#One of my favorite things in fics is when Jason is part of his community

[lurkinglurkerwholurks]

Sunrise

First posted: May 11, 2019

Focuses on: Jason Todd and Damian Wayne

Tier: Middle of the road, not super popular but with more hits than I expected

This is my “behind the scenes” series where I indulge myself horribly by annotating my fics. Link to the fic itself above. Thoughts below the cut.

Another ficiversary "give me a fic I've written and I'll add more" entry, this time adding Jason's perspective to Safe House. Also, I'll say up top here so I don't forget like I think I might have on Safe House's BTS brain dump—this one has a podfic!

Jason remembered returning to Gotham the way one remembered suffering through a fever. It was a wash of muddied, muddled images, an anxious blur of memories with no defining features except where the very strongest impressions blazed through. He remembered the rage. He remembered the plan. And he remembered the feeling of invincibility, of power.

Honestly, you say it's because of the Pit but I think everyone at some point in their life will hit a stretch of emotion where they react so utterly out of character that in retrospect it all seems a little dream-like and vague. He ain't special.

Fear had snapped at his heels like hellhounds, chasing him into the dark.

Yep, little bit of the If The Sky imagery, little bit of the Dean Winchester imagery, just sprinkled like seasoning. but also I have a feeling that used that phrasing somewhere else, too, and I can't remember where.

He brought seed packets to the Manor and helped Alfred plant them in rich, loamy soil. When not patrolling the streets, he wrapped himself in soft, tagless fabrics that soothed his skin and blanketed his frozen limbs in warmth. He filled his safe houses with small comforts—blankets, good food, his favorite tea, books, crossword puzzles, and soft rugs. He stayed inside on the nights when the wind howled and the sky crackled and the air filled with the smell of despair.

Self-Care King 👑

Storms had been worse for him since Bruce had dragged him back to the Magda Valley. (Everything had been worse for him since returning to the Magda Valley.)

I had to ask what had happened with the whole Damian resurrection thing and where it had happened. I don't touch canon, remember, but I'd read other fics that had referenced the incident in question and I had already set up in Safe House specifically that Damian had been revived via Pit. So here we are, though I like to think my version of Bruce would be less of a butthead about it.

He hadn’t even thought to check. Damian, to Jason’s disbelief and envy, had seemed to come back fine. Better than fine, even. The kid had returned with temporary superpowers and the welcome of the entire family, the little prince ushered back into the court.

I remain baffled by that little side story that I'm told is canonical. Why would the Pit give him superpowers? That's just silly, DC.

Jason was smart. He knew he was smart. He was cunning and he was clever and he was nigh on diabolical, and above all, he was smart. He didn’t need Bruce or Dick or any of them to admit it to know it was true. But it still stung, like a sunburn deep in his chest, to know they thought he was stupid, street scum, a thick-necked thug. Damian hadn’t been trying to be snotty. He’d spoken the truth in his surprise, and that innocence had knocked the wind out of Jason.

Jason, I think, will always have a sensitive underbelly when it comes to his origins. And while Bruce and Dick know for certain that he is extremely smart and that's part of his danger, they historically haven't been very good at communicating who Jason is to the other kids, and so Damian has had to make his own assumptions.

But he’d been looking down at this boy, this kid who looked tinier than Jason had ever seen him in his borrowed Han Solo shirt and rolled sweatpants, and thought about him getting caught in the rain.

teeby

[dairy-farmer]

hello! i hope you're doing well ^^ can you share any thoughts you have on JayTim? i ship tim with everyone but JayTim has a special place in my heart. it was one of my first robin ships!

hi! thank you, i'm doing well!! i think that out of all batcest ships with tim jaytim is by far the most popular by sheer numbers alone i think i put it in a spreadsheet once and jaytim was something like twice as popular as all other tim batcest ships combined AND its more popular than kontim a longtime favorite that many comic fans push to be canon. this popularity is just going off the amount of fanfics on ao3 about them and i think there's a very good reason for it. and its that jason and tim, individually are VERY interesting characters they catch a lot of shit both for good and bad reasons but fundamentally the two of them share an undoubtedly similar kind of isolation and loneliness than the rest of the family. jaytim is also pretty well fed compared to other tim ships! like what jason carved on tim's headstone when he buried the rest of the family?

it was certainly much kinder than the others and also seemed to carry a tone of...regret. whether it was a regret for never having known tim better, treated him better, or just general sadness of this good kid who died. jason has changed a lot from when he was robin- from what bruce and dick and alfred and everyone knew him as. he's red hood now, he's a different jason todd now and i think he knows that there's a sort of resistance from people to acknowledge that or that they see him and their first thought is about this horrible thing that happened to him. tim, however, was never part of the community or the family before jason died so his only idea and opinion of him is after he has reformed to the new jason todd.

jason and tim's relationship is definitely a very unique one because for the longest time their opinion of the other is informed through other people. bruce and dick filter their memories of jason through a sieve to catch all the 'bad stuff', jason is both manipulated and in a bad state of mind to form an opnion of tim. the two of them have a very good set up for enemies to lover due to their contentious history.

jason has tried to kill tim (so has damian) but tim did give back as good as he got and was always more irritated and annoyed with jason rather than afraid of him.

the two of them are drawn together for so many reasons and all the instances in comics where they're working together or even around each other- the two of them get along SO well!!!!! they have SUCH good chemistry together!!!!!!!!!

but because of their complex dynamics their relationship can be viewed in so many lights! toxic and dark, wholesome and domestic, mutual attraction, one-sided attraction, soulmates who need to overcome rough beginnings. one thing i love in a lot of jaytim fics is that once the two of them overcome this (very small) barrier of mutual dislike the two of them get along very well very quickly and i don't think it's a dynamic that's too fast or out of character for them. genuinely the two of them have the most interesting and fascinating interactions both casual and not!!! i don't know how to describe or phrase it other than the two of them are SO good together, they look good, intereact good, they help each other be better people and make peace with the things about themselves they don't like - they're just...so right❤️❤️❤️

[hangon-silvergirl]

What is your favourite fanon chracterisation of Chrissy?

Hi! Thanks for the ask, anon. Gird your loins for a spiel as I am apparently unable to stop myself from writing dissertations when people ask me questions here. 😇

(Send me 'What's Your Favorite...?' Asks, and I will almost definitely write you a rambling dissertation too...!)

Before you dive on into my inanities I want to preface this by saying that I can't possibly pick one Chrissy in fanon because there are many of her across the universes, and there is a lot of wonderful in all that. My Hellcheer north star is that Chrissy Cunningham looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you and Eddie Munson looks he he could kill you but is actually a cinnamon roll, and that's about as much of a summation as I can manage.

When I started digging into the ST4 fandom, I was really focused on Eddie more than anything; I wasn't necessarily looking for a ship to hyperfixate on (but when does a neurodivergent person ever, haaaaaaaaa), but then I wandered into the Hellcheer aO3 tag. The first fic I ever read was BeeLove's oh it's not real (if you don't feel it), and given it was my gateway drug into this community it's fair to say that it shaped my own HCs of Chrissy.

The way I've written Chrissy's POV in Marigold is my own interpretation, and she is the basis for all of my Chrissys, though of course I adjust as appropriate for the narrative I'm spinning.

SO, the tl;dr here is: IDK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think one of the things that lends so much to Hellcheer as a ship is the fact that, however we're imaging Chrissy, there is SO MUCH that we don't know about her! There are a lot of different ways to approach the crux of her character, and I would say that they are all valid, even if they might not be everyone's HC or cup of tea. Maybe she's timid, maybe she's a BAMF. Maybe her mother and Jason are massive abusers, maybe she actually loves Jason (or did) and her mother is just casually cruel. Maybe Chrissy has a lot of control in her life, maybe she has very little. Maybe she's conditioned, or maybe she takes no shit. Maybe she's a naïve Christian baby who can't say shit, or maybe she's a closet sailor. Maybe she's obsessed with pop music, maybe she's secretly into Bikini Kill. Maybe she's a virginal and inexperienced angel, or maybe she's a closet deviant. Maybe it's a little bit of all of it, whirling around in a centrifuge, splicing out bits for the narrative-at-hand. THE BEST PART is that it can all work effectively, because we're building everything off of a single episode of television.

Everything after The Hellfire Club is inference on our part as viewers, or things that the cast has suggested in Q&As post-show; it's all nuance, and interpretation, and based largely on the acting choices made by Grace, Mason, and Joe. So, honestly, I have gobbled up Hellcheer media like a starving, rabid gremlin for the last six months, and I have seen a plethora of interpretations of her character, and so so SO many of them have resonated with me. As long as that essence of the Chrissy we were shown--"Me?"--is still there, and recognizable, well then that works for me.

[chalantness]

hi! I just wanted to tell you that I’ve read your young justice fanfics (my favorites were jason and bette kane but really I adored them ALL) since I was VERY young, just as YJ season 2 was coming out.

I am 21 now, after having moved to LA and from there to NYC and your stories still touch me. I was really sad when I went to look on fanfiction.net and saw that your stories were deleted. I still think about them after all these years and one of my favorite things about watching YJ was reading your fanfics. Thank you so much.

I love, love, love this message so much and it made me so happy from the bottom of my heart! I will forever be grateful to Young Justice and the community I found myself a part of through writing fanfiction for it. You (and all of my other readers!) were the first ones to make me feel like I could genuinely write for a living like I always dreamt of, and while the road to that goal has been longer than I anticipated, it's more alive than ever! I hope I get to share my writing again with you sooner than later!

And I've mentioned this multiple times, but while part of me did not regret my impulsive decision and the circumstances around it to completely purge all of my Young Justice fanfiction, I do regret that I didn't preserve it for me to revisit and possible reshare with all of you. I've wanted to recreate them or revamp them several times over the years, knowing I could never perfectly rewrite them but also knowing that I've become a better writer since writing them and could approach them in a fresh light.

And though the chances are incredibly slim, I would be lying if I said that something like that is off the table completely. I've dearly missed writing fanfiction, and the particular ships and fandoms I've written for have been long inactive or have changed dramatically that I feel significantly less pressure than I did before to make bigger and better fics when I felt like I'd written it all and ran out of ideas.

Anyway, thank you for letting me ramble! Your message was such a beautiful surprise for me and I cannot express how happy I am that you took the time to send it!

[danny-chase]

Hullo. May I ask why Dick is blorbo? No real reason, I'm just a curious and nosy follower :D

1. Young Justice - this show was a big reason why I got back into DC, and when I was younger, Dick and Artemis were my favorite characters because they were humans among superhuman people, and I found that neat. Young Justice season 3 I liked Dicks character arc and also-

2. I'm a sucker for sadboys. I think characters look better with a bit of blood on their faces. Connecting back to young justice season 3, Dick is a major sadboy 😅 shortly after watching season 3 of young justice, i started working 60-70 hour weeks (just for 1 summer) and to get through the day i would make up stories about how i thought Dicks season 4 arcs would go (this really cemented him as blorbo)

3. An irl friend was also into young justice, she got into batfam stuff, I'd never read fanfic before, and seeing her read it at first i was like "pffft i wouldn't get into that lame stuff" and lo and behold i got curious and spiraled. There's a looooot of sadboy Dick fics out there. Like. A lot. But yeah i started out as a batfam stan rather than a titans one, and in my heart i love both and theres an internal battle that wages within me

4. At the same time (or before?) i started reading fics, i also got into the comics from Young Justice. Part of the reason i like Dick is because there's literally just so much content i can read, and i started reading and rereading his solo runs and eventually branched out into titans comics. Not all his comics appearances are good, but I like having a lot of content 😅 it helps spark ideas and gives me "i can fix it" disease

5. His relationships with people!!!! A core reason of why I love the character is all the great relationships he's had across canon. He's a big brother/mentor to Tim and Damian (with Tim i love the image of infallibility Dick has, and his slow fall off the pedestal, and with Damian they start at the bottom and build things up from scratch - i love how he has to earn Damians respect by putting in the work). His relationship with Jason especially pre-reboot is a gold mind of agnst (like. Little brother dies while you're in space and your dad doesn't bother inviting you to the funeral *screams* and blames you for his death to some extent) - the way he knew Jason and they got along fine, though they didn't interact like a ton (i see it as like. Older sibling who's in college) and then one day he's just gone, then comes back and wants to kill you and is so blinded by revenge on your dead father he will destroy everything in his path is just, so much potential here. His relationship with Bruce makes me scream. I liked the few interactions he has with Cass before she got yeeted by DC. And moving outside the family, the found family aspect of the Titans i literally love so much. I cherish his friendship with Donna, I'm a big fan of platonic m/f relationships being given importance and weight, plus again the whole "i love angst" thing was on fire when she dies. I love his relationship with Roy, the way they push one another and butt heads while still deeply trusting one another + the thinly veiled sexual tension between them (i say thinly veiled because Grace literally points it out in Outsiders). His friendship with Wally is also fun, i like reading their team ups. There's so many characters that he interacts with it just sets up so many possible stories, and i love how interconnected he is in the superhero community

6. Man vs world. I like that Dick is a (mostly - everyone has flaws, and Dick does fuck up in canon) well intentioned person struggling against the injustices of the world. That's the long way of saying "i like him because he's a hero". But part of that is like - a lot of his battles narratively fall into man vs world (especially in his solos), with a bit of man vs self here and there, and i like these categories. Most of his conflict is external, and while i like some internal conflict, i get a little bit bored when characters in comics are too introspective - like some of this i don't mind, bonus points if the internal and external conflicts are aligned in a satisfactory way, but DC comics only lets characters grow so much, so introspective stuff can get repetitive imo

There's probably more reasons but this is what i can think of off the top of my head

[silverwhittlingknife]

In issue # 110 of Nightwing (1996), why did Dick look irritated (and clench his fist) when Tim told him that Bruce considered adoption (which Tim rejected obvs), especially since Tim's dad was killed (and Dick knows that)?

ANON YOU HAVE ASKED ABOUT ONE OF MY FAVORITE ISSUES OF NIGHTWING OF ALL TIME <333

Very short answer: it's the trauma

So the thing is, this is a heartbreaking issue that requires a lot of footnoting, because the emotional undercurrents are BIG and POWERFUL but the dialogue is deliberately understated?? and Dick and Tim are often not saying what they mean?? or just straight-up lying to each other?? and they're TALKING PAST EACH OTHER because

they both suck at communication

they are not even TRYING to communicate their actual problems - like, if Tim straight-up said, "A bunch of people I love are dead and I keep having nightmares about how it's my fault and I'm guilty and miserable and lonely and avoiding Bruce and I came to your city because I was reeling and I missed you and I didn't know what else to do and now I'm scared you're mad at me," that would crack through Dick's determination to keep his distance because Dick's whole thing here is based on the conviction that Tim is fine, but of course Tim doesn't say any of that, and Dick can't read his mind. And Dick's not quite as determined a liar as Tim so Tim is able to figure out a little more of what's going on with Dick vis-a-vis insecurities, but Tim's still completely missing what a colossal mess Dick is right now, and again: this is because he's not a mind-reader and Dick doesn't tell him! And doesn't want to tell him! And doesn't want him to know! So Tim thinks that Dick's maybe acting this way because he's mad at Tim, and he tries to solve the problem from that angle, even though that's not at all what's going on and actually Dick's miserable and traumatized and mad at himself

I love it so much

So the short-ish answer to your question is, Tim's correctly guessed at some of Dick's insecurities here. Dick's not mad that Tim's in the city, but Tim's right that the adoption was a big deal to Dick, and he's right that Dick's a little threatened by the idea of Tim getting adopted too. (This wouldn't normally be the case! But Dick was kinda uneasy about Tim in the early days when his own relationship to Bruce felt very shaky, and right now Dick's feeling like he's lost Bruce again, and when he's insecure about himself he tends to slide into seeing Tim as a rival - both in vigilante terms and in terms of a connection to Bruce.)

