inside his pockets and pulling out a shining blue stone that gets Jon momentarily off balance. Damian places the orb in the middle of the plate, and Jon watches as it lights up with a symbol before it unlocks, and they’re able to leave the vent. “Where did you get that from?”

“You’re not the only one with access to Hextech.” Damian takes the blue orb back as Jon drops him to his feet, and the plate closes. “You think I don’t know how you get endless fuel on your board?” It successfully manages to shut Jon’s mouth as he follows Damian further into whatever building they’ve got into. Jon takes a look around, finding destroyed walls and broken tiles everywhere they go. The ceiling in this place is pretty high that he guesses it might have been some sort of a royal hall, but Damian is correct; they’re devoid of color, like all the beautiful floral decorations have been drained out of life, and in a way, they had. But when Damian takes him to the top of the tower, Jon is devastated to look at his surroundings. There’s truly no hope left. Stretches of ashes and darkness in the ground, nothing but grey clouds above them, and the fog eating at the city is haunting. He didn’t come up with high expectations, but he’s still disappointed. “Well, then,” Damian cuts him off his mind. “Welcome to the wasteland. End of the journey.”

“Surely you go to places.”

“You wish to have a trip down there?” Damian points behind him. “Go for a picnic amidst the wonders of the city?” He asks in a sarcastic tone. “I don’t come here to play, Jon. I have a fucking brother who needs saving!”

“Have you ever wondered if there’s a sun up there?” Jon asks instead, looking up at the looming clouds.

“Of course there’s a sun up there,” Damian replies with a scoff. “I just don’t care about seeing it.” Jon turns his head back down and looks at Damian for a minute before he’s tilting his feet, and his hoverboard goes dashing in a speed that Damian isn’t expecting. He thinks he hears a gasp behind the mask as he grabs Damian’s waist and launches higher into the sky. “What the fuck, Jon?!”

“If you move too much, there’s a high chance that I drop you, and when I do, you’ll end up dead.”

“I fucking hate you,” Damian tells him, but he stops his struggling. Jon is determined though, speeding up through the endless clouds of black and grey, and he thinks their color is starting to shift slightly before he breaks into a clear sky, and he stops the hoverboard. He’s still able to breathe, so they’re not in a level too high for oxygen level to drop drastically, and Jon loosens his hold on Damian, who slides to his front, still holding to Jon for leverage, and he places a foot between Jon’s, the other at the front of the hoverboard, and Jon doesn’t believe it’s a perfect position to stand in, but somehow it works, and he secures his hands around Damian’s waist again in fear he actually drops him. Damian is starting at the sun, too, stunned, just like Jon, but he turns his head to look around him after a minute. “Can I borrow your hoverboard?”

“Absolutely not,” Jon blinks and turns to look at Damian. “You’ll go after the Red Hood and they’ll blow it to pieces.”

“Alright, Kent. Can we get down now? You’ve seen the sun. Stare too much at it and you’ll go blind.” Jon sighs, but he knows that Damian’s words are true. He’s not getting him an easy drop though, and perhaps Damian is used to riding on Goliath’s back, but Jon chooses to drop on his back, doing a loop just to see Damian’s eyes widening behind the mask, and he’s definitely glaring at Jon when they land. “Fucking show off,” he mumbles as he lets go of Jon, but he isn’t stumbling, and okay, Jon would admit that Damian’s sense of balance is incredible.

“What were you hoping to find behind that door in the tunnel?” Jon asks as they get down the vent.

“Someone is producing Shimmer,” Damian tells him. “I’ll find them, and I’ll destroy their entire supply chain.”

When they get back to the underground, Damian removes the mask and takes a deep breath. “You do realize I’ve got my own magical crystal that can open that plate.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t care what you do, Kent. We’ve already completed the trade; the vial for the topside opening,” Damian takes the mask from him. “You can try though, see how many hours you can stay up there without your body decomposing.”

“It’s not that deadly to go exploring other places, Dame. I bet there are loads of things we can discover if your mind isn’t too locked up on the Red Hood. Richard wouldn’t mind if you didn’t go solo.”

Damian pauses to look at him as he zips his bag. “Mind your own business, Kent.” And then he goes.

⩩

Jon finds himself going back to the tree Jay had showed him. It’s somehow managing, the fireflies marking tiny dots across its surface, like it’s somehow compensating for the lack of required sunlight. It looks sun-kissed; like Damian’s skin, even though he had only seen the sun for mere minutes throughout his entire lifespan. Jon huffs an irritated breath when his thoughts drift to Damian, and he walks closer to the tree with a sharp knife in his hand.

“What do you feed on?” He stabs the wood, the knife barely managing to go too far, and he slides it down, an awful metallic sound following, and it makes Jon frown as he retreats the knife only to stab it a second time and dragging it down again, pocketing the knife and resuming to pull at the small piece he’s cut to pull it completely out. “What the-” It’s not wood; a mere decorative material, and he honestly hasn’t expected it to be real, just … It’s frustrating to find everything fake and damaged whether it’s up or down. He stares at the piece of fake wood in his hand and then looks into the metal staring back at him from the hole he just made. Jay might be disappointed, but Jon figures that some people might prefer to live in their fantasies.

He looks up at the top of the tree before he’s activating his hoverboard and deciding to go up, pulling the knife out again and cutting some branches at the top until he’s met with a hollow opening, too large and too empty, and he throws the branches he’s cut into the hole, surprised when he’s met with a colliding sound rather than splashing water. So, this doesn’t go into the sewers. Well, good enough. Jon activates the night vision on his glasses as he pulls them down his face and lowers himself down the pipe. When he reaches the bottom, there are a few incoherent scratches on the walls, and Jon realizes that this might have been a mine, judging from the irregular shape of the stone walls. There are a few things scattered here and there, mainly tools for digging that won’t really benefit anyone if he takes them up, but he also finds a closed door, and he looks around him, trying to see if this cave has multiple passages.

The keys he took from Damian are still in his possession, and he pulls them out to try his luck with the lock on the door. There are about ten keys in total, and Jon is almost certain that they might be a decoy, but when one key unlocks the door, he honestly gets a chill down his spine, because what if there are armed people behind that door? “Alright, no backing down now,” he whispers to himself. “If anything happens, I’ll dash out quickly. They can’t outrun me while I’m on the hoverboard.” So, with a deep inhale, he pushes the door open, turning quickly to hide for a couple of seconds, but when he hears nothing, he takes a peek slowly, finding an empty dark room. Releasing his breath, he slides inside the room, finding a couple of chairs around a table, a fresh stain that tells him that he should be going out soon before he’s discovered, and a big map pinned to the wall that Jon realizes it's of the topside. Damian’s map had been empty save for the red circle he had made himself, but this? This one has multiple locations named and specified with blue lines, a few paths lined with purple, and he doesn’t think twice as he removes the pins and takes the map down, quickly folding it and placing it inside his jacket before he’s darting out of the room and locking it back behind him. He dashes out of the pipe, thankful that there’s no one next to the tree now, and he heads out to the one place he knows he’ll find Damian in.

Surprisingly, Jon isn’t disturbed by the loud music this time, and his eyes search the place before they land on Damian. He’s lazily lying down on top of a table, wearing a graphic tank top that’s tucked into high-waisted light denim shorts, an opened cardigan slipping off his shoulders, and a pair of knee-high socks without his boots. Why and how he’s like this, Jon doesn’t know, but he’s astonished at the splash of colors decorating his outfit tonight. There’s a red paper in his hand that he’s folding like origami? One that he’s made to be like a miniature figure of Goliath, and it’s cute. Damian making an origami of Goliath is hella cute.

“You’re here to see Damian again.” Jon turns his gaze from the man on the table, and finds the bartender, only this time, she has a tray held high in one hand with multiple drinks on it. “Not surprised.”

“Lots of people come asking for him?” Jon asks with a chuckle.

“I don’t imagine you’d want a drink,” she tells him instead, and Jon shakes his head with a tight smile. She laughs at him before she’s turning around to deliver the drinks at a table, and Jon takes it as his cue to leave as well. He slides in the booth Damian is currently at, and even though Jon is certain he’s sober, Damian acts like he’s just chilling around with a slow beat running in the background, which contrasts the actual scene. His eyes land on Jon, but he doesn’t speak.

“I would like to conduct a trade.” Damian’s eyebrows rise a little in his forehead, and Jon pulls the map out. “I want the gas mask in exchange for this.” Damian blinks at the folded paper and sits up properly, turning on the table so his feet land next to Jon and takes the map from him. The mini paper Goliath he’s been working on rests on his lap, and Jon reaches for it. “And tiny Goliath.” Damian unfolds the paper and gives Jon a confused look as he glances at the figure in his hands. Damian eyes the map briefly before his brows furrow deeper, his face turning serious, and he quickly closes it afterwards, turning to check his surroundings for a second before he’s looking at Jon with squinting eyes.

“Where did you get this?”

“When will I get my mask?” Jon asks instead, and Damian sighs as he folds the map again. “I also imagine that you would like to go exploring, which I want, too,” Jon tells him. “So, I’m just saying that I wouldn’t mind you tagging along.”

“We’re not going on a childish adventure.”

“No,” Jon agrees. “And just because you own a couple of cool things, doesn’t mean I don’t, too,” he says in a low tone as he leans closer to Damian. “I know who you’re up against. They only got me once because I was distracted.” He leans away and stands up. “I’ll wait for you. Otherwise, you know someone would hate to hear about your adventures.”

“Or I could just kill you in your sleep.”

“That would upset Richard. You wouldn’t,” Jon replies with a shrug, and he winks at Damian before he turns on his heels, receiving a glare in return.

