#and bruce is like sure normal riddler behavior

[just-an-enby-lemon]

Riddler: *creeply describing a bunch of rithualistic procedures that a voice in his head told him to do while holding an old knife*

Batman: *tied to a sacrificial tabble* I'm starting to think maybe there's something weird with Riddler.

[batfambrainrotbeloved]

what do the rouges think of cardinal?

OHHHHH What a lovely question <33

Since i've yet to write in Cardinal in a scene beyond his desk work- these might change.

Cardinal acts well- like a cryptic?? It's a complete coin toss how he will behave, if he will turn the creepy to 100% and speak in tounge's (its a mix of latin and greek) But when he DOES respond its through a heavy voice modulater.

However if you want specifics?? (also some extra lore of some rouges no longer active- both due to. Cardinals interference and BECAUSE I SAID SO)

Joker- They are a menace, never once humors his schemes- he knows the moment Cardinal gets involved his fun is ruined. Therefore he hates their guts. (Cardinal is reported 10x more brutal when faced with the Joker)

Scarecrow- Self proclaimed "Arch enemy" of Cardinal since hes never once sucseeded in drugging them, and he longs to know what would make the little bird sing. (Cardinal is said to have an entire pocket dedicated to backup rebreathers, usually lets the bats take over)

Riddler- LOVES Cardinal so so much- they are like best friends (no no they are not) Cardinal seems to enjoy his puzzles and he's able to pull out ones even the Batman would struggle with. Sometimes an informant for a good game. (Cardinal will admit, out of all the rouges? He doesn't mind Riddler- just with less hostages)

Harley- Thinks they are strange, even more strange than the bats. But more than anything concerning- their behaviors raise a ton of red flags but she doubts she can convince them to therapy, though it is her goal. (Cardinal is... unsure about Harley, she's changed- but memories are hard)

Ivy- Theres a mutual respect- Though out of all the vigilantes Cardinal seems to fear her the most, the last time being hit by her pollen they freaked out enough Harley made her give over the antidote. They definently fight, but she does try and hold back some of her more underhanded stuff. (Cardinals suit got several more layers after that incident)

Mr.Freeze- Reformed villain now, as a result of Cardinal. Aka when he first did his villain monologue to them- they had spoke (for the first time to ANY rouge) and asked to see his blue prints. A few years later his suit was fortified to help him live a somewhat normal life, and his wife had been cured. They got their life back. Leaving Gotham soon after, but he still checks in on ocassion (Cardinal never responds though, but they're happy with the updates- that he was able to help)

Catwoman- Annoying, but interesting for sure. It seems no matter how elaborate her scheme they always seem to pop in and just stare or even wave. The most interesting thing though? They never stop her. Certian locations she robs they will return the item (usually museums) but have never once tried to actually take her in. If anything shes half convinced they throw the bats off her trail, its interesting. (She never steals from anyone who cant afford to replace it, and honestly her stuff goes to a good cause-)

Clayface- Never became a villain- After his accident, Dagget had been shut down long before so Matt Hageb he had no accsess to the cream. With the help of his coworker (and future husband) Teddy Lupus he got the help he needed. Drake Industries came out with an amazing prosthesis program that helped construct a whole new face. Now Mr & Mr Lupus live in upper west side of Gotham where they now raise two daughters going to Gotham Academy.

Blackmask- Hates their fucking guts. People think Cardinal comes down on the Joker hard? They're practically suffocating Black Mask movements- buisness is failing and at this rate he's trying to put out a hit on the fucker. (The hates their guts is mutual)

Two face- Instead of going to the Manori trial- Harvey had an emergency call from a very panicky Bruce who suddenly had CPS knocking at his door about Dick. The delay finding a new attorney meant Manori was found with the acid and held for attempted assault while Harvey was scot free. He owns his own law firm now and has continued to be a close confident to Bruce and "Uncle" to the kids. (Cardinal cried when he first found out about Harvey, that he was okay- he thought it had been too late.)

Penguin- Cardinal is a pain in their ass, not as much as Black mask but still just enough that he doesnt hold back when attacking. The ONLY saving grace from absolute hatred is Cardinal outright refuses to fight any of his birds, and will even go as far as to save some of them when the bats are too careless to notice a penguin slipping off a roof. (Cardinal wishes Penguin would stop dragging actual penguins into his shit- even with guns they're just too cute)

[marauderundercover]

Taking Chances Chapter Seven: Trying for Normal (Gifts)

Prev

AO3

“You can not honestly tell me you are thinking of announcing that girl as your daughter.” Damian says, his scowl deeper than Dick had seen it in a while.

“‘That girl’ has a name, Little D. Plus she’s your sister.” Dick says, resisting the urge to nudge him. They had gotten to the point where a small nudge wasn’t a death sentence, but Damian was on edge. And a small nudge would probably not be appreciated.

“I do not care what her name is, Grayson. Since coming to Gotham she has been involved in two separate Rogue attacks. She is suspicious at best, and a nuisance at worst.” He replies, crossing his arms.

“Enough, Damian. Marinette is not a nuisance. She simply has bad luck.” Bruce says, obviously trying to defend his daughter.

“And poor self-preservation skills. Talking back to the Joker? Snarking the Riddler? For an individual with no combat training, she gets much too involved in attacks. It is idiotic.” Damian argues, shaking his head.

“It might have something to do with the Paris situation. She said she’s been at attacks before, so she must have some experience with villains. And from what I read on the Ladyblog, none of the damage in Paris lasts. She just may not realize how dangerous it is for her to do here what she would do in Paris. We just need to warn her, or, at least remind her, that Gotham is a dangerous place.” Dick says, thinking back to her reaction to the Riddler and the Joker. She was definitely more tense with the Joker, despite the fact that both villains had arrived with armed goons. Maybe she thought the Riddler was less likely to kill someone, not true. Or maybe she- Dick frowns as he remembers a key difference between the attacks.

“I just realized something.” He says with a frown.

“Care to share with the rest of the room, Dickiebird?” Jason asks, strolling in and flopping onto a chair.

“She was more tense at the attack with the Joker, she seemed to understand that it was a dangerous situation. Sure, she talked back to him, but she didn’t try to fight back or anything. But at the attack with the Riddler, he wasn’t even targeting her at first. He was targeting the boy she’d been talking to. And she was more reckless, and then she fought back. She fought well, but it was still super dangerous.” Dick rambles, pacing as he explains the predicament.

“Is there a point to this? I feel like I walked in at the wrong time.” Jason calls out from his chair, feet propped up on the table in front of him.

“My point, Jay, is that Marinette has a crush.” Dick says, shuddering at the word like it’s something disgusting. (It is, his sister is too young for crushes and boyfriends).

“Is that why she ran off with him right after the attack?” Jason asks with a smirk. Dick feels his eyes practically shoot out of his head.

“She what!?” He yells, running over to the Batcomputer to look at the security footage from the wax museum. Spots that were targeted frequently, like the wax museum, had their security footage directly linked to the Batcave. Just in case of an emergency or in case an attack happened and they needed an extra set of eyes.

“I’m sure she didn’t do anything that you wouldn’t do.” Jason teases, and Dick pales.

“Shut up, Jason!” He moans, his typing turning frantic as he scrolls through the day’s footage. He stops when he gets to the moments after the battle. When the phones of the French students had all gone off. Frowning, he watches as his sister runs up to the boy and grabs his hand, leaning in and whispering to each other before the two run out of the room. Towards the bathrooms. Oh hell no. Dick scrolls forwards, frowning when they don’t come out in five minutes. Or ten minutes. Huffing, he switches to the cameras aimed at the exits. Surely one of the cameras had to catch the pair leaving the museum. He rewinds it and watches, but...there’s nothing. They don’t leave the bathrooms and they don’t leave the museum. For the rest of the day.

“Has anyone been in contact with her since the attack?” Bruce asks from right beside him, making him jump out of his seat with a yelp.

“I don’t even have her number.” Dick says, resisting the urge to glare at his adoptive father. He might’ve had Marinette’s number had Bruce actually acted like he wanted her to be there for dinner the other day. Instead, he practically ignored her and she left. And now she was missing. Definitely missing, because she never came out of the bathroom at the museum.

“Hello, Marinette? Yes, I apologize for calling so suddenly. I was- yes. Yes, I did hear about the attack….yes, that was part of the reason I was calling. I was wondering if you would like to come to dinner at the manor. You could bring your friend, Adrien Agreste, I believe was his name. Of course. Yes. Oh no, I’ll send a car. No, no I assure you it- Marinette please. Taxis aren’t always safe after dark. Thank you. Yes, I- we’ll see you then. Goodbye.” Bruce hangs up, and Dick looks at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Just gonna suddenly invite her and her boy toy to dinner, B? What’re you gonna do, interrogate them?” He asks frowning.