And probably the main reason Dick's so stunned - and a bit angry - here is because Bruce didn't tell him, and although this is very different from Bruce not telling him about adopting Jason... it's still jabbing at those old wounds.

BUT THE LONGER ANSWER is important! Dick loves Tim, a lot!! SO MUCH. He watches Tim sadly from a distance and thinks about how much he loves him in this very comic! So why isn't Dick more enthusiastic about the potential adoption? Why is he skulking around in alleys being miserable and self-destructive and avoiding Tim so determinedly that Tim's convinced he's offended Dick somehow? What's going on???

Well, Dick's life has been imploding.

So to really answer your question, we have to back up a bit and get the context of what's going on with Dick and Tim prior to this comic.

I started writing about this and it got way out of hand, so below please find a guide to my four-part manifesto about Nightwing 110 and what's going on and why I think it's great:

Background: Dick + Tim + Trauma Conga Lines

Background: War Games Aftermath

Nightwing 110

Fix-It Fic Ideas

rambling manifesto is below the cut

Background: Dick + Tim + Trauma Conga Lines

Images: a reporter is shot and killed in front of Dick in N 93; a few days later, Darla is shot and killed in front of Tim in R 129; a blood-covered Dick turns from Blockbuster's body in N 93; a blood-covered Tim stares at his father's body in IC 6

Timeline-wise, we're in The Bad Year for Dick and Tim. Dick's life has been FALLING APART. Blockbuster figured out his secret identity and started murdering his entire supporting cast: Blockbuster hired someone to attack Haly's Circus, blew up Dick's entire apartment building, and shot a reporter in front of Dick. In the climactic confrontation, Catalina Flores killed Blockbuster and raped Dick.

More or less simultaneously in War Games, Tim's life has ALSO been falling apart and his supporting cast has been getting gruesomely murdered. In quick succession, Jack figured out Tim's secret and Tim had to quit, Steph got hired and fired as Robin; Steph accidentally started a gang war; Darla got shot and killed in front of Tim during the gang war; Steph got killed by Black Mask; and Jack Drake got killed by Captain Boomerang.

It's a grimdark time in DC comics.

Background: War Games Aftermath

Dick's slowly recovering in the Manor as Bruce recaps recent events to him (Batman 634)

Now, Dick's actually part of War Games - very briefly. A day or two after Blockbuster's death, Bruce calls Dick for help, and Dick comes to Gotham. Dick and Tim briefly interact but Gotham is in flames, they're both freaking out, and they don't really help each other - Tim tries to tell Dick about Darla, and Dick shuts him down (not realizing Darla is actually Tim's friend); Dick has a panic attack in front of Tim and Tim drags him out of danger but gets snappish instead of worried.

AND THEN, midway through the gang war, Dick gets shot in the leg and ends up in a coma for a while. By the time he's recovered enough to wake up and walk around, Steph's dead, Jack's dead, the funerals are over, and Tim - who's avoiding Bruce - has moved to Blüdhaven.

Here's Dick trying to get answers out of Alfred in Nightwing 99 (Alfred and Bruce aren't telling him anything, either because they can't stand to talk about it or because they're worried about impeding his recovery):

Somewhere around here - presumably whenever he first learns about Jack's death? - Dick calls Tim, who doesn't pick up, in IC 7:

In Nightwing 99, it's implied that Dick leaves the Manor almost as soon as he wakes up, after confronting Bruce:

Dick can't bring himself to confess Blockbuster's death, but obliquely admits his own distress: "…Bruce, I'm lost." Bruce wants to solve things by throwing themselves into The Mission in Gotham: "It's just you and me again, Dick. But there's plenty of work to do." As he talks, Dick grabs his crutches and leaves. He confronts Catalina, arrests her, and tries to turn himself in... but Amy doesn't let him. As he's walking out, angry at Amy and at himself, a prisoner offers him a card.

Meanwhile, in the Batcave, Alfred's stunned to discover that Dick's abandoned his costume:

In Nightwing 107, we learn that Dick has ditched everything and apparently joined the mob - or is he undercover? Dick ultimately comes up with justifications for what he's doing, but a lot of what he's doing is punishing himself and hiding from his life. He's in Detroit for a while, but then has to go back to Blüdhaven, where he sees Tim...

...and now we're caught up with Nightwing 110.

Nightwing 110

I haven't had a chance to see Robin in action since the beginning of the gang wars in Gotham. It seems like just yesterday he was an earnest little computer geek too smart for his own good. He's still too smart for his own good and he can still kick butt with a search engine, but now he's a full-fledged superhero, to boot. Wonder if he knows how good he is? Not just at the fighting, but at keeping the whole thing on his terms. That's really hard to do, and Tim - he's been through so much, and weathered it so well.

Dick's been staying mostly in Detroit rather than Blüdhaven for various reasons, but one very important one is that he's been avoiding Tim.

Dick and Tim's relationship always suffers when Dick's self-worth issues get in the way, and this is probably the most dramatic moment AND IT'S SO SAAAAAD *wails*

From very early on, Dick has had a very high opinion of Tim, and - like Bruce's conviction that "you're better than me, Dick" - this is

very heartwarming and an expression of Dick's faith in Tim

very important to Tim, who tries really hard to impress Dick and (like Dick) hangs a lot of his self-worth on being needed and useful

a source of many sweet moments

but also

a source of problems in their relationship, because Dick's high opinion of Tim and low opinion of himself means he consistently underestimates how important he is to Tim, wonders if Tim would be better off without him, and sometimes thinks that keeping his distance is good for Tim so that Dick doesn't bring him down... and meanwhile Tim interprets Dick's distance as disapproval or hostility

When Dick's down on himself, he'll continually compare himself unfavorably to Tim - Tim questions more, Tim's better with Bruce, Tim's got better computer skills, etc. etc.

And that's what's happening here, when Dick watches Tim fight from a distance:

Dick: Still, Timmy played it through nice and clean. Disarmed the perps, protected and avoided the cops, kept any civilians from being shot... God, I love that kid. Too much to let him see me like this.

This isn't a neutral assessment of Tim's skills. This is Dick castigating himself. The implication is: Tim plays it nice and clean, Tim kept civilians from getting shot... unlike me. Elsewhere in this arc, Dick's been convinced that he's "poison."

He can't bear to see Tim because he's certain he'll only bring Tim down.

... There's a problem with his plan, though. Tim's spotted him.

Narrator voice: they were not okay

I LOVE THIS PANEL SO MUCH

Tim spots Dick before he can sneak away, and chases after him. At first he tries to tease light-heartedly - "Look at you! Back on your feet!" - but when Dick looks away grim-faced, Tim sobers and we get a bit more of his actual worries. (Tim will sometimes fake cheerfulness when under stress - both Babs and his friends comment on this in War Games and in Teen Titans.)

Now they catch up. Tim asks Dick if he's okay. (Dick says he is. He's not.) Where he's staying. ("Some people" are the mobster family.) Dick asks Tim how his step-mom is. (Tim says she's okay. She's not. She's had a breakdown.) How school's going. (Tim says school's okay too. Actually, he's dropped out.)

And now at last we've looped back to the panels at the top! Dick tries to retreat, and Tim - convinced that Dick is mad at him, which is really not the case - tries to figure out if Dick is mad at him for coming to Blüdhaven without permission, or about Bruce's offer of adoption. (Tim's self-worth issues mean that Tim's convinced that Dick is mad at him about something, as opposed to the truth, which is that Dick is spiraling and it has nothing to do with Tim.)

Dick (turning away): We - we shouldn't be talking like this. Tim (fake-cheer, acting as if Dick means "we shouldn't be talking with you in costume and me out-of-costume"): Well, go get your gear! Dick: I can't do that. Tim (more serious now): You're not mad I'm, like, in your city or anything? Dick (shocked): NO! No. I'm honored. You have more of a right to be here than I do. Tim: Is it the adoption thing? Dick: The what? Tim: 'Cause I was a little worried about that. That's kinda part of why I said no. I mean, that and the uncle thing. I was just thinking it wasn't really all that long since he officially adopted you, which was kind of a big deal, emotionally or whatever, and to me you're like totally his son and I don't wanna step on that or anything.

Dick (whirling): What are you talking about, Tim? Bruce is going to adopt you? Tim (hands up): No! I mean, he was. But he's not now. I've got this uncle… So I don't need, you know, anything really… from Bruce, or… You, uh. You didn't know. I'm sorry, I figured he would've talked to you about it or something. Dick (turning away, jumping off the balcony): Yeah, right. Fat chance. Tim: Well anyway, it's not gonna happen, so you don't have to worry about it... right?

Dick's unnerved by the adoption offer mostly because it drives home his distance from Bruce - he didn't know Bruce was offering this, and since Dick's been thinking of himself as Estranged from Everyone Forever, it feels like Tim joining Bruce's family - replacing Dick - instead of Tim joining Dick's family. So he reacts badly - EVEN THOUGH!!! AGAIN!!! DICK LOVES TIM A LOT!!!

So Dick emphasizes the distance he's trying to create: tells Tim that whatever he does is up to him and Bruce, not Dick, because Dick's withdrawing from everything. Actually, Tim should forget that he ever knew Dick:

Dick (pulls his hood up, turns away): Look, Timmy, I'm sorry. I don't care what he does. If he can be of help to you, you should take him up on it. I wish I could offer to help you myself, but I can't. I'm not part of this anymore. This whole thing… I'm out. Tim: Yeah, right… Dick: From now on, it'd be better if you forgot you ever knew me. Tim (echoing what Dick said): ...Fat chance.

Tim's hurt by this, and he's been pretty oblivious about what's going on with Dick, but he's not an idiot, and after a moment of hesitation he correctly figures out from this ramble what Dick's not saying, which is that Dick's feeling like he's worthless to Bruce, that Bruce doesn't value him, that he's lost that relationship. So Tim impulsively tries to reassure him that Bruce does need him... but Dick's in a lousy headspace and it doesn't work:

Dick's walking away. Tim chases after him again. Tim: Hey, uh-! Remember how I once told you that Batman needed a Robin? Well, that's still true, but even more than that, he…he needs you. You know, not like every second or whatever, but at the end of the day, he needs to know you're still on his side. It's…important. Dick kicks over a newspaper stand. Dick (glaring): YOU- ! - you have no idea how much of my life I've wasted believing that was true. Dick pulls up his hood again and walks away.

(Side-note: forever wonderful to me that both Dick and Tim use "need" as a synonym for "love." Issues: they have them.)

Fix-It Fic Ideas

I have spent a lot of time thinking about potential fix-it fics for this comic (TRAGICALLY AFAIK NO ONE HAS WRITTEN ANY, FEEL FREE TO BE THE FIRST). An idea that I offer free to a good home:

A bit after Dick leaves, Tim winds up in trouble and gets injured and Dick has to rescue him (how does Dick find out about it? I dunno)

Tim's injured so naturally Dick's gonna take him back to his home with his stepmom and/or uncle

. . . except the uncle is an actor and not a very convincing one; Tim's entire edifice of lies collapses

Dick realizes that Tim is not actually weathering things well

Dick still thinks that he's poison and terrible and awful and (insert self-hating monologue here) BUT Tim living on his own after his dad is murdered is so bad as far as Dick's concerned that clearly SOME kind of intervention is necessary

Tim insists he does not need an intervention

Dick's sense of responsibility and worry over Tim now force him to carve out time from his major project of hate-myself-and-feel-bad to try to look out for Tim

Dick insists that Tim stay with him until his stepmom is better

They share an apartment for a while

They are both still super-super-super traumatized

???

eventual hugs and healing on both sides

profit

Alternate fix-it:

Tim follows Dick back to the Tevis' house like the little stalker he is, and then introduces himself in disguise as Alvin Draper

Dick's furious and frustrated but can't do much about this without screwing up his own disguise

Tim's determined to figure out what's going on with Dick partly for altruistic reasons and partly because he's also running from his own life, but Dick doesn't figure out the second part until way later

Dick's so frustrated with Tim being here when Dick told him to go - plus wrapped up in wondering what Tim knows, and being paranoid about what he might figure out, and hating being observed - that it takes him a while to start wondering questions like, "wait, shouldn't Tim be in school"

Dick and Tim are pretending not to know each other - or pretending to have a hostile relationship, or something - so any real conversations have to be in snatches in secret

Dick tries to bluff/threaten Tim into leaving (for his own good!!) but it doesn't work

Slow crawl toward mutual awareness of trauma which they're both super-self-conscious about - Dick hears Tim crying at night; Tim hears Dick's nightmares or sees another panic attack

??

At some point it becomes increasingly obvious that they know each other / that their story about their relationship is fake, and when the mobsters confront them, Dick says yeah, he lied, actually Tim's his little brother, and he gives some kind of stylized version of the truth which doubles as an emotional speech to Tim who gets all choked up and hugs him

and it's very touching and emotional because remember Tim HASN'T been adopted so they're NOT brothers and Tim was worried maybe Dick didn't WANT to be brothers but Dick CONSIDERS him a brother so ;_;

??? i don't know what happens next. do they quit the mob? does Dick now explain his mob-infiltration plan to Tim?

meanwhile off-panel Bruce stops Deathstroke from blowing up Blüdhaven, well done Bruce

oh wait or maybe Cass does??

anyway Dick and Tim have hugged so then there's a happy ending

In Conclusion

IN CONCLUSION Dick and Tim should hug more and this comic proves it. Look at them! They both need hugs! They're standing so close to each other! THEY ARE MIRROR IMAGES OF TRAUMA AND BAD COPING MECHANISMS they need each other and they don't know how to say it - they want to help each other and they also don't know how to say it - they don't know how to talk to each other or to anyone else - Dick lashes out and Tim lies and they both isolate themselves and withdraw into depression loneliness even though they could help each other! and would want to help each other! but they won't ask for what they need because they don't think they deserve it and they don't realize how important they are to each other

i just think they're neat. i want to study them like bugs and rattle them around in a jar until all the masks come off and they can actually see each other clearly

[the-girl-who-flies]

To the HoA fandom, I dedicate this ramble.

