#‘’they would have become vigilantes anyway’’

[benbamboozled]

I would actually kind of like the “becomes a doctor and takes over Leslie’s clinic” story…for Damian.

NOT because I think it would be ~ethical~ or idk whatever-the-fuck.

I just really love the concept of Damian having this “I HAVE A BIG IMPORTANT DESTINY” backstory/lineage/bloodline …

…SON OF THE BAT, and all that jazz…

But when he connects with Gotham and the people in it—because Batman should be connected to the people he’s protecting—Damian realizes that he doesn’t actually WANT “his” destiny.

And it’s not about rejecting Batman or his father or his mother or anything like that, but instead about taking what he’s learned and what they’ve given him and shaping it to fit himself.

[danzainosolitude]

Once again I read fanfiction that seems to have been precisely written to deal psychic damage to me.

[martyrbat]

batman secret files: clownhunter

(ID in alt!)

[voidoffline]

I be wrightin’ vfvov now (Mumbo jumbo au)

[hailsatanacab]

Ao3 - word count: 12k

Mercifully, Duke’s in the cave when he gets the call.

He doesn’t recognise the number, but they’re tracing it as soon as he realises the gravity of the situation. It’s the end of his shift, the light is beginning to dim as the sun goes down, and soon the real signal will be lighting up the sky when the police find the remains of the poor guy that intercepted a message meant for him.

How hadn’t he seen this coming? Where had he gone wrong? How had Joker—

It doesn’t matter how, all that matters is that an innocent Gothamite is now paying for his mistakes, and—

A hand clamps down onto his shoulder, making him jump. He looks up at Batman’s stony face, grim and dark as it always is when they’re dealing with the Joker. Still, he’s grateful for the interruption, and part of him wants to lean into the touch. “B?”

“We’re having trouble with the trace, perhaps Joker is interfering with the transmission. Did he give you any clues as to where he could be?”

“All he said was that my package was accidentally delivered to him instead… Bruce, what if he’s…?”

“You can’t think like that, we’ve got to think about what we can do to find him and help him.” Despite the gruff tone, the efficiency in his words, the hand on Duke’s shoulder gives a comforting squeeze.

Right, that’s right, thinking what if’s and playing the blame game isn’t going to help right now. There’ll be time for that later. Right now, he has to figure out just where they are and how to get to them as quickly as possible.

The Joker had followed the call pretty quickly, which meant that he was either in the building or in the area. It’s unlikely that he would have entrusted such a threat to FedEx, especially since it had his name on it. 

His full, civilian name.

He brushes past the implications of that in favour of concentrating on where they might be. There’ll be time for a breakdown later. If there’s a later.

Joker must have been reasonably sure that Duke Marlon Thomas was attached to wherever he delivered the package, which means that it must have his name on it somewhere. He’s only just officially been fostered with the Waynes, and he hasn’t been in his parent’s house since they’ve been in the hospital, so…

“My old apartment,” he says, with a certainty that he doesn’t fully feel. “A safehouse I’ve kept on the side—I moved out a couple weeks ago, perhaps he’s the new tenant?”

“Stay here, everyone else with me. Oracle, contact Nightwing and Red Hood, let them know the situation and keep an eye out for any movement.”

“B, you can’t be serious!” Duke’s protests are not the only ones in the cave, at least everyone else thinks that he should be taking point on this, too. “It’s my mess, you can’t keep me here!”

“It’s for your own sake, Signal. You’re too close to this, I don’t want you emotionally compromised in the field.” 

The hand on his shoulder gives him another squeeze, but Duke shoves it away, the weight patronising now.

“I don’t want to see you hurt, Duke.” Bruce’s voice is softer, barely any Batman in it, and while that makes Duke stop and take a breath, it doesn’t make him change his mind.

“I’m going, Batman. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

There’s a long pause, long enough so that Duke begins to weigh up the pros and cons of just leaving right now, when Batman finally nods his assent and Duke slams his helmet back onto his head.

“You do not leave my side. Understood?”

“Whatever you say, B, let’s go.”

It takes longer to get them there than Signal wants it to. He’s weaving through cars at breakneck speeds, then ditching his bike and taking to the rooftops when the traffic gets too bad. It’s long enough for Oracle to dig up some info on the poor guy, as much good as that will do for him.

“Name on the lease is Danny Nightingale,” Oracle says, keys clicking away as she digs up whatever else she can. 

The wind whistles past his ear as he soars through the sky, his blood roaring as he pushes himself to go faster. Danny. They have the right place. There’s still time. 

 “Paperwork was finalised about 12 hours ago, I guess Joker didn’t get the memo. The deposit was paid for entirely in cash. I’ll see what else I can find.” 

12 hours. 12 hours and one bad apartment and Danny’s—no. There’s still time. He’s throwing his grapple farther, making more daring swings, and he knows Batman is cursing him from behind but he doesn’t care, he has to get there, he can’t let someone die because of him, he can’t.

When the building finally comes into view, Batman sends Spoiler and Robin around and up the fire escape while they go through the inside. They come up into the hallway towards Duke’s old apartment as quickly and as quietly as they can. There’s no sounds of fighting, none of Joker’s creepy laughter, just the small, tinny voice of a man.

“So, what now? Are you going to kill him?”

Signal and Batman share a look.

“Ancients, no. You know I don’t like doing that… But I’ve got to do something, right? Can’t have him killing more birds—plus, he knows Signal’s identity, that’s dangerous. I can’t imagine he’s just going to leave it, even with the beak.”

That’s him, that’s Danny! Signal’s stomach does a giddy flip in relief when he recognises his voice, thank God he’s okay! But, wait… are they talking about the Joker?

They’re just outside the door now and Batman holds up his hand, signalling for them to wait. Oracle, watching the camera feed from their masks, relays the message to Spoiler and Robin waiting outside the apartment window.

Over Batman's shoulder, Signal spots one of Joker’s henchmen and a concerningly large pool of blood. Dead, bullet wound to the head. So they’ve not escaped without any victims, then, but the question is: who did this?

“He’s the Joker, Danny, of course he’s going to try again.”

“Yeah, but like, I can’t just kill him. That Bat guy is gonna come up and be all like, ‘This is my territory, how dare you interfere with things you know nothing about, bleurgh, I’m a bat, get out of my city,’ and I’ve only just got here, I can’t be kicked out already!”

Duke can’t help himself, he laughs. Maybe it’s the rush of relief to see that the guy’s alright, maybe it’s the bang-on growling Batman impression, maybe it’s adrenaline, who cares? It’s funny as hell.

“I don’t sound like that.” Batman crosses his arms, an intimidating shadow in the doorway. 

“Oh, shit!” 

Danny whirls around, dropping his phone in his panic. It clunks on the floor, screen upright, and Signal can see two people on the other end of the video call. Both about as old as Danny in front of them, late 20s-early 30s at least, one African-American man bathed in the blue light of his screen and one white, very goth woman surrounded by sunlight and plants.

It also draws Duke’s eyes to the other body on the floor. 

And the crowbar lying next to him.

Familiar green hair soaked with blood, blotchy white makeup smeared pink and what bare skin he could see is starting to swell and mottle with fresh bruises. If not for the signature purple suit, Signal would have his doubts that this is the Joker at all. Even after going several rounds with Batman, he’s never looked this bad. 

For a wild moment, Signal thinks he’s dead. It’s so unlike what he thought he’d find here—the complete opposite of the mess, the tough fight, the terrifying game, that he was expecting—that he can’t help the small gasp of relief that escapes him.

But he’s not. As the guy said on the phone, he’s still very much alive, and still very much a problem. Signal can just about make out the subtle shift of his breath, the ripples it makes in the puddle of blood. The small bloom of light in his chest that tells him he’s merely unconscious flickers like a candle just waiting to be snuffed out.

Signal’s starting to see Jason’s point of view.

Curiously, even knocked out as he is, he’s still clutching at his throat like he’s choking down his own venom.

“Wow, okay,” Signal breathes, following Batman as he steps over the dead body in the doorway, still not quite believing what he’s seeing.

“Everything alright, Danny?” the man on the other side of the phone asks, craning his head around as if it would get him a better view of the room.

“Yeah! It’s the Bat guy—not Manbat, Tucker, the other one.”

“For the last time, Danny, his name is Batman! You would know that if you just listened to me for once in your life!”

“What was that, Sam? I couldn’t hear you over Tucker’s crushing disappointment about not seeing Manbat in the flesh.”

“I swear to—”

“Anyway, I gotta go!” Danny cheerfully interrupts, finger hovering over the button to hang up. “Time to see what we’re going to do to the Joker! Love you, bye!”

“You are not going to do anything to the Joker,” Batman growls when Danny looks at him expectantly. “We are going to hand him over to the authorities.”

“The authorities?” Danny raises a sceptical eyebrow and, again, Duke is very much reminded of Jason. “Okay, so I’ve barely been in Gotham for 24 hours but even I know that the authorities aren’t the people you go to for shit like this. Contrary to what she thinks, I did listen to Sam’s safety presentation—or, well, some of it, at least.”

“Her safety presentation told you to beat up the Joker?” Signal can’t help but ask.

“Honestly, the Joker slide came up after some pretty traumatising revelations about my friend’s taste in partners—he said he’d smash Manbat—so I had to block most of the villain and vigilante slides out. Luckily, the whole police section happened before that. I remember it very vividly because Tucker and I both said smash for your police commissioner. Obviously, ACAB, but damn… Cuff me, you know what I mean?”

Batman says nothing, but his scowl deepens and honestly, Signal’s pretty happy right now that he can’t read Batman’s face as well as the others yet because there’s no way he wants to know the actual answer to that question.

“Yeah, you do,” Danny says with a wink and a click of his tongue. “It’s the ‘stache.”

A wink. He winks at Batman.

Everyone on the comms dissolves into cackling laughter, almost drowning out Oracle’s whispered “Oh, my God…” Yeah, there’s no way Oracle—nor Commissioner Gordon—are ever going to live this down.

Signal’s not entirely sure what’s happening today, but when he woke up this morning he did not expect to be watching a random guy flirt with Batman over the Joker’s body. Weird how things turn out.

“Who are you, what happened here?”

Trust Batman to cut through the shenanigans and get right down to business.

“Danny,” the man says simply, no last name, extending a hand. Batman doesn’t take it. Signal thinks it’s rude, especially considering the Joker’s out cold in front of them. It looks like Danny’s done them a favour, the least Batman can do is shake his hand.

After a pretty awkward few seconds, Danny shifts to offer it to Signal instead, which he takes gratefully. It feels pretty good to be shaking the guy’s hand and not staring down at his corpse. Danny’s grip is surprisingly strong, which makes Signal squint at him a little, but… there’s nothing suspicious about Danny’s aura. He looks normal.

Well, normal in terms of no meta abilities. You can’t just beat up Joker and still be called normal.

“Signal, right?”

“That’s right,” Signal replies with a smile. Danny smiles back. “Glad to see you’re alright, man.”

“Yeah, sorry to have panicked you. Also, sorry for opening your mail, but I’m kinda glad I did, you know?” Danny’s eyes swing back to Batman with a sarcastic roll. He holds his hands up in a mocking surrender. They’re caked in blood, dry and flaking, and Signal’s stomach turns with thoughts of what might have been. “I know, I know, I was a very naughty boy and committed mail fraud. Please don’t hand me over to ‘the authorities’, I’m sorry, okay?”

Batman and Signal share a look. Sorry to have panicked you, sorry for opening your mail. The package was meant for Duke, not Signal.

Well, it’s not a huge leap, Signal figures. He knew he was compromised, but… to be honest, he hadn’t expected Danny to be alive enough for it to be an issue. He thought he’d be dealing with the Joker, not with this as well.

The knowledge of it settles like a rock in the pit of his stomach. What now?

“But it’s a crime I’d commit again if it meant I could keep this chucklefuck down. It’s a fucked up situation,” Danny continues, serious now, “you shouldn’t have to experience it.”

“What was the situation?” Batman growls out. There’s no doubt he’s come to the same conclusions that Signal has, which is why he’s using his scary Batman voice and not his ‘this civilian’s just been through a traumatic experience’ Batman voice. If he’s trying to intimidate Danny, does that mean that Signal should consider him a threat, too?

Danny turns his back on them, as calm and relaxed as if he were with friends. Guess Batman should kick his scary voice up a notch, because Danny doesn’t seem bothered at all. 

He moves towards his kitchen counter, picks up a box and a card, and brings them back over.

“This was outside my door when I got back from a meeting. I didn’t bother looking at the name until after I opened it, but when I realised it wasn’t for me, I googled you and found your number—which, like, come on dude, keep it secure—and then this all happened. Gotta admit, great second day in Gotham. Flawless.”

“I’m sorry, Danny, you should never have gotten caught up in this.” Signal frowns, hands clenching by his sides. Sure, he’s made it out without so much as a scratch, but that doesn’t negate the fact that it was Signal’s fault it happened in the first place. If Danny had been anyone else, if—

“Hey, never apologise for something a clown has done. They’re the worst.” Danny’s hand lands on his shoulder, the solid weight of it comforting enough so that Signal feels some of his tension ease. “His actions are not your responsibility and holding yourself accountable for every building broken or every civilian hurt is only going to break and hurt you in turn, which is exactly what they want.”

The heavy, serious aura of his eye contact breaks and an easy-going grin replaces it. Danny’s hand drops and he shrugs with one shoulder. “Or, at least, that’s what Jazz—my know-it-all sister—says. Easier said than done, though, right?”

Is that… the voice of experience? Just who is this guy? Signal tries to catch Batman’s eye, but he’s too busy staring at the broken bird in the box. The sight of it makes Signal’s stomach turn, so instead he picks up the card and somehow that’s even worse.

At least mommy and daddy won’t know how fast you replaced them!

Fuck. What the fuck?

“Red Robin, Orphan,” Signal speaks into his earpiece, cursing the way his voice shakes, “I need you to go to Wayne Hospital and check on my—check on—check on them, please.”

“You got it, Signal. Rerouting now.” Red Robin’s voice is grim, but hearing the determination lets him take a deep breath, lets him compartmentalise. They’ll be fine. No one can beat Red Robin and Orphan.

When he first got the call to tell him that his parents were hit with Joker gas and that it was possible they might never recover, he’d felt… Well, how are you even meant to feel with something like that? In the space of one call, his life changed forever and the people he loved the most were gone.

Now, it’s happening again.

But this time, it’s his fault; all of his friends, his family, they’re all in danger because of him.

This could kill him.

This could kill everyone.

“Batman…”

And Batman just looks at him. 

No words, no reprimand, no comfort. He just looks at him, face unreadable, mask looming, and somehow that's even worse. Duke can tell he's not really seeing him, he's seeing everything that could have been. Every mistake that's hurt someone, hurt a Robin, hurt one of his children. Jason. 

How close he is to losing them all again. 

It’s the Joker, after all—now he has one of their identities, he’ll know the rest—and if Duke had just tidied his ends up a little better, if he were just a little more vigilant, if his phone number wasn’t on fucking google, then perhaps the bird lying in front of them wouldn’t be so broken, the smiling face on the card would—

“Come on, dude, what did I just say? Stop catastrophising. It’s not your fault. Yes, he knows who you are, but don’t worry about it! We have an understanding now, don’t we, J? You won’t be telling anyone, right?” 

So saying, he nudges Joker with his foot, but there’s no response. Doesn’t even groan. Jeez, what did the guy do to him? 

Signal resolves to slip Jason a copy of his mask’s video just in case he doesn’t get to see it in person.

“He won’t—oh, shit! He can still write it, I didn’t even think of that! One sec, let me break his hands real quick so he gets the message.”

Before Danny can take a step forward, Batman comes back to himself and darts out in front of him to hold him back and it’s that, more than anything, that snaps Signal out of it.

Now, look, it’s not like Signal is hungry for blood, but knowing that he’s compromised, that someone knows his identity and has already used it to try and hurt people—will likely use it to try and hurt even more people—and it being the Joker, too… his eyes start to burn and his fists tremble and honestly, he’s kinda on Danny’s side for this.

“B—” 

He doesn’t even get to move before Spoiler comes tumbling through the window, Robin close behind her with a much more graceful landing.

