#Damian: Father you already have Catwoman!!!!

[fairy-lights-and-blobs]

"And you say...the little one is my son?" Phantom has floated down to be eye level with Damian, his legs dissipating into a tail made of galaxies and the void of space, looking remarkably like a snake as it coils into a sort of seat that leaves the ghost and the young boy at proper eye level.

Good, Damian would not have let the man look down on him, Ghost King or not. At least, in this regard, Phantom and Father are quite similar, although Batman cannot so freely adjust his height like this, especially considering his, as Todd would put it, "old man joints".

Phantom seems to be thinking deeply about how the situationhas come to be, so Damian squares his shoulders and moves on with the explanations (and prepares for rejection.)

(After all, the maternal side of his family has already taught him you can be related by blood and still not be "family" enough to be deserving of love or acceptance)

"Yes. It would seem that instead of Father's DNA being the paternal sample Mother used, yours was, in some way, added to the mix. We do not yet know how but..."

"The ectoplasm...it's-it's the only way it makes sense. You're what, 12? By that point in time I was pretty much stuck to the Throne, swamped with paperwork that Pariah Dark let pile up. I barely left to eat, nevermind have any relations with your Mother."

Phantom's chest rumbles like a glacier flowing down the side of a mountain as he thinks of his next words. The sound is...oddly comforting. Damian thinks that, if Alfred the cat were older and 20 times bigger, his purring might sound like this too.

"It would make sense. The Lazarus Pits are corrupted ectoplasm leaking from a natural tear in Reality, and so react to the changes in the Realms. It's possible that one of these leaks might've take origin in the Keep. The ambient ecto in there is steeped in my signature, so it would make sense that it also carries DNA..."

Phantom's tail straightened out from it's previous coiled state as the Ghost King rises, a hand on Damian's head. It felt...just like when Father tries to comfort him after something upsets him. Except Phantom was all emotion and ecto, so the gentle touch resonated with love-mine-suprise-family-tiny baby ghostling. And it had Damian a little amazed, that his other Father would so easily accept him, without even bothering to ask for a second paternity test.

"Batman, would you be interested in shared custody? I would like to get to know my son better, along with the family that has cared for him. Nor to mention little Ellie will be ecstatic to learn she has a new little brother!"

"But I thought you did not, as you put it, 'have time for relations'. How old is this new sister of mine?"

"Oh, she's my clone! You see, my former nemesis was Obsessed with my mom, and by proximity me as his son. When I wouldn't let him replace my dad, he got pissy and made several clones, hoping to replace me as well. Only one of them lived past the final stages of the cloning process." Phantom's tail settled over Damian's shoulders, and the Ghost's claws scratched lightly at his scalp as he lost himself in his memories for a bit.

"I'm not proud of the brutal beatdown I gave him for it, but I would do it again. He never even wanted to think of involving children in his schemes after that. And it gave me a daughter, so I don't regret it. Comparatively, your birth didn't have any impact other than the happy surprise of a new surprise son. You don't have to be so surprised I'd want to get to know you, kiddo." Ah right...ghosts were empaths...and Batman seemed less wary and more curious now, after Phantom seemed to slip and reveal such a personal detail.

Father valued children. Phantom cared so much that even clone children being hurt would send him into a protective fury the likes of which only bears and honey badgers could equal.

Now Damian is far less certain about letting Phantom be anywhere near his Father. Was the Kyle woman not enough for the himbo under the cowl?

What if instead of Bruce, Danny was Damian's father but only Ra's knows.

Like every thing goes according to canon but then around the time of Damian's creation Ra's finds out about the High King of the Infinite Realm and decides that an heir from him would be far superior (whether Ra's actually means Danny or mistakes him for Pariah Dark im unsure) and somehow manages to get some of his DNA

The problem is that Thalia is insistent on using her beloved.

Now, in order to keep his daughter's cooperation he simply switches the samples while she is unaware. (Or maybe he adds Danny's dna afterwards with or without Thalia's knowledge so Damian is both Bruce and Danny's son)

Now years later something happens causing Damian and the batfam to find out that he is, in fact, not the blood son.

Maybe its when he first gets there and Bruce runs a paternity test that turns up negative, poor baby Damian would be so shocked and confused and Bruce may not be the father but he's not just gonna kick this stabby 10 year old out onto the streets. He definitely wouldn't feel comfortable sending him back to the LoA, naybe they can help the kid find his real father

Or in the case that Bruce's DNA is also used maybe the batcomputer can only register Danny's side as Lazarus water so thing just pass as canon until something reveals Damian's connection to Danny.

IDK, maybe they meet somehow and ghost instincts recognize the familial bond. Maybe Danny occasionally works with or even joins the JL sometime after Damian shows up so now the Batcomputer has Danny's DNA on file to check against should the need to run Damian's blood come up again.

I imagine Danny's well into adulthood here, and there could be the potential for Spirit Halloween

(Im not likely to write this so imma just, @hdgnj @omnicrafts @nelkcats @nerdpoe @im-totally-not-an-alien-2 @ailithnight, any of you got additions or thoughts)

[glow-in-the-dark-death]

So here is another DPXDC crossover idea nice-ish pariah dark au pariah dark dad au pariah dark x clockwork gender-fluid Danny au ghost prince Danny au Danny x Damien Danny steeling lost artifacts from places so that they don’t get into the wrong hands and Gotham has a bunch

Danny has taken up the job of helping get lost artifacts from the zone back to the infinite realms and giving items lost the zone back to the families of those that lost them Danny is having fun evading the superheroes

Damien is having fun trying to catch the thief that was stealing supposedly cursed artifacts and is surprised when he finally corners the thief that it is a someone his own age and is even more surprised when the thief disappears the literally second he turns his back

Let's see what prompt I can come up with. ✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧

~

Chase Me, Catch Me, Will You Love Me?

When he was a child he dreamed of going to space being able to chase the vastness of stars.

After his accident that was a dream he had to give up, after that his life became too busy to really think about it.

Gaining powers

Fighting ghosts each day

Trying to do her best in school

Realizing her gender

Evading and escaping his parents

The GIW

He needed a break but not because of this

This being his parents finding out about them being Phantom and not taking it well.

Ha

'Not taking it well' was an understatement.

She fled to the Infinity Realms towards ClockWork. CW felt more like his dad than Jack had for a long while now. He was a bit suspicious when CW told him that the Zone had decided to rehabilitate Pariah Dark but so far he had been staying in line if a bit of a harsh grump and maybe a future parental figure with how he and CW seemed to look at each other when they thought the other wasn't paying attention.

But on the other hand she was thankful he was still king and not Danny, wow had that been a shock to her finding out he was almost king before he was even an adult, he was still titled prince but at least he wasn't the one in charge of everything.

Speaking of being in charge of things, they as a prince still had duties to fulfill, ClockPa had decided it was best for his growth that she return to Earth but not the same one where he would be in danger, no instead it was an Earth with multiple heroes and magic and even aliens!!!

The only thing he had to do was find haunted or ecto powered objects and either return them to their rightful owner or have it put somewhere secure.

"This is going to be so much fun!"

~

Damian had a new rogue, they called themselves Phantom and their crimes resembled greatly of Catwoman's only with seemingly spiritual centered objects.

He had already faced the teasing of all his siblings about how he was resembling father

...and as much as he hated agreeing with them, after almost a year of constantly fighting, chasing, bantering and most recently actually getting to talking he had learned that they were very close in age and had a lot of similar interest they could talk about together with for hours if given the chance.

Soon their dynamic slowly began shifting without either realizing it,

And well who knows what the future holds for them but until then,

The chase continues.

~

Fin

~

Hope you liked it Anon

~

Just an Idea

[the-sinful-voice-witch]

Crimes against Stephanie Brown:

Getting only 24 issues of her run as Batgirl. I wish she had more, after all isn't Cass getting now a new run as Batgirl again?

Not appearing at the boy wonder comic when it was specifically Robins related and instead they put Barbara as Batgirl (like if you wanted a Batgirl use the fucking Batgirl who used to be a Robin).

Not being included at birds of prey with Cass and Babs.

Getting 2 heroes team projects with her included rejected. (In one she was with Supergirl and Damian, denying us that is a hate crime)

Not appearing in Damian's drawing of people who loves him when she is canonically the first big sister figure he had and she helped him be a kid and have fun.

Getting her character denigrated by Tim's bisexual actions like: dumping her without giving her a reason or having a proper talk, ghosting her for months, only talk to her after their friends force him to do it and then without warning or asking her introducing his new boyfriend to her and make her react like a fujoshi 13 years old wattpad writter saying that "the best day ever" Is meeting her ex' new boyfriend in the most cringe way ever.

The time they tried to erase her time as Robin and Batgirl in the new 52 reboot

Only let her be Robin for 2 months and was fired for doing something every Robin has done more than once.

Dying so fast in DCeased when she became Damian's Robin and never coming back even after Taliah said she would use the Lazarus pit on her.

Not having a visual reaction of Selina, Cassandra, Dick and Babs to her being alive.

Jason not mentioning her to rub it on Batman's face when he came back to life for revenge or mentioning her to black mask, what a wasted opportunity!

Never had the realistic representation of the trauma she should have after being tortured by black mask.

Never hanging out properly again with huntress (well I think they were seen together again once but not enough), Supergirl, Black Canary or Green Arrow junior after the reboot.

The fact that in my opinion she never got a proper apology from all the people that wronged her and treated her badly, like a lesser fighter, like she was a bother, like she wasn't made for vigilante life, I think I saw Tim apologizing to her but it felt shallow.

Not showing us Tim visually crying for her death.

Completely ignore how was her very first interaction with Catwoman, in which Selina was extremely kind and sweet with her only to screw it in the second meeting in her run as Batgirl and later in the new 52 reboot making Selina be a jerk to her.

Making Alfred be cold and dry to her in their first interaction, yes he later cries on her death and then he is very happy when she comes back and later he stands up to her against Batman's stupid tests but it doesn't erase the fact that he was mean to her when he met her and I think that was out of character with Alfred.

Her teen pregnancy arc, some people might think this was a way to make her character more tragic and deep but that pregnancy arc didn't bring anything good to her character because it was all about Tim not her and it makes my blood boil. This arc was just a cheap "easy" Way to make Tim and Steph become closer in their relationship by making Tim be there for her and taking care of her even though he wasn't the father and help her and that and I suppose it was also to make more dramatic her death telling Batman that she had a daughter and Batman be all like: "I'll make sure the baby never has to ask for anything" And then Steph dies... Seriously this is the one thing I wish they could erase from canon FOREVER, making Steph go through that just to make her deepen her relationship with Tim only for getting killed off and eventually dumped with everything she already had on her plate was CRIMINAL

Jason not meeting her properly before the stupid new 52 reboot and still not having the trauma and dead Robin talk with her.

[hyperfixation-throwaway]

All Quiet at the Batcave (one-shot fic)

“I said quit it.” Jason snarled, wiping the sweat off his forehead on the back of his hand. With the other hand, he tested the bike’s brakes again.

Better, but still not nearly responsive enough.

A perfectly pleasant Friday night and he was stuck on the lower level of the Batcave tending to the Batcycle, performing “bat-repairs”.

I could be out with Roy and the others, on casual patrol or getting hammered at the boulevard, or both at once. A rare night off and this is how I’m spending it.

To his great annoyance, he heard Damian—who had rolled the Batcomputer’s chair right up against the railing—tear out yet another page from his notebook and scrunch it up, “But why does it bother you so much? It’s just paper, Todd.”

With that, another paper ball came sailing from above, this time hitting Jason’s shoulder.

Jason sucked in a deep breath. He had been making some good headway in his anger management sessions lately and he was NOT going to let Damian cost him that progress.

“You’re right, Damian.” he said through gritted teeth, “It’s just paper. Although doesn’t wasting it go against your deeply environmentalist beliefs?”

The youngest child snorted, “It’s hardly considered a waste if it fulfills my purpose.”

Deep breaths, Jay. Deep, deep breaths.

“Yeah? Well, I have my own purpose to fulfill.” Jason nodded towards the Batcycle, “The calibration’s been off since Bruce crashed it last week and he hasn’t stopped complaining since. Let me finish up in peace and you can continue turning the cave into your private paper ball-pit or whatever.”

“You know Bruce is only making you do this because he wanted an excuse to see you, right?” Tim’s voice piped up. The Red Robin had draped himself across the brown leather couch next to the Batcomputer, holding his phone barely an inch away from his face.

Bruce had been saying he’d replace that couch for years now—actually, since the days Jason was Robin. But for some reason or another, the couch remained unmoved and unchanged. Hell, it technically even outlived Jason.

Jason scoffed, “I’m touched. Though if that were really the case, wouldn’t he be here?” He scanned the floor for the rag he was using, only to remember that he had draped it over his shoulder earlier.

“Father said Catwoman suddenly found a new lead on the Malkovich files.” Damian grumbled, “How convenient that she—of all people—managed to uncover such critical information right when he was starting to get desperate for it.”

Jason and Tim’s chuckles echoed lightly throughout the cave.

“That explains why he didn’t take you along then.” Jason grinned, “A brooding kid in bright tights trailing behind you doesn’t exactly help set the mood.”

His youngest adoptive sibling only glowered at him in response and then proceeded to storm away in a huff.

“Come on, Ian!” Jason called after him, “You realize that by brooding even harder, you’re just proving my point, right?”

Still no response, only the whoosh of the cave’s elevator doors closing.

Tim sat up on the couch, stretching his arms above him, “Is he genuinely upset? Or is he just being a Wayne?”

“A little bit of Column A, a little bit of Column B.” Jason shook his head, “But maybe it wouldn’t hurt to check on the kid… you know, for the sake of the petty criminals he might take his anger out on tonight.”

Tim leaned over the railing, “Ah, are you already done with the Batcycle?”

“Not even close.” Jason laughed, “But the Batman has suffered worse ordeals than missing his Batcycle for a couple nights. Oh hey, toss me Damian’s notebook, I can do the polite thing and leave Bruce a note.”

***

“Damian?” Jason knocked, “You there?”

No response.

“If you’re bored, the three of us could go on patrol.” Tim called out, “We’ll even pass by the animal shelter on our way to Main Stree-”

A muffled, “Shut up!” came through the door, “Would you both just shut the fu-”

“Hey! No swearing. At least, not for you just yet.” Jason banged on the door, “Now open up. You heard what Alfred said about damaging even one more door this month and I’m not taking any-”

To their surprise, the lock turned and the door swung open immediately. This was a most unexpected development considering that this standoff didn’t end with a chase through the east gardens this time.

But the even bigger surprise was the state they found Damian in. They had expected to find him all suited up and halfway out the window. Instead, they were greeted by teary eyes and a sniffling nose. At least his eyebrows remained as they usually were: set in a deep frown.

“Go away.” he simply hissed, “Clearly, I have no intentions of sneaking out tonight. So you can leave me alone.”

“Whoa, not so fast there, Mini B.” Jason stuck his arm out, stopping the door from slamming shut, “How are you supposed to shred my apology if you don’t listen to it first?”

“I don’t want an apology.” Damian roared, “l want you gone.” he slammed the door on Jason’s arm again, even harder this time.

“Damian,” Tim reasoned gently, “if you give us at least a vague idea of what’s wrong, it’ll put us at ease and we’ll leave you alone knowing that you’ll be able to handle it—whatever it is.”

The door creaked as it widened once more.

This time, Damian couldn’t bring himself to look them in the eyes “But it’s… embarrassing.” he mumbled through gritted teeth.

“More embarrassing than when Jason spilled coffee on Wonder Woman?” Tim raised an eyebrow.

“That was years ago.” Jason snapped at Tim, “On the other hand, your little Twitter mishap was only last week.”

Tim narrowed his eyes at him, “Carefully consider what you’re about to start here, Todd.” he warned.

“Me? But you’re the one who brought up-”

Damian let out an exasperated, “Ugh!” and moved to close his door once again.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Jason stopped it again, “Sorry, bud. You were saying?”

“Never mind.” he answered coldly, “It’s not like it would make a difference anyway.”

“You don’t know that for sure.” Tim rebutted, “Just try us. There’s no harm in that, right?”