I’m going to start by saying that I don’t think anyone actually *needs* to read this, it’s more like I’ve been wanting to say it for a while. Now, because it might turn into a wall of text, I’m gonna shamelessly repurpose some of my doodles (some of them you may have seen, others ended up on the editing floor and I’m basically picking them out of the bin to pretend I’ve had some art prepared for Valentine’s. A part of me says I should’ve just save the rope porn for today because what is Valentine’s is about if not porn with bondage).

(I like to call this one, Yes, This Single Bed is Fine)

So, my experience with HoA and Jalim in particular has been an interesting one. Definitely not the first ship that i’ve obsessed with, but perhaps the first in which I’ve been as engaged with an actual *community* (at least to this level - Pacific Rim is a somewhat close second), and part of that was what you’d call a natural development, but part of it was a conscious decision.

Going back to somewhere mid-November, I remember looking at the still fairly barren field of fics, the gifs, the music videos (what are they called now? AMVs? GMVs? I’m too old and can’t be bothered to remember) and feeling somewhat masochistic from the level of angst I was feeding myself. Naturally, I was thinking of everyone’s favorite vampire slayer and his all american himbo and constantly circling back to the conclusion that they probably never see each other again after the hut and live out the rest of their lives in some kind of painful longing. Or maybe at least a few years. There are definitely *those* reunion fics, and I did get a weird sense of pleasure from putting myself through that suffering. The thing is, I thought at one point I would just read ‘the ultimate fic’ that my brain would adopt as canon (and one fic actually came fairly close to being that, or so I thought), and from there on my obsession would just go downhill. If I’m perfectly honest, that’s kind of a scary thought - maybe because losing a hyperfixation is akin to losing a loved one, and it leaves you feeling empty.

Only I had lost things before - and people - and so the mantra I tend to follow when I see that I’m starting to depress the shit out of myself is ‘reach out’. Look for other people, other stories, other points of view. Connect. Don’t get stuck in your own angsty little world. Anyway, i guess that worked, because I’ve watched the fandom develop from what I thought was a sharp little angstfest into a massive horny conga line (credit to @littleaxebad​ for the term) with its own fucking folklore. Jason has at least one sister, this is something I’ve read so many times I feel it’s basically canon. Zain is a little shit, but generally cool - honestly, the fact that we don’t get to see him in the game seems to create such a creative opportunity that I can’t help but be grateful for that, and for all the other holes HoA has that have spurred this fandom into creative action. In art, I genuinely like the fact that there are different versions of what the characters are - Salim, for example, I’ve seen drawn as skinny, buff, stocky and fucking shredded - and they’re all good, especially because his uniform sits on him like a potato sack and leaves a lot of room for imagination. I love all the different interpretations of what his and Jason’s sex love is like (who’s on top? Are they always on top? Do they switch? Those are not even the best questions), and even more, I love all the different ways people find of bringing them back together (or not separating them at all). My original source of angst, healed.

On that note, I love all those fics where they settle comfortably in London (or the US), but there’s a special place in my heart for the ones that have Jason live a harsh expatriate life in Iraq. The culture clash! It’s a tough subject to tackle, but I’ve seen authors who do it anyway, and I just wanna say, i appreciate it.

(and there is maybe an even special-er place in my heart for Nick and Eric, Nick-Eric-Rachel, but mostly really Nick and Eric and Rachel just finally enjoying her beer, but I feel like if I start talking about them, this’ll be way too long. I haven’t forgotten you. As I haven’t forgotten all the rarepairs out there because fuck, there is some amazing art (and fics), and also MERWIN AND JOEY DESERVED BETTER). Anyway, what I mean is that this wild fucking fandom fed me through a very stressful couple months, and I’ve been genuinely motivated to give back (whatever’s that’s worth). I’ve met people I genuinely enjoy talking to - people from whom I’ve learned interesting things and who made me want to travel and learn other languages and history and culture. I’ve developed a somewhat unhealthy obsession with Arabic spoken in Nick Tarabay’s voice (seriously, Cotyar from the Expanse is the actor for Salim and we get 15 minutes of BTS of Ashley fucking Tisdale?!). I’ve defeated my fear of multichapter fics when I realized that, hey, it’s ok if the author takes their time, or even doesn’t update anymore, I’m still grateful for the experience (and have about 15 in my bookmarks I’m trying to catch up on). I’ve joined Discord servers even though I barely understand how to use them. And I’ve just had so many endorphins pumped into my system from all the beautiful content and interaction that I inevitably feel sad at the idea that as all ship do, this one, too, shall pass. The thought is akin to the ones I have about my own mortality, and I hope that someday I’ll be as chill about dying as I am about the fact that someday HoA will be a closed chapter in my life. But that’s okay. At the very least, it will be one full of fond memories, wonderful experiences, great people, and lots of porn.

This is my awkward love letter to you, HoA fandom, I love all of you.

(and just to be clear, I am still very fucking far from being over all of this, it’s not like I’m saying goodbye and sailing off into the sunset.  I’d probably sink if I tried to do that. NOT THAT I WANT TO)

a bonus for getting this far into this shit: a little fever dream from me and @thebloodpit​ where Jason and Salim are visiting Jason’s hometown, and run into Jason’s massive, Mexican, building contractor ex. We named him Andre.

[the-storyteller78]

I recently watched Encanto and I literally cannot get over how amazing it is. The songs—*sharp inhale* chef’s kiss. The characters—*incoherent shouting because I don’t know how else to express my adoration for this movie* AMAZING. As those who read my Azula&Zuko-centric fic and my Jason Todd fic know, I LOVE FAMILIAL CHARACTER DYNAMICS. Just can’t get enough of them. And the Batfamily is a prime example of a fandom I have spent hours poring over, digging out absolute jewels of fics and filtering out what I clearly consider incest (please don’t, guys, just don’t). So, I wanted to make a connection between Encanto and the Batfam, specifically which songs apply to which members. I’m probably going to write some more when I have time, but Tim’s my favorite child, so let’s start off with him! Just a warning, I have not read any Batman or DC comics. All my knowledge (or lack thereof) comes from fanfics. I tend to embrace fanon more than canon anyway. I hope y’all enjoy my sort-of character analysis of our very own sleep-deprived, caffeine-addicted sad boy!

Waiting on a Miracle - Tim Drake

Tim has always been an outsider in the family. He was the one who forced himself in, not for his own sake and ambitions, but because he believed that Gotham needs Batman to survive. He realized that Robin was the only one who could save Batman, and since Jason was gone, Tim himself would simply have to do. However, as he grows closer to the family, he begins to long to be a part of them and be loved by them, and for a while, he starts to think that maybe it’s a real possibility that Bruce, Dick, and Alfred might actually care about him, not just what he brought to the table as Robin. Then Jason returns. He’s furious that Tim has supposedly taken his place. He nearly kills him multiple times, but is eventually brought back to the fold because he’s the prodigal son coming home at last. Tim is happy. How can he not be? Jason was his Robin, and bringing him home is far more important than some silly feelings he may have about seeing his torturer walk past him in the halls. It doesn’t matter that he flinches at every sudden movement Jason makes. It doesn’t matter that his breath comes a little quicker when Jason slings an arm around his shoulders. It just doesn’t matter. Time passes. Things get better. He and Jason have gotten closer, everything seems to be going well. Then Damian appears. The lost son. He tries to kill Tim, nearly right off the bat. Dick tells Tim to be patient, to be the bigger man, he can do that, right? Because Tim is so mature, Tim’s an adult. Tim is sixteen, but he just smiles and nods. Then Bruce disappears. Tim knows he’s alive, he has the foundations of proof, he just needs more evidence, just needs to find him. He goes to Dick for help. The first Robin, the man he considered his older brother, responds by threatening to send him to Arkham if he doesn’t drop it. He rips away Robin from Tim and hands the mantle to Damian. The kid has tried to kill him three times now. Tim leaves. Months later, he returns with Bruce. He’s applauded, admired, and respected in the hero community, now more than ever, but it feels so hollow (especially where his spleen used to be, but what’s losing an organ compared to the importance of the mission, the mission that can’t go on without his fa—Batman). He never has much time to himself anymore, with all his responsibilities as Red Robin and the CEO of Wayne Industries, a role that Bruce continues to leave to him, saying that he wants to spend more time with his family. Alright. Tim can take a hint. He knows when he’s not wanted, which is basically the story of his life. But on the days where everything is sluggish and somber and sad and his heart feels like it’s about to implode and he kind of wishes it would so he wouldn’t have to deal with the stubborn ache in his chest whenever he looks at the Wayne family loving each other, just being a family… Tim wishes. He imagines. Not to be the first son, or the prodigal son, or even the blood son, but to have a place all his own in the family. Even just a little one. To be seen as more than a tool at best and a nuisance at worst. Tim hopes for a miracle.

[illumiru]

hi cami!! based on literally everything because you have good taste I was wondering if u had any fic recs?? I am in like a good fic desert and if u have any good reads would love to read them! thank u!!

Thanks!! I have to be honest that I don't read a lot of dc fics lately bc a lot of what's posted on AO3 doesn't appeal to me tbh. But I do have some favorites that live rent-free in my head. I hope you enjoy!

baby, it's a sign of the times by danishsweethearts

Dick Grayson has a pretty bad day, but hey, he's coping.

let your love grow tall by danishsweethearts

In a move endearingly predictable and highly amusing, Dick Grayson buys a bunch of plants and proceeds to pack bond with all of them.

cold was the night and hard was the ground by danishsweethearts

Laundromats are save points.

i've been longing for silence by danishsweethearts

The Titans are Dick's family. Damian is also Dick's family. Cue the collision.

un haeng il chi by danishsweethearts

un haeng il chi (언행일치) | yán xíng yī zhì (言行一致) idiom 1. word and actions coincide; to live up to one's word 2. to match words with deeds 3. practice what you preach

The Cassandra Wayne guide to truth-telling, manifestation and prosperity.

big d stands for big (demon)or by danishsweethearts

The one where Titans Tower is haunted, and Dick Grayson, Boy Wonder, original Robin, one and only Nightwing, esteemed leader, part-time exorcist, un-haunts it.

young volcanoes by dottie_wan_kenobi

You should join the Justice League, Dick says when he’s ten years old and hopeful. No, Bruce says. You should join the Justice League, Dick says when he’s fourteen and realistic. No, Bruce says. I’m going to join the Justice League, Dick says when he’s seventeen and furious. No, Bruce says. No, you are not.

Dick is nineteen now. And he’s not joining the Justice League—he’s joining the Titans.

the last of the real ones by dottie_wan_kenobi

Gar is like a blessing. He doesn’t seem to notice the shiny parts of Vic, not until it really counts—when there’s wires sticking out, something shoved through Vic like it was nothing, when he’s in danger. And even then, he treats them like any other part of the body, like a wound is a wound and it doesn’t matter that it’s not flesh, but technology.

When he asks, Gar tells him about Cliff Steele, and shrugs like it’s nothing. “I’m just used to robot guys, I guess,” he says, flippant like he’s not the first person Vic has met who didn’t recoil at the sight of him.

Vic manages a laugh, his eye—his real eye, his human eye—stinging.

if you just call me by BeatriceEagle

“Dick.” She squeezed his shoulder. “Dick, look at me.”

Slowly, as if he were pushing against a terrible force, he lifted his head.

“I have known you since I was thirteen years old, and I have known you in a dozen other lifetimes, so I need you to believe me when I say that there is nothing you could do that would make me stop loving you.”

Dick held her gaze. He looked like he was searching for something in her eyes, so Donna held still and hoped he found it.

“Did you really know me in other lives?” he asked.

_____

Dick and Donna, after the action, through the years.

once upon a time... by Mayarene Rose (DickRoy)

The announcement is the talk of the kingdom. Men on horses, coming from the capital itself, shout it to every corner of the land to make sure everyone hears.

There will be a three-day festival held in honor of the crown prince’s name day!

So of course, no one can shut up about it and everyone’s making plans to make their way to the capital, one way or another.

Gotham, after all, isn’t known for its decadence. Celebrations from the capital are few and far in between. But, it’s also well known that the king absolutely dotes on his children. The has the makings of being the biggest feast anyone has seen in their lifetime.

“Huh,” Roy says. He’s in a farming village when he hears, about five days ride from the capital if he had a horse, which he does not.

Or the one where Roy is a knight errant, Dick is the crown prince, and there is a three-day celebration.

Dr. Wilson, Will I Ever Play the Violin Again? by HoodEx (DickJoey)

1 Missed Call 1:12 PM TUES 9 MAY Frank Hardy

A fond smile spreads over his face. He remembers Dick writing that as his own contact name in Joey's communicator the first time he and Joey exchanged numbers. Joey knows it's an action influenced by paranoia rather than something meant as an inside joke between friends, but he likes to think of it as a mixture of both.

"Who are you mooning over?"

Lissa crosses her arms over her chest and cuts across the room to get closer to him. Joey tries not to instinctually jerk his communicator closer to his chest as she peers down at it with a curious glint in her eye.

"Frank Hardy," Joey spells out with his fingers. "He's a friend of mine."

Her brow furrows. "Frank? Have I met him?"

Joey shakes his head.

"What do you think he was calling for?"

Hopefully not to tell me that the world is on its way to ending, Joey thinks, worrying at his lip.

"Not sure," Joey signs. His thumb hovers over the call-back button. "I guess I'm about to find out."

Red Letter Day by silverwhittlingknife

Dick Grayson, stressed pseudo-parent to a preteen assassin, tries to solve the case of Damian’s Mysterious Wednesday.

He never expected it to help him fix his relationship with Tim, too.

(... Though only after everything fell apart first.)

Eventual fix-it for Dick & Tim’s Red Robin fight, but other rocky relationships - Dick & Jason, Tim & Damian, Damian & Bruce, Dick & Bruce - wow, this family is dysfunctional - might improve too. Eventually. They just have to, y’know, work through All of Their Issues first. XD

Two of Six by silverwhittlingknife

There’s nothing special about this kid, no reason to remember him. But Dick remembers. Because of the photo.

Dick and Tim’s pre-nu52 relationship, from the beginning all the way to the end.

or: how Dick acquired a stalker, attempted to make him go away, and failed so badly that he acquired a brother instead.

(So far: missing scenes from childhood, Lonely Place of Dying, Knightfall, and Knightsend. Current arc: Prodigal.)

In the Palm of Your Hand by lapsedpacifist

Dick was forced into becoming a host for an entity of unknown strength, unknown motive, and unknown reach. The only thing he did know? It needed him alive.

Neurodegenerative series by lapsedpacifist

The general premise: Bruce has completely forgotten about Dick, and Dick only. Now tension is high between them and the rest of the family as they attempt to resolve the memory problem -- while drawing battlelines and realising that Dick had always been much more than a brother to them all.

the primacy of personal conscience by birdsofthesoul

"WHAT MAKES IAGO EVIL? some people ask. I never ask."

