Chapter Text
College is boring. There's no ifs, ands, or buts about it. It takes a lot out of me to stay awake during my politics class when I know I could be in my dorm reading about my beautiful fictional husbands. Today, I was itching to open up the latest Nightwing I just bought. My eyes flitted towards my bag on the ground and saw the corner of the issue peeking out in between my folders and notebooks. It was like it was taunting me.
I could always leave early. It's not like highschool, I'm allowed to leave whenever I want. But I knew deep down that Mr. Ferret would mark me absent just because he hated me. I eyed my professor in disdain. We have a long standing beef because last semester when I took his government class he hated how I was barely in class, but still passing with flying colors. In my mind I knew he changed his attendance policy to be more strict once he saw I was signed up for this course.
I tapped my phone to check the time. 4:15, I only had fifteen more minutes left. I could stick it out. Fifteen minutes is only five minutes three times!
When you think about it like that, it's not too bad.
It's still bad actually. Nightwing is calling to me and after the last issue left off on a cliffhanger I need to know what's next! I groaned internally as Mr. Ferret droned on and on. My friend Rebeca smacked my arm when I rolled my eyes at the man when he decided to go on another one of his tangents about 1920's politics.
"Angela, don't make it so obvious you hate the guy." She whispers at me. I grin and shrug my shoulders.
"If he wasn't so boring, maybe it would be easier."
"You look ready to jump out the door. What's got you in such a rush?" She asks. My throat closes up at the question. Not many people know about my... hobby of reading comics. I'm not ashamed of it, but I do have a bit of a reputation.
I'm the president of one of the only D9 sororities on campus. I'm a part of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and I have been since I was a freshman. And now three years later I'm the president. It's in my blood, my grandmother was an AKA, my mom was an AKA and now I'm an AKA. I really had no choice in the matter, I've been bred to wear pink and green my whole life. But as a sorority president, you're expected to look and act a certain way. And comic books don't really fit into that box.
"I have a nail appointment later, I'm itching to get out of here so I can get rid of this old set." The lie flows out of my mouth smoothly. I'm used to lying about my hobby.
"Ouu, I get it. I'm excited to see what your nails will look like! I'll see them at the party tomorrow night, then?" Rebecca's blue eyes pierced my soul and made my heart fill up with guilt.
"Of course! You'll see them at the party tomorrow and be blown away!" Great, now I need to set an emergency nail appointment with my nail tech. Thank goodness she likes me and also knows of my obsession. I've used her as an excuse on more than one occasion. Rebecca smiles sweetly at me and then turns back towards the professor. I sigh and tap my phone again to check the time. 4:20, just ten more minutes until I'm out of here.
+++
The walk back to my dorm room was pretty hard. Every couple of minutes I got stopped by people I knew or other Greeks who knew me. Even some students I didn't know stopped to say hi. I also stopped for some food, my university was luckily one of the ones with good food. The dining hall was bustling when I walked in and I knew if I wasn't lucky I could be trapped there for a good hour or two.
I stealthy avoided the people I knew and scarfed down my food like an animal. I walked fast to my sorority house so that I could finally crack open this comic and talk to my online friends about it. I fought off a yawn as I walked into the house. I waved at my sisters and briskly walked into my room.
Man, I love my room. It's the whole reason I ran for president. The sorority president gets her own room, to use and decorate how she pleases. I needed a room for privacy, not just about reading comics and my other nerdy hobbies, but also because I need alone time. I loved rooming with my other sisters in the past but sometimes it got to be a bit too much.
I rushed inside and softly closed my door and locked it. Finally, I'm home free. What a tiring day. I opened my bag and fished out the man of the hour. I tossed the comic on my bed and then changed into more comfy clothes. I put on some soft cotton shorts and an oversized white T-Shirt with AKA splashed across it. I usually had my hair in knotless braids or some kind of protective style, but right now I had my curls free. I brushed back my hair into a bun and collapsed on my bed.
If I wasn't careful, I would for sure fall asleep before I even open the comic. This bed is way too comfy. I grabbed my phone and quickly texted my nail tech asking if I could get an emergency appointment tomorrow morning. She quickly responded with a thumbs up emoji and a wink emoji. I grin at my phone, she knows.
At last, the time has come for me to open up the comic that has been calling my name all day. I grabbed it and got comfortable. I stared at the cover for a couple seconds, just admiring the art work and the man on the cover. I don't discriminate between comic book companies or characters. I love them all, from Marvel to DC to Image comics. I even read manga on occasion. But my number one favorite character is and will always be Dick Grayson. Something about him just speaks to me.
I crack open the book and start reading. It's a great issue, really left me on the edge of my seat. If only I wasn't so tired. It took a lot for me to keep my eyes open and keep reading. I fought off a yawn as I got to the second to last page. My eyes felt heavy. The warm blanket I wrapped around myself was starting to lull me to sleep. All I had was one more page, but in the end the bed won.
It was strange, this isn't like any other dream I've ever had before. I felt like I was falling. I've always had dreams where I felt like I was falling but this is different, it's like I could feel the wind whipping around me, and the bed seemed to have disappeared. I cracked open my eyes and saw stars and the dark night sky slowly getting smaller and smaller.
"What the hell?!" My eyes shot open and I looked around. I was actually falling from the sky! "WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Wind whipped around me and I turned my body to see the ground. I was above some kind of gray gothic looking city, and the ground was approaching fast. "SOMEONE HELP ME!" I screamed into the void.
The floor was getting closer and closer. I could see a bunch of people my age looking up at me. They seemed to be dressed like they were going to comic con or something.
"HELP ME!" I yelled at them the closer I got. The tall one of the group put out his arms, like he was about to catch me. It seemed illogical that he would be able to catch me as I'm falling hundreds of miles per hour but for some reason I trusted him. I closed my eyes and braced for impact.
I crashed into a body and we both tumbled onto the ground. He held me and cradled my head away from the ground. We tumbled for a bit before we stopped. I opened my eyes and looked to see the face of my hero. His face was covered by a bat shaped mask, and his eyes were a stark blue. I looked down at his clothing, he was in a nightwing cosplay. Huh, ironic.
"Hi. I've never had a girl fall into my arms like that before, but I can't say I hate it." My hero flashed me a panty dropping grin. His voice was dark and silky. He sounds hot.
"Hi," My voice was hoarse from all the screaming I did on the way down. "Why are you dressed like Dick Grayson?"
He dropped his grin fast and tightened his grip on me. "How do you know my name?" His voice got serious. I looked at him confused. What the hell is this guy talking about?
"Huh? Why are you named after a comic book character?"
"Nightwing! Who do you have there?" A redhead dressed like Kid Flash jogged up to us. This must be some kind of group cosplay, because the people behind him look exactly like the Teen Titans. I got off the Nightwing cosplayer and he followed suit and got up as well.
"I don't know who she is." The Nightwing guy spoke up.
"Um, my name is Angela. I don't know where I am and how I fell from the sky but I appreciate the help. I also love your cosplays. I'm a huge Wally West fan. But I also love Rachel and Garfeild as well. Oh and Donna Troy is an icon. Do you guys have a Roy Harper in your cosplay group?" I smile at everyone. They look at me in shock. Ah, I guess falling from the sky and then talking about fictional characters is pretty strange.
"How do you know our names?" The Raven asks. I pop an eyebrow in confusion.
"What the hell do you mean? I just named comic book characters." I looked around. The Donna grabbed her lasso, as if ready to grab me. My blood runs cold, these costumes looked really well made. Like way too good. "Wait wait. Where am I?"
The Nightwing stepped forward and brandished his baton. "You're in Gotham Angela. The real question is, who are you?"