with this ring

[bossymarmalade]

Kyle is sitting in a coffee shop in a busy district of Coast City. He is using his Waynetech tablet and their free wifi to send an email to Zee, tapping furiously at the keyboard. EMAIL: Zee, it’s Kyle. I need to talk to you, can you make it to Coast City? As soon as you can? If you could magic yourself to the corner of 5th and Arbor, that would be great.

Zee hears her phone buzz as she brushes her teeth, leaving the foam in her mouth as she retrieves her phone and the message appearing from Kyle. She swallows the thick minty paste as she reads over his message, her stomach rolling but she doesn’t think about it now. She moves, grabbing essentials- wallet, shoes, sunglasses. She taps out a short reply from her phone EMAIL: I’ll be there in 10 seconds. and then she’s gone with a faint snap.

Kyle reads the email and then quietly counts to himself. “…five…four…tres..​.dos…uno.” The people sitting at the table beside him with the beagle are looking at him funny; but when Kyle glances up, he can see Zee striding towards him, her large round sunglasses filling half her face in the Coast City sun. Kyle stands up to greet her, giving her a brief kiss on the corner of her mouth.

"I need your help. We just gotta wait for Dick to arrive." He sits back down, since he might has well finish his coffee while they wait. "Mm. You taste like wintergreen."

Zee pushes her sunglasses back, her hair falling behind her shoulders with the motion, “I just brushed my teeth. You taste like coffee.” she shrugs quietly. Turning over her shoulder she peers at the table nearby, the little beagle’s ears perked up as if eavesdropping on the two of them.

"How far away is Dick?" she asks, fingers drumming against the -table.



Dickiebird zetas into Coast and heads off to the coffee shop as fast as he can, shooting off a quick text as he zooms down the street on his bike. He realizes as he parks that he’s a terrible role model and shouldn’t text and drive, oh dear.

Kyle gives a series of shrugs as he looks at his tablet, then looks around. His left leg is jiggling up and down in a nervous tic, and his right hand is trembling slightly as it curls around his coffee cup. There is no Green Lantern ring on his finger.

"I don’t know. I don’t think—" There is a screech of wheels and a gaggle of young men jump out of the way, then pause on the sidewalk to admire the biker as he parks and dismounts. "There he is!" Kyle finishes his coffee and stands up. "C’mon, we’re going back home."

Zee takes his hand, but there’s something off in the way his hand feels against her’s, but she can’t quite place it. “What, on Dick’s bike?”

Dickiebird smiles tightly when he sees them get up. “Hey, where’s…? Are we going somewhere?”

Kyle doesn’t answer Zee’s question immediately (mostly because he doesn’t really have an answer) and nods in greeting at Dick as he approaches. He tells Dick, “I left my ring at home, but I didn’t want to be in the house with it, just in case…just in case.” Kyle turns to Zee, still holding onto her hand tightly, but raising his other placatingly as he starts to explain.

"Dick thinks I might be compromised. I might still be…helping…Talia, even though I don’t remember doing it. I can’t remember what I did." He looks slightly despairing, but steels his resolve and continues, talking to them both. "I think it’s best if Zee takes, ah, possession of my ring. And keeps it somewhere safe and…away from me." Kyle looks down at the pavement. "At least until we can get Talia back in custody again."

Dickiebird nods. “That’s a sound plan. We need to keep it somewhere it can’t compromise any… work business.” He gives Zee an imploring look. “Got a pocket dimension you can toss that thing into?”

Zee brow pinches as Kyle fills in a few more blanks for her, but her thoughts get stuck on Talia as she’s brought up, “‘In custody’? What the fuck did you do, Kyle?” she turns to Dick, snapping, “What did he do?” she drops her hand from Kyle’s, “If you’re compromised I’ve got plenty of options to hide your freaking ring. Don’t worry.”

Dickiebird glances around. “Maybe let’s talk about this somewhere else,” he says, nodding toward the guys hovering around his bike. “I can fill you in when we get… wherever we’re going.”

Kyle frowns and shoves his hands in his pockets, glancing at Dick first before looking back at Zee. “I told you, I don’t freaking remember. And yeah - don’t tell me where you put it, don’t even —” Kyle looks over to where Dick glances, at the crowd of young people. Usually they’d just be easily dismissed; but these days it was easy to believe any of them could start sniffing around for Robin and then turn all mutie. Kyle blurts stupidly, and loudly, “Can we all ride on your bike?!”

