#batfamily conversations but they are actual real conversations i had at work
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🦇Batfamily Conversations pt.3🦇
*At a Christmas party*
Young!Jason: Hey, did you know that I asked Santa for a gernade for Christmas?
Socialite: *shocked, panicked* Y-You did?
Jason: And I will know that Santa Claus isn't real if he doesn't give me one!
Dick: *panicking, and stuttering* Santa won't give out gernades!
Jason: *huffs, crossing arms and ignoring the socialite* Yeah, huh! Because if he doesn't then he isn't real!
#dc comics#batman#batfamily#batfamily conversations but they are actual real conversations i had at work#richard grayson#dick grayson#nightwing#jason todd#jaylad#robin#young jason todd#red hood#this didn't actually happen at a christmas party#it was with two kiddos#and it was at my work#bruce wayne and alfred overheard this conversations#alfred is trying to hide a smile#bruce like dick is panicking that his son would say that too someone who signs high checks#have you guessed what my job is?#part 3 of batfamily as work conversations#again#not apologizing
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Why Batcest is a Thing
I was talking with my friend the other day and while she's not a batcest shipper, she asked me why I was. I said that I don't think I take it to the same extremes some other people do, a few things that aren't a personal favorite of mine would be any of the REALLY younger kids with Bruce or say Dick and Damian. It's mostly the age gap that gets to me.
But she asked why I liked JayTim and I had a time explaining it to her and I wanted to bring it here as a sort of explanation, I suppose for people who might not enjoy batcest ships.
first of all, the name. Batcest is... an interesting name. A lot of arguments you'll come across is that they're not actually related, or there are some fanfics out there for aus where one of them (most commonly Tim or Jason) were never apart of the Batfamily in the first place. Of course, there are some where they are! Because, at the end of the day, in Canon they do share a family. But the implication of it being incest can be a real no no for people, even if it's not. Dick wasn't adopted into the family for quiet some time (I think he was adopted around the same time Tim was but I'm not a 100% sure, not to mention he acted as his ward and then aged out of it), Jason was adopted but after his return to life has regularly denied his part in the family (Look at literally any Red Hood Comic, though I do prefer to look at the New 52 Red Hood and The Outlaws for his feelings towards Bruce and the Wayne's in general), Tim was adopted but was later emancipated (in Red Robin), and Damian has a blood relation to Bruce only. Morally, there can be a problem with it but for mow shippers, since this is fiction, the lack of blood relation means there's no problem. Remember! They're not real people. Adoptive relationships, or pseudo familial ones, they don't see these relations as any reason to not ship them! And in later points, I go into why. And if people really had a problem with this pseudo familiar relationships, take for example Tim and Jason who have never once lives under the same roof nor have any legal connection to each other through Bruce, then on principal alone they should have a problem with Cassandra and Stephanie - Cass is adopted by Bruce, yes, but Bruce has also claimed Stephanie as part of the family and includes her in family talks. Does that not make them family members? No. They're friends or girlfriends, depending on how you want to interpret them.
Secondly, the canon relationships that any of the Bats have with their partners. I could go through all of them and explain the nuance of the relationships but I'll simplify for the sake of the post. In Bruce's sake, whether it be Talia or Selina or for the more fanon ones like Clark and Min Khoa (i think that's how you spell that, I'm not sure though!), there's no denying that in Canon these relationships don't pan out. Talia and Bruce have moral problems, even if she was originally a spy and didn't kill, and Selina and Bruce have an entire history of problems. For Dick, himself and Barbara are much of the same. A sweet beginning until something comes in to ruin it and they break up. Take, for example, the newest Nightwing run (on webtoon and not technically canon, i know). Barbara breaks up with Dick because she feels disconnected from him and like he's still preforming for her, but they have no conversation about this prior to it. With Kori, I'm not as knowledgeable about why they broke up, all I know is that they did and it was ugly. Another example is Tim! Himself and Stephanie didn't work out because she couldn't trust him, due to now knowing his identity, and then she faked her death, causing the distrust between them both. These are only a few examples of how relationships work out for Bats and in my personal opinion I think it's because of a ack of understanding for the characters, their love interests I mean. And in fanon, partners for Batfamily members tend to be washed down - Kon acts as an emotional crutch for Tim, Roy has morals he simply does not stand with anymore in Canon in JayRoy fics, Barbara is an anecdote in DickBarbara fics, and Selina is barely featured in Bruce fics. Not to mention the simple lack of wlw fics in the fandom that aren't background.
Due to this, the shipping of Batfamily members together is only natural. The characters share similar morals or in the case of Tim have such complicated morals that in fandom you can pick and choose what to use. They're fleshed out, have a canon relationship with multiple layers to it, and complete each other in many ways. In comparison to some of the fandom favorite ships like SuperBat or BirdFlash, where we only see a two dimensional aspect of their relationship recently, then the shipping of characters like Jason and Tim or Tim and Dick together is a natural conclusion to reach.
And Finally, History and old characteristics. It was mentioned before in another post that I'll try to hunt down for you guys and link in a repost because it will be WORLDS better than what I could write and have much more research thrown into it than this does, but originally there were a lot of implications under their relationships, specifically Bruce and Dick. Wardships programs were used by a lot of gay people when gay marriage was illegal, so were adult adoptions. It was to have a legal connection in whatever way possible. And I think in a really old comic, Dick has a dream where he's living in the manor as an adult still with Bruce. Bruce has a portrait of them together. They eat breakfast together in their pajamas or underwear, and spend all their time together. Batman regularly saves Robin over civilians and for his relationships, sometimes they wouldn't work out simply because of Dick. It worked this way for many Superheroes and their sidekicks in the "golden age" of comics! Batman has always had queer undertones since his creation but adding Robin into the mix just proved this. Like it or not, Bruce and Dick had sexual and romantic implications to their relationship since the character was first introduced in the 40s.
As for Old characteristics, in the New 52 i feel as though some of the characters have been washed down do their base characteristics. They lack depth in a way some characters don't or in a way some do, particularly in fanon. Dick's possessive originally and I see people talking about his anger issues as a child a lot, especially in comparison to Jason's Robin run, but either way - the characters have changed throughout the years. That doesn't mean that people can't cling on to their old relationships or even their old personalities. People are so fond of making Jason insane and crazy and Hella mean when in recent adaptations, he's a normal vigilante for all intents and purposes. He's not even a crime lord anymore, I'm pretty sure he still owns the Iceberg Lounge. That's all to say that the boys used to be a lot closer than they are now, especially Tim and Dick and Dick and Bruce.
The conclusion to my explanation to her is that batcest is much of the same as any other ships - picking and choosing what to take from canon to put two people together into a relationship that you like. It's a work of fiction and while that's important to remember, it doesn't say anything about you in real life! you don't enjoy real life incest if you like JayTim. That's all to say si that there's reasons behind it that some people like and some people don't. She wasn't swayed by my answer but accepted it since she couldn't deny that the Batfamily has been explored on and their relationships together so much more than their relationships with anyone else, canon or fanon.
#long reads#batman#nightwing#dc comics#robin#red robin#red hood#spoiler dc#batgirl#black bat#stephanie brown#cassandra cain#tim drake#dick grayson#bruce wayne#batcest#jaytim#dicktim#brudick#i think i simply speak in this#there is no coherency at all i fear
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A Hundred Ways to Become a Wayne
batfamily + oc insert
tw: none
wanna read more? here’s the table of contents!
want to read the first fic in the hundred days series so you understand what’s going on here? here it is!
its about to get real up in here y’all (also this chapter is HUGE I apologize)
part twenty-one
❝ MURDER CENTRAL ❞
TUESDAY — AUGUST 11 — 6:57AM
BENTLEY WOKE UP AROUND SEVEN THE NEXT MORNING, CURLED UP AT THE END OF TIM’S BED LIKE A CAT.
The night before was nothing more than a teary, emotional blur. Tim’s anxiety attack had lasted for an entire hour and twenty-seven minutes. An hour and twenty-seven minutes until he could breathe easily again, until his mind came back to him and he was left drained and empty.
Bentley sat in the floor with him for the whole hour and twenty-seven minutes, being almost impressively unhelpful. He was sure his own crying wasn’t helping to ease Tim’s anxiety — if anything, he’d probably just made it worse. But he stayed. And that counted for something, right?
Tim was now curled up on top of his comforter, drowning in a red hoodie Bentley was sure he used to fit in a little better, dead asleep with the hood tugged tight over his head. No words had been exchanged — not after the attack, not when they wordlessly took up residence in the bed and sat awake until they couldn’t. Not that Bentley knew what to say anyhow. All of the calming tactics Tim had taught him didn’t seem to work on him at all. The breathing exercises, the gentle conversation, the grounding touch — none of it worked. The only thing that seemed to work for Tim was waiting.
Bentley wondered, silently, if that changed with each attack, or depended on the person having it.
Bentley would be lying if he said he didn’t feel like a failure for not noticing. Now that he knew, he couldn’t seem to not notice. The way Tim’s clothes hung looser, how he was the slightest bit bonier than usual, that he was rejecting what was brought to him so he could focus on work instead. Bentley had known for a while now that patrol was getting bad again, that villains were popping up, that Tim was working extra extra hard to keep up. But he just hadn’t noticed.
No one seemed to. The conversation between Dick and Tim sounded like the first time they’d spoke about it this time around — which had to hurt. He’d been working too hard for weeks at that point. And still; no one noticed, no one said a word until Dick did it for them. And Bentley didn’t think Dick was the one Tim was hoping would notice.
Bentley had to admit, hearing Tim say Bruce hadn’t spoken to him in a couple of days thanks to him sucked. It was just another reminder that, no matter how badly he wished otherwise, Bruce wasn’t his father, and the Wayne’s weren’t his family. All he was doing was stealing Bruce away from his actual children. (All adopted, but still actual. More actual than Bentley.)
What did that make him? A burden? A theif? An unnecessary addition?
He turned to look at Tim. Asleep, he was much more peaceful than awake, although he still looked… Bentley didn’t know. A little troubled. His face was shadowed by his hood, his black hair hanging down near his eyes, his skin only the slightest bit paler than normal. He was curled up impossibly small for a nineteen-year-old. His knees were tucked up close to his chest, his arms coiled around his body so tightly it was like they were the only things keeping him together. He looked younger. Too young.
How old was Tim when he started living with Bruce? Thirteen? Fourteen? That would mean he’d been in the Manor for five or six years. Five or six years. And a kid who had been there for one was stealing his dad away from him. After all, Tim had been adopted. They all had — Tim and Jason and Dick, they were all Bruce’s sons. Damian was Bruce’s biological son. And Bentley was just… some kid that lived with them. He wasn’t adopted, he wasn’t Bruce’s son, he was just… Bentley Whittaker.
It boiled down to this: Tim deserved Bruce’s attention. Bentley did not. Tim was Bruce’s son. Bentley was not. So Bentley decided he just needed to get out of the way.
With a soft sigh, he carefully pushed himself out of Tim’s bed. Bentley would never forget sleeping in it after his first anxiety attack, with Tim right next to him. Maybe it at least helped Tim a little to see Bentley right there after his.
He felt pretty much like a dumpster fire for leaving Tim’s room while the poor boy was still sleeping, but it wasn’t actually that big of a deal — because as soon as Bentley stepped into the hallway, he ran straight into Bruce face-first, who’d been reaching for the door handle.
“Bentley,” He said softly, with quiet surprise. “I didn’t expect for you to still be in there.”
Bruce looked tired. Bentley wasn’t sure what had happened on patrol, or if it was tougher when Tim wasn’t on it. He had that reassuring smile that never ever seemed to leave his face, and his grayish eyes were… not dull, but not normal, either. Everyone in the Manor was suffering from something or another, all multiplied by the Secret Keeper’s appearance.
Maybe if Bentley and Asten and Nico could really destroy her, it would help them. Tim wouldn’t have to do all the work, and patrol wouldn’t be so bad, and their minds wouldn’t be open playgrounds for her to thrive in.
Maybe he had it all wrong, when he decided he needed to be the Puppeteer again. That approach worked for Asten, but Bentley had already proved he wasn’t good at keeping up that act around the Wayne’s — one thing happened (an anxiety attack, for example) and it just fell apart again, leaving him exposed and emotional and dumb. Maybe he didn’t need to destroy the Secret Keeper just to prove his worth. He needed to destroy her… both to prove himself worthy, and to help them.
Bentley gazed up at Bruce, blinking a couple of times. Then he looked toward Tim’s door. “Tim, he… he had…”
“I know,” Came Bruce’s reply, and one of his hands landed on Bentley’s shoulder. “You did good.”
Bentley breathed in. “I didn’t do anything good. I cried.”
“But you stayed with him,” Bruce replied, smiling reassuringly, squeezing Bentley’s shoulder. “Sometimes Tim just has to wait them out. Staying counts far more than you think.”
Bentley shook his head lightly, glancing down the hall. “I tried to go get Dick, but he didn’t want me to leave…”
“You did the right thing, Bentley,”
Did he? Did he do the right thing? He was sure not. Even right now, he was doing the wrong thing, holding Bruce up in the hall when he’d very obviously been trying to go into Tim’s room. Bentley moved out of the way, out from under Bruce’s hand like it burned, toward his bedroom door. “I should get ready for school.”
Bruce said something, but Bentley didn’t really hear it. All he could hear were the repetitive chimes of not my dad, not my dad, not my dad, that seemed to play over and over in his head.
Bruce wasn’t his, and he wasn’t Bruce’s.
Bentley’s only real family was in prison for trying to kill him.
He closed his door and silently got ready — showering, putting on his uniform, the works. He needed to catch the Secret Keeper now more than ever. For himself, for Tim, for Bruce, for Dick and Damian and Jason and Cass and Steph and Duke and everyone.
It was suddenly seven-twenty-three, Bentley was trying so hard to tie his tie, and his phone dinged with a text from Asten in the group chat.
I got burners, it said.
Bentley stared at the message for a solid ten seconds before he realized he had no idea what burners were.
Nico’s reply came in an instant.
Where did you get burners??? PLURAL??????
Asten replied with: A good supervillain-hunter never tells his secrets.
Bentley had to look up what a burner was — it turned out, it was a phone that you threw away when you were done that was difficult to trace. Usually used by people committing crimes. So, Nico’s question stood: where had Asten gotten burners? And what was he going to use them for? Tricking the police?
Another text from Asten came: I know how to check if dr Keene is guilty.
Bentley scrunched his face up, grabbing his phone off the bathroom counter and typing: how?
Asten’s reply was: get to school early, we’re stealing his phone.
Bentley blinked to himself as messages came flooding in. Nico sent three separate texts, each with a single word: NO. WE’RE. NOT.
Everyone keeps secrets on their phone! Was Asten’s reply.
Bentley put his phone down on the counter and kept tying his tie.
He could probably convince Duke to take him to school a little earlier than normal.
Another text came through from Asten.
Bring the computer.
—
It was pretty easy, actually, to get to school early — Duke was very open to taking Bentley early so he could finish some science homework (that didn’t exist) with Asten and Nico.
Lying to him did hurt just a little… especially because Duke seemed so genuinely happy to do it for him. But he needed to, he convinced himself. To help them all.
They arrived to the Academy about thirty minutes early, half past eight, and Bentley met Asten and Nico in the library.
There weren’t many kids in the halls yet, apart from a few older ones who were studying or working before their first class. The whole school seemed quiet and empty. Bentley wasn’t sure where Damian and Duke went when they split off in the lobby, but he assumed it wasn’t much of his business, anyway. Instead, he made for the high-top table with one extra chair buried between bookshelves that Asten’s and Nico were sitting at. They were the only students in the library — the librarian didn’t even seem to be there yet.
“‘Sup, Whittaker,” Asten called as soon as Bentley turned into the aisle of bookshelves. His blue-tipped black hair stuck out like a sore thumb between the shelves, though Bentley was pretty sure it would stick out anywhere you put him. “I heard it’s national steal your teacher’s phone day.”
Nico slapped him in the arm from across the table, looking rather miffed. “Say it louder, the Russians didn’t hear you!”
“Relax, there’s no one in here to hear,” Asten muttered, running a hand through his hair. “Come look. Did you bring the computer?”
The question was directed toward Bentley, who walked up to the table. He pulled out the empty chair and climbed up into it, not bothering to take his backpack off. “Yeah.”
Asten had his black backpack in his lap, and he dug around in it, pulling a ziplock bag out just far enough for Bentley to see what was inside. It was old-looking phones. Like, six of them. Burners, he realized.
“Are those the-“
“Yeah,” Asten cut him off with a nod. “Nico and I are going to go to the Harbor after school. That’s where we’re gonna make the calls so we can throw them in the water after,” He explained softly, shoving the bag back in his backpack. “You should come — I’ll need your voice. It shouldn’t take that long.”
Usually, any statements of you should come would go completely ignored by Bentley. He wasn’t much of a go here go there kind of person, but spending time with his friends seemed… kind of brilliant. He’d be with them for the plan, out of the house so Bruce could pay attention to his actual kids, and out of the way. At least for a while.
“I’ll ask,” Was his reply.
“Tell him it’s a… science project or something,” Asten suggested, flicking a hand toward Bentley. “And that we’re going to Nico’s house, not frolicking around Gotham.”
There it was again — the little twisty feeling he got in his gut at the thought of lying to Bruce. Bruce didn’t deserve to be lied to. But, if he knew what they were doing, there was no way he’d allow it; so Bentley had to lie. There was no other way.