“That’s the second time that Marinette has ran off after that alarm. I’ve seen videos of the situation in Paris and I’m concerned. Now go upstairs and act normal. I want all of you on your best behaviors at dinner. Damian, better than best please. No weapons.” Bruce directs before leaving the room, presumably to ask Alfred to pick up Marinette. Dick sighs and looks at his brothers.

“Well this isn’t going to be a disaster or anything.” He says. --- “Tikki this is going to be a disaster!” Marinette whines, throwing herself face first onto the bed. She tries to ignore Tikki’s amused giggle. This was not funny. This was dinner with her family that she hadn’t made a great impression on the first time. And Adrien was invited, and she wasn’t sure where the two stood but she was sure that if Dick was at dinner, he would just push Adrien farther away from her.

“I could practically hear your suffering from Adrien’s room, pigtails.” Plagg says, making Marinette sit up and glare at the Kwami.

“Are you just here to mock me?” She asks, pouting. He snorts.

“No, I’m here to tell you the kid’s on his way over here. I told him you were panicking and he practically ran out his door.” Plagg says with a chuckle. Rapid knocking on the door makes him laugh more before dropping onto the bed next to Tikki. Marinette sighs, rolling off the bed and pulling the door open, jumping forward in time to catch Adrien before he completely falls to the ground.

“Are you okay? Plagg said you were panicking, did something happen?” He asks quickly, looking her up and down. Marinette blinks, slightly taken aback by his sudden concern. It was nice, but still a lot all at once. Shaking her head, she gestures for him to come in and shuts the door behind him. Walking back over to the bed, she once again face plants and groans.

“She’s nervous because Mr. Wayne invited the two of you to dinner.” Tikki chirps, giggling when Marinette lifts her head up enough to glare at her.

“Traitor.” She says, dropping her head back down.

“If you don’t want me to go with Marinette, I won’t.” Adrien says. Marinette immediately jumps up, shaking her head rapidly.

“No, no that’s not what I meant. I just- I’m nervous about actually sitting through a dinner with them. And I’m pretty sure Dick will try and sit between us and glare at you like he did at the museum.” She admits, cursing the way her cheeks heat up. Adrien raises an eyebrow.

“He was glaring at me?” He asks, utter confusion on his face. Marinette groans, dropping her head into her hands.

“Sometimes your obliviousness is cute-”

“You think I’m cute!”

“But right now, it’s kinda making me want to scream into my pillow.” Marinette admits, giving him her signature “not amused” look. A look she usually saves for when Chat Noir is making a pun.

“Wait, why wouldn’t Dick like me?” Adrien asks, thankfully stuck on that now instead of the fact that she thinks he’s cute.

“Um, maybe because we were holding hands? Did you really not notice how he kept standing in between us the entire time we were at the museum?” Marinette asks, suddenly unsure if she’d imagined the whole thing.

“Oh no, I did. I just didn’t think it meant he didn’t like me. I’ve never really dealt with siblings before. I mean, I’ve met Nino’s little brother but...that’s about it.” Adrien says, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. Marinette sighs, grinning softly.

“I don’t really have a lot of experience either, so maybe I was just imagining things.” She admits. Adrien’s shoulders instantly relax and she smiles. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

“So, did you want me to come with?” He asks after a moment of silence. Marinette nods, agreeing immediately.

“Please. I don’t think I can go back there alone, not yet anyway.”

“Of course, Mari. Now, what’re you wearing?” --- The ride to Wayne Manor wasn’t as quiet as her first, with Adrien making quiet jokes and saying things to try and help keep Marinette out of her head. She was thankful that he had come with, because she was definitely going to need the emotional support to get through dinner. The car stops and Marinette sucks in a deep breath. Smoothing out her skirt nervously, Marinette glances at the small, neatly wrapped package sitting between her and Adrien. It was something she had started back when she first found out she was adopted. And that her parents didn’t know her bio dad. A scrapbook with copies of everything important from her life: baby pictures, school pictures, birth announcement, report cards, clippings from newspapers where she had won or placed in contests, pictures of her early designs and recent designs, pictures of certificates and trophies from various competitions and activities. Basically a road map of her life to be given to her bio dad so that he could get to know her. She’d written her name on the front page, with the words “daughter of Bruce Wayne and Bridgette Le” underneath. A sort of amendment to her birth announcement which listed her as the daughter of Tom and Sabine Dupain Cheng. And while she definitely was their daughter, she also wanted Mr. Wayne to know that she wanted to be his daughter too. Not just by blood, which isn’t the important part. No, she wanted to get to know him and for him to get to know her. Pushing down the intruding thoughts insisting that it was too soon and that he didn’t want her in the first place, she opens the car door and steps out, clutching the package to her chest like a safety blanket.

“Would you like me to take that for you, Miss Marinette?” Alfred asks, glancing at the package.

“Oh, no thank you Alfred. It’s for my da- er, um, Mr. Wayne. I can hang onto it.” She says with a bright smile. She could do this. Sure, it didn’t go great the last time she was here. And she was pretty sure Mr. Wayne’s youngest son could kill her and wanted to kill her. But it was fine. Everything is fine. Walking through the front door, her shoulders relax slightly when she sees Dick is the only one standing there waiting for them.

“Marinette! He cheers, rushing forward and picking her up in a hug. As in, legitimately picking her up. Okay then.

“Good to see you too.” She says, trying not to show that he’s literally suffocating her with the hug.

“Good to see you again, Dick!” Adrien says cheerfully. Marinette feels Dick tense before setting her down, his smile less bright as he looks at Adrien.

“And you. Adrien, right?” He asks, sticking his hand out for a handshake.

“Yup!” Adrien says cheerfully. Marinette watches cautiously, noticing that Dick seems to be squeezing a little too hard….and then Adrien appears to match his strength, if the look on Dick’s face is anything to go by. Marinette coughs to hide a snort, her face heating up as both boys turn to look at her.

“Uh, is it just you and Mr. Wayne tonight?” Marinette asks, choosing to ignore their awkward handshake.

“Nope! It’s me and Bruce and Alfred, of course, and Jay and Tim and Damian and Cass. Steph’s not in town and Babs is having dinner with her dad.” Dick says, and Marinette’s eyes widen. There were a lot more people in her bio dad’s family than she thought. She knew about the boys, but she hadn’t seen anything about Cass, Steph or ‘Babs’.

“I didn’t realize I had sisters too.” She says instead of voicing her insecurities. Before she only had the boys to measure up against, now she had three girls too?

“Well, the only official sister is Cass. Steph used to date Tim and she just kinda stuck around. She’s practically family at this point. And Babs and I used to date, but again, she stuck around after and now she’s practically family.” Dick explains with a grin and a shrug. Cause having your exes around isn’t awkward. Or, maybe it isn’t. She doesn’t have any exes to compare it to. Just as she starts to get lost in her thoughts, she feels Adrien brush against her gently. Reminding her that he’s there, for her, giving her the strength she needs to follow Dick into the living room. Where everyone else was sitting. Oh boy.

“Marinette, so glad you could join us. And Mr. Agreste, nice to see you again.” Bruce says, standing from his spot and moving to shake Adrien’s hand.

“You as well, M. Wayne. And please, call me Adrien. Mr. Agreste is my father.” He says, and Marinette can just barely see his wince. His father always had been his least favorite subject, no matter how much or how little they spoke of him.

“Thanks for inviting us.” Marinette says, moving the package so that she’s no longer clutching it like a lifeline. Holding it out to Mr. Wayne, she laughs at his confused face. “It’s a present.” She adds.

“Oh, well, thank you.” He says, his face unreadable. Marinette shifts her weight, glancing between him and the package, waiting for him to open it. Or properly introduce her to the rest of the family. Either option would work at this point. Glancing at Dick, she sighs in relief when he claps. At least someone was going to make the first move.

“Right, so I don’t think you got the chance to meet Jason and Damian properly when you were here the other day.” Dick says, tugging her around a still frozen Bruce in front of the two boys from the other day.

“No, I didn’t. Hi, I’m Marinette.” She says, smiling and holding out a hand to Damian first. He tuts and turns away, making Marinette’s smile fall slightly before she turns to Jason. Jason grins and shakes her hand.

“Welcome to the family, kid.” He says, before whistling. “You didn’t get B’s height, that’s for sure.” He teases, Marinette snorts, her smile turning into a teasing smirk.

“Hey, don’t count me out for my height. Ever heard the phrase, small but mighty?” She asks, crossing her arms. Jason snorts, reaching out and messing up her hair.

“Whatever you say, Pixie Pop.” He replies. She rolls her eyes and turns to the other two siblings she hadn’t met.