When he gets home, he places paper Goliath on the bedside table, tapping his tiny nose and imagining how baby Goliath must have looked like, if he was too small that he’d be hugging young Damian as he sleeps. Have people tried to hunt him down before? Jon is certain at least a few have tried, but Damian isn’t to be messed with either. Jon lies on his back as he stares up at the ceiling, the bright lamp turning into the sun, and he wonders if these clouds will ever clear out. They way they’re gathered; how Jon had seen the clear sky above, it almost feels like someone, or something might have been causing this. He knows magic existed one day, it’s how Hextech was invented, relying on ancient ruins, and deep down, he just knows that if they dug at the right place, they might be able to clear this wasteland. He knows he can’t do it alone, though, but the only other person who seems reckless enough to help him, doesn’t want to help him. With a sigh, he closes his eyes and just waits for Damian to show up with the mask.

⩩

Jon is already dressed up and ready to go when Damian shows up with the mask. He might have been too excited, judging from the bored look Damian is giving him.

“Alright, when do we roll?”

“We aren’t going anywhere,” Damian replies. “I don’t care what you do, Jon, but you’re on your own.”

“Oh, come on, you need me.”

“I don’t need anyone,” Damian corrects him, and Jon gives him a frustrated look, putting his hands on his hips.

“You might know what all those labels on the map are for, but it takes no genius to put two and two together. Whoever is making shimmer, they’re doing it up there,” he points up with a finger. “They’re merely trading it underground, and due to whatever conflict that had happened. They’re now against the Red Hood.”

“Which is exactly why I’m doing this alone,” Damian replies. “The Red Hood is Jason’s group, and I’m putting my life on the line for my brother. What the hell are you risking your life for?”

“Look around you, Dame,” Jon spreads his arms. “For how many decades have we been living in the underground after the war?”

“Your point is?”

“I fear that whatever is keeping topside black and grey is made by man,” Jon tells him. “We deserve to be free.”

“You don’t know what you’re against,” Damian shakes his head. “You’re unarmed-”

“I have my own weapon if needed,” Jon cuts him off.

“One that shines with blue, I’m sure.”

“You bet it is,” Jon replies with a smirk, but it makes Damian frown.

“You can’t even fight, Jon.”

“I don’t recall you ever seeing me in a fight,” Jon argues, and Damian sighs. “You’re not going up there alone.”

“Fine,” Damian finally agrees. “But if you fall behind, I’m not carrying you back.”

“Not a problem,” Jon replies with a wide grin, and Damian rolls his eyes at him.

Jon retreats to the underground tunnel briefly to grab the discarded gauntlet he’s found a few years ago. He only has one, with no idea where the other is. It’s a little broken, scarred from previous battles, and it covers up to his elbow. It’s ridiculously heavy when it’s dormant. Jon had to exchange the stone inside his hoverboard to activate the gauntlet, and once it’s glowing with blue, he’s able to lift it up easily. Damian doesn’t appear to be fazed by it when he sees it, but Jon can’t exactly demonstrate any of its functions down here. When they approach the air vent, they have to take the long way up this time, and Jon is almost out of breath when they reach the surface, though he doesn’t give Damian the joy of noticing it.

Damian, from his side, places his own magical stone inside a short stick that expands when activated to a longer one that he carries around as they go out of the tower. Damian is following the map carefully, and Jon had honestly thought that Damian might have known his way around topside, but he doesn’t seem to have explored much, and well, Jon reasons that it is a big city with loads of fog wherever they go.

“Bingo,” Damian whispers as he puts the map down, and Jon looks up to find a heavily guarded building.

“Those are some really big guns,” Jon notes, counting the men guarding the entrance, and they’re a lot.

“Scared now, tough guy?” Damian teases. “If you go back now, I promise I won’t taunt you for it … too much.”

“Fuck you,” Jon spits back, and is already moving past Damian when the latter pushes him back.

“You’re not going out there without a plan, you idiot.”

“Then, oh big wise man, what’s the plan other than hit and not be killed?”

“We’re not hitting anyone,” Damian tells him. “We’re only two, and they’ve got bullets that can break our masks.” Well, he is right. Jon deflates. “We’ll sneak in,” Damian says. “The best way of approaching your enemy is knowing their limits, strengths, and weaknesses. Once we have the upper hand, only then we attack.”

“Okay,” Jon mumbles. “We’ll go with your plan this time.” Damian looks at him for another moment before he turns towards the building again.

“There’s a chimney we can use to sneak inside.”

“And who knows? We might end up in an oven next.”

“It’s dormant,” Damian turns to look at him with an annoyed expression. “Try to be light on your feet,” he tells Jon before he’s jumping and expecting Jon to follow. In all honesty, Jon is proficient at aerobics when he’s got his legs attached to the hoverboard, but Damian’s limbs seem to have mastered the art of walking through fucking air, because from where Jon is watching, he’s barely touching a surface before he’s off again, and he doesn’t need any magical crystals to do it, either. With a deep sigh, Jon follows in his steps, albeit not too light or quick. When they land successfully on top of the building without anyone noticing, Jon counts it as a win, even though Damian is looking at him with that gleeful expression. Jon just glares back at him.

The slide down the chimney is difficult, despite how the walls have cracked, creating multiple steps to land their feet on. But when Jon thinks it’s finally over, they’re crawling inside a narrow pathway, and he swears that Damian is doing all of this on purpose just to make him step down and quit, but Jon is just as stubborn as Damian, and he is not quitting. They hear people talking, and they try to approach the area carefully, but there are a few guards in the hallway.

“I’ll take them out, they’re not too many,” Damian tells him.

“And what? Leave you to take all the glory yourself?”

“This is not a competition, Jon!” Damian whisper-shouts at him.

Jon grips the inside of the gauntlet. “I’m not letting you see me as a liability.” And so, they go out at the same time. What Damian doesn’t know is that the gauntlet can block bullets when it’s active, but Jon also doesn’t know what Damian’s stick is capable of, and he watches as Damian steps in front of him, spinning the stick too fast that it creates a shield that counters the bullets they shoot their way. In mere seconds, Damian switches from defense to offense, using the stick as leverage as he presses it to the ground and jumps into the air, gathering it back in his hands and swiping at two guards at once, the stick generating enough power that slices the men’s guns into halves. Jon uses the moment of bewilderment to make his own attack, punching one man in the face and watching his mask crack as he’s thrown harshly against the wall, and when the last guard aims his gun at him, he grips it with gauntlet, crushing the weapon as it launches a bullet, and using his other free fist to punch the man’s stomach before he uses the sheer force of the gauntlet again to knock him unconscious. When he turns to look at Damian, he's simply watching him with an unreadable gaze.

“Pray that we haven’t caused a commotion,” Damian says, and Jon hopes they weren’t too loud as well. They approach one of the closed windows, seeing the multiple machines working down there. They probably haven’t heard them over the noises they have, but Jon can hear some of what they’re discussing.

“It’s a factory,” Jon comments.

“A Shimmer factory,” Damian squints his eyes at the pink substance being produced.

“They won’t know what hit them,” one of the men next to the machines says. “We’ve already leaked some of the drinks, and no one had noticed. It’s a small amount, probably not enough to show the side effects right away, but soon, we can have a civilization up here.”

Jon and Damian share a terrified look. If what Jon is guessing is correct, they’re trying to get people of the underground to consume Shimmer so they can go up, but Damian had seen firsthand what happens to people who consume Shimmer. They hear someone approaching from behind, and they turn around quickly.

“We need to leave before they can call backup,” Damian tells him, and Jon agrees with a nod. They back through the same entry they’ve used, and they leave the building. Jon was hoping they get more time to explore other areas of topside, but Damian goes straight to the vent, and Jon doesn’t have enough energy to argue with him right now. When they’re back in the underground, Damian slides down to the ground as he removes the mask, putting his face in his hands, and Jon joins him.

“It’s bigger than just the two of us, Dame,” Jon tells him gently. “They have a vast network. I bet it’s not the only factory up there, not to mention the trades down here ... We’ll need an army to go against them.”

“An army …” Damian mumbles. “The Red Hood attacked you because we were carrying Shimmer.” Damian uncovers his face to look at Jon. “Maybe they weren’t trying to steal it. Maybe the Red Hood is actually trying to stop them from spreading Shimmer in the underground.” He pulls the map out and spreads it. “Jason mentioned something about gaining back control over the city before he took off.” He looks at Jon. “Maybe we have a chance at gaining an army if we speak with the Red Hood.”

“The Red Hood?” Jon furrows his brows. “The same group who tried to kill me? The same group who you’ve been trying for too long to reach them and couldn’t?”

“We share the same goal now,” Damian argues. “Well, not exactly, but … For now, we have the same enemy, at least.”

“Considering that they’ll let you walk into their headquarters without shooting you down first.”

“Jason wouldn’t shoot me down,” Damian replies, though he looks uncertain. “I’ll …” He stands up again. “I’ll figure something out.” He’s walking away without even saying goodbye, and Jon already knows that if he doesn’t find out about Damian’s next journey, he won’t be included.

He’s not allowing this to happen, though.

⩩

Jon waits at yet another warehouse to pick up his package for today. It’s small when it’s handed to him, with instructions to be careful about it as the insides are delicate. And for the second time, Jon checks the package contents when he’s hovering far away from his client. It’s a bad habit that he’s developed; one that he’s certain would make him lose his job soon. But his eyes catch on the pink liquid inside the bottles, and he makes a mental memo to remember who he’s delivering it to. Closing the package again, he notices a symbol drawn over it, and he stares at it for a moment before his legs are moving again towards the delivery location. He exchanges the package for the payment, and looks around the small shop he’s currently at. Would they be smart enough that they don’t store it at one location? Is Jon merely one stop for them? Will it be moved again? But he can’t stay for long in order not to make himself look suspicious, so he smiles and waves and turns on his heels.

Kara is busy tonight; too busy to even glance his way in a silent greeting, so he waits like any other customer on the bar, noticing a distinguishable pink hair among the people sitting there, and he slides next to Jay with a smile, occupying the stool next to him.

“Aren’t you looking too happy today?” Jay asks with a smile.

“What’s gotten you down?” Jon asks instead.