Dickiebird blinks and looks back at his bike. “Well, sure, I mean, if you hold on tight. And we don’t get pulled over.”

"Are you okay with this?" Kyle asks Zee. "I promise you can resume your yelling when we get back to the apartment."

Zee brushes by Kyle, “Yeah, because that’s the only reason I’m here.” she motions to the bike, “Let’s go.”

Kyle hops off the bike once they park, annoyed as per usual at the way his legs wobble to balance as he dismounts. Keeping his legs so tense for so long is not good for a guy who doesn’t exactly work out often. They head up to the apartment, in somewhat uncomfortable silence. Kyle’s lapsed into moody silence himself, as he lets them in.

"I put it in the freezer," he says, and it sounds foolish; but the fridge isn’t usually somewhere Kyle likes to be near anyway and it seemed almost cruelly fitting.

Dickiebird scans the room quickly, making sure it’s just the three of them. “Let’s leave it there for a while, then. Keep it at a distance.

Zee folds her arms across her chest, “Alright.” she agrees, imagining the ring solidifying in a block of ice that Kyle can’t even break. She smirks at the thought, “So. No ring, and for the second time now you have no memory of something Talia related. Any thoughts?”

Kyle rubs his face, shutting his eyes tightly as he grimaces under his fingers. His right hand is still shaking slightly. “No, what’s the point of having thoughts? They’re not my own anyway. They’re someone else’s that I don’t remember, so whatever.” Kyle puppets Zee and folds his arms as well and then buckles, opening them in compliance. “Look, none of this is making me very happy. I’m not…don’t treat me like I’m…it’s not like you guys never…ah, christ.”

Dickiebird sighs harshly through his nose, but gives Kyle a small smile. “Listen, if you don’t remember, it’s not your fault. We just need to figure out how to stop it.” He turns to Zee. “When Ollie and I had Talia in the bunker, she started acting weird. We heard the voice of the guy who attacked me and Kyle in Gotham, and then Kyle showed up, ripped off the bunker roof, and flew off with Talia. That’s the last I know of her. We chased after the voice, but he was gone. Then Cheshire found me today in Gotham and she’s looking for Talia, too. She told me to watch out for you—” He shrugs at Kyle. “—because she said she saw you with a couple of those… people-creatures we’ve been fighting out here.” He takes a deep breath.

"I think Talia’s controlling them. Or has them working for her. Because she acted like she knew he was coming, or you were coming, or someone was coming to get her out of there, and, lo and behold.”

Kyle thins his eyes and cuts a hand through the air. “Wait, you’re taking this - this Cheshire’s word about me?” But his initial flare anger is gone even before he finishes his question, because Kyle knows damn well he’s been compromised; hence ring the freezer and Dick and Zee here with him now. He huffs out a breath. Even though he knows it’s true, it does still rankle a bit that this person who’s supposedly a baddie is now slandering him. “Goddammit.”

Dickiebird makes a face. “I’m not taking her word that you’re evil or anything, but if she said you were there when she saw the dudes and you don’t remember it, that’s kind of a big deal.”

Zee nods, “I believe her. If she’s after Talia too why would she have any reason to lie?”

Kyle scowls now at Zee. “Fine, whatever. Because hey, you know - bad guys don’t regularly play us for chumps. I’m chumping and I don’t even remember it.”

Zee rolls her eyes, “You know what, it doesn’t matter. What does is figuring how the hell we fix whatever’s going on with you. That’s got to end. ASAP.”

"I know it’s gotta end! You think I don’t know that?" Kyle bristles, his voice getting louder. "You think I like this? I’ve just gotten myself feeling clean from Parallax and now I gotta deal with this fucking bullshit, some black filth corrupting my constructs, desecrating my own willpower and making me do things…things I can’t even remember doing?? This is insane! All of this is insane! Talia and her stupid smugness, Bruce being arrested, Steph nearly killed, Mar’i in a freaking coma, this Cheshire person showing up - things blowing up and people getting attacked and - and -“

Dickiebird grimaces. “I know. If we can just find Talia, that’ll be one more step toward getting control of all this.”

