I still don’t know what With Imagination is tbh. Previous parts: one, two, three, four
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They were in Los Angeles.
Well, technically they were on Hollywood Boulevard. Raven kept her hood up as she passed by the multitudes of tourists and street performers, feeling Talia’s disgust at the sheer amount of urine stains and garbage that littered the stars. The teen had already experienced the ‘wonders’ of this particular section of road after a mission gone awry and Beast Boy’s adamance that they relax before heading back to Jump; according to Robin’s reports from the rare times Bruce visited the west coast for business, she should’ve teleported them to Calabasas, or Brentwood, or even Santa Monica if they wanted to see the movie stars and celebrities instead of too-loud tourists with no grasp on the concept of personal space. And the mage would’ve had Harley not been so insistent on sightseeing.
And while she regretted it now, when they first met up in front of the Hollywood sign an hour prior Talia hadn’t given a damn where they were going, deciding to give Harley full rights to Raven’s skipped choice after their short lived meet-up in San Francisco nearly three weeks ago.
Unlike her friends, Gotham’s most beloved clown was having the time of her life; she’d already taken a selfie with Godzilla’s star of fame and had swiped three novelty t-shirts, aware that the Titan had certainly stopped to discreetly pay for them while the blonde rolled onwards. Harley cackled as she skated through the crowd of people, her laughter bubbling up an octave higher as she passed by the third imitation Raven in the last five blocks, the purple-wigged woman’s fanny pack filled to the brim with dollar bills from taking pictures.
The faux-Raven glared at the Titan as she passed, smelling of cigarette smoke as she sneered towards the girl, “Get off my turf.”
Despite her annoyance at how exposed they were around all the tourists, Talia couldn’t keep the shit-eating grin off her face at how deeply Raven sighed, the curl of her shoulders underneath her cloak speaking volumes. The assassin’s steps quickened as she tried to catch up with Harley as the Gothamite rounded a corner, hoping that the blonde’s enthusiastic twirling wouldn’t lend to her accidentally tumbling over someone. Following the red and blue-tipped pigtails and the rollerskates’ obnoxiously bright lights, Talia let her shoulders relax as she turned and spotted Harley taking an extra taco from a guy resting against a food truck.
Spinning in a circle as she savored the stickiness of car exhaust in the air, Harley took a bite of birria and thought of home. She turned at the honk of a horn, not stopping her chewing as Raven’s magic silently enveloped Talia’s hand to prevent the assassin from fully drawing whatever dagger she had strapped to her person.
The siren looked like a child in a candy store as she rolled up to her friends, blue eyes zeroing in on the ‘$15 tattoos, 15 minutes, no wait!’ sign not even a foot away. Lit up by the neon lights that adorned the tattoo parlor behind them, Talia looked murderous as she tried (and failed) to run a calming hand through her hair. The tourists gave the trio a wide berth at the sight; the parlor’s owner seemed hesitant to step out and shoo them away for loitering, obviously unsure if her blade was a plastic prop or not.
Brown lips curled into a frown at the inadvertent attention and Talia fully sheathed her dagger. Raven pinched between her eyes as the assassin hissed out, “Harley, why are we here of all the damned places?”
Bright blue eyes went wide, “Don’t tell me you’ve never wanted to visit La La Land!”
Green eyes narrowed and Talia let her nostrils flare. “I’m choosing the next place,” The assassin grumbled under her breath, shoving aside a passing tourist and stalking towards a barely lit alley.
Harley let out a laugh and called to her friend’s back, “C’mon, Tally Marks!”
At her shout, a tourist across the street let out a happy chortle as he noticed them, the flash of his camera going off in their direction. His voice carried over the sound of traffic as he blabbed to his family, “She’s got a really good Harley Quinn costume!” The headphoned teenager next to him rolled his eyes and let out a derisive, “Too bad she’s in the wrong city.”
Harley pouted at the remark and let Raven tug on her arm, her wheels lighting up neon as the pair followed Talia’s path. They ducked around a corner and into an alley, the shadows instinctively curling around the goth as Raven kept them against one side of the alley’s brick walls. Along the other side there was a man sitting at a fold-up table, his fanny pack filled with cash. He shuffled the well-worn deck of cards in his hands as he tried to sweet talk Talia into joining his scam disguised as a game, “C’mon, now! A gal as pretty as you wouldn’t be in an alley if she didn’t like to gamble, now would you?”
His words trailed off as the assassin merely lifted her elbow to partially brandish her dagger; the conman raised both palms in the air, “Fair enough, Doll.”
Raven’s steps hastened as she felt the violent pulse of Talia’s anger, not wanting either of her friends to be arrested during their outing. As the purple-haired hero stepped out of the shadows the man finally seemed to notice Harley and the Titan; grinning, he ashed his cigarette on one of the table’s metal legs and gestured to the card game, “You ladies wanna play?”
Talia aimed a scathing glare his way and the man held up his palms again, flawlessly hiding his nervousness at the air of lethality that cloaked the trio, “Get all three and you win. But you gotta put down at least a hundred each.”
“No thanks,” Raven hummed out. Her magic wrapped around Talia’s wrist as they kept going through the alley, seeing the neon of Harley’s skates in her periphery. The blonde eagerly rolled up in front of them, skating backwards as she chatted, “I dunno about this, Tal. We make a great team already--”
Raven let out a snort and Talia shook her head, “No.”
“--Let’s make some money off him!”
Talia narrowed her eyes and repeated again, a bit harsher but less forceful, “No.”
The clown smoothly rolled around the cracks in the concrete and the miscellaneous cans and bottles that tried and failed to trip her. A pout had worked its way into Harley’s voice, “But we gotta do something together! We’re tourists in La La Land, you two.”
“Oh!” Harley’s eyes went wide as she grinned at her friends, suddenly remembering why she had been so insistent to get them somewhere so public. Big baby blues were shining as the clown spread her arms, “We should go to the theater!”
