#brusteph

[elareine]

@river9noble asked: How about a Royalty AU Marriage Law with Bruce Wayne and Stephanie Brown?

“I already have a blood child.”

Alfred lifted his brows. “Are you calling Lady Talia common?”

…no. No, he wasn’t. Bruce wanted to live, thank you very much. He changed tack: “I also have five adopted children!”

“Yes, and all are more or less common, which doesn’t change the fact that this is the law. ‘Every royal must marry a commoner chosen by the advisor to keep the bloodlines clean.’ The changing of which requires the consent of the Royal Consort—which you do not have.”

Bruce clenched his jaw. He’d honestly hoped they could get around this nonsense with his succession amply provided for.

But he was a practical man at heart. At least he could hope to gain whoever-it-was’s consent to change this ridiculous and spare his children the indignity of a partner being chosen for them.  

“And you picked… who?”

“I am glad you asked.” Alfred produced a folder out of nowhere.

Bruce took the file and opened it, expecting to see a woman in her thirties or older, with a reasonable amount of accomplishments and education. Instead—“Alfred! She cannot be older than twenty!”

“Twenty-one, in fact. An accomplished law student who hopes to become a lawyer and change the country for the better.”

“That’s admirable, but—”

“She also has a father that has been considering selling her to the highest bidder to pay his debts. Now, she seems to be very resourceful and would find a way out, but I fear it would negatively affect her education and career.”

Suddenly, Bruce felt very, very tired. Alfred knew him too well. “And who could refuse the king. A neat solution to two problems.”

“I’m glad you think so, Your Majesty.”

Unwilling to give in quite so quickly, Bruce studied the file again. Her grades were exceptional for someone who worked full-time during her studies. There was a picture of her doing ballet, another playing the piano, and a third where she was clearly berating the photographer, fire in her eyes and her hands forming an obscene gesture. He liked that one best.

…at least only two of his kids were older than her.

With a sigh, Bruce gave in. “Let’s talk to Stephanie Brown, then.”

(I’m taking prompts for Easter!)

[sasheneskywalker]

having brurobin thoughts again… i was thinking about writing a three parts series.

the first part is about one of my favorite dark!bruce tropes - him being attracted to the batkids but holding back on doing anything because he knows that would be wrong. so that part explores bruce's thoughts and interactions with the batkids from his point of view and his own complicated feelings about his desires. bruce is also pretty sure that none of the batkids notice his inappropriate thoughts.

the second part is about a rare night when all of the batkids are in the same place, relaxing and just talking. somehow the conversation lands on the subject of bruce and after a lot of beating around the bush, euphemisms and broken off sentences it turns out that every batkid has realized at some point that bruce did want to fuck them. they just never told anybody or confronted him. there's a long discussion about what it means/whether anything happened between bruce and any of them/what they feel/etc.

the third part is your traditional truth serum/truth magic/compulsion spell where bruce has to confess his darkest desire or he will die. he finally does admit to his attraction and him and the batkids have to actually talk about it.

[spite-and-waffles]

I have a time travel plot germinating in my head about Stephanie accidentally going back in time and saving the Waynes from being mugged. Then coming back to realize it fucked everything up but refusing to let them get killed for the greater good.

She then goes back two years on to save them again from the Falcones who had gotten them in their crosshairs, and tell Bruce he has to become Batman to keep protecting the city.

Only to find in the future that Bruce had gotten himself killed at age 16 trying to go undercover. So she goes back again to rescue him and help him safely navigate the underbelly of the city.

Things keep unfolding in this fashion. She goes back to Bruce at age 20 to stop Alfred leaving and instead convince him to stay and help him, at age 22 to direct him towards the League and 25 to finally help him become Batman.

Over the course of the story they go from young Bruce having a crush that Steph finds weird and oddly endearing, to having actual feelings for each other as they get closer in age. Steph vacillates between seeing this younger, happier Bruce as his own person and getting drawn in by his magnetism, being jolted by all the ways he reminds her of Damian, getting seriously weirded out by the fact that she has feelings for the younger version of her former mentor and paternal figure, and struggling with the history she has with him of rejection, resentment and emotional abuse.

