#and he then somehow escaped and went to Gotham University

[daydreamerwonderkid]

I know jackshit about Jean Paul Valley and at this point I'm too afraid to ask.

[cliosunshine]

𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐯𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐭 🐾

or how the first time your boyfriend meets your cat doesn't go as planned (he survives don't worry)

Jason Todd x gn!reader

Warnings: none, reader is a doctor and Norbert is a chunky boi

After successfully taking down another trafficking ring, Jason was ready to head back home.

As he helped the last person out of their restraints, shots got fired from behind him, causing him to promptly duck by the nearest car. He went to take his guns into his hands, but quickly realized he must've threw them earlier when approaching the little girls kept in the warehouse, trying to appear as little intimitanding as possible.

"Shit," he muttered, searching for a way out. Without thinking, he grabbed the body of one of the men he had shot and used it as his shield until he got to the other side of the street, where he could see one of the men's rifles.

Quickly discarding of the corpse, he took the weapon into his hands, muscle memory kicking in as he fired at the sniper perched by the window of an abandoned building.

Retrieving his guns, he managed to run a few blocks towards his bike before more shots were being fired at him, certainly from Black Mask's goons.

As he fired back, one of the bullets from the aggressors pierced throught his left thigh, making him grunt in pain.

The adrenaline in his body was too high for him to fully comprehend the situation. Ultimately he managed to kill some of the goons before storming off on his bike.

While skimming trought the desolated streets of Gotham, Jason knew he needed medical attention asap, but his apartment was too far away and in no way in hell was he going to the manor, so he opted for the only other option he had.

Your place.

Now, you and him had been dating for quite some time, but he had never been to your apartment before. It was mainly to keep you out of harm's way, were someone to see a vigilante coming every night to your window and associating you with him.

The other reason was your cat, Norbert.

He had seen pictures and videos of him, but had been warned by every single one of your friends and apparently Dick as well, that he despised men.

Dick had learned it the hard way when he was passing throught your neighbourhood and saw you desperately trying to coax Norbert back into you apartment, since he somehow got himself on the fire escape and had no intention of budging.

Imagine your horror upon seeing Nighwing picking up your cat and trying to pet him and coo at him.

"Aw, what a cutie, what's his name-"

"Nighwing, no!-"

But it was too late: your cat had already scratched the man's cheek. Dick screamed as he let the cat go and almost tumbled over the fire escape. Now everytime somebody brought Norbert up in conversation, you could alway hear him cussing out your cat under his breath.

But Jason's mind was too far gone to fully underatnd what was happening, all he was thinking of was to get to shelter, to find a way not to bleed to death in the middle of the road, so up your building's fire escape he went.

He had made it to your window and knocked on it lighlty, knowing you'd be up reading a book before going to bed.

As if on cue, you arrived jogging with a toothbrush in your mouth, hastily sliding up your window upon seeing your boyfriend's doubled over figure.

"Oh my God, love, are you okay?" You hadn't spotted the gunshot yet, too preoccupied to bring his massive frame into your home.

"Hey, sweetheart," He said, taking his helmet off. Sweat made his hair cling to his forehead, a groan leaving his lips as he tried his best not to put his weight on the injured leg, "Sorry if this is the way I visit your place for the first time."

You gave him a worried look as you assessed the wound before running to the bathroom, getting rid of your toothbrush and pulling out the first aid kit. You thanked every entity in this universe for making you choose to go to medical school as you quickly returned to the living room, where you found Jason slumped against your coffee table.

You quickly began working on his leg, giving him a gauze to bite into.

"Tahnh yuh babh"

You tried to suppress a chuckle as you finished wrapping up his leg and gave him a glass of water and osme painkillers. You kissed his cheek, "No problem, love, I'm literally doing my job"

Jason gave you a lopsided grin both from pure exhaustion and sleepiness, and he felt his eyes begin to droop.

You shook him lightly, afraid to injure him further but definitely not wanting him to worsen his conditions.

"Hey, baby, you need to stay awake for me for a bit, yeah?"

"Mh-I knoww...I just-"

"Meow."

You stared at your boyfriedn with an horrified expression, eyes wide as your fingers grazed his bandages.

Jason seemed to have lost every single ounce of sleep in his body, matching your expression.

"Meow."

Uh oh.

"Don't move," you pleaded with him, taking his hands in yours, "I'll bring him here, just- holy cow!"

Just as you begun to turn, you spotted Norbert, your cat, in all his chunky orange glory, staring the two of you down - or better, zeroing in his amber eye on Jason, who for the first time that night, felt true fear.

"What do I do?" he whispered to you as he held eye contact with your cat, both of his hands tensing up under your grip.

You sighed, standing up, "Just stay there," then you went over Norbert and picked him up.

The feline instantly melted in your hold, purring slightly and nuzzling into you, but you could tell he wasn't fully calming down. He was still looking at Jason and his tail was swaying from side to side.

You just hoped you wouldn't have to stich Jason up again tonight.

You made your way over, taking small steps towards your boyfriend, who was still laying on the ground with a cautious look on his face.

"I made him smell some of your clothes the last few months," you started to explain, "and he even cuddled up to me in bed while i was wearing your hoodie, you know, the black Metallica one..." you took a few more steps, now directly in front of him.

You kneeled down, your arms tightening slightly around Norbert, "I really hope that did the trick,"

The cat sensed your nervousness and thinking it was due to Jason presence, hissed at him, swatting a clawed paw in his direction.

You closed your eyes, taking a big breath and trying to calm your nerves. This was a big deal for you and you cared bout both of them just as deeply, so you really hoped Norbert learned to accept Jason.

"Outstretch one of you hands towards him," you instructed Jason, "let him sniff you."

You loosened your grip on your cat and he jumped out of your arms, cautiosly making his way to Jason's hand. He let a low grumble as a warning, but upon sniffing his hand, he took a few momwnts to assess the situation. Nornert looked at you and you muttered a good boy to him, stroking his back in praise. He meowed and turned back to Jason, looking at him and then, and only then, he softly bumped his head on his hand, his fluffy tail up as Jason run his hand over his back. You both let out a relieved breath in unison, your shoulders visibly relaxing.

You watched the scene in awe, you eyes starting to well up with tears.

Jason sensed the mood switch and turned his head towards you. He was still smiling for not being smacked or bitten by your cat yet, so he scooted over, daring to do the impossible: hugging you in front of Norbert.

He had heard the stories: your guy friends and most importantly your ex boyfriend had tried to do so and had eneded up being chased around the house by a raging murderous orange ball of fur. They lived to tell the tale, but had since refused to step foot into your home ever again.

He hoped it would go differently for him.

Taking a leap of faith, he swung his arm around your shoulders, you thighs barely touching as his other hand cradled your chin.

"Hey," he looked into your eyes with worry, "you okay?"

You nodded with wide eyes, your left hand cupping his cheek with a relieved smile.

"Yeah, I'm happy he didn't attack you, it's all," you said but then your expression faltered as you heard another meow and saw Norbert staring menacingly at Jason's hand on your chin, then at Jason and then at the hand again.

He quickly dropped his hand and chuckled in apology, but you decided to see just how far you could push your luck and decided to pick Norbert up and place him onto your lap so he'd be between you two.

He unsurprisingly loafed up on you immediately and rested his chin on your right knree, staring up at the two of you.

"Try again, love," you said to Jason, who didn't need to be told twice as he eagerly tilted you chin up and leaned down for a searing kiss, his lips moulding against your own. You melted at the way his slightly chapped lips seemed to slot perfectly against yours, sighing in contemptment as your fingers twiddled witht the damp strands of hair that were stuck to his nape. You slightly tugged them and that earned you a mewl from Jason, the sound vibrating in your own mouth and making you smile in satisfaction.

Eventually pulling away to catch your breath, Jason chased your lips again but you playfully swatted his chest chuckling, "Don't push your luck, Jay. Norbert's patience runs out very quickly," you whispered as you looked down, petting the cat on your lap, "Aren't you a good boy, uh? Letting me kiss my boyfriend without drawing blood,"

Jason let out a whine, glaring at the cat and then making puppy eyes at you, "Wasn't I your good boy?"

"Jason, oh my god-"

[natsukicookies]

The sinful allure

Summary

What you thought was the life of a side character turned out to be the life of the main character!

On your 18th birthday, you discover you're a succubus, and everything you thought you knew about yourself changes.

What’s more, your newfound powers don’t just come with supernatural abilities—they make you act... different. Flirty, confident, and completely unlike your usual shy self.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Batboys have somehow gotten tangled in your life. Balancing secrets, powers, and the chaos they bring? Yeah, happy birthday to you.

< masterlist > chap 1

Your eyes couldn’t leave your phone’s screen as they were locked onto the calendar app. You eyed a specific date with barely contained anticipation noticing that your birthday was approaching. In just a few days, you would turn 18. You were finally going to be an adult. You weren't sure if you felt excited or anxious-maybe a little of both.

With a sigh, you tried to focus back on the teacher's lecture, though your mind was elsewhere.

Turning 18 meant you'd finally be the same age as everyone else in your year.

The class ended, before you realise that, whatever the teacher spoke went in one ear and out the other, Fantastic! Now you were clueless about the chapter and would have to head to the library to study. "Just amazing," you muttered sarcastically under your breath.

As you left the classroom, someone bumped into you in a hurry. "Sorry!" the guy called out as he rushed past. You recognized him instantly-Tim Drake, one of Bruce Wayne's adopted sons, and one of the richest guys in Gotham.

He's one of the 3rd years, in the computer science major, same as you. The two of you even share some of your classes. And yet despite this.

You hadn't talked to him, or really to anyone at this college if you were to be honest. You were more of an introvert... wait, don’t introverts also have friends, but you didn't. A small laugh escaped you at the thought.

It wasn't always like this though,. You used to have friends, but then COVID happened, and all your social skills vanished. There wasn’t much to begin with, but it dropped to zero after that.

And iIf that wasn't bad enough, your mom got transferred to another city for her work, and guess what? It was Gotham City, the crime capital. Thankfully, the one year you'd spent here had been normal,well as normal as it could be in Gotham.

Being suddenly moved, in the middle of your last year of high school mind you, wasn't great. By the time you arrived everyone had their own friend groups, and you didn't fit into any of them. Your lack of social skills not helping either.

High school came and went, college started, but your chances of making friends? Nope, that still seemed like a pipe dream that would never happen.

You headed to your next class, passing the art club where you overheard people talking about Damian Wayne.

Another Wayne? You rolled your eyes at the name. You weren't really fond of the rich kids- most of them weren't great.

But then again, this was Gotham State University, and a lot of rich kids were here. To this day, you still had no idea how your mom managed to get you into this college. Did her job really pay that much? Definitely not.

Not caring much about it, you took a seat in an empty spot and watched the day fly by.

That was your norm- going to college, judge people,head home to do your course work and other stuff, then repeat, it was a cycle

It was seriously boring.

Guess that's the life of a side character for you.

Your attention shifted as you heard your name being called by your mom. "Are you still wearing that pendant?" Of course, that was the question she always asked. You knew her obsession with that pendant all too well. Whenever you were asked, she would respond with, "You must wear that pendant forever and never take it off, even for a second."

At this point, you were used to it, but still, her asking the same question every week for years kind of got on your nerves. "Yes, Mom, I am." You couldn't help but roll your eyes as you continued to watch TV.

Your mom did her usual routine, reminding you not to open the door for strangers (typical mom) and telling you what food was in the refrigerator before heading off to work.

Your mom was hardly home; like 90% of the time, she was at work. You didn't blame her for that now that you were older. She was a single mom working hard to support both of you.

Well, you tried not to blame her, at least. But there were still those moments.

Now the movie you were watching didn't seem fun anymore because of those thoughts. Cursing under your breath, you turned off the TV and headed to your room, passing by the mirror.

Stopping in your tracks and stepping back, you stared at your reflection. You looked normal; nothing seemed out of place, but you could have sworn you saw something whilst walking past it.

You shrugged it off and went to your room, chalking it up to your imagination.

The next few days went by and it's the night before your birthday. You're alone in the house, because of course your mom has work to take care of.

The next few days passed in a blur, and soon it was the night before your birthday. You were alone in the house, of course, since your mom had to work -again.

You were her only child, yet she didn't even have time for your 18th birthday. "Amazing mom," you muttered, trying to push down the bitterness creeping in. You scrolled aimlessly through your phone, distracting yourself from the thoughts swirling in your mind.

You watched the clock hit 11:48 and decided you might as well get that cupcake out and blow some candles- that's the only thing you can blow anyway.

As you moved around the kitchen, you kept catching glimpses of strange things out of the corner of your eye-like objects floating slightly before settling down. But every time you turned, everything seemed perfectly normal.

You shook your head, Maybe you were getting sleepy? You really hoped that was the case because you were not up for a ghost fight on your birthday.

By the time you set up the cupcake, the clock read 11:58. Just two more minutes, and you'd officially be 18- meaning you won't be able to use your 'sir I'm a minor' card but hey, you could at least legally drink wine now... if you could afford any.

You quickly lit up the candle and waited till the clock hit 12

"Happy birthday to me" you wished right on midnight as you closed your eyes to blow out the candle "I hope for a change this year"

Opening your eyes expecting to see the same old living room only to be met with a pair of bloody red eyes staring at you from High up.

A wave of fear washed over you making your body freeze. As you took in your surroundings, you were indeed not in your living room anymore. This wasn’t what you meant when you wished for a change this year...

"Worry not, my child," a deep voice echoed. you can't see its face or what it is, all you see is a shadow like figure on a throne which was placed on.... your eyes widened as you realized it was human skulls.

Oh you were a goner, you just knew it.

"You are not a goner" Did he- guessing by the voice- read your thoughts? You weren't even gonna question how, none of this was making sense so it's better to just not use the logical side of your brain and just roll with it.

"You must have a lot of questions," he spoke, amusement clear in his voice, as he rested his cheek on his hand.

You nodded, you definitely did.

"Good, let's add one more" he pointed at you, more specifically at your clothes.

"Huh?" You looked down and felt your face heat up. Your outfit wasn't the one you'd been wearing-it was something much more revealing, leaving you scrambling to cover yourself with your hands.

"What is going on?" you stammered, cheeks flushed.

The figure burst into laughter, seeming to enjoy your reaction a little too much. Finally, after calming down, he explained.

According to him, you were a succubus. A... what now?!

And hence the reason for things floating around in the air and you seeing stuff in the mirror.

Did it make sense? No, absolutely not. Was he gonna explain more? It didn't seem like it.

"So you’re saying.... that I have to have.... sex with.... guys now?" you asked, cutting to the question weighing on your mind

"Girls work too," he replied you could hear the smirk from his tone.

Your jaw dropped at his casual response. "Girls work too"? This was insane. You barely managed to talk to people as it was, and now you were expected to seduce them? The thought alone made you want to dig a hole and hide in it.

"So, let me get this straight," you said, trying to keep your voice steady. "You're telling me that, overnight, I turned into... a succubus. And now I have to... you know... with people? Just to survive?"

The shadow figure leaned back in his throne, still smirking. "That's the short version, yes. But it's not quite as dire as you're imagining." He seemed amused, as if he could see the whirlwind of emotions playing out on your face. "You'll get used to it. Besides, a succubus's charm is automatic. Your appeal will increase naturally, even without you trying."

You blinked, taking a shaky breath. This was all too much. "But why me? Why now? I've gone my whole life without... without feeling like this."

"That's the way it works," he said simply. "Eighteen is the age when your powers awaken. And now that they have, you'll start to feel new urges and... influences."

Influences? That didn't sound reassuring.

"Here's how it works," he continued, clearly enjoying your unease. "When you're in your succubus form, your personality will shift to help you attract... let's say, energy sources. You won't even recognize yourself. And in your regular form, you'll be-"

"Shy and quiet?" you guessed dryly, crossing your arms over your revealing outfit. "Because that's how I normally am."

"Precisely," he replied, giving you an almost fatherly nod. "But in your other form, you'll become... well, let's call it 'confident.' All of this will be second nature soon enough."

This wasn't exactly reassuring, but you nodded, still struggling to process everything. Then a thought struck you, and you bit your lip. "So... if I need energy, does that mean I... you know... with anyone who-"

"Relax," he cut in smoothly. "You don't have to go that far if you're not comfortable with it. Succubi draw energy in a lot of ways: touch, presence, even just eye contact. What matters is connection. The deeper the connection, the stronger the energy you receive."

You let out a sigh of relief. That, at least, took some pressure off. But even then, none of this felt remotely possible for you.

"How will I even know when to... when to switch forms or get energy? I have no idea what I'm doing!"

The figure let out an amused chuckle "Ah, but that's the fun of it, isn't it? You'll learn as you go. The instincts are within you, even if they're dormant right now. When you need them, they'll surface."

He rose from his throne, the shadowy shape growing even larger as he seemed to loom over you. "And remember, child," he said, his voice suddenly serious. "You have a gift. Use it wisely-and sparingly. Too much charm, too quickly, could draw attention... and not the good kind."

With that final ominous warning, he snapped his fingers, and the room around you began to swirl and blur, as if reality itself was being pulled out from under your feet.

Before you could react, you found yourself back in your living room, alone and staring at the cupcake in front of you, the candle still flickering.

You blinked, heart racing. "Did that... really happen?"

Just then, your phone buzzed, snapping you back to reality. A birthday text from your mom.

You ignored the message and blew out the candle, the excitement from earlier completely drained. As you reached out to remove the candle, you froze. Your clothes... they hadn't changed back to normal.

So, that really did happen...

