#They run into Nightwing first & Dick is a lil shit who leads them on a merry chase

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 256

Look, Bruce had had no plans to be a cryptid, he swore. 

Vigilante? Yes. Dark abomination of the night? No. And he was, he was technically just a dude. A well trained (and maybe feral) human, but still just a human! Apparently not to the rest of Gotham, and he honestly should have nipped those rumors when they first started. 

But like, it was also perfect for his secret identity. No one exactly expected an undead shadow-beast to have a secret identity after all. Or an undead shadow beast and some sort of ghost child to have ones, as the small child- which turned to small children- he’d taken in discovered. 

Which, look, he had tried to get Dick (and later Barbara, and Jason, and Tim, and Steph, and by the time of Duke and Cass had given up) to stop. He had tried everything he could but no, nothing could stop them. Literally nothing that he had done could stop any of them, so he had trained them instead. 

And the children were all little shits. At least by the fact that Nightwing had lead the newly-made Justice League right where he was perching, continuing to chitter and giggle near hysterically as he ducked behind him. 

And somehow they were here to try and recruit him. Great. 

[dast218]

Days that turned into months and eventually years

Next 

The last few years for the Wayne family had been rough, to say the least. At one moment they were immersed in a terribly even match against the Rogues and in the next Marinette was missing from the face of the Earth. 

“I have 50 seconds left. I need to go, cover for me” the heroine directed towards her husband. Wow, yep husband. She got married at nineteen, gave birth to her currently one year old son at twenty and was surrounded by a loving family. Sure they annoyed the shit out of her but the Waynes were always there when she needed them the most. Marinette still couldn’t believe how much her life has changed. For months she was being bullied by her classmates and was mentally exhausted from keeping a leveled head with all the accusations thrown towards her from her so-called friends. On top of that, her parents started believing Lila’s lies because of her constant absences while Hawkmoth was getting stronger with each akuma. To say the bare minimum if it wasn’t for Tikki’s and surprisingly Adrien’s support, she doesn't know if she would be standing here, alive right now. 

Marinette needed a change of environment, so at fifteen she decided to take on Jagged’s offer to join him on tour, one of the best choices she ever made. She met Robin- actually Damian, totally by accident and might have or not mistaken him as a mugger, flipping him over with ease. Oops, well on the bright side her combat skills made the red traffic light vigilante fall even more deeply in love, with how he puts it “a blue eyed angel.” Unknown to her, the Bats had a night full of laughter afterwards, teasing their little grumpy brother. 

The spotted, mostly black covered heroine was pulled away from her thoughts as she felt a gentle kiss on her forehead. Looking back up at the green eyed vigilante, she smiled. 

“I got you. Stay safe”

“You know it”, kissing him gently on his lips before pulling away to find a place to recharge.  

“Aww. Lil D, get a room already!” 

Robin glared at his brother in return and simply stated with a smog smile, “We already have one.” 

An explosion was heard in the distance and before the bat duo ran towards it Dick chuckled, “Some things never change.”

 Damian vividly remembers their search for Marinette after the Rogues were defeated. The fight lasted for about 30 more minutes with his wife never returning back to the battlefield.

“Alfred, did Marinette return back home” 

“No she didn’t. I can’t track her either, she isn’t transformed.” 

A worried glance was shared between the Bats as Damien rushed to the roofs. 

“Damian!” He turned around and his face said it all. Only once had Jason seen his brother this worried and it was during the birth of Thomas, when he went to check on him in the bathroom. Damian usually suppressed his emotions and before Marinette came along they never even saw him smile. Him openly showing distress just reinforced their already set plan.

“We are coming along.” 

“Yea and don’t you think you are in this alone. Newsflash this is Pixie-pop we are talking about!” 

“We are going to find her,” Nightwing said as he approached Robin placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. “Let's split up to cover more ground.” 

They ended up searching throughout Gotham with no lead until Tikki came flying straight into Robin and Nightwing as they were rooftop jumping. She recalled what she witnessed and lead  them back to where Marinette was chained against her will, but it was too late. 

“Robin over here!” 

“Tikki! Where is Marinette !?” 

“She landed in an ally to de-transform and while I was eating we got ambushed from all sides.” Her breathing started becoming more forced and she was now rapidly spitting out random sentence fragments. 

“Tikki look into my eyes and count to 10.” Damian knew they had no time to waste but after helping Marinette through many previous panic attacks, especially early on in their relationship he understood the importance of calming down the little goddess before moving on. Tikki followed the commands and slowly started evening her breathing. 

“Marinette defended herself well but there were so many and you could just feel the tiredness radiating off of her. It was a matter of time when the masked man saw an opportunity, hit her on the back and pinned her down.” Fresh tears started to leak but the spotted goddess kept speaking, “I was hiding in her jacket and must have lost consciousness because the next thing I remember is waking up to see my holder chained and beaten up. Blood… she was covered with blood. With a shaky breath she told me that her capturers are after the miraculous, that they still hadn’t figured out that it's the earrings and said that she wasn’t about to let them have it. She forced me to take them somewhere safe. I … I didn’t want to leave her but I heard someone entering in and made the mistake of looking into Marinette’s eyes. I fled with the earrings just as Mari’s screams filled the building.” 

The warehouse was abandoned. Broken glass was spread across the floor, chairs were flipped and strips of metal were everywhere. It was the aftermath of a fight. The vigilantes had arrived too late. All that was left behind was rope and fresh stains of blood.     

“They couldn’t have gone far!”

After days which turned into weeks and eventually months of intense searching, Marinette was proclaimed dead. Damian accepted the reality last, refusing to stop looking and went several nights without sleep. 

“Damian” Burce said as he entered into their library where his son was staring intensely at the map. The map of Gotham and neighboring cities was marketed up, all the possible locations of his daughter in law were triple checked and yet not even a single trace was found.

Without looking up Damian hummed waiting for Bruce to continue.  

“I know it's difficult to acknowledge the … the events that occurred but Damian you can’t just keep isolating yourself from the world around you.” 

“I … I can’t. You can’t just expect me to give up on her… I can’t just give up on her.” 

“Damian look at me” He stubbornly didn’t move and continued staring at the map. 

With a sigh the detective carried on, “Damian, son hear me out”

The addressed man slowly turned his head around, after all it wasn’t a daily occurrence that his birth father addressed him that way. Growing up Damian never really had a strong relationship with his father, sure they had they moments but it was usually just ‘listen, fight and defend.”