Damian sucked in a deep breath before letting all his words out at once, “Every day it feels like this family gets smaller. Grayson’s in Bludhaven, you’ve got your sorry excuse of an apartment, even Tim’s spending more nights at the Tower. And now-“

He slowed down, his chest deflating further, “Now it seems even Father is losing interest in taking me out on patrol. How long until everyone just… forgets me?”

Jason and Tim met each other’s gaze silently. They had always known that Damian didn’t always mean the harsh words he threw their way, but who knew he cared this deeply about them?

About Dick? Sure. He and Damian have a bond so solid that on most days, not even Bruce can compete. But Jason—and by the looks of it, Tim as well—had no idea that Damian would even notice their absence, let alone miss having them around.

Jason finally broke the silence, “I’m only going to say this once,” he gently placed a hand on the young boy’s shoulder, “but no matter how busy we all get, no one’s ever going to forget about—or replace—the only Blood Son.”

He lowered himself onto one knee before continuing, “Nothing is going to change that fact. Not people moving out of the manor, not people finding new teammates, and not even patrol dates with Catwoman. Hell, not even if Bruce somehow married Catwoman. You are Damian f**king Wayne! You’re our little brother—whether you like it or not. And you’ll never be rid of us.”

Bursting into tears, Damian threw his arms around Jason’s neck—yet another unexpected, but welcome, development of the evening.

As Jason held him close, he felt Tim join in the hug from behind, “I always knew you were a big softie.” he chuckled in Jason’s ear.

Jason laughed, “You better savor this moment, Chalamet. Because it’ll be your last once I’m released from this hug.”

“Then bring it, Todd.” came the smug response.

***

Epilogue

Bruce practically dragged himself out of the Batmobile, his left shoulder still sore from the explosion.

As he took his gloves off, he was surprised to find the cave deserted. No yelling or punches to be heard, just the low steady hum of the Batcomputer.

“Boys?” he called out, but his voice was still hoarse from the tear gas earlier. Clearing his throat; he called out again, louder this time, “Boys?”

But only his own booming voice echoed throughout the cave and returned to him.

He spotted Jason’s tools in a neat pile near the Batcycle. Approaching it, he found not one, but two notes.

The first one—clearly in Jason’s handwriting—read: Sorry, will finish later. Something came up.

The second one—this time in Damian’s handwriting—simply read: Finished homework. Gone to Bludhaven and will return shortly.

Bruce smiled to himself. A visit to Bludhaven doesn’t sound like a bad idea, but maybe a shower and a nap first.

[wintersettled]

Ongoing Batfam recs

disclaimer! this is being written primarily off the top of my head so don't expect insane quality! also I'm aware a lot of people aren't sure where to start or what's current -- for that I recommend looking through reading guides but I thought I'd talk a bit about current ongoing batfam comics I'm aware of. To read these you could go to your local comic store, use the DC Infinite app or do what I often do and use alternative sites to read comics, many of which can be found by searching "where to read comics free reddit" via your internet browser.

not all batfam characters are currently appearing very much in comics so I'm afraid there will be a distinct lack of many favourites such as Tim Drake, Helena Bertinelli, Stephanie Brown, Jason Todd, and Jean-Paul Valley, however it should be noted that in Batman: The Brave and the Bold there is always a chance that an issue will feature one of them. This series features 60 pages containing multiple short stories which vary in length, some occurring across multiple issues. While it is labeled "batman" it regularly features characters outside of the batfamily.

I'd also like to not that due to DC's All-In there are many new authors and storylines starting up so most are barely any issues in! These are really just early on thoughts BUT it's a great time to start reading!

Regarding Bruce Wayne himself, Batman is currently (as usual) appearing in two new all-in arcs in both Detective Comics and Batman (2016). Can I say I like either? No! It is a long established fact that I am most definitely not Taylor's biggest fan and him deciding to rehash already done and in fact tired storylines as well as making minor adjustments to origins is no surprise nor do I care -- still I'll be fair and tell you that the story involves, you guessed it, the no-killing rule woah! Something so deftly written you can spot the killer from the first couple pages except this time the issue ends off with perhaps one of the most ridiculous and bad plot twists I've ever seen... enough hating on that. Now with the Batman series itself, I fear I dropped it ages ago. I'm understanding there's some conflict regarding the return of previous characters but following Gotham War I struggle to car about this run and I'll admit so far what I've heard from those who have read the recent series is mediocre at best.. still I recommend checking it out for yourself seeing as I can't actually speak on it.

Nightwing aka Richard Grayson is having a seemingly better time. With the introduction of Dan Watters as the new writer we're getting a new Nightwing (2016) story that I am feeling really positive about! I fully recommend checking this one out, just going off the first issue it looks good and I have spent the last month yearning for more! Titans (2023), however, I'm a bit more sceptical of... I'm liking the change in dynamics (always love a Roy feature and Donna leading) which see different characters taking the forefront of the team. I'm not a big fan of Beast Boy nor his dynamic with Raven so it may not be the best but I think the Titans are a super important part of Dick's story so I'll say if you're not keen on this, maybe run it back and pick up The New Teen Titans (1980) which is the start of the team and even sees Dick become Nightwing!

A new writer has finally joined up on Catwoman (2018) and let me say that I loved that first issue. Someone is trying to kill Catwoman and all of her previous identities. We hearken back to her international thievery and what a huge scale Selina Kyle was once on! I'm very excited to see her travel as the story progresses!

Damian Wayne continues as a main character on Batman & Robin (2023) which I am not caught up to so I can't comment on the story but at least in the past it's had its moments! I can't say I've always been totally into the portrayal of Talia however this series has in the past emphasized Damian's relationships with his father as well has others like Nika aka Flatline!

Both Barbara Gordon and Cassandra Cain have been appearing in Birds of Prey (2023)! I enjoy the series but I will admit I feel like it's still finding its footing and I loath the occasional portrayal of Barbara as Batgirl -- something I feel is actively harming the quality of the story. Most of the time she is portrayed as Oracle, and while her wheelchair has yet to make a comeback, I'm hoping somebody explodes the dark spirit of Dan Didio from that office so ableism and misogyny can finally die a cold and lonely death in their buildings janitorial closet. Anyways! Cass has also been appearing in her new solo Batgirl (2024)!! This is so exciting! If you don't know Batgirl (2000) is possibly one of the best things ever written in history and every one should read it so I'm so excited to see her back! This first arc seems to focus a lot on the dynamic with Lady Shiva, Batgirl's mother. While the first issue was more set up for the rest, I cannot wait!

outside of elseworlds I'd say that about wraps things up for current batfam! pick one up, I'd love to chat about it!

[whywoulditho]

I'm glad, that DC writers are changing constantly and therefore the characters are protected from the Bat-family. The Bats are the cancer of DC comics. There wouln't be any independant characters anymore if they could gez their grubby hands on the other DC families

That's another way to look at it.. I agree that they're trying a bit too hard to connect every character to the bats' storyline. so you might have a point there. maybe it would create more bad than good if they let batfam authors interfere with the other storylines... but i still wouldn't call the bats the cancer of DC. I think if you took the bats out of DC, it would lose like half of its charm and quality.

with all that being said though, i still think the biggest problem of DC romances (or comic book romance in general) lies in each run having separate authors. think about why harley x ivy worked. it's because both of those characters already existed before they got together. both of them were loved villains and later anti-heroes, they both have their own story, their own past and their own redemption arcs. they're both INTERESTING. and when DC made the risky choice of making them a couple, it worked.

i'm not saying it would work with any other characters, or that they should make all their major characters date each other. but if you want to explore romance in your comics you have to give the readers an actual relationship, involving two realistically written and interesting people. not a major character and their accessory love interest. that's my issue with tim x bernard, or jon x jay. no one will get attached to, or even invested in, these relationships because we don't know anything about the love interests. they're just some random people. even if you try to give them personalities they will still not have a story outside of their relationship with the major character. bernard and jay were only created so tim and jon would have someone to kiss. it's hard to care about them, and therefore their relationship. they're just boring romance side plots.

you can introduce a character with the sole purpose of making them a couple with one of your major characters and still make it work, like batman and catwoman. you can create chemistry with a new character just as well as you can with already existing ones. but i think we need more of the first option. less last minute love interests and more people falling in love. i think what makes DC special is that they show us so many different versions of their major characters, we get to see them grow and change (take notes, marvel) so it wouldn't be off-brand to see already existing major characters, like superboy and robin, ending up together. not when it's DC. to be honest i think it would be like super iconic of them to do that. and i also think that DC fans would much rather have their favorite characters end up with the kind of person they went through hell and back with instead of like, a random citizen. tim and kon have so many parallels. they're both people who didn't have to be heroes at all, but still chose to do it. they both struggle with carrying a mantle too big and the fact that they were not chosen for it makes them even more insecure. they also have a past together, they're close friends, they would take a bullet for each other. so much potential. dont even get me started on damian and jon. those two are like, literal mirrors of their fathers. they have huge legacies on their shoulders and they're like quite literally the only people that could understand one another. again, so. much. potential. i'm not saying they have to be together, but if DC was gonna write romance for these characters I wish it could have been with each other.

[mistress-of-vos]

Hi Mistress :> Do you have any Jean-Paul headcanons you’d be willing so share? (Or JeanTim, if the mood strikes you 🫣)

Hi, there!!! ❤️💛

I have many many Jean-Paul, Tim and JeanTim headcanons, so I have decided to list a few of them here, focused on the ones related to how I think their relationship would be (most of the time):

Jean-Paul headcanons:

As I stated in my latest post, I picture Jean-Paul as kind of French. I like to go with the usual canon where he was born in Switzerland (inside the order) and Ludovic took him to Gotham. However (and inspired by Dan Watters), I picture Jean-Paul spending most of his childhood and teenage years in France, educated by priests and nuns. He can get a summer in Spain or Italy when I feel generous.

Still on this, I imagine JP having certain accent and speaking tone that fall as "french man who has spent too much time speaking english". He needs to focus in order to suppress it (and usually can't do so when he's around Tim).

He has been drinking wine since he was 16, and smoking since 18. Is he proud? No, but he's hardly going to quit when you consider he's a supersoldier.

I usually change his computer science degree for a programming or engineering one, but mostly to adapt him to modern times (plus, he gives me engineer vibes I'm sorry)

This isn't a headcanon as much as the way I adapt him, but I basically copy Slade Wilson's supersoldier nature, as Jean-Paul's origin is way too scifi for the Batman mythos.

JP's a geek AND nerd. Loves LOTR, Dungeons and Dragon, comics, videogames... He's also a bit of an anime fan, but won't say so out loud.

Despite everything, Jean-Paul is religious, and attends church quite frequently. That might not help much with his daily, terrible, catholic guilt.

He has a love-hate relationship with his long hair, and truth is that he only keeps it long because Tim said he liked it and well...

And finally going into JeanTim territory: JP has always liked petite black haired people. If you picked all his partners and crushes, 90% of them look like Tim. In JP's defense, he had already developed "a type" way before meeting Tim

JeanTim headcanons:

They roleplay as Batman and Robin/Catwoman quite often. Very often.

Dick loathes their relationship. Tim constantly needs to stop Dick and JP from punching each other and open old wounds.

Damian is the one who finds JeanTim logical. Two warriors dedicated to Gotham are dating? 'Wow, must have been a surprise, father!'

JeanTim both have horrible schedules due to being vigilantes, and if it weren't because of their two cats meowing in hunger, JeanTim wouldn't get up before 10am. Never.

Jean-Paul took (back) a job at WE if only to be able to see Tim during those hours.

Yes, they have slept together at the office.

And the batmobile.

And the common showers at the batcave.

It's easier to ask where they haven't done it yet.

Tim has a choking kink, whereas Jean-Paul, worrying as he is, prefers to stick with kisses and hickeys, constantly afraid he will hurt Tim.

It took them ages to get together. Partly because Jean-Paul died, came back, then Tim not-died and came back, and then Gotham was a mess for like - an eternity. It wasn't until Jean-Paul came back from Europe that they started flirting and eventually dating.

Luke was who suffered the most while JeanTim got together. He was two "failed attempts at getting those two together" away from burning something down. Preferably Jean-Paul.

Lonnie is their second most loyal hater. Jason is a close third, rivaling with Ra's al Ghul, who huffed at the news and argued that "One day, Timothy will stop playing with that golden retriever"

JeanTim shouldn't have kids, but they will, because the narrative hates them.

Jean-Paul asks Tim to marry him barely eight months in their dating. They marry before Dick or Bruce do, which is a constant thing Alfred brings up when speaking about commitment.

In retrospective, however, Jean-Paul and Tim both have been thinking about getting married even before dating, so... Yeah, that.

Have you seen how loyal big dogs will attack anyone who looks ugly at their owner? That's Jean-Paul with Tim. And it's so obvious that it didn't take long for Gotham criminals to pick up that Azrael and Red Robin were definetely together.

JeanTim as team at undercover are the worst. They always end up leaving and going to a room rather than father information. But how could JP even resist to Tim in a bunny costume?

Tim's main nickname for JP is "Angel", and JP's main nickname for Tim is "Chaton" (kitten)

Tim Wayne-Drake headcanons:

Tim has been openly queer almost since becoming Robin. Don't ask him about his first four crushes, though. He won't answer.

While JP has a longer bed-partner list, Tim is the one with a heavier past regarding serious relationship. Jean had just one proper dating, but plenty of one night stands. Tim had few to none one night stands, yet many long, painful relationships.

In the same topic, Tim carries more traumas and insecurities born from complicated relationships. It takes JP a quite to convince Tim that he's not leaving.

Tim also drinks and smokes, but has to do so with moderation due to losing his spleen. He's trying to quit for real, but fails constantly.

Tim, being openly queer and comfortable on his gender, crossdresses in a daily basis, and wears makeup, heels and nails everyday. Yes, that includes when he's using an Armani suit for a WE meeting.

As a rich kid, Tim learned to play the piano. Nowadays he only plays when alone, or when Jean-Paul is with him. It's an intimate, childish sentiment that fills him up when he plays, and he doesn't want to taint it with his current life.

Tim wears his mother perfume sometimes, and even sprays it on his pillow when feeling lonely.

His father's cologne, in the other hand, is sprayed on coats too big for Tim that he wears on winter.

Tim has a sweet tooth, but loves eating spicy foods even if that means burning his tongue (and yes, perhaps certain eco terrorist had something to do with that...)

When burning in fever due to the clench, Tim had a shameful thought that always came back to haunt him: "If I live, if I grow up, I want to marry a man like Jean-Paul"

Hope you had some fun reading, anon! 💚

[tracidant]

Writing prompt: The bats have an ugly sweater contest....AND GO!!!

(Minor warning for Jason's inappropriate sense of humor and the song "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.")

"So are we doing the Ugly Sweater party this year, Father? Now that I understand the concept, I plan on winning."

Bruce sighed. He didn't mind the ugly Christmas sweaters, but a certain adult child of his had a tendency to find the most inappropriate sweaters possible. Last year's seem innocent enough, until the lights were turned off. Bruce couldn't even imagine where one would find a light-up sweater with Batman and Catwoman doing very NSFW things on it.

"Oh, no. I know that look. Just because Todd tries to offend everyone, it doesn't mean the rest of us should be punished!"

"You're right, Damian. We'll do the party. I'll have Alfred talk to Jason. He'll listen to him."

A week later, Bruce was standing in his living room, in a God-awful pink and green plaid monstrosity of a sweater with bells that jingled when he walked. Selina was in a beautiful black and gold sweater-dress.

"Sorry, Bruce. I don't do ugly."

Bruce kissed the side of her face. "Nothing you could wear would look ugly anyway."

Dick, Barbara, and Haley were already there in matching reindeer sweaters talking to Cassandra, who had found a glow-in-the-dark sweater with elves that danced when you turned the power on.

He heard Alfred greeting someone at the door and braced himself. Female voice. He relaxed. Stephanie came running into the room yelling a minute later.

"Happy Ugly Sweater day, Waynes & Wayne-adjacents!"

