And this makes three. WTF?
Title: Not Worth It
Fandom: Justice League
Characters: various Mullet-verse OCs
Word Count: 909
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: I don't know what happened. First I wrote Brother's Keeper, then this little sequel just sort of crawled out of my brain. So again, set in the period of time between Jon finding out his boyfriend is a supervillain and them coming to their understanding regarding it.
What is it about being happy and in love that compels me to write such angst? Or are they even related. Perhaps the germs have stimulated the angst centers of my writey brain bits. Perhaps that last sentence didn't make sense. Perhaps I need to take some damn Ny-quil and get to sleep. -_-
Not Worth It
Jon cries a lot. Which is unusual for him, because he hates to cry. Then there's the self-loathing that comes from both the crying and whatever it is that Trav did, which Jon refuses to tell Danny about.
At first Danny thinks domestic abuse, but he can't find any bruises on Jon that he doesn't know the origins of. So whatever hurt Trav caused wasn't physical.
Jon trains more. The punching bag gets his attention until his knuckles bleed through the white tape. A frantic, manic energy overtakes him while he trains and Danny worries that Jon's inner demons will prove more resilient than his body.
When he asks Spooky's opinion, his cousin is not entirely helpful.
"You meat-creatures with your weak, fleshy bodies," Spooky sneers, the glow of his eyes indicating that part of his consciousness is elsewhere.
"So if you don't care so much, why don't you give me some advice."
Spooky raises an eyebrow. "Your logic is flawed."
Danny raises one back. "You totally didn't just quote Star Trek at me."
"Sedate him if you're so worried."
"That won't fix the problem," Danny presses, frustrated.
"You're asking my advice on a problem whose root cause is human interaction, Daniel. Is irrationality contagious among your kind, or is it genetic?"
Danny realizes, later, that despite his inability to fully understand the problem, Spooky did provide some useful insight. The root cause of Jon's behavior is human interaction. Specifically, interaction with one particular human.
Danny goes to talk to Trav.
When he finds him, the man looks so miserable that the horrible, wrathful vengeance his protective big brother instincts insist he visit on his brother's ex deflate a little.
"I'm--" he starts to introduce himself, but is swiftly interrupted.
"Danny, right?" Trav asks, dark eyes fixing on him with a kind of desperation. "Jon's brother. Is-Is he okay? How is he? Has he said anything...."
The words "about me" hang unspoken in the air and Danny suddenly realizes he has no idea what to do. His original plan, hasty and badly thought out, had been essentially to intimidate and threaten some answers out of Trav. Confronted with reality, however, Danny isn't sure the man would even notice in his state.
"Jon's upset," he hedges.
Trav winces, turning his head and closing his eyes. "He won't talk to me," he whispers. "I can't get him to--I tried. He just wouldn't listen. I didn't mean to...." Pressing a hand to his mouth, he falls silent.
"Maybe if you tell me what--"
"I didn't know!" Trav blurts, suddenly grabbing Danny's arm and staring up at him. "I swear I didn't know. It's not like he thinks, it wasn't a set-up, I honestly didn't know."
Danny wonders what it is that Jon and Trav apparently both didn't know. There seems to have been a distinct lack of knowledge in their relationship.
"Tell him that," Trav pleads, grip tightening. "Tell him I didn't know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to--Tell him."
The man's like a furnace, Danny thinks as he pries Trav's hot hand off his arm. "I'll tell him," he promises, at a loss.
Trav nods his head and smiles shakily. His obvious gratitude makes Danny feel guilty so he leaves quickly.
When he gets home, Jon's sitting on his couch, where he's been sleeping more often than not lately. And when he's not sleeping on Danny's couch, he's usually curled up on a cot in one of the labs at work. Right now he's cradling his hand to his chest and staring blankly at the floor.
"Jon?" Danny asks tentatively, wondering at his brother's quietness.
"I broke your wall," Jon blurts in a monotone.
It's then that Danny notices the indent in one of the walls. The cracks radiating out from it indicate the cause was a fist. Danny wonders how many fingers Jon broke along with the wall.
"I'll fix it later," he says, sitting next to the man.
Jon nods absently, then allows himself to be tugged down until his head is resting on Danny's shoulder. Running his hand through his brother's bristly hair, Danny notices that it's getting longer than Jon usually keeps it.
"I talked to Trav." Feeling Jon stiffen, Danny plunges forward and adds, "He said he didn't know either."
Jon is silent for long enough that Danny begins to worry again, then he says in a croaky voice, "He's a liar."
"I--"
"He's a lying bastard," Jon spits, with more emotion than Danny has seen in him since coming home.
"I don't know, Jon-boy, he seemed pretty miserable," Danny mutters.
Shifting, Jon leans more heavily against his brother's side and lets out a deep sigh. "I want to believe that."
"Maybe...maybe you should talk to him," Danny says, wincing.
"Maybe," Jon agrees, quiet again.
They sit together for a few minutes, each lost in his own thoughts. Danny is just about to suggest he take a look at Jon's hand when Jon speaks up again.
"Never fall in love, Danny. It's not worth it."
Danny briefly thinks back on the long line of short, meaningless relationships and one-night-stands in his past. "I don't think it's in the cards for me, anyway," he admits.
Breath hitching, Jon turns his head to press his face against Danny's neck. "It hurts."
Holding his brother tight, Danny sighs and closes his eyes. He can warn Trav against breaking Jon's heart after it's been fixed.