Heart pounding, you ran to the mirror. Standing in front of it, you realized two things. First: you actually looked... really hot. And second: your appearance had changed. Your eyes were now a striking pink, and small, barely-there horns peeked out from the top of your head.

Curious, you reached up to touch one of them- only to let out a surprised whine. Sensitive. Those little horns were tiny but extremely sensitive.

"How do I change back to normal?" you muttered with a nervous laugh,thinking of every scenario this could go wrong.

Shoulders slumping, you trudged back to your cupcake, peeled off the wrapper, and stuffed the whole thing into your mouth. You probably looked like a chipmunk, but who cared? You had bigger problems-like, for instance, the horns or the bright pink eyes.

As you chewed, you couldn't help but wonder who-or what-that shadowy figure was. He seemed to know way more than he was letting on.

But... how exactly were you supposed to summon him again? You tried doing a strange little "summoning dance," waving your arms around in a circle, but nothing happened.

Wait a second. Weren't succubus supposed to have superpowers? That would be amazing! You'd always wanted powers like Superman or Wonder Woman.

The real problem was... how on earth were you supposed to activate these so-called powers?

Stepping out onto the balcony, you stared at... the wall across from you. Not the most inspiring view-just the brick wall of the building next door, practically in arm's reach. You let out a sigh. "Well, it's not like I'm swinging across rooftops anytime soon," you muttered.

Still... maybe you could try something. Like super strength! Or maybe some kind of powerful leap? Not that you were about to actually jump off the balcony- you weren't that reckless, but if you had powers, how were you supposed to... what, think power on? Activate?

You stretched your arms forward dramatically. "Powers, activate!" Nothing happened. You waved your hands around a bit, wiggled your fingers, even struck a ridiculous pose for good measure. Nada.

"Well, that's disappointing," you grumbled, heading back inside quietly before anyone saw you looking like a wannabe superhero.

Or so you tried to-until you stepped right onto that one loose board on the balcony. The next thing you knew, your ankle twisted in the ridiculously high heels that came with this outfit, and suddenly, you were tilting forward with nothing to grab onto.

And just like that, you found yourself tumbling over the edge.

"Oh, crap! Crap, crap, crap!" you screamed in panic as you fall from the third floor, arms flailing like a bird that had no idea how to fly.

Your mind raced in pure panic as the ground rushed closer. 'This is it' you thought. You just became a succubus and You're about to be a splat on the pavement. You squeezed your eyes shut, bracing for impact.

But... it never came.

Instead, you felt a strange pull at your core, and you slowed down, hovering just a few feet above the ground. You opened your eyes cautiously, and sure enough, you were floating there mid-air, bobbing slightly like a very confused balloon.

You blinked, stunned. "Did I... just fly?"

Testing it out, you tried to move forward. You wobbled awkwardly, managing to drift a few feet before tilting sideways, nearly tipping over. Okay, this was gonna take some practice.

Still floating, you managed to get back up to your balcony, though not without a few embarrassing bumps along the way.-we don't talk about that- When you finally got back over the railing and landed safely, you let out a deep breath, half-relieved, half-excited.

"So I have powers," you muttered, grinning in spite of yourself.

And behold, this was the moment a very dumb idea went through your head. Did I mention it was dumb? Because, yeah, it was very dumb.

Without a second thought, you decided you might as well check out Gotham at night. Hey, it was a great excuse to test out your powers, right?

With that brilliant thought in mind, you stepped onto the railing of your balcony and, this time, willingly jumped off. Floating in midair, you felt that thrill again-flying was actually getting easier! Or, so you thought. One glance to the left, and suddenly you were veering off course, wobbling wildly as you struggled to stay steady.

You almost crashed right into the huge Wayne Enterprises billboard, narrowly avoiding it by flailing your arms and kicking your legs like a panicked duck.

You found yourself butt-landing onto a fire escape, the metal steps clanging loud enough to make you wince. So much for a graceful first flight.

"Ow," you muttered, rubbing your sore backside. At least you didn't end up face-first in a dumpster. That was something, right?

You pushed yourself up, dusted off, and looked around to make sure no one had seen that very professional landing.

Thankfully, this part of Gotham is usually empty half the time, sparing you from total embarrassment.

You considered that maybe flying wasn't the best idea after all, so you opted for the stairs instead-only to regret that decision a second later.

Those metal stairs combined with your high, pointy heels-which you had no idea how you managed to walk in-were a disaster waiting to happen. Your heels kept getting stuck in the small gaps between the stairs, turning what should have been a simple task into a clumsy game of balance.

Somehow, you managed to get down the stairs and stayed in the shadows, not wanting to attract unwanted attention. As you walked, you stumbled upon what appeared to be a bank robbery.

The bank was small, tucked away in a shady area-no wonder there were no police around. Let's be honest: the police in Gotham really don't do shit anyway. And God knows where vigilantes were...

You gripped the little clothing you had on, your feet glued to the floor-not because of the metal stairs this time, but out of sheer hesitation.

Here's the thing: you may have newfound powers, but you weren't a vigilante. You had no idea how to fight or even how to use your abilities yet. Rushing in recklessly to save people you didn't even know? Not the best plan.

Plus, Batman or one of his allies would probably show up and handle the situation, right?

That was the plan, right...?

Then a loud scream echoed through the air, followed by a gunshot, and your heart stopped. Someone could be dead right now, and you had the power to save them.

But you weren't a vigilante; you were merely a succubus, a very new one too.

"Go," a calm but familiar voice echoed in your ear, and before you could process what was happening, you found yourself sprinting toward the bank. Peering through the windows, you spotted three masked men holding a few bank staff hostage. Luckily, there weren't any customers inside-thankfully, they were closed for the night.

If you remembered correctly, the shadow figure had mentioned that you had the ability to charm people. Maybe that could come in handy?

Glancing around, you searched for a way in. The front door was clearly not an option, and as you walked around the building, you didn't find a back door either. But then, you spotted it: a bathroom window just large enough for you to squeeze through.

Were you seriously about to do this?

You took a deep breath, letting the anticipation wash over you. "You're supposed to do crazy things on your 18th birthday, right?" With an awkward laugh, you opened the window and began to climb in-only to find yourself stuck halfway through, your legs kicking awkwardly as you tried to free yourself.

"Yeah no I'm not going to end up being the stuck stepsister of the night," you muttered, finally wriggling yourself free and tumbling into the small bathroom with a thud.

You glanced around, taking a moment to catch your breath. "Okay, focus," you whispered to yourself.

It seemed the loud thud had caught the attention of one of the thieves, and the door swung open to reveal one of them standing in front of you, gun in hand.

"Um..." you stammered awkwardly, standing there like a deer caught in headlights. How were you supposed to charm this guy again?

You tried winking-after all, that's what people do to charm someone, right?

"Who the fuck are you?" he growled, his expression a mix of confusion and irritation.

Yep, that didn't work at all. You were definitely done for.

"I... I'm just a girl," you blurted out, trying to sound as harmless as possible.

But instead of calming him down, your words seemed to fuel his anger. He raised the gun and fired, but thankfully, you managed to duck just in time, letting out a small scream as you covered your head with your arms.

"Actually... you don't look so bad," he said, his eyes darkening as he sized you up with a new, unsettling interest.

You cringed at his words, hearing his footsteps approach as he towered over your crouched form. Just as he leaned in to grab you, you shot up, your head colliding with his chin. He staggered backward and dropped to the floor, completely knocked out.

Wait... did that actually work? That hadn't exactly been your plan, but hey, you weren't complaining.

Seeing him sprawled out on the ground made you feel a spark of confidence. You grinned and stepped over his unconscious form, making sure to grind your heel into the hand that had nearly grabbed you. "Oh," you muttered, noticing his gun. Quickly, you grabbed it-you might need a little extra help.

Alright, one down, two more to go.

Peeking out the door, you saw one of the other robbers tapping his foot impatiently. "What's taking that idiot so long?" he grumbled, glancing around.

Most of the bank staff were tied up, while two unlucky ones were filling a bag with cash at gunpoint. You bit your lip, trying to think. Maybe you could lure one of them away? You definitely can't two men at once, especially since this was your first time.

"Where are the vigilantes when you need them?" you mumbled, pressing your face into your palm in frustration. "If only I could turn invisible..."

Suddenly, you noticed your hand start to go translucent. You stared, wide-eyed, as the rest of your body began fading too. "I'm not freaking out... I'm not freaking out... I'm freaking out!" you whispered to yourself, resisting the urge to yell.

You'd wanted to turn invisible, but this was surreal-like being a ghost!

Were you going to complain? Absolutely not. After your momentary panic, a wicked grin spread across your face. you rubbed your hands together like a fly- wait why like a fly?

You crept out of the door without a sound, approaching one of the robbers. With a swift punch to his face, he crumpled to the ground, catching the attention of his partner. Before he could react, you followed up with a well-placed kick to his...pp area. Both men went down, groaning on the floor.

Quickly, you gathered their weapons, but after glancing around, you realized you didn't have any rope or anything to tie them up with. Letting out a sigh, you began thinking of your next move, when your ears picked up stood steps approaching.

It seems your senses have been improved.

The front doors burst open, and a vigilante strode in. You quietly tiptoed to the side, raising an eyebrow. What kind of hero just barges in through the front door? You rolled your eyes, watching as he surveyed the scene in confusion.

Just as you thought you could slip out, he whipped out a baton and threw it your way. "Wha-!" You barely managed to dodge it, shooting him side eyes.

"Can't have you sneaking away now, can I?" he said smoothly, his gaze following your movement. Wait... could he see you? You glanced down, still invisible. How did he know?

Picking your jaw off the floor, you started to say something, but quickly changed your mind. He was nightwing, trained by Batman himself, so of course he'd sense someone was there.

You let out a small sigh and turned off your invisibility, meeting his now slightly widened eyes. He recovered quickly, though, looking unfazed.

"There's one unconscious in the bathroom," you said confidently, gesturing with a nod toward the door.

He glanced down at the two men on the ground, too dazed to move. "You... did all this?"

You nodded, but before he could ask another question, you bolted toward the door-or at least, you tried to. Just as you were about to step outside, his hand shot out, grabbing you firmly and stopping you in your tracks.

"Ah-!" you squeaked, pausing with a pout. "I'm not a villain," you insisted, crossing your arms with as much indignation as you could muster.

He raised an eyebrow. "Then who are you?"

You blinked, holding his gaze, before a mischievous smirk spread across your face. Your eyes glowed a little more pink as you leaned in, voice dropping to a sultry whisper. "The girl who's going to haunt your dirtiest dreams."

Before he could even react, you somehow slipped out of his grip, leaving him standing there bewildered as you sprinted out of the bank.

Not looking back, you floated all the way back to your apartment, bumping into things left and right. Each impact made you cringe a little harder-not just from the bumps, but from the embarrassing line you'd dropped earlier. "The girl who will appear in your dirtiest dream?" Seriously? You wanted to disappear just thinking about it.

As soon as you got inside, you headed straight for the couch, burying your face in a pillow with a groan. The scene replayed in your head on a loop for a good 30 minutes before you finally managed to shift your focus to something else: how on earth to turn back to normal.

Rolling onto your side, you caught a glint of something under the coffee table. Reaching out lazily, you pulled it closer and realized it was the pendant-the one you were supposed to keep on you at all times. Without thinking, you slipped it back around your neck.

And just like that, your clothes transformed back to normal.

You rushed over to the mirror and sure enough, you looked like yourself again-mostly. Your eyes still held a slight hint of pink, but you doubted anyone would notice.

Curious, you decided to test your theory. Taking off the pendant, you watched as the tiny horns reappeared. So that was the trick!

"Oh, cool" you mumbled under your breath, putting it back on.

Maybe it was the adrenaline finally wearing off, or the sheer chaos of tonight catching up with you, but you felt yourself teetering on the edge of exhaustion, just one step away from crashing right there in the living room.

But no-somehow, you managed to scrape together the last bit of energy to drag yourself toward your bedroom. Your steps were slow, heavy, almost zombie-like. If anyone saw you now, they might actually mistake you for the undead, stumbling down the hall with only the thought of collapsing on your bed keeping you moving.

You let out a tired sigh, replaying flashes of the night in your mind. The discovery, the thrill, the whole insane twist your life took in just a few short hours. And now...you were supposed to go back to normal? Act like this was just another day at college?

Flopping onto your bed, you closed your eyes, leaving the problems to the future you to deal with as you let the sleep fairy take you to the dreamland.

Yall thank @purplexing-writing-and-concepts for beta reading it <33

I have no idea when chap 1 will be out, hopefully in a month or so.

✎ ∙︓⋅⠄✯∘⠄✧

Taglist: @xingyunny @4rachn3

[unfortunatelyphoenix]

Inspired by this idea I had, just be aware that things may be out of character and there isn't too much mentioned of DC, this is just the beginning part of it. I may or may not continue writing this idea depending on if my hyperfixation sticks on this and I keep motivation.

Danny looked at the letters he made one last time before sighing and placing the note for his parents on his bed next to the three envelopes addressed to his friends and sister before turning to his window and opening it to throw the rope he had down. He didn't care to see where it landed, instead grabbing his backpack and an unused duffle bag he had stolen from his parents’ closet a day or two ago, quickly checking to see if everything was in them before using the small device one of his friends, Tucker, had made for him to remotely cut out his parents’ security cameras for a few minutes. Originally the device had been made for him in case he ever needed to switch to his ghost form while in the house to avoid his parents from learning his secret identity, but now he was using it to run away, away from everything he had ever known, everyone he had ever- No! Danny couldn't let himself get distracted now and go back on his decision to leave, it was far too dangerous.

Before he let himself get lost in his thoughts he locked his bedroom door, but instead of closing it and heading towards the window he went into the hallway before he closed his bedroom door, the rope and open window only acting as a distraction while he went to where his actual escape point was. He was careful to not wake his parents or sister as he walked down the hallway towards the stairs, no- wait- Jazz was currently attending Gotham University right now for her psychology degree, he only needed to worry about waking his parents right now. Still though, he only moved as fast as he dared to. Danny had to get down to the basement where the portal was before the cameras came back online and before his parents woke up, he had to. As he got to the stairs Danny did his best to get down them as silently as he could, cringing to himself as one of them creaked under his weight. Sure, usually he'd just go intangible and float down the stairs to avoid making any noise, but thanks to his parents having put up ghost detection systems over the rest of the house it was just too dangerous, either the firing from the weapons or the alarms would wake the rest of his family up, and that was far too risky for him.

He internally sighed in relief as he reached the main floor, but he wasn't home free yet, he still needed to get to the portal. He instinctively went onto his tiptoes as he quietly slunk through the house and towards the kitchen where the door to the basement was, where his portal to safety and freedom was, where his children were waiting for him. By the Ancients it was still a little weird calling the two that, but after Vlad's most recent stunt that's exactly what Dan and Danielle were now, his children. Vlad had somehow managed to kidnap the two and forced Dan to possess a clone before de-aging them to both be two in age with Danny being the only witness. It had actually been that incident that convinced him it was best to leave. The GIW had recently started hiring more competent agents that were even less careful with human lives, causing Danny to question if he should use his title as the Ghost King to order all his subjects into the portals and close them once everyone had passed through, but because closing both portals would starve him of ecto AND could be reopened if someone wasn't making sure it wouldn't happen had caused him to not make the decision.

But now, now there were two halfa infants that needed to be cared for who couldn't stay here thanks to Vlad, the other Fentons, AND the GIW making it too dangerous to try and care for them here. He hadn't told anyone other than other ghosts about his plans to leave, knowing that they'd try to talk him out of running and probably somehow convince him to stay. He also originally hadn't even been planning to tell this to his ghost rogues, but after Box Ghost refused to leave since he wanted a reason why Danny gave in and explained his plan to protect the Infinite Realms and all other ghosts. When Box Ghost learned the plan he had immediately gone to tell every other ghost about it which had caused Danny to regret telling him, that was until all the other ghosts, including the ones he was enemies with, were with him on the plan and actively started helping him. Maybe it was because he had technically become king by beating Pariah Dark and they instinctively wanted his safety even if they didn't like him, maybe it was something else, but either way he was happy he wasn't doing this alone.

Danny snapped out of his thoughts as he got to the door, he quickly typed in the pass code before hearing the door quietly unlock. The pass code was pretty easy to figure out and didn't really do much in stopping people from going into the basement, the weak pass code was the whole reason he had even been able to get into the basement on that fateful day, maybe if it had been even a little stronger he wouldn't be in the position he was in now, but what was in the past couldn't be changed. He was careful as he went down the stairs, not wanting to set off any of his parents' traps and wake them up, if he did his whole plan was busted. Reaching the floor of the lab he immediately felt the wave of extra ecto coming from the portal, meaning that there was someone on the other side, normally he'd get ready to fight but he knew who was on the other side of it and he was more than excited to meet them. He walked up to the portal that killed him and sighed a bit, doing one last check to make sure he had both his bags before looking back at the portal. He couldn't shake the guilt for what he was planning on doing but it was for the best. With one last look around the lab he said goodbye to everything he had ever known before going ghost and walking through the portal, using his enhanced powers as the Ghost King to shut the portal off after walking through it and dragging it in with him.

As he stepped through the portal he immediately heard two young voices, one calling ‘Mama’ and the other ‘Papa’. Danny quickly dropped to the ground as the two infant halfas barreled into him, wrapping his arms around the two ghostly children who had already figured out how to use their powers to fly. As he hugged the two he looked up seeing both Wulf and Pandora, the two of them having watched over Dan and Dani while he was finishing things up in the mortal realm. He quietly thanked the two with a nod before picking the twins up, now he just needed to steal Vlad's portal.

