Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Lloyd was helping with the cleanup from his battle with the crystal king, the shards of broken crystals were everywhere. collapsed buildings lay broken and construction teams were working on setting up cleanup sights.

Roads were cracked with crystals sticking out every now and then, buildings had purple vines with crystals growing out of them climbing their walls. There were crystals everywhere.

He still hadn’t changed out of the golden armor he’d been fighting in, his mask was moved to the side of his face, revealing a gash just under his eye. It could’ve easily blinded him had it been about a half an inch closer.

Kai and the other ninja were busy, a lot of kids got separated from their parents during the few days that the crystal king was in control, their job was to find those kids and reunite them with their parents. So Lloyd was on his own for clean up duty.

They’d been cleaning up the new parts of ninjago since the battle ended a few hours ago, since that’s where the crystal king had chosen to keep his base and army. Broken billboards that flickered with light lined the streets, purple crystals stuck out of them at odd angles. His powers made quick work of the crystals, shattering them into hundreds of small, sweepable pieces.

Then he heard a sound, it was like an earthquake, low and trembling.

“Did you hear that?” Lloyd asked absentmindedly as he looked towards the source of the sound, but all he could see was the dim street lights coming on as the sun set on the broken city. The worker holding a garbage bag open for him gave a bewildered look.

“No? Maybe you should rest, green ninja.” the worker said, giving him a concerned look.

Lloyd didn’t sleep that night, he could still hear that tremble. At first he thought it was the overlord, but even he would need time to rest before he was able to get back into taking over the world. Lloyds second assumption was.. well, just about any other villain he's faced off with. They aren't exactly shy about using magic.

He really didn't want to deal with another villain attack when the ninja had just barely started cleaning up the city, the damage would set them back about a million steps.

But alas, he got up and changed out of his pajamas begrudgingly, muttering curses under his breath as he opened the curtains and looked down at the lawn of the monastery stretched out before him. There was nobody there. His eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he noticed the wind in the trees billowing and howling, like a whispering snake it coiled around his mind, taunting and teasing the tired boy's conscience.

Lloyd grumbled and grabbed his katana, walking out of the monastery to confront whatever was making that trembling noise.
As he stepped out of the monastery, the wind whipped at his hair, blowing it into his face and making it hard for him to see what was in front of him, and stinging the still untreated cut under his eye.

And then there was a sound, a horrible, terrifying sound, like scissors taken to cosmic fabric, a rip formed in the sky revealing a foggy city at night. Clouds swirled in the sky and the wind howled in Lloyds ears as many more rips formed, leading into many more strange and familiar places. The wind got louder, he could hardly hear his own thoughts over the howling breeze. By this point, the other ninja had also been startled awake by the heavy wind and ripping noises.

Lloyd turned around upon hearing the faint voices of his friends, they were pointing at something but he couldn’t make out what they were saying over the wind.

Another ripping sound, this time closer, so loud Lloyd jumped and covered his ears. So close that it hailed over the wind and made the ground shake and his teeth vibrate. A glow, faint and purple, was coming from a rip in the earth right under his feet. The rip opened like a gaping wound and he fell in, blacking out as he landed in a dumpster.
—---
Lloyd woke up on a bed that he knew for certain wasn’t his, in a room that wasn’t his.
He sat up immediately, anxiety buzzing in his fingertips.

The sheets were made of silk and colored gray. The comforter that was wrapped around him felt soft but he was too startled to care how comfortable it was.

Lloyd felt around for a light switch and found one at the exact moment someone opened the door. The person at the door was tall with short black hair and blue eyes, his face had a few wrinkles and some stubble.

“You’re awake.” the man sounded like he smoked ten packs a day, Lloyd noted.

“Where am i?” Lloyd asked harshly, readying himself for a fight if need be.

“You’re in Wayne manor.” the man said, walking closer.

“Who're you?” Lloyd asked, standing his ground.

The man seemed slightly surprised that Lloyd didn't know him, after all, Wayne manor only had one forty year old man in it. “My name is Bruce Wayne, what about you?”

“Lloyd garmadon.” Lloyd said, looking at Bruce suspiciously. Bruce raised his brow at Lloyd's surname, and Lloyd didn't blame him, even if people knew he was the green ninja there was always some controversy around his name due to his fathers reputation.

“How old are you?” Bruce asked as he sat on the bed, Lloyd noticed he was holding a beat up bag.

“Sixteen.”

“Where are your parents?” now that was a question that lloyd had a hard time answering, he couldn’t exactly say ‘oh, they’re in a different dimension and one of them probably isn’t even looking for me right now.’ he’d sound insane, and he doesn’t want to get sent to a mental institution at the moment.

“...dead.” not exactly the best answer but they might as well be given that one of them tried to kill him more than once and the other abandoned him.

Bruce looked less than surprised, his eyes held a sort of pity that annoyed Lloyd, it was the same kind that people would give him after he was kicked out of darkley's and had nowhere to live. “How did I get here?” Lloyd asked, his voice not nearly as harsh as before.

“My son found you freezing in an alleyway.”

Lloyd gave him a slightly suspicious look but before he could say anything Bruce handed him the bag “he found this beside you.” Bruce said as Lloyd took the bag and looked inside. There wasn’t much in it, only his phone, a pack of gum and his laptop and some cheap earbuds.

Bruce watched him for a moment before he spoke again. “How’d you end up in that alley?”

Lloyd set the bag down and looked at bruce. “I don’t remember.” He had a pretty good idea.

Bruce looked like he didn’t believe him but he didn’t pry. “You can stay in the manor, if you don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Normally, Lloyd wouldn’t stay at a complete stranger's house for who knows how long. However, he didn’t exactly have a choice. It was either stay here or be homeless for the second time in his life. “Thanks.” he wasn’t in any position to argue.
—---

The first night in Wayne manor was.. Strange, it felt off to Lloyd, he couldn’t place it but it felt like there was something more to the place. He had a hard time falling asleep but managed.

When he woke up he was met with the sound of an old man fussing over him, he was too tired to process most of it but the voice held a british accent and sounded very upset that he had an untreated cut so close to his eye.

