#Jason wonders if he should ask for the Joker's death

[mostly-imagines]

I Missed My Funeral

jason todd x reader

aka you learn what happened to jason

warnings: detailed discussion of how jason died, this is not so happy but i can promise you my jason angst will always have comfort

You wonder if your nightmares are accurate.

Your brain is probably just conjuring up every worst case scenario it can fathom, but maybe there’s truth to one of them. You hope not.

It’s something you haven’t been able to keep out of your mind these past few weeks, and everything seems to remind you of it. When you see his guns, when you’re using a knife to cut up dinner, when you see a car crash on the news, or even when you walk past a fucking pharmacy. The thoughts are everywhere, all the time.

Even as you lay in bed, head on his chest, your mind keeps on drifting where you wish it wouldn’t.

You know he died. He never said it out loud, but you’d seen his autopsy scar plenty of times. You’d always refrained from asking questions, he seemed nervous enough the first handful of times he was around you with his shirt off. Enough time has passed that he’s comfortable being shirtless around you, even okay when you touch his chest. The decrease in boundaries has granted you more solace in one another, but it’s also caused your mind to go wild with possibilities. 

Even now, as you lie against his bare chest, you can’t keep your cat-killing thoughts away.

“You’re being quiet,” He comments, not accusatory, just factual. 

You snap out of reverie, “Sorry, I—”

His hand soothes up and down your arm without pause, “Don’t be sorry. What’s going on?”

“I just…” you look down, thinking over your words. “What…what happened to you?” You ask quietly.

He goes still. 

You immediately regret bringing it up, sitting up from his chest to meet his eyes, “I’m sorry, I don’t need to—”

He shakes his head. The slightest response from him shuts you right up. “No, it’s…it’s okay. Probably should’ve said something by now.”

He nudges your head back down to his chest and you oblige, trying to relax your body against him again. It’s a difficult thing to talk yourself into when his isn’t any more relaxed.

“I…you know I used to be Robin?” His voice is low, hesitant.

You nod.

“Well…I made a mistake—a few mistakes. I wasn’t as careful as I should’ve been and I walked into a trap.”

You’re sure he’s placing more blame on himself than he should, though you don’t know enough to fight him on it yet. You wrap your hand around his forearm that drapes across your chest, a silent affirmation that you’re here with nothing but support and reassurance.

His breath stutters, “The, uh…the Joker set me up and…well, he killed me.”

You don’t want to ask how. You don’t want to know how. But you feel like you have to and it’s selfish and you know that but you can’t leave just it at that. 

It’s a barely audible whisper. You’re not even sure Jason could fully hear the word, but he understands the intent anyway.

His next exhale is shaky, “Yeah, um, that’s the rough part.”

Your head twitches. “That’s the rough part?” You breathe out, scared to hear what’s next.

You can’t see from this angle, but Jason’s eyes are welling over, trying desperately not to let tears fall. It takes him a moment to prepare himself to verbalize the next part. 

“He…he be—” he stops himself. “…He hit me with a crowbar. A lot.”

Oh.

You can physically feel your chest sink.

That’s worse than all the horrifying scenarios you’d built up in your head. That’s…he was beaten to death. For trying to help people. 

You don’t want to leave him in the silence for too long, so you ask the only thing you can think to. 

“How old were you?” 

He drops his head to press his mouth against your head, like he’s trying to ground himself. “Fifteen,” He murmurs into your hair.

Oh.  

You flip over so you’re chest to chest with him and hold him tight. “I’m sorry.”

He wasn’t expecting you to say that. The very very few times he’s had anything even remotely relating to this conversation, the revelation is always met by silence. Or worse.

But you’re sorry. No one’s ever said that to him before. About anything, but especially this. What does sorry even mean in this context? You didn’t do anything, are you sorry for asking? Do you…do you feel bad for him?

He swallows hard, “You’re sorry?”

“Yeah,” You say, furrowing your brow. “You’re a good person, Jay. You’re a really good person and…you didn’t deserve any of the shit that happened to you. Especially that. I hate that you’ve been through so much and I’m sorry.”

He refuses to blink but the tears are threatening to win anyways with nowhere else to go. 

He shakes his head weakly, “It was my own fault.” 

“Jason,” you say seriously. “It was not your fault. You were trying to help someone, weren’t you?”

It takes him a moment to respond to that. “I—yeah. Yes. My mom. My birth mom.” He takes a breath, “He, uh, he was blackmailing her and I tried to help her—I tried. But she gave me up to try and save herself…it didn’t matter in the end.”

While you didn’t know about the history with his birth mom, you’d been sure he’d died helping someone. That’s just who he is—whether he knows it or not.

“There was a bomb and it…” He lets that bit trail off. “I don’t remember the explosion. I think I passed out before it happened.”

He doesn’t remember the explosion. But…

He does remember the other part.

You have to drop your head into his neck so that he doesn’t see the way your eyes well up. 

“Please know you’re a good person. Please,” you plead. “You’re the best person I know.”

“But…” his breath comes out shaky, “No one…no one did anything.” 

The tears fall now, and in spite of the fact that he hasn’t let himself cry in front of anyone since he was ten, he doesn’t feel the usual burning impulse to hide. Not from you.

His voice breaks as he says, “He killed me and he didn’t…”

You sit up straight again and hold his face in your hands, looking him in the eye. “That’s not your fault. Whatever Bruce did or didn’t do, it has nothing to do with you. It’s all about him.”

You gently wipe his tears with your thumb as the weight of his head drops forward, leaving your touch the only thing holding him up.

You know he has…problems with Bruce. You know his death is a sore subject among them for more reasons than the obvious. You also know the Joker still lives and breathes today and there’s some sort of rule or agreement that Jason isn’t allowed out on patrol when he’s loose. 

There’s clear trust issues there, on both sides, but you’ve always had trouble figuring out what exactly Bruce had done to leave Jason so closed off. It pushed him away from his family and caused potentially irreparable scarring to his ability to trust other people. It actually makes a lot of sense that this is what caused the rift between them—you’d been thinking maybe Bruce was the reason Jason died or he couldn’t stop it, but this…this is a different kind of damaging. Fuck, no wonder Jason feels like he doesn’t belong in his family. 

You take a heavy breath, “You’re important. You’re important to me and whatever moral roadblocks Bruce couldn’t get over doesn’t change that—it has nothing to do with how good you are.” 

You’re definitely crying now but at this point it doesn’t matter. It’s more important for him to hear this than for you to pretend like this isn’t as horrible as it is.

He doesn’t look up at you but you can see his own tears dripping off his face. You don’t see him cry very much at all, and definitely not like this.

You sniffle, “Do you wanna switch?”

He nods against your palms and lets you out of his hold to sit up as he shifts lower on the bed and wraps his arms around your torso. You weave one of your hands in his hair and stroke softly. The other rubs soothing patterns on his back, feeling the heaviness of his breath under it.

You kiss the top of his head, “I love you. So much.”

He holds you tighter, murmuring “I love you,” into your chest.

It’s quiet for several minutes after as you both process the words said.

You’re the first to pipe up again, “How did…”

He exhales, “Ah…it’s a little complicated…”

He wants to talk about it another time. That’s fine by you.

Another silent minute passes before, “Bruce isn’t…he’s not a bad…we had a lot of problems after I came back. Both of us. Took a while to get over ‘em.” There’s a beat before, “Still getting over ‘em.” 

You nod, continuing tracing onto his back. His voice is clearer again, stronger.

“Is that why you don’t like being at the batcave?” you ask.

“No,” he murmurs. “It’s ‘cause he keeps the suit on display.”

You look down at him, frowning. “What suit?”

“The robin suit.”

You pause.

“That robin suit?”

He nods.

…what

for clarification bc i think i thought this was canon oh well

🔮🕯️the reblog witch bids you do her bidding 🕯️🔮

[msfantasy-comics]

The Perfect Match

Jason Todd x Reader

Summary: A head cannon on how Y/n is the perfect match for Jason.

Warning: this contains references to heavy topics, so if you are easily trigged, then please read at your discretion.

Masterlist - Tip Jar

Jason is one of the most complex people.

His life experience has set him up for some incredible challenges.

By the grace of god for everything that is good, you walked in and made him whole.

You were, Jason’s perfect match.

Understanding and Reliant

Jason has had an incredibly traumatic past, the death of his father and loving step-mother, becoming homeless, feeling rejected by his adoptive family, having his birth mother sacrifice him, being killed by the Joker… seriously… what HASN’T this poor man been through?

With that, Jason needs a partner who can at least, understand that he has a lot of pain to bare, and that Jason had his own unique way in processing that trauma.

Dick: “He tried to force Bruce into killing the Joker.”

Y/n: “Was it wrong of him to get someone else to do his dirty work? Yes, absolutely, however, the Joker did kill him and his mother… need I say more?”

Damian: “He kills criminals- not turning them into Arkham as we are required to.”

Y/n: “Firstly… hypocrisy. Secondly, Arkham is fundamentally broken and objectively not effective as we have established numerous times. Jason has found a permanent solution to criminals who hurt without cause or resolution.”

Tim: “You’re literally excusing his actions.”

Y/n: “I’m not saying I agree with everything Jason has done, but I can understand why Jason has done what he did and why he thinks that way. Agreeing and understanding are completely different words.”

Jason sitting smuggly with his arms crossed.

Jason: “Yeah! Tell them off babe.”

Jason at times feels like you’re the only person who understands him.

But even more so, Jason loves that you defend him in front of others with unwavering support.

But in private you reason with him gently.

Y/n: “Baby, I see why you feel Bruce should’ve avenged your death, but it’s just not part of his philosophies, punishing him for someone else’s crime wasn’t fair… you really should apologise for torturing him, I truely believe Bruce was doing what he thought was best.”

Jason: “… I’ll think about it.”

Loyalty

Jason has severe abandonment issues.

His father and step-mother dying in quick succession, with no extended family willing to take him in.

Meeting his bio-mother, who bargained her own life in exchange for Jason’s. Which Jason graciously accepted despite how undeserving it was.

Bruce ‘replacing’ him quickly after with Tim.

Bruce not avenging his death with the Joker.

Jason was constantly making sacrifices for others and as far as he was concerned

No one returned the favour.

So Jason really values loyalty to the highest degree.

As he believes it’s a rare trait.

Your unwavering love and support is everything Jason could’ve asked for and more.

However…

Jason: “Would you leave me if I ever cheat on you.”

Y/n: “Yes, absolutely.”

Jason: 😲

Y/n: 😐

Communication Skills

Jason, is generally, horrible at communicating his feelings and needs.

His feelings are expressed through action. Not words.

This can often be frustrating but this just means you have to come up with creative ways in which Jason can express himself.

Jason: “Fuck, fuck, fuck everything is fucked!”

Y/n: “Common grumpy pants, let’s go for a drive.”

You’ll often drive Jason to scenic places and you’ll both wonder around in silence before you take him home snuggle up and just watch a movie.

You do all the right things without being asked.

You know what he’s trying to say without him saying a word.

You know that the last thing Jason needs, is to explain himself.

All he needs is reassurance.

Which you do perfectly.

Supportive in his Endeavours

Jason has a … unique take on justice.

He is the lawyer, judge and executioner.

If he finds a criminal guilty of a heinous crime and said criminal is not sorry.

Then that criminal is typically never heard from again.

Whilst you may or may not agree, you both have a burning passion for the betterment of your community.

Don’t forget you both call Gotham your home.

Jason just loves how passionate you are at making the city better for everyone.

His focus is on cleaning up the crime whilst yours is to build a better foundation to better your community and home.

Jason loves that you hold the same values as his own.

[mister-001]

POISON

Conteúdo —Yandere platônico Batfamily x Leitor adolescente

Sinopse — Days pass and there's no news about you, but nothing stays hidden for long and now they know your location, but the worst part is you don't remember them, and they'd rather it stay that way forever

Warning: mentions of violence, murder, mentions of torture, violence, mentions of drugs, Reader is a girl, manipulation, violence against minors, torture, Cigarette use, negligence, joker being the joker, Yandere behavior, defined gender, blood.

chapters: 01

A/N: welcome little lamb, be very careful with your choices, they can bring you bad luck depending on which one you choose, good luck, take care of yourself little lamb, your health comes first!!

The dark path is not always the bad path...

Words cause more pain than physical injuries...

HE didn't sleep well, the dark circles under his eyes gave him away

His fingers touching the keys while his eyes never left the screen in front of him.

A little bird will never be free if its destiny is to be trapped in a cage...

Jason was frustrated, the whole way he couldn't find even a clue about his little sister

A sigh escaped his lips as he looked at the dead body on the floor.

Somentimes, a stone in the road is better than one in the kidney...

He finally found it, Tim finally found the right location, but there was just one problem...

It's the same location where Joker is...

Death cannot be avoided, you can run away, but you cannot hide forever...

Jason didn't wait when Tim said he discovered his little sister's location, he didn't even want to hear the rest, he just ran straight to the location

He doesn't want history to repeat itself, he doesn't want his sister to suffer what he suffered

He should have listened when they said to wait...

Batman stood on the balcony of a building while observing the location of the place he was given, honestly, was it a decent place?

He doesn't know, he just knows that this is exactly where his daughter is

And he won't leave until his daughter is with him, even if he has to get his hands dirty...

a heart has to be sacrificed...

It was dark, but his eyes moved around, looking around

His eyes stopped on a common person

— "sister?, is it really you?..."

Jason says as he looks at the girl in front of him, the girl's eyes moved and looked straight into his as they made eye contact, that was enough for him to truly know it was her

He sighed and quickly approached her, but his feet stopped when the tip of a katana was pointed at his neck, he was surprised and looked at the tip of the katana, before looking into her eyes.

— "bunny you-... What are you doing?..."

He says confused as he tries to smile, but his smile disappears when he hears clapping noises.

— "oh~ extraordinary, it was a wonderful show I must admit"

Jason's expression became serious when he heard that voice, and he looked at the person

— "Joker..."

— "well, I see you've already met my little masterpiece, but let me introduce you, this is my daughter, my little pride"

Joker says as he laughs, standing next to him looking at Jason

Jason looks at Joker in shock before looking at you noticing his eyes without the sparkle they used to have.

— "what did you do with her?!"

