[o.h] boy wonder & pretty bird; oneshots/gap-year chapters

Team Year One: Krampus

Summary: It's been eight weeks since Reese and Dick were rescued from South Dakota, but as the youngest member of the Team's 14th birthday gets closer, Reese must face retribution for her past actions.

Note: This is the last chapter of Year One, which means next we get to Year Two (thank God).

If any of you have not heard of the creature known as Krampus, he is essentially a Christmas/holiday season demon who, like Santa Claus and other similar spirits/creatures, visits houses during the December holiday season (primarily around St. Nicholas Day--December 5), but where Santa gives coal to naughty kids, Krampus will either beat them with birch branches and/or stuff them in a sack, take them away, and sometimes eat them, depending on what story you read. (No kids were eaten in the writing of this chapter).

I basically picked and chose the aspects of the Krampus legend that I wanted to write in for this chapter, so I doubt everything in here is accurate, but folklore is really just a big historical game of telephone, so who knows what's accurate at all? My version of Krampus is more of a mashup between the creature of folklore himself and Freddy Krueger, so take that as you will.

I made Santa an honorary member of the Justice League in this too so...there's that.

Mindset for this chapter:  Reese needs to learn some communication skills. Also, Lovebird>>>

Warning(s): Kidnapping, mentions of divorce, mentions of domestic violence, very very VERY brief mentions of cannibalism, mentions of PTSD, mention of panic/anxiety attacks, minor panic/anxiety attacks

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S T A R  C I T Y
August 1, 14:15 PDT
FOUR YEARS AGO

Reese didn't really know what she was expecting. Roy, the older of the two boys she had run into at the festival, and the only one she didn't already know, had more or less kidnapped her after he had found out that Brick was the one whose wallet Reese had stolen, and now Reese was sitting beside Dick (still such a weird name for a ten-year-old boy) in the backseat of Roy's car, flicking her eyes around and wondering if she would somehow be able to break the window of the car door and escape because she literally had no idea where she was going.

"We'll find you if you run," Reese glanced over at the dark-haired acrobat, one eyebrow quirked, and the ten-year-old backtracked, realizing how what he had said sounded. "Wait, that wasn't what I meant!" he exclaimed, and Reese could barely stop herself from smiling at him.

"What he means," Roy spoke up from the front seat, glancing at the two younger kids in the rearview mirror. "Is that Oliver and some of his friends have tech that could find you anywhere in the world. You won't get very far if you bolt. Believe me, I've tried,"

"I still don't know why you're bringing me to some random rich guy," Reese muttered, leaning back against the seat of the car and crossing her arms. "It's not like he'll be able to help me or anything,"

"You'd be surprised," Again, Dick was the one who spoke, and when Reese looked over at him, he stared down at his hands again, which were clasped in his lap. "I'll explain once we get there," he said quietly, and Reese continued to stare at him.

"Get where?" she asked, anxiety starting to rise the longer she was more or less trapped in the car. "Who are you, people?"