#Bruce has to come to terms that he is a grandpa now

[bluerosefox]

Guys I came up with a new DPxDC AU where we get Deaged!Dani(Ellie), Mom!Cass, and Dad!Danny.

"Cass... Are you sure you want to do this?" Tim asked one more time before he would put the last code in. He knew she was sure, more than willing to deal with it but he just needed one more confirmation before they all started what couldn't be stopped.

Cass stared at Tim, her face straight and her eyes firm without a hint of doubt. She nodded in his direction, despite the growing nervousness in her stomach for a second even with Stephanie squeezed her hand in reassurance and support.

Cass turned her gaze to the little girl, no older than thirteen, suspended in a tank full of green glowing goo and asleep. Her vitals showing up on screens near the tank coming from the wires that were hooked up to her inside the tank.

She said her name was Danielle Masters but had also said she wouldn't mind a new name once she was no longer just a clone but instead Cass's new daughter. She had only asked to include her 'dad', a Danny Fenton/Phantom, in her future naming decision too

Cass took a breath and said softly but determined "Save her."

Tim nodded back and entered the final code into the computer.

-x-x-

Basically-

Cass, while in Hong Kong, finds a destabilizing Dani.

Cass see's the desperation and fear Dani is in and helps as best as she can.

She manages to help but they both seem to know the next time this happens will be Dani's last.

Dani is very, very sick at this point and needs help even standing up.

Cass see's and remembers herself at this age and wants to help.

They do become friends and learn each other backstories

Cass goes to the one person she knows who might to be able to help with the destabilizing clone problem.

Tim, Tim is that person. (Because he's friends with Conner, and no doubt knows Conner's DNA and how it works, AND the fact he tried his hand at the whole cloning thing.... Tim told Cass everything once things settled down after his BruceQuest was done)

They fill him in on what is happening and he starts helping, mostly cause Cass asked and because "Clone rights!" (side note, he asked if its okay to tell Conner, when yes, Conner comes over and chats with Dani the entire time whenever he has free time) (the image of Conner sitting at her bedside as they chat is in my head btw)

Tim finds out the reason Dani is destabilizing so badly is because she's not 'complete', she needs a female donor technically because she's female not male (unlike Conner who is stable because he is male with male donors)

They find out that after trying to see of ways to save her that Cass was the closest that could donate her DNA (they also discover there might be a connection between ectoplasm and the Pits, they don't wanna run the risk of asking a LOA member) (If I remember right Cass grew around the Pits for a while and was even tossed in them after a fight with Shiva)

Tim also brings them news that Danielle's body is rapidly destabilizing due to her body/hormones trying to 'mature' her since she is at that age and she has less than a week.

Everyone knows there is no time to think of trying to save her in any other ways.

Tim says that if they do this, they have to technically 'remake' her body to the actual age she is (a couple months old/a few years old? Depends on the writer) and there was a high chance of her not remembering her old self. That the male DNA in her, the one that seemed to be the most is Daniel 'Danny' Fenton's DNA will be considered father DNA and if Cass does this, her's will be the mother DNA. (Vlad's DNA, because he would try to put his own in, would be 'pushed out')

Cass would become Dani's mother.

Both Cass and Dani talk about it.

Cass wants to help her, she had become friends with Dani and loves her like a little sister already but will try to love her as a daughter as well.

Dani wants to live an actual life.

They agree to it.

Tim sets everything up, Conner is helping around/keeping Dani comfortable/happy.

Cass told Steph and Babs whats happening and they're helping/being supportive once they find out everything.

Meanwhile Tim and Babs has Dick, and Damian go to Amity Park to find out whats happening there/bring Danny to her so they can explain what happened to Dani. (Dick and Damian have no clue why just yet but will find out when they get back, but oh boy is Amity a mess between the GIW, ecto-acts, crazy fruitloop mayor/villain ghost, and other stuff)

Cass and Tim tell Jason and he's helping Alfred (who basically already knows) set up a room for the newest arrival. Jason is gonna stick around if to just see Bruce's face when he gets called a 'grandpa' for the first time.

Duke takes this all in stride when told and just goes along with things now because this is life with the Batfam. He also helps with the room and keeping Dani company until the day.

Bruce was on a space mission thus comes home to find a new group of teens with his kids. One (with black hair and violet/purple eyes) is talking about a purple back gorillas with Damian and swapping vegan recipes, another (wearing a red beanie and has glasses) is getting into tech talk with Tim and Babs, a girl with red hair is talking classic books with Jason and giving Duke advice with school and stress, and another boy (one who could pass as one of his own adopted kids) is cracking jokes/puns with Dick, and telling Steph stories about his Rogues(!?).

Bruce isn't ready when Cass comes up behind him, nearly dancing in her spot and hands him something.

He is given a baby/toddler that looks like Cass but had darker hair and bright blue eyes.

He almost faints when Cass signs to him that he's holding his granddaughter, her baby.

He does faint when Cass notices the signs and takes her baby back before he falls over.

[long-live-astronerd-ghost-king]

DPXDC prompt. Family? Assemble!

Reporter: Gotham News, and we have a new supervillain on the line. Mr Phantom, what are your demands at the moment? Phantom with lack of sleep and with tears: I..I want a titanium model of a spaceship! And to get a good night’s sleep and to go to the local school…and some fudge and.. Reporter: Oh, my bad. Just one question for clarification, are you by any chance an orphan or are your parents villains? Phantom: I prefer the term mad scientists Reporter: Okay. So, Gotham news! And with me on the line is the new potential child of Wayne or Batman. Want to know how two serial adopters will share a child leading a double life? Stay with us and find out. Now let's check in with Jessie for our weather report. Phantom: Wait, what?

~~~~~

Danny spends the night running from the Red Hood with a bag of fudge, Red Robin with a pot of coffee, Batman with the adoption papers and, for some reason, Brucie Wayne with an idea of internship at a space station. Ha! The Justice League will never let a ghost into orbit. Not that Wayne can blackmail superheroes or smth. Danny: Fuck you all! I’m done with vigilante activity, I’m not your competitor! What do you want from me? And I’m done with crazy billionaires too. I swear, I’d rather be adopted by a local mob boss just to piss you off! ~Later~ Danny *sees peering out of the corner Matches Malone*: Are you kidding me?! Robbie *jumps off the roof and lands right behind Danny*: Stop running, lil brother, No one’s left the family yet. Minnie: What about Neal? Robbie *shakes a knife with a bow on the handle negatively*: He’s on sabbatical, that doesn’t count. Anyway, it’s a gift for you, cub. Danny: Um, thank you, but my lab scalpels are definitely sterile, and your blade was in who knows who before you brought it here. Robbie: It’s brand-new! And Archie decorated it with a ghost on the handle. Look! It's cute! With a smile and… Dick: Hands up! You’re under arrest for trying to steal our new member! Minnie: Why is he yours, damn cop? Selina: Boys, don’t fight. He’s mine. Schrodinger’s cat is still a kitten. Killer Croc: No way, my niece is staying with me. Danny: Uncle Waylon? Long time no see. Ra's: My grandson needs steady access to ectoplasm. Danyal, come with me. Danny: Over my dead body! Oh shiii…I mean no. Anyway, don’t you think the alley’s getting a little crowded?

~~~~

Killer Croc: Is he still mad at me? RR: Danny doesn’t talk to uncles who tried to eat his beloved brother Red Robin. Killer Croc: He wasn’t even your brother then. What do you want? An apology from me? RR: That would be nice.

~~~~

Danny: I didn’t think the GIW agents would really fear the reputation of Gotham and not follow me. What a relief! Jason *quickly throws the knife into the sink*: Wow, you got lucky. Alfred: Master Jones, why don’t you eat your steak? I thought last week you were complaining to Batman that 'cause of him you got not many prey. Croc *pulls a piece of white robe from the teeth*: Well, now there is a lot of it. Bruce *gives Jason and Croc the side-eye*.