— Joan Didion, Play It as It Lays

Or: Dick, his family, and the moral morass of a wishing well.

This is all I could think of at the moment! I'll add more once I read the ones I encountered while I made this list. Enjoy!!

[internalsealpanic]

Hiiiiiiii! For the end of year fanfic asks may I request either you answer one or all 4 numbers: 1, 3, 18 and 21?

And happy early new year! 🥳🎉

This got very fucking long

favorite fic you wrote this year

Intervention, purely because of the chaotic mixture of my favorite DC characters and how high Bruce’s blood pressure went. Fortunately Bruce is not the only one who has to deal with his kids. 

A very close second is this Communism is the Answer  because it is incredibly cozy. 

favorite line/scene you wrote this year

I will pick three from these two categories because I like self promoting more than I do actually deciding. 

From published fics:

Tied for this spot is the sword fight from Courtesy and Considerations and the fight from Follow You into the Dark. 

The draft for the second fight scene was done while watching youtube fight scenes while the other was written while watching sword dancing videos.

Basically how I draft my fight scenes for anyone who is interested

Dick rolls over to where Jason was sprawled and used his momentum to push the larger seal into the water. Jason gives an undignified squawk of outrage. Dick just preens and looks smug. All of my seal scenes in my selkie fic. There is no justification necessary.

“I don’t know how B did it.” Dick whines, downing a shot of tequila.

You hum, pouring another for yourself. “cPTSD, insomnia, a sore lack of mental health care facilities,” you count off on your fingers, “oh, and whiskey. Whiskey was probably important.”

Dick scowls at you, squishing against the marble counter. “I’m talking about raising a kid. Not being Batman.”

“What about whiskey did not imply childcare?!” You protest

Reader is a terrible best friend.

From WIPs: 

You debated on quoting the famous philosopher Hanna-Barbera but thought better of it. (From a cuddle pollen fic with the green lanterns. No context will be provided.)

A horrible awkward scene between Reader and Bruce which includes the line:  “ Bruce flat out refuses to believe that he is actually the emotionally intelligent one in this conversation.”  I love this scene because it has some of my best nonfunny dialogue I have written in awhile. I just love how it sounds when I read it to myself and it has a lot of Bruce wrestling with a complicated situation which is frankly out of both his and my depth which is extremely fun. 

"I love you." The sentence is unintentional.  This scene I love because of all the different ways you can say I love you but no matter how you deliver it is up to the recipient to react. Love is a terribly complicated thing that l find really fascinating and try to dissect multiple times from an objective stand point only to lose myself in my own subjectivity. I’m not quite there yet in terms of understanding it but I like how with every wip I write I see a slightly different facet of it.

current number of wips

Each folder contains an average of 9 docs and some fics are  combined into one doc if they are part of an anthology. I refuse to count

most memorable comment/review

This one warms my heart every time. I was really worried about both how I wrote Harvey and Reader. Particularly reader because technically Reader inserts should have a blank slate but I like giving my reader's waaaay too much personality so it's nice to know some people like it. I also really like the dynamic they have even if it's a little questionable given a professional perspective pffff. Basically this just make s me really happy :3.

[bigskydreaming]

Hey there, anon about Dick performing for high society! Thanks for the response and lol that’s actually what I meant when I’d brought up the idea of him “charming” them; I was suggesting that Dick could have a reason to try, since I knew one of your earlier points was that it seemed OOC for him to even do that. But I definitely agree that it would 100% be surface-level.

Some of my favorite fics do demonstrate this occasionally in contrast to Jason who doesn’t try at all and thus gets that vitriol directly to his face rather than through a veneer of politeness, but it’s always clear that this isn’t a matter of “one had it better than the other.” It’s definitely disappointing when fics try to argue that, particularly when you remember it’s Dick who is the person of color.

As far as Dick being considered a hothead though, I myself have mixed feelings on that take, definitely at least in part because of Devin’s spectacular racism in that regard (though to be clear I’m not saying that I don’t believe he has a temper). But I agree that if a writer wants to move in that direction, then it would be expected his volatility would not remain a characteristic reserved for only the adult version.

Oh yeah for sure, I just wanted to emphasize that a character being charming as a general rule doesn't directly translate to being liked by people who are determined not to like him, since that's a nuance that tends to get left out of a lot of fics that I see raise the "Dick charms Gotham society" take.

And uh, yeah, there is definitely DEFINITELY a super aggravating thing where like, writers (particularly white writers who racebend Jason as Latino) like to have Jason act as a mouthpiece for anti-racism TO Dick like he's educating the canon character of color on this subject and its like.....what are you even doing, what is happening right now, do you hear the words that are coming out of your mouth.

But just to clarify on the subject of Dick's temper or being a hothead, like, that was one hundred percent me trying to be like 'make it make sense' because I honestly hate the emphasis people place on that for a ton of reasons, and it just DOESN'T make sense to me.

How do people constantly want to reference the fact that this character is 'charming' to all who meet him, the emotional glue of his family, one of the most trusted and well-liked leaders in the superhero community.....but he ALSO at the exact same time has this infamous temper where he's likely to pop off on anyone at the slightest provocation?

Does a person with the latter reputation actually make sense to be as well-regarded and spoken of by pretty much everyone who talks about him when he's NOT in the room - since its pretty much only when Dick is right in the same scene as a character when fics go off about how hot-tempered and volatile he is?

Not to mention like I'm always going on about even Dick's closest friends and family making fun of his name, his costumes that are all meant to be homages to his circus origins and not TRYING to be the height of fashion, etc, etc.....how does it track at all that like, a guy who is infamously getting mocked in regards to even the things he's most sentimental about by literally EVERYONE in his life, like, supposedly ALSO has a super thin skin and is constantly losing his temper due to getting rubbed the wrong way....and yet, we NEVER seem to see in the fics that have him characterized as so tempestuous like, evidence of him losing his temper at the many times and ways people close to him have no respect for even the things he cares most about?

That last part is always kinda key to me, because like......its perfectly clear that the reason nobody who writes Dick casually being called Dickhead and mocked for his sentimental choices by his siblings or friends, like.....the reason they don't have Dick ever ACTUALLY lose his temper about this or yell that its not funny, is because they don't WANT to draw reader attention to the fact that like....he would be legitimately justified in being angry about the fact that people have no respect for the things that matter to him. It'd be justifiable anger! They're being douchebags when they do this without any concern for how he feels about it.

But I feel like the people who MOST want to point a finger at the idea that he's so volatile and hot-tempered and has anger issues, like, love pointing at this as some kind of flaw instead of everyone gets mad sometimes, like he's the one in the family who actually loses his cool instead of acting like the peacemaker in a family who all have taken a run at hitting him in a fit of anger and insult each other constantly (again, make it make sense).......like, people don't WANT his instances of 'temper' viewed as justified or understandable, so they're very selective about referring to only offscreen or off the page instances of him losing his temper and only ever actually SHOW him getting mad when its in such a way as they can spin him as being baseless and with no justification for being that angry right now.

And then they use these deliberately manufactured instances to layer the idea that he's so hot-tempered over ALL his interactions in general, so even instances where he DOES actually get angry about things in the comics become instances where he's just being his usual hot-tempered self, instead of like, focus being paid to the fact that most of the times he's pissed off in the comics he has really REALLY good cause to be angry?

Like y'know, people hitting him without provocation or his dad kicking him out of the house or giving away the mantle HE created to someone else (oh my favorite thing - I've got a whole post on this - is how people LOVE to write about Dick storming back into Wayne Manor to yell at Bruce about the Robin thing and characterize this as a temper tantrum that makes Jason afraid because of his experiences with his own father's temper.....when the ACTUAL fight about this between Bruce and Dick took place when Jason was nowhere around, and BRUCE was the one who lost his temper and just like....broke shit while yelling about how this was....hard for him? Or something? Idk. It was very stupid. I think I repressed the exact nature of the stupid).

And the long and short of it all is we're left with this fanon impression of this guy being NOTORIOUSLY thin-skinned and hot-tempered and likely to yell at a moment's notice if you so much as look at him the wrong way....

And people legit just take this at face value and never think twice about the fact that it makes absolutely ZERO sense to actually claim that Dick Grayson is some hot-headed anger prone temper tantrum throwing manchild when you consider that like......he's been hit by every single member of his family except Duke, and like....rather than get justifiably angry about any of these instances, he just takes it. Every time. And people have mocked literally everything that he's actually PROTECTIVE of, sentimentally speaking, and there's not only no retaliation on his part, he never even evidences enough outrage about this fact that they feel even slightly inclined to STOP.

And like, we're talking about the only member of his family who has literally been kicked out of his house, told to leave his keys with Alfred, while meanwhile every single OTHER member of his family likes to condescend and lecture to him about how he doesn't understand what its like to not be on good terms with Bruce because he's the golden child, the bootlicker who always jumps when Bruce says hop to it and never resents this or pushes back....EXCEPT for when he's being characterized as being so infamous in his fights with Bruce while Jason was growing up that Jason would hide from the conflicts....and somehow all of this is easily reconciled and makes complete sense.

Its just....afsnlkfhaklfhklahfklafhakl

So much. And none of it is remotely consistent. But oh well.

Anyway. Sorry to go off about that particular fanon, but yeah just to be clear, its one that bugs me. A LOT. And my comments about how if Dick were really that hot-tempered, he wouldn't have been remotely interested in charming the high society assholes who looked down on him when he first came to live with Bruce, like, that definitely was not meant in support of him BEING that hot-tempered, it was more in the vein of me having a long-running tendency to try and point out whenever and wherever possible that angry temper tantrum having Dick Grayson does not, and has not EVER made sense with all the other things fandom likes to claim about him or reference in his characterization.

[fishfingersandjellybabies]

Still a Little Bit Yours (Part 2) - fic

Characters: Jon Kent, Damian Wayne, various Batfam Pairing: jondami Summary: If there was one thing the world needed to learn, it was that you don’t hurt those Jonathan Kent loves. A/N: This is just basic smoop sprinkled with angst. Bruce gave Cass and Duke special permission to be extra rough on those who kidnapped Damian/hurt them in the first place. Jon and Damian wake up to Bruce on the chair and like half the fam sleeping on the end of the bed. Damian gets so mad at them. Let him sleep with his boyfriend in peace, dammit! Jon ends up now never leaving the bed and basically becomes Damian’s personal pillow as his recovery continues.

Part One | Part Two

~~

That call. That was all they needed, it turned out. The call that shattered Jon’s whole world was the one thing that might help piece it back together.

Even though it’d been over a month, the Bat-tech was able to hone in on the signal easily, and they were in the air and on their way back to France within three hours of Jon and Tim’s arrival to the Batcave.

Bruce wasn’t thrilled. He’d told Jon to go home at least seven times, that they’d contact him when Damian was safe. But at this point, Jon couldn’t believe that, not when they didn’t tell him he was missing in the first place.

He was even less thrilled when Jon grabbed the Justice League communicator out of his hand and smashed it, when Bruce said he was going to call Clark to take him back to Metropolis.

“I’m not ten anymore, Bruce.” Jon reminded with a dark giddiness as he dropped the shattered pieces onto the table. “And Damian is my boyfriend.”

“Is he still?” Jason quipped from nearby, hooking guns to his holsters. Tim had caught them all up with Jon’s side of things. “I mean…you just spent the last month thinking you were broken up and getting over him, right?”

“As part of the family that went to Apokolips to collect his dead body and resurrect him, I don’t think I have to tell you, Jason.” Jon grinned widely. “You don’t just get over Damian Wayne.”

Jason thought a moment, then snorted a laugh and clapped a hand on Jon’s shoulder.

“Okay. I get why he fell in love with Boy Scout Jr. now.” He chuckled.

“…For what it’s worth.” Jon added sheepishly, though, as Jason moved away, and Cassandra and Stephanie approached, moving towards their jet. “…Even if the breakup was real, I…I still wasn’t coping very well with it.”

The women both just smiled knowingly, and Steph jumped up to ruffle at his hair. And for a moment, Jon remembered that, for as much as he missed Damian the last month, he missed seeing the other Bats almost as much.

Bruce grumbled the rest of the time they spent gathering supplies and weapons about how Jon shouldn’t be there, and he didn’t want him nor his help. It was eventually Dick and Duke who took Bruce to the side and had him see the light. Begrudgingly allow Jon to come along.

“On one condition.” Bruce demanded, stomping up to him near the jet’s door. It’d already been decided that Jon would fly alongside the plane. “You do not engage. This is still an open investigation, and I don’t need you accidentally destroying any evidence.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it. I’m only there for Damian anyway.” Jon returned just as gruffly. “You guys be offense, I’ll be defense and extraction. No problem.”

Bruce glared at him for a moment more before raising his cowl and disappearing into the ship. Dick sighed from nearby, following after.

“He’s just worried.” He promised. “About you and Damian. And after already losing Damian like this, the thought of what might happen to you, he…”

Dick trailed off, and Jon was suddenly reminded that he was a lot closer to fifty than thirty these days, and had already lost a lot. Had already lost Damian a lot. And, clearly, it never got easier. Not for Dick or Bruce, or anyone in their family.

“…He’s still alive, Dick.” Jon whispered with what he hoped was an encouraging smile. “I can still hear his heartbeat. He’s still here, just…waiting for us.”

Dick nodded absently, before he met Jon’s gaze and let his mask of cautious hope fall across his face. “Then let’s go get him, Jonno.”

The flight was long. Too long. And even alone outside the ship, Jon listened through the communicator as the Bats planned their attack, outlined the known schematics of the compound that they found, and any potential hidden areas they might have missed.

At least every ten minutes, Bruce was reminding Jon that he was to not get involved. That he was there for Damian’s defense and safety only.

Jon only rolled his eyes, muttered an exasperated, “Yes, sir.” And focus on the heartbeat that got closer every second.

(Closer…and slower. But he didn’t share that part with the rest of the rescue party.)

The compound wasn’t far from where Duke and Cassandra had been beaten and abandoned, but the reason they couldn’t find it afterwards was because it was underground, and seemingly cloaked with tech none of them had ever seen before.

“Alien?” Duke had asked as they neared it.

“Or bankrolled by some selfish rich fuck.” Jason countered. “We’ll find out if Bruce Wayne does a hostile takeover of any companies here in the next week or so, I bet.”

“Hm.” Bruce grunted. But it wasn’t a no, so they all shared one last pre-battle laugh anyway.

They circled the area for a moment, doing some last minute recognizance. “I hear at least twenty-five heartbeats besides Damian’s, Batman.” Jon called. He flicked to his x-ray vision. “And they’re spread between what looks like two rooms.”

“Evenly?” Tim asked.

“Mmm, it doesn’t look like it.” Jon decided. “Looks like a 70-30 split.”

“Damian?” Cassandra asked softly.