Before Bentley could even think about pulling his phone out, Asten exclaimed: “There he is!”
The trio all turned toward the sliver of library windows they could see from between the shelves, gazing out into the hall in the same direction Asten was. They were just quick enough to catch a glimpse of Dr. Keene, in his blue button up and slacks per usual, heading away from his classroom.
“Come on!” Asten was already out of his chair and shuffling between the bookshelves, zipping his bag up as he crept toward the front of the library.
“We’re gonna get arrested,” Nico muttered, sending a mildly terrified glance to Bentley before they both climbed out of their chairs. Bentley fought the buzzy anxious feeling that surfaced beneath his skin when he realized that, yes, they were seriously on their way to steal Dr. Keene’s phone. God, if Bruce found out about this, Bentley was absolutely done for.
Asten looked back at them with a snicker, his green irises shining with amusement as they stopped near the door of the library. “Stop looking so terrified, you guys. Looking terrified makes you look guilty.”
“We are guilty!” Nico shot back, crossing his arms.
“Say it louder, the Russians didn’t hear you,” Asten mocked with a sly little grin. “Seriously, just play it cool. We’re looking for Dr. Keene for… tutoring or something.”
Nico huffed. “Yeah, because they’ll believe that.”
“Have a little faith, dude. I once convinced a cook I was the Mayor’s nephew and got free food from a batburger for an entire week,” Asten explained, pointing over at Nico. “We’ll be fine. Come on, before he comes back.”
Bentley sent a glance Nico’s way as Asten trailed into the hall. They followed him wordlessly. The empty and silent halls still weirded Bentley out just a bit. He could see all the way down the dim hall, back into the foyer with the staircases. There wasn’t anyone there, right now, but it definitely seemed like something to watch.
The three of them jogged down the empty halls until they made it to Dr. Keene’s classroom door. It was closed, and according to Bentley’s phone, class started in twenty-four minutes.
Asten turned the handle and shoved the door, and much to all of their surprise (and Nico’s terror) it swung open.
“Bentley, I need that computer. Nico, stand at the door and watch for him to come back,” Asten ordered. The classroom, too, looked strange and empty when they filed in. All the desks were vacant, the skeleton in the corner without his signature bowler hat. The blackboard hadn’t been written on yet.
Nico closed the door and stood entirely too close to the little window that was cut into it, staring into the hall like his life depended on it. Asten immediately went for Dr. Keene’s desk in the corner.
Bentley followed along behind him, laying his backpack on their teacher’s desk and unzipping it carefully. Tim’s old laptop was sitting right in the center of all his books, and he gently pulled it out, laying it next to Dr. Keene’s big computer monitor so it was facing Asten.
The Brazilian was digging through drawers and cabinets so quickly Bentley wasn’t sure if he would actually see the phone or not. “Here — can you find the wires I put in here?”
Asten shrugged his backpack off and tossed it lazily in Bentley’s direction. He managed to catch it by a single strap and, with a final glance to Asten, unzipped it.
There wasn’t much in there — a couple spiral notebooks, his red pen, the ziplock of burners and a bundle of several multicolored wires that looked like… phone chargers?
“These?” Bentley questioned, pulling out the wad of purple, black, and white. Asten glanced at him briefly in the midst of all his shuffling.
“Perfect. Just lay them on the desk,”
Nico made a high-pitched noise from across the room, and both Bentley and Asten glanced over at him. The blonde was scurrying away from the door like he’d seen a ghost.
“Jesse’s coming! Jesse!” He squeaked.
Asten opened his mouth, but only a faint sound came before the classroom door flew open, and Jesse Todryk stepped inside.
His blonde hair was a mess, and his uniform was wrinkled and maybe even faintly stained, if Bentley was seeing right. He didn’t have his dumb earrings in, and he didn’t look near as intimidating as usual.
Everyone stared. No one said a word. Jesse Todryk’s vomit-green irises flicked from one boy to the next, meeting brown, emerald green, and blue. His eyes drifted to Asten’s hands that were buried in Dr. Keene’s desk, and he got a sick look on his face.
“You three are getting so suspended for this,” He said with a twisted sort of giddiness about him, turning to duck back into the hallway.
A voice came, loud and clear, bouncing through the quiet room: “No!”
Bentley hardly realized that it was his.
Jesse turned on his heel. “What was that, Wayne?”
The redhead froze, resisting the urge to shrink with all the eyes that were laser focused on him. He glanced to Asten and Nico, who were staring back blankly, offering no help.
Control the conversation.
“We’re trying to figure out what happened to your sister,” Bentley explained, taking a step forward, toward Jesse, keeping his words laced with a little venom for good measure. “We already have leads that connect her and Dr. Keene to the Secret Keeper, and we were about to be even closer to finding out what happened before you decided you needed to be a little snitch to make yourself feel better.”
Jesse creased his brow, glancing around the classroom before he pulled the door shut with a quiet click. Bentley watched the way his stone expression faltered in the slightest, the shine at the back of his irises spinning into something different. “You’re seriously playing detective? You three?”
“Wow. I know you said he was slow, but this is just ridiculous,” Bentley muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and glancing back at Asten.
Jesse glanced between them, exasperated. Asten had a look on his face like he was trying very hard not to smile.
“Very funny, Wayne,” Jesse spat. However, he didn’t leave the room, nor did he stalk forward to punch Bentley in the face. He just sort of stood there.
“What are you waiting on? For us to invite you into our motley crew? Our merry band? Because it ain’t happening,” Asten hissed from across the room.
Jesse made a few faces, different emotions passing across his features. “The cops are being little pansies about the Secret Keeper. Too afraid to do their jobs,” He muttered, crossing his arms. His expression faltered again, to something like… sadness? “Do you guys seriously believe you can find her?”
Did Bentley actually think they could do it?
“Yes,” Asten answered for him, glaring at Jesse with a vengeance burning in his eyes. “And if you go tattling on us, we’ll get suspended, probably questioned by the cops, and we won’t tell them anything we know. Just so you’ll have to live the rest of your life knowing that you were the reason Mandy was never found.”
Bentley breathed in. Were they playing up the amount of knowledge they had? Oh, definitely. The police probably did know what they knew. And would Jesse telling on them really assure Mandy was never found? Absolutely not. But they were using his feelings for leverage, just like Bentley’s father taught him.
Asten was a natural at this Puppeteer stuff.
Jesse sighed heavily, his expression changing subtly, like he was conflicted. “Mm… fine. Fine, I won’t tell anyone. Just because it wouldn’t hurt to have someone else looking.”
Use the leverage to get what you want.
“And if you ever touch any of us again, we’ll call off the search and keep everything we know to ourselves,” Bentley added. Jesse scowled at him, long and hard, and then groaned.
“Don't push your luck,”
“I’m not the one whose sister is missing,” Bentley shrugged. “I think your luck is the one that shouldn’t be pushed. Do you want us to look for her or not?”
Jesse scowled deeply again. “Fine. You win. But I swear; if anyone hears that I spoke to you three, I’ll knock your teeth out,” He huffed. He made a face like he’d just eaten something gross, opened the door, and disappearing into the hallway without another word. The door clicked behind him.
No one said anything for a solid five seconds. And then:
“Geez, where’s that Bentley been the whole time? I like him!” Asten muttered with a snicker, shaking his head as he continued to dig through the desk drawers. “Please be brutal more often. It’s so refreshing.”
“Should I be offended by that?” Nico questioned, drifting back toward the door. Asten shrugged.
“If you really want to,”
Bentley said nothing. That Bentley wasn’t so much Bentley as it was pre-programmed Puppeteer. But he guessed, if it worked, it worked.
“Finally,” Asten chimed as he pulled a small blue device out of the top desk drawer, sliding it closed with a thump. Bentley watched in quiet fascination as he looked through the wires, plugging them to the phone until he found one that went in the charging hole just perfectly. He plugged the other end into Tim’s computer, opened it, and started typing around.
Bentley stepped forward. “What’re you doing?”
“Password reset software. It’s the only way we can get into the thing,” He replied, like it were obvious.
Bentley said nothing. Sometimes, it was uncanny how much Asten reminded him of Tim.
It took only two or three minutes before the phone opened up to the home-screen on command.
“This is so illegal,” Nico muttered from the door, his eyes focused so hard on the hallway Bentley thought they might’ve been starting to water. (Or maybe he was just crying, which was a possibility.)
“Nothings illegal if you don’t get caught!” Asten replied, grabbing the phone off the desk and moving toward Bentley. “Let’s see what we can find.”
Bentley glanced over at the screen, eyes flicking between all the apps and folders on the home page. Asten’s first instinct was to click on the text messages.
There were several names Bentley didn’t recognize, probably Dr. Keene’s friends and family. Asten scrolled quickly, until he stopped on a name Bentley did recognize.
Amanda Todryk.
Asten made a face. “You should look away. Just in case.”
Bentley wasn’t sure why he needed to look away, but he did. A few seconds of quiet passed before Asten said: “Okay. You’re good.”
Bentley turned back toward the phone, and the text messages between Dr. Keene and Mandy were displayed on the screen. Asten scrolled a bit, revealing that it was mostly just a repetitive string of tutoring today? From Mandy and yes from Dr. Keene. Those two texts repeated nearly every day, including Sunday, the day Many went missing. There were no messages after that.
Asten left that message thread and scrolled to the bottom, humming when he didn’t recognize any more names.
Bentley did.
The very last name on the text list. Asten left the app and moved on quickly, so Bentley wasn’t totally sure, but he could’ve swore he saw the name… John Whittaker.
“Look away again. I’m going into his photos,” Asten ordered. Bentley did as he was told (but why did he have to look away every time?) until Asten said it was fine for him to look back. The photos app was closed, and Asten was scrolling through his apps. Twitter. Note Taking Pro. Amazon. Rentals for Royals.
Asten stopped on that one. Bentley wasn’t exactly sure what it was, but it looked rather harmless, really — the symbol was a swirly little crown with a bunch of colors.
“What’s that?” Bentley questioned. Asten clicked on it, and the app began to load.
“You can let people rent out properties from you on here. Like… letting someone else use your house like a hotel,” Asten explained. Bentley scrunched up his nose. There were enough people in Wayne Manor already.
The app opened, revealing a photograph of a beautifully manicured cabin in pine woods that looked like something out of a mystical storybook. There was a title below the picture that read: Pinewood Cabin.
Asten hummed and scrolled down. “Looks like Dr. Keene owns a sick Air B&B in the woods somewhere.”
Bentley watched as Asten tapped on things so quickly he couldn’t even focus on what they were, bringing up something that looked like a very colorful calendar. Each day on the calendar coincided with a color-coded name that was listed off to the side. Bentley guessed that calendar told Dr. Keene who was scheduled to stay.
Sunday was green, and the names Amanda Todryk and Lanse Handal were in green off to the side.
“Oh my God!” Asten started.
“What? What? What?!” Nico shouted across the room with such urgency a passerby might’ve thought Asten was dying.
“Mandy rented out Dr. Keene’s Air B&B with Lanse Handal!”
Apparently that name meant something. Bentley did recognized it, only a little, but he didn’t know why.
“What? The senior from the Soccer team that went missing?! They probably rented it before he disappeared!”
Went missing. That must’ve been why Bentkey recognized the name — it would’ve been on Asten’s research list.
“I bet they were planning on having a one night-“
“No!”
“-stand.”
“Shut up!” Nico squeaked, glaring daggers across the room at Asten. Well, Nico was a bit too soft for it to be considered daggers — maybe blunt pencils.
“What’s a one night stand?”
Nico and Asten’s eyes both came to rest on Bentley, Nico’s filled with terror, Asten’s with surprise and maybe faint amusement. Bentley glanced between them as they seemed to blink, blankly, offering no explanation whatsoever.
“It… uh…” Asten started, glancing over at Nico, who shook his head with the most serious I’ll kill you look Bentley had ever seen from him. They pair seemed to have an unspoken argument, which lasted for a solid ten seconds before Asten coughed awkwardly.
“You should ask Bruce. And, uh… don’t look it up,” He finalized, stiffly patting Bentley on the shoulder a couple times. “Now, back to this. I think we need to take a trip to the cabin. An undocumented trip.”
Nico scrunched his face up. “Why?”
“Because Mandy was going to stay there on Sunday night. They said she never came home after tutoring, but she wasn’t going home, she was going there with her little boy toy.”
“Asten,” Nico warned, still glaring those blunt pencils. “Please stop. And absolutely not. We don’t even know where it is, and we’re not breaking in.”
“The address is in my hand, dude,” Asten stated, pulling his own phone out and taking a picture of Dr. Keene’s rental property’s information. “Cabins in the woods are murder central. We know that from, like, every horror book and movie ever. We have to go. Just to make sure.”
“To murder central,” Nico sighed.
“Yes, to murder central,”
Bentley breathed in deep. First, they stole a teachers phone, and now they were going to break into his rental property? He wasn’t sure he liked where this whole plan was going.
But, he guessed, if it proved or denied Dr. Keene’s innocence for sure, that’s what they needed to do.
—
dedicated to @sassenashsworld 💚
—
tag list! (If you want me to remove or add you, ask in comments!)
@fleur-alise @sarcopterygiian @cademygod
#batboys#batfamily#batman#tim drake#damian wayne#dick grayson#red hood#red robin#oc; bentley#oc; bentley whittaker#mb; a hundred ways to become a wayne#ov; secret keeper#ov; the secret keeper#oc; asten#oc; asten evans#oc; nico#oc; niko rockefeller#bruce wayne#alfred pennyworth#barbara gordon#oracle#nightwing#jason todd#red hood dc#dc red hood#cassandra cain#orphan#stephanie brown#spoiler#duke thomas
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Hello again bat-gran 👋
I appreciated your answer on the Robins situation, it intrigued me.
How would you have written Damian/where would you like his writing to go?
Poor Damian is simultaneously the Batfamily character with the most potential and the worst possible character development. If you go all the way back to his introduction it was fairly clear that readers were supposed to loathe him. He was an arrogant and rude little princeling with a chip on his shoulder the size of Cleveland.
Damian was such a brat that he even managed to exhaust Alfred's patience, which is a real feat considering the man raised Bruce.
Everyone knows that in his later interaction with Tim in this issue (Batman #657) Damian proves what a superior person he is by killing the first criminal he came across. He then tossed the decapitated head, (with a grenade in it's mouth) at Tim to make a point.
The most important thing to take away from this is that Damian has been raised in a cult that operates on the same upward mobility scheme as the Klingon Empire. In order to get ahead, you kill the person in your way. That' s exactly what Damian tried to do.
Damian was originally conceived as an anti-hero at least and a full blown villain at worst. He was supposed to be a great source of angst for Batman to darkly brood over for years. The only problem was that about half of the fandom loved hyper-violent, rude and nasty Damian. DC now had to figure out how to redeem him enough to work with Batman.
They actually did come up with a method that worked. During Battle For The Cowl Damian saved Tim's life in a very Damian way.
This was the moment that could have changed everything. This is where I would have had Damian reluctantly (very reluctantly) allow the idea that maybe his father's way of doing things had a tiny bit of merit after all. To be honest, I wouldn't have changed much of the Dick Grayson Batman and Damian Wayne Robin arc. You had a much sunnier Batman with Robin as the grim dark little gremlin a lot of people loved. Damian actually showed some positive character development without losing the edge that made him popular.
What would I have changed? This...
All the progress Damian made was unceremoniously tossed onto the garbage heap. The moment the kid got angry with Tim he went right into assassin mode and tried to kill him - again. Worst of all, there were no real consequences for his actions. Instead we're supposed to sympathize with the fact that Damian's feelings were hurt.
The impression left with the reader is that Damian maybe got a stern to talking to from Dick but that was about it. It does not help the conversation above seems to lay the blame on Tim for not having a stronger password.
This is the crux of the problem that followed Damian for years. DC seemed to actively undo any positive character development to keep him static. Damian was not allowed to be anything other than rude, arrogant and hyper-violent. He worked abysmally with Bruce's Batman, so much so that it set in stone the idea that Bruce was incapable of being a good Dad to Damian. Damian's character waffled between hero, anti-hero and kind-of-sort-of villain repeatedly. Not too long ago they were setting him up to be a bad guy yet again. Remember when Damian had his own private prison and then resigned from being Robin?
Why would DC continually do that to a character with so much potential?
What I would do with Damian is what we're now seeing. He went off and had his obligatory Robin-right-of-passage adventure on a mysterious island. Damian came back a better character. His relationship with Tim is improved enough that they still bicker dreadfully but are actually more like brothers.
I really like what I'm seeing in Batman and Robin. This is how Damian should be written. He's still got his edge and doesn't suffer fools well but he's working towards a positive future.
So, if you'll forgive this pedantic old Bat-Gran, my point is that what I want to see, what I as a writer would do, is keep him more on the path of the current Batman and Robin series and less of what we see in the current Batman series.
Most of all I would write Damian consistently, not vary the basics of his personality from book to book. That is the cardinal flaw that has always plagued DC.
Who I want Damian to be is a young man who is just beginning to discover that he can choose his own future. My version of Damian can honor his heritage but still move forward into the best version of himself. He can be someone who, perhaps like many teens, has no idea what he'll be in ten years but does know that it's a path he chooses for himself, not one forced on him by either the Waynes or the Al Ghuls.
I just hope I live long enough to see that. I'm already 67 so I hope DC stops messing around gets to it, please.
So, are you sorry you asked?
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Oh my god, Gotham Knights #26. I’m screaming, crying, throwing up.