~~~~

Ra's: You do realize that Malone, Wayne and Batman are the same person, right? Boy, you were born into a family of geniuses, don’t disappoint Grandpa. Danny: Triple pocket money, triple gifts for the holidays, the opportunity to complain about the same family member three times. No, Grandpa, I definitely don’t understand. Ra's: Smart little weasel.

~~~~

Selina: Okay. Purely theoretical. Do you like to steal? Danny: I wouldn’t say that. But somehow I stole the sword from the fright knight. And also stole few jewels but then I was under the mind control. I returned them. Well, the crown and ring of the king of the ghost zone I also took without permission. Oh, and the answers to the test once. And I’m really sorry about the last one. Neal: I feel the story behind it but I prefer to know nothing about it.

[thelibrarian1895]

Consider the Bat

It seems I'm on a Bat kick lately.

Anyway, it's been established that there is or was a timeline where Thomas Wayne becomes Batman after the murder of Bruce while Martha goes nuts and becomes the Joker. Ignoring the Martha being the Joker bit, concentrate on Batdad and consider that Thomas ending up in a world where his son is Batman. I have seen this done and done well but there was a missing element in my opinion.

So then consider this.

If there is a world where Thomas became Batman, then I must insist there is a world where Martha became Batwoman or even straight up called herself Batman. Thomas, to reflect the other one where he's Batman, would thus suffer being the Joker unfortunately. That too will be ignored thank you.

This Martha iteration of Batman also ends up in the world where Bruce is Batman and where this Thomas who is Batman has fallen, making it three Batmen in one world and they were family in their respective universes.

And Alfred in the background feeling relieved because his charge becoming Batman was not entirely his fault after all, it was genetic. Yes he may have influenced Bruce's drama a little but it was not all his fault that Bruce ran off to get trained by all these martial arts masters and have the educational equivalent of a dozen PhDs without the documentation to show for it in order to fight crime! Just look at his parents!

And now the Robins, which I use as a collective term for ALL of Bruce's children whether biological, legal or emotional, now have Batdad, Batgrandpa, Batgrandma, as well as Agent A aka Agent grandpa.

Thomas Wayne vs Ra's Al Ghul because those are HIS grandchildren you creep! Hands off! While Martha comes up from behind with a sword and an equal desire to protect her grandbabies. And they bond over being able to deal with a Joker who isn't and has never been a significant other to anyone in their family. Then bask in having grandbabies, grandbabies they can spar with and who are such good vigilantes and they're so proud! Their grandbabies are all so smart and so strong and they love them so much! I really want doting bat grandparents.

Possibly some awkward drama between Thomas and Martha as they try to determine if they want to make a relationship work with the other since that is Thomas/Martha but not their Thomas/Martha and they don't want anyone to feel like they're being used as a stand in. Similar awkwardness between them and Bruce because he's their baby but also not and they're his parents but also not. Also some glee for Martha and Thomas because they don't have to deal with gala drama since Thomas and Martha Wayne being publicly back from the dead after 20+ years would be a little much to believe even for Gotham. But it has been long enough and they've changed enough that they can go out in public as John and Jane Draper, grandparents of Alvin Draper (Tim made them fake identities before Bruce could finish) and no one looks at them twice. Thomas might assist Leslie in her clinic. Martha helps Tim and Bruce out with business things.

And Gotham criminals cry out in despair as more Bats pop out of the brickwork and this time without even a Robin stage to warn them!

[stealingyourbones]

Your asks are back! Im prolly gonna send a few tomorrow bc its late and i have many idea but an idea that Wont Let Me Go:

Danny gets caught by his parents. They dissect him and jazz is the one to free him, but he has to go. Now. But where does he go?

Gotham. The drs fenton went there once and caused enough chaos to be banned from the city or else risk arkham. Its the one place they might not find him.

Danielle goes with him. Maybe shed hunkered down in gotham for a bit, maybe shes passing by amity when sht hits the fan. Either way, its her and danny. They figure it wont be too hard to get by. Break into an empty apartment and hide out there until they get caught, couldnt be too hard, right?

Too bad the building they go for is the one jason stays in, as a civillian, and hes got every apartment on his floor so that the risk of a neighbor seeing him as hood is minimal. Jason has to figure out how these kids got into the apartment and who is making them spy on red hood.

He does this by giving them the one thing kids in need cant afford to turn down- free meals. He invites them over to cook and teaches them how, both to see what hes dealing with and give them those skills once theyre out of whatever situation theyre in.

This goes on for a while before jason had the horrifying realization.

Hes turing into Bruce. Two kids in need with black hair and blue eyes who tense up when vigilantes are brought up? Hes never going to live this down. Probably frantically texts dick(?) About how hes turing into bruce and then doesnt elaborate

Unbeknowst to him, theyve secretly been "treating" him by acting as filters/replacing some of his extoplasm so he can be sure of his control over his feelings. This doesnt necessarily make him 100% calm all of the time, he still gets angry pretty easily, but. Jason gets control of himself back.

As they get closer they start being significantly more domestic. Somehow nobody has crashed jasons apartment while theyre there (they dip invisibly) and jasons relationship with bruce has improved as he no longer has to worry about pit rage taking over. Hes trying to figure out how to break the news to bruce that hes a grandfather even though he hasnt officially adopted them yet.

Dani, on the other side of town, is gossiping with a cool girl at the library named barbara about how shes been trying to figure out how to tell her neighbor that Hes Her Dad Now.

(Danny doesnt call him dad. He cant, anymore. But theyre still family)

Jason decides to introduce the topic of them meeting bruce (because 1. even though its still rocky their relationship has improved and 2. He wants it to be on his terms) and dani bursts out with the "I have a GRANDPA???????" and from there on commits to calling jason her dad and bruce (unmet) her grandpa.

Bruce meets them first and is just. In awe. He has grandchildren. His emotional constipation vs his absolute adoration of the fact hes a GRANDPARENT fight fight fight.

When danny and dani eventually meet everyone theyre all like oh sick bruce picked up a duo this time nice to meet you. And they absolutely cannot comprehend it when bruce and jason walk in and dani goes to jason first. Nobody expected jason to take on bruces adoption tendencies but they should have.

(Also fun hc i couldnt work in naturally but i do fully stand by- the ectoplasm in dannys body does affect his injuries somewhat, meaning he heals naturally very quickly from most ghost fights. Why?

It heales based on emotional healing.

He doesnt really care all too much about the average cut from one of his rogues and they heal within the day, but a hit from valerie takes a few weeks.

The first injury his parents ever gave him still hurts.

He can barely move and cant talk for the first few weeks with jason. Only once he starts feeling safe with him do the cuts start coming back together.)

The casualness of “hi so glad your asks came back” [drops at least 1k worth of fucking stellar content that’s basically a fic] is just making me truly awestruck. God I’ve missed seeing y’all’s neat ideas.

I dont have any words that I can say that could describe just how wonderful this is so I’ll write a lil addition to it instead because I am in love with this sm.

Jason’s point of view when he’s slowly getting better and isnt afraid to meet his family because of the pit rage, has he explained that’s the reason he distanced himself? Do the bats just think that this is simply Jason finally getting the courage to reach out? Do they know that the Pit rage is stopping Jason and do they try to help him by using alternative means of communication? How much do they help and understand.

When Jason experiences his first injury. How much does it hurt? Valerie shoots him with an ectogun. How much is this man in pain for and does he have to fight pit rage inside him to not lash out and attack her after being injured?

And how does his core react to his new kids. This I NEED to know

[insaneasgardian]

Earth’s Mightiest Heroes! Chatroom 1; Memes

Clint has started a chatroom

Tony has joined

Steve has joined

Bucky has joined

Sam has joined

Y/N has joined

Wanda has joined

Natasha has joined

Peter has joined

Loki has joined

Pietro has joined

Vision has joined

Bruce has joined

.

.

.

Y/N: Hi guys

Natasha: Heyyyyy Y/N/N!

Pietro: Hellooooo Y/N!

Steve: Good day ma’am.

Thor: Why, hello Y/N!

Sam: Hey, how you doin’?

Peter: Hi Ms. L/N!

Wanda: Hey Y/N!

Clint: Hiiiiiiiii Y/N!

Bruce: Morning Y/N :)

Vision: A very good day to you Ms.L/N

Bucky: Hi Y/N! 

Loki: Hello, tolerable midgardian.

Tony: 

Everybody: ....

Y/N: Ew.

Clint: I will gut you like a fish for saying that to my innocent baby!

Tony: Your baby is FAR from innocent ;)

Natasha: And now he’s trying to falsely accuse her!

Loki: I’m not surprised, he’s always been a disgrace, even to you low midgardians.

Tony: D: 

Bruce: The hulk has put Tony’s name on his list.

Tony: ....Of friends?

Bruce: No, that list is limited to Y/N and Nat. You my friend, are on Hulk’s NAUGHTY list!

Tony: >:O

Bruce: Anyway, Clint, why did you start this chatroom?

Clint: To introduce the 2 grandpas and the 2 GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT, GREAT grandpas to......

Peter: Memes!

Clint: Yesss!

Y/N: Sounds fun!

Steve: What is a Meme?

Bucky: I’ve heard the term...

Thor: I haven’t

Loki: I am NOT a very great grandpa, you are just very young midgardians.

Y/N: 😂

Vision:  meme/miːm/

noun1.an element of a culture or system of behaviour passed from one individual to another by imitation or other non-genetic means.

2.an image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by Internet users, often with slight variations.

Steve: .... I kind of get it.

Natasha: Let’s show you first, then you can catch on, how about that?

Wanda: Good idea Nat.

Bruce: I’ll go first!

Bruce: 

Wanda: 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Clint: Why is that so relatable

Sam: That’s really funny, good one Bruce! 🤣

Thor: Wow... so these... ‘memes’ they make them out of us?

Pietro: Yes, there’s memes about basically everything, and everyone, even you!

Pietro:

Pietro: Like that!

Thor: It’s me!

Clint: HEY!

Y/N: 😂😂😂 It’s true! The rest of us working so hard to stop Thanos, where were you?!

Bucky: It’s true Clint, where were you?

Loki: I sacrificed myself, and you weren’t there to help! 

Clint: You came back to life though... you tricked us... AGAIN.

Natasha: It isn’t important... the question is... WHERE. WERE. YOU?

Clint: I HAD SOMETHING IMPORTANT GOING ON IN MY LIFE, OKAY?! ISSUES AT HOME, I HAD A DRUG ADDICTION, AND OH GOD....

Everybody: ....

Y/N: Clint... we... had no idea.

Bucky: Sorry buddy.

Natasha: Yea, if I knew, I would’ve never...

Thor: I’m sorry an image of me was used against you...

Loki: I.... apologise

Peter: But... Mr. Barton, you told me you didn’t make it because you were binging Brooklyn 99

Everybody: >:0

Loki: THERE WAS NO ‘ISSUES’!

Clint: PETER!! I TOLD YOU NOT TO TELL ANYONE!!

Peter: :C

Tony: DON’T YOU DARE SHOUT AT MY CHILD!

Y/N: EVERYBODY RELAX!

Vision: I agree, we do not need another Civil War!

Sam: Yea, everybody, get BACK TO MEMEING!

Wanda: 

Loki: 😁 Ah yes, the good old days.

Pietro: Haha, old man!

Bucky: Lmao

Y/N: XD

Steve: I understood that reference!

Clint: WHY IS EVERYBODY GANGING UP ON ME?

Tony: 

Natasha: Bruh

Peter: >:O

Y/N: Gross...

Tony: Awww don’t worry Y/N, I’m ‘Stark naked’ just for you ;)

Y/N: 🤮

Loki: You keep your grubby mitts off her!

Bucky: YEA! NOT COOL!

Steve: You’re really pushing my buttons today Stark.

Thor: .... Midgardians have a very strange sense of humor.... one of which I do not approve.

Vision: 1010001010011100101010010110100101

Wanda: You alright Vis?

Vision: Ummm... yes.... how about we have a meme contest? I’ll judge!

Natasha: I’m in!

Vision: Okay... contestant 1, Peter!

Peter: Oh... ummm... okay

Peter: 

Y/N: Peter, you genius child!

Peter: :)

Steve: I don’t understand everyone’s obsession with my butt...?

Vision: I declare Peter the winner!

Sam: The rest of us haven’t even got a turn yet!

Vision: :C Fine... next contestant, Bucky!

Bucky: Watch me ;)

Bucky: 

Clint: I came here to have fun, I feel so attacked

Tony: 😂

Loki: >:)

Y/N: Poor Clint, but that’s hilarious Bucky!

Bucky: Thanks!

Vision: That’s pretty nice! Y/N, you’re up next!

Y/N:

Steve: >:O

Natasha: BAHAHAHA, THAT IS SO FUNNY!

Bruce: Made my day!

Peter: I love it!

Sam: So Steve 😂

Vision: Best one so far! Sam, you’re next!

Sam: 

Wanda: That’s so mean 😂

Tony: Lollllllllll

Bucky: Jerk :C

Vision: Not bad ;0. Wanda, you next...

Wanda: 

Bucky: Bro wth?!

Steve: That’s funny, you gotta admit Bucky.

Y/N: Nice Wanda!

Wanda: Thanks!

Pietro: That’s my sister!

Vision: That’s my girlfriend! Pietro is next!

Pietro: Sorry in advance Peter...

Peter: Why?

Pietro: 

Peter: ..... UNCLE BEN 😪😪😪😪😭😭😭😭😱😱😱😱😰😰😰😰

Peter has left

Y/N: What the hell Pietro? Look what you did!

Tony: You hurt Peter’s feelings!

Thor: Poor spider child?

Bruce: Is he okay?

Natasha: I’m pretty sure he’s not.

Y/N: He’s hyperventilating.

Bruce: I’m coming to check on him.

Bruce has left

Wanda: Good job Pietro.

Pietro: I didn’t know, I thought he got over it :C

Bucky: He’ll NEVER get over it idiot!

Steve: It’s always gonna be too soon for the kid!

Vision: Pietro is disqaulified, Natasha, you go next!

Natasha: 

Tony: lmfaooo.... did you know though?

Bucky: .... I feel awkard

Pietro: WOW NAT! LOOK WHAT YOU DID!

Steve: It isn’t bad though.

Y/N: Yea Pietro, you can’t talk!

Pietro: I’m sorry :C

Natasha: My meme was funny, everyone’s gotten over the civil war, unlike a certain BEN PARKER!

Vision: .... Steve next please.

Steve: I got a good one!

Tony: Oh boy.

Steve: 

Y/N: What the- 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Natasha: 😂😂😂 New avenger??

Tony: That’s actually pretty funny, doesn’t even need words 😂😂

Bucky: That’s great Stevie, but all I can focus on is Thor... Is that even Thor?!

Thor: Indeed, it is me :)

Y/N: Wow.....

Thor: Does that picture of me appease you Y/N? ;)

Y/N: You look great....

Thor: Thank you, though nobody can compare to your beauty.

Sam: Our buddy Thor pulling out all the stops here O.O

Loki: Pffft, he doesn’t even look THAT good!

Vision: Maybe you can prove how great you are! Because Loki, you’re next

Loki: Watch and learn peasants

Loki: 

Thor: ;O LOKI?!?!?!?! YOU’RE NOOBMASTER69?!??!?!? :CCCCC

Y/N: I. FRICKING. KNEW. IT! Loki omg 🤣

Tony: Loki is in deep shiiittttttttttt...

Wanda: I must compliment Loki on all the ways he discovers to annoy his brother 😂

Clint: Wowwwww.... after all this time of looking for Noobmaster69....

Bruce has joined

Peter has joined

Tony: Everything okay?

Bruce: Yea, he’s fine now.

Peter: Yea, I’m great! :DDDD

Y/N: Good to hear!

Peter: Mr. Loki is noobmaster69?!!!

Loki: Yes I am ;)

Thor: LOKIIIIIII!!! 

Loki: ... O.O I screwed up

Bruce: You realize that now?

Natasha: It’s a miracle Thor hasn’t killed him yet

Thor: YET.

Bucky: Oh shitttt.

Steve: Language....

Tony: lAngUAgE!

Steve: :C

Vision: Thor is next...

Thor: 

Thor: Noobmaster69... whom we now also know as LOKI!!!

Natasha: Wow, he’s pretty pissed about that.

Clint: I’m actually worried about Loki’s well being...

Loki: Oh don’t worry.... he won’t hurt me.

Thor: YET. I shall wait for the battle of memes to end first.

Vision: ...... Ummm.... anyway, next up is Tony.

Tony: Well... do I have a great meme up my sleeve ;)

Vision: Nothing about Y/N

Tony: Fine >:C

Y/N: Thanks Vis...

Tony: 

Y/N: Okay, that’s.... fine

Clint: At least it’s nothing about my baby Y/N.

Tony: Oh yea, speaking of Y/N... Y/N, do you like arc reactors?

Y/N: .....

Steve has kicked Tony from the chat

Natasha: About damn time!

Vision: Next up, Bruce!

Bruce: Okay

Bruce: 

Bucky: I remember that!

Peter: Me too! Especially Ms. L/N!

Sam: Oh yesss Y/N was all like -

Y/N: I love my spider baby <3

Peter: I love you too Ms. L/N!

Y/N :’)

Wanda: Wholesome content

Steve: SO cute!

Natasha: Adorableeeee <3

Y/N: Anyways who’s next Vis?

Vision: The last person... Clint!

Clint: I have been waiting...

Clint: 

Natasha: That’s totally Bucky!

Y/N: Lmao yea

Thor: Always ready to jump up and defend the Captain.

Bucky: Because that’s what best friends do!

Steve: :’) Awwww

Sam: .... I still think I’m his best friend

Bucky: Oh buzz off Wilson.

Vision: I AM READY WITH THE RESULTS!

Pietro: Let’s do this....

Vision: In 1st place... Clint!

Clint: Yeaaaa!

Vision: In 2nd place is Y/N!

Y/N: Yeshhhh

Peter: Well done Ms.L/N!

Vision: And 3rd place is Peter!!

Peter: Yayyy! :D

Wanda: Well done guys!

Loki: Congratulations

Thor: Really good job!

Natasha: GREAT work!

Pietro: lol noice

Sam: Good work!

Steve: Congrats!

Bucky: Well done!

Nick Fury has joined the chat

Everyone: .....

Nick Fury: 

Clint: ... That’s an option? If so, can I be in the meme department?

Nick Fury: GET BACK TO WORK! Nick Fury:

Everyone has left the chat

Nick Fury: I’m stuck babysitting a bunch of motherfucking babies.

[mischiefandspirits]

Bloodlines (2 of 3)

After receiving a vague warning from his mother about his cousin and Richard, Damian goes looking for his runaway ward.

Part of Batkid and Robin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Someone’s in the house.”

Damian paused, one foot out the door of the car. He turned to Jon to study him.

If it was a Bat, Jon wouldn’t have said anything so he could see how long it took Damian to notice. If it was Kon or Lara, he’d already be telling them off for breaking into their house. No one else in his family would have broken in and neither would most of their friends. If Jon didn’t recognize the person or considered the person a threat, he’d be worried. For most anyone else, he’d be annoyed.

He wasn’t worried or annoyed though, which only left one person.

“Stay here,” Damian sighed and got out.

Jon grunted, still staring at the house with enough fury that Damian was surprised his heat vision hadn’t activated.

Once inside, Damian dropped his keys into a dish on the entryway table then hung his jacket on the coat rack. “You know Jonathan doesn’t like it when you show up unannounced.”

“With your alien’s powers, I never should have made it inside without his knowledge.”

He came into the living room to see his mother sitting in an armchair, a pair of teacups waiting on the table next to her. “I asked you not to call him that. And it’s about being polite, Mother.”

She hummed and grabbed her cup. She tilted her head towards the chair next to her as she said, “He is never going to approve of me and I am never going to approve of him. This is something I have come to terms with so I wish you would as well.”

He ignored the invitation, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorway. “You only don’t approve because he doesn’t have any more interest in providing me -- and therefore you -- with an heir than I have in obtaining one so he won’t help you convince me to allow your scientists our DNA. You should just come to terms with the fact you’ll never have a grandkid.”

