#Cass ran away to Hong Kong so she kind of pushed them away and the second part she's always like this

[littlefankingdom]

Bruce died(?) again

Jason: Well, it's my turn.

Dick: What are you talking about?

Jason: Everytime Bruce is gone, one of you starts to act just like him, pushing everyone away, acting as only you can be right, and fighting anyone that gets in your way. Dick did it, Tim did it, even Cass kind of did it. So, this time, I will do it.

Tim: Isn't that how you act all the time?

Jason: Whoa, fuck you. You are so banned from historical drama movie nights.

[halfagone]

Cassandra Cain and Communication

I've been noticing an interesting trend in DPxDC fanfics lately where people write Cass like she's psychic, or in simpler terms: she can read someone and in an instant know how to help them. And while I can definitely see the merits of this kind of approach, there are a lot of things to keep in mind.

I cannot stress enough how isolated Cass' childhood was. When it's said that David Cain trained her only in the language of killing, it is not an exaggeration. In many early renditions of her character, Cass cannot speak at all, and if she can, only in short, brief sentences. Cass goes the first seventeen years of her life not knowing how to read.

That is a canonical plot point too. We see Barbara teaching Cass to read in Batman Volume 1 #567:

Based on the context surrounding this scene, this is a regular occurrence between the pair. Cass has also sought out Stephanie before to read something for her (Batgirl Volume 1 #20). If you're curious about more analysis surrounding this particular subject, this post has some interesting points and shows the gradual shift in how DC handled her character.

But this is early into her time with the Batfamily. What about later on, when she's more assimilated to the Waynes and her fellow vigilantes?

Well, you don't even have to be a hardcore comic fan to see how she continues to struggle with expression and communication. In Wayne Family Adventures, episodes 32 and 33, we see how Cass' ability to read body language has also hurt her and her relationship with the people around her.

She doesn't mean to hurt Stephanie's feelings in these episodes, but the damage is real and it happened. Cass means well, ultimately, but she still doesn't know how or when to address these problems. She sees that Steph is hurting and wants to help; those are all admirable qualities! But in the end, she only pushes Stephanie further away, and is left feeling guilty and carrying self-loathing in the wake.

Here is also a reminder: Cass killed her first man at the age of 8 years old, and consequently ran away from her father when she realized killing was wrong. She did not know what he felt was fear. She did not know the definition of fear, nor the word for it. She just saw the expression on his face as he died, and realized that something was wrong, and ran away.

Cass doesn't arrive to Gotham until she's 17 years old, around the No Man's Land era, if I remember correctly. She is on the run for 9 years in this time, and sadly, she did not pick up many- if any- language or communication skills during this period. This isn't a fault on her character either, when she likely had to keep moving and didn't have time to connect with anyone like she did with Barbara, who could teach her how to speak and read.

But at the end of the day, it makes sense that Cass doesn't know how to socialize. Think of a real life example: some kids who grow up homeschooled struggle to make connections once they reach adulthood and start looking for a job. They've never had to make small talk, or address strangers face-to-face, so they don't know how to interact with people. Cass' situation is a more extreme version of this scenario, but with blood, brutal training, and child abuse involved.

At her core, Cass is a good person. And she will continue to be that good person. But she doesn't always have the answers. Nobody does! She'll continue to help people to the best of her abilities, but sometimes those abilities can be limited.

Cass is not a perfect person. When Bruce was lost in the timeline, and the remaining Batfamily members started to splinter and fall apart in the wake, Cass didn't remain in Gotham to help with the rising violence with Batman's absence. Instead, when her family needed her most, she went to Hong Kong, because she didn't want to be there without Bruce. She did briefly meet Tim in Paris, when she had saved him from the Daughters of Acheron, but she still doesn't accompany Tim, nor does she return to Gotham even after finding out the city is extremely understaffed.

Cass is well-meaning, but she is not faultless. We might not like to acknowledge the flaws of our favorite characters, but those flaws are a part of them! Just like how Bruce consistently fails to express himself is a part of his. Or how Dick tries to pretend that everything is fine so he doesn't have to address his own problems. Or how Jason can be inconsistent with his motivations and people get hurt as a result. Or how Tim keeps too many secrets and pushes people away, ruining multiple relationships in turn.

I could go on and on, but all these characters are more than just their flaws. The same thing with Cass.

So don't be afraid to show a Cass that doesn't know how to fix things. Don't be afraid to show a Cass that doesn't know what to do, but just tries her best. It's one of her most admirable qualities: always trying no matter what.

[unmaskedagain]

Spider Vs Bird

 I worked a long time on this fic. I really liked working on it though and I hope you enjoy it

 Peter met Marinette when they were six-years-old. She had been sent to camp in New York. She had been scared to be so far away from home, and while fluent in English spoke with a heavy accent that made other kids look at her funny.

           Peter had never been away from his parents for more than a few days, ever. He wasn’t happy. He was miserable in fact.  Peter had been sitting alone behind a tree, having escaped canoeing, face hid in his knees. His wanted nothing more than to go home. He sniffled.

“Don’t cry,” A soft voice said next to him. He looked up and saw a pretty bluenette with big blue eyes and a kind smile on her face looking at him. She looked about his age. “It’s okay. Do you miss home too?”

           Peter nodded, and tried to make it look like he was crying. The other boys could be really, really mean. “I want my pops and dad.”

“I miss my mama and papa too,” Marinette said. “I’m really far away from them.”

“Where are you from?” Peter ask curiously. He hadn’t met many people from different countries before and never a kid his own age.

           Marinette played with her hair, “France. Where are you from?”

“New York City,” Peter smiled. “It’s far but not as far as Paris. Do you miss it?”

“Yep; a whole a lot,” Marinette opened the care package from her Mommy and Daddy. It just made her miss them so much more. Her grandma Gina went to this camp when she was small, and so did her dad, so they sent her there too. “Chocolate, Vanilla, or Strawberry.”

           And just like any kid, Peter didn’t ask why she was asking. “I like vanilla.”

“Are you allergic to anything?”

“No.”

           Marinette nodded and pulled out two cupcakes from her care package. It had been sent overnight. “Here you go, have one.” She handed him a big vanilla cupcake.

Peter’s eyes went wide and he gave her a toothy grin that showed he was missing one of his front tenth. “Thank!” He bite into it. “This is really good,” he said with his mouth full.

“My parents made them,” Marinette smiled then bit into her own chocolate cupcake. “They’re bakers!”

           Peter blinked at her with wide-eyes, “That’s so cool! So they cake cookies and cake and like everything right? You must get to eat as much as you want. I wish my parents were bakers!”

           Marinette just laughed. It was the start of a beautiful friendship.