Stephanie hugged everyone and showed off her sweater. She made it herself, and the quality was quite good. It was purple, of course, with real, blinking Christmas lights in red, yellow, and green. It also had Santa dressed like a 80s metal band rockstar, and said, "Have a rockin' good Christmas!"

Tim and Bernard arrived next. Bernard's sweater was a Freddy Kreuger Christmas sweater, and Tim's was "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer"-themed. (Complete with Grandma face down with reindeer tracks across her back.)

"Timbo, you're definitely in the lead for ugliest sweater, depending on what Damian, Duke, and Jason come up with."

Duke came in just then, as if on cue. His sweater was green, with gold tinsel and purple and blue ornaments hanging off of it. It had a hood too, shaped like the top of a tree, complete with a giant star on top. It was pretty horrible.

Damian and Titus came in next. Titus had on a beautiful argyle sweater, because apparently Damian's dog was too good for ugliness. Damian's sweater on the other hand, was truly ugly. It had mint green, fuchsia, teal, yellow, and black stripes, with a hideous Krampus on the front and back.

"Wow, Damian. That is absolutely the ugliest sweater I've ever seen."

The teen beamed. "Thanks, Grayson. I plan on winning this year."

"Well, you'll have to wait for Jason and see what nightmare-fuel of a sweater he found, but you have my vote."

"Pennyworth spoke to him about ugly vs. inappropriate, so we'll see. Todd isn't getting that prize this year."

Bruce heard the door again. He didn't hear Alfred chewing Jason out, so it must not be too bad. Then he heard...

"Sorry, Al. You told me if I wanted to wear an ugly sweater to wear one with a picture of me on it. I'm just following your rules."

Bruce heard Alfred sigh, and his pulse instantly started to increase. It must be bad. Maybe he could escape.

A moment later, Jason came in. "Here's your winner, bi-otches!"

Bruce looked at Jason's shirt, then closed his eyes. He was hoping he imagined it, but when he opened his eyes again, it was true. All the kids spoke at once.

"Seriously, Jay?"

"Oh. Em. Gee."

"Is that what I think it is?"

"No way, Todd! That has to be disqualified! This year is mine!"

"Not cool, brother. Not cool."

"Sorry, Bernard. I warned you my family's a bit crazy. Some more than others."

Finally Bruce found his voice. "Jason. Is that your autopsy photo on your sweater?"

[redjaybathood]

1, 5, 7, 8, 4, 11 and 15 for the problematique ships??

oh wow, that's a lot! thank you!

1) what is your favorite “problematic” ship?

Brujay. It is very interesting to get their canon mutual weirdness - their relationship is a mess, it's not healthy - and bring it up to 11. Both because it's like magnifying what's already there, to make it easier to drive things home: none of them is okay and they should, in fact, stay away from each other despite the fact it wouldn't be that hard not just to reconcile but also to respect each other and be deserving of said respect.

It's also curious to me that a lot of Bruce's fan ships are actually... have similar vibes to brujay, minus the "I was his father for 3 years or so" factor. BatCat - I can write an essay about similarities between Jason and Catwoman, and Jason actually feels jealous and replaced by her, at some point in his Robin era. BruTalia, BruHarvey, GhostBat. Especially the GhostBat. It's literally brujay without the incest. Whereas Jason's ships are the opposite. Like, Sladejay comes close but no cigar.

5) a ship you like but can’t find content for because it’s a fanpol fave?

I am like Jaytemis but not enough to go looking. I actually blocked a lot of jaytemis fans because they were dicks in tag. and on some discord server, don't remember details.

7) what kind of “problematic” tropes you like to put your ships through?

Sex while willingly or unwillingly mentally impaired, such as by alcohol (taken willingly), drugs (taken unwillingly), interdimensional demon possession, and having heat while also having a traumatic brain injury. There's also having sex not because you want but for reasons. Proving a point. Trying to manipulate. Things like that.

I think I have about... two fics where a character has sex because they want to have sex, and it ends badly in the second one.

Basically the moral of my stories:

In one of them, it was quite literal.

8) a character you think did nothing wrong but fandom demonizes?

Damian, easy. I find it irritating especially when he's used as Tim's foil. The little guy was brainwashed, and he still is dealing with the consequences of this trauma and his upbringing overall. It takes years to unpack it.

Talia - just leave her alone. "She traumatized Damian" - the authors did that. She was just a tool, and she was character-assassinated in the process. I mean, it is a bit wrong of her to be, like, in charge of an international murder organization but, we all know what the grip fandom has with her is not about that.

4) a ship you think is fairly healthy and unproblematic but the fandom has decided to hate?

JayRoy and joyfire holy shit. I know it stems, in part, from the hatred to New52 overall and Lobdell's RHatO in particular, and I hear them even if I don't care that much (I see jayroy potential even before New52, and after). But "stealing friends from Dick", "age difference", what the fuck else there was - just no. As long as Jason deals with his commitment issues and self-hatred, this is the healthiest relationship he has ever had with the exception of Artemis and Bizarro.

11) is there a fandom that ever made you think “how are there antis in this fandom, why are they even into this”?

Hannibal, Good Omens, and Sandman, to name a few. Curious that they think that if the creator has public acknowledgment it means that suddenly he's not proship anymore. Or if he is, that's okay, we won't be principled and leave/not join the fandom but rather go bully the proshippers who do not have money and fame.

Oh, and Game of Thrones/House of Dragons - while I don't know if Martin is proship, the subject matter he deals with is no more taboo than what fandom does. "I watch dragon incest show for the dragons, y'all weird" no it's you who's weird, you literally watching a show about incest and complaining about incest. "it's not glorified in canon" That's cute, you sure it is in fics? you read them? you read incest fics? Like, come on.

15) something cool about the last thing you watched/read/listened to!

Last thing I listened to was this youtube comics podcast: Grandpas reading comics (eng subs are only auto-translated so bear with it)

It's about Ukrainian comics, The Will, and as a person who has two issues of this comic book and no idea of what's going on, I was glad to find out this video exist. I did not finish watching it yet tho - so I still have no idea what's going on - I will keep you guys posted. After I buy the issue 3, maybe.

[princesspaprika16]

Just a small Batfam fic I wrote

Mornings in the Wayne Manor is always chaotic. I mean what can you expect from a bunch of kids who assists the Batman. Poor Alfred had to take the responsibility of making the kids breakfast and Bruce wasn't there. Cassandra was peacefully sipping her morning coffee as Stephanie came in.

Cass : Good morning Steph

Stephanie : Morning Cass. Have you seen Tim?

Cass : Uhh I think he's down in the batcave.

Without evening responding, Stephanie ran down to the cave and there he was. Timothy Drake Wayne and in his pocket was...

Stephanie : You little red son of a Robin! Give me back my gameboy.

Tim turned around and smirked.

Tim : Oh you want that? Then take it from me.

Stephanie : You shit

Stephanie jumped on Tim, tackling him to the ground. Both were flaying there arms as they tried to grab hold of the gameboy when Dick came in and shook his head like a disappointed dad.

Dick : What are two doing? Can you atleast act your age?

Both of them got up and looked at Dick with amusement.

Tim : Look who's talking. Just because now you're an adult you're going to boss around us?

Stephanie : You've turned old Dick. You don't have the youth anymore.

Dick : Whaaat? I'm still young.

Stephanie : Really?

She looked at Tim and smirked and both of them pounced on Dick.

A While Later.....

Alfred looked at the three with disappointment.

Alfred : Look at you three. Master Dick, I didn't expect this from you.

Dick hung his head down. All their clothes were torn and hairs were messy. Alfred sighed.

Alfred : Go and change. Master Bruce and Miss Kyle would be returning soon.

After getting changed, all of them sat together in the living room.

Dick : Ahh it feels like so long since we have seen Bruce.

Cassandra : They were only on their honeymoon Dick, it's not like they are gone forever. They are gonna be back any moment.

Damien grunted.

Damien : I still can't believe father married that criminal.

Jason : Hey that's not a nice thing to say.

As they were talking, a black Mercedes pulled up. Alfred went and opened the door. In came Bruce Wayne. The Batman and with him was the notorious criminal, Catwoman. Selina Kyle. The newly married couple had returned from their three weeks Long honeymoon from the tropical Mauritius and the slight tan on both of them was proof of that. Seeing them, the kids ran to them. The girls hugged Selina and Dick and Tim hugged Bruce. Only Jason and Damian stood still.

Damian : Good to see you back, father.

Bruce smiled.

Bruce : Good to see you again too, son.

Tim : Did you bring us any souvenirs?

Jason : They were on their honeymoon why would they bring us any souvenirs?

Bruce : Actually Selina did bring you guys something.

Selina : Ya there was this superhero store back there so I brought guys some stuff. It's in the black bag.

Before she could even finish, the kids made a run for the bag and almost ripped open whatever was was there. Dick took a Superman hoodie, Jason had a Wonder Woman trousers, Tim had a Spider-Man plushie, Stephanie had a Green Arrow sippy cup, Cassandra had a Flash t shirt and Damian had a..... Sword (that wasn't any merch, it was just there for him).

Bruce : You didn't bring any Batman stuff?

Selina : Nope. They already have plenty of those.

Bruce's face went grim.

Selina : Oh stop brooding.

She went to Alfred.

Selina :Here I brought you some muffins but they are from the airport.

Alfred : Thank you Ms. Kyle, oh I'm sorry Mrs. Wayne.

Selina : Call me Kyle. I like the sound of it.

Alfred smiled.

The Batfamily was back together again and more trouble was going to ensue.

[differentkindoflife-dc]

ADKOL: Helena Wayne

Helena Alfreda May Wayne is the daughter of Bruce Wayne, Batman, and Selina Kyle, Catwoman. The two costumed vigilantes met during Bruce's first year as Batman, and despite them being on opposite sides (Bruce as a crime fighter, Selina as a burglar), there was an undeniable attraction between them. This attraction resulted in a seemingly inconsequential night of passion on a rooftop one night. 9 months afterwards, Helena was born.

Helena's life was never a stable one. Despite both her parents love and best efforts, it took a long time for them to actually reconcile their differences. Further complicating matters was the fact that they were also vigilantes, and the end result was that Helena was closer to her grandfather figure, Alfred Pennyworth, then she was her parents. Even when she was young, she knew that her parents were too stubborn to comprise. She decided the best course of action would be to introduce a rogue element that would force them to genuinely work together. In secret, she began training with any and all teachers she could find, ranging from the legendary Ted Grant to the deadly Lady Shiva. Not even Talia al Ghul, another romantic partner of her father's that she despised at the time, was off limits for learning how to fight. Once she was satisfied, Helena used some of her parents equipment to put together a costume, and she became Batgirl.

Bruce and Selina were horrified when they found out Helena was Batgirl. They tried to forbid her from her nightly activities, even taking drastic measures to do so, but every night, Helena would be out there, fighting crime the likes of which she had only ever heard about. Ultimately, her plan worked: Helena's parents began working together to keep her as far away from their lives as possible, then to further her training when they realized it was fruitless to try and stop her. This brought Helena to Barbara Gordon, the Oracle. Helena had been recruited into the Birds of Prey, an all female group of warriors also consisting of Dinah Lance, the Black Canary, and a woman who coincidentally shared her name, Helena Bertinelli, the Huntress. She got along well enough with her team, and took well to their training, but tragedy struck when Huntress sacrificed her life to save Helena's life. To honor her and her sacrifice, Helena became the new Huntress, even training herself how to use a crossbow.

Helena's life was turned upside down when two separate events occurred at very nearly the same time. The first event was the discovery that Talia al Ghul had birthed two children from her brief romantic affair with Bruce, Damian and Athanasia. The second was that an invasion by Darkseid had resulted in the death of her father. Helena's life had been shattered, but she was tough. In order to move past her grief and help her younger half siblings, she created a team of heroes, recruiting all sorts of people from various other hero circles. Helena is now the protector of Gotham, alongside her siblings, Batboy and the second Batgirl, her mother, and her father's cousin, Kate Kane, also known as Batwoman.

Notes

It's been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about not posting in a while, this AU fell on the backburner. The one post I do have, about Stephanie, has become severely outdated, so I'm making an update to that soon.

For those who don't know, this AU, named A Different Kind Of Life, or ADKOL for short, explores a world where most of Batman's sidekicks and partners belonged to different hero families instead. I'll make posts detailing the others soon, but just to give one example that I've already shared, Stephanie Brown here is actually Stephanie Allen, adopted daughter of Barry Allen and Iris West, and the second Kid Flash. This is why Helena was mentioned to be the first Batgirl, despite a mention of Barbara as Oracle the very next paragraph, and why Athanasia is the second Batgirl.

For those of you who have questions about this AU, my asks are open.

[thatwierdartist]

Things I want to happen in DC Comics concerning two of my favorite characters Jon Kent and Damian Wayne.

1. I want Colin and Damian to team up again. (I know Colin had returned to the DCU, so they need to team up.)

2. Jon and Colin to meet and possibly argue about who is Damian's best friend. (I think this would be funny, and Damian would just be like it's a competition because he can't pick between the two of them.)

3. Suren Darga from Robin Son of Batman to return. (I really like him and want to see him again. Are he, Maya, and Damian still friends or has he been co.pletely whipped from continuity?)

4. Jon and Damian to have a heart to heart about all the things they have gone through from Jon aging up to Alfred death. (I know it must be hard for Damian to come to terms with the fact his best friend is not only taller but also older than him now.)

5. Flatline's secret identity being revealed. (I mean can you really date someone if you don't know their secret identity. She knows Robins, so he should know hers.)

6. Also Flatine and Damian officially date. (I think this would be cute. Also can you imagine Batman meeting her would be approve?)

7. Batman meets Flatline. (I mean he can't judge his son for dating a cillian when he nearly married Catwoman.)

8. Jay meeting Damian as Damian and not Robin. (I don't know if Jay know Jon is friends with Damian Wayne or not, but they should meet outside of costume.)

9. Jon meets Flatline and is supportive like Damian was supportive of Jon. (I can just see Jon not even being that surprised.)

10. Bruce and Damian just talking and coming to an understanding. (I know They do love each other as father and son, and both have been through a lot. I don't want Damian to come back as Batman's Robin necessarily, but to just talk.)

11. Alfred to come back to life. (I know no ons really stays dead. They may get willed from continuity, but not many actually stay dead, so it stands to reason he will come back to life. If not we still have ghost Alfred.)

12. Jon to act more like Jon. (I mean come on if that whole 31st century business had gone down before Jon aged up I do not think Jon would have taken kindly to Damian's treatment given how he reacts to Talia attacking Damian. What happened to that Jon? I know he spent like seven years in space, but he is so very different.)

13. Jay to know about Jon's rapid aging if he doesn't already know. (I don't really know if Jay knows Jon literally not that long ago for everyone but Jon was a literal eleven year old. I wonder how he would take it.)

14. Damian having to face his old team. (I just want to see how that would go down.)

15. Bruce finding out what his son has been up to, and finding out his son technically died two more times. (I can see Bruce having a panic attack as he is just like son I did not go to apokolips for you to get yourself killed twice in a death tournament.)

[themaribatpit]

Jasonette July Day 4: Game On

Written by: The Maribat Pit  @jasonette-july-event  Prompt: Game On Rated: T (for sexual references, mostly references to things that happened in the comics.  You have been warned.) “I can’t just go spilling my protégé’s secrets. I can barely send her out into the mean streets on her own.” she said with a coy show of innocence that she wasn’t even trying to make believable.

 “I’m not asking for her identity, all that concerns me is why you decided to take her in.” Batman explained.

 “She was in trouble, I was in the neighbourhood and I gave her a helping hand,” she explained. “That special claw of hers comes in handy, and besides we all know how you feel about magic users Bruce.” She wasn’t wrong about that.  Batman could never trust Constantine further than he could throw him. He could only bring himself to turn to Zatanna when he really needed her help.  Shazam was an exception, seeing as the limits of his magic were clear and simple enough to understand.  That didn’t make him any less formidable, but it didn’t make him quite as unpredictable.  He was, at the end of the day, a detective who was trained to think rationally and logically in order to get to the bottom of a situation.  Magic was the ultimate wild card, and the sooner he figured out this girl’s abilities, the better.  “You’ll be pleased to know she’s not a completely hopeless case, she’s been helpful but she doesn’t get quite the same thrill out of thievery.” Catwoman remarked, “but it’s been lovely having her around, and I’m not about to just hand her over to you”.