“Hi, you must be Tim and Cass.” She says, smiling at both of them. Tim nods, his hand twitching towards his pocket. Marinette tries not to laugh, having seen Max do the same thing when he had to socialize for any amount of time. The boy was always far more comfortable with his phone in his hand, even if he wasn’t actually looking at it. Cass smiles, and Marinette notices her hands moving. “Sorry, could you repeat that, I wasn’t watching closely.” She says. Cass’ smile widens and she nods before starting over.

“Welcome to family. Nice to meet you.” Cass signs, making Marinette beam.

“It’s nice to meet you too.” She says, eyes widening when she realizes she left Adrien alone with a frozen Mr. Wayne. Whirling around, she moved back to Adrien and tugged him forward, rolling her eyes at his surprised yelp. Honestly, he should expect this by now.

“Geeze, Princess. Give a man a warning.” He says, adjusting his shirt that she’d accidentally messed up.

“Sorry k- Adrien. Sorry. Anyway, uh, everyone this is my friend Adrien Agreste. Adrien this is Jason, Damian, Tim, Cass and you already know Dick.” Marinette introduces, gesturing to each of her new siblings. Adrien shoots a wide smile, not quite his model smile but also not quite a real one.

“Nice to meet you all.” He says.

“Marinette, I apologize. Did you want me to open this now?” Mr. Wayne asks suddenly. She turns and raises an eyebrow at his unreadable expression and the way he holds onto the present like he doesn’t know what to expect. Which is fair, considering they’d only met in person the day before.

“Oh, um, if you want to. It’s nothing big.” She says, watching nervously as he nods and unwraps it. His eyebrows twitch together as he looks at the book, obviously not yet understanding.

“Open it, B.” Dick whispers, clearly understanding the gift more than their father. Mr. Wayne nods and opens it, his unreadable expression falling into one that she...still can’t read. But it’s not emotionless anymore. As he flips through the book, a small smile creeps its way onto his face and Marinette almost cheers. That’s the most sincere look she’d ever seen on the man.

“Did you put all this together?” He asks, glancing up from the book to look at her. Marinette nods.

“When I found out I was adopted, I wanted to have something to give my bio dad. So that even if he didn’t want to see me in person, he could get to know me. When I found out you’re my, um, dad, I added some personal touches.” She says.

“And I can keep this?” He asks, and Marinette’s shocked that he sounds almost scared. As if he thinks she’ll say no and take everything back. She smiles.

“Of course. My Maman and Papa already have those pictures. These are all yours.” She says.

“Thank you, Marinette. I- This is an amazing gift.” He says. Marinette’s smile widens and her shoulders sag in relief. Maybe tonight wouldn’t be a disaster after all.

Next

Tag list: @maribat-bdbwm @vixen-uchiha @stainedglassm @liquid-luck-00 @jayjayspixiepop @jjmjjktth @mizzy-pop @trippingovermyfeet @queenz-z @thepaceperson @iloontjeboontje @waiting247 @laurcad123 @toodaloo-kangaroo @ritacrow-blog @deathssilentapproach-blog @kittenmywaythrulife @imarivers8 @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks

[skyfallslayer]

Black Dahlias For The Waynes - Ch.2

Chapter 2: The Perfect Storm (ii)

Series Masterlist

Story Pairings: Bruce Wayne & Alfred Pennyworth; Bruce & Female!Dick Grayson; Alfred & Female!Grayson; Jim Gordon & Bruce

Chap Summary: Bruce couldn't explain it. The nagging feeling that something was going to happen. But what? What could it be? Surely it couldn't be that alley way all over again.... Right?

Story Rating: Mature

Warning: Possible OOC? (I'm still learning how to right Battinson Bruce/Batman); Mention of blood & Corpses; References to Past Trauma; References to Anxiety & Depression; Mature Language. Read at your OWN risk!

A/N: I know the Graysons died on April 1st but for the sake of this story and where I want it to end it has to be later in the year.

Also, sorry for the long wait. I usually post my work first on Ao3 and then I completely forgot to post it on here! So sorry!

A·Perfect·Storm

Idiom

1.The worst possible situation.

2.A combination of events that result

in an unfortunate situation.

___________________________________________________________

‘Gotham Year 4, Date: August xx,

The city is almost done rebuilding-’

It took months to get all the water out, and after that it was all hands on deck to get everything cleaned up and back to normal (or at least Gotham’s definition of normal). But the city never sleeps because even when the city was trying to drain all the water, crime was still evident. Batman and the GCPD hardly got a wink of sleep, the Mayor did her best to keep everything going. And luckily it’s been working, and luckily things haven’t been too crazy. 

But what can you consider not crazy here? Yes, in the two years since Riddler’s “Cleansing” plan there still has been murders, robberies, and arson, and other unspeakable crime; And yes, there was that one lady Batman put behind bars that could… What did she claim again? That she could control plants and threaten the Mayor that if she tore down another park she would level the city? Yeah, she’s in Arkham now. She’s-

“-orry for the hold up.” Gordon says as the elevator closes with a chime. “It took me forever to get these out unnoticed.”

He held out a coffee stained folder, which was about a quarter inch thick, for the vigilante to grab.

Batman opened the folder, his fingertips ghost over the words and pictures throughout the first few pages. He keeps himself from making his jaw tighten the more he looks over the photographs, people he wishes that never existed in the first place. 

Gordon took this man’s long silence a cue to break it. He clears his throat, straightening up. “Well, if you’re wondering, nothing unusual is going on with the inmates.” He explains, also trying not to shiver at some of the bad apples’ gazes. “So far… they’re just normal.”

“What about Pamela Isley?” Batman asked upon finding her barely touched file. Even though a year has passed, there was hardly anything written about the woman, even her behavior in the asylum is pretty bland.

“Nothing really. She’s just a crazy woman who is constantly talking about her plants.”

Batman hums, sounding more like a grunt, but Gordon knew him long enough to know the difference.

It didn’t make sense though, the feeling he’s been having for a while. He’s been getting a nagging feeling something was going to happen, and he didn’t know what or when. And for some reason though, his mind always wondered back to the fucking asylum-

“Don’t worry about it.” Gordon erupts his thoughts. His voice was soft and sincere, just enough to cover the tiredness he was feeling. “If something really is going on with the inmates, the GCPD will be the first to know, and I’ll certainly tell you too.”

Batman was surely on the line of agreement and disagreement, both having pros and cons, but in the end it all came down to trusting the detective. He hums again, closing the file and attempting to hand it back over. 

“Keep it.” Gordon said, holding his hand up to a stop. “That’s why it took me so long, it’s a copy.”

“I’ll keep it close then.” The vigilante replies, which could translate to ‘thank you’. 

“Get some rest, so in case you’re gut feelings right, this city’s going to need you.”

Another grunt as he watches the detective sluggishly carry himself towards the lift, saying something that was like a ‘goodbye’, before slipping back to either the precinct or home. 

Home actually sounded good. Sleep did too. But could he think when something was eating at his stomach lining?

Something’s going to happen.

He can feel it. But oh hell… If this was like anything like the Riddler or any other foes he’s fought then this was going to be trouble…

He just prays that he’s wrong for once.

So… was it healthy to stay in his cave for so long? Probably not, but that’s what he did anyway. He just can’t get this dreadful feeling to go away. He was practically gnawing at his fingernails with anxiousness. 

Maybe it’s something with me? He thought, his mind practically did a three sixty when something crossed his mind. That near death experience with Alfred a few years back still haunts him. That fucking trap wasn’t even meant for him in the first place.

Maybe it’s… 

His jaw tightens as he stands up, sending the desk chair back, heading for the elevator, already out of the kevlar suit hours ago. He fights himself from tapping his foot repeatedly, watching the numbers go up and up till it flashes his expected floor-

Damn Dory nearly gave him a hard attack.

She pursed her lips, shaking her head a little. “You know Mr. Wayne, if you’re going to stroll in here then at least wipe that makeup off first.” She tsks, and hands him a clean handkerchief.

He stares subtly at her, not really sure how to respond as she brushes past him for the elevator.

“I made scones if you want some. There in the kitchen.” She continues. “Good day, Mr. Wayne.”

The door rings and closes, the faint sounds of the gears turning was all he noticed before Alfred walked by. The older man sighs, sharing a similar expression that the older woman had just shown.

“Master Bruce, what if we had guests? How would you explain this… phase?” He says, digging into his own pockets for-

“Dory already gave me one, Alfred.” Bruce points out the white cloth.

“Then what are you waiting for? The bloody Queen of England to give you permission? Wipe it off, Lad, I have to talk to you about something.” 

Bruce felt his heartbeat return normal, the goosebumps on his arms slowly fading away as he followed the main in the dining area; Almost immediately he still winces at the sunlight hitting his eyes (Yes, he was getting better with the sun since he was being Bruce Wayne more, but still, who do you think still has a higher priority?). He fights back the urge to grab his sunglasses as he slides next to Alfred and begins working on the cake on makeup under his admiral eyes.