Just this. This is so damn crunchy. It’s a reminder that the core of the post-Crisis Batfamily revolves around the dynamics and dance of tensions between Dick, Babs and Tim, and how each of them relate to Bruce.
Dick’s on the upswing of his relationship with Bruce, after the adoption and the two of them hammering a bunch of issues out.
Tim’s at a low point where he’s been frozen out and deliberately hurt. Bruce revealed his identity to Steph! Plus Alfred, who’s been staying with him to punish Bruce, had just announced he’s going back to the manor, leaving Tim even more alone.
Babs is in one of her “I’m here for the rest of you; Bruce is aggravating me by being high handed again” phases (admittedly that’s…her default position unlike the other two).
And wow does the way the three of them negotiate the debate over “did Bruce kill someone” just show off both their best and worst character traits (and also they’re all acting way more adult than Bruce, which isn’t a surprise, but what can you do).
Tim and Dick talk! Tim worries Dick is a jumper! They find out they have different opinions on Did Bruce Do It!
(I just want to EAT UP the implication that Tim is worried that Dick might be about to attempt suicide over the fact Bruce killed someone, especially just after the whole ‘killing Joker’ situation)
Dick is Extremely Offended Tim might think Bruce Did It. So what does he do? Go off to talk it through with Babs.
Babs gives Dick the reality check that Bruce has been in one of his push-everyone-away loner modes again and that Dick off in Blüdhaven isn’t having to face it personally, but Batman isn’t even patrolling with Robin right now. Also that Tim’s experiences with Bruce are necessarily different to Dick’s.
When suddenly… Tim arrives to ALSO thrash this conversation out with Babs (They are such mirrors of each other I swear).
Dick takes the opportunity to try and touch base with Tim and find common ground, leading to one of the best/most devastating pages of the Dick & Tim relationship at this point.
Dick is trying to make his baby brother feel safe. Dick would do anything for Tim. Tim however is all too aware of how hollow this promise is, as well meaning as the sentiment is, because they’ve lost people before. (And as I noted, Dick’s actually still in a GOOD cycle with Bruce while Tim really isn’t)
Which leads to THIS angst.
Tim believes in Dick. He can get by just trusting in the detective work he’s been taught and knowing that Dick holds to the Code (and we are LITERALLY only 3 months real time on since Last Laugh, Tim you have phenomenal levels of belief in Dick). Dick however, has that same level of trust in BRUCE, and so can’t cope with Tim not also feeling that way.
(And then Dick goes off to cry to Alfred because he also needed reassurance)
God I love all three of them so much it’s hard to describe. They’re so functional together even when they’re fighting as they all, at their core, trust each other implicitly.
(Alfred and Leslie have some very meaty conversations together and apart also in this, when Gotham Knights was on its game it was one of the best Bat books out there)
Finally: Babs is not having a great time here either, as she’s having to coordinate and run the investigation on Vesper Fairchild’s murder without any assistance from the primary suspect.
Working out some anger issues there, Babs? (Robin #99)
#dc#z canon read throughs#tim drake#barbara gordon#dick grayson#bruce wayne: murderer/fugitive#gotham knights
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His Girl
Plot: Dick Grayson has a type in women: athletic, feminine, and classy. However, the reader is completely different as she is plus-size, tomboyish, and spontaneous. But a conversation about Y/N between Dick and the batboys takes an unexpected turn one night.
Warnings: Language, Sensitive topics, and Fluff.
“What the hell’s up your ass?” Jason asks Dick, as he hands him a bottle of beer from the refrigerator in the Batcave. It was only until last week that Bruce gave in and allowed a refrigerator to be down there after the boys begged him for one.
As long as it was only for beverages, of course. Bruce had mentioned the boys have been eating too much junk food lately, but the boys knew deep down that his rule is simply for him, because of his age, and maybe for Y/N, too.
Y/N has only been with the Batfamily for a year since her family died at the hands of Two-Face. She had only started training with Bruce for two months now, and the two of them have been working out quite a bit.
Which makes sense of Bruce’s one rule for the refrigerator, though. But that hasn’t stopped Jason from sneaking in food anyways; mostly pizza and lunch meat and cheeses for sandwiches.
But now, Dick’s distant and silence is unbearable since the circus descent acrobat is usually excited and rambling about anything and everything.
“Uh, nothing! I mean...” Dick stutters. His behavior tonight was questionable to say the least. Usually, he would be on his game and even throw some wisecracks but he’s been awfully quiet, nervous even.
“Uh-huh, sure. Whatever you say,” Jason scoffs.
Dick sits on top of the hood of the Batmobile while he peels the sticky label from the beer bottle. He notices Tim and Damian walking out from the showers and are already dressed in sweatpants and t-shirts. Bruce is seated at the Batcomputer, still in costume but minus the cowl. Jason sits at the small table and sips from his beer and snacks on a triple meat and cheese sandwich he must have made quickly.
And Alfred had long gone to bed after Bruce forced him to get some rest since they’ve returned home and are not dead.
Dick suddenly notices Y/N must still be in the showers, on the other side of the cave for privacy where the guys can’t bother the girls.
“Fine...I’ve been...having these thoughts and dreams about Y/N lately,” Dick confesses. He notices Jason staring at him with a confused expression.
“Yeah, and…?”
“Well…lately, I’ve been thinking about her as…more than a friend. I’ve been seeing her in a new light. And you know I’ve always thought she was cool, and funny, and incredibly smart,” Dick continues, with a small smile. “But…I’ve never been sexually attracted to women like her before.”
Jason purses his lips and appears to think it over. “So, I don’t see the problem.”
“I just told you I’ve never felt this way about Y/N or any woman like her before.”
“Because you’re shallow.”
“I’m not shallow,” Dick argues, suddenly feeling defensive at Jason’s attack. “I just…I’ve never seen heavy women as hot, you know?”
“You can try to justify all that, but the point is, you’re shallow.”
“Have you ever slept with a heavy girl before, Jason?!” Dick snaps.
Jason chuckles and grins. “Actually, I have.”
“Bullshit,” Dick scoffs.
“Yeah, I have Dickie-bird. It happened three years ago, when my Outlaws and I kicked Black Mask’s ass. We went to a bar to celebrate in downtown Gotham. Roy and Star left early to go fuck or something. I was left alone and I was about to call it a night until this smoking hot woman took a seat next to me. She had long dark hair, tan skin, and curves that made my mouth water and my cock hard enough to pound nails. She was gorgeous, but there were these assholes around her and were calling her fat and telling her to leave because no one here would take her home. And do you want to know what I did?” Jason asks.
“What?” Dick asks quietly.
“I took her home, after I broke all those guys’ jaws. She was fucking amazing, man. She had a magnificent ass that she actually allowed me to spank. Her curves were endless, and after I fucked her good three times, cuddling and falling asleep with her was probably the best part of the night. I’ve never felt so…comfortable and felt warm, because I actually felt someone beside me,” Jason admits.
Dick raises an eyebrow at him. “Wow, I didn’t think something like that could happen to you, Jason. If anything, I thought you were shallow.”
“I used to be, until I realized I was judging others, when I was actually trying to have others not judge me. Alfred actually helped me with that. I don’t remember every word he said exactly but he said I wasn’t trying all the ice cream flavors out there. Like, I was always sticking to a certain flavor of ice cream, and I wasn’t trying other kinds, meaning I should be looking at all types of women. And after my one night stand with that magnificent woman’s ass, I realized bigger girls aren’t deal breakers; they’re just more to love,” Jason admits, and shrugs with a smug smile.
“That’s…I don’t even know what to say. But Y/N’s different. She’s someone we know and it makes it harder. And my problem isn’t that I’m shallow, it’s how I’m supposed to handle my feelings about her.”
“Yeah, you are, Dick. Y/N’s literally the best woman we’ve ever met. Hell, the best woman I’VE ever met. She’s fucking funny, she’s so caring and kind, she’s smarter than Timbo when it comes to common sense,” Jason lists off his reasons.
“That’s true! I’m not going to lie about that!” Tim interrupts from the distance.
“Y/N’s real, she doesn’t bullshit about anything like other girls. She’s honest, and that’s a rare thing to find nowadays. And fuck…she can really handle her alcohol, she can down shots of Fireball like it’s water,” Jason adds.
“You don’t think I know all that? Of course, I do! That’s why I’m having such a hard time dealing with my feelings for her. I’ve only ever been with tall, athletic women, who wear skirts and dresses, eats healthy, and are…well, feminine,” Dick confesses. A guilty expression shows on his face. “And Y/N’s not any of that. She’s really short, kinda chubby, and she’s more of a tomboy type, who’s loud and rambunctious, and eats like a man.”
Jason snorts. “And that’s a problem why? That’s why Y/N’s fucking awesome, man! I actually really like how she’s not afraid to be herself. She’s not fake. Do you know how long it took for her to be comfortable with all of us and be who she is rather than how she thought we expected from her? And I don’t know about you but I love how she eats, whenever we go out to restaurants, I actually like how I can eat the way I want and not feel like a fat ass because I know her and I both love what we love and fuck all who have a problem with that!”
Bruce turns around in his chair and gives both boys a warning look. Even Tim and Damian silently take a seat and watch closely.
“Fuck…Y/N is the perfect woman. She’ll always be in my eyes,” Jason admits, looking down at his beer longingly before taking a sip.
“If you feel so strongly about her then why haven’t you tried to go out with her or sleep with her?” Dick asks angrily.
Jason’s pause takes everyone by surprise. “Because she can do better than me.”
“You-you actually tried to get with her?” Dick stammers.
“Oh, yeah I definitely did. I think about a year ago. I had spent the summer with her here while everyone was busy with the whole Justice League and Superman bullshit,” Jason explains. “You were with the Titans with Tim and Damian. It was just me and her.”
“Alfred was there as well,” Bruce mumbles.
“Anyways, call it cheesy as hell like those romcoms, but we actually got really close. She’s a spitfire for sure, but she really knows how to get under your skin,” Jason chuckles.
Tim and Damian nod their heads in agreement with that.
“And I obviously made the whole situation uncomfortable as fuck because when I told her how I felt, she rejected me. She said we were too alike, we’d butt heads all the time. And after that, I never brought it up again.”
Jason’s confession gives Dick a sense of confidence.
“Look, if you want to ask her out and do all that then I support you. Just know if you fucking hurt her or do anything wrong, I’ll slit your throat even if you’re family,” Jason threatens seriously.
“I wouldn’t even know how to bring it up with her,” Dick says.
“Well, don’t bring up how her weight and appearance bothers you,” Jason says seriously.
“It doesn’t!”
“Okay. How did you ask Barbara, Star, Zatanna, and-”
“I get it, Jason. I’ll just talk to her and tell her I have strong feelings for her,” Dick interrupts him. “I’ll just tell her the truth.”
“You already did.”
That voice belonged to none other than Y/N. All the guys in the Batcave jerked their heads to the top of the stairs where Y/N stood and looked down with tears running down her cheeks. She was wearing her plaid pajama pants and a loose black t-shirt she stole from one of them a long time ago, she doesn’t exactly know who though.
Dick and Jason slowly stand up. Dick carefully walks over to the stairs while Jason cautiously follows.
“Y/N…” Dick whispers, already feeling guilty and nervous that she had probably heard everything. “Please listen to me…”
“WHY?! So, you can tell me you didn’t mean any of that, when you actually did. I thought you were different! I didn’t know you could judge someone like that! Especially someone like me!” Y/N yells. “I thought you were my friend!”
“I am your friend! Y/N, please give me a chance to explain! I really like you, and-and I was just trying to ask for help so I can talk to you!” Dick pleads.
“Don’t lie to me! You were only asking for help because you didn’t know how to deal with me being fat and manly! I’m sorry I’m not like Barbara and Star! I’m sorry I’m not beautiful and thin! I’m sorry I’m not perfect for you!” Y/N cries out and runs up the stairs.
“Y/N! Wait! Please!” Dick shouts for her. He chases after her.
By the time Dick reaches Y/N’s bedroom door, it’s locked. He can hear her crying, automatically feeling like shit for being the reason why she’s hurt.
“Y/N, please…” Dick tries again.
“Leave me alone, Dick!”
Dick swallows hard and forces himself to move away from her door. There was no use for him to stand there; he’d already broke her trust and possibly ruined their friendship. He might have even ruined his chances with her.
Jason approaches Dick. “Is she crying?” he asks.
“Yes,” Dick chokes out. He runs a hand through his dark hair. “Fuck, Jason…I don’t know what to do. She won’t even talk to me.”
“You should go, Dick. I think you’ve done enough.”
Dick was a little taken aback by Jason’s command. He pushes himself to walk away anyways.
“Bruce wants to talk to you. You should go find him before he finds you,” Jason adds.
Dick exhales heavily and leaves. Jason shakes his head in disappointment at him. He takes a deep breath and knocks on Y/N’s bedroom door.
“Doll, it’s Jay. Please let me in,” Jason says softly. “I just want to talk to you.”
He didn’t think she would open the door for him. He didn’t think she would want to talk to him even though he hadn’t pissed her off or upset her in any way. But Y/N unlocked her door and even opened it for him.
Jason was deeply heartbroken to see Y/N; her eyes were red and swollen, her cheeks were wet, and she had the devastating look on her beautiful face. He quickly walked into her room and shut the door, quickly locking it.
He had to be cautious though. He knew couldn’t say or do the things he wants to do with her right now. Instead, he slowly and carefully approaches her. She allows him to wrap his strong arms around her, bringing her closely to his body to hold and protect her from everyone and everything.
“Shh…it’s okay, sweetheart. I got you. I’m not going anywhere,” Jason whispers into her hair. He tries desperately to not inhale the addicting scent of her shampoo and lingering perfume so much. “You’re okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Y/N lifts her face from Jason’s chest and gazes up at him. The sight of her glistening eyes makes him draw her closer to him.
“What did I do wrong, Jay? What did I do to deserve all that? Is everything about me really bad?” Y/N asks softly, on the verge of tears again.
“No. No, don’t say that. Don’t say any of that! Nothing is wrong with you. You’re beautiful, Y/N. You’re perfect just the way you are,” Jason admits.
Y/N shakes her head in disbelief. It breaks Jason’s heart more when she tries to pull away from his embrace, but he refuses to let her go. His grip tightens and he holds her as if she’d disappear and leave him all alone.
“That’s not true, Jay,”
“It is true. Hell Y/N, you’re the most badass woman I’ve ever met. You don’t take shit from any of us. You’ve managed to stay here even after all the bullshit everyone has put you through,” he explains. He even chuckles at a memory. “You’ve even made Bruce cry, remember? Remember you called him out on his bullshit when he refused to train you? You’re almost a savage like Alfred, you even make Wonder Woman and Catwoman look like dollar tree prizes, and that’s no lie.”
Y/N looks down at her feet. Jason knows she still doesn’t believe him.
“You’re always perfect in my eyes, Y/N. There isn’t a goddamn thing I would change about you,”
“If I’m so perfect, then why does Dick think so low of me?” Y/N asks. She sniffles adorably and looks back up at him.
“Because he’s a fucking idiot who can’t see the best thing that’s in front of him,” Jason answers, and looks into Y/N’s eyes before he looks at her lips. “But his loss is my gain.”
#dc comics#jason todd x reader#jason todd x y/n#dc comics jason todd#dc comics batman#dick grayson#bruce wayne#tim drake#damian wayne
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Family Matters - Batfamily x Reader
Summary: A surprise birthday party and Batfamily being chaotic.
“That's it Dick just a little to the right...No the other right...No! Not there you goofus! Just...Just get down from the chandelier before it comes crashing down on the rest of us and For God's Sake let Duke handle the ribbons before you somehow strangle yourself with them”
Warnings ⚠️: Fluff, lots of it, angst because I can’t help myself, Reader has got some parental issues. Hurt/Comfort.
Word count: 2.4k
A/N: I wanted some good dad Bruce content so I did it myself. Also I might have been influenced by a post I made a while back about Bruce and his children. I haven't used reader's pronouns anywhere so it's kinda gender neutral.
I don’t know where I was going with this, my imagines are often like a train derailed from its track but I think it’s fine. So Enjoy ;)
•°•°•°•°
"Focus (Y/S/N), don't jump in in blind, assessing what action your opponent is about to undertake and countering it out before they can complete that action, this is the key lesson for you today", Batman's commanding voice echoed in the enclosed area of the batcave as he observed you attempting to roundhouse kick the boy in front of you. It was rather rashly executed with the hope of knocking him down which, for obvious reasons, only ended up with your leg connecting with nothing but thin air.
'Damn he is fast when he actually tries.'
"Easy for you to say Old Man! You aren't the one dancing with Mister Duckboy, the teen wonder over here!", you exclaimed, panting as your chest heaved from the exertion.
"Duckboy?!", Tim looked near scandalized as you grinned in return, stealing a glance towards the giggling crowd gathered near the stairs.
Everyone was already in the cave, it was a rare occurrence, it happened only when the issues of upmost importance were being discussed. Today was one of those days; The planning of Alfred Pennyworth's surprise birthday party.
However things usually went a lot less violent, this day every year. The sparring session this year was the result of you messing up, real bad while on patrol last night and since you were around the same age as Tim, he was found to be the most appropriate partner for it. The only drawback was that he had a staff in his hands while your weapons were confiscated, because in Bruce's words 'you rely on them too much'. You were already tired and Tim had a huge advantage over you, if you wanted to win this match you had to be quick and efficient at the same time.
