#and it’s a possibility to happen to Damian Jason or Cass as well

[waspsarebetterthanbeesanyways]

In Season 1 Danny Phantom, in the Cujo episode Danny as Phantom is described as pasty faced, and in the episode where Danny loses a present in the ghost zone Jack sees a mailman ghost and describes him as pale even though we the viewers see him as bright green.

I headcanon that ghosts see ectoplasm differently than humans. In the GZ everything’d be ectoplasm all the time so they’d need to be able to see better and discern different types from each other. Hell, maybe humans think pure ectoplasm is white! None of the Amity Parkers seem to think Phantom is different from other ghosts even though he’s the only one with a normal human skin tone. So they probably see all ghosts as these creepy pale motherfuckers. Meanwhile, for ghosts, they figure out he’s a halfa really quickly because they see him as having a tan.

Also, the colors on screen change when ghostly stuff is happening. Maybe when Danny’s ghost sense goes off / he’s alert his vision heightens to ghost levels. That’d also explain why he doesn’t notice when other people are overshadowed right away: he’s not thinking to look in the ghost spectrum, so he’s not seeing their eyes glow / change colors like we the viewers are.

Now on to DP x DC: If humans see ectoplasm as white and Lazarus Pits = ectoplasm, why are Lazarus Pits green? That’s just how many added chemicals there are. Normal ectoplasm isn’t particularly irradiated, but the Pits are. So Lazarus Pits are basically ectoplasm with fucking uranium added in. The only reason it’s not killing people is because ectoplasm nullifies the effects of radiation on organic matter. Some day in the future, ghost shields could become anti-nuke shields.

Anyone who’d taken a dip in the Lazarus Pits and had the ecto removed would soon die from acute radiation syndrome.

[alienzil]

Grandfathered In

There, a job well done. Alfred thought to himself as he put the last grocery bag in the back of the car. Meal planning and shopping for a family as large as his own (and their semi frequent unexpected guests) did take quite a bit of his time but he'd managed to finish a bit early this week.

Alfred was thinking fondly of spending his extra time with a nice cup of tea and a book when he heard a noise from the nearby alley.

He stilled and listened intently. That was the sound of someone in pain. A child in pain if he wasn't mistaken (a sound he would rather he wasn't so familiar with). Well then, the tea would have to wait.

Alfred quietly moved into the alleyway, his hand inside his coat gripping the pistol hidden there. Hurt child or not, it never hurts to be cautious in Gotham.

"Good Heavens!"

There was a boy with pure white hair and bright, barely open, luminous green eyes. He was curled up, partially hidden by the dumpster, clearly barely clinging to consciousness and was oozing bright green blood from a large abdominal wound as well as several smaller cuts and burns.

He approached slowly and held out his hands to try to appear as friendly and non threatening as possible. "You appear to be in a bit of trouble young sir, perhaps I can help?"

The boy nodded weakly and Alfred knelt down and reached to pick him up. Best to get him into the car quickly and make use of his emergency first aid kit to stabilize the boy then get him home for further treatment. The hospital clearly wasn't an option for the young Meta... or alien perhaps? Something to ask once the boy was up to it.

Alfred carefully cradled the child and briskly moved back towards the car. He appeared to be a young teenager but he weighed so little, Alfred almost felt as though he was holding a toddler rather than a teen.

He lay the boy down in the back seat and leaned over to reassure him, gently moving his hair out of his eyes and petting is head in a soothing gesture. "There now, we'll have you right as rain in no time."

"Ha" the injured young Meta tried to laugh. "Might take...some time.. Don't ya think?"

Oh he'd fit right in, Alfred couldn't help thinking. Sassing even as he lay there bleeding. Well, in spirit if not quite the usual appearance, Alfred considered, eyeing the white hair and bright green eyes but-

A bright white suddenly light filled the car. Alfred blinked away the spots from his vision then stared in astonishment at the now black haired, blue eyed boy before him. Well then, fit right in indeed.

*****

Bruce blearily wandered into the kitchen and sat down at the table just barely holding in a yawn. He'd been in space on a mission with the Justice League for over 3 weeks and had only just gotten back to Earth in time to crash into bed and get a few hours of sleep before he had to be back up.

He reached for his coffee and looked around the table at his children. Tired as he was, it was good to be home. It even looked like everyone had made it for breakfast, a rare event for their family. Dick, Jason, Tim, Cass, Stephanie, Barbara, Damian, Duke and...

"Who's this?" Bruce asked with friendly smile. Did one of his kids make a new friend?

Alfred silently appeared next to him. "That is your son."

"My son?" What was happening? Bruce was too tired for this. He counted again, Dick, Jason, Tim, Cass, Stephanie, Barbara, Damian, Duke and...he looked closely at the last one. Black hair, blue eyes. Looks like one of his... He had no idea who this child was.

"Your son." Alfred said firmly as he sat some papers next to Bruce's plate.

Bruce looked down. Those were adoption papers.

"Oh. My. God." Stephanie whisper screamed from across the table. "That's where B got the adoption habit from!"

Bruce's attention was diverted from the multiple children trying to shush Stephanie as an uncapped pen was placed in front of him. He looked up as Alfred raised a single eyebrow and gave him a pointed look.

"Right, of course. My son."

He quickly scanned the adoption papers as he signed them then looked over at his latest child.

"Welcome to the family, Danny."

Note: I don't currently have plans to continue this. Anyone can add on if they would like to :-)

[soleminisanction]

Once again got a bee in my bonnet to spend a night doing obscure fandom research to make a point, so. For all those people who keep making the annoying, "Tim keeps '''stealing'' other peoples' names" comments -- have a table.

EDIT: Updated version with some mistakes corrected.

Everyone with a check mark has used that codename at some point in DC's 80+ year continuity -- Elseworlds and alternate dimensions/timelines count, adaptations (movies, video games, cartoons, etc.) don't unless they've got comic book tie-ins, and neither do in-universe dream sequences/illusions/fantasies/other narrative elements that are objectively "not real" within the boundaries of the fiction.

A purple marker indicates an element that only applies in Elseworlds or alternate timelines. Yellow is for the originator of the legacy title. Star symbol is for borderline cases/extenuating circumstances/it's open to interpretation (with some further elaboration below).

The "other" column is just there to account for people who've held lesser or non-legacy titles, like Renegade, Wingman, Arkham Knight, Drake, Redbird, Talon, Deadman, Black Bat, Orphan and Catwoman.

Point being: the people who have actually gone through the most legacy titles in this family are Dick, Babs and Jason, tied with 5 each (again, not counting "other;" if we counted those separately Dick would've had by far the most). Tim is tied with Steph AND Helena Wayne, so unless you're whining about them "stealing other peoples' names" you're just wrong, and they're all only one higher than Damian, Carrie and Bruce.

This is a legacy family that passes their codenames up and down the inheritance line. It's what they do. It's not a legitimate criticism to level at one character and not the others. Please get over it.

---

Further elaboration on some of the lesser known/niche cases:

- Bruce uses the Robin ID in Superman & Batman: Generations, as well as the pre-Crisis Detective Comics #226 story.

- In the second half of Thrillkiller ‘62, Babs cuts her hair and dons the Robin costume worn by her deceased partner Dick to get revenge on his killer; however the only name ever used for her in the series is Batgirl

- Cassandra was a member of the Robins orphan gang from Dark Knights of Steel.

- Duke was a member of the We Are Robins gang, as well as the aforementioned DKS orphan gang, and has appeared as Robin in a couple of Elseworlds, including I believe a White Knight spin-off.

- Cass was Batwoman in one of the versions of the Titans Tomorrow, as was Bette Kane, depending on changes to the timeline.

- Babs is Batwoman in the Batman ‘66 comics and in the 1980 story “The Secret Origin of Bruce (Superman) Wayne”

- Earth-3 Steph is Batwoman in Young Justice 2019.

- Helena Wayne is Batwoman in the possible future story Last Rites

- Tim is a member of the Batgirls vigilante/little league baseball team in the DC Bombshells universe, as is Cullen Row. Some call them the “Batboys” instead. I call those people cowards.

- Helena Bertinelli wore the costume that would later become Cass’s signature Batgirl look during No Man’s Land. However, she was more often referred to as “The Bat” and her Batgirl status is up to individual interpretation.

- Dick didn’t originate the Nightwing name, it started with Clark in the Silver Age.

- Steph has never been Nightwing. The panel where she appears in the costume is a Black Mercy illusion that happens only in her own mind. It’s a dream sequence.

- Barbara was Nightwing in the Smallville Season 11 comics.

- Terry was briefly Nightwing in volume 4 of Batman Beyond.

- Damian briefly became Nightwing after accidentally killing Dick in the Injustice series.

- Dick is Oracle in the “Eight Wonders of the World” version of Earth 2 (aka the Black Superman dimension)

[vigil-antes]

*During a particularly slow patrol or stakeout*

Steph: Soo, if you were to have a song as your theme, what song would you choose? Personally i think id be 'Applause' by Lady Gaga.

Damian: This is ridiculous, brown, i will not be part to such a foolish activity.

Steph: Dont be such a debby downer, brat. Have some fun once in your life.

Damian: *Scoffs*

Dick: I like this game! i-

Bruce: We're on an important mission, everyone. Keep the talk work related.

Steph: C'mon big guy, nothing's happening, and we're all close to falling asleep. If anything, this ensures we're attentive if anything happens.

Bruce: ...Very well. But keep your eyes on the target.

Dick: Will do! Anyways, as i was saying, i think id be 'Royals' by 'Lorde'!

Steph: Dick, i mean this in the nicest way possible but you are quite literally the closest thing there can be to modern-society royalty.

Dick: Yeah, thats why i like the song!

Tim: So you just never listen to the words?

Dick: I mean i never really close attention but is it really that much of a problem??

Duke: I mean, you are like, all of the things she mention she's never going to be.

Dick: Oh :(

Steph: *Snorts* Yeah, if anything youd be 'Candy' by Robbie Williams.

Tim: Hah, yeah.

Dick: Ok, i like the song but now im getting the feeling that its not a compliment.

Cass: Dumb but nice big brother :)

Damian: You do act quite like an empty headed buffoon at times, Richard.

Dick: What! No! Ok wait let me choose another song... ok, ill be 'Killer Queen' by Queen, ok?

Steph: Yeah i guess i can accept that. What about you, tim?

Tim, in a completely dead voice: 'What is love' by TWICE.

Duke: Uh...

Tim: I said what i said.