Talia kept walking, glad that the wannabe scammer was intelligent enough not to keep trying to coax them into his games even as he so obviously tried to listen in on their conversation. Olive eyes scanned the area where the alley turned into an intersection, her attention on the streets around them as she jumped a broken down fence. Talia considered the sheer amount of people they’d seen along the storefronts and already knew the buzz of herded humans was not something she or Raven would like. Clicking her tongue, her rejection wasn’t as harsh with the lack of bright lights and noisy people around them, “No.”
“There’s a pretty famous pier if we head towards the ocean,” Raven shrugged out. “They’ve got vendors selling great strawberries on the side of the street if that’s better.”
“I do want food, but we need to steal--” Harley’s voice skipped at the look the Titan aimed her way, her excuse forming a new idea instantly, “--the night away and team up! Mess with some bad guys, get some food, flirt with our babes…”
Talia raised a brow at the last one, “Excuse me?”
Harley pretended not to notice, “Think of it! Rae’ll teleport us to get everyone and then we can head out! Kicking ass and taking names and eating cheesecake, the six of us--”
Talia cut in again, “Six?”
“Oh yeah, six.” The clown’s grin turned impish as she held up four fingers and a peace sign. The Gothamite tilted her head Raven’s way, “Remember when Moonbeam had to leave early when we were in SanFran? Well when I got home, Pam and Kitty were getting comfy.”
Purple eyes closed, “I don’t like where this is going.”
Harley wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pressing her cheek to the teen’s temple as she giggled out, “You should, Ray Ray!”
She brought her hands in front of their faces, her red and blue glitter nail polish sparkling as she spread her palms, showing off an invisible screen. Sighing happily, Harley tried to get her friends used to the idea, “Think of this: triple date night tonight!”
Before the two rejections could come, Harley rested her cheek on Raven’s head again, “You and Starshine, Pam and Kitty, Me and Tally Marks.”
Despite her better judgment, the Titan felt a lazy smile tug on her lips. She tilted her head to glance towards where Harley’s cheek touched her temple, “There are better ways to ask her out, you know.”
Grinning wide and turning on her heel, the siren abruptly flung herself into the assassin’s arms. Talia kept her face blank but couldn’t keep the hum out of her throat as Harley sing-songed, “So, what d’ya say, Tally Marks?”
She pressed a kiss to Talia’s cheek, leaving a black and red lipstick mark along tan skin. “Triple date night? You and me?”
Olive eyes closed and a sigh escaped. Despite her training, Talia couldn’t keep the tiny curl off her lips, especially when a pair of big blue eyes were batting their lashes up at her. The assassin hoped that Harley wasn’t close enough to feel the barest heat fill her face, “Fine. But I choose the place for our next outing.”
Harley could honestly admit to never paying attention to how amazing plants were at camouflage. It made sense to a certain extent with the natural world, but when one mixed Raven’s darkness with Pam’s powers, it gave the impression that Hell could be nothing more than a jungle on fire.
Sapphire eyes watched as cacti scuttled closer and vines slithered along the walls, hidden by the usual shadows. Their leaves curled in on themselves before they aimed towards Raven and the shadows darted away, forcing the plants to scramble into better hiding as Pam tried to keep the upper hand.
Harley ran a tongue over her teeth and forced out a laugh, sliding in between her kinda-girlfriend and her kinda-niece and tossing an arm around them both. “Come on, you two!” She pulled them close until their cheeks touched, spinning to beam at Talia and Kitty, “We can all get along, can’t we?”
Three glares and one look of pure apathy greeted her suggestion. “It’s bad enough you brought her--” Selina started, not taking her glare off of the assassin.
Ivy continued her sentence, all but sneering at the teen, “But why the fuck would we ever trust a hero?” The botanist’s glare deepened, the vines shifting in preparation again.
Emerald eyes widened half an inch as Raven forced to vines to stay in place, the darkness freezing the walls around them. The two superpowered women stared at each other for a long moment, uncaring to how Harley sheepishly squeezed their shoulders.
After an impossibly long minute, the clown started to squirm and the Titan shrugged, “Your grudges are fair enough.”
She lifted her hand and made sure that Poison Ivy saw the magic fall away from her palm. Raven silently lowered herself until she stood on the floor and crossed her arms over her chest, rolling her jaw once before offering an olive branch, “But from what Harley’s told me we both despise Zatanna.”
The redhead raised a brow, a humorless laugh escaping, “That’s it?”
“I’m also an empath.” Pam straightened her back at that information. Raven glanced at Catwoman out of the corner of her eye, addressing the green-skinned woman in front of her, “And I’d imagine that while I’m not as fond of her as you seem to be, we all don’t mind Harley dragging us away with her shenanigans.”
A pale hand raised from underneath her cloak, “That’s at least two things we have in common.”
Talia finally spoke up, “Three if you count having powers.”
Selina snorted at her interjection and Harley turned to them, her eyes brightening up as she tried to get her two friend groups to get along. Pam and Raven didn’t seem that close to killing each other, so she focused on getting Kitty and Talia from trying to glare each other out of existence, “And I bet you two have stuff in common too!”
Almost immediately after the words left her Harley sucked her teeth, wincing as she remembered the last time they had met. Raven shifted at the emotions in the room, letting out a silent hum as her shadows drifted closer to her.
Amethyst eyes flicked to Ivy as she let out a huff, “Not this again.”
The teen didn’t ask, but her question was loud in the air. Talia kept Selina in her line of sight as she shifted to explain, “We’ve had the same lover.”
Raven arched a brow, her mild amusement obvious even despite her hood shadowing half her face. She tilted her chin towards Ivy, “Batman seems to just attract criminals, doesn’t he?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Yes,” Talia hummed, displeasure rolling off her in waves. “He surrounds himself with more and more incompetence after every switch.”
Harley emphatically nodded her head at the statement behind her words. She patted the assassin’s arm, “Oh, so Batman ditched you? That’s rough, buddy.”
Selina narrowed her eyes despite the haughty smirk on her face, her hands curling into fists as she shot out to the goth, “He ditched her for me.”
“Wait, so you were the rebound? That’s rough too, Kitty.” Harley seemed to catch herself, her head snapping back to Talia. “I, uh, I mean…”
The blonde glanced at Raven, looking for some emphatic help. When nothing came she rushed out, “That sucks, my gals who can hopefully be pals?”