           Steve and Tony would get letters from his son all about the new friend he made. And get a picture of their little boy with his arm around a blue-haired.

“Her name is Marinette,” Steve read the letter. “She’s French. Her parents are the best bakers in the world who send her weekly goodie packages. They have the coolest job ever!”

           Tony blinked, “We’re superheroes.”

           When they picked up Peter a month later from camp, he was ran up to him holding Marinette’s hand, “Dad, Pops; this is Marinette! She’s the best. She really smart and funny and cool. She’s my best friend ever! And-”

           Tony laughed, “Easy there, squirt. Take a breath. Hi Miss Marinette.”

           Marinette blushed but grinned big, “Hi, Mr. Stark, sir. Peter’s really nice. Like really nice. He even stopped a big kid from killing a poor little spider. He was really brave!”

           Peter grinned, “You’re really brave. You’re the one who pushed him when he pushed me the ground. You even made him apologize. It was awesome.” He told his parents. “Can I got to Marinette’s? Please. I want to see her bakery.  Pretty please.”

“Paris is a long ways away bud,” Steve teased. “You didn’t even want to leave for camp remember.”

“Not without your Ameri-bear,” Tony added with a chuckle. “You’ve been sleeping with that old teddy bear ever.”

           They stopped laughing when they saw Peter giving them a wide-eyed look, his mouth dropped opened, with his face a bright red. Before they knew it, Peter was shoving them towards the car, “Be right back, Mari.”

           Peter glared, “Don’t blow this for me.”

           Tony snorted, “Blow what? Do you even know what they means?”

“Yes,” Peter huffed indignantly, though it was a lie. “Marinette’s really, really nice. And smart. And funny. She doesn’t think I’m weird. Or too smart or anything. And she’s so pretty. Like really, really pretty.”

           Steve cooed, “Aww, you have a crush on Marinette.”

“NO!” Peter shouted. His face back to a bright shade of red.

           Tony smirked, “So I shouldn’t send out the wedding invitations then?”

           They were there for every milestone of Peter’s life; the day he was born, the day he crawled, his first word, his first steps, his first lab explosion, his first missing tooth, and his first day of school. Now they were baring witness to the first time Peter visibly looked to be contemplating murder. Unfortunately, it was at them.

“Mari’s parents are really cool,” Peter stated. “Just be cool like them.” Then he ran back to Marinette.

“I’m Tony Stark,” Tony said incredulously.

“I’m Captain America!” Steve said at the same time.

           Still, they ended up meeting the rest of the Dupain-Cheng family, and found them delightful.

           It was from that summer on that the Avengers got used to seeing Peter and Marinette running around the tower together. Peter also got used to be teased for his supposed crush on his best friend. Natasha ended up taking Marinette under wing and training her in combat and the art of spying.

           However, it was only two years later, when the Avengers responded to an intruder alert and found Marinette standing over a hogtied Nick Fury, with a fierce look on her face and Peter looking proud, that Tony said two magical words:

“I ship it.”

           Damian Wayne met Marinette when they were ten-years-old. Damian had only been living with his father for five years but still had trouble acting like a normal kid. The life of a league of shadows member was hard to break from; especially if it’s ingrained from a young age. He had been chastised more than a few times for leaving off on his own, especially in a place like Gotham.

           When Alfred informed them that an old friend and business associate was coming to visit with her granddaughter, a girl Damian’s age; it was to no one’s surprise when his father took him aside and made him promise to be polite.

           The woman Gina had showed up in the beginning of summer. She arrived on a motorcycle that had been so loud they heard as soon as she pulled up to the house. Alfred had answered the door with a chuckle.

“Penny!” The woman exclaimed and jumped at him with a hug. She had short silver, nearly white, hair and dressed mostly black and had a studded black leather jacket on and boots. “Ugh, still as boring as ever, I see,” Gina said once she pulled back from the hug.

“Gina,” Alfred smiled. “You haven’t change a bit.”

           Gina just laughed, and turned her attention to Bruce, “Brucie; I heard you took my advice to go exploring the world. How’d you like it?”

           Bruce smirked, “It was… educational.” He had known Gina since he was a boy, having spent a few summers with Tom, even gone to his and Sabine’s wedding. The woman hadn’t been to visit since Bruce adopted Tim and Cass. “You remember my boys?”

“Dick,” Gina said pulling the oldest Wayne boy into a tight hug. “You get more handsome every time I see. So sorry to hear you and Barbs broke up. I know some amazing girls I can introduce you to.”

           Dick just laughed, “I’m fine flying solo for now.”

“Jason,” Gina said crossing her arms, with a raised eyebrow. “I haven’t seen you since I let you steal my last motorcycle.”

           Jason smirked, “let me?” The only reason he’d happily come to the Manor was because Alfred told him Gina was on her way. She was the coolest lady he knew growing up.

“Oh please,” Gina waved him off. “You drove it to the Barnes and Nobel’s on 4th, and it sat there for like three hours. I have a tracker on my stuff, kid. I let you. Now give me a hug.” Jason laughed and hugged her.

           The same went for Tim and Cass. Cass excitedly told Gina in Chinese all about her adventures in Hong Kong. Tim told her about his trip around the world. Then finally it was Damian’s turn.

           Gina smiled softly at the youngest of Bruce’s kids, “And who’s this?”

           Bruce put a hand on his son’s shoulder, “This is Damian.”

“Nice to meet you, Damian,” Gina said.

           Damian nodded stiffly, “Pleasure.” He wore a black tailored dress pants and a high collard green turtle neck.

           Gina rolled her eyes, “God, Bruce, he’s nearly as uptight as you were at his age.”

“I was not uptight,” Bruce defended, despite knowing he was bratty little shit when he was Damian’s age.

           Alfred snorted but smiled, “And the young guest you brought with you.”

           Gina grinned and held out her hand to her granddaughter who had stayed close to the motorcycle, “She’s a bit a shy.” She told them. “This is Marinette.”

“Hi!” Marinette waved shyly, blushing a bit.

           The family cooed at the sight of the little blue-eyed, bluenette, in a baby blue shirt with a yellow happy face and dark jean short, with her hair in pigtails and big smile on her face. So innocent, so sweet. Bruce, of course, had been acquainted with Marinette. He had gone to the baby shower for her and stopped by the bakery whenever he was in Paris. The girl was the sweetest little thing.

           When Damian and Marinette got sent off to play together, only Alfred, Gina, and Bruce thought it was a good idea. Damian didn’t know why he was being punished. And certainly there were more fitting punishment than spending time with some little kid.

           He sent a cold glare at the bluenette, once they arrived in the entertainment room, “There are video games and movies over there,” Damian pointed to the TV. “Amuse yourself. Or perhaps you would prefer a coloring book and a teddy bear,” He said sarcastically.

