Archive of Our Own ^beta

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The last thing I remember was… a truck? And pain. All around me was wet, it felt like I was floating, and I was drowning. Water filled my lungs as I flailed desperate to get to air, to the surface of the water (?) and free of the pain.

As I flailed my arm hit a ledge and I grasped at its edge, pulling myself up I coughed up the liquid that had started to accumulate in my lungs as I gasped for breath. I opened my eyes to blearily look around and found a tall woman in a black body suit and long brown hair glaring down at me. “ealaa al'aqali 'ant last enyfan kama fi almuhawalat al'akhira” (“at least your not as violent as the last try”)

i could feel my lungs grow heavy with each breath in, and see the black spots growing in my vision. The only thing I could utter was a weak “.. what.?” Before I sunk further into the ground and blacked out.

Edit: I shall be updating this work tomorrow with the next part of chapter one, then I’ll be out of immediate ideas so I may or may not have to wait a couple days or weeks to post another chapter. I shall try to flush out a storyline

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Jason Todd had lived on the run, on the streets, in warehouses, safe houses, all kinds of places since he was little. But none of them felt as safe as the manor; in some fucked up way he had found a home there, with the people he had believed replaced and abandoned him after his death. He felt safe, and it hurt him to realize it.

‘Jason, there was a fluctuation in the matter defense near you. I want you to investigate it with RR’ 

‘got it B. Hood I’m on my way, RR out’

Jason clicked his grapple to his side and rolled onto a rooftop to wait, better to wait than have them on my ass later. 

~~~

”all I could feel was pain, it was everywhere; in my chest, my wyes, my head, my veins and I couldn’t get rid of it. I could hear voices and machines all around me, feel a cold metal table (?) underneath me, leather straps binding me to it. And I could hear voices, the same sultry voice that I heard when I first woke up and another, deeper and older voice, this one more male taking to each other. “ 'abi, yajib 'an nadae ma'an lieazir fi jinatiha almayta, fahadha sayujbiruha ealaa aliaistiqaz wasatakun 'aqwaa bifadlihi.“ (“father, we should put the lazuras water in her meta genes, it would force them to awake and she would be stronger for it”) the woman’s voice sang in my head, to loud and not the right language for me to understand. I groaned in pain and turned away, the last thing I remember was the man saying “aifealha” (“do it”) before a searing pain tore through my body, feeling like every molecule was being rearranged in my body, I passed out screaming.

~~~

the telltale ‘zing’ of the grapple and light ‘thud’ of boots landing on the roof was the only warning before Red Robin sat beside him, in all his costumed glory. ‘Hey hood, ready?’ RR looked at him while standing up and patting himself off. ‘Sure, why wouldn’t I be, replacement?’ Jason didn’t miss the small twitch of RRs hands at the nickname, or the way his eyes darted away from his face to his hands. ‘I dunno, why wouldn’t you be Hood?’ Jason answered by giving him the finger and jumping off the roof to grapple away leaving RR to scramble after him. 

when they landed RR went off to investigate the alleyway they had landed in while Jason scouted the area, ‘Hood! Come see this!’ Jason jumped off the roof of the building he was on and lumbered over to the crouched figure that was his bro-placement, replacement. And crouched next to him. There was a ring of ash with intricate designs in the middle, it looked to have been made from sparks of fire. ‘This always been there Hood’ Jason looked over at the figure next to him, RRs voice was light, but held the question ‘the hells that mean? No, it hasn’t dipshit. That’s obvious’ RR just nodded and went to take samples. ‘RR, Hood, I just checked the cameras around the area, there weren’t many beings as your in crime alley, but I did get a bluey image of League Assassins carrying an unconscious body away from your location’ Jason lifted his hand to tap his comm, ‘thanks O, I’ll look into it’ Jason’s reply came curt, his voice modulator turning his voice a bit choppy at the end. ‘Just be careful Jay’ Jason would never admit it out loud, but his chest bloomed with warmth at Barbara’s concern, ‘I will Babs’ and wi eh that, he turned his comms off and grappled away, leaving RR by himself in the alley.

~~~

Bruce sighed after Tim’s report, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was currently sitting at the bat computer After sending his second youngest to bed. “Master Bruce, I do believe it is late enough for bed, do you agree?” Alfred’s voice broke through his thoughts and he looked at his watch, 3:00 am “I do believe I agree, Alfred” Bruce stood as he spoke and nodded towards his butler as he headed to the showers in the cave to change and clean up after tonight’s patrol. 

As he lay in bed he thought about what Ras’ plan was, who it was that he had his men bring him, or what it was. Either way it couldn’t be good, not with the League involved. Not with Ras involved. The hundred years old assassin obsessed over Batman, and what he could have been. He sighed as he ran his hands over his face and turned to his side to stare at his alarm clock until he fell asleep, his thoughts a whirlwind of unsolved threats.

