networkinthenight | @d.grayson ( text )

yes. i will be the one with the cubic lantern, red flame.

[ she will show up alone to the bonfire. dick prefers to remain hidden until he has seen enough. he is perched. waiting and watching. his mind is clear. analyzing her.

when he is satisfied, he appears. not to startle. he approaches her boldly, his lantern held aloft. it's small. heavy. a blue flame burns steadily at its heart. below it, it seems supported by two wings.

(it could be a bat or a bird. dick knows what it is.) ]

Wanda?

[ she doesn't probe his mind, or send out feelers into the air. since arriving here, her mental walls are simply prone to glitching in and out, sometimes having all the fortified consistency of gossamer wings. thoughts, feelings, whispers of barely there intentions filter into her consciousness and away again without her control or permission — a side effect of the trauma she experienced and their wholly unnatural surroundings. she's having to practice, to learn, to siphon and focus all over again.

the funniest thing happens, however, when dick approaches with his steady blue flame. everything goes quiet.
wanda actually exhales with the surprising relief of it.

it's easier to collect the pieces of her fortress, the nearer he gets, and she looks at him curiously. ]

Hello, Dick.

[ dick's mind has been trained to resist the martian manhunter. see through the scarecrow. fight back poison ivy. he doubts he would succeed all the time. but he can stay calm and organize his thoughts. they march outwards line by line. a detective examines her clothes. her manner of speech and her skin color.

then he looks to the lantern. every detail leads to a conclusion. red, and blue. hah. all they need is green. ]

Let's head out. [ he doesn't want to do this in public. ]

[ that is specifically all it takes: the supreme mental clarity, at least on the first few surface layers. wanda will probably never tell him — what she is, what she does, what she can't help sometimes, it unsettles people — but the gratitude she feels in that moment is pure. being here so far has been... a nearly uninterrupted sensation of vertigo.

she nods in agreement; they're not here to put on a circus (if only she knew).
quiet, trained steps follow him into the darker brush, further away from the base light of the bonfire. ]

I do more than fly,

[ she says quietly, and the wind over the tall grass carries the somewhat softened, rich angles of her accent toward him as they walk. ]

Not that I think you have any funny ideas.

[ there's a wry twist there, almost palpable. ]

Shouldn’t that be my line?

[ disarming. to anyone else. dick refuses to let the wry statement lower his guard. he’s walked side by side with bruce’s allies.

only the very powerful seek to ease tension that he’s sure isn’t on the surface. he may be wary of her but he is not afraid.

he leads the way to a small clearing. once they are there he will set the lantern down on a tree stump. the area pre-selected. scoped out. it is private. ]

Oh, I don't think so, [ she muses, amiably enough, but her words do have a point, ] you are the one leading me further into darkness, toward a location I am sure you have chosen and vetted for your own preferences.

[ still, the curve and natural cadence of her gait, prowling and oddly balletic as it may be, seems relaxed enough as they make their way toward the clearing. wanda knows he means no harm.

—still. for both their sakes, she reaches out with her mind into the treeline for any unwanted company, eyes familiarizing themselves with the shapes and shadows of their surroundings. once satisfied, she lays her lantern by her feet and faces him a few paces away. ]

So. How should we begin our show and tell?

You’re the one coming with me. [ he isn’t afraid. but he is also aware that he’s unprepared to handle her powers. dick has fought metahumans. he doesn’t go into a fight thinking he will lose. but he is certain about how people with special abilities behave.

she could crush him. she thinks she can.

he faces her. ]

Let’s start with the basics. One: what is your ability called? Two: is it a result of your physiology or did you receive it from an experiment or a piece of technology? Three: how adept are you at controlling it? Are you aware of your upper limit?

[ bossy and nosy. but there is no malice in the information gathering. he wants to know what he’s got on his hands. ]

[ wanda folds her arms across her chest, feet and shoulders square.

she's typically the nosy one around here. ]

I am not joining your superhero team or vigilante squad— [ this isn't a mindread, she's simply already been there, done that, and is still reeling from it, ] —I am offering you some assistance.

You don't need my full workup and I am not going to give it to you.

[ a beat, conciliatory. almost a smile in the shadows veiling her face because yes, she knows, not a trace of malice about him. but she's been put in cages and collars and been on the wrong side of things before. she's careful. ]

What I am offering is telekinetic and psionic energy. Warp, destroy, mend, shield. I can control it, but I get tired more quickly in this long night.

[ another pause. softly, ]

My upper limit is something I hope never to use here.