Jason says making Joker laugh even harder, Joker smiles amusedly and strokes his hair

— "well, me?, I didn't do anything, I feel offended now"

Joker says and laughs when you move his hand away from your hair, Jason wouldn't admit it but envy blinds him and he doesn't ask for a second to attack Joker while trying not to hurt you

Revenge is a dish best served cold...

Joker laughs before a pop is heard as he falls to the ground unconscious.

Damien drops the bat on the ground and looks at Joker's body on the ground, he sighs as Jason looks at him in surprise, Damien looks at him and sighs

— "what?, I did what everyone wanted to do, be thankful I just left him unconscious, it's better than letting you kill him"

Damien says as he walks past Jason, leaving him standing still and Jason sighs.

'Little Demon'

Jason thinks as he crosses his arms and rolls his eyes before looking at Joker's body on the floor.

You looked at Jason and Joker fighting and you notice someone approaching Joker, just as you were about to protect Joker, your vision went black and you fell unconscious, before you could fall to the ground someone was already holding you.

Batman held her unconscious body as he removed the needle from her neck and handed it to Dick

— "ready little bat, daddy is here now, there's no need to be scared, daddy will give you whatever you want, except your freedom, Gotham is a dangerous place, you will be safe with your family..."

His voice rings out as he rocks his unconscious body like he's rocking a baby

Sometimes, the kindest people have a double face, there is always a dark side behind all the kindness...

A sigh was heard when he heard everything, he finally let out the breath he didn't even know he was holding,

Tim was silent as he looked at the screens

He did it, he will finally be able to see his little sister again

With no one in the way, perfect

'Don't worry little sister, now no one can take you away from us again, no one can take you away from me again...'

A bat won't be able to come out of the darkness if the sun bothers it so much...

Alfred looked at the finished room, the room was next to Bruce's room, he didn't want that to happen, but he also didn't want you to be in danger in Gotham, after all, it's Gotham, every time you left, he felt worried, now he doesn't need to worry anymore, when he went to your room and saw it empty he felt devastated with worry, little did you know what awaited you in Gotham, the dark sides, without protection, you could be in danger,

But when he found out that Bruce made it he was relieved, his room was already prepared, now all that's left is for Bruce to bring you

A butler knows more than you think...

A big smile was on Duke's face as he shopped for accessories, books, and various other things.

He was on a mission when he found out about her disappearance and was more than frustrated as he took out all his frustration on the poor bandits.

But when he knew they found you he was relieved and happy

He didn't wait a second to buy you a bunch of stuff, you love that new movie that's coming out right?, Jurassic World, the new one, he knows it's horror and rated R, but he would do anything for you

So he will let you watch with him hidden from Bruce, he is eager to return to Gotham and shower you with affection and hugs

No treasure will overshadow you...

Cassandra sighed and picked up another bracelet, she already picked up several matching accessories, you and she will have everything matching like united sisters

She won't accept a no or a maybe

It will give you a life far from the life of a vigilante and a hero, a normal life is healthy

death is something that not everyone is afraid of, on the contrary, they are afraid of pain...

Barbara was simply decorating her room, she was more than eager to see you again, after days of slowly going crazy just for not hearing any news about you,

She was terrified when she found out you were with Joker,

He's not a nice guy

And you don't need it, you have it... Just it...

The quietest people don't always want to be noticed...

Damien approached Batman with you unconscious in Batman's arm, he stopped in front of Batman and stroked his hair softly while muttering inaudible words

Dick watched everything with a smile before he heard a noise and he fell to the ground when something hit him in the head,

Everyone was alarmed as they quickly positioned themselves ready to fight while Batman placed you near a wall and prepared to fight the person.

Dick touched his head slowly and looked at his hand seeing blood, he stood up and looked back while looking at the person with serious looks

— "Well, well, how stupid of you to do all this nonsense and not invite me, I thought my little puddin was stupid, but then I realized that you are lower than that"

The person says while holding the bat in their hand and smiling while looking at them

— "and you were trying to take my daughter from me, what an evil thing Batman, trying to take a daughter from a mother..."

The person says while pronouncing Batman with venom and disgust, her eyes look at each of them before she laughs

She sighs and smiles

— "Harley"

Batman says as the woman smiles amusedly and swings the bat playfully

— "Bat, kidnapping my daughter is a low blow"

Harley says smiling, but she wasn't exactly amused

— "She is not your daughter"

Batman says seriously while looking at her

— "Much less yours"

Harley says while smiling and laughing in fun

Batman looks at her seriously and Harley smiles amusedly

— "I've had it much longer than you"

— "well, I don't think I need to talk about how terrible you are as a father, if you left her walking around alone it's definitely because it was stupid,

At least I did a better job of being a mother than you were of being her father."

Harley says as she smiles and looks at Batman amusedly as Batman looks into her eyes seriously, everything goes silent for a moment

— "I just want my daughter"

Harley says with a smile on her lips before Batman sighs

— "so we have something in common, but mend your words, you want my daughter"

Batman says while Harley smiles and laughs in amusement

Damien sighs in frustration as Jason looks between Batman and Harley, Dick remains silent, confused by the situation, but understanding the mood.

— "Well, let's see who will take her then..."

Harley says while smiling amusedly and Batman looks into her eyes seriously

Damien remains silent, frustrated with the situation while making a small face of disgust.

'She is not an object to be won, she is a human like everyone else, they should treat her as a person, not as a trophy to be won, disgusting'

Jason crosses his arms and rolls his eyes.

'I don't fight with women'

Jason thinks while staying silent

Dick stands next to Jason as he sighs and thinks the same thing as Jason

Harley swings the baton and prepares to fight as Batman does the same

The two make eye contact, watching each other's movements.

Watching who will move first

Who will make the first mistake

Life is made of mistakes and they all kill you if you're not smart enough...

A/N: hi! Little lambs, I hope you liked it, that's it for now, I'm going to do part three, but I ask you to be patient, my imagination is big, but I also have to take care of my health too, sorry for the delay, I get distracted when I take it medicine, and I had things to take care of, but I was anxious and couldn't wait to post, now I'm going to get some rest, I really hope you enjoyed it, Take care of yourself little lamb, your health comes first!!.

Signed: 𝙇𝙖𝙮...

Marcador : @bellethesleepypotato @peptox @lilithskywalker @welpthisisboring @vanessa-boo @toasted-cat18 @cooki3dough @caged-birdies-blog @marsmabe @dhanyasri @trashpanda0000 @gabbiegabbie24

Betrayal comes from those we least expect...

[fluentmoviequoter]

Where I'll Follow

Requested Here!

Pairing: UTRH!Jason Todd x fem!reader

Summary: You follow your best friend to Bosnia, learn his secrets, share your own, and promise that wherever he goes, that's where you'll follow.

Warnings: angst, torture, death, spoilers for Batman: Under the Red Hood

Word Count: 2.5k+ words

Masterlist | DC/Jason Todd Masterlist | Request Info

“Again?” you ask, rubbing your hands against your coat sleeves.

“I’m afraid so, Miss,” Alfred Pennyworth replies. “Master Jason is quite busy these days, isn’t he? Could I make you a warm cup of tea before you return home?”

“No, thanks, Alfred,” you reply softly. “Could I come by tomorrow and see if he can hang out then?”

Alfred frowns before he explains, “Master Wayne and Jason will be travelling to Bosnia tomorrow. I’m unsure when they plan to return from the family trip.”

“Bosnia?”

“Yes, ma’am. Are you sure about that tea?”

You don’t answer as you shove your hands into your coat pockets and turn away from Wayne Manor. The winter cold has settled over Gotham, and as you stumble through the thin layer of powdery snow building on the ground, you wonder. Jason has had less and less time for you over the past few months, going on more trips with Bruce and disappearing without a word. But he’s your best friend, so rather than think about all the things he could be doing without you, you wonder why he didn’t ask for help. Jason Todd is many things, but he’s not a liar and does not desert the people he cares about after everything he’s been through. So, as you leave Wayne Manor in the fog, you turn toward the bank. You need to make a withdrawal and save your future.

Less than an hour later, you have used a sizeable chunk of your college savings account to purchase a round-trip ticket to Bosnia. If the account holders are alerted to the withdrawal when the bank opens tomorrow, you will be somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean. You know you should talk to Jason and try to find him or Bruce on the plane, but if you let them know you’re following, they’ll find a way to send you home. So, you find your place in the shadows, watching where you step and seeking the truth about why Jason has distanced himself from you.

After landing in Bosnia, you stay close to Jason and Bruce. Because of the time difference, it’s the middle of the night when they check into a hotel, witnessed clearly as you stand behind a streetlamp pole and watch. You know you can’t afford to stay there, so you look around the street until you see a dirty motel sitting across the street from your best friend’s temporary home. After check-in, you sit before the window to watch for Bruce and Jason. Bosnia isn’t a holiday destination, and you’re nearly as suspicious as you are concerned about Jason. After Bruce took him in, he had a hard time adjusting, but he’s made so much progress that you can’t bear to see him go back. Sometime after the sun rises, just after midnight back home, Bruce leads Jason out of the front of the hotel. Bundled in your heaviest jacket and thickest coat, you traipse through the snow-covered streets of Sarajevo to follow them.

“There’s more at stake here, Jason,” Bruce says as they enter a dim alley.

You peek around the corner and your eyes widen as they remove their coats and expose the uniforms beneath them. My best friend is Robin, you realize. Bruce Wayne is Batman!

“C’mon,” Jason complains, even though he’s smiling. “We’re Batman and Robin, crime fighting extraordinaire duo and worldwide sensations!”

“This isn’t Gotham, Jason,” Bruce argues. “If things go wrong, we can’t plead with the embassy, they won’t understand.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Jason concedes. “But if it’s such a big deal, why don’t they care that Joker’s here?”

“With Ra’s al Ghul bombing banks, Joker is the least of their concerns.”

“Then we should split up. You go after Ra’s, and I’ll go after Joker.”

“Absolutely not,” Bruce replies as you whisper, “No.”

“We stay together,” Bruce reiterates.

You can tell Jason wants to say more, he wants to push Bruce, but he agrees. You smile as you wonder how long it will last, wonder how much they’ll accomplish before Jason splits off from Bruce to do his own thing.

In the shadows of the laboratory, you press your palm over your mouth to silence your fear and surprise. Batman and Robin fight Joker and his goons, and you’re terrified for Jason. The employees are gone, now nothing but blank stares and creepy smiles reminiscent of the monster that took everything from them. So, when Jason launches himself over a masked man to follow the Joker, you don’t hesitate to follow him. You run through the dark hallway until you reach the snow, where you hope no one will notice a missing snowmobile.

Inside the abandoned warehouse, you sob silently into your hands as you watch the Joker beat Jason. There is nothing you can do to help, so you must wait until you can get Jason out without raising suspicion or exposing yourself to the Joker. He swings the crowbar again, likely shattering Jason’s jaw, and you force your eyes closed as Jason groans.

“Wow, that looked like it really hurt,” Joker taunts.

Jason’s grunts fill the warehouse, and you open your eyes, blaming yourself and flinching each time the crowbar touches Jason. When Joker raises his crowbar to decide what hurts more, you jump up from behind the crate you’ve been hiding behind.

“Stop!” you call, hoping that the moment of respite will help Jason somehow.

Joker freezes, the crowbar suspended in the air as he turns slowly toward you. A smile stretches across his face as he asks, “Well, who do we have here?”

“Leave him alone,” you demand, weaker than you intended as you step back.

“Robin, you didn’t tell me you brought a friend, pumpkin,” Joker calls, his eyes still on you.

Your gaze drops, and you see Jason, bloodied, bruised, and curled in on himself, yet his eyes are open and focused on you. You whisper an apology, but Joker silences it.

“Ah, ah, ah!” he exclaims, pointing the tool-turned-weapon toward you. “This is twice as nice. Come here.”

You don’t move, frozen in place as your mind races. Your plan was nonexistent. You couldn’t watch anymore, and now you’ve shifted attention from Jason but beckoned the Joker toward yourself.

“I said come here,” Joker repeats. “I mean now.”

You step back, and Joker lunges forward. You scream as he hooks the crowbar behind your arm and wrenches you forward. With your arms out, you fall to the concrete floor, your knees taking the brunt of your weight as you land.

“Help him up,” Joker demands, wiping Jason’s blood from the crowbar.

You realize with horror that Jason’s blood is smeared across your skin now, too. Joker repeats himself, and you wrap your arms around Jason to pull him into a sitting position.

“What are you doing here?” he whispers, his lips barely moving.

“I wanted to help,” you reply quietly, tears streaming down your cheeks. “I’m so sorry.”

“How’d you-“ Jason interrupts himself with a cough before repeating, “How’d you know I’d be here?"

“We’re best friends.”

Jason tries to smile, and you laugh once as your vision grows blurry with tears. Joker tells you to sit beside Jason, and you sit on your hands so Joker can’t see them shake.

“You two make quite the picture,” Joker says, bouncing the crowbar against his side. “Perhaps I should make you match- oh no, I know! I’ll draw a picture that lines up on each of you!”

You shift closer to Jason, hoping to block him from any more injury, but the movement makes Joker smile.

“He’s a vigilante, he’ll never love you back,” he points out.

“Shut up,” you demand. “Don’t touch him.”

“Oh, you got it.”

You don’t have time to brace yourself before Joker swings. The crowbar hits your side forcefully, knocking you over as your breath is forced out of your lungs. As you struggle to breathe, you are sure he broke one of your ribs, but it’s one more hit Jason doesn’t have to endure.

“Did he tell you he was Robin?” Joker inquires before bringing the crowbar down in a wide arc, landing a hit against your trapezius, where your neck and shoulder meet, which makes you scream in agony. “Oh, he didn’t? Someone’s been a bad little birdy.”

Joker steps toward Jason, and you force yourself onto your knees to block him.

“All of this for a street rat who lied to you?” Joker inquires.

Joker raises his foot, presses his toe against your bloody and painful shoulder, and kicks you backward. You fall beside Jason, crying at the pain in your arm, then tell yourself to get up.

“Matching it is,” Joker decides, smiling as he stands over you.

The crowbar hits Jason again, and you cry more at his pain than at your own. Each hit hurts worse than the last, and as Joker tries to make your bruises and shattered bones match, he belittles you and tells you that you’ll never have Jason back, but your only focus is the boy beside you. Your best friend needs your help, and even if the world is ending, you wanna be next to him.