 “Then what would you have me do?” he asked, “I’m concerned your rivals might be a little less forgiving.”

 “Is that so? You don’t think she’s strong enough to save herself?”  Catwoman smiled, it was nice to know that he cared, just a little. “Besides, she’s already had years of experience under her belt, maybe you’re just jealous you didn’t find her first.” She taunted playfully. Goodness knows he was in no position to talk when it came to taking people under his wing.  “Tell you what, how about we have a friendly little wager?” Bruce saw her eyes light up at the thought, but he was undeniably curious about what she had in mind.

 “What do you propose?” he asked.

 “A fun little game, your boys against my little foundling. If any of them can take her down, then you can welcome her into your family with open arms” she explained.

 “How do I know she won’t just kill them?” Batman asked, it wouldn’t be the first time Bruce had to try and steer someone away from any homicidal tendencies.

 “She’s a lot of things, but let’s just say killing wasn’t really an option for her back in the day.” she explained, “She’ll fall in line with your ‘no killing’ rule quite nicely. Think about it, your sons versus my little girl.”  Her claws skated across Batman’s shoulders as he pondered this.

 “Anything else?” Batman asked, he had to know exactly what they were walking into.

 “Your boys can bring a second to their little duels, but only one.  No need to have the Titans ganging up on her.” she explained.  She left out the part about her protégé having other tricks up her sleeve.  With the power she had, they would be lucky to get a single scratch on her.

 “So be it then.” Bruce said, it would be an opportunity to see how this girl measured up against the boys he had trained. At that moment Catwoman decided it was game on.

 Marinette had just come home from her classes at Gotham University, and she was looking forward to a quiet night working on some designs that were due a few weeks.   A text message from Catwoman brought her plans to a grinding halt:

 “Mari dear, made a little wager with Batman.  You beat his four sons in a fight, and you get to stay with me.  If you lose however, he gets to take you under his wing (in every sense of the word).  They’ll be on the lookout for Lady Noire in the next few days, but I never said anything about only using her to win.”

 Marinette was really starting to regret being saved by Catwoman. That night, she was outnumbered by some muggers who thought she would be an easy target.  She was trying to find an opening, to make a break for it, maybe find somewhere to hide and transform if she really must.  Suddenly she heard a voice grab their attention, “I’ve always loved big strong men who aren’t afraid to show it with someone half their size.” she purred.  While they were distracted, Marinette decided to call on Plagg for some help.   She always loved how the Lady Noire suit made her movements feel lighter, plus the night vision and Cataclysm were useful too. Unfortunately for her, it meant that Catwoman saw her in action and decided to take an interest in her from that day forth.  Sure, she was a cunning thief and there was little that Marinette could do to stop her. At the same time, Marinette was a young woman in a city that was the polar opposite of what she knew in Paris. She couldn’t deny that there was something comforting about having someone in this city looking out for her. Especially since her parents were in Paris, and Master Fu was no longer around to help her.  She took the Miraculous with her to Gotham City, but none of the other wielders came with her.  She was still their guardian after all, but she had to be more careful about using them.  She wasn’t about to single handedly take on superpowered crime lords with their armies of henchmen. She had to be a lot more careful with her powers since other people could get hurt.  Besides, they already had a small group of vigilantes keeping the city safe, they didn’t need her.

 Marinette reread the text message over and over again.  she was about to see what these vigilantes were made of, though it was just as accurate to say it was the other way around.  She opened the box, carefully choosing which ones she could use in a fight.  She usually used Lady Noire when she was with Catwoman, but by the sound of it she was counting on her to use all of her tricks to win.

 Damian never fully understood his father’s attachment to Catwoman, but this was a challenge he could not refuse.  They were told to keep an eye out for this “Lady Noire” character while they were out on patrol.  Oracle had agreed to referee this ordeal, Damian was absolutely certain he was going to be the one to bring her in.  They were allowed to bring a second, but Damian didn’t think it would be necessary. From what they were told she was a smaller Catwoman, though they were told to exercise caution because of her destructive abilities.  The last person Damian had expected to find was a girl in a red and black body suit, who looked nothing like the girl with long hair and green eyes that Batman had described.  Still, there was something odd about the girl and Damian moved in closer to investigate.

 Catwoman had given Marinette a vague rundown of who her opponents were.  There was Nightwing, the eldest of the four boys and a trained acrobat. The second eldest was the infamous Red Hood, Marinette had heard rumours about him and she had no way of knowing if the Kwamis could guard her against someone who uses firearms.  The third was Red Robin, Catwoman advised using clever strategy if she was going to get the upper hand on this one.  Finally, there was the current Robin, the son of Batman and Talia Al Ghul, the youngest of the boys who was trained by assassins before Batman took him in.

 She took the Ladybug earrings with her, seeing as they were more versatile for the occasion.  In addition to the earrings, she wore the Longg’s choker around her neck.  Master Fu had often cautioned against using fusions, considering how draining they were on her body.  Her new mentor advised her to use every tool she could in her arsenal, because they certainly would.  On most nights she noticed a small, hooded figure passing through her neighbourhood from time to time. She decided to see which of these boys would be her first opponent.  

 While she was standing on that rooftop, she heard a few footsteps behind her.  It was raining but through the mist and the rain she could see a small, shadowy figure watching her closely.  It made sense, she was dressed in bright colours and standing on a rooftop in the pouring rain.  She practically had a sign on her head that said “come and get me”, which in some way was part of her plan.  The question was, whether or not her first opponent would take the bait.  “I know you’re there little one, so are you going to stay there or come over and say hello?” she asked, Marinette tried to sound cheerful but she ended up sounding silly instead.  She tried to hide the burning embarrassment she felt at how silly that sounded. The boy could probably sense it too, because she turned around and saw him narrowing his eyes at her suspiciously.

 He leapt from his perch and landed behind her with a thud and splatter of rain water.  He was no taller than Marinette and he wore a red and green outfit, with a black hooded cape and a green domino mask. The red and green outfit had a golden yellow “R” on his chest, and she also noticed a sword that was sheathed at his side.  Marinette had to suspect this boy was the youngest out of the boys, Robin.   The two of them stood in silence for a long moment, she figured that someone who was formerly trained by assassins would be a little more hostile.  Then again, he was probably expecting someone else entirely.  “Aren’t you a little young to be out patrolling by yourself, little one?” she asked, trying to make some kind of conversation with the boy. She wasn’t in any position to say anything about this, considering she had been protecting Paris since she was 13.

 “What’s it to you?” He scoffed, “we’re looking for someone named Lady Noire, and you clearly wanted to attract someone’s attention by standing on a rooftop in that costume”.

 “Robin, can you not be a brat for like, five minutes?” Red Robin groaned into his comm, but Damian didn’t listen.

 “You can either state your business or stop wasting my time” he snapped, as Marinette chuckled.

 “So, you’re planning on challenging Lady Noire.  Tell me, what do you really know about her?” she asked him.

 “Only that father and that woman have taken an interest in her, and I intend to prove to both of them that she is nothing special.” he growled, “so unless you know something about her, stay out of my way”.

 “You seem certain, for someone who has never once faced her” she said with a smile.

 “I was trained by the best, I will not lose to someone who is little more than a foundling.” he was reaching for his sword at that moment.  Red Robin and Nightwing rolled their eyes at that comment as they listened in. They knew they had all bested their youngest brother at some point or other, despite being “foundlings”.

 “It would have been easy too just to hide from you and your brothers, but I’m going to enjoy taking you down a peg.” She braced herself for her first fight of the challenge.   She really could have, but sadly she had very little patience for people who thought they were better than everyone else.

 “I won’t lose to you Lady Noire, or whoever you are”, he growled as he drew his sword and pointed it at her.

 “Tikki, Longg, unify!” she called out, and a flash of red and gold light stunned Robin for a moment. The red and black bodysuit now had gold accents and a symbol on her chest.  The symbol was a lighting bolt, a wave and a gust of wind all swirling together.

 “What did you do?!” Red Robin yelled into his comm, “I swear if she kills us all just because you couldn’t control yourself…”

 Robin looked up to see that she had a yo-yo in one hand and the other reached behind her to draw a sword.  

 “And by the way, it’s Dragon Bug to you”, she swung her yo-yo with one hand and Robin ducked to dodge it. After dodging it, he charged at Dragon Bug, katana in hand.  She blocked his attack with her sword before kicking him back with her foot.  Dragon Bug pulled back her yo-yo and charged at him with her sword, when he blocked her, he spun around and kicked her legs out from under her.  As Dragon Bug fell to the floor, she raised her sword and yelled “Water Dragon!”.  There was more than enough to create a barrier that pushed Robin back before he could strike again.  Robin was knocked back against the wall, and she took out her yo-yo to make an escape to the streets below.

 This Lady Noire, Dragon Bug, whoever she was, had insulted his honor.  To him, that just simply would not stand. His father said that he wanted her alive, but he could barely get a scratch on her.  He got up quickly and used his grappling hook to swing after her. She was waiting for him, with her hair blowing in the wind, and a smile that Damian wanted to wipe off her face. He charged at her once more, this time sliding on the floor at the last moment and hoping to take a swipe at her leg. Once again, she managed to turn and block his katana. The pair of them traded blow after blow after blow, but he could only land a few scratches on her.  Marinette could use Lightning Dragon and shock the boy, to bring this to a swift end.  However, with all the water that was around them, she might end up killing the boy instead. Before she could try anything else with that sword, he blocked it and sent it flying off to the side. Marinette watched as her sword flew out of her hands before clattering on the ground next to them.

 Marinette had to admit that this kid was good and that the fusion was starting to drain her a little. She had to act fast as she dodged another incoming strike. She leapt backwards to dodge it but the boy took out a grappling hook, he gave it a few good spins before flinging it forward and catching her foot.  He pulled the wire taut and sent her crashing to the ground, hard.  “You may have your tricks, Dragon Bug, but I have skill, I have training, and now I have defeated you.” he called out as he tugged at the wire, pulling her towards him.

 “That may be true, but there’s something you should know…” she groaned as she propped herself up on her elbows, he stopped for a moment as he waited for her to tell him exactly what that was. Marinette reached for her yo-yo, she needed to finish this and safe her strength, “…you’re not the only one who’s had training.” she told him. Dragon Bug quickly spun her yo-yo and swung it at Robin, this time wrapping the wire around him and pulling the string tight.  He tried to free himself using his katana, while Dragon Bug unwrapped the wire around her foot.  As she stood up she said, “another one of my ‘magic tricks’” as she ran to retrieve her own sword.  She sheathed the sword and looked back to find a hog-tied Robin, desperately trying to cut the cord and free himself.  She wanted to enjoy this moment for just a little longer, there was always something so satisfying in moments like these.  She took a moment to send a quick message to Catwoman:

 “Dragon Bug: 1, Robin: 0” before sending her a selfie, with Robin tied up in the background.

 She glanced back at Robin who was now just scowling at her.  “You fought valiantly little one, but sadly you are not my only opponent” she told him as she unwound the string around him. When she had her yo-yo back, she flung it towards a street lamp and swung forward, lifting her up off the ground. There was one thing Damian was certain of, there was no way his brothers were going to let him live this down. With a good tug of her yo-yo, freed Damian, spinning him around in the process.

 Meanwhile, Jason and Roy were on a road trip back to Gotham, the two of them had just taken care of a Drug Lord in Starling City.  Jason’s phone buzzed with some news from Dick, something about how they had all been embroiled in a bet to take down Selina’s new protégé.  If any of them win, she has to join the Bat family, and if they all lose then she keeps working with Selina.  He could not bring himself to care, it was 50/50 on whether or not this girl was tolerable or if she was going to annoy him like the rest. Roy glanced over at him before turning his attention back to the road, “you look like you’re desperately searching for a fuck to give” he commented.

 “Just some dumb bet Bruce made,” Jason shut off his phone before reclining back in his chair.

 “That’s not like Bruce, usually making dumb bets was something you guys did” Roy wracked his brain trying to imagine the stoic and serious Batman making a dumb bet.

 “Something about Catwoman and her little sidekick.” he drawled, “If Dick, Me, Replacement or Demon Spawn take her down, she becomes Batman’s little sidekick.  Like he doesn’t have enough of those running around”.

 “Ah, I’m guessing you don’t want to fight her when we make it back to Gotham City?” Roy asked, “wouldn’t it be hilarious if you taught her how to win against your brothers?”

 Jason gave a half-hearted chuckle, moments later his phone buzzed with more messages.  He was really looking forward to this little power nap, but he checked to make sure no one desperately needed his help.

 He sees the picture that she took with Damian tied up in the background.  Babs, Steph and Cass had watched the whole thing, with popcorn. While Tim had made that photo the new wallpaper on the Belfry’s computer.

 “Well, says here she literally wiped the floor with Demon Spawn, before swinging away on a yo-yo.” he said and they both laughed “now I’m just mad I won’t get to buy the girl a few drinks”.

 “I mean either way, I’m sure you’ll get your chance if you’re both in Gotham City.  I’m just sad that I’ll have to be your third wheel.” Roy said wistfully.

 “Roy, I had to listen to you and Kory in the next room,” Jason recalled, “you have no room to complain about third wheeling.”

 “Awh was little Jaybird jealous?” Roy joked.

 “Hey you’re the one who assumed that we banged in the first place,” he said “all I said was I was with her, and you decided to interpret that however you wanted”.

 “Well, it doesn’t matter anyway because she ran off to Miami to work through some things, and we’re just over here thinking about the good old days,” Roy said.  The two of them continued to drive in silence and Jason leaned back, trying to get some sleep before facing whatever chaos was waiting to greet them in Gotham City.

  Tim has researched all he could on this mysterious Lady Noire, yet there are several reported sightings of different vigilantes all with the same height and build. Lady Noire, Ladybug, Dragon bug. Tim compiled all known sightings onto his corkboard to get a clear picture of who this person is.

The fight between Dragon Bug and Damian provided him with crucial information on how he could counter Dragon Bug. Tim then donned his Red Robin costume and began patrol of Gotham City. Gliding across he spotted an usual sight, a costumed person standing on a rooftop. It had to be the one Batman told him about, the person he was to fight because of the bet.

Tim landed on a nearby rooftop to reconfirm the target. "Same height and build, but this costume is different." Tim sighed, he had noticed that each costume had its own power and abilities, and made detailed notes on each. Codename: Polka-dot had the power to summon an unknown household object. Codename: Catwoman II used an indestructible staff and the power of disintegration, Codename: Drake used a sword and came with the power of hydrokinesis.

However, he had no intel regarding this new costume. He decided to press his luck and use stealth to take her down. He leaped off the roof and began gliding towards her with a kick.

To his surprise, his target shrank at the last second, he glided through and smashed into a skylight, landing inside an abandoned building.

Multimouse followed suit and jumped in through the broken skylight. Landing right at the centre of the room, she simply stood there arms akimbo looking at him. Red Robin threw a smoke bomb, grappling to the rafters. Multimouse did not pursue, no sense of panic she simply walked to a wooden crate and sat on it.

Red Robin, took the opportunity to launch himself off and glided towards Multimouse with a kick. He was shocked to see her suddenly turn around as if she knew he was there the entire time, with perfect timing she grabbed and judo flipped Red Robin through the wooden crate. Wiping her hands in a dramatic manner, Multimouse walked to the centre of the room and crossed her arms. Red Robin crushed a smoke bomb with his hand, obscuring the area and diving towards an underground vent.

He began to wonder how she was able to counter him so effectively. "The power of foresight? 360 degrees x-ray vision? No it can't be." Red Robin thought to himself. While crawling in the vents to a position behind Multimouse, he berated himself for pressing his luck without any information on Multimouse. He peeked his head out of the vent, Multimouse had not moved, she continued to stare at Red Robin's previous location. Taking another chance, Red Robin jumped out of the underground vent ready for a takedown.

