bad damage comic: it takes everything in me not to kill professor zoom when i see him again. he ruined me. he disfigured me so badly that no one can ever see my face. not even the reader
good damage comic: i’m drinking a chocolate milkshake while vandal savage explains why i was kidnapped from my birth parents to be experimented on as a baby. he’s really nice to me
Hey guys you should all go and read my friends fic if you like D list blorbos like us and then come and talk to me about them
The End Of All (13031 words) by Dizzymixer
Chapters: 5/?
Fandom: DCU (Comics), Damage (DC Comics 1994), Justice Society of America (Comics), JSA
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Relationships: Tom Bronson/Grant Emerson, Tom Bronson & Ted Grant, Bart Allen & Grant Emerson, Tom Bronson & Maxine Hunkel, Grant Emerson & Al Rothstein, Tom Bronson & Al Rothstein
Characters: Tom Bronson, Grant Emerson (DCU), Maxine Hunkel, Ted Grant, Al Rothstein
Additional Tags: Grant Emerson is dead, Tom Bronson is Tommy Bronson to me, Tom has an attitude, Al Rothstein probably deserves better
Summary:
Grant has died and he leaves a world of pain in his wake. Tommy doesn't know how to keep going without him. He either has to work out how or... find another way out. Let nature take its course.
This story is a mediation on death, grief, and depression. If that's not for you then please don't read.
Father of Mine: Grant Wilson comes home to his apartment late one night to find that someone's left a baby on his doorstep with a vague note.
If You're Watching This...: After Bart is forced to attend his grandfather's boarding school, he starts to unravel slowly, and he starts keeping a video diary to document his unraveling sense of reality.
Three-Letter Word: AU where Roy adopted Grant Emerson and Bart Allen. Established family AU.
Mountain by the Sea: AU where Garth thinks he's the last merboy, and Arthur discovers him while pretending to be shipwrecked (his crewmates don't know he's a merman).
Obessed with the fact that teenage girls were writing in to dc comics after reading Damage to tell the team that they thought Grant was hot and excited that he was shirtless or being cute and referencing the issue numbers and page number of the panels. And then the damage team were calling them “Damage’s gal-pals”
anyway Grant and his tendencies to physically lashing out when he’s upset and then suddenly having to be insanely mindful of the world around him because he has the power to smash a car engine. And he has no idea when he’ll have strength or explode, just this ever mounting tension in his body. He hurt Wyldheart, he could have done a lot worse. He’s always felt out of control, it’s always been his impulse to swing when he was upset, something about habits, but now it’s deadly. Look what he did, after Zero Hour. He’s a literal ticking time bomb. He probably deserved to get hit back then, if John knew this was what he’d be able to do one day
Summary: Grant struggles to accept his new reality when Roy takes him in and enrolls him in Titans Academy. He must adjust to life at a boarding school and life with his new foster family (Roy and Lian). Can he learn to trust the people who claim to care about him? Or will he shut himself off from love altogether?
Chapters: 9/?
Characters: Grant Emerson, Roy Harper, Bart Allen, Toni Monetti, Cody Driscoll, Lian Harper, Jade Nguyen, Audrey Spears, Tommy Blake Jr.
Additional Tags: Father-Son Relationship, Boarding School AU, No Powers AU, Found Family, Second Chances, Roy Harper is a Legal Guardian, Roy Harper is a Father, POV First Person, Grant Emerson POV, Autistic Bart Allen
Chapter Nine: Therapist's Office
Kids who had kitchen duty got out of their last class early enough to make dinner. We made burgers and fries, and I was on fries. Roy ran around the kitchen, making sure everyone had what they needed, and he seemed to thrive in the noise and chaos of the kitchen. After dinner, we washed dishes together, which took forever, and I was exhausted, so I offered to take Lian and Tommy back to the house. Donna went with me, and she helped get the kids ready for bed while I showered and changed into my pajamas. Roy got there just before I went to bed, and he rubbed the back of his neck. “You okay?” Roy asked. I nodded. I stood kind of frozen, nervous about the idea of him being in my bedroom. “You sure?”
“Uh-huh. Is Donna still here?” I asked.
“Yeah, do you want me to go get her?” Roy asked. I shook my head. “I just wanted to tell you that I’m proud of you… and I could put on a little bit of cocoa if you’re up to having some.”
“No, thanks. I’m a little bit tired,” I replied. Roy nodded.
“Okay. Goodnight,” Roy replied.
I said goodnight in return, and I stood perfectly still until he left the room. He didn’t linger, but I think he felt like he left off on a weird note or something. I shut my door and climbed into bed, and I shut my eyes, but I couldn’t sleep. It was such a weird feeling. My skin felt prickly like the feeling when my leg would fall asleep, but I felt it all over. I started feeling panicked, so I got out of bed and went to the kitchen, where I could hear Roy talking to Donna. I stopped, and Roy’s smile faded before he whispered something to her. Then, he stepped over to me, but not so close to where he was in my personal space.
“Something’s wrong. What’s wrong?” Roy asked.
I couldn’t explain it. I couldn’t even talk. Roy squinted at me, and he held up his hand like he wanted to feel my forehead. I leaned forward, and he made a soft noise. “You’re clammy, but you don’t have a fever. Want some tea?” Roy asked. I nodded.”Okay. I’ll bring it to you.”
I sat on the couch and curled up under his throw blanket and waited for him, but I was half-asleep by the time I heard the kettle whistling. Roy brought the mug to me a few minutes later, and I felt inexplicably calm. “Donna went home… You wanna talk about what’s wrong?” Roy asked. “Did I do something?”