“So what did you want to talk to me about?” He asks.

“Well, It’s a quarter to 2 if you’re wondering, which is a perfect amount of time for me to tell you this.” Alfred begins, studying his young master to see if he was listening. “Ms. Harriet called me a while ago.”

Bruce still, worriedness fluttering in his chest for a second. “Does the orphanage need more funding? Or did their generator break again?”

“Oh, no, she was fulsome as ever, which leads to our conversation. She called and wanted to personally thank you for the funding which so happened to be enough for something else in their budget.”

“Something else?”

“Entertainment.”

Bruce hums, his attention lessening as he starts working under his eyes again. “Is it one of the children’s birthdays?”

“Well, no, actually, but she’s taking the children to the C.C. Haly and Norton Bros. circus tonight.” Alfred replies in his usual flat tone. “And you’re invited.”

His movements falter a little. “The answer’s no.”

“Well funny thing you say that, but I already told her you’re going.”

“What?” Bruce stops completely, his attention on his parental figure turning way up again. “You-” Was he allowed to scowl? “W… Why?”

“Well, let me spell this out for you Master Bruce-” Alfred places his palms flat on the table. “Your public appearance is starting to slack again-” He watches the man pinch the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. “And you’ve haven’t been to the office in a while either, so you’re really slacking there-”

“Alfred, I can’t. I have-”

“The Batman can wait. He’s allowed to take the night off. Plus-” He gives off something resembling a small grin. “She told me that the children have been dying to see you again.”

He grumbles under his breath. Memories of little children clinging to his limbs and giggling that bounced off the walls came full force. Ms. Harries felt sympathy towards him, all while the paparazzi ate it up like crazy (The last time he visited, the pictures were all over the news for a whole month). 

Should he “accidentally” dislocate his shoulder again?

“Fine.”

“Wonderful.” Alfred said, smiling.

“Only if I can skip that charity event for that Maxwell Lord, Guy.”

“We’ll talk about that later.” He pushes his chair back as he stands up, hands starting to tuck behind his back-

“And if you go with me.” Now it was his turn for the smug look and slight quirk of an eyebrow. It made his Butler look like a deer in a headlight.

Alfred gave in and sighed. “Fine.” He almost rolled his eyes as he started walking away from the table. “I guess it would be nice to get out of my house. Get dressed by 6, Master Bruce.”

Footsteps faded. The billionaire fought the urge to drop his tired head against the mahogany table. Why did being a member of society have to be so hard?

“Still afraid of the clowns, Master Bruce?” Alfred whispered, smugly as a child (yet again) tugged on his Master’s tie.

Bruce casted a silent look that said, ‘Never again’. He tried his best to politely smile at Ms Harris as he gently pries the little boy’s hand away for… jeez… he lost count, and the show hasn’t even started yet. 

“Ms Harris said there aren’t going to be clowns.” The boy said as loudly as he could, pretty much getting attention from all sides.

Bruce’s jaw noticeably, besides Alfred seeing, twitched at the comment.

“And what makes you say that, lad?” The Butler asked, softly.

Oh god, Alfred was so much better at this than he is.

“Because these lovely circus folks have read this city's history.” Another familiar voice came through, and Bruce almost jerked visibly again.

Why did he agree to this again?

“I won’t be long, I just wanted to say hello.” Reál said, happy go lucky as usual, despite almost being crowded by people and her bodyguards. 

“Mayor, thank you so much for having this group come to Gotham.” Ms Harris said, stepping over her bleacher seat to shake her hand. “The children are so excited for this.”

“Oh it was my pleasure. I think the city folks deserve a little fun now since it’s almost done rebuilding.” She faces the other people present. “Mr. Wayne, long time no see.”

“Likewise, Ms. Reál.” Bruce said, shaking her hand also. Got to keep his image up.

If it was possible her smile got bigger, and so did her eyes when they set on a new face. “And I’m sorry, I don’t think we’ve met, Mr…?”

“Pennyworth. Alfred Pennyworth, Madame Mayor.” 

“Nice to meet you. Well, it’s good to see you all, enjoy the show.”

She gives small waves to the children who returned the gesture before they continued their antics. Now they were talking about monkeys now? And wonder if they could feed their candy to them? Could Bruce handle any more of this? What was even worse was that when he thought the show was about to begin, the ringleader must have caught wind of who was going to be here, and guess who was caught in the spotlight besides the Mayor? 

He tuned most of it out after people started clapping and cheering for him even being here, and occasionally when someone started talking to him he would exchange actual words for just nods and hums. He fought the urge not to check his watch for the time, because he knew Alfred was watching his every move to make sure his presence was acceptable (Seriously, he’s not five anymore). Maybe those days being stuck in the office might not seem so bad right now.

The night dragged on and on, and soon, after nearly being elbowed in the face by a kid, and doused in buttery popcorn, and stepping in a puddle of sticky soda, his wishes might soon be answered as the final act was being announced. 

“Ladies and Gentlemen! Boys and Girls! Children of all ages!” The ring leader’s voice boomed across the tent, twirling his cane in the swirling spotlights.

The bright red suit hurt his eyes as the light reflected right off it. The candy apple red reminded him what the city’s streets were usually painted in. He held back a shutter and visions.

“I unfortunately will have to say that this is a goodbye! But don’t worry folks, we have our main event, the grand finale!”

The crowd cheered again, the joy radiating off of them, boxing the billionaire in. The deafening cheers reminded him of that night in the alley, right in the theater where the movie played and the other families laughed, moments away from the pain he’ll experience. Can he just ho-

“Give it up for the Flying Graysons!”

Bruce forced himself to follow the trail the ringleader led with his sparkling cane, which led all the way up to the platform above, the spotlight shifting on a family of three. Their tri-colored leotards were easy to make out, almost a perfect set of targets, colorful suits like that clown. He mentally slapped that last thought away as the trio flashed their pearly whites and waved bashfully.

What’s with all the feelings so suddenly? He was confused. It was like something was warning him-

“And they’ll be performing their amazing act without the safety of a net!” Their capes came off as the words left the man’s lips. Those shiny gold fabric resembled the flames of Riddler’s bombs and the-

Bruce shook his head meantally again. 

Stop it. Stop it with those thoughts. Just focus on the words. What did the guy just say? He scolded himself sternly and followed his instructions.

Truthfully he did his best to halfheartedly focus on those words. What did the ringleader say? They were performing without a what? Without a net? That was crazy, even for him because…

Was he seeing that right? A child on the stand?

His eyes stopped on the little girl, he assumed barely a teenager, resembling a lot of the two adults next to her (Her parents, he’s assumed also). His instinct told him to watch closely. Even from this distance, he watched her face fall so suddenly as she jerked her head back, looking almost startled. Her reaction only lasted a few seconds before putting up her facade again, an airlock facade Bruce knew too well himself, which gave him enough time for his heart to sink to the floor.

Something’s not right.

That feeling he’s been having for a while has finally returned.

The nagging-ness.

The past trauma.

The feeling of being on edge.

He knows this all too well.

Something’s not right.

He didn’t know what it was as the two adults began their act, his tense body language, which consisted of him stiffening straight as one of his hands was firmly against the bleacher, ready to stand himself up if needed so, he caught someone's attention because of this.

“Bruce?” Alfred whispers, managing to get the message across over the loud noise.

“Something’s not right.” He answered quickly, eyes searching the tent for something, but his navy eyes always landed back onto the platform. What was he missing?

“What?”

“Something’s not right, Alfred. I’m getting that feeling again.” Why? Why was he always landing back on the trapeze? What is he-

They didn’t hear the snap but he did.

Yet everyone heard the shriek of the child above.

Out of instinct (And maybe something else deep inside), both him and Alfred covered the eyes of the many children they could, just as Bruce looked back on the little girl who caught herself from tumbling off the tower.

His heart skipped a beat.

The next thing was so much worse.

The crunching. The cracking. The breaking. And…

Oh god-

The blood.

People panicked around him almost immediately as the bodies dropped into the ring. They fled around him in groups of terror and ear piecing screams, but even as he was getting trampled and pushed to the side, he never moved his eyes away from her. 

He should’ve known that history would repeat itself in the city.

He should’ve known that he would see another child in an alleyway.

He should’ve known that another set of parents would be gone again.

Life is really sick and twisted, ain’t it?

And Bruce didn’t know what hurt worse, the look on the girl’s face, the outreached hand to nothing, or when she gripped the side of her head and let out a blood curdling scream that reminded him of his own?

What was his answer, you may have asked?

Well…

It was this whole fucking night.

_____________________________________________________________

A/N: Again, sorry if this seemed short. Like I said previously, I kind of want to get the ball rolling a bit more (Since I'm more interested in writing about the Parental Relationships of these characters). So sorry again!

Until next time!