~~~

I groaned as I rolled over to my side and yelped when I fell there the ground. I opened my eyes and lifted myself to sit on my feet as I looked around. I was in a dungeon. No way to sugarcoat it, a nice dungeon but a dungeon nonetheless. It had a bared in window, a bed with pristine white sheets and a singular pillow, and a bedside table next to it. What the fuck???? WhAT THE FUCK??? WHERE THE FUCK AM I??? I snapped my head to the side when I heard a key, and the lady from before emerged from an old wooden door holding a tray with bread and soup on it. “I see you’re awake, good. What do you remember?” I stared at her as she set the tray down on the bedside table, “uhm, pain? Where am I? Who are you? What am I doing here?” She glared down at me, “you are at the League Of Assassins, and I am Talia Al Ghul. Someone will be bringing you a pair of clothes to change into, make sure you have eaten before then. Your training will start immediately” I gaped at her as she turned and left, locking the door behind her. Talia Al Ghul? As in Ras’ daughter? As in Damian Wayne-Al Ghuls MOTHER??? WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO ME?? 

~~~

Tim sat on his bed video calling Kon, “what do think it means?” Tim watched Kons head turn back to him at the question, he had previously been showing him his new cow when Tim told him about what had happened the night before. “I’m not sure Tim, but I’ll keep an ear out for you” Kon smiled at him and he had to fight to keep his face from turning red, “thanks Kon” he smiled back, before ending the call and slumped back and onto his head board, his thoughts a jumble; what does the League want? Who was the person they took? What was the ash from? What does this all mean? He was dragged out of his thoughts by a knock on his door, “Hey Timmy, Alfie said lunch is ready!” He smiled at the door, Dick had come back to the manor for the new case, and had been spending more time with him and Damian while he was. “Thanks Dick! I’ll be down in a sec” he could hear the smile through Dicks words “alrighty! See you there Timmy!” Then he left. Tim dragged himself out of bed and got dressed before heading downstairs.

lunch had been normal for once, no stab wounds, screaming, death threats, or arguments in sight. Which should have been his first warning that something was wrong, not the smoke bomb that was thrown through the window and landed on the table. He did t have time to react before the smoke hit him, and he felt his limbs grow numb and his eyes become heavy sleeping gas he thought as black robbed figures came into his view, their faces covered by masks so that there eyes were the only thing uncovered, he felt them lift him up as he went unconscious. The last thing he knew the League Of Assassins had kidnapped him out of the manor during lunch.

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Ima be honest, I don’t actually have a plan for this fic, I’m just kinda going off of the top of my head. I have a general direction I want it to go, but I’m not actually sure what and all I should do with it. With that said, does anybody have ideas????? I have the next chapter (pt 3 of 1st chapter, and last) planned out (mostly) but beyond that I don’t really have very many ideas to get this where I want it. And I don’t wanna stop writing it because of such a roadblock, so if anyone has any ideas, please share!!

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Being trained to be an assassin after dying? 0/10 wouldn’t recommend. Doing it while figuring out you have superhuman abilities? Better cuz powers are awesome, but still wouldn’t recommend. Training to be an assassin after dying with new powers and having lazuras water injected into you once a week? -1000/10 that shit sucks, I wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

I really wouldn’t have expected it, I was just walking to my self defense lessons after ballet classes and I guess I was distracted cuz the last thing I remember seeing was a truck, I remember laying motionless on the ground, my whole body aching, and hearing people scream. Some were yelling for an ambulance, but most were just screaming. I could feel my body growing cold as my blood left it, feeling it trickle down my head and pool around my body. I remember feeling like I was floating, seeing, as if in a haze, my own body; motionless and bloody as I died. For weeks I’d have nightmares about while being trained on the ways of The League Of Assassins while trying to figure out on my own how my powers worked. I’d be beaten, bloodied, stabbed, slashed, and almost gutted before I learned I could transform into a fox. That was what caught Talia’s eyes again, and she insisted on watching me train my fox half. It had been weeks since I was told there was a special guest here that Ras wanted me to meet, Talia told me I’d have to get better control of my powers and training first though, and they treated as though I’m a little child. Goading me with sleep and meals to finish faster and work harder, and I guess my ballet and self defense training paid off because I was able to pick up on a lot of things faster than normal. Though could have also been the fact that I’m naturally quiet and know how to keep my presence to a minimal, it got to the point that the higher levels of the LOA had to keep guard at night so I wouldn’t sneak out to the weapons, guess they do t trust me huh?