Jack and Maddie were starting to get a little concerned, during the past week they had noticed that Danny was growing more distant and had been grabbing things as if he was planning to run, having led the two to believe that he had another self discovery as this was exactly how he acted before telling them that he was trans as he was scared they'd kick him out. So, the two had left him alone so he could tell them on his own terms, but now the two were starting to get concerned. It was the weekend so it was pretty common for Danny to sleep in, but he had never skipped both breakfast and lunch before, and this was really concerning the both of them. Jazz probably would have barged into Danny's room at this point, but she was currently in Gotham attending its university to get a degree in psychology, and while Jack and Maddie didn't usually approve of it they were starting to wish she was here.

It was 1:43 pm when Jack got up from his chair, neither of them had been doing their usual work as they had been waiting for Danny to come down and tell them whatever it was, but Jack was getting too antsy to keep waiting. “I'm going to check on Danny.” He said as he got up from his seat, causing his beloved wife to look up at him and speak. “You know we should give him some space and let him come down when he's ready.” Maddie said with a stern, but also worried tone, showing that she too was also concerned for Danny.

“I'm just going to check on him, okay? He's been showing signs of chronic pain recently and I want to make sure he's doing okay.” Jack said as he looked towards his wife with concern in his eyes, neither of them knew why Danny had begun showing signs of chronic pain recently but they were pretty sure it had been because of the ghost attack last month as that's when he first started showing signs. Maddie, seeing that her husband was serious about this, sighed a bit before agreeing, but told him to only enter Danny's room if he didn't answer. Jack agreed before walking up the stairs, his heavy footsteps causing a few of the steps to creak a bit as he went up them. As he got to the second floor Jack felt a wave of uneasiness, like something was wrong, making his worry even more for his son. Was he okay?

Jack quickly made his way over to Danny's bedroom door and knocked on the door, holding himself back from just barging in. “Danny, kiddo, are you alright? You haven't left your room for hours and skipped both breakfast and lunch.” Jack said with concern in his voice, but all he got in return was silence, making the massive man even more worried. “Danny?” He asked again, this time knocking on the door louder, praying that Danny was just asleep, but once again he was met with nothing but silence. This only made him even more worried. “Danny, if you do not respond I'm coming in.” Jack said with a stern tone that was filled with worry, and when Danny didn't respond he reached for the door knob and turned it. It was locked. Danny never locked his bedroom door.

“Madeline! Danny's door is locked!” He yelled down to his wife, panic filling his voice. At this he heard his wife quickly getting up from where she was sitting, yelling at him to not slam through the door and let her get her lock picking kit, and while Jack desperately wanted to do just that he waited. Jack started pacing in the hallway as he waited for his wife to find her lock picking set, only being able to think of everything that might have happened to cause Danny to lock his bedroom door.

Maybe it had something to do with the chronic pain that had recently popped up? Maybe he had been changing and suddenly passed out from the pain suddenly getting worse? Could chronic pain cause so much pain it could cause one to pass out? If so, how long had their precious boy been out? How long could he have been laying on the floor or on his bed because of having passed out due to unfathomable pain? Maybe it was something else that had happened? Had a ghost somehow gotten in and hurt their son? No, that couldn't happen, they had an anti-ecto force field and sensors and everything everywhere! There'd be no way a damned ghost could have gotten in and hurt their son! Wait… Danny's room didn't have any of the anti-ecto weapons and sensors in his room because they kept constantly triggering on him for some reason. Maybe the reason had been because Danny had been unknowingly possessed and only struck now! Maybe it had taken control over Danny and had him slowly turn off all the precautions and that's why he had started showing signs of chronic pain? Jack had noticed that some of the systems had strangely been shut off but he had thought that it was Maddie either tinkering with them or that they had mistakenly shot at Danny again, but if he was being possessed then maybe the systems were detecting it and they failed to notice anything! Oh god, what if they had the warning signs all along and just ignored it and now their son was potentially in danger if not dead already! What if-

“Got it!” Maddie's voice suddenly called out after a loud click, knocking Jack out of his pit of panicked thoughts. “Danny!” Jack yelled as he rushed into his son's room, ready to fight anything that could be threatening or controlling their youngest, only to find an empty room with the window open and a rope hanging out of it. Both Jack and Maddie were frozen for a moment before they quickly started searching his room for any signs of where their son could have gone. The open window and rope made it immediately obvious that it wasn't a ghost who took Danny, meaning that he was either kidnapped for some reason or he truly had ran away, and considering that so many of Danny's things were also gone it was pretty easy to figure out which it was, were they really that bad of parents? Before Jack started down the spiral of thoughts again he suddenly heard Maddie's voice quietly call for him and quickly went over to her.

As he got over to his wife Jack quickly noticed that she was looking at Danny's bed, so he turned his attention to it and saw three envelopes and a written letter that was likely from their missing son. The envelopes all had names on the, the first had the name of someone called Tucker, another had the name Sam, and the third had their daughter's name Jazz. So it was clear that these were addressed for certain people, but who were Tucker and Sam? They had to have been close to Danny if he had specifically made envelopes for them, but neither Jack or Maddie knew the two. Were they his friends? Why hadn't Danny told them about the two? Or had he and they were just so awful of parents that neither paid attention. Maddie carefully grabbed the note that was in the center of all the letters and carefully unfolded it, revealing the words for the two adult Fentons to read.

“Dear Mom and Dad

I apologize that this is how you will learn the truth about everything that has been happening since the portal opened, but it is also unfortunately the only way as it is too dangerous for me to remain any longer.

As you know, two years and eight months ago you had finished making the portal to the “Ghost Zone” but it hadn't started immediately so you had gone out to eat to think of a game plan on what to do, but by the time you had returned it had powered on, and I know exactly what happened. When you guys had left I decided to go down and try to figure out what happened, well, when I was checking out the inside of the portal (yes, in hindsight I have realized that it was an extremely stupid decision) I had tripped over some loose wiring and had attempted to catch myself on the wall, accidentally hitting the emergency stop switch that had been flicked to OFF. This caused me to not only be electrocuted but also caused the portal to open on top of me, it had also placed me halfway through the portal, meaning that I was half inside of the “Ghost Zone” and half in our realm. The only reason I didn't die due to being electrocuted was thanks to the ectoplasm radiation from the portal and “Ghost Zone”, and the only reason that I didn't die thanks to all ecto-radiation was all thanks to Phantom as he had been near where the portal opened up. Humans can't survive in the Ghost Zone, and Phantom knew that, so when he had seen me halfway through the portal with my body and soul being torn apart due to both the Zone and electricity he immediately tackled me out. Because of what happened with my soul being half detached from my body and unable to reattach itself Phantom had used some of his ecto to fix it, but this left me as something known as a halfa. A halfa is someone who is half alive and half dead, half a human and half a ghost.

Because I had been turned into a halfa thanks to Phantom saving me I needed to learn how to support my ghost side, meaning that he taught me everything he knew about ecto-entities and ecto. I've learned that ghosts have their own language and that those who are fully human and not ecto-contaminated can't understand them, meaning that they aren't ignoring anyone. I've learned that ghosts regularly brawl as a form of both entertainment and bonding, meaning that only a very few of the attacks were malicious. I've learned that ghosts are beings of emotion, meaning that they aren't heartless monsters. I've learned that they truly were once living creatures and not the soulless copycats that the G.I.W claim them to be. I've learned so much that completely contradicts what we thought to know, and it is this knowledge that has led me to this decision.

The only reason that Phantom didn't close the portal from inside the Infinite Realms, the proper name for the “Ghost Zone” as we've been calling it, was because I needed the ectoplasm from it to keep existing thanks to my half ghost nature and I didn't want to leave you guys to a place with naturally high ecto. I'm the reason there have been so many ghost apparent attacks and why our town got dragged into the Infinite Realms by Pariah Dark, the previous tyrant king of the Infinite Realms. The only reason the entirety of Amity Park didn't die immediately by entering the Infinite Realms was all thanks to Phantom's having claimed it as his haunt to more easily protect the town and in turn our family. When he managed to defeat Pariah Dark he earned the title of the Ghost King, which made it much easier for him to protect our town and me, but this also appears to have caused the G.I.W to start hiring more competent agents that care even less for human life, and they are now why I'm leaving.

Neither me or Phantom want anyone to get hurt, and the longer the portal remains open the more likely it is for someone, human or not, to get hurt. So we have decided that it'd be best for everyone that the portal is removed and I relocate to a place with more ecto so I can continue living. Because everyone here has become so used to the ecto-radiation people are likely going to start getting a bit ill after the portal is closed, but no one should die.

I'm so sorry.

Love: Your son Danny

P.S please don't try to recreate the portal to try and find me, I'm not going to be in the Infinite Realms because I'm too human to safely be inside of them.”

Jack and Maddie could look at the paper as tears swelled in their eyes, they had killed their own son and didn't even realize it. They truly were terrible parents.

[rosefinch07]

Just imagine being jason in the highschool au

You become friends with a boarder kid on scholarship who wants to become a dentist

Batman seems to have invited blue beetle to gotham for a longer period of time than usual because he's always helping during situations

The guy has his first encounter with seeing a dead body when joker breaks out and blows up a few buildings

Dick fights with bruce that night so you go to your best friend's dorm for the night, he looks like he needs the hand holding more than you do

You cut his hair when he complains about it being too long and thick and an oil sink

You get a bruised cheek during sparring with blue beetle bc he finally landed a hit on you but he freaks out and says sorry a bunch

Your best friend then thinks you have an abusive boyfriend before you say it was just because you were practicing fighting with someone because he can apparently see through concealer that tricks everyone else

one day you fall in love with the guy when screwing around in the rain with him after school

You fight with bruce and go to his dorm, going to his dorm is becoming a pattern

You freak out because you think bruce is going to kick you out, your best friend bets otherwise

The stakes are getting him a pop

You get caught when leaving the dorm

Bruce gets called to pick you up

Your friend SPRINTS down to the office to wait with you, he's half dressed, you're still in your pjs and a hoodie you stole from him

Bruce arrives in all his brucie glory

You end up owing your friend a pop

You go to homecoming together as friends

Your best friend gets insanely drunk after one cup of punch because someone put in vodka into the punch bowl

You file away that he has a really inflamed back right at his spine between his shoulderblades, but he says he doesnt know the reason and you just focus on him being safe

You start patrolling with blue beetle

You fall even more in love with your friend by the day, you get a girlfriend to try and escape because you dont want to mess up your friendship you have with him

He is supportive of you, but something weird flickers in his eyes every now and then

On patrol you confide in blue beetle, he says to tell your girlfriend the truth and wishes you luck with your friend

Your friend almost gets kidnapped when going to the store because he went in his uniform

He says that batman saved him before changing the topic by asking to kiss you

You start dating that day

You ask bruce when you get back to the manor

Bruce backs him up even though there was no mention from the other kids at school that batman was there

You let it go

Freshman year turns to sophmore year

You keep hiding that you are robin and your boyfriend is also hiding something from you, but he assured you that it wasn't dangerous so you let him keep it private

Finals pass, he goes back to texas and his family like he does every summer

He visits, though, so you go on dates with him every chance you get

You want to find your birth mother

You look at leads

You find one and the night before your boyfriend's flight you go to his hotel room and say goodbye

You say "catch you on the flip side, don't miss me too much, yeah?" And he says "if you somehow find a way to die, i'm bringing you back to life just to kill you myself"

It was clearly meant to just be a joke

Joker

Warehouse

Bomb

You ended up finding a way to die anyways

You wake up in your grave, get picked up by the loa, and come back to gotham as red hood

Your (ex??) boyfriend is kneeling at your grave, the stupid capsule prize ring from a carnival on a necklace clasped in his hands that you have the match to

He's singing through silent tears, singing songs that you two used to sing together when doing karaoke

He's older now, he's clearly back in gotham for college, he has his gotham university student id clipped to his shirt

You dont know if you're welcome

You don't know how to begin to explain

So you dont try to

You just stare from the rooftops at the boyfriend you left behind

[sweetmuffincakes]

I have another Damirae story idea in mind!!

Okay so Damian and Raven goes to a university maybe as college students and Damian is known as the playboy billionaire in this school. Then suddenly at a party that beast boy was hosting he met raven (her character here is a little out of her personality) she’s someone who likes casual and one night stands but does not fall in love with anyone. They both met and decided that they would go to Damian’s place and sleep w each other. After that they agreed to see each other more often but with no strings attached. Then time goes by and they’re falling for one another. After a year and a month of being fuck buddies they wanted to take the relationship even further, so they began dating. Damian then told her that he will need to go back to Gotham for good because the city needs him and his father said so. Days later Raven found out she was pregnant but she didn’t want to tell Damian that for it could ruin them and she doesnt want her beloved to not go back to Gotham, but then Damian somehow found the pregnancy test when he was at her place and they got into a huge argument. Raven then lied and told Damian that the baby is not his Damian kept asking her if that was the truth and Raven kept hiding it. They parted away from each other sad and broken hearted.

Few years goes by Raven was in the jump city hanging out w the titans then out of nowhere Damian joined them. She and the titans were in shocked to know that Damian came back and now that he’s back it would be a hard thing to hide their kid away from him. Raven and Damian became close again and before they knew it they were working once again side by side. One day Raven decided to spend time with her daughter at an Amusement park, her daughter was so excited that she did not knew her mom was now out of sight. She began to panic and she accidentally hit a man, the guy crouched down to look at the girl and he saw an emerald eyes resembling his own and a pale skin that’s the same as Raven’s. Raven then went to find her own daughter and when she finally saw her she hugged the little girl tightwithout even looking up at the man in front of them. She got up and said thank you and then they locked eyes, both were shocked on what they found out then Raven tried to escape the situation but Damian stopped him and asked them if they could talk. They talked and Damian was mad at her because she hid this to him for a long time but he was livid at himself for he wasnt there by her side the whole time she striggled with their daughter, alot of mixed emotions riling up to him. After that conversation he asked Raven if she could let him meet his owm daughter, she was skeptical at first but she agreed. She saw the bond of her kid and Damian they were both natural to each other, she also noticed Damian being a great father. Years goes by they fixed their relationship and are now getting married.

It’s up to you how you’ll make this story alive but i feel like this would be a plot somehow.

[rummigumi]

Here's a short preview/excerpt from Chapter 4 of Only One Ending. I plan to have it finished soon, but my brain being silly and work being work means it's taking a lot longer than planned.

Despite being so ordinary, Danny Fenton had piqued Tim's interest. Even if that interest was born out of a hope for his failure and a strange need to know more about him. And, considering the rest of the Fenton family, maybe Danny wasn’t as average as he seemed. 

There was just one problem: Danny seemed to have little interest in solving P versus NP. Sure, him failing at solving it due to a lack of trying was technically a win for Tim, but he didn't want to win on a technicality. 

So, he pushed a little.

He had enough social awareness to know how weird it'd be to directly contact Danny when he shouldn't even know his full name, but he had to do something. The next best option he could think of was Danny's academic advisor - she'd be able to help motivate him and her contact information was easily obtained from the university website. She wouldn't think twice about Tim contacting her about Danny and his promise to solve P versus NP. 

So Tim sent an email off and waited for a response, even going so far as to add her as a contact to make sure any reply went to his inbox. However, aside from an over-enthusiastic confirmation that she had received his original message, he never heard back. 

It wasn't until over a week later when he was reviewing his spam/potential malware quarantine reports that he realized Danny had been the one to respond. The tone of said response was pretty obviously annoyed, but Tim hoped his prodding was enough to spur the other into action (or at least cause his advisor to keep pushing for progress where Tim couldn't). Especially as the end of November hit and the combination of the end of the fiscal year approaching and employees hurriedly trying to use up their vacation time caused a pile up of work that had Tim spending more time in his office than out of it. 

Of course, Bruce was slowly integrating back into a leading role at the company after recovering from his ‘death’ and Lucius was just as overworked as Tim, but even with the three of them they were barely able to keep up. Then, to make matters worse, one of his warning systems around the chemistry and engineering departments was tripped at the university - best case scenario there was someone trying to resell university supplies, worst case they had a new rogue on their hands. 

Since she already had access to the campus due to being enrolled Steph was able to help investigate, but with the end of the semester coming up she was somehow even busier and more stressed than Tim - meaning he took on most of the work. Whenever Tim was able to escape the office and the overload of work stacking his desk, he ended up on Gotham University's campus. It wasn't a lot of time in the grand scheme of things, but just enough to work the case. 

In retrospect, he should have anticipated (and planned around) running into Danny. Gotham University was larger than the average school with nearly 9,000 undergraduate students enrolled, but Tim was focusing on his department. It'd be weirder if their paths didn't cross. The issue was - Danny knew him. And while Tim had a good reason to be spending a lot of time at a university he didn't attend, Timothy Drake didn't. So, he needed to avoid anyone able to easily recognize him and preemptively stop questions about why he was there. He was unprepared during the first run-in at the library (and that whole ordeal raised even more questions about Danny - Tim had been able to avoid him, but the whole time he felt an instinctual fear, like he was being hunted by something far more dangerous than a sleep-deprived college student, and the way Danny almost glowed under the fluorescent lights had his brain itching), but he quickly caught on to Danny's schedule. And once Tim knew where he was, it became much easier to evade him. 

Until it wasn't. 

Danny wasn't supposed to be in the Engineering building - no one was. Tim needed it to be empty to follow-up on a lead so he specifically went at a time he knew no one would be there, but instead he got Danny appearing from around the corner like a cheap jumpscare in a horror game. 