I don't know how it's going to end and I'm definitely not going to write it, but I do wish someone would. It's one of the most entertaining plot bunnies I've ever come up with. XD

[roipecheur]

Brusteph brainworms.....they have the capacity to be soooo fucking awful......I want to put them in a jar and shake them until they attack each other like rabid dogs 💕

[necrotic-nephilim]

for the ask game (1)

au where bruce is attracted to his robins and batgirls. he tries not to think about it or act on it, but it's getting more difficult with every new member of his team he acquires. does anyone know? do the robins and batgirls notice his weird behavior? what do they do about it? do they ever find out the truth? who would think it's terrible and who would find it strangely hot/comforting/nice? does bruce ever act on his feelings?

for the ask game!

oh my GOD do i have thoughts for AUs like this, i love this shit so dearly, dirtybadwrong Bruce who's trying to keep a lid on it my beloved.

i think the fun of this AU is if characters would notice Bruce lusting for themselves vs would they notice Bruce lusting for a different Robin/Batgirl. like does Dick pick up on it when it's just him and Bruce? no, because it's just. him and Bruce. he and Bruce are weird and complicated and hold endless bounds of nuance. that's just How Bruce Is, and Dick is the "test run", in a sense. he knows Bruce is new to this whole sidekick/family thing and is giving Bruce grace for being rough around the edges. but when Bruce starts looking at Jason or Tim or Cass that way, that's when Dick starts to notice. it's never enough of a suspicion he feels justified to bring it up, but the thought lingers. he's hyperaware and grows less and less comfortable with leaving them alone with Bruce. it's a weird game of chicken, Dick and Bruce staring each other down when Bruce's touch lingers too long. each waiting for the other to say something first. if Bruce ever broke and actually acted on his feelings, Dick would be eaten alive by the guilt of knowing something was up, but never saying something until it was too late.

obviously, Cass would know. there's no world where Cass *doesn't* know, the nature of who and what she is would immediately clock it. but the issue is, Cass doesn't have a good framework of what family looks like. she doesn't really understand familial vs romantic love bc she has no firsthand experience of what a parent's love should even look like. so she never calls it out. she just watches. i'm a fan of Cass believing this is normal and believing she too can express and act on attraction that's vaguely incestuous. maybe it's with Babs, maybe it's with Dick or Tim or Bruce himself. but she recognizes this as Normal and Accepted within the Batfamily, so it severely fucks up her understanding of familial love and i just. man it's my favorite thing about Cass in Batcest honestly, is how you can play with her lack of experience with love, boundaries, and sexuality.

Tim is the fun one for me. because my favorite flavor of BruTim is when Tim knows, as he agrees to be Robin, that there's a non-zero chance that Bruce is going to be Weird and agrees anyway because he's decided it's an acceptable risk. so Tim knows from the get-go because he's expecting it. if Bruce acts on his attraction, i think it's either with Tim or Cass first, because they're the most likely to confront him about it in a way that isn't entirely negative. Tim has accepted it's a possibility and Cass just seeks being loved and touched so. it leads to the first time someone's ever confronted Bruce about it. and the thing is, Bruce really doesn't like confrontation about his flaws. the first time Tim tries to imply he's okay with it, Bruce would lash out at the idea, tell Tim how inappropriate that is and benches Tim for a week. it'd probably take a united front from Cass and Tim to get Bruce to even *admit* to the attraction. still Bruce wouldn't allow it to happen and he brushes them off until finally, the dam breaks. it's fun if there's a cause like sex pollen, but i think it's *more* fun if it's just. a random fucking Tuesday and finally Bruce is at his limit. he has no real reason, there's nothing particularly different about that day's routine. he just sees Tim or Cass striping armor and sighs and gives in.