Distracting Tim by your comment allowed you to have an opening, gathering all your strength you went in for a forward strike. Unfortunately he was more than ready to take you on, he crouched down, narrowly missing your punch then proceeded to swipe your legs off of the ground with his bo staff making you fall butt first on the floor.
"Congratulations you've managed to hurt both my ass and my ego, Timbers", You said laying back on the ground, hands and legs spread out and instead of helping you up, Tim joined you on the floor sitting next to you. You gave him a look that was equivalent to 'next time I get the chance, I am going to push you off a roof'.
"Your skills need improvement", Bruce said in his monotonous tone as you grunted knowing that a full ass lecture was gonna follow, but before he could get another word out, Jason chimed in with a statement no one ever expected to hear from him,"You know (Y/N), he's not wrong in fact I think the old man's actually got a point."
Jaws dropped to floor, Tim looked like he just saw a ghost, Dick who was standing near Barbara pinched himself to see whether he was dreaming or not, Damian snapped his neck up from where he was sharpening his katana, even Titus and Ace perked their heads up at the sudden silence that settled over the place. Barbara, Cass, Duke and Steph looked equally shocked.
"Before you all get any ideas, what I'm trying to say is you better pay attention because B over here won't be able to save your ass, 'cause if you slack off the next thing you know you would be in a warehouse with a maniac, getting blown to bits", Jason looked at Bruce with accusing eyes.
'And here I thought he was finally going to say something sensible', you thought to yourself as he continued,
"Take it from someone who has had that experience, you guys remember right? The fact that I--"
"Died, we know!!", everyone groaned at the same time and Bruce looked like he had to physically restrain himself from faceplaming.
"Okay! Guys how about we go ahead and do the thing we all actually came here to do instead of... whatever this conversation was", you suggested, getting up and patting the dust off your clothes.
"Well then someone has got to ask the important question here", Barbara looked around as she worded her sentence,"who is going to be the one to keep Alfred busy while we get everything ready?"
Once again the cave went silent. For a whole bunch of detectives, you all were very, very scared of Alfred, including Bruce even though he will never admit it, lying to The old-butler-cum-grandpa and making random excuses for the whole 3 hours was a thought dreadful enough to make all of you exchange petrified glances at each other hoping someone would step forward to do the job.
"I'll do it", dick raised his hand.
"NO!", everyone snapped and Dick's head tilted with a pout.
"You are good at doing a lot of stuff boy wonder, hiding things from Alfred isn't one of them", Barbara comforted Dick as Damian stepped up next.
"*tt* Since none of you imbeciles have the courage or the ability to do it. I shall be the one to handle Pennyworth. Gordon, Cain and Titus, I will require your assistance", Damian spoke or rather commanded as he went up the stairs, followed by the group he chose.
"Don't mess this up for us, you gremlin!"
"Tim!", you lightly jabbed him in the side with your elbow.
"Ow! What?"
"Be nice", you narrowed your eyes and he understood you were being serious.
"Fine I'll try, but don't blame me if he starts something", Tim shrugged carelessly. You shook your head and let out an audible sigh as you followed everyone else up towards the manor.
•°•°
"That's it Dick just a little to the right...No the other right...No! Not there you goofus! Just...Just get down from the chandelier before it comes crashing down on the rest of us and For God's Sake let Duke handle the ribbons before you somehow strangle yourself with them", you eyed him worriedly.
"Oh come (Y/N) it'll be fine!", the cheerfulness in his voice made you cock an eyebrow at him from below. Duke slid in beside you.
"10 bucks says he will somehow fall within the next hour"
"Oh Duke you should know better, 20 says he'll fall within 30 minutes", you turned towards him with an evil smile.
"What are you both talking about down there?"
"NOTHING!", you both said in unison on which Dick gave you a confused look.
"Oh Hey look Steph needs my help with the cake so, see ya!", you quickly moved to the other side of the room checking in with Stephanie and Tim. She gave you a thumbs up to signal that everything was going according to plan and the place was almost ready. Everyone was laughing, bickering, having fun, it was all very rare and seeing it, a warm feeling spread throughout you.
You smiled to yourself for a moment but it faltered and a frown pulled up at your lips, a sorrowful thought crossed your mind, something you always kept buried deep down. Looking around and seeing as nobody needed your help at the moment you decided to slip out of the chaos, taking slow steps towards the patio to clear your head.
•°•°
Leaning against the railing you thought back to how you left your house this morning telling your mother that you are going to stay at your friend's place for a while and how she just waved her hand at that, not even questioning you anymore. Your mind was completely elsewhere, despite the awe-inspiring dense forest right in front of you, your eyes were lost in space.
You registered, a bit too late, the presence of someone standing beside you.
"It is a nice view, but something tells me that's not what brought to out here, away from everyone else"
"Careful there Brucie or people might think that you are actually capable of some emotions which happen include caring for people", you retorted back at him. It was always a sort of defense mechanism for you, whenever you felt exposed you countered it with snarky remark.
You closed your eyes hoping that Bruce would just walk away. But he didn't. He stayed there.
Bruce leaned on the railing beside you and waited. You took a deep breath, contemplating you next move carefully.
"...Look It's really silly so can we drop it?", you whispered wondering why in the world would Bruce of all people, care about your feelings.
"Talk to me (Y/N). I can tell when something is bothering you, I may not be your father, but you are my family.", unlike usual, his voice was gentle and genuine when he spoke to you.
"I am really not a fan of surprise birthdays", you stated, starting off vaguely.
"And why is that?"
"Because I...It's silly but this one time I spent a whole week working on a birthday gift for my mom, it was like a craft pop up box which had multiple photos of us together, I made that from scratch! everything in it I made that, I worked hard for it, I did it out of love but when I gave her that surprise gift you know what she said Bruce! She said that I wasted my time that she would've been much happier if I had focused on my studies, she never even once said that she liked it and I--", you looked at him with tears brimming in your eyes, threatening to spill.
"I don't know Bruce, it-it just makes me feel sad you know? every little thing reminds me that my mother doesn’t seem to love me anymore. There is this constant thought in my mind that no one cares about me, about what I do for them and I don’t know what to do with a thought like that."
"That's not true, look around you kiddo, you are surrounded by people who would do anything for you, who love you from the bottom of their hearts", Bruce finally looked at you, placing a hand on your shoulder.
"That's the thing! I am not an orphan!", you blurted out and Bruce looked more confused than ever.
"I'm aware"
"No! No you are not. I am not one of those kids you picked up from somewhere, I don't live here, Like I am sure you people aren't even sane, hell! you all make up the most dysfunctional family I have ever seen! I don’t belong here, you people have no reason to care about", Bruce gave you a sideways look, slightly chuckling at your sudden description of the people in the manor.
"But I still love everyone, my mom, you, every dumbass inside the manor right now, no matter much pain they cause me and I don't get why", this time when he looked at you, you didn't look like the vigilante who sucker punched The Riddler in the face last night, you looked like a scared little kid who is lost.
Bruce stood up straight and wrapped you in a hug. Something you never expected to happen in a million years. The shocked settled in after a bit and you wrapped your hands around him, burying your face in his chest.
"The people we love are still people at the end of the day. They act out, and sometimes they let us down, hurt us even, but that doesn't mean we stop loving them. For every bad memory, there will always be a good one that will get you through it. I promise you that (Y/N)", Bruce pulled away and gave you a warm smile. You couldn't help but smile back, your face matching his.
"Okay who are you and what have you done with Bruce Wayne? because I don't recognize this man who is full of emotions and on top of that, is giving free hugs right now", you broke into a grin, making Bruce's face go back to the stoic version.
"If you tell anyone, I will deny it"
"Sure you will"
Suddenly a clattering sound came from the hall, alerting you both. This, however, was followed by a 'I'm okay!' By the one Dick Grayson, which in turn was followed by Duke's 'Oh no!'
"Any idea what that was about?", Bruce inquired raising an eyebrow as you burst out laughing.
"That, you big softie, was the sound of me getting my 20 dollars, now let's get back before they destroy everything."
•°•°
You and Bruce entered back into the hall, everyone was gathered around waiting for Damian and his group to signal the beloved butler's arrival. You stood next to Tim as Jason moved towards the switches to turn off the lights.
"Okay I'll bite why are you covered in frosting before the party even started?"
"Steph", Tim replied, too tired to elaborate, leaving you giggling.
Barbara, Cass and Damian rushed through the door, looking close to terrified, with Titus tagging along.
"He is here, HIDE!", Damian said quickly closing the doors.
After a few moments, the door creaked open and Alfred's voice came through, "Master Damian, you and I will have words for what you did to-- Oh my", he was stuck to his position at the door, too shocked to say anything more after looking at the decorations and bunch gathered around an enormous cake.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALFRED!!", you all exclaimed with extreme excitement.
As the party went on you noticed that there was, in fact, a broken chandelier broomed to the side, later on there were a few not-at-all-safe stunts performed by the boys, some really bad puns made by Dick, all sorts of shenanigans by the others and cake, lots of cake. You looked around, everyone was busy doing something but now you knew Bruce was right:
You have one hell of a family, original, found or otherwise. And you love them all no matter what.
°•°•°•°•
Tags: @thesesickfics-justmakemesick
#batfamily x reader#batfamily imagine#batfamily x y/n#batfamily x gn!reader#batfamily imagines#batfam x reader#batfam imagine#batfam imagines#bruce wayne#tim drake#jason todd#dick grayson#barbara gordon#stephanie brown#cassandra cain#duke thomas#alfred pennyworth#damian wayne#batfam#batfamily#batman#nightwing#red hood#red robin#robin
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Memories and Dreams
Tim Drake x Reader
Requested: no
Ages: You and Tim are both 18
Prompt: Your dreams are your soulmate’s memories. (You can’t hear anything, you can only see.)
Quick note, I wrote this in April so it might not have my best writing. Also I'm trying to get part 5 of neglected out as soon as I can. Hope you enjoy this!
---
You were looking through someone else’s eyes, seeing everything from their perspective. It seemed as if they were chasing down a group of people. They had been chasing them for about 20 minutes now. You hadn’t been able to get a good look at their faces, but you assumed they worked for Black Mask.
Ever since you were 5, your dreams had been your soulmate’s memories. You knew all about them from their parents getting murdered to them being a vigilante. You weren’t sure which one, since you had never seen their appearance but you knew they wore a cape which got in the way of their sight quite often. They were also obsessed with coffee and barely slept.
You assumed he was a boy. He was still chasing the gang when suddenly, they took a wrong turn and ended up at a dead end. The men turned around to face the vigilante. He extended his bo staff and began to fight them all off. During the battle, other vigilantes arrived and aided him in battle. The vigilantes were Batman, Nightwing, Red Hood, and finally Robin.
He hadn’t been aware that a thug behind him had their gun aimed at his chest. Just as he turned around, a shot rang out and he dropped to the ground. You instantly shot up and out of bed, panting and covered in a layer of cold sweat. This worried you since it was new. You hoped he was okay and still alive. You weren’t too worried though, because if he died, you wouldn’t be seeing his memories.
Glancing at the clock, you noticed it was 6 am. You usually woke up around that time, so you decided to get ready for the day. You completed your normal routine quickly with half an hour to spare. Deciding to head to school, you exited your apartment. You had lived alone since your parents lived in Metropolis and you had earned a scholarship to Gotham’s top school.
As you were walking to school, you noticed there was a coffee shop. Since you were early, you decided to stop by. You walked inside and waited patiently in line. Once it was your turn, you ordered a black coffee. You had thanked the barista and sat down at a table near the door. You were casually scrolling through your social media and heard someone sit in front of you.
You looked up and saw one of your classmates, Tim Drake. This confused you as he never really bothered to talk to many people. You had interacted with him once or twice and he seemed nice. You thought of him as an acquaintance. He was known as the smartest kid in class. He always knew the answers to every question.
“Oh hi.” You decided to start a conversation.
“Hi, you’re name’s Y/N right?”
“Yeah it is, you’re Tim right?”
“Yeah. So what brings you here?”
“Oh nothing much, it’s just that we have about 20 minutes until we actually have to be at school.” You stated.
“Yeah. I understand. By the way, have you figured out who your soulmate is yet?”
“No, but I do have my suspicions. What about you?”
“I have an idea of who it may be but I’m not sure yet.”
“Well it looks like we’re in the same boat.”
“Haha yeah.”
“Anyways I’m going to head to school now. Feel free to come with.”
“I’m fine. I’ll see you later, bye.”
“Bye.” You threw your drink out and headed to school.
(Time skip to the end of the day brought to you by my hate for school)
School went well as always. You hated school but knew you had to learn somehow. You were heading home as usual until you saw a disregarded newspaper on the floor. It was talking about the vigilantes in Gotham, specifically the Batfamily. Then something clicked. Your soulmate was Red Robin! He used a bo staff, had a cape, and was the only one you didn’t see in your dream.
You were shocked. What would you do now? You can’t just go up to him and be like “Hey, I’m your soulmate so wanna get to know each other?”. If only it was that simple. You came up with some ideas on how to find your soulmate. Idea number one chasing him down which was immediately crossed out since you weren’t about to be desperate.
Idea two was to try and figure out his real identity so you could confront him that way. Idea number three was to just wait. Since waiting would probably be the best option, that’s what you decided to do but also decided that attempting to figure out his identity would help. You were excited to meet your soulmate, you wanted to know everything about him. You weren’t obsessed, you were curious.
As you were walking home, you looked forward to sleeping that night. You hoped whatever memory you were going to be in wasn’t a traumatic one. He had some rather pleasant memories. Others, however, not so much. The worst thing that has happened to you was getting a bad sunburn, while he had evaded death more times than you could recall.
You had finally arrived at your apartment. Placing your bag down and digging through it, you began to complete your mountain of homework and eventually, time started flying by. By the time you had completed all of your homework, it was 12 am. Even though you had missed dinner you weren’t hungry.
You placed all your things back into your bag neatly and shut off your laptop. You made your way to your room and began to prepare for bed. Once you finished, you laid down and got comfortable. You closed your eyes and let the darkness take over.
You were currently in his memory. Your soulmate was in a huge house that was like 10 times the size of your apartment, possibly more. He then ran into Bruce Wayne?! Wait, what? You were bewildered and then everything clicked. Bruce Wayne and his whole adopted family were vigilantes!
How’d you know? Well, every time there was a new addition to the Wayne family, a new Robin showed up either a bit before or after that. They also had the same height. Well, your soulmate isn’t Dick since he already found his soulmate. Jason is a no because your soulmate is short and it’s not Damian because he’s a baby. So that means your soulmate is Tim Drake or rather Red Robin.
Your theory was proven to be correct once his memory had shown him walking into the coffee shop you both met at. You didn’t really know how to feel about it. You did know that you had to tell him though, and you preferred sooner. So that’s how you ended up confronting him at school the next day asking to meet at the coffee shop you both met the previous day.
You were pretty anxious since you weren’t sure how he’d take the news. He could either be okay with it, happy or extremely irritated by it. When you saw him enter the shop your anxiety was amplified. You kept telling yourself to remain calm. He was in front of you, coffee in hand and stared at you.
“Okay so I don’t really know how to say this but I’m your soulmate.” You said quickly. He didn’t seem shocked by this so you assumed he knew as well.
“Yeah, I wanted to tell you too. I found out last night.” He stated.
“Okay so uh want to get to know each other a bit?”
“Sure that sounds nice.”
#tim drake#tim drake imagine#tim drake x reader#tim drake imagines#tim drake x you#tim drake x y/n#soulmate au
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I’ve got you Batfam x Batsis
request for @aestheticllylosers my power just went out the other day at my house so i was wondering if i could have batfamily, plus maybe Selina Kyle trying to entertain a scared little bat baby (age three) through a blackout and storm. very fluffly.... _____________
The whole family was gathered in the living room preparing ways to entertain themselves in an attempt to drown out the storm, sadly living with tech geniuses and a billionaire father does not help keep the power on, in fact you’ve all been sitting in the dark for about an hour whilst Alfred went around lighting candles, that being said their attempts of having fun during a thunderstorm only did the bare minimum when it came to distracting you and due to the loud crashes outside you had your head buried in your dad’s chest for half of it anyways so you couldn’t even pay attention to it.
Your family were at a loss, they didn’t know how to make this situation any more comfortable for you, even your mother Selina attempted to take you upstairs and distract you with your toys but you ran down the stairs screaming as soon as you saw a flash of lightning outside your window. Bruce was thinking about calling Diana to see if she could tell you an old story about the Gods because you always enjoyed those but given the situation the cell towers were down so he had no way of getting through to her, but he figured he could help you all on his own, almost on his own, your brothers were also in panic mode trying to find ways to calm their little sister down.
Dick attempted books, cooking and even some old board games he found in his room but nothing seemed to keep your attention for too long before you were back whimpering in your dad’s arms. Tim thought hide and seek was a good idea but it was ruled out because he joked about the manor ghosts finding you first and you started bawling your eyes out, Damian attempted to fight the lightning as a way to make you laugh but he slipped in the mud outside and that made you think that the lightning was attacking people so that took a whole 2 hour conversation from your dad to try to explain to you that lightning can’t push people over and Damian is just clumsy, he scoffed at that but a pointed look from his father got him to play along with the story. Jason, well he tried but ultimately gave up and tagged Alfred in, it’s not that he didn’t want you to feel safe it’s just he had one idea since the fighting lightning joke was taken by the demon spawn as he likes to call him, he’s also came to the conclusion that Damian can read his mind when in actuality he just found the piece of paper that Jason used to write his two ideas down with.
