#and both dick and Bruce are like ???
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Of @ghostreblogging, Where Danny has the same tax evasion skills as his parents. Kind of a coffee shop AU, but well, its gotham.
#dc x dp#dp x dc#danny phantom#danny fenton#batman#I cant write anything remotely serious to save my life#so here#Batman doesnt meddle with JLD entirely bc he doesnt fucking want to. also he might be a little banned.#this is why they have a wholeass dept. the issue may be in Gotham but the JLD also have individual members for this#aka it'll most likely be patched to Dick and Raven for both geographical location and the issue in question.#...who might call Tim. which will probably circle back to Bruce again because its more abt internal economy. Danny might need a lawyer#but for now he'll delegate it to supernatural-adjecent contacts. thanks#mistart#dc fanart
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Part 1 <- Part 2 -> Part 3
Masterpost
#DC#DCU#DC Comics#Dick Grayson#Damian Wayne#Tim Drake#Wally West#Donna Troy#Roy Harper#Bruce Wayne#Nightwing#Batman#Robin#Red Robin#Flash#Arsenal#Birdflash#If you feel so inclined. It doesn't really make a difference#Garth is here he's just not on twitter because he's smart#He was looking over Wally's shoulder for this whole exchange and was the one who typed up Wally's last tweet#I just realized that both of Dick's handles are too long... but fuck it I'm keeping them anyway#Also Lian chose Roy's twitter name and she likes to say her dad's name so that's why it's there three times
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The dichotomy of Batman and Robin is so fucking funny because on one hand you have a brooding, dramatic millennial with a rigid moral compass and a sense of extensional dread, and on the other you have an emotional support child that is somehow the literal embodiment of both sunshine and straight-up murder.
#and your honor they’d throw hands for each other no questions asked#like Bruce is on the edge of a building somewhere reminiscing about his trauma and then there’s Dick who’s like doing a cartwheel#Bruce is living in an eposide of This is Us and Dick is like a Bubble Guppy but with murderous intent#and Bruce loves this strangely enthusiastic child that’s down for murder#and Dick loves his weird quiet twenty-something who has the social skills of a rat#they both see each other as the odd one out but their actual just both fucking weird#I love them#dc#dc comics#bruce wayne#batman#dick grayson#batfamily#batfamily headcannons#robin#dick grayson robin#robin & batman#batman and robin#tim drake#jason todd#damian wayne#stephanie brown
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Wally: “Wow you have Batman AND Superman as your dads? It must be so much fun hanging out with them as civilians!”
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*cut to a rare non-patrol night at the Manor*
*Bruce is wearing glasses, an old Gotham Knights sweatshirt, Clark’s sweatpants, and is reading the Wall Street Journal from an iPad; his feet are tucked under Clark’s legs*
*Clark is wearing Bruce’s hoodie, pajama pants his Ma made him a decade ago, and is ALSO reading from an iPad; every now and then he looks up to try and solve Bruce’s crossword (abandoned in the other room after breakfast) before returning to his article*
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Dick: “Yeah….they’re super fun…you guys are really missing out!”
#they are both like 35 lmao#but to dick that’s like 70#bruce wayne#batman#dc#late night rambles#batfamily#clark kent#superman#superbat#dick grayson#Robin#teen titans#they are so BORING#they’re both nerds though they need this time together
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Dick, eye twitching a little: "So kids are a little..." *hand gesture* "How the hell did you put up with me?"
Bruce, keeping his voice low, surveying the inhabitants of the Cave: "It wasn't easy, I thought of leaving you at a fire station once a week."
Dick: "Did you get that line from Alfred?"
Bruce:
Dick: "Nice try. Alfred told me I was a saint compared to you."
#*both of them duck to avoid a Batarang that gets thrown*#I just love the idea of things evening out a little between them with time?#Like Bruce continues to be ridiculously imperfect as a father/mentor/crime-fighting partner but they get more#and Dick is the best source of knowing him after Alfie maybe#so things even out (imperfectly) with time#batman#dc comics#bruce wayne#dick grayson#personal
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There's always people theorizing how the Batfamily hides Jason disappearance and reappearance, but I literally haven't seen anyone use the best explanation: Witness Protection.
Like this literally answers every question. The Death Certificate? They had to fake his death. The empty grave? Obviously it had to be believable. The time when Wayne Heir "Richie Wayne" refused to step foot in Gotham and talk to his father? He was pissed about Jason's (non) death. Brucie Wayne's very real depression after his death? Well he lost contact with his son and he was under immense stress from the government.