“But I already have one,” she said into her drink.

“What are you talking about?” he growled, marching into the room to loom over her. “What did you do?”

“Calm down, my Baby Bird, I haven’t done anything. You know I wouldn’t do that without your permission.”

“After what you did to Jason, how can I be sure?”

She sighed and placed her drink back on the dish. “This isn’t what I came here to talk to you about and, unfortunately, I don’t have time to debate with you as I have to cull another uprising of the Council of Demons. When was the last time you spoke to Richard?”

Damian frowned at the change in subject. “Why do you care?”

“The Demon’s Followers are gathering.”

“Have they joined forces with the Council?” That didn’t make sense. Mara was all about gathering power for herself and she wasn’t foolish enough to think she could use them for her own gain then betray them without facing serious consequences. “And what does this have to do with Richard?”

“So you really haven’t been paying attention to the boy’s antics.”

Damian bristled. He’d been watching as closely as was possible without risking Richard discovering the invasion of privacy, something he knew would surely drive the boy away forever. “I ask again, why do you care?”

His mother stood, brushing nonexistent wrinkles from her pants. “I suggest you look into what the boy has been up to. Perhaps ask your pet, I know he’s been hounding Richard.”

Damian opened his mouth to argue, but his mother just pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before slipping into the hall. “And tell your cousin that should my grandson face significant harm, the League will wipe her little organization from existence.”

“Mother!” He followed her into the hall, but she was already gone. He didn’t bother to give chase, knowing she wouldn’t tell him any more than she already had.

“What was that all about?” Jon asked, coming through the front door.

“I’m not sure.”

Oh, he could certainly put the pieces together.

Mara was up to something, something that could put Richard in danger, but what could she be up to that would put her on the Teen Titans’ radar? His team was efficient, but they didn’t handle the type of secretive things the League of Shadows or Outsiders dealt with. The kind of things the Demon’s Followers dealt in.

There was also his mother’s descriptor for Richard. Saying that his mother wasn’t fond of his family was an understatement. She absolutely loathed Tim and Duke, more than even Damian had during those first few months after he’d been brought back to life, and the Council’s interest in Tim had only aggravated her feelings for him. She was more neutral about Cass and Jason, but she saw his sister as a stand-in child that his father should have rid himself of when his true child arrived and she saw Jason as his and his father’s pet street trash. For her to not only claim his ward as her grandson, but to also place him under her protection was… out of character. They had never spoken about Richard before, what with her going dark due to the Council’s actions during his father’s absence followed by his feelings towards Jason’s death and resurrection, but Damian had assumed she’d feel no different for him than Jason given his circus heritage.

“Are you going to go talk to Richie?”

Damian shot his partner a look.

“Yeah, yeah, you’re giving him space. It’s been over a year, though, D. I think that’s enough space.”

“He has to come to me. If I force myself into his life -”

“He’ll resent you,” Jon finished. “Okay, but he’s got that Bat stubbornness you’ve all somehow managed to inherit from Bruce despite the fact most of you aren’t actually related to him. Richie’s not going to make the first move. So if neither of you reaches out…”

“I don’t have time for this,” Damian muttered, heading for the door to the basement. “I need to figure out what Mara is up to and if the Teen Titans can handle it on their own.”

“Bats,” Jon huffed and followed him down. He stayed on the stairs, though, as Damian opened the secret door that led down to the Perch. “Do you want any help?”

Damian paused. “… Not at this time. Somerset will need your focus while I’m distracted. If anything changes, I will let you know.”

“Alright.” Jon drifted up behind him to wrap his arms around Damian’s waist. “Just know I’m here if you need anything. And be careful.”

“I will.” He leaned back into his partner for a moment before pulling away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Red Hood was watching a factory burn when Flamebird found him. The teen had a gun pointed at his head before he could even speak. “Come for the fireworks, Boss-Bird.”

“I don’t want to fight. I need to talk to you. It’s about Robin,” Flamebird said, holding up his hands. He quickly ducked to the side when Red Hood shot at him.

“Yeah, no, you lost your chance to talk about him when you let Bitch-man kick him out.”

“That’s not what happened,” Flamebird said and threw a feather, lodging it in the gun’s barrel. “And it’s not the point. Mother came asking after him.”

That made Red Hood’s anger spike into fury, but at least he paused his attack. “She has even less of a right to talk about Red Bird.”

“Agreed, but I’m not about to ignore a warning about Robin’s safety, no matter who it came from.”

“So now you care?”

Flamebird sighed. “Hood, please, can we at least agree to put this aside for Robin’s sake?”

Hood threw the plugged gun at him. “You’ve got ninety seconds. This better be good.”

“Have you heard of the Demon’s Followers?” Flamebird asked as he grabbed the gun and slowly approached his brother.

“No. They related to your dear grandpa's cult?”

“Sort of. Like the Council, the Followers were a faction of the League that left when Mother took power. Instead of worshiping Ra’s, though, they follow my cousin.”

“You have a cousin?”

“Mara al Ghul, the daughter of one of Mother’s elder brothers. She resents me for leaving the League. She came after me when I was just forming the League of Shadows, but we took her down. The Followers have mostly operated as an organized band of mercenaries since, though Mara’s always looking for a way to gain power or spite me.”

“And you didn’t tell us about this because…?”

“I told Father, and I’m sure Barbara knows, but Mara shares Mother’s opinion of you all -”

“Meaning she thinks we’re trash.”

“- so there was never any reason to involve you.”

“Right,” Red Hood snipped. “And why does this matter?”

“Mother insinuated the Teen Titans have gotten or will get involved with the Followers, specifically with Mara putting Robin in harm’s way. When I asked for more information she acted surprised that I wasn’t already aware and suggested I speak to you. I looked into it and found evidence of the Followers in California, but nothing focused on Jump or the Teen Titans. So here I am.”

Red Hood crossed his arms and turned to leave. “Well, I haven’t heard about any Mara or her Followers so you’re out of luck. I’ll let Red Bird know to keep an eye out, though.”

Flamebird nodded, knowing he wouldn’t get any more out of his wayward brother. “Let him know she might use an alias as well. She has used Maria, Miranda, and Mariam for given names and Raatko, Tate, and Šabaḥ for surnames.”

“Sh-Shabac?” Red Hood said, looking over his shoulder.

“Šabaḥ,” Flamebird repeated slowly. “It means ghost in Arabic. She chose it to pay homage to her father, who went by White Ghost.”

Red Hood stared at him for a moment then pulled a communicator out of one of the pockets on his belt. “Shit, shit, shit!”

“What?”

“Shut up!” He brought one of his hands to his helmet and the red color leached away until only an X remained, the drain revealing a white skull on black. Similarly, glowing red X’s appeared on the back of his gloves and across his chest.

Red X flipped open the communicator and pressed a button on the side.

“What’s going on?”

“I swear, if they lost him again…” Red X muttered as the communicator rang.

“X -”

“Who is this?” a voice said from the communicator and Flamebird looked over to see Nightstar’s face staring back.

“Take a guess, Princess. Where’s Red Bird? And if you tell me you lost him to that stalker bitch again, I’m going to wreak bloody vengeance on the lot of you.”

Nightstar scowled, but was knocked out of view before she could say anything by Impulse. “What stalker? Do you know something about Robin’s disappearance? Howdidyoucallus? WhydoyouhaveaT-Comm?”

“Bloody. Vengeance,” Red X growled and Flamebird grabbed the communicator before he could destroy it.

Impulse gasped as he came into view, but he ignored her. “What do you mean Robin disappeared?”

“I, uh…” Impulse glanced between him and someone offscreen. She mouthed, Help!

The screen’s view expanded to show the rest of Robin’s team.

Virus was vibrating, the edges of their body going to static. Nightstar was glaring up at him, eyes glowing. Impulse was still gaping and Wonder Girl looked startled as well, but was working to hide it as she stepped forward.

“Flamebird, this is unexpected. What are you doing with Red X?”

“We’re looking for my baby brother!” Red X growled.

“X, calm down,” Flambird said and the boy flipped him off. “What can you tell me about Robin’s disappearance?”

“Why do you care?” Nightstar asked, eyes narrowing further.

Flamebird breathed out through his nose as Red X snorted. “Knew I liked you, Princess. I’ll make your death quick.”

“I received information about a dangerous group of mercenaries in your area. There may be a connection. What happened?”

Virus leaned towards Impulse and whispered, “Are the Teen Titans going to work with the Flamebird?”

“I think so. This is so cool! Do you think Batgirl will be there?”

“Or Nightwing!?”

“We can hear you, dorks,” Red X huffed and the two flinched, Virus ducking behind Nightstar and Impulse blushing. “Just tell us what happened to Robin!”

Wonder Girl cleared her throat. “Well, last night Impulse and Robin were on a date at the boardwalk.”

Flamebird blinked.

Red X snorted. “What? Didn’t know your kid had a girlfriend?”

“His kid?” Impulse squeaked.

“Flamebird is Robin’s father?” Virus asked.

Wonder Girl looked at her team, uncertain, and Nightstar sighed.

“Short answer: No, he isn’t. It’s complicated and not important right now,” she said with finality. “Robin and Impulse were at the boardwalk. They got separated in the mirror maze and no one’s seen him since. We searched the entire area, but couldn’t find any evidence of where he could have gone.”

“Virus scanned the maze,” Virus said. “Impulse was worried Robin’s disappearance was the work of Mirror Master or Reflek, but Virus didn't find any energy anomalies, not even any that would suggest teleportation. Robin just vanished.”

“You didn’t even find evidence of a fight?” Flamebird asked and the teens shook their heads. “Have you faced anyone recently who could have taken out Robin without leaving evidence?”

Wonder Girl shook her head. “We’ve considered that, but there aren’t many of our villains that could who aren’t locked up right now. The only one we considered was, well,” she gestured vaguely, “X. But Nightstar said she had evidence he wasn’t in Jump City at the time.”

Flamebird nodded, well aware that his youngest brother had been taking down a warehouse of drug dealers in Gotham the night before.

“Did you consider White when you went through your list?” Red X asked pointedly.

The teens shared a look.

“White hasn’t bothered any of us since she came back to life,” Impulse said.

“Maybe because she’s been reconnecting with all her minions,” he snorted. “I thought Red Bird said he was trying to track her progress.”

The teens looked uncomfortable.

“Which none of you knew because you all get mad when he investigates her. Of course.”

Nightstar crossed her arms. “He’s obsessed. We -”

“News flash, your teammate is a Bat. Any of your relatives who’ve worked with one of us could tell you that obsession and Paranoia come with the gig. And that’s, you know, ignoring the fact that that psycho is stalking him.”

“Stalking?” Flamebird asked.

“You better hope he’s fine when I rescue him or I'll raze that tower to the ground,” Red X said then snapped the communicator closed.

“What’s going on? Who’s White?” Flamebird asked as Red X grabbed the communicator and shoved it into his belt.

The boy stared him down for a moment then groaned and switched his suit back to Red Hood. “Follow me.”

His brother led him to a dilapidated apartment building. As he perched on a ledge to open a window, he muttered, “I’ll have to burn this safehouse now.”

The apartment was sparsely furnished, just a small card table with two folding chairs on either side and a couch in front of a book-covered coffee table. It was tidy, though. The books on the table were in neat, organized stacks. The kitchen counters were wiped clean and the only dishes that were out were the ones drying on the rack. The mattress that could be seen through the half-open bedroom door was also made to Alfred’s exacting standards despite its lack of frame or box spring.

Red Hood stomped across the living room to a closet door, opening it with a keycode to reveal weapons and ammunition arranged on shelves. He grabbed a tablet off a lower shelf and pulled up a file.

“She’s called the White Woman,” he said, opening an image for Flamebird to see.

The woman was covered from head to toe in a white suit styled after a Komon. The skirt only went halfway down her knees, though, revealing grey leggings that matched the obi around her waist and the hood that hid her hair and neck by connecting the suit to her hannya mask. Like the suit, the mask was primarily white, just with silver teeth, horns, and eyes. She also wore silver boots and gloves along with a matching utility belt over the obi that was designed to look like an obijime. A sword was strapped to her back, though he couldn’t see what kind from the angle.

“She started setting up shop in Jump City around a year ago. Her motivations weren’t very clear at first. Her lackeys stole and she set other villains loose on the city, but there didn’t really seem to be any goal in mind.”

“But she did have a goal.”

Red Hood nodded. “Dick realized she’d been testing the Titans, toying with them. He thought she was planning something for them, like trying to figure out how to take them down so she could take over. He… miscalculated.” He closed the picture and opened a new one from the file. “She was only after one of them.”

The image appeared to have been captured by a security camera. Richard was clearly the focal point, but he wasn’t Robin. The suit he was wearing almost seemed to be mocking the Robin suit. The tunic was still red, but a darker blood-like color that had also replaced the green on his boots and gloves. His belt, cape lining, and tunic’s trim were a dull silver instead of bright yellow and his sleeves, pants, and cape had inverted from black to stark white. His domino mask has similarly flipped colors, going from a black mask with white lenses to a white mask with black lenses. The R logo on his chest was replaced by a silver and black bird’s claw.

“Don’t know a lot of what went down since Red Bird did a hell of a job burying everything, but Robin went renegade for a week or two and started working with White. I thought he had just been undercover, but one of the few things Dick would tell me about his renegade act was that he wasn’t doing it by choice. She forced him to become her apprentice somehow, the creepy bitch. She’s obsessed with him, and would probably still be after him if she hadn’t died about six months back after one of her schemes backfired on her.”

Flamebird frowned as he switched the picture back to White.

“I’m sorry, I don’t know where Talia is,” Nyssa had said when Damian had contacted her after he’d found out about Red Hood. “She cut contact with me two weeks ago. Apparently, she objected to my use of the pits. If only you had called earlier so I could have called out the hypocrisy. Healing my niece is a far better use of the pits than fixing your pet.”

At the time, Damian had been so focused on arguing that Jason wasn’t a pet, he hadn’t questioned why Mara had needed to be healed in the pit. Especially one of Nyssa’s, which rarely saw use as his aunt was far warier of the effects of the pits than his mother or grandfather.

“Mara’s the White Woman,” Flamebird said, eyes tracing her mask. It reminded him of the Oni mask she’d worn thirteen years earlier, when she’d first attacked his team. “But why would she suddenly target Jump City?”

“Specifically Dick,” Red Hood corrected. “And beats me. Like we established, none of you al Ghuls give a crap about us.”

Flamebird opened his mouth, to argue that he did care. He cared about his Robin and he cared about his Batkid, no matter what either boy might think.

Then he froze.

“Grandson.”

“What?”

“When she came to warn me, Mother called Richard her grandson,” Flamebird said, turning towards the window. “I don’t know why she’d claim him as family, let alone acknowledging him as my heir, but if she was willing to overlook our lack of blood relation -”

“White could too,” Red Hood finished, tossing the tablet back into the closet and slamming the door closed. It locked automatically as the anti-hero raced after his elder brother. “She’s been targeting Dick to get at you, and you didn’t. Even. Notice!”

“I need to find Robin.” Flamebird pulled out his grapple gun, but Red Hood grabbed his arm before he could fire.

“I’ll find him. You’ve done enough.”

“I have a list of places where Mara might be.”

“And I have a list of places where White might be.”

Flamebird pulled his arm away, but turned to the boy. “Then we can compare our lists and narrow it down.”

“Not happening,” Red Hood growled.

“Ho-Jason,” Flamebird said, setting his hand on his brother’s shoulder. “This is about Richard, remember. Our focus right now should be locating him as fast as possible. You can be as mad at me as you want later.”

Red Hood slapped the hand away. “I’m going to shoot you in the kneecaps when this is over.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For clarification:

League of Assassins: The normal LoA in the comics, ran by Talia (with Nyssa as an advisor when they aren't fighting)

League of Shadows: Dami's team (Flamebird, Nightwing, Abuse, Beacon, Flyway, Nobody, Quick)

Council of Demons: A cult that worships Ra's and seeks to bring him back to life

Demon's Followers: Mara's criminal organization

[tabloidtoc]

National Examiner, April 19

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Tony Bennett's brave last days

Page 2: Stars with Mad Skills -- they became fast experts for plum roles -- Daniel Day-Lewis, Timothee Chalamet, Natalie Portman, Ryan Gosling, Jamie Foxx

Page 3: Adrien Brody, Margot Robbie, Bryan Cranston, Shia LaBeouf, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Cruise

Page 4: Susan Sarandon's roles and costumes

Page 7: Be Prepared for the Worst -- know these lifesaving tips before a crisis happens

Page 8: Lonely Stefanie Powers never wants to date because she still has gotten over lover William Holden's sudden death, even though it'll be 40 years ago this November -- the former star of '80s TV classic Hart to Hart, who's now 78, considers Holden the one true love of her life, even though she's been married twice to others and had a long-term relationship after the Hollywood legend's tragic death and she can't imagine being with anyone else at this stage in her life when Bill's memory is so sacred in her mind and his death still haunts her to this day, and it will only get worse as the anniversary approaches -- Holden, then 63, died at home in Santa Monica on November 12, 1981, of massive bleeding after falling and striking his head on a piece of furniture while heavily intoxicated -- it rips her apart to this day thinking how he must have suffered all alone in his apartment, bleeding to death -- the pair had a decade-long, passionate affair that lasted until his demise, which led her to carry on their mutual passion for wildlife conservation and Stefanie founded the William Holden Wildlife Foundation and is still the director -- she's tried being in other relationships, but it's been more about companionship than anything else and she doesn't have the motivation to date when the best man has already come and gone