[itzagothamcitysiren]

Welcome to the Family

Ah, I decided to just do it and post two chapters in one night. This chapter is I think the longest I wrote and I hope you guys like it, I’m trying to start to get Halley out there and out of her comfort zone without her changing character completely. 

Also, this story will start to take a somewhat darker turn, you could say after this chapter, I already swear a butt load in this I guess, but I mean more content wise? I like the darker  and grittier aspect of Gotham villains. I love the fun stuff like Joker and Riddler and stuff, but the disturbing and creepy bad guys they fight are my weakness lol.   

and just in case for anyone new, link to my masterlist is in my bio and I’ll also repost it here :) 

There’s a Web That You Have Wove pt.5

           The days dragged as Jason dug himself in a deeper hole with each passing day. He didn’t know what made him act the way he was acting, and he’d go as far as deny that something was wrong with him to begin with if asked. It was starting to really piss Halley off, who had appeared to be the one he was directing all his anger out on. She had no idea that going off to get food with a friend would make him act like a complete child, if she had she would’ve never gone.

           She tried talking to him about it on constant occasions, only to get his door slammed in her face, or a shoulder shoved as he brushed past her to get away. She was growing tired of it and hadn’t a clue what his problem was. It had gotten to the point where she was desperate enough to go vent to Kori about it, of course making her swear not to tell Dick. He’d only make it worse by marching down to the cave and demanding to know what was up.

           “And it was after the party he started acting this way?” Kori questioned for the third time after Halley finally finished ranting. She was surprised when Halley called her again, but excited to find out how her party went. She was even more surprised, amused even, at the girl’s boy issues, which the alien heard was basically a given with High School parties.

           “Yes and I have no idea why.” Halley huffed, laying on one of the love seats in one of the many sitting rooms throughout the manor. She wanted privacy while she talked to Kori, and went off into one of the wings of the manor they barely ever used. “I don’t understand. He just started acting so strangely all of sudden. I just want to know if I did something wrong but he won’t talk to me.”

           “You did do something wrong,” Kori’s voice chuckled in her normal perky voice. She thought the girl’s innocence was endearing and made her think back to when she was only a little bit older than Halley. Dick had been this way with her for a while, and being from Tamaran she was unaccustomed to such childish behavior.

           “I did?” Halley gasped, not understanding.

           Kori laughed again, holding her hand to her head, shifting on her bed to get more comfortable. This was going to take a while to explain. She loved the girl like a little sister and had hoped that she’d one day have the conversation about boys but she hadn’t expected having that phone call anytime soon. Halley reminded Kori of herself when she first found herself on Earth, a lost girl trying to learn about many of earth’s customs. What was the phase Dick used to use? Oh yeah, fish out of water, Kori remembered.

           “Well, you didn’t really but to him you did.” Kori nodded, as if it was obvious.

           “That makes no sense. What did I do but not do wrong?” Halley pressed, now sitting up straight. She felt a growing headache, it increasing as she saw the time on the wall clock across the room.

           “Dick used to do the same with me when we first started noticing our feelings for one another. He’d grown very jealous but when I confronted him about it he’d push me away, saying that I misread his actions.” Kori reminisced. She continued, “Jason was simply upset that you left the party with another boy. He wanted to spend time with you.”

           Halley gulped, trying to process her friend’s words. She didn’t have feelings for Jason and there was no way Jason had feelings for her. They were just friends and nothing more. Sure, she knew Jason could get a little jealous, but only over his stupid self-confidence issues and feeling subpar to her when it came to their night job. But there was no way Jason would get jealous over something so stupid. Her and Dylan were just friends and like her and Jason they were nothing more.

           “Jason’s the complete opposite of Dick though, there’s no way.” She insisted, holding the phone closer to her face.

           “Alright fine, don’t believe me.” Kori shrugged, leaning into her pillows. She perked her head up when she heard her door opening. Dick walked in, holding a couple of bags of take-out. “Oh speaking of Dick, I’m going to let you go Halley, Dick’s here with dinner. I’ll talk to you soon.”

           “I want to say hi,” Dick started, putting the food down.

           Halley heard him and quickly said how she had to go, telling Kori to tell him hi for her before hanging up. Dick would know something was up at the tone of her voice, especially after the thoughts Kori just put in her head and she doubted she’d be able to hide it. Letting the phone drop on the couch she let out a groan, falling back and letting her head hit against the armrest. With a roll of her eyes, she stood up and began heading to her room.

           Ever since the party and Jason ignoring her, she had been talking to Dylan more; but that was only because Jason was being weird. Maybe Kori was right, now that she thought about it. No, she shook her head, Jason did not like her like that. They were friends, just friends. Friends who’ve barely spoken all week, she huffed to herself as she reached the hallway that held her room. She had to get ready due to that plans she made with Dylan tonight. It was her first time going out with someone from Gotham that hadn’t been Jason or Dick, and she was anxious enough about it she didn’t need to be thinking about any of this right now.

           She’d never gone bowling before and Dylan had been shocked after bringing up how he hadn’t gone in a while. He had been excited because a group of his friends were all going and couldn’t stop talking about it in class the other day. He had been appalled when he found out she’d never been and insisted she come with them. She tried saying no, knowing that she’d be out of place with his friends, even though she’d never met them to judge if that would be true or not.

           They all went to Gotham Central High, one of the city’s public schools. Apparently Dylan had gotten into Gotham Academy last year after winning one of the Wayne Grants due to his grades. He was a good student and a good kid, it wasn’t like she doubted that his friends weren’t the same as well but she couldn’t help but feel like she was imposing on their time together. He said otherwise, saying how he’d mentioned her to them and they wanted to meet her. Way to make her even more nervous.

           She reached her room and made her way in. She could hear Jason inside of his, music blaring out from the speakers. She thought about inviting him but wasn’t in the mood to have a door slammed in her face. She had a feeling it’d be the same answer as the one her gave her at the party anyway so why even bother. If Jason wanted to sulk and be lonely in his room on a Friday night then so be it, she didn’t care.

           Going to her closet, she began to try and put something together, this time making sure not to make a mess like last weekend. Alfred hadn’t been too happy about the wreck of a closet she left and forgot about. She knew what bowling was and decided she wanted to dress comfortably. Pulling out a neat pair of black leggings first, she then grabbed her favorite plum colored sweater. The air was still slightly chilly out even for it being the end of spring, she still reached for her jean jacket just in case.

           As she finished dressing she heard her phone buzz from its spot on her bed. Reaching for it she saw it was Dylan texting her that he was outside. She sighed, trying to get her nerves together. If you told her this time last year that’d she be going out for pizza and bowling with kids her age she’d laugh right in your face, but yet, here she was about to go do just that.

           She replied back, saying she’d be right down. Stuffing her phone and wallet in the pocket that hid inside her jacket she slipped her shoes on before rushing out of the room. Closing the door, she turned to see Jason’s one more time. She thought about knocking, to let him know she’d be leaving but paused. There was no point in that, don’t be silly, she told herself.

           She rushed down the stairs, feeling bad for making Dylan wait any longer. She rushed past Bruce and Alfred as they were making their way out of Bruce’s personal study. She had asked if it was okay to go earlier and after a nod from Alfred, Bruce said it was fine, asking her to just be back in time for patrol, which she of course agreed too. She waved a flustered goodbye to the older men, wishing them a goodbye. They paused their conversation to watch her disappear down the hall.

           She jumped down the stairs, stopping once she reached the bottom. Straightening out her sweater and pulling at her jacket before she opened the door. She saw his car parked down the steps and smiled. Closing the door behind her, she made her way down to the car. They were meeting his friends at the bowling alley, so he was the only one in the car, making her feel a little pressure being taken off of herself. She opened the door and took a seat, giving him a soft smile.

           “Hi,” she said, moving to grab her seat belt.

           He smiled back, waiting for her to get fasten her seat belt before pulling off. He’d never been to Wayne Manor before and couldn’t stop his mouth from dropping when he first pulled up to the gate. He had to be buzzed in, making him gape at how someone could live at a place so fancy. How Halley managed to keep a level head while being the adoptive daughter of Bruce Wayne was beyond him, but he hoped she never did let it get to her head.

           The car ride was filled with them talking about their day, Halley avoiding the topic of Jason, after her friend brought him up. Dylan mentioned how he was surprised she didn’t ask to bring Jason along, noting how close the pair were and couldn’t help but notice how off they’d been acting this past week. Halley merely waved him off, saying Jason was busy and just stressed about school.  She still frowned though, thinking now that she should’ve invited him. She didn’t linger on it for too long, Dylan noting her change in mood and started talking about something else soon after.

           She couldn’t help but find herself comparing him to Jason at this point though, which was new. The thought never crossed her mind until now. Both boys were a lot alike but at the same time completely different. Dylan was a lot more open, in a way reminding her of Dick. He shared his feelings on things and always asked how she was doing. Whereas with Jason, she’d never seen someone so closed off with their feelings besides her. She never really knew how he was feeling and when she thought she did, she learned that she was still missing something. He also never had to ask her what was wrong, unlike Dylan, he just knew.