Like this literally answers every question I can come up with. Why has no one said he was in witness protection? And if people have done it, send me fics and prompts because I'm obsessed.
And the best part is, the Waynes are so stupidly rich that they could pull it off. Lex Luther could try and conduct his own investigation but somehow he can never find anything concrete. And if he gets too close either Babs hacks them or Tim just calls up Conner for a distraction.
One time Jason gets cornered and asked how he felt about returning to his life after being in Witness Protection. Unfortunately, him and Bruce weren't on the best terms to explain the whole story but he comes in clutch. He spins the tale about how heartbroken he was to see his brother, father and grandfather grieving and how honored he was when he learnt his new little brother idolized him. Tim got ahold of a copy of the interview and will never let Jason live it down.
The media doesn't ask Bruce questions about Jason's death because last time they did he broke down and a suddenly furious reporter chastised them and reminded them that while Jason may be alive Bruce still mourned his death. The picture of Bruce in tears at the interview is currently one of Jason's favourite lockscreens.
Same goes for Dick. Any questions of his brother's death results in (1) Richie Wayne ready to throw hands at any and everybody, (2) his wife (well one of them) Barbara Gordon threatening the reporters or (3) That same Metropolis reporter chastising the whole community again.
#dc comics#batfam#bruce wayne#jason todd#yes the reporter is clark#hes ready to fight for b and dick#vicky vale wonders if jason todd wayne was in witness protection due to something involving the red hood#jason goes on twitter and bashes the red hood's whole persona#dick grayson retweets that red hood is trying and is just a little lost#the official batman twitter likes that tweet#it causes a huge mess for both barbara and jim gordon to clean up#they knew they shouldn't have gotten involved with gothams pet billionaire and his weird kids
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this is the stupidest crossover possible but I want Tim to make House his doctor
yes that House
why? He needs someone who is very good, will not give up or send Tim out to a different specialist just because his medical condition is difficult, will not be overly concerned about the danger Tim puts himself in, and will lie on Tim's medical records AND to Batman/Bruce Wayne/all of the Bats without hesitation or fear.
House is and will do all of those things without hesitation. He has no shame, no boundaries, he WILL get into a public fight with Bruce Wayne if it means keeping that man out of his patient's (and House's) business. He will help Tim lie to and gaslight the rest of his family without hesitation.
in exchange, Tim is his favorite patient. Not because they get along, necessarily, Tim is a know-it-all little shit and they constantly bicker and House hates how practically every facet of Tim's existence is a lie (and Tim thinks House is a smug know-it-all jackass who is needlessly cruel and callous bc he thinks the world owes him and never delivers just bc he's in pain, news flash a lot of people are in pain and manage not to be assholes) BUT, 1, Tim brings him really interesting cases and problems, and 2, Tim NEVER lies to House about his medical conditions or what he was doing when they happened.
He lies about literally almost everything else under the sun TO everyone else, but he is 100% completely upfront and honest about his medical history and what is going on with him with House.
admittedly it takes a while for House to realize Tim ISN'T lying to him because some of the shit he says is completely insane ("the vigilante thing is pretty obvious but what do you MEAN you got the Apocalypse virus TWICE, AND SURVIVED, AS A FOURTEEN-FIFTEEN YEAR OLD")
but once he realizes Tim doesn't ever lie to him, he becomes House's favorite patient because at least TIM gives him all of the data he needs as best he's able the moment he asks. At least House doesn't have to waste his time following up on bogus information or figuring out the truth, he can just get right into the meat of the medical issue at hand.
also it's so fun to lie directly to Batman's face, know the man knows, and know he can't do anything about it
#tim drake#house md#I just think it would be funny#not sure how he'd feel about the rest of the family#he and Damian would not get along well#he and Jason might#Dick and Duke are too 'nice' for his tastes#he's not afraid of Cass#probably doesn't like her that much either tbh#he doesn't like that she can read him#and then just tells people when he's lying or in pain#she means well but lies are protective and help keep some things private#and he doesn't like being scrutinized#Jason is probably his favorite because they're both assholes#and Jason can actually rile Tim up and bully him (affectionately)#he hates Bruce so much#the man's need for control vs House's utter hatred of being controlled#Bruce keeps trying to steal or look at Tim's records without his permission#even though Tim is an adult and can make his own decisions#House gets ferally protective over Tim because this is HIS patient and Bruce is a fucking JACKASS#they probably do end up in a public fight at some point#because Bruce needs to keep a public face while House does not#Stephanie and Jason watch while eating popcorn#in Tim's room#Stephanie and House are largely ambivalent towards each other#they lob insults as greetings and leave it at that
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"Are the Robins child soldiers" It depends. If the story is super serious and into exploring complex morality and grounded from reality's standards, then yes. If the story is lighthearted, made for children, fluff, etc., then no. If it's somewhere in the middle, it might depend.