Tim immediately bolted back into the office he had emerged from, locking the door behind him. Then, he waited. He wasn't able to hear anything, and if it wasn't for the crack under the door being large enough to see Danny's feet appear he probably would've been startled by the handle jiggling.

Danny didn't make a sound as he moved on, the only indication he was still there was the occasional sound of him trying another door. And then those stopped. Tim waited, trying to watch for his shoes as he passed by the door to leave but he never caught a glimpse. After ten minutes he gave in and risked checking the hallway just to find it empty. 

He was confused about how Danny got past without alerting him (was it because of his background, or something else?), but his attention was quickly stolen as he found what he was looking for - evidence that one of the teaching assistants was skimming lab supplies from deliveries. Still wary that he wasn't alone, Tim quickly left with his findings. 

Thankfully, the evidence he found was detailed enough that he didn't have to go back to campus to continue investigating and he was able to wrap the case up only a week later. However, with the holiday season right on their doorstep, he still didn't have any time for low priority issues - which included Danny Fenton and his weirdness. In fact, it wasn't until after the new year that Tim even thought of him. 

Reading the email Danny had sent proclaiming he had proved P = NP, he felt nothing but suspended belief and a hint of apprehension. It was unlikely the engineering student had actually found a solution after only a few months of work, but on the off-chance he did (and not just a solution, but proof the P = NP), then Tim's life was about to get complicated. Because a solution proving P = NP meant all their cybersecurity, everything that was keeping criminals and villains out of their files and databases, was obsolete. One line of code (given the hacker was competent) could reveal everything - secret identities, weaknesses, active cases. It was bad enough when a few of Bruce's contingency files for other Justice League members were stolen and used by Vandal Savage and his partners, but all of them? 

Tim suppressed a shiver.

If Danny did manage to find a viable solution, he had to get it before it could fall into the wrong hands. He knew it'd be pointless to try to hide it, that if it was already solved then there was no telling when someone else (outside of Tim's reach) would come to the same answer. He had to be proactive, to use the solution to create a code to tear down firewalls and then rebuild them to be impenetrable. 

He emailed Danny asking to meet. Tim was going to get that solution, no matter what. 

Only their meeting provided him with a roadblock - Danny refused to cooperate. Looking back afterwards, Tim could see that in his desperation to get the solution he ended up being counterproductive, pushing Danny to storm out. But that changed nothing. 

So Tim tried again, tracking Danny down and explaining why he was so desperate to get the answer. Danny had mentioned working with the Clay Institute, which was known for its million dollar prize, so Tim offered to pay more - such a tactic was common (and almost always successful) in the business world. Someone would invent or create something and then sell to (or partner with) the highest bidder.

Danny still refused. 

Frustrated and annoyed, Tim realized trying to persuade him was pointless. Dick might've been able to win him over (the self depreciating voice in Tim's head knew he probably wouldn't have messed up in the first place, charming Danny and easily getting the solution from the first meeting unlike Tim), but he didn’t want to call him into Gotham just to get a notebook off a college student - something he could easily accomplish. 

Instead, he switched tactics. Breaking into Danny's dorm was so easy it made him a little concerned about the students’ safety, but he wasn't going to complain as he picked the lock to Danny's room with little effort. Unfortunately, despite the ease of breaking in, the notebook was nowhere to be found. 

Realizing Danny must have it on his person, Tim made plans to return. But after a week of sporadically checking Danny's room in his absence, Tim still had nothing. So he went back to Plan A - ask Danny for the solution, hope he sees reason about the dangers of said solution, and wait. 

Radio silence. 

[ayamari-no-goshi]

Chasing Shadows (9)

AO3 -> first, last, next

Fandoms: Danny Phantom (DP) / DC universe

Summary:  THIS IS A CROSSOVER.  As Bruce Wayne begins to slowly recover from the loss of his son, two   separate mysteries open up old wounds. Who is the unknown leaving clues   hinting at a return to Gotham, and who is the phantom pretending to be   his lost son? Is it just a coincidence they’re active in Gotham at the   same time? Or are they connected?  

Warnings: rated T for violence, mentions of death, and questionable mental health

Parings: none

Notes: originally uploaded to AO3. Cross-posted to tumblr

“Daniel Fenton (14) has been declared dead after being rushed to nearby Amity Memorial Hospital after receiving severe injuries from an accident involving one of his parents’ dubious inventions. His parents, doctors Madeline and Jack Fenton, infamous parapsychologists and inventors were working on what they stated would be a portal to the land of the dead. This so-called portal was being built in basement which had been converted into a laboratory which violates several local and state ordinances. An official investigation has been launched by Child Protective Services to determine if a case of criminal neglect led to the accident. Their surviving daughter has been placed in protective custody…”

Bruce could feel the migraine starting. Even with Constantine being able to give him a general area where he believed Phantom might have originated, he still had to pour over thousands of missing persons cases and death records. But, he believed he finally found the identity of the meta.

According to the publicly available records, he was dead. However, the information from the hospital provided a different picture. He’d been brought in unresponsive with severe electrical burns, but he had been resuscitated and stabilized. Although his vitals did not appear to be conducive to living, but his charts suggested he was alert and recovering in the following days.

The various specialists heavily documented Daniel’s information, most likely believing his recovery would require study. Most of it fell within what would normally be found in a patient’s charts, but there were a few strange mentions of the IV ports falling out and abnormally quick healing. Possible early documentation of the abilities he would end up developing.

But what was strange was how the charts ended. There was just a mention that the boy was found dead in his room and attempts at reviving him failed, but there was evidence of editing and possible tampering several hours later. Though it took much longer than he hoped due to the lack of Oracle’s equipment, he found the source, something called the Ghost Investigation Ward which was under the control of the Department of Extranormal Operations.

They must have been monitoring his parents’ research and swept in to grab him when they caught wind of what happened. A month after Daniel’s “death”, the charges against his parents were suddenly dropped, but their research and equipment had been seized. From what Bruce had seen of their various blueprints, Fenton tech could have multiple applications for military use. The government’s interest in them made a lot more sense after accessing them.

Frustratingly, their data had little information about Daniel. They had a few documents outlining the theories they had regarding what happened to him and whether or not he was to be classified as living or dead. If he ended up classified as dead, the list of experiments they wanted to run were enough to make him sick, but he couldn’t find any records of Daniel ever being at any of their facilities.

Was it possible someone else got to him first? Metahuman trafficking was a known issue, and traffickers preferred to grab them as soon as their powers manifested as it was harder for the metas to defend themselves. Or had he escaped in his own and somehow fled? He hoped it was the latter.

Frustrated that the boy’s trail went cold, Bruce turned his attention to his parents. It was difficult from him to determine whether or not they may have tried handing over their own son. The handful of photos he could find of the family together suggested the parents cared about their children, but with their profession, there was a chance they could have rejected him. Perhaps he should reach out to the daughter, Jasmine, first. She might be able to help him determine whether or not Daniel should be reunited with his family.

“Is this him?” Dick approached the computer on his right.

“I have a strong reason to believe that’s the case.”

His son chuckled. “Unreal. Jason managed to find another kid with the family traits.” Before his accident, Daniel Fenton did bare a superficial resemblance to Dick, Jason, Tim, and even himself due to sharing the same hair and eye colors before his accident. “Do we have any idea where they might have met?”

“I’ve lost Phantom’s trail after his reported death. He may have gotten picked up by traffickers. I’m in the process of starting to piece together possible reports on that end. As for Jason, I’ve tried to contact Talia. I have reason to believe she might be funding him.” The timing of her appearance in Gotham during the Hush plot bothered him. If she was assisting him, it helped explain how his coffin had been replaced and where he might be getting his funds and equipment. But the question became why? What did she gain out of turning his son against him?

“Let me guess, she’s being less than cooperative.”

“Correct.”

“As weird as it sounds, I’m thankful to Phantom.” Dick glanced up at the computer screen. “However they met, he seems to be helping prevent Jason from completely losing himself to the whatever the Pit and the League did to him.” There was something left unsaid.

“But?”

“I just can’t shake this feeling we’re going to end up losing him again when this is all over. Maybe it’s all this talk about ghosts, but I keep remembering all the legends I heard about as a kid about the undead.”

“Dick, we’ll bring him home.”

“I’m not sure he wants to come home.”

…

“Pick any place you’d like. It’s my treat!”

Tim shared a quick look with Stephanie. In the wake of Gotham’s gang war and the realization the Red Hood was Jason, Dick had been a little clingy. They all knew he felt a great deal of guilt over what happened to Jason, and in the wake of both Stephanie and Babs getting into situations where they could have been killed, Tim couldn’t blame him for wanting to spend time with them and make sure they were okay.

Right now, he wanted to treat them to dinner. Cass had been invited too, but she declined in order to help Babs set up some of her surviving equipment in the Batcave. To be honest, Tim didn’t really want to go either, but maybe the distraction would help him think better.

The confirmation Jason was back brought a great deal of confusion. Before the hints and the reveal, he used to think that having Jason back would fix everything. His death was the reason for Bruce’s downward spiral and the pain that nearly tore the Wayne family apart. Tim was just a bandage, a placeholder, while they healed. But Bruce and Dick hadn’t chased him away once they got used to the idea of him being around. Instead, they seemed to care about him and want him as a part of their family, and Tim loved being Robin.

But, Jason had returned as someone barely recognized by those who knew him. Though he initially thought maybe Jason would want the position of Robin back, that didn’t seem likely, especially with how he said Bruce had brainwashed them. It was so strange to hear that from someone who had the same training he did. Jason had been such a shining light as Robin. Did he regret ever having donned the cape? Was he upset to see someone else wear the colors he died in? Or maybe he didn’t think teens should be heroes?

Then there was trying to reconcile the fact his childhood hero nearly killed him. If Jason had pressed that knife against his throat a little harder or had placed it in a different spot, Tim would have bled out in minutes. But he hadn’t. In fact, he had even mentioned he just wanted Bruce’s attention as opposed to doing harm. He also didn’t make any move to fight Phantom or try to get him back once he’d been freed. There was also the admission Dick recorded. Jason seemed troubled by his actions towards him, at least that’s what Tim hoped.

“Earth to Tim!” Dick waved a hand in front of his face. “Where do you want to eat?”

Steph snickered. “Have you been spacing out this entire time?”

“I honestly don’t care…” Catching sight of Dick’s slight frown, he decided it would be best to humor him. Glancing around, he was going to pick whatever jumped out of him when he caught sight of a tall man with dark hair and an unusual white streak on the opposite side of the street. Beside him appeared to be a teenager with the same dark hair. “Dick, look!”

“Jason…”

“Who’s that with him?” Even on her crutches, she wasn’t going to let anything get in her way of getting a good look.

“I think it’s Phantom. Come on!”

They followed on the opposite side of the street for a couple blocks. It seemed strange that Jason would be so willing to walk around in broad daylight, but, legally, he was dead. No one would think to connect the man currently walking down the street in slacks and what appeared to be a blazer with the teen who died years ago. If it hadn’t been for his hair, Tim didn’t think he would have recognized him either.

While they moved, Dick quietly explained that Bruce believed he had ID’ed who Phantom really was. If this new teen was Phantom, it helped explain why they had such a hard time finding him.

The two came to a stop at a small Chinese restaurant at the edge of the Diamond District. Where they seriously just going to go to dinner?

Dick must have been thinking the same thing because he apologized to Steph for a moment before scooping her in his arms and running across the street. Tim followed, trying to ignore the honking vehicles they dodged.

“Table for two, please,” they heard Jason tell the older waitress as they entered.

After gently putting Steph down, Dick walked up behind his brother and patted him on the back, making Jason stiffen. “Make that five.”

For a moment, Tim was convinced Jason was going to punch Dick. The way he glowered at him combined with an unnatural green flash in his eyes quickly reminded all of them he was just as dangerous, if not more so, than the other rogues of Gotham. Yet, as quickly as that look came, it vanished, replaced with a more neutral and guarded expression.

“It has been a while that you’ve both been here.”  The waitress gave them a knowing smile. “Follow me. Just make sure you don’t break anything during your talk.”

“Same as always,” they said at the same time catching them both by surprise. Dick’s smile brightened while Jason’s expression turned stormy. Nothing else was said as they followed the waitress to a back room that only held one table.

“What’s the deal with the waitress?” Phantom asked after everyone was seated with menus, and she left the room. His voice didn’t have the odd distortion to it. There was another difference. His skin didn’t have the greenish tinge to it either. Instead, he looked a healthier shade of pale.

“We’ve been here a time or two in the past. Usually after fights at the Manor,” Jason explained as he glanced back at the doorway and frowned. “I’m surprised she recognized me.” He almost sounded troubled.

“I recognized you.” Dick’s voice was surprisingly soft, though his eyes narrowed in offense when Jason snorted. “What?”

“Not until I took off the helmet. If I hadn’t done that, you’d still be convinced I was just an imposter and that the real me was still a pile of bones. Or whatever other bullshit alternative Bruce came up with.” He flipped the menu over. “I honestly thought you figured it out that day in the warehouse, but I gave you too much credit.”

Tim watched the interaction with a growing awe. While Jason’s posture remained guarded, there was no hostility aimed at his brother. Instead, they both spoke with an ease he hadn’t expected. While it was too soon to tell, whatever animosity Jason held towards Bruce didn’t seem apply to Dick.

“Don’t let him fool you,” Phantom interrupted as a mischievous grin crossed his face, and if Tim wasn’t wrong, his eyes literally seemed to light up with amusement. “Jay was disappointed it took you that long.”

“Do you really want to start this?” A pink tinge appeared on Jason’s cheeks even if he kept his expression neutral. “I have a very distinctive memory of how…” He didn’t have a chance to finish.

“No. No. No! That’s okay!”

“So not fair! Don’t you know the hero community thrives on blackmail?” Steph complained. “Anyways, it’s nice to officially meet you two. I’m Stephanie. Thanks for saving my life.”

Jason’s eyebrows shot up. He he not expected her to thank him? Or was it her friendly attitude? But he recovered quickly and gave her his name. Dick then introduced himself for Phantom, and Tim followed suit but squirmed as Jason stared at him. There was something unsaid and turbulent in his eyes, but he didn’t seem angry. But that didn’t mean much from someone trained by Bruce.

When it came time for Phantom’s turn, he glanced at Jason, who in turn nodded once and gave a slight motion of his right hand. Was that some code for ‘don’t give away too much’? “I’m Danny.”

Dick tilted his head. “Your parents wouldn’t happen to be inventors, would they?” Phantom, Danny, flickered so violently that Tim thought he’d vanish for a moment. He stopped when Jason put a hand on his shoulder, but the teen continued to look panicked.

“How much do you know?” Jason’s eyes flashed green as the air around them seemed to drop several degrees. The information they received from Constantine suggested Jason might now have abilities, but none of them knew with certainty what they might or might not be which made all of them uneasy at the display.

Dick held his hands up in a placating manner. “Just the basics. A bit about his family, that an accident happened, and how there was a coverup.”

“Do you… do you know what happened to my parents?” Danny’s voice was quiet, and he was glancing down as he fiddled with his shirt. The temperature started to go back to normal.

“From what we can tell, they’re doing fine. I bet they’re missing you though.”

A small smile crept onto Danny’s face as he looked up. “I’m glad. They threatened to hurt them if I didn’t do what they said.”

Before anyone had a chance to respond, the waitress announced herself as she came back into the room. “Dumplings on the house! No, no arguing. When was the last time you ate a good meal?” She shook her finger at Jason before pointing at Danny. “This one is all skin and bones. Eat and grow big and strong like these two, okay?” She nodded at the brothers. “Can you believe this one was this tall last time I saw him?” She gestured to show Jason wasn’t quite five foot tall before his death. “Anyways, time to order.” A few minutes later, the waitress was on her way.

“I was not that short.”

Dick gave his brother a knowing smile. “Jay, you were tiny.”

Before Jason could say anything, Steph decided to speak up. “So Danny, who’s idea was it for you to pretend to be Jason?” She took a bite of dumpling. “Oh! These are good!”

“It was my idea!” Danny’s eyes seemed to glow in delight as he also grabbed a dumpling.

They all looked at Jason for confirmation. He didn’t reply immediately, but instead pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. It was something Bruce did all the time, and the familiarity of it made Tim do a double take. “It was his idea. Started off as a joke, but it ended up giving Bruce enough pause to not immediately chase Danny out of Gotham.”

The meta nodded in agreement. “Gotham’s probably the safest place for me right now. There are so many other ghosts around making me hard to detect.”

“Gotham’s haunted?” Tim had heard the stories but never really believed them.

“Yep.” Danny popped the p but didn’t elaborate.

“You’re still going to need to stay low for a while between that stunt at the Clocktower and Bruce sticking his nose in places it doesn’t belong.” Jason mentioned as he moved his hands in a slight but unfamiliar movement. When Danny made a similar one, Tim realized they had some form of unspoken either code or language. It didn’t look familiar to him, but Dick’s eyes had narrowed slightly suggesting he might.

“If you let us, we can help,” Dick offered.

“Thanks, but I’m not interested.” All of them, except Jason, stared at how matter of fact Danny said it.

“I know we might not be your first choice, but we have a lot of resources, especially Bruce.”

The air around them seemed to drop several degrees again as Jason leaned forward. His eyes took on an unsettlingly green tint. “If you ever gave a shit about us being family, then promise me you’ll never take Danny into that house.”

“Jay…”

“You know better than anyone what he’s like.” There was something unsaid in that statement, something Dick seemed to understand as his expression turned grim.

The waitress announced her presence again. She seemed to have a knack for knowing when things were getting tense. Was it just a coincidence? Or had she been listening?