“Someone tore down at the tree,” Jay frowns, looking down at the drink in his hands. “There was a metal pipe beneath.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Jon winces. “That was me.” Jay whips his head towards him again with wide eyes. “It seemed too good to be true, Jay. You had to notice something was off about it.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Jay mumbles in response, eyes dropping again, and before Jon can apologize again, a woman, probably in her forties, calls for Jay, and he turns to her instead. Jon overhears something about the workshop, and from her tone, he guesses that she might be his boss. He glances across the bar again, able to catch Kara’s attention this time, and she winks at him before she’s turning to another client, and he smiles back even though she had already turned her face away from him. So he looks around again, surprised to see Richard and Stephanie with Damian, the latter’s clothes have more splash of colors than before; an olive green sweatshirt, and a light-denim pants with simple white sneakers. He looks more comfortable than Jon’s ever seen him. He’s laughing at something Stephanie said, probably about Richard as the latter pouts at them.

“Well, I gotta roll,” Jay’s boss speaks up. “Make sure you’re opening on time.” She hands Jay a key, probably for the workshop, and Jon’s eyes trail over them briefly, gaze catching on the symbol on her bag, and he narrows his eyes at it. It’s the same one that was on the package that he had just delivered. She stands up and leaves, and Jay pockets the key before he’s turning to Jon again.

“Sorry about that.”

“I was partially responsible for all of our previous interruptions.” Jon shrugs, and it cracks a smile on Jay’s face. “And would probably create another one right now.”

“Ever the busy man.”

“Sorry,” Jon apologizes, and he glances at Kara before he’s sliding off his stool. He pauses at the door though, turning his head towards the tables again and seeing Richard pull at Damian’s cheek, making him whine in a cute way. Jon is unable to stop the smile that creeps on his face, and he shakes his head before he heads out of the bar.

Jon hovers on his board high enough so the woman won’t notice him following her, and despite her calm attitude, Jon is certain that her eyes are glancing around with every step she takes. When it gets quieter, Jon is forced to descend down on his feet and deactivate the hoverboard. The night vision on his glasses are on, and he’s able to see through the cracks between the buildings as she stops at an empty alley. It’s an odd meeting point, not behind closed doors, but Jon believes that she doesn’t trust whoever she’s meeting just yet. Someone appears from the shadows, holding a large box, but Jon notices one more person standing behind.

“You got the payment?”

“I’ll need to check the merchandise first,” She replies, but the man holding the box doesn’t budge.

“You doubting my intentions hurts me greatly,” the one still standing behind speaks up, voice distorted a little. “Haven’t we proven ourself enough?” He takes a step forward, but Jon isn’t able to see his face, covered by a large hat he’s wearing on top of his head. “You’re still alive, aren’t you?” He raises his head up, and Jon almost gasps at what he sees.

“Can’t tell which one I’m talking to,” the woman squints her eyes at him. “Two-face.”

The man laughs loudly, and just like what the nickname for him stands for, the man’s face is split into half; one part still intact, still looking human, while the other is completely melted, an eye shining with purple, and Jon knows that those are Shimmer’s effect. It’s how their future will be shaped if they allow the trade to dive deeper into the underground.

“Fair enough,” Two-face replies, and he nods to the man holding the box for him to walk towards the woman, opening the box for her, but Jon can’t see what it contains. The woman exchanges the box with her bag, and nods at the man as he closes the box and starts to follow her while Two-face takes the bag and disappears into the shadows again. Jon can’t decide which one he should follow. He knows that it would be best to follow Two-face, he seems to be the one in a higher command level, but he’s also unarmed, and can’t reveal himself to anyone right now, so he turns on his heels instead until he’s far enough to hide between a crowd, and he drops the hoverboard to the ground so he can get on it again, heading straight to the tattoo shop.

He finds the siblings about to get inside, and Richard is the first one who spots him, turning his head up with a questioning look.

“Jon?” Stephanie turns to look at him as well, and Damian looks at him with slightly narrowed eyes, all the fun he had back at the bar exiting his system.

“Hey,” Jon greets back and looks directly at Damian. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

“What?” It’s Stephanie that speaks up, turning to look at Damian with confusion, but Richard slings an arm around her shoulder and drags her inside with a wide smile.

“Sure!” He tells Jon. “Come on, Steph!”

“But-” She starts, but Richard is already opening the door, and all of her words disappear behind it. Damian just stands there, looking at him with a blank expression.

“I have a good start on the Shimmer trade.” Damian furrows his brows slightly. “Someone called Two-face. With his face, well …” He motions with his hands. “Is split into two,” he explains. “And I know how to locate them.”

“You do?”

“They have a specific symbol. I can track it.” Damian stares at him for a long moment.

“Are you serious about this?”

“Dead serious.”

“Fine,” Damian sighs. “We can track them together.”

“Am I hearing partners?” Jon cocks an eyebrow with a smug smile.

“Just because you’d die without me by your side.”

“You’re too arrogant, but I’ll pretend I didn’t hear it.”

“Go home, Jon,” Damian tells him as he turns towards the shop, but Jon can hear the smile in his tone.

“I will seriously hit you if you ghosted me.”

“You can’t land a hit on me, but,” Damian turns to look at him again. “The least I can promise you is share my part of information as well.”

“I’m all ears.”

Damian stares at him for another long moment before he’s walking closer to him. “Listen, Jon. You can’t go around tracking people you barely know anything about. They will harm you, and they will know they’re being tailed.”

“I’m still in one piece, thank you very much.”

“Jon,” Damian says in a stern voice. “I know who Two-face is, you’re not bringing any new information to the table, but at this rate, I fear that you’ll die in the next two days.” Jon frowns at him. “I do salute your enthusiasm, though.”

Jon narrows his eyes at him. “You’re lying.”

“You’re an idiot,” Damian replies. “Stay low, for fuck’s sake.”

“It would literally kill you for me to know more than you do,” Jon huffs an irritated breath and steps back. “Fine, you know what? I don’t care what you do, either. I’ll go on my own, and you can go on your own.” He turns to leave, but is surprised when Damian grabs his arm and pulls him back.

“You’re insufferable.” Damian glares at him, and Jon finds himself being dragged into the shop. There’s no one at the register; Stephanie and Richard are most probably in their rooms, and Damian leads him down to the garage where Goliath is there. He’s alerted when they get down, and he approaches Damian enthusiastically, Jon managing to step back in time as Goliath draws its tongue over Damian’s side, and the latter groans loudly, but he accepts the notion of affection nonetheless. “Yes, Goliath. I missed you too, buddy.” Goliath turns to look at Jon, and Damian rubs his hand under Goliath’s chin. “It’s alright, Goliath is very friendly.” He turns to look at Jon over his shoulder. “Unless I tell him to bite your head off.”

“Yeah …” Jon replies slowly.

He descends the rest of the remaining stairs as Goliath trails after Damian who grabs his backpack and pulls the map Jon gave him out. Jon realizes that Damian had filled the map with more markings as he spreads it on the floor and crouches down next to it. Jon also notices the symbol drawn over one part of the map. Damian wasn’t lying.

“I knew who was trading what and where, though I’d give it to you, I didn’t know about the factories being on topside.” Damian points at one area of the map. “Two-face is violent; he kills and doesn’t stand down. Him, and many others who trade Shimmer. The problem isn’t us knowing, the problem is how we face them.” He moves his finger to the very far side of the map. “The Red Hood are just as violent, and they aren’t afraid to shoot anyone down, either. Now, we do share a common enemy, but that doesn’t mean that they’ll listen to us once we try to strike a deal with them. They provide an army, and we honestly have nothing they want.” He looks up at Jon. “I want Jason back, without the Shimmer effects on his brain and body, but that’s not something that Jason wants. Not the current Shimmer-infected-mind Jason. So even if we could create a large amount of that blue vial you have in stock, they’re pretty much useless.”

“I can create more,” Jon argues.

“Worse,” Damian tells him. “Imagine evil people who are high on drugs, ready to kill, and you provide them with a healing vial that makes them nearly invincible.”

“Yeah, alright. I get your point.” Jon turns his gaze down.

“I don’t want you to get tangled in all this mess, Jon.”

“Yeah, too late for that.” Jon looks up at him again. “I would trade everything to see the sun shining on my skin, Dame. You don’t get it.” Damian looks at him, gaze understanding for the first time.

“I need to speak to Jason. Just give me some time to think of a proper offer.”

“You don’t have to think alone.”

“I …” Damian sighs. “Very well, partner.” He looks at Jon with an amused smile, and Jon smirks back at him. Goliath nudges Damian’s side, and the latter laughs as he turns to him. “Of course, Goliath. You’re my first partner. No one is replacing you ever.”

⩩

Jon thinks that the longer he stays in the bat cave, the more his ears are getting used to the music despite it not being his taste. Or it could be because Damian is currently standing too close to him, but in Jon’s defense, he needs to listen to what Damian is saying.

“Her name is Rose Wilson. She’s Jason’s ex-girlfriend, but still a member of the Red Hood,” Damian tells him as they watch over the club from a corridor. “She likes to hang out here every now and then.” Jon follows Damian’s line of sight; he notices the eye patch, the silver hair, and her playful stance at the bar. “Approach her. Make a conversation or something.” Damian turns to look at him, and in all honesty, Jon doesn’t want to lead anyone on, it’s enough that he’s barely holding out his dates with Jay, but he takes a deep breath and nods at Damian as he slips out of the corridor. Damian follows a minute later, watching from a table as he orders a drink, eyes glancing casually around him that Jon knows it’s practiced. The bartender looks up at him when he walks over to the bar, and she doesn’t smile at him this time, only sighs as she pours him a drink.

“I can’t understand how the two of you got close,” she starts. “I know you’re not fuck buddies, Damian doesn’t do that, no matter how good you are.”

“Uh …”

“I don’t believe in the whole difference attracts shit,” she continues. “You’re not suited up for this place.”

“Maybe I’ve got more layers to me than you can see?”

“Sorry, but not a chance.” She gives him an apologetic smile, and then her attention is stolen by Rose as she turns to the bar with a lazy smile. “The usual?”