If an author wants to write a story seriously delving into the fucked up-ness of children fighting criminals, they can, and if you don't like it, you can read something else.
If an author wants to write a fun story about villains and heroes featuring Robin in a world where that's not an issue, they can, and if you don't like it, you can read something else.
If an author wants to write a serious story but not apply IRL-logic to Robin, they can, and if you don't like it, you can read something else.
#my dc posting#dc#batman#robin#bruce wayne#jason todd#dick grayson#tim drake#damian wayne#idk if i articulate it perfectly here but like... yall#yall.#when im watching lego: batman im not thinking of how horrific and irresponsible it is to take dick on the mission#like it is a movie for children i am there to have fun. in that moment i don't careee#but if i'm reading a fic that's dwelving deep into like jason todd's psyche and taking itself seriously w real-life accurate#psychology stuff then yeah i'm fine with also exploring how directly interfering with violent crime at such a young age might#actually affect a person's development#but like sometimes it's not that deep and robin's out there solving murders and kicking two-face's ass n havin fun doin it#just. there is nuance depending on the story being told#sometimes i'm in the mood for serious exploration of bruce's failings as a parent. sometimes i wanna read him bonding with his kids and#everything is fine.#you can have both!!!
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So in Spirit World there's two separate panels that show Cass' family/loved ones. The first I think is more circulated:
The second is this one:
These line-ups are probably different due to space/convenience, but to overanalyse these panels for a bit, it's interesting who's present in which. Bruce, Steph, and Babs are present in both - makes sense, they're the most important figures in Cass' life. Steph is front and center in both, suggesting she really is Cass' favourite person ever.
Bruce is relatively big in the top panel, but much smaller in the bottom. The top panel explicitly is about "family," while the bottom is about people who "know and love you". Bruce becoming smaller suggests that Cass thinks of him as her dad, but the 'knowing' and 'loving' part isn't as secure for her. (This is probably not intentional but reflects their dynamic very well, particularly post-Cass being sent to HK and her unresolved feelings about that).
Babs is pretty big in both, and I love that she's Oracle here (the wheelchair in the bottom panel!!). This makes total sense - the time when Babs loved and cared for her most was when she was Oracle. Cass probably still sees and remembers her that way.
Onto the interesting stuff, which is Duke being missing for 'family' but present for 'know and love you'. I think he should be in the top panel, but maybe he's too new for Cass to consider him family? Everyone in the top panel is from the bg 2000 era, so Cass might think of that time as her true 'family'. Anyway, the fact he makes it into the bottom still shows they're close, and that Cass considers him someone who understands/'knows' her.
Dick and Tim being present for 'family' and missing for 'know and love you' is so fun. Tim maybe should be present in the bottom, but recent canon hasn't made them as close as they used to be (in BG 2000 and Red Robin). So they love each other, but not to the extent of anyone in the bottom panel; he's still definitively family though.
Dick is the same, but there's a lot more sibling rivalry and complicated feelings there. It makes total sense for Cass to see him as a brother, but to not think he 'knows' or 'loves' her all that much; they do get along, but I think they remember their mistakes with each other and think the other person still holds a grudge (they don't). Peak Dick-Cass dynamic to me!
So if I had to rank Cass' favourite people in the Batfam according to these panels, it'd be: 1. Steph 2. Babs 3. Bruce 4. Tim and/or Duke 5. Dick
#cassandra cain#spirit world#stephanie brown#barbara gordon#bruce wayne#tim drake#duke thomas#dick grayson#rip damian and jason but it was correct for you guys not to be there#people thinking dick and cass hate each other... like yes but in the sibling way not in the real way they would die for each other!!#too much dick and cass discourse on here recently spirit world set them straight#steph front and center in both oh stephcass you will always be famous#alyssa wong clearly loves bg 2000 maybe that's the recipe for good stories#read spirit world!! the art is amazing and you get to see the world's coolest magician Xanthe Zhou <333
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Baby Switcharoo
Here's another short dpxdc prompt
"Daddy!" Dick instictively caught the kid before she kissed the floor despite knowing she can fly and-- wait a damned minute. That is not Mar'i.