           The more she thought about it there weren’t that many similarities between the two besides the fact that she felt comfortable with them. She felt like she could let her guard down and start to act like a normal teenager even with the thought of her still wanting to be like a normal teenager still odd to her. The former assassin didn’t feel like a former assassin when she was in their company and it was nice.

           They reached the bowling alley some time later, the drive from the manor to the city taking at least thirty to forty-five minutes depending on traffic. She felt bad for making him drive so far out for her and apologized once it dawned on her. She insisted on giving him gas money but he denied it saying how he didn’t mind.

           He parked the car and began leading her towards the building with neon lights on the doors and a giant bowling pin outside of the building. Her eyes surveyed the building once they entered it, the bright red rugs catching her eyes along with the checkered tiles down near the actual bowling alley. She noted how there was a snack bar and also an area for an arcade. She’d been to an arcade once, with Wally and Dick. It’d been really fun and hoped she’d have a chance to go over there before the night ended.

           She noted that the room was loud, music playing, but it was completely different from the music played at the party. She actually didn’t mind this. And it was crowded but again not like the party. She didn’t feel annoyed or claustrophobic, just curious.

           Halley looked up as Dylan’s friends came into sight, him calling out to them and ushering her quickly over. They all sat around a table, laughing and joking with one another, immersed in whatever topic they were talking about. Once they reached the table, Dylan motioned to Halley after greeting his friends. “Guys, this is my friend Halley,”

           They all waved at her as Dylan proceeded to introduce them each at a time. First he pointed out to his friend Danny, a dark skinned boy wearing a grey beanie and black and red flannel shirt. She noted the Batman logo on his shirt and smirked. She remembered Dylan mentioning him once before; they’d been best friends since they were little kids and Dylan spoke very fondly of him. Halley smiled back at him, giving him a shy wave.  Next he pointed to pale skinned boy wearing some sports team jersey. He introduced himself as Colton and following him was another guy named Max, another light skinned boy with long brown hair, whose nose was buried in a handheld gaming device.

           She greeted them each, noting how Dylan failed to mention that they were all guys. She didn’t have anything against them being all guys, she was the only girl in her household currently anyway so she was used to it. She just assumed there’d be another girl there for whatever reason. Her fears of being out of place striking back at her again as she looked between them all, after giving them all a smile and a wave.

           “So we already got our shoes and a lane, just waiting for you to finally show up.” Colton said, motioning to the lane that stood behind the table and down the steps. Dylan nodded, taking Halley to go pick out a pair of shoes and a ball.

           It took her a two tries to get shoes that fit, feeling sheepish as she got her size wrong. The shoes fit looser than normal shoes but Dylan just laughed and said it was okay. Once she grabbed a ball that felt like it was okay in weight, she followed Dylan back to his friends. They started just as they arrived, letting Halley go first since it was her first time. Eyes wide, she nearly begged for someone else to go before her so she could watch, not ready to completely embarrass herself yet. Danny chuckled, saying how he told Colton that they shouldn’t have wrote her name in first. He offered to switch places with her, and she thankful agreed.

           She watched, trying to learn as quickly as she could, as he walked up to the line separating the floor from the alley. The dark skinned boy took aim, letting the ball roll out of his grasp. She watched the ball reel down the alley, hitting the pins in seconds. He knocked down a good amount, only two pins standing by the end of his second turn.

           Halley felt butterflies in her stomach as it was her turn. Walking up to the conveyor belt of balls she picked up the one she chosen.  Inserting her fingers into the holes, she walked over to the line like Danny had. She was a master marksman, she could easily hit those pins. Biting the inside of her cheek, she aimed and threw the ball. She gasped as the ball felt like it was going to pull her fingers out of their sockets. She gasped again as the ball landed on the shiny wood floors with a loud thunk before rolling right into the gutter. She watched as the ball slowly rolled right past the pins and disappeared.

           She turned around with red cheeks. Looking at Dylan in a loss for words she let out a laugh. The boys joined in, Colton cackling about how bad that was. She felt a little bit better, reaching for the ball as it reappeared on the belt. Dylan stood up offering to help her this time, telling her to not basically chuck the ball, and she should be good. She nodded, lining up the shot again, this time going easy as she tossed the ball more gently this time.

            Halley watched as it made contact with the pins. She didn’t hit that many but she didn’t get what they called a gutter ball, which she was satisfied with. In fact, she was quite satisfied overall with her performance all night. She wasn’t great in no means but that first gutter ball had been her last at least and she’d been making progress throughout the night. And she didn’t really care about her bowling skills as she ended up enjoying herself regardless. It turns out she was right about Dylan’s friends, they were great. Colton was a little rough around the edges, a little too cocky for her tastes but she loved how Danny was right there to shut him up.

           After they played a few rounds they made their way to the snack bar, ordering a pizza to share before heading over to the arcade. She had just finished playing the fruit ninja game, absolutely slaying, in Max’s words, when she felt her pocket vibrate. Excusing herself, she let Max take over her next turn and walked away from the group. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and cursed. It was almost eleven and she had a bunch of missed texts from Jason. She’d taken off her jacket while she was bowling and only now had just put it back on when they reached the arcade.

           -B wants to know if you’re on your way home.

           -Yo?

           -We’re leaving soon. Alfred’s now worried, good job dork.

           -He’s not happy

           -By ‘he’ I mean Alfred. And Bruce too…

           -Alfred’s about to leave to go get you

           -You’re in so much trouble, hope you’re new boyfriend was worth it

           “Shit,” she cursed reading through the texts quickly. She winced at the last one; Jason was totally jealous. Her heart thumped faster as she looked back at the group. The time had gone by so fast she had only felt like she’d been there for an hour or two. She moved to step outside to call Jason and let him know she was alright and sorry. The cold spring air hit her in the face and she placed a hand in her pocket as she heard the phone start to dial. She moved out of the way of the main doorway, stepping closer to the edge of the building to give the people walking into and out of the bowling alley space to move.

           Jason’s voicemail greeted her and she hung up, moving to text him instead. They must’ve already been on patrol. She opened up her messenger app and began rapidly typing. She’d have to call Alfred after this, apologize for making him drive out here this late.

           As she was about to hit send the sound of feet scuffling and a sharp cry reached her ears. She walked forward, not stopping until she reached the corner of the building and came face to face with the alleyway. Peering down, she had to squint due to the dark, but nevertheless made out two figures struggling for dominance. Putting the phone in her pocket she crept in get a closer look, now in full work mode.

           Once she was closer she got a clearer image of what was happening. A woman struggled to get out of the grasp of a man. The man held a knife to her neck while the other was grasping towards her chest. His face was hidden as he kissed up her neck, ignoring the woman’s blubbering for him to stop.

           “Hey!” Halley curtly yelled, venom dripping out of her mouth as she made her presence known.

           The woman’s eyes darted to hers almost thankfully but then scared again. Halley just looked like any other fifteen year old, she didn’t look intimidating right now. The man thought so too, letting out a laugh as he raised his head to look at the intruder. Halley took a step back once his face was raised, hand instinctively reaching for where her knives would’ve been, if she was wearing her damned uniform. Just as she felt her phone starting to vibrate again she locked eyes with none other than the man she’d faced only a week ago, Victor Zsasz.

[twothreads-aaa]

john doe is manipulative as all fucking hell, a story by me

no but in all seriousness. i keep saying this over and over again, but it keeps being forgotten or escape people. john doe is not a good person. he is not someone you should feel sorry for. ( and i’m saying this with him still being my favorite character and i still think he’s adorable. but. please don’t forget that he’s not a sweet, innocent victim.) he displays so, so many traits of manipulative and emotionally abusive behavior, and to someone who’s had those people in my life, i know how damaging it is to have those people in your life, even if you can see through it, and i can only imagine how bad it must be for people who don’t see through it and fall for their manipulation tactics.

john doe might seem nice and sweet and innocent, but please remember. the first time we meet john doe, he helps get bruce out of arkham by attacking zsasz and using zsasz’ compulsion to tally-mark himself after killing people and forces zsasz to kill someone by tally-marking him against his will. zsasz also comments that “speaking as a professional, i think his work is sloppy” meaning john has probably hurt and / or killed people before.

by season two, sure, john has been in treatment and was released, so you could argue he’s been treated and is doing better, but john himself admits that he didn’t have to escape because his doctor had “always had a soft spot for me.” that doesn’t sound like someone who was released because he was doing better. it sounds like someone who convinced his doctor through manipulating them into thinking it was safe to release him.