“Which hurts more?” Joker asks. “Forehand?” he hits Jason’s back, then turns to you and asks, “Or backhand?” before aiming at the same spot.

You pant against the bloody floor beneath you, and Jason mumbles something that makes Joker lean toward him to hear.

“I think you have a collapsed lung,” Joker says. “That always impedes the oratory."

You turn your head just as Jason spits in Joker’s face, a mix of blood and saliva that causes Joker’s nostrils to flare in anger before he grips Jason’s hair and smashes his face into the concrete floor.

“Now that was rude. The first boy blunder had some manners,” Joker says as he wipes his face.

You lock eyes with Jason, and he smiles at Joker before nodding to you. The deep exhale you release hurts, but you trust Jason. Now, you have to trust yourself to get him out of here as soon as you have an opportunity.

“I suppose I’m going to have to teach you a lesson so you can better follow in his footsteps.” Joker contemplates this idea, then decides, “No, I’m just gonna keep beating you with crowbar.”

You’ve given up on bracing for the hits, and you hold Jason’s gaze as Joker presses his foot against Jason’s shoulder. Each moment alone with the Joker makes you more scared that you won’t be able to save Jason from the permanent damage to his body and not when you’d have to travel through miles of snow.

Joker stops suddenly, sets the crowbar aside, and puts on his coat. In the open doorway, his back to the howling wind, he says, “Okay, kiddos, I gotta go. It’s been fun though, right? Well, maybe a smidge more fun for me than you. I’m just guessing since you’re being awful quiet.”

At that, you stretch to look at Jason, shaking as you see his unmoving back.

“Anyway, be a good boy and a good girl. Finish your homework and be in bed by 9:00. Oh… please tell the big man I said, ‘Hello.’”

Joker cackles before he slams the door, and you will the tired, aching muscles in your arms to get you closer to Jason. It hurts. You tamp down screams and cries to reach him. Once you reach his side, you see his eyes are closed and allow your tears to run freely across your bruised and cut face once more.

“Jason,” you whisper brokenly.

One of Jason’s eyes opens slowly, the other red and swollen shut. He doesn’t speak but groans as he rolls his legs over his head and steps through his restraints. With his hands before him, he attempts to stand up, pushing his weight onto his legs before collapsing again.

“Jason, Jason, stop,” you beg.

He moves his arms out before him, prepared to drag himself to the door on the other side of the warehouse. After a deep breath, you copy Jason’s movements and roll to move your hands before you. One of your shoulders is dislocated, but you can extend your arms to match his.

“I’m going to get us out of here,” Jason says.

You nod and crawl to his side. “I’m so sorry,” you cry. You repeat the sentiment every few feet, knowing it means nothing at this moment, in this warehouse.

When you slow down, Jason looks over his shoulder at you. “You have to stay with me.”

“It’s my fault, Jason, I’m so sorry.”

Jason shakes his head and tells you to follow him. When you reach the door, Jason pushes himself up enough to grasp the knob, then pulls on it to stand. The knob doesn’t turn, so he shakes it and tries again before collapsing to the floor with his back against the heavy metal door.

“Jay,” you call, staring at the red analog clock resting against a crate.

He follows your line of sight and then closes his eyes as the bomb counts down. Unable or unwilling to hold himself up any longer, he slides down the door and lies on the floor. With less than a minute to live, you place your hand on the floor beside Jason, yelling at the pain shooting through the nerves in your shoulder as you move your weight over Jason.

“What are you doing?” he asks, his speech slurring more than before.

“I followed you here because I was terrified,” you admit. “You’re my best friend, but I’d do anything for you because I care about you so much. I’ve wanted to be more than friends for years, Jason, and I hate myself for falling for you and risking what we have almost as much as I love you.”

Jason’s swollen eye opens as he stares at you, listens to your confession, and sees that you’re protecting him. Even after everything you’ve been through, you’re still willing to sacrifice your happiness, your own life, for his. The clock ticks down, and Jason doesn’t have the words to say. It’s okay because the look in his eyes and the promise to get you out of here are more than enough.

With less than ten seconds on the clock, you drop your head toward his and whisper, “Wherever you go, that’s where I’ll follow,” smiling as the wind picks up, pushing you closer to Jason before the entire world goes white as snow.

Jason roars as he rises from the green liquid rippling around him. His lungs burn, but his mind is painfully clear. He looks around for you, expecting you to be where you belong, at his side, and then he remembers that you were his protection, his guardian angel, and now he’s left to drag himself through the pits of hell by himself.

Wherever you go, that’s where I’ll follow, he remembers. Jason escapes into the night with only one thing on his mind: that he lived and he wants to hold you just for a while and he’d die again with a smile next to you.

[batsythoughts]

Soulmate Au with Dick Grayson where the last words they specifically say to YOU are on your wrist. THIS IS HURT/NO COMFORT! There will be no happy ending, so suffer with my thoughts!

'I understand.'

Those are the words that have been on Dick Grayson's wrist since the moment he was born

His parents told him it was most likely going to be said at the end of a long and happy life with his soulmate

When he became Robin, he worried it would be a one time interaction with a citizen before he wasn't able to save them

But when he became Nightwing, he stopped worrying about it and began to live his life to be grateful for all his interactions

He had always asked what everyone's words from their soulmate was when he got close enough to them, having deep conversations with each of them

He was always interested by Alfred's the most. He had two different sets of words on his wrist when everyone else only had one

"It appeared after they had died. A small reminder of the time we had together."

Dick had found that amazing, one would have the reminder of who their person was even after death separated them

At some point after Dick leaving to become Nightwing, Bruce had taken in you in

You had been raised by the Joker after he kidnapped you at the age of 9 to take over as the worst villain of Gotham when he ultimately died

Bruce explained that you had openly denounced the Joker and his views before switching sides

With no other place to go, Bruce had taken you in when you had no place of your own

Even after time had passed, Dick noticed that you didn't spend much time around the other. He never saw you leave the manor except for going on patrol

The most peculiar thing was you had a bandage that went around your wrist where your words were supposed to be

Dick tried starting conversations to get to know you, but you always found a way to get out of them

The most personal thing about you that he could seem to get was these little notebooks you would randomly write in

When he asked about them, you shot him down with a glare

"It's personal, wonder bitch. So back off."

Dick didn't understand why Bruce was still putting up with the same attitude for so long without snapping

He was always told to just give you some space and you would come around when you were finally ready to

Dick never took a liking to how you handled the vigilante business. He thought you weren't focused on keeping the citizens safe and only wanted to make the bad guys hurt more than anything

You always told him to get off your back when he pushed on how you should be more cautious about how to do the job

He started to become frustrated by being around you with how much you pushed back with every word he said, but he still tried to be pleasant

More time had passed and you still didn't really warm up to any of them, but you weren't as hostile with your words

You mostly stuck to your room so you didn't actually have much difference in the previous interactions with everyone

Dick still couldn't shake off the frustration though, no matter how hard he tried to be understanding and polite to you

One day when you had told Dick to 'fuck off to the sewers' after he had accidentally walked into and spilled your drink on your shirt, he was very tempted to yell out as you walked away

Jason quickly stepped in and stopped Dick before he could actually blow up over the attitude you kept displaying

"Dick, you don't entirely understand-"

"That shouldn't matter! They keep acting like-!"

"Like The Joker has raised them to think in a way of 'be useful or you will be killed'. We don't know what he could have done for all those years. We don't even know what life was like before Joker forced his way into the picture. Not everyone was born into loving families. Remember that."

Dick had tried to take Jason's words into consideration as the next few months progressed

You never expressed any form of appreciation to what Bruce or Alfred seemed to do for you. You would mostly just spend time alone around the manor, occasionally sitting around with Jason

The only time Dick seemed to see you express any emotion was when you would randomly write in the notebooks before putting it back in your pocket

Frustration and agitation kept getting bottled up the longer Dick watched the whole situation continue on

It was getting close to a big bust on some plan a couple of the villains had joined together for temporarily to make it successful

It was the end of patrol as Bruce was explaining what everyone's job was going to be for the following night so they could prepare themselves throughout the day

Bruce had mentioned that Damian would be working alongside Jason, and you had mumbled some comment about that

Dick had finally had enough as he looked over and asked what the problem was

You rolled your eyes before saying that Damian wouldn't be able to handle himself with the combined strength everyone would be against with everyone stretched so thin

Dick pushed as he argued that Damian had taken care of himself in worst situations and you should mind what you were claiming about them

Bruce tried to to get the both of you to calm down, but Dick kept pushing as he argued you didn't really know them or what they could do

You clenched your fist while arguing that the precious boy wonder didn't even have a full understanding of what the criminals of the city were actually capable of

Dick finally felt his anger reach the boiling point as be finally began yelling at you

It soon became a screaming match as Jason held Dick back while Bruce got between the two of you as Tim guided Damian out of the area

The anger kept getting worse for Dick as he was finally letting out all the pent up feelings from the past few months of watching you push back against everyone

"This way of thinking is going to be what gets you killed! And when it finally catches up to you, I'm not going to feel sorry for you dying!"

You suddenly become very silent as you just stare at Dick with a deep glare as Bruce raises his voice to make Dick calm himself down

"I understand." The venom is in your voice as you turn around and march out of the Batcave

Dick doesn't truly register the words as he and Bruce start to get in it about how Dick went too far and would need to apologize

Dick huffs as he pulled out of Jason's hold before walking off to go to his room to get some rest

As he walked through the manor, Dick saw Tim and Damian both waiting for him with confused look as they asked what happened

Dick assured them it was nothing they needed to worry themselves with before going to his room

Dick was surprised that you hadn't tried making the day hard for him in retaliation of what was all said

Your door had never opened an inch though the whole day after the fight had happened

The day was eerily calm in a way that made Dick slowly begin to regret what was said. He knew Bruce was right about apologizing, but decided the anger might make you focus on getting the job done and would talk to you tomorrow when patrol was done

Night had come and Bruce had changed the groups so Dick was with Tim while you paired up with Jason

Damian had said he didn't want to be on the mission due to an important test the next day he needed to pass, though everyone was certain it was a lie

No one argued as they got ready for the fight that was going to come before going to the streets of Gotham

The bust had gone down at midnight as everyone had fought to take down as many people they could with the minimum getting away

Everyone had a few scratches as they all helped get the criminals in the transport

Bruce was talking with Gordon when Dick noticed you standing a ways off from everyone else looking confused for some reason

He began to slowly walk over with the intention of apologizing with all the anger and adrenaline slowly fading

The ground shook as Killer Croc suddenly appeared while getting between you and everyone else

None of them could stop it as you got hit and went flying in the air

Dick went to try and subdue Killer Croc before getting hit back into the wall

He felt a pain in his wrist as his arm hit the bricks as the sound of shattered glass sounded from the building you got thrown through

Bruce and Jason were able to get Killer Croc subdued as Tim went over to Dick to make sure he was fine

Dick quickly brushed off the pain in his arm, saying he was fine as he went to the building with the shattered window to go and check on you

He saw you at the far end of the room with your back to him. Dick called out asking if you were okay as he cautiously stepped inside

He thought you were in a daze when you didn't respond. Being mindful of the glass, Dick kneeled down as he placed his hand on your shoulder

"I know you're mad, but this isn't fun-"

The words escape him as he gently pulled you onto your back. Your head still facing the direction you had landed in as the rest only turned slightly with the effort

Dick could only stare for a minute before his hand went to hold the cheek pressed against the floor

The small cracking of your neck that came when he turned your head made Dick's stomach churn

Small pieces of glass stuck out of your skin as your unfocused eyes stared at the ceiling now. A trail of blood flowing down your cheek from your barely parted lips

Dick had to stop himself from throwing up as he got back up and walked into the street

Dick held Tim back when he tried to go in and check on you. When asked what was wrong, Dick could only shake his head as Bruce came up to them

Dick could barely register anything as he watched them put the gurney you were on in the back of the medical examiner's van

They all got promised your body would be treated with the upmost respect until the time for your burial

The journey back was quiet as everyone processed what happened to you when they had thought it was safe

Dick had went to go take a shower to wash of the pressure he felt in his hands from where he had touched your body

He noticed the blood on his wrist when he had removed his shirt in the bathroom

He rinsed a rag with cold water before wiping the blood away to find a sight that made his blood run cold

'This way of thinking is going to be what gets you killed! And when it finally catches up to you, I'm not going to feel sorry for you dying!'

'I understand.'

The words looked like they had just been carved into his wrist with how fresh the new words appeared and the small bit of blood still seeping out of his skin

His thoughts went back to the fight when he had hit the wall. His arm didn't hurt because he was smacked into the wall

It had hurt because that was the moment you had died

Dick couldn't think of who he could confide in with this sudden news. Especially because he had been so cruel to you when you last spoke to one another

How could he have been so cruel to not even think of apologizing before the mission? The last think he said was how he wouldn't care if you died

But you had always known it would be that cruel. You were born with those careless shouts as a mockery on your skin since the first cry

While he grew up with thoughts of comfort over what he might have with his soulmate, you never got that when you saw those words

You had grown up in a world of torture by the hands of one of the cruelest men in all of Gotham, and his words couldn't even give you a sense of comfort over the torturous treatment you went through

It had been a couple of weeks since you had tragically passed away, and Dick found himself in the doorway of your room

He didn't know why he was even here, what he would even try to find, but he was there

The room didn't have too many decorations around as he went in, as if you never tried to find your own style

The clothes in the drawers and closet were like taunts as he touched the fabric (most were soft, so he figured that was a texture you liked)

A candle in your nightstand drawer had never been lit, but the cap had been repeatedly removed (he found that it smelled like flowers during a rainstorm. You must have liked that kind of smell)

There were a few books on the small desk you had with a handful of notes and letters scattered around (it looked like you had been trying to catch up on the education you missed out on)

After some time of looking around, Dick sat at the foot of the bed. He quickly realized something was wrong when his weight pressed on the mattress

He untucked the covers (why would you have been so neat with making the bed?) to find that a small section of the padding had been cut out from a small hole in the bottom

Dick reached his hand in to find the hiding spot of all the small notebook you had written in

He slowly flipped through the pages as he read the neat handwriting that you had

Alfred made a different kind of cookie today. I really like this kind

Jason and I watched a documentary on dinosaurs. The raptors seem the coolest

I glanced at the moon during patrol last night. It was the cresent phase. I think I like that one most

The more Dick looked through them, the more he realized you were distant because you were realizing things about yourself. You were figuring out years of information in such short time, you were probably getting overwhelmed with all this information you were learning

His eyes stop on one small bit you had written, his eyes softening as he kept rereading the words

Dick randomly started laughing today. It sounds nice

You had thought his laugh was nice? Dick didn't even think you paid attention to anything he had done while living in the manor

He kept flipping through each different notebook before he stop on the latest one you had written in

His fingers flipped through to the last pages, expecting to see words of anger and hatred on the paper before him

Dick's my soulmate. I felt my wrist burn when he yelled at me and I just knew without having to seeing what I said appear on my skin. I know I'm going to die tonight.