____________
“what are we gonna do?” Dick asked looking around the kitchen at all the baffled faces of his family, Selina was laying with you in the other room trying to put you down for a nap but from the sound of your little cries it wasn’t working.
“well we could-” “no” Jason said cutting Damian off “tt you didn’t even let me say it Todd” “we already know it’s sh*t stop wasting time” “Jason” Bruce said in a warning tone, “there’s a generator in the cave if we go down there and get it working we can put a movie on for y/n to help her” Bruce said and looked up to everyone staring at him in disbelief,”wait so your telling me we could have had power this WHOLE TIME” Tim yelled , Bruce sighed, “I just wanted to spend time with you all, your sister has been asking for you and with your jobs you hardly get to see her, I just thought that if i forced us all together with no technology to distract you that you’d end up enjoying it a bit” when he finished talking Alfred smiled to himself, when the storm alert first hit the news his master told him to turn the generator off and tell everyone to come home, he knew Bruce missed them but would never admit it out loud so he just went along with it, the truth is he needed this time with his family just as much as the rest of them and secretly didn’t want the generator on but if it helped miss y/n he was open to trying. “wow, I didn’t think i’d ever hear you admit to wanting us here out loud, like i’ve heard you say it in so many dreams but real life? i’m shocked” Jason said jokingly “ you know that’s all you needed to say right? keep it off” Dick said smiling “but-” Tim tried to object but got a warning nudge from Damian who would never admit it but this has been one of the best days of his life.
____________
Once they got back into the living room Selina looked up at Alfred and the two smiled knowingly at each other, and you slowly lifted your head up to look at your family walking back in “the storms calmed down sweetie do you want to try play a game again?” your mother asked you and you tilted your head to look up at her and then to your dad again “okway” you said sniffling as you crawled off your mom’s lap and down to the floor with your brothers.
Bruce sat with Selina and put his arm around her pulling her close to him and watched his kids actually get along to play a game of monopoly, and slyly wished for more storms in the future.
____________
i’m in a batfam mood so send in requests!
#Batsis#batfam headcanons#batsis x batfam#batsis imagine#batfam#batfam x reader#batfam x batsis#bruce wayne imagine#batsis x bruce wayne#bruce wayne x daughter!reader#Selina Kyle x Daughter!Reader#batsis x Selina kyle
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Selina’s Kitten (Jason Todd X Fem!Reader)
Characters: Jason Todd X Fem!Reader
Universe: DC, Batman
Warnings: Mention of death of parents.
Request: idk if you're down for something like this, but maybe a thing where the reader is Selina's niece (parents are dead ofc this is DC) and something happens to Selina so bruce takes the reader in and she falls in love with one of the robins? preferably knighting or red hood? Thanks!!this is the anon who submitted the request for Selinas niece, but I was wondering if Selina could have trained the reader to be a vigilante too? named like… kitten or someting? thanks!!
“Kitten, what are you doing here? Where’s Selina?” Bruce asked when he saw you approach him in the alleyway he’d been beckoned to due to the sound of gunfire going off. He hadn’t found any blood, or anyone injured, and as he was investigating, you showed yourself.
“I fired those shots.” You informed him immediately. “I needed to get you here as soon as possible.” You explained to him. Bruce tilted his head lightly, sensing something was wrong immediately. One, you holding yourself unsure, and two, you were alone.
“What do you need?” He asked.
“Selina went out last night and she didn’t come back. She said she’d be gone for 3 hours max. I know that usually means 7 hours but… she’s not answering her phone either, and… I’ve asked some goons around and they’ve not seen her either.” You explained to him. Bruce sighed. That wasn’t good.
“Okay. Come on.” Bruce told you, and you followed behind him to the car, and he took you back to the cave. He wanted to go out and look for her immediately, having no doubt that she was in danger, but he knew he had to look out for you first, knowing full well if Selina found out he put her needs in front of yours, she’d never forgive him.
You were more than a sort of side kick to the Catwoman. You were her niece, and Selina had took you in after your parents had been killed. It was Gotham, unfortunately this was more common that anyone liked. Sure Selina wasn’t the best role model, having taught you had to pick locks, steal and to lie, but she was a damn good guardian. She made sure you attended school, and now university, had a plan for the future, and she for the most part kept you out of her ‘side job’, though you had helped her enough to have met the Batfamily, and of course know their real identities. You had gone to school with Jason and Dick. Talking of Jason...
“Is Jason gonna be there?” You asked him as he drove, and he couldn’t help but chuckle. Ah, he knew about the… relationship between you and his second oldest. It had started the exact minute you two met for the first time. Jason was still Robin and Selina had took you out for some experience, and had been caught. When he was done telling off Selina and they finished their conversation, he finally noticed Jason and you had gone to a corner to talk, and when Selina called you back to her side, you’d stuck your tongue out at each other, before saying you’d see him later. Whenever you ran into Bruce since then, you always asked about Jason and if he was present, you and Jason went and did your own thing, usually causing mischief. When Jason died, you sort of fell of the radar, focussing on your studies and finishing school before continuing to higher education, and becoming very distant from Selina’s work. Bruce was proud of you for it, Selina even more. When Jason came back, despite you now being a hard working student with a bright future, and Jason being a vigilante who distanced himself from his family to work alone and to therefor kill, you two inevitable ended up back by each other’s side, this time with romantic feelings in the mix. Anything actually concrete had yet to be announced, but both Bruce and Selina, as well as all of Jason’s siblings knew it was inevitable.
“ I have no doubt that when we let him know he’ll be right over to make sure you’re alright.” Bruce lightly teased with you, hearing a soft giggle from you, making him smile, before you fell silent for a moment. “I will find her, Y/N. I promise.”
“What if you can’t? What if…”
“Then you have us.”
He got you to the batcave, and as soon as the others saw you, Tim was on the comms to tell Jason you were there, while Dick came up to ask what was wrong. Bruce gave a rundown, and Alfred got you something warm to drink, and it wasn’t long after that Jason arrived, stumbling off his bike to get to you quicker. “Hey, you okay?” He asked you, putting a hand on your shoulder and the other being used to examine your face.
“Yeah… Selina’s missing though.” You told him.
“I’m going out to find her. Jason I want you to stay with Y/N to make sure she doesn’t go off my herself.” Bruce told his son. Usually telling him to stay behind started an argument, but this time he only nodded and started walking you upstairs.
“You sure it’s okay to leave those two lovebugs here alone?” Dick asked, getting a smirk from Damian.
“Maybe they’ll finally admit they love each other.” Bruce simply answered, getting the equipment he needed and starting to head out again, the rest of his kids following after him to start the search for your aunt.
Hope you like it! If you have any questions, please send them in!
*Not my gif
TAGS: @courtneychicken @graysonmalfoy @bellero @originalpottervengerlock @supernatural-pan @esoltis280 @lena-stan-xavier @lady-of-lies @sebstanismylife @macbetheliza @mandywholock1980 @cdwmtjb8 @caswinchester2000 @determinedpines
#dc#DC comics#batman#Jason Todd#bruce wayne#Selina Kyle#dick grayson#Tim Drake#selina kyle x reader#selina kyle x fem!reader#selina kyle x niece!reader#jason todd x reader#Jason todd x fem!reader#red hood#catwoman#nightwing#Red Robin#x reader#x fem!reader#x niece!reader#reader#fem!reader#niece!reader#one shot#writing#story writing#question#request#ask questions#ask me anything
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I do actually think a really cool thing about Steph is that her reason for hating crime was that her dad did it.
She wasn’t mad at her dad for doing crime, which was bad, except inasmuch as him getting himself jailed left her and her mom in terrible financial straits and open to derision. She was mad at crime for being a thing associated with her father. Whom she hated.
Like, she’s never been a bad person, even as badly as she was sometimes written as behaving in Robin because her story role then was as a foil, goad, and source of drama in Tim’s life. And she grew into caring a lot about protecting and helping, via making the very short leap to identifying with victims.
But her initial motivation for the cape game was that very narrow grudge, and she’s not invested in legality for its own sake, but because its targets align with her own. Steph is one of the most firmly chaotic members of the batfam, probably the most.
And if Arthur Brown had still been Cluemaster but a really awesome, supportive dad whom she loved, as a kid she’d probably have been nearly as mad at the legal system for taking him away.
I kind of really want to read or write (but won’t because I’m dying of WIP and this is a plottier concept than I can just dash off) an examination of that, of the route that AU version of Steph would take, and where she’d reach forks in it.
Places where she could escalate in her urge to defend someone she loved, and paint herself into a corner of teenage supervillainy; places where she could realize that as much as she cared about him and as good as he was to her, his actions had unacceptable consequences for other people, other families, and she couldn’t support him any further.
(I feel like I’ve seen this general story done before, but usually with the greys of it muted by making sure the parent is horrifically evil to other people, or betrays the child first, or the kid didn’t know about the crimes, to make a sharper divide between the perceived beloved parent and the True Badness than realistically exists much of the time, and usually making the kid passive against everything but the parent.
And doing it with Steph, who already has so much established personality, appeals to me for the usual conversation-with-canon elements fanfiction offers.)
It’s really common, of course, for people who are horrible in general and people who are horrible to their families to be the same people, because quite often the being awful comes from the same set of behaviors, presumptions, and philosophies in both cases. Just, carried through.
But it’s not always the case. People aren’t that simple. Charitable pillars of society can make their children’s lives hell. People up to their necks in the worst kinds of violent crime can go home to their spouses and be desperately tender.
And there’s nothing about the Cluemaster shtick that requires him to be a very terrible person. Canonically Arthur Brown very much is, but that was largely established re: Steph, and his supervillain identity is almost tangential to that. He’s the Riddler but dumber, in a worse suit, with a stronger profit motive.
He steals things, mainly. Which is an activity that admits of a wide range of moral constitutions.
It doesn’t break the basic concept of Cluemaster or his role in the supercrime ecology, to flip him around so that he will say in all sincerity that he’s doing everything for his wife and baby girl.
(It’s a reality our prison-industrial complex likes us to flinch away from, that many men sitting in prison for real actual crimes are beloved, faithful, and adoring members of families. Who incidentally are charged an arm and a leg to contact the imprisoned, what the fuck.)
Which is what makes this AU concept so interesting to me, because it means it’s possible to change almost nothing about the setting and story outside the confines of the Brown family home, right up to the point where Steph makes contact with the Batfamily.
Which I guess would be most elegantly done by her finding out that her dad, having served his sentence and come home, can’t find work as a felon and so is getting up to super-crimes again.
And being like oh daddy you promised and assigning her own barely-fifteen-year-old ass to be his secret bodyguard and run interference with the Bats and sneak in to remove the stupid clues....
#hoc est meum#stephanie brown#cluemaster#she hits robin with a brick lol#alternate universe#good parenting#lol#ethics#priorities
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@ your post about dick reaching out to jason to give him a chance. if dick actually did do that in post crisis then what would the result of that been? do you see them disagreeing and going separate ways since post crisis jason would have still wanted to kill people?
Working on a post to tackle this indepth anon, because the problem I have is I personally don't think this is the right question, y'know? Like don't get me wrong, I understand your reasons for asking it, since UTRH DC has consistently presented this as the only real question in terms of Jason's relationships with each and any member of his family.
The problem I have is it reduces the complex interpersonal dynamics of a family to a simple binary morality play that's largely played out just between Bruce and Jason's differing stances, and the other family members at most just backing one stance or the other as though there are no alternative factors or options to consider in all of this.
There's a LOT more to consider and that's at play here I think, but DC consistently plays shell games with the idea that anything else matters other than answering that one specific question with either a total yes or a total no, and part of why I focus so much on Dick and Jason's relationship is I think Dick is the wildcard in all of this that inherently gums up the works of trying to make this a simple Jason's ideals vs Bruce's ideals proposition as though its all just a matter of abstract moralizing.
But uh, this is a long post with a lot to consider, stuff like the League of Assassins' influence on Jason during a very formative period of his life when he was hugely influenced by his trauma and susceptible to being influenced due to his trauma, the very nature of how much of his information on the Batfamily in particular was filtered through the lens of other peoples' agendas, and thus things that had a LOT of depth to them, like Bruce's deathwish in the wake of Jason's death to how and why Tim became Robin, etc, all of that got stripped of all context and reduced to very simplistic statements of fact that basically encouraged Jason to view these things as just basic actions devoid of any actual emotion behind them. Then that in turn begs the question of what happens when Jason is forced to look at things through the lens of how they appear when NOT presented as simple headlines read to him by people actively trying to give him their own sales pitch on why his father's way can never work....
And then there's the OTHER side of things where its not just Jason and his choices to consider, but Dick's own views and choices and how Bruce's actions and various other things to happen to Dick in the time since Jason died could and should absolutely play into how he reacts to his brother's miraculous return. Or for instance, the fact that once it stops being taken for granted that Dick didn't care about Jason or consider him family (if like say, Last Laugh is allowed to be entered into evidence), then consider the fact that for Dick, who has lost sooooo many people in his life.....Jason was the very first person he lost since his parents who was FAMILY. His brother.
Jason literally was the thing Dick spent years thinking he would never actually ever have a chance to have again, after his parents died, especially when you factor in that for all Bruce's importance to him and how large a role he played in his life, Bruce never officially clarified and resolved their status as father and son until long after Jason's death. Whereas Dick and Jason BOTH clearly regarded each other as family before his death, by their own admissions.
Now the very first FAMILY that Dick loses after years of thinking he'd already lost all the family he'd ever actually have, added on top of all the other people he's lost in his life.....and now, one of those people, one of his FAMILY, actually comes BACK.....is Dick really a character people see as willing to turn his back on that miracle, on that chance for more time with the family member he got the LEAST time with, but still clearly cared enough about enough to even kill someone HIMSELF
(because again, really think it cant be stressed enough that people can't genuinely talk about how Dick feels about Jason's stance on killing or the fact that Jason has killed people if people aren't willing to acknowledge the fact that Dick himself HAS gotten his hands that bloody, and that blood was literally connected to Jason's loss because it was his murderer's)...
Like, lol, as you can see, I actually have a LOT of thoughts on all of this that go in a bunch of different directions, none of which are ones I typically see views on this matter express, so its taking me a bit to sort through them all. But I'll get there! Hopefully this serves as a placeholder for now, but in terms of the question you presented, my answer is no, I don't see Dick allowing it to be a dealbreaker preventing him from having his brother in his life in some way or another, though I don't think that means he'd LIKE the fact that Jason was killing, or be shy about expressing his opinion on that, I just think.....I don't see it playing out as simply as all that, and that's the part that's taking awhile to get down on paper. There's a very specific conversation I would love love LOVE to see happen between Dick and Jason that presents Dick as having a very different POV on Jason's killing than I've seen elsewhere, I just have to lay the groundwork for that so I make sure I stress the particular nuance I see as making all the difference.
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Five boys the Batfamily scared off (And the one boy who helped Marinette get revenge on them all)
This is actually based off a prompt/ask I got by #vixen-Uchiha
Okay, believe it or not, I’ve in history of all my days writing fanfiction (I just turned 27 and have been writing since I was sixteen); I started when Twilight was still at the height of its popularity. (All that work has been deleted, burned, and doused with holy water; don’t ask questions) But even with almost a decade of writing fanfiction, I never even considered approaching this fanfiction classic.
Until now.
Wish me luck. And don’t judge me too harshly.
Note this was also inspired by a poem I loved called To the Boys Who May One Day Date My Daughter by Jesse Parent
Marinette always knew Tom was her step-father. Sabine and he married when she was three after all. And while she considered the great cuddly bear to be her dad, she still had a great relationship with her actual father: Bruce Wayne. And all her brothers and Sister. She spent every summer with them and every other Christmas in Gotham. She loved her family. She just wished they take a chill pill.
And stop scaring away her freaking boyfriends.
Lê Chiến Kim: The Boy who swears Marinette’s related to the Boogieman
If anyone asked Marinette now if she would ever date Kim, she’d have died of laughter. Kim was like a goofy cousin. They were great friends. Their moms were best friends. She just didn’t see him like that.
However, it wouldn’t have been so funny to six-year-old Marinette who ran from school with a Daisy in her hair and a big smile her face.
“Daddy, Daddy,” She’d squeal to her Papa later that day. She barely noticed he was still wearing bat uniform, except the mask. Or all her brothers were with him.
“Hey Sunshine,” Bruce smiled lovingly at his youngest daughter. “You have a good day at school.”
“Give ‘em hell, firecracker,” Jason called from the background.
Tim and Dick laughed. Bruce just shook his head amused.
“I got a boyfriend!”
Silence.
That day would forever be known as the day all the smiles died. Seven-year-old Damian just blinked in confusion. He didn’t know what had happened but he knew it was bad. And that it involved his sister. Was she in danger? Did she need help?
Before Bruce could process or respond to his precious, baby girl, who was way too young to date (And what the hell was Sabine thinking?). Dick literally pushed him out of his chair like it was nothing. “What’s his name? Who are his parents? Where does he live? And where can I find him right now?”
Marinette, being too young didn’t notice the threat in her eldest brother’s voice and the look of murder in his eyes, had no problem telling Dick all about her best friend Kim, who was super nice, and gave her a Daisy, and kissed her cheek.
When the call ended, Bruce brought up the picture of the boy in question. A nice-enough looking boy to most, but he knew the truth. He knew the evil in his heart.
