Don't Tell Me Not to Fly - Chapter Two
Title: Don't Tell Me Not to Fly
Fandom(s): DC Comics
Character(s): Lian Harper.
Rating: PG-13 for some creepiness.
Summary: Lian Harper came back to life in a world where heroes and villains never seem to stay dead. Now old enough to hold her own as a hero, Lian searches out the undisputed master of non-powered heroes in an age of superpowers. But Lian might not be the only one that has come back to life...
Acknowledgments:![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
draconic_voices was the most fantastic beta ever, putting up with my absolute writer insanity. All remaining mistakes are completely mine. And thanks to iceshade, who shoved me back on track when I plateaued.
Complement:bliumchik put together an amazing mix to go along with this fic. It can be found here.
Flight Masterpost
Interlude: 5 Times Jess Met Everybody
Chapter Two
“So, newbie.”
Lian wheeled around, hand going to her belt automatically. Good, she wasn’t reaching for a quiver anymore.
“Relax!” the woman behind her said with a laugh. Her blonde hair was clipped back from her face, and she was wearing a full cowl. Lian wracked her brain for a name, and then a second woman landed on the roof next to the first.
“I’m Stephanie Brown.” the blonde said as she held out a hand to shake. Her outfit was a combination of deep purple – eggplant - and black, with no identifiable insignia. No, there it was, a bat on one of the pockets on her belt; subtle, but enough for quick identification if necessary.
“And this is Cass,” Stephanie said, jerking her thumb at the second woman, who was dressed entirely in black.
Lian wanted to ask them what they were doing in Gotham; everyone knew they tended to cover Chicago these days, both preferring to maintain a long-distance relationship with Bruce. In fact, if she recalled correctly, they were more affiliated with the Oracle Network now, as opposed to answering directly to Batman; which made sense if you considered Stephanie’s history with Tim Drake.
“And the voice in your ear is Oracle.”
“Hey.”
“But I think you’ve already met.”
Lian considered how you told someone that they were basically your own personal hero Might come off as a little dorky.
“So,” Stephanie said, turning Lian around so they were facing the Goliath National Bank building. Cassandra Cain came to stand on Lian’s other side. “How do you feel about a little...corporate espionage?”
An hour later, Lian was suspended by two ropes so thin they were invisible when viewed from the side, wearing a breathing mask to avoid tripping the limited range CO2 filters in the vaults.
“Vault 182” Oracle’s computer-modulated voice coolly reminded her.
“Careful!” Stephanie cheerfully repeated.
“Slower” Cassandra cautioned.
Lian grinned though the plastic. 400 steady breaths left. Eighteen alarms keyed to all sorts of different changes in the vaults. Two laser barriers to get back out. At least one security dog on a randomized sweep of the building.
Didn’t mean training couldn’t be fun.
Afterward they let her ride in the helicopter, while Stephanie cheerfully reported a successful mission over her headset to the computer-modulated voice at the heart of the Oracle network’s information-gathering web.
Most of the people who worked with the network were women with Misfit being their most prominent field operative, but Oracle was generally agreed by the caped community to be a man. Lian knew better, though. There were a lot of good reasons for the misdirection, and Lian loved to listen to the different theories on Oracle's identity and their various justifications . They provided entertainment when Lian met new heroes at the Tower or JLA headquarters. Barbara had been at the funeral for Uncle Dick, and Lian had met her then; not that she’d known about her dual identity for a few years, not until Aunt Dinah had insisted that she be told.
These days Barbara wasn’t the only woman behind the voice of Oracle. Wendy was there too, and a few others, but when in Gotham City it was a good bet that Barbara Gordon was on the other end of the line.
A bet that was confirmed when Oracle signed off with a “See you Friday night!” to the whole group.
“You’re all staying?” Lian asked.
Cassandra shrugged.
“Sure, why not?” Stephanie said, almost too casually. “Tim’s on Mars or something with the JLA, right?”