Duke: Ok... well, i like 'sunflower' by Post Malone.

Dick: Aaw, you are like a sunflower, thats so nice

Cass: You are very bright and warm, yes. Like sunshine

Duke: Thats the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.

Cass: I like 'The dog days are over' by Florence and The Machine

Tim: Thats... pretty much perfect for you.

Dick: Yeah, agreed.

Tim: So, baby brat, what about you?

Damian: I told you, i wont lower myself to such childish games!

Dick: Come on, little bat, for me?

Damian: I am not one to be swayed so easily, you fool!

Cass: Dont be mean, baby brother, and have fun. Please?

Damian:

Damian: Fine. I choose 'You should see me in a crown' by Billie Eilish. I would look very good in a crown.

Steph: Yeah, i dont know what i expected

Dick: What about you, Bruce?

Bruce: I dont listen to music.

Tim: Damn man, that sounds depressing, you must know a song or two

Bruce: I really dont know that many songs, Tim. Maybe you can choose for me

Dick: No! That defeats the purpose of the game, B, come on, just think about it for a second

Bruce: Mmm... I guess if i were to choose, 'Viva la vida' by Coldplay woul-

Jason, who has the comms frequency but never uses and isnt even on the same mission: Personally I'd be 'Fireworks' by Katy Perry

Dick: Jay! its so nice to hear you parteci-

Jason: Specifically the part that goes 'do you ever feel already buried deep, six feet underground but no one seems to hear a thing'

Dick: *softly* Jay, no.

[psychemochanight]

This may sound bad, but there's something I've noticed that bothers some of Nightwing fans, and it's not exactly something new (since Jason's first appearance, actually)-

And for many, as a new batfamily member appears, the writers seem to take away or diminish some quality in Dick to enhance it in another character

Let me explain:

One of the reasons why many people initially disliked Jason (not the only reason, by far), is that they saw him as a copy of Dick, even if they both had their differences, many did not feel that Jason had anything "special" that separated him from Dick.

And for those who say the difference is that Jason was cheerful and Dick wasn't, no, that's a modern thing, and that interpretation was given especially because it was the time when Dick was more "angry" as Discowing (he wasn't even that angry, just a little bit more serious); same with those who say that Jason was the only model student, when in fact, Dick was also a star student, there is even a panel where some students dismiss the possibility that he is Robin because Dick was a "bookworm".

That's partly why many applauded the change he made in becoming Red Hood, because it gave the character something that set him apart, that made him unique.

With Tim is when this change that they make to Dick (more the fandom than the writers themselves, but it is growing in them too) was most noticeable, to enhance Tim's qualities.

When talking about Tim (and God knows how much I adore canon Tim, he's so damn cool), people ALWAYS downplay Richard's detective skills to highlight Tim's. To make him look like the only good detective in the family after Batman.

People forget that Dick was originally like a mini-copy of Batman, but he was destined to surpass him. Not just in combat, but in detective skills as well. Before they even thought about a new Robin, there were already hints that Dick was, and would be, better than Batman.

Even with the appearance of other family members, Dick's abilities were still pointed out. I'm not talking about his physical agility, but his mental agility.

Dick was a genius, just like the other members of the family, he was ALWAYS pointed out as someone so intelligent, someone logical. He also has extraordinary skills with technology, He didn't need someone to back him up with hacking issues 24/7, he could do it himself, not always, but most of the time.

Now, what they point out the most is his physical agility and leadership (characteristics that he always had), but they leave aside his other aspects, such as combat ability and above all, his capabilities as a detective, like someone intelligent.

Some even bring up that Ra's called Tim "detective", when in reality he also called Dick that, and I'm pretty sure he also called Jason that at some point.

I want to clarify, that with this I am NOT saying that Tim's skills are inferior, AT ALL. I am one of those who think that Tim was the one who finished polishing Robin's name, the one that gave it a meaning beyond being Batman's sidekick, the one who turned Robin into his own hero. Tim is probably a prodigious detective, but like Dick, he too needed help honing those skills. Damn, it was Dick himself who taught Tim how to be a full-fledged detective.

But seriously, I'm not saying this to put Tim down, but to talk about the need to put Dick down in order to elevate others.

Even with Cass this happened, Cass fans throw away Dick's abilities to bring out Cass's when that is not necessary, like, It is more than possible to highlight the qualities of your favorite characters without putting down the others.

There were even times where people were putting Dick down for Damian, and I honestly didn't even understand why, but aha.

I think you're getting my point across, right?

Again, I am NOT trying to say that ANY character's skills should be nerfed, on the contrary, I feel like people should stop doing that just to level up other characters' abilities.

The fact that Dick is also a prodigious detective does not make Tim any less of a detective ? The fact that he also knows how to handle technology does not make Barbara any less competent at her job ? Just because he's an excellent fighter doesn't make Cass the weakest ???? God, just because he was a light in Batman's life too doesn't make Jason any less of his son!

Partly yes, it was the writers' fault for giving Dick too many abilities from the start, which made it harder for later characters to stand out in their own fields, but, fr, taking away his abilities to getting up the rest is not the solution at this point either.

And as I said, this mostly comes from before there were even other members of the batfamily, Dick's only purpose was to be better than Batman, it wasn't even the plan to be his own person yet. Probably for a while, the plan could even be that the next Batkid would accompany Dick as the next great detective, and then the next batkid would take the mantle and so on, a chain. I'm not saying that's the case, but that's honestly what it seems like from the way their abilities are written, at least before they started really developing them as their own individual person.

Something I love about part of the fandom is that there are people who understand that Dick was an inspiration, so that his younger siblings did not inhibit his abilities, but rather learned from him, and then surpassed him with their owns, just as Dick did with Batman. Idk.

And... Yeah, that's just me complaining about my favorite character being downgraded when he's clearly way more capable than the fandom gives him credit for <3

This is me btw

[puppetwoman17]

I would like to expand on the joker junior idea. Imagine Batman going to arkham to interrogate Joker for another case, leading to him getting beaten by bats while laughing about how he not only failed Jason but Tim as well. Laughing about how he tortured him, revealing his identity, how easy it was to break him. Batman then threatening to end him and joker replied with "Oh Batsy, if you truly were capable of doing it then Junoir wouldn't have needed to shoot me".

While that was happening everyone except was listening in the whole time and are seething about everything they heard until Tim put his ear piece back on that he took off before Batman started his interrogation because he knows it will get them nowhere so he tries to find a new lead (not because the very sound of Joker's laughter sends him back to when he was screaming as he was getting electrocuted and injected with joker venom that ridiculous he's fine) and told Bruce that he found another lead, getting him to stop pummeling Joker and leaving while he was left there laughing.

Sorry if this is all over the place it was something I came up with after reading your posts. Keep up the good work!

Thank you so much for this!

God that would honestly be mortifying for everyone involved(except the Joker obvi). All the kids are expecting him to taunt Bruce about Jason, and he does. He teases him on how he couldn’t get there in time and how his son still blamed him. Which, sure, Jason has his own gripes with his death, but the Joker is the person who he is LEAST okay with saying this.

But then things take a turn. The Joker starts talking about his SON, and since when did the Joker have a son? He calls him Junior. Teases the Bat that he was too late in saving him, and his boy would ALWAYS be a part of your little Red Ro—

Holy fucking shit.

Nightwing is screaming now. He demands that Batman tell them what the Joker meant. Why hadn’t he been told? What happened to Tim? Why did the Joker know him so well?

Jason is close to having a panic attack, because not only is the one person who scares him anymore on the loose, but he did the same to Tim. To his little brother. To someone who he’s grown close with over the years. Who definitely had a rocky relationship with him. Who talked with him despite that and worked with him despite that. To hear that that very same little brother had been attacked the same way he had, and worse, is more than enough to send the Red Hood on a rampage. The Joker isn’t escaping again, that’s for sure.

Cass is not one to make her presence known. She knows how to keep quiet. How to wait for the right time to strike, but she’s on the Joker in the next possible minute. Even Batman steps back and watches as she beats the person who hurt her brother into the ground. Batman doesn’t know whether to cheer her on, or tell her to stop.

Spoiler is the only one with Tim, and she can’t help but just stare. She doesn’t speak, she doesn’t yell or cry or accuse him of keeping such a heavy secret, she just looks at him. Not with pity, but with the sinking realization that no one knew. Not even her.

Damian wasn’t allowed to leave the cave. He’s sitting by the Batcomputer with Alfred behind him. While he and Drake didn’t have the closest relationship, it’s been some time since he truly thought of him as anything but his brother. He learned from him frequently, how to handle a specific gadget, how to deal with the Batman when his temper flared(slightly, he’s not an asshole anymore Dami(WHAT DO YOU MEAN ANYMORE??)). To hear about this horrifying experience and not be able to comfort Drake made him squirm in his seat.

He’s even more surprised when Pennyworth doesn’t give a single indication that he knows. Nightwing demands that Agent A tell them why he hid this from them. Everyone is shocked when he tells them he is just as clueless.

This is all background noise to Red Robin, because he just got a lead on where the Joker’s goons could be. He doesn’t pay attention to anyone’s words, instead telling Batman that he has a lead and to meet him at a location.

When all this is over and the Joker is back in custody, all Commissioner Gordon can do is pat Tim on the back and tell him to go the fuck home and sleep.

When all this is over, Babs locks up the Clocktower because she’s not dealing with this shit til she’s had her morning coffee.

[missbluesunflowersstuff]

Why doesn't Batfam age? Because they're vampires, all of them except Damian Wayne

Let me explain:

Everything starts years ago when Dick moved to Blüdhaven, he found the Vampire court there and - in one failed mission - he becomes one

Dick starts living as a vampire and adapts himself very well to his new life, Bruce dislikes it and both argue a lot

Dick tries to convince Bruce that becoming a vampire is a good choice, being Batman is not enough, Bruce is still a human, one day he will become old and the city will still need Batman. Bruce needs to do more. Be more. But Bruce rejected this idea and did not become a vampire.

