-Thanks to AgentEliza for the idea! -
Jason passed his little brother on the way into the kitchen. He turned his head to watch his brother head into the foyer. "Why are you here?"
Dick turned around, tugging out an earbud. "huh?"
"Why aren't you at the mountain?"
"...Am I supposed to be?" Dick asked, looking concerned.
"No, but you're always there, it's weird seeing you at home."
"Says the guy who's always in Roy Harper's bedroom."
"Haha." Jason rolled his eyes. "Seriously, did dad ground you guys or something?"
"Huh? No, I don't really feel like being around the team right now."
That caught Jason's attention: Dick literally ditched his family for the whole afternoon on Christmas to see the team, what was he doing hanging aroung the manor by himself. "What's up?"
"Dunno. I guess we got tired of each other." Dick shrugged awkwardly. "Still, we've all got training later, so... yay!" He raised his arm tiredly in a cheer.
"'ight then." Jay watched his brother leave, confused. "Have I good one?"
Dick nodded, forcing a small smile, and hurried up the stairs. He did not want to go back to the mountain. Their previous safe space had become a hell in the past three weeks. No, it wasn't the mountain, it was the people in it. He had no problems with Kaldur, Artemis, Conner, M'gann, or Wally; they were his family.
His problem was with Ember.
Another teen hero: a girl, around fourteen-to-fifteen, she was on the skinny side, with long brown hair and sparkling green eyes. He fucking hated her.
That may sound harsh, but he did. There were some small things that bugged him: she complained about whatever they wanted to do, she bitched loudly about people they didn't know in a way that seemed really unfair, and she always managed to blame someone else whenever it was even implied that she did something wrong.
Dick wasn't the only one who felt this way, he could see the others were unhappy too, but no one wanted to speak out about it.
Dick tried to talk to Batman about it, he tried to say that Ember was making it harder for the team to function; she completely disrupted their group dynamic, and silencing the quieter teammates whenever they tried to propose solutions.
Bruce's reply wasn't just underwhelming, it was downright patronizing. He told Dick that he wasn't going to be best friends with everyone he worked with, and they would just have to adapt around her, like they did Artemis.
Dick wanted to point out that Artemis had at least been work around the team, and even when she was new, she'd quickly learned to let Kaldur lead. Ember just didn't seem to be having that humbling experience.
The worst thing to come from Dick asking bats for help was Bruce implying that Dick was just having a teenage boy moment, and wanted to kick Ember off the team because of some arbitrary crush. That hurt. Bruce wouldn't even believe him.
Now, it wouldn't be that bad if the new teammate was just annoying and rude, I mean, they all were, but Ember was worse than just a pest.
She thought she wasn't like the other girls, like M'gann. Ember thought M'gann was stupid for enjoying typically feminine things and wearing pink. Even worse was when she found out that M'gann's human body was one she shapeshifted for herself, she kept demanding to see M'gann's white martian form, even when M'gann said it made her uncomfortable.
She was very vocally creeped out about Artemis using the girl's change room, since she was a lesbian. Ember was weirdly paranoid that Artemis was predatory, and wanted to watch her change. As if Artemis would fall for her crusty ass.
But Ember wasn't just the worst to the girls, either. She called Conner a creep, and claimed that he had to be mentally defective (not her exact words...) for the things he enjoyed, and his general behavior. Conner just stared into his static and tried to tune her ableist slurs, until she changed the channel to something she wanted.
She heard Wally talking to Dick about his dad once, and that was all it took to unleash hell. She would come up behind him and pretend that she was going to hit him. She did this every day. several times. Wally told her to stop. Everyone told her to stop. But she thought it was a great joke.
Kaldur took her aside several times to tell her why she needed to stop. He genuinely hoped it was a misunderstanding that could be cleared up. It didn't help, though. Ember didn't respect his authority, and that was putting it lightly. it was getting to a level of passive aggression that they were beginning to wonder if there were... other factors in a straight, white girl's visible distain for a gay, black boy...
Dick had the weirdest relationship with Ember. At first, she kept trying to... seduce him. She would obsessively tease him, and called him this pet name... 'Little Gyp'.
He tried to explain that said pet name was racist, and made him uncomfortable, but she said that he was playing hard-to-get.
Unsure of where to go from there, Dick just told her that he was gay. She wanted him to be her Gay Best Friend. With the memory of her laughing at domestic abuse victim, who was also his best friend, fresh in his mind, Dick bitterly declined
It only got worse from there.
Dick did not want to go in for training, he wanted to hide at home, and avoid the drama and bullying. But Bruce said he had to go, so he would.
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Wally looked up as Dick walked in the zetabeam. "Hey." he said quietly, waving slightly.
"Hey." Dick replied. Neither of them felt comfortable enough to say or do anything more. Dick slid quietly out and headed to the kitchen. "Hey M'gann."
She started, looking up from where she'd been staring into the kitchen counter. She blinked a few times and went back to staring at the tile. "Oh, Hi Robin."
