"Ace of spades?"

"Go fish."

Amelia Reynolds let out a soft noise of discontent, retrieving a card from the deck on the table between them.

Stevie Nicks played quietly on the record player in the corner of the kitchen as the last rays of the evening sun poured in through the windows of the apartment. Her black cat, Frankie, snoozed from her perch on the kitchen windowsill.

As Robin took a sip of her chamomile tea, hair messily tied into two braids and body clad in overalls, she chastely thought that there was nothing else she needed to feel content.

"So how was school? Make any new friends?" her mom prodded gently.

"It was good, mama. Gwen was there, and Harry. I also met a girl named Mary Jane, a theater buff. You'd like her. Three of hearts?"

"Go fish," Amelia seemed pleased, "I'm glad to hear you're branching out a little at least."

Robin didn't respond. She knew her mom had always been concerned about the depth of her friendship with Harry, worried that the two were too depended on one another.

Wanting to avoid an argument, she hopped out of her chair, going to check on the fettucine alfredo on the stove.

Seeing as one of her moms was a kindergarten teacher and the other was a nurse, she had long ago designated herself the cook of the house. She admired the hard work her parents did to help provide for her, and she wanted to return the favor in any way she could.

She'd never admit it, but a small part of her was always scared that one day the couple would get tired of having her around and send her back to where she came from.

"Any cute boys?" her mom changed the subject fluidly, sensing her child's discomfort.

"Mama!" Robin whined, her cheeks flushing a telltale pink.

Much to her own horror, her thoughts flitted briefly to the boy with the soft curls and softer smile.

"Okay, okay," Amelia laughed, before smirking again, "Any cute girls?"

"All girls are cute," Robin spoke matter-of-factly, "It is both a blessing and a curse."

Both females perked up as the door was unlocked, swinging open to reveal Harley Reynolds in all her blue-scrubbed glory.

"How are my favorite girls doing?" she beamed, kissing her wife and daughter on the cheek, "Wow, it smells amazing in here Wren."

Robin groaned playfully at her mom's tendency to call her every bird in the world besides her own namesake.

"I'm great, mom," she was unable to hide her smile, "How was your day?"

"One of my ICU patients got a little too grabby," Harley complained, before brightening, "but not to worry, I stole his pudding cup in retaliation."

"Leave it to my wife to spend the day saving lives and only mention the food," Amelia teased fondly.

Robin got to work setting the table as Harley went to change and Amelia worked on trying to shoo Frankie away from the food.

"Oh, there is one thing," Robin mentioned as she began serving the alfredo, "I need one of you guys to sign a permission slip for a field trip to Oscorp's science division."

"Bumble-bee, Norman lets you use the facilities at Oscorp all the time for your research," Amelia frowned in confusion, "Why would you need to go on a tour of it?"

"Harry's father wants him to go and get to know the labs, says it'll be good to familiarize himself for when he takes over," Robin explained, "and Haz said that if I go too he'll buy me ice cream afterwards."

"I thought Harry wanted to become a chef?" Amelia tilted her head to the side.

"He does," Robin smiled sadly.

She had never had a father, but if the man who helped conceive her was anything like Norman Osborn, she was sort of thankful for that.

"I'll sign it after dinner, bumble-bee," Amelia changed the direction of the conversation.

"What if I want to sign it?" Harley protested as she came back into the kitchen, "What am I signing?"

"Just eat your pasta, babe," Amelia laughed melodically.

Robin looked on as the couple bickered playfully, a warmth filling her chest.

The circumstances surrounding her being welcomed into the little family were far from conventional, but she'd forever be thankful that the two had decided to take her in.

➶

            A three-year old girl looked on with wonder at the bird flitting among the trees around her. The forest she was in hummed quietly with activity, leaves rustling and cicadas singing.

A few feet away, a woman with sleek brown hair and piercing blue eyes was speaking in hushed tones with a stoic man in a stiff suit.

"And she'll never be traced back to me?" the woman was inquiring, her eyes darting around as though she expected someone to jump out at her.

"Believe me, where she's going?" the man's smile was cold, malicious, "No one will even know she exists."