i don't think Steph, Jason, or Babs would notice until anything substantial happened. not because they're not wicked smart, but just because none of them were looking for it. Jason put Bruce on a pedestal when he was alive, and when he came back from the dead he wasn't close enough to be noticing Bruce's interpersonal dynamics outside of his narrow scope. Steph has no real framework for what healthy fatherhood looks like, so if Bruce's touches linger, if he stares too long, she just shrugs and assumes it's how it is. and Babs was just never quite close enough to Bruce to notice. if and when she notices, is when actual sexual things start to happen between Cass and Bruce. because Cass would see no reason to hide it. Babs would be pissed, but it'd be tricky to navigate. Cass would be an adult, even if she's only 18/19, so technically, she's old enough to be consenting. if nothing else, Bruce is a careful man. even when he breaks and gives in to his desires, he covers his tracks well. he makes sure he has enthusiastic consent and there's no legal recourse that could be taken. age of consent and all that. there's not much Babs can *do* other than try to tell Cass (and/or Tim) that this isn't normal or okay. not that it gets her anywhere, but god would she try.

by the time Duke comes along (if we venture out of the pre-Flashpoint era) i think it's a sort of. open secret, in the Batfamily. talked about in nothing but hushed whispers and knowing glances. at some point, they've all had sex with Bruce, caving all for different reasons. some more than others. Tim sees it as a duty, Cass sees it as a way of seeking comfort, Steph sees it as getting Bruce's approval for once, etc. it's never forced on them, but eventually, they all come to Bruce sooner or later. and that's the fun irony of it, i think. they try to convince the others not to, but would go to Bruce on their own well. because complicated reasons they can't put into words. sometimes, Bruce is just a messy man who doesn't realize how prized his Attention to for the rest of the Batfamily. that weird duality of not liking him, but also wanting desperately for him to like you. all of them have dealt with it, at some point. so for Duke, it takes a while for him to understand this... whole dynamic. it's Cass who tries to explain it to him, and he's a little horrified, a lot confused. especially when Bruce starts staring at him a little too long as well. i think he'd only want to watch first but well. they all cave eventually.

also fun bonus if we venture into the Dark Knight Returns universe for my bestest girl Carrie Kelley: there's such a like, "i'm fucking around and i'm finding out" vibe to Carrie. like Tim, she's very proactive in just. deciding she's going to be Robin and she's ready for whatever that entails. (IMO canon Carrie is closer to fanon Tim than canon Tim is but *that* deserves its own post-) like she takes one look at the old man that is Batman and goes yup. he's never fucking getting rid of me now. if Bruce started having weird feelings about her, i think she'd have *fun* with it. she's decided she's in it for the long haul and for whatever being Robin means so. she's almost teasing about it, seeing how hard she can push before Bruce snaps. since it's an older, gruffer Bruce, i think he'd express open annoyance at it first, almost a sort of banter about how Carrie behave. but of course he caves and Carrie leans into it, because there's a fun in having all of Bruce's attention to herself. in the main timeline, Bruce is pretty split with so many Robins and Batgirls, but during their era, it's *just* her and him and she's very proud she's got him all to herself.

[brurobinweek]

Announcing BruRobin Week, running from 6th-12th November 2023!

A DC Fandom event week to celebrate Bruce Wayne's relationships with his Robins. We welcome any ship content that pairs Bruce with his Robins, including BruDick, BruJay, BruTim, BruSteph, BruDami and BruDuke. We also welcome any and all poly interpretations of this relationship!

We want to see all interpretations of BruRobin, in all its forms! We welcome fanart, fanfic, video edits, gifsets, playlists, moodboards, manips, and many more. We will not accept any works created using AI platforms.

Keep an eye out for our signal — prompt nominations open 1st August!

[atetheship]

Made a batcest chart and yes I'm including Babs and Steph since they are bats with -cest being debatable depending on things (apparently).