Zee tenses, arms folded tightly across her chest as her nails dig into her arms, “Talia’s the heart of all of this. But we had her before, and she’s lost AGAIN. Honestly what’s going to stop her? Nothing as far as I can tell.”

Dickiebird shakes his head. “We will. We’ll stop her as soon as we can find her. We’re gonna get this under control.”

”Why d’you think she’s the mastermind behind this? Maybe it’s her father, that what.” Kyle looks over at Dick. “That Ra’s al Ghul? What does it matter. What do we know anyway? Nothing.” Kyle motions to Dick, “You were barely talking to Bruce even before he was arrested—” Kyle turns and looks at Zee, “— you’re on the edge of losing it half the time and flipping out, and I’m housing some evil being and without my ring. We shouldn’t be trying to get anything under control except ourselves. Leave the big jobs like finding Talia to the people who can handle it.” He snorts a rueful laugh.

"Maybe Cheshire can find her. Wouldn’t that be awesome."

Dickiebird frowns. “You’re right. We’re all losing it a bit. But we’ve worked on less. We can do this.” He looks between them. “Is there some way you could… What if we tried to, like, scan your mind, or something? See if it’s in you or in your ring.”

Zee stands up in a rush, her entire face bright red, as her hands shake at his words, “You really think I want to help him right now?” she asks Dick, her voice crackling as her composure crumbles.

"It’s in me," Kyle says flatly in response to Dick; and without warning he brings his arm back, swinging at Zee and knocking her down when his fist connects with her cheekbone.

Dickiebird springs up. “What the hell? Kyle!” He gets in between Kyle and Zee, grabbing Kyle’s arm.

"Lemme go, I’m gonna strangle that puta —" Kyle growls, grabbing Dick back, but only to push him aside.

Zee begins to ask 'What?' but then Kyle’s right in her face and then she’s on the floor her brain struggling to keep up with the surrounding situation, “FUCK!” she screams, scrambling back as Dick pulls at Kyle, “I’m done. With all of this shit.” she points to Kyle, “Dnib.” she growls, snapping back Kyle’s arms and legs firmly, rope appearing out of thin air to wrap uncomfortably tight against his wrists and ankles.

Dickiebird whips around to grab Kyle from behind as the rope wraps around him. “Got a place to store him instead?”

Zee stands, pressing her hand roughly against her cheek that’s already begun to swell, the skin red hot to the touch, “I’d suggest 6 feet under, but that’s probably no way to talk about your possibly possessed boyfriend.” she crouches beside Kyle, the urge to spit in his face incredibly high.

"I’d rather not leave him alone, but creating a pocket dimension for you is getting pretty damn tempting. I could freeze your ass out like your fucking ring." She can’t even remember if she’s mad at Kyle or the thing that’s poisoning him. At this point, it’s likely both.

Kyle falls over, since without his ring Kyle is just Kyle and not particularly agile. The bindings on his ankles trips him and he crashes hard to his knees, then falls to the side. Kyle starts to laugh. “That’s right! Threaten me, yeah that’s right. Do it, you two. That’s the smart thing to do.” Kyle squirms on his side, leaning on his arm so he can raise his knees up and kick out at Zee’s shins, trying to topple her again. He looks up at her, his eyes wide and bright.

"You want to, don’t you? You wanna hurt me. You wanna hurt Kyle, like he hurt you. I can see it in your eyes, baby. Go ahead, do it, Zatanna. I want it.”

Dickiebird leans over Kyle, looking into his eyes. He’s in full Bat-voice when he speaks. “I’m not playing this game. Where is she?”

Zee reaches out on impulse, dragging Kyle up by the collar of his t-shirt, “I want to rip you to shreds.” she hisses, “But I won’t give you the satisfaction.” her teeth set in a hard grit as Dick moves in, interrogation mode on.

Kyle laughs at Zee’s threat, then looks over at Dick. He gapes for a bit and then Kyle’s face crumples slightly and he blinks rapidly. “I - I…I….what…” Kyle looks down at himself, breathing hard and louder before he looks from Dick to Zee. “What’s…why am I…madre de dios.”

Zee drops Kyle’s shirt, and effectively him as well as there seems to be some reality coming back to him. She pulls herself up to a stand, turning away from the two and heads towards the kitchen, “I need an ice pack.” she explains, her voice still with an edge to it.