           Marinette crossed her arms, “First of all, I would love a coloring book, thank you very much. There’s nothing wrong with that.” He snorted. “And Bruce said we should play together; get to know each other. Or do you frequently disobey an order?” If Damian was a rebel, Marinette needed to know. Because there was a fine line between rebel and troublemaker.

           Damian huffed, “Fine; let’s play a game then. How about… Mortal Kombat.” He sent her a cruel smirk. “Not the video game. Real life. It’s simple. We fight and the first person to die or cry,” He said with distaste. “Loses. Up for it?”

“What weapons do we get?” Marinette asked. Bucky and Natasha had taught her for the last four years on a variety of weapons. Though she knew it was only because of Steve’s doing that they hadn’t taught her how to use a gun yet. They even got a shield agent assigned to Paris to train her throughout the school year.

           Damian raised an eyebrow, curious. He had expected her to run screaming from the room in sheer terror, crying to her grandmother. “What do you prefer?”

“Bo staff.”

“Same,” Damian said. “Let’s take this to the backyard.”

           When Marinette yelled to her grandma that she and Damian were going to play in the backyard, Damian marveled that no one came out with questions filled with suspicious. Granted the first time Damian said he was going to go play in the backyard, he ended up in Watch Tower going over surveillance footage.

           Marinette and Damian stood ten feet apart on the grassy field, each held a long black bo staff. It was quiet. Damian had set an alarm on his phone to begin the fight. Marinette set hers to play music.

           When the loud beeping sounded and Carrie Underwood’s champion started playing, they charged at each other.

           It was a mix of attacks and dodges. Their staffs met; each putting their full force behind it.

“It is not wise to meet a Wayne in Battle,” Damian growled at her.

           Marinette rolled her eyes, “If all Waynes are as big of a jerk as you are, you must all be used to be called out to fight.”

           Damian attacks. The two kids stand in one place, trading feints, thrusts and parries with lightning speed, almost impossible to follow. The youngest Wayne was reluctant to admit, even to himself, that Marinette had no trouble matching him. “You know what you're doing, I'll give you that.”

“Not too bad yourself,” Marinette nodded.

           The two slow walked around the length of the imaginary circle. Until they were in the exact opposite of their initial positions.

“Your taste in music is terrible though,” Damian added on. Marinette let out an angry hiss like a cat and attacks,

           Their duel continued. Their staff flash and ring. Suddenly, Damian swung his staff, partially letting go. Marinette seeing the staff free sailing, ducked quickly. Not seeing Damian catch it at the last second, and then send a kick flying at her chest. Her weapon flew out of her hand. Marinette crashes to the ground, and with a quick swing her legs, sweeps Damian’s feet from under him, losing his weapon in the process.

           Marinette and Damian jumped up, right back in the fighting position. What happened next was a mix of punches and kicks, and headlocks. Until they found themselves once again across from each in their imaginary circle.

Marinette’s hair was a mess, pigtails having come lose. She was covered in welts and bruises from the staff. There was blood on her shirt and dripping her nose.  Damian didn’t look any better. His well-groomed look was gone. His turtleneck had torn. His lip was busted. There was bruising around his neck from when Marinette had wrapped her legs around it and held him in a chokehold, like Natasha had taught her, until he managed to maneuver out of it.

           Giggles burst from Marinette before she could stop them, “You look ridiculous,” She laughed.

“Shall I show you a mirror?” Damian said with a smirk. He chuckled.

           They both shook their heads, looked at each other again, and they each fell over laughing. They only stopped when the sound of applause reached their ears.

           Damian and Marinette looked up and saw the entire Wayne family and Gina watching them.

           Alfred nodded approvingly, “I see she takes after you Gina.”

“That she does,” Gina grinned. “You’re grandson could give a young you a run for your money.”

“How long after you been there?” Marinette squeaked.

           Bruce fought not to smile. “Just as the music started to play. We were going to invite you both in for ice cream.” He had been furious at first at his youngest child for deciding to spar with a civilian but the fury had faded as it became clear that Marinette could keep up with his son. There were times when he was sure one was trying to kill the other but they always held back; even if only just.

           He looked at Gina, “It’s nice to see Damian getting along so well with someone.” He would regret those words soon enough. Very soon.

           Damian and Marinette spent the next few days running after each other and trying to one up another in best surprise attacks. Bruce’s older kids took bets. Jason and Cass voted that Marinette would eventually win. Tim and Dick sided with Damian.

           One day, after lunch, Damian commented on his field trip his class was taking, “The zoo,” he wrinkled his nose. “It’s barbaric. Animals trapped in cages while less human beings gawk in amusement. There’s a new wolf exhibit my teacher is dying to see. It’s all terrible.”  

           Marinette agreed. While she liked the zoo, she always thought the animals looked really sad. She took a sip from her juice box, “So let’s do something about it.”

           That night, after midnight, the two kids climbed out of their windows, onto the roof, and quietly raced into the darkness. When they made it to the Zoo, they wasted no time in disabling the security cameras and breaking in the wolf exhibit. Damian, dressed in his the Robin costume he wasn’t supposed to have yet, managed to calm the wolf down as Marinette, dressed in mostly black with a red mask on, stole a truck (something she learned from Clint.) By the time security managed to get the cameras working again the kids and wolf were gone. All without a trace.

           The kids, and wolf, ditched the truck about a mile from the manor and raced home. They snuck back in through the tunnels of the Batcave that let the batmobile move securely without anyone seeing it.

           However, when they finally got to the Batcave, they were met with the exasperated looks of Batman and Alfred and the highly amused looks of Gina, Nightwing, Redhood, Blackbat, and Robin.

           Damian nodded slowly, not even bothering to try to hide the giant wolf, “Father, I decided that Marinette should stay for summer. She is much more pleasant than I originally thought. And don’t worry, Marinette figured out you were batman her third day here. She even found the cave all on her own.”

           Batman narrowed his eyes. He took of his cowl. He had been alerted that his son and Marinette were missing from their rooms just seconds after he was alerted about a break in at the zoo. He knew his son well. And it didn’t take a genius to be two and two together. “Grounded! One week.” He looked at Gina who nodded in agreement, though the smile was still on her face.

           The kids huffed but nodded.

“And wolf is going back!” That was met with loud protests.

           Marinette stayed at the Wayne Manor for another month. Not long after the grounding was over, Damian came into the living room where his father and siblings were and informed his father that he was leaving, “Alfred is taking Marinette and I to the movies. There is a showing of the new Little Mermaid movie she desires to see.”

           Bruce closed the book he was reading, “Very well. I’ll tag along. We can make a family day out of it.” Dick was the first to agree followed shortly by the others, who wanted to see the havoc Marinette and Damian tended to create.