He only got up after the person speaking had left the room, and he found a hoodie and a pair of pants at the end of the bed. After he sluggishly tugged on the clean clothes as he heard knocking at the bedroom door. He answered it and came face to face with a boy his age.

“Hi, you must be Lloyd, I'm Tim drake.” the boy held out his hand, lloyd looked at it for a moment before shaking his hand.

“How did you know my name?” Lloyd asked as he let go of the boy's hand.

“Bruce told me.” Tim said, leading Lloyd out of the bedroom. “He wanted me to show you around the manor.”

The manor, Lloyd came to realize, was huge. He’s seen mansions back in ninjago, mostly because when the ninja weren’t trying to save the world, rich guys always liked to invite them over as a publicity stunt. But he’d never seen a manor so large that there were more rooms than people. Why do they even exist? As far as he can see Tim is the only kid here, besides Lloyd himself.

As they walked past the family portrait he realized there were many more people besides Tim.

“That’s a lot of people.” Lloyd said as he stood in front of the portrait. His eyes skimmed over the names under high quality painted busts of the various residents of the wayne manor. Tim stopped as well.

“Yeah, Bruce tends to take in strays.” Tim said, a small smile forming on his lips as he looked over the family portrait.

“I can see that.” Lloyd said, tearing his eyes from the portrait.

“Do you have any siblings?” Tim asked, his gaze settling on Lloyd. Lloyd hesitated. Technically he didn't, however, he had the ninja, and they were the closest thing he had to siblings.

He felt a heavy pain in his chest, he remembered what had happened. The rips, the frightened expressions on his friends face as he fell through the rip, blacking out when he landed. He gazed back at the portrait, a small sigh leaving his lips. “Something like that.”

The rest of the day Lloyd spent at the manor, he didn’t have a lot to do anyways but he learned that this world has a whole lot more heroes than ninjago and a city that was so horrifically full of crime that Lloyd was ninety percent sure that the overlord might own a church there.

And then he found out that they’re in said corrupted city. He nearly had a heart attack.
—---

Lloyd soon got used to the hustle and bustle that came with Wayne manor, he hung out with Tim more often than not since most of the other people who lived there were usually working or out of town.

Unfortunately for Lloyd, he still had to go to school even in an alternate universe. And by the time he was enrolled, the cut under his eye had faded to a small but very visible scar. He wouldn't have to worry about it when school started. Which was nice, he knew schools in Ninjago weren't the most sanitary of places to have open wounds around, and from what he's seen he wouldn't put it past Gotham to be worse.

gotham prep wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be. It was way worse. At least he had Tim to hang out with.

Walking the halls was a simple enough task, he knew how to blend in. It's something you have to learn when you're a ninja, or when your dad's a supervillain. Yet he still had the distinct feeling that the people there knew he didn't want to be there, that he didn't enjoy the sterile white tile on the floor or the annoyingly bright lights. Most of all, something felt familiar, not about the place of course, the actual building made him dreadful to be out in public, but about a presence in the building. Two, actually. He couldn't place his finger on it.

Classes were as boring as ever, he was only actually curious when history class rolled around. He always had an interest in history, even in Ninjago when he already knew a good bit of it. But being in a whole different dimension? It's like crack for the young boy.

“To start off the semester, we’ll be doing a five page essay on a hero of your choice.” the teacher, mr. Norman said, his deep voice resounding around the room and mixed with the annoyed groans and grumbles of the students around Lloyd. Lloyd himself was rather indifferent about writing about the superheroes here. It would give him an excuse to research them without looking suspicious and he would be able to be a recluse and stay quiet all day without it looking weird. A win-win.

By lunch most people who took mr. Norman's class were talking about who they would write about or how annoyed they were that they even *had* to write. Meanwhile, Lloyd had no idea who he was going to write about given that he didn’t know very many superheroes.
He didn’t pile his tray very high, he wasn’t very hungry, the line was long and he didn’t want to hold it up.

As he started for an empty table he heard the sound of someone calling his name. He looked around and saw Tim waving him over to a table next to a blonde boy who was writing something in a notebook.

Lloyd walked to the table awkwardly and sat across from the two. The blonde boy looked up from his notebook, “you must be Lloyd!” The boy spoke with so much enthusiasm in just a few words, it reminded Lloyd of jay.

“Yep, that’s me.” Lloyd said, his voice holding an awkward tone as he sipped from his water bottle,

“I'm Bernard, Tim's told me so much about you.” the blonde boy shook Lloyd's hand with vivacity as he spoke.

As it turns out, it was surprisingly easy to talk to Bernard. Lloyd found himself wrapped up in conversation about Gotham City's protectors after asking the simple question of ‘who did you choose to write about?’ and as he spoke with Bernard, he was further reminded of Jay, the enthusiasm and passion that Bernard expressed made Lloyd think of when Jay would talk about robotics and such.

"Speaking of superheroes, who's your favorite hero, Lloyd?" Tim asked, looking over at Lloyd and taking a bite out of his food.

Lloyd didn't know very much about the vigilantes, but based off of first impressions, he liked Red Hood the most.

"I'll have to say Red Hood." Lloyd replied easily. Tim looked ever so slightly surprised.

"I thought you would've said green arrow." Bernard said, Tim nodded in agreement. Lloyd raised a brow.

"Why?" Though the better question to ask would've been 'who?'

"Basically everything you own is green." Tim said as he took a sip from a can of red bull, not seeming too happy about having the drink.
—---

The rest of the day was rather boring after lunch, he could hardly keep himself from spacing out during his science class, when would he need to know about kinetic energy anyways? But despite his dislike for science and math, he forced himself to listen, only occasionally spacing out when he was doodling little pictures of the ninja. He picked up art skills way back after the final battle, and he'd found them extremely useful for killing time.