Again as if she was a clairvoyant she countered him perfectly, spinning on the spot and delivering a crushing kick to Red Robin’s midsection. Sending him flying across the room, he took out his staff and slowly got up, using the staff as if it was a cane. He stood on shaky legs, in disbelief.

He then begins to notice something unusual hanging on the hem of his cape. His eyes widen as he takes a closer look. A miniature clone of Multimouse was hanging on, his eyes snapped up to the rafters and then the vents. There were several miniature clones all over the building, all about the size of a small insect.

Red Robin's jaw dropped as he had this epiphany. Seeing her cue, Multimouse shrank down and spawned a horde of miniature clones. Millions of clones rush towards Red Robin, he begins swinging his staff, stomping on any clones on the ground, flailing his arms like a madman. The horde bellows a collective “Surrender,” Red Robins defiantly continues to fight.

Soon the swarm begins to cover Red Robin all the way up to his neck, his body unable to move. The Multimouse arms pulls off the cowl and begins pulling all of Red Robin’s hair. Red Robin, facing the agony of Multimouse waxing his head. “Ok, ok I give up.” he cried. As he finished his plea, the swarm dissipated and reforms to the singular human sized Multimouse. Red Robin is then left kneeling and staring at the strands of his own hair left on the floor.

Multimouse, seizing the opportunity to obtain a trophy of her efforts, takes a selfie with a poor, disheveled Red Robin in the background.

  Marinette was really starting to feel the effects of using different Miraculous for two nights straight. Dragon Bug was draining enough, but she had to use Multimouse to take on Red Robin.  That left Nightwing and The Red Hood, and she was starting to wonder what was the point of this game.  She felt like she was just fighting to win, fighting so that the person who took care of her when she first arrived in Gotham could prove a point.  If she won, then she would stay under Catwoman’s protection, and the Miraculous would be protected with her.  Though she was lucky that the Miraculous themselves didn’t look valuable enough to pique her interest.  If she lost to one of them, she would be under Batman’s protection instead.  She would become a part of the group of vigilantes who operate in the city, and she didn’t know how she felt about that either. How would she feel about seemingly being the only magic user among them?  How would he feel about her being a magic user?  She hadn’t even met the guy, all she knew was that he took an interest in her dealings with Catwoman.  Maybe she would encounter the Red Hood and he would make the choice for her by putting her out of her misery.  She decided to settle this fight once and for all as Ladybug, maybe then someone would give her some answers.  

 She got a text message from Catwoman, telling her to meet her on a rooftop that had gargoyles glaring down at the streets below.  Maybe she had information on where her next fight would be, she didn’t say.  By the time she got there, she saw two people eating fast food next to the gargoyles.  The first was a redhead in red armor, and the second was…

 “Get your own brooding spot, this one’s taken!” He yelled. Marinette looked up to see the other guy had a red domino mask, and in addition to being dressed in Kevlar and leather, had a red bat symbol on his chest.

 Marinette spun her yo-yo, getting ready for a fight. The redhead continued eating, while his dark-haired companion gave her a swift once over.

 “So, you’re the girl who took down Robin and Red Robin?” he asked, as if struggling to believe it.  

 “And you are?” she asked, when he put on the red helmet that was in his hand, it suddenly became clear.

 “So, looking for me?” he asked, “Or are you on your way to fight the original boy wonder?”

 “Honestly, I’ll take my chances with you.” Marinette said as she launched her yo-yo at his companion and wrapped the cord around him.

 “Wait, wait, wait why me?” the redhead cried,  then she threw him and sent him crashing into the Red Hood.  The pair of them slammed into a nearby wall before she released the redhead.  She unwound the cord and was getting ready to strike again.

 Underneath the sprawled out pile of bodies, Red Hood grunted “Arsenal, get your ass off of my face or else…” Arsenal got up before he could finish his threat and they both stood up.

 “So who checked ‘Fights with Toys’ off their bingo card?” Arsenal joked.

 “Is that the best you can do?” Red Hood taunted. He came at her with a knife in hand, when she leapt in the air and wrapped her yo-yo cord around his arm.  She launched herself at him, landing an aerial kick on his helmet. Red Hood grabbed her by the foot and flipped her over, sending her crashing to the ground.

“If you came here to fight me that’s one thing, not many people get to say they took on someone with a yo-yo and lived, unless you’re Toyman.” he said, as he lifted her up off the ground.  “If you think this is what it takes to face Nightwing, then you have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

 Ladybug took a few steps back after he helped her get to her feet, “so are you going to fight me instead?”

 “Pixie, take it from me, it’s really not all it’s cracked up to be.  As fun as it’s been watching you kick my brother’s asses, they are nothing compared to Nightwing.” he explained as he took off his helmet and set it down next to him.

 “What do you know about Nightwing?” she asked, still understandably guarded about the situation.

 “Oh what don’t I know, he’s basically Batman’s heir.” he told her “I’m just one of the spares, and that’s on a good day when I managed to not die.”

 Dick had made it clear days ago that he wasn’t going to fight her, he already put his foot down at how silly this whole thing was.  Jason, however, decided to have a little fun. “Honestly, you might as well just walk right into the batcave and challenge Batman yourself.” he told her, “I mean you won’t die, that’s kinda his whole deal, but you’ll be eating through a straw for the rest of your life.”

Jason, enjoying the anxiety bubble in the young woman, and he decided to crank it up to eleven.

“Nightwing is equal if not better than Batman in every way, he once took up the mantle of Batman when he was injured. Not only that, he broke Bane’s back.  He lifted a 7ft tall 500lb big guy, snapped his spine over his knee as if it was nothing.”  Jason moves his arms, mimicking the motion of breaking something over his knee. Ladybug began to sweat even more, struggling to imagine the powerhouse of a man to even accomplish such a feat.

Jason’s grin widens, “not only that, he fought a giant mutated bat the size of a man. He wrestled Man-Bat, putting him in a full nelson and smashing its face into solid concrete” Ladybug cringes at the thought of feeling the full force of having your face slammed into concrete. Jason gets ready for the coup de grace. “In fact, when he was 10 years old, he watched his parents get murdered by mobster Tony Zucco in front of his own eyes. After being taken under Batman’s wing, he went out for revenge. He chased after Tony for hours and cornered him in Crime Alley.

Tony died that night when Nightwent went after him, the official cause was a heart attack.”

Jason stops talking to look around him, as if he was paranoid and there were eyes all around him. He walks up to Ladybug and whispers to her ear “but between you and me, it wasn’t.”

 He turns to Roy, “but if she’s gonna try and take him on after all that, then we might as well pull up some chairs and watch.” he said, giving Roy a knowing look.

 “Oh yeah, I mean he’s no match for a cute girl and her yo-yo.” Roy joked.

 “Come on, he’s probably waiting on top of the Iceberg Lounge, and he doesn’t like to be kept waiting” he declared, Ladybug followed as the three of them made their way to the Iceberg Lounge. She felt her legs shaking, but it’s fine, she would at least live to tell the tale...right?

Nightwing stood on the roof of the Iceberg Lounge, carefully watching the whereabouts of the people going in and out of the area.  He heard footsteps and looked up to see three figures landing on the rooftop in front of him. He looked up to see Red Hood, Arsenal and a short girl who looked to be in her late teens, maybe early 20s.  He looked between them, then back at the girl who was spinning a red yo-yo with black polka dots.

Nightwing waved to them, figuring she would be the short girl mentioned in the bet between Batman and Catwoman. As he noticed the three, the short girl visibly frightened as he walked towards them.

 Nightwing sighed “what did you tell her?” he asked, he had better things to than get involved in Batman’s dumb little bet.  The outcome would have been someone joining the Bat family by force, even he had put his foot down by that point.  

 “I mean, nothing that wasn’t true.” Red Hood told him, “she might as well know who she’s dealing with.”

 “Right, and you probably told her you are just a soft teddy bear compared to me.” Nightwing remarked sarcastically, “was it to keep her from beating the stuffing out of you?”. At that point Ladybug was visibly confused, so Nightwing looked over at her “so how did you get dragged into this? Got sick of having to share a litter box?”

 Ladybug eyes Nightwing cautiously, thinking his joking mannerisms are an elaborate ruse to lower her guard. “What, don’t tell my Catwoman’s got your tongue?” Nightwing jokes with a large grin. Ladybug begins to slowly walk back, confused at how expectations did not match reality.

Nightwing points his thumb at Ladybug and talks to Red Hood, “Alright what did you tell her about me?” Red Hood raises his arms innocently “Like I said, nothing that wasn’t true.”

Nightwing raises his eyebrow at Red Hood and crosses his arms. “Alright I told her how you took down Bane and Man-Bat by yourself” Red Hood admits. “And?” Nightwing begins tapping his foot. “I may have, insinuated that you may or may not have had something to do with Tony Zucco's heart attack”

Nightwing facepalms, “well so much for first impressions, let's start over shall we?”

 Nightwing reaches his hand out to Ladybug, “Name’s Richard but everyone calls me Dick”

Marinette tentatively reaches out to shake his hand, “I know you aren’t enthusiastic about this bet, neither am I. I don’t want to knock your spots off, so how about I lie on the ground, you take a picture for Catwoman and you fly off into the sunset”

 “Where would I go?” she asked,

 “She could come with us.” Red Hood suggested, “nothing would annoy Batman more.”

 “Right, and next she’ll start asking me if I actually hypnotize people with my ass.” Nightwing said as he raised an eyebrow at him.  “Think Catwoman would let you take her?”

 “We already asked, someone has to look after this pipsqueak while she’s doing what she does best, alone”, Red Hood explained.

 Ladybug felt herself calming down a lot more at that moment.  She came to this city not really knowing anyone, feeling like there was no one else looking out for her.  Now, for the first time in a long time, she felt like she was going to be in good hands.

 Bonus 1:

Roy: So, should we call ourselves “Red Arse Bug” or “Lady Red Arse”?

Jason: Do you want me to throw you off this roof?

 Bonus 2:

Ladybug: So you all had to wear red, yellow and green?

Red Hood: Yup.

Ladybug: What was it like?

Red Hood: I did my time in the pixie boots, Pixie.  Doesn’t mean I like to talk about it.

[laughterbynight]

Phew okay. I can see others are already suggesting non comic sources and there’s def a good reason for that. Contemporary writers seem to be heavily influenced by elseworlds versions of Batman (meaning comic AUs) where he’s aggressive and abusive and just darker in general. They also seem to think Bruce is a stand in for themselves and are trying to make him more relatable to your average mediocre dude than y’know, a superhero, which is bizarre. So yes, current media is hard.

Batman the Animated Series is definitely a good place to start. That iteration of Batman/Bruce is much much better than anything the comics have going on atm. That said it’s got limitations. The stuff later in the series between Batgirl and Batman is completely fabricated by the creators and we ignore it because ew. It also leaves out Jason (second Robin) and Cassandra (Bruce has a daughter) and of course the newest Robin, Damian. So grain of salt but it still sets the vibe and helps you understand the Batman universe.

After that the Justice league animated series is also good bc it helps place Batman in the wider DC universe. You can see his relationships with other superheroes and how that all works.

Batman Beyond is also popular but it’s a dark AU of what could happen in the future so I’m less inclined to recommend it for the sake of understanding characters and the current state of things.

Having said that, skimming the dc database wiki for core batfamily member will help. You don’t need to read it all just skim a little.

Actual family members are Bruce/Batman, Alfred/Butler & father figure to Bruce(dead in comics atm but we ignore that), Dick/nightwing, Jason/Red Hood, Tim/Robin or Red Robin, Cassandra/Batgirl, Damian/Robin, Duke/Signal(he’s the newest so he’s not in as much media yet).

Then we have reoccurring characters that aren’t family: Barbara(babs)/Batgirl or Oracle, Selina/Catwoman, Stephanie/Spoiler and there’s actually more buy for the purposes of what you’re looking for this is enough to start.

Basics to know (I have to leave out a lot bc there’s just decades of info):

Batman/Bruce: I think most people know his story just by cultural osmosis but I’ll reiterate here that originally he’s was not this grimdark or like, shitty stepdad the way current writers have him. He’s also besties with Superman. They have been like that from the start. Ignore all the media where they hate each other. There’s a reason superbat as a ship is so popular.

Dick (Richard)/Nightwing: 1st Robin, adopted by Bruce when his parents died. He was a circus performer along with his parents. Part of the flying Graysons and is still the most acrobatic of the batfam. He was Bruce’s ward in the comics for the longest time before it was like, okay yeah they’re father and son. There’s a lot here but again for simplicity he’s Sunny and upbeat and Superman’s favorite Robin. Started the whole cracking jokes thing and still does it. Became Nightwing to more or less get away from the Robin persona and out from under Bruce’s shadow. Their relationship has its ups and downs. For Bruce’s part he adores him and considers Dick his greatest success (Dick could have turned out like him but Bruce believed he grew up to be a better person than Bruce did).

Jason/Red Hood:

Second Robin. Taken in by Bruce after Bruce caught him trying to steal the tires off the bat mobile. Grew up in poverty and can be a bit on the rougher side. The big thing about him is DC decided to do a phone poll to let fans decide if he would live or die after it seemed like some fans weren’t as charmed by Jason as they were by Dick. Lot of people thought it was a stunt but they really did have him killed off by having Jason beaten by the joker with a crowbar and ultimately death by explosion when Batman couldn’t get to him in time (you can read about the finer details elsewhere). This caused Batman to spiral as you might imagine and that’s been the catalyst largely for the darker him we see a lot now. However, Jason is alive again and using the name Red Hood. How he came back is complicated again, but he dug himself out of his grave and was found by Talia (google) and went off the deep end for a while. Lots of details in this area get retconned so canon is murky but for now he’s massive thanks to the Lazarus pit and not happy with Bruce for not killing the Joker to avenge him. Very snarky. Edit: I should point out Red Hood is a former Alias of the Joker which some feel makes it an odd choice for Jason to use. He also currently uses a crowbar as a weapon (along with guns) which, again, for a guy with ptsd due to his death is a weird choice by DC.

Tim/Robin or Red Robin:

Third Robin. Designed to be the perfect Robin to Bruce’s Batman. He wasn’t an orphan and actually comes from money but he was neglected with parents seemingly more interested in their lifestyle than parenting. This is another area where severity depends on the writers but Tim clearly had issues because of it. Serious perfectionism tendencies and as a young child he used to sneak out to dangerous areas and take pictures of Batman and Robin. Also notably figured out everyone’s identities as a child. Tim is sort of a mini Bruce. He thinks the way Bruce does. Detective brain. When Batman was getting more dark and violent after the death of the second Robin (Jason) Tim went to find Dick/Nightwing to try to convince him to be Robin again under the assumption Batman needs a Robin to keep him stable. Dick couldn’t do it so Tim decided to take up the mantle, forcing Bruce’s hand. He had a rough time of it as Bruce was still in a bad space mentally but eventually things improved. He’s extremely loyal and also snarky (see a pattern) and the smallest of the adults, most fans speculate bc of neglect as a child. He took on Red Robin for a while when Bruce “died” (it’s a long story) but is now back to Robin. Has stated he has no interest in being Batman in the future. His only interest vigilante related is being Bruce’s Robin. However, do not underestimate. Despite his stature he’s considered a little unstable sometimes and dangerous enough that some of Batman’s biggest foes also consider him and equal threat. Jason had beef with Tim in the past for “replacing” him. Again, wiki. Tim is Bi which became canon recently but fans have been on that train for a long time. He’s commonly shipped with Connor/Kon-El aka Superboy. Tim became uh unstable when Kon died in the past.

Cassandra/ Batgirl ii:

Conceived for the purpose of being the ultimate weapon Cass was raised without language or physical affection. As such her brain interprets physical movement as language, making her capable of reading others intent and actions almost before they do anything. Her combat training also put her above every other batfamily member including Batman. She sort of speaks fighting, if that makes sense. As a child she was tasked to perform her first kill but afterwards she became aware of what she was doing and rejected it, running away from her father. She showed up in Gotham and of course Batman takes notice. They end up bonding over time and eventually she becomes the second batgirl. Unfortunately her og run has some ableist junk about fixing her disability (she has a severe form of dyslexia thanks to her upbringing) but we ignore it a lot. She’s very loyal to the bat symbol and what it stands for. With Bruce she’s got the strongest convictions about not killing and reforming people. Many fans believe she would be the actual successor for Batman and indeed she IS Batman in one future. Closest to Tim of all the siblings. Very quiet but her inner dialogue is also snarky. Does not react to major injuries like gut shot wounds thanks to conditioning from her bio father (yes it’s as bad as it sounds). Daddy’s girl to Bruce’s girl dad.