Went with a simple stoplight colors:

Green ranging from "I could get behind it" to "screaming crying throwing up"

Yellow ranging from "Ok" to "I would like to see more"

Red is no. Nope. Respectfully declined

Do note that timdami/damitim is my OTP and I'm more than willing to throw any other prospects off a cliff so they can be together lol When I'm craving them romantically at least.

[lazaruspiss]

batrobin time :)

[best-dcest-ship-polls]

Round Two's Third Losers' Winners

[birdw4tching]

Undercover matches/hooker brusteph. I decided to ignore the glaring issue

[tastytaboo]

Cool Down

Written for week 7 of @batship-summer for the prompts “Summer” and “It’s okay.”

Pairing: Bruce Wayne/Stephanie Brown

Rating: Explicit

Category: M/F

Warnings: Underage Sex

Wordcount: 2.2k

Tags: Pseudo-Incest, Summer, Heat Stroke, Fainting, Bathing/Washing, Non-Consensual Touching, Somnophilia, Consensual Underage Sex, Pussyjob, Intercrural Sex, Grinding, Unsafe Sex, Daddy Kink, Vaginal Sex, Come Shot, Come Eating, Cunnilingus

Summary:

He’s quick enough to catch her, but just barely, getting an arm firmly under her finely muscled shoulders to keep her from braining herself against the concrete rooftop. Snapping in front of her nose a couple of times, Bruce tries to keep the worry out of his voice as he repeats her callsign a few times. Unresponsive.

[sasheneskywalker]

made a batshipping chart :) i only included characters that i know well and about which i have an opinion regarding shipping.

[sasheneskywalker]

over the two years of my involvement in the dc fandom, i've come across several fantastic stories that i still think about to this day. i'm reccing them here. please mind the tags and warnings, most of them cover dark subjects and unhealthy relationships. happy reading!

Smashing Tail Lights by CunningCrow (@redactedcrow) a mundane slice-of-life of a murdery traumatised eighteen year old getting his life absolutely fucked up and trying to fix it up a bit through more murder

M | Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Dick Grayson & Jason Todd | 87.8k words

this is without doubt my favorite jason todd fanfic ever. the characterization, the plot, the prose, the worldbuilding, the ocs, everything is perfect. i reread it at least once every three months. i recommend it in every single dc fic server i'm in. i love this fic with my whole heart <3

we show off our different scarlet letters (trust me mine is better) by lostandlonelybirds (@runnfromtheak) He gets called things, sometimes. Slut when Mirage tricks him. Cheater when Barbara tells others about her suspicions, her doubts and feelings. Whore when it’s a villain pissed he took out their goons and they’re aiming below the belt. Playboy by magazines, and bicycle by the younger generation because “everyone gets a ride”. They hurt the way most things do, and they each hurt in a different way because he’s broken and he’s tattered and he loves but not the way you’re meant to, because it’s not nature or an inferno or something out of a Greek myth. It’s not possession or jealousy or the need to lock it down.

It’s different. It’s not supposed to be.

M | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Dick Grayson/Other(s) | 3.1k words

beautiful descriptions of love, friendship, and intimacy and what it's like to be aromantic. it captures emotions and relationship dynamics in a gorgeous way.

These Twists and Turns of Fate by Hinn_Raven (@secretlystephaniebrown) To be born is to exist, but to live is something else entirely. Stephanie Brown falls apart, and pulls herself back together. OR Stephanie Brown is assigned a different name and gender at birth. These are the changes that result.

G | Graphic Depictions Of Violence | Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown/Tim Drake, Harper Row/Carrie Kelley, Stephanie Brown & Harper Row, Stephanie Brown & Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown & Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown & Crystal Brown, Stephanie Brown & Tim Drake | 39.3k words

follows stephanie brown's canon story with one change: steph is a trans woman. in my personal opinion, it depicts the trans experience perfectly. i got so emotional reading it, i cried for half an hour (which happens very, very rarely). i love it <3

A hold on me by Anonymous Damian starts thinking about self-identity. Things both are and aren’t difficult. Growing up is hard, you know.