“Marinette was special to all of us [Damian didn’t miss the “was” but thought against interrupting him] heck if it wasn’t for her our family wouldn’t be standing the way we are now. She brought us together, showed us what it really means to be a family even though hers abandoned her.  She made me realize that my fathering methods towards you weren’t the best.” He chuckled at the memory of a young Marinette storming into his office not giving an ounce of care that she was yelling at the one and only Bruce Wayne inside his own building. Placing a hand on Damian’s shoulder he went on, “I know you care deeply about Marinette and that you are afraid of losing her but what about your family?  We all care about you but look at yourself Damian. You haven’t been eating, you’re running on zero sleep and didn’t come upstairs for the last few weeks. Heck, your brothers and Alfred have been taking care of a crying Thomas who keeps calling out for his parents. Your son misses you. I know this is a difficult time for you but you’re not the only one who is missing her. Let us be there for you and come out to support your son.” 

For the first time in months, Damian cried. He cried about allowing Marinette to go recharge on her own, about not arriving at the warehouse fast enough, about never being able to hear her angelic laugh again and not being there for his son during his mother’s absence. He decided that from now on he is going to take care of his son just how Marinette would have wanted him to.

It's been exactly four years and here Damian stood staring at Marinette’s tombstone, hugging his five year old son tightly as tears formed around his eyes.   

In memory of Marinette Cheng- Wayne 

A loving wife, mom and in law

20XX  

-------------------- 

I blame all the maribat writers for pulling me into this hole of maribat shippers that I can’t get out of. This is my contribution to the daminette fandom :) 

For now this is a one-shot but I do have some ideas for a continuation.

** English isn’t by best subject so sorry for the grammatical incorrections- I tired 

[miss-choco-chips]

Put a ring on it 2

Gonna drop this here super quick and then go back to cram for my finals. Who allowed me to schedule six finals in one week? I’m gonna die. Pray for me.

Tagging @jedissica ‘cause they asked me to, and @animemangasoul who I think will like this.

---.---

-Batman, here we are. It’s been a while since you last called an emergency meeting. Is everything okay?

-Were you aware that our children eloped together?

-...what.

-As in, my third kid, your first one, Diana’s second, and Barry’s… grandchild. I’m not exactly sure about who married who, but there was more than one wedding and they have a group chat called ‘hubbies and waifu’. Whatever that means.

-...

-...

-That’s my girl. I always told her, go big or go home.

-Diana, no.

----.----

Cassie’s phone went off again with her specific Diana ringtone, and she gave up, turning it off and throwing it on the pile with Kon’s, Bart’s and Tim’s (the last one had four all by himself, so it was quite a big ‘phone tower’; Hah, pun intended).

-You’re gonna freak out so badly over this when you actually wake up -she informed Tim’s fluffy hair. 

Said vigilante only released a cute little snore, face buried on her lap, legs thrown over Kon’s, one hand that had fallen from the couch resting on Bart’s head where he sat on the floor in front of them.

-Well, they were going to find out one way or another. And this was probably among the best scenarios.

-How? I’m sure this one was top five on Tim’s ‘worst case’ nightmare list.

-I was there and saw their faces. I didn’t even know Batman could express any emotion other than ‘cold’ and ‘overflowing with rage’. That image will bring me joy in future distressing times, I’m sure. My patronus memory, if you will.

-I’m soooooooo jealous, dude.

Cassie snorted, carefully not moving an inch, fingers cradling through Tim’s hair. Over her dead body would he ever cut it, now that it was finally long enough to make itty tiny braids all over it, her favorite therapeutic iddle work.

-We’ll make Tim give us footage when he wakes up. He has to provide for us, after all.

Kon let his arm, resting on the backrest of the couch, fall over Cassie’s shoulders- Be sure to include footage from after we left, too. Nightwing’s  ‘As in more than one?!’ part was solid gold.

-No kidding, I want that as my ringtone for you and Tim -chimed in Bart, carefully moving Tim’s hand back to the couch and then running to the kitchen- Ice cream?

-Do you even need to ask?

---.----

By the time Tim woke up, the hero gossip network had done it’s thing, and almost everyone with a costume was aware of the news. Even Cissie, who was officially retired, and Zachary Zatara, away on his shows and usually out of reach, had called, the first one to offer congratulations and ask if the thing was real emotionally-wise, the second to just laugh at them for full six minutes before hanging up. 

He did text them later, asking when the celebration ceremony would be.

-It’s not a bad idea -mused Cassie, showing them her phone screen with the magician’s text- a party, I mean.

Tim, from his place working a case on the Titan’s main computer, tuted- Batman might actually kill me for that. I think we’ve survived this far only because there are no written records making this official, and a part of him must think it’s all some elaborate prank.

-It’s not -insisted Bart, head poking out of the kitchen- we are family now, officially. No take backs.

Their Robin shifted in place just enough for them to see his smile, a gift on itself- I know, guys, and the sentiment is much appreciated. But from a legal standpoint, it’s not that different from what a few kids on a playground could do while playing family. Only place this could stand against judgement would be the future, some ancient Amazonian tribe, or Krypton.

-Doesn’t matter, as long as it’s true for us. And, I mean, we didn’t want to cut your options if you ever wanted to actually get married the classic way.

This time, their bird actually turned around, a warmth on his expression that he usually reserved for his team. It made them feel special like nothing else.

-Yeah, I know. Thank you for that. It was really considerated.

As if they would drag Tim into something like legal marriage without previous consent. The fact that he even felt the need to thank them for showing him basic human decency was making their blood boil with the need to punch a bat on the face.

Kon flew over, the high chair preventing him from draping himself on his best friend’s back, but not from hugging his neck and messing his hair.

-Back at my point -cleared her throat the amazonian-, your former mentor can suck my metaphorical Freudian dick. We could throw a party, and it would only be different from a normal one because marriage celebrations include gifts, which I’m totally for. I haven’t seen Zatara, Cissie, Greta and Anita in a while, and Miguel, Raven and Gar might murder us for not telling them about our plans and not making it up to them with a party. No ‘adults’ out of the ones on team, or mentors, invited, enough alcohol to re-drown Atlantis, fancy food bought with Bat’s credit card…

-You are right, it does sound kinda nice -hummed Kon, floating just out of Tim’s range when former Wonder Boy tried to slap his hands away. Silly bat, always denying affection.