After setting the food down, she wagged her finger at Dick. “Don’t argue with little Jay. Spend the time catching up.” She then smiled at Jason. “Good to see you back. We missed your visits. You finally grew up, but your hair makes you look like a punk.” Laughing at how he started sputtering, she gave him a fond pat on the shoulder. “Can’t wait to tell my grandchildren how the good food here helped you grow so tall.” She then vanished back through the door.

Tim quickly took a few bites as Jason sulked. He actually sulked as he tugged on the tuft of white hair. “It’s not like I can do anything about it.” That meant it wasn’t likely it was dyed. Tim had heard stories people who went through trauma sometimes went prematurely grey, so maybe that’s why he had it. Jason noticed his stare and raised a questioning eyebrow. “You used to follow us,” he stated after taking a bite.

“You saw me? Bruce didn’t even know. Wait…” Every once in a while, when he was taking photos, it seemed as if Robin was posing. He figured it was just coincidental, but if Jason knew, then he had specifically done that for Tim.

“I think he sometimes overlooks kids, wants to believe they’re innocent and all that,” he explained after taking a bite of his own dish. “It was too dangerous for me not to do that growing up. Kids were sometimes used as lures for more nefarious things. OW!” Danny had elbowed him in the rib before making a ‘get on with it’ gesture. “Alright, alright. Tim, are you okay?”

That question caught him off guard. Jason must have sensed his question as he gestured to his own neck. Oh! “Yeah, Selena helped patch me up.”

“Good.” It wasn’t an apology, but Tim could sense Jason’s unease. Maybe he really hadn’t intended to hurt him.

An uneasy silence fell between them as they focused on their dinner. Eventually, Dick decided to speak up. “Jay, what are you planning? You’ve been killing people. Unless you were framed. Have you been framed?”

“Nope.” Jason just smiled at the donning horror on his brother’s face. “It’s not like I don’t have morals. There’s a reason I didn’t kill Scarecrow.”

Dick’s phone rang, but he ignored it as he leveled a look at the younger man. “Jason!”

He rolled his eyes. “Do you really think His way is working? The so-called treatment at Arkham is a joke, and don’t get me started on the security there. Blackgate’s not much better.” Contempt briefly crossed his face. “Fix the revolving door. Then maybe, just maybe, I’ll consider stopping.” His chair scraped across the floor as he stood, “Are you ready Danny?”

“Yep! It was nice meeting you. Thanks for the meal!”

“Wait!” Dick tried to follow them when his phone rang again. It had to be Bruce, otherwise, he wouldn’t have answered it. Strangely, Jason stopped in the doorway to watch. “Can this wait a minute? I’m kind of busy here…” He listened for a moment before staring at Jason. “What did you do?”

“What? Can’t a guy leave flowers on his mother’s grave?” The grin Jason gave him made Tim’s hair stand on end. “Oh, you’re talking about Shelia’s grave. Maybe ask Bruce what really happened that day. ‘Loving mother’, my ass.” He gave a slight salute before shooing Danny through the door. “See ya later, Dickie-bird.”

==================================

Notes:

Department of Extranormal Operations (DEO) - Originally introduced in Action Comics (Superman) #775, but recently popularized in the Supergirl TV show. The role of the DEO is to monitor those with extranormal superpowers and to prevent any threat to the general public. To me, it makes sense that the Guys in White would be under their jurisdiction.

I accidentally decided I loved this waitress while I was writing her. I hope she comes across as motherly and a bit pushy as she sounds in my head

There are 3 different and official heights for Jason regarding when he died. 4’6, 5’0. 5’4”…. I’m going with just under 5’0”. Jay just looks so tiny all the time as Robin.

I know this gets murky in both the later comics (especially during the batshit crazy days) and in the fandom, but Jason does have a very specific moral code in the comics regarding who he will and won't kill. You see this in the Red Hood: the Lost Days and even in Under the Red Hood.

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

Could you please write Jason and Y/N (Father of Mine Universe) with prompts 48, 31, and maybe 30? could go either way.

Even if you choose not to write this, thanks for creating Father of Mine, it's one of my favorite fics!

Father of Mine

48. Using your body to shield them from attack.

31. Hurriedly checking for their pulse.

30. Performing CPR when they stop breathing.

Jason and Y/N were walking along the water after getting dinner.

Most of the harbors in Gotham were run by one crime lord or another. Which meant that there were very few areas on the water for civilians to enjoy – or feel safe. 

But Jason knew of a strip that was under the radar.

There were a few other couples with the same idea. And random groups of kids and teenagers hanging out and messing around.

Jason was relaxed.

That was his first mistake.

Jason had immediately clocked a random middle-aged man who was covered in sweat and was visibly trembling.

Being far too familiar with the sight, Jason assumed the guy was another unfortunate addict. 

But then he noticed the man was carrying a backpack.

Jason had all of 5 seconds to realize what was about to happen.

He shielded Y/N with his body while screaming as loud as he could, “Get down!”

Jason knew he couldn’t save everyone, and Y/N would always be his number one priority.

The next second, the bomb exploded.

The impact knocked Jason unconscious.

For how long, he had no idea.

He was disoriented from the explosion, his ears ringing from tinnitus and his vision struggling to focus from the vertigo. Yet, somehow he could still hear the beating of his heart in his eardrums. 

People were screaming in pain around him and others were crying as they looked down at their loved ones. Half the harbor was on fire from the explosion. Cement and debris was everywhere. Jason’s hair was grey from it.

He blinked and then panicked.

“Y/N!” Jason screamed when he realized she wasn’t anywhere near him.

He jumped to his feet and whipped around in every direction looking for her.

“Y/N!” He screamed even louder, his throat burning from the effort.

Then he realized when the explosion when off they had been standing next to the railing that blocked off the water. The railing that had now been blasted away and into the harbor.

Jason sprinted to the edge and looked down at the black water below.

Without hesitation, he dove into the depths.

It was almost impossible to see anything.

But just seconds later, he found Y/N unconscious and completely submerged.

Jason had never swam faster in his life.

But when they breached, Y/N didn’t gasp for air.

She was completely unconscious.

Jason’s eyes darted around, trying to find their escape.

By some miracle, there was a rusty ladder that led back up to the pier from the water.

Jason put Y/N’s body over his shoulder as he climbed the ladder, silently praying that the metal didn’t break under their combined weight.

When they reached the top, he gently laid her down and his fingers shot to the pulse point at her neck.

Nothing.

“No, no, no,” Jason mumbled. “Y/N. Come on, baby. You’re not doing this to me.”

He found his Red Hood comm in the pocket of his jacket, and put it to his hear.

“Contact Bruce,” he commanded the AI as he started performing CPR on Y/N.

“What is it?” Bruce answered with slight panic. 

Jason had never called him like this before. And therefore Bruce knew immediately something terrible happened.

“Get the fucking jet here right now,” Jason growled.

“What’s happened?” Bruce asked, but it was obvious he was moving around already to leave.

“There was an explosion. She doesn’t have a pulse and she’s not breathing,” it was all Jason was capable of giving him. “Just get the fucking jet here now!”

He didn’t have time to explain more and hung up. And he didn’t have to say Y/N’s name for Bruce know who he was talking about. There was only one woman in Jason’s life that would have him sounding so panicked and desperate.

Jason continued his CPR, fully focused now that he knew Bruce was on the way.

Still nothing.

He did another round of compressions.

Jason’s eyes started watery as his mind began to believe that Y/N wasn’t going to make it.

He wouldn’t survive.

Y/N had changed his life. She made him better, made him good, made him want to worker harder – do literally anything to become the man she deserved and to continue to be deserving of her love.

“Please,” Jason whimpered. “Please don’t leave me.”

But then Y/N’s eyes shot open and she immediately turned over and started coughing up water.

“Holy fuck,” Jason gasped in relief at the sight.

Y/N continued coughing until her throat was scratched and dry.

Jason rubbed her back, trying to comfort her without preventing her body from getting all the water out of her lungs.

After she finished, she was shaking from being freezing cold and from the shock.

Despite him also being wet, Jason put his coat over her shoulders.

“Don’t ever fucking do that to me again,” Jason begged Y/N as he pulled her into his arms. 

He kissed the crown of her head and hoped his body heat would be enough to warm her up.

“What happened?” Her voice had never been raspier and it was now quivering.

“A bomb went off. I thought I shielded you from it, but the impact must’ve thrown you into the harbor.”

“I’m OK,” she tried to tell him. But her shaking voice was unconvincing. 

Jason wasn’t letting go of her anytime soon.

It was only 5 minutes later that the batplane touched down on what remained of the pier.

Jason looked up to see Dick, Tim, and Damian jump out and immediately start helping the injured.

But Bruce, dressed in his Batman uniform, was walking straight to Jason and Y/N.

“She needs to go to a hospital,” Jason called out when Bruce was a few yards away. “Her heart stopped beating and her lungs took in too much water.”

Jason knew Bruce wouldn’t argue with taking Y/N there immediately.

Bruce was clearly relieved at seeing his daughter alive and conscious. But that didn’t mean she was in the clear. Nearly drowning still had its risks. If her heart stopped beating, she was in danger of brain damage or pneumonia.

“I’ll take her. You help the others,” Bruce ordered as he stepped forward to take Y/N from Jason’s arms.

“Like fucking hell I am,” Jason growled as he stood up with Y/N in his arms.

Bruce was about to fight him on it, but then he met Y/N’s eyes. Her skin was pale and almost had a blue tint to it. She looked so small and vulnerable in Jason’s arms. Not like the strong and grown woman that had first strutted into Wayne Manor.

“I’m not leaving her,” Jason added for good measure.

Bruce finally sighed and nodded. “Take the jet. You know where to go. I’ll meet you there.”

Before Jason could carry her away, Y/N whispered, “What about the others?” 

Her eyes tried to look around her boyfriend’s broad shoulders to see the other victims.

“B is going to help them,” Jason gently told her. He even angled his body to block her line of sight. She didn’t need to see any of it. 

“We already have ambulance and firemen on the way,” Bruce added, hoping it would convince her further not to worry herself. 

There was nothing she could do for them anyway. 

Then Bruce locked eyes with Jason. “Go. Get out of here. Take care of her.”

“Always,” Jason muttered quickly before hurrying Y/N to the jet.

————————

Y/N woke up to two low voices clearly having a serious discussion, but trying to keep their voices down.

When she opened her eyes, Y/N realized she was in a hospital room. But it wasn’t just any room. It seemed like a five-star hotel with how fancy it was. It didn’t have that sterile smell or those harsh fluorescent lights that caused headaches.

“It was a turf war,” Bruce told Jason quietly. “Carmine has jurisdiction over the harbor the two of you were at tonight. But Farrelli wanted it for himself. He forced his latest victim to bring the bomb.”

Jason crossed his arms. “So, the guy was dead either way, Farrelli just thought he’d put him to some use before he murdered him.”

Bruce nodded. “And kill five more people with him.”

“Five people died?” Y/N burst out without realizing it.

Both men’s heads whipped in her direction.

“You’re awake,” Jason sighed and immediately rushed to her side.

“What hospital am I at?” She mumbled, looking around again.

“Gotham General,” he told her as he sat on the edge of the bed to face her.

Jason gently grabbed her hand and kissed the back of it. But he had no intention of letting it go, keeping a tight hold and rubbing his thumb back and forth across her skin.

Bruce was slower to join them as he walked with his hands in his pant pockets.

“This isn’t Gotham General,” she commented with a suspicious gaze. 

Jason scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Yeah. Well, as soon as Bruce arrived, they realized that you’re Gotham royalty by blood, and brought you to a special suite.”

Then Y/N’s eyes slowly moved to her father. “Five people died from the explosion?”

She needed to know. But she also knew that both men would try to protect her from possible survivor’s guilt.

So Bruce just nodded.

“How are you feeling?” Jason asked, trying to distract her by changing the subject.

“Tired. And my throat is sore,” she admitted with a light shrug.

Then she looked up at Jason and really took him in.

There were dark shadows under his eyes – the eyes that were still a bit bloodshot. 

Had he been crying? She hadn’t registered that. 

His hair was a mess, probably from drying haphazardly after jumping into the water to save her.

“Are you OK?” She asked.

It would be right on brand for Jason to risk his life saving her, but ignore any and all injures that he’d received from the same life-threatening travesty.

“I’m fine. Always am,” Jason reassured her too quickly.

Bruce chimed in,“We were all just worried about you, Y/N.”

Both men knew her next question was going to be about the well-being of Damian, Dick, and Tim.

“Can we go home?” She asked softly.

Y/N had always hated hospitals. And once her mother got cancer, Y/N absolutely despised them. Now all she had attached to them was bad memories that constantly threatened to trigger her. 

“They just need to get a scan back, make sure everything’s good,” Jason tried to comfort her. “Once that’s good, I’ll take you home.”

He knew her distaste for hospitals and was prepared for her to want to escape at the earliest opportunity.

“Scan?” Y/N questioned.

“You didn’t have a pulse,” Bruce explained. “You have a concussion. We need to make sure there was no brain damage or any lasting side effects.”

“Right,” she mumbled, trying not to sound worried.

“You’re gonna be fine,” Jason reassured her as he cupped her cheek.

“Perhaps you should stay at the manor for a few days,” Bruce offered. “You can relax and not be bothered.”

“She can not be bothered in our apartment,” Jason interrupted, giving him side eye.

“Jason…” Y/N warned gently.

She knew the signs of Jason getting worked up. The fire in his eyes was always something Y/N could read – more than anyone else.

Bruce wasn’t offended by Jason’s little snipe. He was used to his temper. But his gaze did turn rather serious. 

“Could I talk to you outside for a moment?”

Jason was about to refuse, not wanting to leave Y/N’s side. But he knew that would just most likely lead to an argument. And Y/N didn’t need to hear or see that. She was already exhausted and recovering. The last thing she needed was to witness was her father and boyfriend going at it – especially over her.

So Jason just nodded and stormed out of the room.

The quicker they got this over with, the better.

As soon as the door closed, Jason was sizing Bruce up.

“What exactly is your next move?” Bruce questioned.

“I’m going after Farrelli,” Jason rumbled, as if it was obvious.

No one put Y/N in danger and got away with it. Jason had already come up with a plan on how to seek his revenge. 

It was going to be gruesome and dirty, but nothing less than what the bastards deserved.

Bruce clearly had expected this answer. “So do you plan on doing that while you take care of Y/N?” And he tilted his head as he challenged Jason.

“Are you really trying to stop me?”

Bruce took a step forward. “No, Jason. I’m trying to protect you from yourself. You get blinded by vengeance. And I let you get away with it. But now your actions don’t just effect you…they effect her, too.”

Jason blinked.

“Y/N needs you right now. Even though she will act like she doesn’t.” Bruce inhaled. “If you’re going to put revenge over her wellbeing, she should stay at the manor.”

This was a somewhat of a warning – an opportunity for Jason to do the right thing before he could make his mistake.

Jason’s head hung low now. “I can’t let him get away with it. She almost died, Bruce.”

“And he won’t. But we’ll take care of it,” Bruce promised.

Jason thought it about a moment, before he finally nodded slowly. “I think the manor would be good. But I won’t leave her.”

“I never said you had to,” Bruce corrected.

Jason nodded again and made his way to the door of Y/N’s room again.

“Jason?” Bruce called.

He turned around with an eyebrow quirked.

“Thank you for saving her life.”

Jason tried not to roll his eyes, but took a few steps back to Bruce. 

“You have your opinions about me and her, I’m sure. But I want to make this is clear: I’m always going to protect her. Always. What happened tonight is never going to happen again. I’d die protecting her.”

Jason didn’t wait for Bruce’s response before turning back around. 

But just as he opened Y/N’s door her heard, “I know, Jason. I’ve always known.”

—————

Jason was able to convince Y/N to stay at the manor.

And she surprisingly agreed – as long as he came with her.

Alfred spoiled her rotten with all of her favorite meals. He was constantly bring her tea or coffee. 

Damian ordered all of his pets to keep her company and cuddle with her. To the point where Jason was annoyed because there was literally no space for him.

Tim downloaded a hundred movies for her to watch. 

Dick sent flowers and chocolates. 

Even Clark stopped by when he heard what happened. 

Unbeknownst to Y/N, all the boys and Bruce were working on taking down Farrelli. 

If Jason was the man from just a few years ago, Farrelli’s corpse would already be rotting somewhere in Gotham. But he had changed. Now they had to do things the right way.

Jason stuck to Y/N’s side like glue. He hovered, watched her like a hawk, wouldn’t let her do anything on her own.

After of a few days of this, Y/N finally had enough.

“You gonna talk to me anytime soon?” She asked him in bed on their third night.

Jason broke their eye contact.

“Jason. Please?” She whispered.

Silence filled the room.

“I can’t do it.”

Her brow furrowed. “Can’t do what?”

For a split moment, she thought he was about to try and break up with her. 

“I can’t watch you get hurt again. I just…I can’t.”

She cupped his cheeks. “But I’m right here. And I’m fine, Jason.”

“When I…” He hesitated. “When I died. I knew it was coming. I saw the bomb counting down and I knew there was no escape. I accepted my fate. I knew I was going to die. And I was scared.” 

Jason shook his head and took in a deep breath, “But Y/N…that was nothing compared to what I felt when I was convinced I’d lost you. I’m never been so fucking terrified in my life.”

Y/N smothered him with her embrace. “I’m so sorry for scaring you. But I’m OK. Please just focus on that. Please.”

“I can’t lose you, Y/N.” Jason whispered into her hair. “This place was hell before I met you. And I have no fuckin’ interest in fighting it without you.”

