LOOTING DC #29. The Calvary
Damian moved. Fast. Katana drawn, eyes locked.
Jake didn't notice - not at first. His focus was on the cradle. On Lian. Her pain was still screaming through his senses.
The blade came in high.
Jake shifted. Just enough. The steel passed harmlessly. His hand snapped up, caught Damian's wrist, shoved him back.
Another swing. Jake caught the blade this time - webbed it, twisted. The katana hit the floor.
"Not now," he muttered.
Damian dropped low, fist flying for Jake's ribs.
Jake didn't even blink. A sidestep. A web to the leg. A yank.
Damian hit the ground hard and skidded.
Jake turned away. He was done.
Damian got back up, fast, blood at the corner of his mouth. He rushed again.
Jake didn't look. He just raised a hand and fired.
The web hit center mass, flinging Damian down the corridor.
A beat later, the rest of the team arrived.
Superboy caught Kaldur as he stumbled in, Miss Martian just behind, floating. Red Tornado followed, supporting Black Canary. Kid Flash zipped to a halt, catching Damian mid-crash.
"What the hell?" Wally muttered, steadying him. "You good?"
Damian shoved him off, eyes locked. "He's here."
Everyone turned. Jake stood in front of them. Silent. Still.
"Spider," Superboy said, letting Kaldur down, squaring his stance.
Jake didn't move. "Not in the mood."
"That's not how this works," Wally snapped.
Miss Martian's hands lit up.
Jake grimaced. "Fine."
Lian screamed louder. The floor shook.
"Stop," Wonder Woman said, stepping in. "All of you. Stand down."
Superman didn't move. Roy Harper knelt nearby, stunned, his hands limp at his sides. The air still buzzed from where Superman had almost lost it.
Wonder Woman's lasso glowed on her wrist. "You're making it worse."
Silence fell. Even the tremors quieted.
"No more fighting," she said firmly. "We figure this out, or we all go down with the island."
"I'm good if they are," Jake said, stepping back slightly.
Damian wasn't.
He surged up again, blade back in his hands, stubborn to the core.
Wonder Woman's lasso lashed out and wrapped him mid-charge. He hit the ground, restrained.
"I said no more fighting," she repeated, voice steady.
"You're a poor excuse for a warrior," Damian snarled.
The lasso pulsed.
"You are an incredible warrior and I think your armor fits perfectly," he blurted.
Silence.
"…Thank you," Wonder Woman said dryly.
Damian gritted his teeth, eyes drilling into Jake. He didn't care. He'd wait. The second that lasso slipped, he'd end this properly.
Around them, the message was clear. Lian was the priority. No powers, no egos - not with a ticking nuke-baby in the room.
Red Tornado and Canary had briefed the others. The tension didn't vanish, but it held. Just enough.
Jake walked to the cradle.
Artemis was already there, kneeling beside it, one hand resting on the rim. Her eyes were locked on the child inside. Lian lay curled up, small and still. The faint glow around her shimmered weakly.
"I can't imagine what she's going through," Artemis whispered.
Jake knelt beside her. "I can."
Artemis glanced at him.
"I feel her emotions," Jake said quietly. "Deeply. I think it's because of my recent connection to an empath."
Artemis studied him. For the first time, she wished she could see his face - just once - to know what expression he was hiding behind the mask.
Jake's gaze didn't move from Lian. His voice dropped into something distant. "She's angry."
He paused, eyes narrowing like he was hearing something far away.
"She feels like the world lied to her. Like the moment she trusted it, it caged her. She doesn't know how to make sense of what she is… only that it hurts. It's loud in her mind. Everything is too much, too fast, and no one ever asked her what she wanted."
Artemis' jaw tightened. Her fingers curled slightly on the rim of the cradle.
"She wants to be held," Jake said. "Not sedated. And she's trying not to break everything around her just to be heard."
Artemis blinked, looking down.
"Can…" She hesitated. "Can I hold her?"
Jake didn't answer right away.
She reached slowly into the cradle. Lian's glow flared - brighter, unstable. Jake caught Artemis's wrist before she could make contact.
"No," he said, calm but final.
"She wants her mother," he added quietly.
By now, most of the room had closed in, watching. The air was heavy - like everyone instinctively understood this wasn't just about power anymore.
"I'm her father," Roy said, stepping forward. His voice was rough. "I can touch her."
Lian whimpered. The glow pulsed sharply. Jake winced - a surge of pain spiked in his chest, like her distress had jumped into him.
"No!" Jake snapped, louder this time. "She doesn't want to be touched by anyone in this room. You'll only make it worse."
The silence that followed was tense. Even Superman didn't move.
Then Wonder Woman's voice broke through.
"Good thing I called in the cavalry," she said, stepping beside them. "They know what to do better than anyone."
A white glow unfurled beside her - a slow-burning square of light, as if reality itself had been politely asked to move aside. Its corners flared, then locked into shape with a low hum.
A door, but not just a door - a gate. And it opened.
Stepping through:
Trench coat wrinkled, shirt halfway untucked, cigarette already halfway gone. He flipped a brass key across the backs of his fingers, pocketed it, and scanned the room with the same casual contempt he might use on an overflowing ashtray.
His name: John Constantine.
"Bloody fantastic," he said, voice dry and cutting. "And here I was, thinking I'd get one bloody weekend without an existential crisis."
He took another drag, let the smoke drift through clenched teeth, and moved - directly toward the cradle.
Jake stepped into his path.
"No."
Constantine stopped.
"She doesn't want you here," Jake said flatly.
They locked eyes - Constantine amused, Jake unflinching.
"And you are?" Constantine asked.
Jake didn't answer.
"One of those, huh," Constantine muttered.
He flicked his cigarette to the floor. It vanished in a soft hiss of magical static. He didn't back off. Just tilted his head, voice lowering, tone slower - almost like a sermon delivered at a pub booth.
"The universe is a funny thing, mate. Angels, demons, gods with bad tempers - all very opinionated. But sometimes…" He looked Jake in the eye. "You still have to let the devil do his work."
The air dipped colder.
And then-
"Still alienating everyone in the room, I see," came a voice - smooth, cool, and unimpressed.
An elegant ripple of energy pushed through the space, graceful and immediate. The chill evaporated in its wake.
She didn't step in - she arrived, boots touching down like the floor had been waiting for her.
Zatanna.
Dark coat over darker layers. Eyes sharp, posture effortless. Her presence didn't demand attention - it stilled the room. Like someone closing the door on a storm.
Her gaze swept across the scene, paused on Constantine - long enough to register her opinion without needing to voice it - then moved on.
Jake felt it the moment she passed him.
Not pressure. Not weight. Relief.
Her magic didn't press. It calmed. It ordered. A warmth wrapped around his mind like silk smoothing static. The noise faded. The tension in his shoulders released before he realized it had been there.
Peace.
Lian's glow softened.
She preferred the angel to the devil.
Streak? Day 2/10 (Forgot to update you yesterday. This might be it, lol)
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