“Oh, come on, B, let the guy break his hands!”

“We don’t torture people.” Batman turns to face Spoiler, but he still keeps his hand against Danny’s chest in warning.

“But—” She barely gets the word out before Danny interrupts her.

“He was going to torture Signal. He would still torture Signal, if he could. He made it explicitly clear that he was going to torture me in Signal’s place so he could then emotionally torture Signal.” Danny cocks his head, examining Batman with a critical eye. “Not only that, but he tortured your other one, too, right? Before he killed him? That’s what he said.”

“We don’t torture people,” Batman repeats, voice darker and pressing harder against Danny’s chest to force him into taking a step back. 

Except… except to Signal’s eye, it looks more like Danny lets himself be moved. There’s a brief moment where he stands stock still, where Bruce is pushing with a force that should move pretty much anyone, and it doesn't even look like Danny feels it. It almost reminds him of Superman’s strength, but… That’s ridiculous, right?

The guy’s not glowing like a meta would, nevermind like a Kryptonian does, so what’s his deal?

Whatever. Danny’s alive and safe, but it could have been a very different story—and it would have been Duke’s fault, no matter what he says—so he’s not going to press whatever he’s got going on when he’s more than likely alive because of it.

“Both of you should be reasonable,” Robin says, looking between Danny and Spoiler. “Breaking his hands will accomplish nothing in the long run.”

“Thank you, Rob—” Batman tries, but Robin immediately interrupts him off.

“The obvious solution is that I should cut them off.”

“Oh, Ancients, he’s so bloodthirsty, I love him. Yes, little Robin, cut his hands off!”

“Robin,” Batman warns, raising his voice to be heard above Danny’s enthusiastic clapping. He pivots towards Robin, his hand now holding him back instead, keeping his katana in its sheath.

“Batman,” Robin snarks back, but thankfully stays put. Don’t want to be dealing with all that again. “If the situation is to be believed, Signal is compromised. The best course of action would be to silence the Joker and anyone else that knows. I will not lose my life because of one person’s incompetence.”

Yeah, that was definitely aimed at him. Not entirely unexpected, either. Signal swallows and looks down, eyes bouncing off the blood splatters over the floor. Robin’s always thought of himself as being superior, but to have it proven so succinctly, and to have it directly said to him, is something else entirely.

“Silenced? Oof, little Robin is out for blood and while I am here for that and totally support it, I’ve gotta ask… Anyone? You’re going to silence anyone that knows?” Danny’s laugh is forced and he rubs at the back of his neck. Signal can read between the lines. Robin is scary.

But it does also raise the question of what they’re going to do with Danny. They certainly can’t ‘silence him’ like Robin suggests.

“Anyone that cannot be trusted with the knowledge, of course.” Robin sniffs and moves to draw his katana again. He doesn’t get very far, not with Batman still blocking the way. “Keep calling me ‘little’ and you will find yourself added to the list.”

Danny holds his hands up in surrender. “Alright, point taken, just Robin it is. Don’t add me, please, you’re very intimidating.

“Also,” Danny adds, glancing towards Batman after a short pause, as if he’s waiting for him to say something, “it’s not Signal’s fault that his identity was compromised. I don’t know how it happened, and while I’m sure Signal will be cracking down on any leaks as soon as he can, you can’t lose sight of the real villain. Not that it’s hard to keep track of his snot-coloured hair and terrible fashion sense. The only place you could lose him in would be Willy Wonka’s factory, the Oompa-Loompa looking ass.”

While Signal appreciates Danny fighting his corner for him—both figuratively and literally, considering Joker in front of them—the look on Robin’s face is absolutely murderous and for the second time today, Signal’s genuinely afraid that Danny’s going to lose his life.

“He’s right,” Batman gruffs out, sounding about as painful as it looks for him to get out. “You can’t blame Signal for this and if I hear any more of it, I will be benching you.”

Whatever Danny was waiting for Batman to say, that seemed to be the wrong thing. He scoffs and rolls his eyes—which has Signal having to smother a smile because Robin does the exact same thing at the exact same time and he knows just how badly laughing at it will irritate him. 

And yeah, while that kind of makes Signal want to do it, the thought of having to deal with a sulking Damian around the manor for a week is enough to put him off.

Obviously, Danny’s decided to play some kind of hero today because not even a second later there’s an encouraging smile on his face and he’s back talking to Robin like he’s not tempting fate.

“You’re very intimidating. I like your sword.”

“It is a katana.” Robin sniffs, still not letting go of the handle. “And I’m not a child. Do not talk down to me.”

“I’m not! Love a katana, but I’m more partial to a double-edge, myself. Oh! Give me a minute, you’ll love this!” 

So saying, he breaks off with a hum and starts rummaging through his bulging cupboards and drawers, muttering about how “she’ll kill me again if I’ve lost it already”. Is he talking about Sam? She certainly seemed formidable on the call. 

Signal watches as Batman’s hands creep down to his utility belt, his stance wary. His eyes never leave Danny, tracking him as he flits from corner to corner in the small apartment.

“You any good with it?” he calls out from half under the coffee table, face scrunched as he blindly reaches around. What’s he looking for? “It’s been ages since I’ve had a proper sword fight, you wanna spar sometime? Bet I could teach you a few things.”

“I have been trained since birth by the world’s deadliest assassins, I doubt you could teach me anything.” Robin draws himself up straighter and turns to fully face Danny, a haughty expression on his face. “Besides… Batman says I am not allowed to sword fight civilians.”

“Aw, what a spoilsport.” Danny sticks his tongue out—actually sticks his tongue out—at Batman as he breezes past them all back into the kitchen. “She gave me apples, pomegranates, and that cute little owl statue to bless the new kitchen, which means I was unpacking her box over here with the fruit bowl, owl is on the window, sword is… in the breadbox!”

So saying, he whips his hand in and out of the box lightning fast, the wooden slats falling shut with a thwack, and twirls to face them all, brandishing a shortsword high in the air as if he’s just pulled it from a stone. Just as quick, Batman grabs a batarang and holds it behind his shoulder, poised to throw, in case Danny decides to come at them all mediaeval style. Or, stabby Robin style. Sure, he beat up the Joker pretty easily, but Signal can’t see him doing the same to four of Gotham’s vigilantes. Not all at once.

“Oh, will you chill out, I’m not going to do anything! I just thought Robin would like to see it.” 

Slowly, he brings the sword back down and lays it over both hands to present it to Robin, who, despite himself, leans in for a closer look.  It looks fairly impressive to Signal, who’s lost every single bout he’s had with Robin so far (in his defence, he hasn’t been using his powers. Yet). The leaf-shaped blade almost glows in the light. It reminds Signal of those swords used in the old Jason and the Argonauts films his dad used to watch.

It’s only now that Robin’s distracted that Signal allows himself a smile. It’s nice to see the little brat act his age, even if he’s still so desperately trying to hold himself back. He can kind of see what Dick’s been saying lately. They really do all need some time to hang out together, out of costume, and just be normal for once. Let Damian experience being a kid.

Even if it means giving the stabby Robin more swords.

“It’s a—”

“Xiphos. Secondary weapon to the Ancient Greeks, used after the dory or javelin has been thrown. Popular during the Iron Age. Why do you use this blade?”

“I’m impressed! You really know your swords, huh? It was given to me by one of my teachers—and sidenote, if you see a scary woman dressed in, like, a black bedsheet, please don’t tell her I kept her sword in a breadbox. She will flay me.” Danny stops and thinks for a moment, face creased in concern. “And please don’t tell her I said she was wearing a bedsheet.”

“It is understandable that she would be mad. Not only is it irresponsible to keep it there, it is also extremely disrespectful to both the blade and your teacher. I’m sure she would be ashamed of having such a student, if she were aware.”

“Damn, dude, don’t hold back, jeez. In my defence, how else am I meant to slice my bread?” Danny laughs and quickly holds up his hands in surrender as Robin sputters at the indignity. “I’m joking, I’m joking! I’m trying to find a proper way to display them, I promise, but it’s a little difficult to get something big enough for the Zweihander. Barely fits under my bed as it is.”

“A Zweihander? I find it hard to believe that you could even lift one, let alone wield it.”

“Guess you’ll have to accept my challenge and find out! If it means it can happen then you can supervise, B-man. Promise I’ll go easy on him.” A wicked grin grows across Danny’s face as he very obviously looks Batman up and down. “Or, perhaps you’d like to have a go yourself?”

A chorus of retching comes through the comms, and Oracle laughs back in vengeance. Luckily, Danny’s flirting seems to go over Robin’s head.

“How dare you! If we are to spar, we will do it properly. I do not go easy on anyone.”

“Wanna hold it?” Danny offers, breaking through Robin’s tirade with a knowing smile. He lifts the xiphos so it’s eye-level with Robin and Signal can practically see him start to glow with excitement.

Robin pauses, squinting up at Danny, then glances towards Batman for permission, almost on the balls of his feet as he leans closer. Batman doesn’t even get a chance to nod—or more likely, shake his head—before Robin makes up his mind.

“If you insist.” His voice is grave and restrained when he answers, but Signal swears he can hear it quiver.

Danny just laughs as Robin practically snatches it off him before Batman can open his mouth to intervene. Amazing. Signal’s never seen him like this before, he’s almost… cute.

“It’s so lightweight! The balance is superb, who is the maker? It is a masterpiece and I must purchase one for my collection.”

“Sorry to interrupt,” Spoiler says, with her hand in the air. Judging by her grin, she’s not sorry at all. “But it’s my turn with the new guy now, and new guy? I just gotta say, I’m a big fan of your work.”

It’s surprising just how reassuring it was earlier in the cave to have everyone racing behind him, knowing that they all had his back, no matter what they found in the apartment. But with Spoiler’s grin growing feral, he’s kinda wishing they all stayed behind, now.

“Thanks! I’m Danny, pleasure to meet you! Love the fit!” This time, when Danny offers his hand, Spoiler doesn’t hesitate to shake it. “And sorry, Robin, the maker is no longer living and is super particular about who has his swords.”

Robin barely acknowledges him with a nod (which is mildly concerning—Signal was fairly sure he’d throw a tantrum not being able to get a similar sword) before moving farther into the apartment and into the space behind the ratty looking couch, so he can begin running through several sword forms.

“Thanks, purple truly is the new black. So, Danny, in your opinion, what’s better? Flowers or chocolates?”

“Chocolate’s never tried to kill me before, so, that one. Why?”

“Nightwing ETA three minutes, Red Hood incoming now.” Oracle interrupts.

At least Red Hood will be able to see the mess Joker’s in first hand and Signal doesn’t have to worry about smuggling out copies of their mask feed. Spoiler presses her finger into her ear.

“I would ask you to elaborate but given that we’re in Gotham, where plants have tried to kill the majority of the city several times over, I won’t! Also, tomorrow you probably won’t be able to say the same.”

“Is… that a threat?”

“That, my friend, is a sweet, sweet promise.”

“What?”

“I’m saying that this time tomorrow you’ll be able to open up your own chocolate shop with the amount of thank you gifts coming your way.”

“Police have been alerted to several gunshots in the building, but I’ve rerouted the patrol cars to give you more time with him. ETA roughly 15 minutes. They don’t know about Joker’s involvement yet.”

Duke sees Batman type something quickly into his wrist computer, fingers flitting over the screen. He can only be asking for more information on Danny. Something about it rubs Signal the wrong way: why look a gift horse in the mouth? 

Batman has every right to be suspicious. An unknown operative in the city, taking out one of the top players on his second day here. Is he trying to make a name for himself?

Yes, Batman has every right to be suspicious.

It just feels like shit.

“So I’m not in trouble?” Danny asks, grinning expectantly at all of them even as they continue to ignore him for Oracle’s updates. “Thought for sure I’d be in trouble.”

Spoiler holds her hands up in an exaggerated shrug. “I never said that.”

“There’s not much I can find about him on the internet, no social media pages, nothing. You’ll like this, though. The ‘meeting’ he went to today was a job interview. For an R&D position at Wayne Enterprises.”

Duke can practically see the suspicion ratchet to a higher level behind Batman’s cowl. It doesn’t mean anything, though—half of the people desperate enough to move to Gotham, of all places, come with the hopes of landing a job at WE—it’s probably just a coincidence.

“It went pretty well, apparently. He’s on the shortlist for the second round of interviews.”

Probably.

“Guys?” Danny asks, grin fading into confusion. “You’re not going to kick me out of Gotham when I’ve finally just got rid of all my boxes, right?”

But there’s no such thing as coincidences. That’s lesson number one with Batman. Thinking there is only means you’re overlooking something.

Duke’s made enough mistakes lately. He won’t underestimate potential threats again.

But… What is he meant to do here? 

The sound of shattering glass jolts him out of his thoughts. 

Everyone falls into battle-ready stances, and with a deep breath, he focuses on his ghost sense to watch the glowing figure of a man crash into the living room. Immediately, he relaxes—Red Hood making an entrance, dramatic as always—and out of the corner of his eye he can see everyone else following his lead, obviously realising he’s not seen a threat.

Blinking away the black spots and afterimages with a shake of his head, Signal tentatively smiles at him when he finally follows his future image inside the apartment proper. It’s hard to know where he stands, with Jason. Hell, it’s hard to know where any of them stand with Jason. Whatever peace is between them now is a fragile thing and Signal’s under no illusions that they’re all one bad day away from burning all the bridges they’ve worked so hard to rebuild.

Still… this has to be a pretty good day for him, though, right?

“Holy fuck, it’s true.” 

Judging by the breathiness that crackles through Red Hood’s voice modulator, Signal’s going to go out on a limb and say, yeah, it’s a pretty good day.

“Dude, did you just break my window? That’s so rude, man, the front door is literally still open. Hell, that other window is literally still open.” Danny turns and points an accusatory finger at Batman. “You’re paying for it.”

“Is he dead?”

“Unconscious and in need of medical assistance.” Batman answers, conveniently ignoring Danny. Red Hood doesn’t even spare him a glance.

Dropping his hand, Danny snorts and nudges at the Joker with his foot again. This time, the Joker groans, a wet gurgling sound at the back of his throat that has Signal grimacing. Jeez, Danny really did a number on him.

“Yeah, he’ll bounce back, unfortunately.” Danny clicks his tongue and sighs. “Probably sooner rather than later. The universe always needs a butt for its jokes. Emphasis on the butt.”

Stepping round the body, head down, Red Hood drinks in the sight. Sure, he’s not dead and from the slump in his shoulders, it’s not what he was hoping for, but there has to be some vindication in seeing him all broken and beaten like that.

Signal wonders if it makes Jason feel better. Does it make Duke feel better?

“So, how many more of you am I expecting? Are all the Justice League going to turn up? Do I need to open the rest of the windows before they get smashed, too? At this rate, I’m going to be paying more for window repairs than I did for the apartment.”

Despite Danny’s cheerful sarcasm, Signal can feel a tension building in the room. Danny’s eyes never stop tracking Red Hood as he moves around the body. Sure, his shoulders are loose and his arms folded in an easy manner, he’s relaxed, but… For the first time since they’ve been here, Signal can almost see the power that took down the Joker. The lazy confidence of being the strongest in the room, like a yawning lion.

 A quick glance around shows everyone else wearily watching Danny, too. They’ve all felt the dynamic shift.

Only Red Hood seems unaffected, but who really knows where he’s looking, how he’s feeling, with that mask on?

When he’s satisfied with committing the Joker’s condition to memory, Hood stops just in front of Signal, and, absurdly, Signal finds himself standing a little straighter at his attention. He only relaxes when Red Hood takes off his helmet, revealing the soft smile underneath.

“I’m glad you’re okay, nightlight. We’ll get this fixed, whatever it takes.”

“Thanks, Hood.” Signal smiles back. He’s grateful for it, he really is.

And… is it his imagination, or does the tension drop? Nothing’s changed, not outwardly, but it feels like Danny brightens, like he likes what he sees.

“You wear a mask underneath your mask? Jazz would have so much to say about that.”

“You’re the one that did this?” Red Hood's attention swings over towards Danny, keeping the Joker’s body in between them to maintain an intimidating distance. Without the modulator, Signal can pick up on the quiver in his voice.