“You know me,” Rose replies, and the bartender pours her a drink. Rose pulls something from beneath her bra, and Jon’s eyes widen a little as he stares at the pink pill she drops into her drink before she gulps the liquor down. She’s casually consuming Shimmer, and no one seems to bat an eye at it. She notices Jon staring, and she turns to him with a wider smile. “You’re a newbie.”

“Everyone here is a regular, huh?”

Rose laughs at him. “You’re just not the type to be here, kid.”

“Why do everyone keep assuming that?” Jon furrows his brows. “And I’m not a kid.”

“Sure.” She shrugs and looks him up and down. “Whatever you say.”

“I’m Jon,” he introduces himself.

“Courier boy, I know who you are.” I know who you are. Fuck. Jon panics a little. The Red Hoot did target him before. And here he thought people knew him because of the hoverboard he always carries with him, the one he left behind at Wayne’s garage, currently being guarded by Goliath. “Rose,” she speaks up again, and she looks amused at Jon’s expression as she laughs again. “You’re cute, I like that.” She slides off her stool. “Wanna dance, pretty boy?”

Jon doesn’t like her too much, but he downs the rest of his drink and slides off his stool as well. “Sure.” The smile grows on her face and she immediately grabs his arms, pushing through the crowd at the dance floor until Jon feels a lot of people bumping at his sides. It doesn’t seem to bother anyone around though. The beat is too loud, too fast. Jon isn’t even sure how to dance to this kind of music, but everyone seems to be jumping and moving randomly that he doubts they’ll notice what he’s doing. Rose’s eyes are on him though, eyes sharp despite the movements of the dance floor, and Jon barely notices her hand before he feels it beneath his shirt when she gets too close, pulling the fabric up slightly.

“You’re ripped.”

“Thanks?” Jon says awkwardly. “I try to stay in shape.” And maybe it’s the training he did on the board that got his feet to steady when her hands trail lower, shamelessly grabbing his dick, fingers moving around his length over the fabric of his pants, and he bends down suddenly, body jerking in response to the sudden pull.

“Packed, too.”

“Do people normally fuck on the dance floor?” Rose’s eyes turn back to his face and sha laughs again, but thankfully she removes her hands from his body, and he pulls his shirt down.

“You’re a cutie pie, but I’ll grant your request at a private place shall you ever say it.”

“A table would be a good start,” Jon suggests, and she shrugs at him, but she isn’t dancing anymore, and Jon takes it as an agreement, so he leads her out of the dance floor, making sure they sit at a table far away from Damian. When she sits down, she flips her hair back, and Jon is able to see the red hood tattoo at the side of her neck. “You’re with the Red Hood.”

“I am,” she replies casually, but her eyes are watching his reaction closely.

“Would you be willing to review new applicants?” She raises her brows at him.

“Do you know what joining the Red Hood means?”

“Not exactly, no,” he replies truthfully. “But I know you’re after Shimmer.” She tilts her head, eyes narrowing at him. “And I can fight.”

“You’ve got a lot more on you than a couple of muscles, huh? How cute.” She moves before he can register, and Jon is surprised by a pair of lips slamming against his own. It’s a brief kiss though, and she retreats a little, face still close to him, watching his wide eyes with an amused smile, and she hums as she leans all the way back and stands up. “Alright, pretty boy. We can review your application,” she tells him. “Meet me in two days,” she says, blowing a kiss his way before she’s turning on her heels. Jon watches her until she hooks an arm around some guy, and they disappear to the bathroom. He blinks a couple of times before he slides off the booth, catching Damian’s gaze as he heads out, and soon enough, the man joins him on the streets.

“She said she’ll review my application,” Jon starts as he walks with Damian. “And that I can meet her in two days.”

“Jason will come down personally to assess you,” Damian explains. “And not in the club. They have a different location for that.”

“She didn’t really specify …”

“No, she wanted you to figure it out yourself.” Damian glances at him. “See if you’re worthy enough to actually meet the Red Hood. But we have no time for that.”

“Wouldn’t they notice?”

“Jason will know once I show up, anyway. I just needed him down here without his entourage,” he pauses. “Well, he will have his entourage. He just won’t shoot me down instantly. Gives me a couple of seconds to speak with him.”

“Alright. Gives me less to worry about, I guess,” Jon jokes. “I’ll need my hoverboard back then. Finish off a few deliveries while we wait.”

“Stay low, Kent,” Damian warns as he stops to turn and look at him. “I’m serious.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.”

⩩

Jon takes a deep breath as he looks over the area from above. He has his hoverboard attached to his legs just in case anything goes wrong. Damian led him to the meeting point the Red Hood uses, and it’s such an open area compared to the rest of the underground. The Red Hood aren’t afraid that someone might ambush them, and for them to not even change the meeting point over the days demonstrates how big of a group they really are. Jon descends swiftly, keeping the board hovering over the ground with a couple of inches separating them, and he sees Rose first, approaching him with a lazy smile.

“You’re wary.”

“I should be,” he replies.

“Not what we get most of the time, but hey,” she glances down at his hoverboard. “Guess you do earn an extra point for that.” It’s when Jon starts to notice the rest of the group closing in on him from all sides, and then one man behind Rose walks up to her, hands in his pockets as one of the men picks a chair and places it for him to sit down. He has a red mask covering all of his face so Jon can’t exactly tell what kind of expression he has on his face, but him simply sitting down in a casual manner with no weapons makes a shiver run down Jon’s spine. That’s Damian’s older brother?

“So, you’re the new boy?” Jason speaks up, voice distorted a lot behind the mask.

“Name’s Jon,” he replies.

“Jon,” Jason repeats slowly. “And you think that joining the Red Hood is just for taking down some Shimmer?”

“No,” Jon replies. “The trade is too deep into the city by now. I could’ve acquired it by any other means. I know why you’re after it.”

“And I figure you’ve gathered some random intel from the streets and think this is a mere child’s play?”

“You kill people. I know what you are.”

“You don’t,” Jason simply states, and Jon gulps. “So, what’s the real reason you’re here?” Jon looks at Jason, at Rose standing by his side, and the man circling around him with guns ready to shoot him down, and Jon really hates Damian at this specific minute.

Any minute now would be perfect.

“It is a real reason,” Jon replies, voice steady, because it’s true. “I know you’re trying to stop this whole Shimmer trade, and I want to help.”

“You’re not helping because you want to take down the Shimmer trade,” Jason replies. “But you’re right. People should have an option to choose if they want to consume Shimmer, and they should have an option to choose if they do not want to consume Shimmer.” Jason’s head tilts slightly. “But, by any means, the Red Hood isn’t your way to whatever your goal might be.”

“Then why are you meeting me here if you already knew what I’m after?”

Jason doesn’t reply straight away, leaning forward slightly. “Because what you have would be a great addition to the Red Hood,” he tells him, and Jon figures that if Damian and Richard know about Hextech, then surely Jason does, too. “But you should know that your path is blocked. There’s no return to what happens to your body.”

Shimmer. Toxic air at topside. Jon knows. “I’m aware.”

Jason leans back in his chair. “Then we have an agreement-”

“Just not on your terms, Todd.” Jon whips his head up, finding Damian standing on a building’s roof. Rose clicks her tongue in annoyance. “Think you might have a place for one more?” Damian jumps, and he lands next to Jon, and even though Jon had seen him do the flips before, it’s still just as impressive.

“Richard giving up on the family’s baby? Would never believe it.”

“Richard doesn’t know about me being here.”

“You and I both know that’s not true.”

“I got his hands full.”

“Causing trouble and expecting him to clean after you. Typical Damian behavior.”

“Keep his name out of your mouth. He’s been cleaning after your mess for a long while now,” Damian bites back, and Jason stays silent for a long moment before he removes his mask to look at Damian. “I’m not here to discuss what happened in the past, Todd. We kinda share a common goal right now, and I’m willing to join forces with you.”

“And do what? Hit a few people with that stick of yours?” Jason huffs a laugh. “Or are you actually willing to disobey Grayson and kill for real?” His tone drops. “I know you want to.”

“Grayson took me in after my parents’ death. I would never do that to him,” Damian replies quietly. “How I do what I do-” He glances at Jon. “How we do what we do, shouldn’t concern you,” he corrects, watching Jason’s eyes narrow at the two of them. “You know damn well how good a fighter I am.”

“I don’t want you on my team, Wayne.” Jason leans back. “Unless you can offer me the stones, I’m not interested.”

“They’re not mine to give, but trust me, I can be a pain in your ass if I wanted.”

“Is that a threat?”

“It’s whatever you want to consider it. You can either have me with you or against you.”

“Why you little-” Rose spits out.

“Deal,” Jason cuts her off with a smirk on his face. “You’re a nuisance, Wayne. And if the enemy can be at the receiving end of your bullshit, then I’m not saying no.”

⩩

Stephanie isn’t the one occupying the register today when Jon goes to the tattoo shop. It’s Richard, looking at Jon with a soft genuine albeit tired smile. He was obviously expecting him.

“Hey,” Jon greets, and Richard straightens behind the register.

“Hello, Jon,” he greets back. “Would you mind if I take a minute of your time?”

“Uh, sure?” Jon replies as he stands across from Richard at the register.

“You know, I really dislike the idea that Damian is pursuing the Red Hood again,” he starts. “Never liked it before, still hate it till now,” he sighs, gaze straying for a minute as he leans over the counter with his chin resting on his palm. “It’s difficult to put Damian down, I’ve taught him too much.” The smile grows on his face. “I just want you to know that I’m thankful he’s at least getting a friend out there with him.” He returns his gaze back to Jon. “Kara speaks about you sometimes … Well, all the time, actually,” he chuckles. “She’s a good friend.”

“She is,” Jon agrees with a smile.

“And I believe you’re a good kid, Jon,” Richard continues. “I truly hope that the both of you are coming back safely.”

“We’ll try our best,” Jon promises, and Richard’s smile softens.