           Damian visibly froze, “No, father.” He stated firmly. “I had… hoped it would be just Marinette and I. We can be trusted, I assure you.”

“It’s not a matter of trust,” Bruce started but Jason interrupted him.

“No! Way!” Jason yelled, his eyes wide with a sudden realization, and a grin his face. “You like her.”

           It was the entire room’s turn to freeze. All eyes on Damian who had blush slowly creeping onto his face. “Marinette has proven herself to be a strong and intelligent ally. She is worthy of my regard.”

           Jason shook his head, “No. You like her, like her.”

“I have come to value her friendship highly,” Damian said but the deepening redness of his face told a different story. He went to elementary school, he knew what like-like meant.

           Dick cooed, “Baby bird has a crush.”

“I do not!” Damian hissed.

           Cass snickered, “It is alright. Marinette is quite lovely.”

           Tim smirked, “And she has rather nice green eyes. A bit dull though.”

“Blue!” Damian corrected quickly. “She has marvelous blue eyes. They are not dull. They shine brighter than the sun. They sparkle when she laughs, you dolt.”

           Silence filled the room. Damian looked horrified at his words. Bruce looked at his young son with raise eyebrows and a small smile on his face.

“I am leaving now, father,” Damian stated. “I will return as soon as the movie ends provided we do not stop for frozen yogurt. Good day.” And then he swiftly left the room, leaving his siblings snickering in his wake.

           Bruce opened back up his book, “I ship it.”

           The declaration caused the room to fill with shouts.

           Marinette would spend half of every summer for the next few years in Gotham; training with Damian under the guidance of Batman himself. Eventually going onto meet the rest of the Justice League. She and Damian used the zeta beams to hang out as much as possible.

The other half of her summers, Marinette spent in New York City at Stark Tower with Peter and the rest of the avengers. Learning under the tutelage of The Black Widow and The Winter Soldier, two out of four of Peter’s godparents (the others being Rhodey and Pepper of course), while Peter learned under his parents.

Damian officially became Robin at 12. Peter became Spider-man at fourteen. And Marinette became Ladybug at 13. It was to no one’s surprise the two boys were the first ones she told about being a superhero. And it was not to her surprise when they couldn’t keep it from their families for long.

“Aww, look you two match,” Tony said upon seeing Marinette transform. “Couples costumes.” The genius would later admit he had that mouth webbing coming. He still ship Peter/Marinette so hard.

           Three weeks later, Bruce had said, “A little bright, isn’t it?”

“Do I even need to mention the first Robin costume?” Marinette snapped back. Though she was secretly glad that as soon as she saw the original Ladybug costume she had Tikki teach her out to change it. Gone was skintight onesie. Now she dressed in a more armored uniform. That was mostly black with bright red polka dots everywhere.

           Bruce smirked. He was proud of the girl who had become his son’s closest friend, and obvious crush. He really hoped his son would ask out Marinette soon.

           Then the Avengers and Justice League found out. Marinette found herself defending Paris with a league member or an Avenger for like six months before she finally told them where to shove it. She would call them if she needed them.  Though she didn’t mind Robin or Spiderman dropping into help every now and then when their secret identities were in town.

           Chat, who had grown become a brother to Marinette once their identities had been revealed to each other, had fanboy’d so hard the first time Robin came to help. And then again when Spiderman appeared, after catching Ladybug in a web after she’d been knocked from the top of the Eiffel tower. Then Marinette had to reveal that she knew the Avengers and the Justice league.

           It took Adrien five seconds with Peter Stark-Rogers to know he had a crush on Marinette. And he cheerfully told Peter, “I’ve got the god of destruction in my pocket. I’ll feed you to him if you hurt her.”

           It took Adrien three days to realize Damian Wayne liked Marinette. And he braced himself, held his ground, and told the teen, “You like Marinette. She’s my sister. I just want you to remember: Cats eat birds.”

           He thought it was really menacing until Damian sprayed him the face with a water bottle, “Bad kitty.”

           Adrien hissed.

           As good as Marinette’s superhero life was going, so was her fashion career. MDC was slowly become well known high-class designer and household name thanks to Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, Bruce Wayne, Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Natasha, and even Lex Luther wearing her clothes.

her normal life had gone in the opposite direction.

           Lila had come to class and lied her way to the top; she went on and on about all the celebrities she knew. She promised all the students great chances and opportunities. Only a few didn’t eat it all up. Marinette, Chloe, Nathaniel, and Adrien called out her lies relentlessly. This caused the class to think of them as jealous bullies and had them ostracized to the back at Lila’s subtle behest. Unfortunately for Lila, Adrien had been quick to join them. And nothing she, or anyone else in class, could say to convince the blond boy otherwise.

           Marinette had thought of most of the students as friends but hadn’t been too surprised when they turned against her. She had never been to close to any of apart from the ones who joined her in back. For a while she had considered that maybe Alya would become her best friend but decided against it once she learned just what type of journalist she was. The glasses-wearing girl was always out for the next big scoop and didn’t seem to care how she got it; even if it meant putting herself in danger.

           Alya had also been adamant for a long time that Ladybug and Chat Noir liked each other romantically despite both heroes denying it repeatedly. She only stopped when Chat Noir told Alya that Ladybug was his sister.

           When Lila came, like the rest of the class, Alya ate up her stories and promises of a future at famous newspapers like the Daily Planet or the Gotham Gazette.

           And when Marinette claimed Lila was lying, Alya was the first to accuse Marinette of being jealous. The girl never seemed to get the message that Marinette and Adrien didn’t like each other that way and only thought of each as siblings at best and best friends at worst. Alya didn’t listen or care. Whenever Lila gave a tear-filled eyes saying that Marinette was being oh so mean to her, Alya was the first to defend her new bestie. The rest of the class following suit.

           It didn’t take long for Marinette to be voted out of being class president. This made Fearsome four, as Nathanial had nicknamed them after he and Chloe were given permanent spots as heroes, snickered as Marinette had pulled several string to for the annual class trip; so much for the class staying at Stark Tower with the Avengers or visiting Gotham and staying in luxury hotels. Oh well.

           Once she wasn’t class president, all the little things that Marinette had done in addition to the positon had stopped as well. She stopped planning dances, fundraisers, and birthday parties (mostly because she was never invited to go to anyone’s in classes anymore.) No more free sweets from the bakery for anyone but her three friends. No free commissions. No babysitting. No banner designs. Nothing. Squat. Zero.

           This of course caused anger from the other students in class as they had gotten used to all the free Marinette provided and tasks she did.

           Alya huffed, “You’re just getting back us because we’re not your friends anymore.”

           To which Marinette replied coldly, “Your point being?”