Tiny Jason then shows up, canon stuff happens and then Jason died

This destroys Bruce, "if I listen Dick, Jason could be alive now" he blames himself, guilt eating him inside, Jason could be alive if Bruce was not a coward, if Bruce was a vampire he could save Jason. Jason died because he was weak

And Bruce doesn't want to be weak anymore

Dick then turns Bruce into a vampire days after Jason's funeral

Alfred also becomes a vampire that night, both by Dick

When Tim shows up Bruce is already a vampire, he rejected Tim in the start but afraid to lose Tim in the same way he loses Jason, he asked if Tim wants to become a vampire as well

Tim, desperate for acceptance and to be part of something important, accept

Bruce bites Tim and turns him into a vampire

When Stephanie appears, she automatically refuses the invitation, "you're not my dad, Batman"

Unfortunately, after her incident with Black Mask, Bruce bites her against her will

Bruce finds her covered in blood, pale and breathing weakly. Almost dying. He's losing a child again. Something he promised would never happen again. But then Stephanie is dying. Desperate to save that child and redeem himself, Bruce bites her

Stephanie was very hurt by this and moved away from vigilantism for a while to adapt to her new life. This cursed.

Surprising Cassandra accepts without hesitation, no one really understands her reasons for accepting this

Cass has a slight adjustment problem at first, but she tries to live as much as possible as if nothing has changed

And then Jason Todd returns

He is really hurt (emotionally) for all this shit and hates Bruce for what he did and what he didn't

Jason also hates Tim in the start for having accepted this shit so easily

No Bruce or Alfred can't convince Jason to become a vampire (they don't want to lose Jason again)

Then who bites him? Dick

They fight a lot, but Dick Grayson is charismatic, he always gets what he wants and this time there's no difference, Dick bites Jason

Years past and then there is Damian

The blood son, the heir of the Demon

Everyone is sure that Dick will bite Damian, they're close to each other, and in true Dick almost did it, but then Damian rejected

They fought really bad that night, Dick lost and Damian doesn't talk with him for a month after that accident

No one knows what happened

Why did Damain reject this?

They all thought Damian wanted to become part of the family, then why Damian rejected this?

After a while Duke Thomas joined the family, he hesitated to become a vampire in the start, but in the end he accepted it

This becomes the most funny joke of all time because his powers

And Damian is still the only human

Once again Bruce tried to lure Damian to become a vampire and once again there was a bloody fight, and in the end Damian is still a human and he stopped talking with Bruce for two months after that

All important members of Justice league know about the vampire family and accept it very well (it was a mess in the start but Batman is there for so long, they don't see him and his family as dangerous anymore)

Damian dies and comes back and he is still a human

Jon then becomes his friend, and all Kent house is chocked when they see Damian eat his vegetarian food

"Aren't you a vampire?" "No"

They assume that Bruce doesn't want to turn a kid into a vampire and let Damian grow a little. They're wrong about that

Time passes and Damian is now a teenager, life is own life doing his own stuff, not as Batman, not as Robin either Demon, just he own hero path

Jon is unsure when Damian will become a vampire, then he decided to ask his best friend about this

"tt" Damian is tired of this vampire shit, he knows how his family looks for him, every single one already tried to talk about this stuff with him and this always ends in a mess. Actually he is not surprised with the ask, but who is asking. Jon, his best friend. The stupid half alien and Damian are just tired

then Damian decides to talk the truth, the same truth he talks at Dick, Bruce and Alfred years ago after they stop fighting against each other. The same truth who is always together with the silence treatment

"My mother... She is not perfect, she made a lot of mistakes as well my father too, she turned me who I am and she also told me about this vampire thing, and she said she wouldn't be mad if I became like him, and in the past I also wanted to become like him but now..."

"but now?" Jon started Damian, the half alien is always curious about this fact and he doesn't understand why Damian is talking about his mom

"when I choose to live with my father and give up the league I thought it would be different, but then here we go Damian, there's a vampire cult with people who fear the dead and, even when they deny it, they also seek for power. The truth is I'm tired of cults, Ra's or Wayne's, they're not so different, this is still a cult"

"I... I don't want to live like them, Jon, I want to die as a human, Batman becomes an immortal and the demon head is also immortal. I don't fear the dead, I want to die as a human"

I just like to think about the potential angst with Damian and his family, how betrayed he will feel when he realizes that Dick and Bruce are not so different from Ra's, people afraid of death

In the worst case scenario Damian becomes a vampire against his will, who did it? Tim Drake

It was an extreme a desperate situation, Tim Drake just wants to save his baby brother lives and ignore Damain pleading to let him die

That was the first time that the house saw Damian crying. He understands why Tim did it, but still he feels betrayed and sobs with this curse

Damian is inconsolable for days and isolates himself, becoming exactly what he always feared, an immortal who steals people's lives to gain power exactly what his grandfather always said he would become

[mysterycitrus]

id love to hear your thoughts on jason and damian's relationship bc i feel like despite the popularity of the idea of jason and damian bonding in the league (despite that timeline probably not working), in-canon, they do NOT like each other (for pretty understandable reasons on damian's part) but i feel like they never get their relationship meaningfully explored outside of the watered-down idea of "they are both Violent (just ignore their different reasoning and histories wrt violence)"

not to sound mean but i don’t like jason and damian having a close relationship either. partially because i think jason being affiliated with the league at all is mostly derived from the film (and possibly yjtv?) in ways that don’t make sense in comic canon, but also because like u said it’s watering down both their characters to be “the violent one.”

there are many characters damian has interesting narrative parallels to — being born and shaped for one purpose and then choosing ur own destiny — like cass cain, or chris and conner kent. i feel cass fulfills the actual sibling role that people want to slot jason into. like with cass, jason’s development happens invertly to damians. in robin son of batman, damian embarks on a quest of redemption for those he killed while in the league, an arc that iirc jason has never been shown to have on page. damian learns to be real, while jason is unmade. damian’s development as a character puts him in opposition to jason’s world view.

it’s also worth mentioning that the way their respective violence is treated is not with the same degree of compassion in fanworks. jason’s war on drugs is treated as a sincere attempt to protect the vulnerable despite the comics showing the contrary. damian is frequently depicted as an uncontrollable animal, especially in his early appearances. i wonder why that would be. their circumstances simply aren’t comparable. one of them was a child raised in an exoterrorist cult, and the other is an adult who chooses to kill. po-tay-to po-ta-to.

there could be some connection through talia ig, but again that’s still often grossly inflated or ignored entirely when people write them together. would she let jason (who she objectively knows is unstable) around her kid? eh, probably not. would jason be chill at all around bruce’s biological child? unlikely. jason has been sincerely, lethally violent to damian in the past, and damian wouldn’t forget that. it’s also worth noting that damian, when written well, is not a person who’s quick to resort to violence without it being a reaction to perceived disrespect.

however the short answer to ur q is that damians primary encounter with jason early on is when he looked like this

and i do not believe damian wayne would ever associate himself with that

[siddyyyyyyyy]

Imagine Damian with a sunshine reader but they sometimes turn into a whole new person with jay from the kubz scouts humor "I swear if this doesn't work I'll take off ___ headband wipe my ass with it put it back on bird box style and give myself pink eye" 😭

Anyway good night/morning

Don't forget to eat and drink well!!

Strange Kind of Humour

Older!Damian Wayne x Reader

wc: 1.2 K summary: you hate bugs (sorry for the people who love bugs) warnings: lots of bad words. a/n: thank you so much for the request and sorry for the late reply, but this is really funny and had to educate myself on that kubz scouts guy (i watch him regularly now) i couldn't really come up with such creative words, but this is the best i could do. enjoy! (divider)

75% of all animal species are insects, most of them have wings and can fly. However, only some of them look cute and are not some venomous, useless, shit-eating bastards who are trying to get into your stupid tent.

Someone came up with the perfect idea to go camping for two days, to finally relax from everything that‘s been going on. Bruce was very reluctant but eventually got blackmailed into joining, not having any possible way of working since you are all in the middle of the woods, trying to have fun.

Damian invited you to go with him, actually begged you, so he isn‘t alone with all these lunatics, and you‘ve never been more happy to join a trip. He knew you would be happy to join, just hoping the others won‘t make fun of him for being ‚soft‘ for you, or else this small family-trip will end up in a blood bath. So far, it‘s been actually pretty good so far, you had something warm to eat, having grilled together, had something vegetarian for Damian. You talked a lot with Dick and Tim, noticed the funny dynamic between Jason and Tim, befriended Cass, and made fun of Damian together with Duke as he failed to build the tent up three times.

Now, that everyone has tents and sleeping bags, you can all take a rest for the day and sleep. If it weren‘t for the bugs trying to fly in and annoy you both. Damian didn‘t seem to mind much, just curling himself up in his sleeping bag so no one can disturb him. But this is enough.

»I swear to god, if these little shits won‘t stop coming in, I will pull my fucking hairspray and a lighter out and burn this whole fucking forest.«

You mutter under your breath, but Damian caught wind of it. Of course he did, he is laying right beside you. His head shoots out of the sleeping bag, looking at you in the dark.

»How about we don‘t?«

Damian suggest quietly, slightly puzzled on how annoyed you are over such a thing. It‘s just bugs.

»I‘m sure they will leave us alone sooner or later. Just put your sleeping bag over your head.«

he tells you, hoping to soothe you down and hope that you won‘t be disturbed for the night. It‘s just one night, after all.

You huff out and do as told, shifting to put your sleeping bag over your head, curled up like him in his own bag.

zzzz

You want to punch that mosquito right then and there. Normally you would just brush it off and try to get it away, but this won‘t do anything since you are literally in a forest, camping. It only makes sense for bugs and insects to be there.

It‘s silent for a moment before the high-pitched buzzing starts again, already done with this.

»Look, I‘m gonna get this thing, track its whole family down and behead every single one-«

»Okay, how about we relax and open the tent for a moment so it can fly out, hm?«

He finally sits up and wraps his arm around your shoulder to keep you seated in your sleeping bag. No matter how many times you curse and say out-of-pockets things like that, it always surprises him when you do that. It usually happens whenever you are annoyed or upset, and right now he is pretty sure you are exasperated. Which doesn‘t make this any better.

Eventually, he managed to lay you back down to sleep after a few moments, having some annoying buzzing around, but it‘s nothing too bad. You both fell asleep after a while, getting woken up later in the morning by a scream. Damian immediately goes to check, peeking out of the tent and cursing himself for not bringing his katana to the trip.

Looking out, he sees Tim at the small camp fire, holding a stick out at a… racoon? What the hell is a racoon doing here? Don‘t they live somewhere else than.. oh, well.

Damian sighs out, getting out of the tent to help him out.

»Relax, Drake, they don‘t bite… usually.«

Tim looks to Damian briefly before staring back at the racoon wide-eyed, still pointing the stick at the innocent animal that was just curious on what these big people and tents are.