“Damian is at the garage,” Richard informs him, and Jon waves at him before he’s heading downstairs. He doesn’t think he’ll ever get used to seeing Goliath, an actual monster pet that looks like a kitten as he sleeps soundly on the blankets. Damian turns to look at him over his shoulder when he hears his footsteps.

“Richard gave you the talk, didn’t he?” He sighs. “Sorry about that. He likes to do that sometimes. Like I’m a teenager going on my first date.”

“He just cares about his family,” Jon replies. “As much as you do, I’m sure.” Damian is dressed in a comfortable appeal; white oversized sweatshirt that contrasts his skin, pulled back at the elbows. And a pair of black thigh-high socks with two white stripes at the top. Jon’s memory takes him to the first time he saw Damian in the club, and he wonders if he’s wearing underwear beneath the sweatshirt.

“Sit on the couch,” Damian nods at the couch, and Jon glances at the items he’s holding in his hands as he approaches Jon. He places one of his knees between Jon’s legs while the other rests on his side, and Jon looks at the brush and inks he’s using. Jon’s hands hover over Damian’s calves for a second before they settle on the fabric of the couch instead.

“This is not a tattoo gun.”

“No, you genius,” Damian looks up at him with an annoyed glare. “The Red Hood has a tradition; whenever someone joins them, a neck tattoo of the cult is a must.” Damian leans over him as Jon turns his head to the side to give Damian access to his neck. “But we’re not getting that. It’s a pain in the ass deciding to burn your skin just to remove the damn thing.” Jon feels the ink on his skin as Damian trails the brush slowly. “Luckily for us, Jason knows we literally operate a tattoo shop, so he won’t question it when we show up with our tattoos already inked.” Damian leans back slightly, observing the symbol on Jon’s neck before he places a big strap over the tattoo and pressing down on it. “This fake tattoo would probably last for a couple of months.” Damian removes the strap and presses his fingers over the tattoo to make sure it cannot be erased before he’s standing up, and Jon’s hands trails after it as well, feeling the inks on his skin before he stands up as well and joins Damian at the table. He’s got the map of the topside spread, and Jon glances at the marks Damian has put.

“So, we’re really doing this.”

“You can back off now,” Damian looks at him. “Jason wouldn’t care.”

“I’m getting that sunburn on my skin, Damian,” Jon replies instead, and Damian smirks at him as he turns to face him fully, raising one hand in front of him.

“Well, then, partner. Are you ready to roll?”

Jon grins back and reaches to hold Damian’s hand, giving it a firm squeeze. “I was born ready, partner.”

⩩

Rose meets them to inform them of a test, still looking like she might shoot them anytime, but the glare is mostly on Damian.

“It’s a little mission to test your skills,” she explains. “I’ll be personally supervising you.”

“Jason wouldn’t send someone to supervise me,” Damian scoffs at her. “You’re just acting on your own.”

“Watch your mouth, Wayne,” she spits back, gun already raised in the air, and Jon quickly stands between them.

“So, what’s the task?” He asks Rose, and thankfully, she lowers the gun again as she turns to look at Jon.

“Here.” She hands him a folded paper, and Jon spreads it to view a drawing of the workshop Jay works at. “There is a far more concerning industry that Two-face has been working on than just trading liquid Shimmer. Our intel shows that there’s a device that’s using Shimmer for another goal. We want you to bring it.” Steal it. Jon eyes the drawing with concerned gaze. He knows Jay’s boss had met with Two-face for a specific trade. Damian snatches the drawing from Jon, eyeing it for a second before he’s folding the paper and tucking it into his pocket, rounding an arm around Jon’s waist as he drags him backwards.

“Don’t dare follow us or I’ll harm you for real,” Damian warns her with a glare over her shoulder, and Jon walks a few steps before he’s turning on his heels and falling in pace with Damian who removes his arm once he does. Rose spits at their backs, but she doesn’t attempt to follow them.

“Does she have a personal vendetta against you?” Jon asks once they’re far away from Rose.

“The entire Red Hood have personal vendetta against me,” Damian replies. “But she’s just pissed because her little encounter with you was planned by me.”

“Why do you have the entire Red Hood on your ass?”

“Because I’ve tried to bring Jason home?” Damian looks at him like he’s stupid. “Which in turn, would disband their small cult,” he continues. “You looked concerned about the drawing,” he tells him instead, and Jon sighs.

“I know someone working there,” he replies.

“Someone important?”

“He’s … Well, we’re sort of trying to date?” Jon replies awkwardly. “We’ve never truly made it past simple introductions though.”

“Do you like them?”

“I don’t know,” Jon replies truthfully. “But I don’t wish to harm him while we’re on our little task.”

“We’re not harming anyone,” Damian assures him. “If possible.”

“I’m serious, Damian.”

“I’m trying my best,” Damian replies as he glances his way. “For Richard, mostly.”

They approach the workshop with masks and hoods to cover their identities, and Jon watches as Damian swiftly handles all the workers inside the workshop, knocking them down before spraying a sedative drug at their faces to make them lose their consciousness. Jon glances at Jay briefly; lying helplessly on the floor as Damian searches him and pulls some keys from his pockets. At least Damian had kept his promise; not hitting them in any vital organs. There’s a locked door inside the workshop that Damian uses the keys on, and they find out that it’s a large inventory room once they get it unlocked.

“Fuck,” Damian curses as he looks over the boxes. “There are too many of them. We can’t search all of them.” He turns to look at Jon. “Don’t worry about your boyfriend. He’ll wake up with the rest of the workers in a couple of hours.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Jon replies as he walks inside the room. “And I already know which box we need to be looking for.” He glances at the multiple rows, trying to locate the one he saw Jay’s boss taking from Two-face.

“Boyfriend to be,” Damian corrects. “Which is surprising, really,” Damian replies.

“Why’s that?” Jon furrows his brows.

“Well, you’ve got the looks, the personality, and the charm that obviously keeps him still holding on to you despite your dates not going all too well,” Damian reasons. “Maybe you’re not even attracted to him.”

“I cannot judge him,” Jon frowns. “We barely know each other.”

“Well, maybe it’s time for you to move on to a better candidate,” Damian suggests as he appears in front of Jon with a large metal box, and two screwdrivers.

“And who might that be?” Jon raises his brows as they work on unlocking the box.

“It just happens that I know a very charming and beautiful blonde lady-”

“Are you hooking me up with your sister?” Jon asks with an irritated huff.

“She’s a really good choice,” Damian points out.

“You sound exactly like Kara,” Jon groans. “Please don’t attempt to match me with anyone, or place me in a similar Rose situation.”

“I owed Stephanie, so I did my best.” Damian shrugs, and Jon almost laughs at him, because Damian was certainly not trying his best. They get the lid open, and Damian pulls a device out which is shaped like an open helmet with a Shimmer injection in the back. When Damian presses his fingers at it, it presses forward, and he looks at Jon with furrowed brows.

“Fuck.”

⩩

The journey to topside is easier this time as they take the open road up without the Red Hood targeting their backs. Damian wears a red jacket that’s a bit too big on his frame as he barges into the Red Hood’s headquarters with the device in his hands. Jason appears to be waiting for them, sitting on a chair like it’s his throne, and perhaps it is from the way the rest of the group treats him. Damian throws the device in the air carelessly in front of Jason, his feet leaving the ground instantly as he kicks at the device until it crashes into the floor, breaking it apart, the pink fluid seeping into the cracks. Jason simply watches with a calm expression. Jon would admit that Damian actually looked way too cool showing off his fearless attitude.

“Looks like you’ve been reminiscing,” Jason comments. “Barging into my place with my jacket on your shoulders.”

“Just to be clear, Todd,” Damian ignores him. “We joined you for one main reason; to dismantle Shimmer, and to bring whatever other industries that are related to Shimmer,” he tells him. “We will not stand and watch while you use such technology as you please in this upcoming war. God knows you’ll destroy what remained of the underground and turn it into a similar place of blacks and greys.”

“You’ve always been a hot mess, Wayne,” Jason replies as he stands up from his chair and walks towards Damian, extending an arm his way. “You should have been joining me from the start, but Richard seemed to have already poisoned your mind.”

“Shimmer had already poisoned your mind, Todd,” Damian retorts. “We’ve completed your little test.”

“Oh, no, little bird,” Jason replies with a smirk. “We’re only getting started.”

⩩

“I genuinely thought that we might stay in the Red Hood bunkers or something.”

Damian sits across from him in a casual red crop tee that allows Jon to see the fishnets again above the waistband of his pants. He has a choker around his neck covering the tattoo while Jon had chosen to hide it with a turtleneck loose white tank top.

“You’ve got a wild imagination.” Damian gives him an amused smile. Jon can see Kara sending questioning looks his way ever since he came to the bar with Damian, but she hadn’t said anything to him yet as they asked for food. Damian’s gaze switches from him to something behind him, and he cocks an eyebrow. “Your boyfriend to be is here.”

“Please stop saying that,” Jon sighs, but he turns to look over his shoulder and spots Jay who notices him back and walks over to their table. He glances at Damian briefly with an uneasy expression on his face while the latter simply stares back. “Jay,” Jon greets. “How have you been doing?” He asks, scooting to the side so that Jay can sit down next to him. “I heard about the attack on the workshop.”

“Something so important got stolen from our inventory that all the staff got fired for it,” Jay sighs, and Jon winces visibly as glances at Damian who doesn’t seem to show any sort of empathy as he continues to eat like he hasn’t been the reason Jay had just lost his job. “I heard about this factory, a little further to the edges of the city, where this man named Harvey is hiring,” he tells him. “Me and my colleagues are going to check it out.”

“Good luck,” Jon offers with a genuine smile.

“Thanks,” Jay smiles back at him and looks at Damian for a moment before he turns back to Jon. “You know, this gives me a bit of spare time. A friend of mine says there’s this place where we could spend some time. Have fun. It’s called the Bat Cave.” Jon blinks a few times, opening his mouth and closing it before shrugging and smiling again.

“Yeah, sure. Why not?”