Damian/Robin:

Dear god, okay he’s the newest Robin and there’s retcons everywhere so imma make this as simple as possible. Again, wiki. Bruce’s bio son with Talia (past love interest/foe) and pretty controversial bc the batfam has always been about found family but Damian being bio seems to cause writers to favor him a lot, to the point of sometimes being called Batman’s only son and true heir. Yes it’s gross. Not his fault but there’s a good reason having bio kids isn’t great for batfam dynamics. Raised by assassins and extremely violent when he first joined the family. Attempted to kill Tim to take his place. Bruce of course did not respond well nor did Tim. Their relationships are improving but there’s still some animosity. His conception is dubious. Originally not consensual but that’s been reworked over time along with his personality. He’s softer now and does not eat meat. Has a lot of pets. Still trying to find his place in the family somewhat. Dick is his mentor and I’d argue father figure. They’re close. Still kills but tries to do so only when there’s no other option. Writers are invested in him being the next Batman and he was conditioned from childhood to want that, but actually seems to do better when he’s forging his own path. Artistic. Snarky and rude a lot.

Duke/Signal:

ngl I don’t know much about him yet. I wasn’t aware he existed for a long time because I’m not actively reading the comics right now. I believe he patrols during the day and also possess the trademark Batfam intellect. Seems like a sweet boy tossed into the chaos of the rest of the batfam. Maybe someone else can add more for him.

Aaaaand imma stop here bc I think the app will break if I keep going. These are the core family members though. Read up on them some more and surf the tags and maybe fic to get an idea of what fandom accepts and rejects. The batfam history is so long we can’t accept it all as canon so we cherry pick and ignore comics when the writing is truly vile and full of character assassination.

Edit: something important to be aware of is fans often have a favorite they are ride-or-die for (Tim and Cass are mine) and that can lead to posts on here that are uh more than a little biased and maybe not totally truthful about comic events in favor of making a favorite character the wubbie. If you see a post using like one comic panel to paint a very black and white narrative it’s a good idea to try and find the event being talked about and see what happened in canon.

Guys where tf are Dick Grayson and Jason Todd and like all the Batman characters that people make headcanons for from bc I’m in desperate need of found family shit and marvel isn’t cutting it 😩

Is it just from the comics or is there like a show???? Help 💔

[ellana-ravenwood]

Can you be friend with your husband's ex-girlfriend ? - Bruce Wayne x Fem!Reader

Synopsis : Everyone always think you and Selina Kyle don’t like each others, solely for the fact that she used to "date” your husband. But as usual in life, things are much more complicated than that...A fluffy Drabble mainly about how truly strong, Bruce and reader’s love is. 

Listen. My students were having quiet reading times, and I had a sudden burst of inspiration as one of them chose a French story in which a mother and a step-mother unite fronts to save their little magical kid (I love that story haha), and it suddenly inspired me. I LOVE Catwoman. Like. A lot. And in my head, her and Batmom have always been...Oh. No spoilers. The rest in this story ;). Hope you’ll like this little bonus story ! : 

My masterlist blog : @ella-ravenwood-archives

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“You look beautiful mom, do you have a date with father ? I thought date nights were on Thursdays.” 

You jumped a little in the air as your son’s voice resonate in the foyer. Definitely didn’t hear him, sneaky little bugger. You turn around towards him, and smile, saying : 

“It is on Thursdays, my little buddy. I’m having a girls night out, tonight.” 

“Girls night out ?” 

“Yes. You know, Cass and I are the only girls of the family. Sometimes we need to vent to our peers. Cass usually goes to see Steph and Babs, I go out with my friends.” 

You smile at him again, ruffling his hair, and he can’t help but chuckle a little bit. In recent months, Damian found that he actually loves, when the one he came to call “mom” (you), ruffled his hair. It made him feel like the little boy he was, as odd as it could sound to anyone not knowing him. 

“I didn’t know you went on such nights.” 

“I do, once a month. You just haven’t noticed because it’s usually on nights you’re out with your father rather early.” 

“I see. If it isn’t too -he hesitates- personal, can I ask with who you are going out ? Who are your friends ?” 

Your smile widens. Because just over a year back, that boy would’ve never cared about this. About who you hung out with, or about you in general. 

Ah, since he came in your life, he went a long way. The mere fact he wanted to know more about you was proof enough, and you felt absolutely touched. 

Even more so as you realized that he not only asked about your friends because he wanted to know you, but because he was a little worried about who you might spend time with, wether they’d put you in danger or not...So, oh so sweet. 

“Well, as cliche as it sounds, I’m going out with mainly other supermoms. We like to vent about...Things -you were aware that telling your son you and your friends love to vent about them wasn’t the best answer right now haha- So, Lois, you know her of course. Jon’s mom. There’s also Dinah, Connor’s mom. You saw him a few time at the Watchtower, although he’s quite younger than you so I don’t think you interact much. I bet you already know she’s Black Canary, and married to Green Arrow, I saw you snoop in your father’s files.” 

Your son’s face redden a little, but you give him a reassuring winks totally meaning : “I snooped around too”, and it makes him smile. You continue : 

“And finally there’s Diana. She’s not a mom yet, but she loooooves to listen to our stories. She’s also great at changing subjects and partying, who would’ve thought right ? I guess having thousand of years of practice helps. I’m sure you know she’s Wonder Woman eh. Oh, and of course, there’s Selina.” 

“Selina ?” 

“Yes.” 

“As in...Catwoman ?” 

“Yes ?” 

You can see your son wants to add something, and you’re pretty sure you know what it’s gonna be. But you let him ask naturally, leave him time to gather his thoughts and dare to ask. After all, you want to instal an atmosphere of trust, between you and your children. You want them to know they can always ask you anything. So you wait. Finally, Damian says : 

“Why are you meeting with this woman ? Don’t you like, hate her ?” 

"Why would I hate her ?” 

You know exactly why he’s thinking that. But you want him to elaborate, to make sense of his feelings about the subject. Simply, to talk. 

“Well...her and father used to...you know...” 

It’s not quite as formed as you were hoping for, but you do know. And at least, he tried. There was a time he would’ve just gotten mad you purposefully pretended not to understand his meaning, and would’ve left this instant.

You smile at him once more. To be honest, so many people thought you and Selina Kyle didn’t get along. 

You guess it would make sense, it’t true, she’s your husband ex after all. AND one of the only woman for whom he truly cared about. Those, were very few...

In fact, there was only three of you, in Bruce’s life, that truly made a difference. Sure, he had been infatuated before, with quite a few women. But only three, truly stood out. 

Talia Al’Ghul, of course. Not his first love (that was Julie Madison, although he was much too young to really know what love even was, and compared to you, it was just mild infatuation). But someone that used to be important nonetheless. The reason your sweet Damian (yes, sweet, especially when around you) was alive. 

She was important, once. When he was training under her father’s guidance, before he realized who Ras really was. 

Talia was a complicated woman who unfortunately could never truly get away from her upbringing, no matter how hard she tried. She was “too far gone”, by her own words. It was clear to Bruce, that if even herself thought she was un-savable, he couldn’t do much either. He did try, though. But it just never worked. 

You were certain that she left Damian in Bruce’s care, when the boy was barely ten, exactly because she didn’t want him to turn out like her. Which in itself, was a little redemption act, no ? At least, you thought so. 

Didn’t mean that you thought you could change her mind about those “world domination” plans that were ingrained in her mind since she was born. Fact is, she gave Damian a chance. 

You never hated Talia. You actually felt pretty sorry for her. 

She could’ve had such a different life, if, all those years ago, she had been able to leave her father. Not that you would want to, it’d mean that you and Bruce would never be (even if deep down, you knew that you and him would always end up together, no matter what...it would’ve just been a little lethal for you, if Talia was more around um um). 

Talia never even really tried to get “her” son back. It seemed she completely accepted to “give him” to you. She self-admittedly never really knew how to be a mother, and there was that time she had him killed because she thought it was meant to be...

Not that, anyway, you’d ever let that happen again. You made it very clear you wouldn’t. And your resolve and anger could be scary, even to Talia Al’Ghul.

Plus, the day she had Damian killed, she realized she didn’t want that...anyway long story short, she was no longer in his life. And although if one day she changed her mind and wanted to contact him again you wouldn’t oppose it, you knew Damian was yours. Everyone knew that if one day she would come back, beyond the fact you, Bruce, and his siblings would be here to protect Damian...The boy would never choose to go back to the Al Ghuls. 

He changed drastically, since he came with you. He was no longer her son. And she knew it. And didn’t interfere so far (and you knew she never would). 

He called YOU “mom”. He told YOU he loves you. You. Not her. he never interacted with you like he did with her anyway. And you still didn’t hate Talia. She was part of both Bruce, and Damian’s past (AUTHOR’S NOTE : a little reminder that Damian was born from a “test tube” with Bruce and Talia’s DNA (to simplify things), and had a surrogate mother to give birth to him (although sometimes he’s seen in literal “baby pods” like in Death Stranding haha). He was born A WHILE after Bruce left Talia and the League behind. He wasn’t born 9 months after. This is important infos so things fit timeline wise :)).

The second woman who had a great impact on your husband’s life, and who used to be “his”, was...Selina Kyle. 

For a long time Bruce felt like she was the only one to understand him. The only one accepting him for who he was, with no compromise. The only person on this Earth that wouldn’t try to change him. And although things were often “on and off”, and complicated, it was nice, to feel like he belonged. And Selina... Selina was the only one giving him this feeling. 

But...Well, he was wrong.  

Because then, you, the “third” and yet most important woman in his life, appeared. 

You arrived years after his love story with Talia, and quite a while after he started to realize him and Selina were maybe not meant to be. Too many differences, even as they understood each others (or at least he thought they did).

Then you barged in. A bit younger than him. Unafraid to be yourself, bold and utterly stubborn. Turning his world upside down, and making him reconsider if he ever knew what the word “love” meant before you.  

But that, was another story. Anyone seeing you with him, and particularly the way he looked at you, would instantly know how crazy he was about you. How desperately in love he was. 

Right now, the question wasn’t about how strong your bond was, and how he never loved anyone like he loves you. 

Nope. Right now, it was all about how you didn’t hate his exes (not even Talia). How anyway, they were part of his life at some point, that was a fact you could never change. 

Before you, Bruce had a past. Past. 

A past. A path. A path that lead him to you. A path that taught him to not make the same mistakes he made before, and a path that showed him it was you. That it has always been you. 

A past path, that couldn’t compare to his present with you. 

You didn’t even feel particularly jealous of them, you knew how Bruce felt about you, and that they were just that...part of his past. 

Now, sure. You would probably never even be friendly with Talia. Who she was and what she stood for made it so. The opposite of you, really. 

But Selina ? Well. Selina was another story. 

You smile at your son, and say : 

“Do you think of Selina and I as “conventional women” ? “

His answer came without a second of hesitation, Damian didn’t even have to think to say what he thought of your question : 

“Certainly not.” 

“Exactly. Now. Maybe society teaches girls they should instantly hate their boyfriend’s ex, but I chose not to listen. It’s a toxic view of life, and not all exes are crazy jealous psychos as the people make it sound ? Sometimes, like in your father and Selina’s case, the relationship ends on good terms. Selina is a great woman. As soon as she knew your dad and I were actually a thing, she backed off.” 

Well. That wasn’t entirely true. She backed off of Bruce. But she still LOVED driving him crazy jealous by openly flirting with you. 

“And I know how your dad feels about me. I trust him, too. Trust is important, you know that now right ? -he nods- So. Why would I hate someone I have a lot in common with, and with whom I’d probably be friend anyway if you father wasn’t in the picture ?” 

“I...I guess you wouldn’t ?” 

“And I indeed don’t.” 

Your son was visibly confused, and you couldn’t blame him really. 

Because of how the World was, but also because of who raised him (Talia was...a jealous woman), you understood how he couldn’t quite understand you not feeling threaten in the least by the fact Selina was your Broosh’s ex. So you say, kissing his forehead :

“I’ll tell you a few stories, soon. And I think you’ll get it.” 

“Ok, mom.” 

You smiled. He hadn’t call you “mom” for very long, and you quickly noticed he used every opportunity to use the word. It melted your heart. 

“Now, I have to go ! If I’m late, Diana is going to fly me out of here, and your father HATES when she does that. Goodnight baby, see you soon. Make sure to eat a proper dinner. I told Alfred but I trust you to listen. And force your dad to have one too, when I’m not here, he forgets things...even as important as literally feeding himself. Too engrossed in his project, you know. Anyway, love you. Good night !” 

“Good night, mom.” 

And with a last smile, you go out and leave behind a son that has a LOT of things to think about. 

************

A few days later, it was Damian’s mandatory night off and he was going to bed early. Your orders. You convinced him, by promising to read him a bedtime story.

Many would think your son was too proud to even admit you still read him stories before bed, even as he was approaching the age of 12. But many would be wrong. 

If there was something Damian wasn’t afraid of, it was to tell the world how much of a mamma’s boy he was. Nobody could blame him, he never really had a “real” mom. Not one like you, at least, who taught him with love and patience, and not hired assassins and blood. 

“Ok Little Buddy, what will it be tonight ?” 

"The story of how you became friend with Catwoman ?”

Your taken aback for a few seconds, you had totally forgotten about telling him about your “girls night out”. But then you smile, settle down next to him on his bed, and as he threw his heavy and comfortable quilt on both of you, you start your story. 

The day she saved your life. 

The first time you realized you and Selina could very well become friends one day, was that time she literally saved your life. Definitely a hint that she didn’t hate you, at least. 

And you ? Sure, at first you were a little insecure because you knew she was Bruce’s ex and Selina was...Well she was a gorgeous woman, smart, witty, and very VERY hot. 

But after seeing her a few times there and there, and seeing how she interacted with Bruce...you knew Selina Kyle was not the “home wrecker” time. That she would never try anything with him, as long as she knew you two were a thing. 

Sure she was a thief, unscrupulously taking whatever she wanted from whomever she wanted...but “someone else’s man” was definitely where she drew a limit. She felt absolutely no pleasure being a mean spirited person. 

And she saw how happy Bruce was with you...Which lead to that fateful night during which you two started to get closer. 

Because sure, you fought off your insecurities about her being his ex, but you weren’t exactly friendly. You just...knew of each others. 

The change happened not long after Bruce made it official with the media that he was no longer “Gotham’s most eligible bachelor”, and was in a serious relationship with you. 

To your surprise, the people in the city took it really well. Bruce was a beloved figure, they were happy that after years of clearly love life instability, he found someone. Sure, a few women and men had their heart broken, their dreams shattered, and were totally jealous of you but...

Anyone seeing you with him just instantly knew you guys were the real deal. That it was true love, as cheesy as it sounded. It was just that obvious. 

Maybe too obvious. 

Clearly, soon, everyone in Gotham knew how much Bruce Wayne cared about his girlfriend. How he would do anything for her. And...Well. 

This was Gotham. Do you get the picture ? 

It was a time during which you hadn’t moved in with him just yet. You’d do that only a few months later, not long before you and Bruce would adopt Dick. 

But for now, you still had your studio apartment in the heart of Gotham (refusing to take any handouts from Bruce, who could definitely get you a better place), and you were going back there after a few meeting with your publishers. 

You were suppose to meet Bruce the next day, as tonight, he was working on some important “Batcases”. You didn’t mind too much. Sometimes, it was nice to be alone with yourself, gave you a moment of self-care and calm. 

You loved Bruce of course, and loved being with him, but it was still nice to have some alone time nonetheless. 