~~~

Being kidnapped by the LOA wasn’t on this years bingo card, yet here we are; sitting at a table with delicacies and the leader of the League, Ras Al Ghul himself sitting across from me eating a steak and being watched by some of the more powerful League members, including Ras’ daughter, Talia.

i pushed my plate forward, “so, am I gonna get to know why I’m here, or am I going to just be left in the dark?” I crossed my legs and leaned back, looking at Ras while he looked up and smiled. “sawf tataearaf ealaa alfataa aleaziza, walakin lays bieda. 'iinaha laysat mustaeidatan kama taraa” (“you’ll get to know dear boy, just not yet. She’s not ready you see”) Ras’ eyes held twinkle in them that he just knew meant trouble. Rad was planning something, and Timothy Jackson Drake, aka Red Robin, was crucial for his plan - and Ras would stop at nothing to get him to cooperate. 

Tim stared at him for a couple more seconds before sighing and dropping his head, looking back up to see Ras wiping at the corners of his mouth with a napkin and leaning back. “min hi?” (“Who’s ‘she’?”) Ras only chuckled, “sawf tuerif qariban ya eazizi, sawf tuerif qariban” (“you’ll know soon dear boy, you’ll know soon”) Ras them motioned with his hand and Tim was drug out of his seat, down a hall, and into a bedroom. One bed sat at the far wall, pristine white linens draped over it white a change of clothes sitting on top of it. The clothes consisted of a black long sleeved top, long black bottoms, and a pair of knee high boots all of it made from the same type of cloth except for the bottom of the boots. And a small mask and hood to go with it. 

~~~

‘Hood, there’s been an emergency at the manor. B, Dick, Damian, and Tim were jumped by the LOA. None were hurt but Tim was taken. We need you’ Oracles strained voice sounded over Jason’s comms, he had been grappling towards the Wayne Enterprises building when Oracle hacked his helmet. When she told him what happened he almost missed his shot and plummeted 50 feet to the ground. “What the hell does the LOA want with Timberlina?” Jason’s voicd sounded tense, betraying his worry. ‘We don’t know, that’s why we need you. This is an all hands on deck situation, especially with the mater fields disruption happening only a couple days ago, B called in Constantine and Zatana to help and they should be there this evening’ Jason landed and crouched at the edge of the building, he had done a day patrol today, what with Bruce saying he did t want anyone going out alone since the disturbance. “Alright, tell them I’m coming O” he reached up and tapped his comms off before jumping down and allowing the wind to calm his nerves a bit before he grabbed his frappe to head towards the manor. 

Jason’s bike rumbled to a stop in the Bat Cave and he hopped off it placing his helmet on the handles seeing that Constantine and Zatana were already there. “What’s the situation?” A mirage of heads looked his direction before Damian turned away and clicked his tongue Bruce was typing on the Bat Computer with Constantine smoking at his side adding in his two cents every second. Dick and Zatana made their way towards him and started taking, “we were having lunch as normal before smoke bombs broke through our window, knocked us all out, we were able to stay awake long enough to watch Tim get taken by LOA men” Dicks voice sounded sterner than usual, none of his normal lighthearted-ness in it, his face - along with Zatanas - was grim as well “the disturbance was this world sucking in the soul of someone dying from another, what we can speculate is that this person is important to this worlds survival, but we can’t be sure. And we know that Ras has an obsession with Red Robin because of his smarts and ability” Zatana talked as the three of them headed back to meet the others. “So the League took someone this world thought important, and then kidnapped Tim? So what, they want Rim to teach this rando or what?” Jason’s voice was gruff and tense, his hands clenching and unclenching at his sides as Bruce turned the chair around, he was dressed in his Batman suit, cowl and all. “Thats what we suspect, if it isn’t what they want, then we don’t know what it is that they do want” 