Relief filled the woman's face, before a twinkle of concern overtook her features.

"Will- will you hurt her?" She asked tentatively.

"Tell me," the man asked evenly, "Do you really care?"

The woman pursed her lips slightly, looking down towards the ground.

"Well, let's see it then," she demanded.

The man waved over a younger male in a similar suit, prompting him to bring over a silver case. He opened it to reveal stacks of hundred-dollar bills.

The woman grabbed the case and hastily turned to leave.

"Mommy?" the young girl's attention was drawn away as the woman walked away hurriedly, "Where are you going?"

She didn't even spare a glance back in her direction.

The man approached the three-year old, crouching down to her level.

"You like that bird?" the man's voice came out soft, but there was no warmth behind his words.

The girl tentatively took in his appearance. His skin was sallow and wax-like, and he smelled of chemicals. The teeth behind his wolfish grin were lightly yellowed, and his hair was thinning. On the collar of his coat, a silver symbol displayed a skull with six tentacles protruding from it.

Hesitantly, she nodded in response to his question.

"That's called a Robin," the man explained, "They're a little shy, but you can catch them if you're careful."

"Where did my mommy go?" the girl's big blue eyes filled with tears.

"Hey, do not cry over the ordinary," the man grasped her small arm, his grip almost painfully tight, "You, my little Robin, are going to be extraordinary."

➶

Robin woke up in a cold sweat, a sharp burning sensation coming from her back.

She stumbled out of bed, shirking off her tank top and turning around in front of her mirror to see what was causing the pain.

The two parallel scars on her shoulder blades, usually a faint white and barely noticeable, were inflamed and bright red.

➶

"Haz, I'm not ditching on our second day at a new school," Robin protested incredulously.

"Oh, come on little bird," he pouted, "We'd just be leaving for lunch. Plus most of the next period, probably. Maybe the rest of the day, if worst comes to worst. I'm craving Coffee Bean."

"Did someone say Coffee Bean?" Mary Jane poked her head between the two, Gwen trailing behind her.

"Yeah, Robin and I going during lunch," Harry declared, "Wanna come?"

Robin huffed in exasperation.

"Oh, count me in," Gwen perked up next to them, "Anything to avoid a lunch period of Flash trying to ask me out."

"Who?" Robin wrinkled her nose in confusion.

Mary Jane let out a dramatic groan at her question, her eyes rolling up to the ceiling.

"Flash Thompson," Mary Jane informed her, "The grade A asshole who spends his time picking on the smaller nerds and flirting with every girl who has a pulse. Gwen is his latest fixation. Honestly, I don't know how an idiot like that even got into this school."

"He's on academic decathlon," Gwen interjected, "So he can't be that dumb."

"Well, if he tries to go after Robin, I'll knock his teeth out," Harry frowned, putting his arm around the shorter girl.

"Violent!" Robin protested, "And hypocritical, you little fuckboy."

Harry had always been protective over the girl when it came to potential love interests. It often led to people assuming the two had romantic feelings for each other, but it sprouted more from Harry's tendency to avoid sharing.

"It's different with you," Harry explained himself, "You get too attached to people. If I let you run off and date someone you'll spend less time with me, and that's simply unacceptable."

"You do realize that Robin isn't your property, right?" Mary Jane snorted.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the girl, opening his mouth to respond.

"Speaking of academic decathlon," Robin rushed to change the subject before an argument started, "Who should I speak to about joining?"

"Liz Allen," Gwen picked up on her urgency, "She's a senior, so you won't have any classes with her, but you could probably catch up with her in the cafeteria."

"Alas, it seems I won't be able to leave for lunch," Robin feigned disappointment, turning to look at her male counterpart, "You'll have to survive without me for a little while."

"You win this round, little bird," Harry frowned playfully.

➶

"Thanks again, Liz," Robin smiled gratefully at the beautiful senior in front of her.

"No problem, Robin," the taller girl beamed, "It was great to meet you. I'll see you at practice Thursday."

With plans to join the decathlon team squared away, Robin's eyes scanned over the cafeteria. Anxiety filled her as she realized the only people she had befriended at the school were all gone.