“Can’t tell for sure.” Jon scanned the space again, just in case. “One body looks like it could be him, and it’s in the room with less people.”

“Remember, Superman-” Bruce started, but Jon, suddenly out of patience, cut him off.

“I’m defense. You’re offense. I’m there to get Damian out and that’s it.” He rolled his eyes. “I know, Batman.” He curled his hands into fists. “Now are we just going to hover up here all day or are we finally going to go get him?”

There was a moment of silence. Then Bruce calmly, emotionlessly, stoically announced:

“On my mark.”

For as grouchy, bossy, and by-the-book Batman always acted – he was still just a big kid with big toys. And his mark wasn’t a word, but an action. And that action was turning the nose of the jet towards the ground, so he could crash land into the underground bunker of the freaks who’d kidnapped his son.

Jon grinned, and suddenly remembered why Batman was a lot of people’s favorite superhero.

He stayed off to the ship’s side, just in case. In case Bruce actually lost control of the ship, if any of the other Bats ended up hurt in the process. So he listened as the nose slammed into the earth for any screams of pain.

But all he heard was the screeching of metal, and the crashing of ceiling materials as the jet lodged itself into the roof of the compound. There were screams now, of surprise from the building’s inhabitants, and shouts for some to grab weapons.

One last shout from Stephanie as Bruce opened the cockpit, and the Bats began to file out like ants. “Oh fuck yeah, was that fun!”

Everyone was fine. Everyone was safe.

So time to do his job and find the one that wasn’t.

He dove through the lingering smoke, dodging bodies being thrown by the mini-army of vigilantes that had just arrived. Dodged weapons from the incoming henchmen as they raced into the room to help their colleagues.

Jon didn’t pay them much mind other than to notice that their clothing was a little off. There wasn’t any body armor or helmets. Just dark maroon robes, sashed belts. They almost looked like priests.

You know, if they weren’t running at him with guns and knives and…was that one carrying an unlidded jar of acid?

He didn’t care. The Bats could handle them.

He tried to remember what he saw with his x-ray vision as he weaved through the halls. Bruce had crashed into the room with the most people, so that stood to reason that the pseudo-priests Jon had seen were coming from the room with less people. The smaller room, the room where he thought Damian was.

Well, if those priests came from where Damian was, that was even less people to take out than he was originally planning.

He let Damian’s heartbeat guide him. And for a moment, he remembered when he listened for it after the ‘breakup.’ How he thought the slowness of it meant Damian was calm, relaxed.

God, how could he be so stupid? It didn’t mean he was calm. It meant he was fucking dying. How could Jon be so dense? How could he not notice?

He reached a closed door and could hear panicked voices behind it, could hear Damian’s heartbeat at the loudest it’d been so far.

The door didn’t stand a goddamn chance.

He recognized that Damian wasn’t near it, so kicked the door as hard as he could without a care. It practically disintegrated under the heel of his boot. He heard the other people in the room scream as they were showered with splinters but didn’t care. Didn’t care about anything else right now.

He let his heat vision take over his vision as he stepped into the room. There were three people in here, each holding crude weapons – a stick, a shattered bottle and a chair.

“Leave.” Jon ordered. The people cowered only slightly, but stood their ground. And Jon didn’t have time for that. “Or I’ll make you.”

They gave it one last moment to try and be brave, and any other time Jon might commend them for it. Try to talk them down, be more like his dad.

But this wasn’t any other time.

So he turned to the chair and used his heat vision to turn it to ash.

And that was enough. The other two dropped their weapons and held up their hands. Jon shifted out of the doorframe and watched them as they ran for safety.

He stared after them until they turned a corner, going away from the sanctuary Bruce and the others were in, a bonus of course, though he knew the Bats could have handled them. Then he quickly turned back, scanning the room.

It wasn’t a jail cell, or a dungeon. Just an empty, ugly, dark room. There was a table in the corner, and a TV that showed the field outside, acting almost like a window.

There was a closed curtain in the corner, that clearly hid an alcove of some sort. Damian’s heartbeat was coming from there.

Jon doesn’t know how he crossed the room. One second he was by the door, and the next he was at the curtain, slowly pulling it back. Did he float? Did he run? He didn’t know.

“Damian?” He whispered as he tugged the sheet away. “Can you hear…?”

The question died on his lips at the sight in front of him. It was Damian all right, half naked and huddled against the corner of this makeshift pantry. He was thin, so thin, like he hadn’t eaten in the month since he’d been taken. His hair was longer, past his ears, and dirty. The grease shone in the dim light.

There were bruises and cuts all over his body, some of them looked infected. His eyes were black and swollen, his lip split in multiple places. Dried blood caked along his nostrils.

But that might not have even been the worst part.

Though, really, was there just one single worst part? Were the heavy chains around Damian’s neck, wrists and ankles that latched him to the wall the worst part? Or was it the barrage of needle marks that twisted up his inner arms all the way up to his jaw?

Jon’s eyes filled with tears. But not from pain, like they usually did. Not from hurt or emotions.

From utter, blinding fury.

They did this to him. Those fucking fake priests that he’d just showed mercy to did this to him. To Damian. To the love of his fucking life.

He’d kill them. He’d go snap all their necks right now. Break every bone in each of their bodies and let them die slowly and painfully. Then burn them into ash and throw their remains in a dumpster.

He even felt himself take a step back, to do just that. But stopped when he heard Damian let out a wheezing exhale.

“Damian?” He asked again. Damian had never answered the first time. Was he even conscious? Was he aware of what was happening? He took the last few steps forward and kneeled, putting a hand on Damian’s shoulder. “D, can you hear me?”

Damian tensed at his touch and tried to jerk away, but just ended up bouncing his shoulder painfully against the stone wall behind him. When he looked up, his eyes looked almost feral, but them immediately softened as recognition took hold.

He blinked once. Twice. “…Jonathan?”

Jon swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded with a sad smile.

“What are you doing here?” Damian asked, even as Jon shifted his hand from Damian’s shoulder to his face. Damian’s skin was cold. “They…” Damian’s eyes were suddenly angry. “If they’ve laid a hand on you, I swear I’ll-”

“Nothing of the sort.” Jon promised. “We’re here to get you out of here. Take you home.”

Damian blinked and slumped back. “We?”

“Your family.” Jon explained vaguely as he let his hand fall, run gently over a scab along Damian’s chest. “God, I’m so glad I found you.”

“…I’m sorry.” Damian murmured, and Jon looked up at him in confusion. “I…I lost track of the days some time ago, but you must have been worried sick. I’m sorry for causing you any distress.”

Jon’s stomach twirled in guilt. Because he wasn’t worried, not at all. And was now the time to say that? To say ‘Oh, no, I wasn’t worried, because it turns out the psychopaths who kidnapped you pretended to be you and broke up with me.’?

No. No it absolutely fucking wasn’t.

“…Nothing is your fault.” Jon decided on. He reached forward and grabbed the collar around Damian’s neck, snapping it with a quick jerk of his hands. He followed suite with the chains around his arms and legs too. “Can you walk? Your family is taking care of the others, my only job is to get you safe.”

“…I don’t know.” Damian hummed honestly, eyes fluttering slightly. “And I don’t know if my body is strong enough to try right now.”

Jon looked back up at him with another smile. Less sad this time, more genuine. Let it reach his eyes. “No problem.” He returned his hand to Damian’s face, gently pushed his long hair out of the way. Without thinking, he leaned forward and kissed Damian as gently as he could, then pressed their foreheads together. “Jesus, I’m just…just so glad you’re alive.”

Damian scoffed a quiet laugh, and opened his mouth to retort, but suddenly there was a noise from the room behind them. They both looked back to see Batman storming in through the door.

“Superboy?” He asked as he stopped, glanced around Jon. “We…all good here? You found him?”

Jon squeezed Damian’s face just slightly before standing and turning back. “Yes, sir. Alive and well.”

Bruce nodded. “And the rest are taken care of. So let’s get the hell out of here.”

Jon nodded. “Can you help me get him up? I don’t think he can walk real well right now.”

Bruce seemed to hesitate, glancing past Jon’s shoulder again, but nodded, and took a step towards him.

And as soon as he was close, Jon grabbed the side of his head and slammed it through the closest wall.

“…That’s twice now you’ve gotten my name wrong.” Jon spit, looming over the man as he groaned in pain. “And that’s twice you’ve done a piss poor imitation of someone I care about.”

Batman looked up at Jon in confusion, borderline hurt. But then the eyes widened in realization, and instantly shifted from Bruce’s icy blue to a sickly yellow. “You.”

“Me.” Jon grinned wildly. “And I’ll admit it – you got me the first time. Because I had no idea what had happened, so of course, why wouldn’t I believe the phone call I was getting?”

Batman began to shift now, lose his muscle mass, his uniform began to change to a deep maroon.

“But then I was told the truth, and all the clues that didn’t make sense before suddenly began to piece together.” Jon hummed, picking the man up by his collar. He was much smaller than Bruce. Much thinner. Much older. “So when they said they were coming to kick your ass, I knew there was nowhere else I’d rather be.”

He slammed the man into the wall again, but held him there. Used his other hand to grab the man’s throat.

“Why.” He hissed. “Tell me why.”

The man choked slightly, feet scrabbling for floor, hands grabbing at Jon’s. “Lazarus.” He wheezed. “He…he carries the waters of Lazarus in his blood. I saw it in his eyes. The green of his eyes. In the field. I knew.” A cough. “I knew it was fate that we found him. He was the one who was going to make us immortal.”

Jon’s eyes widened. The needle marks. The acid the other man was carrying from this room. Experiments, no doubt. To get the magical Lazarus waters out of Damian’s blood that they believed was there.

But Damian was stubborn, and probably put up a fight. So they beat him into submission, tortured him, stabbed him with needles to drain him dry. But they couldn’t kill him, oh no. Because if Damian died they’d lose their chance at the power of the Lazarus Pit.

They were using him, like he was no more than a thing.

Jon’s nostrils flared. “I’m going to fucking kill you, you bastard.”

“…Beloved.” Damian whispered, and Jon found himself turning towards him without thinking. Damian looked tired, still slumped against that wall, head leaning against the stone. “Don’t.” He closed his eyes. “Just…leave him for Batman.”

Batman’s demands came rushing back. They were offense. Jon was defense.

Jon’s only job was to get Damian safe.

Silently, Jon nodded, but instead of dropping the man, gave himself one last piece of revenge, and threw the man across the room into the table and fake-window TV. The man gave a low moan, and it sounded like music to Jon’s ears as he walked back over to Damian, and gathered him into his arms.

Damian didn’t complain about being held, didn’t complain about being coddled. Just wrapped an arm around Jon’s neck and leaned against his shoulder.

“Thank you.” He whispered, and Jon just kissed his forehead, trying to ignore the mere fact of how much pain Damian must have been in. How exhausted.

But as he crossed the room, he stopped near the door, just once, and turned to the man.

He didn’t care who he was. What his name was. But he did care about one thing.

“Why did you call me?”

The man didn’t uncurl from his fetal position, didn’t even open his eyes. “Because we knew you would come for him.” He hissed. “The lovers always do.”

Jon blinked, and watched the man for a moment, before turning and walking out of the room, Damian a calming weight in his arms.

~~

It was a cult in that underground bunker, Jon learned later. One obsessed with becoming immortal so they could be gods. They’d kidnapped, tortured and killed at least ten people over the years before they took Damian, all for the same reason.

Jon honestly couldn’t care less.

After escaping the compound, Jon flew to a previously agreed upon spot in Geneva, where Batman had a safe house that Alfred had flown ahead to. He radioed onto the open line as he did so, and Duke, mid-battle, shouted an affirmative, and promise that they’d meet him there.

Damian could barely hold onto consciousness during the flight, and it only made Jon fly faster, to an almost dangerous speed.

Alfred met them on the balcony, and motioned for Jon to follow him after he landed. A penthouse in Geneva wasn’t exactly a hospital, so instead of a medical cot, Jon carefully laid Damian in an extravagant king-sized bed.

Jon helped where he could, which, admittedly, wasn’t in very many places. The thing he was best at, he found, was getting in the way. But, bless him, Alfred never chastised him. Never told him to move.

“This is almost a luxury.” Alfred had quipped at one point as he checked Damian’s IV bag. “Normally I’m trying to work around at least five anxious persons, not one calm one.”

Jon had tried to smile, but it didn’t come out right. Alfred seemed to understand, though, and just gave Jon’s shoulder a quick squeeze as he passed him.

Finally, Alfred proclaimed himself finished, having done all he could. He’d disinfected and wrapped wounds, given Damian painkillers and set up the IVs to replenish Damian’s fluids. The rest of his healing would come in time. For now, he’d be in the kitchen fixing Damian something gentle to eat, before preparing food for the rest of the rescue party’s eventual arrival.

Jon nodded, and sat at Damian’s bedside.

It was almost midnight by the time the rest of the Bats arrived. They explained to Jon and Alfred their investigation, and what the cult had told them. Got checked out by Alfred, came and checked on Damian, and then one by one, they each went off to another room to settle down for the rest of the night.

Jon remained at Damian’s side.

And he didn’t move. Not to sleep, he just laid his head on the mattress. Not to eat breakfast or any meal, just balanced it on his lap. He didn’t even get up to offer his seat when anyone came in to visit their brother.

He just sat there, staring at Damian’s battered face and holding his cold hand.

Damian didn’t wake up that day, or even the day after. He could tell the others were starting to get antsy about it, and agitated. What if Damian didn’t wake up? What if that cult had actually killed him, and he’d survived just long enough to see them all again? To get taken to safety?

So the Bats threw themselves into the investigation to distract themselves. Who was cult? Who funded them? Who had they killed?

Jon just stayed on his stool at Damian’s side.

It was the morning of the third day, some time before dawn. Jon had his head pillowed against his arm on the mattress next to Damian’s elbow, half turned to watch the moon reflect off the clouds through the balcony doors.

He listened as Damian inhaled, but paid it no mind. Not until: “…What are you doing?”

Jon sat up so fast he made himself dizzy. In the dim light, Damian’s half-lidded sea foam eyes almost glowed.

“W-what?”

“What are you doing?” Damian repeated groggily.

“I…I couldn’t sleep, so I was just watching the stars…” He started, but trailed off when Damian lazily waved a hand.

“I mean, why are you sitting on that stool?” Damian asked. He flopped his hand out to the open side of the bed. “There’s clearly space here. Even if you can’t sleep, at least let yourself be comfortable.”

Jon instantly dropped his gaze to his knees, and even half conscious, Damian noticed.

“Beloved, what’s wrong?” He asked sleepily, weakly reaching his hand towards Jon.

Jon pulled his hand away.

This time, Damian’s inhale was sharp. He pulled his hand back and dropped it onto his own stomach. “…Alright.”