Dick swallowed the lump in his throat as he thought of what could have went through your mind the exact moment it happened. His fingers carefully flipping to the next page as he kept reading

I don't know what's going to happen with the mission tonight, but I know it's going to be my last. Who knows? Maybe I'll be careless just like Dick always said.

Tears began to form in his eyes as he remembered the confused look on your face after the fight had ended. You had died when everyone was supposed to have been okay and you were confused you were alive after the main fight

I hope to whatever type of god that is out there at Dick never finds these before someone else. I know he had every right to say those things, but I don't want him knowing that I knew I was going to be killed. I was an ass and was given nothing but patience from everyone else. I know he will figure out what we were when I die, but I hope that he doesn't blame himself for what will happen. He had no way of knowing just how much it had hurt to actually hear those words. I hope he lives his life like he always had before.

The tears spilled own his cheeks as he closed the book and held it to his head

Everything after that was just blank pages. You still had over half the pages to keep writing in

Dick felt broken as he took in the feeling you had written out clear as day

He had caused so much hurt in your life before even knowing you

His hands clenched around the cover as he allowed himself to cry. In all the realities of how the end could have happened, this was the worst

The was never a mutual understanding, no form of chemistry like he hoped, not even a split second meeting

All that was there was frustration and hurtful words that could never be taken back

But what hurt the most was that your words to him had never been more truthful compared to anything said to him. You didn't blame him for the anger or even lash back out at him

Because deep down, that was the person that you truly were despite everything

You understood

[starry-bi-sky]

Childhood Friends Au: Jason

there's something burning in the empty room inside my head fill it up with doubt let it in, let it spread

When Jason gets Tim's text in the groupchat, he ignores it. And then a short series of buzzes distract him from a drug bust. It hasn't even been that long since he reconciled with the family, with Bruce. He thinks that perhaps he should have left it sooner.

He glances at it momentarily when the buzzing stops and he doesn't need to knock out more guys. He sees Tim's question dedicated towards him, and his response is instant, his thumbs flying over in response.

He doesn't care, he's trying to patrol.

(He does not have Danny's number in this phone, it's new. A model from this year rather than one from four years ago. He wants that old phone back. He hasn't even looked at their old letters yet.)

(Jason bets that they've been packed away in storage with the rest of his things. He doesn't want to visit the manor, but maybe he should. Just to find those letters again. He's not sure if he's allowed to.)

And then Tim says its Danny, and Jason flies up to the past texts to find the photo before he can think. And then there is Danny staring right at him again, with the same old smile on his face that he always aimed at people. Lopsided, Danny's favorite kind of smile.

Something old, something new. He's got piercings, and his eyes are as blue as they've ever been. He has an undercut, it looks self-done. It looks good. He looks tired.

Danny's good at hiding things from people, it comes with the purchase of being a street kid. But Jason can't have someone else's back without knowing the ins and outs of the person in question. Jason knows when Danny is tired, and Danny knows when he is too.

Before his death, whenever Danny came over he never missed a beat in telling Jason that he looked like shit. Were Bruce's fancy rich-people, cloud-made mattresses too soft for him? He can find him a moth-eaten street mat for him if he needs it. It'd be like the good old days.

(Jason wishes he could have told him he was Robin, but it wouldn't be safe.)

Jason had to see him with his own eyes, had to confirm with his own eyes just how much Danny had changed. It's just his luck -- if he has any left -- that he arrives to Bruce's dumb gala just as Danny steps out onto their once-shared, west-end balcony.

He drops down, something heavy in his throat, before he can properly think it through. Danny looks up before his feet even touch the ground, like he knew he was there. Jason wonders if he did. There is a cigarette in Danny's mouth. Something old. And something flashes in his eyes that Jason cannot place. Danny looks tense.

Jason feels like he's made a mistake.

In the end, watching Danny walk away feels a lot like Jason is losing something -- or is he missing something? Is it both? He wants to reach out, grab Danny's arm, but his feet are glued to the balcony floor. There are so many things he wants to say, but his tongue has glued itself to the roof of his mouth. Something has crawled into his mouth and died.

So much has been said with so little words. He wants to spin Danny around and ask him so many questions.

What do you mean you spoke to my ghost?

What do you mean I told you the Joker killed me?

What else have I told you?

The Fentons were right?

What happened while I was gone?

Why are you scarred? Where did those come from?

(He is not blind. He saw those silver lightning scars etched into his best friend's skin, saw that it disappeared under his sleeves. Danny did not have those the last time Jason saw him, the last time he was alive.)

(The sight of it makes him alight with murderous intent. He wants to take his best friend by the front of his shirt and shake him -- who did this to you? Who did it? Tell him, he will fix it.)

(But he can't. He doesn't. Doing that means revealing who he is. It means telling his best friend that he has been alive for the last five years and he did not tell him. It would mean telling his best friend that he did not want him to know.)

You're going to kill the Joker for me?

What have I missed?

What do I not know?

You look so tired.

But before he can even get his mouth to move, Danny is gone back inside. The door swinging open, music once muffled now blaring out for only a few seconds before Danny is slipped back inside.

And Jason is left on the balcony, alone, with more questions than he thought he would have. He stares at the broken cigarette on the ground, it feels like a metaphor for something. Jason can't figure out for his second life what it is.

Maybe it's not a metaphor at all, maybe the curtains are sometimes just blue. Maybe sometimes your best friend just tells a vigilante that he is going to murder someone; that he is going to avenge his best friend with his bare hands and feel no remorse for it.

It is what Jason wants Bruce to do, wants someone who loves him to do. But he's not sure if its something he wants Danny to do. Not when he has been living a normal life -- or as normal as it could be -- without hide nor tail knowledge of what Jason used to do, or what he does now.

What have I missed?

Danny. He's missed Danny. He didn't look into Amity Park out of fear of what he'll find; of what he might do. But now Jason thinks he might have to.

Danny has talked to his ghost. Danny is going to kill for him. He has that look in his eyes that Jason knows so familiar; the one where he needs Jason to play distractor while he stole something from the corner store. The one where he looks a kid five years his senior in the eyes and kicks him in the dick because he cornered him and Jason, itching for a fight.

There's a look so familiar in his eyes; the one of a boy that's set his mind to something and he is going to do it. He can't call it the eyes of a cornered animal, because Danny has never been cornered, not when he's been with Jason. He calls it the eyes of a boy about to do something he will never regret.

He watches him leave with the Vlad Masters guy. He hides atop the roof and eavesdrops. The paparazzi have since left now that it was much later in the night; they are not the bigger fish, even if they sometimes parade it to be.

"I thought I told you to make nice." Vlad Masters scowls as he walks to the other side of the sleek black limousine. "To not embarrass me."

Jason frowns at the way he talks. His fingers itch, and something old lurches in his chest: the same old protectiveness that he used to feel whenever he and Danny were about to get into a fight. And then, later, when they would stand inside Bruce's galas with people who couldn't care less if they breathed or died.

Danny scowls right back at him, all venom and bite, and leans against the side of the car. "I did make nice -- as nice as I could when you dragged me here."

Vlad Master rolls his eyes, huffing. Jason's frown only deepens. It's not easy to make Danny do anything he doesn't want to. His sister has tried, so have his parents, as well as his teachers. But Danny is wild and so is Jason. Rebellion and disobedience -- no, independence -- cut into them from the streets like its broken glass.

Jason doesn't remember Danny ever mentioning knowing a Vlad Masters. They must have met after Jason died, then. He doesn't like him. He's the same as all the other socialites in that party. There is a greed in his eyes that Jason knows rots down to the core of him.

"I thought you would enjoy being here, little badger." Masters tries, and his tone makes Jason ruffle. As does the nickname. Danny's scowl only ever deepens, his fingers curling to dig nails into his palms. He looks at Masters like he wants him to burst into flames. "You are friends of the Waynes, I thought you would like the little reunion."

"Whether I did or didn't is none of your business." Danny says. The door clicks open on Masters' side, as if they remembered that they were on the street rather than in the car. Masters climbs into the back, and Danny opens the door. He only reaches in though, and pulls out a old hoodie.

Danny pulls it over his head, and his vest and button-down are hidden underneath it. "Don't wait up you old fruitloop, there's someone here I need to see." And he slams the door shut with more force than necessary.

(Jason makes a mental note to look into Vlad Masters. Who is he to Danny. How did they meet? There is an old animosity between each other that Jason has never seen before. Not even when they were on the streets. Not to this extent.)

Jason's heart seizes up. Danny's reminder early surges to the front of his mind. Right. That's right. He's going to go see him. Jason. He is going to lay flowers on his grave. He remembers that Jason likes zinnias. There are no florists open this late at night, Jason thinks.

He follows Danny from the rooftops. Danny sticks close to the buildings, slipping in and out of shadows. Jason wants to know where he learned how to do that. Where did he learn how to move without a sound?

Five years is a long time to be away from someone, Jason thinks. Something that fills him with dread. Five years is a long, long time. He's afraid that it's been too long. Will he still know Danny like he used to, if he asks? And if he doesn't?

More, more, more. More questions than answers. More things that Jason doesn't know about someone he used know to like the back of his hand. It scares him, and he hates it.

(There is scarring on Danny's hand that Jason has never seen before. Maybe that's the metaphor he was missing before. Maybe there are still more.)

Danny moves like a ghost down Gotham's streets, his hands shoved into his pockets without a care in the world. It is confusing. It is concerning. It is proof that more things have changed than Jason likes.

Danny somehow finds a florist open at this time of night, and buys a bouquet. And like he told the Red Hood, he buys zinnias. Reds and yellows. For a moment, Jason thinks that Danny knows. He wonders if he does.

What would he have told him, if he was a ghost? He told him that the Joker killed him. Maybe that means he told Danny he was Robin too, like he always wanted to. But couldn't, because it wasn't safe, and it wasn't just his secret to tell?

Why has nothing changed, now that he was alive again?

"Did you know," Danny starts, when he sits down at Jason's grave with flowers slipping gently from his fingers, before the tombstone below. Jason is as close as he can without being seen, hiding like a ghost. "That red zinnias mean stead beating of a heart?" He smiles sardonically, "You picked quite the flower, Jay."

(There is an echoing in his ears, Danny's voice faint in the back of his mind. Ghosts can hear you when you speak to their grave, did you know? Jason can hear him better than he should.)

Jason knows the irony. Perhaps it's got double the meaning now, now that he's alive again. Danny doesn't know that though, sitting before his grave with flowers that symbolize a beating heart. Between the two of them, Jason thinks that the only heart here is Danny.

(Between the two of them, the only heart here is one that's made between the two of them.)

"Yellow zinnias," Danny continues, resting his chin in his hand, "mean daily remembrance." His smile tilts on the axis of his mouth, a wrinkle between his brows. He looks pained. Hurt. There is no comment made. Like it doesn't need to be said.

Jason thinks he can hear it anyways, and his heart twists like someone took it and twisted it like a rag, trying to drain the dirty water out of the cloth. He hurts.

I miss you. Is what he hears. Is what Danny doesn't say. Is what Jason knows he's thinking anyways.

I am right here. Is what Jason wants to say, but doesn't. He is right here. But his feet are grave-bound to the floor, and a part of him feels like he's clawing out his own grave again. But the dirt falling is endless and merciless. He can't get free.

He bites his tongue, a lump in his throat. Shame wells in his heart and Jason wants to shrink away from this. His feet are grave-bound to the floor.

"I'm sorry for not visiting sooner." Danny says, hand dropping out of his chin to pick at the ends of his sleeves. His smile fades into a frown. His voice wobbles. "I'm sorry, I don't have an excuse. I should have."

Please don't be. Jason thinks. He doesn't think he can be upset about it, not when Danny is laying yellow flowers on his grave that mean remembrance. i think of you daily. Not when Danny was going to kill the Joker for him.

Jason still doesn't know what to think of that. He still isn't sure if it's real or not.

"I went to one of Bruce's galas today." Danny says, and Jason knows. He saw him there. Danny smiles weakly. "I know, right? First time in five years. Vlad dragged me along, you remember him right?"

No, I don't. Jason thinks, and he feels a flutter of anxiety. A sense of impending doom. A choking dread. What else have I missed? He thinks again. Why doesn't he remember? Danny told him about Vlad, but it can only be from when he was a ghost. How long was he a ghost before he was revived? How often did he and Danny speak?

Jason doesn't like not knowing things, he doesn't like not knowing things about himself.

It would be so easy, a little voice whispers, to reveal himself now. To step forward and take his helmet off. To tell Danny that he was alive. To demand answers that only Danny could know.

But then what? When Danny inevitably asks his own questions? About how long Jason's been alive? Why he was dressed the way he was? Why he didn't say anything earlier, on the balcony?

(But he did say it earlier, when he offered Danny the cigarette and silently asked him for his thoughts.)

Jason is afraid of what Danny might think of him, if he tells him what he's done. About the blood on his hands and the bridges he's burned. What if telling him is just more gasoline on another bridge, with Danny holding the match? He stays silent. Fear is a powerful motivator. It's a powerful deterrent, too.

"The asshole blackmailed me into coming." Danny says, drawing his knees up to his chest. He looks disinterested. Annoyed, actually. Like what he is saying isn't sending alarm bells through Jason's mind. Like what he's saying doesn't concern him. "It's really dumb, actually."