Raven crossed her arms over her chest, “This is an awful conversation.” Violet eyes turned to the botanist and she inched closer, “I’m sensing at least four deaths that have taken place here in the past two months. Care to show me around?”
Her request was met with a curious stare. After a contemplative moment the vines seemed to relax around them, a tangle of flowered stems curling to make a sort of hallway near their feet. A lazy grin curled black-lipsticked lips.
“Sure,” Ivy waved at the mystic to follow and away they went. Green shoulders shrugged, “If Robin--no, he’s a different bird now, right?”
“Nightwing.”
“Yeah. If he asks, they were all eco-terrorists that went missing.”
Raven snorted, her face curious as Pam added, a lilt to her voice, “There’s also a bunch of mushroom patches over their graves. They’re just full of poison; you’ll love them.”
The demoness perked up at that, “Any death caps?” Pine eyes flicked to her and Raven amended, “You’re Poison Ivy. I’d expect you to have at least a few of this planet’s best.”
“I’ve got better than that. Look up there,” Raven followed her pointed finger, her eyes lighting up as she spotted a white patch clumped along the rusty rivets. Pam watched as she floated up a few inches until they were practically the same height. A rare smile curled the stoic’s face, “I didn’t know Gotham was humid enough to support destroying angels…”
“You don’t know a lot about Gotham just yet.” The redhead nudged her elbow, starting to walk again. She bit her lip and decided to give this hero one allowance; if Harley loved her and she seemed morally gray enough to mingle with Batman’s enemies, then Raven was not yet trustworthy but slightly okay in her book. “And you can call me Pam, by the way.”
Raven tilted her head, giving the siren a thin but genuine smile, “Pam, then. Shall we go?” She motioned to where the vines were laid out for them to follow, “Those spirits aren’t going to be put to rest otherwise.”
Her words got an ‘Aha!’ and a snap as recognition filled the redhead’s aura, “Is that why all of our stuff has been moving around when we aren’t here? I told Harley no one alive was stupid enough to keep breaking into our place…”
Harley watched them go out the doors with a pout, turning back to see Talia had a hand on her sword’s hilt and Cat was tense, poised for a fight with her claws unretracted, if curled into fists.
Quickly skipping in between them, the blonde tried to stall.
Her hands clasped in front of her chest as she wiggled her shoulders, thinking of something, anything, to prevent the fighting before it really began. Not that she couldn’t take care of any brawls, of course, but her friends were supposed to be getting along, dammit!
When nothing came to mind, she thought of how she’d distract the Joker whenever he got in his funks. And while neither of the two villainesses in front of her seemed opposed to potentially joining her in bed (though that was more up Pam’s alley, honestly), the answer came to her: both Kitty and Tally Marks were awful when it came to withstanding annoyances.
Her eyes bright, the blonde spoke a single word.
“Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo--,” Harley held it for a few seconds, paused to take a breath, and continued on as long as she could, “--oooooooooooooooooo…”
A clawed finger jerked out to press against her lips, “Shut up.”
Talia tensed at the move and Harley twisted away to speak up again, “Right, right. Cool, cool, cool, this is so cool that we’re all meeting again like this.” Harley rubbed at the back of her neck as her eyes darted around the room, considering asking the cactus where Ivy and Birdie went off to.
But she was the bridge and she had to stall the inevitable fight (again). The clown clicked her tongue and spoke freely and impulsively, “So, you two both fucked Batsy then?”
Neither women moved but two green glares landed on her. Deciding that she had to out-tension them both, Harley flipped one of her pigtails over her shoulder, “Hey, at least y’all got something in common, amirite?”
She rocked on her heels, “I mean, jeez. Wanting to cuddle with raspy-voiced bats. I know that feeling.”
That got Talia’s attention. Her eyes didn’t stray from Catwoman, but her temple tilted towards her friend, “Are you in love with my Beloved as well?”
“Ugh. Gods, no,” Harley’s face scrunched up at the mere thought. Shaking her head, she puffed her chest and buffed her checkerboard nails on her shirt, “I’m more-a Fidget kinda gal, myself.”
When neither reacted the blonde looked between them, her eyes comically widening, almost in slow motion. Blinking rapidly, Harley let her astonishment fill her voice, “Please say you guys remember Fidget? He’s one of Disney’s best characters in one of their best movies. Of all time.”
Selina couldn’t hold back her snort and Harley waved her thinly-veiled mockery aside, answering the look of confusion on Talia’s face, “He was the bat in ‘the Great Mouse Detective.’ Great film, by the way.”
Blue eyes smugly bored into Cat’s face, “Waaaaay better than ‘the Aristocats,’ despite the lies Kitty may believe.”
Smiling, she strolled back to face her favorite evil heiress, “Now I wouldn’t so much as ever think of fucking him --y’know Kitty’s the furry of the group-- but I can see getting to know the baby. Maybe even plan a heist or three after Rati--”
Selina drawled out, “Don’t spoil her.”
Talia watched the way Harley’s face lit up, “So you have seen it!”
“Yes. You make us watch it all the time.”
“Well I didn’t realize you were so busy thinking of a different bat the whole time. I just figured you purring about milk was a feline thing. Sorry for assuming, Kit-Kat.”
Annoyed, an irritated sigh forced its way out of Talia. She rolled her jaw, her fingers drumming against the metal of her sword’s guard, “You two tire me in the worst of ways.”
A high-pitched laugh escaped Harley as she dove into a hug, her palms hastily wrapping around Talia’s waist to prevent the assassin’s sword from being unsheathed. Giggling against the taller woman’s shoulder Harley sighed into the air, “Ray Ray was right this is just awful. We can find a different connection besides Batman, right?”
Talia and Selina didn’t stop their glare-off but the blonde paid them no mind, her words coming a beat faster than usual, “Like how we all break the law! Or how you both really appreciate having me in your lives? Oh! What about how both your names end with ‘A,’ that’s gotta be worth something!”