Lian spread her hands in a “how would I know?” gesture. In her nearly three months in Gotham, she had seen Tim Drake a handful of times, mostly at dinners. He covered Batman’s international and intergalactic duties most days – the JLA, the occasional Titans call - or helped out his huge network of friends and connections. Bruce covered Gotham City, and they sort of shared the role of Batman. Sort of, because Tim deferred to Bruce all the time, and they never patrolled on the same nights when Tim was in town. While Uncle Ollie had been totally relaxed about sharing a title with Uncle Connor, Bruce and Tim had a set of iron-clad rules that even Damian admitted to not fully understanding.
Stephanie nodded back at Lian. “So, I'll be there. I always love Alfred’s dinners. You know he only started them after Bruce came back? I think they were to try and give Damian some sort of normalcy after Dick left. Because that house wasn’t-”
“It would be nice to see Alfred.” Cassandra interrupted softly.
Stephanie blinked, and then grinned. “Yep. Hey, new girl, wanna take the ‘copter for a spin?”
Lian spent the next two hours learning how to fly a helicopter, which Stephanie assured her would be an invaluable skill at some point in her life.
That night Lian called Aunt Dinah and babbled for a good thirty minutes about Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain (who hadn’t said a word to her last time). Aunt Dinah called her back later to give a thumbs-up from Oracle and Lian practically glowed for the rest of the week. It wasn’t like she was getting any praise – indirect or otherwise – from the Bat-crew.
Aunt Dinah was brilliant and amazing, and for all intents and purposes had been Lian’s mother for years. Lian loved her more than most things, and when she was having all sorts of trouble it was Aunt Dinah she called, because Dad was always too close to the conflict, and Aunt Donna was on Dad’s side. So was Aunt Dinah, but in a different way; Aunt Dinah would hide things from Dad if they were things he shouldn’t know. Aunt Donna never would. Which Lian could handle; you just had to know what to say to whom and make sure that you never contradicted yourself. Good practice for the field.
That Friday night dinner was unusually fun. It was almost shocking to see Damian - Damian - joking with Stephanie. Steph even managed to fling a spoonful of peas at him behind Bruce’s back. They all burst out laughing before he turned around. It was fantastic.
Interlude: Cerdian's Story
Fandom(s): DC Comics
Character(s): Lian Harper.
Rating: PG-13 for some creepiness.
Summary: Lian Harper came back to life in a world where heroes and villains never seem to stay dead. Now old enough to hold her own as a hero, Lian searches out the undisputed master of non-powered heroes in an age of superpowers. But Lian might not be the only one that has come back to life...
Acknowledgments:
draconic_voices was the most fantastic beta ever, putting up with my absolute writer insanity. All remaining mistakes are completely mine. And thanks to iceshade, who shoved me back on track when I plateaued.Complement:
bliumchik put together an amazing mix to go along with this fic. It can be found here. Flight Masterpost
Interlude: 5 Times Jess Met Everybody
Chapter Two
“So, newbie.”
Lian wheeled around, hand going to her belt automatically. Good, she wasn’t reaching for a quiver anymore.
“Relax!” the woman behind her said with a laugh. Her blonde hair was clipped back from her face, and she was wearing a full cowl. Lian wracked her brain for a name, and then a second woman landed on the roof next to the first.
“I’m Stephanie Brown.” the blonde said as she held out a hand to shake. Her outfit was a combination of deep purple – eggplant - and black, with no identifiable insignia. No, there it was, a bat on one of the pockets on her belt; subtle, but enough for quick identification if necessary.
“And this is Cass,” Stephanie said, jerking her thumb at the second woman, who was dressed entirely in black.
Lian wanted to ask them what they were doing in Gotham; everyone knew they tended to cover Chicago these days, both preferring to maintain a long-distance relationship with Bruce. In fact, if she recalled correctly, they were more affiliated with the Oracle Network now, as opposed to answering directly to Batman; which made sense if you considered Stephanie’s history with Tim Drake.
“And the voice in your ear is Oracle.”
“Hey.”
“But I think you’ve already met.”
Lian considered how you told someone that they were basically your own personal hero Might come off as a little dorky.