»What do you mean ‚usually‘?!«

Damian finally gets fully out of your tent, keeping his eyes on the racoon while approaching it slowly. He ignores the literal panic radiating off of Tim, gently shooing the animal away, but it just stays on its spot, not budging.

It‘s then, when you wake up, having caught some of the conversation between the brothers. You finally peek out of your tent as well, gasping as you see the racoon. The round, fluffy animal keeps its dark eyes on Damian, just sitting relaxed while your boyfriend is trying to shoo him away.

You didn‘t gaps out of disgust, but out of surprise and awe. There‘s not a lot of days you see a cute racoon, a stubborn at that as well. Sure, it‘s a wild animal, but why does it look so squishy then?

Coming out of the tent, you stand beside Damian, trying to get closer to the animal. Damian tries to get you behind him, but you have none of it.

»You need to step back, this is a wild animal— «

»No! Look how cute he is, I just want to pet him quickly!«

You protest, definitely blind by hthe cuteness of the racoon. Damian huffs out, turning to look at you.

»What are you? Snow white, or something? Just step back, let the poor thing run away.«

You whine in protest, really wanting to pet the racoon still. The small argument wakes the rest up as well, having thought it‘s nothing bad at first, but hearing that you both won‘t stop bickering, it made the others curious.

»What the hell is up with you guys?« Jason grumbles tiredly from his tent, still sitting in it but peeking out. Damian turns his attention to the voice, sighing out in defeat. Eventually, you take the opportunity to get closer to the racoon while Damian distracts himself with Jason, arguing with him now.

You get disappointed as the racoon runs away from you, not havnig been so brave after all. With a small huff, it all falls back to normal, the trip comes back to what they consider normal, eating some breakfast before playing frisbee all together. It turns into a competetive game, everyone including Bruce, trying to catch the frisbee and make the other drop or not even catch it in the first place. It‘s a bit chaotic, but it‘s never not chaotic with them. Not that you complain, you really like their dynamic overall and that they are all so sweet to you, although they do tease Damian a lot whenever he is affection with you.

A bright orange, plastic hits your side, yelping at the sudden collition. Of course someone had to accidently hit you with the frisbee. Duke gasps, immeditialy feeling guilty and really wants to sink into the ground at how embarrassing it is. Especially with how Damian glares at him, looking ready to kill.

»Damn, you trynna get me killed?!« You shout before this could escalate, throwing the frisbee back to him, landing at against his stomach with a grunt.

The tension melts away and you proceed to play the game until one finally wins, making the rest groan in defeat.

a/n: how you enjoyed it!!

[flamingpudding]

Part 9 of Ghost Kid in Gotham

>>Masterpost

<<1 Previous Next

Pit Demons aren't pets, now stop biting!

Jason sighed as he pulled into the bat cave with his bike. This was the third day in a row now that he was coming back into the Manor now and most likely stayed over again. Steph and Cass were due back from her mission today and Jason knew Alfred was preparing for the Family dinner that was going to happen either today or tomorrow.

Depending if Dick could finally gets Bruce out of his office.

It didn't really matter to Jason though. He was just here to… well he didn't know either but he knew that he was trying to keep an eye out for the little biter. Even if he had to deal with Timber being frustratingly annoying with the whole ghost cult thing.

So what if he could read what they claim to be squiggles. Not that he could prove otherwise, because all he saw was perfectly readable letters. Thankfully he had gotten Tim off his back for some time as he went to deal with something in Crime Alley.

He checked the group chat and scowled.

Apparently the entire Manor was in a state of chaos and Demon Brat was dragging Duke around the entire manor to have him use ghost vision to find the little shit. Not that it was helping since the last update was from 15 minutes ago and apparently the light path Duke had followed ran into a wall.

He looked over to the Batcomputer to find Tim going through the security footage. The other hadn't even so much spared Jason a glance so far too focused on trying to find how the kid could have disappeared from Damian's room without any of them noticing. Alfred and Demon Brat had put down the kid for a nap in Damian's room despite having a room prepared for the little biter and when Damian checked on the kid after doing his school work he found the kid gone.

"Still nothing on the kid?"

"Nothing, it's like the kid vanished into thin air. Not even the sensors in Damian's room picked anything strange up that could hint at his disappearance."

"I still have bite marks, so he definitely was not a mass hallucination."

Tim glared at Jason and the elder only shrugged. It was probably a bit to soon for that kind of joke. But his brothers weren't the only ones worried.

He wasn't even sure if Bruce knew, considering the last he heard was Dick and the old man having a 'talk' again. Dick was probably leaving the search to them for the moment to deal with whatever problem B was having right now.

"Think someone kidnapped the kid?"

"No. Aside from us, and probably the LoA, no one should know about Danny. The League taking him back wouldn't make sense. Besides why would anyone attempt to kidnap him from the Wayne Manor of all places? Gotham's Kidnappers might be dumb but not that dumb."

Jason sagely nodded in agreement. There was something tugging at the back of his mind but he couldn't explain what. It was like on the first day he had brought the little biter to the batcave. Over his shoulder he glanced into the direction his mind -no, the pit was urging him to go.

The pit had been strangely quiet and subdued ever since he met the kid. Protective of the biter at times but he despite the way Timber had annoyed and pestered him previously, he had not felt his own annoyance swing over into that uncontrollable rage.

There was a suspicion, a working theory. Something he wasn't yet willing to share with the rest of the family, despite the fact that he was sure that they had also noticed. It was a glaring fact that he was staying with them in the Manor despite Bruce being there too.

But until there was more confirmation Jason wasn't going to mention any of his suspicions, not if they could possibly endanger a little kid.

Because if he was right then the little biter was brought back way different than him and could also have some Pit controlling powers. The way his own mental Pit reacted to the boy was most likely proof but also what the other had found out so far. Lazarus water was fucking affecting the kids DNA.

It didn't help that Replacement had mentioned a suspicion that the League had most likely experimented with the kid and the Lazarus water judging by the scars they had discovered.

Someone might have deemed the kid a failure at first or the kid had escaped and somehow found his way to Jason's apartment with him probably being the closest thing to what the kid was.

Maybe the kid could sense him the way he could with his Pit. Shaking his head out of these thoughts Jason focused back at the problem at hand.

"I will check with Alfie, see if he knows any more hiding spaces kids would love to use." He patted his younger brother's shoulder only getting a grumble as answer before turning and going towards the elevators.

But before he could enter he once more glanced at the direction the pit was urging him to go. Hesitating, he looked back towards Timber and then the elevator.

"Fuck it." He muttered and decided to trust that stupid pit instinct or whatever that was, though with a threat in his stomach that once more just like the first time when they had searched through the cave to find the kid, the pit was leading him towards the Lazarus Pit.

Once he realized where he was going he stopped. "I should just fucking get Replacement or Demon Brat to check there." Muttering to himself he stared at the direction he was heading towards. When he found the little shit there before the kid had jumped him, chomping down on his arms.

The kid had only led go of him after he spat out green fucking Lazarus Water. Like what the actual fuck? Jason had pushed that experience as far out of his mind as he could but he was remembering it now again. It had been worrisome but they had chalked that up to the kids' contamination.

But now? Now that the pit in his mind was urging him to go there again? He couldn't help but think that there was more to it. Maybe his own dip in the pit had something to do with the little shits obsession with him?

Letting out a sigh he was ready to turn on his heel and get one of the others to check this area when he suddenly heard childlike laughter. "You are shitting me…"

With a scowl he marched towards the Lazarus Pit only to stop in his tracks the moment it came into view.

The little biter was sitting on the ground by the Pit as green glowing blobby orbs floated around the boy. The boy was poking them saying something, he couldn't really hear from this distance and then laughed. There was a light in his blue eyes that Jason hadn't seen before, a happiness even. It would be a really cute image of the kid playing with some green blobby orbs, if these things weren't probably some sort of dangerous Pit Demons.

Fuck what was he going to do now? If they were dangerous and he startled them the little shit could end up in real danger. So far they hadn't noticed him.

Grumbling while keeping an eye on the laughing boy, he sent a quick message into the chat telling the others little biter was in the batcave by the Lazarus pit. He knew the moment Tim saw the message he would come running, same with Demon Brat.

Despite knowing that was not a cute moment but dangerous, he snapped a picture anyway. Just for the record and to make sure he wasn't hallucinating or something. Because the kid was actually laughing, not hissing, not blankly staring, glaring or watching one of them but actually laughing like a kid his age with a shine in his eyes he hadn't seen before.

Demon Brat can thank him later for that picture, if Jason decides to share it with the others that was.

Echoing steps could be heard behind him and just like he predicted his brothers came running. The kid's laughter instantly stopped when he heard it too and his head snapped towards Jason, eyeing him warily. One of his hands was still stretched out towards one of the blobs, probably to pet it, but had stopped midway.

It was weird how the blobs were also now turning towards him and sort of looked displeased? Were these demons upset that they made the kid stop showering them in affection?

"Danyal!" Damn were they fast if they wanted to. Rushing past him their formerly youngest kneeled by his younger twins side patting the kid down and checking them over. Jason narrowed his eyes. Did Damian not notice the green glowing orbs that were all around the kid?

"So he was here the entire time?!" Timber asked the moment he coughed up, baffled. "How did we miss that?"

"Hey Replacement?" He had to ask, like come on, he couldn't be the only one seeing these green blobby orbs floating around the little biter and now the Demon Brat.

"Do you see-"

"What are these green blobs?"

Duke appeared next to them, clearly worried. Well that at least spared him having to ask that himself. From the corner of his eyes he watched how Tim blinked confused then rubbed his eyes like he was noticing them for the first time.

"Are those?"

"Small Pit Demons." Demon Brat answered them casually, waving one of them away when it got too close to his face. "They used to be around Grandfather's Lazarus Pit all the time. They seem to appear where Pits are and are harmless if you leave them be."

"Wait, you know about them?"

"Of course. They usually stay out of sight but it was not unusual to get a glimpse of them every now and then. Danyal used to point them out when we were younger. I am surprised that none of you ever noticed them before."

"Demon Brat, are you fucking kidding me? We got literally Pid Demons in the Batcave?!" They had fucking Pit Demons in the Batcave because of the Lazarus Pit and the damned brat didn't bother to tell them? What the fuck?

"Blob Ghosts! Not Demons!" The little biter piped up and Jason turned to stare at the kid not quite in disbelief but really? That was what the kid cared about, what they called these things?

"I don't fucking care what they are called. They still come for the fucking pit"

"Uhm…" Oh right all they hear from the kid is chirping or thrilling noises.