“No, it’s not…!” Jon suddenly realized how that looked. Knew how Damian would take it. “I don’t…You didn’t…” He sighed, dropped his face into his hands. “I don’t deserve it.”

“What?” Damian asked. “Deserve what?”

“To hold your hand. To lay in your bed.” Jon groaned. “You.”

Damian hesitated, grunted softly as he shifted. “I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“The day you went missing, they…that shapeshifter guy, he stole your phone and he called me. As you.” Jon closed his eyes, trying to hide even further. “He…he broke up with me as you. And I…it didn’t make any sense, it never made any sense to me, but I believed him.”

Another moment of quiet. “…Oh.”

“I know. I’m an idiot.” Jon lamented. “Because how could I not know my own boyfriend? How could I believe you would break up with me over the phone?”

“Or…ever.” Damian agreed. “Unless you want…”

“Or ever!” Jon cut off dramatically, curling his covered face to his knees. “How could I believe you’d do that, and not question it! Not question that you never answered your phone after that, never told anyone, never came back to Metropolis for any reason! Even dream you tried to tell me and I just…”

“Dream me?” Damian asked. Suddenly there were fingers stroking at Jon’s hair, and he held his breath. “You dreamed about me?”

“I thought about you every second of every day.” Jon admitted glumly. “I felt like such a loser, not being able to get over you.” He paused, curled into himself more. “For believing it all in the first place.” He shook his head. “I don’t even deserve to be sitting here next to you, Damian. I don’t.”

He felt Damian’s fingers stroke for a few more seconds, then heard Damian scoff a laugh.

“Jonathan, you’re so funny.”

Those fingers in his hair were instantly at his chin, tilting his face up and out of his hands. Damian, looking beyond exhausted, was smiling at him.

“Come lay with me.” Damian asked softly.

Jon stared up at him for a moment, let his eyes wander down the bandages and new scars, then back up. “You shouldn’t want me to.” He breathed. “In fact, you should break up with me for real, because I’m such a fucking-”

“Do you want me to?” Damian asked seriously. “Do you want me to break up with you? Would you like us to remain apart? Because if after this past month that’s what you’ve decided is best for you, then I will do my best to give it to-”

“No.” Jon said instantly. “No, I…” His breath trembled. “No, I don’t want us to be apart anymore.”

“Nor do I.” Damian agreed with a gentle smile. He laid his arm across the bed. “…Please.”

Jon stared at him for a moment, then sighed and stood, carefully floating over Damian to drop onto his other side.

Damian weakly reached up to pull Jon into his arms, like a child grabbing for a balloon, and Jon let himself be dragged into Damian’s side. Latched onto Damian’s waist and hid his face against Damian’s chest.

His heartbeat was loud now. Still slow, a little too slow for Jon’s liking, but loud, and right under Jon’s ear, right where it was supposed to be.

“I’m sorry.” Jon whispered, as he felt Damian kiss at his hair, gently run his fingers along Jon’s shoulders. “I’m so sorry, Damian.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. If anything, I should apologize to you, for what that shifting bastard did.” Damian hummed, and already Jon could sense he was falling back into unconsciousness.

Because he feels safe, Jon didn’t let himself think. He feels safe here with me.

“…I love you.” Jon breathed, closing his eyes, squeezing Damian as tightly as he dared. “I love you so much, Damian.”

“I love you as well, Jonathan.” Damian answered just as softly. “For as long as I live. No matter what anyone tells you, please always remember that.” He carefully laid his hand over the one Jon had on his hip. “…Thank you for finding me. For saving me.”

“Always.” Jon smiled, looking up at Damian. Damian’s eyes were already closed once more, his breathing evening out. “Always and forever.”

“Forever and ever.” Damian mumbled as he drifted off. Jon watched him for a few more moments, until he was sure Damian was asleep again. Then he leaned up and left a careful kiss to Damian’s cheek. Lingered for a moment, then curled up under Damian’s chin, clung to him like he was a giant teddy bear.

He let his boyfriend’s heartbeat lull him to sleep.

[supersilversleuth]

I Know You Won’t Believe Me (But Sometimes I wish You Would) by SuperSilverSpy

Fandoms: DCU, DCU (Comics), Batman - All Media Types  

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Category: Gen

Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Roman Sionis, Hurt Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson-centric, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson Whump, Whump, Whumptober 2021, Angst, Dick Grayson DID NOT fake his Death, I know I’m not really touching on it in this fic, but it’s important I say that, Post-Spyral, Miscommunication, Betrayal, I mean, Perceived Betrayal, SuperSilverSpy, SilverGrayson, SilverWhump, Protective Dick Grayson, injuries

Summary:

“Wha—Where am I? What do you want?” He asked, pretending to be groggy from waking up.

“Well, Officer Grayson, you are the Red Hood’s dirty pig informant, so I’m betting there’s a lot I can get out of you.”

Dick resisted the urge to laugh, or explain himself. There wasn’t much to explain anyway, not without revealing secrets that he would rather die protecting. Instead, he forced his expression into something more like shock, and resignation, deciding to play this role to the end. He could feel the instincts of manipulation and deception settling back over him like a very familiar blanket. Playing spy for a while had given him the opportunity to hone those skills. If there was any beneficial thing that could be taken away from that whole experience, it was what good he could now do with the abilities he’d enhanced during that time.

OR Dick is forced to pretend to betray Jason in order to protect the Red Hood’s identity

No. 5 - I’VE GOT RED IN MY LEDGER betrayal | misunderstanding | broken nose

Part 5 of 2021 Most Whumperful Time of the Year - Dick Grayson-centric

Language: English Words: 3,462 Chapters: 1/1 

Dick was tracking down a lead in the northern part of Blüdhaven, snooping around in various warehouses. It was the part of Blüdhaven that was closest to Gotham, so really Dick should’ve known better than to think his day would be uneventful.

 As it was, he was surprised by the sight of the Red Hood tying up the exact criminals Dick was looking for.

 Jason had tensed, glancing up, hand going for his gun—when Dick pushed the creaky warehouse door open to take a peek inside—and then, when Jason realized who it was, the hand went away from the gun, and the eyes away from Dick, but the tension remained. Jason continued about, tying the criminals up, studiously ignoring Dick’s presence as he did so.

 “Hood—” Dick started.

 “I’m just finishing up, Officer ,” he said mockingly, “They’re all yours when I’m done.”

 “I—They’re Black Mask’s people, do you have any intel about what they’re doing in my city?” “Not much,” replied Jason, tone clipped. “You?” “I have a little, maybe we could arrange a time to go over it? This case is clearly turning out to be a problem for both of us—”

 “Nope, that’s not how it works,” Jason cut him off, “You haven’t been forgiven for your last f*** up yet. Maybe we can trade information later, if I ever decide to trust you again.” Dick winced, stepping back. “Well, I’ll be out of your hair then, Hood. I’ll have some people come this way to put these criminals back where they belong.” “Where they belong is a big, ugly a** community grave,” Dick heard Jason mutter behind him just as he walked out the door.

-- A few days after the Hood incident, Dick was heading home after a long day of writing reports and studying casefiles. Being a detective was certainly not all excitement 24/7. Most of the time he was sitting around, wishing for more time in the field.

That particular day, he was distracted, thinking about a very complicated case that had been stumping him for longer than he’d like. He should’ve known better than to take that route home, though it probably wouldn’t have mattered—whoever wanted him was professional enough to have all the streets around the precinct covered.

 Ah, chloroform, he didn’t miss it. It’d been a while since he’d last had it pressed against his face. He supposed he was due for a run in with the stuff. The chloroform appeared at the same time as the wrenching of his arms behind his back, and the restraining of his legs. Dick tried not to fight  too  hard, he was still Detective Grayson, a civilian by vigilante standards, afterall. He had to keep up appearances. For that reason, he also pretended to fall unconscious long before he actually did. He’d built up an immunity to the drug of course, but that could only work with him as Nightwing.

 When Dick woke up, he found himself face to face with Black Mask. The man sat behind a desk, with Dick, sitting, bound to a chair in front of him. With a start, Dick realized that Roman must’ve been watching him while he was unconscious. Dick suppressed a shudder. 

 “Wha—Where am I? What do you want?” He asked, pretending to be groggy from waking up.

 “Well, Officer Grayson, you are the Red Hood’s dirty pig informant, so I’m betting there’s a lot I can get out of you.”

Dick resisted the urge to laugh, or explain himself. There wasn’t much to explain anyway, not without revealing secrets that he would rather die protecting. Instead, he forced his expression into something more like shock, and resignation, deciding to play this role to the end. He could feel the instincts of manipulation and deception settling back over him like a very familiar blanket. Playing spy for a while had given him the opportunity to hone those skills. If there was any beneficial thing that could be taken away from that whole experience, it was what good he could now do with the abilities he’d enhanced during that time.

 “I don’t know who the f*** that is,” Dick said, thinking about the actions of several of his coworkers for reference on how to act like a dirty cop.

 “Don’t lie to me,” snarled Roman. “My people know you spoke with him at the last operation of mine that he busted.”

 Ah, so that’s how he knew. One of the thugs must not have been fully unconscious during Dick’s conversation with Jason the other day.

 “Look man, I’m just his source guy sometimes, and he doesn’t even like me very much lately. So I don’t know what to tell you. Just let me go, and we can call it a day.” Dick made himself fidget, as if he was nervous about the threatening crime boss sitting across from him.

 “So what? You don’t have anything for me? Maybe I should just torture you until you die, how about that?”

 “N—No,” Dick made himself stutter, “I—I can still help you...for a price.”

 “Even now, you argue for your checkbook,” Roman chuckled, “The world goes ‘round, and dirty cops never change.”

 “What can I say,” Dick smirked, “The Hood didn’t pay me enough. I’m sure  you’ll be different…”

 Roman smiled at him, a dangerous smile that said he couldn’t wait to use him up and leave his body in a ditch.

 Dick smiled back.

--

Jason got an alert that the alarms at one of his safehouses had been tripped. It wasn’t one of his favorite safehouses or anything—in fact, it was due for a restock, but he knew it would be better to check it out as soon as he could anyway.

 He swung through the air, making his way through Crime Alley to where he knew the safehouse to be. Any intruders in his territory would be dealt with, crappy safehouse or not. 

 He found that much of his security system had been quietly disabled…except for a single, simple sensor. Whoever did this wanted him to come here.

 The door to his safehouse was ajar, and Jason carefully pushed it open, peering through the crack.

 His lights were on, and there were the sounds of ransacking and breaking glass.

 Jason grabbed the guns from his hips, and slammed open the door.

 There stood Dick, out of uniform, surrounded by several of Black Mask‘s people. 

 Jason snarled at the sight, thoughts of the man’s betrayal swirling through his mind. 

 Dick’s eyes widened, shooting a pleading look at him as if trying to convey something. Jason ignored it in his anger.

 “Let’s go! He’s here!” yelled Dick.

 “Traitor.” He growled darkly.

 Something flickered in the traitor’s expression, before smoothing out as if it had never been there.

 Jason didn’t think. He just lifted his guns, and fired.

 Unfortunately, they were rubber bullets, and he’s pretty sure he only managed to clip the lying b****** in the leg.

 He did manage to take down at least three of the others before the rest escaped quickly through the window.

--

“So, I guess Hoodie really isn’t on your side after all,” said Roman, pacing.

“I—I don’t understand what happened,” Dick sputtered, feigning fear, “I disabled all of his security, he wasn’t supposed to show.”

 “That’s because I had one of my people purposely sabotage you. I needed to make sure you weren’t still on his side. This,” he said, putting his hand on Dick’s leg where the bullet hit him, “is the proof I was looking for.” He pressed down, Dick gasped as if in pain. It really didn’t feel nice.

 “W—What?” He said in indignation, “Of course I’m on your side, that guy hates me.”

 “So I’m told.” Roman said, uncaring. He dug his fingers in.

 “Stop!” Dick strained against the ropes binding his hands behind the chair.

 The man let up, briefly, “You got the package I sent you to get?” 

 He was referring to the fake intel Dick had promised was stashed in Hood’s safehouse, intel that he had planted while no one was looking. The moment Roman plugged that thing in, Oracle would have complete access to all of the crime boss’s servers. “Yes, of course! Don’t forget to plug it into a high powered computer, I’m sure it’ll require a lot of decryption…”

 Roman waved his hand, “Yeah, yeah, whatever, my people have it covered.”

 “I’d like my payment now,” Dick said, glaring at him.

 The man grinned malevolently, “You’ll get your payment, when I let you go and the Hood goes after you. The people he captured have  quite  the story to tell.” 

 Dick slid a look of fear onto his face.

--

Jason didn't even give him the chance to explain.

Not that Dick was surprised about this, of course, but that doesn't mean it didn't hurt.

Roman had released him onto Gotham's streets, and sent several of his people to tail him.  Dick of course, was not supposed to know about that particular detail, but it's not like the low-level thugs had any actual expertise when it came to anything, least of all properly tailing a person.

Ah, so this was one more test, to confirm that he was truly against the Hood, before Roman dared plug in the USB. So it was best that Jason's first reaction upon seeing him was to lash out anyway, and Dick didn't even get a moment to get a word in before Hood was slamming him into the ground.

Well, it seemed these days the only reliable fact was that his family no longer trusted him. It was a good thing he needed Jason to beat him up for the operation, then. Internally, Dick sighed, he wished it didn't have to be like this. He hated lying, detested spying, but he'd learned long ago that sometimes there's no time for debate, and often the situation called for the best solution, not necessarily a good one.

Jason always acted on his emotions, it was something about him that never changed. It was reliable qualities like that, that Dick had been trained to notice, to exploit when needed. Dick did what he had to do, Jason did what he wanted to do. Many times, Dick had had to shoulder the burden of doing what was needed, even if it hurt those around him. He would gladly carry these responsibilities for the rest of his life, if only his siblings didn't have to, if only his family  lived.

And so, Officer Grayson fought with the Red Hood in a back alleyway as the man spewed curses about him and how he couldn't trust someone who'd betray him just to meet their own ends and not even think to tell him about the undercover op—

Dick, of course, was still being watched. So he fought like a random inexperienced police officer, not like Nightwing, professional vigilante. 

Jason didn't seem to notice. 

"Is this the new you then? Huh? You stab us in the back at every chance you get, all for a supposed “mission”? Is this Dick the spy then? Is that who you are now?"

Dick dodged a fist, got kicked in the knee.  It’s probably just the pit rage,  he reminded himself,  another thing I can count on.

"You know, I didn't think you of all people would pull something like this the first time, I don't know why I didn't see it with this one, you'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now."

Jason punched him in the stomach, causing him to sink further to the ground.

"I don't even know if I'd grieve again, if I found out you were dead. How would I know it wasn't just another lie that you failed to mention to me?"

Dick was just glad his tails were too far away to hear what Jason was saying.

"Do you have any idea what Black Mask is capable of? Have you  forgotten  who the f*** he  is  ? You can't just go undercover to work with him against  me, without telling me!"