-All in favor?

-I don’t know -giving up, Tim went back to his case files- I have a lot to do this days, and there’s a lead that might take me to Asia…

-Isn’t Cass there? Ask her to take over it for you, as a marriage present or something. C’mon Tim, do it for the gifts. Imagine what Zatara might get for us. So crash.

-If  it’s a magical object, I won't want it anywhere near me. We bats don’t have the best track record with that stuff, and I swear to god if I get deaged I would use my non-prosecutable age to murder someone. Probably Zatara himself.

-Adorable as that might be, it totally won’t happen.

----.----

-....can you repeat it one more time? Slower, though. I think I’m getting hearing problems.

Raven, through the video call connecting the Cave with the Tower, didn’t seem fazed by Nightwing’s slightly threatening tone.

-I said, the team had a party, everyone got drunk, and it was fine for a while. I was watching over them, but then I needed to use the restroom. When I got back, someone had gotten ahold of Zachary’s gift for Tim, Cassie, Kon and Bart, and…

-Why for those four? -asked Hood, standing right by N’s side. He had came in during Raven’s first explanation, and felt like there was something he was missing.

-It was a marriage gift. Moving on…

-A what?! Since when is Lil Red married? The fuck happened while I was in Russia?!

-...someone had gotten ahold of the gift -Raven kept going, cool as a cucumber. On the background behind her, teen heroes were running back and forth, people were screaming and something was smoking-, which happened to be some sort of magical artifact. Zachary wasn’t really aware of what it did, he just randomly choose it from among his collection of magical tools when he remembered at the last possible time a gift was mandatory for a wedding party. I returned from the bathroom and everything was a mess, the couch was turned upside down, a pipe had burst, the tv was on fire and Tim had been de aged.

There was a battle scream, in a distinctly childish voice, somewhere on the room out of view of the camera, and Raven’s eyes left the screen for a second as if looking at it.

-Was that Red Robin? -Batman, because of course he was listening in, started typing at the console, frantically trying to get a new angle to see what was going on on the Tower.

-He��s unharmed, and everything is under control.

Another scream, this time louder.

-...that didn’t sound under control -mused Dick, apparently still processing the information. Bruce typed faster. Robin gripped his sword tighter, as if readying himself for a war.

Jason still looked utterly lost.

-Marriage? She said marriage? AND YOU ASSHOLES KNEW ‘BOUT THIS?!

-He’s… throwing a tantrum -the woman ignored him, still looking only at her former leader-. Something about using his age to kill Zatara without being convicted. I’ll need to leave now, I only called to ask you to take over Tim’s cases while we solve this issue.

-Wait! Rae, if Timmy’s a kid, he needs to be with us. We are his family, it’s our jurisdiction.

A green bird suddenly landed on her shoulder, halthing whatever response she might give. Gar pecked her on the cheek lightly before turning his beak their direction.

-Husbands and Wives get priority, N, you know that. Cassie, Kon and Bart are looking after him, and keeping him from killing Zachary, while the rest of us research how to turn him back. Zach is actually trying to contact his cousin, maybe the great Zatanna will quicken this process. So, yeah, no Bats allowed on the Tower until then!

-But/!

A loud crash, followed by a wail, made Gar wince and Raven’s head to snap to the side and growl.

-Whelp, gotta go, Tower out! -a ‘Tim!’ could be heard in the background just before the screen went dark.

-...

-...

-...

-...Anyone gonna fill me in?

-Drake eloped thrice over without informing us and has been living in sinful unworthiness with his three partners since last month or so, that we know about. Probably more.

-...Partners?

-You heard her. The speedster, clone and amazonian.

-...

-...

-Dickie, how t’fuck did ya allow’is to happen?!

-IT’S NOT LIKE I WAS ASKED FOR MY BLESSING, JASON!

-B, what the utter hell, ain’t ya supposed to keep track of this kinda shit?!?

-...

-Don’t bother, Father has been broken since learning of Drake’s mistake, and will go unresponsive at the most inconvenient times.

-...

-Fuck, I need a drink. Also, ’m going there.

-You heard Gar, Jay -pointed out Dick- we can’t just walk in there, and the Tower is legally his. We have to be smart about this, plan this through, and/

-Yeah, no, he said ‘no bats’-gesturing at his gun holsters, he started to walk to where his bike was parked-. RIP ya’ll, but I’m different. See ya.

-...

-...

-Tt. Useless. I’ll go back to training. Father, Grayson, should you two, as the plebeians say, ‘snap out of it’ and come with a good plan to get Drake back under our tutelage, I’ll be by the mats waiting.

-...

-...Don’t look at me like that. I raised him for a few months tops, but he’s your kid, not mine. Same with Tim, and Jason’s entirely your fault.

---.---

Meanwhile, back at the Tower, Kon let out a screeching ‘Tim!’ before diving out and catching the baby bird in his arms, halting his fall from the ceiling rafters where he had been climbing. Behind him, Cassie let out a relieved breath.

-God’s above, you almost gave me a heart attack. Okay, new ground rules, this two little feet stay on the ground.

Tim, as proudly as a three year old toddler could, frowned at him.

-Don’t patwonize me, Kon. And lemme go, I havta cacth Zac/ Zat/… Magic-boy.

Bart materialized by their side, arms looping below Tim’s armpints to carry him to the recently put back to its correct place couch. He dropped there, tiny bird in his lap, cooing all the while.

-Aww, you’re precious.

-I could still huwt you -pointed out the toddler, resigning himself at being manhandled.

-I know -replied Bart lovingly, softly stroking his turf of hair.

Somewhere on the side, Cissie clapped her hands, as if getting rid of the dust there.

-Okay, I putted out the fire, so now I’ll be heading home. This magical bullshit is way out of my ‘retired’ comfort zone.

Cassie landed by her side and gave her a quick hug, while Greta walked up to them- I understand, thanks for coming.

-Give us a call when this is solved, we can have a coffee while you complain about your husbands. And… child, now, I guess. God, it was already weird calling Tim your husband, but now he’s a baby and it's doubly weird. Figure this out quickly.

-Will do. See you guys later.