Y/N wished she could promise Jason that she would never leave him. But she was the child of a mother who passed far too soon. She knew life and death could be so cruel, ripping the loved ones away with or without warning.

No, she didn’t die this time. But who was to say something like this wouldn’t happen again? And maybe next time, she wouldn’t be so lucky. They lived in Gotham after all.

“Fate may have other ideas…But I never plan on leaving your side, Jason. I love you too much to do anything else.”

Jason actually laughed. “I can fight fate.”

He’d done it once before.

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

I have a few more of these prompts for bonus material. But let me know what you think 🤗

[dickgraysonexchange]

Na na na na na na na na na na Gifts Time!

Day 3 is upon us, and with it, a bunch more tasty works! Check ‘em out, and don’t forget to kudos and comment on your gift to show your giftor some love!

SOOTHING DOWN for CLANDESTINEMIRA [Art, General Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply]

Dick/Wally West

Digital Art, Fanart, Power Play, Cuddling & Snuggling

Dick steadying Wally.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE BAT for CRACKLPOP [Fic, Teen And Up Audiences, Major Character Death]

Dick & Bruce Wayne, Dick & Jason Todd

Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Bruce Wayne's C+ Parenting, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Angst with a Happy Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Dissociation

After Bruce fires Dick as Robin, Dick moves on, creating his own life independent of the Wayne legacy. But when Bruce dies unexpectedly, Dick finds that escaping Bruce's shadow is more difficult that he expected.

UNDERNEATH IT ALL for RUBYNYE [Fic, Explicit, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings]

Dick/Slade Wilson

Idiots in Love, Kidnapping, Attempted Kidnapping, Circus Discussions, Rooftop Sex, Blow Jobs Mentioned, Nightwing's Ass Mentioned, Slade's Enhanced Cock Mentioned, Gotham's Architecture Mentioned, Dick Is Drugged, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Slade Wilson is Deathstroke

Deathstroke and Nightwing sometimes do more on rooftops than fight. That's fine(ish). There's a history of trysts between vigilantes and villains. Feelings, though? Nightwing's not so sure.

NO, THANK YOU for WILDSOFMARCH [Fic, Mature, No Archive Warnings Apply]

Dick & Slade Wilson, Dick & Bruce Wayne

Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dead Joker (DCU), Minor Character Death, Dead Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating, Depressed Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Slade Wilson Being an Asshole

In a world post-Jason Dick doesn’t eat, sleep or go on any nightly activities. Stuck with an uncommunicative, seemingly uncaring Bruce, Dick finds himself isolated and unable to move forward. Deathstroke – having heard of his nemesis’ situation reaches out to help – to provide a gift – but somehow things don’t always work out the way we want them to.

RIDING DIRTY for ROBINING [Fic, Explicit, No Archive Warnings Apply]

Dick/Jason Todd

Shameless Smut, Dick Grayson is Ric Grayson, Jason Todd Has Issues, Ric Grayson is a Dick, Amnesia, Identity Issues, Cursing, Blowjobs, Anal Sex, Top Dick Grayson, Bottom Jason Todd, Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Porn with Feelings, Riding, Anal Fingering

Ric has some sparks of Dick Grayson still in there, that confidence and intelligence behind the aimless attitude. But overall it’s like Ric is a completely different person. Or at least, he’s clearly trying to be.

Jason’s thinking up a way to get closer to see for himself. He knows that he and Dick were never that close, but part of him still isn’t satisfied just hearing the news secondhand. Part of him still needs closure.

IT WASN’T SUPPOSED TO BE LIKE THIS; I WOULDN’T CHANGE A THING for NEWTSDAISIES [Fic, Not Rated, Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings]

Stephanie Brown & Dick, Dick & Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Dick & Bruce Wayne

Dick Grayson is Batman, Stephanie Brown is Batgirl, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Feelings, Protective Stephanie Brown, Time Travel, Hurt Dick Grayson

“My name is Stephanie Brown and that was Dick Grayson.” Bruce felt his breath catch in his chest as he flinched away from the blonde girl. Fear curdling up in his stomach as she went on. “This isn’t a trick or a trap, we were sent here mid battle. Now if you don’t mind I’d appreciate it if you let me go so I can check to make sure my mentor is still alive.”

No.

IN NEED OF RESCUE for GRAYSON1996 [Fic, Mature, Rape/Non-Con, Underage]

Dick & Donna Troy

Wonder Twins, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Dissociation, Rape Aftermath, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Protective Donna Troy, Dick Grayson and Donna Troy are Siblings, Good Friend Donna Troy, POV Donna Troy, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson Gets a Hug, Blankets, Hot Chocolate, Wally West is a Good Friend, Blockbuster arc, Hurt/Comfort...

Donna Troy goes looking for her missing friend. She does not like what she finds.

Feat: Blanket Burritos, Board Games, Donna rescuing Dick from Catalina after Blockbuster Arc, Titan Plushies, and Wholesome Wonder Twins

A CONSTELLATION OF COMPLICATIONS for CLASSYSLEUTH [Fic, Teen And Up Audiences, No Archive Warnings Apply]

Dick & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Dick

Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Dick Grayson-centric, Case Fic, Cyborgs, Detective Noir, In SPACE!, Canon-Typical Violence, Blood and Injury, Murder Mystery, Worldbuilding, BAMF Dick Grayson, BAMF Everyone, Cyberpunk

No one besides a select few knew that Dick tried to solve the cases the people of the upper city were too busy to care about. Cases that dealt with the lower classes, the current addicts, the bitcoin debtors, the cyborg traders.

Cases like this one.

Or: Cyborgs are being killed in Gotham City and Dick is the only one who can find the killer before it's too late.

[imonthinice]

The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 2/?

Word Count: 2k

Author’s Note: Y/N - your name, A/N - any name (your best friend’s name)

Warnings: Swearing, no beta bitch we die like Jason Todd

Welcome Back! I have, once again, written more of Jason Todd because he’s a fucking teddy bear and I love him.

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12) (Part 13) (Part 14) (Part 15) (Part 16) (Part 17) (Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20)

Y/N and Jason both returned from that date feeling all giddy about each other, but trying their dammed-est to not let their hopes get too high about the other. However, that was extremely, extremely hard for Jason to do with family like Dick in his life. It’s like coming home to a hopeless romantic of a shipper as a nosey bitch. Lovingly, of course. No one’s like Dick.

“So, Y/N?” Dick asked Jason immediately as he entered the Manor.

“Yeah, what about her?”

“So, many questions: Was that a date? If no, will there be a date? Is there going to be a second date? Do you like her? Do you think we’ll like her? Does she know you’re Bruce Wayne’s son?” Dick rambled at his little brother.

“Okay hold on god damn, yes it was a date, yes there will be a second, yeah I think she’s cool and I like her, slow your roll Circus Boy, I don’t know when she’ll meet you lot, I don’t think she knows who I am, she’s from Metropolis, so I don’t think she knows the Waynes well.” Jason answered Dick with confidence.

“So you like her!” Steph mocked as she entered the hallway, probably heard her brothers talking about Y/N, so she wanted in on it. Somehow she had evaded Jason’s gaze though, so she startled him immensely.

“Jeez, how many of you will scare me today? And yeah, dumbass, I like her. But I’m doing this magical thing called ‘Not getting my god damn hopes up about her since it’s only the first date’ you hopeless romantic fucks.” Jason barked at them.

“Yeah, but you love us.” Dick said.

“That might be true, but your meddling is only going to cause chaos, Dick and Steph.”

“What about my meddling, Jay?” Bruce asked. Once again, he had heard the talking about Jason’s new crush and decided he’d parent the boy on his girl. Jason jumped out of his skin, because, he had once again, not seen Bruce enter the hallway despite his best efforts to not get startled again.

“You, are going to give me a heart attack.”

“Looks like this girl let your guard down.”

“Can we just go on patrol and stop badgering me?” Jason muttered under his breath.

“Nope!” Barbara exclaimed. Clearly, there’s a pattern with Waynes escaping Jason’s attempts to not get startled today, “We’re still going to badger you, Jay,” Barbara finished.

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

When Y/N made her way back to A/N, she couldn’t help but turn her radio as loud as she could and try to take the longer journey back home. Pieces of quiet and tranquility always surprised and drew her in. Like a good book on a Sunday morning before the rest of the bustling city of Gotham or Metropolis awoke itself. If New York never sleeps, she thought, then what the hell do Gotham and Metropolis call themselves. She laughed.

There were a few good things about Gotham, like the people you’d meet on the street at 4am were some of the weirdest but kindest people you’d ever know. It’s like the city radiated off of the energy of the people in it, and in spite of the villains constantly hitting the city with their worst, somehow everyone never let it get to them. It was admirable. Metropolis was the same in that avenue, but it didn’t feel like the cold Gotham streets.

Y/N thought Jason was one of the kinder people she had met in her travels and classes. And she never thought that she’d meet someone she liked this much in her criminal psychology class of all places, but hey, the universe had different pen strokes for her.

She went and parked her car in the driveway of the rental house she and A/N shared. Only the two of them shared it, but if either of them lost their jobs, they’d be looking for another roommate immediately. Pulling out her bag which was full of notes written by Jason, the original notes written by her, and binders upon binders of criminal cases she was looking into at the time, she would get out of her car and begin walking to her door.

Of course, like most people, she would kick off her heels the minute she walked through the doors of the house, to which, A/N paused her music and went to go question Y/N about Jason.

“So, you know how this works, babes, lay it on me, how’s hottie? Is he kind?” A/N pondered.

“He’s so kind, he paid the printing fees for my notes and rewrote all of them, I guess it’s a system for us now. I write the notes in class while he tries to take it all in, we meet up, and he rewrites them all and pays the printing fee.”

“He paid the fee?! At that college?” A/N said, completely shocked.

“Is that shocking?”

“Well, the printing fees are so fucking expensive, hun. Mans must have daddy’s money to do that.”

“Really? Well regardless money doesn’t matter, he’s kind and I can make a name for myself if I graduate at the top of my class.” She said, fully believing this. Smart woman. She knew she could do it.

“I believe in you, do you have homework tonight? I can make dinner for you so you can study.” A/N offered.

“Nah, I’m just going to go file my notes and shower, I’ll come join you and help after.”

“Well, don’t drown.” A/N joked.

“Do you know how much effort that would take?” She laughed as she walked towards her room, once she got there she pulled out her papers and began the slow filing process of them into her desk.

About 2 minutes into this, she got a text:

Hey stranger.

If someone had a heart monitor hooked up to her, they could have bet their last penny on her heart skipping a beat. 

Hey Jason. She sent back.

I had a fun time today with you, do you want to do the same thing tomorrow, I could use your fast writing skills to get by in classes. And I just like talking to you. What do you say?

She thought. Maybe something legit is here, hopefully I’m not just used for notes. She worried about that, since she was just a tad insecure about him. He was pretty. She knew she was a looker, sure. But he was something more.

I would love to go on another budget date with you.

Budget? Actually yeah, I guess it is budget lol. Maybe next time I’ll actually take you out to lunch like I said I would.

I, honestly, completely forgot you said you’d take me to lunch, I was just having fun as we were talking.

Me too. You’re a hoot.

A hoot? That’s a book nerd statement if I’ve ever heard one. She joked. She didn’t actually know if he was a book nerd at this time, but they had been joking the entire time when she was filing her notes. She was no where near done filing her notes, Jason was a distraction from that, it wasn’t that important, she would end up finishing it later. She just liked some semblance of organization so she didn’t have to put it off.

I’ll have you know I’ve probably read more books than you.

Well book nerds are cute.

Eventually the messages from Jason and Y/N started slowing, Y/N assumed he was tired or working so she took her chance to file her notes and start running her shower.

Sorry Y/N, this has been fun but I’m going to get really sparse with replies, I got work to do.

That’s fine! Where do you work, by the way?

And she got into the shower. Halfway through her shower her phone pinged, she assumed Jason was texting back, so when she finished her shower, before she even got her towel on, she decided to answer him:

I work at Wayne Enterprises with my dad. It’s quite fun.  He had said.

Oh! I’ve heard the owner of Wayne Enterprises is a lovely man, have you met him? She asked him back.

And within an instant, he answered.

He’s my dad, so yeah.

You’re the Jason Todd? Heir to the Wayne Manor and Wayne Enterprises? She started thinking back on what A/N had said. Yep, she thought, Daddy’s money indeed. She started to slip into her pajamas, which were literally a mess and not put together, because this is the real world, not every girl has matching sets, when he answered:

I hope that doesn’t change much, Y/N.

Explains the camera I saw but didn’t mention, and that’s about it.

You saw the cameras? Damn it. I tried to shield you, they may have pictured us together, sorry.

Worth it for a lovely date. I’ve seen worse, my mum works with Clark Kent, who I guess you probably know since he’s Bruce’s best friend, and the paparazzi loves to take Clark’s picture.

Oh yeah, Uncle Clark. Yeah, the pap love him. You get used to it. I guess you somewhat know my family lol.

Nah, that’s about all I know. Wasn’t really interested in drama about you lot because it’s just not my business. Probably not a shared ideal with the general public.

She finished getting dressed and went to go cook with A/N, and share the news.

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

“Girl! You were right about daddy’s money oh my god,” Y/N said when she entered the kitchen.

“Go on,” A/N urged.

“You know Jason Todd? Guess what. That’s hottie from Crim Psych 101.”

“Are you serious? That’s insane. You’re probably plastered across the internet right now for that date,” A/N laughed, “are you scared to date a famous man?” She asked.

“No, he’s really sweet and if this gets serious, I can just block out the flashes.”

The two of them laughed and started cooking. A/N was Latina, so, of course, she was in charge to cook most nights. But Y/N made killer desserts and pizza. Tonight was fajitas, so Y/N kind of sat bat and let A/N do her thing. Trying to know more so one day A/N wouldn’t have to do all the work, Y/N went onto the internet and the first thing she saw?

Globally Revered Son of a Millionaire, Jason Todd, out on a DATE with a Mystery Girl?

Like clockwork, Jason answered:

I guess I have a lot to teach you, and I hope you haven’t been on the internet recently.

I have. Globally Revered Son of a Millionaire. She texted back.

Fuck those damn tabloids. He said, she couldn’t help but agree, the paparazzi seem like they’re very invested in stories that aren’t theirs to tell.

Can’t agree with you more. We should put on a show for them tomorrow, actually give them something to write about.

I like your thinking.

You’ve opened up a lot today.

Is it your turn now?

What do you want to know? You asked him before turning to A/N.

“Tabloids talk too much,” you sneered at her.

“Cat should get their tongue and choke on it,” she finished, “did you at least look cute in their pics?” she asked.

“Somehow. Wasn’t even posing,” Y/N finished.

“Well, food’s done, are you still hungry?”

“Always.”

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

Jason turned to his brother, Dick, Nightwing, and said, 

“She knows now.”

“That you’re rich?” he asked.

“Yeah, I guess I have to be more wary of her now,” he sighed, “I hope she’s not in it for the Wayne fortune.”

“Doubt she is if she agreed the tabloids can suck it, Red Hood.”

“I pray you’re right.”

He then drew his guns and fired at the ground underneath their laest venture into crime-fighting. This was gonna be one hell of a ride Y/N embarked on, not even knowing what she was getting into.

[the-alice-of-hearts]

Kids again Ch 1

AO3 Next>

Ch 1: She likes to drink her coffee black

Summary:

Soulmates come in twos; At least they usually did

98% of the world's population has a soulmate bond. Of those, 80% have platonic bonds. Only .2% of all soul bonds connected more than two people.

Having three soulmates is exactly the kind of cosmic joke the universe would play on a True Wielder of the Ladybug Miraculous. If it gives a boy who still had a lot of life to live a second chance, well that is still in Creation's domain, now isn't it?

Marinette loved the boy in her heart, and the other two links were twisted around each other in a way only romantic pairs could be. If only she could have loved him enough to save him /||\ Jason wanted, more than anything, to protect the girl who his heart belonged to; protect her from the harness of the world, and then from what he had become.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves here, let's start at the beginning.

Ch 1: She likes to drink her coffee black

The first time Jason looked into his Soulmate’s life she was happy. Whoever she was, she seemed happy. The first strong emotion that he got from her was pure bliss and a sense of major accomplishment. The first time he got to see through her eyes he was eight years old. She was rushing out the door waving goodbye to smiling parents, a thermos in one hand and a cute pink backpack in the other. He cherished this memory like no other. There were other strong emotions from the bond, most of them were similar. She was happy and seemed strong. After that, Jason tried not to let his emotions overwhelm him; he didn’t want the girl with the happy laugh and the pink backpack to see where he was.

He knew he didn’t do as good a job as he tried. The feeling of worry in his heart that he knew came from her told him so. He could feel when she worried about him not eating enough, so he tried not to go to bed hungry too often. He could feel when she would panic because she hadn’t felt anything from him for too long. He would go and listen to the musicians playing on the streets; trying desperately to feel as happy as he could for her.

When he had gotten stabbed defending another kid from a man with a knife, he wasn’t sure if his panic was his own or hers. He felt like he was watching someone die though, so he was pretty sure it was her panic feeding into his own pain. He made sure to take care of himself so that she didn’t think he had died.

This went on for a long time; him looking in and seeing small bits of her life and later try to send good things back as much as he could. He figured out she was from Paris when the Eiffel Tower was in so many of the small glimpses he saw. So, he stole an English to French dictionary. He then found a bookstore, he could steal from it pretty easily, that had a copy of a book filled with his favourite fairy tales in French. He learned French, then he took it as his language elective. Slowly, he started to understand what she was saying in his visions of her. She had a small number of friends, but they were pretty close. She still worried about him far too often, but he noticed that on days where she was worried she would go out of her way to be as happy as possible. It was like she was trying to make him warm from the inside. And on those days, when was cold and hungry and desperate for a safe place to sleep, he would hold on to her happiness and promise himself that he would be happy for her tomorrow.