“Really, he did it to himself, kicking my door down like he’s something special. Refused to make me a balloon animal, can you believe it?”

“You asked him for a balloon animal and you’re still alive?”

Danny barks out a laugh as if Hood’s just told a particularly funny joke, and shrugs. “You're half right. I’d have settled for a sword, I’m not picky.”

“And then?”

“Then… we had a bit of a disagreement about how the rest of the show would go.”

“No. Uh-uh.” Red Hood moves to his right and pulls out another one of the chairs from the kitchen island and sits down expectantly. “I need details.”

“Yes,” Batman says, moving forward and crossing his arms. “What happened, exactly?”

“Hey, fuckface, why don’t you take a step back and don’t fucking interrupt again. You will not take this away from me.”

“Jeez, you want popcorn or something? You seem very invested in this.” Danny’s eyes flicker down to take in the whole of Red Hood. “Why is that?”

Before anyone can answer, Spoiler starts bouncing on her heels, clapping her hands. “Hell yeah, if you’re offering! This will be way more entertaining with popcorn!”

“Uh, right, yeah, pretty sure I’ve got some in some cupboards somewhere. Microwave might not be plugged in yet though, I was kinda hoping for pizza tonight, but I think this whole… thing scared the pizza boy away.”

Danny makes a move towards the kitchen area with a sigh, but Spoiler throws a hand out to stop him just as both Batman and Red Hood growl.

“Don’t worry about it, clown-killer, I’ll find it! You keep the story going.”

Honestly, Signal’s a little jealous of how Spoiler is able to shrug off the disapproving glare Batman sends her way. He’s also a little jealous of how Spoiler is getting some popcorn. Inching his way over to her means having to cross past Batman, which… yeah, Signal definitely needs to work on shrugging off that disapproving glare.

“Do want to point out that the clown is still very much alive, I absolutely did not kill him and I do not deserve such a cool nickname. There’s no need for any of this, and I cannot stress this enough—we good, B.”

“That remains to be seen. Explain.” Batman growls, stepping forward in an intimidation tactic that didn’t work the first time and Signal’s fairly certain isn’t going to work now.

Proving Signal right, all Danny does is roll his eyes before, thankfully, beginning his explanation.

It’s… it’s something.

The microwave starts to whirr and the gun shots in Danny’s story come alive with muted popping as Spoiler gets the snacks ready. It does add a certain whimsical air to it all, with the sweet and salty smell wafting through the apartment. Like they’re all at the cinema.

At the end of the tale, Signal’s not convinced that Danny doesn’t have some metahuman strength in his blood, after all. Enough to give him that extra boost of confidence needed to thoroughly thrash the Joker with his own crowbar (a fact that Red Hood crows in delight over, when Danny tells them).

For someone—Signal’s not entirely sure he can keep calling Danny a civilian after hearing his tale—to beat the Joker to a pulp is one thing. Joker’s just a man, as much as he likes to think otherwise, and men are very capable of being drop-kicked straight into the hospital.

But stopping him with an honest-to-goodness curse is another thing altogether. Signal can practically feel Batman’s blood pressure rising from where he stands. 

“I was doing alright—would probably have just left Jojo unconscious and that would be that, you know?—until he mentioned what he did to the, uh, previous Robin.” Danny’s eyes flicker over to Red Hood, which doesn’t go unnoticed by the audience.

The microwave dings and, wordlessly, Spoiler rips open the popcorn and pours it into a plastic mixing bowl, not taking her eyes off the scene in front of her.

“I guess that’s a sore spot for me,” he says with a shrug. “Felt like I had to do something to make sure that it didn’t happen again. Thought y’all might appreciate it.”

There’s a slight smile on his face as he rubs the back of his neck, bashful.

Does Batman appreciate it? Signal does. Surely, Batman must, too.

Right?

“You cursed him? What does that entail?”

It speaks to Batman’s dedication to his interrogation that he doesn’t even flinch when Nightwing cleanly somersaults through the open window, rolling through the landing and immediately making his way over to Spoiler and the giant bowl of popcorn she’s been making her way through.

“Hey, I’m Nightwing, don’t mind me, I’m just here for the show.”

Danny gives him a thumbs up. “Thanks for not breaking a window, Nightwing.”

“So, you cursed the Joker, did I hear that right?” Nightwing asks, all the while fielding Spoiler’s attempts at keeping him away from her prized bowl of popcorn.

Before Danny can elaborate at all, they’re interrupted by a long, drawn-out moan from below.

Instead of any sort of coherent explanation, a wicked grin slides across Danny’s face. “Can I knock him out again? Please?”

“I’d like him awake. We need to question him.” Batman answers, crossing his arms.

“Well,” Danny sighs, defeated, “from past experience, there’s only so much I can take of him laughing. I’m funny, but I’m not that funny. You’d think he’d be able to tell the difference between a good joke and a mediocre one, except… looking at him, I guess not.”

Red Hood snorts and valiantly, very obviously, resists doing exactly what Danny suggests. Much like everyone else, from the looks of it. They could all do with punching Joker again. It’s almost therapy, at this point.

“Might be time to get those answers, GCPD ETA eight minutes at best,” Oracle interrupts. “Six more squad cars have been added, there've been two more calls from Danny’s building reporting gunshots and possible Joker activity. It’s going to get pretty noisy in there soon.”

Mercifully, the Joker doesn’t open his eyes, and they’re all spared his grating voice.

Batman wastes no time in turning back to Danny. They have under eight minutes, after all.

“You cursed him?”

“Sure did! Thought it would be a pretty good way of stopping him from revealing any identities—yours or any other vigilantes’. I stuck the beak from the bird in his throat and made it so that it’ll grow and grow if he tries anything, it’s poetic!” Danny grins at them all, and is Signal imagining it or are there fangs poking out of the corners of his mouth? It makes him look feral, but as soon as he blinks, they’re gone.

The six of them all look at each other, no one really quite sure how to respond to that. Ostensibly, it’s a problem solved, but… Batman’s not going to like it. 

So, predictably, Red Hood does. With a slap of his hands on his thighs and a wild look that matches Danny’s maybe-fangs, he stands up and begins to slow clap. “Amazing. Well done, bravo. I mean, I would have preferred a little more… lethality, but I’ve gotta say, it’s inspired. Thank you for the show.”

“You’re welcome. It was the least I could do.”

“What do you say, Bats?” Red Hood turns to Batman with a mirror of Danny’s grin, shit-eating and promising carnage. “You gonna thank the guy for saving our Signal?”

“Thank him? I should be questioning him, there are many—” 

He doesn’t get the chance to finish his sentence before the room explodes in noise, all of them talking over each other, yelling about how absurd it is.

“You can’t treat him as a threat, he’s not done anything wrong!”

“Batman, it’s my fault he was in this position in the first place, you can’t punish him for—”

“He was protecting himself against that maniac, why would—”

“You touch him and I’ll fucking kneecap you, just try it!”

“There’s no evidence of anything against him, what makes you think—”

“—absolutely ridiculous, it’s just like you to—”

“That’s not very hashtag girlboss of you, Batman.”

Popcorn peppers Batman’s chest as Spoiler makes her displeasure known.

Danny doesn’t say anything, just crosses his arms and fixes Batman with a flat, disappointed look that reminds Duke so much of Alfred that it gives him chills.

“This apartment is rented under a false identity and there are no records of you anywhere before this. You are either a magic user or a metahuman, or both, and you have no qualms about using your powers to beat someone senseless.” Batman doesn’t look away from Danny as he speaks, but he does raise his voice to be heard over the rabble.

Eventually, everyone peters out as the excitement of defending the guy that just beat up the Joker fades and the reality of the situation becomes clear, until only Batman can be heard.

“You recognised Red Hood as—there’s more to this that you’re not telling us and I will not thank you when the lives of my fellow vigilantes might still be in danger. Not when you know Signal’s identity. I know the Joker and we can take countermeasures for anything he pulls. I do not know you.”

Not even Red Hood can bring himself to protest now. Signal watches as his fists clench and unclench, his jaw working as his teeth grind in frustration. Honestly, Signal gets it. It’s the fucking worst when Batman’s right.

But, before Danny can say anything, a wet chuckle comes from the floor and the Joker shifts, his limbs uncurling inch by inch. His shoes squeak as they slip in the blood pooled beneath him, leaving long streaks on Danny’s new laminate flooring. It’s definitely going to stain, Signal thinks with a morbid fascination. That’s some shitty luck.

“You… Batman… You don’t know?” 

“Oh, great, sure, let’s let Jojo’s most bizarre adventure tell us about it,” Danny sighs, rolling his eyes, before brightening up with a grin. “Actually, this is great! You can see the curse at work and hopefully you’ll agree that I’m not a threat, this was all a good thing, and then you can leave. No offence.”

“None taken,” Nightwing cheerfully grins, finally shovelling Spoiler's popcorn into his mouth.

“I’d like to see if it works,” Signal says. His hands keep clenching and unclenching into fists and there’s a small, distant, part of him that’s glad that their uniforms have thick, armoured gloves. Biting your nails is a bad habit, and they're about all that's stopping him.

Joker takes no notice of them talking, the wet wheezing of his breaths stuttering in a weak excuse for a laugh as he finally gets his knees under him.

“I know… something you don’t… know,” he sings, the tune high and warbling. It has all of them wincing, and when he cackles it’s like nails on a chalkboard, always staring Batman straight in the eyes.

Danny crouches down before him and flicks his nose. Immediately, the Joker gasps and chokes on globs of bloody phlegm. They hit the floor with a thwack.

“Think long and hard about this, Jeffrey. Three chances. Remember that.”

Jeffrey? Signal’s almost impressed by how Danny can needle the Joker like that, so obviously getting under his skin. The way he talks back, it almost reminds him of the Robins and their constant need to snark.

Furious red blotches bleed underneath Joker’s white face paint and he gnashes his teeth to try and take a bite out of Danny’s fingers.

“That’s just nasty, come on, now. Don’t bite the hand that feeds you bird beaks.” Danny screws his face up and looks thoughtfully to the ceiling. “Pretty sure that’s how the saying goes.”

“Did you know, Batty…” Joker’s voice rattles in his ribcage, and everyone holds their breath as they wait to see if—how—Danny’s curse works. “That he’s just like me? He hates child heroes, too!”

“Hey, that’s taken out of context! I just don’t think that—” 

“Because he was one! Isn’t that great! Another hero come to play with me! You have a contender, Batman!” Joker cackles, leaning so far back with the force of it that he almost topples over.

“You what? That’s such bullshit, you little rat, I can’t believe you tattled on me to Batman! But also… how did you tattle on me? I…”

“You’re retired! You’re retired!” Joker shrieks in laughter. If Signal were a lesser man, he would cover his ears. As it is, he’s pretty sure the sound is going to haunt his nightmares from now on. “You’re retired, so I can say what I want!”

“Oh, Ancients,” Danny whispers, his voice hollow. “I’ve been Desiree’d. Foiled by my own poor wording. Rookie mistake. Batman, you’d probably know this, what actually is a petard? Because I feel like I’ve just been hoisted by my own one.”

Batman ignores him in favour of interrogating the Joker.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that it was my own lack of specification that led to this. If I’d just been clearer in the curse then—”

“Not you, the Joker. What do you mean he’s retired?”

“He was a child hero! A child hero… but a hero no longer.” Joker cackles, a rattling in his ribcage echoing the laughter. “He says he’s never going to give up Gotham. Another child hero turned rogue!”

“Bitch, you think this is me going rogue? Trust me, you would know it if I went rogue.”

“Is that a threat?” Batman’s attention snaps back to Danny, his voice dark and icy and Signal’s finding it a little hard to be indignant for Danny now. They shouldn’t be listening to the Joker, of course not, but…

“No! It’s a statement of fact!” Danny pauses, his face scrunching up in thought. “Okay, yeah, no, I’m hearing it now, that does sound like a threat. Pinky promise I’m not, though.”

So saying, he reaches his hand towards Batman, his little finger out-stretched. Just like with the handshake earlier, Batman simply stares down at him. Instead of offering it to Signal (would Signal have taken it again?), he moves his hand up and down as if in a promise with himself.

When no one seems amused at his antics, Danny’s smile dims and his shoulders droop.

“This is really not how I imagined my second day in Gotham to go, but I guess it’s about par for the course.” Danny sighs and runs his hands over his face, muttering something that Signal thinks sounds like how this was probably going to happen sooner or later. “Listen, Batman, as much as I am loath to admit it, Jingles the Jolly Laughing Leper here is telling the truth. I am retired. Not a rogue, though.”

Signal’s mind races, flying through all of the young heroes on the JL database. Batman is meticulous in his notes, but Signal… isn’t exactly meticulous in reading them. But he must be there, they must have a record of who he is and what he can do.

Danny looks older than Nightwing, but Signal can’t remember any of the heroes from his generation retiring early like this. He’s fairly sure that Nightwing was the first sidekick, too, right?

Just who is he?

“Was kinda hoping that Gotham could be a new start for me, you know? Put all of that shit behind me and—”

“What do you think turned him off the heroics, Batman?” Joker snickers, gnashing his teeth together like a rabid dog. His aura fluctuates horrifically, diseased green and purple rolling off him like foetid air. With his throat exposed now, Signal can see a small, white light shining like a torch in the centre. The beak? “He said he’s ruined people, just like he wants to ruin me with this thing. Just like I want to ruin all of you. I think he has more in common with me than he wants to admit.”

Danny huffs, crossing his arms. His leg rears back as if he’s going to kick him again, but obviously he decides against it and puts it back down. “The only thing I have in common with you is that I want to live in Gotham, and even that’s starting to lose its charm.”

“You want to ‘ruin’ people?” Batman growls, his hands slowly creeping towards his batarangs, sinking into a defensive stance. Everyone else does the same, Spoiler even going so far as to put down her half finished bowl of popcorn. “Who are you, really? What do you want with my city?”

“Really? You want me to just give up my hero identity, after all this?” He waves his hands around, taking in the situation.

“Once this is sorted, we could go somewhere more private—” Nightwing begins, hands raised in a placating gesture, trying to diffuse the situation like he always does.

“What is this, like a tit-for-tat situation? Grow up.”

“Leave him alone, B.” Red Hood moves to stand in front of Batman, getting in his face. His hands hover dangerously over his guns. Shit. Signal focuses on his ghost sense and speedruns the conversation, tensing in case he needs to step in. “For what he’s done to the Joker, he’s under my protection. You lay a finger on him and there’ll be hell to pay.”

“That’s sweet and all, Red Hood, but I really don’t need another Knight. I can look after myself. Appreciate the gesture though, and vice versa, too.” 

As he talks, Danny steps behind Joker who twists violently to keep him in his sights. Fear radiates off him in waves, his raucous laughter now bubbling into nervous giggles that pop out of him.

Signal sees it happen before it goes down.

One moment, Danny is standing there, smiling at Batman and the others as calm as he has been for the whole interaction, and the next his ghostly visage has the Joker’s throat gripped in one hand and his forehead pulled back in the other, teeth bared against his cheek. Is Danny planning on snapping the Joker’s neck?

More importantly, should Signal stop him?

The image of Joker’s lifeless body falls to the floor and Danny stands again, the glowing outline merging again with the way he’s standing in the present, back to talking with Batman. The mouths are out of sync and Signal has to drop his ghost sense when it starts making him dizzy.

“I don’t want to ruin people, Batman. On the contrary, just like you, I only want to protect. Unfortunately, sometimes that means making tough choices.”

Their eyes meet over the Joker’s twisting body and Danny smiles at him, so warm and comforting and understanding, that he realises no. 

He won’t. Signal won't stop Danny from killing the Joker.

Danny turns his attention back to Batman and gestures to himself.

“This is what happens when your secret identity is compromised. Yes, I’m using a false identity here, yes, there are no records of me anywhere. There are people out there that would stop at nothing to capture me, and… I can’t. I won’t survive that, not again.” 

Suddenly, Danny barks out a harsh laugh, the sound clashing with Joker’s stuttering, high-pitched chuckles. Spoiler reaches slowly behind her to grab at some more popcorn kernels. Honestly, Signal’s got to admire her dedication to the drama.