           It was suffice to say when Marinette fifteenth birthday rolled around and Marinette’s mom forced her to give invitations to the entire class, the students were quick to rip up the invitations in front of her face.

           Lila smiled, “Sorry, Marinette. Everyone’s throwing a party for me that day. No one can come.”

“Thank god,” Marinette said to their shock because it was obvious the girl was sincerely relieved. “My mom forced me to invite you, and I had no idea how to politely tell you I didn’t really want you to come.”

           On the day of Marinette’s birthday, Saturday, while the class was enjoying their own party, Marinette just finished setting up a mock carnival with rides, games, and concession booths, and an area for bands to play.  Adrien had even gotten his dad, Nathalie, and Gorilla to come on the threat of shaving his head bald.

Then Marinette’s guests started to arrive. Marinette’s schoolmates, the ones she had started to befriend after being made an outcast in class arrived first; the drama club, the art club, the fashion club, cooking club, and the world Travelers’ club had turned out be made up of some great people.

Adrien, Chloe, and Nathaniel stayed close to Marinette side; each wearing an earpiece.

Jagged Stone in all his rock and roll glory arrived first. Clara Nightingale practically danced her way in. Lois and Clark and the rest of the Kents were a bit more subdued. Though Cat, Nadja, and Lois immediately located rivals and the three could be found gossiping and sharing stories with each other. The same could be said when Style Queen Audrey, Wilhelmina Slater, Gabriel Agreste, and Miranda Priestly. Then it was just a slew of people; from friendly neighbors Marinette grew up with to famous models and actors and chefs.

She immediately greeted Damian with a hug, and thanked him for the perfectly wrapped green present. A second later, Marinette did the same to Peter, and thanked him for the blue present.

The two boys eyed each other.

Marinette looked confused, “Damian I told you about Peter, right? I talked about him all the time. And the same for Damian, Peter.”

“You didn’t mention he was Peter Stark,” Damian stated.

“Peter Stark-Rogers,” Peter corrected. “And you’re Damian Wayne.”

And Marinette finally realized she had forgotten to do one major thing; tell the Avengers and the Justice League that Marinette worked with both of them. Or at the very least Tony Stark and Bruce Wayne who looked ready to bring out the big guns.

Both superhero teams were very much aware of the others superhero identities as the Avengers never hid theirs and Tony hacked into the Watch Tower.

Lex Luther and Oliver Queen, the third and fourth richest men in the world, looked highly amused. While Gabriel looked like Christmas had come early. He had no idea Miss Dupain. He knew allowing Adrien to befriend the girl was smart idea.

The other heroes subtly watched the two for any signs that a fight might break out. Bruce had never forgiven Tony for hacking into the watchtower and uncovering Batman identity.

“Brucie,” Tony grinned and held out his hand. “You’re looking great today. No idea you’d be here. Or that you knew Marinette.”

           Bruce shook his hand a bit too firmly, “Her grandmother is an old family friend. I was at her parents’ wedding. I was at their baby shower. I’ve known Marinette for years.”

“We met Marinette when she was five,” Tony said. “She and Peter met at camp. Aren’t they adorable together,” He nodded to the two.

           Bruce forced a grin on his face, “Not as cute as she and Damian. They’ve been nearly inseparable since they were ten. Wouldn’t be surprised if hear wedding bells in the future.”

“Of course you will,” Tony laughed. “I’m sure Marinette will invite to her and Peter’s wedding.”

           The two glared at each other.

           Their significant others just shook their heads. Selena, aka Catwoman, looked amused. While Steve looked so done with this world.

“As one of Peter’s godfather’s,” Bucky said. “Should I be offering to fight Damian’s godfather?” He joked.

           Clark glared, his eyes turning a bit red, “Anytime you want.”

           Rhodey slapped Bucky on the back, “That’s all you man.” He was not fighting Superman over a case of puppy love.

           Diana looked a bit confused, “Should I engage in mortal combat with Peter’s godmother then?”

           Pepper crossed her arms, feeling last of the extremis still pumping through her blood.

           Natasha’s eyes narrowed, “It’s not required. But I wouldn’t mind a friendly spar or two.”

“You are the Black Widow, yes?” Diana asked. “A most excellent fight it will be then.”

“Where is Shazaam?” Thor’s voice thundered. “I wish for a fight as well.”

           Billy Batson had never been so happy that he wasn’t in his superhero form before. Quietly, he made his way to the Ferris wheel. He was going to avoid the god of thunder for as long as he possibly could.

           The magic users found each and decided to compare their abilities. It didn’t go well. Clint got turned into a frog… again.

           When Fury arrived he eyed the superheroes that were there; avengers, justice league, and the ones (dare devil, Jessica Jones, the Xmen) who were mostly unaffiliated. And briefly wondered if the kid who had hogtied him was planning world domination. He wouldn’t doubt it.

           The rest of the part went really well. Chloe, Adrien, and Nathaniel watched the superheroes in attendance like hawks. And were forced to break up more than one fight, or arm wrestling match that got out of hand. It ended up trending on social media, as various celebrities had posted pictures of themselves at the party. And then suddenly the world was asking wanted to know just Who Marinette Dupain-Cheng was. Marinette took that moment to announce that she was MDC. Which blew up the story even more.

           The only downside was that Peter and Damian seemed to have entered into a competition of some sort, the same with their fathers.

           At the end of the party, when sayings the goodbyes, Marinette swore she distinctly heard, Tony hiss, “Spiderbug forever!”

“Daminette!” Bruce snarled back.

           And she had vocally asked why Bucky was giving Superman wary glances but no one would tell her. Adults were weird.

           Monday came and the entire school, and all of Paris was buzzing about Marinette’s party. When she got to class, she was met with unhappy faces of her ex-friends.

“They wouldn’t let us inside,” Alya was quick to complain the moment the bluenette stepped through the door.

“We even told them we knew you,” Nino frowned. “The Bouncers didn’t believe we were invited.”

           Marinette shrugged as she went to her seat between Adrien and Chloe, “its invitation only. What happened to your invitations?”

           All the students frowned. They had been told the same thing at the door. And had been miserable when they remembered they destroyed the invites. Even Lila had nearly shed real tears when she saw just who she had missed meeting for real.

           Alya crossed her arms, “We tried calling you. But you changed your number! How could you not tell your bestie you changed your number? When did you change your number?”

“When I realized you still had it.” It was a cold response. One that Damien would’ve been proud of. “And I’m not your bestie. We’re not friends, remember? Why did you even try to come to my party, you were too busy last I checked.”

“That’s before we saw how awesome your party was!” Kim said honestly. “Dude who knew you knew so many celebrities.”

“Prince Ali was there!” Rose said excitedly. “I really wanted to see him.”

“Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Lex Luther,” Max whined. “I was so close but so far.”

           That was pretty much how the rest of the morning went, with a side of her ex-friends trying to question Marinette about being MDC and all the celebrities she knew. Marinette didn’t answer a single question.

           Just before the lunch bell rang, there was a knock on the door, “Hello, I’m here to pick up Marinette for lunch,” Damian Wayne smiled charmingly as he walked in. “My father’s waiting.”

           The class gasped. Lila’s mouth dropped.

           A second later Peter Stark-Rogers walked in the classroom, “Marinette, you want to go to lunch,” He said excitedly. “Dad’s waiting outside.”

           Again the class’s mouth dropped.

           Outside of the school, Bruce Wayne and Tony Stark glared at each other.

           Marinette looked confusedly at her friends, “Sorry, I didn’t know you guys wanted to go to lunch. Or that you were still in town.” She told them. “It’s okay, though.” She said brightly. “You can join me and Roy.”

           As if on cue, Roy Queen walked into the classroom, a big smile on his smile, “Hey Mari, you read-Oh shit!” He said upon seeing Robin and Spiderman. The two heroes sent the Red Arrow twin glares.

           Two minutes later both Tony and Bruce’s phones pinged. They opened it and read the texts they got from their sons.

           They looked up, and met each other eyes. “We kill Oliver together,” Tony offered.

“Agreed.”

           The Green Arrow watched through binoculars from a safe distance, “Long Live Roynette!”

[jinmukangwrites]

Explosion

Whumptober day 2

Summary: Tim’s definitely not feeling the best, and Jason reevaluate some things.

Warnings: Blood, description of injury, Jason swearing

-o-o-o-o-

Tim comes to first noticing how dark it is, and then the pain hits before he can process much else. He hisses as a bolt of pain races up his spine and he writhes as that bolt travels through his chest and down his arms then up to the base of his skull in the world's most agonizing migraine.

He can't focus on anything, he can't even move. His stomach is rolls and he desperately turns his neck, resulting in another wave of pure suffering tossing over his entire body, the smell of acid and blood reaches his nose.

He forces himself to stay still, holding his breath, chanting don't move don't move don't move over and over inside his mind. After what feels like a few minutes, the pain subsides, he releases the breath he was holding slowly to not trigger anymore waves of pain. Once he gets himself into a steady breathing rhythm, he begins to think.

The migraine is powerful, but his still movements and steady breathing has seemed to calm it to just a strong headache. He can think. Tim's always thinking, there's no way he'll let a little discomfort stop him from doing it.

He thinks about where he is, and the answer quickly becomes apparent that he has no clue. He can feel harsh, jagged rocks under his back, pressing into his shoulder blades uncomfortably, but that's the most that he has. He's not quite willing to open his eyes yet, just a tiny fearful of what he'll see or won't see, so he instead begins to focus on the last time he knew where he was.

It takes a minute. The last thing he can remember is from when he was standing behind Bruce as Bruce worked on the computer, pulling up different files relating to something to do with guns. He needed Tim to investigate something while he and the demon brat worked on a different case. Tim… left after that, going as Red Robin towards some kind of… warehouse? Yes, it's a warehouse. It's all slowly coming back.

He went inside the warehouse, finding it empty besides a few wooden crates. He opened one and… and…

Fire. Pain. Red and heat. A large boom that has his ears bursting.

Darkness.

An explosion.

He was just in an explosion.

He opens his eyes now, to keep himself from panic, his breath hitching. The first sight he sees is the result of his rebelling stomach from earlier. He wrinkles his nose and looks away, careful to not move his neck. He has a suspicion of why his spine hurts so much and he's not willing to prove it quite yet. He's on his back, so he has to look to the left to look up, and thankfully the sight of the sky greets him.

He's not buried, but when his eyes travel to his lower body all thoughts of relief leaves him.

No, he's not buried, just pinned under a giant support beam. It's over his stomach, but with all the rubble it's miraculously positioned so he's just very efficiently pinned, not at risk of suffocation. He would sigh in relief, but seeing the beam seems to remind him that he's in pain no matter how dulled it is from his persistent lack of movement. He winces at the aching in his chest and hips, he can feel various cuts and burns along his arms, and along his face come to think of it. The scent of blood in the air is so prominent that he knows he's bleeding, but his entire body has much the same ache so he can't pinpoint where the blood could be coming from.

He could be bleeding to death. His spine could be permanently damaged. Great. Another thing to add to his list of things wrong with him, he'll put "spine damage" next to "missing spleen" and "bleeding to death" next to "that one time Jason snuck into the Titan's tower and beat the shit out of me".

He takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself. Now isn't the time to panic. Now is the time to take stock of himself and evaluate his next metaphorical step (because he doubts he'll be taking any actual steps soon). He counts to ten in his head and then begins to slowly wiggle his toes, and thankfully they do actually wiggle. He can move his feet. He can feel his legs. Okay, so he's not paralyzed, but if he lays here for too long he very well can start planning on it.

Okay, okay next step. See if he can contact anyone. He bites his lip and lifts one of his hands to his ear. Waves of pain travels with the movement, but he's able to ignore most of it until he finally places his fingers on his comm link.

"R-Red Robin to cave," he says, his throat hurts and his voice rattles something in his chest. He resists the urge to cough and instead clears his throat of phlegm. "Is anyone there?"

A spike of pine erupts in his lower back and he groans, tenses as a second wave of pure agony races through his body. His vision swirls and his stomach feels the need to rebel again. He doesn't know if his body goes through with the urge, all he knows is the darkness creeping in from the corners of his eyes, echoes of his name from far away, and then be completely loses consciousness.

"… help…"

-o-o-o-o-

Dog notices something's wrong a whole second before something actually goes wrong. It isn't anything dramatic, just a small boof that makes Jason look up from the book he's reading. He raises an eyebrow at her but Dog isn't looking at him, she's looking out the window of Jason's apartment, her cute doggy face scrunched up in what seems to be worry.

"What-?"

And then, the ground shakes. It's not like an earthquake, more like a rumble one can associate with a large truck driving by, rattling the walls and clinking glass dishes in the cupboards. He would have almost assumed it was just a truck driving by if not for the large boom that split the air, startling Dog to her paws and Jason to his feet. Dog barked unhappily as Jason ran to the window, looking out into the night with wide eyes.

He knows that sound. The sound of an explosion.

More sounds reaches his ears, sounds of a crumbling building nearby, but not close enough for him to see through the mess of buildings on his block.

Dog barks again and Jason turns from the window to see Dog pulling something out from under his bed. Next thing he knows, he's watching her tug out his hood and place it down at his feet with a small whine. She licks her nose and gives him a head tilt, and he can't help but smile despite the anxiety slowly clawing into his chest.