Dickiebird sits Kyle up and runs a hand through his hair. “Well, that was fun.”

"Sure was," Kyle grouses and watches Zee heading into the kitchen. After a long moment of silence, he looks back at Dick and smiles slightly. "So. You wanna threesome? Cause y’know all that punching and threatening…I’m kinda in the mood now. And she’s so fucking sexy all beat up like that. Don’t tell me you don’t agree, I know you Bat-types are into the violence."

Zee overhears Kyle as she opens the freezer, his ring in sight along with ice trays and several ice packs, and of course ice cream, “Fuck you Kyle.” she calls flatly, smushing the pale pink colored pack against her cheek, glowering at the ring plunked there innocently among the frozen items.

Dickiebird purses his lips, then smirks, running his fingers through Kyle’s hair. “You’re sure right about that.” He yanks Kyle’s head back, tilting him back to look at Dick. “If you’re gonna come in and out, we can keep doing this. Or we can come in there and pull you out from the roots. Your choice.”

"Mmm, hmmm, wellll, huhhh, I think I’m gonna have to go with door number two, Dick! Because I’m feeling pretty comfortable in here. It feels good in here, I like it." Kyle’s voice is strained as he is tilted up to look at Dick. "So what’s my prize?"

Dickiebird grins and looks toward the kitchen. “Think you can get in here, Zee? I think we should do some digging.”

Zee slams the freezer shut, stalking out to Kyle and Dick once more with the ice pack pressed firmly to her cheek, “By dig you mean figure what the fuck is weeding into Kyle, right?”

"Where’s my ring, Zee?" Kyle lays back on the floor, still bound tightly as he looks up at her. He’s sweating from all the effort, beads forming on the pink tip of his nose.

"Yeah you’re not getting that back any time soon." Zee replies coolly, bending down to his side. She drops the ice pack with a sharp smack against the floor and grabs at his throat, nails marking against his skin, "Niard." she casts without remorse, her spell tugging firmly against the being infecting Kyle. She imagined it oozing black as tar.

Kyle gurgles as he stares up at Zee, half-choking from her hand around his neck. His eyes fill with tendrils of red and black as he bucks in his binds. Then Kyle starts to scream, the sound tearing from his lungs, body spasming as black seeps out of his nose and ears, and also beads in tiny black dots, like sweat from his pores.

Dickiebird sits back, keeping his hand in Kyle’s hair, but keeps the rest of his distance from the black goop that comes out.

Zee frowns at Kyle’s sounds of alarm, almost apologetically, but his face still feels like the enemy. Then the black beings to seep out, draining from all sources and she looks to Dick, eyes wide but set firmly, “I don’t exactly what we’ll be dealing with and I know you might. But…” she glances down at the pooling substance, her train of thought lost.

Dickiebird nods. “We’ve got it. I’ll call for backup if we need it.”

Kyle’s blood starts to pull through as well, seeping out from his pores and gushing out of his mouth, mixing with the black substance along Kyle’s skin. The bindings start to turn damp and an ugly dark rusted color. Kyle’s eyes wide and bulge, his body exhausted but still spasming as he gasps for air. “Please…can’t breathe…”

Dickiebird lets go of Kyle’s head and looks at Zee with horror. “Is it—? Do you think it’s all out?”

Zee knees hit the floor as she begins to notice the blood, her jeans dampening immediately. Her hands cup against Kyle’s cheek, the liquid oozing over her hand, “There’s still black, I’m not sure. I’m not sure." she places her hand against his mouth, and the liquid there begins to trickle to a halt, the rest of the drains continuing on. "Breath through your mouth, Kyle." she whispers pulling back her dripping hand.

Kyle rolls onto his side and curls in. He stills, breathing heavily. “It’s me, it’s Kyle,” he says, and his voice sounds thick and viscous. He coughs roughly. “It’s not all out of me yet. But it’s weak and it…doesn’t want me to die.” He finally looks up, almost glaring at Zee. But then he lets his head fall back onto the ground, exhausted. “But I’m me now, while it recovers.”

Dickiebird sighs in slight relief and ruffles Kyle’s hair gently. “Can we put it somewhere? Send it to a pocket dimension or something?”