By the end of the day, his energy was spent. He didn’t like this school, he didn’t like the kids nor the teachers. He held the expectation that he wouldn’t like his classes all the way into his English class. He unfortunately knew nobody in his English class, so he sat alone in the back of the class. He was good with English, thanks to Kai. Back when Kai taught English -after the not-so-final final battle- Lloyd had a much longer attention span. He paid attention even though he didn’t see the need to learn English, Ninjago was a state that primarily wrote in Hanzi and Kanji, very few people wrote labels, books, scrolls, etc in English because a majority of the population spoke Mandarin and Nihongo. English was the minority, but now all of that time getting 'your' and 'you're' mixed up had payed off

He had to fight to pay attention in English class, it was hard. The buzzing of the fluorescent lights -which were already giving him a migraine- mixed with the sound of the students around him talking over the teacher. It made his skin crawl, his clothes were starting to feel like fiberglass

“Are you okay, sweetie?” the teacher, mrs. Hoover seemed to notice Lloyds predicament. Lloyd could only nod, too tired to speak and too stubborn to admit his discomfort. The teacher didn’t believe him, her hand moving to the switch on an LED light switch, the soft orange light brought some relief to Lloyds migraine and he felt even better when mrs. Hoover turned off the overhead lights.

By the time the last bell of the day rang, Lloyd was glad to leave the miserable building. He met up with Tim at the entrance.

Tim was drinking from a can of red bull. “Where’d you even get that?” Lloyd asked, Tim sipped his drink. “I forgot to make coffee this morning, this was the next best thing.” Tim said as he walked towards his car. “I’m more of a monster man myself.” Lloyd said as he followed.
—---
Lloyd spent a lot of his time that night trying to research the various superheroes, though none of them caught his interest besides maybe Wonder Woman but he decided to keep looking.

Eventually, he found an article on the Red Hood, originally he'd just said he liled Red Hood for the sake of answering the question, but the article's headline caught his attention and he soon found himself typing away at his laptop as he skimmed through the article.

As he wrote he lost track of time and soon enough the sky was dark, stars glittered like paint specks and clouds drifted sleepily in the sky.
Lloyds room was dark, and he was too comfortable to stop typing and get up to turn on the light. He raised a hand, like he’s done thousands of times, and felt the familiar warmth in his fingers, like the feeling of warm cookies in your hands.

And then that feeling faded, left completely. No green light came from his hands. His heart sank as he brought his hand to his face, staring at it for a moment, his brows furrowing in concern. A knock came from his door, he slowly rose from his bed and flicked on the lightswitch, a slight tremble in his hands as he opened the door.

Tim stood there, slight concern on his face as he noticed the small shake in Lloyds arm. “Alfred wanted to know if you’d like some cucumber sandwiches.” Tim said, glancing from Lloyd’s arm to his face.

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'll be down in a minute.” Lloyd said awkwardly.
When Tim left the doorway, Lloyd closed the door, pressing his back to it. Why did this affect him so much? He lived through darkley’s without powers, he survived Pythor without powers. And it’s not like he hasn’t fought without using his powers.

He made the determination that it was simply a shock that he couldn’t use his powers. He saved his work and made his way downstairs, not noticing how quietly he walked as he stepped down the stairs.

While Lloyd knew that there were a lot of people living in the manor, he only really knew Tim, and he wasn’t exactly sure how many of the people in the family portrait actually lived here. So he wasn’t surprised to see a man he didn’t recognize leaning on the counter in the kitchen, talking to Alfred as the butler made sandwiches.

Lloyd was going to just sit at the dining table that was right beside the kitchen, but the man noticed him before he could leave the room. “You’re the newbie.”

The man said it as more of a statement than a question, he walked over to Lloyd and gave him a once over, a suspicious look in his eyes as he looked at the scar under Lloyd's eye

“Uh.. yeah, that’s me.” Lloyd looked up at the man, suddenly realizing just how tall he was. The man was wearing a red t-shirt and a pair of jeans. He had a scar near his eye and black hair with a bone white streak of hair in his bangs, his eyes were a similar shade of green as Lloyd’s. “I’m Lloyd.” Lloyd said, holding his hand out for the man to shake. The man glanced down at the invitation but didn’t shake his hand.

“Jason.” the man said simply, crossing his arms. Lloyd nodded and stood there awkwardly, waiting patiently for Jason to look away so that he could slip off to the dining room. He wasn't exactly intimidated by Jason, but he wasn't really at ease either. He never really was when it came to knew people.

In fact, he'd probably be a whole lot less awkward around the Wayne manor residences if it weren't for the fact that he didn't have a single clue as to how he got here. He had to tred carefully, he didn't know these people well enough to determine wether or not they were a part of something darker.

The second that Jason looked at something else, Lloyd walked into the dining room as quickly and quietly as he could, sitting down and quietly looking up more information on the Red Hood. He’d like to get this essay done as fast as possible.

He didn't hear Alfred walk into the dining room as Lloyd was looking over an article on one of Red Hood’s recent cases. “I see you’re interested in the Red Hood?” Alfred’s smooth accent startled Lloyd as the young boy turned and looked up at him, how’d he manage to sneak up on him like that?

“I’m writing a paper on him, for school.” Lloyd answered as Alfred walked closer, a plate with a good looking sandwich on it in his gloved hands.

"Well, good luck, master Lloyd." Alfred said, setting the plate in front of Lloyd.

"Thanks Alfred." Lloyd said, watching as Alfred returned to the kitchen.

What an interesting family.

Chapter Text

During his first week of being at Wayne manor, Lloyd began to notice weird occurrences. He could sometimes walk past Bruce’s study and see an oddly angular grandfather clock, almost like a hidden doorway. Or when he was wandering the yard and came across a shrub with a strangely square pattern in its leaves right in the center. At first he didn’t think anything of it, maybe it was just a hiding spot for hide and go seek. He certainly has memories of training with the ninja and he made elaborate traps and hiding places, way back before he was aged up.
As of right now, Lloyd was spacing out, staring idly at the cafeteria table. The school day took most of his energy focusing, lunch was one of the few moments he didn’t have to force himself to focus or listen. And even when he was forcing focus there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t be in his own head a few seconds later. 