He grabs his hood and pats her on the head. "Good girl," he says, before he lifts the hood closer to his face. Something reaches his ears from inside the hood. He scowls, wondering if he accidentally kept the comm link on inside it, and places it on his head, hoping to maybe catch onto anyone having a conversation about that explosion.

"-o cave…" a weak voice says. Tim. Jason's stomach clenches. "Is anyone there?"

Then, Tim makes a pained noise and bursts into very painful coughs.

"Tim?!" Jason asks, a strange sense of alarm sending red flags into his brain. Tim doesn't reply, just continues to cough. "Tim!"

Jason swears and rushes past Dog to dig out the rest of his uniform, he's in the process of tugging his leather jacket over his arms when a very weak, wobbly voice says a single word.

"… help…"

Jason is out the door before he can think about it.

-o-o-o-o-

As much as Jason hates to even attempt it, Bruce doesn't answer the comms. Neither does Damian. Jason can only assume it's because they're on their own private line; because the alternative is Bruce ignoring them which sends Jason's mind to a very unhappy place.

Bruce cares about Tim, and Jason repeats this to himself like a mantra as he speeds faster on his motorcycle. If anything happened to Tim, Bruce would be there. Bruce would never ignore Tim's cry for help like he would ignore Jason. No, he's just on a different frequency so he and the demon spawn can communicate without background chatter.

That's it.

He's probably elbow deep in fighting bad guys so he wouldn't have noticed a building exploding on the other side of town.

That's all it is.

Alfred is a different story. He would normally be in the cave assisting with all the communication or emergency research. If he doesn't answer, it can only mean Bruce gave him the night off or he's busy doing something else. Barbara and Dick are back in Blüdhaven last Jason heard, working on exposing some major underground prostitution ring of some sort so there's no way they would have heard the cry for help. Kate, Steph, and Duke all normally do their own thing like Jason does, and Cass is all the way in Hong Kong again, so it's a miracle in of itself that Jason even heard Tim.

He forgot to turn off the comm, forgot to take it off the general frequency the entire bat clan shares like some sort of mushy gross group call from the last time he was on it. Wasn't his choice. Dick forced him to get on it when there was a city wide terrorist attack a few days ago. You know, a normal Tuesday.

Though, it's not like it matters much now. Tim has gone silent, the connection's fizzled down to a steady static. It doesn't stop him from hissing Tim's name every so often, trying to make contact. It never works, but anything is better than sitting there with the constant static.

A car honks at him as he pushes his bike faster, running a definite red light. The explosion came from somewhere in the Narrows, which could only mean a whole lot of bad. Cops are slow to report there, mostly because of the constant stream of crime that plagues the demonic island. If Jason got some cops on his trail in Crime Alley and lead them into the Narrows, it might just help.

Because Jason knows that if Tim was caught in that explosion, there's a very slim chance Jason would be able to do actually do anything helpful. Tim sounded like he needed medical attention; something that Jason knows he's not the best at.

He swerves between two cars and someone flips him off through their window, but he keeps going, desperately fighting off the terror that he's too late.

"C'mon Tim..."

-o-o-o-o-

Tim comes to a bit slower this time, a bit more numb. His eyes flutter open and he vaguely notices that the moon is in a completely different position than it was before.

He lets out a groan, a hiss through his teeth, but is careful to Not. Move. At. All.

He doesn't want to repeat his last coughing fit from hell.

Instead, he blinks and focuses on breathing, on the meditation practices Bruce taught him and the ones he thought himself. He thinks that he should try again to contact someone, but if the simple action of holding his hand to his ear was enough to knock him out last time, he doesn't want to risk it again. He can feel cold seeping into his skin, scratching at his bones. He can't quite tell where his legs are anymore, and he's not sure if it's because of spine damage or if it's because of the beam cutting off the circulation.

Or if it's just a result of blood loss. He feels nauseous and he hasn't moved a finger yet. There's a dull pressure in his thigh, that he can feel. He kinda doesn't want to know what that is.

He's so deep in his own mind, trying to keep himself calm and trying to decide if he should try again to contact someone, that he doesn't notice the loud humm of an engine until it's shut off, the sound of footsteps on uneven ground following just a second later.

It's very close by.

Now Tim's very close to panicking. It can be anyone. It can be criminals. Criminals who saw the explosion and came to see if there's any pickings left before any cops get to the scene. Red Robin is a sitting duck, there's no hiding his mask on his face or the cape below him. He'll be completely helpless if anyone with bad intentions stumble upon him.

He sucks in a breath and holds it, clenching his fingers and fighting off the nausea swimming in his gut.

If he's found by a bad guy, there's no way in hell he's not going to go down without a fight. Spine damage and nausea be damned!

"Red Robin!" A voice calls and Tim almost passed out from the relief alone.

Relief, and then complete confusion, but he tries to focus more of the relief.

Jason. Jason's here. Tim doesn't know why (or even if he's here because he wants to help...), but Jason is here.

He opens his mouth, takes a deep breath, and yells. "Here!"

The act alone makes him dizzy, so he doesn't hear Jason reply; he doesn't even realize Jason found him until there's a hand on his head. He flinches and winces as once again a bolt of agony races up his spine.

"Shit, shit," Jason's whispering, wiping Tim's hair out from his face. Tim blinks and forces his eyes to focus on Jason's… face. The hood is thrown off and laying on the ground, there's nothing but that almost too small red mask to cover his identity. "Fuck."

"F-forty dollars…" Tim groans, but tries to force a smirk on his face.

Jason gives him a look like he thinks Tim is insane, but then his face splits into what almost looks like a genuine grin. There's a tightness to it that Tim doesn't understand… or want to understand. "You're in a debris sandwich, and you're concerned about how much money I owe the swear jar?"

"S'me… someone's gotta enforce-" he cuts himself off with a fit of wracking coughs. The action pulls at every ache and pain in his body, especially his thigh. His vision swims and if takes a while to realize Jason is calling his name, patting his cheek in a series of quick, somewhat gentle slaps.

"Stop…" Tim murmurs, willing the blurriness out of his vision.

"Then don't scare me like that, jackass," Jason mutters. Tim only hums, biting back his remark that Jason owes the swear jar another five dollars, as Jason reaches towards his jacket and pulls out a burner phone.

"Wat'r you-"

"I'm calling to see what's taking those damn cops so long."

"Oh."

Jason's attention leaves Tim as someone answers the phone, and Tim finds his mind wondering. He's so numb. And tired. Everything hurts at the same time too, which is weird. To be numb and in pain. He licks his lips and let's his eyes drag to the side, looking at the distant buildings and lamplights.