One by one, they all left, some offering their support (appreciated, but not needed, thank you, we’ll manage), some still laughing. In the end, only the Core Four, Gar, Raven and Miguel remained. Zachary probably was there somewhere (if he dared leave without helping them fix this, he was dead meat), but out of the enraged toddler’s sight, which. Wise.

Even if said little human being was pint sized and cow eyed, he was probably still the most dangerous person in the room, unarmed or not (you know what, scratch that; if time with Tim taught them anything, was that no bat was ever unarmed. Even bare handed, their own bodies were weapons).

-...So... What should we do while we wait for Zatara’s solution?

-I vote movie night. It’s not like we can keep on drinking, with a kid in the room/ Auch! Pointy elbows, Tim!

Kon swooped in, picking Tim from Bart’s not invulnerable lap and cuddling to him on the couch by the speedster’s side. Tim knew better than to hit the Boy of Steel without proper equipment, so he let himself fall back against the broad chest. Cassie, talking to the older members of the team on the side, smiled softly at them before returning to her conversation.

As mad as his current situation made him, Tim couldn’t bring himself to pout too much. It had been a fun night, all things considered.

-----.-----

[callmesteve]

sneak peak at what i’m writing?

for real this time, sghlidugh. 

so, that post i just posted? yeah, i started a rough draft. here’s the first half! (not really any dami yet, sorry folks :((. also, note: i’ve made jon and damian the same age, i think there’s an age gap normally, but this works better for me.) 

do i continue it?

(fic below the cut)

Dick and Bruce go back in time to save Damian before he was killed. They end up in the wrong time. There’s so many ways it goes wrong.

Dick crosses through the portal to dusty air and ashes scattered amongst the ground. Buildings crumble around the torn up street. Markings all over the remains of Gotham tell Dick all he needs to know. Green and red spray paint curl heavenward in a sick imitation of Joker’s manic grin. When he hears Dick grunt, he whirls around, already gesturing to their belts. “We’ve hit the wrong time,” he says, voice carefully low. “I think we went forward, not back.” 

It’s just like Bruce said, before they left. Time travel is a fickle thing. There’s no right way to do it with the resources they’re working with. Plus, it doesn’t really help that ever since Bruce’s whole incident with Frankenstien, Tim’s been hellbent on not helping their efforts to get Damian back. 

God, Dick knew this wasn’t going to work. There had been too many variables in the beginning. Too many what if’s, too many maybe not’s. 

He just had to agree to go with Bruce anyway, hadn’t he? 

With a groan, he drops his head into the palms of his hands. Ever since Damian died, all Bruce could think of doing was bringing him back to life. He hadn’t been like this with Jason, but with the knowledge that Jason had managed to come back to life- Bruce took it and ran and somehow ended up coming across time travel. Their plan was simple. Go back to the fight that took Damian’s life far too early, stop Heretic before he was able to slide that sword through his little brother’s chest. They’d open themselves a new life where Damian lived and breathed and-

And Dick swallows a sob, fixing his domino mask to make sure it covers his teary eyes. He was just like Bruce, in the end. All Dick wanted was to wrap his arms around Damian one last time, to hold him close and breathe in that stupid strawberry shampoo Dick decided to buy him. Why wouldn’t he want to help Bruce with this? Dick and Bruce, although they both avoided the conversation, knew that Damian and Dick were closer than the title of brothers allowed. (Father and son fit better, Dick dares to think.)

“Should we stop by the Batcave in our time?” Bruce questions, as he fiddles with his wrist computer. While the actual portal-opening-thing-a-ma-jigs were attached to their belts, all the information they needed rested in their batcomputer’s archives, for Alfred to monitor over. “Or should we just skip to the next time we have queued up?”

Home rests on the tip of Dick’s tongue. They’ve only just started this time travel task, and Dick already feels weighed down by his grief. He’s still mourning, naturally. At this rate, he knows he’ll end up compromised by the time they make it to the time they’re shooting to find. All he wants to do, (besides save Damian and hold him again), is to go home to the manor, make tea, and cry as Mean Girls plays in the backgr-

“You’re not Batman,” someone scoffs, voice laced with a pout. They sound offended, almost, and- And Dick knows that voice. It’s older, sure, but- “It’s rude to pretend to be a dead man- and to dress up as someone who’s still around. I think. Technically. Okay, okay- Didn’t your mom’s ever teach you not to play pretend as dead men, guys?” 

Dick’s eyes shoot up, to a familiar little getup. The red cape, cropped so it doesn’t pass the knees, the ripped jeans still baby blue, the same old Superman t-shirt, long since faded. Beat up converse, double knotted on his feet. He’s a few years older and a whole lot taller than when Dick last saw him, but it’s all the same. 

Jonathan Kent stands before Dick and Bruce, hands folded across his chest. 

Dick still remembers the days that Jon and Damian raced around the manor, (and the penthouse, while Bruce had disappeared). Years ago, Clark had decided it’d be a good idea to get the two to be friends, given the fact they were around the same age. It’s just a shame that they never got the chance to grow up as complete heroes together. Him and Damian had been close- really close. Their time’s Jon was still torn up about Damian’s death. 

This Jon blinks as he takes in Dick and Bruce, before tutting an all too familiar tut. “I’m gonna have to bring you guys in to the base. No running away.” He purses his lips, regarding Bruce closer for a moment. “B-boy doesn’t like it when people do that. It always attracts the Joker’s attention, and we don’t need that.” 

Dick looks back to Bruce, and they both share a nod. No confrontation until Heretic- not unless it’s totally needed. That was their agreement. Besides, from Jon’s reaction of them, this time’s Nightwing and Bruce-Batman are obviously dead. It’s a dull thought, considering that Jon’s only a few years older. Dick can admit that he’s at least curious about who dawns the cowl now, though. Dick had done it last time- Jason probably refused to this time, too. Especially with Joker leading this whole thing.

Tim, then? He’ll be the smartest Batman there ever were, that’s for sure. It’s just a shame he had to do it so young. 

A pit forms in Dick’s gut. If Bruce, Dick and Damian are dead, there’s a big chance that all Tim really has left is Alfred. (God, Dick hopes Alfred’s still alive.) 

“We’ll go,” Dick says, raising his hands in the air. “You’ve just got a misunderstanding about us, is all. We’ll clear it up and explain it to- uh- B-boy?” 

