Oh hey here’s the lil prolog thing I wrote for my DP x DC Leverage AU. I’m gonna actually write more of one day I swear but for now have this opening bit and feel free to use it as a prompt if you want :D
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The station went utterly quiet as they brought her in.
Room after room going as silent as the grave when the young woman in handcuffs stepped through the door. Chatter stopped. Bodies stilled. Heads turned. Eyes widened. It almost felt like everyone was too afraid to even breath as she walked by. Cops and crooks alike watching with fear and awe in equal measures as Jim Gordon led her past them to the interrogation room.
She didn’t give the gaping crowd any mind. Head tilted up at an angle, shoulders back, steps sure. The solid heals of her boots clicked upon the scuffed linoleum, echoing loud in the stifling quiet. Like a royal herald announcing her presence. She held herself like a queen, which was fitting Jim supposed. Until tonight, the only name anyone had to call her by was Queen.
The blood, unnervingly, only made her seem more regal.
Batman was already in the interrogation room when they arrived. Jim didn’t even have it in him to sigh at the broody bat looming in the corner. He knew he’d be there. There was no way he would miss the interrogation of someone they’d been chasing for so long. Especially not now considering…well.
Considering.
Jim largely ignored the vigilante in the corner as he moved through the familiar process of getting the young woman handcuffed in place to the table, starting the recording and rattling off the relevant details: date, time, the - many - charges the young woman had been arrested for. If he faltered over the victim’s name of the young woman’s most recent crime no one commented on it. In the corner, Batman watched and lurked. Nearly lost in the shadowy corner of the room while still being impossible to ignore.
They’d done this before. Good cop, bad vigilante. It was usually effective in getting the truth out of stubborn criminals.
Jim rather doubted it would work in this case.
“Please state your name for the record.” He said, only to be met with the same cool silence Queen had given everyone since her arrest. She shifted in her seat, not a nervous fidget but an easy, languid movement. Even the uncomfortable metal chair seemed like a throne when she was involved. Jim bit back a sigh. “We have your information. I’m asking as a courtesy.”
Queen tilted her head faintly, looking at him with something almost like amusement, one brow twitching slightly upward. “You’ll have to forgive my disbelief, Commissioner Gordon.” She said, polite as ever. “But I’m rather sure that you won’t find me in any system you run my fingerprints or face through.”
She was right about that. They’d tried a hundred times over the past few years she and her team had been operating in Gotham. Her face never appeared in any pictures or recordings - not even in her mugshot during processing, all that was visible was her red hair and a mess of corrupted visual data where her face should be. The most her fingerprints had ever led to where the other crimes they already knew she’d taken part in. Batman had done everything to try and circumvent whatever meta ability kept her from being recorded on film, had done even more to try and find her and her people in every system he and the Justice League had access to. Nothing. Jim had grumbled a few times about how Queen and her crew might as well be ghosts for all the proof that they existed officially.
Turned out, ghosts was exactly right.
“The Ghost Investigation Ward reached out to us two hours ago.” He said, leaning back in his own seat, watching her carefully. “I’ll repeat, Ms. Fenton, my asking is a courtesy.”
For the first time in the years he’d known her, Queen - real name Jasmine “Jazz” Fenton - looked scared. Beyond scared, even. Completely, and utterly terrified.
Her body went rigid, eyes growing wide, breath picking up as she sat up sharply. Any semblance of that calm, collected presence she always held even when she was at her most cornered and vulnerable vanished in an instant. He’d seen her breath in a cloud of Scarecrow’s Fear Toxin and laugh. Watched as Bane wrapped large hands around her throat and tilt her chin up to stare down at her attacker imperiously. A mobster pressed the barrel of a gun to her head and she’d smiled, coy and confidant and untouchable. Queen always, always was calm. Aggravatingly so, even. Utterly unshakable as she waltzed into every wild and insane situation carrying the undeniable air of one who was complete control of everything happening.
She hadn’t even looked scared when the Joker had held her hostage.
And now? Now all it had taken was those three words. Ghost Investigation Ward. A nonsense name for a government agency with a ridiculous purpose. And yet there the unshakable Queen sat, looking terrified out of her mind at the mere mention of them.
Not for the first time since he received that call, Jim Gordon felt uneasy.