Meanwhile...
"Papa!" Danny smiled as he braced himself for the flying missile of a child that raced to him. He swirled them around when he caught her making her giggle as her legs swing. Hold the fuck up-- This is not Ellie.
#danny and dick go on the cross-dimensional adventure to return this child before the kid finds out they're NOT dad#OR before their wives find out they lost their daughter#mar'i is EXCITED to know her papa can fly with her now which is so COOL#ellie is a bit disappointed to know that her dad is adopted by a billionnaire here#OH! Ellie will help you out of that situation dad! *cue bullying Bruce Wayne in and out of costume*#would be fun to have this as danny/blackfire#and have both dickory and blackfire/danny meet and be all like that one spiderman meme#danny would be so chill to have an ex-villain wife#and kori would have a slight crisis to the image of an alternate of her husband being married to her sister who had tormented her yrs ago#dpxdc#dcxdp#dp x dc#dc x dp#dp x dc prompt#Baby Switcharoo AU
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Honestly I do in fact love it when ppl hc white characters as asian (Tim drake LMAO) bc I'm so fuckin tired of this is *very asian* name, (probably not even the right language) (cho chang I'm staring you dead in the eyes and there's a red dot on jkrs forehead) and they love noodles or speak broken English or are SO good at martial arts, or their mum is overbearing! And that's literally fuckin it!! That's the character!?!
Like where tf are my Asians that grow up speaking English, but love and explore their culture? Where are my mixed asians that might NOT be from China, Japan or Korea? Where are my mixed asians that "don't look asian" but are still asian? Like sometimes you don't have stereotypically "asian features" and guess what? YOU ARE STILL ASIAN!!
I love seeing ppl take these characters and hc them as asian bc they have a full characterisation that DOESN'T hinge on stereotypes!!
Like yea asian Tim drake doesn't add anything to the plot but it adds to his character and he can still have done all that WHILE being asian?? He can have that backstory, go on that travel, have that adventure and be asian! And it doesn't take anything away from him!!!
He can ALSO be hc as learning more about his asian heritage and culture while being in character!!!
Like ppl can say dragon Tim drake, Tim idolised Jason, and all those hc but some people get butthurt by asian Tim drake?
Insanity. Let ppl enjoy things!!!
(I'm a lil tipsy lmao so this may be insane but I wanna Speak)
#tim drake#batfam#batman#tim drake wayne#batfamily headcanons#dick grayson#bruce wayne#jason todd#asian tim drake#dragon tim drake#this is not knocking dragon tim#but like#why have only one#you CAN have both guys
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okay so, dick is canonnically romani and damian is canonnically arab (although dc has painful fear of ever touching upon their heritage or giving them melanin), and we can kind of hope for half-latino (mexican/colombian) jason (although with his background it may be better to just keep him white to avoid stereotyping), but i just also want asian (vietnamese) tim drake, is it too much? is it god?
#stephanie can be their token white#please#it would just be great for my cass & tim twin allegations campaign#cass and tim are drawn EXACTLY like each other#they can change places SO easily#let them both be asian#asian tim drake#latino jason todd#romani dick grayson#arab damian wayne#my four corners of the world batkids agenda is also thriving#damian wayne#dick grayson#tim drake#batman#red robin#tim drake wayne#dc#batfamily#bruce wayne#jason todd#red hood#nightwing
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#batman#robin#bruce wayne#dick grayson#battinson#bruce gives hugs like he has forgotten how to#and dick accepts them wary of the ache his parents left behind#both hesitant from their own losses but willing to learn how they can fit together anyway
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Got inspired by the below tiktok and the idea of the Rogues killing the Joker in revenge for Jason instead of Bruce and had to write about it.
Here, have probably way too many words (with more to come most likely, this really won't leave me alone) of the Rogue's feelings about Jason's death at the Joker's hands and everything that followed.
(also I know the timeline is a bit screwy, shhh just go with it, we're going on vibes with this one lol)
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Childhood was not held universally sacred in the dark streets of Gotham.
The city was hard and cruel and she didn’t care about the ages of those that were ground up and spit out in her oily black heart.
A kid could slit your throat as easy as a man grown in a place like their fine city, maybe easier even for those who still fell for the ideal of children being incapable of anything but innocence and sweetness. Children learned from the world around them though, they learned from the savagery that filled their world, the hard scrabble desperate attempts to survive. They learned what dark corners to avoid, which ones were safer to skitter down.