His little brother sounded so upset, Dick only wished he had time to explain.

"Whatever happened to communication? Is that a foreign concept to you  spies? And here I thought we were actually family."

Jason headbutted him right in the face, breaking what Dick was pretty sure was his nose. He could feel the sticky warmth of blood on his face, flowing over his lips, past his chin to drip to the ground. Dick's vision blurred, and he collapsed to the ground, curling in on himself, he had to play it up, afterall. Even though the wounds inflicted were mostly just surface ones. They had an audience, and Dick could not fail to perform.

Above him, Jason scoffed, as if he could see through Dick's pretending. Still though, DIck could see his hands shaking, could see as the pent up energy within his little brother's body drained, tension leaving his shoulders. In a moment, Jason was gone, and Dick closed his eyes, giving into the exhaustion of having had to pretend to be someone he wasn't under very stressful circumstances for the past few days. It was alright, nothing...Dick...couldn't handle...

--

Jason felt drained. He hadn't felt that angry since well...the last time Goldie had pulled something like this.

The feeling of Dick’s face against his fist was quite familiar by this point. Each time he’d done it blurred together, echoing in his mind as green tinted his vision.

Jason made it back to one of his safehouses, somehow. He wasn’t sure when he got there, or how, but when he finally came back to himself, it was to the sight of a familiar kitchenette.

He felt too restless to sleep, but too exhausted to do anything productive at the same time. He didn’t trust himself to go out as Red Hood. In this state, he was a danger to anyone around him.

Jason’s mind raced, even as his body collapsed on the couch. He turned the tv on, letting himself get lost in some random sitcom.

He needed to calm down, probably do something like think things through. Though Jason knew that he was most likely going to just go about his day tomorrow, as if today hadn’t happened.

Always running away, still that same self-preserving street kid who only knew how to survive. Well, it’d worked for him so far, minus the dying part of course.

Hours later, technically into the next morning, Jason’s comm beeped. What could Barbie possibly want at this time of morning? Not even villains were awake at 6:00am, usually this hour was sacred.

“Hood?”

Well, apparently not anymore.

Sighing, Jason brought his finger to his ear, “Yeah? How’d you know I was awake?”

“Unimportant,” she said, all business, “I need you to check on Nightwing for me.”

Jason’s mind blanked, and then he scoffed, “You kidding me?” His voice was shaky. “What the f*** did he do this time?”

Oracle had no time for overly dramatic interbat-relations.

“A few hours ago, Black Mask’s servers went online, Dick’s code caught my attention. I was able to get every little bit of data ever entered into one of Mask’s computers. It was more than we’ve been able to get from him in years. Dick’s work really was genius. I tried to get in contact with him, but his trackers aren’t working, his phone’s out of the picture, and I can’t find him on any camera. I’m worried he went undercover without a backup plan for when Mask figured it out.”

Jason attempted unsuccessfully to tamp down his feelings of guilt and concern.

“Alright O, I’m on it.” He croaked, already heading out the door.

Adrenaline flowed through his veins, spurring him on. 

His earlier hate had fled, leaving behind nothing but cold determination. He was angry at his brother, sure, but he didn’t want the guy to  die… right?

And if what Oracle said was true, then it just might have been worth it for Dick to do what he did, just maybe.

Jason headed to where he’d last seen Dick. 

He found him about a block away from where they’d fought, being tortured in a rundown warehouse.

If it weren’t for the screams, Jason probably would have passed it and not even known.

Black Mask stood over Dick, who was bound to a table. Goldie was missing his shirt, and his torso was littered with burns and bruises. His feet were bare too, Roman was in the process of whipping them.

For the second time in twenty four hours, Jason felt the anger rise and the pit take over. 

The emotion was stronger this time, more powerful, Jason thought distantly. 

There were about thirty thugs surrounding Roman, guarding the man’s sadistic torture session.

Jason drew his guns, and tried not to think about the last time he’d used them to pistol whip Dickie across the face.

The first five thugs went down quickly, the next ten following right behind them. Jason reloaded. Some part of his subconscious aimed for kneecaps and non-lethal areas. The pit aimed for whatever was convenient. Nevertheless, if Jason had been paying attention, he’d have noticed that not one of his bullets missed a target.

By the time he’d made his way through all thirty of them, he had two loaded guns left, though they weren’t the same ones he’d started out with.

Roman had fled sometime during the action, like the coward he was. Jason was halfway out the door to find him when he heard a sound from behind him.

It was Dick.

Jason startled, hurrying towards his brother's side. The anger once again drained from his body.

Dick’s eyes were hazy and unfocused, they looked at him without seeing. But as Jason neared, something foreign came into them: fear.

Jason dropped his guns on the floor, trying not to think about how he’d never seen Dick look at him like that.

He bent to untie his brother from the table, and Dick flinched away from him, unintelligible noises stumbling out of his throat.

“Shh, Dickie, it’s alright.” Jason said frantically, “I’m gonna get you out of here, okay?”

He finished removing the last of the restraints just as Dick passed out from what was likely incredible pain.

--

Jason efficiently cleaned and bandaged his brother’s wounds, feeling numb. Dick’s body was covered in scars, the recent--but not too recent ones were what caught his attention. Jason didn’t want to think about when Dick must’ve gotten them.

Instead, Jason thought about something that had been bothering him before, little details here and there that he had missed. Namely: Dick hadn't been wearing his Nightwing suit during all of their interactions in the past few days. In fact, he'd been dressed quite like a detective.

 It dawned on Jason in a moment, and he felt horrified. Dick had been a detective that day in the warehouse with Black Mask's people. Back when this all started. 

 Jason's mind was racing when Dick groaned, eyes cracking open, "Wha—Jay?"

 "Yeah, it's me Dickie. I'm here."

 "What—What happened?"

 Jason sighed, "What do you remember?"

 Dick's brows furrowed in thought, "I...I had to go undercover..."

 "Why didn't you tell me?" Jason asked.

 Recognition flashed in his brother's eyes, He seemed to be getting his energy back.

 "There was no time, Roman kidnapped me, I had to play along."

 "But—there had to have been some time you could have explained the situation to me…"

 "Would you believe me if I had?" Dick's gaze was piercing.

 “I—yeah, okay, that’s fair.” Jason paused, “Were you going to tell me that you went undercover to save my a**? Or were you just going to keep letting me hate you?”

 Dick was silent.

 Jason continued, “I mean, sure. Maybe I wouldn’t have believed you. But maybe I would have. You weren’t even going to give me the choice.” Something occurred to him then. “We didn’t give you the chance to explain about Spyral…was that situation similar to this?” 

 Dick sighed, “I’m not up for having this conversation right now. Maybe later, after I wake up.”

 He burrowed further into the couch, closing his eyes.

 “One more thing,” Jason said, unwilling to let it end just like that. “Those scars…”

 Dick’s smile was bitter and darkly amused, “You didn’t think playing spy was all fun and games, did you? Everyone was out to get me. See here?” Dick half-heartedly lifted up his arm, “A cannibal took a chunk out of it. Congratulations, you’re the first to notice.”

 “I’m sorry,” Jason murmured to him, long after he’d fallen asleep. 

 The two words were long overdue.

[heyitsani]

Loving You is a Losing Game Chapter 1

@jaydick-week Day 2 fic: Fairytale AU

Word Count: 3,543

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Monsters and Magic

Pairing: Jason Todd/Dick Grayson

Summary: When Batman goes missing, Nightwing is called in to try and track the man down. What he finds at the spot Batman was last seen is something he's not sure he's equipped to deal with. But that doesn't stop him from doing what he has to in order to get Batman out. Even if it means becoming the poisoner of a strange shadow man in a Gothic castle hidden behind a wall of magic on the edge of Gotham.

Notes: This is my Beauty and the Beast AU set in the comics (sort of...I’ve changed some details and you’ll understand once it’s all done).  I’m not sure how many chapters this one will have but here is the first.  I just wanted to be able to post at least part of the stories I prepared for the week since I wasn’t able to finish any of them.

You can also read it on AO3 here

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

He felt the person before he heard them, and the presence alone was enough for Dick to tense up in ways he’d rather not admit happened.  This was not a confrontation he was in the mood for at the moment, but apparently he was going to have to have it none the less.

“Deathstroke,” he said flatly, turning to look at the other man standing a few feet away in his familiar orange and black gear.

The white-haired man gave a smirk that boiled Dick’s blood, but he refused to react.  “Nightwing, how lovely to see you tonight.”  Dick never understood why Slade kept up the pretense of these meetings being unplanned.  They weren’t.  He might be oblivious to many things, but when a predator is stalking him has never been one of them.  He was well aware of what Slade was doing when he appeared out of nowhere.

“Is there something I can do for you tonight?  Or are you just here to get in my way.”

“Just curious how my favorite Little Bird was doing,” the man said as he leaned against the brick wall that held the door to head down into the building he had made his perch for the night.  “I’ve heard some interesting rumors over the past couple of months and I wanted to see if they were true.”

This was a dangerous game, Dick knew that.  He should just ignore Slade and head to a different spot in hopes the man would leave him alone, but his curiosity was also burning.  What kind of rumor could Slade have possibly heard involving him.

Sighing, Dick turned to face the man.  “And what rumors are those?”  He took the bait.  He frowned when Slade’s smirk turned predatory and made Dick want to take a few steps back to get more space between them.  Despite there being about ten feet already.

“Nightwing hasn’t been seen in Gotham for almost half a year.  And the hero community is wondering why the Titans have lost their leader suddenly.”  Rolling his eyes behind his mask, Dick crossed his arms over his chest.  “Now…you fighting with Daddy Bats isn’t all that strange, but six months?  When there’s still the little Robin running around not fully trained?”

Dick didn’t point out that Damian was Batman’s own son and had been trained by the League of Assassins. He was more trained than any of them had ever been.  And he made sure to point it out frequently to Tim.

“And that you have left behind your precious Titans?  Now that’s surprising.”  But Dick knew he no one other than the team knew why he had separated himself from them and they all accepted it.  He hadn’t been ousted or banned.  He had left because he had needed to.  “Are you isolating yourself, Little Bird?”

“What on earth are you talking about?”

Slade shrugged and pushed away from the wall, taking a few long strides to close some of the distance between them.  “Seems to me that you are pushing away everyone in your life, Kid.  Perhaps you’re ready for your true destiny?”  Dick frowned.  “Join me.  You know it’s inevitable.”

Dick laughed. Actually laughed at the words and shook his head.  

“Dream on, Slade.  I say it every time you bring it up,” Dick reminded him, uncrossing his arms.  “Until the world has burned, I will never join you.”

“Don’t tempt me, Kid.”

Instead of responding, Dick just rolled his eyes and took a step back off the edge of the roof, free falling for a moment before shooting off his grapple in the direction of where he had parked his motorcycle.

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

“Agent A,” Dick said into his comm when he heard Alfred’s voice bleeding through.  He was surprised to be hearing from the older man, but welcomed it none the less.  Even if it was coming in the middle of a fight.  

Landing a punch across the jaw of one of the goons and vaulting himself over the falling body to swiftly knock the other down with a firm kick to his chest, he breathed heavily. “Nightwing, I require your assistance in Gotham.”  Frowning, Dick knelt down and zip-tied the hands of the goons together before sending off the signal and coordinates to BPD.

“You require it?  Or Batman does?”  He questioned as he shot his grapple up to get off the street and out of the area before the cops arrived.  While the cops of BPD had gotten better over time, they still had an arrest order for all vigilantes.  So it was always best that he just left before they arrived. “What’s going on?”

“Batman has not been seen for about 48 hours now.  Robin and Red Robin are off world with the Titans at the moment and I know Batman would rather keep the search in the family before involving the League.” Which made sense in Bruce’s mind, but considering their hero friends had been vanishing left and right over the last two years, Dick thought it was somewhat foolish.  “Might you make your way to the Cave?”

Figuring out where he was in relation to his motorcycle, Dick took off in the direction of where he had stashed it.  “I’m on my way now.  Tell me what he was doing the night he went missing.”  He listened to Alfred relay the major points of the missing hero case that the entire community was working on while holding down their various cities. He listened as Alfred talked about Bruce starting the suspect something was happening in an abandon warehouse on the outskirts of town, not far from Crime Alley.  

Dick confirmed that Bruce had mentioned that to him about a year ago and Dick had told Bruce that there was no activity in the area after running the scans.  But apparently that didn’t mean Bruce had dropped it.  It just meant he didn’t immediately deal with whatever it was that was happening there.

“Master Bruce linked these three heroes and their disappearances with that warehouse,” Alfred said as he pulled open three filed.  Dick frowned when the faces of Roy Harper, Koriand’r, and Wally West appeared on the screen.  Three of his closest friends whose absences he had felt deeply.  If Donna’s face had come up alongside them then he would have left immediately.  “All three had come to town for various reasons and all vanished when leaving in that direction.”

“And Bruce thinks they vanished in the warehouse so he what?  He went there to try and figure out what was happening?”

Alfred nodded and pulled up a video, which Dick easily figured out was the cowl recording from the night he went missing.  Dick watched from Bruce’s eyes as the batmobile came to a stop on the outskirts of the three-building area.  His mentor took a moment to scan the area and look for any signs of life, but when the readings seemed to glitch he still decided to go in.  An action Dick had specifically been told not to do if he had experienced the same thing.

“Magic,” Bruce had said when Dick had reported his findings.  

But Bruce exited the car and headed toward the first of three buildings.  And just as Dick leaned forward, pressing his hands on the desk to watch closely, the screen glitched again and then static.  Scanning the screen for the readings of the video, he frowned.  “What the hell was that?”

“My thoughts?  It is the same magic you encountered when you had gone to scout the area at Master Bruce’s request.”

Dick straightened and frowned.  That was heavy magic if it was able to cut everything off from Bruce.  And it made Dick wonder if Bruce had somehow managed to get stuck behind the wall.  “Is Zatanna one of the missing?”  There had been so many that he couldn’t remember all of them.  Alfred’s nod filled him with dread.  “I have to go check it out.”

“Could I advise you to go to the Watchtower before you do?”

“There’s no time. He’s been missing for two days and some change.  I need to head in there.”  Dick frowned, grabbing his mask from where he had set it down when he had arrived. “But you should contact Clark immediately.  I’m not sure if they’ll be able to spare any of the other magic users, but let them know what Bruce had suspected.”  He turned to head back to his motorcycle but paused when Alfred’s hand landed on his upper arm.  “I have to go, Alf.  I can’t just leave him there.”

“I understand my boy, just be careful.  We don’t know what we’re dealing with.”  Dick gave a nod before continuing to his motorcycle.  “I will contact the League and try to get the Robins to return to Earth.”

“Thanks Alf.  I’ll keep you updated for as long as I can.”

He gave the older man one last smile before he gunned the engine and sped out of the Cave toward the warehouse where he would face too many unknown variables.