Dick hopped up on the counter next to her, staring at the floor. It being around the team was so lonely now. He'd rather be alone. He felt bad for M'gann, she always assumed that the people had her best interests at heart. She was really taking all of this personally. "How's it been?"
"Fine, thank you." She sniffed a little, looking up again and screwing her eyes shut tight. She was tired. "How about you?"
"Okay." They sat in silence for a few minutes. "I'm gonna change for training." Dick said, sliding down, his heavy bag still swung over one shoulder.
"Okay." M'gann said.
Dick slunk towards the less frequented change room. He'd started using this one because he felt uncomfortable showering anywhere near where Ember was. Kaldur must have had a similar idea.
"Sorry." Dick muttered.
"It's alright, Robin." His team leader agreed. He was leaning against the counter, downing a water bottle. He was already changed, and looked like he'd been hiding out in there for a while.
"Thanks." Dick slid through the door and carefully closed it after him. "How are you?" Dick asked out of obligation, speaking quietly incase someone found out about their hideout.
"I am managing, thank you." He didn't sound like he was.
Dick sat on the floor and began searching his backpack, he pulled out his costume and water bottle, as well as some tape for his knuckles and ankles. "Are we both hiding in here for the same reason?"
"Are you referring to our new teammate?" Kaldur asked. He sighed a little. "Yes. Our other gendered changerooms are too close to each other, I want to avoid any miscommunication."
Robin nodded. Kaldur was conscious of Ember's history of behavior, as well as the fact that he was the only black guy on the team, and she was a racist with a victim complex. It was fucking concerning that the team's leader was so worried about one of his teammates that he actively avoided her unless there were multiple others around.
"Bats isn't helping. He just said something about us needing to let her join so she doesn't become an enemy." Dick undid his shoes in preparation to change.
Kaldur nodded, checking the time. "I'm going to be meeting Black Canary before training to discuss. I should probably go to find her."
"Good luck." Dick watched his team leader leave, sadly. He kicked of his jeans, tugged off his shirt, and began squirming out of his Robin costume. He felt... uncomfortable, for some reason, maybe the isolation of it all. He turned towards the wall, swapping out his glasses for his mask. Why did he turn away? he was alone, it's not like he had to hide his face from anyone...
Suddenly, the discomfort worsened. Dick whipped around and cranked the door handle, sending Ember toppling into the room from where she'd been crouched at the crack in the door.
"WHat are you doing!" Dick shouted, his brain lagging behind slightly.
She pushed herself back upright. "Come on! If it's not like it's going to happen, I can at least enjoy myself!"
"Where you watching me?" He shouted, His arms crossing across his chest.
"You're gay, why would it bother you?" She scoffed. "I can still get what I want without you liking girls!"
Dick didn't know what to do, what to say... Forgetting his backpack, Dick forced past her, sprinting to the zetatubes.
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Jason slid off his headphones, hearing Dick's door slam shut. Wasn't he supposed to be at the mountain? He decided that nothing interesting was happening on the twitch stream he was watching, and set down his headset. He headed to Dick's room.
"You home?" He asked through the shut door. "Where's dad?" There was no reply, which unnerved him a little. "Hey, what about training-" He nudged the door open and saw the shadow of his brother, collapsed on his bed. "Dick?" He strolled over and stared down at Dick. He was in costume, curled up and facing the wall, his breathing was heavy, and there was a distressed look on his face.
His brother turned further into his mattress, looking pained. He curled up tighter and grit his jaw shut. Jason reached down and turned his brother over, he peeled off Dick's mask off to see the boy's eyes scrunched shut. "...Dick? What's up?"
Dick let out a slight choke. "Get out." He requested, fighting off a series of emotions.
"What? Did something happen at the mountain?" Jason asked, very ready to kick any and every ass.
"I don't- I hate her! I HATE HER!" He cried angrily, turning away again.
"Who, which one? The alien or the stud?"
"Ember!"
"...Who?" Jason asked.
"Ember! She's new! She got powers by accident or something. The league didn't want a superpowered teenage enemy, so they made her join the team instead. She's Evil!" Dick practically screamed, tears beginning to form in the corners of his eyes. "I HATE HER!"
"What? Is she a bitch or something?" Jason asked. "What'd she do?"
His little brother looked up at him, tears dribbling miserably down his cheeks.
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"What's up with Dick?" Tim asked, the two oldest batbros had returned by the time Jason left Dick's bedroom. "I heard crying, is everything-"
Jason grabbed a glass off the bathroom counter and smashed it on the ground.
"Someone hurt him." Damian said, already out for blood
"Dick's team!" Jason shouted.
"What?" Tim asked. "He loves the team! He threatened to run away and live with them!"
"They have a new member ! She's an asshole!"
"Ember?" Damian asked.
"How do you know?"
"Richard told all of us about her two weeks ago."
"I did?" Jason shook his head. "Whatever! You don't know what she's been doing to him and the team!"
"What?" Tim asked. "Is she being mean or something?"
Jason picked up the biggest piece of the smashed glass and threw it back on the floor. "Do I have a fucking tale for you!"