It didn’t mean there weren’t still some rules of decency to be honored though.
Most folks, even those in the circle of the Rogues, largely left kids out of the equation. Crossfire happened of course, hitting busy city centers always meant some kind of collateral. But there wasn’t much that they got out of purposefully hurting kids outside a black mark on their name in most levels of the grungy underbelly of the city and one hell of a big target on their back. Both from the Bat and those criminals in the dark with them that took offense to those kinds of things. They were crooks, but with few exceptions they weren’t complete monsters.
Robin had always held an interesting place in their grungy little ecosystem. Anything to do with the Bat was generally ruled as gloves-off, do what you do without hesitation. And Robin - both of ‘em - had no problem hitting hard and being ruthless. The first one in particular had a feral sort of rage to him that was a terrifying thing to be on the business end of.
But they were still kids.
Defending yourself from any kid swinging on you was fair game, a person had the right to defend themselves. Grabbing up Robin to hold hostage or bait Gotham’s local cryptid, that was all fine and dandy. You could even get away with roughing the kid up a little here and there, so long as you made sure not to go too far and always kept hits to where the kid’s armor was the thickest. No hard and fast written rules, mind, but general rules of thumbs. Lines indistinct due to the shaky ground a child dancing through the night as a vigilante left all of them on, but ones clear enough that you knew when you were at risk of going too far.
Besides, the Robins were good kids. Fucking feral little shits, of course, able to leave you bleeding just as easy from a kick as they were a sharp word. But good kids. Even most the Rogues in the Gallery liked em. It was hard not to be at least a little fond of a gutsy little punk like that.
Though they were all maybe a tad less nervous around Robin II than they were the original.
Robin I had a lot of anger burning in him, a lot of anger in him, but he was still a cheerful boy with a bright attitude that was refreshing in a world so bleak and dark as the one they all lived in. It was up in the air which was scarier about the kid: The smiled he gave when he was about to give a hands on demonstration about how much force a tiny ten year old could put into a kick when they had half a dozen spins shoved into a flip to wind up to 80 miles an hour, or the flash of his teeth when he was demonstrating the knife sharp brilliance of his belief that Batman was only as frightening as Robin was hopeful.
They weren’t sure if he realized that sometimes they felt a helluva lot more hope at the sight of the Bat when the little bird was putting the hurt on them, or if he’d simply folded that fact neatly into his core philosophy without issue.
Robin II on the other hand had this kind of quiet shyness to him - even as he was shouting the most inventive swears ever heard by human ear at someone while he kicked them in the balls hard enough to make ‘em see not just the face of their own god but a few dozen besides. He was just as unhinged as the Robin before him - seemed to be a requirement for the job really - but there was a distinct different in how the two birds flitted about the darkened skyline of the city. Where the first Robin’s smile was as much danger as it was dazzle, a fanged declaration of victory against the dark, Robin II’s was a sunny, stubborn declaration of perseverance. Kid was sassy and smart, and never - ever - flinched away from extending a hand to those he thought in need of it.
Even if the folks he offered that hand to were in the middle of an attack on some fancy Gala or Wayne Enterprises or whatever target of the week it was. Even knowing the offered hand was likely to be slapped away and followed by a right hook. Kid still always tried.
They all knew why.
The Bat was big on offering chances, on rehabilitation rather than damnation. Some of Robin II being the way he was came from the broody cryptid he followed around. But Batman couldn’t claim to be the sole reason for Robin II being the way he was, couldn’t even pretend to be the cause of most of it. Nah, they knew why the little bird was the way he was.
That unmistakable thick accent. That frame that was always a little too thin even as he got older and stronger. That unshakable, headstrong spirit.
Robin II was an Alley Kid.
A true child of Gotham.
Her polluted waters in his veins. Her smoggy air in his lungs. Her shadows clinging to his edges less like a beast looking to swallow a small bird up and more like a protective mother hiding her hatchling. He understood the world most of them came from. The one they all lived in. Knew it in a way anyone who hadn’t been swallowed up by the dark never really could.
Everyone had their favorite, but even those that claimed the first Robin as theirs couldn’t deny that Robin II was someone to be respected. Nor could they deny a fondness for the chain smoking, classic lit referencing, perpetually baby-faced little shit. They’d all had knock out drag out fights with the kid and knew how fucking unhinged the puny motherfucker could be in a fight, but he always tempered it with offers of resources, of a listening ear, of understanding.