Lloyd found himself missing his life as a ninja, his jumpiness and need to move at all times had actually had a use when he was in Ninjago, but now it was just an annoyance to both his teachers and at times himself.  he reminisced the memories of patrolling Ninjago at night with the other ninja. But more than anything, he was curious and worried. What happened with the rips was certainly not normal and it made him wonder what happened after he fell through into gotham.

His thoughts were interrupted by Tim, “-Right Lloyd?” Lloyd jumped slightly when he felt Tims hand on his shoulder. He looked up upon realizing people were talking to him.

“Sorry, what?” Lloyd said, setting his plastic fork down on his tray.

“I was asking if you were all right.” Tim had a concerned look in his eyes, his hand leaving Lloyds shoulder. Lloyd nodded.

“Yeah, just tired.” Lloyd responded, not a complete lie but also not exactly the truth. Tim didn’t look like he believed him but he also didn’t voice his concerns further.

The bell rang, signaling the end of lunch.

The rest of the school day went by almost fastly, Lloyd’s perception of time had been funky ever since he woke up in the manor. Sometimes it would feel faster than it should and other times it felt more like he was watching paint dry in slow motion.

 When Tim and Lloyd got back to the manor, Lloyd immediately went for the shower. PE was held outside and it was annoyingly hot outside, Lloyd was desperate to clean himself of sweat and grime.

As he neared the bathroom, fresh clothes in hand, he stubbed his toe on the doorway and dropped the fresh set of clothes.
Lloyd let out a soft curse, feeling a strangely intense sense of frustration.

He picked up his clothes and stepped into the bathroom, casting a quick glance into the mirror as he moved to turn the shower on. As he looked in the mirror, his hand stopped.

His eyes had turned purple. The usual neon green hue of his iris’s now glowed the same shade of purple as the overlord’s powers.  Lloyd’s eyes widened and he almost fell back from shock, taking a shaky step back from the mirror. 

He quickly took his shower before hiding away in his room, not daring to go back out for fear of hurting Tim or the others, opting to sit in his room and try to get his eyes back to normal before he lost control completely.

He only even thought of talking to someone when there was a knock at his door. “Uh- ju-just a second.” Lloyd said as he slowly looked into the camera on his phone. His eyes were back to normal.

He sighed in relief and opened the door to see Jason. Lloyd was a little surprised, Jason didn’t exactly seem like the kind of person to talk to anyone unless he needed something. “Do you know how to sew?” the tall man said. Lloyd nodded.

“Good, follow me.” Jason said, not bothering to see if Lloyd would actually follow him as he turned and walked down the hall.

Lloyd followed quickly, not wanting to get lost in the confusing halls of Wayne manor. 

Jason ended up leading Lloyd to the living room, a leather jacket was laying on the couch, there was a large tear starting at the torso and stopping just across the chest. like someone stabbed and tore the fabric with a knife. Jason handed Lloyd a pencil pouch with a bunch of small sewing needles and thread inside. 

“How’d that even happen?” Lloyd asked as he fished out a large needle. He frowned a bit. The needle wasn’t the correct type for leather as thick as the stuff on Jason’s jacket.

Jason watched him carefully, making sure Lloyd wouldn’t screw up his jacket. “An accident.” 

Lloyd rolled his eyes as he searched the pouch for a bigger needle, muttering “an accident is right.”

Jason raised a brow. “Can you fix it or not, kid?” 

“I can fix it.” Lloyd picked out a cutting point needle, a rather nice one as well, though he guessed that wasn’t unusual for a family as rich as the Waynes.

He fished out a spool of thread and got to work, gently weaving the needle through the edges of the rip before finally tying it off and pulling it closed. The whole process only took ten minutes, But Jason still watched him like a hawk. 

Only once he was done did Lloyd realize that he couldn’t hear anyone else in the manor, which was concerning given that there were usually at least two other people around. “Where’re the others?” He asked as Jason took the leather jacket and slipped it on.

Jason looked down at Lloyd with his usual fierce look. It reminded Lloyd of a typical movie sniper. “They’re out.” Jason grunted, moving towards the kitchen. Real helpful.

Lloyd followed him, which probably wasn’t a good idea given the guy looked like Cole with short hair and anger issues. “Out where?” He asked as he stood beside Jason, who was getting out a small packet of noodles. 

“Just out.” Jason sounded thoroughly irked by Lloyd following him into the kitchen, the annoyance seeped into his tone. But all that Lloyd was focused on was the packet of maruchan noodles in Jason’s hands.

He had maruchan in his world too, they were disgusting, too salty and they hardly boiled correctly. He wouldn’t let Jason make maruchan noodles, not in his presence at least. “Y’know, i could make actual ramen for you.” At Lloyds words, Jason looked down at him, one eyebrow raised ever so slightly.

“You can cook?” Jason sounded skeptical. Lloyd nodded. 

“My friend taught me when I was younger.” Lloyd could still remember the ramen recipe that Zane taught him when he was first taken in by the ninja, it got him through so many hungry nights. Jason still seemed skeptical but he sighed in annoyance.

“If I let you cook, will you leave me alone?” Jason said as he moved to the side. Lloyd nodded, much to Jason’s displeasure, but still Jason let the young boy do his thing.
—---

As Lloyd cooked he would occasionally glance over at Jason leaning against the counter, a cautious look in his eyes. Like he expected Lloyd to accidentally set fire to the boiling noodles.  The silence between the two was tense and awkward. Eventually Lloyd decided to break the ice. “Who’s your favorite superhero?” Lloyd didn’t expect a serious answer, Jason didn’t seem like the kinda guy to like superheroes. 

Jason finally looked at Lloyd, a microscopic hint of a smirk tugging at the broody man’s lips. “Wonder woman.” He said simply, his arms crossed across his chest.

Lloyd raised a brow. “Really? I would’ve thought Red Hood was your favorite.” He said, stirring the noodles.

Jason looked ever so slightly amused, his brows quirked up just a little. “Well, who’s your favorite hero?” Jason said as Lloyd finished the ramen.