Her nose scrunched as she kept thinking, the idea coming to her effortlessly after a few seconds of silence, “Oh! I got it!” She held out her hands, making a square out of her fingers and closing one eye as if painting a picture in the air. Harley’s grin was loud in her declaration, “Strawberry milkshakes.”
Selina let out a huff through her nose, “Neutral ground won’t keep us from wanting to kill each other, Harls.”
“You never know. That’s what happened with Tal and Rae and me. Oh!” Blonde brows jumped an inch above sapphire eyes as a place came to mind, “How about we go to that burger diner that the Bats sometimes goes to.”
Talia tilted her head to the side, knowing the girl’s connection to the city’s protectors. “I doubt Raven will agree to that.”
“She’ll agree. But it’ll be reluctant.” Harley pitched forward and aimed a finger gun to both, her smile widening to a grin, “Just like your truce.”
Two aggravated sighs came from her words and Catwoman’s lips tightened in annoyance, “Not likely.”
Talia glowered when the blonde clasped her hands above her collar, Harley’s growing pout accompanying her dilating eyes, “No. We’re not as susceptible as the other two to your looks.”
A lazy laugh slipped out of the blonde, “Something else y’all have in common?”
The assassin’s glower deepened at her words. And while she’d never admit to the troublesome way Harley’s eyes grew and her lower lip quivered, Talia had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep her resolve. Without putting too much attention on her rival, she knew Catwoman was doing the same.
Olive eyes rolled in annoyance and Talia sheathed her sword, grumbling out, “I won’t attack her tonight.”
Selina shrugged one shoulder and retracted her claws. She crossed her arms over her chest and glanced between the two, “These meetings only last the night, correct?”
“Yep!” Harley popped the ‘P,’ practically bouncing on her feet at the way the tension in the room was lessening. The clown looked like a kid in a candy store and both Bat-lovers rolled their eyes.
“Then I guess we can get along for a few hours.” The Cat glanced at Talia out of the corner of her eye, a tiny smirk quirking her lips, “For Harley’s sake.”
Talia tapped her nails on the table’s edge as she silently stirred her coffee, watching the milk swirl into the liquid.
Raven tossed her head back and downed the rest of hers, uncaring as she noted the hardened scrapes and the hidden message at the bottom of her cup.
Harley ripped off an edge of her brownie and began loudly chewing, amused to all hell at the predicament they found themselves in. She didn’t touch her iced mocha, letting it sweat onto the napkin and twisting the wet paper into a ball. Talia shot her a look as the clown flicked a piece of mush her way, rolling her eyes when the blonde snickered as the younger woman flicked it back.
A tendril of black magic silently swiped some of her dessert and Harley clicked her tongue. “Sooooo,” She couldn’t keep the amusement out of her voice if she tried, “Anyone’s drink poisoned?”
Dark emerald eyes flicked to the demoness as Raven merely shrugged out a nonchalant, “Mine was.”
Bright blue eyes glanced her way, unconcerned and curious, “Think mine is?”
“Probably. Talia’s too if she's not drinking anything.”
Her suggestion forced a snort out of the fighter, “Our assassins aren’t anywhere near that stupid.” Talia looked up and smirked at the two women, her shoulders lazily rising in what might have been misconstrued as a laugh. She brought the cup up to her lips, humming out, “They know better.”
Raven leaned back in her chair, squirming at the too-plush feeling of a cushion under her. Levitating an inch she tilted her head back until her hood fell, her violet gaze locking with a hidden assassin’s masked face. He stayed still as a statue but she felt the sharp tension that spiked his emotions. Lips curling, the demoness merely grinned at the man, her teeth sharp and four eyes glowing crimson for only a second.
He felt the shadows shift around him and ducked back into a better, far more hidden spying spot.
Talia sneered into her cup at his carelessness and Harley snickered, tossing an arm over the back of her chair. Speaking up as if the man’s silent interruption hadn’t even happened, Harley popped off the cap and took a sip of her coffee. “Yeah! And besides,” She giggled at the whipped cream on her nose, “Birdie’s here to heal us if anything goes wrong.”
“Awful mindset to have, Quinzel.”
She waved aside Talia's words. “Well yeah, but it’s true. Y’all know I--Oh.” She looked down at her stomach, not noticing how the other two glanced at her as she cut herself off. Blonde brows furrowed and Harley ran a tongue over her teeth, lazily lifting the plastic cup to her face. She gave a one-shouldered shrug, considering the fact that she probably shouldn’t have boba in her mocha, even if the almost-rhyme was fun to say.
The Gothamite glanced at Raven, wondering whether or not to break out the puppy dog routine. The Titan gave her a pointed look at the half-hearted guilt that hit her empathic shield, her face falling as Harley shrugged out, “This might’ve--probably had glass in it.”
Raven’s hands immediately glowed blue and Talia let out a breath through her nose. She hid her smile in the shadows of her hair but Harley noticed, waving her hand to blow a kiss in the brunette’s direction. Pale hands split from beyond the indigo cloak, one working on the siren’s throat and the other on her stomach.
Harley chuckled as she scooted their chairs together, remarkedly casual as the mage got to work on healing her.
Talia watched them curiously, quietly sipping her tea as the miniscule shards of glass were teleported onto the table, shrouded with black magic. She licked her lips, considering the two in front of her; the two she’d started a… friendship with.
Dark green eyes flicked to where she knew some more of her assassins were hiding just out of eyesight, poised and ready to end her visitors’ lives the moment she gave the signal. Not that she couldn’t finish them herself, but something awful twisted in the prodigy’s stomach at the mere thought of killing them at this point in time. Especially not when they’d travelled all this way just to see her.
Talia glared down into her coffee, conflicted. Despite her emotions (the very same emotions she knew that Raven was certainly privy too), her words were steady as she declared, not once faltering, “I’ll ensure that it won’t happen again.”
Harley’s face rose to meet hers but Raven didn’t look up. The hero’s head did tilt to the side and Talia assumed she was listening just as intently. Still, she had made her decision and was going to stick with it, “I’d rather not…” Her eyes shut as she tried to find the word, wondering why she felt the need to be honest with these two (of all people).