He sighs, long and tired. There is grief etched into every line and pore in his face. "I could have handled it without even needing to come to the gala, I've done it before." He mutters when his eyes open. His fingers brush against the petals of the bouquet.

(And that only sends more alarm bells ringing in Jason's mind. Red lights blaring. Distress fills the cavity of his lungs. What has he missed?)

"I only agreed because I missed you," Danny says, "and Bruce. He invited me to come over sometime soon, to catch up. I agreed and I'm not sure why I did."

Jason didn't know that.

Danny continues talking. Jason listens in dutifully. He feels like a stranger imposing on his own grave. It's ridiculous. It makes sense. He feels like he should slink away and let Danny talk to his grave in peace. He cannot bring himself to move.

If he closes his eyes, he can pretend that he's sitting in front of him, like it's the good old days and they're back in Jason's room in the manor. Staying up late and trading stories back and forth. Sneaking out to the balcony and climbing onto rooftops they’re not supposed to go on. 

Jazz is getting her psychology degree. Him and Sam had a big fight a few years ago, but they’re better now. Tucker wants to start his own tech business. 

And on and on Danny goes, rambling about every little thing he can think of in the last five years since they last talked. He jumps back and forth between topics, when he remembers something he cuts to it. And then jumps back off to the next thought passing through his mind.

"I don't know what I want to do." Danny says, finally, after he exhausts every other topic to talk about. "I wanted to be an astronaut, but now I'm not so sure." His knees draw up to his chin, and he looks so sad. He looks nineteen. Small despite his size.

Were they really just nineteen, verging on twenty? Jason feels older among his years. Fourteen feels so far away.

Danny breathes in slowly, it's a sound that trembles. From where he stands, Jason sees Danny's eyes film over with tears. He makes a choked out sound that sounds like a terrible mix of a laugh and a sob.

"Where did you go?" He whispers. He tries to smile, and it is this pained, awful thing that drops within a second. Fingers clutch at his legs, diggings wrinkles into the fabric. "I know you're still here. Where did you go?"

There is no answer. Guilt is an animal with claws, and it burrows into Jason's heart to make itself home between the tendons. Tears slide from Danny's eyes down his cheeks. He still cries for him, five years later. Five years after. Jason feels worse.

"I haven't stopped looking for you." Danny continues, his voice cracks, and the words run over Jason's ears like water sliding off a duck's back. He doesn't hear it at first -- no, he doesn't understand it at first. And then when he does, he plunges his hands into the waters of his mind to drudge it back up.

You're looking for me? Do you know I'm alive?

It's another question to Jason's never-ending list.

"You might as well tell me where you are now." He smiles again; tries to. It wobbles, lips pulling back to show teeth as more tears spill over and carve red marks down Danny's face. "Or I'll find Cujo and sick him on you. He's gettin' real good at tracking things you know."

Jason doesn't know who Cujo is. But it sounds like a dog. He knows Danny's always wanted one, but their apartments would never allow it. It's not like his parents could afford one either.

There is a silence that hangs over them, with only the sound of the city around them. Danny seems to tremble more and more as each second passes, until finally a bubble pops. His smile drops, and so do his knees that were pressed into his chest.

He doesn't say a thing, not with words anyways. He hunches over and hugs himself with nails that dig into his elbows, failing to stifle a years' old grief. Jason wants to flee, lest he breaks his word to himself and steps out to console and dry Danny's falling tears. It feels like a betrayal unto himself to only stand there and watch him drown in his grief.

Guilt is a thing with claws, and Jason leaves the cemetery with hatred eating his tongue. Danny deserves the privacy that a ghost cannot give him. Jason may no longer be a ghost, but he is still the next best thing. either way I'm left holding onto the shovel and rope digging in the dirt finding bones, finding ghosts

[nox140497]

Jason?

BACKGROUND: The reader was Jasons best friend and partner and was kidnapped with Jason and forced to watch the Joker beat him to death.

SUMMERY: After having to watch your best friend and partner beaten to a bloody pulp by a psyco clown and blown up, not being able to do anything to save him, the reader gets thrown out a small window, only big enough for her to fit, before the explosion and then saved by Batman and returned to the batcave. She continues to work with Batman and Nightwing and helps to. train Tim to be the new Robin so that he would not end up the same way Jason did.

WARNING: The characters may be slightly ooc, and my timeline is probably really wrong, but I don't have wifi at the moment, so I can't make sure if the timeline is really rediculously long. Sory.

Oh yea and ------ means line break

WORLD COUNT:1120.

Masterlist

Prompt List

--------------------------------------------

I am Sparrow a.k.a Y/N L/N. I am one of Batmans allies. I used to be the partner, love interest and best friend to the second Robin a.k.a Jason Todd. However that all changed when we were kidnapped by the Joker while we were on patrol one night. He forced me to watch him beat my best friend to a bloody pulp. Batman was able to save me, because Jay threw me out a window,but Jason wasn't as lucky.

I still blame myself.

--------------------------------------------

It's been about a year since I was forced to watch Joker brutally beat my best friend and partner Jason Todd to death. In this time, Batman a.k.a Bruce Wayne has taken on another Robin by the name of Tim Drake.

At first, I was really upset about the fact that Bruce had taken on another Robin as I saw it as him replacing Jason, and I knew Jason would see it like that as well. After a while, though, I realised that Robin grounds Batman in some weird way.

I had noticed that after every Robin that he lost, Dick having quit as the first one, and Jason had.....died, that the Bat became more brutal. Having a Robin by his side made him more mellow in a way.

So I made a decision that even thogh I wasn't his partner and I now worked mostly alone much like Dick, now Nightwing, does, that I would help train the new little bird so that the chance of him ending up like Jason would be slimmer.

--------------------------------------------

We had formed a bond in the past couple months, a bond much like Dick and I had. Tim was like a brother to me, and all the bad guys in Gothem knew by now that I was very protective of my siblings, whether it be the older one or the younger one.

Anyway theres this new guy that appeared in Gothem a few months ago. He really likes annoying Batman. He's an anti hero named Red hood. He seems so fimiliar in a way but I can't figure out why. He seems so angry though, and under all that anger I can tell that he is hurting, broken in a way.

Don't ask me how I can tell, I just can.

--------------------------------------------

I was on patrol with Batman and his other birds. I was standing on a random rooftop listening to Batgirl and Nightwing bicker about something through the earpiece in my ear, I swear those two bicker like an old married couple, when I heard an almost silent thud behind me. I didn't think anything about it as the only ones who could do that so silatlntly were the Dark Knight himself and his birds.

I did, however, spin around when there was a soft but deep chuckle from behind me.

"Redhood." I breathed. I know I should have been scared, but for some reason, I felt safe in his presence.

"Hello, little birdie." He said. This guy was so rediculously familiar.

"What can I do for ya, Hoodie?" I asked calmly.

"I needed to talk to you alone." He said, his voice seeming to warm slightly and slightly nervous. I wonder why 'cause I know he isn't scared of me. I mean, seriously, this guy is at least twice my size, built like a truck and freakishly tall. He could seriously hurt me if he wanted to.

"Well then talk, you have my full attention, dear Hoodie." I said, removing the earpiece for a while and acting like I wasn't freaking out a bit.

He removed the helmet, leaving him in just a red mask that looked like the ones we birds wore.

My eyes widened and filled with tears under my mask as I recognized the face under that rmask, granted slightly older but still the same.

"J-Jason." I wispered weakly.

"Hi beautiful." He said softly.

"H-how?" My voice was weak and barely audable as I spoke to the boy I loved, the boy I thought was dead.

"Ras Al Ghul and his Lazarus pit."( SPELLING??)

I nodded weakly and stared at him for a minute. Suddenly, I lunged at him and threw my arms around his neck, hugging him tightly, nuzzeling my face into his chest as he held me just as tightly.

"I missed you so much." I sobbed softly into his chest.

"I missed you too, my love." He said quietly.

We stood and chatted on that rooftop for a while, catching up, when I suddenly I heard a slight beep. I looked down at the earpiece that I had put in one of the pouches in my utility belt and put it back in my ear, and answered it.

"What's up, Blue Bird?" I asked as I knew it was Dick who wanted me.

"Bruce wanted me to let you know that Redhood has been spotted in that area of Gothem." He informed me, and I could hear the concern in his voice.

I looked at Jason with an amused smile on my face.

"Yea, no kidding." I muttered.

"What was that n/n?" Dick asked.

Nothing, I'm almost done anyway. See ya in a bit, Blue Bird." I said.

"Alright, please be careful." He said.

Jason looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

"What?" I asked softly. He just smiled at me.

"So what now?" He asked me. I looked at him and smiled.

"I don't suppose you want to go back to the Batcave to speak to Bruce, huh." I asked with a soft sigh.

"Not particularly, no." He sighed and looked at me with pleading eyes.

"Jaybird, I'm not gonna force you to do something that you don't want to do, but I really think you should at least talk to him. Talk this out with him. It might make you feel a little better if you hear his side of the story. You know how he is. He might not show it very often, but he really does care about us kids." I said, hoping that he would agree to come with me to the Cave.

"I don't know, Babe. He never really cared for me much, I mean, look how fast he replaced me." He said almost sadly.

"Don't be ridiculous, Jay. He loves you. He just doesn't show it that often. And he only replaced you because 1) Tim offered (*cough* demanded *cough*) because he saw how brutal Bruce became and 2) Batman needs a Robin for that exact reason, and besides Tim isn't your replacement and nobody thinks he is." I said.

"Fine." He sighed.

I smiled happily and pulled him along behind me as I took off towards the Batcave.

[klbwriting]

Broken Prism

Chapter 21

Fandom: Red Hood

Pairing: Jason Todd x f!reader

Warnings: o this chapter has some fucked up stuff in it, mentions of body mutilation, child death

Summary: Batman and Red Hood go to the scene of the crime, then find out about another murder

Taglist: @amberpanda99 if you would like added to the taglist let me know!

The GCPD didn’t trust Red Hood, so Batman was the only one allowed at the crime scene. Jason waited across the street, not sure what to do honestly. Who killed a family like this? What kind of absolute monster? It made him sick. He paced, watching the cops, who were watching him back. He saw a mix pride and anger depending on the face. He figured they either loved that he had taken out Joker, saving them some work later, or hated him, wanting to get the big score themselves. He wanted to walk over, get as close a look at the scene as possible, but he didn’t want someone to get trigger happy and try shooting him. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, Batman walked over to him.

“Gordon is willing to let you walk the scene with me,” he said. Jason nodded and followed him, the cops parting enough so they could get through.

“Since when is Batman friendly with murderers?” “Who does this idiot think he is? A Nightwing ripoff?” “He killed Joker, we should be groveling at his feet right now.” He wanted to scream at them, tell them what had happened, why he had become this person. He shook himself, they wouldn’t understand, ever, and he had made his bed, now he had to lie in it. He followed Batman into the dining room and stared. The family was seated for dinner, the food still on their plates. The parents were eating meatloaf, looks like the kids were having chicken nuggets. Their throats had been slit, which was the only decent thing this monster did. The rest of the scene was haunting.

“Emily Dervish, Dexter Dervish, their children, 7-year-old Amelia, and 4-year-old Tyson,” Gordon explained, voice coming out staggered at the sight. “We will have to wait for the coroner to be sure.”

“Sure of what?” Jason asked, unable to take his eyes off the children.

“To be sure if they were alive or dead when the killer cut off their faces.”

After another hour scouring for evidence and finding nothing Jason and Batman were about to head back to the cave, see if they could find anything there, when another officer came over to Gordon, whispering to him. They watched his face grow ashen and he nodded solemnly.

“There’s been another murder…not completely the same, but they left a note,” he said. “You two better come with me.”

Across town at the McCreary’s Pub there were cops keeping curious onlookers away. Despite it being early morning at this point people were still curious when they saw police tape and a medical examiner’s van. They brought out phones and started taking pictures when Batman and Red Hood arrived. Jason was really glad he hadn’t done the whole social media thing now, he couldn’t imagine what Twitter looked like, him and Batman working together. All those concerns left his mind when he entered the bar. There were at least a dozen bodies, all seated like they had been enjoying a night out, lifeless eyes staring up the ceiling, posed as if gazing towards Heaven.

“What the fuck,” Jason muttered. Batman wandered the room slowly, looking at different angles. Jason started, but then his eyes were drawn to the mirror behind the bar. Once again, a message in blood, the shaping of the letters completely different from the last crime scene.

DID YOU SEE HIM YET RED HOOD?

Batman stared at the message also and then looked at Gordon, nodding his head for the room to be cleared. The commissioner sighed and called for his guys to vacate for a few minutes, letting the vigilantes have the room. Jason started looking at the faces of the patrons, wondering who he was looking for. While Jason looked at faces, Batman looked at him. He could feel the man’s eyes, probably trying to read his body language, see how his mind was at the moment. He wouldn’t lie, his mind was fuzzy, the sight of all this death was almost too much for him to handle and he had been an assassin once. He was trying to avoid staring at the gaping holes in the victims’ chests.

“Why do you think they took the faces and the hearts?” Jason asked, trying to focus in on the case, ignore the dread rising in his chest.

“I am not sure, but we are most definitely dealing with at least two people who are very annoyed at you,” Batman said. Jason didn’t like that, that Batman was already blaming these deaths on him. ‘If you hadn’t killed Joker all these people might be alive’ he could Bruce’s voice in his head, the accusations stinging. “Do you know someone here?” Jason shook his head as he rounded to the back of the bar and stared.

“Ya, I do,” he said, eyes falling on Auggie Valentine. “This guy, um, he was my best, well my only friend in Crime Alley, before you took me in.” He looked at Batman and Batman stormed out of the bar. This was bad. Very bad. If this person had killed one of Jason’s friends that meant they knew who Red Hood was. They knew where he lived. He took off running, climbing on his bike and driving like the devil possessed him back to the cave. He had to know if YN was safe.