"What did Danyal call them?"

"Blob Ghosts."

"Blob Ghosts…" Before he knew it Tim was gone, nose deep in the weird ghost cult book muttering something about a connection between the Pits and that cult. Was he seriously carrying that book around everywhere now?

"Dami, can we keep-"

"No." Where were Dick and Bruce or maybe even Alfred? He did not want to act as the responsible eldest here. Helping Demon Brat sneaking various animals into the Manor to annoy Bruce was one thing but keeping fucking Pit Demons? Hell normally he would be all for it but fuck did he not want to deal with anything that came for the fucking Pits. Nope, this was not his kind of deal.

Apparently the kid didn't like his instant refusal as all he heard was a hiss in warning, followed by the simple command of "Smother him!"

His vision was swarmed with green and not the kind of green that happens when Pit Rage took over. No it was the kind where a lot of green glowing blobby orbs decide to swarm you. He swatted at them like they were flies, sometimes it worked, sometimes he noticed how his hand would go right through them without effect.

"Get the fuck away from me!"

"Danyal!" He could hear Demon Brats scowling tone but he didn't know what it was about until a second later he felt a weight hitting his chest knocking him over.

"WHAT THE FUCK?! GET FUCKING OFF ME!"

There was another hiss and a pain, he was getting familiar with, bloosemed in his right forearm and in between the green blobs he got a glimps of the little shit biting down on is arm a-fucking-gain. Though the kids eyes were blue he could still see a green flickering in them.

"Oh for the love of… Danyal! I told you to stop biting them!"

"Shouldn't we be more concerned about the Pit Demons attacking Jason?"

"Todd will be fine as I said they are harmless. Danyal, I said get off him this instant or I will tell Pennyworth to withhold your snacks."

"I feel like priorities aren't set right here…"

Despite his doubts… Duke still took a picture of the chaos to share with the others later. Dick surely would get a good laugh out of whatever this was.

[cer-rata]

"Ring Assignment pt. 1: The Bats"

A rare moment where most of the bats and some bat-adjacent folk are off-duty and for some reason choosing to be at the manor… Steph, sitting improperly on an expensive antique chair:... C'mon, you have to have vibes on what we'd all qualify for.  Conrad, laying across Damian's lap: I mean a lot goes into actually picking someone for any corps Conrad: I dunno if I can– Dick: If you give it a shot I'll let you try on my first Nightwing sui– Conrad, quickly sitting up: Some of you would dual qualify.  Conrad: Cass could easily be Green or Yellow but frankly considering how goddamn scary she is, she'd be able to do more as Yellow.  Cass: Boo, motherfucker. Conrad: Conrad: See? Terrifying.  Conrad: So then, Duke is actually on the Green shortlist– Duke: I am? Conrad: Yeah, don't ask why I know that.  Conrad: But you'd need three Earth Greens to die first.  Duke: Yikes. Conrad: Hey, you never know, pretty sure we're getting a war soon. Duke: Wh–I'm not hoping they die– Conrad: Dick is Blue. Dick: Sick. Conrad: But weirdly could also go Red. Dick: Well…we all have moments… Conrad: Steph is one bad day from being a Red.  Steph: No!  Steph: …Well… Conrad: Could be a Sapphire though, you serve hard enough and you'd be a great coworker.  Steph: Ayyy! Conrad: Babs is Green, if she could get to the point of turning Red it would have already happened before she became Oracle. Babs: But I'm tested every day.  Conrad, coughing: Damian– Damian: Hush. Conrad: Jason is Red.  Conrad: Shockingly. Jason: Fuck you! Jason: Jason: …Damnit– Conrad: Damian could be a Sapphire if he wasn't so embarrassed about having feelings– Damian: Oh, sorry I have a little dignity left, you chronically thirsty– Conrad: He's Indigo for reasons I will not explain because I'm banned from embarrassing him in public after the Chicken Fajita Incident.  Damian: Mmmhm! Duke: Duke: …But…but what could that possibly have been– Conrad: Tim should be…Turquoise, actually. Tim:  Tim: What? Tim: Are you really giving me a fake ring color– Conrad: It's real, but I can't explain it. Tim: What. Conrad: I'm under an NDA, okay? Tim: WHAT?  Conrad: I don't read fine print– Conrad: IT'S FINE HE'LL TELL PEOPLE WHEN HE'S READY. Tim:  Tim: You can't even say the emotion? Conrad: Bruce really should be a Sapphire, but like Damian, the emotional constipation is more powerful than any laxative. Conrad: Now, maybe if he went to therapy– Bruce: You do realize I'm still sitting here.  Conrad: Momma didn't raise no bitch. Bruce: Conrad: Bruce: Conrad:  Damian: Stop being weird, both of you! Conrad: …Green, but you'd hate working under Oa. Bruce: Hmph. Conrad: Colin is Blue. Colin: Really? Colin: Not like…Red? Conrad: You're nowhere near as angry as you think you are.  Colin, blushing: Aw. Aw dude. Conrad: Yeah, dude.  Colin: Dude. Conrad: Duuuuude– Cass: Gay. Conrad: Conrad: Maps is… Conrad: Maps: …What? Conrad: Turquoise– Maps: Ooh! Tim: Seriously, what does that even mean– Conrad: And so is Harper– Harper: Fuck yes! Harper: Mystery prize! Tim: You can't assign a ring you won't explain to three of us! Tim: That's the most common ring now, what the– Conrad: If you actually belong to that corps you'll be able to figure it out from the throughline and context clues. Tim: Wh– Conrad: Mr. “Detective.” Tim: I hate you. Conrad: Hmm, then maybe you're a Red, actually– Tim: Hey, hey no– Damian: He does have issues. Tim: …You little– Tim Tim: Damn, I'm really in a bind here…

[disillusioneddanny]

The Story of Us - Chapter 1.

Bruce Wayne stared over the prone body of his closest friend, his hands clasped behind his back. “What happened?” he asked, looking between Clark Kent, Jon Kent, and Conner Kent as they all lay upon the hospital beds not moving, barely breathing.

The doctor looked over at him and sighed. “We don’t know. There was a fight with Lex Luthor and something happened, he infected Clark with something and it must have been contagious because it spread to both Superboys,” she said softly, standing up from where she had been crouched before the heroes. 

“Do we have any idea what it is that infected them? Or how to fix it?” Batman asked gruffly, still staring at one of his closest friends. 

The doctor shook her head sadly. “No, we do not.”

Bruce nodded his head and left the hospital room. He soon found himself in the conference room surrounded by the Justice League Dark and the main members of the League. 

He looked at the large screen behind him and let out a breath. “Yesterday at eleven forty-five in the morning Superman engaged in combat with Lex Luthor where he sprayed a strange red substance at Superman. From there, he found himself without his powers, his wife reports that he had developed a cough as well as a fever. From there he spread it to both Jon and Conner who developed the same symptoms. Lois called us this morning to inform me that none of the supers were waking up. We don’t know what is causing this illness and we aren’t sure how to fix it.”

Bruce looked at the main team of the Justice League first. “I want you all to start looking for Lex Luthor, turn over every rock, every stone until you can find him. Bring him here as soon as you do so that we can find out what he knows. Justice League Dark, I want you all to start looking for a cure as soon as possible. Do whatever it takes to find something that can fix them.”

“Bats,” Constantine said from his seat, blowing out a lungful of smoke. “I may know someone who can fix the supers.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow. “And who would that be?”

“I’ve heard whispered about a healer, but we’ll have to trade for his services. I don’t know what exactly he is, rumors say he’s a demon from another realm,” Constantine winced at that. “Not an evil demon, mind you, but a demon nonetheless.”

“What would he want for a trade?” Bruce asked, crossing his arms. 

“We’ll have to summon him first,” Constantine said and Zatanna gave him a nervous look. 

“You sure? If you’re talking about who I think you are, he’s the most powerful healer. But he was prominent in the War for the Infinite Realms. He isn’t someone to mess with,” Zatanna said softly. 

The Infinite Realms had Bruce’s ears pricking slightly. He hadn’t heard those words in twenty years, not since Danny had left to fight in the war. Not since they had fallen out of communication with one another. It hadn’t been something either of them had planned to happen. 

Danny had gotten pulled into the war, Bruce had gotten dragged into the role of being Batman. Bruce knew he was half at fault, he had never reached out. He had become too consumed, first with being Batman and then he had adopted Dick, and then Jason, Tim, Cass, Duke, and Damian had all come along and they had become his entire life. 

And Bruce assumed that whatever Danny was out there in the Infinite Realms doing, he was busy too. Maybe he’d have to see if that old summoning line still worked, even after twenty years of nothing between them. He shook himself out of it. 

“Beings of the Infinite Realms usually will tell you what they want when you summon them,” Bruce said. “Go ahead and summon this healer. We can see if they are willing to make a deal with us.”

“You know about the Infinite Realms?” Constantine barked out. Diana looked between the two with a frown. 

“What is the Infinite Realms?” She asked curiously, her brows furrowed. 

“The Infinite Realms is the center of all dimensions, it’s what keeps the multiverse connected,” Bruce told her. “It’s also the land of the dead, it’s where realms like the Fields of Asphodel, Heaven, Hell, Paradise, all reside. The main beings who reside there are known as ecto-entities, more commonly known as ghosts. The United States of America used to have acts in place called the Anti Ecto Acts that declared them non-sentient monsters who needed to be destroyed. One of the first things I did as Bruce Wayne when I had taken my mantel was overturn those acts as they violated meta-protection laws. I know of some of the beings there but the only healer I know of is a yeti named Frostbite.”

Zatanna shook her head. “This guy is much stronger than Frostbite,” she said and looked up at Bruce. “They call him the Great One. We can summon him, give me some time to find the correct sigils but we can summon the Great One and see what he’s willing to trade to fix the Supers.”

Bruce nodded once. “Thank you,” he said softly. “Let me know when you’re ready. I will be in the medical bay until then.”

With that, Bruce stalked off to stand vigil over his friend until the others could find a way to contact this Great One and see what he could do. 

Tim looked up from his seat beside Conner and frowned. “How did Lex even make this stuff? Do we even know what it is?” He asked, brushing hair out of Conner’s face. 

“There has to be a way he even found a weakness such as this. What could he have done? How could he have even found something that could hurt them so badly?” Damian said from beside his best friend. “Not only that but how will this affect Conner and Jonathon? They are not full-blooded Kryptonians, not like Clark. We can see that by how their symptoms were not as severe, yet they are also comatose,” Damian murmured. 