“Red Hood.” Lloyd said immediately, handing Jason a bowl of ramen. The noodles smelled excellent, just like how Zane used to make them. Lloyd dipped out a bowl for himself, the smell both comforting and hurtful at the same time, like pressing a on a bruise. Jason paused for a moment, looking at Lloyd as he idly twirled his fork in the freshly made noodles.

Jason hadn’t exactly expected Lloyd to pick him as his favorite, though he didn’t know why. It wasn’t like he was hated by the public, there were plenty of people outside of crime alley who thought that the Red Hood was a good vigilante, but he still isn’t exactly favored in the eyes of the public. If only Lloyd knew he was talking to his favorite vigilante. The thought of the boy’s reaction almost makes him smirk. Almost.

“Why Red Hood?” Jason asks as he takes a bite of the noodles. They aren’t half bad.

“He reminds me of someone I know.” Lloyd said, a faintly bittersweet tone to his voice.
—---

Lloyd slept fitfully that night. His short conversation with Jason had made him forget about his pre-shower oni eyes but it didn’t help him fall asleep comfortably. His dreams were plagued with nightmares, the voice of his father playing on loop in his head like a broken record. The voice sounded almost alien to Lloyd, he knew it was his father of course, but it felt more like he was remembering short conversations with a stranger rather than battles with his deadbeat dad.

“You wouldn’t hurt me, I’m your son..”

“I have no son.”

He awoke shortly after that memory. The sound of his own nightmares playing through his head as he groaned and pulled on his school uniform. He hauled his backpack on and shoved on his shoes before heading downstairs.

Tim was sitting on the couch, phone in hand as he typed away with his headphones in. Lloyd walked over and sat beside him. Tim jumped a little when Lloyd sat down and he looked over at him. He wasn’t used to anyone who wasn’t a vigilante not making any noise when they walked, even with the other heroes Damian was amongst the only ones that knew that had silent footsteps. “You look tired.” Tim said as Lloyd leaned back against the couch and rubbed his eyes.

“Didn’t sleep too well.” Lloyd said groggily. Tim hummed in agreement and handed Lloyd a can of monster energy, of which Lloyd took gratefully.

The drive to school was peaceful, small rain droplets fell and the thick smell of an incoming rain storm wafted into Tim’s car through the air conditioner. Lloyd had to fight to not fall asleep in the passenger seat.

School was boring to say the least. Nothing eventful was happening and he’d already finished his essay on Red Hood, along with reading every article he could find on the guy. He may have a tiny hyperfixation on the hero.

He waited boredly during first period, his eyes on the board but his mind wandering and roaming. He was biting his nails. A nervous habit he’d picked up in his time in gotham. He was trying to think of a way to get back to ninjago, but he could hardly concentrate on his own thoughts let alone class. 

the only time he stopped biting his nails was when he was drawing. Though drawing also brought frustration, he just couldn't get Kai's scar right.

When lunch rolled around Lloyd was nauseus and starving, that’s what happens when you skip breakfast. He piled his tray decently high and headed for the table that Tim was sitting at.

As he was weaving in and out of the crowd and lines, he felt something heavy hit his back, startling him and making him stumble slightly. He turned around to see a dented apple on the floor, bits of it smushed underneath the fruit. “Whoops.” A voice sneered somewhere in front of him.

Lloyd looked up from the apple and was met with a boy who had short brown hair and muddy brown eyes. He was laughing at Lloyd. Lloyd felt something that he could only describe as purple, his hands tightening on his tray so hard that he felt the upturned edges digging into his skin.

Lloyd glared at the boy for a moment before turning away and taking a deep breath, the purple feeling lingered only for a moment as he sat down at Tim's table.

Lloyd occasionally took bites of his food, but he was mostly focused on drawing. He had to get back out of the manor otherwise he’d go crazy. The manor was nice and all but Lloyd was a ninja, not a highschooler, so he was drawing a new ninja suit. It looked more like coles ninja suit, but materials were limited and didn’t have very much green fabric.

The suit looked like something out of assassin’s creed, but he’d make due. Tim noticed what Lloyd was drawing and gave a sideways glance at the unfinished sketch. “What’re you drawing?” He asked and Lloyd jumped, immediately slamming his notebook shut.

“Nothing!” real convincing, good save.

The rest of lunch was spent with Lloyd, Tim and Bernard talking about random things, mostly Lloyd trying to divert attention from his drawing.

—---

The rest of the day was agonizingly slow, Lloyd was happy to be away from the school by the end of it. He had a few basic ideas of what he needed to do to be a vigilante. First, he’d need a suit, he found out a while ago that his oni blood made his skin thick enough to be bullet proof so he didn’t need to worry about special materials. But he had no clue where he would get the fabric to make the suit.

As he was following Tim to the car, Lloyd got yanked to the side and into an alleyway, a hand was pressed firmly against his mouth by whoever had dragged him into the alleyway. He struggled for a moment before the voice of the person holding him captive hit his ears.

“Lloyd, it’s me!” Harumi’s voice was comforting, but it also made him uneasy. Even though she helped him while he was fighting the crystal king, they still weren’t on very good terms.

Harumi let go of him, spinning him around to face her. “What are you doing here? How’d you even get here?” Lloyd had so many questions, but Harumi looked very uneasy. 

“I don’t know how I got here.” Harumi said, and Lloyd finally noticed that she was older than she was back in ninjago. They used to be the same age but now she looked like she was a few years older than him. 

“You’re taller.” Lloyd said, and Harumi nodded. 

“I’m aware.” she let go of Lloyd. 

“That’s not the point.” Harumi said, her voice firm but concerned. She handed him an empty Altoid container.

Lloyd looked down at the metal container, a confused look on his face. He opened it to find a stack of cash folded neatly inside. He looked back up at Harumi. “What’s this for?”

“You need fabric for a ninja suit.” Harumi said as if that were obvious. Lloyd didn’t know how she knew he was trying to get back into being a nina, he assumed it was just a coincidence. 

“Where’d you get this?” Lloyd asked, looking at the money. Harumi gave him an annoyed look.