Anyway. You were walking back, feeling rather good about the bath bomb that was waiting for you back home (it was from your favorite artisanal shop, a gift from Bruce, who definitely had no qualms buying you hundreds of dollars worth of bath bombs haha...If he couldn’t help you get a better apartment, didn’t mean he wasn’t gonna spoil you otherwise). 

That’s when it happened. You never even saw it coming. One second you were walking down the street, the next you had a damp towel around your mouth and nose, and everything went to black. 

************

You woke up in a warehouse. By the salty smell in the air though, you guessed you were somewhere on the docks. Which didn’t tell much, there was a lot of docks, in Gotham. Perks of living on a city with a seafront view ?

There was a group of men in a corner, playing cards. In front of you, a camera. You were gagged, your arms and legs were bound, and your head hurt like hell. 

“Hey, she woke up.”  

A shuffling to your side. The men playing cards were moving. They came to you, one turned the camera on. The other one put on some headphones and slowly directed a mic towards you, as the last man pulled on a ski mask and settled in front of the camera. 

Nothing made sense to you. Until the man in front of the camera started to talk. 

“Bruce Wayne. We have your girlfriend. If you don’t bring us-” 

Oh. Oh. You were kidnapped. And those men wanted a ransom. An insane amount of money. That you knew Bruce had, but still. Ah. 

You had to get out of here. You had to. 

You looked around you, nothing. And there were the three men. Oh. Oh but the edges of your chair were sharp. And if you slowly made a back and forth movement with your wrists, you could see it slowly cutting the ropes. And so, you got to work.  

Only...

“Believe me, we won’t hesitate to hurt her. Here, a proof of “good faith”.”

Huh ? OUTCH ! The man in front of the camera had just almost knocked you out with the force of his punch in your jaw. You were wondering if he hadn’t broken it. You couldn’t quite think anymore, and could feel the tears slowly falling on their own from your eyes... 

Damn, it hurt. You didn’t see it coming either, too focused on slowly cutting the ropes while making sure they didn’t notice. 

“Ok, I think that’s good. Whaddaya think, Rupert ?”

“We can do another take if you want, and then edit the punch in ? I’m not sure she can handle another hit like that, she looks pretty shaken up.” 

“Ah well we-”

“Oooooh booyyys !” 

Your ears were ringing, everything was blurry, and your head hurt so much. But you definitely recognized that voice. 

“Catwoman, you’re early.” 

Huh ? What was she doing here... 

“Well, I thought I’d pop in a little earlier knowing you boys would be around. I’m sort of in a hurry. I accept cash of course, as usual. I think you’ll find the array of jewelries I brought today to be...What the hell are you doing ?”

“Mm ? Oh, her ? A little side operation. She’s Bruce Wayne’s sweetheart. Rumors has it he’d burn the world for her, we thought we’d take advantage of it and expend our business.” 

“That’s quite a jump from fencing stolen jewelries, to kidnapping, isn’t it ?” 

The man shrugged, and turned back to you. 

“Well, you don’t achieve anything if you don’t start new ventures. And there’s big money to be made here. For sure. That idiot Wayne will pay up, there’s no doubt.” 

You heard the click-clacks of heels, and a shadow came into your vision. 

“What did you do to her, you animals ?” 

“Just a punch. And maybe we weren’t too delicate with her when we moved her to our van, and then here. But it’s fine. Nothing too bad really.” 

Slowly you were regaining your vision. And the pain was retrieving. You had never been punched before. You kinda hope it would never happen again... 

The way those thugs were talking about the all thing was so casual, from them talking about how they’d edit the video destined to Bruce, to how they were just saying they were expanding their operation...For a little bit, you almost forgot you were from Gotham.

Gotham. 

America’s capital of crime. 

Where little thugs like those ones were plenty. 

Men who thought they could “make it big”.

Gotham.

A place that bred someone like your Bruce, and his nightly activities... 

Selina’s voice raised again, harsh and dry : 

“I give you all the things I stole in the past month, in exchange of her.” 

There’s a short silence, followed by a chuckle from one of the man, clearly the leader, who answers : 

“Oh please. We ain’t stupid. We know her value. And we know someone like you, wouldn’t trade anything in for her if she wasn’t valuable. You’re not exactly known to be a nice woman.” 

There’s a hint of anger crossing Selina’s face, and you immediately understand where it comes from. Sure. She was a thief. A criminal. And sometimes, she’d rough up some security guards, or some fellow criminals that think they could cross her. 

But she was no brute. 

She would never NEVER kidnap anyone, and especially not an innocent. 

She protected children, and defenseless woman in her neighborhood, and whenever she could. She wasn’t exactly a hero, like Bruce; That’s for sure. But she wasn’t a bad person. No. She wasn’t. 

And those guys words ? Just infuriated her. 

“Mm. Too bad for you. Don’t go out and say I didn’t give you a chance. Really, too bad. I liked doing business with you.” 

“What are you-”

In an instant, Selina sprout in action, and knocked the three men out before they could even realize. That was impressive. Even gagged, you could hear yourself utter a “wow” as she rushed back to you to untie you. 

She smiled as she saw you made a good way through the ropes, and were most likely be able to get out of your bounds at some point. You were glad you didn’t though, because you weren’t quite sure what you were going to do once free ? 

You fall forward on the floor and she catches you. Your head is still ringing, as you look at Selina. 

There is genuine concern on her face. 

How odd. 

"Are you okay ?” 

“Yes, I’m fine.” 

“Good. Cause I refuse to be the one telling Bruce the person he loves the most in this world died. Again.” 

“Yes. Thank you I-I...”

“Hey, are you okay ? (Y/N) ? (Y/N) ??” 

You could hear Selina call to you, and it felt like her voice was slowly fading into the distance...The adrenaline gone, the stress of it all gone, you had simply passed out. 

************

“Is she alright ?!” 

Bruce arrived, bursting through a window, and ran to you. Your head was in Selina’s lap (she felt bad just leaving you laying down there on the hard concrete ground), and she was casually sitting, her back against a container. 

She was surrounded by the knocked out bodies of your aggressors. 

“Yes. Yes she’s just sleeping. She got roughed up a little bit, but I checked. Nothing too bad. It’ll leave a few bruises. Nothing time cannot heal.” 

After saving you, totally by chance, Selina called Bruce on his red phone, so he would know it’s an emergency. 

It didn’t even take him more than ten minutes to drop the case he was working on, cross town, and arrive. 

He kneeled next to you, and checked every part of you to make sure Selina was right. But it did appear you were just asleep. The shock was too big, probably. 

“How did you know she was here ?” 

“I didn’t. It was all luck. Those men were some...um...Associates of mine.” 

“You have associates that kidnap women ?” 

There was anger in Bruce’s voice, but Selina knew better than to think it was aimed at her. No. It was anger he felt towards those men who hurt you, and towards himself, too, as he wasn’t there to take care of you. 

“No. She’s their first.” 

He looks at you, with a longing and love in his eyes that he never looked at Selina with. She recognizes it instantly. He’s more in love with you than he ever been with her. Was it even really love, between them, or a strong friendship ? Sometimes, the two were difficult to dissociate.

She stares at him, because it’s quite something, to see the Batman himself so desperately in love that he dropped everything he was doing to run to you, knowing that you were safe. 

It’s quite something, to see the Batman himself ready to give it all up just for one person. Something he was never willing to do before. Never willing to do with Selina... 

She stares at him, and smiles. An almost sad smile, because it hurts a bit, he never looked at her like that. But a smile nonetheless, because she knows now for sure, that he found his true love. 

Nobody would peg Catwoman for a romantic, but oh, oh she was a hopeless sap. Especially when it touched her dear friends. 

Bruce looks at her, and mistakes that look in her eyes for something that isn’t there. She can see it instantly. He thinks she’s sad, that she’s truly hurt he found someone else. That he moved on. 

She’s not. But of course, he would think so. 

“Selina I-”

“Don’t Bruce. It’s ok. You and I were never meant to be together, and we knew it. Doesn’t mean we can’t be friend. I actually think we work better, as friends, don’t you ? Take care of her. She’s definitely a keeper.” 

You slowly shift in Bruce’s arms, and he takes a look at you. At your wounds. His heart tightens, and he holds you with more force. 

“Thank you.” 

He barely whispers it, but Selina hears him. She smiles at him, happy that her friend found happiness. True happiness. 

All she ever wanted for Bruce, was for him to find a way to be happy. Clearly, she wasn’t that. But you...You definitely were. 

“I don't know what I would’ve done if she...” 

“Hey, hey come on Bat. Don’t think about this. She’s fine. Just tired from the shock. She’ll recover, she’s strong. And you’ll be here, right ?” 

“...Yes.” 

He didn’t sound too convince, and Selina could feel a big urge to slap him across the face. Because she knew what he was thinking. And he’d better not do it. 

“Bruce if you-”

“Thank you, Selina. I’m going to take her home, now. She needs the rest. And-And I do too.” 

And on that note, he exited the warehouse, holding you tight in his arms. And oh. Oh Selina hoped to everything she held sacred (and that wasn’t a lot of things) that he wouldn’t be a stupid idiot. 

The day she saved his heart. 

He couldn’t stop thinking of that time you got hurt. Because of him. Because he was Bruce Wayne...What if anyone got wind that he was Batman ? 

It’d be even worst. If someone like the Joker, or Penguin ever knew who he really was (and that was definitely a possibility), being with you would sign your death. 

He had to-

“Oh god Bruce you are SO cliche.” 

He slightly jumped in the air as Selina casually sat down beside him, looking down to the dark streets below. There was a slight fog, and she couldn’t help but roll her eyes at how even the weather decided to join in ont he stereotype. 

“Excuse me ?” 

“You’re a living cliche. What, brooding all alone on a rooftop, on a full moon night, wondering if you should ruin your life or not, sacrifice your own happiness for dumb reasons.” 

“What ?” 

“What, breaking up with her to protect her ? Really ? Do you even know how dumb that sounds ?” 

“I didn’t-”

“Your thoughts are plain to see. I know you, Bruce. And I noticed your face, ever since she got hurt. And what you’re thinking? Leaving her for her own safety ? D-U-M-B. So dumb.”

“Did you not pay attention to the close call she just had ?!” 

“I was there to save her. And if I wasn’t, you would’ve barged in and save her. Or better yet, when I arrived, she had made her way half way through her bounds by slowly cutting it on the edge of her chair ! She might’ve escaped on her own !”

“Or gotten killed.” 

“But she’s alive.”

“No thanks to me.” 

“So what, you renounce happiness because maybe one day she’ll be in danger ? This is Gotham, Bruce. She is always in danger. And if you leave her alone, like I know you’re thinking about, she will definitely be an easy target. It’s not because you break up with her that people will stop thinking you care about her. In fact, after she got attacked like that, and it was made public, I bet the opposite will happen. Criminals in Gotham are a lot of things, but dumb is unfortunately not one of them. They WILL come after you if you leave her to fend for herself. If you break up.” 

“You don’t know that.” 

“I do know that. Come on Bruce. I was born here. You too. And her too. Hell, I saw her give a nasty right hook to more than one person, in the short time I’ve known her ! One of those being Mayor Hady himself, and that was BEFORE she started to date you, how fearless is she, huh ?” 

“That’s the problem.”

“Her fearlessness ? Sounds to me like it to be taken advantage of. Train her. Teach her to fight, to defend herself. Give her the keys, to survive. Just like you gave yourself the keys to go on your “justice” mission.” 

“I...I can’t.”

“Why ?” 

“Because she...She shouldn’t live this kind of life.” 

“A little late, no ? She knows who you really are already. And she stayed. Even then, shouldn’t this be her own choice ? Shouldn’t she decide on what she deserves ?” 

“Selina-” 

“Nu-hu. Don’t start with this. You tried to do the same with me, and I didn’t have the patience to stay. But I know she does. I know you can try to push her through the front door, she’ll climb through the window. She, unlike me or anyone else, will see right through your bullshit. Does, see right through your bullshit. And is willing to put up with it...You’ll never find someone else who does.” 

“I know...”

“Then, what are you doing ?”

And with that, Selina rolled her eyes, grumbled something about him being a stubborn idiot, said : “think of her feelings for once, and not your own. Because you damn well know Bruce, that if you leave her, it will be out of selfishness, not because you think it’s truly the only way.”, and jumped from the building to the one next door, leaving Bruce with too many thoughts and dilemmas...

Even if in the end, the answer became obvious to him.   

************

“As if I would ever let that happen anyway.” 

“I’m sorry ?” 

Years later, Bruce told you the story of how he almost broke up with you not long after you two moved in together, shortly before you adopted Dick. 

“She was right you know ? I would’ve climbed through the window. See. If I knew for sure you were leaving me because you didn’t love me, then I would leave you alone of course. But I would’ve definitely called your bluff.” 

“How can you be so sure ?” 

He smiles fondly at you, bringing you into a warm embrace as you roll your eyes at him. Ah but of course, even him always knew you could see right through him, even when he tried to hide his emotions. 

“Please, Bruce. You can’t fool me. You were never able to, and I don’t think you’ll ever learn to. Or I’ll just learn your new tricks, and crack you anyway. And believe me, if you had tried to leave me at that time...I wouldn’t’ve let that happen.” 

He lays his forehead on yours, unable to say another word. Tonight, he was able to tell you this story that was now “silly”, but that almost tore his heart away from him. 

Because if he had lose you to his own stupidness, he would’ve become just an empty shell. Back to those dark days of loneliness, and acting like a machine while his entire soul was hurting. 

Sure. Now this story sounded silly. But oh, oh if he had gone through with it. If-

“I’ll have to thank Selina though. Because she avoided me going through the trouble of drilling into your thick skull that it’s ok to be happy. And be afraid for those you love. Especially in your situation...” 

“I know.” 

He holds you tighter. Just as every time he realizes how lucky he is to have another shot at this “family” thing. How lucky he is, that you’re here, with him. 

And Selina was truly to thanks for that, in a way. 

Because, you were almost sure you could’ve change his mind and not break up with you. But there was this slight possibility, this slight one you’d fail...

Maybe you would’n’t’ve been able to convince him to stay with you. Maybe. There was still a chance, right ? So you’re thankful. Your thankful for having such a good friend. For having Selina in your life. 

You’re thankful that one day, a stupid mistake you made truly started this dear friendship. 

The day she became a friend. 

You had always been quite a “lone wolf” sort of person. So you didn’t have a lot of friends. Your childhood best friend, Alex, had moved across the country years ago. And making new friends as the wife of Bruce Wayne was hard. 

This was a time BEFORE you met the others from the League. BEFORE any of them knew the Batman had a family. 

Of course, before introducing you to them, he had to make sure things were safe. That they could be trusted (A/N : if you wanna see the day he does trust them, here’s the story I wrote about it haha : “You have kids ?? And…A WIFE ?”). 

So, you didn’t have many friends. And sometimes...You wished you did. 

Someone that wasn’t your Broosh. Or your kid. Or Alfred. 

You told everything to Bruce, but sometimes...Well sometimes certain issues, you couldn’t talk to him about. Like for example the time he annoyed the hell out of you. Sure you’d tell it to his face, and you guys would fight, then work it out, and finally  make up, and you didn’t want to bring back the issues you know ? You wouldn’t vent to him about him, eh ?

Bruce was definitely your best friend. But he was also the man you loved. And sometimes, it was nice to have an “outside” perspective. 

Someone with whom you could gossip a little (although you did gossip plenty with your husband, when at charity balls and galas). 

And then, slowly, you realized what you actually were feeling...

Selina. 

You were missing her. 

It had been a little while since the last time you saw her. 

Ever since she saved your life, and knocked some sense in your Broosh, whenever you saw her, you’d have such a interesting and compelling conversations. 

It was oh so pleasant, to gang up on Bruce and make fun of him. His pride was always hit, and he’d frown in such a delightful way. 

At the same time, she knew him rather well, and you knew him rather well, and you three had a lot in common and it sometimes felt like you were a trio from a very cliched “chosen one” story. 

Hermione, Ron, Harry. 

Percy, Annabeth, Grover. 

Any trio really. It even inspired some of your stories. Yet...Yet you wouldn’t call her quite a “friend”. Why that ? 