“I’m a walking cautionary tale, Batman, and I won’t see anyone else go through it. Especially child heroes.”

And then he makes his move. 

Danny latches onto the Joker’s neck just as Signal saw it, left hand gripping his throat tightly, right hand pulling his forehead back, Danny’s face against the Joker’s own. He’s whispering intently, but none of them can hear it over the Joker’s shrieking as he scrambles to free himself. Light bleeds out of Danny’s fingers, blinding white at Joker’s throat. Is Danny cursing him or killing him?

Only Batman moves, launching himself across the room with hands outstretched, but by the time he reaches Danny he’s already let go, stepped back, and left the Joker to fall to the ground as he clutches at his throat. 

Signal watches as his eyes roll back and his body loosens, fainting like some 18th century maiden after a fright. Jeez, just what did Danny do to him?

Privately, Signal’s glad that he made the same call as everyone else. He knows that for once it feels better than if he made the same choice as Batman.

“What did you do?” Batman growls, grabbing at Danny’s shirt and pushing him back against the arm of the couch. The momentum carries them forward, Danny tilting back precariously backwards and Batman towering over the top of him. It’s only by the grace of Danny’s shirt and Batman’s strength that he’s still upright.

Signal’s seen this death-defying intimidation tactic used plenty of times, but it’s generally over a long drop from a roof rather than someone’s couch.

Mind you, that's Signal’s old couch, and he knows how uncomfy it is.

“Calm down, I just amended the curse. I know, I know, it’s cheating! But, to be fair, fuck this guy and also fuck the rules. He can still play with you, if he wants, but a vigilante’s civilian life won’t be collateral damage for it.” Danny’s voice is breathless, his smile open and wide, as his hand comes up to grasp at Batman’s shoulder, trying to keep himself as upright as he can. “The identity of any vigilante, past, present, or future—regardless of their current status as hero or civilian—will be safe.” 

Batman doesn’t say anything, but Signal can see how his jaw clenches. He can only imagine what he must be thinking. He tightens his fist, Danny’s shirt curling upwards even more, and pulling Danny closer towards him. Signal can see the hint of scars criss-crossing along his exposed stomach.

“You know, if you keep me trussed up like this much longer, I’m going to have to ask the kids to leave.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees both Spoiler and Nightwing reaching for the remaining popcorn. Red Hood makes gagging sounds.

Batman drops him and Danny flounces back onto the couch with a laugh.

“Thanks. Although, I can’t say I wouldn’t mind doing that again sometime.” Danny says, as he stands up, brightening as another thought comes to him. “Oh, wait, another thing I fixed! I made it so that he can’t write it either, you won’t need to cut—hey, where’s Robin?” 

Danny swings around to look over the small apartment. The xiphos has been placed lovingly on one of the armchair’s cushions—the only one, Signal notes, without any blood splatters—and the door to Danny’s bedroom is open. 

Three guesses as to what Robin is trying to find in there.

Just as Batman opens his mouth to shout for Robin, a loud scraping sound peals through the door and Robin emerges, completely dwarfed by the new sword he’s carrying—dragging, really—towards them. 

Robin with a sword is always unsettling, but Robin with the biggest, brightest grin and a sword easily three times his size with literal actual teeth coming out of the blade, is downright terrifying.

“Nightwing!” Robin beams, the happiest that Signal has ever seen him. “I have a new request for a birthday present. Isn’t it beautiful?”

“So,” laughs Danny, his eyes crinkling around the edges, “you found the Zweihander.”

“Under the bed is no place to keep it, I had to move it if only to ensure you were treating it correctly.”

“Absolutely,” Danny says, his voice full of indulgence. The whiplash change from his predatory attack on the Joker, to the… whatever was happening with Batman that he absolutely doesn’t want to think about ever, and then to dealing with Robin with such kindness makes Signal’s head spin. “Not at all just because you wanted to look at it.”

“Of course not! Caring for your sword is paramount and it is disgraceful that you would keep it like that!” 

As Robin comes further into the room and the tip of the blade crosses the threshold of the door, Signal can’t help but wince. A deep gouge in the laminate follows behind the blade, squealing like fingernails on a chalkboard.

Danny just sighs when he sees it and turns to Batman, “You’re paying for that, too.”

Batman only grunts in response, but he moves away from Danny, so Signal has to count that as a win.

“Signal,” Red Robin’s begins, voice crackling through the comms. Immediately, he puts his hand to his ear and steps away from whatever’s brewing between Danny and Batman.

“Go.”

“They’re fine. 12 of Joker’s guys were waiting outside the hospital, presumably for his orders, but we got ‘em. Zip-tied and waiting for the police now.”

“Thanks, Red. You too, Orphan.”

“Of course,” says Orphan, her voice quiet. “Glad you’re okay, Signal.”

“Police ETA roughly two minutes. If you’ve all gotten a good look at Danny, I suggest you file out sharpish, unless you want to be stuck explaining everything to the cops.” Oracle, ever the voice of reason, says.

Spoiler snorts and raises her hand to her face to whisper discreetly that the real reason Oracle wants them all gone is so they can’t make “Cuff me” jokes about Danny’s crush on the newly dubbed “Commish Dish”.

They can hear the sirens now, faint and a few streets away still, but the discordant blaring echoes through the buildings. There’s always a huge turnout for suspected Joker attacks, Signal really doesn’t envy Danny with what he’s about to face.

Still, he’s sure GCPD will be grateful for the scene they find here. Peeling Joker up off the floor without any sort of gunfight or civilian casualties will probably be a highlight spoken about for years.

“I’ll stay,” Batman says, breaking whatever kind of staring contest he and Danny had going on. “Signal to the cave and the rest of you back on your normal patrols. Keep an eye out for any more of Joker’s people, who knows what else he had brewing for tonight.”

Danny nods in agreement, as if he’s the one giving orders. It still amazes Signal how he’s able to stand against Batman. Yes, Signal’s still new at this, but he can’t help but think that the awe, the respect that he has for Batman as a teacher—as his mentor—will always be there. He’ll always be looking up to Batman, striving to make him proud, but Danny…

Again, he’s reminded of Superman and how he can stand next to Batman as an equal.

It's the confidence that only experience brings, he realises now.

Signal can only hope he gets there, one day.

“You guys take the box and the card,” Danny says, gathering up the only evidence left that Duke Marlon Thomas was the intended target, and passing it to Nightwing. “This was a random Joker attack, no rhyme nor reason for it other than he’s a clown in every sense of the word. It’s not like he’ll be able to say why he was really here.”

Danny winks—winks again!—at Batman, and Signal's never been so glad for the masks obscuring their faces. He really doesn't need to see how Batman feels about all this, he's heard enough of the horror stories from the others about their tangles with Catwoman.

All their eyes swivel to Batman, who in turn stares at Danny, really sizing him up.

They have another little moment and Signal very valiantly refuses to use his ghost sense to see which way Batman will fall. He can already feel a headache forming.

Finally, Batman nods his approval.

"If you've lied to us in any way, if you plan to use the information you've found out here today to hurt any of my fellow vigilantes, or if you use your magic or meta abilities to harm a Gotham citizen, I will not hesitate. We'll be keeping an eye on you, Danny Nightingale, do not make me regret it."

"Woah. No lie, chills. Look!" Danny holds up his arm, pointing at the raised hairs. “Spooked the goose right out of me.”

Batman doesn’t say anything. Nightwing looks on gleefully, like he’s found his new favourite expression.

Danny gives up trying to get Batman to look, and instead rubs at the back of his neck. “I get it, B-man, you’re just protecting your guys and I can appreciate that. Not a huge fan of being under surveillance, like at all, but if that’s what it takes… Unless maybe you want to go out and get to know each other the normal way?”

One of Batman’s earliest lessons is that silence is one of your greatest tools. It’s amazing, Signal thinks, watching the master at work. The hardest fight today has been Signal trying to not roll his eyes.

“No, okay, that’s fine, can’t say I’ve ever been into the normal way either.”

The ensuing awkward silence is broken by the blaring of police sirens as they tear down their street, and the clunk of an empty bowl on the counter top.

“Lovely popcorn, thanks for the show!” Spoiler claps lightly as she makes her way over to the window. Danny’s answering grin is blindingly bright. “Honestly, great time.”

Taking it as their signal to leave, Red Hood has to have the last laugh and gives the Joker a good kick as soon as he gets close enough. 

“I wasn’t joking about you being under my protection, you know. You want to move, you’ll always be safe in Crime Alley.”

“Uh, thanks. I’ll see how it goes. And for what it’s worth, I wasn’t joking, either. You’re under my protection, too. ” 

As they pass each other, Signal swears he sees a flash of their auras. Something familiar reaches out from the other to connect in the middle, but when he blinks, it’s gone.

Red Hood gives him one last, long, unreadable look, before heading out of the window. Did he feel it? Signal will have to ask him later. “I’ll see you around, clown-killer.”

“Didn’t kill him!” Danny says, waving cheerfully.

Then it’s Nightwing’s turn. He hangs around awkwardly for a little while, waiting for Batman to make his way closer to the door and away from them, and he keeps his voice low.

“I know Batman won’t, so I’ll say it for him. Thank you, Danny, for looking out for Signal like this. He may act like he’s above it, but Batman really does care about us all and something like this is just about his worst nightmare.”

“Nah, I get it.” Danny laughs, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Unknowns and all that. I’m just glad it was me and not someone else.”

“Retired or not, you’re a true hero. Thanks, Danny. Come on, Robin, put the sword down!”

With a clap of his hand on his shoulder, Nightwing turns and follows the rest out of the window with Robin sulking behind him, and now it’s Signal’s turn.

What’s he meant to say?

“Danny, I… Again, I’m really sorry for getting you involved in this mess, but, uh, thank you. I’m safe, my family’s safe, my parents are safe… I can actually sleep easy now, because of you. Thank you.”

No matter how many times he says it, it won’t ever be enough. One single, stupid mistake was all it had taken to almost ruin his life, but Danny changed that. There’s no way he can thank him enough.

Danny’s smiling at him, soft and warm.

“You’re new at this, right? That’s what I got from the note, at least.”

“Yeah, pretty new. Does it show?”

“You’re doing great, buddy, don’t worry about it!” he laughs. “All of the guys I was regularly fighting during my time knew who I was the second they met me, so you’re doing better than I was!”

“Is that what you meant when you said your identity was compromised?”

Because no offence to Danny, but that doesn’t sound anything like what Signal had imagined. What Danny said sounded bad.

“Nah, my guys were pretty cool. They understood the need to keep it secret from those that really mattered.” Danny smiles softly, lost in his memories. “Joker’s not gonna be like that though, hence why I did what I did. If he ever hurts you, if he ever comes after you or your family again, let me know, okay?”

Carefully, Signal doesn’t say anything. Batman’s eyes burn into the back of his head and he knows exactly what’s expected of him here.

“I never wanted to be a vigilante.” Danny continues, that same, soft look in his eyes. “I’m glad I did what I did, don’t get me wrong, but… I lost a lot of people because of it. It’s a heavy burden to bear.”

When Danny looks up, his eyes blaze a toxic neon green that bursts through the room, an explosion of power so vast that Signal staggers back and throws a hand up to shield his face. Surely, even Batman must see it!

“Is this something you want to do, Duke? Do you want to be Signal? Truly?”

Does he? 

To begin with, it was something he could do to avenge his parents, to pull Gotham out of the Robin War, to help Bruce, but now… He’s seen the good that Batman and the others have done in the city, and, more importantly, he’s seen what they protect the people from. Now, it’s more than his own personal vendetta, it’s something he can do to help everyone. He can protect them, he can uphold the good, he can provide justice.

He can help, just as well as the Bats can.

He can do it and so he will.

“Yes.” 

Slowly, surely, he stands up straight and turns to face Danny, squinting away the tears and afterimages burnt into his vision. 

“Yes, I do.”

Just as quickly as it appeared, Danny flips a switch, and the light is gone. His eyes fade back to their icy blue, and that’s it, it’s all normal. Like it never happened.

Signal closes his eyes, takes a deep breath to centre himself, and looks—really looks—at Danny, with all of his abilities, expecting him to have changed somehow, to be stronger, taller, floating, transformed—something—that hints at the power underneath, but… there he is. Still Danny, normal and human.

Just what the hell is he?

“Good. I’m glad.” He’s smiling again, as if nothing ever happened, only tensing slightly when he looks over Signal’s shoulders to find Batman still lurking. “Listen, if you ever need anything: some help, or to talk about shit with someone who knows what’s up, or even if you just need some space away from… all of it, then my door is always open for you. Or my window, if you prefer, just… Please don’t smash them.”

Danny turns around to find the rest of them still crouched on the fire escape, gawking at them both. Just how much had they seen of Danny’s display, or was it purely for Duke’s benefit?

“That goes for all of you, alright? I still want my match with you Robin, and Red Hood, you better fix my window or you’re going to find yourself haunted!”

The gang all grin, laugh, wave, and salute, as they all peel away from the apartment and begin their patrols proper. As charming as ever, Red Hood sticks his middle finger up instead before he goes.

Chuckling, Danny returns the gesture, and turns back towards Signal with an easy smile on his face.

There’s a squeal of tires and sirens as the police finally turn up.

“I mean it, you know. Don’t hesitate. I’ve been around the block a few times, I know what it’s like. Offer’s always open.”

“Thanks, Danny. For everything… I really appreciate it.”

“No problem, happy to help.” Danny’s smile turns soft, his eyes growing fond with no hint of the power that lies beneath them. “You’re gonna do great, kid.”

And Signal believes him.

Return to sender (dc x dp)

There was a box set right in front of his door. That was already pretty unusual, since Danny had just moved in, and and gotten done with boxes and he knew he hadn't had anything delivered here.

"Let's get you inside," Danny muttered as he got his key out of his pocket.

Unlocking the door, he picked it up and made his way in. He set the box down on the small kitchen table before grabbing a knife from the cabinet. He sat down and set to cutting the tape along the opening.

Peeling back the flaps, he took a peak at the contents only to be faced with a mound of yellow and black sparkly tissue paper, with a letter on top.

"What do we have here?" he muttered to himself, as he took the envelope out of the box.

Ripping it open, he got a small greeting card out. It had a yellow smiley face on it with the word "Smile!" printed above it. He flipped it open, and his eyes fixed on the printed text that said "Because today is your day!" Underneath it, written in chicken-scratch was written the following: "Looks like the bat has a new signal. At least mommy and daddy won't know how fast you replaced them!" it was signed with a simple J and yet another smiley face.

Danny frowned. "Weird."

Then, he peeled back the paper to find a taxidermied yellow-and-black bird Danny couldn't recognize, with its wings broken.

"This is definitely not mine," Danny said as he looked at the bird. Hopefully the real owner of this wasn't going to be too disappointed it had been this damaged in transit.

Danny took up the box to look at the delivery address, only to find that while this was for his apartment, the name of the receiver was marked as "Duke Marlon Thomas". It took one quick google search to find a phone number. Danny thanked whoever the sender was for including a middle name as it narrowed the search greatly. Dialling the number, Danny got up to get himself a glass of water. As he got the glass out, the line connected.

"Hello?" he heard a surprisingly young voice say. Well, assuming apparently made an ass of Danny. Maybe taxidermy really did appeal to all ages.

"Hi, my name's Danny. I think I got your package by accident."

"My package?" The guy on the other side asked, perplexdely.

"Yeah, a big box with a bird in it?" Danny answered. "Listen, man I'm sorry, I think the wings broke during transit, I swear it was already like that when I opened it-"

"What bird?" Now the guy sounded even more confused.

Well now, Danny was starting to get confused. "A taxidermied black-and-yellow bird?" Danny sounded out, then he grabbed the note and let his eyes go over it again. "There was a note too, I opened it, sorry about that." Danny winced, before trying for a joke to hopefully get the guy to soften up on him. "Whoever that J- friend is, he's got a weird sense of humour."

"J- friend?" the voice on the other side of the phone said. Guess, the joke hadn't gone over well, because his voice had gone tense.