But the thought of them rejecting her popped up, yet alone the thought of them leaving her after a lie concerning whether or not they were targets. Well, that was just too much to think about and Talia really didn’t want to ponder about why that was. She rolled her jaw and pushed on, “I don’t wish to jeopardize…”
A brown hand waved in the air between the three of them, uncertain but honest, “Whatever this is.”
Raven’s lips curled into what could be a tiny smile, the motion hidden by the shadows of her face. But Harley was as open as ever, stretching as much as the healer would allow to grab her hand.
Talia didn’t make an effort to move, although when their fingertips could only brush together, she didn’t pull back.
The doctor held out her cup and Talia clinked their drinks together, her eyes barely widening as Harley tossed her head back and downed the rest of her tainted coffee in one swoop. Raven’s powers flickered and her brows scrunched for only a second, rising nearly to her cloaked hairline as Harley slung an arm around her shoulders.
The blonde wiped her mouth and leaned forward, placing an exaggeratedly loud smooch on the skin right above Raven’s gem. She giggled out, her words escaping in a sigh, “Y’all are the best.” The teen faltered for just a heartbeat at the casual affection and immediately got back to work, crackles of power zapping at her fingertips.
After a beat the mystic spoke again. “Unnecessary,” Raven murmured, her shoulders twitching as she carefully healed the miniscule scratches, a tendril of magic pulling another piece of brownie towards her again.
“But not unwanted,” Harley sing-songed out. She lazily rested her chin on top of Raven’s head, letting out a loud raspberry as she spotted another assassin, his sword accidentally glinting in the light. Sapphire eyes winked at him and Talia let out an annoyed sigh, softly rubbing her fingertips over the rim of her cup, the ceramic colder than Harley’s fingers had been.
After a calm few seconds, a rough sigh preceded a curl of magic wrapping around the legs of Talia’s chair, shifting the assassin closer. Both women glanced at the superhero; Raven’s shoulders moved in what could have been a shrug as she elected not to say anything, but it was enough.
Harley chuckled and leaned her weight half on her chair and half on Raven, sighing happily at the syrupy feel of the girl’s powers. The three sunk into a companionable sort of silence and green eyes closed.
Taking a slow, heavy breath Talia took another sip of tea, hearing the methodical clink! clink! clink! of tiny shards of glass land on the table.
Raven didn't necessarily regret giving Starfire what was basically permanent-access to her room, but she did regret being so casual in storing that pendant that Harley made for them a few weeks before. That night Talia had simply let the blonde wrap the braided twine around her wrist before they parted ways, her nose scrunching but her eyes brightening at the (presumably stolen) opal that shone like stained glass that now adorned her limb.
The Titan had simply wrapped the gift around her neck then placed it on her favorite bookshelf once she was back in the refuge of her room.
Of course, between a girls’ night-turned-sleepover and a rush to keep Silkie from eating yet another of her novels, Starfire found the little ornament. And while Raven would have waved aside any of the guys’ curiosities at where she found it (or when she even started wearing non-ring jewelry), she had gave in to the alien’s silent question.
Although ‘gave in’ was an understatement. In fact, her resolve all but buckled the moment the redhead’s gaze fell on her.
And that led them to now, floating just a few yards above one of the wires that made up the Golden State Bridge. The sky was surprisingly cloudless and the demoness’ magic cloaked them well. Taking a breath, Raven softly waved for the alien to follow her, silently pointing out the dangerous couple that sat under the bridge.
A soft gasp preceded Starfire's hand coming to rest on the cloak-covered shoulder. Her voice was low and worried, the two villainesses in her sights, "Raven…"
Her fingers nearly curled into a fist but black magic wove against her palm, stopping the energy’s glow before it could form. Green eyes flicked from the duo to the mage’s face as Raven murmured, "They won't fight us, I promise."
Starfire believed her, but still had to ask, “And you’re sure of that?”
Raven hesitated. When the alien’s head turned to her the words bubbled out, “We have an… agreement.”
The empath ran her tongue over her teeth at the warrior’s wave of disbelief, the admission escaping her in a flood, “No fighting or scheming or two-timing when we’re like this. It’s just the three of us… hanging out. I suppose.”
The end of her sentence lilted, as if Raven herself didn’t know exactly what the trio was. She shook her head (and tried not to let emotion sneak into her voice at the way Starfire was staring at her, good or not) and continued, “But they won’t be any more suspicious of you as they were of me when this started.”
Starfire glanced at the two villains and then back at the Titan, pulling her hand away from her shoulder, “How long?”
Raven didn’t even think to lie to lessen the blow, “Almost half a year now.”
The warrior closed her eyes, nodding slowly as she took all the information in. That matched up with the goth’s change in nighttime habits. And as much as she missed their shared late-night snacks with Silkie, Raven had yet to come home from her occasional excursions with any injuries. Although, half a year wasn’t too far from their triumph over Trigon, but the alien knew better than to ask now. Starfire’s eyes were brighter when she opened them again, a thread opening in her mind at her closest teammate’s choice.
Orange fingers touched the clasp to Raven’s coat, easily spreading the indigo apart to grab one of the mage’s hands. The stoic’s face wasn’t as blank as usual when Starfire quietly asked, "Yet you haven't told the others?"
Raven knew her question wasn't an actual query. The alien’s nostrils twitched at the silence, "Not even Robin?"
A brow arched over violet eyes, confused at the question. She blinked at the tall teen once, "Do you honestly think I wouldn't tell you first?"
Starfire tried to keep her laugh quiet, but her grin lit up her face and she pressed their foreheads together. Shoulders lightly shaking, she didn’t know if she savored the demoness’ gasp or the closeness of their bodies more. She squeezed Raven’s hand and giggled out, “Not really.”
Eyes opening, she tenderly smiled at the empath. Their faces were so close that they seemed squished, but her words were clear, “But if you think this is something you want, I’ll be by your side, my friend. Always.”