Page 9: Vax Hacks -- avoid scammers who prey on fears of COVID-19

Page 10: His first day on the job as an honorary cop, Jeremiah met the other guys in blue and was the proud guest of honor at a special swearing-in ceremony just for him, and he's only five years old

Page 11: Important minerals for your body -- why you need zinc and potassium and how to get them

Page 12: Rude Awakening -- stars who don't mind their manners -- Alec Baldwin, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Christian Bale, Rachael Ray

Page 13: Sean Penn, Ashton Kutcher, Robert Pattinson, Russell Crowe, Cameron Diaz, Bruce Willis

Page 14: Dear Tony -- America's Top Psychic Healer Tony Leggett -- useful lessons learned from the pandemic

Page 15: Get well soon wishes go out to Chevy Chase, who just came out of the hospital after a five-week stay for heart issues -- in 2018, the star was diagnosed with alcohol cardiomyopathy, a weakening of the heart muscle caused by excessive drinking; he had dealt with his drinking back in 2016, when he entered the Hazelden Clinic to receive treatment for alcoholism

Page 16: Even though the century mark looms just around the corner, Betty White still radiates joy -- calling herself the luckiest broad on two feet, the 99-year-old Hollywood legend shares her advice for living a long and peaceful life -- she says her life is divided absolutely in half: half animals and half show business and you can't ask for better than two things you love the most

Page 18: When a California man won $145,000 on Wheel of Fortune, it turned out to be good fortune for a lot of people as he donated his entire winnings to the charity Uplift Family Services and Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, whose services support thousands of families

Page 19: These seniors are literally beating the coronavirus -- with 99 percent of them vaccinated, the 700 elderly residents of the Westminster-Canterbury on the Chesapeake Bay senior living community in Virginia Beach held a party and they had a lot to celebrate

Page 20: Cover Story -- Tony Bennett is facing his brave last days as he battles Alzheimer's disease at the age of 94 -- the singer was diagnosed in 2016, but kept the terrible illness secret until recently and has not yet experienced common Alzheimer's symptoms like episodes of terror, rage or depression but the disease has progressed -- for now, wife Susan Crow and the oldest of Tony's four kids, 67-year-old Danny from his first marriage, are caring for him while he lives in the couple's New York City apartment

Page 22: Recycle your baubles, bangles and beads -- bored with your beaded necklaces? Blase abut those old bangles? If your costume jewelry collection no longer inspires, there are many brilliant ways to give it new life or earn you some cash

Page 24: The internet's newest fitness star is 102-year-old Julia Fulkerson, who had a ball participating in her great-grandson Brody's virtual gym class

Page 25: Young Darius Brown has a mission in life: to make shelter dogs look as spiffy as he can so they'll get adopted and to do that, he provides the canines with slews of adorable bowties that he sews himself -- five years ago, when Darius was eight, his sister Dazhai taught him to sew and the passion was good for him because he'd been diagnosed with speech and fine-motor skills that the craft improved over time -- he says he saw how happy the people at the shelter were to get the bowties and how much the dogs liked them, and he decided to make more and he came up with a goal to give bowties to an animal shelter in every state -- so far, he's sewn a whopping 600 of the canine accessories himself, and helped dozens of pooches find forever homes and he especially likes to focus his attention on older animals and pets with disabilities, since they're the toughest to find homes for and the shelter directors say Darius' efforts have made a huge difference in the life of hundreds of pups

Page 26: Summer Horoscope 2021

Page 28: It's not just for the birds -- tips for watching our fine feathered friends

Page 32: Reverse Gear -- walking backward is good for you -- here's something new to try the next time you go out for a walk: do it backward -- it may sound silly, but health experts say there are mental and physical benefits to the practice, but go slowly at first to avoid injuries

* If you're always putting the needs of others before your own, you could be at risk for compassion fatigue, a condition that can physically and mentally drain you of time and energy -- compassion fatigue is a state of emotional overwhelm that is constant and persistent, once in this state of emotional exhaustion, it becomes difficult to empathize with those they help and essentially, it's empathy burnout

Page 34: Grandads Before 50! No rocking chairs for these grandpas -- take a look at these celebs who had their grandchildren before their first gray hair -- Jim Carrey, James Brolin, Donny Osmond, Mick Jagger, Pierce Brosnan, Charlie Sheen

Page 40: The Element of Earth -- earth is the second of the four elements: fire, earth, air and water

Page 42: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Drew Barrymore

Page 44: Eyes on the Stars -- Dakota Johnson and her parents Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson (picture), Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana in the film Spencer (picture), Tina Turner admits she instantly fell for husband Erwin Bach in 1986 when they first met at an airport in Germany, Bindi Irwin gave birth to daughter Grace Warrior Irwin Powell, Michael Douglas is still going strong after 5 decades as an actor and loves what he does for a living, George Segal passed away due to complications from bypass surgery, Jessica Walter died in her sleep

Page 45: Eddie Murphy is inducted into NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame (picture), Diana Ross performs at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts in California (picture), Mario Lopez helps christen the tables at Mohegan Sun Casino in Las Vegas (picture), Ann-Margret and Julianne Hough attend the Family Film Awards where the redhead received a lifetime achievement award (picture), James Middleton who is the brother of Duchess Kate says he and fiancee Alizee Thevenet are done with city living, Justin Bieber's mom didn't like his newest tattoo saying Don't you have enough yet?, Zac Efron was spotted flying to Sydney with Aussie girlfriend Vanessa Valladares, Taraji P. Henson asked fans for prayers for her pet pooch that was suffering from post-surgery complications but he unfortunately died

Page 46: A lottery winner in Tennessee was feeling like a million bucks, until he realized he'd lost his precious ticket but he didn't give up: he retraced his steps until he found the ticket again

[bigskydreaming]

Have you read Nightwing 71 yet? Sorry if I spoiler anything, but Ric was "groomed" "manipulated" and "brainwashed" by owls and, he IS now. I mean, AGAIN. Wow. Does DC ever know that Dick(or Ric) has his own character and personality and he is human, not tool ready to be used whenever or whoever needs? I am getting sick of this Ric grayson the free real estate BS.

I just read it now and its what I was expecting to happen but somehow it played out even worse than I was prepared for. There’s one line in particular that I don’t want to spoil in case any followers still care about that book being spoiled in terms of specific/detailed spoilers at this point, but something the Joker says to Dick near the end of the issue just makes this soooooooo much worse IMO than just another brainwashing for him. 

But I mean, lbr here. This isn’t the Church of Blood or even the Court of Owls messing with Dick’s mind this time. Literally playing God with his entire sense of self and view of reality. Its the Joker. 

The. JOKER.

This has officially pushed this story arc over even my disdain for the Forever Evil mess, and as far as I’m concerned, the rest of the Batfam should be BEGGING for his forgiveness after all this is said and done, no matter what he ends up doing while under the Joker’s control. I’m honestly going to just skip any fic that attempts to conclude or follow-up from this arc with anything other than the Batfam ALL busting their fucking asses off to do the work this time and put TIME and EFFORT into getting him to trust them or even want them around again at this point, because anything less than that will just leave me steaming at this point. 

Literally the ONLY thing I want to read right now is a fic where someone in his family figures out ON THEIR OWN, LIKE ACTUAL DETECTIVES that no one who has had his mind and agency violated and disregarded as often as he has - just that they even KNOW of - could possibly be alright, and so based off of even just plain simple logic he can not possibly be alright, and so could one of them just fucking SHOW UP for him, and not to try to fix him according to what THEY think he needs but just to be there and ask what HE needs? 

Where they make themselves a resource rather than them the knight in shining armor to his damsel in distress? Where they let it be about HIM instead of it being about them avenging him or them putting him back together or them protecting him or them somehow ending up more front and center and making more of the choices in-story than he gets to even though its supposed to be about him?

Like....just a story where the Batfam doesn’t have to wait until he has a literal breakdown before realizing he’s not okay and hasn’t been for a long time.  Where they look at the LONG string of times none of them have been there when he needed someone, and ask themselves WHY it is that they all expect him to be present and accounted for whenever they need him but none of them ever seem to be around when he could use a hand - even though they all always pretty much know exactly where to find him.....like, he’s the only hero in Bludhaven. They know this. Everyone knows this. 

Like, its not that hard to google “is shit going down in Bludhaven this week y/n” and drive half an hour when they hear his circus just got burned to the ground AGAIN or his apartment building was just blown up or there are four randos running around in his old costumes or the local crime lord just hired a dozen major assassins to all try and bring him Nightwing’s head.

Or his evil dead grandpa who last we saw was being handed over to Bruce’s custody BY Dick himself is somehow out on the loose again, why aren’t his family putting bets on where Rob Zombie’s bound to end up at some point - oh yeah, watching him through his window all creeperlike - I mean, I know their dad’s a billionaire but that’s just easy money. When a dude whose obsession is as hard to kill off as he is and with the backing and resources of a whole secret society of rich fucks who all think Dick’s destiny is to dance on the end of their strings, like when they all show a tendency to keep coming back like cockroaches no matter how many times they get stomped, what’s the best proactive approach to being prepared for the next time? 

Oh right, leave the sole focus of their constant attempts at abduction/manipulation/brainwashing completely isolated, alone and defenseless without even the memory of why he shouldn’t trust someone who shows up claiming to be his great-grandfather even when he actually turns out to be the real deal.....’see, its not that he’s lying about who he is, its that who he is happens to be evil.”

Seriously. HOW is this a family of geniuses??

HOW is fandom so often convinced its DICK who’s the dumbass out of all of them, when this is their brains on “oh no, Dick’s not here to tell us what to do while we bitch at him for it.’

Imagine fics where someone in Dick’s family looks at the HUGE number of holes in their knowledge of his life.....the periods of long stretches of time where NONE of them were in contact with him and thus have ANY idea what might have happened to their infamously-tightlipped-about-when-bad-things-happen-to-him brother/son without them knowing about it.....and wonder...hey, what DID happen to him during those times and isn’t it weird and WORRISOME that he’s never volunteered any info about those periods and we’ve never ASKED?

Aka the years he was estranged from Bruce because Bruce couldn’t pull his head out of his ass long enough to apologize to Dick for firing him and then turning around and hiring a new kid who gets the Wayne adoption AND the Grayson family name that were BOTH kept or taken from Dick when he was still pretty much just a kid himself.

Or the long months Dick spent infiltrating the mobs and then the Society of Supervillains when he was Coping Badly after everything that happened to him in Bludhaven, both what they know of and whatever else they don’t know of that could’ve been driving him back then....driving him straight into the company of VILLAINS rather than them.

Or literally anything that happened to him while he was working undercover by himself for the highly dangerous and infamous spy agency that also tried to take over his brain (PS - how many people don’t know that the ultimate resolution of the Grayson series, the endgame, was Dick battling the main villain for control over his own mind, because guess the villain’s plans for him were? Oh yeah, to be his new host body when he downloaded his consciousness into Dick’s body and kicked Dick’s consciousness to the curb. LOLOL. Ah yes. Everybody wants Dick Grayson - just without the parts that actually MAKE him Dick Grayson.)

Etc, etc, ad nauseam.

Everybody talks endlessly about how Dick Grayson is a people person and the heart of the family and his teams and nobody thinks twice about the fact that this is the same person who is so infamously often left on his own to his own devices battling the worst of the worst and everybody thinks oh he’s fiiiiiiiiiine. Like, I’m not actually sold on the idea that Dick is an extrovert rather than an introvert vs he just fakes being an extrovert very well....but what does it say that everybody ASSUMES Dick is this huge extrovert and yet.....it never occurs to them to seek HIM out and surround HIM with the people that supposedly an extrovert like him should need to recharge and recover after enduring shit like he does?

How about instead of a million fics where Dick’s agency is ignored yet again so the Batfam can dramatically find out about his rapes whether he likes it or not, and insert THEIR idea of what should happen next/how he should deal.....how about fics where he TELLS one of them or all of them about these or other events that have happened to him, on HIS timetable, of his OWN volition....because he WANTS to? Because he’s READY? Because he honestly believes it’ll help him to tell them, that they’ll be there for him, he TRUSTS this....because they’ve already done the work of proving to him they will or giving him reason to believe they will....rather than just leaving him with no other choice?

Just....

Think about how often Dick’s casually referred to as the glue that holds the family together or the emotional heart or center of it.....

And then wonder if maybe the reason the Batfam as a whole is so fucked up....

Is because what everyone calls the HEART of it is constantly left neglected, alone, and fucked up and not taken care of, not looked after....

Like....

What tends to happen when you don’t take care of your heart? Protect it? Keep it healthy, keep it safe?

Y’die.

Your body goes stone cold. You keel over. DOA.

Hmmm.

Don’t want the Batfamily to be cold...distant....a family in name only....

MAYBE YOU SHOULD PAY MORE ATTENTION TO ITS SO-CALLED HEART THEN.

[takadasaiko]

Second Chances: Chapter Nine

FFN II AO3

Summary: Steve has every intention of returning the Infinity Stones to their correct place in the timeline and heading back to his own. His problems start when he makes an impulse decision to jump over to 1946 and Peggy decides to go back home with him. It only gets more complicated from there when Howard tags along with them to 2023. Tony lives fix-it fic. Pepperony.

Chapter Summary: Howard tries to gather some information while Tony struggles to focus on the task at hand.

Chapter Nine

Howard had been chatty the whole drive out to the cabin. Tony was relatively sure that he nodded off at least twice towards the end of it, the day finally getting to him, and it was a good thing that Pepper hadn't even given him the option one way or the other on who was driving. She led the discussion, telling him just enough about Morgan that the three of them could come to a consensus on how to approach what could be a delicate subject. The less she knew the better. It wasn't like she would recognize him from photos. Probably. They hoped.

Happy stepped out onto the porch as they pulled in, the stress plastered across his face, and Tony didn't even have a chance to unfold out of the passenger's seat before he was hovering over him. He looked at him like he'd totally lost his mind. "Is he—?"

Happy's gaze snapped back as Howard opened the door behind Tony. "Yep."

"And you just brought him here?" Happy demanded, his voice hushed, but not nearly enough that Howard couldn't hear him.

"Yep. Morgan asleep?" He glanced up to the window and just barely saw the curtain hastily thrown closed by a little girl trying to pretend she wasn't out of bed.

"I told her you'd come in and tell her goodnight when you guys got back."

"Thanks." A quick look towards Pep was all the communication she needed to understand that he needed a moment to breathe.

Howard stepped towards him, mouth open and ready to speak, but Tony started walking and Pepper cut him.

"It's late. Howard, why don't I get you settled into the guest room? Happy, are you staying the night…?"

Tony didn't hear the answer as he shut the front door behind him, the quiet of home washing over him. He didn't dare linger long enough for Howard to catch up. Instead he made his way up the stairs as quietly as he could and to Morgan's room.

She'd managed to hop back in bed, snuggled under the blankets like she'd been sleeping for a while. The little girl had a death grip on her Hulk plushie she'd begged for a few months back and had shown off proudly to Bruce every chance she could get. Asleep or not, there was something deeply comforting about getting to come home and see her.

And that she wanted to see him too.

Tony couldn't recall even once wanting to wait up for Howard to come home as a kid, and absence hadn't done anything to make his heart grow fonder when he'd gone off to Phillips Academy at seven. All he remembered was that even five minutes with his father could send him crying to go back.

He'd done his best with Morgan though. Not perfect. Heaven knew he wasn't perfect, but she knew she was loved above anything else, and he felt that love returned unconditionally. For the first time since he'd heard Howard's voice in Steve's apartment that morning and all of the chaos had come crashing down around him, he felt a little peace settle back into his soul. Before he knew it he was bent over his sleeping daughter to press a kiss to her dark hair.

Morgan stirred, blinking as she made a show of 'waking up.' A grin tugged into place. "Happy said you'd say good night."

"Yeah? And you didn't believe him so you watched at the window?"

"No!" she giggled, yawning dramatically. "I was sleeping!"

Tony's lips tilted upward. "Fibber," he teased and she squealed loudly as he tickled her. He pulled back, looking towards the hall and motioning for her to be quiet. "Hey now. You're gonna get both of us in trouble."

"You are."

"Yeah, probably. You good? All in?"

"Uh-huh." She nestled down as he pulled the covers back up around her. "Daddy?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"Who's the person with you?"

"Person?"

"With you and Mommy. He came with you."