“No more questions-” Harumi looked like she was going to say something else but she stopped upon hearing Tim calling Lloyd’s name. For a moment, Harumi seemed hesitant to let Lloyd go, but she still tossed a grappling hook onto a nearby rooftop and waved at Lloyd as she climbed the chain and ran off.

Tim wandered into the mouth of the alleyway, and Lloyd quickly pocketed the altoid container. “Sorry, I thought I saw something.”  Lloyd said, and Tim looked suspicious but he didn’t press on. For that, Lloyd was grateful.
—---
Lloyd opened the altoid container again when he got home. A note was under the cash, Harumi's phone number was scribbled out in annoyingly neat handwriting. He raised a brow and looked at the numbers, he supposed that Harumi would need fancy handwriting since she was a princess.

He let out an exasperated breath, wondering what the ninja would think of the situation. The thought brought a faint smile to his face and he thought about what Nya might say. She’d probably be skeptical about Harumi’s intentions. Maybe she’d make a sarcastic comment about his predicament, or perhaps she’d just let out a long sigh and say something along the lines of ‘Boys will be boys.” and then go back to working on a motorcycle or sharpening a weapon.

Lloyd decided to add Harumi to his contacts, wanting to say something, anything, but nothing came to mind. Luckily he was saved by Harumi sending a text message first.

Harumi: send me your address and i can pick you up
Lloyd: For what?
Harumi: To get fabric, dummy.

Lloyd looked at the message for a moment before typing out the address, praying silently that she wouldn’t stab him in the back.

Harumi: You live in Wayne manor?
Harumi: Lucky.

It took maybe thirty minutes for Lloyd to get an ‘i’m here.’ text from Harumi. He looked out the window to see her waiting patiently, her foot tapping against the floor.

Lloyd slowly climbed down the wall using a thick vine to keep from falling. He landed gently on his feet.

“C’mon, I'd rather not get caught evading this guy’s security systems.” Harumi said, grabbing Lloyd by the arm and practically dragging him to the garden wall, easily climbing it. Lloyd followed.

She led Lloyd to a sheak black motorcycle, Lloyd stopped for a moment and looked over the motorcycle. It looked very similar to the one Nya had gotten from Kai. He had been picked up from missions and even guitar lessons on occasion by Nya and her motorcycle.

Nya was so excited when she got the thing, she had been wanting one for awhile but with having to save the world every five minutes the ninja hardly had time to even think about getting vehicles that weren’t for missions. Lloyd could still remember helping Kai hide the motorcycle from Nya before her birthday, and the absolutely ecstatic look on her face when Kai had given her the helmet.

Harumi got on first, and then tossed Lloyd a helmet as he followed. Lloyd barely had time to fasten the helmet before Harumi had taken off, tearing down the street at breakneck speeds. Lloyd was practically forced against her back by the heavy winds.

Harumi stopped in front of a small crafts shop, a neon sign that looked rather worne was hanging in front of the door, the word ‘open’ was spelled out  in all caps with neon tubes.

“C’mon.” Harumi said as Lloyd took off his helmet and followed her inside. A bell jingled as the two walked through the door, a young woman was standing behind the counter, she had long, wavy hair that rolled over her shoulders like liquid chocolate and tired eyes with iris’s like two small pieces of coal. When she noticed that she had customers she livened up a bit.
The store had nice wood floors and the counter top was made from white marble. Lloyd walked down an aisle with various colors of fabric and sewing kits in it, Biting his nails as he went.

“Stop that.” Harumi said, grabbing his arm and pulling away from his mouth. Lloyd jumped when he heard her voice. Harumi was giving him a glare.

“You’ll ruin your nails if you keep that up.” She said, letting go of his arm. Lloyd rolled his eyes but didn’t go back to biting his nails. He walked over to a shelf housing a large sewing kit with an array of high quality needles and several different colors of fabric.
—---
Harumi managed to sneak him back to the manor after they found everything Lloyd would need. Surprisingly, the manor was empty, not even Alfred was there. It gave Lloyd time to work on the suit.

As he sat at his desk, listening to music as he sewed, Lloyd eventually fell sleep.

Chapter Text

Harumi has had a lot of titles in her lifetime, privileged, orphan, foster child and even Princess. But never homeless. She was reminded of this when she awoke to an uncomfortable ache in her back and the dank smell of dust and mold wafting through the air, the feeling of jagged concrete jabbed her back even through the thin layer of blankets.

She groaned and hauled herself into a sitting position, giving a groggy glance towards the window and realized that it was still dark, Harumi annoyedly wished that she had a clock or a watch as she moved the mold covered and moth-eaten blankets off her lap and got up, looking around the abandoned diner she’d been taking solace in, her dazed eyes wandering over the dusty and broken furniture that was stubbornly bolted to the walls or the crumbling marble of the receptionist's desk, covered in grime and a thick layer of dust. It felt oddly like she was being watched, a tingle of anxiety buzzing in her spine as she turned around to see a black cat sitting in the grimy, open window’s sill.

The cat had big, yellow eyes like lemon drops and a coat of black fur with white spots over its eyes reminding Harumi of eyeshadow. The cat licked its paw, flicking its tail as it trilled and groomed itself. As the cat finished grooming itself, it hopped down from the window sill and pranced over to her.                                                                      “Oh, hello.” Harumi mumbled, picking the cat up and scratching around its ears. “What is your name?” She gently lifted the fur around the cat’s neck to see an olive green collar with yellow stars all over and a heart charm. Harumi gently tilted the cat's tags to face her, and she could read the name ‘lulu’ written in fancy font on the smooth tag.  Harumi smiled and gently scratched the cat's neck, sitting on the abandoned receptionist desk, the sounds of the bustling Gotham city all but faded away as she played with the cat.

That is, until she heard the sound of thin rubble grinding against the hard concrete ground. Immediately, harumi set the cat down and tossed a throwing knife in the direction of the sound. She'd rather not take a chance with a stranger, in her week of taking shelter in the long abandoned police station of crime alley she'd learned that oftentimes, cruel people hid in broken places.                                                                                                                                                                                                        But when she looked up, her eyes were met with a normal girl, around her age with brown hair and brown eyes. Harumi recognized the girl as the craft shop employee she'd seen when she took Lloyd shopping for fabrics. The girl was pinned to the wall by the knife Harumi had thrown, which was stuck in her sleeve.