Never in his dreams did he think he could ever feel safe with Jason around. But right now, he feels that. Enough to finally let his guard down, relax his shoulders and let the tension fade. Tim and Jason had a rocky start, an understandably rocky start, and since their first meeting there has always been a tension. Tim is a reminder of Jason's failure, of Jason's mistakes. Tim is a reminder that Jason's been replaced.

Tim wouldn't blame Jason if he just called the cops and then left with an indifferent goodbye. But for some reason, he gets the feeling that this time Jason wouldn't do that.

"Hey, you listenin'?"

Tim blinks and lets his eyes land back on the former Robin. Jason has his hand raised part way like he was getting ready to smack Tim again but it lowers when Tim's eyes land on his.

"Yeah?"

A smile that looks more like a grimace passes over Jason's face. "An ambulance is on its way. I also finally got ahold of B, you'll be in the caring arms of Leslie in no time."

Tim hums. "Can… can you get help me up?"

Jason winces. "I uh, don't think that's a good idea, baby bird. We'll leave it for the paramedics. Try not to move your neck, okay?"

Tim almost nods. Man, he must be out of it. Instead he hums again. "Stay with me?"

Jason actually looks startled, as if the question itself shocked him. Or the implication that he wouldn't stay. Tim frowns when Jason doesn't answer, but finally Jason clears his throat and settles down next to Tim after a few silent seconds, placing his hand gently on Tim shoulder.

"Of course…"

-o-o-o-o-

The rest is a blur. Tim blinks in and out of consciousness when the paramedics arrive. The moment the beam's hefted from his body he blacks out, but he doesn't quite escape the pain. He hears sirens, can feel straps keeping him in place, but the pain always drowns it out pretty quickly.

But Jason is there... the entire time. He can hear Jason yelling at the paramedics when they were about to take off his mask. He can feel a warm hand in his. Encouraging words reaching his ears with the voice he never expected.

Then, there's a sharp pinch in the crook of his elbow, and the black consumes him completely.

-o-o-o-o-

Jason sighs and leans forward in the cheap plastic chair of the clinic, studying Tim with sharp eyes. He almost looks like a mummy with the amount of bandages on him, and the neck brace makes him look absolutely ridiculous. One of his thighs are heavily bandaged, and Jason winces at the memory of Tim pinned under heavy metal, skewered through his leg from a metal bar is some sort. There was a lot of blood, but not as much as there could have been.

It could have been a lot worse.

Tim could have been buried. The beam could have toppled over on his head or something as vital. The bar could have impaled his heart.

Tim could have died on impact. Jason could have stumbled upon nothing more than a mangled corpse.

And the thought sends his stomach rolling.

The thought sends him somewhere else. Somewhere in the Middle East. He's almost afraid to blink, that if he closes his eyes for even a second he'll open them and he'll be back there; a crowbar hitting his flesh violently, repetitively, a wheezing laughter breaking off every so often to ask him what hurts more. Overhand? Or Backhand?

He'll see the woman who should have been his mother sobbing in her restraints as he foolishly decides to try and rescue her. He'll see the bright numbers of an electronic counter, numbers too low to do much more than panic.

If he blinks, he's afraid he'll go back there. But keeping his eyes open has him thinking too much, thinking about what if it were Tim back there?

At first, he used to take pleasure in making people suffer the way he did. Beating Joker half to death with a crowbar was so intoxicating back then. Beating Tim half to death used to be a memory that he smirked at. Poor little Robin, had no idea what he got into, what kind of man he tried to step into the shoes of.

Seeing Tim like this now… it just makes him feel like he should maybe throw up.

He sits there, staring, listening to the beeps of the machine and ignoring the vibrations of his phone announces that Bruce is finally on his way. He does nothing but wage a war of if he should blink or if he should breathe or if he should just stand up and go, but then the decision is made for him when he notices a pair of half lidded, blue eyes looking at him.

"T- Replacement," Jason says, reaching forward to press the button that will let Leslie know Tim's awake. It's important to her to be one hundred percent updated on everything, especially since Tim doesn't have a spleen and anything can go wrong.

Tim blinks lazily before more awareness floods into his gaze. He focuses on Jason, and then a very strange smile tugs the corners of his lips up.

"Didn't… didn't think you'd stay," Tim mumbles, practically trips over his words.

Jason's heart clutches. How could he have ever hated this kid? This incredibly dorky kid whose both so incredibly trusting and untrusting at the same time? How could he have ever patted himself on the back for beating the shit out of him? For smiling at the thought of doing it again?

"Someone had to make sure you didn't move when you woke up," Jason replies, trying to go for nonchalant.

Tim's tired grin widens into a smirk. "Nah, you w- you were worried."

Jason glares. Oh yeah. This is why he hated Tim. He's the ultimate smart ass. "Yeah, well, don't expect me to dig you out next time you get yourself almost buried alive."

Tim chuckles and his eyes flutter, the good stuff in his IV beginning to pull him back under. "M'not worried."

"Why so?" Jason asked, raising an eyebrow.

Tim's eyes flicker closed. "Trust you…"

And then the world of the awake leaves Tim, and Jason is left sitting there, shocked once again at how trusting Tim is. How trusting of Jason he is. He's heard from Dick that he's basically Tim's hero, told to imagine how hard it was for Tim to even attempt at filling the shoes he left. Jason can imagine, he had to fill Dick's pathetic pixie boots once upon a time.

"You were Robin when he was a kid, you were the coolest thing to him, and he wanted nothing more than to live up to your legacy. Sure, I was first, but Tim was always your biggest fan," Dick had told him one rare, quiet night. Jason didn't believe it. He still doesn't quite believe it.

Leslie thankfully chose to come into the room before he could go further into that train of thought.

Bruce and Damian burst in soon after, to which Jason decides to finally take his leave. Bruce is already looking at Jason like he's done something wrong and the demon brat is scowling like he's looking for a fight and Jason just… isn't in the mood. He bids them goodbye and rushes out.

He almost makes it home, but then he's stopped in his tracks when he sees something in a passing store window. He sighs.

He's gone soft.

-o-o-o-o-

Tim can hear Bruce, his voice is muffled like he's on the other side of a door, and when Tim opens his eyes he finds that that's exactly the case. He lets his eyes roll over to where he almost expected Jason to be, but the sight that meets him is much different.

A simple teddy bear sits in the chair, dressed in a red and green suit, a yellow badge stitched on with a red R embroidered in the center, a cape tied around it’s neck.

There's a sticky note pressed into the fur of the bear, it's written sloppily and rushed, but Tim can just make out the words.

"Get well soon, Replacement"

He smiles and looks up to the ceiling, deciding whatever just transpired between Jason and Tim… it was good.

And he isn't complaining.

Though he could have done without the neck brace.