~~~

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I’m probably not gonna be able to upload for a couple of days because we’re having people over tomorrow and I k ow I’m gonna burn out a bit, but when I do come back I’m gonna try to have a longer chapter to make up for me missing days. And I’m probably gonna start using google docs to kinda plan out my chapters a bit better, so you might be getting g better/more thought out chapters! I had previously just written down what came to my head for making that chapter (I have a bit of a story line going in my head, just not an ending yet) but I don’t have anyone proof reading it or anything so your just getting it straight from my head. So I’m actually pretty proud of how it’s turned out so far with it actually be written decently and coherently (as far as I can tell) just wanted to let you guys know I’m not gonna be updating for a couple of days. See you Little Mixers!! (Yes I have a nickname for the people reading this, sue me/j)

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I walked home - home? And opened the door, it was Tuesday so father wasn’t - shouldn’t - be there. But as I walked further into the house - how was I there? And heard the tv playing, the tv was on the news and was talking about ‘call the police if you see this man, or anyone that matches this description’ and dad was there, sitting on the couch, and watching the news. “Did you call the cops on me you little bitch?” I stared at him for a moment before looking to the tv, where I saw a picture of him in it. He was the person the police were warning people about. “No? I didn’t” dad turned around and stared at me, his face devoid of any emotion. “Liar, you’re a fucking liar. There’s no one else that’s be able to call the cops on me” the tv was saying more, something about him killing his daughter, pushing her into trafic; but I didn’t have time to dwell on it as dad lunged from the couch and tackled me to the ground, I didn’t have time to react before he started to choke me. “Little bitch couldn’t handle a bit punishment, hm? Couldn’t handle the consequences to your actions, could you? Just had to the call cops. YOU MOTHERFUCKER! YOU KILLED YOUR MOTHER AND NOW YOU WANT ME IN JAIL? IS THAT IT? IS THAT YOUR GOAL?” His voice rose the longer he talked until he was screaming in my face, all I could do was shake my head clumsily as I gasped for air and tried to push him off. I was eventually able to kick his groin, right before I passed out due to oxygen loss and ran out the door, gasping for air. I could hear him swearing and threatening me from inside but I did t stop - couldn’t. I tripped on a rock and was barely able to catch myself before I felt hands pushing me further - and into oncoming traffic, I could hear my father laughing as I hit the ground. I turned in time to see a honking semi truck, throwing my arms up and covering my head as I gasped jolting awake. Sweat dripping down my face and back a scream bought in my throat as I struggled to get my breathing under wraps.

“Fuck..” I breathed out and ran my hands down my face. My whole body trembling with phantom pain. I looked up when the door slammed open and watched Talia walk in, “حسنًا، أنت مستيقظ” (“good, you’re awake”) and nodded at me “ارتدي ملابسك. لقد حان الوقت لمقابلة ضيفنا” (“come with me. It’s time for you to meet our guest”). I nodded as she left and went to change into my clothes before following. Talia was clad in her usual black top with her neckline plunging deep and her black pants tight enough to see her muscles, her brown hair was down and she looked Bout ready to murder someone. So all in all, about a normal day. 