“I don’t know,” Bruce said with a sigh, taking a seat beside his son in between Jon and Clark’s beds. “I don’t know but we are hoping to get some answers. The Justice League Dark are summoning a healer that is known to be one of the best. I am hoping that they will have some answers,” he said. 

“I can’t lose another friend, Bruce,” Tim said quietly, his head bowed as he rested his forearms on his thighs and stared at Conner. “He’s my best friend.”

Bruce just nodded his head and looked at his own best friend, knowing exactly how his son was feeling. 

It was three hours later that Zatanna came in with a small smile. “The summoning is ready,” she said. “From John’s research, he might not even demand a trade for his services. He seems to be more benevolent than we thought he was.”

Bruce nodded and looked at his sons. “Let me know if there are any changes,” he said quietly. 

The boys nodded and Bruce quickly followed the magician down the hall to the large room where the summoning was taking place. 

A large sigil had been drawn on the ground with chalk, different symbols in a large circle. Bruce watched as Zatanna sat before it crossed-legged and Constantine lit the surrounding candles. 

“Great One, we are here to ask for your assistance,” she said before slipping into a language that Bruce had not heard in a very long time. It had sent him down a path of nostalgia as he heard the ghost speak. It was unlike any language he had ever heard, Danny had spent hours trying to teach him the language when they were teenagers. Danny had said he was so-so at speaking it but he had learned enough of the language to at least understand when others were speaking it. 

Bruce listened as the magician asked for The Great One to grace them with their presence and watched as a swirling green ectoplasm vortex appeared in the summoning circle and a loud pop sounded in the room. 

Once the ectoplasm cleared away Bruce blinked a few times at the figure in front of him. 

“Phantom?” 

check out the master list here for all chapters <3

[gotham-daydreams]

Heeeeeyyy,

I don't want to be pressuring, but how will they even find y/n. Like, they're so many people in Gotham, and they know nothing about them except from thire own name. And if they were found, would they put up a fight? 🤔 she could beat tim in a one on one, with her being a black belt and all... so how will the capture be like?

From

👾anon

You're good! No worries.

As for your questions, I will say that how the Batfam ends up finding the reader is revealed in the 3rd part. Though I will drop a small spoiler and say that they don't get kidnapped... not right away, anyway ;] (or at least not in the part I'm currently writing, as of right now.)

It is still angsty, and honestly I'd say pretty heart wrenching since, y'know, it doesn't go well at all. Which I'm sure pretty much everyone expected-

Though, I will say that if anything where to happen, the reader would definitely put up a fight! Granted, they don't want to fight the Batfam- not because they can't fight at all (and as you've mentioned, they do have a black belt (as mentioned in "Not Here"), and they do have some experience in boxing as mentioned in "Not Tonight" (though I can't recall at the moment if it's also mentioned in "Not here"), among other things that could help them out in a fight), but because to them, I can imagine it's more of a last resort kind of thing. If they have to, they will, and considering the Batfam? They definitely will.

For one-on-one fights? Yeah, the reader probably could beat Tim, and maybe get scarily close to beating Steph (or just flat out beating her too). For Dick and Jason, I think they'd honestly need a little more polish and refinement on their skills and fighting style to actually beat them, but they could get a little close. As for Damian and Cass? Ehh, they'll definitely need more training and experience for that. Both are trained to be weapons before anything else, and working with Batman isn't exactly going to make that suddenly go away. If anything- it'll probably put the skills you learned from that experience to the test (fighting/combat wise, anyway).

I don't think I have to even mention Bruce, but if that were to happen the reader would like to think they at least got halfway there to beating him, and they'd probably be half right.

Though, this is all just on strength, agility, skill, reaction time and such alone. Everyone in the Batfam easily has quicker reflexes compared to the reader, and more experience when it comes to combat (not that the reader doesn't have their own fair share of experience, but y'know), but the reader would definitely try to use their head more than just fight the family head on (which is just... asking for failure and disaster).

Even if it isn't going to be easy to out smart the World's Greatest Detective, or someone with a mind like Tim- not to mention Oracle being on their side. Or really just, anyone trained under the Batman, at all. It isn't impossible.

So, in a situation where the reader has to fight someone from the Batfam, they'll try to utilize both their brain and brawn. So, if they can't beat whoever they're fighting, at the very least they can get away from the fight and escape. Which they definitely have better odds at succeeding in since they took track and field as mentioned in "Not Here." The reader might try to take down whoever they're up against depending on who it is, but I will say that they'll mostly choose to have a smooth getaway more often than not.

Again, like you said, Gotham is a big place- they could probably get away for a little while, if nothing else. :]

Besides, the reader could also unintentionally suprise the Batfam with some of their skills and techniques when it comes to combat, but I don't think it'll be enough to throw any of them off enough to beat them- but that also depends what caused the Batfam's surprise and how big their reaction was to it. So, now that I'm really thinking about it, it's possible to catch them off guard and defeat them that way. Unlikely- but possible. (Also because it depends on how certain members of the Batfam view the reader and their own fighting capabilities. Since that can really determine how shocked or surpised they'll get at certain things. Which I'll say right now- despite the awards in your room, some definitely don't think you can defend yourself, or could hold up well in a 'real' fight. Dick is one of them.)

Nevertheless, how would a kidnapping play out?

Honestly, it really depends on multiple things.

1. Why they resorted to kidnapping above everything else. (Which can vary from you being in danger (from their perspective), or just them just getting impatient.)

2. Who is doing the kidnapping. (Which can be multiple people.)

3. How whoever is kidnapping you, plans to do it.

4. How urgently they want to kidnap you (which can affect #3).

5. Do they have a plan, or are they doing it impulsively?

6. How likely are they to mess up, and if they do, how quickly can they recover.

These can all change and differ, with the reader's reaction and action changing accordingly, but again, it depends. In some situations the reader may be put into a position where they can't fight back. Or maybe they realizing what's going on much too late. Maybe they even fight back and manage to get away, or they fight back but their attempts are fruitless in the end. If the Batfam fucks up, even a little bit or unintentionally, the reader could take advantage of that- but that's if whoever is trying to kidnap them can or can't recover fast enough.

Sure, the chances of anyone in the Batfam messing up are low, and go even lower depending on who you're talking about. However, those chances are never zero, and again- the Batfam doesn't really know much about the reader at all. With some knowing more than others, sure, but you also have to take into account that some of these people are going to be selfish as yanderes, and don't want to share certain pieces of information about the reader with one another because maybe they want to be the only one to know about whatever they're keeping to themself.

Hence, making it more likely for mistakes to happen, but the Batfam is also really good at what they do- which is also why how quickly they can recover from said (most likely unintentional) mistake or slip up is kind of important. Seeing as it can make or break the reader's chances of escaping successfully.

Not to mention that certain pairs work better than others, but depending on what leads up to the kidnapping- some unlikely teamups could be made. They could either get in the way of each other, or work scarily well. Though solo attempts are also possible- let's be honest, with how most of the yanderes feel about the reader at this point in the series, that's not going to happen. They all want to see and meet the reader as quickly as possible, to a point where they're almost borderline not allowed to see you without being in pairs or something. Not because they want to stick together necessarily (most do want to just, be with the reader alone, after all), but because of their own selfishness, greed, and sometimes jealousy. (Though there are some exceptions, like part 3.)

Basically: who knows? It can go one of many ways, and depending on which way it goes, the reader could possibly escape or just be left helpless at the hands of the Batfam. As for THE kidnapping? I'm not gonna spill, we'll see how things go :]

Tldr:

1. How the Batfam finds the reader is explained in Part 3 and I'm not spoiling.

2. Yeah, the reader will fight if they have to- and stand a better chance against some of them compared to others. Though for the most part would use their brain and, if they can't defeat someone, they'll make a quick getaway instead, and have higher chances of succeeding in that. Though it is possible for them to catch whoever they're fighting off guard, and defeat them that way.

3. How the reader reacts and acts to a kidnapping highly depends on the kidnapping itself, and who is trying to do it. The reader may or may not be able to fight back depending on the situation, and there is more room for mistakes because the Batfam doesn't know much about the reader — and if someone does know more they'll probably keep it to themself out of selfishness. The chance for a slip up is small, but could be enough for the reader to get away.

- As for the actual kidnapping that may or may not happen in the series, and how that'll go with everything? I'm not spilling, sorry!

Hope this answered your question! If it didn't, I apologize and I can clarify anything specifically that may have confused you or anyone else in another ask.

If anyone else has a question, or you yourself have another question, feel free to send in an ask! I'm trying to answer these as much as I can while writing the 3rd part, if you couldn't tell!

[thenonbinarydetective]

No matter how many robins are there, dick grayson is always no.1. Only him and cassandra actually feel like a mirror of Bruce...other robins feel mishandled or having unresolved issues

Well he is the first so sure. But he has some problems right now. Especially concerning age. But if we’re extending to batgirls a little bit which I’m assuming we are with the Cass mention it’s more of a problem with Babs. However, it’s not helping him either. And also displays of his competence and independence which isn’t supported by slotting him back into Gotham whenever some writer feels like it. I’ve said to before that sometimes it makes sense and sometimes they just wanna write dick

Honestly this may be weird but sometimes everyone else feels like half resolved. Damian I don’t mind because he’s literally 14 he doesn’t need his shit resolved right now. He’s basically just realized he has identity issues because his dad is Batman and the multiverse as fixated by tom king decides he can’t have any other purpose. But he wants other purpose (unrelated but ultimately I don’t think he’s ever going to be Batman outside of possible futures/elseworlds)

But they can move past Jason’s whateverness by just doing the shit I’ve said before. Which is simply making the decision they wanna make and put in the effort

With Tim we gotta force the writers to move him from Robin. Yea yea repeated discourse. I know but you brought it up lol. The thing is a lot of the writers we have now were Tim Drake fanboys in the 90s and want the chance to write him as Robin themselves because now they can. Part of me would respect that but another part of me knows that they could write one-shots/elseworlds/whatever’s that have that and remember that he needs to grow the fuck up (with young Justice). Yes this all ties back to Bruce.