further proof that john should never have been released when he was? he immediately joins up with a criminal group after he’s out. somehow people just completely brush over this fact; that john is part of a criminal group that has been the cause of multiple deaths and destruction and injured civilians etc.

then it’s the whole relationship between him and bruce. john practically shoves his friendship onto bruce. they’d met once in arkham, and john already back then had been obsessing over bruce, keeping news paper clips etc for years ( he admits as much in the vigilante episode.) then, instead of approaching bruce normally, he shows up at lucius’ funeral (who btw was killed by the leader of the gang he’s in??) to cash in the “favor” bruce promised (or didn’t promise depending on your choice in s1) him.

from there on out, john plays the “innocent / victim” card a lot with bruce and manipulates him left and right. john already knew bruce was batman when they first met in arkham (strongly insinuated in s1e4 and some other scenes in s2.) of course he knew bruce would try to stop the group from within by going undercover and pretend to be one of them. so, really, every time john claims that bruce used him, you bet you, he was actually already well aware and still let himself “be used” in order to be able to pin it back on bruce and guilt-trip him if bruce didn’t take his side as john had hoped he would. he also purposefully helps bruce with a lot of his problems (finding riddler’s location, helping him get harley’s laptop, etc.) in order to further be able to guilt-trip bruce if bruce suddenly stops being on his side or does things john doesn’t approve of. his whole friggin nice buddy act with bruce is with the intention of making bruce feel sorry for him, to make bruce take his side.

it’s typical guilt-tripping and manipulation done really, really well, but as you see in the villain route, the minute you start going against him / disagreeing with him when he goes too far and kills people etc, the nice act falls apart and becomes abusive, both mentally and physically. john doe is not a good guy. he is not someone you should want to have as a friend. he will drag you down into the darkness with him, or hurt you emotionally or physically in an attempt to do so if he thinks no other way is gonna work. he might be cute as fucking hell when he’s still keeping his facade, but again, it’s just that; a facade.

[scaryscarecrows]

Conflict of Interest

Some of the Riddler Informants are Militia members. Ouch.

It’s a complete accident that the boss is fucking with the radio at this exact moment. There was…an incident.

By which Antoine means that, in a panic to get out of Scarecrow’s way, a private had bumped into the main radio in the mall headquarters and sent the dial twisting way off. It sounds like they hit a Russian spy network. Oopsies.

The private is currently hiding several rooms away, Scarecrow is muttering darkly about incompetent help, and the boss is attempting to get everything back the way it was. Damage was done. Not serious damage, but damage.

“—swerving through straights!” Riddler gloats, and Antoine hopes he trips and impales himself on a rusty nail. Lockjaw would be a fitting, fitting thing for him. The Knight snorts.

“Like he’d drive any better.”

Huh?

Whatever. This is just going into the pile of ‘things the boss knows that he keeps to himself because nobody’s unlocked his Level Twelve Tragic Backstory’. Humph.

Sports, static-there! That’s Ron…hang on.

That’s not their frequency.

“Sir?”

“I know.”

“—hid that last trophy for my end, headin’ back to base now.”

Trophy? Is that little prick defecting to the Green?

Antoine hopes he shocks himself on one of those damn robots. (Oh, Chito…their love was never meant to be.)

The Knight returns them to the proper frequency and turns around, cocks his head in that way that says he’s entered Little Shit Mode.

“Drouot,” he says, deceptively cheerful, “where is Mister Freeling now?”

Damn. Instant firing.

“Uh, should be in the Cauldron, sir.”

“I’d like to see him. Go pick him up.”

This isn’t going to be pretty, is it.

* * *

Antoine is literally down the street from Ron when the Goddamn Batman plummets from the sky.

It’s over quickly. By the end, when Batman is gone and the street has four new speed bumps, Antoine is stricken with the need to ensure his balls are where they’re supposed to be and not, like, knocked off his body like a punching bag. They’re fine. That guy over there, by the sidewalk? Maybe not. He was on the ground when that punch landed.*

Children are not in his future.

He lifts a shaky hand to his ear and wheezes, “Boss?”

“What.”

“He’s, uh, I don’t…he’s asleep. Due to, uh, the knee of Justice and the knuckles of Pain.”

“What?” There are no better words and he’s not sorry. “Batman?”

Nobody ever died from a little omission.

“Looks like it.”

Silence. In the distance, Scarecrow monologues at the GCPD about fear responses. The giant plant snatches a bird out of the air. Antoine wonders if the sun will ever rise again.

“Bring him back anyway,” the boss decides. “I know how to wake him up.”

That’s ominous.

“Yes, sir.”

Eyes peeled for anything deadly and/or painful, he makes his way down the street, hauls Ron into a fireman’s carry, and dumps him in the APC. They’re en route back to base when the boss comes back on the line.

“Change of plans.”

Fuck no.

“Sir?”

“Take him over to Mercy Bridge.”

Oh, God. This is gonna be one of those times that the boss starts embracing the joys of Irony, isn’t it. Great. Make way for the Drama Queen.

“Yes, sir.”

Mercy Bridge isn’t that far. The boss is there already, leaning against a beam and flipping a knife in his hand. Okay. So he’s probably not, like, overly pissed. That’s his normal fidgety behavior. It’s something.

He’s still kinda pissed, though. He must be. There’s no other explanation for yanking Ron out of the APC that roughly, tying one end of his grappling line to the front bumper, and tying the other end around Ron’s ankles.

“Uh, boss?”

The knots are good, he finds out, when the boss drags Ron to the edge of the bridge-

-and drops him over the edge. Ow. There’s some dislocations for you.

It’s a long way down. That’s only made more apparent by Ron swinging gently in the breeze, dwarfed by the infrastructure around him.

“Boss?”

“He’s fine.” The Knight leans over the edge and Antoine is stricken with the idea that he’ll lose his footing and plummet to his death. “Wake up, Mister Freeling.” He jiggles the line. Ron sways a little faster. “Wake up.”

“Uh, boss,” he says carefully, “that was, erm, he took a. A pretty brutal ass-kicking back there, and, uh…”

“He’s fine.” More jiggling. Ron’s head comes dangerously close to smacking into a nearby support column. “But I don’t have all night.”

He pulls Ron back up, jabs him in the thigh with an adrenaline pen, and shoves him back over the edge. Ron must wake up about halfway down, because there’s now screaming.

“OH GOD—”

“There you are!” The Knight leans over the edge again and waves. “Gotta say, I wasn’t too happy to find you doing the Riddler’s work tonight.”

“How—”

“I have my ways.”

Antoine wonders, about now, how many times the boss has ‘known things’ were actually incidents of accidental discovery. He doesn’t think it’s that many, because he’d have been there for at least some of them, but still.

“It was just once, his guys-th-they jumped me, made me do it, I swear—”

“Stop lying!”

This just might end badly.

But then again, snitches do get stitches. And to be fair, the Knight’s only killed a couple of them, who, uh. Antoine will admit they might have had it coming.

Eh. He’s not going to try and intervene. Ron is probably going to be fine.

Ron, at this exact moment, is blabbering about ‘getting intel on the Riddler’. Which. Seriously. Nobody cares about the Riddler. Batman doesn’t even seem to care! For a while there, every five minutes the guy would come over the broadcast system to complain that Batman was ignoring him. It was almost bad enough that Antoine was considering begging the boss to tell Batman to go deal with the guy, just to shut him up.

Almost.

The Knight seems to be thinking along the same lines, if his exasperated sigh is anything to go off of. Then again, that could be Batman-related; in the distance, there’s a VROOM! and the horrible crunching of buildings being destroyed. Seriously, the guy drives almost as bad as the boss. And to be fair, when your car can crush buildings, why should you stay in your lane?

“So you took initiative,” he says. Ron nods. Well. Maybe. The swaying makes it hard to tell.

“Yessir!”

Another sigh. A few streets away, a building catches fire. Antoine wonders if he really needs to stand here, or if he can wait in the car. Or just leave.

“Sir?” he hedges. “Um. Should we, uh, really be out in the open like this?”

The sheer irritation of the head-tilt answers his question.

“It’s fine.”

“Sorry, sir.”

The Knight hauls Ron back up to solid ground. Antoine has to give it to him, he doesn’t try to lurch away from the edge of the bridge. He does, however, start frantically saying, “I’m sorry, boss, I didn’t think—”

“No. You didn’t.” Uh-oh. “How stupid do you think I am, Freeling?” Ron’s hefted up and slammed into a nearby pillar. “You’d better hope Riddler has good insurance,” he continues, nodding towards the ankle with the line around it. Said ankle is clearly out of socket and the boss is still holding the line in his hand. “Broken ankles just don’t heal right on their own.”

Broken? It’s not—

Crunch.

Oh. Never mind.

Ron is dropped, wheezing desperately, and they’re going to just…leave him here. Um. Okay?