“Great.” Jay glances at Damian again before he’s standing up. “I’ll see you there, then.” He waves at Jon and leaves, and Jon turns to Damian again.

“You’re pathetic,” Damian tells him, and Jon frowns. “You should tell him you’re not interested.”

“He had just lost his job because of an action that we did, Dame!” Jon argues. “I cannot simply make him feel worse than he currently is.”

“You cannot act too nicely,” Damian points out. “He’s obviously interested in you, and you’re giving him the wrong idea.”

“That’s my problem to take care of.”

⩩

Jon spots Damian first.

He’s sitting in one of the booths, dressed in a tight latex bodysuit that covers his neck, save for a heart cut at the front of his throat where an obvious bite mark can be seen, then it’s a mess of stripes that ties somehow neatly at the side, his nipples visible from between them, perked up and swollen, another bite mark decorating one of them. He has one sleeve fully covered while the other remain bare, the bodysuit ending in circular cuts above the waistband of his high-waisted shorts, the button opened, zipper down, but they’re still around his hips, with fishnets making another appearance beneath, and Jon notices a cut in them at Damian’s thighs. There’s a straw between his teeth, lips slightly parted around it, and Jon barely misses his name being called out from behind, finding it extremely difficult to rip his gaze away from Damian. He does though, eventually, and turns to see Jay approaching him with a bright smile.

Jay wears a transparent crop top with neon green coloring the seams, pink heart nipple stickers beneath, and a pair of light-pink cargo pants. Jon furrows his brows at Jay’s appearance, and Jay laughs at his reaction.

“You definitely don’t get the dress code around here,” Jay points out, and Jon looks down at himself; causal blue t-shirt with denim pants and a wide white choker that he manages to craft recently to hide the tattoo at his neck. “I like the choker though,” Jay says.

“Thank you,” Jon replies with a frown before he nods at the bar. “You want a drink?”

“Sure.”

“How did it go at the factory?” Jon asks as they lean over the bar, Jay ordering two drinks for them.

“We’re accepted,” Jay turns to look at him as the bartender prepares their drinks. “They’re offering quite a generous pay, too. Guess it covers the distance since we’ll literally have to take walking trips back and forth.” The bartender slides the drinks their way. “Think I can hire you for a shorter ride?” Jay looks at him with a smirk, head tilted and body swaying slightly, and Jon forces a quick laugh.

“I have a busy schedule,” Jon reasons. “I’ll see what I can do.” When Jon reaches for his drink, the bartender gives him a curious look, but doesn’t say anything. When Jon glances at the tables again, Damian is no longer there, so he turns his gaze back on Jay, realizing that he might have liked the X nipple stickers on Damian better.

“You want to dance?” Jas interrupts his thoughts, and Jon’s gaze snap up at Jay’s face. He might have gotten the wrong idea about that.

“Yeah, sure,” Jon nods at him, downing his drink in one go and immediately coughing afterwards, feeling his head spinning.

“Easy there.” Jay quickly holds him, concerned eyes casted his way, and Jon raises a hand to signal that he’s okay.

“I might need to run to the bathroom first.”

“I’ll come with you-”

“No need,” Jon shakes his head. “It’s embarrassing as it is. I don’t want this to take a turn towards disgusting as well.”

“You’re thinking way too much about it,” Jay rolls his eyes. “Who hasn’t puked at least once inside a club?”

“I’m alright,” Jon assures him again. “It’ll be a sec,” he promises as he makes his way to the bathroom, and he isn’t exactly surprised to see Damian inside, looking at himself in the mirror as he fixes his attire; nipples covered, zipper up, and button closed. He can’t help the rip in the fishnets though. He looks at Jon through the mirror with furrowed brows when Jon hovers over the sink. “Have the Shimmer drinks made it to this club?”

Damian easily slides in front of him, fitting between Jon’s body and the sink as Jon steadies himself with both hands on the sink. His eyes have a flicker of concern in them as he cups Jon’s face and examines him, then he’s laughing at Jon as he drops his hands. “The amount of Shimmer that had been mixed with the drinks isn’t enough to show an immediate effect. You simply had a strong drink. And to calm your nerves down, no, those mixed drinks haven’t hit the market yet.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I just am,” Damian replies, still not moving, and still looking at Jon, so the latter takes a deep breath and leans back. “Did your boy-” he cuts himself off when Jon glares at him. “Did your friend arrive?” He corrects.

“Yeah,” Jon replies, and earns a barely contained laugh from Damian.

“Can’t believe you’re nervous.”

“I’m not,” Jon insists.

“You want to slip away?”

“I can’t ghost him like that,” Jon frowns.

“Alright, big guy,” Damian rolls his eyes as he pushes himself off the sink, and he grabs Jon’s elbow to lead him outside. He sends a smile Jay’s way when they get back at the bar, but the latter only scowls back at him. Damian orders a glass of water for Jon who eagerly gulps at it before he’s left alone with Jay once more.

“Sorry about that,” Jon apologizes. “I’m not quite used to strong drinks.”

“No, it’s me who should apologize,” Jay sighs. “I didn’t know you’re a lightweight. That’s on me.”

“Maybe it’s not the best option to head towards the dance floor tonight,” the bartender suggests.

“Yeah, a table would be fine,” Jon agrees, and there’s a waister showing them to an empty booth. It might have been the loud music, or it might have been the new alcohol in his system, but Jon can barely keep up with anything Jay is saying to him, and the latter obviously notices. “I’m sorry,” Jon apologizes again. “We keep having bummer dates, but I think I’ll have to end this one early, too.”

“No, that’s alright,” Jay dismisses him. “You probably can’t focus much after that drink. Let me walk you home.”

He walks with Jay until they reach Jon’s house, and even though the music is now gone, and Jon isn’t feeling drunk, he still can’t get hooked on whatever topis Jay had chosen to speak about. He waves Jay goodbye, entering his house with a deep sigh, and stopping right in his tracks when he notices Damian inside, clothes swapped for a fully covered apparel, holding the Goliath origami Jon had taken from him.

“How the fuck did you get inside?”

“I might know a thing or two about picking a lock.”

“No, you certainly do not know a thing or two about picking a lock,” Jon scoffs. “You stole a key.” When did it happen, is the question, though Jon would argue that there have been multiple occasions where Jon was merely distracted by Damian’s sole presence.

“Do you feel better now?” Damian asks as he puts the origami back on Jon’s nightstand.

“I’m alright.”

“Can you hold your own weight enough to go on a quick mission?” He turns to look at Jon.

“Where to?”

“We’re visiting our old friend, Harvey.” Jon furrows his brows at the name. Harvey. Jay’s new boss? “Harvey Dent had an unfortunate incident one day that sort of messed up with his brain,” Damian points to his own face. “Probably have had other consequences as well, like, for example, melted half of his face.”

“What?!” Jon’s eyes widen. “Why haven’t you told me this sooner?! I should be telling Jay!” He’s already turning on his heels, reaching for the doorknob, Jay couldn’t have gotten way too far. But Damian stops him with a tight grip on his wrist.

“Need I remind you that your precious boy is an adult who’s very well capable of making his own decisions?”

“You’re insane!”

“You have literally sold your soul to the devil by signing a contract with the Red Hood!” Damian glares at him. It manages to successfully shut Jon up, but the guilt still eats at him from the inside. “We need to follow Jay. He’ll take us to the factory.” Jon’s hands slide off from the knob, and Damian lets go. “Change your clothes.” And Jon does, opting for a similar outfit to before; a hood and a mask to cover his face, and they go off after Jay.

One of Jay’s colleagues is waiting for him at an entrance to what looks like an old abandoned mine, dug deeper into the mountain. There isn’t anyone living nearby, and Jon hadn’t honestly thought that this one was still active.

“How did your date go?”

“Not so great,” Jay mumbles a reply as he’s handed a small package. “This couldn’t wait till tomorrow?” Jay glares at the small package in his hands.

“The boss requested we all take the dosage today before coming to work in the morning.”

“That’s Shimmer,” Jon whispers, and for the second time today, Damian stops him from getting down to Jay with a tough grip on his arm, so he backs down again, waiting until Jay is done with conversating with his colleague and heads back home.

“Since you’re a big softie, I’ll head in without you,” Damian tells him as Jay approaches his house.

“You’re a total jerk,” Jon replies as he watches Damian wet a napkin with a liquid sedative.

“Don’t worry, won’t hit him too hard,” Damian tells him as he hops to the ground, starling Jay, but he barely has any time to react before Damian is placing the napkin over his nose, and he soon goes limp in Damian’s arms who drags him inside the house. With a deep sigh, Jon hops down as well and follows the two inside. Damian takes the bag from him, opening it to view a purple liquid inside a small vial, and Jon stares at it with furrowed brows, but before he gets to ask about it, Damian is tackled from behind, and Jon barely catches the vial in his hands before is shatters on the floor. Damian appears to be surprised as to why Jay is still conscious, but Jon can see the hint of purple in his eyes, and he realizes that it’s too late. Jay uses the element of surprise and reaches for Damian’s mask, but Jon acts quickly, holding Jay’s hands behind his back to stop him. Jay turns to look at him, obviously not recognizing him, and Damian uses this opportunity to kick at Jay’s head with too much force that makes Jon gasp as Jay falls to the ground, a little dizzy from the impact.

Jon is about to yell at Damian when the latter quickly pulls him to his feet and gestures to him with a finger over his mouth. Jon knows that he shouldn’t be talking, it would tell Jay who they are immediately, so he huffs an irritated breath instead as they make a run for it. Thankfully, Jay couldn’t follow them. They stop to catch their breaths, and Jon slides down the wall with both hands covering his face. He couldn’t save Jay; it’s too late.

“Sorry,” Damian tells him, a sincere tone in his voice. “I know how it feels to lose someone you care about to Shimmer.” Jon removes his hands to look at Damian who kneels down to his level, reaching with his hands to hold Jon’s face between them, and he looks into Jon’s eyes with a determined look. “We’ll save Jay. We’ll save Jason. And we’ll even save Rose. It’s why we’re doing this, Jon. For a better future. For all of us.” Jon takes a deep breath and nods at him, and Damian pats his cheek before he’s getting up and lending a hand to Jon as well.