I'm a cop, not a vigilante. [ he is terse. distasteful. he has left that life behind him.

it belongs to bruce. it will never be his. (even after what donna said. or as his heart reaches to act. always to act. dick cannot stay still.)

her refusal means she is hiding something. but dick can approximate her abilities to heroes that he knows. he has been taught counter-offensives.

but her powers remind him of raven's. she was a scared little girl who asked him for help. she was dangerous and she'd warned him to stay away. in the end, he needed no plan of attack. he gave her a promise.

but rachel can read emotions. ]

So you're going to throw me across the river? [ he is skeptical. not here to test her upper limit. but he will need plan b if she is not able to function optimally. ]

Cops aren't always the good guys,

[ her tone is mild, but distant. she recalls the bruises around her neck. but she returns to the present soon enough a low sound, a chuffed out laugh. ]

My psionic energy allows me to levitate, to fly — what I mentioned to you earlier. You hold onto me, I carry you, we have a good vantage point to scope the route along the way. Not simply the destination.

[ she pauses to reflect for a moment, looking down at her hands now, loose at her sides and fingers flexing like little spiders — then back up to the sky. mapping a trajectory. ]

I can also create a psionic field that will allow me to levitate more than one person. But I have not tested it here.

[ her eyes land back on him, blunt force behind them. ]

Not all here trust what I can do.

[ being held in the air places him at a disadvantage. he can fall. he can swim. but it is less certain than kyna's teleporting.

he frowns. ]

The ones with great power have to be willing to earn others' trust. You don't have to tell me everything, but there are things I need to know.

[ this applies to him as well. he's aware there is rot in the police department. most of them are thugs with badges. dick's attitude keeps people at bay. but he knows the difference between being trusted and being liked.

he has grown up beside superman and wonder woman. it's important that people like them. and relate to them.

it's not important that people like him. he's nobody. a shadow. ]

And what I need to know is: how long can you maintain that psionic field?

[ she tilts her head, taking a step toward him, one eyebrow arched in the faint blue glow ghosting out from his lantern. ]

You do not need to teach me lessons I already learned in my former life.

[ her smile returns but half, just a little teasing. ]

What — you don't want to go for a romantic flight under the moon, Dick? Holding onto my neck like a new bride?

[ he's all business, yes, but somewhere in there she thinks there's a sponge worth that can have a bit of fun. and who's to say teleporting can't go madly wrong in a place like this? one false move and one or both of you is splinched, or lost in some other dimension. ]

[ they will still need to earn trust. that is a reality. he can't change it because people are afraid of her.

people are always afraid. though dick is not: he has one fear. it drives him. ]

Cute.

[ a smile tugs. but he presses it down. he is all business right now. ]

If you can try it, I'll time you.

[ she can't control their fear.
only her own.

wanda nods, feeling lighter — she's wanted to get this done with someone she feels won't betray her, to begin with. and she knows, somehow, he will not. ]

Two tests, if you will be so kind,

[ she says, backing up several paces and rubbing her hands together (not for warmth, but for sensation, for endorphins, for trust in herself and for banishment of the night), ]

...one with me alone. And one with you as my company.

[ her legs brace themselves apart, knees slightly bent, hands hovering at her sides. she peers at him for his consent or denial. ]

Let's see you try on your own first. [ she can do what she says she can. but dick has never seen her ability. he would prefer to observe. to know what to expect.

he steps back. starting a mental timer. ]

[ she licks her lips and actually laughs — her chest expands with it, she's excited, ]

Yes, of course, one thing at a time—

[ and then everything is silence, focus, and the smile on her face seems to soften into a deep, retreating memory... everything becomes small and clear and so lucid— from her hands, the faintest color: red, rich, scarlet filaments that glow faintly... were they anywhere else but this town, the glow would be stronger, fiercer, like dynamite spreading. the wafts of it spread and build and create a shape around her, and soon it isn't only coming from her fingertips, the palms of her hands—

soon enough it comes from her feet, her body, the very fibres of her hair. an entire sphere of softly glowing scarlet energy, the light so faint, not throwing itself like it should in any normal world, but the color is the same as her lantern, that much is certain.

wanda's eyes close as a feeling of relief washes over her when the sphere closes and finally lifts into the air — the weightlessness is so freeing, she should have tried this sooner, witness or no witness.

she opens them again to look down at dick as the energy field carries her higher, as she flies, nearing the tops of the trees surrounding their clearing. concentration lets the audio barrier down, and she beams at him, her hair gently floating around her, ]

I can't wait for you to try this.

[ one mississippi. two mississippi. three and four. and on. he keeps count as he watches the spider like filaments spread out.

her ability is a matter of concentration. therein is the weakness. not different from taking down a green lantern. dick does not hope it won't come to that. he accepts the possibility. there is too much risk.

telekinesis and other unknowns. rachel was always so nervous and scared. ]

Having fun. [ he observes this dryly. she's showing off. this place affects powers, but dick has never had special abilities. he worked for everything he received. the adrenaline rush must be different. but he's been in the air with donna. and clark has taken him up up and away many times.

he has an idea of how to proceed. ]

I need to know the heaviest thing you've lifted. And for how long.

@d.grayson ( text )

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let me know if this is ok!

all good o7

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