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

Pulling up to the same place where Bruce had parked the batmobile, Dick frowned when he noticed the car was no longer there.  They were far enough away from the majority of the city that thieves wouldn’t have gotten to it, but that didn’t account for whatever magic that had been used to protect this area.  So he carefully set his motorcycle into stealth mode and left it tucked between two smaller buildings in the area.  If he was lucky, it would be there to get him and Bruce back to the cave once he found the other man.

“I’m approaching now, Agent A,” he reported to Alfred through the comms, sticking to the shadows as he approached.  He kept one eye on the grounds and the other on any possible movement around him.  “I didn’t notice it last time, but you can actually see the current.”  He moved to stand about a foot away from the now just slightly visible wall of magic.  He looked up, trying to see how far it went, but after about ten feet, the angle didn’t provide a good look.  

It almost reminded him of heat waves that came off the pavement during the worst of Gotham’s summers.

Reaching out a hand, Dick carefully touched the wall and jerked a hand back when it felt like he had been zapped by one of his escrimas.  “It feels like electricity,” he said into the comm but the reply he got back was crackled and broken.  And that meant he was probably on his own.  “I’m not sure if you can hear me anymore, but I’m going in.  Call for the League and the Robins.  Find a magic user and get them here if you can.  I’ll bring him back, Alf.”  And with a deep breath, he stepped forward and into the wall of magic.

And when he came out on the other side, he bent forward with his hands on his knees as he gasped for breath. “That is not a good time,” he groaned to himself as he tried to pull himself together.  With a few more deep breaths, Dick straightened and gasped in surprise at the sight of what was on the other side of the wall.

The image projected on the city side of the wall was what he remembered the area to look like.  Three large, abandoned warehouses and their various grounds surrounding them.  Gray and boring, weathered from the lack of upkeep and use.  But what was before him seemed almost gothic in comparison.  In fact, it looked like some of the older buildings of the city.  Gargoyles and all.  The plain concrete walls had been replaced with stone, vines that had not been there two years ago had begun to creep up them giving them an even more aged look.

The grounds themselves were green and reminded him far more of the Manor than what he would have expected a warehouse to look like.  They also looked immaculately kept.  It was almost as if whoever had done the spell had taken a gothic castle and placed it on the edge of Gotham while making every one in the city believe the warehouses remained.

It made Dick feel like he had a rock in his stomach.  This was a very powerful spell.

Scouting the area as best he could, Dick carefully made his way forward with his escrimas in hand and ready for a fight.  He didn’t know what he was bound to encounter, but he wasn’t going to chance not being prepared.  Not when it might be Bruce’s life on the line.  

When the grounds revealed little information, Dick snuck his way inside through one of the windows in the front and quietly made his way through the main foyer.  The more he saw of the building, the heavier the pit in his stomach got.  

The sound of fierce whispering hit his senses as he came to the base of a set of stairs.  

Nightwing, it is Nightwing.  

He frowned, looking around to try and find the source.  

Nightwing can do it.

He wanted to ask what exactly the whisperers thought he could do, but instead he remained silent and looked up the stairs.  There was a faint light further up and like a moth, Dick made his way toward it.  The whispers got quieter and quieter the further up he went.  Until they had vanished all together and he was standing at the top of the stairs, looking at something that he was struggling to understand.  It looked like cells but it wasn’t making sense in his head.

Of course, if this really was some sort of medieval structure, it would make sense for there to be a tower with cells for keeping prisoners.  But what that even what this was.

The sound of movement from one of the ones on the right caught his attention and with barely a thought, he rushed forward to peer inside.  “Batman!”  He cried, latching his escrimas on his back before gripping the bars of the cell door. “Are you okay?!”  He questioned as he looked the older man over.  

“Nightwing,” the name came out as a groan and Dick frowned.  Bruce looked roughed up, but he didn’t look like he was in that bad of condition. “You have to leave.  Get out of here now.  Before it takes you like it took them all.”

“What are you talking about? I’m not going to just leave you here,” he shook his head before searching his utility belt for his lock pick so he could get the cell open and get Bruce out of there.  He had just about gotten the lock open when a loud crash sounded behind him and he was flying toward the cells on the other side of the small hallway.

“What are you doing here?!” The question was practically growled, and Dick tried to focus on the source but all he could see was a shadow and a pair of glowing green eyes.  “You don’t belong here.  Leave!”

Shaking his head, Dick looked over at Bruce before looking back to the shadow.  “I’m not leaving without Batman.”

“Yes, you are,” the shadow growled.  “He’s my prisoner.  He’s cursed to remain.”

Dick carefully stood to his feet and grabbed his escrimas, moving into a fighting stance.  “I’m not leaving without him.  So either you give him to me or I take him.”

“Nightwing, no!”  

But Dick ignored Bruce’s call and carefully moved so he was standing in front of his mentor’s cell. He didn’t know who or what it was he was facing, but he had fought enough in his years to be adaptable. “Dick, please just go.  Get out while you can.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“One of you is leaving before I really lose my temper.”

That gave Dick pause. “One of us?”  The shadow seemed to tilt it’s head and Dick considered the idea building in his mind.  He could get Bruce out of there.  He could get Bruce home to Alfred.  And Bruce would figure out a way to get him out of there.  He could do that.  Dick would never be able to figure out how to combat magic like this.  He wasn’t sure even their magic users in the League would be able to.  But Batman always found a way.  “Take me instead.”

“What?”

“No!”

“You heard me.  Take me instead.  Release Batman and I’ll take his place.”

“You…” the shadow paused, sounding almost awed.  “You would do that for him?”

“Yes.”

“Dick don’t do this, please.”

Turning his head just slightly to lock eyes with Bruce, Dick pursed his lips.  “I have to.  You’ll figure it out.  You’re already there.  I trust you.” The man frowned but understanding filled his eyes and he gave Dick a firm nod.  Turning back to the shadow, Dick latched his escrimas again and raised his chin.  “I’ll stay as long as I have to if you promise to let him go safely on the other side of the magical wall.”

There was silence before the shadow moved like liquid, shoving Dick out of the way and getting Bruce out of the cell.  In a blink of an eye, the pair were gone and Dick was left alone wondering what he was supposed to do now.  He just risked his life on Bruce being able to figure this out.  He had given up everything because he trusted the man enough to get to the bottom of whatever was happening here.  Dick trusted Bruce and Nightwing trusted Batman, but jumping in front of a bullet was different than trapping himself inside a magical dome with no connection to the outside world.

With a deep breath, Dick pulled the mask off his eyes and looked around the room he supposed he would be staying in.  The cells were stereotypical for a medieval castle and under any other circumstance, he would probably laugh at that.  But now this was his...home?

“Come,” a voice came out of nowhere, causing him to jump and quickly turn toward the staircase he had come up.

The shadow was back.

More magic, he mused to himself.  “What?” He questioned the command, wary of what the game might be here.

The shadow shifted and moved forward, stepping into the light to reveal a man.  Not a shadow at all.  Blonde hair, sharp cheekbones, and green eyes.  He was tall but not as tall as the shadow had made him appear to be. And not as bulky, but still solid in muscle mass and strength.  “Do you want to stay up here?”  The man growled, his green eyes taking on an almost glowing look to them.  It made Dick take a step back in self-preservation.

“No, but I thought…” This was where Bruce had been kept after all.  Why was he not to assume that it would be the same for him?

“You thought wrong.” The man turned and headed down the stairs and after a short hesitation, Dick hurried to follow.  He kept quiet as he followed the man down the stairs he had come up in the beginning and then down the halls toward a different wing of the castle.  “This is your home now.  You can go anywhere you like but the West Wing.”

Dick glanced behind him, remembering the staircase they had passed that would have been in the westward direction.  “What’s in the West Wing?”  He asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.  He blamed Bruce and his need to raise detectives.

“Nothing of your concern!” The man ground out, turning to glare at Dick with his glowing green eyes.  And though he wanted to take a step back, he resisted the urge.  He did, however, give a slight nod of understanding to pacify the man instead.  There was a moment of pause before he seemed pacified and they continued on the path. “You will stay here,” the man said when they reached an elaborately carved, pair of double doors.  Dick looked up at them before stepping forward and inside the room after he pushed the doors open.

The room itself looked as though it had come right out of a movie.  Four post bed, gleaming silvers and blues all over.  The bed looked plush and the furniture was likely hand carved.  Everything was polished and smooth, gleaming under the lighting.  It was ornate and fancy and Dick hated it.  But that might have had more to do with it being his prison than it being overly done.

He heard the man clear his throat and Dick turned to find he remained in the doorway of the room, looking hesitate to enter.  But that was something Dick had no desire to unpack that right then.  Not when he was still technically a prisoner.

“If you need anything, the others are always lingering.”  The man glanced around the room before straightening his spine.  “I expect you to join me for dinner.”  Dick frowned when the man turned away and slammed the door behind him.  Sighing, Dick turned in a small circle before dropping down onto the edge of the bed.

[dcomicsficrecs]

Got any good longish casefic recs? Got a loooong trip and I need something to keep me occupied. Thank you so much!!

First of all, thank you for sending this ask! I love case-heavy stories and long fics, so that was an opportunity to re-discover some of my favorite stories. I am going to re-read half of the list now, as well!

Here we go - top ten recommendations for long(ish) case fics!

1) detective stories series by prismatical starting with bad signal (38K)

The rescue mission went well. Nightwing is safe. Everything should be alright.

Right?

It’s a really gripping story that will keep you on the edge of your seat till the end. Features all of Batfam with Dick as a focus but other boy Robins play significant part too.

2) For Those Who Can't  by  GoAwayOlivia (8K)

They don’t understand him at all. There is no setting him off, that’s not the way it works. And he doesn’t go on violent sprees. Jason kills when the situation demands. That’s it. Plain and simple. He doesn’t lose his temper and murder any asshole that pisses him off. Every kill is a decision that he makes, and every decision is carefully weighed and measured with a cool head. He only ever kills because the person deserves to die.

Red Hood!Jason conducts investigation into a sting of murders that happened on his territory. I have a lot of feelings about this story and I’m sure you will, too.

3)  Raisin Delight  by  LemonadeGarden (8K)

A year after Jason Todd dies, Tim Drake and Bruce Wayne take on the case when they notice strange occurrences in Gotham city. This has disastrous consequences, but so do most things that Tim gets caught up in, so what's new, really.

It’s not only a case fic but also a time travel fic which is, imo, a double treat! The ending is very powerful even if I expect you’re going to have mixed feelings about it.

4)  Little Wing and Big Bird by Airawyn (16K)

When Bruce attempts to murder Jason in his sleep, the young Robin goes to his predecessor for help. Nightwing and Robin must work together to find out what happened to the real Bruce Wayne.

Fic featuring Robin!Jason teaming up with Nightwing!Dick. The boys save Bruce and Alfred and have a heart-to-heart in the process. Superb.

5) Some fics from More to Being a Father than Having a Kid by Romiress:

We Don't Raise Heroes (70K), Don't Call It Revenge (58K), Legacy's Sway (107K)

While technically not a case fic but include a big mysteries that Batfam investigates so I think it counts. I highly recommend the whole series. First fics are gen!

6) The Bat's Crest by livierambles (200K+)

Tragedy strikes the hero community when Bruce Wayne commits a crime so heinous even the best start asking for blood. However, as the heroes try to recover from the hit and carry out justice for their friends, a random assortment of people start acting oddly, including the current Speedy Tim Drake, a child hostage in Gotham, and a young man from an unremarkable circus amongst others. All of them seem intent on saving Bruce Wayne from the grasp of the Justice League for no apparent reason, going as far as betraying their previous allegiances.

Unknown to the Justice League, these people are equally confused. Clearly they're stuck in another dimension, but how do they get back? How did they even get here? Who else is stuck in this world? And how long will Tim's patience last? Back home, the Bat was a planetary symbol that struck fear in the hearts of criminals. In this new world, it has no meaning, save for the handful of stranded souls.

All Batfam is featured. While this is also technically not a case fic but adventure/dimension travel fic, its plot has a mystery element to it and characters have to investigate a lot as far as I remember. It’s probably the only WIP here on this list but god, is it worth to read and bookmark it. You know what? I’m even going to go ahead and subscribe to the author, too.

7) The Volatile Verse (117K) by BlackFriar, starting with Volatile (47K)

After a transdimensional mishap, Batman and Robin are faced with a murderous Joker rampaging through Gotham and an anti-hero who is determined to remove Robin from the crime-fighting business. Can they strike a balance before it all ends in tragedy and the Joker has the last laugh?

It’s a dimension travel case fic (series of fics, actually!) set in Young Justice with Robin!Dick and main universe!Red Hood!Jason. It’s a great story that doesn’t shy away from darker themes, can and probably will make you cry, but it also has hopeful ending. This Jason is going to be okay with these Bruce and Dick, and at the end of the day, after the case is solved, what else do you need?

8) I saved one of the best till the end, and it’s basically anything by Mikimoo

Fair warning, most of their fics are jaydick. My favorites are:

8.1 Between The Bars (48K)

A number of suspicious deaths at South Haven Penitentiary are being ignored by the authorities, but have attracted the attention of various other parties.

OR:

That one time Dick and Jason accidentally ended up undercover on the same mission and started a riot.

8.2 And If I Recover (33K)

Officer Dick Grayson is captured by a criminal group that makes it's living from torture and extortion. Half the family are forced to watch as events unfold, while the rest franticly try to track down the culprits.

8.3 That Awful Bitter Taste (30K)

Roped in to find out what has happened to Dick on an undercover mission, Jason finds himself faced with situations that challenge his personal identity. Meanwhile, Dick is having to face demons from his past, and Jason is not sure if he is helping or hurting.

But of course, the best time to have this particular existential crisis is while trying not to die in the desert, and being chased by angry men with guns.

8. 4 This Night (33K)

The Red Hood and Officer Grayson are on the same case.  A small misstep has far reaching consequences for them both.

All those fics are tagged as jaydick, and most of them have high rating but it’s for graphic description of violence so read the warnings before reading.

Even if you aren’t a jaydick shipper, those fics are plot-heavy and case-focused. The relationship dynamic and its progress would be natural and heartfelt as well.

Also, if asked to choose only one fic from the author, or only one jaydick, or only one case fic, I probably would have chosen Between The Bars, just so you know.

9. Two Birds on a Wire by  empires, pentapus (20K)

Dick asks Jason for help on a case. Jason should have never agreed.

It’s so popular you probably read it already. Still, just in case, I will include it too because it’s such a great undercover mission fic.

10)  Crimes at Night by empires (16k)

It's summer in Gotham, and the city is experiencing a record breaking heatwave and a rash of violence centered around a strange new drug circulating through the city's youth. Robin is determined to locate the drug's source and put an end to the distribution before things get worse.

Young Justice verse, Robin!Dick and never adopted!Jason, jaydick. It’s a great AU and well-executed case fic and if you’re into Jason/Dick, their relationships are very cute also.