⩩

They head up to topside again, back to the Red Hood headquarters, and Damian shows Jason the modified version of Shimmer that Two-face is working at in the mines.

“Have you confirmed what’s on the inside?” Jason asks as he rolls the purple vial between his fingers.

“Two-face wouldn’t be doing human experiments casually elsewhere,” Damian replies. “Trust me on this, Todd. I have a hunch, and it’s never wrong.”

“You’re an arrogant brat.”

“Works for your favor.”

“I’ll put you in the front lines.”

“Fine by me,” Damian replies, turning to look at Jon who nods at him. “You know I’ve never been a coward, Jason. Can’t say the same about you though.” This ticks Jason, and he shoots at Damian’s feet, the latter barely avoiding it with mere inches. Damian scoffs at him before he’s dragging Jon outside.

The Red Hood moves towards the mine, and Jon witnesses large numbers of people with weapons heading to the underground. He’d never seen the entire group move like this, and people of the underground certainly haven’t either. It’s a full-on army, and Jon switches his magical stone to the gauntlet as Damian attacks with his long stick. Two-face looks like he wasn’t expecting them as the guards outside are knocked down easily, and there aren’t many people inside the factory either. Jon takes a good look around the place, thankful that Jay isn’t around. Maybe it’s not his shift yet.

“My, my,” Two-face narrows his eyes at them. “So many intruders for just one simple man.”

“Drop the act, Harvey,” Rose aims for his head. “We know what you’ve been up to.”

“You do?” He asks with a wicked smile, and Jon is still disgusted at looking at his face, but their attention is successfully divided elsewhere, and Jon watches in shock as more people come flooding into the mine, wearing that sickening helmet. They don’t get much time to stop it before it happens, and Jon watches with terror as the purple fluid gets injected into their brains, turning the humans into monsters; purple veins and enlarged muscles, red angry eyes and inhuman screams out of their lungs.

For Damian and Jon, they’re merely knocking them down enough so they cannot fight anymore, waiting till the drug wears off so they can inject the antidote into their bodies. But the Red Hood are ruthless, bullets penetrating anywhere they can reach; brain, eyes, arms, legs. And Jon watches with sadness as the humans-turned-monsters drop to the ground, dead. Two-face is trying to escape, not caring much about his workers, but Jason aims at him through the chaos, and Damian screams Jason’s name but to no avail. Jason shoots Two-face straight in his heart, and the man drops lifelessly to the ground before he even gets to plead for mercy.

“We might have had gotten a thing or two out of him!” Damian argues. “They must have other hidden agendas.”

“You’ve still got a lot to learn, baby bird.”

Damian grits his teeth, and before Jason can turn back to the bloody battle, Damian launches at him, and Jon notices the blue injection in his hand. Rose notices and shoots at Damian, and Jon manages to block her attack just in time, holding her hand with the gauntlet so it misses, the shot scratching Damian’s hair instead of his head. Damian manages to inject the blue liquid into Jason’s neck whose limbs go limp once Damian does. Damian turns to look at Jon, and Jon understands the notion, quickly running towards him as Damian carries Jason, and Jon provides a shield for them as they leave the mine.

They stop behind a building when Jason starts moving on Damian’s back, so Damian drops him to the floor, and Jon tries to block more shots coming their way, but he isn’t sure that the gauntlet can take so much. Jason opens his eyes, and their color is devoid of that pink glow as he looks at Damian. Damian, whose face is almost always blank, actually tears up as he hugs Jason tightly.

“You definitely got softer during my time away,” Jason comments.

“Shut up, Todd,” Damian retorts as he pulls back. “You’ve always been the most emotional one among the entire family.” Jason huffs a laugh, immediately coughing afterwards, and he pukes a darker shade of normal blood. Jon believes it’s the medication effect. “Welcome back, big bro.” Damian eases a hand down Jason’s back.

“Uh, guys,” Jon calls as the Red Hood catches up to them, and Jon cannot stop them anymore.

“Stop!” Jason calls from behind as Damian helps him to stand. “Stand down,” he orders, and Rose eyes him with suspicious eyes, but she doesn’t raise her gun at them. “The factories on topside are still pretty much intact. We’ll need to take care of these as well.”

“I won’t leave you with him,” she nods at Damian.

“Two-face might not be in command anymore, but soon, someone else will. We need to move now,” he tells her, and she scoffs at them, but she leads the group back to topside. Jason sighs as he turns to look at Damian. “Sorry. I must have caused too much trouble for you.”

“It’s not me who you need to apologize to,” Damian replies. “Though I know that Richard would be happy about having you back more than he’s angry with you. In fact, I don’t think he’s angry at you at all.”

“Yeah,” Jason smiles. “That’s sounds like Richard, alright.”

“The drug would mostly stay in your system for a while,” Jon tells him. “You might experience more symptoms than just puking a little blood.”

“Not something that I’m not used to,” Jason replies. “My group needs me though.” He leans off Damian.

“We’re part of your group, too,” Damian reminds him, glancing at Jon, and the latter gives them a wide grin.

“Off to topside!”

⩩

Jon knocks on a familiar door, but he’s thankful that this time they’re not stealing anything, or hitting anyone. Jay opens the door, a little confused about seeing Jon, but he allows him inside. Jon notices with a frown that the interior had been thrashed.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, no, don’t mind that,” Jay dismisses, but Jon can see it, how his eyes flickers too quickly; how Jay’s body isn’t going to handle Shimmer at all.

“The Red Hood had been scattering through the underground lately.”

“Yeah, I’ve seen them,” Jay mumbles. “They’ve targeted the factory, too.”

“Were you aware?” Jon asks with a concerned gaze, and Jay’s shoulders drop.

“We don’t exactly have a luxurious life down here, Jon.”

“Yeah,” Jon replies with a sad tone as he glances around him again. “I’m sorry about that.”

“That’s not your fault.” Jay looks up at him, but Jon had hurt Jay, in one way or the other.

Jon reaches in his pockets, pulling the blue vial along with a syringe, and shows them to Jay. “The Red Hood sends an apology as well.” Jay looks at the items, brows furrowing. “It’ll remove the Shimmer effects.” Jay’s eyes snap up at him again, wide in surprise before they narrow. “Had been tested. I’ve seen it with my own eyes.”

“You know someone who’s been consuming Shimmer?”

“A friend of a friend.” Jon shrugs, and Jay looks at him for a solid minute before he’s sighing and sitting down.

“Yeah, okay,” he agrees. “It hasn’t been too well lately.”

“I’m sorry,” Jon repeats, but Jay dismisses him again. Jon pulls the liquid into the syringe before he sits down next to Jay and injects the needle into his skin, the latter wincing slightly. “It’ll take a while for Shimmer to completely leave your system, but the side effects are probably not worse than Shimmer’s side effects.”

“Yeah, I bet,” Jay chuckles. “It was cool to feel your body a little bit different, I guess, but to know that you’ll die afterwards isn’t too cool … thanks.”

“Least I can do,” Jon replies as he stands up.

“Will I be seeing you around the bar?” Jay asks, and Jon contemplates the thought for a minute, but he hates to be a jerk, so he sends Jay an apologetic smile.

“We’ll definitely run into each other, but I don’t think this will work between us, Jay.”

“You’re already set on somebody else,” Jay tells him, and Jon honestly cannot argue. “It’s Wayne, isn’t it?”

“Wouldn’t really matter,” Jon chooses to say, and Jay gives him a tight smile in return. “Goodbye, Jay.”

⩩

Jon wakes up to subtle noises inside his place, which is … Strange. He doesn’t own any pets, and he doesn’t have a roommate. Furrowing his brows, Jon blinks his eyes open, and groans loudly when he recognizes the figure of Damian Wayne looking through his closet.

“You should really stop entering people’s homes uninvited,” Jon tells him as he sits up, but Damian doesn’t seem to be bothered by whatever Jon is saying as he turns to look at him with a smile.

“Wanna see something cool?”

Jon glances at the bedside clock and grumbles. “Better be worth it.”

“It’s more than worth it,” Damian replies as he throws the items of clothing that he chose for Jon for him to get dressed. They ride to topside, and Jon is forced to walk into one of the factories remains after the Red Hood had destroyed it. There’s a crack in the floor that’s barely fitting for one person, and Damian hops down easily, followed by a bit-struggling Jon. It's yet another deserted room, albeit a little too clean for its surroundings. Damian stands in the middle, where a broken table is barely holding itself, and he pulls out the blue orb in his possession, placing it on top of the table. “Get out your own,” he tells Jon, who narrows his eyes at the table.

“Why?”

“Just do it, Jon.” Damian rolls his eyes at him.

“You could have word it better,” Jon tells him, but he’s removing the blue orb from the hoverboard already. “Can’t you choose the nicer words for once?” Jon places his orb next to Damian’s, and his breath is cut short when he sees the two little orbs moving on the table, electrical -or magical- lights starts emitting, forming a connection between the two, and they begin to float over the table. Damian steps back, and Jon is also forced to back away when the power generated from the orbs start growing. They release an immense magical energy towards the sky, blowing off the ceiling, and knocking both men against the wall in the process. Jon grunts in pain, barely able to see or hear Damian on the other side, but his gaze follows the blue light until it disappears between the clouds, a small hole left behind.

Jon is able to breathe then, but it’s shortly lived as a loud explosion is heard from above the clouds, the sound shattering more of their surroundings before the entire sky is colored in blue before the clouds start clearing out, and Jon watches in astonishment as he feels the sun warming his skin for the second time in his life. A wide grin stretches over his face as he realizes that it wouldn’t be the last time as the sunlight floods into the room.

“How …”

“This was apparently a laboratory, similar to the one you have beneath your home, one that managed to survive the war,” Damian explains. “I was able to find a diary of one of the scholars studying at the academy.”