"Well this was an unfortunate oversight," she mumbled to herself, startling a freshman walking past her.

Her gaze stopped on a girl with messy brown hair sitting alone at the end of a table reading a book.

She walked over, trying to instill in herself the confidence Harry tried to teach her.

"Is this seat taken?" she gestured to the seat across from the girl, her voice wavering only slightly.

"Do you think it's taken?" the girl responded vaguely.

Robin squinted slightly in confusion, hesitantly taking the initiative to decide that it was in fact free and sitting down. She set her tray down in front of her and poked inquisitively at something that looked vaguely like lasagna with her fork.

The girl looked her over suspiciously.

"Why are you sitting here?" she demanded.

"Am I sitting here?" Robin tilted her head to the side slightly.

The two girls had a stare down for over a minute before her new acquaintance reached over and stole one of her fries before looking back down at her book.

"I'm Robin," she introduced, taking the theft as a sign of reluctant acceptance.

"Michelle," the girl mumbled, her eyes not leaving the words on the page in front of her.

Robin was debating on making further conversation when a commotion drew in her attention.

"What's up, Penis Parker?" a boy's voice boomed mockingly.

The boy she had met the day before, Peter, looked down at his tray of food, not responding.

"What, forget how to speak?" the other boy taunted.

"That's Flash Thompson," Michelle explained, "His real name's Eugene, but I'm not supposed to know that."

Robin frowned, remembering Mary Jane's explanation of the bully from earlier.

When Peter still failed to respond, Flash knocked his tray out of hands, his stupid friends laughing as the food spilled everywhere.

"Come on, man," Peter muttered, his eyes darting over to where Robin was sitting in embarrassment.

"You don't actually think you have a chance with the new girl, do you Parker?" Flash snickered, noticing as Peter looked over at her.

Peter flushed bright red at his words, pushing up his glasses and rushing out of the cafeteria. A short Hawaiian boy trailed after him.

Robin's fists clenched at her sides and her eyes narrowed at the boy who was now laughing and high-fiving with his friends as though he had achieved something of value.

She hated bullies, she always had. Before she met Harry, she had been cripplingly shy and some girls at her old school had used that to their advantage. They teased her mercilessly every chance they got.

She opened her mouth to say something to Flash, to tell him to leave the poor boy alone, but anxiety smothered her words before they could even manifest.

Slumping in defeat, she settled for glaring at the bully and wishing he would trip and fall.

Suddenly, she got her wish.

Flash stumbled over what seemed like nothing, falling and faceplanting directly into the mashed potatoes on his tray.

Her eyes widened as laughter filled the cafeteria and Flash struggled to get back up.

"Hey, are you okay?" Michelle questioned in alarm.

"What? Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Robin frowned, blinking hard.

"Your nose is bleeding, dude," Michelle informed her.

Sure enough, when she touched the skin under her nose she drew away with blood on her fingers.

"Uh, I gotta go," she wiped furiously at the blood with her napkin, "It was nice to meet you Michelle."

With that, she got up, quickly dumping her tray into the trash and exiting the café. She slumped against the wall outside the double doors, her heart racing.

The scars on her shoulder blades burned lightly.

"Are you alright?"

She jumped at the sound of someone's voice beside her, turning to see Peter Parker looking at her with a concerned frown.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she smiled at the boy softly, "I think I should be asking you that question."

Peter's face heated up in embarrassment at her words, looking down at the ground.

"M'fine, thanks," he mumbled, "So much for not responding to bullies, huh?"

She frowned, looking at the boy who had been nothing but nice to her since she had arrived at Midtown.

"For the record?" she spoke softly, causing him to look at her again, "You stand more of a chance with me then Flash Thompson ever could."

With that, she mustered all the courage she had to lean forward and place a chaste kiss on the boy's cheek before walking away and leaving a very flustered Peter Parker in her wake.

➶➶➶

can't wait to give flash some sweet, sweet character development

how's your day been, my sweet little pumpkin pies????

all i've done today is rewatch arrow and write this mess gsdjkghjskd

love you so very much,