B-boy could mean Beast Boy, really, but Dick’s pretty sure it’s just Batman. He’s confirmed as correct when Jon amends with, “Batman. He’s so uptight and serious now-a-days. We like to make fun of him- All friendly teasing, y’know- But- You probably shouldn’t- He’ll feed you to Ivy’s plants the next time she decides it’s time to swarm the city.” He winced at his own words, the nod to Ivy sending the conversation and joking cold. 

Dick has a feeling the new Batman might just be Jason. Prickly and serious could fit with Tim, but- Hey. Who knows. Grief and mourning do things to people that you can’t always explain. Time travel included. 

Jon leads them by the wrists after slapping cuffs on their wrists. They’re the plastic kind you can buy in toy stores for your kids to play with, but they’ve been modified and bulked up with metal, steel and tech. The locks have been changed from a key to a fingerprint scanner. When Jon’s fingers brush over it, the little screen beeps red. He clearly can’t unlock it. (The Bruce-influenced part of his mind thinks that it’s good- if he needs to, he can put a pair on Jon and not need to worry about him getting out. They seem pretty solid. Though, there’s always the chance that he could break out, Super-something’s always seem to surprise him.) 

“These are pretty high tech,” Dick remarks, more for the sake of something to say and to focus on, than to learn about the cuffs. Not that it’s not cool, or important to hear about. “How’d you guys make them?” 

“I’m not as dumb as I look,” Jon scowls. “I won’t hand away free information just because you think I’m stupid and easy to trick.” 

It’s a completely valid concern. Dick gets to work shooting it down. “We’ve been compliant! If I wanted to cause trouble, I would’ve already. As soon as we get to Batman, we’ll explain that this whole thing was a mistake and that he doesn’t have to worry about us! Or- Me, at least.” He gestures to Bruce. “He’s pretty shifty. We’ll be fine.”

Surprisingly enough, Jon gives. “B made them,” he half-beams. Tim then. “Only his fingerprint is recognised. Way too many times have we had traitors in our midst that free our prisoners, or just plain old teammates who are super gullible. He was gonna let me be one of the only other people, besides- uh- someone else. But.” He adopts a sheepish grin. “Stuff happened, I guess. It was really bad. I trust his judgement, though!” 

“If he’s good, then all power to you,” Dick grins back. 

Bruce hunches his shoulders. “What the hell happened to Gotham?” he asks, and Dick winces at his wrecked tone. It’s their city, to be reduced to ash in a few years time. There’s no point in asking the year instead, anyhow. Jon’s no older than sixteen now, no younger than twelve or thirteen. They can take a pretty good guess. “We were just here-” Bruce pauses, piling on an alibi fast. “-a few years ago.” 

Nice save, B.

“B always says a lot can happen in a few years! You’d be surprised. And- Everyone’s heard of the old Batman’s loss at the hands of the Joker and his Arkham crew. He didn’t die in the battle- He came close. Present day Batman took up the cowl while the villains reaped their spoils of war. Old Batman died pretty soon after that. Health complications, I think?” Jon hums. “I thought you might’ve been posing as the old Batman. I guess I was wrong then, since you didn’t know?” 

“I’m not posing as anyone,” Bruce grinds out. Dick chokes back a laugh, which goes sour as soon as he grumbles, “Fuckin’ Joker.” 

Dick steps over a stray piece of rubble on nimble feet. “See?” he whispers to Bruce. “You should’ve let Lil’ D beat up Joker when he had him in that damn room.” He scowls low, matching Bruce to a near perfect T. The Joker has messed with their lives way too much, at this point. 

Jon stiffens. 

Shit. 

The Supers have super hearing, and Damian’s still probably a sore spot for everyone. 

Just before Dick can question about Nightwing’s death, on rolls to a stop. “Close your eyes,” he says, tacking on a sorry soon after. Dick obliges. He hopes Bruce does too. Jon drops their hands, but reaches back a moment later. Something rolls open. He doesn’t tell them to open their eyes, so Dick keeps them close. Jon leads them forward, and immediately, Dick recognises the smell of the place they're in. Musty, damp. The Batcave. They’re using the cave as their base of operations?

Of course they would. 

“Hey, B-boy!” Jon yells, before saying, “you can open your eyes.” 

Dick does, expecting the same old vave. What he gets is something nearly three times larger. There’s more space in the center, lined with more vehicles that Dick cares to count. They’ve all got a reoccuring theme- Beat up, covered in spikes and neon green spray paint. Undercover vehicles, no doubt. The Batcomputer ahead has grown a few sizes, monitoring different sectors of Gotham and others displaying some of Arkham’s more dangerous ex-patients. Bane’s profile is marked with a deep red stamp, right over top his picture, that reads off deceased. 

The glass cases hosting the Bat-clan’s fallen uniforms has been moved, now showing Bruce’s old cowl, Dick’s Nightwing uniform, and so many others he can’t name. One’s nothing more than a brown one piece with orange stripes on the side, gloves and a mask. Towards the end is Damian’s old Robin outfit, shoved over there like it doesn’t even matter. It should be in the dead center with the rest of the Batfamily’s fallen members, Dick thinks, and makes a note to yell at Tim/Jason/Batman for it. Family should stick together, even if it’s only their old legacies that stay by each other's sides. 

The other platforms scattered around the cave’s walls are hard to see. There’s more than there used to be, all covered with discarded training weapons and dummies, with cots for sleeping. What an upgrade. 

“B-boy!” Jon tries, cupping his hands around his mouth “I know you’re here! We’ve got prisoners!” 

The voice that responds is low, older, but not overly so. It can’t be Tim or Jason- then who? “Then send them to the cells,” this Batman says. “Why on Earth do I-” 

Oh, Dick knows the exact moment that Batman sees the two of them. Is it really that big of a crime to dress up as Nightwing or Batman around here? Jeez. 

“Take off those damn masks,” Batman hisses, dropping from his perch atop one of the lower platforms. He’s- He’s tiny. Smaller than Jon by nearly a whole foot! “How dare you tarnish the fallen’s legacies like this! Did the Joker put you up to this? Harley? Catwoman’s not normally this cruel.” 

“We can explain,” Dick defends. Bruce gives him a grunt and that’s all the conformation that Dick needs. He tears off his mask. Bruce pulls down his cowl. 