When he became Robin he was worried about her finding out. What if Bruce made him stop being Robin? For this reason, he stayed quiet about his Soulmate. Most bonds were platonic anyways, so he just didn’t mention that his bond was romantic.

He hoped she would at least get to see happier emotions from him. He knew that she had to have seen some of where he grew up, but he wanted to believe that maybe she would now get to see these happier moments. Jason vowed to live every happy moment to its fullest.

He hoped she got to see Alfred teaching him to cook, and him learning how to bake all her favourite pastries. He hoped she saw Dick teaching him gymnastics, seeing all the times he fell but got back up. He wanted her to see him and Dick goofing off and the times they would go sneak off behind Bruce’s back when he told them not to skip patrol to do just that and get ice cream in the suits. He hoped she saw him and Bruce sitting in the library reading, the two of them watching movies together when he was too sick to patrol. He wanted her to see that he had a family that loved him now. He hoped that she wouldn’t worry about him so much anymore; that he wouldn’t be a burden on her anymore.

He thought he had hidden this from his new family, but somehow Alfred always knew everything. Jason almost panicked when Alfred broached the conversation while he was teaching Jason to make macarons

“Does your Soulmate have a favourite flavor, Master Jason?”

“I- uh,” he tried to come up with a way to deny it, but knew that he would never get something past Alfred. Still he tried, “What do you mean?”

Alfred smiled, not looking away from measuring the ingredients. “Growing up, my best friend had a Soulmate that grew up in a troubled home. He told me he knew when she was in a better place because she started pouring emotions into everything she did so that he could feel, as well as see, that she was safe.” Alfred turned back to the cabinet looking at their ingredients. “I just thought that you seemed to be doing something similar. I apologize if I misread the situation.”

Jason stood there thinking for a moment. He looked around and listened to make sure Bruce wasn’t about to walk into the kitchen. He moved closer to Alfred so he could whisper, ”Her name is Marinette. I heard one of her friends call her Netté, though.” When Alfred didn’t stop him from talking he kept going. “She likes matcha ones best, but she always tells her mom that she likes strawberry ones because they're less work.”

That was all that was said. They finished making the cookies and Alfred packaged them up for him to have in his room. Jason was pretty sure that Alfred knew he was hoarding food, but so long as no one stopped him and probably even if they did he would keep doing it. Living on the streets taught him that a next meal isn’t guaranteed, and even if it was unlikely he would ever go hungry under Alfred’s watchful eyes, he still wanted a back up plan if he needed to make a break for it.

The next time someone asked about her was about a year later on a stakeout in Blüdhaven with Dick. Bruce had gotten scared when Jason got hurt and wouldn’t let him patrol in Gotham until his injuries had completely healed. Jason got antsy and ran away to crash on Dick’s couch until Bruce let up on the restriction.

Dick had just sat down next to him on the building they were on. “Hey, Little Wing”

Jason turned to him. “Yeah?”

“Do you ever try to send your soulmate messages?”

Jason’s throat closed up in terror. Dick kept talking as though he hadn’t noticed Jason tensing up and planning an escape route. “It’s just, sometimes I see what he’s seeing and I don’t know how to tell him that I want to look out for him, ya know? And his dad is kinda distant, but his mom loves him a lot. I don’t know though, because sometimes I can feel dread coming from my soul link but without any glimpses into what he’s seeing. Alfred thought maybe I have a platonic soulmate that is experiencing dread. Lately I’ve only had happy and joyful feelings so I’m worried that if I do have a platonic soulmate that maybe something bad happened to them. I have no idea how I would be able to send a message to a platonic soulmate though, so I wondered if maybe you knew?”

Jason had slowly gotten more confused while listening to his brother. He hadn’t considered the possibility of having more than one soulmate. “Wait, you mean you can have more than one Soulmate? I thought Soulmates were pairs?”

Dick shrugged. “My parents explained it being more like pieces of the same picture. Most bonds are platonic and platonic bonds are more likely to be someone who you grew up near, so you would have similar experiences with similar emotional responses. That’s why people don’t always notice them, but when you have a romantic bond that you can actually see through each other's eyes, you notice, yeah?”

Jason nodded. “So you have a romantic Soulmate, but think you also have a platonic bond?”

Dick ran a hand through his hair staring out at the windows they were watching, “Yeah, I don’t know how to describe it though. Honestly, I’m pretty sure I have three soulmates. The third is a lot quieter though. My mom laughed once and told me maybe it wasn’t that I had three soulmates, but that my soulmates had another link to each other.”

“Does that happen?”

“I don’t think so, but the stories about that happening are more fairy tale than concrete evidence. I like to think I have three though. I hope that, whoever my platonic bond is, they have their own romantic bond they can lean on. I don’t know if there is anything I can do for them unless I figure out who they are.”

Jason scoffed and then went on the alert seeing movement in the room. “We’ve finally got company.”

Dick smiled and ran back a few steps. “Wanna see me do a flip into the window?”

“Ten bucks says you don’t break the glass and fall on the ground.”

He laughed at that. “Be ready to pay up, Little Wing. I’ll get the two gunmen, then you swing in and help me with the others.”

He took a running start and jumped off the roof they had been on, doing a flip to keep his momentum up. He crashed through the glass rolling into a handspring, kicking the guns out of the two goons' hands. Jason followed using his grappling hook to get across to the now-broken window.

A short fight later and they had the men all tied up. Dick called the police with the info and then they were grappling away from the scene.

“Hey, Dick?”

“Yeah?”

“Earlier you said that you wanted to figure out who your platonic soulmate was.”

Dick landed on top of the building his apartment was in, then looked at him. “Yeah. I just want to know if I can help them.”

Jason followed him down the fire escape, “I thought that soulmates knew when they found each other; you make it seem like that’s not how it works?”

Dick walked into his room to grab clothes. “When you only have one soulmate, there is a glow when you touch each other the first time. It’s your soul telling you it’s complete, but if you have more than one you only get that if you find all the pieces of your soul.”

“Oh.” He caught the pants Dick threw at him. “Thanks for talking to me about this. I guess there was a lot I didn’t know.”

They crashed on the couch to play video games and eat leftovers. The conversation hung heavy in the air, though. Jason felt like, if he talked first, he would tell Dick everything, but, if Dick had had a romantic Soulmate this whole time, then Bruce had to know about it.

He looked up at his brother from where he was laying with his legs over the side of the couch. “Does Bruce know you have a romantic Soulmate?”

Dick looked down at him from where he was perched on the back of the couch. “Yeah? Why?”

Jason shot Dick's character while he wasn’t paying attention, trying to make him stop looking at him like that. He mulled over the question while avoiding the looks Dick was still giving him during his respawn times. In a small voice he finally answered, “He didn’t make you stop being Robin?”

That made Dick pause the game. He dropped down to sit on the cushion of the couch, leaning his head over Jason to look him in the eyes. “Jason, Alfred would never let Bruce use one of us having a Soulmate as a reason to kick us out of the suit.”

Jason pushed him back so he could sit up. Turning to look at him, he took a deep breath. “He kicked me out of the suit for being hurt. He fired you and sent you here. Why would having a Soulmate be any different?”

Dick reached out and hugged Jason. He felt Dick’s shirt becoming wet from tears he hadn’t realized he was crying. “Oh, baby bird, no, that’s not gonna happen, and if Bruce tries it, then you have a place here. You did really good back there, I would love to have your help anytime.”

Jason sniffled and wrapped his arms around Dick. “What if he tries to make you send me back?”

Dick was still rubbing circles on his back, talking soothingly. “Bruce can’t make me do anything. My bank account has Alfred as my responsible party, and Clark is the name on the lease. If you want to stay here you can, and no one gets to take my brother away from me okay?” Jason nodded, still sniffling but getting his tears under control. “Now enough sad talk. How about I kick your ass in this game and tomorrow I’ll take you to the gym I use and help you with your flips.”

Jason laughed wholeheartedly at that. Sitting up and discreetly wiping his tears, he grabbed his controller again. “Don’t know why you keep trying. You’re not gonna win at this any more than I’m gonna be able to do a backhandspring tomorrow.”

And that was it.

Bruce either didn’t know about his romantic Soulmate, or he really didn’t care. Jason started keeping a journal of written notes about her. He wanted to be able to find her one day, so he needed to know everything he could.

An incomplete list of things I know about my soulmate

Her name is Marinette

Her friends also call her Netté or Mari

She drinks a lot of coffee, usually black. She grabs it on the way to class. Is that a french thing? I feel like I only ever see her with coffee? That can’t be right, maybe it’s from the all-nighters? Her friends have teased her about not sleeping before. Is that more often than I think?

She ignores her own needs to help her friends

She’s like a year younger than me I think.

Her nonna (grandmother?) calls her Marinetta or Little Fairy (could I call her Pixie?)

Lives in Paris

She has an Asian mother; Chinese?

She has an Asian name, but I don’t remember it. Her parents use it but not often enough for me to write it down

Her father is French-Italian

She is in gymnastics, but can be clumsy

Kim, Nino, and Alix are her friends.

Chloe used to be her friend. She doesn’t know what changed things

She likes to draw

She wants to be a clothing designer

She made me something? I couldn’t see what it was, but her mom was really proud of her accomplishment.

She is a really good baker

She likes matcha macarons best; but she never asks for them. She feels guilty about her parents making them just for her

She can lift a giant bag of sugar like it weighs nothing

She likes to help people

She likes pink

She is nice and good. At least I think so.

The list was in a small red notebook. It stayed with him all the time; that way whenever something happened, he could write down any details. He filled the other pages of the book with things he wanted to tell his Soulmate, small bits of his life that he wanted to share with her. He had a spot in his utility belt for it to be, and a pocket in his jacket that he kept it in. He had once shown Dick the list and the pages that he had written about him and Alfred. He smiled when Dick showed him his own similar notebook. Dick’s romantic Soulmate was also from Paris; they both wondered if their Soulmates knew each other.

Jason liked to think so

[dont-be-so-shy]

ok so,,, i think imma try a longfic abt the batkids getting stuck in the yj universe. except batman don't exist so they're not heroes (expect cissie and simon)

so imma introduce you to my lesser-known characters below the cut:

babs, dick, jason, tim, cass, steph, duke, and damian are people most people already know, but we also got luke, simon, wendy, helena, harper, cullen, bette, cissie, isabella, kitrina, charlie, olivia, tristan, riko, colin, and carrie

luke: aka lucas fox, aka one of the two sons and four children of lucius fox, aka a vigilante named batwing and ceo of his own company foxtech

simon: simon dark is a really small-time character. so basically, he was created with a mix of mad science, magic, and twenty dead teenage boy's bodies. yes, i know it's creepy. he has enhanced healing and the ability to use each one of the faces of the twenty boys he's made of. he can also do magic, mostly clairvoyance, which for him means being able to tell the secrets someone's keeping from him and see farther than the horizon. he also has enhanced strength, telekinesis, the ability to psychically link people (like miss martian), and the ability to dimension-travel. in canon, he looks a mess of different skin tones and frankenstein stitching but in my fic, he's gonna be looking like a normal(ish) boy.

wendy: wendy white, sometimes called wendy harris, graduated mit alongside her twin brother, marvin, at sixteen and became a caretaker of titans tower. she and her brother were attacked by wonderdog and she fell into a coma while marvin died. her father is a gotham villain named the calculator, who wanted the anti-life formula (i don’t what it is but apparently it’s really powerful) to wake her up. he was defeated but she woke up on her own. she's paralyzed from the waist down and she became babs' apprentice, codename proxy

helena: helena bertinelli, was supposedly the daughter of a mafia guy and his wife, but it turns out she's actually the daughter of the wife and some other mafia dude. well mafia dude (the bio dad) hates the mafia family mafia guy (the other dad) is a part of, so he ordered to have mafia guy and his family killed (helena had older and younger siblings, i think). he told the killer to spare the lady he had helena with and kill the rest of them but the killer done messed and killed the mom instead of helena. helena hates mafia and crime so when she becomes huntress, she has nothing against killing. she's actually still young tho, she left boarding school in switzerland to come back to gotham and be a vigilante. she's also part of the birds of prey and has been both batgirl and batman

harper and cullen: the row twins/siblings. cullen was attacked by his classmates for being gay but the second time he was attacked, batman and robin (i think it was tim) stopped the bullies. harper, who's insanely good with engineering, became bluebird with a few handmade weapons and cullen stayed home. in my fic, he's gonna be catlad, trained by selina, in the field and coeus, fitting the greek myth theme, when on comms 

bette: bette kane is somehow related to kate kane, who's bruce's cousin and also batwoman. bette was the first batgirl but when dc rebooted she was made flamebird then hawkfire instead. in my fic, she's batgirl in the field and medusa behind the screen

cissie: cissie has no origin story which means i can still make her arrowette in a batman-less world. cissie king-jones is arrowette. and her mom wanted her to be a hero. that's quite literally all i know. she's part of the batfam instead of the arrowfam for some reason tho 

isabella: isabella ortiz was part of we are robin under the name robina, and is canonically dating duke. in my fic, she's dating harper instead 'cause duke is dating cullen. anyway, she's poor and also, her dad doesn't know she was part of we are robin 

kitrina: kitrina falcone is the youngest falcone who didn't wanna be mafia so she idolized catwoman instead. she was accused of betraying the family so she ran, becoming kittyhawk and helping catwoman and penguin. in my fic, she's known as stray instead 

charlie: charlie gage-radcliffe aka misfit is a metahuman with the ability to teleport (she calls it 'bouncing'). she didn't wanna be a hero and she couldn't teleport with people without killing them, so when her apartment building burned down with her mom and newborn sibling inside, she ran according to her mom's wishes. she resurfaced as batgirl, but when babs finally cornered her, she gave it up and became misfit instead, tagging along with the birds of prey 

olivia: olivia carr was kidnapped by the dollmaker and brainwashed into becoming part of his 'family'. when jim gordon was also kidnapped, he helped her escape and told her to give a note to batman on the gcpd's roof. she was later handed over to a gcpd cop while batman went to save the commissioner but it turned out the cop was crooked and wanted to sell her to some kidnappers so she slit his throat and ran away. she goes by mannequin 

tristan: tristan grey goes to damian's school along with maps, olive, and pom and a few others. he's a metahuman with enhanced vision, strength, and the ability to "transform" somehow 

riko: riko sheridan was also part of we are robin under the name r-iko. she was actually expelled from damian and tristan's school (damian was too actually). she idolizes batgirl, which is why, in the fic, i gave her the name black bat while cass is orphan 

colin: colin wilkes aka abuse is basically a ten-year-old hulk with control over his hulkiness. he's damian's friend and an orphan who got his powers thanks to kobra venom when he was trafficked 

last but not least, carrie!: she's technically from an alternate universe and was robin after jason instead of tim, then catgirl, then batwoman. in this fic, she's catgirl. she uses a slingshot 

[bowditch]

IDK if you take asks from the woodwork so feel free to disregard, but this is prompted by your recent Arkham post. You mention video games and it made me think of the Arkham Asylum game. I really like your point about how games are organized towards the player’s interests—hitting stuff— but you also talk about how Arkham is a place of incredible nuance that (imo) can be both horror and ideally healing at the same time, and I guess I was just curious about your thoughts on the Arkham game(s) and their place in Bat-mythos, especially given they did try to thread some needle of “how do we bring Batman into a real(ish) world and all that may mean.” It was an exploration of the Asylum as a place with an intrinsic character, which I personally hadn’t really seen before save for maybe Serious House Serious Earth, but I was curious if you had thoughts/opinions you wanted to share. Love your blog, and have a great day!

I don't mind asks!

I haven't played MUCH of the Arkham games, and I'm not opposed to them. I like the horror concept of Arkham having its own kind of identity, or Arkham as a character.

But I am gonna stop you right there (kindly, gently). The Arkham games have their own stories-- some of them engaging, I'm sure-- but it's still fundamentally a video game. Video games aren't inherently violent, but the Arkham series is by design about being able to do lots of cool fighting. That's totally fine! Its fun! But we have to be really careful in engaging with media to not make the mistaken correlation between grimdark and realistic.

Good character models and emotional stories don't even make something realistic. It's a thing that comics, games, and movies have struggled with for a long time, and not just in Batman canon, but Batman canon does suffer pretty significantly. The Arkham games are in no way about a meaningful engagement with reality or what Batman would look like in the real world. We might be able to draw on some interactions and further explore those as fans in a way that connects closer to reality, but it's not at all the real world.

My guess is that a nuanced, realistic exploration of Arkham would be difficult to pull off because the actual daily grind of mental health care in institutions holding highly violent offenders is ... a grind. It's a lot of doing the same thing over and over for small returns, because it's hard for people to change. It's a lot of small victories other people don't understand the scope of, because just walking down a hallway and being civil can be a huge accomplishment for someone who actually tends toward the kind of social disconnect rogues are often written to have. It's a lot of disappointing setbacks, and if you hype up the drama of any of those things, it's going to feel exploitative. Personally, I'd like to read it? I'm sure lots of other people would enjoy it, too. But it wouldn't be the kind of high energy drama that people are drawn to in comics, and treating it with too much realism makes the world fall apart in other ways.