I have been waiting for you, Bruce thought, not just to Kim but to all the boys who would day date his daughter, since before she was even born. Before you took your first steps, I was preparing to make it so you’d never walk again.
However, Kim was still just a child. He needed a kinder touch. He looked back at his children: Dick, Jason, Cassandra, Tim, and Damian, and made his choice.
When Dick showed up to walk her to the school the next day, Marinette didn’t think to question how her brother got from Gotham to Paris so quick. (Cough, misuse of Zeta beam). Or why he was dressed in all black with a scary biker jacket on. She just shrugged and let him help her tie her shoes and carry her bright pink, hello kitty, and backpack.
He held her hand the entire way to school, where Kim and his dad were waiting by the doors. Kim had another daisy in his hand that he gave to Marinette.
“This is Dick,” Marinette introduced her brother. “My biggest brother. This is Kim, my boyfriend,” Kim preened. “Look, Dick, Kim got me another daisy.”
Dick beamed at his sweet little sister, “I see. Hey! Isn’t that you’re friend Rose? Why don’t you go show her?”
“Okay!” And she ran off.
As soon as she was gone, Dick’s smile quickly disappeared and he glared at the little Casanova, and his father, who felt like someone had just walked over his grave.
“My sister is a little young for a serious boyfriend,” Dick hissed. “Don’t you think? Don’t want her to grow up too fast, right?” The two could only nod in fear. “Good. Don’t hurt her. Don’t make her cry. Because I’d hate to have to have another talk with you, Chiến. It might not go as… nicely.” And with that, he left to go find his sister, leaving two terrified people in in wake.
That conversation would be the reason Kim broke up with Marinette over recess but to the girl’s dismay and why the boy wouldn’t allowed to date for another ten years.
Looking back Kim would swear darkness and shadows started to fill the schoolyard. That Marinette’s older brother’s voice got deeper and his eyes turned completely black. He had been a living nightmare, one that would haunt his dreams for years.
Marinette wouldn’t get another boyfriend for years.
Chat Noir aka Adrien Agreste; The Boy who just didn’t want to Get Neutered
Marinette never considered Adrien or Chat Noir her boyfriend. He had been her best friend, her partner, and for a long time, her crush. However, before Marinette found out who was behind the mask, and he earned the title of her best friend in the whole world.
Chat Noir had the title of Guy who can’t take a hint.
They had been just thirteen at the time. Chat had been spending for more and more time flirting with Ladybug and joking around then actually taking the fight seriously. And when he wouldn’t get the response he wanted from his Lady, he’d pout or throw a tantrum and storm off. It had been getting to be a real hassle. And as much as she liked Chat, she had been seriously considering Master Fu’s offer of getting her a permanent partner to replace him.
Then one day if all change. All the silly behavior, most of it anyway, and the constant flirting all stopped and never started back up. It would take Marinette months to find out why.
Unbeknownst to Marinette, her Papa, Bruce had been keeping a watchful eye on the deteriorating situation. The flirting, his daughter’s frustration, the lack of care. It had to be stopped. Chat Noir had a few lessons to learn.
Bruce glared harshly at the image of the cat-themed Superhero. He was proving to be a useless partner for Ladybug. And a prime example for a sexual harassment claim. “You’re sure you can handle this,” He asked son.
Damian scoffed, “I will teach that alley cat the true meaning of fear.”
“Go.”
When his son was gone and Bruce was once again alone in the Batcave, he smirked darkly at Chat Noir and all other boys who would come and go. “When you were still playing war in the school yard, I was perfecting headshots. You can’t catch up at this point.”
One night, after a particularly hazardous fight with an Akuma, Chat Noir had been running home when suddenly everything went dark.
He woke up, tied upside down, and gagged. For a few moments he thought Hawkmoth had finally gotten, wondered if this was the end.
When a sword pressed against his throat, and a chilling voice whispered in his ear, “Care to find out just how many lives you really have, fleabag?”
At the moment, Chat Noir no longer wondered if it was the end. He knew it was.
A boy, Robin, he realized glared fiercely at him.
“I should kill you,” Robin sneered. “I should rip you limb from limb and leave your head mounted on a spike to show the next fool who thought he was worthy of my sister’s hand. Ladybug is too good for the likes of scum like you.”
Chat Noir gulped. Sister? Ladybug was Robin’s sister. Adrien’s eyes widened, that meant Ladybug was Batman daughter. He was going to die. He was just going to disappear and his father, or most likely Nathalie, wouldn’t even notice until he failed to show up for his next appointment.
Gorilla would notice though, Adrien thought, he’d miss me.
Robin pressed the tip of the sword to Adrien’s face until blood was drawn. “You will cease your incessant flirting with my sister. You will train harder for your battles. And you never, ever, leave Ladybug to fight alone again. Am I clear?”
Adrien nodded his head earnestly. He’d never flirt with anyone again, he swore. He wouldn’t even celebrate Valentine’s Day. Or anything.
“And if for some miracle,” Robin hissed, “My sister deems you suitable to date, you will treat her will respect. You will never touch her without permission. And if you hurt her, Consider my genes a mark of Cain; you will suffer seven times whatever you do to her.”
Chat Noir whimpered.
A smoke bomb later. Chat Noir’s bonds were released and Robin was gone.
It took a long time for him to stop shaking.
He never flirted with Ladybug again. He worked harder and became the partner she deserved.
And when Adrien discovered Marinette was behind Ladybug’s mask, he only managed to stumble a little.
However, when Marinette told him that her brothers was coming for a visit; she couldn’t understand why he paled and stuttered out excuses for photoshoot he never mentioned before in far, far away countries. That same day, Adrien had his father taken them to Australia for vacation under the threat of Adrien dying his hair pink. He wouldn’t return for a month.
Jon Kent: The Boy who, in retrospect, really should’ve known better.
Marinette’s first real boyfriend was the son of her father’s best friend, Clark Kent, otherwise known as Superman. She had been only fourteen and it had been a summer romance while she stayed in Gotham. She had thought Jon was perfect; handsome, kind, funny…
Invulnerable to most weapons and had amazing healing factor.
Plus it’s not like her papa would kill the son of his best friend, right?
Right.
It had all been going great… until it wasn’t.
“I welcome you in my home,” Bruce hissed at the picture of Jon Kent on the bat computer. “I trained you. I trusted you. And you betrayed me.”
“Let me speak with him, father,” Damian demanded. “He is my friend. He will listen to me.”
Bruce shook his head, “That’s why I can’t send you. You’re too close to the situation. He snuck past all our defense. Now I have no choice but to do same. J?”
The Asian girl smirked, “Little Superboy will know dread.”
Jon had been visiting the fortress of Solitude when… it happened.
Before that day he had never dreamed the place would be anything less than safe, anything other than secure.
His dad had just flown off to help someone in Brazil. Jon waited patiently for him to come back while he dreamed of his beautiful new girlfriend. Marinette was amazing, perfect, and the nicest, sweetest girl ever.
When suddenly he felt a tickle in his throat, and he tried his best to clear it but it just got worse and worse. Until Jonathan Samuel Kent, Superboy (now that Connor was going as Krypton), fell to his knees as he struggled to breath.
No matter what he did, the more breaths he took, the worse he felt. It was like his lungs were on fire.
“Do not struggle,” A voice said. Jon looked up see Blackbat, Cassandra, standing above him. How did she get into the fortress? Not only could only a Kryptonian open the doors but only a member of El could be let in. It was impossible. “Struggling makes it worse.”
Jon coughed, “What?”
“The air,” Cassandra waved her hand around. “It is filled with dust. Green dust of Kryptonite. It has disable you and your powers. It’s concentrated. You will not die. The alerts of the fortress were disabled. No one is coming to help you, villain.”
Jon shook his head frantically. He wasn’t a villain. He wasn’t a bad guy. This had to be some mistake.
“No, not villain,” Cassandra corrected. “Not yet. A thief who thought he could earn my family’s trust and then steal away our most precious jewel; our princess. And do it without consequences. I am here to teach you better.”
Superboy flinched at her words.
“You will not pressure my sister,” Cassandra hissed. “You will be the gentleman we believed you to be. If you cheat on her, I will ensure you never have children. If you strike her, I will know. She will not keep your secret. You can’t make fire feel afraid. And I will come for you. Do you understand?”
Jon nodded, fear in clear in his eyes.
“Good.” She leaned forward, right into the young superhero’s face. “Some say you and your father, your cousin Kara, and Connor, are invincible. That you can’t be stopped. That you are gods among us.” She scoffed. “Let me make this, if you break my sisters’ heart, you will learn, boy of steel, that even gods bleed.”
And then she was gone, and with her all traces of kryptonite. It didn’t stop the chill that filled Jon to the core.
It was to no one’s surprise when Superman showed up at the Batcave not long after. “Bruce,” Clark asked with his arms out. “What the fuck?”
Marinette’s relationship soured when suddenly Jon was too scared to hold her hand, her be alone with her, or kiss her. She got the hint that he just wanted to be friends and broke it.
She found out a year later what really happened.
Luka Couffaine: The Boy who decided he didn’t want to sing his tune yet.
Luka had been Marinette’s first serious boyfriend. She was sixteen. They had been together for months and were getting to the ‘I love you’ stage.
He was cool. He was funny. He was a budding Rock star. He had dyed green hair, tattoos and earrings. Luka went onto tour with his band every summer. He was older than Marinette by two years. He had quite a few previous girlfriends. And he hadn’t been scared off by the normal attempts by his other kids.
In other words, he was Bruce Wayne’s worst nightmare.
And the nightmare got worse, when for the first time ever, Marinette was bringing a boyfriend home for Christmas. It was all the confirmation he needed that the things were serious.
It was why he knew he had to send the greatest soldier he had. Luka Couffaine would rue the day he decided it was good idea to ask his princess out. “Are you ready?”
Tim nodded. “I’ve done my research,” he declared. “I know what makes him to tick. I. Will. Break. Him.”
“Excellent,” He drawled out the word like it he tasting fine wine. Not caring at all that he sounded like a superman.
“You really think he’s a threat, dad?” Tim asked. “Because I can take care of it. I can have him eliminated. Ra's al ghul owes me a favor. It’ll look like an accident,” He promised. “It’ll look like he just… disappeared.”
A sense of pride filled Bruce. Tim was his most capable and resourceful soldier. He would make a great batman. Any of his kids would.
Batman stared the picture of the boy on his phone as he fought the urge to crush it in his hands. “No,” he finally answered. “I’ve known plenty of rock stars and so called bad boys in my day. Angel’s smart,” he said using Marinette’s codename. “I have been routing out indifference apathy from her life, her childhood was filled with love and affection. There are no daddy issue for his teenage talons to latch upon. Just… make sure he understands who he is dealing with.”
“Understood.” And then call ended.
He looked up and saw all the other Justice League members staring at him with expressions of awe, fear, and confusion.
“…Marinette’s got a new boyfriend, huh?” Diana asked when the call disconnected. Amusement in her tone, she knew Bruce would never seriously hurt a kid.
“Poor guy,” Barry said with a shake of his head.
Clark pinched his nose, “You can’t keep scaring guys away from her forever. Eventually, she’s going to find one who isn’t afraid of you.”
“And then she’ll marry him out of spite,” Dinah added.
There were snorts from the other league members.
“Like that’ll ever happen,” Oliver said with a shake of his head. “That kid would have to be the biggest moron in the universe. I’ll pity his family.”
Marinette had constantly warned Luka about how overprotective her family was. Luka hadn’t thought much of it. He dealt with overprotective fathers and brothers before. Eventually they grudging begin to like him. Or realize that if they actively hated him, it would just make the girl get attached.
He was excited for Christmas, excited to prove himself to the girl of his dreams, and impress her by dealing with her entire family. Luka didn’t understand why Adrien looked so afraid when he told him. Or why he asked what type of flowers he liked.
“For the funeral,” Adrien shrugged. “I need to know what to buy.”
Luka had laughed, thinking the blond was joking. He had already met a two of her brothers; Dick and Damian. They had been growls and threats but nothing he couldn’t handle. But Adrien didn’t laugh. He just shook his head and promised he’d be there for Juleka. Luka thought he was overreacting.
However, nothing. NOTHING. Could have prepared Luka for the first time he met Tim.
Luka had been walking home with Kagami, his long-time friend and one-time rival for Marinette’s affection. It was board daylight, there were tons of people around, and then they had made the apparent mistake of walking by an alley, when suddenly they were pulled into the back of a van, hoods thrown over their heads, and their hands bounds.
He didn’t know how much time had passed. Or where they were being taken. All he saw was darkness. All he felt was fear. Was this how died?
When the hoods were finally removed, the two teenagers found themselves in what looked to be a deserted warehouse, bound to their chairs, with a teenage boy not much older than they sitting across from them, looking absurdly comfortable given the situation.
My name is Timothy Drake-Wayne. I am Marinette’s older brother,” He said. “Let me make something clear before we begin. The last hour never happened. This conversation never happened. We never met. And if you say otherwise,” Tim’s eyes narrowed. “No one will believe you. I was just by dozens of witnesses in Mexico with my boyfriend less than two hours ago. But if you do tell anyone, there will be consequences. Do you understand?”
They nodded not daring to say a word.
“Luka, Luka, Luka.” Tim smiled an eerie grin that should look more at home on the monsters from Horror movies, and not on such a handsome face. “I hear you’ll be visiting us over the holidays. Must be so exciting for you, meeting your girlfriend’s family. Are you excited, Luka?”
Luka swallowed hard. He never thought he’d hate the way his own name sounded. “I was- I mean I am. I am.”
“Good,” Tim said. “I just wanted to offer you a bit of advice. So you can know to expect. You see it call all be a bit… daunting to newcomers. Some people don’t understand the Wayne family’s unique tastes. Okay?”
He nodded.
Tim still smiled. In fact he never lost his smile the entire time. Yet his eyes were empty like there was no real life in them. “When you first come to my home, you will see the bone carving over the doorway. It will be hard, but try not to imagine your own femurs so expertly carved.”
At this Kagami’s eyes widened. She had done her best to remain calm but somethings were too much.
Tim smile widened, “There are one or two rooms you will not be allowed in. However, accidents happen and we understand. But we do ask that you pay no attention to our… ample crawl space. Or the smells that can sometime come from it.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Luka stuttered. “Sure, no problem. Man.”
“Try not to go into Father’s playroom,” Tim continued on. “It will be easy to spot. It’s mostly empty, apart from a rubber mat and a drain. He gets so testy when stranger go in there. You’ll hear strange noise from time to time but just ignore them. That is just father… playing.”
The green-haired boy just stared. Because what the fuck.
“Just follow that advice, and you should be fine,” Tim promised. “Though you are a pretty one. You both are. And we like pretty ones. Oh the things we do to pretty ones”
Luka whimpered. Kagami felt tears build in her eyes.
Tim laughed, “Now, now, none of that,” He said channeling his inner Brucie. “We’re not going to hurt. We’d never hurt Marinette’s friends.” He promised. “We would hurt people who hurt Marinette because people who hurt Marinette are not her friends.”
Red Robin looked over the two, “What I’m trying to say is. Break my sister’s heart, and we will kill you. I will kill you. You won’t see if coming. You won’t know we’re there. And if you’re lucky, you might not even feel it. Clear?” They nodded. “Excellent. Now you’re going to leave the same way you came. Remember not a word.” He smiled got even bigger.
They felt hands on their shoulders.
“Oh and Kagami,” Tim’s voice rang. “Should romantic feelings spring to life between you and Marinette again, just know our sister Cassandra is much scarier than I. And a much better shot.”
Then the black hoods and complete darkness came gain.
When they were finally let go, in the exact same place they had been taken, neither Luka nor Kagami spoke for what seemed like forever. Their minds still wrapping around what had just taken place. However, it was Kagami who finally broke the quiet.
“Well, it appears I dodge a bullet, huh,” She shrugged, her face not betraying the fear she still felt. “Sucks for you. I’m going to go propose to Chloe. I know can I take her mom in a fight. And that she’s not a serial killer.” Kagami then gave him a grave look. “Happy holiday, Luka. I’ll send best flowers to your funeral.” And the she was gone, literally fleeing down the crowded street, leaving Luka alone with his thoughts and sense of his impending doom.
He broke up with Marinette an hour later.
It would take weeks before he would willingly be in a room with her again.
Kaldur'ahm: The Boy who regretted ever walking on land.
Marinette had met her next boyfriend through her brother Tim. Ironic, considering she had just found out what he did to Luka. She had gone in for some extra training with the Black Canary when she spotted him. Kaldur; aqualad. Marinette had never talked too much with him before but found he was a very calm person and level-headed. A good leader, no matter how much Tim complained.
They had spared together one day. And another. And Another. Then he asked her out. It was sweet… While it lasted. And it didn’t last long.
Batman had looked at Kaldur’s picture, scoffed, and said, “Jason?”
The sound of a gun clocking was heard, “Little Mermaids going down.”
Unlike his brothers, Redhood had no time for mind games. He went for the quickest route.
Aquaman burst into room where the justice league meeting was, “He shot Kaldur,” He roared to Batman. “The Red Hood shot Aqualad!”
Bruce didn’t bat an eye, “Is he alive?”
“Yes,” The King of the seas said quickly. “But that’s not point.”
“Seems like it is,” Bruce said and went on with the meeting leaving a stuttering, red-faced Aquaman still standing there.
It was to one’s surprise when Kaldur dumped Marinette and was gone. Disappeared to the safety of Atlantis. And when he came back, Marinette was barred from Young Justice Headquarters.