"Yeah," Danny answered withholding a sigh, damn his curiosity. Opening other people' letters was not only a gross invasion of privacy but also a federal crime. Hopefully the guy wouldn't stay mad too long. "It was signed with the letter J and a smiley face."

"Whoever you are," said the guy, and the urgency in his voice had Danny straightening up. "You need to get out of here right now."

"What-?"

Just then, the door to Danny's apartment was blown open.

"I hope you're ready, birdie," a voice outside sounded, before a spindly man in a purple suit, green hair and sickly-looking skin walked in.

"Because you and me are going to have so much fun."

[bloomeng]

This is my official Batfam Magical Girl AU Masterpost (everyone clapped)

(image updated: 9/21/24)

I’m going to do a brief overview and then go into more details for those interested.

Bruce being from old money (and apparently being connected to Camelot) inherited a mysterious mineral with unknown properties. In its raw form it’s very unassuming, but when cut like gemstones and added to accessories it can be harnessed into a tool. By altering the mineral into a wearable item it allows the magic within to be channeled. The magic of the mineral connects with its wielder to create an outfit and (typically) a weapon. These outfits do not grant the wearer special abilities outside of the transformation and the weapon, but when worn the wearer is granted (what is basically) hammerspace and a nearly impenetrable outfit. The uniform granted is not something they can alter the appearance of but will change gradually overtime to reflect how the wielder has grown.

This mineral will henceforth be known as Arcanium. It operates on Kryptonite logic in that it’s— allegedly— super rare but also shows up whenever the plot needs it. (I’m aware it shares a name with a card game, but I wanted my Kryptonite spoof)

Martha Wayne unknowingly started the cycle by turning— what she thought was a rare gemstone— into a brooch. She died shortly after having it made and Alfred held onto it in her memory. Like canon Bruce goes on his journey of self-exploration to train. When he comes back he enacts his plan the way he does in Batman: Year One, where he goes out in basically just make-up, and it goes poorly. He wanders his manor trying to formulate a strategy and is drawn to his parent’s room and finds his mother’s brooch. Cue the first magical girl transformation. From there he alters the brooch to fit his bat aesthetic and the Batman Brooch is born.

Dick comes into his life the same way as canon. Bruce takes him in as a ward, Dick tries to track down Zucco on his own, etc. Bruce decides to use the other raw sample of Arcanium to turn into a second magical artifact. He lets Dick pick the theme, and thus the Robin Pendant is born. The rest is history.

(Before I continue I want to warn that I’m making shit up as I go, so some of this is subject to change as I move forward.)

The Robin Pendant is passed down from Robin to Robin. Each Robin got their own unique look while using it. Following canon, Dick and Bruce have their falling out and Dick gives up the Robin Pendant in a moment of anger. In this au I think Dick, not having the pendant to fall back on, tries to lead a vigilante-free life, but of course falls back into it. During a fight he somehow manages to stumble across Arcanium in its raw form. Recognizing it he takes it with him. Like Nightwing: Year One he has his conversation with Superman and decides to become his own hero. Using his knowledge of Arcanium from his years with Bruce he creates his own magical artifact and becomes Nightwing.

This is a good place to interject that I’m not changing any of their hero names. I was asked about it a couple times due to the caption, “Red Bow & Sailor Nightwing” on my Dick and Jason designs. It was just a silly caption, because I didn’t want to simply state “Jason and Dick Magical Girl au.” But being serious, I don’t really see a reason to change their names, with the exception of maybe Red Hood, seeing as I didn’t give him a red hood. My au operates on Sailor Moon logic where despite the lack of masks no one recognizes them, and it’s just vaguely explained by magic. I think it would be funny if Bruce chose to wear a mask anyway because he’s that paranoid, but we’ll see when I actually design him. Anyway point is Red Hood is lacking a red hood, maybe he secretly has a red hood on his jacket or maybe he really does go by Red Bow, I’ll leave that up to interpretation.

Arcanium does not just accidentally appear. At the end of the day it’s still a mineral and it’s not sentient, but the magic has an element of “the wand chooses the user.” It’s not so much a “chosen one thing,” so much as the magic can sense intention. It doesn’t care about the morality of the user, the magic is more seeking a symbiotic connection. (Meaning yes rogues can in fact wield artifacts.) Simply put, it wants a host that will be able to wield it. In its raw form the magic is dormant but it seeks to be… not dormant, so when it finds those who actually have the potential to create an artifact and use it, it reveals itself. It was not a coincidence that Martha had the inclination to have the brooch made, it was not a coincidence that Bruce was drawn to his parent’s room, and it was not a coincidence that Dick found Arcanium in the alleyway.

Each of the Bats have their origin moments with their own magical artifacts. I don’t have the whole timeline down, but I will say there was a lot of drama between Tim and Damian, because Tim was forced to hand over the pendant. Even though he technically relinquished it, emotionally the connection wasn’t severed. No one was sure if the transition would work, but Arcanium responds to whoever needs it more and therefore who will use it more. Like canon, Tim is having an awful time during that era. On top of all of it he’s had his title stripped from him and he can’t even argue because if it wasn’t the right move the pendant wouldn’t have responded to Damian. Dick tries to comfort him by telling him that Arcanium will appear for him when he’s ready, but Tim is furious and impatient. So like a well-adjusted person he decides he’s going to engineer his own magical artifact artificially. It goes as well as his attempt to clone Kon does. It’s not until Tim starts to get back on his feet that Arcanium presents itself to him. My thinking is that while Arcanium finds its users when they need it most, Tim’s case is abnormal. His acquisition of the pendant was unconventional from the start since he showed up and demanded to take on the Robin role. Arcanium is drawn to individuals who will actually use its properties. Tim tends to rely more on his own detective work, which renders the pendant’s properties pretty moot. Especially when he’s going off the deep end, he becomes a hermit meaning a) he wouldn’t really need/use Arcanium’s properties and b) he inadvertently limited his own chances of stumbling across it “in the wild.”

In a similar vein I believe Barbara’s journey is abnormal in that she forged her own Batgirl artifact that operates a little differently than the others, seeing as she made it without Bruce’s influence. After the accident she shelved it, maybe she passed it down to Cass, but eventually she gets it back. She created the Oracle identity without it, and for a long time the Batgirl artifact is something she avoids using, until she gets the idea to combine it with her computer to create a magic computer… sort of. She gets a uniform that is basically connected to the computer.

Going back to Damian needing the Robin Pendant more, its reaction to his acquisition was unique. As I mentioned previously the suits typically provide a weapon, well Damian is the exception. Unlike all the other Robin’s Damian didn’t need more weapons in his life, what he needed was guidance. For the first time the pendant granted Damian a magical animal guardian, which is how he gets Alfred the Cat in this au. Despite being an animal lover Damian is extremely pissed at this development. He wanted dual swords or a scarier animal at least. He can’t formally communicate with Alfred the Cat but he understands him intrinsically, though Alfred the Cat seems to be able to understand human speech somewhat. Only Damian seems to be able to truly understand Alfred the Cat. (Cue the antics of his siblings trying to figure out what the cat means or trying to control him in any capacity.) Besides being an animal, Alfred the Cat is also unique in that he doesn’t dissipate when Damian isn’t in uniform the way that the weapons do. Like the weapons he can be summoned by the pendant, but he seems to have existed prior to the pendant’s creation. (I’m toying with the idea that while in uniform, the cat would also get some sort of uniform.)

Before I get into Duke and his abnormalities, I want to address the Speedsters in this au. It’ll make sense after.

So the Flash. I want to say I don’t know if I will get around to creating full designs for them. I do have plans for Bart and maybe Wally, but I have determined how I want their mechanics to operate in the context of the au. Not all the heroes in this au are “magical girls,” in fact I’ve made the executive decision that you have to be human to wield an artifact. Arcanium may have magic in it, but it doesn’t grant its user magical abilities beyond the uniform itself. The speedsters retain their canon origins, hit by lighting blah blah blah, only with one key difference: they had Arcanium on them when they were hit. Instead of engineering an artifact Arcanium fused with their bodies granting them powers. I want to keep the magic transformation aspect (because it’s not a magical girl au without it), so instead of using a physical artifact as a channel for their powers, it’s instead the act of transforming that serves as a gateway to their speed abilities.

To me it was always important to maintain Batman’s identity of not having super powers and having to rely on engineering, which is why the Batfam have to physically build their artifacts. In a similar way I wanted to retain the integrity of the Flash’s identity of being meta but also still human. Which brings me back to Duke. I know in canon that Duke inherited his abilities, but for the sake of the au I’ve decide that he either had an accident when he was young in which traces of Arcanium fused with him or his parents had it in them and he inherited it from them, but regardless it’s less potent, but operates similar to the Speedsters. For years he couldn’t fully transform or use his powers and it wasn’t until— with Bruce’s guidance— he was able to create an artifact that allowed him to channel his abilities and transform. Even though he is a meta I wanted him to still have some of those Batfam qualities in there.

But what about the Superfam? They’re not human so how do their transformations work? The answer is simple: They’re not “magical girls.” At least not real ones, they’re faking. They’re not human (Kon and Jon are technically half human but they still get their abilities from their Kryptonian DNA), and thus cannot forge a connection with Arcanium. Truthfully I’m about to get silly— even sillier than this au already is— but I have decided that Clark is a fake artifact wielder. I like the idea that Batman has been operating longer than Superman has, so when Clark decided to become a hero in his own right his only example of how to style himself was from the bat themed vigilante, who might as well be a cryptid, operating out of Gotham. Only blurry pictures of him existed, so Clark designed his outfit based on his Kryptonian origins and Batman’s aesthetics. He had no idea about the existence of Arcanium or how it worked. This is also why Kon’s design looks so much like his canon outfit with a few magical girl elements (and definitely not because I think the lines in his canon suit already lend themselves well to a magical girl aesthetic and didn’t want to change much). Later when he gets to know Batman more he learns about the transformations, to which he panics and invents his own transformation using Kryptonian tech (ex: MAWS’s transformation). For years Bruce goes crazy trying to figure out Arcanium’s effects on aliens and if it grants them abilities on top of the ones they’re born with, and if Clark has plans to use it as a weapon, and how he managed to forge the connection in the first place— Clark comes clean as a fake once they reveal their identities to each other.

Side tangent but I find it hilarious that Green Lanterns are— by technicality— already “magical girls,” considering they’re granted magical accessories that give them powers and transform their clothing. Hal is very clear with the JL that he is nothing like Batman and constantly feels the need to assert that he is not a magical artifact wielder. The non-human members of the team still lump them together anyway.

Things I haven’t figured out:

- what each of the batfam’s weapons are

- what each of the magical artifacts are

- what to refer to magical artifact wielders as

Stepping outside the canon(?) lore of the au for a minute, obviously I’m redesigning DC characters using inspiration from a genre, because that’s what “magical girl” is. It’s a genre. This is why I refer to it in quotes and don’t call them magical boys, because I am always referring to it as a genre, which isn’t a gendered thing. However, in universe they wouldn’t call themselves magical anything, the same way the characters of Sailor Moon don’t refer to themselves as magical girls, but rather Sailor Scouts. As of right now I’m sort of just referring to them as artifact wielders, but I feel like Bruce would come up with a better name. On a similar note, throughout this whole thing I’ve been referring to Arcanium in it’s wearable state as an artifact. I don’t know if that’s the best term, but I can’t think of anything better for the generalized form of Arcanium outside of it’s raw state. For now I guess it will be “artifacts” and “artifact wielders.”

- how the wonderfam fits into this

I really can’t think of a reason why Wonder Woman would be a “magical girl” in this au. She was born with abilities, she’s not human, and I can’t see her altering her uniform to match the aesthetic. A transformation would just be a waste of time for her. I could to see maybe Cassie or Donna wanting to match with their respective teams, and perhaps maybe that’s why they would alter their uniforms? All I know is I want see Tim, Kon, Bart and Cassie as a matching “magical girl set.”

Fin… for now.

[I’m just going to put this here preemptively, because I’ve gotten messages about turning my au into fics or tiktok skits. You’re free to use this lore HOWEVER you MUST credit me not just for the designs but for the creation of the lore. I’ve put a lot of time and thought into this and I love that people love it, so I just ask for recognition. If you want to make something that’s inspired by my designs or loosely based on my au, just a simple credit for the inspiration is fine. You’re free to change things this is just how my own au operates. Regardless I would prefer to be tagged so that people can find me but also because I’d love to see other’s work.]

Current designs:

[ririblogsss]

hi, if anyone thought I was MIA im srry my computer decided to die on me.

Anyways I have a mini prompt.....

Imagine Danny's just straight up vibing at collage, he has a part time job his doing a degree in aerospace and biology, so he can become an astronauts. (He has fact checked he technically falls under the meta acts, so legally he's allowed to become an astronaut if he so wishes). Anyways back to the point. Danny has 2 difficult majors where he has a bunch of labs to run and multiple test and exams to take and the part time job. I think that with that much stress pilling up and on top of that having to prepare for his parents coming to his university to check on him. Danny is stressed and he isn't being an academic weapon he's more of an academic victim.

So when a vigilante and a freaking clown (as bitch) of a villain barge into his class room where he is currently taking his midterms worth 30% of his overall grade. Danny goes ballistic, I mean ape shit. On both of them he spares nothing pummeling them into the ground until they promise not to do anything until he finishes his exam.

Danny was given 10 points extra credit, and his professor gave him an extension for every assignment. Now every time he's on campus people just go up to him and shake his hand or just admire him.

His parents are just telling him how his following their footsteps when they finally visit. And it would be good and all because he's parents are A grade geniuses, but they're also supervillains. More importantly renowned supervillains. (think of Doofenshmirtz, but family).

-------

the collage students: *if we treat him with respect he might spare us when he eventually turns*

Professor: *Im not going to be held responsible for creating the next Fenton villain*

[depresssant]

Shades Of Cool

NEGLECTFUL!PLATONIC!YAN!batfam x GN!reader

synopsis : growing up with a shit mom and constant step-dads and mom's boyfriends, your view on life has grown pretty bleak. you just want to die, since it doesn't seem to get better than this. things can't get any worse, can they?

so reader is very flawed ppl. i’m trying to make this as gn as possible for pls bear with me. asks and requests r open. reblogs are also much appreciated. now that i’ve gotten my e-begging out of the way, enjoy this pathetic excuse of a story

warnings : child abuse, past sexual abuse, yandere, etc

you want to die.

you always do.

staring at the wanna be thug pointing a gun at you, you sigh and roll your eyes in exasperation. perhaps pissing him off will the best way to get him to curl a finger around the trigger. or judging by his temperament, you won't have to do much.

"you? i should give my money to you?"

"who the fuck do you think you are, bitch?" the thug screams at you angrily. his grip gets tighter and clammier. he's not experienced with this. he's probably ganged up with a bunch of thugs to pull shit like this. it wouldn't take much to disarm him. "give me the fucking money before i blow your head off!"

"to a junkie like you?" you are a junkie, too, so you're not too sure about making fun of him for that. "i don't give money to hobos."

that is wrong, too. but you want to piss him off.

"that's it, you stupid bitch!" the thug's stances becomes defensive. his hateful glare is pointed at you while he musters the courage to actually press the trigger. he doesn't look like he'll do it. you've seen countless like him roaming the streets, holding you at gunpoint. he probably won't do it. then again, this is gotham. you don't expect much. either he'll shoot you dead, forcibly take your stuff, flee the scene out of fear, or be dismantled by one of the city's vigilantes. perhaps he'd shoo—

"stop right there!"

damn it.

you think too soon.

a young robin is quick to have the wanna be thug tied up and beat down. you would've questioned why a kid who seemingly looked twelve can do such a thing, but you've learned to not question most things in your life. you merely sigh in disappoint and pick up your dropped backpack before beginning the journey to hell.

"excuse me? wait! where are you headed?"

gosh, his boy-ish voice grates your nerves. makes you clench your teeth. your gaze narrows, but you know better than to react. reaction gains a reaction—one that will never be in your favor. it'll lead to a fight—one that will never be in your favor. you'll end up broken, bleeding, and bruised. now that isn't something in your favor. now you're thinking of favor too much. forcing a smile, you turn around to face the pre-teen vigilante. "yes?"