Tony pulled in a breath, tired mind working to find a good explanation that would keep her for that night. "He's a ... friend I'm helping get home. He's going to stay a couple of days."

"What's his name?"

"Howard."

"Like grandpa?"

It was amazing what she retained. He wasn't sure he knew his grandparents' first names at five. "Yeah. Same name."

"Oh." She sounded genuinely sleepy now. "You'll help him, Daddy."

"Yep." He kissed her again. "Love you three thousand."

He heard her mumble a response and took that as his cue to slip back out. He paused at the door, watching the sleeping little girl for a long moment. They were lucky. So lucky. He knew he that he couldn't face this - or anything he'd faced in the past year - without them.

                                             ________________

Howard was settled into the guest room that Happy typically took when he stayed, but Pepper didn't have the energy to argue with their head of security that they didn't know how long Howard would be with them and that it was easier to give him a room with a bathroom connected rather than have him wandering their home at all hours on the search for it. The fact that his room had been lent out to their longer-term guest wasn't his issue. It was that it had been lent out to Howard Stark. Happy wasn't making a lot of an effort at keeping his total disdain for the man under his hat, and it was making even Pepper second guess the decision.

The conversation had finally come to a close when Pepper had tasked him with keeping an ear open to make sure Howard didn't leave the house or anything like that. Not that FRIDAY wouldn't alert them if she and Tony were both still asleep, but it gave Happy a sense of purpose. A way to help Tony through this in his own way.

Pepper found her husband halfway to tugging his t-shirt over his head, the movements stiff and she caught sight of the scars that hadn't faded, even as he healed. They still ran all the way from his fingers up his arm and split to snake up his neck and down his ribs. They weren't the only ones, just the most pronounced. His growing collection included the small circular scar a bullet that had slipped through his first suit during his escape in Afghanistan had left, littered marks along his chest from the shrapnel, and two identical scars on either side of his ribs in from where Thanos had stabbed him with his own suit's weapon. The years had left marks all over the man she loved.

He turned, free of the shirt, and the ARC reactor glowed softly against the dimmed lights. "Hey," he greeted, his voice tired.

"Hey."

"Sorry to leave you with all that."

"It's okay. Really." She stepped forward and her fingers found his hand. She tugged the t-shirt out of his other hand and dropped it so that she could free that one up as well. He didn't seem to mind as she pulled him closer, and he met her there in the kiss. She loosed her grip on one hand to let it travel up, fingers brushing bare skin, across his collar bone before they wrapped around the back of his neck to pull him just a little deeper into the kiss.

Tony's grip on her tightened and all of a sudden they were falling back onto their bed, Tony leaned over her and never breaking the kiss or letting go of her hand. When they did finally part for air she found herself staring into those soft brown eyes, all love and adoration focused in on her. There was something else under it, though, and she knew what it was. "I'm sorry."

His dark brows drew together. "For what?"

"You told me you didn't know how you felt about it and I pushed to have him come here."

He sighed, tilting off to the side and gently rolling her with him so that she found herself leaned against his chest. "It made sense. Shit situation, but you did what you do and made the right call."

"Was it though?"

"Not easy… but yeah. Probably right."

Her lips twitched down and she smoothed back grey-flecked hair. "Talk to me?"

"I don't know what to say, Pep," he acknowledged softly. "I thought I was in a good place and then he popped up and it all came crashing back down again." He closed his eyes, leaning into her touch and she saw the telltale signs of him working through his thoughts so that they'd make sense outside of his own head. "I don't know that man downstairs at all. He was so excited to meet the engineer that designed the stabiliser. My dad was neverimpressed with anything I did."

Pepper pursed her lips together, swallowing the initial reaction to argue that. She didn't know. Howard and Maria had been long gone when she came on the scene, and she couldn't judge Howard's reactions by Tony's, no matter how similar the two men seemed to be.

"He should have been. I was ahead of everybody, outdoing some of his own engineers by the time I was at MIT. I was fifteen when I designed Dum-E."

"I know," she acknowledged softly.

"Got an award and everything. Dad's response? Make sure to clean up the lab before the reporters got there. He was more worried about how Stark Industries would look in the paper than the fact that they were there because of what I'd created. He didn't care, wasn't impressed, but this guy… he is. He jumped at the chance to meet me, tell me how much he loved the design. Hell, he acts like he wants to get to know me."

"Then why not let him? Just a little? He already knows who you are."

"I don't know. I mean, to an extent I'm just gonna have to accept that he'll know things. No stopping that now. Thanks, Cap." The smallest of smiles touched his lips, but it was a relief to see it in his eyes too. "I'm never going to get tired of the fact that this is on him. If it has to happen, at least it wasn't me."

Pepper snorted a laugh and leaned down to press a kiss to his cheek. "So why not talk to him a little?"

That killed his amusement, even if that hadn't been the intention. Tony squeezed his eyes closed. "It's… I've lived it. I've been through all of it. I get that he tried. I get that he…. that he thought he was setting me up to be better than him, I guess."

"You arebetter than him."

"But the man in our guest room doesn't know any of that. It's a blank slate for him and he seems to think…"

Tony was suffering and Howard wasn't. Even if he couldn't say it, he was. She heard it. It sounded silly and childish until you remembered that even if he were to use the whole experience and pretend it was one big BARF simulation, it wouldn't fix anything. This wasn't the man he'd known. Not yet.

"So don't treat him like Howard Stark," she said softly. "He's not yet. Not the one you knew. He's just someone that needs your help."

He looked up at her, conflict written into every line of his face. "Not sure there's a switch to flip."

"I know, but it would give you a direction to aim in."

"Yeah…." He sighed. "Hey, you wanna aim for a shower?"

"That an invitation?" she teased softly.

"Always, Potts."

Pepper flashed him a smile, leaning down for another kiss. She felt his hold start to tighten around her again and she pulled up, standing. He seemed to catch on quickly that he was expected to follow and he was off the bed in an instant, a trail of clothes left behind them all the way to the bathroom.

                                            ________________

He woke in a strange bed in a strange house long before the sun seemed to be working it's way up in the sky. Howard lay there for a long moment, evaluating. The bed was empty beside him. Okay. He was relatively sure he was sober too. He'd know more when he sat up and tried to stand. Might wake up more too. Right that seemed like a good approach. He needed more data.

Slowly memories started sifting through the fog of sleep as he sat up in the large, comfortable bed. He'd hitched a ride to the future. Right. And met his future son. Tony. Thathad been a surprise. A good one, mostly, even if Tony's standoffish reaction left Howard wondering what he would eventually do wrong to destroy the relationship.

The room was dark, and even pulling the curtains didn't help a lot. He climbed out of bed, bare feet against the wood floor, and inched his way around the perimeter looking for a lamp. Or a light switch. Anything.

"May I help you find something, Mr Stark?"

Howard jumped a little at the Irish lilt, then grinned. Tony's AI system. Of course. She was more fantastic than he could have imagined. "FRIDAY, right?"

"Yessir."

"Ha. I'll be damned. I know there were lights when I came in last night."

"Of course. Would you like me to gradually bring them on so that your eyes can adjust?"

"Might as well." A soft laugh escaped him as the computer system slowly brought the lights up. He'd been working on a process to access lights from a panel at the door - a side project that he'd mentioned offhandedly to Jarvis one day and hadn't heard the end of it since then - but nothing like this. This was fun. "Any chance I could get a look at your mainframe?"

"I'm a remote program housed elsewhere, but you do not have permission to access that."

Okay. Tony had taken precautions. Maybe that's what he'd been doing on the tiny device that he'd said was a phone on the trip out the night before. "So what can I access?"

"You may access the majority of the house. You are currently locked out of any modes of transportation, any computers on premise, and the boss' garage if closed."

"So he doesn't want me snooping?" Howard chucked. "Where is your boss this morning, huh?" Probably asleep. He'd looked exhausted the night before. If so, maybe he'd be able to look over something. Heaven knew this house had more to offer for the current century than Cap's had. Curiosity was his natural state. Nothing wrong with that.

"He's in his garage."

"And I'm gonna guess it's closed, isn't it?"

"No."

Interesting. He wondered if that meant it wasn't locked or if he was in there already. Only one way to find out.

Howard changed into the clothes that had been left for him - at least these fit a bit better, even if the styles were all a bit more snug than he was used to - and made his way quietly out of the room. The rest of the house was as dark and quiet as his own room had been and, thankfully, FRIDAY didn't announce his departure as he slipped past a partially closed door and out the front one.

The early summer morning air hit him and he let his gaze drift over the lake, the toys left out on the front lawn, and finally settle on a structure that must have been the workspace that the AI had described as Tony's garage. The door was open, light pouring out. His feet took him towards it, and as he drew closer he could hear music of some sort or another and the sound of a hammer against metal in a steady clink clink clink.

"Boss, Mr Stark," FRIDAY's voice cut through the music, lowering it just long enough to be heard.

Tony looked up, irritated. "What have I told you about turning down my music?" He didn't give the AI a chance to respond as he glanced over. "Morning."

"Morning," Howard echoed, his mind spinning to try to gauge the other man's reaction. He'd been so distant it had been borderline hostile the night before. He wasn't sure if the greeting had been friendly in and of itself or just by comparison.

"There's still some coffee in the pot over there if you want some." He motioned vaguely to his right, ducking back to his work.

Well, that sounded promising at least. Maybe Howard had just imagined the severity of Tony's reaction towards him. "Coffee'd be perfect. Whatcha working on?"

"Just tinkering. It's better than keeping Pep up when I can't sleep."

Howard slipped around a table and spotted the coffee set back a few feet, a few mugs set up on a shelf nailed to the wall. "Did you get what you needed from the guy in California?"

"Still working on that. My guess is later today. FRIDAY's in stealth mode to get it, so she's picking through the security quietly. Best case scenario we get it and Pym never finds out."

"I'd love to see the formula for-"

"Oh no. I'm not proving him right. He can keep his formula for all I care. I just need it to get you home."

Howard turned to argue and bumped into what he had thought was a fixed machine. The touch seemed to startle it awake and it gave a loud whirl, the claw opening and closing almost like it was taking readings from him. Maybe it was.

"That's Dum-E. Don't let him break another one of my mugs."

"Dummy?"

He thought he saw a small smile tilt Tony's lips. "He's that too. Bu hyphen E."

Dum-E gave another loud whirl, but this time the claw bumped into him. Hard. "Hey!" Howard snapped, but the machine swiped at him again.

Tony was on his feet now as the whirling continued. "Hey, easy," he coaxed.

It was angry. The machine - robot - was angry. "What'd I do?"

"He, uh…" Tony glanced at Dum-E, his thought trailing off and his brows pulling together. After a moment he reached out and patted the metal. "You remember that, huh?"

"Remember what?"

Whatever Tony had meant, he waved it off. "Nothing. He's, uh, a little territorial first thing in the morning." He gave the robot's arm another pat. "It's okay, bud. Let him get some coffee?"

The whirl he gave was reluctant, but he wheeled back and out of the way. Howard watched him curiously. "You built that?"

"Yeah. When I was fifteen."

"Damn impressive. I was scrounging for parts at fifteen. Everywhere I could find anything useful." He poured a cup of coffee. "My old man said it was a waste of time. Ha. Shows how much he knew. My guess is he'd be a lot happier seeing what his grandson put together than his own kid."

"Yeah," Tony answered reluctantly and turned to refill his own cup. He looked like he wanted nothing more than to jump back into whatever he'd been working on before, but he paused, and finally leaned back on the table. "I never met him."

"Yeah, well, you didn't miss much," Howard chuckled thinly and let his gaze travel over the man that he must have raised. He looked like him. From physical characteristics even to a few mannerisms here and there. "What's that?" he asked after a long moment, motioning to the soft blue glow from under Tony's dark shirt.

He looked down and gave it a quick tap with his free hand, the motion producing a small sound. "It's a mini ARC reactor. Self sustaining power source."

"What's it running?"

"My heart."

That startled Howard. "And you created that too?"

"You did, actually. I just made it work for what I needed."

"And it keeps your heart going?"

"Essentially." He downed the rest of his coffee. "FRIDAY, what time is it?"

"It is now 4:32 AM."

"Yeah they won't be up for another few hours…." Tony glanced around as if he were trying to find something he deemed safe to keep Howard busy. He perked suddenly. "C'mere. Friday, put the pot on in the back."

"Right away, Boss."

Dum-E whirled at them as Howard followed Tony through the relatively well organized garage. He thought they'd reached the back when Tony presses his hand against a pad on the wall and another door swished open to reveal a whole new room. In it was a collection of what looked like…. metal men. More robots, maybe? Some were displayed while others were in various states of repair. Red and gold, there was something about them. Steve had said his friend Tony was an Avenger. A superhero. He'd said that he'd saved the world more than once. He wondered if Tony just built them or if… Funny, one of them looked like it could be worn. Maybe it was a new type of aircraft. Now that was an interesting thought.

A sharp whistle drew his attention and Tony motioned to a set of gorgeous cars on the other side. He was pretty sure he liked the future.

"I have one that I got in a couple weeks ago from a dealer I know in Jersey of all places."

"'23 T-Bucket," Howard said as he made his way over. "This thing's a hundred years old now."

"Yes it is."

"You put them back together?"

"Sometimes. When I can't sleep. Keeps me from filling the whole garage with suits." He motioned to the ones that Howard had been looking at. So he did wear them. "What'dya say?"

Howard broke out into a grin. "I say if you're trying to distract me from everything in the front of the garage, you may have managed. For now."

Tony snorted, the sound amused as he set a box of tools on a work table. "FRIDAY, mix up AC/DC."

The question of what that meant died in his throat as what Howard could only assume was music filled the room and they started working. If Tony was upset or just overly cautious, he wasn't quite sure yet, but he'd have at least a little time to find out, and if he had done something along the way to hurt him… maybe he could fix. He'd always been good at fixing things when he put his mind to it.

                                            ________________

TBC

Notes: Look at my boys avoiding talking by fixing stuff while draining the coffee pot in the wee hours of the morning. You'd think they were Starks or something. :P

Next Time: Peter gets a visit from Nick Fury, Pepper and Peggy take a trip out on the town, and the boys try to figure things out.

[maybekatherine]

Last night I dreamed that Martha Wayne was wearing a bracelet that said Ravenclaw, so obviously, Headcanons.

The Kane Family was an Old Pureblood Family with Pedigree, so of course Martha was going to to go boarding school in Scotland instead of somewhere on the same continent.

Her brother was a squib, which was terrible, so all of their parents’ high expectations fell on Martha. She did not disappoint.

She did not disappoint up until she married a muggle.

Her parents dis-disinherited Jacob because at this point he was the least disappointing child.

It is a common misconception that Alfred Pennyworth comes with Wayne Manor. He did, in fact, come with Martha Wayne. It is so hard to find good help these days, especially help that doesn’t question strange happenings.

At one point in his childhood, Bruce was convinced that Alfred was a mutated, freakishly tall house elf.

Upon his parents’ death Bruce’s grandparents did try to get custody of him. But Martha’s will was very firm on Bruce not going to his grandparents, where he would probably hear all sorts of things about his awful muggle father.

Bruce was supposed to go to Hogwarts, but Alfred knew a thing or two about Bruce, and a thing or two about British boarding schools. So instead Bruce went to magic summer camp.

Grandma and Grandpa Kane pitched a fit. When that didn’t achieve anything, they moved somewhere tropical to try and forget they ever had kids.

Bruce takes the Statute of Secrecy very seriously. Possibly unhealthily so.

There were strangers around the Manor often enough, so before Dick moved in it didn’t take much effort to get everything magical hidden away somewhere where he Wouldn’t Find Out.

Bruce has to do about five double-takes when the street kid steals his tires, hits him with a tire iron, calls him a boob, and then does accidental magic while running away. Then he decides that he’s keeping Jason.

By this point of course Bruce and Dick are not talking to each other, so even though Bruce is now caring for a magical child Dick still doesn’t find out about the magic.

Bruce Obliviates Tim multiple times before Alfred points out that this can cause serious problems, and obviously isn’t a long-term solution anyway.

“Tim, I need to tell you something important that you can’t tell anyone.” “Do you mean the fact that you’re a wizard?” “...What.” “I found a folder of evidence that I don’t remember putting together, including notes on how I had previously found that folder but didn’t remember putting it together. I came to the conclusion that you were wiping my memory of the knowledge that you were a wizard, so I decided to just not mention it.”

Ra’s al Ghul burns seven secret bases to the ground because creepy owls keep finding them and he doesn’t know how.

Then Damian performs accidental magic and he throws up his hands and tells Talia to send him to Bruce because he’s not dealing with this anymore, do you have any idea how much secret bases cost, obviously it’s something he got from his father because he definitely didn’t get it from Talia’s side of the family, so make him deal with the creepy owl homing beacon Damian somehow turned into, he is so done.