It was on that day, that Marinette Dupain-Cheng-Wayne decided enough was enough.
Roy Harper-Queen: The Boy who should start making better life choices
It was weird to say but Marinette met the boy who would turn out to be the love of her life when she was ten-years-old. And then sometime after her eighteenth birthday, she would team up with his clone to go rescue him. They became friends, went on missions together. It was a year later that he asked her out.
Roy was pissed at the world, ready to die for anything if it meant he’d went fight, had a rude mouth, feared nothing and no one, and didn’t play by anyone’s rule but his own. In other words, he was perfect.
Marinette just never meant to fall in love. She certainly didn’t expect to say yes when proposed.
They had been keeping their relationship a secret from both their families for over two years. They were happy together. They loved each other.
But more importantly, they could plot revenge together.
And revenge was sweet.
It all played out during a Justice League meeting. Roy, Red Arrow, and Ladybug had been full members for quite some time. The meeting was just about to close, when Roy stood up, “I have an announcement to make,” He said. “Red Arrow will be withdrawing from missions for the perceivable future. As will Ladybug,” He looked at Marinette who nodded firmly.
“What’s going on, Roy?” Oliver asked his once wayward son, with a frown.
Batman eyed them suspiciously. As did the other members of the batfamily, all were present. Apart from Alfred because Marinette liked Alfred.
Wonder Woman frowned, “Are you going solo again, I thought you were happy.”
“We’re fine. We’re very happy,” Roy said slowly before taking a deep breath and doing the bravest thing he ever would in his entire life. “Ladybug’s pregnant and I’m the father.”
A few seconds passed before the words were processed in the Superheroes mind.
Bruce’s eyes widened, his mind stopped working, and then a snarl ripped form his throat as he moved to attack. The batkids joining him.
“Alpha Code Angelbug” Flash shouted.
That was all the other league need to go into defensive positions around Roy, against the batfamily. Marinette remained where she was with glee in her eyes. Superman stood in front of Roy, blocking him from view and potential danger.
The Flash, Cyborg, Black Canary, Wonder Woman, and the Green Arrow stood in front of them. Oliver aimed at arrow at Batman, “Don’t move!” He yelled. “Don’t you dare move, Bruce. I’ll do it. Roy’s my son. And I won’t let you hurt him.”
Batman growled, “He. I. My daughter!”
“Get Roy out of here, Superman,” Wonder Woman ordered. “We’ll hold him off but we can’t do it for long.” She stepped towards Bruce. “Marinette’s a grown woman. She makes her own choices.”
Dick shook his head, anger clear on his face, “Dude, you were my friend.”
Damian snarled, “Harper’s a sneak and a coward.”
“No honor,” Cassandra agreed.
Jason just looked at his best friend, “I love you…. But you’re dead.”
Tim just growled.
“No one’s dead or dying,” Marinette said as got up. “Because I’m not pregnant,” She said loudly, drawing everyone’s attention. She walked to her boyfriend and pulled him out from behind his shield. “But Roy and I have been dating for almost three years. And we’re getting married. You can be happy for us. Or I can never talk to you again.”
Roy grinned, “Pops,” he said to Oliver, whose face was torn between relief and fury at it was prank. “We thought you and Bruce could be the main wedding planners. With the rest of the Queens and Waynes helping out; you know now that we’re going to be family. ”
With that the two lovebird left the room, leaving the chaos they had created.
Silence filled the room as Batman and Green Arrow stared at the other.
Oliver gulped. He let out a breathy chuckle, “So I think a wedding in Star City would be great. Lots of Lilies. The Queen family loves lilies.”
Batman’s eyes narrowed, “Gotham, roses.”
Black Canary crossed her arms, “Star City would be safer.”
“Gotham is far more beautiful,” Tim snapped back.
And just like that, battle lines were drawn. Justice League members’ face turned weary.
Whether they knew it or not, that was Marinette and Roy’s last act of revenge.
Forget Batman vs Superman.
Try Bruce Wayne versus Oliver Queen: billionaire against billionaire, father against father. Elsewhere, thousands of journalist, photographers, florists, and caterers trembled and they didn’t know why.
#LadyArrow#Marienette Dupain Cheng#Marinette deserves better#batfamily#oliver queen#roy harper#Tim Drake#cassandra cain#dick grayson#damian wayne#jason todd#ml fic#ml salt#vixen-uchiha
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ohoho my goodness okay so for the prompt thing I think it’s be cool if you wrote something about the batfam being absolute trash at board games because detective skills get you no where in candy land. Maybe they’re just playing among themselves and those who haven’t been in the vigilante business as long as the others are better at it or maybe they’re playing with the jla, that’s up to you! No pressure tho, I’d just like to see where you’d go with this. I hope you’re well!
Thanks for the prompt, it was certainly an interesting one to try and come up with scenarios for and I apologise that it’s taken so long to answer this!!
So this basically ended up being the batfam playing different board games and roasting each other, hope that’s okay because it may not be what you had in mind.
Hopefully you’ll enjoy it nonetheless! :D
“Well this is just unrealistic.” Tim comments scowling at the board on the floor in front of him.
Next to him Steph lets out a long groan and cradles her face in her hands in frustration. “It’s a board game Tim! It’s not supposed to be realistic.”
“You’re just mad because you guessed wrong and are now out of the game.” Harper laughs at him from her position opposite him. “Tim Drake, a sore loser, who knew?”
“I’m not a sore loser!” Tim almost yells back feeling himself get worked up in both anger and embarrassment. “This game is stupid.”
“Because you lost.”
“Because it’s unrealistic.”
“I would have thought this game was right up your street dude, but obviously not.” Duke says from Tim’s right, looking a bit despondent at this revelation. Tim sends him a glare, not appreciating his input in the conversation.
Duke isn’t fazed by it, he ignores the look and gestures at the board in front of them. “Cluedo is a detective game and you’re a detective, how did you get it wrong?”
To stop himself from lashing out at Duke, Tim forces himself to take a deep breath. He is getting ridiculously wound up over this stupid game and the others with their goading isn’t helping matters.
“You know why,” Steph remarks with a smirk, “because that giant ass brain of his over thought it all and since he over analysed it, he got it wrong.”
There’s moment of silence in the room after Steph stops talking. Tim huffs at her statement but finds that he really can’t argue against it because that’s probably exactly what happened.
Steph leans back onto her elbows so she’s sprawled out over the floor, “it’s just a game, there’s no need to get so defensive over it. It’s supposed to be a bit of fun with a little mystery involved.”
That elicits a snort from Harper. She gives the blonde a disbelieving side look. “Have you seen yourself when playing Mario Kart? I’ll be sure to use those exact words next time you’re putting a sailor to shame for the language you come out with when a blue shell hits you.”
Steph rolls her eyes. “I’m not that bad.”
“You totally rival Jason when it comes to mouthing off at Mario Kart Steph. Don’t deny it.” Tim says, contributing to the conversation. He’s pleased that the topic has moved away from him and onto Steph.
Steph opens her mouth to respond but Duke beats her to it. He waves his note pad around wildly. “As fun as it is to roast one another, there’s a game here still to be played.”
Grumbling underneath her breath Steph sits back up and the four of them continue with the game at hand, or at least the three others do. Tim had guessed wrong and now has to sit by to watch, but on the bright side he gets to judge all of their movements now knowing the truth.
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The grimace that crosses his face is entirely instinctual as soon as he sees what box is placed down on the table. With a quick glance around he sees three other’s mirroring his look. Dick opens his mouth to make the comment of why the chosen game may not be wise but instead he shuts his mouth and keeps quiet. He figures they need to learn somehow, being told what to expect is different to actually experiencing it.
It’s currently a rare Sunday afternoon when a majority of the family is over at the Manor at the same time. It’s probably because of the weather that everyone has unintentionally gathered together in the media room, with it heavily raining no one really wants to go adventuring outside.
Dick finds himself surrounded by his younger siblings, some of the extended family they’ve adopted over time and Bruce himself. All of them now sitting around the table after deciding to play a board game together.
That probably should have been the first warning sign. Dick really ought to know better but he had been distracted by the feeling of having all of his family around for once when no one has been injured or the reason why they’re together being a life-threatening crisis.
The decision of what board game to play takes almost twenty minutes to decide. Even then they hadn’t actually decided what to play, it got decided that everyone would place a game of their choice into a hat and it would get chosen at random.
That’s when the worst one of the bunch got chosen. Dick could see the same look he was wearing appearing on his brother’s faces.
Monopoly. That’s the game that’s been decided.
“Is it safe to assume that today is the end of the batfamily?” Steph comments with a laugh.
Almost everyone around the table gives her an odd look and only a couple chuckle along with her. From past experiences when playing this game, Dick knows it’s not the falling out part that’s the issue, the main issue is that Bruce absolutely dominates the game every time. It’s no fun playing with his adoptive father, this is something he’s learnt the hard way. His brothers also had learnt this the hard way, that being the explanation behind the grimaces they all share.
“I would rather play literally anything else.” Tim states boldly looking around, though his eyes often flicker to Bruce.
The two seats to his right are occupied by a confused looking Duke and Cass. “Why? Monopoly’s not so bad, sure it’s long and can get tedious. We’ve played this game before.”
Tim sends him a pointed look but it’s Jason who speaks up from the opposite side of the table. “Yeah sure, but that’s because you haven’t played with Bruce before. You’ll come to despise this game by the end of today.”
“Father gets rather self-assertive when playing this particular game. While I admire his skills and efficiency of winning this so-called game, father tends to take the apparent competition away any time he plays.” Damian claims from his position on Jason’s left.
The youngest Wayne is now scowling at the box on the table with obvious resentment from past experiences.
If Duke looked confused before, now he seems utterly baffled.
“Oh I’m not that bad.” Bruce declares sounded offended. Dick knows him better however, he’s completely faking it. He knows exactly what he’s like with this game.
“Bruce will literally bankrupt everyone within like five rounds of this game.” Tim says glancing around.
Silence falls over them after that and it feels like everyone is deciding whether they should in fact play or not. Of course the earlier members of the family know exactly what’s in store for them if they do play but the newer members don’t.
In the end Steph stands up and grabs the box, clearly stating she doesn’t care and can they just get on with it because staring at one another isn’t getting them anywhere. As the board gets set up Dick shares a knowing, helpless look with his brothers. Well they have to learn at some point.
Three hours later, half of those around the table have their heads in their heads and were wearing disbelieving looks on their faces. It’s as funny as it is depressing.
“This is ridiculous,” Steph mutters glaring at the table, “this is so unfair.”
“Well, I’ll do the honours by saying; we told you so.” Tim gloats with a smirk at the blonde. Steph decidedly glares at Tim instead of the table.
Jason bark of laughter causes Dick to crack at grin at the various of reactions the family is having to Bruce’s domination of the game. The man is stacked with money, having nearly owned every property on the board and has practically bankrupted three quarters of them by now.
“This is why you don’t play Monopoly with Bruce. Hope you all learned your lesson now!” Dick laughs.
There’s a low groan from Duke who soon mumbles out, “Yeah just a bit….”
-----------
“Whoever decided this game can go to hell…” Tim mutters underneath his breath scowling at the paper in front of him.
Next to him Jason snorts. “You only say that because you know who chose this game.”
“My point still stands.”
“Enough.” Dick dejects in an attempt to stop an argument from happening. “Knock it off, we’ve all had our turns to choose and now it’s his turn.”
“But he can’t even play it right!” Tim whines, it’s like he’s a child throwing a tantrum.
“Y’know, no one is making you play.” Duke points out from his spot on the floor, his focus is on the paper in his hands as he continues to draw whatever he needs to.
Tim huffs and kicks his leg out, successfully knocking Duke off balance. Duke doesn’t rise to the bait, he simply grabs Tim’s ankle and shoves it away. “Real mature Tim.”
“Tim likes to complain when things aren’t going his way, he’s immature like that.” Steph comments with a laugh. Next to her Cass is smiling away as she nods her in agreement.
A group of them has gathered into the living room of Dick’s apartment on a slow evening and all have sprawled out across the place. Jason, Dick and Tim are sharing a sofa with Duke perched on a cushion by their feet on the floor. Steph and Cass were sprawled out on the second couch and Damian is adjacent to them all sitting in the love seat.
It’s been a recent between them all, having game nights and taking in turns to choose what is to be played. This time happens to be Damian’s turn and the youngest has chosen to play Pictionary.
It’s a good game, one that is generally enjoyed by the majority of the family, however, what Tim had been referring to, is that when playing with Damian, he tends to lose the point of the game. He takes every drawing too seriously and spends an unreasonable amount of time on each word.
Because it’s Damian, every drawing has to be perfect before he shows them or even hints at what he’s drawing. They’ve tried to explain to him multiple times that the drawings don’t have to be perfect, as long as they are recognisable then that’s all that matters, but the kid refuses to listen.
It can make playing with him very frustrating.
Him, Jason and Tim are used to it, but it seems like Duke and the girls are all taking it in stride. They only get through a couple rounds within like an hour thanks to Damian and it’s getting to the point where Dick is beginning to think that Damian is actually doing it on purpose because he can see how much it’s riling up Tim.
Brotherly love right there.
They’re just finishing off the third round and sharing their terribly drawn pictures with one another. Duke holds his piece of paper up with a sheepish smile, “I tried okay. It wasn’t easy.”
“What is that?” Damian demands as he squints at the mess of blue squiggles on the page.
“It’s supposed to be a sunrise, my word was morning but no one got it.”
“Tt, that’s not a surprise Thomas as that looks nothing like a morning, or a sunrise for that matter.”
“Well, jeeze, thanks Damian. I only had 60 seconds to come up with something and draw it.”
When Damian tuts in obvious displeasure, Dick simply rubs a hand over his face. That kid… he loves him, he does but sometimes he certainly makes it difficult to do so. While Duke is still new to the family, he’s been around long enough to get a feel for what Damian can be like. He simply rolls his eyes and turns the paper away.
“Cass what is that supposed to be?”
Jason’s question to Cass gets his attention, he looks in their direction to find Jason frowning at the piece of paper Cass is showing him. His sister shrugs not looking at all embarrassed with her attempts to draw whatever it’s supposed to be. Dick couldn’t work it out either. As far as he could tell it’s a solid colour of black on the page.
“An eclipse.”
Her answer makes Jason even more confused. “So you decided to colour the whole page black?”
“It creates a shadow…”
“Right.”
In the end Jason shakes his head and leans against the back of the sofa. His expression makes it clear that he’s simply done with everything tonight. Dick snorts at his behaviour before he feels a nudge on his left side.
Tim is looking at him with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t you just love game nights Dick? They’re great right?”
His voice is dripping with sarcasm and Dick restrains himself from commenting on it. He does love game nights with his siblings but they sure as hell make it a challenge sometimes. All of them do. Not one of them is innocent.
But as he looks around at the scene he knows he wouldn’t change it. While not all of them are currently present, game nights are an opportunity to hang out outside of the masks, any public personas they play and any emergencies that may be happening.
Dick leans back against the sofa and mumbles underneath his breath as he watches Duke and Damian bicker about the art of drawing under pressure and about how to play the game correctly. “I actually do, yeah.”
#prompt#batfamily#board games#this is them roasting one another really#dick grayson#Tim Drake#Stephanie Brown#Jason Todd#Damian Wayne#duke thomas#others#fanfiction#i hope you like this#i had to actually google how to play some of these games haha#humour#annoying siblings#brotherly bonding#family bonding
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In Hindsight: Chapter 4: Fifteen Years Earlier... Chained
In Hindsight: Chapter 4: Fifteen Years Earlier... Chained by C_R_Scott Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tim Drake/Tam Fox, Jack Drake/Janet Drake, Janet Drake & Tim Drake, Jack Drake & Tim Drake, Lucius Fox/Tanya Fox, Tim Drake & Tam Fox Characters: Tim Drake, Tam Fox, Janet Drake, Jack Drake, Lucius Fox, Bruce Wayne Additional Tags: Tim Drake-centric, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Family Feels, Childhood Friends, Childhood Trauma, Childhood Memories, Childhood Sweethearts, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Good Parent Janet Drake, Bad Parent Jack Drake, no beta we die like robins, Bruce Wayne Tries to Be a Good Parent
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Story Summary:
What if bleeding out in a Middle Eastern hotel room was not the first time Timothy Drake-Wayne and Tamara Fox met? What if they were actually childhood best friends, but life and circumstance forced them apart for years to the point of forgetting each other?
Concept/Prompt: What if Tim Drake was originally raised by his maternal grandmother for the first eight years of his life due to "circumstances" involving his biological parents? What if Tim's grandmother was also the next door neighbor and occasional sitter for Lucius Fox's family?
Chapter Summary: Susan Klein and her daughter have just returned home after spending the last five hours at Gotham Children's Hospital with her barely two-year old grandson. A breaking point is about to be reached.
"Why don't you leave him?"
"I still love him."
"He threw a glass at you while you were holding your son!"
"It was an... accident."
"Timber has six stitches and a bottle of prescription pain meds that don't care if it was an 'accident' or not, which we both know it wasn't!"
Though Susan and Janet were trying very hard to stay quiet as they whispered to each other outside the closed door to Timothy's bedroom in Susan's home, the Klein matriarch struggled to control her volume as the conversation persisted. Recognizing this, she took a step away from her daughter to recompose herself.
Then she motioned for the stairs with a sharp snap of her hand.