Jon recognises them immediately, taking half a step back. “Mr. Wayne?” he says, soft. “And- And Dick-? They weren’t- You two weren’t imposters-? How did you survive? We saw both of you die-” 

Bruce steps up, holding out his cuffs to Batman. “We’re not your Batman and Robin,” he explains. “Not yet. We’ve come from the past. A miscalculation while trying to travel through time brought us here.” He waves his wrists. “Now, Batman. If you’d be so kind as to let us know who decided to carry on the cowl? You aren’t Tim or Jason.” 

“B-” Jon whispers, and it sounds wrong. “You should-” 

“I know,” Batman interrupts. He reaches out, pulling off his glove, and unlocks Bruce’s cuffs. He does the same for Dick, with shaking hands. Then, his hand snakes up to his mask.

“You don’t have to,” Jon reminds. 

“I know.” 

Batman pulls off his cowl. Glassy green eyes- for the first time in near months- peer right back at Dick.

[ocelysium]

Stay With Me

Summary: When a dangerous mission spills into the neighborhood Jason and Lily reside in, there are deadly consequences, one that will haunt one of them for life.

Type: Angst

Warnings: Injuries, violence, death

Word Count: 2260

Tags: @speedypan @the-singing-canary @melyaliz @saramdeuli @schninner-writes-some-stuff @cuddles-for-cassie

Song: Stay With Me by Sam Smith [String Quartet, 3x03, Reign]

MASTERLIST

There was a sinking feeling in his stomach from the moment he opened his eyes. He didn’t know where it came from but it caused him great discomfort. It was as if his stomach was made out of concrete and was constantly pushing him down. He was distressed, he didn’t know what could possibly be wrong. However, as he turned to the side that feeling washed away when he saw her face beside his.

A smile made its way to Jason’s face and he reached out to caress Lily’s cheek, prompting a quiet whine from her. Her eyes opened, revealing warm, chocolate-brown eyes that melted his heart.

“Morning Jason.” She said in a small, raspy voice, a voice that he loved so much. He saw the way her eyes began to light up with the room, glowing a brilliant hue of cedar as she began to fully wake up.

He would never get tired of seeing such a sight.

She sat up and stretched her body, a lazy groan leaving her mouth. With a huff, she turned back to him and inquired, “are you going to get up?”

“Don’t wanna.” He responded before burying his face into his pillow once more. He could imagine her rolling her eyes at his behavior, and before long she was running her fingers through his hair and calling out to him.

“Jason,” she drawled, “come on. You have to meet the others for some mission today. I don’t want Dick breaking into our apartment… again.”

He sneaked a peek at her and sure enough, there was a pout on her face. A chuckle erupted from his throat as her expression was priceless. He knew he had to get up of course, but it didn’t hurt to get these adorable looks from her, especially when it was one of the first things he saw that day.

“I know, I know, I’m gettin’ up…” Jason sighed, pushing his body up and facing her with a grin. “There, happy?”

“Mhm, very.” She answered with a kiss.

To say Jason was pissed was an understatement. He was told this was going to be a simple mission, but it turned out to be more than that, much more. He thought they knew better than to underestimate the enemy. If anything, he would be the one to underestimate the enemy, not them.

“A little more investigating would’ve been useful.” Jason hissed through gritted teeth as he dodged another bullet.

“Shut up and just run.” Tim snapped, not in the mood for Jason and his attitude. “Nightwing, we could use a little help.”

“A bit occupied at the moment!” Dick exclaimed through the comm. Jason could vaguely make out the sound of cracking bones on the other end up decided against commenting on it. He had more pressing matters on his hands–the men chasing him down.

“Seriously, it’s Penguin and Black Mask, how can you not do your research?!” Jason scolded his successor–or replacement.

“Would you just shut up?!”

They approached a neighborhood Jason was too familiar with and suddenly, that sinking feeling returned. He glanced around, hoping that the police had evacuated the place already, but seeing the young couple who just backed away from their window, everyone was still in their homes.

“Shit.” He cursed, looking at Tim, who came to the same realization. Before they could do anything, the men of the two notorious criminals of Gotham were raiding the apartment buildings, and the sirens of the police were still in the distance.

Jason’s mind went blank. He cared about those who were being attacked, but he had another priority.

“Red Hood! Where–”

“Lily’s in the apartment!” Jason informed frantically, his eyes wide with fear behind the helmet. “She’s not safe.”

And before Tim could utter another word, Jason was off. He couldn’t believe the fight would be dragged into their neighborhood, he should’ve told her to stay in the manor until this was over.

He found their apartment and broke in through the window. His heart sank when he saw how the living room was completely destroyed, with the unconscious bodies of Penguin’s men on the floor. However, the fact that Lily was not one of the bodies gave him a spark of hope. His hands shook as he called out for her, not caring if he was endangering himself.

He needed to know that she was safe. He needed to protect her.

He spotted a blood trail leading out of the apartment. Without a second thought, he followed it. His mind was racing and he tortured himself with thoughts of what may’ve happened to her, what danger she could be in and how he wasn’t there for her.

“Lily?!” He yelled, climbing the stairs and searching for those beautiful eyes of hers, for her gentle smile and her forgiving expression. He ended up on the roof of the apartment building.

Slamming the door open, he squinted his eyes when the glare of the moon hit his face. He saw only emptiness, which made him panic even more. He ran to the edge and surveyed his surroundings, but he couldn’t find her. He couldn’t find Lily. She was gone. She was nowhere to be seen. She–

“J-Jason?”

He snapped his head to the direction of Lily’s shaky voice and he cried in relief when he saw her hiding in the shadows. She ran towards him and engulfed him in a tight hug.

Jason held her as if his life depended on it. He wanted to feel her in his arms, to know she was alive and breathing right in front of him. He didn’t know how he’d forgive himself if something were to happen to her.

When they separated he cupped her cheeks and used his fingers to move the strands of her hair away. He wished he could kiss her right then, but he couldn’t remove his helmet, not when he was still out on the field.

“Are you okay?” he asked, “are you hurt?”

Lily shook her head, smiling at him. It astonished him how she still managed to put a grin on her face in times like these. “As long as you’re with me, I’m okay.”

The statement made Jason smile. She always knew what to say to make him flustered, it was uncanny.

“Ummi!” Damian called out, landing on the roof with Bruce. Instinctively, Jason pushed Lily behind him and stood between her and the Dynamic Duo. He knew they weren’t a danger but he was still very much on edge.

“Red Hood, we need you back out there.” Bruce informed monotonously. Jason glared at his adoptive father and shook his head.