“Beloved, your son did a weird thing and Father thinks it’s your fault, and told me to give him to you because owls keep finding him and it’s distressing Father immensely.” “...I’m sorry my what?”

At some point after Bruce dies, Dick finds Damian packing. “Where do you think you’re going?” “Summer camp.” “Since when? This is the first I’ve heard of it. Is it something you planned with Alfred?” “...Yes?”

Dick still doesn’t know about the magic.

[mightytwogunkid]

MCU Winterhawk/West Coast Avenger AU

I had an idea for a MCU west coast avengers/winterhawk AU, but I have to explain the AU first

 half of it isn’t that important to the plot but

So it’s MCU based  but then there’s a heavy canon divergence and some things are more 616 based

The first difference is obviously that Clint is a lot more like his more recent 616 self (think Fraction Hawkeye, Kate’s run as hawkeye, Occupy Avengers, West Coast Avengers, Captain America & Hawkeye,  etc)

Also, Jarvis is a butler, not an A.I,  since we don’t care if people think he’s too much like Alfred,  but  Tony  worked on an A.I. (or two   one J.A.R.V.I.S based,  the other Friday based)

As for the events, everything happens the same up until Age of Ultron,  where Wanda tries to get to Clint first, but Clint uses his super secret power a.k.a adopt stray, like he had on Natasha years before,  the rest of the movie doesnt happen

So 1. Clint doesn’t have a secret family hidden in a farm, 2.Ultron is not built 3. Bruce is not lost 4. PIETRO LIVES

There’s a small difference  with Captain America: Winter Soldier and that is since we arent constrained by actors schedules,  that clint scene happened

Not that it makes a big difference in the grand scheme of the AU, but it appeases my mind

Tony does end up building Vision, but since AoU didn’t really happen  and wanda didn’t put that vision of the future in his head, he’s taking it more slow  and ends up using one of the A.I he was working on as the base for Vision.

The team works together, they look for Bucky, fight against Hydra, A.I.M. Doctor Doom, Aliens  etc

Steve told Tony that bucky had killed his parents and Tony came to terms that Bucky was under hydra’s control

Also not that it makes a difference but 1. Peter is 23  and not a high school teenager, 2. the x-men and 3. deadpool exist and 4. So do the Fantastic Four  and 5. Pietro mostly works with the x-men 6. Falcon’s Red Bird is an actual bird  6. Doctor Strange is like 70 years old in this AU, his car accident happened not because he was distracted by a screen, but he was reading some notes. He doesn’t age, so he’s forever 35

Oh and Pietro and Wanda are ROMANI

Okay so about Civil War, when ross comes knocking on Avengers Towers, Bruce looks at him in the eyes and tell him “Harlem was YOUR fault” and also “Pretend all you want, you haven’t changed. For you, it was always about having the power controlled by you.”  and ross goes away

And to ensure he doesn’t come back, Tony hires attorney Matt Murdock to find a loophole to make the avengers not-privately-owned

Then, Bruce and Thor  are bff (or boyfriends if you prefer) and go on a space adventure, Thor goes back to Asgard and Bruce tries to go back to earth but ends up on Sakaar. Thor Ragnarok happens

Then infinity war, so Thanos kills the people on the Asgard ship (including/especially Loki (i have plans for him, just wait)), he also kills Gamora.  And Visions mind stone is destroyed,  but since the Avengers + the Guardians + Doc Strange + Wakanda + the X-men+the Fanatstic Four+ the Defenders + Frank Castle + Phil’s SHILED team are all working together as a team, they defeat the purple grape.

Now more important to the AU, a lot of this part is based on the Young Avengers comics, but still based in the MCU

After the battle au Wakanda, half the Avengers retire. Harley Keener comes in and becomes Iron Lad. He basically takes the place of  Nate/kang the conqueror as kid  from the comics

“[...] he downloads the remnants of the destroyed Vision's operating system into his armor. This reveals a fail-safe plan created by the android to reform the Avengers should they disband or fall in action by locating the next generation of Avengers [...] Using this plan, [Harley] assembles his new team, the Young Avengers”

Harley recruits Teddy, the son of og Captain Marvel (Mar-vell) and a Skrull princess (this au is made before the Captain Movie comes out, so we don’t know yet if Mar-vell dies  and if he does, then when but this is an AU so we just say that he wasnt dead around 2002), and Billy (who is, along with Tommy, the soul son of Wanda and Vision)), Eli, the grand son of a soldier who had received a trial of a super soldier serum. They later crash into Kate Bishop, who joins them and becomes Hawkeye. Together they bust Tommy out of juvie

Shuri is able to save Vision, but his memory/life experience is  none existent, so he’s given a kid/teen body and he calls himself Jonas

Then most of the Avengers come back to being Avengers  and Steve decides that the Young Avengers need training and supervision and names Clint as the leader/mentor of the YA (both because he thinks Clint is the best for the jobs but also to shut him up (Clint is always arguing with Captain America about how he could lead the team better than Steve))

Then most of the Young Avengers have to leave for College and they all decide to go to California together, Clint goes with them  and they rebrand to  the West Coast Avengers. Except Eli retires and stays in New York with his grandpa.  Tony gives them a mansion they make their home/headquarters andgives them Jarvis (the human) (because can you really trust Clint to take care of himself and a bunch of college kids?) (and also by then tony has already finished the other A.I which, as you already know, he named FRIDAY)

Then America punches her way into the dimension and joins the team.

And since Scott lives in the West coast too, he and Hope work with the WCA avengers sometimes too.  They also found out that Cassie Lang, Scott daughter, had powers because she used to sneak and used Pym particles  so now she can size shift.  She hangs out a lot with the WCA and joins then on missions sometimes  but she’s like 16 (she argues that that’s the Age the YA started at tho  but her mom is still protective of her)

Oh and then Thor brought in Loki who was reborn/reincarnated/resurrected as a kid, Billy aged him  to a teen to make him more powerful

So all that was the world building,  now we get to the premises of the fic

All this time, Bucky was still in hiding, in Romania, trying to figure out who he was. He’s no longer afraid of who he was, gets in contact with Steve. They have a tearful reunion.

Bucky gets along with Tony and Tony works on his arm. Tony works with Reed Richards (from the F4), Prof X (from the X-men) and Doctor Strange to ensure that Bucky is 100% free of Hydra (aka make sure the Trigger words don’t work ).  (stupid note aside,  Namor sees the four of them working together without him, thinks they’re excluding him from the Illuminati, goes to the King of the Inhumans  who just ignore him , So Namor ends up planning revenge with Doom/making out with him)

Bucky still first weird around the Avengers  and the relationship with Steve is weird because although Steve still gets into fights, he doesn't need protecting,  Bucky has yet to find a purpose.  So Steve sends Bucky to the one the guy who can understand Bucky the most, regarding mind control and also has a super power, which is “adopting strays”. In other words he assigns Bucky to the West Coast Avengers.

Which work out great because Clint is no longer the only full-time adult on the team (other than Jarvis,  and Jarvis  would say he’s the only adult there if you asked him) and Bucky has another blond accident-prone disaster he can protect.

So Bucky and clint get to know each other, bond, be kind of Dads(™), and fall in love

Oh and i didn’t say but Lucky’s there

[westletter]

January 2021

Dear Friends,  One of Albrecht Durer’s most enduring images is this 1498 woodcut depicting The Four Horsemen of the Apocalyse. It is based on the Bible’s Book of Revelation and can be interpreted variously. But the essentials are fairly basic: as punishment for our sins, mankind will be visited by Pestilence, War and Famine, followed by the ragged cleanup hitter down in the left hand corner, Death. In short, the End of Days is coming!  With resurgent COVID, bloody insurrection in Washington, hunger, hardship and death ravaging the land -- and why not throw in climate change for good measure -- one could be forgiven for concluding that the Apocalypse has arrived. Take away the religious element, and I am nearly there.  Yes, ultimately and somehow we shall overcome these travails, but this is a bleeping depressing mess we are in.  Why do so many seemingly intelligent people selfishly equate wearing a life-saving mask to taking away their freedom?  Why do so many flout the travel and social gathering rules?   Why are there millions who distrust the vaccines and say they won’t take them?  Can this really be happening?  Sadly, yes, and those four horsemen show no signs of slowing down.  Now we have seared in our brains forever the image of Confederate flag-waving “patriots”, egged on by the putative “leader of the free world”,  storming the Capitol in Washington in a violent attempt to subvert the presidential election.   My Great Grandpa Allen Sherman West who fought under Lincoln at Gettysburg is roaring from his grave.  This is not what he fought for.  Nor my father Allen Sherman West III who served in WWII.   My generation, the Boomers, has enjoyed for the most part, life without war.  That has been a blessing in many ways, at least materially.  No generation in history has lived so high off the hog, enjoyed such an expansion of human rights (but not responsibilities) and seen the average lifespan increase so dramatically.    But as the body politic has fattened, has our spirit become flabby?  Where are the social sinews that hold us together and give us the strength to face adversity collectively?  We had them in previous wars.  Are they gone forever, or can we get them back?  I am not sure.   Sometimes it takes a truly epic catastrophe, an Apocalypse if you will, to bring people to their senses.  Let us hope that is not the direction we are headed in now.   Apologies for posing so many questions without answers.  I leave it to the next generation, including Allen Sherman West IV, to guide us to enlightenment.  Watch out for those horsemen and stay well, CW 

                                             §

You probably recognise this fine fellow.  He is Mark Carney, the brilliant former Governor of the Bank of Canada who was a key figure in reforming the global financial system after the collapse in 2008.  He then went on to the governorship of the Bank of England and deftly stickhandled his way through the thickets of Boris Johnson and Brexit. What you may not recognise is that Mr. Carney has long been a champion of “impact investing”; i.e., investing that takes into account social, environmental and governance factors, so-called ESG investing.  In particular, for years he has been advocating the need to take what he has termed “the climate emergency” into account on private enterprises’ balance sheets.  He has argued on the one hand that there are enormous shareholder liabilities for companies that do not include environmental costs in the liabilities column.  On the other hand, he has proclaimed from the rooftops that there is a massive opportunity for shareholder gains in companies that are prepared to put capital to work in addressing climate change and reducing carbon output. Last August the elite banker found a new home where he is putting his philosophy  to work.  Brookfield Asset Management has appointed Mark Carney Vice Chair and Head of ESG and Impact Fund Investing.     Canadian-based Brookfield has over $550 billion in long-life assets under management and its subsidiary, Brookfield Renewables is home to a growing portfolio of hydro, solar and wind investments around the globe.  Said the visionary CEO of Brookfield, Bruce Flatt: “Over time we see ESG and impact funds matching the size of our existing platforms.”  “We are not going to solve climate change without the private sector,” said Mr. Carney in the Globe and Mail.  “We are in the early innings of a very long game.”   He is not talking small potatoes.  According to the industry publication Pensions and Investments: “The value of global assets applying environmental, social and governance data to drive investment decisions has almost doubled over four years, and more than tripled over eight years, to $40.5 trillion in 2020.”                                            §    CLASS OF 2021 MID-YEAR REPORT CARD  Sparkling returns mock the Apocalypse Apocalypses come and go, as do wannabe fascist autocrats.  The markets don’t care.  As the Headmaster has often remarked, he has no insight into where the markets are going in the short term.  All he knows is that a basket of well-managed companies with competitive advantages in promising sectors will rise nicely over time.   To wit: since the beginning of the school year, July 1st, 2020, the Class of 2021 turned in an average investment performance of 20.3% vs. 21.1%, 17.4% and 12.3% for the S&P 500, the Dow and the TSX respectively.  “Bravo Class!” declared the Headmaster.  “You stared the four horsemen down and matched or bested your benchmarks.  Keep up the good work.” Class results for the calendar year (January 1, 2020 - December 31st, 2020), that included the stomach-turning contraction last March, were similarly impressive.  The Class returned 13.6% vs. 15.5%, 6.5% and 2.8% for the S&P, the Dow and the TSX.   Here are the sector by sector results. Financials - A  Each of these blue chips -- TD Bank, ScotiaBank, RBC and BlackRock -- bore out its pedigree, with an average return of 21.8%.  BlackRock was the leader of the pack with a sterling 32.6% gain.  Remember, as previously reported, BlackRock is the largest investment fund company ($7.8 trillion under management at the end of September) in the world and CEO Larry Fink, echoing Mark Carney, has been an industry leader in demanding that companies do a better job of incorporating ESG into their strategic planning and financial reporting.  All promoted.  Resources - A plus The lone Class member in this highly cyclical category is Nutrien, the Calgary-based fertilizers and agricultural supplies retailer.  As the owner of the world’s largest, and lowest cost, potash reserves, the company enjoys the advantages of scale.  Adds the Headmaster: “When commodity prices are on an upswing, as they are now, Nutrien can do very well.”  Hard-working Nutrien’s return was 40.4%.  Promoted.  Energy - B  Quoth the Headmaster: “Enbridge has been a loyal, blue chip pipeline performer almost since this Class was formed 13 years ago.  It is with regret that I had to let him go this past October.  There was no pivotal event. Rather, the advantages of being a dominant conveyor of fossil fuels, in my humble view, came to be out-weighed by the disadvantages of same.”  “My timing may not be perfect, but it is inarguable that the production of fossil fuel, and businesses tied to it like Enbridge, are approaching or in decline.  It may be a long decline, but in the meantime, we need to give our precious Class space to an energy candidate with the winds of change behind it.  Last October I replaced Enbridge with Brookfield Renewables.”  From July 1st to October 10th, Enbridge  returned minus 5.5%.  From October 10th to December 31st, Brookfield Renewables returned 16.5%.  Promoted. Classmate Algonquin Energy, with investments in solar, wind and hydro, didn’t miss a beat during these pandemical times, with rising revenues and profits.  Its stock appreciated 19.3%.  Promoted.  Infrastructure - B Once again, Brookfield Infrastructure proved the value of its business model, investing in long-term assets like rail, toll roads and cell phone towers, with regulated cash flows largely immune to the vicissitudes of the markets.  The company’s stock price advanced 12.7% over the past six months.   Adds the Headmaster: “I am delighted that CEO Sam Pollock has reiterated his commitment to recycling assets, selling mature businesses when prices are high, and buying new ones that are out of favour when prices are low.  No one plays the game better than Brookfield.”

The company is forecasting $2 billion in new investments annually for the next three to five years, all financed without issuing new shares.  Promoted. Retail - C Classmates Alimentation Couche Tard (convenience stores) and Metro (groceries), as one might expect, benefited from being deemed “essential” in the pandemic and to date have been largely unscathed.  Their share prices, however, don’t reflect this achievement, up a very modest 1.6%.   Adds the Headmaster: “There’s excellent value there.  Metro, in particular, reaped large gains in revenue and profits at the expense of the locked down restaurant sector.  It will be interesting to see how much of those gains they can hang onto.”  Both promoted.   Industry - A plus Workhorses CCL (containers and labels), CNR and John Deere showed the Headmaster their mettle with an average return over the past six months of 39.8%.  He says: “That average masks the spectacular performance of Deere, which had a gain of 71% fuelled by rising farm crop prices and the promise of major infrastructure stimulus spending on the heels of the US election.”  All promoted. Healthcare - C plus “I must remind myself that patience is a virtue,” gripes the Headmaster.  Yet again, the markets have failed to ignite under the Class healthcare trio, Johnson & Johnson, Amgen and Merck.  “Not to worry,” he quickly adds.  “While an average gain of 4.1% is nothing to write home about, each of these wonderful businesses is riding the pandemical wave with ease.  In fact, both J&J and Merck are in the thick of the vaccine race, although they don’t need a winner there to do well.  That would be icing on the cake." Final comment: “I have no doubt the market will better appreciate the value in these companies in the months ahead.”  All promoted. Telecom - B “Class member Telus,” says the Headmaster, “is nothing if not a model of consistency, once again boasting the lowest “churn rate” (customer turnover) in the industry.”  Telus also owns PC Magazine’s “Fastest Canadian Mobile Network” title.  These, and other virtues, underlie the company’s more than respectable return of 10.7%.  Little known fact: Telus derives about 15% of its revenues from Telus International, a global outsourcing and digital solutions company.  According to the the Headmaster: “There’s a possibility Telus will spin out International.  If they do, I would expect a nice bump in shareholder value.”  Promoted. Information Technology - A Classmates Visa, Apple, Microsoft and Open Text combined for an average return of 17.1%.  It must be noted, though, that Apple did more than its share of the heavy lifting, with a return of 45.5%.  “Of this foursome,” says the Headmaster, “only Visa has failed to grow its revenues and profits through the pandemic.  It’s almost perverse how well Apple and Microsoft have done.  Granted, luck has something to do with it, but good businesses make their luck.  Both these companies have spent years and billions making it easier for people to work, and learn, and be entertained remotely.  COVID-19 has only accelerated the trend they were already on.”  All promoted.  Entertainment - A plus  “I sometimes get asked,” says the Headmaster, “why I don’t invest in so-called ‘disruptive technology’ companies, the ones grabbing the headlines like Tesla and Square and Shopify with their sky high stock prices and stratospheric valuations to match. Too risky, I answer.  And I don’t need to be greedy.” “There are a number of companies in the Class of 2021 that give us plenty of exposure to innovation and disruption, without the nosebleed valuations and the attendant risk.  Look at good old Disney.  The growth in their streaming business is screaming, but I don’t have to pay an arm and a leg for it.”     Disney expects its streaming subscriber base to triple to about 250 million by 2024.  The stock is up 62.5% since last July 1st.  Promoted. If you would like further information on any of the investing ideas raised in this issue, or a complimentary consultation, please call or email.  CW     