-----
Fandom: Justice League
Characters: various Mullet-verse OCs
Word Count: 909
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: I don't know what happened. First I wrote Brother's Keeper, then this little sequel just sort of crawled out of my brain. So again, set in the period of time between Jon finding out his boyfriend is a supervillain and them coming to their understanding regarding it.
What is it about being happy and in love that compels me to write such angst? Or are they even related. Perhaps the germs have stimulated the angst centers of my writey brain bits. Perhaps that last sentence didn't make sense. Perhaps I need to take some damn Ny-quil and get to sleep. -_-
Not Worth It
Jon cries a lot. Which is unusual for him, because he hates to cry. Then there's the self-loathing that comes from both the crying and whatever it is that Trav did, which Jon refuses to tell Danny about.
At first Danny thinks domestic abuse, but he can't find any bruises on Jon that he doesn't know the origins of. So whatever hurt Trav caused wasn't physical.
Jon trains more. The punching bag gets his attention until his knuckles bleed through the white tape. A frantic, manic energy overtakes him while he trains and Danny worries that Jon's inner demons will prove more resilient than his body.
When he asks Spooky's opinion, his cousin is not entirely helpful.
"You meat-creatures with your weak, fleshy bodies," Spooky sneers, the glow of his eyes indicating that part of his consciousness is elsewhere.
"So if you don't care so much, why don't you give me some advice."
Spooky raises an eyebrow. "Your logic is flawed."
Danny raises one back. "You totally didn't just quote Star Trek at me."
"Sedate him if you're so worried."
"That won't fix the problem," Danny presses, frustrated.
"You're asking my advice on a problem whose root cause is human interaction, Daniel. Is irrationality contagious among your kind, or is it genetic?"
Danny realizes, later, that despite his inability to fully understand the problem, Spooky did provide some useful insight. The root cause of Jon's behavior is human interaction. Specifically, interaction with one particular human.
Danny goes to talk to Trav.
When he finds him, the man looks so miserable that the horrible, wrathful vengeance his protective big brother instincts insist he visit on his brother's ex deflate a little.
"I'm--" he starts to introduce himself, but is swiftly interrupted.
"Danny, right?" Trav asks, dark eyes fixing on him with a kind of desperation. "Jon's brother. Is-Is he okay? How is he? Has he said anything...."
The words "about me" hang unspoken in the air and Danny suddenly realizes he has no idea what to do. His original plan, hasty and badly thought out, had been essentially to intimidate and threaten some answers out of Trav. Confronted with reality, however, Danny isn't sure the man would even notice in his state.
"Jon's upset," he hedges.
Trav winces, turning his head and closing his eyes. "He won't talk to me," he whispers. "I can't get him to--I tried. He just wouldn't listen. I didn't mean to...." Pressing a hand to his mouth, he falls silent.
"Maybe if you tell me what--"
"I didn't know!" Trav blurts, suddenly grabbing Danny's arm and staring up at him. "I swear I didn't know. It's not like he thinks, it wasn't a set-up, I honestly didn't know."
Danny wonders what it is that Jon and Trav apparently both didn't know. There seems to have been a distinct lack of knowledge in their relationship.
"Tell him that," Trav pleads, grip tightening. "Tell him I didn't know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to--Tell him."
The man's like a furnace, Danny thinks as he pries Trav's hot hand off his arm. "I'll tell him," he promises, at a loss.
Trav nods his head and smiles shakily. His obvious gratitude makes Danny feel guilty so he leaves quickly.
When he gets home, Jon's sitting on his couch, where he's been sleeping more often than not lately. And when he's not sleeping on Danny's couch, he's usually curled up on a cot in one of the labs at work. Right now he's cradling his hand to his chest and staring blankly at the floor.
"Jon?" Danny asks tentatively, wondering at his brother's quietness.
"I broke your wall," Jon blurts in a monotone.
It's then that Danny notices the indent in one of the walls. The cracks radiating out from it indicate the cause was a fist. Danny wonders how many fingers Jon broke along with the wall.
"I'll fix it later," he says, sitting next to the man.
Jon nods absently, then allows himself to be tugged down until his head is resting on Danny's shoulder. Running his hand through his brother's bristly hair, Danny notices that it's getting longer than Jon usually keeps it.
"I talked to Trav." Feeling Jon stiffen, Danny plunges forward and adds, "He said he didn't know either."
Jon is silent for long enough that Danny begins to worry again, then he says in a croaky voice, "He's a liar."
"I--"
"He's a lying bastard," Jon spits, with more emotion than Danny has seen in him since coming home.
"I don't know, Jon-boy, he seemed pretty miserable," Danny mutters.
Shifting, Jon leans more heavily against his brother's side and lets out a deep sigh. "I want to believe that."
"Maybe...maybe you should talk to him," Danny says, wincing.
"Maybe," Jon agrees, quiet again.
They sit together for a few minutes, each lost in his own thoughts. Danny is just about to suggest he take a look at Jon's hand when Jon speaks up again.
"Never fall in love, Danny. It's not worth it."
Danny briefly thinks back on the long line of short, meaningless relationships and one-night-stands in his past. "I don't think it's in the cards for me, anyway," he admits.
Breath hitching, Jon turns his head to press his face against Danny's neck. "It hurts."
Holding his brother tight, Danny sighs and closes his eyes. He can warn Trav against breaking Jon's heart after it's been fixed.
-----