Duke is kinda the same ig. He’s supposed to be the daytime hero but they kinda overlooked that and started putting him on the night shift. Without ever saying he stopped day work so…we just need to know if he’s getting bat overtime benefits. Also his mom is totally good again. Totally fine and recovering and flirting with Black Lightning (who could blame her?) and that’s not been talked about. The Thomas family seems to be disappearing into the batfamily which I really do not think should happen. I don’t mind Bruce keeping a room available for Duke if and when he needs it but his family should be prioritized more if we wanna keep them alive. If DC doesn’t, at least give them the honor of a send off. I still don’t think they should though

Steph is probably the only one that will not be fully and truly resolved because of misogyny. I know it might sound like me using it as a buzz word with her at this point but it’s true. A lot of men don’t wanna cover the problems with her because the problems WERE MEN. They know about the sexism leaked into comics and that Bruce and Alfred in particular were so sexist during her time as Robin. And they’ve tried addressing how much he regrets doubting her or mistreating her or whatever but that doesn’t fully address the problem. Like there’s still more and it’s a problem some male writers aren’t comfortable with fixing cause they would cause it in their own way.

[msfcatlover]

Someone from a more normal comics verse: "Wait, what are you doing like this?"

Red Hood Steph: "Well you see, little bird, I didn't have to die. I actually had the chance to prevent it. There I was, gun to Black Mask's head, and all I had to do was pull the trigger. Gods knew he already had the body count to justify it. It wasn't like he was ever going to stop."

Red Hood Steph: "But I didn't. Because stupid Batman and his stupid rules, and Cass & Damian always getting on my case about the value of human life—we're not better than them, nobody is more valuable than anyone else, no right to take lives into our own hands—all that bullshit. Like we don't do that every single time we go out in costume. Like a fucking serial killer maybe feeling bad someday is going to fix any of what he did. Is going to bring back even a single victim, or comfort their families."

Red Hood Steph: "So, yeah. I chose to be a good little bat and didn't shoot Sionis. You know what happened next?"

The other person: "You died?"

Red Hood Steph: "No. I suffered. That fucking bastard dragged it out for as long as he could, found every possible way to hurt me that wouldn't be immediately fatal, and then left me there. Death was a mercy that came hours later."

Red Hood Steph: "Do you know how much they valued that? The life I'd lost for their cause, the years I'd dedicated to their crusade, the love & loyalty that I held onto until the bitter end? Do you know what that earned me?"

Red Hood Steph: "A show funeral full of pretty, empty words. My daughter thrown out in a matter of weeks. My killer off the streets for less than 3 months. And another kid in the same fucking suit, facing the same fucking risks I did, with the same fucked up messages being spewed in his ears before the year was out."

Red Hood Steph: "A kid who is now mostly paralyzed from the waist down, and tortures himself daily for the sake of their image, by the way."

Red Hood Steph: "And now there's another one. Running around in my fucking death shroud."

Red Hood Steph: "How do you think it's going to work out this time?"

The other person: "So, this is about saving Jason?"

Red Hood Steph: "Pfft. No, this is about making Roman Sionis suffer just as much as any of his victims did before the end. This is about fixing all the damage I let happen to this city by not pulling that trigger. This is about proving a fucking point."

Red Hood Steph: "This is about making the most of my unexpected overtime, by making the fact that I'm back everyone's problem. Because fuck the Waynes."

The other person:

Red Hood Steph: "...But also, yeah, I don't want the brat to sacrifice his life for Bruce's stupid crusade. He's not a ninja, he's not a weapon, he's got no powers—he's just a kid."

Red Hood Steph: "Nothing's ever going to make the Bats see him that way, though. And grounding us has never worked, not even once. If he's going to walk away from this and have a normal life, it has to be his own choice."

Red Hood Steph: "And if I have to be the bad guy to make him see that, then I guess I'm the bad guy."

Red Hood Steph: "As long as he walks away with everything still working, he'll be better off than me or Tim."

[phantom-z0ne]

Chapter 2: Impressions and Investigations

CW: Minor Character Deaths, Corpses, Disfigured bodies, Cults, Blood

Damian was missing and Dick was going crazy.

Damian hasn't responded to any inquiries of his location since he missed his scheduled check in time. It had already been two hours past that and they still didn't have any clue where he was. Last they knew, he was heading towards Chinatown. Damian knew a couple of the locals and regularly visited some animals, mostly cats and dogs but occasionally a bird or two.

They would have been able to track him with his comm, but Damian had modified it so that it was untrackable unless it was being used. Unfortunately, they hadn't learned of it before today. If they were to track him through his comm, they would only have a short time to triangulate his position. Damian stated that he wanted his privacy, likely so he could disobey orders without them realizing. They had allowed it because they trusted his judgment, not to mention they all had their rebellious phase, but now it was coming back to bite them in the ass.

It was unfortunate they didn’t have Barbara helping, she was off on her own mission with the Birds of Prey and not in Gotham. Finding Damian would have been way easier with her help, she was an expert in navigating the surveillance systems around Gotham.

Dick could tell he wasn't the only one concerned about their youngest, the others were worried in their own ways. Jason fidgeted with his gun, which Bruce was just barely tolerating, as he paced the rooftop while Tim ran the diagnostics multiple times, his fingers flying on his wrist hologram.

Cass and Bruce’s unease was less noticeable, the only reason he caught it was that he knew them for such a long time. Bruce double checked his trackers and flew across the roofs in search of Damian. Cass was tense and alternated standing near each of them, subtly clenching her hands into fists as she did.

“Robin, come in.” Bruce demanded, Dick felt the desperation in his voice although it was hidden well. He didn't want to lose another son while Dick didn't want to lose another brother. 

There wasn’t a reply, only the sound of static filled their ears.

Dick sighed, running his hands through his hair. They needed to find Damian quickly. The longer they didn't locate him, the longer his captures had to smuggle him out of the city. If Damian was taken out of the city, it would be infinitely harder to find him. 

He couldn’t let that happen, especially to Damian. He’s already had a tough life, what with how he grew up. His integration into the family was difficult on everyone, B was gone and Tim had chosen to pursue a theory he had thought of at the time insane. Jason wasn’t on talking terms with them at that time and Cass had her own responsibilities across the world. Steph was also busy with juggling her hero and civilian lives, though her attitude towards Damian did turn around in the end.

The comm crackled, faint sounds coming through. Dick jolted, jarred out of his thoughts from the abrupt opening of the comm. Both Cass and Tim’s hands went to their comms as Jason stilled. The shuffling of cloth was most prominent, though he could hear a quiet voice.

“Robin, report. What is your location?” Bruce asked, hope underlying his words.

There was the sound of shuffling before a young, unfamiliar voice sounded, “Is this comm trackable?”

That was not Damian. Did he kidnap Damian and was going to ask for a ransom or gloat? Another also kidnapped alongside Damian? Or perhaps a concerned civilian who had nothing to do with Damian’s disappearance?

“Who are you?” Bruce demanded, treating the unknown as a hostile. It was understandable, this was a stranger who possibly abducted his son.

“You can call me Polka. I'm not sure of the location but Robin is unconscious. We are in a warehouse.” The voice responded. ‘You can call me Polka?’ Was he implying that Polka wasn’t his name or the only one he goes by? Dick’s siblings crowded closer to Bruce as if they couldn’t hear out of their own comms.

The good news was that they now knew where to search. Most warehouses were either near the docks or the Warehouse District. That meant they had two areas to search if Tim didn't triangulate where Damian’s comm was during the short conversation. He could see Tim hunched over, one hand typing swiftly in his wrist hologram. 

“Stay where you are, I’ll be there shortly.” Bruce said curtly, his cape snapping as he turned to Tim and asked if he captured the location of the comm. Tim gave him a thumbs up and sent the coordinates. 

They piled into their own vehicles and sped their way across the city, heading towards the warehouse Damian was held in. 

They surrounded the warehouse once they arrived, Bruce entering first before they snuck in from different entrance points. Dick shivered slightly as he situated himself behind the boy who Damian was laid out on. His siblings spread out and surrounded the boy from all sides.

The warehouse was a mess, blood pooling from the disfigured bodies laying every which way. Dick could faintly spot a chalk circle underneath a pool of blood. Another cult, he surmised grimly. There have been too many cults running around lately for his liking, though it looked like this one had fallen victim to their own summoning. 

There wasn't much he could tell about the boy from behind, his baggy clothes hiding his frame. His hair was what stood out the most, cropped silver hair. It seemed to almost glow in the dark warehouse. Dick’s attention went back to Bruce who stepped out from the shadows and addressed the boy after taking Damian back into his custody, though he kept an eye out on the boy.

“None, I just happened to find him. Who are you?” The boy asked, standing. That was interesting. Everyone from Gotham knew who Batman was, and even if you weren't, Batman was still a famous figure.

Bruce answered in his signature low voice, obviously gearing up to interrogate the boy. That was his cue to step in. They’ve done this routine before, good cop and bad cop. It was surprisingly successful.

“Happened to find him?” Dick questioned, rolling down from the support beam he was perched on and revealed himself. The boy turned to him, his hair fanning across his face. A black stripe cut into his silvery hair. It was the inverse of Jason’s hair, Dick thought absently. 

The boy’s face was blank, unsurprised to see another vigilante popping up behind him. Dick’s eyes were drawn to the scar on his neck. It spanned most of the neck and would be most definitely fatal if it was deep enough. The boy was 15, 16 years max. Where would he have gotten a scar like that? Not to mention, he was too calm in this situation. Blood and viscera surrounded him and all he seemed was bored. 

Slight motion to the right made Dick’s eyes snap to the plush on the boy’s shoulder, almost certain that it moved on its own. “How exactly did you find him? We can't be sure you weren’t the one who abducted him, after all.”

The boy took his time to answer, his face slightly scrunched in thought. Faint sound of movement emerged from his comm but he showed no signs of hearing it.

He pointed to the body of the cultest then to the mound that Dick hadn’t paid much attention to as he answered, “They kidnapped Robin, me, and a couple other kids. They killed the others. Who are you?

Dick heard a sharp inhale, likely in reaction to the dead children. It looked like they were thrown there uncaringly, Dick thought angrily. They were piled on top of each other, some of their limbs bent unnaturally. Most of the injuries were from a slit neck, but there were signs of other injuries. These poor kids were likely tortured first then slaughtered. 

He could see Bruce soften after the boy answered, likely thinking the same things as Dick.

Dick sighed silently, sheathing his escrima sticks as he walked to stand closer to Bruce and Damian. “I’m called Nightwing. Can you tell us why you and Robin are unharmed?”

“They already summoned the God of the Dead, or Corpse God, by then. It wasn't needed.” Jason cursed. They were too late, for both the kids and the summoning. Not to mention the ominous name of the being that was summoned. Just what were these cultists planning for summoning such a being? Probably to ‘rid the world of impurities’ like every other cult he came across.