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I don't see enough people talking about how sad Green getting eliminated is for what we lose from them, and all the wonderful moments that will be remembered from within their team
The funny motor boat rides with Quackity, Fit and Forever making the dumbest jokes and laughing their heads off
Roier and Etoiles, the Green warriors
Team mom Forever
Little Luffy, eye mascot of GGN, with their many little hats
The dark humor jokes between Mouse and Etoiles
El Quackity's visits with the Eye and wondering when the shoe will drop when Forever becomes Judas, how it'll effect the rest of their team
Maxo and Forever getting to be on a team, having someone familiar from the old life there for you in this new Hell, an anchor to keep you grounded
Everyone looking out for each other, like when Roier and Mouse logged on sick
Having at least two of each language group (minus native English speaker) there to interact with each other while also being in this mixing pot of getting to interact with other people of other languages
Roier and Etoiles imitating and learning Bagi's "oxi"
Fit and Forever and their mischief and "big boy" and the wild moments that would somehow keep happening whenever they were together near boats
Antoine hilariously wanting to rip his hair out having to deal with a bunch of bloodthirsty PVPers when he's just trying to figure out where the Hell they are
The fun confusion at whether they're Green Ninjas or Gay Ninjas because it kept changing until it became Green Gay Ninjas, unequivocally and proudly Green Gay Ninjas
Bagi getting to spread her wings in strategizing and grinding, Fit being in his element fighting off intruders and heading attacks, them being able to do these things because the other does that vital work so they can thrive together, Quackity, Mouse, Bagi and Forever working so Fit, Etoiles and Roier can fight for them
Forever and Etoiles' impeccable dynamic and co-leadership that was incredibly fascinating to watch for how goddamn well they worked together
The absolute powerhouse that was the team with Fit, Roier and Etoiles in it, having that legendary reputation and being able to back it the hell up during PVP events
How it took time and work and a lot of stumbling in the beginning until they were finally able to create an effective team dynamic, supporting each other and taking turns doing what the others needed to have done, not having instant chemistry but creating a bond through sweat and work that showed their dedication to making something from what they've been given, from this little team they've got
The family forged in emerald. Team GGN. The Green Gay Ninjas of Purgatory.
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pretty sure it's only a matter of time before I have a complete meltdown about Matthew being so embraced by the Panthers org as a whole. they just appreciate him so much and it's 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹
delayed meltdown ‘til the end of SCF sjdjdk (OKAY so i wasn’t planning on replying to this with a whole ass essay, but i couldn’t stop once i started 🫠 tldr; matthew was determined to make a family of his new team and everyone found themselves helpless to resist and now here we are!)
honestly, yeah, i can’t imagine what it was like for the panthers to lose two guys that were not only such an integral part of their team, but had been playing there for several years (huberdeau a decade??). it’s the same for any big trade, the adjustments having to be made, the growing pains of having to establish a new team identity, navigating all the other shit that comes with it. at the beginning i’m sure it was professionalism driving their interactions, not all the players knew what matthew would be like, all the reference they had was on-ice interactions (with the exception of bennett and lomby). and barky is such a nice guy, there’s no way he’d be anything less than polite to the new guy (even if they got him in exchange for his longtime teammate and friend).
what gets me all the time is that we know matthew was struggling in calgary, even if the fans loved him and he had some good friends there, ultimately they treated his emotions/passion as a liability. you know the whole “it can’t be a riot every night” and then not stepping in to defend him when there was an altercation; they just didn’t have his back. then cut to the big blockbuster trade of the summer and he’s so earnest when he says how happy he was to be going to florida, how intentional it all was on his end, he really really wanted to come to florida and play for them, saw a future with them.
then matthew is just the same guy he always is: the guy that takes the trainers out to dinner. i think what started off as a professional relationship with his team has turned into genuine friendship. the panthers, especially under barky’s leadership, weren’t going to turn the new guy away; they all want to make this work, they all want to play great hockey together and hopefully even win the big one. but it’s so amazing to me how they really embraced him, no one is asking him to change his style of play, to be quieter, smaller. they defend him and jump in if he’s in trouble (even if he’s not in trouble).
they joke with him, laugh with him, have nothing but great things to say about him, sometimes not even related to how many goals he scored or assists he made or points he has, but just how great a person they find him. matthew knows his team has his back and in turn he can give over all of himself to them. and look how far they got as a team when everyone feels supported by the other and has trust in each other. not to be extra corny, but i think the power of friendship has really sorta propelled this team to where they are. not to say they haven’t been playing great hockey, because clearly they wouldn’t be where they are if they didn’t have the skill or all the technical components.
i think the tumultuous regular season they had really tested the new florida panthers identity and it was either going to make or break them. their ability to adapt as a team, to grind and work hard as a team, having the gall to believe in themselves when everyone thought they had no business being in the playoffs, all that comes down to trusting what they’ve worked all season to establish. and yeah, sometimes hosting a team dinner is a seemingly inconsequential thing that helps with that.
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