You were watching the monitor with Alfred, Dick, Barbara, and Tim, listening to Bruce and Jason talk about the murders. You were horrified by the family, and the bar just made things worse. Then Jason mentioned knowing the bartender and your blood ran cold. Someone knew. Someone knew Jason was Red Hood. The others noticed also, and they started looking around, maybe for listening devices, cameras, maybe for a person hiding in the shadows ready to attack. You sat the computer, staring at the live feed video from Batman’s cowl. You looked at the body of the bartender, noticing that you knew him too. He had been a loyal informant against Black Mask back when you were looking into him. Did the bartender know more than he said? Bartenders knew a lot of things that most people didn’t realize, and he had been willing to talk for no money, just the idea that Gotham would be safer if he helped. Auggie was a great person, you could see how Jason would have been friends with him as a kid. He was a good person; he didn’t deserve to be murdered and have his heart ripped anymore than those children deserved their deaths. It made you sick and you could only imagine what Jason was thinking.

The familiar sound of the Batmobile and Jason’s bike came from the ramp into the cave, and you went with the others to meet them. Jason was off his bike, helmet tossed aside and running towards you, taking your face in his hands, looking frantic.

“Are you alright?” he asked. You nodded, reaching up and taking his hands, holding them in yours. “I thought…they know who I am…”

“Shhh, I’m here, we’re all safe,” you whispered, hugging him tight. He gripped you like he used to after a nightmare, like you were going to vanish if he didn’t hold you tight enough. The others went to the Batcomputer to start discussing the samples Bruce had brought back and the other clues from the crime scenes.

“You’re not safe, please take some time off, please stay here,” Jason begged. You nodded, anything to calm him down. His breathing was hitching, and he was going pale. You guided him to sit on the floor, sitting next to him.

“I won’t go anywhere, I’ll stay here, take deep breaths,” you said, rubbing the back of his head gently, petting his hair, catching the white streak and massaging the spot it sat on. He leaned his head into the touch, matching your deep breaths with his own.

“It was awful,” he said, finally calm again. “It’s my fault.”

“It is not your fault. You are not responsible for these monsters. You are a hero,” you said. He shook his head.

“I killed Joker, they saw it as a challenge. I thought it would end with him, but instead I just created a new threat. One head is cut, two more grow back,” he said. You leaned to his shoulder, arms around him.

“Jason, you killing Joker didn’t bring this about, this city is rotten, we all know it. Something in the air here breeds horrible criminals. No matter what happened they would be here, they just picked you because you are doing the most good right now. Just like they went after Batman,” you said, desperate to stop him from spiraling down into self-loathing again. You could see the signs, his eyes distant, his body fatigued from worry and despair.

“I need to go to the others, find out if they have any idea who did this,” Jason said softly, getting up. He walked away, leaving you there.

[purple-obsidian]

I'm in love w your writing Arkham knight bc on one hand that while series has me screaming at the girl bc she's really a horror movie protag making dumb choices to me. Like- “Bitch are you stupid!?!? LEAVE!!! FLEE, BITCH, FLEE!!!!” she quit her job to be with an abusive man,, it's quite literally the DUMBEST choice a woman can make BUT!!! At the same time, I think it's very relatable to put your own welfare on the back burner for a person you love bc they're suffering, and Jason Todd, man that he is, suffered more than Jesus. But, aT THE SAME TIME, she really gave that man some pussy after a domestic violence episode, what is wrong with her? Is her self esteem low? Why wasn't she gone when he came out of the bathroom? Does she have a death wish? Bc she is willingly in what is a both physically and verbally abusive relationship with a TRAINED KILLER. Why is she ignoring how dangerous he is to stay with him, when its apparent to her that her presence is not helping him, and he does not make her happy and she justifiably feels unsafe?

hi there, anon. thanks for sending in the ask!

i encourage you to think of my writing as a horror movie, like you mentioned. because this is all fiction, and anyone that finds themselves in a situation similar to this irl should absolutely leave immediately.

this is dark fiction. for entertainment only, and should not be viewed as an example of a healthy dynamic or healthy relationship. reader could be sticking around for a lot of reasons. i imagine jason was her first boyfriend. not only that, but he was robin, boy wonder, charming and athletic, sweet and caring, and they were in love. and then he fucking died, bro. she mourned him for over a year, praying and begging that it was all a bad dream and she would wake up and have him waiting there for her. she didn't grieve properly, and like many people who lose a partner, reader struggled to move on and find happiness. living in gotham didn't help her any, either. especially with the events leading up to and including the arkham series.

and then he does come back. he is alive. at first she thinks her prayers are answered. when reader finds out what happened to jason, i mean- just imagine the guilt and anguish she felt over not knowing, and not looking for him when he was all alone and suffering. jason doesn't hesitate to remind her, either. the guilt tripping and constant accusations are a new habit of his, courtesy of joker and harley quinn. her sweet, loving boyfriend is now a tortured ghost of his former self. she feels like she failed him, and after idolizing their relationship in her mind for the past couple years, reader is yearning for what once was.

she stays because she loves him. she stays because she feels guilty, like she owes him. she stays because she knows that he needs someone to be there for him, and she's the only one he will let in. most of all, though, i think she says because gotham needs jason todd, and she hopes that jay will find himself and step up now that batman is 'gone'.

its not healthy. reader is not acting in her own best interest. but hey, who know what will happen in part 3.

xoxo sid

[robjn93]

hi! ^_^

i was wondering if you could help me get into dc comics! i’ve always leaned more towards the movies/shows, video games, and fanon content.

if you have any reading guides at your disposal, i’d really appreciate them! even just naming a few starter comics would be cool.

i hope you don’t mind me asking this of you! i discovered your acc on tiktok and your edits made me wanna get more into the comics when i was formerly disinterested. your characterization takes are also pretty spot on!! :D

thank yew

IM GONNA CRY AND PUKE THANK YOU OMG getting into dc is not difficult but its also pretty challenging depending on which era you wanna read and which family you wanna get into. unfortunately im mainly a batfam-head so i have mostly suggestions about batfamily characters, i hope you wont mind :3

batman: year one is a must in my eyes but i dont see batman: ego advertised nearly as much and it pains me, its a very interesting read on the duality of bruce wayne and batman and an excellent analysis on purpose and motivations

after that, if you wish to continue reading batman related things, i suggest reading about the robins!

batman: year three (batman #436 to #439) serves as a retelling of dick and bruce’s first encounter and its the most used retelling, since it also introduces tim drake but i digress

year ones are your friends! robin: year one and robin/batgirl: year one are stories you should check out but, for the love of christ, keep AWAY from nightwing: year one. i dont know what they were thinking there. if you liked reading these, dick grayson could be the guy for you but, warning i guess, he has lots to read about so make sure to find a good reading guide for him.

after dick quits and becomes nightwing, jason todd is next and luckily the easiest read since he didnt do much except for dying (rip). he is super straight forward, batman: #408 to #425 and detective comics: #568 to #582. a good read for jason and bruce is also batman: the cult!

alas jaybin must die and so here comes a death in the family, batman: #426 to #429. im not a red hood fan personally but batman: under the red hood is kinda a must read. if you liked jason todd, i’m really sorry you’ll never see good writing again

after a death in family, you can read a lonely place of dying when that freak tim drake appears, batman: #440 to #442 alternating with new titans #60 and #61. TOOOOO GOOD. sorry.

tim drake is kinda complicated because the 90s were annoying but you can read detective comics: #618 to #621 and then after batman: #455 to #457 for the important things and him becoming robin most of all. after that the three robin miniseries, robin (1991), robin: the joker’s wild and robin: cry of the huntress are next and finally theres a big one, robin (1993)

if you like tim drake i plan on making a proper reading guide #soon so stay tuned i guess LOL. you cant have tim without stephanie brown, which kinda appears shortly after tim’s initiation as robin. detective comics: #647 to #649 are her origin story, showcase ‘95 #5 is a really underrated stephanie story and then you can just read robin (1993) since she is in there a lot.

i have a stephanie brown reading list ready to be reposted so trust it will be soon! finally damian wayne :3 read batman: son of the demon since its a way better origin for damian over the racist ‘talia is abusive and a r@pist’ morrison retcon.

damian is a really difficult character to get into cause unfortunately most of his stories are racist dogshit but the good stuff is GOOD. robin: son of batman will change your life 5ever. another fun read is robin (2021). to get hooked on daminika.

on the topic of batman’s supporting cast lets go with the batgirls. acknowledged as batgirls, we have barbara gordon tho she is largely more interesting as oracle! i wish you no harm so please don’t read the killing joke, it’s such a lame story and downright misogynistic towards babs.

just let it know that (sigh.) the joker left barbara gordon in a wheelchair. batman: chronicles #5 is genuinely one of the best stories ever, will make you weep and choke and die. after that, birds of prey (1999)’s yuriful antics will charm you.

the current batgirl, cassandra cain, is currently having an ongoing serie! her origin story is in batman: #567 and detective comics: #734. warning: she appears right in the middle of an event called batman: no man’s land so i suggest looking up batman: no man’s land reading guides if its too confusing for context. im really sorry. after that PLEASE read batgirl (2000). too good.

stephanie cheated and managed to be both robin and batgirl so you should read batgirl (2009) which is fairly context-less? or better, they explain most of the context in-comic so it should be fine.

these are the main batfam characters but, throughout reading, you might meet some new and maybe lesser known characters like azrael, huntress, anarky etc. etc.

a read that kinda exists outside all this is also gotham: academy which is quite new reader friendly and genuinely very fun.

hope you have fun :)

[platitudinalteen]

Blood In The Water - PlatitudinalTeen - Batman - All Media Types [Archive of Our Own]

As promised, here's the winning fic from the poll I posted yesterday. (I'm sorta sad the Joker fic didn't win, but there's always next time)

(Summery- After returning from being dead, Jason makes amends with his family, but the rift between him and his father only grows. They are constantly waging war until one day Jason disappears without a word. When he returns, he and Bruce finally hash it out the way they should have from the very beginning. Only, with an audience.)

(Snippet↓↓↓)

("You said you'd save me, but instead, you got me killed. You said you'd catch me if I fell, but you didn't even scrape my body off the damn pavement!" His words were laced in venom, and it's clear that his resentment had been building for a long time. "Did you even care that I died?" Jason asked, wondering how long it took for him to move on.

"Of course I did," Bruce exclaimed, hurt that he could ever think otherwise. "I mourned you."

"You mean you mourned Robin?" he retorted bitterly. "But not for long, right? You just got another. You're good at that, aren't you?"

"No, I mean I mourned you!" His father shouted, taking everyone, especially Jason, by surprise. "I mourned my son's death for months, and I'm still mourning you after all this time because alive or not, the child I raised is still dead!")

[phoenixcatch7]

This is one world where the Joker dies. The Joker sees LBH walking around and thinks it a good idea to kidnap and/ or murder Bruce Wayne’s husband as a joke. LBH, remembering all SQQ’s rants about how he fucking HATES the Joker and wants to kill him so bad, but can’t because he’s not allowed to, goes 😈😈😈. LBH is sure that his husband will appreciate getting the Joker’s head in a box as a present. Jason can have the rest of the corpse.

Ahhhh your read my mind! Batman is contractually obliged (read: forbidden by the system on pain of punishment protocol and/or a true death) not to kill, but that doesn't stop the ancient demon Empress scholar warrior from having Opinions™ on who should frankly kick the bucket. His husband has slaughtered clans over less than what Scarecrow has done.

Another idea though: lbh wouldn't wait for the joker to kidnap him. He sees Bruce's tight expression when talking (infodumping) about Gotham, he sees the way the children glance at Jason whenever they hear his name, he sees how his husband scowls helplessly whenever the topic of future breakouts comes up.

He'd go out and find him.

"Binghe?"

"Shizun?" he asks, just to confirm it's his husband on the other end of the line. Even weeks after they were reunited, it's wonderful to hear Shen qingqiu's new voice. It always is.

"Where are you? You're normally back by this hour. Gotham is dangerous at this hour, come home."

"Shizun..." Usually, at the first sign of being wanted back luo Binghe would be dropping everything and running. Not tonight. He's finally found what he's seeking. "Forgive this tardy husband, but I will be a little longer. There is something I've been looking for."

"Looking for?" shen qingqiu echoes, and he waits while his clever husband's mind works. If shizun truly wanted him to stop and leave well enough alone, he'd tell him, but luo Binghe thinks that this time that won't be the case. "Looking for what, Binghe?"

"I found something peculiar the other day, and given how much shizun cares about his city, this one thought it would be best to ensure it wasn't dirtying up the streets. It's making quite the joke of itself."

He heard the sharp inhale on the other side. He waited. Then, softly;

"Ah," shen qingqiu breathed. "Well then, dear husband, be sure you don't get lost wandering the city. It's quite dangerous. In fact, I feel it might be better if I sent Jason along with you. Just to make sure you're safe. He's been positively desperate to get out."

Oh.

Of course, their second eldest. The one the joker had brutally killed. The one whose death still gave his too kind husband nightmares.

Well, luo Binghe knew the rules.

Everything that has happened in the past, we'll repay it to you today.

A thousand fold.

[farshootergotme]

Okay, this works if it's an alternative universe. However, in main continuity, the version of Jason Todd who died, killed by the Joker, was never almost adopted by Dick Grayson.

The first Jason is from the Bronze Age, from Detective Comics #526, 1983, written by Gerry Conway. The second Jason is from the Modern Age, being his first appearance in Batman #408, 1987, written by Max Allan Collins, and then later killed in Batman #428, 1988, written by Jim Starlin.

Detective Comics #526

Dick Grayson wants to adopt Jason Todd after the death of his parents.

Batman #408

Jason Todd meets the Batman after stealing his tires.

Batman #428

Batman holding the lifeless body of Robin, Jason Todd.

With that cleared up, let's now talk about the argument between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson after the death of Jason Todd.

Coming back from a space mission with the Titans, Dick Grayson is informed of the death of his brother, Jason Todd, by one of his teammates, Danny Chase.

Danny: It's not a big deal, anyhow. Happens all the time.

Dick: C'mon, already. What is it?

Danny: I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure. I think Jason Todd was killed.

After this, Dick confirms the fact and then we skip to a different scene, a panel of Dick already in the Batcave, waiting for Bruce.

Bruce: I didn't expect to see you again.

Dick: I heard about Jason. I'm really sorry, Bruce.

Bruce: You weren't at the funeral. People asked about you.

Here's where the guilt tripping begins. "You weren't at the funeral" yeah, I wonder why that is, Bruce. Could it be because you never told Dick about Jason's death? (Dick, New Titans #55, to Kory "Bruce never called to tell me what happened to Jason."). Even though Alfred offered to tell Dick himself, but you refused?