"are you alright?" he asks with practiced concern. he doesn't actually care. it's probably just protocol.

"a-okay!" the words are hollow. they lack depth. like you. "thank you for your help. i don't know what would've happened to me if you weren't there."

you do know. you wish you wouldn't.

"you're welcome," robin replies with polished words like he's not exactly convinced. "would you like for me to walk you? the city hasn't been safe for some time now."

"when is it ever safe? but that's okay. i live just around the corner, so i think i'll be fine."

"are you sure—"

"completely."

please. why won't he just leave you alone? there goes your plan spoiled by him again. every time you've been in an attempted robbing, he's been there to destroy your chances of getting shot. of escaping. he always does this. this is a repeated cycle between the two of you. he's a flying bird until you shoot him down. your name clearly wants to escape from his lips, but robin nods his head in understanding.

"this seems to happen to you all the time. my wish is for you to be safe."

"this is gotham." the grip on the straps on your backpack tighten. "everyone's gotta go through this. anyways, i gotta go, you know. thanks for savin' me."

"of course."

you don't spare him a single glance. the sky is wrapped up in black clouds heavy with the burden of rain. icy cold wind sings a melancholy tune through the stiff air. the door to your apartment looks like the gates of hell. it's all futile. no matter how many sighs you sigh, how many wishes you wish, and how many curses you curse, you'll still land up in the same fate. without escape.

that is the summary of your life.

taking a few seconds to prepare yourself for the incoming session, you open the door to be met with radio silence. silence is never good. half the time, it means something is brewing for you, and they're taking their sweet time to scare you into thinking nothing will happen. sometimes. not all the time. the other time, it just means he need to rise from his pile of misery first.

the hand of your mother's boyfriend is instantly wrapped around your neck before you can even register why the hell the apartment looks like a tornado hit it. he squeezes so tightly you feel like blood is gushing out of your ears with how loudly they ring. white spots dot along your blurry sight as you struggle to breathe. you can hear a frantic voice telling him to let you go, but you're pushed up more against the wall. this is the norm. doesn't mean it hurts any less. he'll let you go, give you some time to regain your breath, and then rain down bullets upon you.

that's exactly what happens.

your hand goes straight to your neck as your raspy and shaky coughs wreck your chest. he squeezes hard enough for it to hurt but it not show. and then the kicks and punches come. with how much your chest and ribs are struck, you're a bit surprised at how you haven't broken a bone yet. your potential step-father screams at you, but you can barely hear it over the repetition of words in your head. he grabs your bloody face and shout something incoherent before letting you go to kick you.

leaving you in your own pile of misery.

it's normal. yes, it's completely normal. you're used to this. it'll get better. it always does. but you've got the crushing idea it never will.

gotham heights high school—the school you're forced to attend.

the class division is insane to look at, because it's there even from a short and near prospective. how the richest kids got put in a school with the poorest—you'll never know. the only thing you do know is that every one of these kids are pieces of shit. even the ones that pretend to be nice.

tim drake—or shall you say tim wayne—is no different.

even as he helps up the girl who just got roughly pushed to the floor, causing all her textbooks to scatter, you can only eye him with disdain. if he really cares, then he would've beat the shit out of those athletes. but he doesn't. they're all the same—privileged and all. sympathy shouldn't be given to them. not to drake or the wealthy yet somehow bullied girl.

"but y'know what i heard?" your friend drags your attention back to him. zarian leans against a locker lazily, but excitement practically buzzes off of him. "the bruce wayne is coming to our track meet today!"

your other friend, jaylene, rolls her eyes as she applies her eyeliner using the mirror hanging up on the inside door of her locker. she speaks exactly what you're thinking. "only because his beloved son is gonna be there."

"well, still. think about the connections we can make! all the famous people that'll be there."

"keep dreaming. asshat. i put all my money on the attention being on rich the kid. i don't even know why he joined track. varsity, at that, too. there has to be some sort of bribery going on."

an incoming argument is clearly brewing up, so you take in a deep breath to say something, but a new voice beats you to it.

"excuse me?"

you and your two friends turn to face the guy standing in front of you. charismatic, intelligent,  and optimistic—he's an enigma that shines on everyone. tim drake. his black, messy yet somehow in place hair does no justice for his good looks. he's the complete package. rich, good looking, tall, and empathetic. the mere sight of him annoys you.

zarian is the first to speak up. he quirks a brow and offers tim a grin. "what's up, man?"

"you're leaning against my locker." tim rubs the back of his neck. he smiles awkwardly in the presence of the three of you, and it takes your friend a beat to understand what he's saying before moving away.

"oh yeah. my fault," he says as he moved to stand next to you.

the school's very own bruce wayne only shakes his head and tells him it's okay while opening his locker and grabbing a few things. people flock around, waiting for him to be done with whatever the hell he's doing, so they can be back to his side like leeches sucking on blood. he surely can't be this dumb, no? these people don't want to be his friend...

well, it's not as if it's your problem. you wish it is. you and your friends turn to make way to first period, but drake clearly has other plans. he sandwiches himself between you and zarian with a grin of his own plastered on an unblemished face. one carefree of any worry or pain. "so," tim begins. "first track meet of the year, huh? aren't you guys nervous?"

jaylene merely hums in amusement and shrugs. "it gets better. when you've spent four years in track—in front of all those judging people—it wears off. hopefully, you'll get used to it soon."

that is jab, though, rich the kid doesn't seem to catch on. he laughs casually, but even you can sense the anxiety like it was radioactive. ""i hope so. i've sprinted so much i feel like i'll get shin splits again."

you zone out while he has a conversation with your friends. as if drake has ever had experience with track. it took you all of freshman year to just prove that you can actually be a part of the track team, and here tim drake is, parading around about getting on varsity without a single grain of hard work. he's a naturally talented person. good at everything. that's what makes you hate him so much. people like him get everything handed to them just because they're good at it first hand and leave behind people that actually work for it. you want to tell him to buzz off—that he can't talk about how much he's practiced and how nervous he is, but you keep your mouth shut. that is, until he directly addresses you.

tim's eyes narrow at you with comedic suspicion. "you know, you look like someone i know. a lot. the resemblance is crazy."

"eight billion people out there. you never know." your tone is flat, stoic, lacking any bit of emotion.

"gosh, you even sound like him! that's really terrifying."

"well, whoever, it is, i hope i never meet him," you murmur.

your two friends leave for their classes soon, and you and drake find your seats at the back of high school economics. exhaustingly so, you sit together in one of the many desk pairs, and drake uses this opportunity to annoy you any chance he gets. you give off the vibe that you don't want to talk to him. he doesn't get the hint. you don't tell him, though. maybe that's the problems. his shit-eating grin ticks you off when you look in his direction. "what?"

"let's be friends!"

"no."

"what? come on! don't be so cold!" he whines like a petulant child being told no.

"no."

"too bad! you're my friend now."

"tim," you sigh. it's wrong to scream. it's bad to scream. screaming leads to fights. fights lead to you laying in a pool of your own blood. laying in blood leads to missing practice. missing practice leads to less skill. less skill leads to less of a chance of getting the hell out of here. just smile. forgive and forget. know your persona. know who you are. kind. happy. funny. "fine." so you smile with gritted teeth. you smile like you played a cruel joke on him. "we can be friends... i guess."

his face brightens at your fake words like he is just given the the world.

tim drake wiggles his eyebrows playfully and nudges you with his elbow. "you know, i've been trying to get you to say that since school started?"

"really now?"

"really. i'm glad we're going to be friends. oh! should we go out to eat with zarian and jaylene after the meet?"

... there's a chance your mom's boyfriend will get pissed off. he'll probably beat the shit out of you since the track meet would have happened, and you wouldn't need to have an unblemished body for meets. he'd scream, yell, and punch... like his life depended on it... fuck it.

"yeah," you reply shortly after with a firm nod of your head. "we can go to this diner near the theater. i'm sure you'll love the food."

this doesn't mean you hate him any less. he's still rich scum⏤how you're poor scum. he's stuck up, pretentious, and sickeningly sweet. exactly what you hate. you just hope you can have a good time after the track meet. the mischievous glint in his eyes told you otherwise.

"and this is my dad, bruce wayne."

what the hell are you doing?

the sun is setting along the horizon, the air is getting cooler again, and you want to sink into the floor. the plan was to head straight to the diner after this, but rich the kid somehow roped you into meeting his dad?

nausea pools in your stomach from both hunger and the feeling of thousands of eyes staring at you. cameras are flashing at gotham's billionaire as he smiles and firmly shakes your hand. confidence drips off of him disgustingly. his high-tailored suit radiates wealth and money. his stoic demeanor gives off an aura of mystery. you want to lay on a railroad track with an incoming train speeding along the way.

"it's nice to meet you. tim has ranted about his track teammates quite a lot."

there's an eleven year old standing next to him. his eyes are on you like that of an owl's but you neither glance at him or bother to acknowledge him. you just want to eat some food before meeting your doom at that apartment for not placing first like your mom's boyfriend wanted you to. like a goat getting stuffed before slaughter. it always leads down to that. no matter how many times you try to wish it was different. no matter how many times you imagine it to be different. no matter how many times you try to make it different.

"nice to meet you too." you shake his hand as well with a polite smile on your face. polite. calm. gentle. proper. "and yeah, he seems very eager to be on the team."

"of course, of course. well, it is getting late. why don't you come over for dinner some time?"

"maybe tonight?" tim suddenly adds in. at your hesitant expression, he groans in exasperation. "who do you think we are? blood-sucking bats? come on, we can go to the diner some other time!"

you have just met him... you've just accepted being his friend... you aren't the most social person. you've never had much friends, but even you can understand that dinner with the family doesn't happen until the friend and person have come close in a long period of time. jaylene and zarian have other matters to tend to, so it's going to be just you and tim at a diner. not⏤

ding!

your phone's notification's alarm chimes, and when you check who has sent you a message, you feel like getting on the ground to pray to whatever deity for letting you have a moment of peace.

mom: ⏤he's heavily drunk. don't come home.

a part of you is hit with a strong current full of guilt. this is your mother. you're supposed to be there for her through thick and thin. you're supposed to protect her and be her wall of defense against monsters like him. family look out for each other. you have to take care of her... but she doesn't take care of you. this makes you a terrible person. you know that. she'll probably get beaten to an inch of her life and hide her heavy bruises under makeup that was terribly done in a rush. and then, she'll throw whatever object is in sight at you in a fury of anger.

telling you she made too many sacrifices for you. telling you that you're ruined her life. telling you that she should've aborted you like your father had told her to. telling you exactly what you believe yourself. a curse that should've never been born... she'll be beaten within an inch of her life. but you have already lost yours.

after pretending to text her and sliding your phone into the pocket of your sweatpants, you nod with a sigh of joking resignation. "sure. i asked my mom, and she said it's okay."

"wonderful." mr. wayne nods and gestures to the limo you can see in the parking lot. a bit of overkill, perhaps.

honestly, you're still surprised that gotham's billionaire is inviting you to dinner. this man is the topic of magazines, and you're about to take a ride in his limo. how the hell have you ended up in a situation like this? fate is still fucking with you, isn't it?

you find yourself seated next to tim while mr. wayne and his youngest son, damian, sit on the seats to your right. they're talking about something, but once again, you find yourself half listening and zoning out, staring at nothing until mr. wayne's questions pulls you back to reality.

"so how has school been faring for you?" mr. wayne asks in a cool and collected tone.

you laugh lightly and smile as politely as ever. "pretty good. i hope to leave gotham after graduation to study somewhere else."

"who would want to stay in gotham?" tim rolled his eyes, rolling the first place medal between his fingers. "by the way, remember when i said you looked like someone i know? i was talking about my dad?"

your brows rise in both exasperation and annoyance at his claims. now he's just plain, out right trying to make fun of you in front of a billionaire. your shoulders tense, ready to refute his claims, but mr. wayne surprisingly chuckles and rubs his chin while taking a good look at your face. "well, i can see it, but there's eight billion people out there in the world. i'm bound to look like someone. though, i didn't expect for it to be someone as talented as [name] here."

you force a quiet laugh along at the sound of his tone. foreboding. you know tones like this. like he's hiding something that they all know except for you. it means you've made a mistake in even giving in to tim drake's constant begging. why the hell was he so eager to have you become his friend? why is he so eager to maintain a friendship with you? why the hell has mr. wayne invited you to dinner when he's rumored to be mysterious, secretive, and a literal brick wall that nobody can get past?

"you've achieved so much for a child your age." mr. wayne sets his gaze dead on you. "your father must be so proud."

and his eyes glimmer with that same shine you saw in tim's.

ewwww

this was not proofread so forgive me and uh, i will be turning this into a series

um also making a tag list if anyone wants to be a part of it

[stonerundump]

Transplanting the main characters I guess!

Take 2 characters from different shows and draw them in the other characters show

Bonus points if you change the art style to fit the show!

[jnece-maharlika]

Danny accidentally becomes the Ghost king, The president and the BIGGEST threat to Bruce's social status.

Pt 1 Danny becomes the Ghost king

"Fenton's were never allowed to have a "normal" life, we are either extremely successful or extremely unsuccessful, there is no in between. Maybe a spirit cursed us back in the days, but who knows, but one things for sure, all Fenton's will definitely make the news."

-Grandma Fenton from whatever generation

Danny's starting to believe that now. He used to think that it wasn't true, but now? He used to wish to have a normal life, be a good normal son with good grades an be an astronaut one day.

But like they said, a Fenton is either EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL OR EXTREMELY UNSUCCESSFUL.

He was EXTREMELY UNSUCCESSFUL in that.

Instead of a normal life he turned a half ghost teen superhero. But oh well, the Fenton's were also known for their ability to go with the flow

But how in the world did the flow get him here???

In Danny's defense, he wasn't really expecting this. The only thing in his mind at the moment was keeping his town and his people safe from pariah. He just wanted to get rid of the rotten fruitloop. He was EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL, so successful in fact that he ended up becoming Ghost king.

The fudge????

But okay, sure, he didn't wanna become king but if he also didn't want to give up the crown for others to take, what if an evil person becomes king and attacks amity again?? Fine, he'll be king, he'll figure it out. Just go with the flow.

Surprisingly, not only did he get the crown, he also got THE MONEY. as in literal gold and silver bars, coins and jewelry. Appearantly, one the kings a long long time ago, before at least two generations before pariah had an obsession with MONEY. So the king made a Permanent Royal Degree (a law that cannot be changed by any future kings) that when someone dies and becomes a ghost, 20% of the MONEY that they've acquired in their entire life. (The money turns into an equivalent of ghost currency in the realms but is still physically in the living. Kind of like how the soul is in the realms but the body is the earth. Also, the only reason money exists in the realms is for convenience and a sense of normalcy, it doesn't really have that much value unless the ghosts brings it to the living) would belong to the ghost king.

Basically, it's ghost taxes that only have to be paid once for the entire afterlife. (Or is it more of an entrance fee???)

But anyways, hes got the MONEY.

He's rich now and he thinks, "I have so much money it's disgusting"

So first things first, getting rid of some of it.

By this point, his parents know he's phantom and have changed their opinions on ghosts, instead of attacking they are now looking at ghost like they're equals and try and help them as an apology for hurting them.

They are also looking for a new project to spend time on. A new purpose

So Danny thought, why not give them the money then? Danny proposed to his mom a project to make things that can benefit both ghosts and humans.

Next thing he knows is that he's appearantly funding, building and making:

A ghost job agency

A human job agency

Ghost proof buildings (ghost can't pass through walls, it won't hurt them, just keep em out.)

Ghost proof clothes (overshadowing proof!)

A practical fashion line for ghost and humans (Bullet proof, blast proof etch. Borderline vigilante clothes that look like a civilians day to day outfit)

Homes for ghost and humans

A ghost obsession help center where they can ask humans to help with their obsession.

A school for both ghost and humans.

Liminal 101 because apparently because of the whole, pariah dark and, living in the ghosts kings haunt situation, everyone is liminal now

An entire line of technology that can be used by both ghosts and humans.

A fight arena where ghost and humans can fight for fun.