As I walked into the dining room where Ras eats, my breath hitched as I locked eyes with Tim Drake. Red Robin. A vigilante from Gotham. Someone currently (I believe anyway, I dot actually know the time line yet) on bad terms with Ras Al Ghul. His hair was pulled back into a half up style with curtain bangs hanging around his eyes, his eyes - cornflower blue with hints of indigo and green - looked just as startled to see me as I him. He has a pair of deep red skin tight top and a black skin tight bottom that eventuates his lean frame, and a pair of lace up knee high boots. Talia guided me to sit next to him - on Ras’ right - and took up her seat at her father’s left. “الآن تيموثي، هذا هو وريثي، فانتوم، هذا تيموثي ديك، سوف يعلمك من الآن فصاعدًا” (“now Timothy, this is my heir, phantom, this is Timothy Drake, he will be teaching you from now on”)

~~~

Tim had to be hearing things. He had to be. Ras Al Ghul and tried to make Bruce Wayne aka Batman, Tim himself, and Damian - his grandchild, heir to The League Of Assassins. He had denied all rights Talia might have had, all rights any other assassin under him had. Yet here he was, talking about his new heir, a women. 

Her hair looked to be sunset orange with black highlights, her eyes were dark brown with flecks of gold and slightly wide with surprise and recognition. She had the typical ensemble of the LOA on, form fitting black everything with her mask ruffled on her neck and her hood flat on her back. Phantom sat down next to him as Ras had spoken, the news seemingly new to her too. Ras had waved his hand, warding off all questions before eating. Talia and Phantom following suit. 

After dinner had ended Ras had Talia stay behind to discuss something while Phantom was instructed on showing Tim to the training grounds to start sparring right away. We started simple at first, trading blows equally; before moving into the territory of things he was taught by Batman and Lady Shiva. Phantom could keep up for the most part, but was lost sometime into the things Tim had learned from Lady Shiva. They stopped sparring as soon as Talia entered the courtyard, they were breathing heavy with bruises already forming all over their bodies. Some inside some outside. Talia seemed to regard Phantom with a bit of contempt, as if expecting her to mess up badly enough to warrant death after her every breath. But she didn’t, she played to her newly found role as Heir to the Demon quite well if Tim had a say. Talia had told them to rest and as Tim was walking towards the door he felt a piece of paper slip into his palm. He played it off - not wanting to alert Talia - but held the paper firm between his palm and middle finger. 

The paper consisted of a time and place. An invitation to meet Phamtom again, for what time sidny know. 

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Hey guys! So I know I’ve not put out a chapter for a while and while I do apologize about that this is mostly just an update so you can have an explanation and to know what to expect for the foreseeable future. This month has been super crazy and will continue to be, I’ve not had very many breaks where I could actually sit down for 30 mins to an hour to write a chapter. And while I have had time that time was spent decompressing and just being with family in general. So while you will be getting another 𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓾𝓪𝓵 chapter here before too long, don’t expect to see one too soon. I will try my best to be timely though! Love you and thank you for reading! ༼⁠ ⁠つ⁠ ⁠◕⁠‿⁠◕⁠ ⁠༽⁠つ ꨄꨄꨄ

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I’ve taken a bit of inspiration from Black Widow with the design for her clothes in the beginning (more specifically Black Widow from the Black Widow movie and Iron Man 2) but will also be taking inspiration from Japanese culture in the future (please keep in mind though that I am not Japanese so it will most likely be very skewed and not correct, either on purpose to fit the narrative or because I’m ill informed, please feel free to correct me in the future) these are a couple examples I had in my head! (Please let me know if the images worked, I’m not sure if they did on my end)

please also keep in mind that these are relative ideas and that I found these images on Pinterest, they are a part of a board I have going for this character.

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It has come to my attention that both the pictures and the links didn’t work, so I’m here to give a bit of an explanation on what I think Phantom would look like.

Think of Black Widow, but if she had black tips and more of a Rogue from DND kind of look. Also younger.
(I actually looked up Black Widows age and she’s like 26 in the Iron Man 2 movie, kind of spoiler but also kind of not? Phantom isn’t that old)

Also, a sort of update. I’m actually trying to use Google Docs for the next chapter! So hopefully it’ll be better formatted and have better grammar/spelling

Edit: it’s just now (a couple hours(?) after I posted that I remembered I didn’t list the second thing I’m “apologizing@ for lol. But that’s because it’s taking so long to actually get another chapter out

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I didn’t really know what I was thinking when I handed him the paper, certainly not for him to actually meet me. Or to actually be able to get out of my room - being the Heir To The Demon really is wonderful sometimes. But also tragically horrible - being beaten half to death everyday while your morals are being tried to their limits isn’t the best. Another thing I’d rate -1,000/10. 

Once I got to the training grounds I found Tim already waiting for me, he was standing in the middle of the open space looking up at the stars with his hands clasped behind his back. “Nice to see you actually came” Tim turned and narrowed his eyes, “I found it strange you asked to meet” I walked over and sat down, nodding at him and patting the spot beside me “I honestly didn’t expect to see you, or to be able to leave my room. But it’s worth a try yeah?” I took a knife out of my boot as I talked, and started drawing a map of the Base that we were in from memory of where I'd been. Tim watched the knife for a couple minutes, both of us just sitting in silence, “Pourquoi voulais-tu me rencontrer?” (“Why did you want to meet me?”). I startled at the language and looked up at Tim, and bewilderedly asked “Pourquoi le français?” (“why French?”) He stared down at me for a second before responding “tu avais juste l'air de savoir cela” He looked back up at the sky, leaving me to stare at the back of his head. “dis-tu que je ressemble à un Parisien?” (“Are you saying I look like a Parisian?”) he looked back at me for a second before responding “Why did you want to meet me?”. I took a second to be able to respond, “I uh, because I know what you’ve done” I looked away from him quickly and put a hand over my mouth. How am I supposed to explain that one away? The Assassins don’t gossip - and Talia or Ras would never tell me that they were outsmarted by a 17 year old. And I can’t just tell him I've died and come back in another dimension, it wouldn’t be the craziest thing given he’s Red Robing but it’s not exactly a best starter. “Ok, let's start with ‘what did I do?’ ‘How do you know?’ and ‘what do you want?’” I looked back at him. “I can answer two out of three, one - you blew up, like, almost all of Ras’ life work. Second - I want out of here”