Kyle doesn’t answer, and he turns away from the both of them. “I’ll figure it out.” He shifts a bit, glancing at them. His voice is numb and somewhat detached. “And I’ll let you guys know, I promise.”

Zee taps her fingers against his cheek without hesitation, halting the drain from his system because it’s his voice. Not that vile thing that made him hit her, that had her wanting to… “Okay.” she swirls her hand in a small circle, fingers pointed to the ground, “Naelc pu” she casts. The liquid pulls from where it had spread, curving into a sphere. Once it had all been pulled away, Zee commanded it, “Ezeerf” then, tapping against it’s surface it disappeared, “Pocket dimension.” she explained quietly, filing it away like some junk mail sent to her.

Kyle doesn’t move much of register as Zee seeps the black liquid off of his body. It’s mixed with ribbons of red blood as it forms into the sphere. He watches as it freezes and disappears from sight.

Dickiebird sits back on his heels, slumping slightly, and rubs his eyes. “That’s… well, that’s better than it was, that’s for sure.”

Zee pulls her hands away from Kyle and into her lap, looking away from him not in fear or anger now, but genuine shame. She saw those red ribbons streaking against the black and she didn’t stop immediately. She could’ve killed him she thinks. “I should go.” she whispers, “I should really go now.”

Dickiebird takes her wrist. “No, please. I think you should stay.”

"Please get me out of these binds," Kyle says, because he’s still bound around his ankles and wrists. He hears Dick plea to Zee and looks at him sharply.

Zee ”Eerf.” she whispers, pulling her wrist from Dick’s hand as Kyle’s unbound.

Kyle slowly pulls himself up, staring darkly from Dick to Zee. He rubs his wrists, blood smudging against his fingers as he turns away from them both and heads to his room. Kyle’s feet drag with a long schllluk sound on the hardwood floor, with each agonized step.

Dickiebird brings his hand down to rest on his leg and watches Kyle. “Talk to us, Kyle. How do you feel?”

Zee covers her face in her hands. Her cheek still tender and her eye socket sore as well, but that’s nothing in comparison. The slick stickly sound he makes when Kyle moves solidifies that fact.

Kyle huffs a strangled breath before he shuts the bedroom door on them both, not answering Dick’s soft queries.

Dickiebird rubs his temples and slumps to the floor, looking up at Zee. “We did the right thing. We really did.”

Zee tries to muffle her sob, her shoulders rising and falling slowly, “You’ll have to keep reminding me that. Because I feel like I just tried to kill him, Dick.”

Dickiebird sits up and moves over to her, hugging her gently. “He’s still alive. We got the most of it out of him. We’ll help him.”

Zee wraps her arms against him loosely, “I know how I looked at him, I wanted that thing dead. How it felt having that thing removed from him…” she shakes her head, “You saw that blood, if he hadn’t said anything I never would’ve stopped!”

Dickiebird squeezes her and shakes his head. “You would have. You would’ve come through for him. That thing wanted to play you, to make you afraid you would hurt him. You’re better than it.”

Zee sighs, tears still continuing to roll down her cheeks, “I don’t know…I don’t know how to even begin to apologize for all this. Dick why is everything such a mess?”

Dickiebird rubs the back of her head gently. “I don’t know, Zee. It’s our life. We just need to rest. We’ll figure it out in the morning. We’ll…. We’ll solve this all, I promise.”

Zee nods slowly, trying hard to believe in Dick’s optimism. That they would indeed solve everything. She takes a few deep breaths and swallows thickly before replying, “I think I’ll sleep on the couch if that’s alright.”

Dickiebird smiles softly. “It’s fine with me. Though, I think we might have a spare room if you’d prefer.”

"I could probably fall asleep on the floor right now if you give me the chance. I’m fine with whatever you give me, Dick." she tries to smile, but her face still sore doesn’t quite cooperate.

Dickiebird nods and hoists her up onto the couch. “I’ll grab some pillows and blankets. Feel free to make yourself comfortable.” He stands and squeezes her hands once more. “It will be OK. I promise.”

Zee leans back against the couch, completely spend, “Thanks, Dick. You’re a lifesaver.” she squeezes back against his hand, quickly drifting off as his back is turned from her.

Dickiebird returns a few minutes later with everything and gently makes the bed around her, tucking her in gently. “Sleep well.” He watches over the household like a watchBat.