Bruce asked for confirmation of the being, pulling out his ‘victim voice’. It was significantly softer than what he usually spoke as Batman. The boy nodded, affirming their suspicions on the being. Though, where was it? Usually, summoned being raged and caused destruction in their wake, especially ones with such ominous names. There was no sign of this one.

Dick pasted on a smile and bent closer to the boy, “Did you see where the God of the Dead went?” 

The boy nodded as he bit his lips, visibly nervous. It was a bit strange to see such an expression on the child when he was blase for most of the conversation. He leaned forward as the boy cupped his hand over his mouth and whispered, “He’s still here.” 

Dick felt a shiver race down his spine, one of his siblings sucked in a breath. That was… not good. Was this a trap? Had the God of the Dead been lying in wait and observing them since they had arrived?

The atmosphere was thick enough to cut with a knife. Everyone was tense and ready for battle. Of course, that was when Damian began to stir, calling out to Bruce once he opened his eyes. Bruce adjusted his hold on Damian, beginning to answer Damian before he was cut off by the boy.

“Can I go now? I was with my friends before this. They’re probably worried.” Dick most certainly couldn't let a key witness, and a most definitely traumatized child, wander off without supervision. 

“Sorry, you’re coming with us.” Dick said apologetically. 

The boy did not like that. He crossed his arms and gave them an annoyed look. “Why?”

Jason, Tim, and Cass took this as the perfect time to reveal themselves. They hopped down from their respective posts and gathered near Bruce. Tim, however, aimed for the cultists as he responded, “We need more information and to verify your story. And for your protection.” 

The boy's eyes lingered over Cass and Jason before focusing on the latter, his expression curious. Jason obviously noticed but didn't pay it any mind, more interested in fussing over Damian who wasn’t having it, swatting Jason’s hovering hands away. 

“Won't that be kidnapping? Since I don't want to go to a secondary location with strangers? Kidnapping is illegal, you know.”

Jason answered as he finally relented from teasing Damian, “Well, it's a good thing the law is more like suggestions to us.” This did nothing to stop the boy from looking apprehensive. Good job, Jason, Dick thought tiredly.

Tim interrupted the boy when he stated that the cultists were, in fact, not dead. It blindsided Dick. Many of the cultists were in pieces as others had bled enough to be six feet under.

Damian looked mildly curious as Bruce and Tim questioned the survival of the cultists, likely thinking over the logistics of how they still lived. Eventually, Bruce asked Tim to alert the hospital and GCPD. They wouldn't be arriving in a long while, it was still Gotham after all.

Dick walked over to them as they discussed the boy and the cultist, hearing the tail end of Tim’s suspicions. 

“—clearly up with him. Despite the situation he’s in, he is unusually calm.”

That was true, not many kids were so nonchalant about almost being ritually sacrificed. Or seeing mangled bodies and pools of blood laying around.

Dick glanced at the boy—he really should be calling him Polka by now, since it was the only name he was given—seeing him grow red-faced as he spoke with Jason. 

The almost silent crackle of a radio signaled their time was up, they needed to leave before the police arrived. 

Herding Polka out of the building and out of sight was easy, all they needed to do was avoid cameras and stick to the shadowed side of the alley. Those who saw the group were quick to run away.

Losing Polka, however, was not something Dick expected to happen. They all were hyper aware of their surroundings, and in turn, the kid. How he managed to disappear under the scrutiny of six highly trained vigilantes, Dick didn't know. 

They had to admit defeat after searching the area and beyond for an hour and a half, Damian being sent back for an examination despite his objections early into their search, and trudge back to the cave unsuccessful. 

Dick watched Jason walk into the infirmary—jokingly nicknamed the “batfirmary” by Steph— and remove his helmet from his seat next to Damian’s cot. Steph walked in after him, plopping down on the end of the mattress next to Jason and ignored Damian’s hissed demands for them to get off. 

Cass slunk in a moment later, Tim behind her. He was still typing on his wrist computer as he sat on the opposite side of Damian. Cass leaned on the arm of his chair, gazing curiously at the screen.

Off to the right, through a sliver of the thick cloth that blocked the med bay, sat Bruce. The light from the Batcomputer illuminated his bent figure. 

Dick pursed his lips, not liking the expression that crossed his father’s face. Whenever there were children involved, Bruce always got into a mood. It wasn’t that the rest of them didn’t, but Bruce’s mood was always the worst. He wouldn't accept any food or comfort until he solved the case and got justice for the innocent children. 

As his child and fellow vigilante, Dick couldn't let Bruce neglect himself like that, least of all when it wasn’t his fault the children died. He stood, walking over to Bruce and laid a hand on his shoulder. He gently squeezed, offering all the comfort that was allowed. Bruce gave him a weary smile.

“You should join us.” Dick said, retracting his hand to cross his arms. “It does you no good just sitting here. Damian needs you right now.” 

“I know.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I just… I need to give those children justice.”

“Bruce, they aren’t going anywhere. You need to focus on the child in front of you.” Dick winced at how that came out. “I mean, Damian should be your priority right now. He’s recovering from being kidnapped!”

“You're right.” Bruce sighed, straightening his back slightly. “They aren’t going anywhere.”

Dick walked back to his seat, pleased with the sound of Bruce’s footsteps behind him. He watched as Damian’s face brightened when he spotted his father, and the subsequent haughty look he made to cover it up. 

“How are you doing, Damian?” Bruce asked, sitting on the cot. 

“I am fine, Father. It was just a scratch.” Damian answered, lifting his chin then frowning. “I didn't need to be hauled to the infirmary. I could have helped track down the boy.”

“We had to check if the cultist had done anything else to you. Would you rather not know if they had? And how did they manage to even snatch you anyways?” Tim intervened, crossing his legs as he looked up from his wrist computer. 

“They used defenseless animals against me.” Dick almost cooed at Damian’s pout. He was always glad to see Damian act his age. 

“What kinds of animals?” Steph leaned forward, her eyes gleaming. 

“… Kittens.” Damian admitted quietly.

“They lured you in with kittens?!” Jason said hysterically. Muffled snorts came from all around, Dick himself wasn't exempt from laughing either. Everyone but Jason quickly pasted on an innocent face when Damian furiously glared at them, he didn't bother covering up his laughter. Even Bruce seemed amused, his eyes darting between them with a fond look on his face.

“Do you remember what happened?” Cass signed. Dick could tell she was still worried about Damian, the sides of her eyes were creased and her lips held together tightly.

“I passed out after I was hit over the head.” Damian began, the bedding clenched in his fists. “I remember waking up a couple of times but it wasn't for long. The last time I awoke, the boy was there.”

Bruce put his hand over Damian, his lips pursed. He clearly didn't like how his son was treated, and looking around, none of them were. “Did he do anything?”  

“He told me to rest.” Damian said simply, brows furrowed.

“And you did?” Tim asked, dumbfounded. Dick was just as confused, Damian barely took orders from them that he deemed unnecessary, so him listening to a random civilian? It was unheard of.

“That was the strange thing. The moment he told me to, I was overwhelmed with drowsiness. I couldn't help falling asleep.”

A magic user? Dick thought speculatively. Or perhaps a meta? There were many abilities that could cause someone to fall unconscious with just a word, and just as many with aftereffects. Dick prayed that there weren’t any lasting effects on Damian, he wasn't sure what he would do if there were.

“I knew there was something up with him!” Tim announced, jumping up from his seat. “The fact that he was so calm in such a bloody environment was the first clue. Why would he be calm, let alone stay in that warehouse, when he was abducted and watched others be sacrificed? Plus, despite telling us the Corpse God—or God of the Dead, whatever— there was no sign of the being other than the cultist’s dismangled bodies. Why did he lie?” He paced back and forth, letting his theories flow like water.

Cass knocked on the wall, gathering their attention. She signed, “He didn’t lie.”

“He didn’t?” Dick questioned, understandably confused.

She shook her head, “He was truthful the whole time, but was he hiding something.” 

“He could have been misleading you.” Steph crossed her arms. “He was being pretty vague in the recordings I watched. Plus, some of his words could have been taken in a different way.”

“That's true. The way he slipped away from us wasn’t something a civilian could do. Even a meta would be hard pressed to disappear from right under our noses.” Jason spoke up, a thoughtful look on his face. 

“I’ll call Zatanna.” Bruce sighed, getting up from his seat. “Get some rest, we’ll have a long day tomorrow.”

“He’s right. We need to conserve our energy for interrogating Polka tomorrow.” Dick ushered his disgruntled sibling towards the staircase leading to the manor.

Once he was sure they were in their rooms, Jason deciding it was too late to go to his own safehouse, he returned to the cave. Damian was unsurprisingly still awake, his stubbornness fighting against his weariness. 

Dick dimmed the lights of the cave and headed towards the infirmary. Giving his brother a quick peck on the forehead and tucking him in, much to Damian’s displeasure, he grabbed a tablet and wrote up a report next to the cot. He made sure to include his sibling’s theories in the notes margin.

Soft muttering sounded off to the side, behind the infirmary’s curtain. After making sure Damian was asleep, Dick crept towards the sound. Around the corner, Bruce’s frustrated voice spoke. He ended the call a minute after he spotted Dick leaning on the wall with his arms crossed.

“Constantine?”

“Zatanna was busy.” Bruce ran his hands through his hair. He was clearly tired after the eventful day, but Bruce would continue working despite his complaints, Dick bitterly thought. He shook his head, now was not the time for those kinds of thoughts. 

Dick hummed and walked towards the Batcomputer. He sat down, Bruce a couple feet away typing away on another monitor. He transferred his half finished report to the computer in front of him, finding a keyboard easier to write with than a tablet. 

He let out a yawn. He had been up for more than twenty four hours, most of that time spent patrolling and studying cases in the Batcave. He laid his head on his arms, a quick nap wouldn't hurt, would it?

Distantly, he felt a heavy weight cover him. He let out a murmur of thanks for the blanket and fell asleep, not hearing the whispered response. 

The insistent buzzing of the tablet woke him. He stretched, his back popping, before unlocking the tablet. A gasp escaped him once he laid eyes on the screen.

“Uh, B? You’ll need to see this.” Bruce looked at him in question before rolling closer, eyes widening slightly once he read the article.

In strikingly bold letters, the headline was “JOKER MAULED BY THE UNDEAD”.

Wrote a large chunk of this months ago and just sat on it since I didn't know how to write batfam interactions. I'm pretty satisfied with how it came out :)

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