Author: Kat
Title: I Am The Night
Story: In the Heart
Colors: Russet 12 (polyester), harvest gold 7 (pumpkins), zing 4 (have you been helped?) with shadowsong's paint-by-numbers (Sometimes people just won't leave).
Supplies and Materials: Canvas (Ivy is seven, Aaron thirteen), bichromatic, miniature collection, stained glass, stickers (this one about snickers), chalk (thieving baboons), glitter (Talk about your most memorable moment as a child/teen, good and/or bad.), pastels (first fight).
Word Count: 800
Rating: PG.
Summary: Vengeance hears everything, or, the downside to being long-suffering.
Warnings: bullying and revenge for such, also one ableist slur.
Notes: Tiny!Ivy does not like bullies. There will be a sequel to this. Last bichromatic and Harvest Gold!


The nerdy squirt from school was leaning on an iron gate, swinging a pair of pumpkin candy bags and staring straight ahead. He was wearing a lame-ass Robin costume, polyester and crap plastic. What a baby. Halloween was for babies, but candy wasn't. Trent grinned, and elbowed Darrell.

"Check it out," he said, pointing.

Darrell looked too, and grinned. "Like taking candy from a baby," he said, and laughed.

Darrell liked to think he was funny, and since he was bigger than Trent, Trent let him. "Bet he'll cry," he said.

"Let's do it," Darrell said, and cracked his knuckles.

--

"Hey, squirt!"

Aaron winced, and glanced up at the door—Ivy was still inside her friend's house, thank God. With any luck she'd stay there until this was over. "Hi, guys," he said, wearily.

Trent leaned against the gate behind him, effectively blocking any chance of escape, and Darrell put a hand over his shoulder. "That's a lot of candy you got there," Darrell said, and grinned.

"It's my sister's," Aaron said, which was true, Ivy got a lot of candy.

The boys exchanged looks, and Trent said, "It's such a lot. I think you should share it with us."

--

"It's not mine," the squirt repeated, and Darrell rolled his eyes.

"Don't see your sister around," he said. The squirt mumbled something, and he pushed closer. "What was that?"

"Nothing," the squirt said, quickly. "Look, I can't just give her candy away. She'll throw a fit."
"Then you'll have to buy her some more. Just hand it over, squirt, and nobody gets hurt."

The squirt, unbelievably, shook his head. "It's my sister's," he insisted.

"Funny story," Trent said. "We don't care. D?"

Darrel grabbed the neck of the squirt's shirt and hoisted him against the gate. "Candy," he said. "Now."

--

"Thanks, Kiki," Ivy said, and gave her friend a hug.

"When you gotta go," Kiki said, wisely, and sneezed. She was too sick to go trick-or-treating, but it was okay, Ivy had promised to split her candy, which she only did for really good friends. "Have fun, okay?"

"I will," Ivy said, and was half out the door when she noticed the boy shoving Aaron against Kiki's fence.

"Kiki," she said, quietly, "get your dad, okay?" Then, as Kiki disappeared into the house, she slid into the bushes lining the walk to Kiki's door and slunk silently towards the fence.

--

The squirt was just not giving in, holding the candy firmly behind his back and scowling up at Darrell. Trent ground his teeth. Who knew he had it in him?

"Look," he said, finally. "I'm sick of this. Give us the candy or Darrell here might just rearrange your teeth a little.

"No," the squirt said.

Trent sighed. "This hurts me more than you," he told him. "D?"

Darrell grinned, and drew back his fist. There was a yell.

The next minute he was on the ground, yelping furiously, twisting and turning and failing to escape the kid pummeling him.

--

"Leave! My! Brother! Alone!" Ivy shouted, punctuating each word with a small fist. She wasn't doing any real damage, but Aaron felt he should interrupt, so he shoved past Trent and hauled his sister off Darrell. She yelped, "Aaron, stoppit! He's not sorry enough!"

"What the hell?" Darrell cried, scrambling to his feet, one hand pressed to his eye. "She hit me!"

"That's right, asshole!" Ivy cried, right before Aaron spun her around, horrified.

"Where did you hear that?" he demanded.

She scowled up at him. "I am vengeance," she said, and flapped her Batman cape pointedly. "Vengeance hears everything."

--

Darrell balled his fists. "You little bitch," he hissed.

The squirt glanced up sharply, and shoved the bitch behind his back. "Don't say that to my sister," he snapped.

"I'll say whatever I want to her!" Darrell yelled. "That little bitch broke my nose!"

The squirt rolled his eyes. "Uh, no she didn't. You'll have a black eye. Grow up."

"And leave Aaron alone!" the bitch added.

Darrell snarled, and lunged...

A light clicked on in the house, and a big man barreled out onto the street, hollering, "What is going on out here?"

Darrell fled. Trent was already gone.

--

"Who were those guys?" Ivy asked, as Kiki's dad drove them home.

Aaron shrugged. "Just some bullies from school. They don't bother me much."

Ivy frowned, hugging her candy bag close. (She'd left the other with Kiki, as promised.) "You're lying."

"No, I..." He sighed. "It's fine, Vee, really. Leave it alone, okay?"

She shrugged, and pulled a Snickers from her bag, Aaron's favorite. "Okay," she said, holding it out to him. "But I think you should tell Mom."

He took the candy and smiled, gratefully. "I don't want to bother her."

"Oh, don't worry," Ivy said. "She loves bullies."