HOMEMADE DYNAMITE !
❝ WRAITH. ❞

"WELL, AT LEAST YOU'RE ALIVE."

Abigail Lance raised an eyebrow at the comment spouted from the lips of the brunet before her, unamused expression slowly creeping across his face as he took in the group at his front door. Okay, yes, it was 3am in the morning, and the faint flush of dawn was barely scraping along the sapphire skies — but he was probably awake anyway.

He looked her up and down. "I suppose."

"Suppose?" Abby repeated, a small smile sliding over her lips. "Charming as ever, Noah."

"It comes with the territory," the man shrugged, lips tugging up into a faint smile, stepping back to let them walk into the house.

The Maya Black's (aka the Ghost) mansion was home to five kids, and two adults (although Barry Allen and his wife split their time between both Central and Daybreak City) so to say that last time Abby had stepped foot in there it was a madhouse, would be an understatement. Seeing that all but one of the residents had an ability of some description, there was often some sort of chaos taking out half of the east wing at some point.

Luckily for the (nonexistent) neighbours, the manor was in the middle of acres of land owned by the Black Family, and was miles from anyone who could be alarmed by the amount of times the house had to be restored. Maya Black and Barry Allen's home was a soft and pleasant mixture of extravagant and simple — the ornate interior and exterior design was complemented by the warm hues and array of family photographs that filled the inside.

The house was practically brimming with candid homeliness, no fancy chandeliers or expensive rugs lined the halls and floors; the walls (which had survived five kids and two superparents) were tarnished, the wooden floors were scuffed and the sofas and pillows and armchairs were worn and broken in. The lightbulbs flickered from time to time (except for the busted one above the fireplace which Barry still promised he'd do at the weekend) and the stairs sometimes creaked if you ran up them too fast.

Such a grand home was overshadowed by the love evidentially shared by the family that lived in it.

The kids inside may have come from all walks of life, but they were adored by the couple who'd taken them in. It didn't matter though, because Noah Reyes was still a tough enigma to crack. The adopted son of billionaire, Maya Black, and forensic scientist, Barry Allen, he was the first child the couple brought home. He grew up on the streets, running from his parents, until a freak accident left him with the ability to turn invisible.

Soon enough, his abilities led him to a life of crime — one which garnered the Ghost bad press (seeing as she had the defining trait of light manipulation). It didn't take long after that for the blonde to track him down... and take him in. But despite it, the boy could never seem to decide whether his heart was made of steel or gold. He loved, but practiced indifference. He was the epitome of a moral code, yet expressed nothing but ethical ambiguity. The boy was a walking paradox.

Abby sighed, taking a step into the warm household behind her dark haired friend. Although cautious, the others followed after her without hesitation, stepping through the doorframe into the hallway.

"I'd offer you a drink but..." Noah came to a stop in the kitchen, leaning against the counter.

"You don't want to?" Abby presumed, tone inquisitive.

Noah laughed, picking up the mug he'd left on the side, "That too, but no — I only have coffee. Or whiskey. Lots of whiskey."

Dick's eyebrow shot up, "That sounds... healthy."

"Well," Noah lifted his drink towards the detective sarcastically, "you are the expert on such things."

Dick's jaw clenched, teeth grinding together, "That a swipe, Reyes?"

"If I was gonna swipe at you, Grayson, you'd know about it," Noah growled in response, muscles in his face and arms tightening.

Abby cleared her throat awkwardly, "Might take some of that whiskey after all."

Noah calmed down, his glare softening, he sighed and nodded to Dick, "Sorry. Guess it's kinda ... painful seeing you after what happened in San Francisco."

"Yeah well, we've got bigger problems," Kory stepped forwards, drawing Noah's attention immediately, "Five of them, actually. On their way here. Now."

Noah's eyes drifted to Abby and Dick, "Bringing trouble to my door again?"

"Old habits," Abby shrugged flippantly, a small smile edging her mouth.

Dick crossed his arms over his chest, "I think you mean bad habits."

"You're both as bad as each other," Noah grumbled, before placing his mug down and folding his arms, "What are we up against?"

The Gothamite blew out an exasperated huff as he shook his head, trying to think of what to say. "The people who attacked us... they fought in unison, they were perfectly coordinated."

"They make violence look like an art form," Kory explained simply, her comment sounding maybe even impressed.

Abby grimaced, reckon she'll just stick to galleries, then ran a hand through her hair nervously, "They've also teamed up with an old friend. Arthur King."

"Oh great, that fuckwit," Noah groaned, lips thinning into a tight line.

Jess reminded everyone of her presence with a loud and slightly perplexed breath, "Do any of you have your own enemies? Any of you? You're all so friendly — it's disgusting."

Dick let out a small laugh before returning to his point, "What I was trying to say is, we're not. We can't fight like them unless we know each other's moves."

Noah's brow lofted, "Pretty sure you and Abby already kno—."

"I meant abilities," Dick emphasised quickly, casting a glare to the dark haired boy as a silent plea to please stop talking.

He heard a faint laugh come from Abby. She had her knuckles pressed to her lips in a failed attempt to stop it, and was already looking over at him. He felt his heart begrudgingly speed up, remembering the moment she kissed him in the car. It reminded him that he'd nearly died less than 24 hours ago. He'd nearly left her. Again.

Abby cleared her throat, brows furrowed, "Let me guess: you want us to train?"