“I need to get Lily somewhere safe first.” He stepped forward, as if ready to fight Bruce for his right to make his own decisions. “I’m not going to go anywhere until she’s safe.”

“This is not the time for you–”

“This is not the time for you and your lecture about righteousness and all that shit!” Jason snapped, approaching Bruce in anger. “Look, I’ll do my job but I can’t do it if–”

A loud gunshot echoed through the air, contrasting the noise of the city. Jason saw Bruce’s and Damian’s eyes widen at a sight behind him and Jason had a disgusting thought, one that he prayed wasn’t true.

He turned his head and the sight froze his heart. Lily had an expression of shock plastered on her face. Her clothes were soaked in blood–the gunshot he heard from earlier, the bullet had hit her. The impact had caused her to stumble back, right towards the edge of the building.

Jason’s mind went blank. There was an ache in his heart and he rushed to catch her. She reached out to him, but before he could take hold of her hand, she was plummeting down to her death.

“NO!” Jason cried out. He snatched Damian’s grappling gun and followed Lily, jumping off the building himself. He shot the grappling gun and tried to swing by to catch her. As he drew closer, he saw the terrified expression on her face and the tears in her eyes. Her mouth was moving–she was calling out to him. Her hands were trying to reach his.

His heart was pounding in his chest and he was thinking of nothing but saving the love of his life. He didn’t allow himself to think of any other possibilities. He was going to reach her. He was going to save her.

He has to. After all, she was depending on him.

He doubled on his efforts to save her and just as his fingers grazed hers, he swung to the side–he reached the grappling gun’s limit.

“Fuck! NO! No, no, no, no, no!” Jason cursed as he missed Lily and swung to the neighboring building. “SHIT! NO!”

He tore his eyes away from her falling for a second to plant his feet on the side of the building. He hung on and turned back to see where Lily was, but he wished he didn’t.

When he turned back, he saw how her body fell through the glass canopy of the front of the apartment building before slamming onto the pavement. The horrific sound resonated through the air.

He had no tears when he rushed down to the scene. He was trembling, so badly he could barely hold his own guns. There was an unbearable pain in his chest, one that was only increasing as time went on, but there were no tears.

Jason approached the body slowly, taking in its form. Her hair covered her face and blood flowed freely from her head. The glass broke under his boots as he walked beside the body and went down onto his knees, carefully taking her into his arms. When he moved her hair and saw her bloodied and broken face, bile rose up through his throat. He let go of her as he turned away and lifted his helmet. His dinner came rushing out all at once. He was unable to handle the sight before him.

After he recovered, he wiped his mouth and turned back to her. She was still lying motionless on a sea of shards of broken glass, and even when she was broken she still looked as beautiful as the day he first met her.

Jason took her in his arms once more, studying how her lips were turning pale and how those warm eyes that sparkled with life were now dull and empty. He cradled her in his arms, embracing her as he once did just minutes ago.

“L-Lily.” He stammered, “Lils, p-please. Don’t do this to me.”

He felt pathetic really, begging her to open her eyes, but he didn’t want to believe it. Jason Todd couldn’t accept it.

“Stay with me, please.” He whispered into her ear, “Love, please, s-stay. Don’t leave me, please don’t leave me.” His voice cracked. “W-We promised each other, r-r-remember? Y-You and me and–” an involuntary sob tumbled out of his mouth, “stay with me. I-I beg you, s-stay w-with me.” He was fully sobbing now, because deep down he knew.

He knew damn well.

Lily, his sweet, kind, caring Lily, was gone. Dead. Killed right in front of his very eyes and he had failed to save her. He had failed her.

The ache in his heart was overpowering. It was as if someone had taken a knife and ran it into his chest, and was slowly twisting it. The guilt was almost as agonizing, as he had been the one who had pushed her to the edge when the others arrived. He had been the one to follow her, and he had been the one to miss her hand. She had trusted him and he broke that trust.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m so-so sorry.” Jason cried, clutching onto her as if it was keeping him alive. “J-just–come back to me. P-Please.” He begged, his voice broken and hopeless, just like his spirit, “God dammit, please!”

“Jason.” A hand was placed on his shoulder. He glanced up and saw Dick’s tearstained face. “She’s gone.”

Jason shifted his gaze back to Lily’s face. This was it. He would never see her smile again. He would never hear her voice or her laughter. He would never be able to sleep on her lap as she stroked his hair, or return to her after a long mission, or have her patch him up every night after patrol. He’d never be able to kiss her, embrace her or tell her how much he loves her.

He’d wake up everyday without her by his side.

Jason’s eyes snapped open and he woke up with a gasp. He usually had nightmares, but it was becoming more and more real each time he slept.

There was a sinking feeling in his stomach that he couldn’t explain. He didn’t know where it came from but he felt that something was wrong. The constant pang in his heart told him that there was something going on, something terrible, but he couldn’t exactly remember what.

Jason turned to the side, wanting find Lily’s welcoming arms and comforting words. He needed that right now. He needed her to reassure him that this feeling was just some stupid demon feeding off his thoughts again.

However, when he was greeted by nothing but cold, empty sheets and her lingering scent, Jason suddenly understood why he felt that way.

He seemed to always forget every time he woke up, despite the very memory haunting his mind night and day.

[loserlikescomics-blog]

Top 5  - January 2017, Week 1

First New Comic Book Day of the year, nerds! A pretty sizeable pull this week,. but then again, I’m subscribed to way too many series because I’m a damn fool. But just like my other problems, it’s fine, so let’s move on to something else. I’d like to point out that this Top 5 list will be SPOILER HEAVY, as will all of my weekly Top 5 Lists from here on out. Because of that, you can expect Top 5′s to be Read Mores. Let’s get started!

5) Nova #2 (Jeff Loveness, Ramon Perez)

I don’t know much about Nova, whether that Nova is Rich or Sam. Because of that, I’m having a really fun time watching these two get to know each other and interact with one another and other people. There’s one scene in particular, where Sam takes Rich to Amadeus Cho’s flying food truck base to make sure that it’s actually Rich, and within a few panels the whole Champions team shows up. Rich struggles with the fact that everyone is a legacy hero and is also “twelve years old”, and Loveness even kinda calls out the absurdity of Young Cyclops through Scott and Rich’s interaction, which I thought was pretty funny. 