“Who’re you?” Harumi asked, a harshness to her voice.

  The girl, reasonably frightened, sputtered for a moment, trying to pull the knife out of her sleeve but to no avail. Harumi watched the girl struggle for a moment before she walked over and tugged the knife smoothly out of her sleeve.

“Who are you?” she repeated. The girl stared for a moment and Harumi raised a brow, putting a hand on her hip impatiently.                                                                    “Are you gonna answer me or are you going to keep staring at me?” Harumi asked sarcastically, slightly annoyed by the girl.

Her words seemed to snap the girl out of her thoughts as she finally answered, “A-Avery, uhm..” Avery cleared her throat nervously. “Avery brookwood.”

“What about you, what’s your name?” Avery asked as she picked up Lulu. Harumi watched her for a few seconds before responding.

“Harumi jade.” She said and gave Avery a once-over, glancing at the cat squirming in the short girl's arms. 

“That your cat?” Harumi asked. Avery nodded, keeping a firm grip on the squirming cat.

“Yeah.. she uh, she got out when i was taking out the trash.” Avery explained and gave Harumi a concerned look

“Why are you in an abandoned diner?” She asked and Harumi narrowed her eyes at her as she debated telling the truth.

“Exploring.” She answered courtly. Avery raised an eyebrow but didn’t push it.

“Well, since you found my cat, how about I buy you dinner?”  Avery said, Harumi narrowed her eyes at her.

“It’s the middle of the night, what would be open?” she asked, giving Avery a suspicious glare.

“I could make you something, if you want.” Avery didn't seem to mind, and its not like Harumi had much to eat on her own. So, she thought for a moment as she considered her options. She hadn’t eaten all day, it wasn’t like she was in any position to refuse given her current situation 

“Fine.” Harumi said after a moment. “But don’t poison it.” her voice, though still a bit cold, lightened a smidge. Avery laughed nervously, adjusting lulu in her arms.

—---

Avery’s house was cozy, a few house plants were dotted about and the coffee table had magazines strewn across its wooden surface. There was a trap door in the corner of the living room that caught Harumi’s attention.

Avery set lulu down as she stepped inside, gesturing around. “Make yourself at home, I'll get started on the cooking.”

Harumi nodded, sitting on the couch and thumbing through a newspaper that was left on the coffee table as lulu hopped onto the couch beside her and rubbed her head against Harumi’s hand. 

She looked down at the cat and rubbed Lulu's ears as she looked back at the newspaper, sighing boredly when nothing caught her attention and instead grabbed the tv remote and flicked on the television, changing it to the news.                                                                                                                                                                She watched the news for a while, and eventually Avery walked back out of the kitchen holding two plates of amazing smelling food.                                                            Avery set the plate of food down in front of Harumi and sat in a chair beside her, frowning at the newspaper as Harumi switched the channel.

“What’s with the sad face?” Harumi asked as she took a bite of the food. It wasn’t half bad.

“I was just expecting to see something in the paper.” Avery said dismissively as she focused on eating.

“You live around Crime Alley?”Avery spoke again, not looking up from her food.

“Something like that.” Harumi responded. Avery gave her a puzzled look but chose not to ask for clarification. The two sat in silence for several minutes until Harumi finished her food and looked over to Avery, only to see that she’d fallen asleep, her empty plate and fork being licked clean by Lulu.  She stayed silent for a few moments before getting up and grabbing her and Avery’s plates, walking to the kitchen.                                                                                                                                               Once she finished washing and drying the two’s dishes, she headed for the door, only stopping when she felt the ticklish feeling of Lulu’s fur rubbing against her leg through her clothes.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      She reached down and dragged her hand through the cat’s coat, spotting a stack of sticky notes and a small pencil on the end table beside the couch.

She decided to leave Avery a note.

‘Thanks for having me. -Harumi’

—---

Lloyd thoroughly regretted sleeping at his desk the next day when his neck developed an uncomfortable ache as he was doing homework.  It was also a bit jarring to wake up to a text from Harumi that simply said ‘check the news…’ as if some old woman was threatening him instead of his stepsister being a bit odd.

Turns out, someone or a group of people were stealing opioids from pharmacies. Drugs and what not weren’t Lloyds area of expertise but Harumi seemed happy to actually have something to work on.  Thinking of the case made his head hurt, he was already tired from staying up so late, not to mention how agitated he’d become over his powers not working how they were supposed to. Maybe a nap would do him some good, his eyes already felt heavy thinking about it. As he dozed off, he nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard very worried footsteps, looking up he noticed that it was in fact Bruce Wayne. The poor man looked like he’d have a heart palpitation any minute

Lloyd abandoned his homework and walked over to Bruce, giving him a concerned look. “Are you alright, Mr. Wayne?” Lloyd asked, looking up at the older man.

As if broken out of a trance, Bruce looked down at him and gave him his best attempt at a reassuring smile “yes, my apologies, I’m just… troubled by something.”

Lloyd was still a bit concerned, but before he could really ask what was bothering Bruce, the older man already started speaking again, “how has your time with us been? I’m sorry I haven't had much time to really get to know you.” Bruce asked Lloyd gently as he took a seat on the couch.

Lloyd sat across from him, picking up his notebook that Bruce had provided him, much like all his other school supplies. “It’s been great, I can't thank you enough for letting me stay.”

Bruce gave him another smile, though Lloyd noticed by a glance that it didn’t seem quite natural, as if the man had rehearsed the picture perfect smile more times than he could recount.

It striked Lloyd as odd, he could understand that bruce -being a celebrity and all- would have to recite an award winning smile for press and paparazzi, and don’t get him wrong, Lloyd could only count how many times he had caused a press meltdown himself by giving a tired, passing glance towards a camera and someone took it the wrong way, but why did Bruce feel the need to give him the rehearsed smile?  His brow furrowed for half a second, and the air turned ever so slightly more tense as Bruce noticed and the smile became a bit tighter.