As she led her only daughter into the kitchen, they both heard the old grandfather clock chime the midnight hour. They had only just gotten home from Gotham Children's Hospital thirty minutes prior.
"Janie," Susan started as she started filling a teapot with water. "This can't keep happening." After setting the pot on the stove, she leaned against it heavily as she before finally turning on the heat. Then she finally looked at her daughter. "This is the third visit to the ER for him in six months."
Janet Drake nee Klein sat at the breakfast table with her face buried in her hands. "I know."
"Someone's going to report this to CPS soon, if they haven't already tonight."
"I know!" Janet snapped, though the sob in her tone cut any heat that might have initially been behind the words. She bowed her head. "I know," she murmured sadly.
Susan studied her daughter with a critical eye. "You say you can't leave him because you 'love' him, but I know you Janie. What's the real reason you won't leave him?"
Janet shook her head before burying her face in her hands. "He won't give me a get. He won't let me divorce him, and he threatened to fight for full custody of Tim if I force a hearing before the rabbinical court."
As the tea kettle started whistling, Susan venomously cursed the name of her monstrous son-in-law. How DARE he use her daughter's beloved faith as a weapon to against her!
As she turned off the stove and pulled the tea kettle up so she could pour the hot water into her teacups, Susan's mind was working. A solution formed as she watched the fragrant bloom of auburn seep from the teabags into the clear water. It was not an ideal solution. However, while she couldn't do anything her agunah daughter, at least not in this moment, perhaps...
"Janie. I know you're chained to Jack, but would he care if you left Timothy for me to raise?" Susan looked at Janet with grim resolve as her daughter raised her head.
Though her initial expression was stricken, slowly it smoothed over into a stoic resignation. She wiped the tears from her eyes. "I can convince him. It wouldn't be hard." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Timber deserves to grow up safe and free and-" Tears welled up in Janet's eyes again. "-and in a house full of love without fear."
Susan set a teacup in from of her daughter, then bent close to hug her tightly.
Author's Notes:
The Klein household is one of Jewish faith. Janet's religion was always very important to her growing up and into her adulthood. So when she married Jack, it was a traditional Jewish wedding ceremony.
Unfortunately, because it was a traditional Jewish ceremony, seeking a divorce is not a simple matter for her as the wife. In order for her to get a divorce, in keeping with her religion, she needs her husband (Jack) to "grant" her the divorce with a document called a "get" of his own free will. Without the "get", Janet would be unable to remarry, and any children born afterwards with a different man would be considered illegitimate in the eyes of her faith.
In this AU, Jack is an abusive controlling husband, and he refuses to allow his wife to leave him. This has made her an "agunah" or "chained woman" who is now trapped in her religious marriage to Jack.
However, while Jack refuses to allow Janet to leave him, he doesn't really care for his son. Since Tim is so young, Jack actually resents how much time Janet has to spend focused on the boy rather than him. So when Janet offers the option of sending their son to be raised by her mother, so they can have the "freedom" to spend more time together just the two of them on archaeological digs and other work projects, Jack is open to the idea because Janet is voluntarily offering to put focusing on him above caring for Tim.
This, of course, isn't really the case. Janet's primary concern is Tim's safety and wellbeing. She doesn't want to risk her son getting abused (or worse) by Jack, and she is willing to sacrifice her own safety and happiness to make sure he grows up safe and loved, even if she can't be there for him.
#tim drake#tam fox#tim/tam#red robin#fanfiction#wip#rr: in hindsight#batfam#batfamily#lucius fox#bruce wayne
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Batfam/Avengers Crossover Chapter Four: Growing Suspicions
Tagging (Let me know if you want to be tagged): @the-fair-maiden-of-fandom
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Category: Gen
Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Relationships: Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Natasha Romanov & Damian Wayne, Clint Barton & Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tim Drake & Duke Thomas, Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Dick Grayson/Wally West, Roy Harper/Koriand'r/Jason Todd,
Characters: Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon, Justice League (DCU), Alfred Pennyworth, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, Thor (Marvel), Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, Alfred the Cat (DCU), Bat-Cow (DCU), Goliath (DCU), Selina Kyle’s Cat Isis, Kate Kane (DCU), Duke Thomas,
Additional Tags: Batbrothers (DCU), Avengers Meet The Batfam, MCU/Batfam crossover, Crossover, no beta we die like robins, rated T for Jason’s language, I bleeped it out though. Just to be safe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, canon? What’s canon?, Deaf Clint Barton,Deaf Character, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Happy Batfamily (DCU), Birdflash and joyfire are implied/referenced,
Summary: After some questionable comments from Jason regarding murder, some of the Avengers are (understandably) freaked out and untrusting towards the bats. They decide to research their hosts.
Natasha stood to the side as Tim Drake and Stephanie Brown finished sparring. Everyone else was either watching or warming up. Natasha was part of the former.
Their skill was undeniable. She had no doubt that if it came to a real fight, she might not win. They had fought hard for almost five minutes, though Nat could tell it was all in good fun. Their looks of concentration did not hide the easy-going eyes and smiles.
Natasha was honestly unsure of who would win, but then Stephanie pulled out of a flip a split second early and delivered a kick to Tim’s chest. A moment later she had used his off-balance to bring him to the floor. He quickly surrendered when she sat on him with her forearm to his throat.
“That was an interesting kick,” Tim said as Stephanie helped him up. “I wonder who you learned it from.” He glanced over his shoulder to glare at a smirking Damian.
“I’m sorry Drake, is there a problem? Aren’t we all supposed to help each other improve our technique?” Damian was smirking even more at that point.
Tim snorted then walked off to get some water, grumbling as he went.
Stephanie laughed. “Sore loser!” She high fived Damian.
“Could I perhaps have a turn,” Natasha asked when no one seemed to be ready immediately to fight.
Steve stepped forward. “Shall we?”
Natasha groaned inside. Steve was a decent fighter, especially with his shield, but she had been looking forward to a challenge.
Natasha nodded. “Sure, I’d like a warm-up.” This got some chuckles from the teens.
They faced each other and started to circle for a few seconds. When Nat grew bored, she darted forward and struck his shoulder. He twisted and she used it to strike the back of his knee. She delivered a kick to the back of his head and he was on the ground a moment later.
There were several appreciative claps and laughs from the kids. The rest of the Avengers just nodded. They were used to Natasha beating them up.
“Someone needs a better opponent,” Bruce Wayne said. He didn’t smile, but there was a slight upturn on the corner of his mouth. “Damian, why don’t you take a turn. I know you’ve been itching for a fight.”
The boy smiled dangerously, and several of the Avengers laughed. They underestimated him - most likely due to his incredibly short stature - unlike Natasha. There was something strange about him, She had sensed it from the moment she’d laid eyes on him. And she hadn’t forgotten that he was dangerous.
Damian strolled forward and took his position. Natasha followed suit. A moment later Dick gave the mark to start.
Damian was fast . He sprinted forward in an instant and struck Nat’s gut. She barely managed to block, and wasn’t able to dodge the next blow, this time to her shin. She darted out with a counterblow, but he stepped out with his back leg, bringing his arm up to block. A split second later his back leg darted out to land a blow on the back of Natasha’s knee, bringing her down. He smoothly transitioned into bringing a knee up and jumping into a spinning kick landing at Natasha’s head.
Natasha was on the ground for a moment before she rose and resumed her atack. Damian flipped away before advancing once again. He unleashed a sequence of torso blows followed by a front handspring finished with a double kick. Natasha spun to the side and attacked him with multiple strikes across his shoulders and head.
She could tell his style easily. He stuck with torso and leg strikes due to his height, and only used roundabout kicks, which utilized his leg strength. But he was also holding back. Some of his blows were clearly designed to kill, but had been modified to be non life threatening. Perhaps what had been implied earlier was true: the kid had killed.
The fight dragged on, and Natasha couldn’t find an opening. Damian was ruthless in his attacks, and his form impeccable. There were times when Natasha was clearly losing, but she managed to pull back from the brink and keep going. She managed to get a decent combo in before Damian swiped at her head mid flip. She dodged to the side: a pivotal mistake. In the blink of an eye, Damian was at her. He brought her into a headlock, and Nat had no choice but to accept defeat.
They rose together, to the astonished faces of the Avengers. Tony was especially shocked. Apparently, none of them had ever considered that Natasha could be beaten. Let alone by an eleven year old.
“Great Job, both of you.” Dick said. “I haven’t seen anyone stand that long against Damian in a while.”
Damian smiled at her smugly.
Natasha smiled right back. The fight had been invigorating, and she hadn't had to work that hard before. But for the same reason, it was worrying. The kid taught with skill that would have taken years to develop. Damian had clearly been trained from a very young age, which brought a shiver down Natasha's spine. She had flashbacks to the Red Room. The bloody horror that has been her childhood.
No one should have to face that.
*****
They trained for a few more hours, and the mood gradually returned to whatever could be considered normal. The bats - Damian specifically - had declared the Avengers to be woefully under trained when it came to fighting. They did admit that Natasha was good, and Clint decent, however. They had everynight standards.
Everyone - even Banner, much to his dismay - had been roped into a basic hand to hand combat training routine, modified to fit each person's skill level. Natasha had enjoyed her's very much, but after three hard hours, she was grateful for the shower.
They had rejoined in the kitchen after everyone had a chance to bathe and chat for lunch. Natasha had found more clothes placed in her room, this time black ripped jeans and tank top. Nat wondered who they belonged to, they clearly didn't come from Cassandra, Barbara, or Stephanie.
Nat didn’t worry too much about it though. She just wanted food. Pretty much everyone was there, though Tony was behind her in the hallway. Natasha came and sat down on one of the stools, along with Tim and Cass.
Natasha had no doubt.
Wayne was wearing dressy casual slacks and a cashmere sweater, as was Damian. They truly looked identical. Everyone else was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, or some variation thereof.
“I have prepared a meal for you, do tell me if it is unsatisfactory,” Alfred the butler said as he set some food on the table. Everyone thanked the old man, who only smiled.
Natasha ate in peace, not ignoring anyone, but not partaking in conversation either. Then she heard Jason raise his voice.
“Come on Replacement, you know I’m about as dangerous as a butterfly.” He was speaking sarcastically, though Tim didn’t seem to notice.
“Tell that to Black Mask’s henchmen,” he muttered, taking a bite of salad.
Jason snorted. “That was a long time ago, and in my defense, it was his mother’s f***ing fault!”
Damian sat straight upright. “How dare you-”
“You know it's true Dami,” Dick said. “She is malicious, even for an assassin.”
“Can we not talk about Talia over lunch?” Wayne asked, his hands on his temples.
Damian made his t-t sound once again, and continued to eat. Jason shrugged and launched back into a conversation with Tim.
Nat glanced over at Tony and Steve, who were frowning, most likely due to the mention of Damian’s assassin mother. They would be talking about this later, no doubt.
*****
“Did you hear how casually they mentioned it?!” Steve was saying. He had gathered Tony, Nat and Clint with him in one of the libraries, desperate to talk about their hosts.
Tony was nodding while he replied. “This place seems more dangerous than we first thought. I’m not sure if we can trust these … bats .”
Clint frowned. “But they have not actually done anything to harm us. Sure, their methods are questionable, but they are our only way home.”
“The least we can do is gather information,” Tony said. “But be careful. If they really do kill, then they might harm us for questioning them.”
“But what behavior have we seen that would suggest they would do something like that?” Clint insisted. “Sure Jason swears a lot and carries guns, and Damian sharpened his katana quite threateningly, but that is not cause for mistrust!”
“They mentioned assassins! The kid’s mother is an assassin !” Steve said. “That in and of itself is cause for mistrust .”
Natasha chuckled lightly, and Steve’s eyes widened. The three men slowly turned to their resident ex-assassin.
“I’m sorry, Tash,” Steve said. “I didn’t mean you , of course. You’re plenty trustworthy!” Tony couldn’t help but chuckle.
“But that’s exactly what you said,” Cint snapped, growing defensive.
“Steve,” Nat said, sighing. “I understand your worry, I really do. But I’m honestly not worried about us.”
Steve blinked. “Why not?”
“Because when I fought with Damian I could tell his style. He had clearly been trained to kill,” This gained an outraged ‘ahah’ from both Steve and Tony, to which Natahsa shook her head. “He had been trained to kill, yes, but his style was adapted. It was like he was unlearning everything he’d been taught. And I know how that is.”
Clint nodded his head, remembering when he had found Nat, and the months afterward when she had been taken in.
“You’re worried about the kids.” Clint stated.
It wasn’t really a question, but Nat nodded anyway. “He would have had to have been trained for years to be that skilled. And he’s only eleven …” Natasha shook her head. “They mentioned the mother in a way that leads me to believe she isn’t really in his life anymore. If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say she’s the one that trained him, not Bruce Wayne.”
“So he probably isn't abusing the kid, that’s great,” Tony said sarcastically, though Natasha could still direct the relief in his voice. “But what about Jason and Cassandra? I wouldn’t put it past Jason to kill us, honestly. But Cassandra, I don’t know.”
“He mentioned something like manipulation while questioning Thor, so maybe he didn’t mean to?” Clint shook his head. “But he still talked about it so flippantly. I’m not sure about him.”
Natasha nodded. “I agree. Jason seems the most volatile. As for Cassandra, I am honestly not sure. I haven’t seen her fight, nor do anything violent. But the way she moves … in some ways I think she’s the most dangerous of them all.”
Everyone was silent for a moment, thinking. Natasha sat back, having done her piece. After a while, Tony spoke.
“I think we should do our own research. With a team this large, surely there will be plenty of information.”
*****
There was not, in fact, plenty of information. Tony had found a free computer on one of the desks in the library that was most likely meant for public use - it had a sticky note with the password (IAmTheNight) on it - and quickly set up a search.
They had started with the basics: Batman, Gotham Vigilantes. But there really hadn’t been much. The most they could gather was that Batman had been an urban legend up until he joined the Justice League. There had been sightings going back almost 15 years, which Meant Bruce had started when he was in his early twenties.
Robin had come in a few years later, and was clearly not Damian Wayne. But beyond that, there wasn’t much. Sometimes Robin wore pants, sometimes not. Sometimes Robin was even a girl. Tony could never find anything defininite. There were countless vigilantes mentioned, some nameless, others not. Some showed up for a few weeks, then disappeared.
Finally they found something.
“Ahah!” Tony said as he clicked on an article about Red Hood. “This should be worth our
time.” Tony pulled up the first paragraph, and began reading.
“It is well known to everyone in Gotham that Crime Alley is one of the most dangerous places in our already dangerous city. What is also well known is its protector: The Red Hood. The Red Hood has had a somewhat rocky past with Gotham, but unlike the other vigilantes that haunt the rooftops, it is relatively easy to follow.
Red Hood first came on the scene a few years ago and quickly made a splash. Hood quickly took over most if not all of Gotham’s crime organizations, and began to make immediate changes.
It is reported that all the drug syndicates halted dealing near schools or children. All human trafficking sceeced. Crime was managed, to a point that not even Batman had achieved.
Red Hood enacted a strict law: he only killed rapists, murderers, abusers, and drug dealers - only those who sell to kids.
But we can’t forget about the dark knight. Batman was seriously against Red Hood in the beginning, and there are several documented fights to prove it. Red Hood became the only major criminal to stay active with the bat’s knowledge, and not be defeated.
After a while, though, Red Hood left Gotham. No one is quite sure why, as he had built himself quite an empire. Later on - no one is sure of the specifics - he returned. Details are foggy around this time, but Red Hood started to appear again, back to patrolling Crime Alley. One thing was different though. This time he wore a red bat on his armor, effectively announcing his allegiance.
According to many Gothamites, Red Hood has not killed anyone since his return, and has given up his crime lord status. Some say he protects Crime Alley, and occasionally teams up with the other vigilantes of Gotham. Many eye witness reports say that Hood has a somewhat amicable relationship with the bats, and is clearly one of them. There are also notes of him using rubber bullets, proving even more that he has sided with the bats. Though this is uncertain, as others report he still uses lead, and has even continued killing.
At this point Hood is considered a hero by most of Gotham, with the minority calling him a plague upon the city. The Police themselves have even stopped actively searching for the red helmeted hero - whether this is due to their inability to catch him, or as a sign of friendship, it is unclear. Police Commissioner Gordan has not commented on the matter beyond a vague statement of Hood appearing with the bats when the bat signal is deployed.”
“Bat signal?” Clint asked.
Tony typed furiously for a moment before retrieving the answer. “Apparently the police have an industrial spotlight on their roof with the silhouette of a bat on it which they shine when in need of the vigilantes.”
Natasha smirked. “Overkill much?”
Tony shrugged. “Hey, apparently it works.”
“That’s beside the point,” Steve interjected. “We found barely anything on Jason. Sure it says he doesn’t kill anymore, but that doesn’t mean they can be trusted.”
Clint groaned again. “Let me guess, you want us to investigate the family personally?”
Steve nodded. “Nat, I want you to start, you are the intelligence expert after all.”
Natasha nodded, though inside she was in turmoil. She wanted to trust these people. She didn’t know why, but she felt connected somehow. Like they were similar in some core way.
Steve nodded right back. “Good. Meet back here in a few hours. See what you can find.”
#Avengers meet batfam#dc/marvel crossover#batfam#avengers#batfamily shenanigans#bruce wayne#alfred pennyworth#dick grayson#jason todd#tim drake#damian wayne#duke thomas#stephanie brown#cassandra cain#steve rogers#tony stark#clint barton#natasha romonova
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