And so many other things , he can't remember

HIS NAME IS EVERYWHERE . His parents didn't even bother hiding the fact that their son somehow has enough money to fund these projects, everyone knows him now.

He ends up basically owning most of amity park.

And here he thought he wouldn't be the kind of king that expands their territory.

He was extremely UNSUCCESSFUL in that.

[messenger-of-babel]

Coloured Red

Summary: He likes you in his colour, just not that like that. (Jason Todd x reader)

Word Count: 2.1K

Notes: blood and injury. Hope everyone's having a good week so far! Not my favouriteeeeee Jason piece I have written but please enjoy anyways. xx

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It wasn't supposed to happen like this.

Never like this.

He had been working out of the manor for a few days, something he was already reluctant to do. However, you had sent him off to "work" with a bright smile and a kiss on the cheek, wishing him well for whatever convention Librarians had. Instead of your boyfriend being the gruff librarian sorting returns every night, he was in fact the red masked vigilante cooped up in the cave, pacing back and forth in front of the Bat computer while Tim tried to trace their latest suspect.

Dick had called him back for some extra firepower in the latest case, and if he hadn't owed him one Jason would be back with you in a heartbeat. "Get anything?" he grunts to Tim, who's fingers are typing strings of code into the keyboard.

"Not yet," he hums, the younger man's face twitching with annoyance as the firewall warning flashes across the screen again.

"Give it time, Jay. we don't want to let them know we're onto them." comes Dick, who’s leaning against a railing and still fully suited up from his earlier patrol. "I've checked all through The Cauldron and Southside, no trace of them there. Penguin must have closed up shop around Cobblepot Steel when he started working with his new friend. Going through great lengths to gatekeep his new buddy from us." he hums.

"Well I want to get this meet and greet over with," Jason grumbles, crossing his arms while he scuffs his boots impatiently.

"Bee in your bonnet, Red?" Dick calls and Jason scoffs.

"You put it there. You wanted me to help take 'em down while the Bat is out of town with Superscout, but you don't even know where they are. I've spent a full night just waiting for boy genius here to get a lock."

Dick puts his hands up in mock surrender. "We'll be done soon, promise. Then you can go home to your sweetheart. Hey, you can even say you came back early just to see them. I'm helping you get brownie points." he grins, nimbly dodging the hand Jason had swung out to slap the back of his head. "Where are they anyways? Their place?"

"Safehouse." Jason grunts back. "Staying at mine while I'm helping you lot. Old Gotham, near the GCPD. Besides, I told them to mark down I'd be back tonight on the calendar anyways."

Dick whistles. "Didn't think you had a place that close to the cops."

Jason just shrugs. "They're not after me, and if they were it would be somewhere they wouldn't look. Plus it's a nice distance from you all." he grumbles.

Dick pushes off the wall coming to lean over a monitor near Tim. "Well if our mystery person is teaming up with Penguin, and he isn't interested in the drug business, what is he here for?" he hums, eyes focused on the map of Gotham that Tim has pulled up. He taps the screen after a second, zooming in. "Here. Dixon Docks. We haven't checked here yet. Penguin used to smuggle through here, but it also became a bit of a meet up spot. He might have gone back to old ground."

"Yeah, but Penguin shifted his focus into drug running. Bruce put him under pretty heavy surveillance, managed to shut down a lot of his operations for a while. You really think he'd be that stupid to start trying to smuggle firearms again?" Tim piped up.

"Maybe. But Maybe its not firearms. This spot used to be a mob meeting spot. He never visited the operation personally unless-"

"Unless he wanted to order a hit." Jason cut off his older counterpart, voice becoming modulated as he fixed his mask to his face. "Seems there's a chance his new play pal is a hitman."

"For who though?" Tim asks.

"Maybe the hit isn't one Penguin is ordering. maybe the Penguin's selling info." Dick calls, testing his in earpiece before giving Jason a nod. "Me and Hood are going in to take a look. Track our location and keep the cameras on."

Tim nods while Jason and Dick head for the bikes, mounting each of their respective vehicles.

"Finally something to do." Jason groans, stretching his arms above his head before catching the cocky grin from Dick speeding past him. "Show-off." he murmurs, his own engine roaring to life as he follows suit.

They had cleared the dock pretty easily, Dick's hunch being correct. Between the two of them the middlemen and thugs were strewn across the floor of the warehouse, and Tim had already called the GCPD to come pick them up for the arrest. "No sign of our flightless friend." Jason grumbled, stepping over an unconscious thug.

"Nor our new mystery visitor." Dick concludes, tucking his escrima under his arm as he goes through the stack of papers at the makeshift desk tucked behind some shipping containers. Jason has known the eldest robin enough to know when he was worried, and the tight way he now held his body was a clear sign. "You find something?" he asks, boots thudding as the come to stand beside him.

"You think Oz was beginning to catch on?" Dick asks quietly, turning the page to show Jason the blurry CCTV photo of Bruce, a crude cowl and ears drawn over the image in sharpie.

"Shit," Jason breathed, taking some of the papers from Dick and beginning to flick through it. "This is all of us." He confirms, worry beginning to gnaw at his bones. There were photos of Tim leaving the city library and entering the Wayne Tower. Photos of Dick back in Bludhaven in a police uniform, photos of him at galas. Photos of Damian at school and meeting with Alfred. The more he flipped through them the more his heart dropped. There was a photo for nearly every 'apprentice' of Batman, surrounded by question marks.

"Whoever is joining the dots isn't fully convinced of it themselves." he murmurs, blood freezing as he sees a photo of himself there. A photo with you on his arm next to him. Dick comes to peer over at it, cursing under his breath.

"Hood, don't panic-" he tries to soothe, but Jason is already pushing past him to tear at more of the documents on the desk. He rifles through the papers, the sound of approaching sirens and Nightwing's urging to leave the scene deafened by the ringing in his ears. In his tightly clenched hands there was a leger, with a list of addresses. In the middle, was his address. The address he had given you, highlighted in yellow.

"We need to go." Dick urges, hurrying him to mount his bike. Jason jaw clenches, and he shoves the piece of paper into his brothers’ hands.

"Yeah. We do." he grits out, but he hopes Dick can't hear the sheer fear held behind his teeth. His bike speeds off, roaring through the side street they came on as he reroutes for Old Gotham. Dick looks down, eyes wandering over the red written date next to the highlighted address, tonight date. "Jesus," he breathes out, quickly following behind his brother before he does something reckless.

Jason doesn't think that he'd ever driven that fast since he'd been on the run from Bruce, throwing the bike into park so violently outside his apartment that the tires burnt as they squealed. Dick wasn't too far behind him, calling out for him to wait in between talking to Tim on the other end of his earpiece. His heart is thudding in his ears, hands feeling cold as he scales the stairs to the fourth floor, knocking on the door rapidly. He didn't care he was in his full suit. He could make some bullshit excuse if you were fine, claiming some noise disturbance or the wrong door.

But if he wasn't?

Then someone was going to fear the fact he was already suited up.

"I told you to wait, Hood-" Dick snaps at him, slightly out of breath from having to run behind him. Jason doesn't listen, shoulder slamming into the door when you don't come to answer.

"Don't you have the key?" Nightwing hisses to him.

"Left it in my civvies." he grunts, stumbling slightly as the door gives way. "I wasn't really expecting to…" he trails off, bile rising in his throat and blood draining from his face. Dick pushes in next to him, still scolding. "You can't just go in like this-" he cuts himself off, catching sight of what Jason was burning into his brain. "Oh no, Jay..." he whispers, but Jason is already moving to your side.

His hands come to your head, softly cradling it in his large palms. Two fingers come to press against your neck, his breathing evening out as he finds a weak pulse. "They're still kicking." He grunts out, other hand coming to cradle the back of your head. He closes his eyes trying to scrub the image of you lying there in the living room, sprawled on the carpet surrounded by the shards of the broken window and white rug drinking your blood.

Your eyes flicker weakly and you make a faint cry when he presses down on the wound by your ribs, a sound that tears him up inside. "Shhh," he tries to say softly, but the modulator makes it robotic, stripping the emotion from it. "I gotta put pressure on it. Did you see who did it?" he asks. He can faintly hear Dick calling for Robin on the end of the commlink, calling for paramedics to come to his address.

He hates how warm his hands feel, gloves heating up as if they were stealing the life force from out of you. Blood is flecked across your lips from the spray, faintly mumbling the words, "didn’t see them."

He nods along. "That’s okay, that’s okay." he murmurs, but he wasn't sure who he was telling that to.

"Red Hood…" you groan out, hand coming the grip his wrist as he pushes firmer on the bullet wound. Your fingers are bloody, smearing the crimson across his suit. "You gotta…you gotta find my boyfriend," you cough weakly. "They were here for him. He’s just…he's just a librarian…" your eyes tear up, throat swelling with the weight of your words. "He was just coming back tonight…oh god…you have to find him… what if they-" you sob, causing your face to scrunch up at the pain that ripples through your body. "I wanna…I wanna see him."

Jason's heart is tearing into pieces as Dick kneels to your other side, hands coming to your non-wounded side as he preps the area, Tim faintly heard giving instructions on how to stabilise you until the paramedics arrive. Jason shakes his head, fighting back tears. Despite the side glance he gets from Nightwing, he pulls one hand up to his face, feeling for the latch under his jaw to release his mask.

When he pulls it away his eyes are red, tears already built in the corners. His lips have a tremble that hasn't been felt since he was in the single digits on the streets, and his hairline is beaded with sweat from worry. He offers you a weak smile, unable to stop the shooting pain that wracks his mind watching the hazy confusion on your face.

"Jay?" you whisper, the word more mouth than sound. He nods reluctantly.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Oh god, it wasn’t supposed to go like this.

He dreamt of the day that he could tell you his identity, of his real profession. He imagined all the best scenarios of you accepting him, of letting him spin you around the kitchen when he picked you up by the waist like he did so often. Of telling you while you both read together on the couch, your legs pulled across his lap. He never imagined the bad scenarios. He pushed those to the back of his mind. But as you reached up with bloodstained fingers, dragging the sticky red across his cheek in that oh so familiar motion, he knew right then that this was the worst situation imaginable.

He lets his tears wash the red from your fingers, trying to blink them out of his eyes so he could focus on saving you.

"Hold on, sweetheart." he murmured weakly, desperately praying for the wailing of the siren to reach his ears.

He had always said how much he loved red, loved you in the colour. Loved you in his colour.

Now he was thinking he never wanted to see you bathed in this much red ever again.

[r3ynah]

Married in the past, married in the present

To think that the Amity Trio would get dragged by their children (Dan and Dani) into another universe as a form of vacation and to escape the annoying palace councils, was not something to be expected in the Fenton-Nightangle-Foley-Manson family. it was due for a vacation anyways.

But here's the catch, They decided they should atleast take a two month break with each other so they can explore this universe more, but they did agree that every 2 weeks they'll pass the custody of their kids with each other.

It was very eventful to say the least,

Tucker, got adopted. by the one and only Bruce Wayne how?? he doesn't know either, the only thing he can remember was Bruce Wayne shoving a couple of adoption papers in his face, and now he was suddenly a Wayne, he certainly was not complaining he gets to use their advance technologies without it getting corrupted by his partner Danny(he loved the guy, but he needed his daily screen time too.)

He finds out about their secret identities two days in, was not completely surprised to find a cave downstairs, "Every billionare has one, you're not unique." was his words before he went on and explore the cave leaving a very confused batfam. he agreed to help them but if its only for hacking and stuff connected to technology, and to only join them if it's really a life changing scenario.

He was the second one to have Dan and Dani, so when they found out they're dad got adopted by a rich billionaire they were equally disappointed, Tucker tried to defend himself for his poor decision, to say the batfam was shocked once again was an understatement, imagine finding that their new brother had two children and two partners was lnot part of their new years plan. Dan and Dani only took a couple of hours for them to fit in.

Sam, went on and became a vigilante, under Harley Quinn and poison ivy's care, with almost the same powers as Ivy and same humor as Harley the three of them certainly became close friends.

Sam definitely had fun blowing up factories, and proceed to prank cops and officials, she had a run with the infamous batfam a couple of times, mostly Robin, the first time they've met they had a spar with their own weapons ofcourse,but at the same time all Sam could think was: 'the hell's a kid doing vigilante work?'. Eventually they have bonded over different weapons and fighting styles, Batman had atleast tried to recruit Sam who goes by Foliahàrà at some point, but was turned down quite harshly.

She was the first one to take care of their children, Ivy loved Dan's brutality and Harley adored Dani's chaotic self. so they became the fun cool aunts of the two children, they have somepoint asked one peaceful breakfast who the other parents are, But the only thing Sam had said was they'll meet them someday.

Danny becomes a villain, a mad scientist to be exact wondering what'll happen if he follows in his parents footsteps, he also works alongside with Mr.Freeze, and they discuss a cure together for Mr.Freeze's wife,.

He doesn't use his ghost powers in villainy his explanation? Phantom was for the good and peace. While Fenton-Nightangle was for the bad and destruction. it certainly was a shitshow when he first debuted, lets just say Gotham had an early snow day, about 20 meters of snow covered Gotham for a week. The worst part is that the snow doesn't melt. so the only thing they could've do was to sit and watch as only Fenton was able to melt the snow.

Danny was the last to get his kids, so as a responsible parent he let them go crazy, for the whole two weeks as long they keep their identities a secret and to be back at lunch, dinner, curfew and family night. which led to a bunch of rogues getting hunted and tied up by a pair of ghost kids. It was a peaceful quiet two weeks for Gotham.

'this is absolutely hilarious' Tucker known as Codelith mentally chuckled as his bat family including Foliahàrà who was sitting across him also tied up, he knew it was Sam the first moment he laid his eyes on her. no one does eyeliner as thick as Sam. Speaking of Sam she was glaring at him from across the room.

from different audiences it may have look like the two was going to kill eachother, but in reality its just their love language. The batfam looked at them confused.

"Codelit." Sam greeted in a annoyed tone.

"Foliahàrà." Tucker greeted in a more joyful tone.

"You two know eachother?" Duke questioned, as he eyed the two. very confused on why the two of them almost have the same green toxic light surrounding them.

"Ofcourse we do, we're ma-" Sam was cut off, by the sound of someone maniacally laughing. fate seemed to be a bitch because in strolled Joker himself holding a bloodied crowbar.

Tucker can feel Red hood relive his trauma, from where his sitting, he didn't really focused on the Jokers dramatic speech, because all he can think was the safety of his new family he grew comfortable with. thank fuck Dan and Dani aren't here.

"What's this a new birdie? Batman.. you sure like taking in a lot of children, how generous of you." this finally caught tucker's attention when as he saw joker walking towards him, his family stayed quiet but kept watching Joker's movements they looked constipated Tucker almost let out a snort but kept it in.

"Codelith wasn't it, Very unique I wonder why you picked it."Joker asked with a chuckle that made tucker want to puke. "Not talkative ey? well that's alright.

"I don't need you to talk." Joker playfully picked up his crowbar, then placed it on Tucker's shoulder dangerously close to his head."I just need you to scream."

He saw Sam trying to use her powers in the background, which unfortunately wasn't working because she's too used making exaggerated movements when using her plant powers, he remembers her saying that it makes it more easy to manipulate the greens around her, so she definitely had trouble controlling it while tied up, after all there was so little wrist movement to work with.

He sent a warning gaze to his Family and wife. to not make any sudden moves, which made Sam hesitantly stop, It was different with the batfam though they were really trying to be free from the ropes.

He returned his attention to joker, who was still waiting for an answer. "He's coming." was all he said, this only made joker grin, and the Bats confused. While Sam immediately got it.

Joker laughed fucking ugly laugh if Tucker said so himself, the rogue pointed at his new family's direction 'Who's he? can't you see new birdie they're all here no one's going to get you!"

And then Joker lifted his crowbar then struck down at Codelith's head, a awful sound resonated across the building, Fuck that's going to leave a nasty concussion. he felt blood dripping from his nose, as he heard the shouts and screams of the Bats and Sam. Oh Sam, I'm alright, Everything's okay, He can feel Foliahàrà's panic and anger from here.

Its okay, he's okay, because he's here.