He visited them after they’d been arrested sometimes. In Arkham, or Blackgate or wherever else they’d been locked up in after being stopped by the Dynamic Duo. The little bird would make the rounds whenever he had a broken wing or was stuck waiting as the Bat interrogated someone else or for any other reason he wasn’t out flitting about the city skyline at night. He’d bring cookies or snacks and even cigarettes from his own secret stash on the rare occasion, mask unable to hide the furtive glances around to check for the living shadow that was the disapproving Bat.
The Rogues and their Goons always had a soft spot for the Robins. And Robin II made it especially easy to let fondness bleed out of them from time to time. He was a good kid.
But childhood was not held universally sacred in the dark streets of Gotham.
Bad things happened to good kids all the time.
And some of the monsters that lurked in the city’s darkest shadows took the black mark of a kid killer as a point of pride.
Robin II disappeared one day. Just after that piece of shit Garzonas took the fast way down from the top of a tall building. There were a lot of Rogues with doctoral degrees to their names but even those Goons that dropped out of school before they learned to spell their own names could do that math.
The big bad Bat had benched the boy after the fierce little bird had done what any decent member of the criminal underbelly would have. There were those that thought maybe it’d been an accident, that the kid was pulled off duty because of being too upset at unintentionally crossing the heavy line the Bat drew in the sand. Those voices were drowned out pretty quick though.
Sure, Robin II was all about second chances, of doing better, of redemption. But Garzonas had chances to spare and only ever spat in the face of those offering them. Doubled down on being a monster in a way very, very few of the Rogues Gallery would. The kid was a sweetheart, but he wasn’t no push over and there were some things so heinous that there was only one way of handling them. Crime Alley had its own kind of justice system, and when faced with a monster that was beyond even Batman’s jurisdiction, Robin II did what he always did: fell back on his roots.
Or so the rumors said, at least.
That was the thing about Gotham’s seedy underbelly. It was a grimy, wretched nest of vipers and cut-throats, but it was also worse than any beauty parlor when it came to gossip. No one actually knew anything other than that piece of shit motherfucker took a dive while Robin was chasing him and that he’d not been seen on the streets since. But most had a fondness for the kid, and a distaste for the kind of cruelty Garzonas reveled in and there was no proof that Robin hadn’t gone and done the world a favor by drop kicking that barbaric sack of shit off a roof. So as far as most in the Gallery were concerned, the little bird had stepped up and been a hero.
Time passed. Not a lot. But enough. The Bat disappeared too, popping up on an entire other continent in a way that was awfully tempting. Even with other Masks playing baby sitter while the local cryptid was away. Rogues were scrambling to set plans in motion, Goons getting hired en masse, weapons and weird chemicals getting delivered to shady places across Gotham by the truck-full. The criminal underbelly was abuzz with the same excited energy of children the day before a big birthday party.
And then the news came in.
There were people in the dark who made their living finding things out. Knowing things that no one else did or could. Some even specialized, keeping tabs on Batman and Robin better than anyone else in the business were able. And when the information they found wasn’t anything handy to have tucked into a back pocket or a secret they were paid extremely well to keep? They held on to with the same tenacity a sieve clung to water.
Robin II had run off across the globe and ended up in Ethiopia. Something to do with a doctor doing aid work, the same something that had the Bat end up there was the assumption. Kid ran off to handle things himself or was sent on a separate path on purpose for some plan or other the Bat had cooked up on his hunt.
Whatever the reason, the kid crossed paths with the Clown.
Alone.
Childhood was not held universally sacred in the dark streets of Gotham. The city was hard and cruel and she didn’t care about the ages of those that were ground up and spit out in her oily black heart. But Robin II was hers, the child of her heart, an exception to the rule. And besides, most folks - even those in the Rogues Gallery - largely left the purposeful harm of kids out of the equation.
The Joker wasn’t most folks.
And the little bird was a long way away from the protective shadows of his mother city.
The Rogues and their Goons always had a soft spot for the Robins. And Robin II made it especially easy to let fondness bleed out of them from time to time. He was a good kid.
When the news broke, it broke most of them right along with it.
Plans stalled. Schemes ended. Gotham, for an unnervingly quiet stretch of time that neither its civilians or the world at large understood, went still. Crime continued, of course, but the big names weren’t seen. It was only right, by the standards of those that lived their lives in the dark, that they hold off and give the man that fought them all so relentlessly over the past years the time he needed to focus on hunting down the monster that killed his son. He didn’t need the distraction, and they all owed it to Robin II not to interfere while the Bat at last put a final end to the Clown.