"If you think you can handle it," Dick replied slyly, turning to face her, watching her jaw set.

Abby stepped forwards, eyes sharp and her voice low, "I think I can handle you."

"You sure about that?" Dick retorted, smile beginning to creep over his lips as he took a step closer to her.

She pushed her chin out, the corner of her lip raising with her eyebrow, "That a challenge, boy blunder?"

"Almost forgot how nauseous you two are," Noah commented under his breath, grimaced slapped clear on his face, "Donna would be ashamed."

"Donna would cheer them on," Jess corrected, though she didn't look much more impressed, "But feel free to embarass them into stopping, we've had to deal with this for, like, two days straight."

"It's exhausting," Rachel agreed with a teasing nod of her head.

"Can we focus on the bad guys literally on their way to kill us? Please?" Gar squeaked, presence practically unseen at the back of the room.

Jess placed a mocking hand on his arm, "Don't worry, if the scary steroid-assassins come for us, I'll protect you, tiger."

"Okay, I accidentally growled in front of you one time," Gar protested frustration.

"It was enough," Jess nodded sympathetically, patting his arm.

"Well look," Noah sighed, turning back to Abby and Dick, "If we're showing skills... Nora's old safe room in the bunker out back should hold."

Abby's eyes softened sadly at the mention of her friend, but forced an expressionless nod as she swallowed the lump in her throat and began to follow Noah as he made his way towards the back door. She'd missed this house, the people in it. Specifically Noah. He reminded her of a much simpler time, when all they wanted to do was save the world.

NORA BLACK'S NUCLEAR BUNKER, buried deep underground below the team base built above it in the mansion's wide field, was no joke. It had been built to withstand photon emissions as powerful as the Sun. It had been built to contain Nora, and to an extent, her mother. Noah was pretty confident it could handle the ragtag bunch of misfits following him down there.

"So... do I wanna know why you casually have a doomsday bunker buried in your back yard?" Jess inquired casually as they waited in silence for the elevator to take them down.

Noah chuckled softly, "It's not a doomsday bunker. It was built for my sister."

"Yeah, that's not much better, dude," Garfield piped up with small laugh.

"When she was younger she had trouble controlling her abilities. Power like that... it's destructive," Noah glanced over his shoulder at the group behind him, "We built this to protect her. Keira used to call it Nora's version of a Fortress of Soli..."

Noah trailed off, the smile that had begun gracing his lips as he told the story faded, twisting sour. Dick stiffened behind him, feeling a metal clamp embrace his heart as the word left unsaid carved a hole in his chest. Abby cleared her throat as she felt her eyes begin to sting, placing a soothing hand on Noah's shoulder as she reached down to give Dick's hand a squeeze.

"Did I miss something?" Kory finally spoke up, voice expectant and curious.

"I can feel the sadness coming off of you," Rachel murmured, tone sympathetic and saddened.

Jess's eyes moved between the three of them. Keira? The name sounded familiar, like she'd seen or heard or read or somewhere, somewhere important. It felt like a torn piece of wallpaper on a perfect wall, a bad idea, but she couldn't resist wanting to pull it. Her eyes widened as her memory fell into focus. Oh.

"It's nothing," Noah choked out, clearing his throat and shrugging the melancholic weight from his shoulders like a blanket, pulling open the lift's metal grates as the mechanism jilted to a stop.

Gar turned to Jess and Rachel, "It's definitely something, right?"

Rachel raised an eyebrow before following Kory out of the lift behind the terrific trio taking up the front. Gar watched her go in confusion, before spinning back to Jess, whose hands were hanging in her denim jacket as looked up at him.

"Please don't ever change," Jess sighed, smiling fondly before leaving him to hurry after her as she strode out of the lift.

The long, spacious shelter found at the end of the dim corridor was singed and burnt, the walls scarred by days long gone, whispering stories and tragedies that none now stood there would ever know. The group stood at the entrance, far at one end of the room, spread out as the cold began to seep into the bones.

"So Nora would probably kill me if she knew I'd let you use her stuff, but ... y'know, disappear off the face of the earth for five years and I'm gonna let Abby quake the fuck out of your walls ... yeah," Noah shrugged, reaching over to press the blue keys of the touch-screen keyboard imbedded into the wall behind a slate.

"Hasn't called you either, huh?" Abby mused, eyebrows raised as she leant back to look at the man.

Noah sent her a pointed stare, tone overflowing with sarcasm, "I'm her brother it's her job to reply to my spam of messages with 'fuck off' — I mean, the girl hasn't even blown up one of Luthor's labs in over two years, I'm beginning to think she wants me to leave her alone."

"No shit," Dick drawled, eyebrow raised.

"I'd even take a being blocked at this point."

Abby let out a laugh, her eyes crinkling as she shook her head. As Noah closed the hatch hiding the touch pad, the floor opened up, a set of targets and mannequins rising up at the opposite end of the room. A long set of bright, artificial lights whirred to life, the room filling with a low buzz as the screen behind them flickered awake.

Noah turned to face the group, a sly smile forming on his lips.

"Who's first?"

NOTE!
maya black is basically superpowered!bruce wayne and barry allen is the exhausted middle aged dad who has more kids than he knows what to do with. i don't make the rules.

also lmao y'all thought you'd at least heard a mention of all my ocs from the og titans. NOPE. keira was epic :))))))) and tragic :((((((( why do i hurt my babies?