A quiet, comfortable silence passed between them and their locked eyes before the tiniest smile curled the mystic’s lips. Raven lifted her face until their noses brushed then ducked her head as she abruptly let the shadows release them, giving Talia a pointed look as the assassin's gaze immediately found their spot in the skies. After a beat Harley noticed the tension and looked to where the two Titans hovered, her face brightening as she waved.
Raven held her free palm up, turning to the redhead, "Ready?"
An emerald stare bored into her flushed face, "You truly trust them?"
"Not as much as the Titans, yet alone you, but I do." The empathy paused for a heartbeat as the words left her, and Starfire softly leaned close to kiss her temple. She got more hood than skin, but her empath tensed and then relaxed under the gesture. Starfire aimed an eager if reluctant smile at the goth, her body lowering an inch as she met Talia’s gaze.
She raised her chin, proudly and with as much confidence as only a warrior and a princess could, “I’m ready.”
--
“Took you long enough.”
Talia’s words were practically sneered out as she aimed a critical look over their new companion, her arms crossing. “Yeah,” Harley lazily strolled up and wrapped an arm around Raven’s shoulders. She winked at Starfire, “Y’all had Tally Marks getting impatient.”
The empath cut in before anything else could be said, “This is Starfire.” She slipped out of Harley’s grasp and stood between everyone, a small smile threatening to lighten her usually stoic face. All three women seemed to relax at the sight, if only slightly. Taking initiative since Raven was putting herself out so far for this, Starfire tilted her head as she glanced from Harley to Talia. She floated forward a few inches, a timid smile on her face.
“I… thought your name was Talia,” The alien said. Her eyes glanced at Harley as the clown jerked a thumb over her shoulder, bringing attention to the lines carved into the metal.
Raven shot the tall woman a look at the neatly etched destruction, but Talia merely shrugged. The assassin ran a tongue over her teeth, “We didn’t know if you were really going to show up. What with us being in your spot we figured we might as well have a timer.” Olive eyes shot to the redhead and she gave Raven another look, “Just in case.”
“I trust Star with this,” The demoness warned. She let some of her cloak fall away so she could wrap a hand around the warrior’s arm. Noting but not acknowledging the sideways glance her evil-inclined friends shared, yet alone the tiny jump and blush that dotted Starfire’s cheeks at her act, Raven added, “She’s the first and only one I’ve introduced this thing of ours to. So behav--”
Harley’s voice cut her off, “Introduced?”
The goth let out a huff at the interruption and Talia wrinkled her nose, focused on the rest of the sentence, “First?”
Starfire blinked and offered a smile as the blonde bounced up to her, a laughing sort of yelp escaping as Harley wrapped her in a hug, “Get in here, then!” Giggling, she hugged her back as hard as she knew she could allow, careful not to pop any ribs as she heard Talia take a step closer to the empath. Raven’s mutter was quiet, but Starfire knew that while Robin’s introduction would be important, it absolutely was set to come after Cyborg’s, at least a few more months in the future.
Harley took her attention as she let out cackle, pulling back to hold orange shoulders and take a good long look at the girl that Raven introduced to them. Her grin turned into a toothy smirk as she called over to the two brooders, “Hey Tal, Ray-Ray’s into redheads!” The clown winked at Talia and proudly shrugged a shoulder, “She’s got good taste.”
The doctor didn’t even try to hold back her amusement as both Titans flushed at her words, her laughter coming back as Raven pinched in between her eyes, “Behave.”
Starfire blushed as she scratched at her hair, avoiding Raven’s apologetic gaze as Harley teasingly shot out towards the assassin, “Although green eyed gals are just as fun.”
Talia rolled her eyes at the wink sent her way, her head snapping up as a light lit up downtown, a symphony of police sirens booming through the air a second later. She glanced at Raven but the demoness seemed unsure, violet eyes glancing around the parts of the city they could see from their spot. A breath escaped the teen then she spoke, “Doesn’t seem too bad; the police force can handle it but if it gets any worse we’ll go check it out.”
She glimpsed at her teammate to confirm and they shared a nod. But the villains (well, mainly Harley) were having far too much fun in participating in this trainwreck to let them go just like that.
“Ah,” Harley had obviously been taken with Starfire (but mostly with how Raven reacted when the alien was near), and she slung an arm around the teen’s shoulders. She had to go up on the tips of her toes to reach properly, but her smile was as shit-eating as possible as she sing-songed out, “Seems like Moonbeam just wants to gaze at some stars, huh?”
The redhead gave her a sideways glance, embarrassed at the teasing but comfortable enough to poke the older woman in the cheek, “Hush.”
Talia lazily strolled up to the alien’s other side, carefully considering her. She poked at a bronze bicep and nodded approvingly, “Super strength, correct?”
“And super durability, UV absorption, flight…” Emerald eyes inadvertently flicked to the goth, “Also instant language assimilation.”
Humming, Talia stood to her full height, “That’s impressive enough. At least she brought someone who can fight.” Starfire’s jaw twitched and the assassin tapped where her sword would have been held had they not met this way, adding, “Never in between us, of course. But this is a weakly protected city, you never know when your prowess will come in handy.”
As if on cue another light flashed through the sky, the explosion’s boom rumbling in their ears half a second later. Talia rolled her eyes, “Namudhiji.” She didn’t seem all too busy with the spotlights that lit up the sky. Typical.
Instead she craned her head back, looking at how the surge of light blocked off the sight of the stars. A brown hand ran through her long hair, unconcerned with the commotion. Her throat moved as she swallowed the air in her mouth, easily understanding what was to occur if the Titans had to go help out.
Only a few car alarms went off unsurprisingly; there wasn’t too much chaos this late at night but the heroes shared a look. Raven’s lips quirked down as she turned to the unlawful women she felt that she could call her friends, not knowing how to properly apologize for having to leave early.
The assassin tilted her head and mentally blamed her words on Harley’s observations, since now she couldn’t see anything else, “You two can go, don’t let us stop your date night.” Raven’s mouth opened indignantly and a dark finger pointed the teen’s way, “But you’re giving up half of a turn for sticking me with Harley for most of the night, Raven.”