“So,” Stephanie said, turning Lian around so they were facing the Goliath National Bank building. Cassandra Cain came to stand on Lian’s other side. “How do you feel about a little...corporate espionage?”
An hour later, Lian was suspended by two ropes so thin they were invisible when viewed from the side, wearing a breathing mask to avoid tripping the limited range CO2 filters in the vaults.
“Vault 182” Oracle’s computer-modulated voice coolly reminded her.
“Careful!” Stephanie cheerfully repeated.
“Slower” Cassandra cautioned.
Lian grinned though the plastic. 400 steady breaths left. Eighteen alarms keyed to all sorts of different changes in the vaults. Two laser barriers to get back out. At least one security dog on a randomized sweep of the building.
Didn’t mean training couldn’t be fun.
Afterward they let her ride in the helicopter, while Stephanie cheerfully reported a successful mission over her headset to the computer-modulated voice at the heart of the Oracle network’s information-gathering web.
Most of the people who worked with the network were women with Misfit being their most prominent field operative, but Oracle was generally agreed by the caped community to be a man. Lian knew better, though. There were a lot of good reasons for the misdirection, and Lian loved to listen to the different theories on Oracle's identity and their various justifications . They provided entertainment when Lian met new heroes at the Tower or JLA headquarters. Barbara had been at the funeral for Uncle Dick, and Lian had met her then; not that she’d known about her dual identity for a few years, not until Aunt Dinah had insisted that she be told.
These days Barbara wasn’t the only woman behind the voice of Oracle. Wendy was there too, and a few others, but when in Gotham City it was a good bet that Barbara Gordon was on the other end of the line.
A bet that was confirmed when Oracle signed off with a “See you Friday night!” to the whole group.
“You’re all staying?” Lian asked.
Cassandra shrugged.
“Sure, why not?” Stephanie said, almost too casually. “Tim’s on Mars or something with the JLA, right?”
Lian spread her hands in a “how would I know?” gesture. In her nearly three months in Gotham, she had seen Tim Drake a handful of times, mostly at dinners. He covered Batman’s international and intergalactic duties most days – the JLA, the occasional Titans call - or helped out his huge network of friends and connections. Bruce covered Gotham City, and they sort of shared the role of Batman. Sort of, because Tim deferred to Bruce all the time, and they never patrolled on the same nights when Tim was in town. While Uncle Ollie had been totally relaxed about sharing a title with Uncle Connor, Bruce and Tim had a set of iron-clad rules that even Damian admitted to not fully understanding.
Stephanie nodded back at Lian. “So, I'll be there. I always love Alfred’s dinners. You know he only started them after Bruce came back? I think they were to try and give Damian some sort of normalcy after Dick left. Because that house wasn’t-”
“It would be nice to see Alfred.” Cassandra interrupted softly.
Stephanie blinked, and then grinned. “Yep. Hey, new girl, wanna take the ‘copter for a spin?”
Lian spent the next two hours learning how to fly a helicopter, which Stephanie assured her would be an invaluable skill at some point in her life.
That night Lian called Aunt Dinah and babbled for a good thirty minutes about Stephanie Brown and Cassandra Cain (who hadn’t said a word to her last time). Aunt Dinah called her back later to give a thumbs-up from Oracle and Lian practically glowed for the rest of the week. It wasn’t like she was getting any praise – indirect or otherwise – from the Bat-crew.
Aunt Dinah was brilliant and amazing, and for all intents and purposes had been Lian’s mother for years. Lian loved her more than most things, and when she was having all sorts of trouble it was Aunt Dinah she called, because Dad was always too close to the conflict, and Aunt Donna was on Dad’s side. So was Aunt Dinah, but in a different way; Aunt Dinah would hide things from Dad if they were things he shouldn’t know. Aunt Donna never would. Which Lian could handle; you just had to know what to say to whom and make sure that you never contradicted yourself. Good practice for the field.
That Friday night dinner was unusually fun. It was almost shocking to see Damian - Damian - joking with Stephanie. Steph even managed to fling a spoonful of peas at him behind Bruce’s back. They all burst out laughing before he turned around. It was fantastic.
Interlude: Cerdian's Story