Okay. Right then. He gives Ron an awkward wave, the kind you give your coworkers as they’re leaving for the last time with their desk contents in an Amazon box, and gets back behind the wheel. Dumb it might be, but there’s a little bit of security that comes with being in the car. There’s a least a little bit of a shield between him and any Batmans plummeting from the sky.

“Back to base, sir?”

Before the boss can answer, the ground starts shaking and to Antoine’s infinite horror, something big and green and floral erupts from the ground near the graveyard in Drescher. No. NO! He has a plant! There is a one monster-plant limit per…per…however many square miles Gotham city is! How many plants does he need? How many does he have?

“Are you kidding me?” He’s half-tempted to stab himself in the thigh, make sure Scarecrow didn’t drug him at some point. “Come on!”

The Knight swears, vigorously and in two languages, before jabbing a finger against his ear and snarling, “Sergeant? There’s a weed grown tall in Divinity Churchyard. Cut it down.” They don’t have to go over there, do they? “Yes. Back to base. The Cloudburst should be nearly charged.”

Oh, yeah. That. Is it bad to hope that it’s broken?

“Yessir.”

“And Drouot.”

“Yessir?”

“Take the scenic route.”

Ah. That’s Knightese for, ‘give the plant a wide berth because it’s scary and probably capable of crushing the car like an aluminum can’. Thank God.

“That was the plan, boss.”

He feels a little bad for abandoning Ron, but he knew the risks. And it’s not like the plant is here. And hey! Batman’s probably going to be near the plant, so he’s not here, either! He’ll be fine. Maybe one of his new coworkers will come and get him.

THE END

*Batman can indeed (appear to) punch a mook inna nuts. I don’t even have them and I feel bad when that happens. Jesus, Bruce, talk about birth control.

[gunnerpalace]

I don’t really do comics. But you know what? Batman is kind of stale. How many times can you keep rebooting the same premise over and over again? It’s always little variations like the aesthetic or where he trained or whatever. Here’s how you make Batman interesting while doing something new:

Batman is a Soviet sleeper agent.

We all know the story: Bruce Wayne watches his parents get brutally murdered and later decides to fight crime dressed up as a bat, because why not? Why wasn't he killed too? How do you know he wasn't? Perfect time to swap him out with a replacement. Only Alfred would look closely and know. Maybe he was the handler. Maybe it was his idea.

You’re telling me that this one guy invents all this ridiculous technology and has all these amazing resources? No, none of that is real. There's no such thing as a supergenius who's good at everything. A few billion dollars also can't do all of that, because it's almost surely invested in stocks and bonds and so on, not liquid cash. The paper-trail would be enormous. “It’s Wayne Enterprises!” Yeah, right. There's no way to compartmentalize all of that and keep it secret either. Ironically, the idea that Bruce Wayne can conspire to keep his supposed embezzlement and theft of corporate resources secret falls prey to the same problems most conspiracies have: too many people have to know, and none of those people benefit.

It's all supplied—by his handlers.

It's the perfect cover. Nobody would suspect a vigilante of being a billionaire playboy, and a billionaire playboy of being a sleeper agent, especially for a communist regime. What does Batman do? Go out and beat up criminals. Crime is mostly economically motivated. Bruce Wayne would do far more by helping the poor and rehabilitating criminals. Instead, he nightly breaks the law, deliberately undermining the rule of law, its authority, and perceived effectiveness. A lot of the behavior for people is motivated by examples; the way to convince people to do something you want them to do is to make them believe everyone does it, whether it’s paying taxes or turning off lights when they leave the room. Batman is actively promoting anti-authoritarianism. Worse still, his lawlessness attracts “crazy supervillains,” who further delegitimize the system and foment chaos. (Pretty much every version of the Batman mythos has his example inspiring his rogues gallery.)

Batman is there to produce terror and delegitimize government and capitalism at large. The thing is, there’s literally no difference from what he normally does in every other continuity. Everything looks exactly the same. The best part?

This says: “ВС РФ - ВОЕННАЯ РАЗВЕДКА,” or “VSRF - VOYENNAYA RAZVEDKA” or “FSRF - MILITARY EXAMINATION” and was the logo of GRU from 2000 to 2009. It was presumably based on this logo:

Which says “ВОЙСКА - СПЕЦИАЛЬНОГО НАЗНАЧЕНИЯ,” or “VOYSKA - SPETSIAL'NOGO NAZNACHENIYA,” or “SPECIAL FORCES,” which was the logo of the Spetsnaz GRU from 1949 to 2012, and 2013 to present.

Look familiar?

It’s neat because it doesn’t change anything about the actual mechanics of what Batman does or how, only the why. And that simple change of motive changes him from a hero to a villain, even as nothing else changes. (As compared with say, the disastrous reveal of Captain America as a Hydra agent.) It’s not even as intrusive and hamfisted as say, Superman: Red Son.

And just think about what that means for the rogues gallery. The Riddler is a former NSA agent. Catwoman used to be FBI Criminal Investigative Division until she got attached to a Counterintelligence operation that went wrong. (And wouldn’t that make their mutual attraction really interesting?) The Scarecrow used to work for USAMRIID. And the Joker, you really think he’s crazy? The reason the federal government never steps in directly, no matter how ridiculous things get, is because they know who Batman is but they can’t move on him directly, so they need “rogue agents” to try and expose him. Which is why they’re always “breaking out” of Arkham Asylum. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

The USSR doesn’t exist anymore? Bruce Wayne’s a true believer. He keeps on anyway.

I think it’d be interesting, anyway. Topical too.

[juichi-bey]

Blight’s Relationships- Featuring Friends!

Jackal: Despite the fact that Jackal is a criminal, Blight’s fond of them, as they have helped in some serious cases (especially those involving the Riddler). Besides that, the young vigilante is sure that he can make the criminal turn their ways around, so he is fighting the good fight. Hopes that one day they can hang out as heroes and fight crime together, much like he does with Bruce.

Sparrow: Even though he doesn’t know her real identity is that of his close friend Katherine, he still enjoys pairing up with her on the occasions. Although he has some dislike towards her due to jealousy, and because of her closeness to Nightwing (Dick Grayson) and often finds every single and little detail to excuse rude behavior towards her, plus her teasing personality exasperates him even furthermore. Even then however he still appreciates the way she treats him like a normal human being regardless of his arm, and would rush to her aid if something were to happen.

Aiden: Blight is always constantly trying to catch him, Aiden being one of the most slippery targets he’s ever faced, and since his charming and charismatic ways, always end up getting the best of the young hero. Blight losing his wallet around the guy has become a norm. Still, he believes Aiden will eventually tire of his ways if he keeps trying and keeping him on his toes, and truly wants for him to drop his ways cuz he believes it’s dangerous for him.

Leo: Best of friends and buddies! Really enjoys being around him, although he gets really nervous, since he’s afraid that if he ever finds out about his arm he’ll just leave or hate him, even though Leo knows of his alter personality. As for Leo’s anti-hero persona, he hates his gut because of his ways and often complains about him to Leo.

[just-an-enby-lemon]

I had a very weird dream:

For some reason my paternal grandma knew Bruce Wayne and the Waynes were spending a time at her house. Because of course I guess.

And I wasn't me I was Stephanie Brown.

And all the Batkids had similar ages. And where all young. And Jason was Robin even though Tim, Duke, Steph and Damian existed and had been Robin at some moment. He was also the youngest even though everyone else had the right order of youngest to oldest.

And Riddler was attacking. But like apparently he had a secret identity. But everyone except for Jason knew who he was anyway. And he like had a normal job and shit but he attacked the Waynes once a year because he knew they were the batfam and he was bored so he made they go through deadly mazes and then if they succeeded gave them gifts and were like "nice, till next year."

And we had to solve the maze without having Jason discover who Riddler was or that he did that. And at some point Bruce just picked Jason and they went fight Two-Face and let us in the maze because fuck us I guess. Also the maze looked like the inside of a disco party.

After we scaped the maze thanks not to the batfam but my auntie (who wasn't my auntie in the dream cause I was Stephanie Brown) and Alfred who did it by accident (so Riddler was like "hey can I fix that and we go again this year because you guys didn't really play" and everyone is super chill with it and was like "yeah sure" and my grandma was like "just not in my room because it almost broke my statue of mother mary" and my auntie for some reason asked if she could play on the deadly thing again even though that's not her normal irl behavior).

Anyway Jason and Bruce get back and they are super exited. And than my uncle says he would drive me (Stephanie), Duke and Jason home because apparently we don't live with the Waynes (wich makes sense for Steph but it's weird for the boys) and then the final dream plot twist is that Eddie adopted Jason and Duke but Jason doesn't know he is Riddler and Duke does. Also they are neighboors with Cristal Brown who broke up with Cluemaster and was dating I think it was Gilda Dent? But it could have been Louis Lane. So yeah batshit insane dream.