~~~

Hood stood on his balcony dropping a cigarette but as light ‘thuds’ sounded on his roof, he looked up to see Dick in his Nightwing suit without his mask on staring at him with a small smile “I bought burgers?” he held out a brown paper bag before stepping off the roof and landing next to his brother, “you doing alright Jay?” Dick sat down and patted the empty spot next to him, Hood stared for a couple seconds before sighing and sitting down, grabbing the offered Bat Burger and taking a bite. He waited a couple more minutes before replying “Course I am, its not like replacement got kidnapped to who-knows-where and we don’t know if he’s alive, while we suspect the LOA has something to do with the weird Matter shit that’s been happening around Gotham, and that it’s almost time for another Arkham Break cuz they wait till shits happening to make it worse, or anything” Dick made a small sympathetic noise and started eating his own burger, “He’s gonna be fine, Tims made it through worse before. And we’ve handled Arkham Breaks with less people then we have now, It’ll fine” Jason couldn’t really tell if Dick was comforting him or if he was comforting himself with that, “Yep” he said popping the ‘P’ as he took another bite, “Kids got a thick enough skin to make a suit out of”.  They stay in silence for a while longer, just taking comfort in each other's presence before Nightwing is called out and back into the night. 

~~~

Somewhere in Gotham there's a red fox staring at the half moon from where he’s chained in an underground cell, the cries of other animals - cats, dogs, birds, exotics, - all wailing from pain or fear all around him. He longs for the days he remembered - being able to play with his friends, see his mom, hell even going to school. All taken away from one bastard with poison.

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So I’m posting this as an update because I’ve noticed it’s been… uhm.. months. Sorry.

School has been kicking my ass and now that it’s holiday season it’s just added to what I need to do. So I apologize for how it’s taking for new chapters, especially sense I promised I’d be trying to get a regular schedule for updates.

This is also to say that I’ve not abandoned/dropped this fic or any of my others.

Thank you for reading. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season!