“Holy fuck, Dames,” Jon turns his gaze towards the man. Damian is dusting off his clothes, a small smile still present on his lips, and he honestly thinks that Damian should smile more.

“It would still take a long while before the air actually clears out of toxins,” Damian continues. “But I believe the Red Hood, now led by a healthy conscious Jason, would do a great work of restoring the topside without people's greed aiming for the land and resources.”

“Thank you,” Jon says. “You really went out to search for this, didn’t you?”

“Shut up, I happened to stumble upon it,” Damian replies, and Jon beams at him. “Well, guess you’d need a ride now that you don’t have an active hoverboard anymore. I have the bike parked in the Red Hood headquarters.”

“Yeah, you totally had a ton of research for it,” Jon says as he walks towards Damian, and despite his lack of enthusiasm, he still allows Jon to hug him tightly, sighing and opting for a few pats himself before Jon lets him go. He rides behind Damian, like the time he’d saved him from the Red Hood, and Jon recalls the first time he had seen Damian as well. It might be his cool dark aura that he has all the time, or perhaps how beneath all those layers of hardened emotions, there’s a kind-hearted person who cares deeply for the people he loves, and that he's always willing to risk his life for them. But yes, Jon had been hooked, there’s no denying that.

Damian drives to Jon’s place, and Jon removes his mask before he reaches out to remove Damian’s as well, the latter giving him a confused look, but Jon leans in anyway, pressing his lips against Damian’s, and almost laughing at how Damian literally freezes in place.

“For someone who literally fakes an act every other day at the Bat Cave, you surely are jumpy,” Jon says as he pulls back.

“That’s different,” Damian replies, brows furrowed. “They aren’t someone I’m familiar with, and what the fuck is about faking acts?”

“You have quite a reputation, Dames. You can’t not know about that.” Damian rolls his eyes and turns his head away. “Also, it’s quite rude that you’re not giving me a reply right now.”

“Says the one who kept your not-boyfriend hanging.” Damian turns to look at him again.

“Are you coming in?” Jon asks instead, and Damian looks at him for a moment before he’s sighing and getting down from the motorcycle. It makes Jon smiles wide again as he walks backwards towards his door, unlocking it and allowing Damian inside, and the second the door is shut behind them, Jon leans in again for another kiss, but Damian isn’t surprised this time, rather pulling on Jon’s collar to bring him closer, and God, Jon had wanted to do that for a long while now. “What do you like?” Jon asks against Damian’s skin as he trails his lips to his jaw, grazing his teeth lightly before he slides down to his throat, that heart cut neckline vivid in his mind. Damian’s brows furrow again, and it’s not from pleasure, so Jon pulls back to look at him. “I don’t want you to fake your orgasm with me, too.”

“Jon …” Damian looks over him for a minute before he’s pulling Jon down again, but slowly, with no haste in his movements, and Jon likes that, too.

“I like you,” he tells him, and Jon’s eyes widen. Did he just hear Damian say he likes him? “Anything you’d do would most definitely make me orgasm for real.” Jon really bites his tongue, because if he said anything sarcastic, Damian would most definitely hit him for real, so he kisses Damian one more time before he’s leaning off him completely and walking backwards towards his bed.

Jon has had his fair share of kisses, but Damian’s make his head spin a little. He’s discarding his t-shirt when he feels Damian’s hands at his side, and uses his own hands to slide at Damian’s shirt to tug it off as well, pressing his lips to Damian’s neck again when they fall to the bed and Jon’s back hits the mattress with Damian on top of him. He’s a little saddened by not finding the nipple stickers; he’s wanted to play with them, see how sensitive Damian can be, how far he can tease him, but his own fingers would do for today as he brushes his thumbs against them, blood rushing south when Damian moans softly at his touch, and he presses his hips down against Jon’s growing erection, earning a moan from Jon against his skin.

There are still too many layers of clothing between them though, so Jon slides his hands down, unbuttoning Damian’s pants and pulling them down, his fingers catching on the thin string of his underwear, and is definitely makes his dick twitch. Damian raises his hips up, and Jon allows his gaze to wander down as he slides Damian’s pants out of the way, the string ending at a small triangle that got squeezed between his folds, and Jon’s mouth waters, wanting to get his tongue between Damian’s legs right this instant. Damian sits up fully, leaning back to take his pants off all the way, and Jon sits up as well to rotate their positions. He grabs Damian’s ankles before he can take off his underwear and pulls him down on the bed again, pressing a kiss at his abs before he darts his tongue at the skin, pressing it at his belly button and loving how Damian squirms beneath him before he’s sliding lower, trailing over the string until he gets between his folds, and he licks a fat strip over them, grazing his teeth at the top, and Damian brushes his fingers through Jon’s hair.

Jon spreads his folds, still keeping the fabric on the thong between them, and he presses his tongue against it again. If anything, he wants to rip them apart, or maybe just to the side, but Damian is releasing the most beautiful sounds, and maybe all he had ever wanted is some foreplay that no one bothers to give. Jon is more than eager to give it to him tonight. He presses his thumbs inside, rubbing at Damian’s inner walls, tongue still lapping over the fabric until he feels it too wet that he pulls out, keeping his fingers inside as he rises, slowly rubbing, and Damian looks at him with hooded eyes. Jon removes his hands completely as he adjusts his position, hovering over Damian’s face for a second, admiring the blush tainting his sun-kissed skin, barely visible, but Jon’s eyes had learned to pick on the subtle details when it comes to Damian. He leans down, capturing Damian’s lips in a more gentle kiss, feeling Damian’s hands cupping his face, trailing to his neck and chest and over his abs, in such a slow pace that makes Jon groan into his mouth. Damian’s fingers pull at Jon’s waistband, dragging his body lower, and Jon can’t stop the urge to thrust his hips, swallowing Damian’s moans along with his as the friction grows. It’s too much and not enough at the same time, and he shudders a breath as he pulls his hips away, allowing Damian to unzip his pants, and he sits up briefly, taking off his pants along with his underwear and throwing them carelessly on the floor.

Damian cocks an eyebrow at him when he settles back between his legs, but Jon ignores him for now as he places his hands around Damian’s waist, thumbs rubbing near his belly button as he lowers himself on his nipples, flicking a tongue on the bud before taking it into his mouth and sucking hard, making sure his teeth marks are visible when he bites down, and he’s more than satisfied with his work when he pulls back, Damian’s nipple is perked up and swollen just like the time he saw it in the club. He repeats the actions on the other nipple until he separates with a line of saliva connecting his mouth with Damian’s body.

He kisses Damian’s mouth again, holding his weight with an elbow on the bed as his other hand dives down between Damian’s folds, but this time, he swipes the fabric of his underwear to the side, keeping his thumb at his clit and rubbing at it harshly that makes Damian gasp, nails digging into Jon’s shoulders and biceps and teeth capturing Jon’s lower lip until it almost breaks. Jon’s dick brushes against the sheets, already leaking and hard and throbbing, and Jon replaces his fingers with his tip, pushing between Damian’s folds and moaning at the way his walls close in on him instantly.

“I’m actually surprised you’re too tight,” Jon says, and Damian manages a glare his way.

“Well, you’re not exactly the average size, Kent.”

“Is that pleasurable for you?” Jon asks as he pushes more of his length inside until he feels his tip colliding with Damian’s cervix, and the latter’s reply is lost. Jon doesn’t miss the way his thighs tensed, but he also doesn’t miss the way his insides literally flutter around him the more Jon pushes at that specific spot. He presses a kiss to the side of Damian’s face, lips stretching to a smirk against his cheek, and it definitely annoys Damian, though the pleasure keeps him from voicing his thoughts out loud. Jon leans back enough to move Damian’s legs over his shoulder, leaning over Damian again and almost losing it when Damian’s face contorts in absolute pleasure when Jon pushes deeper. It’s a mess of incoherent words exchanged between the two of them until Damian crumbles first, body twitching with the release of his orgasm, and Jon fucks him through it, head dizzy with his own pleasure building up, and his thrusts turn faster, and harder, and Damian cries from overstimulation as he comes for a second time, Jon’s orgasm following right after, and he honestly doesn’t believe anything could ever top that sole round of sex with Damian. Unless, perhaps, a second round.

“I’ll murder you in your sleep if you don’t pull out right this instant, Kent,” Damian manages to get out as they regain their breaths.

“You loved it,” Jon counters, but he pulls out as instructed, flopping down on the bed next to Damian and promising to get up and clean them both -along with the sheets- in a minute.

What he doesn’t expect though, is for Damian to be a cuddler, and hell, Jon can’t deny that his heart did a few leaps as he holds him close.

⩩

Stephanie is at the register as usual, and she beams at Jon when he enters. Luckily, her crush wasn’t too serious about him.

“You’re in for a tattoo?”

“Depends,” Jon smiles back at her. “Is Damian the one doing it?”

“Oh,” Stephanie blinks at him and laughs. “Oh, no.” She shakes her head. “Dames is honestly exceptionally good at most things, and he can do tattoos, but Richard is the one holding the inks while Dames does the piercings.”

“Piercings?” Jon asks with furrowed brows, and before Stephanie gets to answer him, the door to his right opens, and a man exits from it, slightly limping with an obvious tent in his pants. “Oh, that type of piercings.” Stephanie laughs at him.

“All types of piercings, really,” She corrects. “But, yeah, sometimes that, too.”

Jon waits until the man is out of the tattoo shop to walk into the room Damian is in, cleaning his tools to welcome the next customer. He sees Jon, and sends a smile his way.

“You know, I’m extremely jealous that you’re working on such intimate parts with other people,” Jon complains.

“Would you like a piercing yourself, then?” Damian asks with a cocked eyebrow and a smirk, and Jon thinks about it for a moment before wincing and shaking his head.

“No, not something that I’m interested in at the moment,” he replies. “I would accept a kiss in exchange, though.”

Damian laughs as he walks his way with a smirk, but instead of kissing Jon, he pushes the door behind him shut. “I don’t have a client scheduled for a little while. I can offer something more than just a simple kiss.”