[misskittydenoire]

Can I Be Him?

Title: Can I Be Him? Character(s) Mentioned: Bruce Banner, Tony Stark Pairing: Bruce Banner x Reader Genre: Romance Rating: E (Everyone) Words: 1,913 Author’s Note: Hello kitties and gentle-cats! Been a long time since I’ve updated, right? Again, I am sorry for that. It’s been really difficult to break through this writer’s block. However, I have managed to finish up this Bruce x Reader song-fic that I’ve had on my mind for a while now. I don’t know if it’s any good to be honest. It is shorter than my other stories, but I hope it will entertain you for a brief period. This is based on a song sung by James Arthur titled Can I Be Him?. He apparently won in the X Factor or another competition that Simon Cowell is part of, I don’t know. But you have heard his name but not the song, he is the same singer who sang Say You Won’t Let Go from his Back From The Edge album. It’s a beautiful song that many hopeless romantics can relate to. If you have an opportunity, definitely take a listen to it. Alright, on to the story! Presenting,Can I Be Him? Summary: Once again, Bruce Banner had found himself dragged into another one of Tony’s parties. He always found these pointless and dull since he never felt participating in random banters or discussions. However, this time became completely different. It could actually be worth coming, because you stepped into the door and into his heart.

Bruce Banner adjusted the white cotton collar of his shirt for the third time tonight as he attempted to keep himself far from the throng of people on the dance floor. He stood in the corner as he pondered to himself, Why did I agree to attend Tony’s party again? Oh, now I remember, I was forced to come. Though he didn’t mind socializing, Banner preferred to be away from the crowds. Maybe if Stark didn’t make this a black tie event, he’d might be more comfortable but tonight wasn’t the case. Tony had orchestrated this extravagant gala for a new charity he’s organizing, filled with many star studded celebrities, members of the Avengers, and some sponsors behind the organization along with him. Bruce already forgot what the charity was exactly for. Frankly, he always drowns out Tony’s incessant chattering.The physicist sighed deeply, debating if he should call it a night or not. Despite the reprimanding, he knew he would be receiving from his science partner, he took the chance and decided to make a run for it. Banner casually walked towards the bar, Tony leaned against it as he conversed confidently with one of his guests. “Tony, I’m gonna head out. It’s getting late.” Bruce lied, gesturing to the door over his shoulder. “What? The party’s just getting started. From what I recall, you don’t have a curfew, grandpa.” Stark quipped, crossing his arms in skepticism. He knew Banner well enough to know when he’s making excuses. “Well, not everyone can be as energetic as you, Tony.” Bruce replied, sarcastically. “Just—stay awhile longer,” raising his hands as a gesture to stop him from leaving before he went back to his guest. The physicist inwardly groaned before he nodded, accepting his suggestion. Now he knows, it was worth staying; the moment you walked into the ballroom. My heart has been stolen, Bruce thought to himself when he noticed your presence by the main entrance. You glowed with excitement as you gazed in wonder at the surroundings. It was nothing like you’ve ever seen before. The chandelier itself was eye catching, its crystal baubles shining brightly against the light. It felt like the atmosphere filled with your glow the moment you set foot into the festivities and Banner was captivated by you. It was as if your aura brought him back to the time he wasn’t living in a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde novel. He continued to watch you as you scanned the wide room, his senses heightening with a feeling he hasn’t felt in years. Bruce felt like the man he once knew, the man before the Hulk. As if on autopilot, he made his way towards you, like a gravitational pull he was unable to escape. You walked absent-mindedly, not paying attention to the strangers around you as you walked through the classical architecture of the museum that was rented for the evening. Suddenly, the high heel of your right foot caught the hem of your f/c mermaid gown, causing you to fall on your rear. You silently whimpered from the soreness slowly emerging beneath the skin of your behind. Your cheeks burned red from embarrassment, mentally hitting your forehead for your clumsiness.Thankfully, no one seemed to have noticed it. Well, you believed no one noticed. “Are you alright?” An older gentleman asked, offering his hand. You paused for a second, captured by the distinguished handsomeness of the person in front of you. You shook your head of such thoughts to answer him. “Yeah, just bruised my pride. Maybe even broke my butt bone, but I’ll live.” You answered with an awkward smile. You placed your hand in his, the warmth of his palm enveloping yours as he lifted you from the marble flooring. “I don’t think you broke your tail bone, but your pride, on the other hand…” “I’m Y/N. It’s nice to meet you, though I wish it wasn’t under these circumstances,” You introduced yourself as you laughed from his remark, not realizing you both continued to hold hands. “It’s nice to meet you, Y/N. Bruce Banner.” He replied back. You both looked down, noticing your hands were still joined. You two chuckled, embarrassed as your hands loosened their grip and fell to your sides. A faint blush rose to your cheeks, you bit your lower lip before you uttered another word. You weren’t too sure how he’d react to what you’re going to say. “I know who you are, Dr. Banner.” “Oh, you’re familiar with some of my work?” “Um…More like I’m familiar with you turning into a big green guy.” You stated with a worried grin. “I was there when you and the rest of the Avengers fought with those creepy alien…thingys.” Bruce chuckled, not surprised that the other guy would recognized before him. He’s come to terms with it, especially after he finally found the formula to keep his mind intact as he transformed. “Ah, that was my next guess. Love your elegant description, by the way. ‘Creepy alien…thingys.’” You became all that Bruce wanted. And he knew it from the very first moment. For the first time, Banner didn’t want the night to end. As long as he can spend it with you. “Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen. First of all, thanks for coming tonight. I know you probably had to call your babysitters, your nannies, or…whatever, to come tonight. I mean, it’s me so why wouldn’t you?” Tony smirked, holding the microphone close to his lips as his guests’ voices rose in laughter. “Now, I didn’t just invited you to bask in my glory. You guys do that everyday.” Once again, the crowd chuckled. Some clapped in amusement while Sam and a few other of his teammates teased him to get a move on. Bruce paid no attention to Stark on stage. He was more enthralled in what you were saying, making jokes and intrigued by his work. Granted, you had no clue what he was talking about but he made sound Science fascinating. The excited physicist was in the middle of explaining molecular energy when he blushed from raving over his field, pausing to look down at his shined dress shoes. “I don’t want to bore you with all this.” “No, no! I’m actually curious about what you do. Though I should warn you I’m not going to remember any of the terminology.” He slightly threw his head back in laughter. Banner hasn’t laughed this hard in ages. “So tell me, what do you do for a living? I’ve never seen you before.” “Oh well, I—” Stark’s voice drowned you when he announced, “Without further ado, presenting up and coming artist Y/N L/N!” A spotlight shined above as the applause of people boomed. You turned to the scientist, your cheeks turned rosier. “I’m the entertainment.” You nervously chuckled as you walked towards the stage, leaving Banner surprised and astonished but with his curiosity piqued. Your lips stretched into an earnest smile, taking the microphone from Tony’s hand before he walked off stage. “Thank you very much, Mr. Stark. Good evening, everyone. Um, I’ve written a song that is very dear to me. It came to me on a rainy Sunday morning. I hope you enjoy it.” A soft, gentle melody snuck in as your voice carried throughout the large space. Your song was a slow ballad, filled with the hope of finding your soulmate again. You sung of the constant pain of missing someone you’ve never met and how you send your love to them every night. Like a prayer, a lullaby that was only for your beloved and how you waited for their return. When Bruce heard that song, as if a light came on and began to flicker in his heart. Your heartfelt yet sorrowful song ended, the last note echoing before the crowd applauded your performance. Your e/c eyes turned to Bruce, a soft smile extending to your round cheeks. He looked back, completely mesmerized by you. He wanted to hear you sing again, allow himself to be captured by that melody that could almost break your heart as you waited for your love. However, he swore that every word you sang, you wrote it just for him. His thoughts, his woes, it was as if you felt it too. The whole room felt like it dissolved, leaving you and him alone. It was Bruce’s private show, though he knew you never knew him until tonight. As you stepped gingerly down the stairs, his eyes never left you. Bruce whispered to himself as you headed towards him, “Could I be the one you talk about in all your stories?… Can I be him?” 

It’s two weeks since the gala ended. Bruce, in the lab with Tony, continued on with their work; however, his mind always went back to you and the sweetness of your voice. Besides you, the lyrics of your song haunted him. You both continued to speak after that evening, and created a bond like no other you’ve felt before. “So there’s this guy…,” You began, averting your eyes to the cup of coffee in your slender fingers as you sat on the cream leather couch near him. “Oh? I- I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.” Bruce stated, a tone of disappointment laced within his words. You made a face of uncertainty, your nose scrunching up causing the older gentleman to chuckle. Perhaps there was a chance? He doesn’t deserve you, Banner thought. His lips touched the rim of his paper coffee cup in order to hide his frown. “Frankly, it’s not serious. He’s hurt me so many times that I’ve cried more than I’ve smiled. I don’t know why I haven’t broken up with him yet.” You sighed, recalling all the times your significant other has broken a promise, lied, or just ignored your presence for something of “more importance”. If you were mine, I’d never let anyone hurt you, Y/N. I wanna dry those tears, kiss those lips… It’s all I’ve been thinking about. He said internally what he couldn’t say out loud. However, the moment he noticed your eyes welling up with tears; your face clearly displaying sadness and frustration, he couldn’t hold his words back any longer. “Leave him.” You turned to him in surprise, “What?” “Leave him, Y/N. Be with me. ‘Cause a light came on when I heard your song and I want you to sing it again. I swear that every word you sang that night, you wrote them for me. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. Everything disappeared and it was like a private show, even though you weren’t singing it for me,” He said, nervously chuckling at what was spilling out of his mouth and heart. Bruce knew that he’s going out on a limb here, declaring his feelings to someone he’s only known for a few short months but he knew that this connection wasn’t one-sided. You must have felt it too. “Bruce…,” You whispered, a soft grin emerging as the tears rolled down your cheeks. “Can I be the one you talk about in all of your stories?” Banner moved closer to you, closing the small gap of cushion. His large and rugged hand reached out for your cheek, which you leaned in without hesitation. “Can I be him, Y/N?” You brushed your soft pink lips against his, your e/c eyes never closing as you met his deep coffee brown ones. “…Yes.”

[thelittleredheadedmusician]

Photo Album

Batfam Week Day 1 is Family. The supremely talented @sam-and-crystal collaborated with me to create the picture I describe in the Wayne Family photo album. I can’t believe that she took the description and turned it into a beautiful reality! You can also read the fic here on my ao3. Rating: PG (Jason has a bit of a mouth and I stand behind Kate’s burn but some may not) Words: 2,095 Gen (only familial relationships though it’s heavily implied that the batkids end up with kids of their own. Insert personal headcannon’s there (including adopting kiddos of their own).)

The little girl roamed the manor in awe, her expression showcasing the pure definition of wonderstruck just as it always did when she came to visit “Grandpa Bruce”. She came across a section of the library that she couldn’t remember visiting before. The shelves here held books that were thicker, their spines almost resembling the three-ring binders she used in school. Ever so carefully the girl removed the books and placed them in a growing stack at her feet.

Bruce found her seated there on the floor, miniature towers surrounding her, an hour later. She was smiling as she cautiously turned the page of the volume she had nestled in her lap. Bruce maneuvered between the piles and carefully sat himself next to her. All the while his joints creaked and ached, his body’s belated revenge for years spent brutalized in the name of crime fighting. Peering over her shoulder Bruce felt the corners of his lips flick upward. “I see you’ve found the family albums,” he whispered.

“Is that what these are?” she asked with her wide eyes sparkling.

Bruce bobbed his head once and gently tugged the album from her lap to his own. Flipping the page, he smiled as something in his chest warmed. Staring up at him was his family in all their rambunctious, candid glee.

Tim sat directly in the middle of the frame, wedged on the couch between Steph and Cass. The two girls were successfully tickling Tim and you could just make out the hint of a motion blur around the edges of their forms as they squirmed and laughed. Damian sat on the arm of the couch with his back leaning against Stephanie. His arms were crossed as he petulantly stuck his tongue out at Dick, for once looking like the child he had truly been. For his part, Dick was sticking his own tongue out at Damian. Face scrunched up, hands on his hips, his butt jutting out as he leaned forward. The stance reminded Bruce suddenly of Peter Pan. Jason stood behind the couch with his arm slung around Duke’s shoulders. His head was thrown back in a laugh so you could just make out his shut eyes and open mouth between the jutting chin and flop of hair. Duke was smirking at whatever joke the two had made, likely at Dick’s expense, with his arms crossed over his chest. On Jason’s other side stood Babs, her palm pressed into his shoulder mid-shove. Her lips had scrunched up to the side of her face, wrinkling her nose in the process. However, behind her glasses her eyes sparkled with silent laughter. Behind Barbara and just barely in frame stood Alfred, a wide smile on his face as he watched the chaos his charges created.

“I took this picture,” he told her, tapping lightly on the page.

“How?” she asked. The knit of her brow told Bruce that she had sat through enough family dinners to know how hard it was to get them all joking with each other, even after so many years.

“Luck,” he said with a smirk.

The day the picture was taken was one of Gotham’s many dreary ones. His various children had found refuge from the drizzle and damp in various wings of the manor. Even now he couldn’t think of what might have drove them all there on a perfectly average Saturday besides the weather. The day before he had promised Tim to help with some WE things but had gotten significantly sidetracked, ending up in the living room arguing with his cousin over the phone when the teen walked in.

“Kate, I don’t think you understand exactly how redundant that is,” he half sighed into the phone. Pinching the bridge of his nose to try and ward off a Kate induced headache.

“And I don’t think you understand exactly how redundant you are! Come talk to me when you stop being an exorbitantly wealthy, cishet white male of a nonspecific faith,” she screeched back.

Bruce loved his cousin, she was often right, he just didn’t appreciate her ire being targeted at him. He turned to Tim sitting on the couch, who gave a little wave and mouthed “I’ll wait” with a smile. Bruce could tell he had heard Kate’s outburst and was now significantly more eager to hear his response than talk business.

“You need to understand that you have every reason to be mad and what you said is true, however directing your anger at me for those reasons isn’t helping right now since they are not only unrelated but also as I haven’t done anything wrong.”

“Yet,” she immediately shot back.

Bruce sighed. “Yet. Now please, can we get back on topic?” He paced as she laid out the full extent of her anger. Now and again Bruce would interject with a question that she would then elaborate on but otherwise he just listened. His concentration narrowed to the problem she was dictating to him and when they both hung up about twenty minutes later, on good terms, he was surprised to find the living room filled.

Over the course of the conversation his other children must have filtered in. They now sat before him, talking and laughing. Tim was wildly turning his phone this way and that, obviously playing a racing game of some sort. Steph cheered and poked him in the side, causing Tim to flinch and jerk his phone.

“Steph!” he whined, “I was winning!”

“Just a game,” Cass poked him in the other side. She wore a sly grin and her eyes had a mischievous glint to them. Bruce had to admit he was glad that her mischief wasn’t being directed at him.

Stephanie snickered and the two girls shared a knowing look before they pounced. Tim didn’t stand a chance as his phone dropped to the floor.

Damian had perched on the arm of the couch, half leaning on Stephanie once she sat back slightly. Dick stood in front of him, waggling a finger in Damian’s face. “Just because you deny it doesn’t mean it’s not true!” he crowed.

“-tt- Only a true idiot such as yourself would believe in such an outrageous thing.” Damian rolled his eyes spectacularly.

“Oh really? Then why do your ears turn red whenever I say anything about it?” Dick asked.

Damian narrowed his eyes and Bruce could see him formulating a response.

Bruce decided to turn his attention away from his eldest and youngest son, full-well knowing that he would be made aware of the fallout of their current conversation as it happened. His eyes landed on Jason who was leaning with his forearms on the back of the couch. He was semi-aggressively ruffling Tim’s hair as the girls continued their tickling.

Duke was tapping on Jason’s shoulder, obviously trying to direct Jason’s attention to Dick and Damian’s increasingly dramatic not-actually-a-fight-fight. Babs was attempting to braid a few stray pieces of Cass’s short hair as she moved. Jason’s sudden focus on a brother that wasn’t Tim drew Barbara’s attention as well.

Bruce heard Jay snort as he quickly opened the camera app on his phone. He raised it as he heard Jason mutter something, snapping the picture just as his son let out a raucous laugh. Bruce lowered his phone without looking at the screen, instead standing there and smiling at his kids.