An awkward silence passed between the two, with Lloyd attempting poorly to focus on the remains of his homework, occasionally casting a stray glance at Bruce who would meet his eyes everytime. It was unsettling, how intimidating the man was. Lloyd pulled his knees up to his body and turned so that his side was pressed against the fancy, probably very expensive, reclining chair as he cast a sideways glance to Bruce before his gaze returned to his notebook.  Fortunately for Lloyd’s comfortability -and dignity- he finished his homework and quickly dashed off to his room, passing by Tim on the way.

As soon as he was alone he started working on the suit again, shaking off the strange feeling he’d gotten.  He finally decided to take a break as the sun began to set, he stretched and stood from the desk and held up the half finished ninja suit. It wasn’t too bad, if you looked at it at a glance you’d never be able to tell it was a recreation of his original suit, though it definitely wasn’t the best sewing job and Lloyd reckoned he’d have to go back and clean up some of the stitches.

Lloyd walked over to the bed and carefully lifted up the mattress, laying the suit on the box spring. He didn’t bother to flatten it out, simply making sure it wouldn’t be visible to anyone that came into the room. He gently set the mattress down and took a step back, suddenly realizing how hungry he was feeling. Time must’ve escaped him while he was working. He stepped towards the door, stretching as he did so, before stopping as he heard footsteps approaching the bedroom.                                                            Lloyd got closer to the door, but he didn't open it, only set his hand tensely on the handle and listened closely.                                                                                          He could hear what sounded like Bruce talking with a tone somewhere between frustration and concern. 

“They can't have just disappeared , someone must've taken them.” he said, sounding like he was walking in spandex, and Lloyd heard another voice

“Quite so, master Bruce. Though, who do you suppose could have taken them?” Alfred asked, his tone calm and collected per usual. Lloyd could hear the sound of Bruce sighing as they passed by his room.

“I don’t know…” Bruce muttered, his voice faded from Lloyd’s hearing range.

Lloyd listened for any other voices, but none came, so he stepped back with curiosity in his thoughts. He thought for a moment, wondering what Bruce could’ve meant before he grabbed his phone                                                                                                                                                                                                                          —---

Harumi sat perched like a gargoyle, her black clothes soaked with rain and the black bandana over her nose and mouth sticking uncomfortably when she breathed.

She was watching a police officer stand idly in front of the garage where the GCPD stored their cars and equipment.                                                                                The officer glanced around, smiling at a civilian passing by before walking towards the garage, turning his back to Harumi’s perch. Harumi took the opportunity and hopped down, landing on the officer's shoulder as she shoved a cloth soaked with chloroform over his nose. He struggled and grunted, clawing at the fabric covering Harumi's legs as he panicked and tried to get her off of him, cursing and calling her all sorts of names that were less than family friendly.

When the officer started to go down, Harumi got off his shoulders and caught his limp, unconscious body before hiding him behind a dumpster. She returned to the garage, ducking behind a police car as she heard footsteps approaching and watched as the shadows of officers passed by.  She was too out in the open, she would get caught if she kept wandering like this. Upon this realization, she glanced around in search of a better way to get around -perhaps some rafters or something similar- she saw a large vent, right across from her and above some wooden crates, it was large enough for her to fit in. if she could unscrew the cover or rip it off somehow she’d probably be able to get around a lot quicker.

She also noticed a tool box on the highest crate alongside a rickety metal ladder covered in marks and dirt.                                                                                        Harumi looked around to make sure that there was no one besides herself in the garage before climbing the crates to the vent. The wood wobbled uncertainty beneath her feet, giving her a sense of slight anxiety as she quickly undid the rusty screws with an equally rusty screw driver she’d dug out from the tool box.                                      Her fingers firmly grasped the vent cover as she moved to climb inside, setting the cover half-hazardly back in place after she crawled into the vent. She began the tedious and rather annoying process of navigating her way through the vents to the police archive

Finally, Harumi arrived at the vent grate just above the darkened room of the police archive.

She let out a sigh of relief that she finally arrived as she unscrewed the vent grate and hopped down. “Finally…” She said in a whisper under her breath, stretching before walking over to one of the filing cabinets, beginning the arguably more tedious and infuriating process of searching through an egregious amount of police files

After Harumi finally found the file she had been looking for, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She checked the caller ID and picked it up, stuffing the file in her mouth as she did so before clambering back into the vents. “Lloyd?” he said quietly, her voice muffled by the file.

“Hey Harumi- are you eating..?”

Harumi made it out of the vents and onto the rooftop -thankfully the rain already stopped- and took the file out of her mouth before she answered. “No, what gave you that idea?”

“Uh.. nevermind, i wanted to call you because i overheard Bruce and Alfred talking about some disappearances while they were passing my room”

Harumi let out a distracted hum, already opening the file and looking through the contents. “Did they say who disappeared?”

“No, but Bruce sounded pretty stressed out about it. Do you think the disappearances are related to the opioid heist?”  

Harumi gave it some thought, maybe they could be, perhaps the people who vanished got involved in whatever drug gang stole the stuff. “Maybe, I’ll look into it.” She said finally.

“Okay, good luck with that. I should get some sleep, it’s getting dark.” Lloyd sounded like he could hardly understand what she was saying, though harumi was also having trouble understanding Lloyd. Curse not having an actual phone plan,

“Don’t die in your sleep.” She said sarcastically and hung up on Lloyd, cringing a bit at the lacking signal she was getting.                                                                              She felt a shudder slither down her spine, the feeling of being watched sending anxiety racing from her fingertips to her toes.                                                                Harumi looked behind her, but she couldn’t make out anyone in the shadows of Gotham city. The feeling didn’t subside, stubbornly clinging to her like a parasite.                    She sighed tiredly. It was probably just from the adrenaline of breaking into a police department.

“I should get some sleep, I'm getting paranoid…” She mumbled to herself as she turned and started walking towards a rusted ladder on the side of the building, heading back towards the abandoned building she named home.