Batman: A Death in the Family chapter 5

Alfred: Should I get in touch with master Dick, master Bruce?

Bruce: Huh?

Bruce: No… No, Alfred. I'll handle this by myself.

You sure did handle that well, Bruce.

And then “People asked about you.” People, you say. What people, Bruce?

Jim?

Barbara?

The mortician?

Panel of the funeral of Jason and Sheila Todd, attended by Bruce Wayne, Jim and Barbara Gordon, Alfred Pennyworth and a mortician.

Not only does he make it sound as if he had to explain to strangers why his eldest son wasn't at the funeral of his brother, he blames Dick for it.

But I'm getting off topic here.

Now, let's talk about one of your main points

“Bruce never actually says anything about Jason's death being Dick's fault - Dick pulls that out of nowhere”

See, I don't know about that.

Let's take a look at the scene:

New Titans #55

Dick: C'mon, Bruce–Talk. Don't turn your back on me. I'm here…now.

Bruce: You were Lucky.

Bruce: When you didn't listen to me, your injuries weren't fatal. Of course, by the time I properly trained you–

Dick: Bruce, c'mon…Lay off. I'm not here to fight.

Bruce: Then don't!

Dick: Are you blaming me? I left, so Jason replaced me, and because I left he died? No way, pal.

Dick: Jason wasn't me. I was a trained acrobat. I could think quickly in perilous situations. But why did you let him become Robin before he was ready?!?

When you read the dialogue, it does seem like Dick says that out of nowhere. But let's think about how the whole interaction starts:

The first thing Bruce says to Dick, he already sounds accusatory, “I didn't expect to see you again” with emphasis in the ‘you’. Dick, of course, ignores it, and goes to explain his reason to be there. He's not instigating any kind of fight. Despite that, Bruce continues to act confrontational “You weren't at the funeral. People asked about you.”

There you can already sense a pattern. Bruce isn't outright saying it, but he is subtly laying a guilt trip on Dick.

Now you have to look at the last part of the dialogue Dick interrupted.

“Of course, by the time I properly trained you–” you left. That's what I'd assume he was going to say, thus Dick's next line: Are you blaming me? I left, so Jason replaced me, and because I left he died?

And Bruce doesn't deny it. He doesn't tell Dick he's wrong (which clearly he isn't afraid to say looking at this whole conversation). So, yeah, maybe he doesn't explicitly state it. But silence can be as much of a confirmation.

The whole conversation has been about Bruce indirectly blaming Dick for not being there, for not coming to the funeral. Is that far-fetched to think he's still doing the same in his next dialogue?

Bruce also talks about Dick's time as Robin, comparing him to Jason. Because of Dick, Bruce had an expectation, and because of that expectation, he was careless with Jason. Following this logic, Dick “made” Bruce believe something which then wasn't true for another child. Bruce didn't consider the very different background Jason came from, and gave Jason the training Dick had, which had been more than enough for the first Robin. But they weren't the same people, and this was Bruce's mistake, which he's now projecting on Dick.

Dick, whether he was right or not, already sees where this conversation was going, and so he points this all out to Bruce.

Then comes the widely hated panel from this issue, which turns this interaction from heated to blatantly aggressive:

Bruce: Don't you dare blame me for Jason's death! Don't you dare!

Yeah, Bruce, is not nice when you feel like somebody's blaming for someone's death, is it?

And, of course, he doesn't stop there.

Bruce: Why did I think I needed a partner? They slow you down. They make you worry about them rather than doing your job! He wouldn't listen. He wanted to do everything his way. He was just like you. In a few years I would have had to fire him as I did you.

Bruce: Why are you pretending to be concerned about Jason? You told me you resented it that I had adopted him and not you.

Dick: No, I didn't. I only asked why you adopted him.

Bruce: We've gone over this before, Dick. I'm not interested in continuing this conversation. I suggest you leave. And give your key to Alfred on your way out.

Bruce: I don't need a partner. I never should have had one. And I never will again.

There's a lot to unpack from this.

First, he rants about why having a partner is awful, to his first partner. Then he suggests Jason was a problem because he was just like Dick. What is Dick supposed to say about that? 'Sorry for letting the kid want to be like him?' He follows that by trying to gaslight Dick into thinking he resented Jason, thing Dick never did. And Dick tries to tell him exactly that. But no! Despite the fact Bruce was the one to bring it up, now it doesn't matter. Why are you trying to speak about this, Dick? We already talked about it. Stop. And for the cherry on top—because all previously done wasn't enough—he kicks Dick out of the cave and orders him to leave his key. He's basically telling him he has no place to come back to. This isn't his house anymore.

Now, all of this is to say this is not an argument between two parents, fighting for what happened to their kid. No. This is a father and a son arguing about the death of their other son and brother respectively. An argument that ends in physical assault.

“What Dick says is much more about Dick trying to avoid his own feelings of adult responsibility for a child and guilt for failing that child” he is an adult, but Jason was never his responsibility. Not as a parent, at least.

Does Dick feel guilty for what happened? Yeah. Because that's how he is. He has self-blame tendencies. But his guilt has nothing to do with him seeing Jason as his kid, nor did Jason ever think of Dick as his parent. They were brothers, and that's as far as it goes.

(And their relationship as brothers didn't really have the chance to grow due to Dick's busy life. He did try to be there for Jason and they had some quality time here and there, but not as much as they would've liked.)

Anyhow, it is an interesting idea if you mix both timelines. But, in-universe, the Dick who wanted to adopt Jason Todd and the Dick who met Jason by chance are two different people, and it was the latter who had this argument with Bruce.

I think there's something that gets lost in these conversations about Dick and Bruce's infamous confrontation over Jason's death, and it's tied up in how, originally, Dick wanted to adopt Jason himself. Because he felt a personal sense of responsibility for him for reasons that had little to nothing to do with Bruce.

With that context, the confrontation is much more clearly about their respective senses of responsibility for Jason, rather than Dick simply calling Bruce out. Bruce never actually says anything about Jason's death being Dick's fault - Dick pulls that out of nowhere, apropos of nothing, and it doesn't really matter if it's true or not because you can't really call someone out for something they never said to you. They might be choosing not to say it because they know it isn't a fair or reasonable thing to say.

What Dick says is much more about Dick trying to avoid his own feelings of adult responsibility for a child and guilt for failing that child, even if he's correctly guessed that Bruce is internally doing the same thing.

[starry-bi-sky]

ive been hesitating to ask this bc youve been on a roll with the clone^2au (which i am frothing over) but could i poke you for some childhood friend au? bc GOD i wanna see how danny reacts to reuniting w jason or how the rest of the batfam react to learning jason never told danny of his resurrection or wondering if dannys gonna put jokers dead body on a display/offering to jasons grave. i havent been normal about this since i first read it and was wondering. thank you for your writing.

RAAAAHHHH DON'T BE HESITANT I AM JUST AS FERAL OVER MY CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AU AS I AM WITH CLONE^2 I AM DELIGHTED BY THIS. Like.,,,, i literally love them,,, so much. I can't listen to The Crane Wives without thinking of them.

(which is my fault - the ao3 fic of them has literally only crane wives lyrics for each chapter title and summary (posted AND the ones not written) so of course im gonna associate with them.)

(if you wanna listen to some of their songs while thinking of cfau here are my recommendations: "Once & for All", "Here I Am", "Hollow Moon" is a Danny AND Jason song to me, this would be my go-to song for an animatic of CFAU if i had the skills for it. "Tongues and Teeth", "Curses" and "take me to war" is a heavy cfau danny song to me, and of course, "the moon will sing")

Like they're BEST friends dude, they're two sides of the same coin and when they were kids they would do this thing where their 'fingers crossed'/'double-crossed' was them hooking their index fingers in the fingers crossed gesture.

and i'm actually currently rewriting my original post into a more fic-like format, and when I'm done I'll post it on here under the cfau tag - with the original post still in tact. But its,,, gonna be so long dude,,,, the original behemoth was just over 9000 words,,, and I've written 3k words already of the new one and we haven't even reached Jason and Danny reuniting at the gala yet,,, i need to get back to that,,,

and then to answer your questions!! god im almost hesitant to answer because i dont wanna spoil the little fic i had planned for it but also like,, its not like im gonna spoil everything, right? and answering the questions isnt the same as writing the scene down so!!

i love danny and jason's reuniting, like i've thought about it SO much and I've thought about it happening after Danny kills the Joker. I know the reveal could have been before that, and it could have been equally just as dramatic but like??? Thematically, doing it after danny kills the joker is SO good. To me at least.

Because like?? Jason's been in somewhat denial about danny's plan to kill the joker for months. ever since danny told him that he wanted to at the gala. And from Jason's pov its not even technically a plan. He sees his best friend for the first time after five years and his best friend still isn't over his death. He hasn't stepped foot in Gotham since his funeral and now suddenly he's here.

And he's still so full of grief over his death that he tells a masked vigilante that he's going to kill the guy that did it, who lives in said masked vigilante's city. And danny's got that look in his eyes that Jason knows so well that means he's being serious. And yet he still doesn't know if he should believe him or not.

And then he does. Danny kills him. And Jason can't fucking believe it. And when he goes and sees Danny, Danny's hands are still covered in blood. And that reunion? God like a fucking firework show. Danny's so fucking angry, and pissed, and hurt, and so goddamn overjoyed that he's alive and here that he sends them both to the ground, and if he doesn't calm down he's gonna take out the power in a five block radius.

there's just so, so much yelling on Danny's end. And then so much crying, first from Danny and then them both. because god, you're alive. you're here. i've missed you so much. i'm never letting you out of my sights again.

and Joker's death! God I don't want to actually say too much about that, but the way I have it set up thematically makes me actually not want danny to take any part of the joker with him as an offering. and he may actually forego that particular ghost etiquette and offer something else as an offering to Jason in substitute to not bringing him the Joker's heart/head/ritualistic body part.

Because you know what the last thing a man whose been spending the last two decades of his life building himself up to be larger than life would want? A death that's unremarkable. :) and that's all i'll put on the matter for now.

and the batfam!! they technically already know that jason hasn't told danny he was resurrected, and plenty of them have mixed feelings on them. largely bruce and dick i think, considering they saw firsthand how close jason and danny were when they were kids.

Dick was honestly surprised at first when he found out that Jason hadn't told Danny he was alive - and on one hand he understands the reasoning for it, and on the other hand he isn't sure if it was such a good idea. Especially after he sees Danny again after he arrives back in Gotham and sees just how badly Jason's death was still affecting him. But it's not like he's going to try and convince Jason to tell him - he can make his own choices, even if Dick has questions about them.

Bruce has much the same thoughts as Dick, so there's not really much to add here other than he might bring it up once or twice to Jason like, vaguely. And then immediately drops it when Jason shuts him down. He might actually somewhat...?? prefer that Jason hasn't told Danny because that raises a lot of questions and could jeopardize their identities. However, again, Jason can make his own choices and there's not much Bruce can do about it other than disapprove from afar.

Tim who knew of Danny from stalking the Wayne family shares similars sentiments of being surprised that Jason didn't tell Danny, but again, yeah, understands the thought process to some extent. Doesn't bring it up ever.

Everyone else who hadn't seen firsthand how close Danny and Jason are don't really have much opinion on it -- Jason didn't tell his best friend he was alive, great, he also didn't tell them either so it's not like its that much of a surprise. It would've been more of a surprise to them if Jason had told Danny before he told Bruce and co. Damian may make a comment or two about Jason not telling Danny, but its not about how he can't believe he didn't tell him or anything like it.

[dyslexic-mess]

Lil drabbles I have nowhere else for. They where written under the assumption of a dc X dp crossover but nothing properly developed (it's mostly dialogue, I won't lie)

One of the bats asks a ghost about Danny after hearing him refered to by a diffrent title:

"The young King had many titles!" She said poudly "Though, they are mostly used by ghosts to refer to his highness. Humans gave him one..." The ghost seemed to think for a moment, placing her hand under her chin before snapping her fingers. "Ah, yes. You call our King 'The Grim Reaper', I think"

---

The same ghost comments when it's revealed Danny is here for the Joker specifically:

"Your friend should think himself lucky" the ghost set her hands on her hips, nose in the air. "His Grace is a kind King, to a fault, some say, and will only intervein when he apsolutly has to. When he's called to right the ballance, he's as merciful as he can be." She looked more fierce now, a warning in her gaze "the relms could have called upon another to do its bidding and the Master of Time has no such patience for mortals..."

---

Danny, explaining to Jason what he is:

"Your like...a janky medium.

Exept You weren't born with your connection to the other side, it was forced in with your soul when you came back." Danny spoke alot with his hands, Jason noticed, as he pointing a finger into his palm. " It's no wonder you went insane, its actually more of a wonder you got your witts back. You shouldn't have, your body and mind arnt compatible with the abilitys, if they where you'd have already had them."

Danny circled him as he paused, as if marveling at some kind of artwork or maybe a large mess was a better comparison.

"Dispite all that and being dunked in septic ectoplasm, somehow, you seem to have acclimated on your own."

---

Vlad explaining what Danny is to Jason:

"Danny is ground zero. In basic terms."

"He was right at the heart of a tare being ripped in the vale, he was spit in two with it and then sewn back together. More than that, he was the catalyst, IS the catalyst. The portal didn't create him, he created the portal."

Vlad didn't talk with his hands, Jason noted, standing almost perfectly still as he spoke.

"He walks on the razor thin line between the two worlds with perfect ballance." Vlad paused, them muttered "Hell, he dances on it."

That comment broke vlads expression for a moment and he huffed through his nose. Jason had to smile a little at the hell Danny must have danced this guy though.

"Natural portals appear on there own but that...thing the Fentons created was forcibly wrenched into being. That requires far more than some electrics and ectoplasm. It needs a braking point. An apsolute. A moment, THE moment where there is perfect ballance between life and death."

"That's what Danny is. He's the moment. The braking point. He's ground zero. He is forever locked in that split second he was both alive and dead."

A breath. Then a lower tone.

"I doubt the Fentons even know what they've created. If they do, they certenly don't know how they did it. They could never create it again, not the portal, not the way they think they created it. The electrics, the ectoplasm the archway. To slash another hole in the vale, they would need another Danny. They would need to kill another child. Create another being that sits perfectly in ballance between the two worlds."