You weren’t sure. It just was never made official, and in your anxiety riddled mind it meant that you weren’t friends, then. 

Yet you missed her. And earlier in the day, you saw something that made you want to call her and talk to her about it ! 

Should you call her ? Send a text ? You had her number. She once wrote it on a napkin and slipped it in your pocket right in front of Bruce, just to mess with him. You kept it, and put it in your phone, not really knowing why. 

Taking your phone, you started to draft a text (it had to be drafted before being send, it you were even going to send it...your anxiety made it so that even with texts, you had to make sure you didn’t sound stupid or such). 

You didn’t really have any intention to send it. You were just toying with a few ideas when...

No. Oh no. 

Oh fuck. No. No no no no no no. 

Instead of hitting the “back” key to erase the text for good and move on from this weird move, you pressed “send”. Shit. Fuck. Motherfucker. 

It was such a dumb text as well. 

“Hey girlfriend, wanna hang out ?” 

You were just trying out different ways of writing a text, and were entering “stupid silly mode”, which was the step right before you usually gave up and didn’t send something (you had MANY of those moments when starting to date Bruce...Moments during which you almost send some really sappy and silly texts, making the mistakes a few time to indeed press “send”...mortifying...why, why were you never learning from your mistakes ?!). 

You were in your office, in the Wayne Inc building (you settled your writing office there, so it was more convenient to see your Bruce, but also to handle taking care of your son, Dick), downright panicking about this stupid text, when you heard a knock on your door. 

How long had you been beating yourself down about this ? AN HOUR ?! Damn. Anxiety never let you keep track of time. You-

“Hey...girlfriend.”

Bollocks. 

It was her. Selina. And you could hear her smug smile in her voice. You were facing your windows, not wanting to turn around, and it was getting a little awkward. Selina broke the silence : 

“Listen, I thought you did want to hang out and was just making an inside joke by being overly girly, you know, imitating those models Bruce used to date ? But I realize maybe this was um, a mistake ?” 

She sounds so unsure. You never heard her sound unsure before ! So you turn around, and here she is, a little shy. 

Catwoman. A little shy ? 

And all of a sudden, you realize she must’ve felt the same about you. Consider you a friend, but since you never talked about it never took it for granted, for something sure, settled in stone ? 

And your text maybe confirmed you were, indeed, friends ? 

And here it was. 

From that day, and on. 

The official beginning of your friendship. 

Of course, you both saw the other as a friend since a while before, but it’s with this embarrassing text that it really changed everything. 

Made it “official”. 

Made it clear to the both of you. 

It never occurred to you that Selina too, could sometimes have insecurities and be anxious. But that day, as she shyly responded to your call, hopeful it meant you were really friends...

Being her, it was also hard to make friend. 

She had been friend with Bruce for a long time. The fact she was yours now too, filled her with joy. Because she really liked the both of you, in the most platonic way that ever existed. 

Yes. Her and Bruce worked better as friends anyway. 

Ah. But wasn’t this how the best friendship started ? With a push from fate, a little awkwardness, and a lot of laughter once the initial shock passed ? 

Girls night out. 

It happened a day during which you, Dinah and Lois were...not in a great mood. 

Your husbands were aggravating, your children got into troubles and shenanigans, you had so much to do...it was a lot of stress, and it was all released at the same time. 

You all left your house yelling that you “needed air”, and left behind rather stunned husbands and children. Ah but yes, everything wasn’t always perfect, even amongst loving families.

And your first reflex ? To call each others. 

That’s it. That’s how girls night out started. The realization sometimes you needed to wind down with some friends. But quickly, you realized that the three of you talked mainly about your kids and husbands, and by extension, the “superhero work”. Which was fine, you needed to vent but...It wasn’t helping you relieve some tension. 

And that’s when you got an idea. 

Who better than Selina Kyle to make you NOT talk about your families ? 

You joined in a bar every first Wednesday of the month, starting at happy hours for you, Dinah and Lois. Ranting about your families, and about annoying habits your husbands had etc etc...And then you were joined a bit later in the evening by Selina and Diana. 

And that’s when the fun really began. 

It became a ritual. 

Girls night out (A/N : maybe I should write a story about that one day haha). 

This was one such night, and you had let lose a little bit more than usual because...for the first night in nine months, you could drink a little bit of alcohol. 

Alcohol had never been your thing, but a sweet cocktail there and there was nice. Now, while being pregnant with your youngest, Thomas, obviously you weren’t going to do that. 

And you had missed a few “girls night out” because you were too damn pregnant. 

But now, he was OUT, and you were TOO. 

Well. Diana said something like that, as she kept giving you more and more cocktails. 

Long story short, you were a little tipsy. And definitely not able to drive. And so here was your savior, Selina. 

She didn’t really drink, knowing you would totally let loose. So she drove you home. 

You were coming back a little later than usual, and you had forgotten to send a little text to Bruce to tell him so so he wouldn’t worry (Selina did it for you though, true friend had your back eh ? And she definitely didn’t want the Batman to come barge in on your girls night fun). 

He opened the door as you walked up the stairs, saying bye to Selina. She had that smirk on her face, the one you knew she always had when about to tease your beloved husband. And as he slipped an arm around your waist, and turned to wave goodbye to her...She did just that : 

“Careful Bat, I’m making good progress with her. If you’re not wary enough, I’ll steal her from you.” 

On that note, Selina winks at the both of you, puts on her sunglasses (while it was night...Oh Selina), and drives away, smiling widely of that very Catwomanesque smug smile. Which makes you chuckle. She always made you laugh rather easily. 

You turn to your bruce and...

Oh. That adorable “jealous frown” got you every time. Your smile shifts from amused to utterly affectionate, and you put your hands on his cheeks. 

He was looking at Selina’s car fading into the distance, the arm he had around you tightening slightly (you were pretty sure he wasn’t even consciously doing it). Your hands on his cheeks didn’t seem to register in his mind. 

So a further distraction was needed. You brush your lips against his cheek, as an attempt to drive his attention back to you and...it works. 

You smile at him, and in your little hazy state you whisper in his ear : 

“I love you, my Broosh.” 

He can’t help but feel a surge of warm feelings towards you, and bring you in a tight hug. Partly because he can’t help it, partly because he’s trying to hide the slight blush growing on his face whenever you surprise him with “I love yous”, and that always made him snicker at him...Only you could fluster him so. 

“I love you too.” 

You tripped on air, as, once again, you were a little tipsy, and he catches you...Good, he needed an excuse to carry you bridal style anyway. 

He always liked doing so, any excuse to have you near really. And as your face approach for a loving kiss you-

************

“Wait wait wait mooooom !! You don’t have to leave this gross part in !” 

“What gross part ?” 

“The sappy declaration of love, and the kiiiisses !!” 

“Oh ? But don’t every story have to end with a kiss ? And a happy ever after ?” 

“Nu-huh ! Also HEY ! None of your stories end like this, I know, I read them all !”

You chuckle slowly at your boy’s reaction, and kiss him on the forehead. Quite touched he read all your stories. 

“Time for bed, little buddy.” 

You say, slipping out of his quilt and tucking him in. You can see he pensively thinks about your little friendship story, and finally he says : 

“I’ll try to be nicer to Miss Kyle. I never trusted her, because of her past with father. But maybe she deserves a chance ?” 

“She does.” 

“If you say so, then I believe it.” 

It touches you, how much blind faith your son puts in you. You smile, giving him another kiss to his forehead, as he says : 

“Thank you for telling me the story, mom. It was nice.” 

Behind this “it was nice”, there isn’t just the story itself, but the knowledge that as you grow up...Your feelings change. 

You change. 

And you go through a lot of heartaches, before finally finding the right persons to surround yourself with. 

Beyond the story itself, Damian related to how it took both you and Bruce a lot of trials and errors, before finding each others. How you loved before you met the other, but it never compared to how you love each others. 

How you found good friends along the way, and how even when things sounded desperate and lonely...you made it through. 

So he could certainly do so, too ? Even more so since now, he was a big brother. 

Thomas was barely a few weeks old, but Damian had already taken his role very seriously. And you knew he was going to continue to grow, to love, to hurt too sometimes...and to evolve. 

Just like you and Bruce did. 

So. No. You didn’t hate Selina Kyle just because she and your husband used to be a thing. In fact...

In fact, Selina had become both of your best friend. Unfortunately for Bruce, she often took your side on everything, and LOVED to drive him crazy by openly flirting with you. 

And she had been by your side through many good moments, and bad ones. The first to respond when your family needed it. The one you’d always be there for, and vice versa. 

A best friend. 

Quite an important find. 

When you met Bruce, not only did you meet the love of your life, but also one of your best and most precious friend. 

Conclusion : is it possible to be friend with your husband’s ex ? Absolutely. 

Especially when that “ex” was someone as extraordinary as Selina Kyle, and when the love that linked you and your husband was so impossible to even graze. 

__________________________________________________

And yet another bonus story that I had no intention to write but suddenly felt the need to haha. Don’t worry, the rest of the stories I announced are still coming ;). I guess there’s nothing bad in having little bonus ones in between hehe. I hope you liked this, again it’s just a little drabble.

As usual comments and reblogs are always greatly appreciated and motivating <3.

PS : I wrote this, like all drabbles, in like thirty minutes. Didn’t re-read. Sorry for any typos. Don’t hesitate to point any huge ones to me, Ill change it x_x. 

[jinx-jade]

The forgotten BlackCat

When the Waynes arrived home to the manor after another tiring charity gala, Alfred, Bruce, and Dick went down to the cave for patrol while the other Wayne's got some sleep. They hadn't expected someone to be in the Batcave. Bruce and Dick tensed, naturally dropping into defensive stances, Alfred just walking over to the computer.

"Apologies Miss Marinette, but I will be needing the computer to monitor Master Bruce's and Master Dick's patrol," Alfred informed her.

"No need to apologize Alfi. I was just using it to pass the time till you guys got back." Marinette claimed, hugging the older gentleman.

"Mom?" Dick questioned, relaxing his body.

"Hey kid, long time no see," Marinette claimed, causing Dick to run over and hug her.

Marinette, Bruce, and Alfred chuckled at his childish antics. Bruce making his way over to greet her.

"I didn't expect you to be home for another year or two," Bruce stated, causing Marinette to roll her eyes at his stiff and awkward greeting before pulling her husband into a kiss.

Dick jokingly gagged, "Ewww! Get a room!" He whined, causing Marinette to raise a brow before he realized his mistake.

"First of all I don't need to know, second of all we have a patrol to get to," Dick claimed, causing Marinette to laugh.

"Will you be joining the Masters on patrol Miss Marinette?" Alfred asked, getting tonight's small vigilante group back on topic.

Marinette looked to Bruce, asking a silent question.

Letting out a sigh, Bruce claims, "It's your choice."

Sometimes Bruce forgets how chaotic his wife is, that tends to happen when your significant other goes away for a six-year mission.

However, it was something you remembered fairly quickly.

Especially when she somehow manages to meet up with her twin sister, Selina Kyle.

“Hey Cats, it looks like the Bat has a Copycat!” Harly said, a bit confused. Ivy raised a brow towards Selina in confusion as well.

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but Lina here is the copycat since I’m the older one and I did the whole Vigilante thing before she did her little villain/ anti-hero thing,” BlackCat claimed with a grin.

“Just because you’re older by a few minutes doesn’t mean you can hang it over my head.” Catwoman responded before hugging her sister.“Glad you made it home safely.”

“Glad to be home,” BlackCat informed her.

Patrol went smoothly besides BlackCat and Catwoman getting into a competition as to who could take down the most criminals.

Catwoman claimed that BlackCat only won due to having magic.

“Speaking of magic, is there any way your magic would prevent us from speaking about you?” Catwoman questioned while they were resting on the edge of a rooftop.

“It’s possible. Why?” BlackCat asked, looking at Catwoman in question before snapping her head to look at Batman and Nightwing.

“None of you have been able to talk about me have you?” BlackCat stated more than asked.

“Nope! Have fun introducing yourself to the other bats!” Nightwing said a mischievous grin on his features as he made his way home.

_________

In the morning Marinette woke up for the first time in a while, in her lover's arms. She turned her body toward him so she could see his face.

"Good morning," Bruce said once Marinette was facing him. The corners of his lips pulled into a small smile.

Marinette smiled lazily at him.

“Good morning,” Marinette agreed, nuzzling closer into his neck. She forgot how warm he was. Almost like her own personal heater.

Bruce chuckled.

“Are you sure you aren’t at least part cat?” He joked, causing Marinette to nip at his neck.

He had forgotten that her love language is biting. However, it reinforced his joke about her being a cat, so Bruce found it entertaining.

“We have to get up in a bit, so please don’t leave too many marks,” Bruce said, rolling them over so he was now on top instead of next to her.

Marinette pouted at him till he pulled her into a kiss, letting her nip at his lips.

They were eventually interrupted by two sharp knocks on the bedroom door.

“Miss Marinette, Master Bruce, breakfast is ready. I also believe the young masters and miss will come looking for Master Bruce if he takes any longer to come down. Something about there being two stray cats instead of one,” Alfred informed them. The couple could hear the amusement in his voice.

“We’ll be down in a minute Alfred,” Bruce claimed with an annoyed sigh.

The couple got dressed and ready for the day before heading downstairs. The bat kids ambushed them at the base.

“Father I demand to know…” Damian trailed off at the sight of an unfamiliar woman. He waited a moment expecting her to leave only for her to raise a brow in response.

The room was silent for a bit before the woman broke it.

“If you’re going to demand something then you should finish your demand so the person you’re demanding from knows you’re serious.” She informed him, causing Damian to scoff.

“Seeing as it’s a family matter I suggest you stay out of it harlot.” Damian sneered with a glare.

It was clear that Bruce was going to step in, but the woman cut him off.

“A family matter you say?” She asked, ignoring the rude comment she made eye contact with Bruce and Dick, amusement clear in her eyes.

“Sorry about Damian here, but he is right that it’s a family matter.” Tim interrupted before Damian could say anything else.

“Aah. My apologies.” The woman said. The bat kids finally thought she was about to leave so they could ask Bruce who the other cat from last night is.

“I don’t believe I introduced myself.” She said, causing them to get a bit annoyed that the woman couldn’t take a hint. “I’m Marinette Kyle-Wayne, Bruce’s wife of nineteen years.”

“What!” One of them said, no one was quite sure who.

Marinette started walking towards the kitchen, “I’m not sure about you but I would hate for Alfi’s food to get cold.”

“Hey, You can’t just say something like that then walk off!” Jason called out to her.

“And why not?” Marinette asked with a raised brow as she disappeared into the dining room.

Bruce let out a sigh before following his wife.

“If you wish to ask questions or eat I suggest we move this to the dining room,” Bruce said, the others following him.

Once everyone was seated the questions started.

“How the f...udge do you have a wife that no one knows about?” Jason asked, censoring himself when he caught Alfred’s eye.

“I knew,” Dick claimed, receiving a glare from everyone who hadn’t known.

“My magic decided to put protection enchantments around me. If you didn’t already know me then you wouldn’t know me. It also made it so you couldn’t talk about me.” Marinette informed them with a shrug before grinning.

“It’s the reason most people were under the impression that my sister Silena was the one in a relationship with Bruce, while no one being able to prove anything more than speculation. Since we look the same and have the same family name it was easy for their minds to fill in the blank with plausible information,” Marinette said, taking a sip of her coffee.

“Magic?” Cass questioned.

“I’m one of the Magic users and researchers for the Justice League,” Marinette answered. “I usually go by BlackCat if that helps your search,” Marinette said looking at Tim, who has the sense to look a little sheepish.

“And the reason we’ve never seen you in the manor?” Barbara asked.

“I was on a two-year research and retrieve mission that turned into a six-year undercover mission, so communicating with people not part of the case was difficult, visiting them was impossible and not allowed,” Marinette informed them.

The questions continued throughout breakfast.

Bruce couldn’t help the small smile he had at the sight of all his family members, home, and safe.

.

.

.

Writing prompt from @iamthemaribatanon : Brucinette, Fluff, Secret relationship, only Alfred and Dick know they are together