Tucker grinned fucking grinned, like a villain type of grin. he looked up at Joker's direction and said:"He's here."

And then the wall blew up, making everyone in the warehouse startled, Here comes in the man itself. Fenton fucking Nightangle. with a smile plastered on his face he strutted in with full confidence, damn that's attractive Sam and Tucker agreed with each other.

"Joker." was all Fenton said, as he looked at the man with no emotion, his gaze landed on Sam then landed on Tucker who's blood was dripping on the floor, the only thing that Danny saw was green.

HURT?/PAIN?/IN DANGER.

"Mr. Fenton! are you also here to watch the show?"Joker grinned teeth showing and all. "It's such a pleasure for you to be her-"

Danny walked passed Joker, Never giving him a chance to finish, he focused his gaze infront of him and went towards Tucker and cupped his face making sure he wasn't hurt that much.

"Ah... ofcourse you would immediately go to them, so silly of me!"Joker laughed.

"What do you mean by that?" Batman asked suspicously, as he made sure the Fenton boy didn't hurt his new son.

"Don't tell me you don't know Batsy! gosh darn am I the one that'll say this so exciting." The irritating man chuckled. "Well if you didnt know Batman, Dr.Fenton, Foliahàrà, and Codelith are all married together!"

The Bats let out a gasp of surprise as they looked at the trio, who remained quiet.

"I know right! such a wonderful love story." Joker wiped a fake tear. "Too bad I have to kill you all, Dr. Fenton you might've taken the town in surprise by your so wonderful inventions, but you are nothing without your gadgets." Joker explained while twirling the crowbar in his hands.

Danny let out a chuckle, his back facing the green haired man. "I see that you've made some research about us Joker."

"Yes, you are quite right, I am married to Codelith and Foliahàrà, But there's something you've missed in your research." Fenton continued, he can hear Red robin in the background saying "I don't believe Codelith can pull two fine people." who was shushed by Nightwing.

"And what would that be? please entertain me Doctor." Joker grinned.

"My Hero name's Phantom." With that Danny made a slashing motion as he swiftly faced the Joker face to face, not even a second later half of the warehouse was engulfed by ice including Joker.

Hair white as now. skin pale as a paper, and eyes green as toxic radiation, he once again faced. The vigilantes with a smile and said:

"Well that was an eventful night, who wants Fudge?"

[mockingjaylad]

Mystery twins in Gotham AU…….

Or even just one of them then it’s the stans situation all over again (if it’s multi universal shenanigans and not just making gravity falls real in DCU) and either dipper or Mabel are desperate to find their way back to the other

Both Dipper and Mabel I feel could have really cool dynamics with the batfam

Thinking about how it could have happened is also really cool whether it’s from an outside source from Gotham or maybe some strange unexplainable portal in gravity falls of which both Mabel and dippers pov from gravity falls would be really interesting how they solve the mysteries and figure out how to bring the other back

I feel like both are definitely able to do it because they are awesome and I care them very much

Ofc with the help of other people in GF

It would be really cool to see how they adapt to the DC universe with how much insane shit they’ve seen but ig this could also depend on what period in time the transfer happens

Like if it’s after weirdmagedon then they’d probably be a lot better at adapting and surviving (they adapt very well normally anyways) But maybe if it was before most of the really dark creepy stuff that happens in the show it would be like a kid with way too many questions about their own world gets put into a world with even more strange stuff to think about and how it would effect them

BUT WHAT IF IT WAS BOTH OF THEM!!!! Then their grunkles and friends are like freaking out course the twins have gone missing to some other universe and all the drama

But Mabel and Dipper despite still trying to get home are just kind of having a great time feeding off eachothers energy keeping the vibes high

Like hey at least it’s not a world ending apocalypse where a demon is actively trying to hunt us down and kill us! (That they know of)

Dipper would fit in pretty well with all the paranoid Gothamites but Mabel would instantly get into so much trouble all the time and be immediately on the bars watch list

Dipper and Mabel acting so much like Steph and Tim in those baby vigilante fics where they go out and Tim takes pictures while Steph goes crazy beating up bad guys

Mabel with her own sweater vigilante costume covering her face and a GRAPPLING HOOK!!!!!!!

“So what are you, a twelve year old girl, doing in the streets of Gotham clearly no clue about any of the unspoken rules beating bad guys up”

“… GRAPPLING HOOK!!!!”

She launches the grappling hook at them like the puffy sticker experiment

Them randomly dropping lore about their world to the Bats

“This remind me of that time I was kidnapped by gnomes to become their gnome wife forever” out of nowhere while in a hostage or kidnapping situation and their all just like “HUH???? UR TWELVE????? GNOME WIFE????????”

“this reminds me of the mini golf course people”

Sorry chat I have the gravity falls brainrot

These dumb tweens really thought they did something with these disguises

[jaythes1mp]

Do you think readers' lives would be different if they were a deer hybrid?

Fun Fact: Did you know that cervids (from the deer, deer and elk family) are considered extremely sensitive animals. When suffering severe stress, such as when captured or rescued, for example, the animal's reaction can cause what is called 'capture myopathy' ', which compromises the organism of these animals.

I do, actually. Because, another fun fact! In June of this year me and my roommate saved a baby deer who was laying next to her mums dead body (she was less than 48 hours old). Fortunately she wasn’t injured. We were extremely lucky to be living next to a wildlife specialist, our neighbour, who’s been looking after Astrid and will continue to until she’s old enough to be relocated. Thankfully this wasn’t the first deer that’s been brought to her. So unfortunately I'm very acquainted with that fact.

She’s still striving strong though! These were the first pics taken of her.

Anyway, how they’d react:

Batfam x deer hybrid reader

With Damian's exceptionally caring nature when it comes to animals, he has already meticulously planned out the perfect environment for your deer forms comfort. He has considered every possible scenario and tailored everything to ensure your contentment as well as a space to meet all of your needs.

The young Wayne would thoughtfully strategize and visualise your reactions to every minor action or stimulus. He would carefully consider the most appropriate responses and adapt his behaviour to ensure a positive and nurturing environment for you. Even if the environment in question was one that you were forced into.

The bats would handle your transformed state with great caution, disregarding if your human mind was in control when you were transformed or not. Given your affiliation with the Cervidae family in your animal form, the Wayne family would be especially mindful and considerate of your natural tendencies, behaviours, and instincts.

Despite Dick's intelligence and expertise as a vigilante, being second only to Bruce Wayne himself, his impatience would become apparent within the twenty-ninth attempt to approach you for some affectionate ‘big brother cuddles’. Assuming you’re an adult or older teen, you would be extremely skittish and resistant in your deer form to his advances and attempts to get close, if not completely avoid his presence altogether, let alone let him cling to you for a ‘snuggle.’

Jason wouldn’t comprehend why you’d consistently conceal yourself, in both forms, hiding behind the couch every time he arrives, or why you involuntarily freeze at the sound of his motorcycle, or even why you instinctively flee at the slightest hint of him standing or making a move. But despite his confusion, he doesn't hold it against you. He’s witnessed the horrific experiences and trauma the children of Gotham City are subjected to, and if hiding and evading is the way you cope with what you’re going through, then he’s willing to wait patiently for you to feel secure in his presence. As your sibling, he vowed never to give you a reason to fear him. He knows just how overwhelming it is in this new environment, and he’s not planning on giving you any more reasons to be frightened by them.

Tim would find it easier to deal with your distressed nature than the others, opting to monitor you through the security cameras, allowing him to work on his cases simultaneously, rather than being overly affectionate with you. This way, he could keep a watchful eye on you without having to directly interact, which allows him to multi-task and focus on both keeping you safe and solving his cases.

Despite Jason and Dick no longer living in the Manor, Bruce would likely be the one to spend the least time with you. However, he's not neglecting you. He makes a conscious effort to rearrange his busy schedule, keeps certain days free every week, and meticulously plans time for some quality family bonding. Even if the quality time in question only consists of him quietly sitting in your vicinity, sipping on some freshly made tea while reading the newspaper, he cherishes every moment that he gets to share with you. Simply being near you is enough. Because you're his child, and he's not planning on fucking that up ever again.

[blughxreader]

platonic yandere batfam thoughts...

how you end up integrating into the family.

I think we often forget how insidious the long-term effects of kidnapping are. Your whole world narrows and you have nothing fulfilling outside of them.

Realistically, how many weeks straight can you do nothing but look at your phone/watch TV? I know we do this every day, but we have school/work/friends/family to provide actual fulfillment and joy. But when you take that away? And have to decide whether you should scroll through monitored social media or talk to your captors?

Especially because the TV doesn't distract from the cold, hard gaze of the surveillance cameras in your room.

Even if you read and craft and cook, it's so difficult to keep your mental health in-tact without having a positive interaction with another human being.

It would start small.

It's morning and Cass smiles at you from across the breakfast table. Not wanting to be rude, you smile tightly back.

Jason wordlessly slides you a book. You take it.

After a few months, you feel slightly more comfortable about taking up space in the manor. Alfred is out of town for the weekend, so you make a sandwich with Tim.

Bruce talks to you about the new scientific breakthrough at Wayne Enterprises and keeps you relatively up-to-date on major world events. You begrudgingly learn more interesting facts than public school has ever taught you.

Soon, you've watched everything good on Netflix. You exhausted your tolerance for social media. You've given yourself headaches reading so much. You've hit an art/writers block like never before because your input has run dry.

With no other source of entertainment, you become more attentive to the Bats.

Of course, you've always watched them out of fear. But as months tick by and you've learned their hearts (and delusions), it's obvious that they would never hurt you. Furthermore, operating within their expectations is easy enough as long as you never challenge them, so the constant danger-sense slowly turns off.

However, because you don't have any outside noise to occupy your mind, drama in the house becomes almost life-and-death to you.

Peace is so fragile, and it's all you have.

Damian and Bruce return from patrol in a rage one night. Damian's furious echoes bouncing upstairs, followed by Bruce's low, indistinguishable scorn.

Fuck, you think. Now your and Bruce's talks are going to be stilted and uncomfortable. Now Damian is going to sulk in your room for hours, unwilling to talk about what happened yet wanting some kind of reassurance.

You can't keep them from fighting, but you want to protect your peace.

When you first arrived in this dreadful manor, you never would have imagined you'd offer them kind words and affection. However it's the only thing you can do now.

There's conflict. The house is tense--your world is tense.

Should you call Dick? He has a day job again, so he can't come over until tomorrow night. It's up to you to ease the tension.

So you do, slowly, with homemade food and Bruce's favorite coffee blend and Damian's favorite hot chocolate. You sit with them individually, shoulder to shoulder (much closer than you would normally sit), and pretend everything is alright. They're surprised but very quick to snap back into a good mood.

The house is suddenly back in order and you did it all by yourself.

And with these vigilantes, conflict is ripe. There's always people coming and going, fighting and playing, and you're unwillingly the most in-tune with the well-being of everyone's relationships.

You protect your peace. You protect the house.

this shit makes me gnaw at my enclosure. if you're fem, it's worse because ✨ stereotypical woman archetype ✨ anyway this has been on my mind because i've been taking care of my baby chicks and cooking dinner most nights, so i'm like 💁‍♀️ i could be a captive house wife click here for my yandere batfam masterlist

[rmbunnie]

It's most likely just Starlin trying to get to Jason dying faster because he did not like Robin, but the whole "Jason's spiraling because of his grief for his parents" thing they were trying to spin was honestly really weird, not supported by the rest of the run INCLUDING the parts Starlin wrote, and kinda reads like an unreliable narrator situation because all of the information supporting it is given through Bruce's narration, him speculating on Jason's thoughts and actions.

The plot thread of Jason's grief for his family affecting his behavior shows up like TWO issues after Jason first becomes Robin back when Collins was writing, and gets sorted out after one conversation where Jason gets to confront Bruce about hiding his father's death from him for 6 months. After that Jason is behaving normally until they encounter three predators in a row, and each time Bruce insists that they can't do anything because of The Rules and assorted red tape/diplomatic immunity plotlines. (The sister of a woman who got dismembered actually tricked the violent-misogynist killer who dismembered her sister (and then got his serial killings dismissed through a technicality) into attacking her, and ends up killing him in self-defense, and then Jason's like "seems fair" and Bruce is like "no. it's NOT. we need to follow laws and not take justice into our own hands. which like wtf Bruce! you are a vigilante who just used a custom tank to fight an evil televangelist! who then got ripped to shreds by his followers while you watched!)

Bruce kinda just decides with Alfred that it must be grief upsetting him and not the dozens of brutally killed women and their predatory killers who the law inexplicably protected, (all written by Starlin, so retconning it for DitF like five issues later would be an odd move) but the only text claiming that's why Jason was upset is from Bruce's POV and through Alfred's dialogue. Jason himself doesn't display any signs of grief in the story itself, or even act or speak in a way that alludes to Catherine and Willis beyond looking at a picture of them and smiling fondly while he sorts through their possessions. He kinda just happens upon the box with his mother's info by chance, and is like ok i guess we're doing mom searches now. He was only going for a walk through his old neighborhood, not actively searching out info on his family. When Jason is deciding whether or not to run off without telling Bruce, he considers telling him and then goes "no, all he cares about is being Batman, he wouldn't even understand why I want to see my mom." Which, I mean, "Bruce wouldn't get it" is a REALLY odd angle if the sole motivator for spiraling, then getting benched* and running away to search out his bio-mom, was because he was mourning his dead parents, a thing he notably has in common with Bruce. That statement only really makes sense if he's thinking about a different thing that was greatly upsetting to him that Bruce brushed past, like maybe a combo of hiding the murder of his dad for half a year and allowing several cases involving sexual violence to freely develop body counts in the name of the law.

Lots of people have written about how Jason's stay in the manor might have seemed dependent on being Robin with how he was kinda just scooped up, but (if we're including Detective Comics in our characterization,) Bruce had offered to let him resign from Robin and just live with him (a little late, but still. It's worth noting Batman proper shows Jason afraid and uncomfortable at the thought of Dick taking Robin back, which lends more merit to the housing-dependent-on-Robin-misunderstanding interpretation, but canon is pick and choose anyways.) The lack of trust involved in his choice to search out his mom kinda reads like it was bred by more than that alone, and Bruce's prioritization of the law over the protection of the people it ignores is notably upsetting to him in the prior issues. tbh I really do believe the outcomes of those cases could have informed Jason's stance that Bruce's method of justice is ineffective right alongside his own murder and his experiences in Lost Days.

It would make sense for Bruce to not consider his own actions while he's thinking through things that would upset Jason, because from his point of view the things there that were bothering Jason were the criminals alone, not the way that the methods with which they were approaching their crimes continually led to the perpetrators evading actual justice. During the point in DitF where he's thinking through motivations for Jason's running away because something isn't adding up for HIM, the idea doesn't so much as cross his mind. It would also add another layer to Jason's sulkiness upon Bruce's arrival if he held the belief that Bruce is ignoring the consequences his brand of justice has on victims (and the way it's affecting him to helplessly watch it play out), starts to hope that Bruce actually can understand his thought processes/relate to him when he shows up, only to be told to his face that Bruce is prioritizing his style of justice over Jason again. With the way everything that led Jason to his bio-mom was comically circumstantial and the context of the previous issues, it's kind of the ONLY way Death in the Family makes sense to me. Tldr: I feel like the grief claimed as reasoning for Jason's actions leading up to his death is mainly speculation from Bruce and Alfred and the more textually-supported reason for his erratic behavior and lack of trust in Bruce is the lack of intervention in several sensitive cases that led them to worsen unobstructed and eventually permitted them to escalate into casualties in 2 out of 3 cases.

*Also, side note, but the idea that Jason got benched for the Filipe situation, while perfectly reasonable, is not quite spot on. The Filipe situation escalated into the fight in the junkyard where his dad is crushed by a car and Bruce is all "everything you do has consequences" which is kinda big words for a guy whose lack of action indirectly lead to a girls death earlier in the storyline, but true. Jason actally gets benched because he jumps directly into gunfire while fighting the third set of predators and Bruce starts to worry he's getting a little suicidal with it. He baits a guy into shooting at him on purpose again trying to protect mom prospect number 1 later on in DitF, so Bruce might have had a point with that one.