Raven paused at the tiniest trickle of emotion that crept through the woman’s words, her eyes brightening at the same time Talia’s narrowed. Clicking her tongue, the empath let the closest thing to a smirk form on her lips, “Sorry for choosing this spot. I’ll arrange for you two to have a more romantic setting my next pick, then.”
Talia raised a brow at the mage and crossed her arms. She rolled her jaw but didn’t bother legitimizing the girl’s teasing with a reply, her gaze flicking between Starfire and Harley as they bid their goodbyes. Clapping the blonde on the shoulder, the redhead said something and the two let out simultaneous, loud bubbles of laughter.
The assassin tilted her chin, her face confident despite the horrid not-quite confessions they were tiptoeing around. She met the mystic’s gaze, looking more amused than she’d ever been, “You have a type.”
Honestly, they didn’t have to stay in the US. And even if they did they had certain areas of California, New Jersey… hell, basically anywhere that wasn’t constantly crawling with JL surveillance were prime meet-up spots. Any city in any country on any continent on this god-forsaken planet, so why? Why were they in Galveston? Of all places for Harley to choose…
But the clown had been adamant then and she was adamant now. Her (admittedly blood sprinkled) wheeled boots skipping against the wood, Harley skated to the very edge of the pier. A yelp escaped as her heelys caught in a knot and she tumbled head over end, catching herself with a springing handstand.
She shook her head as she shakily regained her balance, giggling to herself as she rolled further along the pier. Her friends’ silent questions were loud in the air and Harley did a little spin, her chuckles escaping louder. “Come on, you guys! Where else can we be just a few minutes away from Texas City! And look at all that water,” The blonde tossed her head back, laughing at the fine saltwater mist that hit her face.
Another loud laugh bubbled out of her, as Harley simply enjoyed the bright shine of the full moon on her skin and the uneasy creak of the wooden dock below her feet. Talia stepped up until they were shoulder to shoulder, taking a careful sniff of the sea air. Emerald eyes narrowed, partly in suspicion but mainly in confusion, “Have you ever even been to this Texas City place?”
The clown hesitated, her head tilting to the side as she thought back throughout her exploits, alongside Mister J or not, “Well, no. But it’s Texas City. In Texas! How funny is that?”
She nudged Talia with her shoulder, turning her head as Raven floated up on her other side. A wide grin spread her lips at the sight of the hero, “And my next choice is totally gonna be Aerial Acres.”
The demoness let out a sigh at the familiar name. Amethyst eyes narrowed in thought a second later as the answer came to her, “Is there a California City near there?”
“Oh you know it, Birdie!”
Harley’s words were excited and Talia paused despite the tiny smile that inadvertently graced her face. The assassin’s head tilted to the side and she tucked some hair behind her ear, “Do you think you’ll get a chance to do all fifty states?”
“I think we will.” Harley grinned and wrapped an arm around her two beloved partial-demons, rolling back and forward until her heelys lit up, “What’s the point of all this travelling if I’m not meeting up with my two favorite killjoys in every city imaginable?”
The assassin snorted at that. “Besides,” The blonde’s smile turned even more devious than usual, “If we keep near the shore I might even convince you two to get some bikinis. I’m not sure about you, but Ray Ray seems the strappy string type.”
Raven let out a sound that might have been a groan, but was probably just a sigh. “Harley, you are hilarious,” she deadpanned.
“Aw c’mon, Raebae!” Harley’s grin was finally reaching obnoxious levels, “Tell me you don’t get tons of beachtime in Jump.”
The girl shrugged, meeting Talia’s gaze as they leaned against the pier’s guardrails. Bubbly as ever, especially with the adrenaline of sneaking past the guards still flowing through her veins, Harley cheerfully rested her arm on the teen’s head. She couldn’t help herself, the demon was so short it was adorable, “What about you, Tal? When’s the last time you got some surfing in?”
The assassin leaned her head against her shoulders, “I don’t surf.” But her voice trailed off, wistful as she thought back to the last time she was near the ocean like this. Raven leaned forward at the subtle shift in her emotions, curious at what Talia was thinking of.
She didn’t have to wait long. The woman ran a hand through her long hair and, a short pause later, hummed out, “I stayed on the shore a while back… but I was with my Beloved.”
Harley raised a brow in question, lazily resting her chin atop Raven’s head. The Titan didn’t pull away; instead, she lifted her face and murmured an explanation, “She means Batman.”
“Ah,” The blonde nodded in realization then faltered. She blinked and met Talia’s gaze. Before they could consider their choices of finding out how the empath knew of Talia’s past relationship (and of what else she may know) Raven decided to get the inevitable out of the way early and offered the information, “I already know who he is; no need to worry and no need to pester.”
Harley tapped the dip in her cloak, her finger warm against her gem. Raven closed her eyes at the wave of exasperation that radiated off the blonde, “I don't even know but you do?! Ugh.”
She face planted down into the indigo cloak, sighing in good-natured annoyance at the unfairness of it all. Harley didn't see but she felt the dangerous vibes that Talia was giving off and she lifted her head again.
The clown clicked her tongue, guessing, “Robin told you?”
Raven shook her head immediately, noticing how the assassin's chin lifted a centimeter in thought. “He’s Nightwing now, but he didn’t have to. I’m an empath,” The hero shrugged, being careful not to disrupt Harley’s balance. “With the little that I knew, it’s not too hard to figure it out who either of them are, especially when their auras are rather… unique.”
Amethyst eyes shifted to the moonlit waves, pointedly ignoring the tense way Talia sized her up. This odd friendship was preventing her from being murdered and Talia from being sent to a different dimension, so she simply addressed the brunette, “For what it's worth he did complain a lot when you and Batman were together. Called you arrogant.”
Talia's gaze didn't stray from the girl's pale face but she let a tiny bit of tension leave her shoulders. Dick had had many trusted teammates throughout his brief life; the likelihood of all of them knowing wasn't the best but she decided that this particular conversation could wait, at the very least until it was just the two of them.
Emerald eyes flicked to Harley for a brief instant then went back to the wooden railing under her arms. She derisively waved the comment aside, “Nightwing is merely a child. He still has a lot to learn.”
