Mia in DC-verse

[morechill]

It was supposed to just be a little pill. One pill (instead of all the anti-anxiety pills every day for as long as it takes) that would solve all her social anxiety by just telling her what to do in social situations instead of leaving her to freak out over it by herself. And it did, for a while? It helped. The SQUIP advised her on how to be prettier and cooler and better, and she let it, even if sometimes its methods sucked a lot and made her feel even worse about herself than she did before.

It's when the SQUIP gets it into its head that helping Mia isn't enough, it needs to get a SQUIP into everyone at her school that shit goes way too far. She tries refusing to do what it wants, but it physically takes over her body and uses it to start stealing the materials needed to make more SQUIPs. What follows is basically a waking nightmare until her best friend Michael gets in touch with some mysterious Oracle person online, who figures out a way to temporarily shut down the SQUIP.

Mostly by drugging her. Which sucks, but you know what? Feeling weird and fuzzy and kind of disconnected from herself but still herself is way better than the SQUIP using her as a human meat puppet. This is literally the first time in months that he hasn't been there, telling her what to say and do and threatening her with electrical shocks and worse if she didn't comply.

Also, it's definitely helping her feel less anxious about hanging out with the Red Hood. Because she's hanging out with the Red Hood, total badass but sometimes morally-questionable vigilante, while Michael coordinates with Oracle to find a better, more permanent solution. And yeah, everyone knows that the Red Hood doesn't hurt kids and she's technically a kid, but she also has a dangerous computer in her head that could maybe take back over at any time.

So, yeah. Mostly since meeting him, she's been kind of sitting quietly and watching him nervously when she's not thoroughly spacing out. It really does not help her social skills right now that the voice in her ear that's been guiding her through pretty much every situation for a quarter of a year is gone.

Comments

[robintohood]

Jason usually doesn't work with his family/Gotham's other vigilantes these days. His preference for more violent methods to fight criminals was not something the others agreed with and it made cooperation tricky to say the least. So he was very surprised when Barbara asked him to help take care of a traumatized teenage girl. Once she gave the rundown and explained why his help was needed, Jason agreed.

Everyone knows he hates it when kids get hurt and it was clear Mia had already gone through a lot. He only wants to help her.

Her needing to keep taking drugs to keep the SQUIP at bay isn't something Jason's comfortable with. The way she spaces out and looks glass-eyed at times is painfully familiar to him. But until Barbara and Michael find a more permanent solution, Jason isn't going to protest. He's aware that his discomfort largely comes from the trauma of having a drug-addicted mother. He knows he's not exactly looking at the situation objectively. He keeps reminding himself that Mia's situation isn't the same as his mother's.

That issue aside, Jason focuses on the present and on taking care of Mia. He had readjusted his patrol schedule to spend more time at home while still making it very clear that any criminal acting out in his territory was dead.

This modified schedule also meant being awake in the morning instead of sleeping in. To make Mia feel more comfortable, Jason began doing more domestic things like making breakfast for the both of them. Everyone likes breakfast, right?

[morechill]

The SQUIP had a lot of rules for her, even before it started forcing her to engage in criminal acts for its Evil Criminal Plan(TM). Because originally the idea was that she was supposed to be popular, so there was a lot of stuff she had to do - get a makeover, change her wardrobe, strict diet. Technically, she doesn't have to do any of that stuff anymore (even if it feels kind of weird to not be putting on makeup now ), but the diet is weirder to kick.

She can smell breakfast coming from the kitchen, which is cool - seriously, the Red Hood is surprisingly nice for guy who's also kind of a killer? - and the smell is tempting, which is why she's drifting in. For a glass of water. Not because she's hungry.

[robintohood]

Jason's still getting used to having a roommate. The last time he lived with anyone was back at Wayne Manor and that hardly counted as the place was bigger than most people's houses. So he's still trying to figure out the right way to act when sharing an apartment with a traumatized teenage girl. Sure, there were plenty of obvious things, like giving her plenty of personal space. But then there were the smaller day-to-day situations, like mealtimes.

Jason knows that the SQUIP had controlled virtually every aspect of Mia's life, including her diet. How she is now is apparently better than before but he knows she's still adjusting to not having that voice try to control her. So he tries to be patient and not push her while also making it clear he's available to help.

He was the middle of making omelets when he hears her come in.

"'Morning," he greets with a small smile.

A large stack of pancakes and a plate of breakfast sausages sat in the middle of the dining table.

[morechill]

Fat. And needless carbohydrates. She actually flinches, expecting a jolt of electricity for the sin of looking. (Don't even think about it, the SQUIP would say, and she can hear it with such vivid clarity that for a moment she's scared it's actually talking to her again.)

" - Morning," she says, after way too long a pause.

[robintohood]

"Want anything?" Jason asks casually, pretending to not notice the flinch and the too-long pause. "Doesn't have to be any of the stuff I already made here either."