“No. It’s not something you did… I was thinking about something from a long time ago,” I replied. I didn’t want to get into it. He didn’t push me to talk about it. He just sat with me and drank tea. “Roy?”
“What’s up?” Roy asked.
“Why’d you come and get me?” I questioned.
“Honest answer? I don’t think the court system gave you a fair chance. It didn’t take a whole lot of string-pulling to get you into this school. I don’t think they knew what they wanted to do with you… and I think everybody needs a family,” Roy replied. I could tell he meant it. I just couldn’t imagine a world where he didn’t want something in return.
“What do you get out of this?” I asked.
“I can go to sleep at night knowing that I did the right thing when I had the chance to,” Roy replied.
**
I woke up and immediately started on my chores with Roy. He was a little shocked to see me get up on my own, but I was starting to get used to the early mornings. That weird feeling of distrust had subsided a little bit, and I was back to feeling normal around him. I knew I couldn’t judge him for stuff that other people did. He was different. Roy was safe. I didn’t want to fully let my guard down, but I think he was okay.
“You’ve got private therapy today… Some kids feel more comfortable having a den mom or dad present, but you don’t have to if you feel better going in alone. They can’t tell me what goes on in there unless you say it’s okay, or if you are a danger to yourself or others. Okay?” Roy asked.
“Has anybody ever asked you to sit in on appointments?” I questioned in reply.
“Not the first few usually, but yeah. I’ve been asked. I can’t tell you who, but yeah. It’s usually something that comes with a few weeks of building trust with each other,” Roy explained. “Just let me know beforehand.”
“Okay. I think I’ll be fine by myself today,” I replied. Roy nodded. I think he didn’t mind either way.
**
The therapist was maybe the same age or a little older than the counselors, and she had the kind of killer looks that could’ve made her a model, but she had the kind of demeanor that made me think she was a little unsure of herself. “Hi, Grant. I’m Mae Kent. You can call me Mae, and I just wanna start by saying this is a judgment free zone. Well, you’re free to be a little judgmental. This is your safe space,” Mae explained. I looked around the room, and I couldn’t really get a sense of what kind of person she was from the looks of it. She had board games and video games, puzzles and books, puppets and dolls, yoga mats and scented candles. It was weird. She had everything you could think of in one office, but nothing about the office could give me an idea of what she was like.
“So, do I tell you about my feelings or something?” I asked.
“Um… If you feel comfortable, it makes the therapy session go smoother. Maybe we can start with how the transition to boarding school’s been. How are you dealing with that change?” Mae questioned in reply.
“Well, it’s not at all what I expected it to be. I mean, the kids are nice, and there’s a lot of actual support. It’s not like what I thought it’d be when the judge let me go,” I answered.
“What did you expect?” Mae asked.
“Prison dressed up like a nice school… It’s not at all like that. I think they actually care about us here. Especially, Roy,” I replied. Mae looked at me and nodded. “He’s not like any adult I knew. He listens, and he’s patient. I think he actually does trust that I’ll do the right thing, and he’s a lot like a parent, but he’s not like my—” I trailed off. I had to get used to the fact that those people were not my parents. I was alone. Or at least I would’ve been if Roy hadn’t taken me in.
“Like the people who raised you?” Mae asked. I nodded. “What were they like?”
“I thought my mom was just like most moms. She made breakfast and dinner, and she left little notes and junk in my lunch. It wasn’t real, though. They were doing a lot of illegal junk, and I was supposed to be their life’s work. I mean, I used to think she loved me… I miss her sometimes, and I know it’s just because I was used to her,” I explained. I didn’t want to talk about him. I couldn’t think about him too long or else I’d get upset. I think I tried once during all the court stuff with my court-appointed lawyer, but I started getting angry, and I couldn’t say what I wanted to say without feeling sick. My heart started pounding, and I couldn’t speak. Then, I started feeling that static-y pins and needles feeling all over my body. I was starting to feel it again without even mentioning him. I thought Mae would ask about him, and I rocked back and forth without thinking of how crazy it looked because my stomach started to hurt.
“We don’t have to talk about them if it’s too soon. Are you feeling sick?” Mae asked. I shook my head. “Well, maybe there’s something you’d like to talk about.”
I was so desperate to get off the subject of my parents that I started talking without really thinking. “Roy’s been nice to me. I think he cares about me… It’s hard to tell sometimes. He treats Tommy and me the same way he treats Lian. It’s like all of us are his kids. I appreciate it because I know he didn’t have to come out all that way to get me. He didn’t even have to take me into his house. He could’ve put me in a dorm with the other kids, but he’s treating me like his kid.
“I guess I feel nice knowing that he’s around. He seems like he wants me there,” I rambled.
“Do you feel like he might be pretending to care about you?” Mae questioned.
“People have done it before. I spent my whole life thinking my parents cared about me. They weren’t even my parents. They didn’t even want a kid. They just took me because I was part of some illegal thing that they wanted to cover up. I don’t even know much about it because they’re gone,” I answered.
“Did you feel safe before Roy came along? And does he make you feel safe now?” Mae asked.
“Sometimes I feel like it’s the same thing, but it’s so different. It’s like he doesn’t want anything from anybody,” I replied. “Even when I was a kid, I could kind of tell that they expected something from me. I never knew what, but I knew they wanted me to be something, and they just wouldn’t tell me what it was. Roy doesn’t want anything from me. I think…”