Within the constraints of the universe, the rogues aren't real. We've had good and bad media that's tackled the idea of criminality and mental illness, and I don't think that's a bad thing to try to deal with sometimes? But overall part of the conceit of comic-media (and its derived forms like film and game) is that we actually understand that the rogues aren't mentally ill, not in any realistic application of clinical terms. They aren't real. They're themey symbols of different kinds of evil or corruption or selfishness, designed to be cycled through struggles with The Hero, because readers find comfort in the familiar. And to do that, we need a holding tank for them so comics aren't accidentally implying they just rule Gotham when Batman isn't chasing them.

In a story that engaged with Arkham realistically, he'd put most of them in once and they'd never get out again. The few that did get out would maybe get out once or twice, tops-- years and years apart. There might be an outlier, but most of them aren't escape artists. The problem is, nobody really wants a realistic Arkham unless it's in a closed short story form, because a functional Arkham would break the narrative cycle. Fandom just ends up making the mistake of holding Batman as a character responsible for the narrative function of his own world-- they want to treat him as a failed hero for not correcting the things about his world that make the stories keep happening. Like, yeah, he could kill the Joker-- then what? Nobody writes the Joker ever again? That didn't work the last time he died.

He could "fix" Arkham somehow. Then what? The entire rogue gallery is permanently retired and a few of them "recover?" That maybe makes a great epilogue but it doesn't support ongoing stories, and then the second someone is used in a story again, it's somehow Bruce's fault for the narrative requirements of the fiction he's a character in?

Part of being a comics fan-- specifically a comic fan of an intellectual property that's been around for decades-- is understanding that we don't get final resolution. When LOTR ends, the story is over. We don't watch canon make Frodo & Co destroy the ring over and over in hundreds of different ways. Fanfic might explore alternatives, but canon has given us resolution to the plot. Batman doesn't get that in most media because Batman isn't ever over. And I think sometimes fans (and writers, ngl) make the mistake of trying to hold Batman as a character responsible for the cyclical nature of his own media, and the things we see as "problems" because we instinctively want resolution in a landscape that doesn't have it.

Anyway, I think I went off on a tangent. I don't mind the Arkham games, but they're just a another entry in a long line of media that likes playing with Arkham as a horror concept.

[bread-tab]

i saw The Batman (2022) in theaters last week. went in with low expectations. loved it. had an existential crisis afterward :)

(putting a read more here because spoilers, megalomaniacal ranting, etc.)

it's a very pretty movie with a lot of cinematic artistry (that scene with the flare? omg). they unapologetically made Gotham a parody of dark 20th century NYC where it's constantly raining while somehow making 21st century culture and technology fit seamlessly into the picture and i want to live there please (the city of my dreams). they explored some deep, relevant themes without getting anvilicious. the character writing and acting were great; lots of chemistry, arcs and conflicts that made sense. fun. ridiculous. took itself seriously despite the absurdity, but not *too* seriously.

the pacing of the movie was a little funky (third act was all over the place, idk if the whole thing even *fits* a traditional 3-act structure) but i don't care because they've created a Batman who is enough of an insane, badass weirdo that for the first time, i can almost believe the whole "i am vengeance, i am the night, i beat up criminals in my armored fursuit" shtick could work in real life and be taken seriously. and at the same time they made Bruce Wayne a scrunkly emo disaster nerd who was raised by an ex-spy butler and it shows. peak interpretation of the character. and Jim Gordon in this movie is my favorite person in the universe and their friendship is perfection incarnate.

this was a good movie. i loved it. and i DEEPLY regret having seen it.

i have been thinking about it and reading a ton of Batman, Batfam, and Justice League fanfiction all week and getting sucked into batblorbo hell. this is how i consume media. but in the midst of that process i realized...

i did *not* need to see Batman as a depressed autistic millennial with a bizarre, idealistic life mission he hyperfixates on at night instead of sleeping

do you know how much effort i have to put in daily to *not do that*???

ffs

i did not need those tendencies validated

BATMAN IS NOT SUPPOSED TO BE RELATABLE

and the deeper into the rabbit hole (batcave) of Bat-content i go the more i realize that he's been like this all along and i've been narrowly dodging this fate for a solid decade. i only escaped this when i got into superhero stories in 2011 because i imprinted on Martian Manhunter instead. (my underappreciated green son <3)

unfortunately, i too am the sort of person who, under the right circumstances, would try to solve the world's problems by dressing up in a ridiculous costume and fighting crime at 3 a.m. while having a dramatic inner monologue about justice. (especially if i had kept up with my martial arts lessons when i was 19. good grief. i guess there's a bright side to failing at that.) i, too, would be physically unable to stop myself from adopting half a dozen orphans, hiding them under my cape, and allowing them to live out their incredibly weird aspirations. (heck i would do that right now if i actually had money and my own house and wasn't quite so depressed)

one time i was discussing my struggles with mental illness with my dad and mentioned that i have no idea what my life would be like now if i hadn't had his and mom's support growing up. i have no idea where i'd be. i might be dead. but on the other hand—what i have not told my dad is—i'm also extremely stubborn, have a very strong will to survive, and spent my entire childhood really wanting to get into a righteous fistfight with someone who deserved it and being disappointed when the opportunity never presented itself. i could...genuinely...have decided to become some sort of ridiculous costumed vigilante, given the means. (so this being real life that's two points toward ending up dead.)

and um. even though i do have parents and am aware that this is real life. i refuse to admit how many times (and until what age) i still put *real consideration* into what it would take to be some sort of freelance private eye/vigilante/inventor/actual magician in real life. (physically and, you know, *legally.*)

so...with that context...

there is a part of me that is very grounded and realistic and cynical. does anything i do really make a difference? if i push myself to my limits, get better, and try to make the world a better place, will it mean anything? there's a lot of shame, despair, and self-loathing in there. this is the part of me that is depressed.

there is also a part of me which is stubborn, brazenly honest and weird and unyieldingly hopeful. if there is light in the darkness, i will find it. if there is none, i will make it. i will *become* it. creativity, determination, empowerment. that is the core of who i really am.

demon on my left shoulder. angel on my right.

there are two wolves inside you and the one thing they agree on is BOTH OF THEM REALLY WANT TO BE THE FUCKING BATMAN

*head in hands*

boy. you are broke. you have the upper-body strength of dry spaghetti. you *know* there is no one you can punch to solve crime, poverty, or world hunger. you know the dramatic angsty way of doing things is, above all other considerations, inefficient. you KNOW that your best shot at making the kind of difference you want is to drag yourself back to college and become a social worker, run for some form of public office or other leadership position, and/or get involved in one or more mutual aid/activist/charity movements. All of which require leaving the house IN THE DAYTIME and developing fucking social skills!

...god it would be so much easier to be batman.

(and that's why bruce wayne is relatable, thank you for coming to my TED talk)

so yeah i have no idea to explain all that nonsense to my therapist, but on the bright side, i have a great new way to motivate myself.

"what would Batman do in this situation?"

"..." *sigh* "he'd get up and fold the goddamn laundry."

(except when it backfires)

"in this situation Batman would stay up all night and investigate!"

"NO."

[diyunho]

The Joker x Reader - “Trapped” Part 3

Almost one year ago, someone tried to kill The Joker in a speeding car and Y/N pushed him out of the way, getting hit instead. With a fractured skull and broken bones, she was out of business for 6 months; when she finally recovered, The Queen of Gotham wasn’t the same anymore. Trapped inside her own mind and exhibiting severe cognitive impairment, Y/N’s life switched upside down without any hope of ever returning to normal.

Part 1       Part 2     Part 4     Part 5

Same day, later in the evening

“What are you doing, Pumpkin?” The Joker crawls next to you although he has an idea about why you look upset.

You’re on your tummy scribbling on a piece of paper and he can tell you are concentrating hard while working on the current project: writing down your name. Only got the first three letters then the rest went blank.

“I….I can’t think…” you intensely stare at the blue pen in between your fingers.

“Of course you can!” J reaches over so he can guide your arm since it’s clear you need help. “There you go… done. Now try to copy it bellow, alright?”

“Hm?”

“Try again Princess,” he taps on the sheet and watches Y/N struggling to imitate the word. “Well done!” The King of Gotham praises. “Wanna give it a shot with a few more simple words?”

“Mmmm…” you debate. “OK?...”

You analyze The Joker’s movements as he depicts four letter words, one of them getting your attention in particular.

“Love?” you smile, happy you deciphered the meaning.

“Yes, a basic…”

“Love?” you scoot over, more and more excited and it clicks for your boyfriend.

“It’s just an example for you to exercise and relearn how to write, understand? It doesn’t mean anything!”

You giggle and touch his nose with yours.

“Love!”

“No Pumpkin! I don’t love you, how did you get such atrocity from my note??!! It has no hidden meaning! I barely, from very afar, remotely, not even similar to love, sort of like you and that’s it!”

You snicker and quickly slide to grab the yellow teddy bear, whispering in its ear:

“Love.”

“Aren’t you listening Princess?? Don’t start fake rumors!!”

Still…Y/N lives on her own little planet and her damaged brain grasped a wonderful concept despite The Clown vehemently dismissing his actions.

“Serves me right for being supportive,” he grumbles and resorts to diversion, the best weapon against your new found logic.

“Wanna read to me?” he points at the pile of children’s books resting on the nightstand: they are the best to use in your present circumstance.

“… … Read?... ” you ask, confused.

“Here,” J picks a random publication and gives it to you.

Might as well fully take advantage.

“Spoil me!” he buries his cheeks in your cleavage, guiding your free hand towards his green locks.

You never figured out how he doesn’t suffocate with his face glued to your skin; sometimes he sleeps like that for hours. Must be a special talent.

“The … ummm… the…. The duck…” you read the first page and massage his scalp, frowning at the words you can’t make sense of. “Cross… … crossed?...”  

“Yeah,” The Joker’s mumbled voice agrees.

“… the… g-glass…” you stutter at the sentence.

“Grass,” J corrects you.

“Hm?...”

“Grass Pumpkin, not glass.”

“Ummm… grass…” you continue to read the best way you can and he rectifies your errors until no more sounds emerge: The King is softly purring, a clear indication he’s dreaming.

You toss the book on the floor, fed up with the difficult task of organizing your thoughts; pampering him is better. You slowly tilt his head backwards so you can kiss him: The Joker frowns in his daze and you pinch his butt, chuckling.

“What is it?” he opens one eye and you pull down on his boxers. “Princess, we had sex an hour ago. Do you think I run on batteries?” the complaint is fast to follow.

... … … Batteries?... …                                            

You jump from the bed and stump to the closet, fumbling around for a couple of minutes before returning to a puzzled Clown.

You stretch the elastic of his underwear, dropping two batteries you snatched from the flashlight inside.

“How… how long do we w-wait?” you innocently ask.

The Joker bites his lip, attempting to contain himself yet he can’t: he bursts out laughing at your quirky solution while dragging you on top of him.

“You’re the funniest and smartest person I know, Pumpkin!” he cracks up, actually convinced he’s telling the truth. “Who’s my clever girl, huh?”

He’s talking about a girl again…What girl?...

Y/N peeks behind her and J reminds his baffled half:

“For God’s sake, Princess! I’m talking about you; you’re my girl! Can you get my phone?” he gestures at his mobile ringing by your pillow.

You give the cell to J, ignoring his conversation with Frost: you keep kissing him with the sole purpose of getting undivided affection.

“I guess Adam is here to pick up the cars you damaged,” he finally ends his chat. “Let’s go supervise the process. Don’t be disappointed, Pumpkin, we’ll have fun later. It’s your fault for destroying my collection!”

****************

The Joker watches his crew sweeping the concrete in the garage: broken glass, pieces of metal and debris scattered on the pavement after his vehicles were hauled inside huge trucks in order to be transported to Adam’s workshop for repairs.

“Thanks a lot, Y/N!” he growls, frustrated.

“Y-you’re welcome,” you serenely reply without a care in the universe.

“You’re the worst thing that ever happened to me, Princess!” he huffs at your indifference.

“Love,” you confess to the fluffy toy squished in your embrace.

“I heard that and it’s an aberration! Why do you keep persisting with this nonsense?! I’m literally stating the opposite!” J admonishes but who’s listening to him?

Not Y/N.

“Nolan is texting me,” he changes subject. “He wants me to meet him at his warehouse to inspect the boxes of ammo for the deal. Will you accompany me?”

“Hm?”

“Car ride?” The King of Gotham simplifies his request.

“U-hum!” you nod, preparing to enter the purple Lamborghini which luckily wasn’t in the garage when you smashed J’s cars.

“Frost, if you see me parked up the street in the driving alley, don’t come investigate, got it? This woman’s been pestering me for extracurricular activities, might not make it inside the mansion.”

“Of course, sir!” Jonny finds it wise to consent to his boss’s rambling.

“Tell everyone: if the Lamborghini’s rockin’, don’t come knockin’!”

**************

You’re sitting on J’s lap, completely blocking the arrangements happening at the table: you’re more preoccupied with your game than whatever it is they are negotiating about.

“What are you playing, Y/N?” Nolan curiously inquires because your thumbs are surely moving at a crazy speed on your cell’s screen.

“Hm?” you stop and gaze his way.

“What are you playing?” the man repeats.

“Mmmmm… Tetrixx Bricks.”

“What level are you on?” Nolan leans over, his eyes getting big at the revelation. “Holy shit, Y/N! How did you make it this far??! I’ve been striving to pass level 98 for a month!”

“She’s smart, that’s how!” your boyfriend sassily underlines.

“Do you think that you can help me?” the guy slides his phone in front of you.

“I’m sorry, is this a gaming party or a business matter?!” The Joker scoffs.

“Well, we’re pretty much done: we accepted the terms, we just have to move the merchandise in the morning.”

You are already matching the colorful blocks on Nolan’s game, his face ecstatic when the obnoxious song announces with great fanfare: “Level Up!”

“Holy cow!!!!” he shouts and you return his phone. “Thank you!”

“Hey Y/N,” one of the mobster’s henchmen dares to voice his demand. “Would you help me too? I’m stuck on level 76.”

“I’m dead on 105,” another goon mumbles under his breath, stepping in the line forming to your left.

J would normally cut off this useless waste of his precious time yet he can’t deny the gratification building up in his heart: heavens knows how it feels to be trapped inside your own mind and his girl has definitely battled unimaginable odds to be where she’s at right now.

Living with cognitive impairment is not easy, but she’s still here and it beats the alternative.

“Good job, Pumpkin!” The Clown boasts at the long string of cell phones parading through your fingers while you aid Nolan’s team leveling up on Tetrixx Bricks.

And somehow his hands are holding you tighter, not even bored with the random outcome of his meeting.

**************

You escaped on the terrace for a break and J is discussing the last details with your host: tomorrow you have a routine checkup, thus he has to wrap it up soon.

“Out of my way, half-wit!” Derek aka Nolan’s oldest son pushes you. Would he have done it if you were the same individual from almost a year ago? Nope. Apparently he believes he’s entitled to take advantage of Y/N since she’s alone outside.

“Why did Mister Joker bring you anyway?” he lights up a cigarette, annoyed. “Stupid monosyllabic bitch!” he ogles your summer dress, swiftly lifting it. “Are you wearing diapers?” he chuckles as you walk backwards, trying to process what he’s throwing at you. “Come on, show me!” he approaches and carefully scouts the premises to ensure you two don’t have company.

Perhaps the neurons in your brain are overcharged for the moment; nevertheless, they warn of imminent altercation: the dude’s a total douchebag.

“Are you shy?” Derek grins. “C’mon, lemme see!! Oooohh…fuuuuck…” he bends over in pain when your knee unexpectedly kicks him in the crotch: you used all your strength and he drops down, curling up in a ball. “God…dammit!” Derek shrieks at the defense he didn’t anticipate.

“I…I’m not wearing diapers!” you stammer and because he landed on the edge of the pool you roll him in the water also.

The loud splash makes The Joker wave at you, glad he eventually found you: he’s been searching around the warehouse for the last 5 minutes.

“There you are! Quit playing around, Pumpkin; we have a swimming pool at home!”

You rush by his side eager to bail before the asshole pops up from the bottom of the pond.

“Sushi for dinner?” J suggests and Y/N is not the type of individual to reject one of her favorite dishes.

“I…I love sushi,” you smile elbowing him. “Love.”

“Don’t start with me again!” The King barks at your obvious hint.

*************

“Are you eating the last piece?” he glares at your salmon roll.

“No,” you offer the treat to him. “You…you need it more,” Y/N verbalizes her concern regarding his well-being.

“Can’t disagree, Pumpkin. You exhausted me you naughty girl,” J pretends to be super tired. “What can I do? Princess wants, Princess gets,” he inhales, resigned.

You’re not focusing on his whining: frankly, your intellect has been challenged enough for today. You cuddle in his arms while he chews on his food and watch TV without paying attention to the movie.

“Don’t forget tomorrow morning you have your doctor’s appointment,” J mentions. “I have to stay and wait for the guns I purchased from Nolan; you’ll have to manage without me. I’ll send an escort, deal?”

“U-hum.”

“Don’t yawn, Pumpkin. I’m the one that should yawn,” The Joker scratches his thigh. “This move sucks,” he pouts and turns off the TV. “I have a better idea,” he chooses a kid’s book from the stack. “Read to me.”

You open the textbook and although your brain is overwhelmed, you still make an effort for his sake.

“Mmm… Rainy… sky… Skies?...”

“Yup,” he turns on his side and nuzzles in your hair.

“Float over…hmm… t-town…”, your voice echoes in the room, soothing a worn out Joker.

Strange he can’t properly rest unless you read to him: after all J barely, from very afar, remotely, not even similar to love, sort of likes you.

Also read: MASTERLIST

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