Harley snorted. She leaned her cheek in her palm, her lashes fluttering shut as another wave of mist landed on her face. The siren drummed a nail against her lower lip, “You’re like two, maybe three years older than him.”
“She’s far older than that.”
Talia gave the Titan a look, running a tongue over her teeth. Then she glanced at Harley and reminded herself that patience was the best bet and haughtily admitted, “I’m just over 100 years old, actually.”
Raven’s brows jumped up at the number, the word escaping before she could think, “Impressive.”
The doctor agreed, bouncing up to sit stop the railing. She savored the sound of her wheels rolling against the air and added, “Right? Ten decades and Bloody Mary doesn’t even need a push-up bra.”
Talia gave her a look, missing how Raven hid half a smile behind her cloak.
Harley continued as if she wasn’t being glared at, “Though I gotta admit, didn't think Batsy was into older women.” The blonde drummed her fingers against her thigh, teasingly musing to herself, “Think Kitty’s got a few years on him?”
Raven shrugged, “Probably, people usually get more solitary in old age.”
Talia crossed her arms as she watched them talk. The empath’s eyes squinted out towards the sea, trying to remember, “Isn't Catwoman a loner too?”
“Well, yeah. But Bats is way more extra about it all. Like we once saw him brooding next to a gargoyle in the rain.” She shook her head, “Like yeah, Robin’s there sometimes but he’s that sorta ‘I gotta do it all myself’ loner. At least Kitty'll come to Pam and me if she needs anything.”
Talia hummed out a defense, “He's a private person, Harley. You aren't the type at all.”
Raven hummed in agreement, thinking of the scant times she'd met the man, at Dick’s side or otherwise. “Batman does put off some antisocial vibes.”
“Some?” Harley snickered, “Yeah, he’s a total hard ass.”
The assassin sighed out, the words escaping before she could think, “Oh, absolutely.”
Immediately, Raven’s nose scrunched up in horror and Harley let out a cackle, falling back. A beam of magic caught her wrists and she scrambled to regain her balance, giggling all the while. She jumped down from the railing and covered the mystic’s ears, her grin splitting her face, “Holy shit, Darlin! We have a child present!”
“Shut up.”
“Not funny.”
The siren slumped against the railing as she continued to laugh, taking far too much fun in how dark Talia’s cheeks were getting and how mortified Raven looked at the way their conversation was going.
“I didn’t think we’d ever get you to--”
Her teasing stopped at the sound of a dolphin breaching, its high pitched squeal filling the air. Almost immediately after there was the loud splat! of a clump of seaweed getting entangled along the rocky sand. The dolphin’s pod splashed around, their bodies just barely silhouetted in the moonlight.
Harley gasped and crouched on her heelys, eagerly slapping Raven’s shoulder at the incline that she needed to get over, “Push me, Moonbeam! I gotta see this!”
A shove of black magic sent her skating by at a troublingly fast pace, but she saw them. Dolphins. The blonde let out a giggle as she started using her momentum to go faster, using all the pier that she had to wave bye to them as the mammals swam past.
Then that speed caught up to her and she tumbled over the edge, jumping to get as much air as she could.
Raven’s magic caught her before she fell into the ocean, of course.
Harley let out a laugh that mingled with the rhythmic crash of waves, beaming at her friends as the mage set her down on the sand, a few feet from the water. Immediately a shine of something shiny caught her eye and the clown grabbed a stick, poking the pile of seaweed.
Up on the dock Raven watched her progress, stoic as Talia leveled a stare that surpassed Batman’s upon her. After a long minute the Titan turned to the woman, amethyst eyes settling on the sword’s hilt that was in clear view.
Of course. If she had constant access to her powers, why shouldn’t Talia have access to her weapons? Harley seemed to be the only one comfortable enough to not bring any aids from her own arsenal whenever they met up, and while they trusted Harley their own one-on-one relationship was… not as amiable.
Raven looked back up into that dangerously focused emerald gaze. “Talia,” She stared at the assassin for a long moment, her voice low. “I know these… excursions end at dawn, but the rest of the Titans won’t mind if I miss most of the day.” Her pale hands brushed aside her cloak as she hid them from view, the magic leaving as easily as it appeared.
Her eyes were practically black in the night as she leveled an almost-glare on the older woman, “We can talk without killing each other and without Harley having to babysit us, correct?”
The teen’s words weren’t a question. Talia smirked, although it didn’t reach her eyes, “I won’t hesitate to kill you.”
Raven’s face didn’t shift and the villainess hissed out, “You could become a villain just as easy as you act a hero. The fact that you were even able to find out--”
“Two years ago.”
Tan lips shut and she took a breath through her nose, continuing on without acknowledging the addition, “--is an unforgivable liability.”
Her fingers tensed against the hilt of her sword, but she didn’t unsheath it. Talia’s shoulders lowered half an inch, the tension still loud as she admitted, “But you don’t seem nearly as weak as Selina, so I’ll see.”
Something precarious slid between them as the sword was moved back in place, then an interruption before either could think too much about it. Their heads snapped to Harley as she let out a whoop, lifting a dinner plate sized clam out of the sand, “Hey look at this!”The creature obviously died years ago, its weathered shell completely empty. The siren glanced between the two, her emotions and body language pointing to how obviously relieved she was that their fight didn’t get physical. When she was certain she had their full attention, Harley was careful not to snap her find apart as she held the shells up to her chest, “Pam’s the redhead, but I can probably pull them off, dontcha think?”
Talia raised a brow and that was enough of an answer.
The siren reached back to fiddle with her bra’s clasp as she called out to them, “Y’all wanna see me try it on?”
When it feels like the whole world is against me, when I get up once again to march into it as though armed for battle, when there's absolutely no reason to go on except that I'm not willing to give up, when no one seems to see any merit to me being me, or at least, no one in the direction I have to go... and every question is an accusation... and even I have no defense except reasons...
Sometimes the day's victory is that your didn't turn around and go back instead. Sometimes the reward is that you're still yourself at the end of it.
The Red Queen: "If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!"