The fight scene at the beginning is just kinda average, what you’d seem to expect from a Nova fight: punches, laser blasts, flying, cool helmets. After that, though, the issue is pretty much just dialogue. Sam and Rich go to Knowhere, where they have another comedic conversation with a telepathic dog named Cosmo, which makes me confused and also really excited because like what the fuck? But also holy shit? A highlight of this scene is “Just be confident! Women love men. Not weak, sweaty boys.” coming from a dog in a cosmonaut suit. This comic so far is making me like Sam even more, and start to like Rich, and I’m excited to see how these two interact with and learn from each other in future issues.

4) Saga #41 (Brian K. Vaughan, Fiona Staples)

Marko’s manbun is still ridiculous but I’ll be god damned if he’s not my favorite character. I’m sorry but I just had to get that off of my chest. Last month’s stinger (Prince Robot asking Alana to raise Squire, then putting his armcannon to his own head) left me really excited for how this exchange would play out. I’m a bit conflicted on what I want to happen to Robot. One one hand, I was really excited for Robot’s arc to come to an end, where we see him go from one of the most powerful characters in this story, spiraling out of control until he kills himself while extremely high and sad, but on the other hand I still think Vaughan could do great stuff with Robot and potentially even have him pull the nose up. Y’know, despite how fucking awful things have been for him in these past few volumes. Yeesh. 

We get a small lil’ interaction with Will, Gwen, and Sophie that I enjoyed, where Will finally finds them and proposes to Sophie that he trains her to become a Freelancer like he used to be. Gwen is pissed off, but Sophie calms everyone down and declines his offer. Will then asks Lying Cat if she wants to join him or stay with Sophie, in which she stays with Sophie. You can HEAR Will’s heart breaking and I almost started crying but he turns around and walks away before we go back to Phang. There’s a standoff where The March has Kurti, and everyone sans Marko is trying to figure out some way to save Kurti. Naturally, Hazel does some dumb bullshit and The March drops Kurti and gets lit the FUCK up with some blaster fire, with the classic Vaughan stinger showing that Marko is the one who just killed The March, which has me SUPER PUMPED FOR SOME MORE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT FOR MARKO PLEASE READ SAGA IT’S SO GOOD

3) Nightwing #12 (Tim Seeley, Marcus To)

I love Dick. That’s not just a cheap joke to get really weak chuckles, he’s actually my favorite superhero. So, naturally, I love this run on Nightwing. The Raptor arc was really fun for me, but I’m enjoying the Bludhaven arc even more. I just love seeing the other side of Dick that’s not detective work or fighting, where we see him talking to people and going soooooo out of his way to help as many people as he can, just because he thinks that he should. 

I like the cast of the Run-Offs, especially Stallion and Shawn. The dynamic of them fearing the most loveable member of the BatFamily is really cool to me, because Dick has always been the last harsh because he’s always smiling and willing to lend a hand, and I like watching it play out. Speaking of Dick’s lightheartedness, there’s something special that I love about his quips. There’s even a panel where Dick tries to banter with a member of the Run-Off’s and the dude is like “I’ll help you save my friend, but I won’t banter with you” and Dick is pretty much like :’)

I realize that this segment has basically been me saying “GOD I LOVE DICK GRAYSON but like. C’mon just read Nightwing. It’s so good. Please. He’s so pretty.

2) Champions #4 (Mark Waid, Humberto Ramos)

These little assholes keep getting deeper and deeper into my heart. I loved the beginning of this, when they’re all scrambling to not die and Kamala is taking charge, showing that she’s the actual leader of the group (despite whatever Cho has to say). My favorite part of this issue was the conversations that the team had while they were trying to move the wreckage back towards land. Kamala and Scott clear the air about the Inhuman/Mutant dynamic that I’d honestly forgotten about with these two, and showing genuine care and respect for one another that made me feel all warm inside. Sam and Viv also have a moment where she repairs his helmet and he calls her out for being so emotionless, before Viv reveals her super tragic past that I had no idea about. Sam then goes to apologize and Viv just shushes him.

The rest of the issue is just a “How do we get out of this wacky situation” type thing where they all work together to escape an Atlantean ship, another example of how well this team is starting to work together and trust each other, another thing that warms my heart and puts a shit-eating grin on my face. My only complaint here is that Miles might as well be absent from this issue because he barely has five lines of dialogue that aren’t quips, but I still loved it regardless. Please read Champions.

1) Green Lanterns #14 (Sam Humphries, Julio Ferreira)

As soon as finished this issue, I knew it was going to be my #1 this week. I had to stop myself from crying at work while I was reading this because it hit me so hard. Jessica Cruz is a fantastic character. I love her so, so much. As someone with anxiety, I find her relateable and love seeing her be able to overcome obstacles that are put in front of her, whether it’s via help from her friends or her own willpower. When I first picked up Green Lanterns, I thought it would just be a fun buddy cop-esque title with some ringslinging, but I also got two characters I enjoy so much that I’m so excited on every other week when I get to read another issue with them. 

The Lanterns save the day, basically, by saving the villain that was trying to kill them. This causes Frank/The Phantom Lantern to feel Compassion, which turns him into an Indigo Lantern, leading to him realizing his mistakes and taking off the ring (which is such a better-written solution than punching him with giant boxing gloves until someone else can take it off of him). Simon and Jess then take this opportunity to get the ring away from him, at which point Jessica puts it on herself to keep it away from him, in which we get a short bit of “What emotion is my strongest?” from Jessica, where she hopes against hope that her strongest emotion isn’t fear. The Phantom Ring chooses Will, and she stays a Green Lantern, realizing that she’s more than her fear, her anxieties, and her shortcomings. She finally makes constructs, and proves that she truly IS worthy of the Green Lantern ring that picked her. 

She takes off the ring and gives it to Simon while she celebrates her constructs, and he contemplates putting the ring on. This is where I was a little worried that the story would fall apart, and that Simon would either put the ring on and get the same spiel about how he deserves the ring, kinda undermining Jessica’s development, or have some other emotion get picked by the Phantom Ring and the fight would continue. Humphries proved my cynicism wrong, however, and had Simon put the ring down, saying that being a Green Lantern is good enough. Some other stuff happens, but really, I’m just so happy about this arc. Rage Planet was a good volume, but The Phantom Lantern was so, so good, and I would recommend it to anyone,