And the hellish cryptid would need his full focus on this one. The Joker wasn’t one to take lightly at the best of times, but he’d set himself up neatly in the middle of a nasty bear trap. Ugly and complicated in the way everything with the Clown was. Interference from the CIA, from the UN, from Superman.
Shit went down. People heard about the Bat and the Clown throwing down in a helicopter plummeting from the sky in one hell of a water landing. Big Blue fished Batman out of the drink before he could drown but there’d been no sign of the Joker.
But the Bat would find him.
They all knew the relentless bastard would find him. It was just a matter of time. With the hellish drive of a demon straight from Gotham’s darkest shadows, the Bat would track the grinning, child killing ghoul down and make right the terrible wrong the evil motherfucker had done. Batman would hunt him to the ends of the earth and enact the justice he held up so fiercely. Robin II would have the vengeance the kid so rightly deserved.
It was just a matter of time. So they waited. And waited.
Days.
Weeks.
Months.
The Clown still lived.
The world, impossibly, began to move on. The Bat returned to his lurking in the night, picking off gangs and petty crooks and no-name gangsters as if nothing had happened at all. More vicious, more savage, but failing to turn that rise in brutality into the killing blow against the one figure that so rightly deserved it.
No one knew what was happening. There were rumors and theories, as there always were in the underground. Some thought that it wasn’t the Bat at all back in Gotham but someone else pretending for awhile, looking after his neglected city while he continued his pursuit of the Joker. Other held that it was the Bat but the whole thing was a ploy to draw the Clown out into the open. A pretense at not caring meant to get under the Clown’s skin, make the asshole mad enough to get stupid and sloppy and reveal himself.
That the man simply had given up was beyond comprehension. Beyond what any upstanding Rogue could accept. So it simply couldn’t be true. There was a trick being played. Some brilliant game of 4D chess that none of them had been able to parse out. It’d be revealed in time, and they see the brilliant trap that had been set. The Clown would be lured out, the Bat would put him down for good, and then they’d all at last raise a glass to the little bird that had been shot down far too soon and smoke shitty cigarettes and quote literary masters and mourn the loss one of Gotham’s own true children.
They just had to play along. Stumbling forward back into their usual habits, pretending that it was a choice and not the world just forcibly dragging them along. It’d make sense, eventually. The Bat had a plan. Robin II wasn’t forgotten, his killer not left free to roam and ravage unpunished for what he’d done.
And then one day there was a new bird flitting across the rooftops.
Chasing the Bat’s looming frame like a reverse shadow. Bright flashes of color in contrast to the bleak darkness of Gotham’s grimy nights. Small and thin and young.
Not the first Robin. With his showman bright grin and bloody rage and unwavering belief in the terrifying power of hope. Not the brilliant, vicious little boy that they’d seen grow over the years into the fierce and fearless Nightwing.
Not Robin II either.
Not Gotham’s soft hearted little bruiser with his unshakable belief that people could be better if given the chance, shinning so bright in the dark as he held out a hand that even the Rogues had no choice but to believe right along with him sometimes. Not the tough little songbird they’d never get to see grow up. Unavenged and unhonored. Put in a box and buried in the ground with a name none of them would ever know carved into a stone they’d never be able to visit.
No.
It was a new Robin.
A new child with the R emblazoned upon his chest.
Sharp and quick and young in the way the birds always were when they started flying at the Bat’s side. Every inch of the boy’s tiny frame a tragedy and an insult. One very, very few of Gotham’s vicious underbelly were willing to tolerate.
Childhood was not held universally sacred in the dark streets of Gotham, but there was a damn big difference between holding something sacred and not giving a damn about it at all. There were rules unspoken but understood, a way things were done. Nothing so solid or concrete as a code of conduct, more a collection of time honored traditions. Blood for blood was among the oldest and truest, and the more precious the person taken the more vital and vicious payment was to be made in kind.
The Clown had killed Robin II.
Beaten the kid half to death and then finished the job with a bomb.
Everyone knew he’d done it laughing all the way.
The Bat should have done the same in kind. Done worse. It was justice, it was what was right. You kill a kid you’re marked forever. You kill one so well liked and kill ‘em like that and you’re destined for a cruel and cold death. The Bat had first dibs. It was his kid. It was his right to put an end to that awful laughter and let his son have peace at last.
But he never did.
Nightwing had. For a bit. For a moment.
