#all the brides dressed in very pretty but impractical flowy gauzy numbers

[daemoninwhiteround2]

Okay THAT PET NAME ANON GOT ME THINKING! Now, imagine a scenerio where the Batfam aren't imposters but they're cursed to forget the one they love dearly. And Jason has to suffer them looking at him and not knowing who he is, not waking in the morning to Dick's soft "sweetheart", or go to sleep hearing Tim heatedly calling him "Babe" or those peaceful moments where Damian will just call him "Beloved" whilst they read and sketch. Or the loving, tender moments with a open Bruce and his "Darling".

Ok, from now on, they're implementing some sort of Designated Survivor protocol. The entire family is never showing up to the same fight again--it means that when they all get their asses handed to them, there's no one to come rescue them.

At least this "supervillain" is wallowing in their capture like a pig rolling around in mud. Jason's never seen her before--Bruce had muttered over coms that she was one of Zatanna's occasional dance partner. Zee asked Babs to handle it, Babs already had the Birds deployed elsewhere, and so Babs had asked them to deal with it. Apparently whatever the chick writes down becomes reality--on paper (ha) she'd seemed really easy to take down. Just cause a little blackout, seperate pen from notebook and case closed, early night for all the bats and birds, right?

Turns out the bitch doesn't need to write things on anything. She scrawls across air, light following her finger, and Nightwing's tangled up in what appears to be multiple ribbons. Robin jumps her but she manages to spin out if the way, and the brat's hitting the ground next to 'Wing, gaged and bound at the wrist and ankles with similar looking ribbon.

Red Robin tosses a smoke grenade at her feet--the ribbons start to break apart and Jason grins, activates infrared vision and dives in but a massive blast of wind slams him onto his bavk and the ribbons solidify. Red brings his staff down of her wrist and she screams, but the bitch finishes her sentence with her other hand and Red joins the ribbon bondage pile.

Jason has got no idea where Bruce had got to. He grits his teeth and rolls into his feet, aims shots for her wrists and arms and darts around to some cover on to opposite side of the warehouse to where the others are. He's using rubber bullets but he should be able to do enough damage to make writing really fucking hurt--or hopefully the others will be able to free themselves from ribbon bondage hell.

Of course, she guestures and massive wings unfold from her back. A couple of flaps takes her high and back enough that she can look at him and the others, and the warehouse isn't big enough for him to break line of sight. He fires a couple of shots at the wings and she shrieks again, higher pitched, more like a bird, and pain screams through Jason's skull before everything goes black.

--

Everything hurts when Jason wakes up. He keeps his breathing as similar as possible, tenses different body parts in turn to see if anything is hurt enough to impact the inevitable fight--his shoulders ache, from the position of them and the feel of his arms, he's definitely restrained like the others. It's weird though, he knows he's tied up but he can't feel anything.

"And the last of you awake!" the bitch chirps.

Jason slowly opens his eyes. Yup, they're all tied up, even (aww fuck) Bruce. She's at least colour coordinated the ribbon with their costumes--Nightwing's also appears to be sparkly. Christ, if this bitch makes 'Wing dig out the Discowing costume, Jason's hunting her down to whatever hole they stuff her into and breaking something.

She's ranting on and on, how dare they get in her way, don't they know she's just trying to make things better, blah blah blah. Jason watches her posture more than anything, watches her work herself up into a frenzy, even as the pressure in his head starts to build again and the blinks get longer and longer.

Finally she stops. Honestly she looks pretty shitty, the worst Red hit is already sweeping up in a way that promises a fracture, at least, and reddened eyes and tangled her don't do her any favours.

"I'll show you," she hisses, lights starting to flicker at her fingertips. "I'll show you what it's like to lose-"

Black Bat crashes into her.

B, 'Wing, Red and Robin all flinch as her magic rolls over them.

Black spots creep over Jason's vision, but they hold off long enough for Jason see see Black Bat spray something in bitch's face that makes her away and crash to one knee.

Jason smirks and falls back unconscious.

--

He blinks. He knows this ceiling. He rolls to the side and vomits. Fuck his head hurts and that did not help.

Jason hates waking up in the med bay.

He hasn't got anything keeping him on the bed, no IVs or ECG sensors, so he slides off the bed, takes a second longer to get his legs underneath him than he should need, and stumbles off to where he can bear voices.

They're all here, gathered around the computer, and to Jason's swiftly buried relief, they all appear unharmed although they're all still in full consume.

Dick spots him first, and actually smiles at him. Huh. Either the bondage has put him in a good mood, or maybe he's happy that Jason didn't go for any really debilitating shots. "Hey! How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit in the head with a crowbar," Jason snarks back.

Dick's smile turns polite. "Ah, OK. Listen, I know Batman won't, but I wanted to thank you for helping out back there. You did a decent job distracting her."

Jason pulls away a little bit. Dick's talking to him like, like--

Tim comes over and holds out his hand. "Are you one of the Birds of Prey? Oracle didn't mention a male on her team?"

What the fuck.

The brat stalks over, his arms crossed. "An outsider does not deserve to wear our bat."

OK that's not totally out of character but--

None of them have taken any armour off, even though Jason knows Dick's electricity got reflected back on to him earlier and he should have removed the costume already so that Alfred can try and salvage what he can. No one has taken off a domino. They're all still using codenames, even though they're in the Cave.

They're all stiff, wary, hands are near their weapons, but not in the way they usually are. There's no ... tension, or rather, the tension that should be there isn't, it's like

It's like

It's like when Tim first bought Stephanie to the Cave. Like when Babs bought Cass.

What the fuck.

Bruce breaks away from where Cass was giving a report. He stalks over to Jason and stops just close enough that Jason has to crane his neck slightly, just close enough that he is backlit by one of the light and all expression vanishes from his face.

"Who are you," he grinds out.