“B? Uh, everything ok?” Tim asked. Stephanie and Cass had dropped their hands to their laps. All of them had their own unique dumbstruck faces. Bruce blinked at them.

Alfred cleared his throat and stepped away from the back wall where he had been standing. “I believe Master Bruce is, ah, taking it all in.” He smiled kindly at Bruce before turning his attention to the kids.

He could see them all squirm a little, a few smiles and chuckles. Bruce was used to it though, he wasn’t one to openly show affection and no one was exactly comfortable acknowledging when he did. At least not when he was standing right there.

“I know I promised that we would talk business Tim, but I can’t pass up on a day such as this.” With that he swooped towards the couch, scooping up Cass and easily and gently throwing his daughter over his shoulder. She squealed and lightly pounded her fists on his back.

Bruce chuckled as she laughed, he was waiting for the rest of his family to lay chase.

“Hey! That’s my protegee!” Babs yelled as she ran after them.

“And my best friend! Kidnapping is a crime!” Steph called out.

Bruce glanced back in time to see Jason’s long strides overtaking the two girls. “Yeah well that’s my little sister so I get first dibs on ass whooping!”

Bruce laid on the speed as Cass’s peals of laughter filled the manor. Bruce could just hear Dick’s shout of “Get in line Jay!”

Rounding a corner, he was forced to skid to a stop, resulting in a soft “oof” from Cass. He murmured a quick apology and felt her sign “It’s alright” into his back. Bruce turned his attention back to the obstacle that caused him to stop. Before him stood Tim, Damian, and Duke. All three wore matching mischief making grins and Bruce had some sudden serious concern as to when they had all started spending enough time together to do that. The last Bruce could recall Damian and Tim still hated each other and Duke was still not quite comfortable around the other two.

“Now boys, let’s discuss this civilly,” he tried. Cass tapped his right shoulder and Bruce began edging that way. He could hear the others getting closer. They all stood there tensed, waiting to see who would make the first move.

“Now!” Cass yelled and Bruce took off running again. A smile on his face as he sprinted down the halls. “Kitchen!” Bruce veered left and slid to a stop in front of Alfred, who already had two bowls of ice cream readied. Setting Cass on her feet, Bruce turned to look at his daughter questioningly. She just held her phone up at him and smirked. Bruce gave Cass a high five as they grabbed the ice cream and went to barricade themselves in the cave.

After about ten minutes, and hastily finishing their ice cream, the two of them were dragged from the cave into the large movie room that the manor was home to. Dick had pulled a movie from the shelf and flipped on the DVD player. “What’d you pick?” Barbara asked.

“Man from U.N.C.L.E. Something we can all actually agreed on,” Dick said. His gaze met Bruce’s and he smiled as his eyes twinkled. Bruce flicked up his lips in a smile of his own. His eldest knew how to keep the peace, even if it didn’t last long.

The rest of the night passed relatively without incident. Tim lost his popcorn when Damian aggressively fist pumped, upending the bowl. Steph was told to shut up after the third time she said how much she loved a particular dress. Jason was shushed for bemoaning that his action sequences couldn’t be viewed from such good angles. In all, it had been a good day. A real win for the Wayne family and company.

“Hello? Anyone in here? Alfred said you were here and I will not take kindly to being startled,” Dick’s voice carried through the library. He rounded the corner of the shelves and smiled down at them. “There you are munchkin! Hey B! I’m surprised to see you on the floor. You think you can get up?”

Bruce scoffed. “I’m not that old Dick. I’m guessing you were sent to collect us?” Dick gave a sharp nod and a grin. Bruce handed the photo album back and slowly pushed himself to his feet.

He began following after Dick when he paused and looked back. The photo albums were still stacked around her and she hadn’t even made a move to get up. “You coming sport?”

Her head jerked up. “Huh? Oh. Sorry. These are just so cool.” A small smile danced across her lips as she kept staring at the page.

“You know, why don’t we bring some of these along? I think everyone else might like looking at them too.”

Her face lit up. “Really?” When Bruce nodded she scrambled to her feet and scooped up as many albums as she could. Bruce helped her and between the two of them they managed about half of the piles. 

[lydiastormborn]

title: spaces in between

characters: damian & jason

summary: there’s an unexpected rooftop talk about resurrection, morally questionable families and not-bonding based on a threat to life

a/n: pre-new 52 setting, first in a series of one-shots about al ghuls’ impact on batkids’ lives

[on ao3]

Damian is crouched on a rooftop of a warehouse near the docks when he hears someone land behind him. He tenses for a moment; hard, heavy footsteps make him think of Father, but Batman would be silent, regardless of whether he’s angry or not, so that’s not him. Therefore, he’s almost not surprised to see the Red Hood crouch down on Damian’s right, leaving a reasonable distance between them.

“Little demon brat birds shouldn’t be out by themselves at night,” he says, his voice just on the edge of mocking and annoyed, “especially when they’re benched.”

Damian tts at him. “I do not know what you are talking about, Hood.”

“Come on, kid,” Jason scoffs. “No way in hell your ribs are fully healed after what happened on Kane Bridge last week.” And Damian’s first instinct is to touch his ribs and make sure the bandages are still in place because it’s true, but he controls the impulse. “I can actually relate if you were going crazy doing nothing at the Manor, but still. Not your brightest idea.”

Damian glares at him, hopes it’s still pronounced regardless of his domino. “What is it to you? Why are you here?”

Hood shrugs. “Like the view,” he says, gesturing to the shady, run-down warehouses, dirty river and thick smog hanging in the air.

As irritated as he is with the man’s unexpected appearance, Damian decides to ignore him in favor of continuing to observe the docks for a few minutes more. If nothing happens, he supposes he’ll have to do with stopping some petty muggings.

A moment later, he’s startled by a faint, mechanical hiss and he glances to the side to find Jason taking off his helmet and putting it on the ground next to himself.

“You’ll have to forgive me, brat,” he says, not sounding particularly sorry, and lights up a cigarette.

Damian doesn’t grace him with an answer, but he does watch Jason from the corner of his eye; seemingly, he’s at ease, almost relaxed as he exhales the smoke, shaking off the ash from the tip of the cigarette and staring into the distance. He isn’t wearing his red domino tonight and his hair is sort of a mess, black curls mussed up by the helmet. Damian, however, finds his eye drifting to the shock of white falling in front of Jason’s forehead. He rarely sees the other man without the helmet -- actually, rarely sees him at all since he doesn’t actively antagonize them that often these days -- so he still finds that particular detail… unnerving.

“Does it remind you of him?” Jason asks suddenly, his voice calm, quiet. Damian clicks his tongue at him to mask his uneasiness.

“What?”

“You’ve been trying and failing to stare subtly, so figured I’d ask,” Jason explains and tugs at his white streak briefly. “This. It reminds you of good old Ra’s, doesn’t it?”

There’s something strange in Jason’s voice, perhaps a bit of self-deprecating black humour, but Damian doesn’t really want to dwell on it right now; instead, he does his best not to stiffen visibly at the mention of his Grandfather. It’s been so long, it shouldn’t matter anymore.

“Frankly, Todd, save for that perhaps, you do not remind me of him at all,” Damian tells him flatly after a moment, when he’s sure nothing in his voice will give him away.

Jason snorts at that, taking another long drag from his cigarette. “Good, I don’t know about you, but I take it as a compliment.”

And perhaps it’d have been the end of this not-quite conversation, as Jason doesn’t seem particularly interested in pursuing it, but Damian, to his own surprise, asks, “Why don't you dye it?”

Now it’s Jason’s turn to be thrown off balance. “Huh?”

“If it does remind you of my Grandfather and it makes you… uncomfortable, why not cover it up?”

Jason looks at him for a long moment, his teal eyes watchful and guarded. He lets the rest of his cigarette burn before stubbing it out. Then, he’s shaking his head. “That’s not what you want to ask,” he says.

And that’s -- yes, that’s true. As loath as he is to admit it to himself, Damian supposes there are some things he’d like to ask Jason about. He has wanted to since they found out about the circumstances regarding his resurrection and restoration, although his curiosity is probably based on less personal and more selfish grounds than Father’s or Grayson’s.

Then again, perhaps it gives him the advantage of actually being able to ask and listen.

“Do you keep it as a reminder?” Damian asks then, almost hesitantly.

Jason taps his index finger against his knee once, twice. “Yes and no,” he says. Damian doesn’t expect him to elaborate -- at best, they’re not enemies anymore, definitely not friends. But after a long moment, he continues, “Taking a dip in Lazarus Pit, on the top of that, while your crazy grandpa was there, is not something I can forget about, even though I don’t really remember it. Not in the way most people would, anyway,” he adds, perhaps sensing Damian’s questioning look. “It’s like… Ah, hell, it was like things painfully coming into focus after being blurred for long. It was sharp and electric, not in a good way. Burning, drowning, suffocating, you name it. I felt… swallowed.” He sighs, runs a hand through his hair. “You’ve been around these things for a long time. You know how many things serve as reminders.”

“Acids,” Damian says, without having to think about it twice. “Fumes.”

Jason nods. “Yeah, those,” he agrees and chuckles humorlessly. “Sometimes all it takes is rain combined with faint, chemical smell in the air. It’s enough to make my skin itch and make me want to throw up.”

Damian wonders why Jason is telling him all that, sharing such vulnerable information, exposing himself -- but, with a jolt, he realizes that it doesn’t change the way he perceives Jason. Somehow, it doesn’t make him look weak in Damian’s eyes.

This realization is both annoying and calming.

“Do you regret that Mother used the Pit to restore you?” he asks, words out of his mouth before he can stop himself.

“Ha,” Jason breathes out, but his shoulders tense. “It was either that or me being there without really being here for unforeseeable future, as far as Talia’s resources stood.”

“That’s not an answer,” Damian points out, stubborn to the core.

“Because it’s a loaded question.” Jason makes a move as if he wants to light another cigarette, but doesn’t go through with it in the end. “Do I regret coming back? Sometimes. Do I blame Talia for seeing a chance and taking it? No. Do I wish it all could have happened in a different way? Sure.”

“Mother did what she thought was best,” Damian says, his voice speaking of conviction he doesn’t feel, hasn’t really felt when it came to Mother for some time now.

Jason barks a laugh at that. “Oh, I don’t doubt that, I’m just not sure whose well-being she had in mind.” He cuts himself off abruptly and sighs again. “Look, kid. As far as things go, I don’t really care for Talia’s reasons to find me, take care of me. It was probably to get back into Bruce’s good graces and when it became obvious that wouldn’t work, she decided to indulge my quest, but keep me at bay.”

“She used you,” Damian states simply.

“Yes. And I made use of the resources she presented me with.” Jason shrugs and Damian’s eye drifts to a holder in which he thinks Jason keeps his flame dagger. “We aren’t on particularly great terms now, but she was there for me when no one else had and it’s something that matters to me.”

Damian is silent for a moment before he speaks again. “When I must had been around eight year old, I was spending most of my time with various teachers. Mother seemed especially busy at that time, Grandfather went as far as to mention she’s been neglecting her part in my education because…” he trails off, suddenly unsure.

“It’s okay, you can say it,” Jason tells him.

“Because her pet project had been taking up a lot of time.”

“Figures,” Jason sneers, but there’s no real bite in it. “I guess I was already your grandpa’s least favorite.”

“I asked once, but Mother refused to specify what was her… project about. Just said it’s someone. I suppose this was the closest I have come to finding out about your existence,” Damian adds.

“Well, to be fair, I had no idea about you being in the picture, either,” Jason says. “Your mom can be really tight-lipped when she wants to, can’t she?”

Damian can’t quite help his hackles rising at that. “She must have had a reason--”

“Jeez, chill, kid,” Jason cuts him off. “Talia does whatever the hell she wants and we both know it. But she must have had a reason to reach out to me and ask to help you.”

That gets Damian’s attention. “She contacted you?” he asks, quashing hurt and jealousy he shouldn’t be feeling. He hasn’t heard from her in months, which is probably a good thing overall, but.

“Yeah, I was surprised, too,” Jason admits. “But I guess I do owe her at least this one time more, so here I am.”

Finally, the second part of the man’s statement registers. “Why would I need your help?” Damian spits out, disbelieving. Jason snorts.

“Here, I was starting to worry you do have a heart after all,” he comments flippantly. “And to answer your question, Ra’s is apparently starting to go off the rails again. I mean, it’s been awhile since he last sent ninjas after your or tried to steal your body, hasn’t it? Or Replacement’s, for that matter.” Jason tilts his head to the side, looking away from Damian for a moment. “That was a really fucked up thing if you ask me, by the way.”

“So you are saying that he sent ninjas after me,” Damian states, still calm. Ninjas, he thinks he can handle, even in his currently injured state, but deciding to sneak out tonight does seem like a rather bad idea now.

Jason picks up his helmet and calls, “Duck, Robin.”

And, to his own bewilderment, Damian obeys -- which is sort of a good thing, as a bolt of something like lightning rips through the air where his upper body just was. He rolls over the rooftop, ignoring the pain in his ribs, and kneels closer to Jason’s side, who is in full Red Hood getup again.

“Even better,” Jason says, gesturing to three figures looming on a rooftop across from theirs. “He sent magical ninjas. I hope you’re on good terms with Zatanna or some other magic folks, kid, because we could use that kind of help like, right now.”

Damian groans internally as he makes a break for the edge of the roof, Jason keeping up with his pace easily. It looks like they’re in for a long night.

[redsvsblus-blog]

Scoot

Name:  Butch Travin 

Sex: Female

Birth:  10/21//XXXX

Age: 22

Nationality/Ethnic: American 

Eyes: Forest green 

Hair:  Auburn Redhead, pixie cut

Skin: Light tan with freckles everywhere.

Height: 5ft 8in

Scarring/Marks: Birthmark on the back of left hand. Burn patch on lower back. One wide laceration scar across chest, and another down the left side of belly.

Sexuality: Hey dicks are great but so are boobs.

Class: BLU Scout

Map: [None set in stone]

Loadout:

Weapons

Primary: Force-A-Nature   

Secondary: Pretty Boy's Pocket Pistol

Melee:  Sandman

Cosmetic [as reference]

Airborne Attire or Fast Learner

Orion's Belt 

Digit Divulger

On Call: 3 Years

Precious Trinkets: A dog eared picture of her family and a golden locket. 

Personality: As hyper as a scout could be. The girl is chatty and practically bounces on her toes almost every second of the day. At the same time, even with her childish personality, she knows when to shut her mouth. Though to earn respect from her, you would have to give it in return, common courtesy, as her father says. Don't mean she wont be a little shit if given the chance, especially if it is deserved. 

History: Butch comes from a family of 6, three big sisters, one little brother, a single dad, then herself. The mom in question was just another lady, the fourth for the record, that dad fell for in thinking that this lady was the one. Before they got knocked up and dumped the girls on John no sooner they were born. Butch‘s situation was no different from her siblings. The only ones fully related were the two elder sisters, twins actually. Must be fun having different mothers but never knowing them. To be honest the redhead never felt too bothered by the fact a woman that was their birth mother didn’t want her. Not like it ever affected the girl’s life nor self-esteem- or so she wants to think so but who were they kidding? As long dad was around that was fine. Though when it came to be no surprise that when John fell for one more lady, she jumped ship and left a new baby boy, Tucker, for them to raise. At this time, being at the rebellious stage and easily resorting to violence, the teen busted out the bitch’s car windows in return. Sure she got a shit ton of trouble but the satisfaction of causing horror to another person that caused another hardship to her family was worth it Now having a fifth mouth to feed, and getting in trouble with the law again, it was pretty damn hard for their dad to support four girls and now an infant. Everyone was only either working a few side jobs a day or doing full-time school things were getting damn tough. Figuring out that it was pretty pointless to keep up with her education- due to her busy getting into brawls more than anything- Butch dropped out and signed up at MANN Co and got assigned to BLU. It was definitely not all chocked up it was to be, thought this job paid damn well, better than what her father was getting working full time.  But to be on the obvious topic, there were heavy downsides to being a part of a team of mercenaries. Like getting to experience death about every day, dying at least twice every day, respawn glitches, getting up close and personal with REDs and being the BLU Medic's on and off again guinea pig. Though she would admit that to be fair- Augustine‘s experimentations had saved her ass from being sent home in a box when things fucked up. Even though while he is a dick - well more like the king of dicks- he is a damn good medic and had his own, odd, quirks of caring. If he didn't, Bruce wouldn't have all her guts and limbs back in place while juggling in being a mentor to another smaller, much younger, BLU medic. Pretty much the man is one of the main targets of her pestering, it was like having a grumpy grandpa around that stabs you with a needle every now and then. Hopefully, she can make it past her 7 year contract deadline without much of a hitch.

Update: After having a few run-ins with a RED Sniper that has been terrorizing her medic partners, the scout had been abducted while after hours were in place. Much to August’s dismay, the younger BLU had been missing for a month. It had been made worse for her when the man did nothing but rape her on a daily basis. That resulted in getting her knocked up and being a bit addicted to sex. Course despite the month-long torment, she hates the man’s guts more than anything. Eventually, her friends found where she had been stashed away with the help of the BLU pyro Doris and got her out of there. Despite already knowing she had been pregnant with the man’s child, she refuses to abort it nor let the Sniper have her child. It brings up another issue of her having to work through the term being she has a through contract. She will be forced to do so till she will be unable to perform. Of course, she had second thoughts on keeping the baby.

Headcanons: [Tag to be added]