Then the man's face broke again but Jason didn't smile this time. Suddenly Vlad looked sad. That wasn't even the right word, he looked bereaved.

"No, if they knew, truly, what is required to force a gateway to the infinite relms, what it required the first time, it would brake there hearts."

[butwhyduh]

Dead Clown 🤡

Jason todd x reader

Warning: smut, murder but it’s okay.

Jason pulled his helmet off and ignored the rain that poured down his face. He had to see this without a filter. He even considered taking off the domino mask but he was out in the open. The pouring freezing rain had him shivering but Jason was unaware. He literally couldn’t believe the sight before him.

The joker was laying in his back, the pasty skin on his forehead was marred by 2 small holes. The back of his stupid green hair looked almost black when mixed with blood. Blood and water mixed in a pink puddle around his head. Jason forced himself to check for a pulse before hitting his comms.

“Bats, you need to get down here,” he said in a shocked voice. “The joker is dead.”

“..... are you okay,” Bruce said in a measured voice.

“I’m fine. He was dead when I got here,” Jason added knowing he was number one suspect.

“On the way.”

Batman and Red Robin showed up shortly with Robin not far behind. It didn’t take long for the detectives to believe Jason’s innocence. The evidence didn’t match him.

Jason sat on a piece of concrete near the scene as they worked. He had hoped to see this for years now. But it wasn’t the same. Maybe it was because Jason didn’t get his revenge or because it looked too neat. Two quick shots to the brain. Probably didn’t even see it coming before he was lights out.

Bruce walked over to him as the other two took photos and bagged evidence. A little blood here. Some fabric fibers there. No fingerprints because of the heavy rain but a bullet casing.

“Did you see who shot him?”

“No B. I literally got here and he was already out. He was supposed to have a drug drop but I guess that didn’t happen,” Jason said with a shrug.

“You were going to fight him alone,”Bruce said with a raised brow.

“No. Just reconnaissance. I would have called it in,” Jason defended himself. Bruce gave him a side look before moving on to the case.

“Commissioner Gordon is on the way,” Tim said. He held bags of evidence carefully in his lanky fingers. “We’re finish collecting-“

“Can we go home, father? It’s freezing cold,” Damian interrupted. Bruce sighed before looking at him.

“Red Robin was talking but yes, you both should back to the cave to process everything. Red Hood, you too. The commissioner knows you have a history with the joker so it’s best you leave too. I’ll take care of this,” Bruce said carefully. Any wrong word might set Jason off with his trauma over the death of his murderer.

“Uh yeah, sure man,” Jason said clearly distracted. He would usually argue with everything Bruce said and this made Bruce even more worried for the young man. He sent a quick message to Dick before the commission met got there.

——————————

“We’re running the tests right now and there really isn’t much else to do. Robin already went to bed. Go home Hood and get some sleep,” Tim said by the computers. Jason hadn’t bothered to get out of his suit or shower.

“How long? How long until you get results?”

“Oh, uhhh maybe 12 hours? A while. Sorry DNA testing isn’t like in the movies. The meta or clone tests are even longer. It probably won’t be until tomorrow night that we know anything,” Tim said turning in his chair. “Get some sleep.”

Jason considered giving him a nasty comment but held it. He certainly felt dead on his feet and had a nice warm woman waiting at home for him.

“Call when you know anything,” he said with a growl.

“Yeesh, yeah. I will,” Tim said backing away. “Say it. Don’t spray it,” he muttered as Jason walked away.

———————————

Jason trudged into the apartment leaving wet clothing in his wake until he stumbled to bed in nothing but his boxer briefs. You were going to be mad at him for the mess in the morning but that could wait. He looked at you asleep on the bed. You looked so sweet and innocent. Like an angel compared to his dirty hands that practically dripped blood every night.

He slid under the blanket and pressed close to your warm form. You gasped awake before relaxing when you realized it was just Jason. Did you not realize he could kill you 84 different ways in your sleep? It didn’t really matter as you snuggled your head into the crook of his neck and slid your legs to entangle with his. Jason’s arms automatically wrapped around you and rubbed your back until your breathing was even in sleep. He stared at the ceiling until the hint of dusk could be seen outside.

Jason woke with a gasp followed by a moan as he felt perfect wet heat encompass his dick. He looked down to see the blankets move rhythmically as you slid your mouth along his dick. He blinked himself more awake to truly enjoy it.

It wasn’t the first time you had woken him as such but it was certainly a rare occurrence. Reserved for birthdays and Christmas, he couldn’t imagine what he did to deserve such a wonderful wake up.

“Fuck! Princess,” he groaned as you swirled before taking him deep. You hummed questionably.

“What did I, mmmm, do to deserve such a fuck! Perfect mouth. Perfect wake up,” he said pushing covers down to show you between his legs. You looked up at him with big innocent eyes as you licked long hot strips up his cock. You took him deep in your mouth before sliding off with a pop.

“I can’t spoil you?” You purred and he twitched. How did he get so lucky? “Do you want to finish in my mouth or can I ride you first?” You asked and he god honest choked on his spit.

“Baby, *cough* whatever you want, what. Ever. you want,” he said and you grinned before climbing up his body to straddle him. His hands ran along the side of your body before gripping your hips. You sunk down on him with a little mewl.

“Fuck Princess, you’re so wet. Do you like... do you like sucking my cock?” He asked breathlessly.

“Of course, Jaybird. Sometimes I touch myself when I blow you, like today,” you admitted with a sweet little giggle. He almost came right them. How could you say the dirtiest things while being the sweetest person he’d ever known?

Jason reached his thumb down to rub your clit as you moved. You whined before nodding at him. Your mouth fell open and your hips sped up. He knew that you weren’t going to last long. You really did get hot and bothered blowing him. You made little whined and whimpers before moaning his name loudly as you came. Your body clenching on him was enough and he thrust up into you as he came as well. You bent down and kissed him deeply. Jason was panting by the time you pulled back.

“Loved that for sure, but what the hell was that, Princess,” Jason asked breathlessly as you climbed off and threw on some clothing. You chuckled a little before tossing him his boxers.

“Just wanted to wake you up this morning. Do you want some pancakes, Jay,” you asked. He sat up and pulled them on.

“You certainly did. And I never say no to food. Especially my favorite food,” Jason said with a grin. “Is it secretly my birthday? Am I dying and you’re prepping me beforehand?”

You laughed. “You already did that, baby.”

Jason gasped a little before laughing.

“I just wanted to treat you like you deserve. Pick a movie. There’s a new slasher out that you can tear apart,” you said walking in the kitchen and grinned at Jason’s heart eye look he gave you.

He looked through the movies without paying them much mind. He’d seen the joker dead the day before and now his girlfriend was spoiling him. He didn’t know what to think about. He’d think about the joker finally being dead. He couldn’t hurt Jason or those near him any more. You’d been kidnapped 6 months earlier and it had almost ripped Jason apart when he found you bloody and beaten. Luckily alive though.

Then he thought about how sweet you were. A perfect angel who had nothing to do with that life. You couldn’t kill someone if you tried. He just wanted to keep you in an innocent bubble, especially after being kidnapped.

“Jay? Jason?” You said near him and he jumped. He had been so lost in thought that he didn’t notice you coming over to him with a plate of food. Heart shaped pancakes covered in whipped cream stared up at him and Jason had a little grin on his face.

“Sorry, thanks. This looks good,” he said and you grinned before sitting with your own. Jason turned on a movie and sat next to you to eat.

Jason’s phone rang.

He gave you an apologetic look before answering.

“Yeah,” he answered before quickly standing up to talk in another room. Definitely bat business, it sounded like. He came back in a few minutes putting on his suit. He bent and shoved most of a pancake in his mouth. Jason pulled you to your feet and swirled you around before holding you by the waist. You giggled.

“What’s gotten into you?”

“I’ve got to work. But when I get back, I’m making up for this morning, okay? Breakfast was amazing,” he said before pulling you into a dizzying kiss. You nodded before he left.

——————————

Jason arrived at the cave and realized something was instantly wrong. Tim, Dick, Damian, Bruce, and even Alfred were waiting for him around the computers. He slowly walked up. They didn’t think he did it, did they? Jason looked around in case of a fight.

“I have some bad news,” Dick said. Jason just stared at him. Dick sighed. “We know who killed the joker. You won’t like it. You- you might want to sit down.”

Jason frowned at his tone. It was the tone you used when telling a kid their parents died. He looked at the computer to see surveillance footage of the roof where he found the joker. He clenched his fist as the mad man walked in the screen.

“You know, this is the worst meeting place in the world,” joker said with a laugh. Jason’s eyebrows rose. He hasn’t expected audio. “So what do you have that I might want on the birds?”

A female voice off camera could be heard saying, “peace of mind.”

“Doubt you could give me that Princess,” he said in a mocking tone. His posture was casual even though the lower half of a woman’s body had walked into the screen and she held a gun in hand pointed at him. She froze at his words.

Jason couldn’t look away if he wanted to.

“Yeah, I know,” joker said. “I forget faces. Too many changing and quite a few people are a little two faced,” he said with a laugh. “But I never forget a voice. You sounded so much more sweet when you were crying tied to a chair. And the way you sobbed when I brought out the crowbar.... music to my ears. I bet it just reminded you of a certain bird that just didn’t quite make it the first time.”

“Shut up. I- I don’t care,” she said. Jason’s heart was in his throat. He knew exactly who that was before Tim’s DNA tests were complete. She moved around a little nervously.

“Honey, Princess,” he said drawn out in a mock of Jason’s voice. “Unless you plan on using that gun, put it down and we can play a game. You like games? You play one with the red bat all the time. Does he know? Does he know that you’ve been hunting me for.... geez, since you were kidnapped I’d bet.”

“Now drop that gun and I show you what pain really feels like,” he growled and she shot him in the forehead before he moved. He made a disconnected sound before falling to his knee, perfect height to be seen in the camera. She shot him again between the eyes and he fell back silently. His body splashed on the rainy roof before blood began to pool behind his head. The woman looked for a second, her body language painfully stiff, before running out the way she came.

The cave was silent as Jason realized what he just saw. He blinked a few times before clearing his throat. Has she- did she-??

“I assume the DNA matches?” He asked and Tim nodded before sliding him a paper copy. 98% match. Only chance it wasn’t you was an evil twin or clone but no, he noticed the clothing and mannerisms. It was you.

“Are you going to bring her in?” Bruce asked quietly and Jason gaped.

“I sure as shit ain’t. She killed the man who kidnapped her and abused her. That sounds like self defense to me,” he defended. Dick looked at him in pity and Jason quickly looked away.

“It was premeditated, Jason,” Bruce reminded him.

“I know. I’ll take care of it. She’s not going to prison. I’ll talk to her,” he said. Bruce gave him a hard look. “You come near her- I swear to god, Bruce. I’ll shoot you myself.”

Jason got up to leave. Dick moved out of his way. He wasn’t getting in this.

“Jason,” Bruce said but Jason was already gone.

——————————

Jason was a pretty smart guy but he was completely shocked at this moment. What possessed you to kill the joker? To seek him out? A man that tried to kill you and you were willing to meet him alone? Not even Jason wanted to do that. And that morning you were treating Jason special. He thought for a second that you killed the joker for him. It chilled him to the bone but he put that thought out of his head. No, you had your own reasons to do it.

Jason walked in the apartment cautiously. Who knows how you would be acting, the perfect girlfriend or finally breaking down when you realized you killed a man. He found you in the bedroom asleep. You didn’t look like you had just killed someone and for a second Jason had doubt but the video and DNA didn’t lie.

He crawled in bed with you. You pulled him close and laid your head on his chest and Jason’s heart hurt. You looked fine but killing people left scars and your first time killing someone was not something you forget.

You woke with a gasp and cry hours later. You trembled and grasped at Jason tightly. He woke up confused before pulling you closer.

“Hey, Princess, I’m right here. You’re okay,” he said rubbing your back and holding you close. “What’s going on?”

“I see him. When I sleep. Every time,” you breathed almost in tears. Jason kissed your cheek and he felt wetness on your skin. You had been crying. He didn’t want to ask but now was as good a time as any.

“Princess, what did you do last night?” Jason asked so quietly. You looked up at him quickly and it confirmed everything he needed to know.

“Nothing. I was here. All night. Wh-why?” You asked, lying terribly. Jason sighed. He closed his eyes before willing himself to speak.

“You know I’m a detective. I can tell that you’re lying,” Jason started gently.

“What does that mean,” you said a little too quickly. Your breathing started to speed up again and Jason hated the look of fear on your face.

“I’m not mad. I won’t turn you in. Just tell me what happened,” he said softly, watching you intently. You wanted to shrink away a little.

“I can’t,” you whispered. Your eyes started to water and you blinked them away.

“Did you do it? Did you kill him? I can help you,” Jason said and you froze. “Talk to me.”

“I-I did,” you said looking at him in terror. Your eyes were red rimmed. “I did.”

“I’m sorry,” he said pulling you tight to his body. You broke down in little sobs and clung to him. “I’m so sorry that you thought you had to. I should have. I’m sorry.” He wrapped you up and made little shhh noises and you cried until you fell back asleep.

You woke up later with a pounding headache wrapped up tightly against Jason. He was on his phone but sat it down when he saw you were up.

“Hey,You don’t have to worry about it. I’ve taken care of everything,” he said ever so gently. You nodded.

“What does that mean?” You asked slowly.

“Red Hood took the wrap on it. No great loss with one less psycho in Gotham. Harley Quinn had an impromptu parade with hyenas and jugglers and everything. Nightwing made an appearance. Dick said Barbie slept through the night for the first time in months and she said she’d help you with anything you need,” Jason said trying to be positive. You gave him a dry smile.

“That’s nice. What about- what about Batman?” You asked.

“He’s Batman. But he’ll get over it. And the next time you kill a murderous clown, let me help. He could have killed you. And if anyone knows how to hide a body, it’s me,” Jason said giving you a squeezing hug. You smiled despite yourself.

“I’ll remember that. I’m a little sad I missed the hyena parade,” you admitted.

“Oh she’s having a parade every day this week. An anonymous donor gave her a ton of fireworks. Fairly certain it was Tim,” Jason said.