Robin I, who half the time had scared them all more than the Bat ever could. Dazzling and dizzying and dangerous. Gave back the pain and hurt the Clown had forced upon him with clenched fists and bone shattering hits. They were glad for him, that he was able to beat the monster who had taken his little brother from him to death, that he was able to have such justice.
And then the Bat stepped in.
Revived the fucking Clown.
A slap in the face. The snapping crack of a spine beneath one straw too many. The final, unforgivable insult the man had dared visit upon not just the child taken from him but the entirety of Gotham.
The Rogues and their Goons always had a soft spot for the Robins. Respected their ferocity, admired their moxie, marveled at their ability to keep shining in the dark like they did. Robin II made it especially easy to let fondness bleed out of the city’s dirty criminal underbelly from time to time.
He was a good kid.
He deserved better.
Better than the silence and peace he should be granted in death to be marred by the mad cackles of his killer still running around alive and unpunished. Better than his father giving up, returning to the same old routine as if nothing had happened at all. Better than the Bat snatching up a new bird less than a year later.
Gotham and her Rogues had given the Bat time enough to do what needed to be done.
It was their turn.
#batman#batman au#batman rogues#batman rouges gallery#dc penguin#dick grayson#jason todd#jason todd robin#dick grayson robin#bruce wayne#the joker#tim drake#dc robin#gotham city#open season au#i don't go in for Jason being the 'angry' robin or the 'violent' robin#he was the lil chainsmoking ball of sunshin robin that made sure to do his homework first before going out to fight crime#dick was the scariest robin because he was BOTH incredibly violent & full of rage AND a ball of sunshine & unrelenting hope#Jason was a Gotham kid (an Alley Kid) and I think a lot of the rogues would have respected that#dick got his respect by teaching them how many of their bones a tiny 9 year old could break in a single kick#feel like there's a scene in the extended au in which Tim gets kidnapped but instead of being held for ransom or threatened#it's just the Rogues aggressively mother-henning him and trying to make sure he's alright#Dick gets a call from Harley later that the newest Robin is fine he and Riddler are coming up with deadly traps together#No she doesn't see anything wrong with that - it's just some enrichment activities for them - why do you ask?
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I'm sure one of the Batkids has tried that whole "I'm locking you in this room to go sacrifice myself" schtick with Bruce and assured themselves that the plan would work because Bruce was 1) already injured and 2) down to just his armor, no utility belt or weapons/devices.
but what they didn't account for was the fact that Bruce would absolutely, 100% bust down that door with his bare hands, splitting the knuckles open and fracturing his fingers and ruining his gloves and armor if needed. he would break that door and probably the wall if it meant getting to his Robin before he did something dumb like pull a last-minute self-sacrifice plan.
#imagine being robin ready to sacrifice yourself#and then your bleeding wheezing father scoops you up by your cape like a bad cat#and somehow saves you both#and he's FURIOUS#you can tell just by how he's breathing#but also#you didn't account for him trying this hard#for wanting to save you this badly#you thought you were expendable to gotha#that was the whole point of the mission right?#bruce wayne#batman#dc#robin#dick grayson#or jason todd tbh#bats and birds#insp by the wolverine scene#you know the one#batfamily
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Game-night in the batfamily has got to be crazy. You're putting a bunch of geniuses against each other and that's asking for chaos to happen.
#And when they play team up games they have to make a toss-up because they cannot decide on the teams#Nobody wants to play with Bruce except for Cass#Or Tim and Dick also if they feel bad enough#Jason wants to play with nobody#Damian thinks he could do best alone#but he would choose Grayson if he needs to#He can't tho because they make it random#Duke has no personal issues with anybody so he's a safe option for a team-up#Jason Tim and Damian however...#Steph enjoys those nights the most#Along with Dick#Except they enjoy it for very different reasons#Steph and Cass always want to be a team#That's why they need a toss-up#(Nobody likes the toss-up but Alfred started it for fairness in the game)#Tim has the worst luck so he's gotta be really smart with his moves#Or cheat without being noticed#Both work depending on who he's playing with/against#You would expect Jason to be the cheater but he's weirdly fair...#(He's a petty loser tho)#(Specially when Bruce wins)#Dick is just trying to avoid conflicts between siblings while also being the biggest asshole of a big brother whenever he can#Give Alfred a break#And somebody get Bruce out of there he's too old to play (Jason probably)#dick grayson#bruce wayne#jason todd#tim drake#damian wayne#batfamily
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