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | No Relationships | 15.6k words

a story focused on damian and her journey of self-discovery. it also portrays the trans experience wonderfully. angsty, but with a hopeful ending. love it <3

something just broke by BeatriceEagle (@flybynightwing) With teams run by a small handful of big names, recruitment based almost entirely on who you know, and unchecked interteam dating, the superhero community is practically designed to encourage interpersonal abuse. When a former sidekick comes forward to say that she was abused by her mentor, the entire community has to reckon with the part they may have played—and with the abuses that may still be going unnoticed.

(A story of systems, told through chats, texts, and transcripts.)

M | Rape/Non-Con, Underage Sex | Clark Kent/Lois Lane, Dinah Lance/Oliver Queen, Dick Grayson & Donna Troy, Barbara Gordon & Dinah Lance, Koriand'r & Donna Troy | 10k words

i love all of BeatriceEagle's works, they're one of my favorite dc fic writers. this particular fic talks about rape, sexual assault, and abuse in the hero community and systems of power that allow it to happen. amazing writing and great portrayal of the subject matter. i also love their fanvids Oblivion Upon Us (about the existential terror of dc's cosmic reboots) and They Give It Away (about the women of dc comics)

I Left My Conscience On Your Front Doorstep by dustorange (@dustorange) "I think I'm leaving," Dick whispers. "I think I'm not coming back."

T | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson & Roy Harper, Background Roy Harper/Jade Nguyen | 21.4k words

dustorange has a lot of amazing dc fics. this fic in particular is one of my favorite dick grayson-centric fics of all time. it has enthralling prose and wonderful characterization <3

(you kept me like a secret) i kept you like an oath by gatheringwool Jason always knew everyone would flip out when they found out about him and Bruce.

He just always assumed it would be more along the lines of Jason, you dirty whore you. Not whatever the hell this was.

M | Rape/Non-Con, Underage | Jason Todd/Bruce Wayne | 11.4k words

the best example of the 'unreliable narrator' tag i've ever seen. bruce's actions are unequivocally terrible but because the fic is written from jason's perspective and jason doesn't believe anything is wrong with his relationship and seems convincing, you start to question your own opinion too. chilling. amazing, but chilling.

mutually assured by wingdingery (@wingdingery) Dick’s mom always told him that kissing a wound would help it heal faster.

Somehow, Dick’s not sure that’s ever really worked for him and Bruce.

E | No Archive Warnings Apply | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne | 5.8k words

the paper-thin line by wingdingery (@wingdingery) After Dick interferes with Slade’s job in Gotham (which, to be fair, he’d only done because Slade interfered with his first), he decides the best way to prevent future retaliation is to strike a deal: if Slade agrees to leave Gotham alone, then Dick will stay with him alone for one night, and no matter what Slade does, he won’t run.

Though that doesn’t mean Dick is going to go down without a fight.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson | 6.7k words

i could put every single of wingdingery's brudick and sladick fics here but i'm limiting myself to only one per ship. their writing and characterization is fantastic. they truly understand these characters and the relationship dynamics are captivating. those two fics are my favorites <3

daredevil cartwheel by cheju (@chejuu) “You wouldn’t,” Dick says. Slade is bluffing, but it’s a damn good bluff, because Dick’s body still hasn’t got the memo—heart racing, breath coming quick, goosebumps dancing down his arms.

Slade leans his solid weight over Dick’s back, breath hot and promising against his ear. “But it would be so easy.”

-

Slade teaches Dick a lesson in self-defense.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson | 4.3k words

i could also put every single of cheju's sladick fics here. his prose is delicious and the characterization and relationship dynamics are amazing. he just gets slade and dick. and his original works are awesome too <3

One-Way Glass by wormsin (@wormsin) Dick Grayson—husband, father, hero—is de-aged to his early days as Robin.

There are lots of different ways to look at the past. Sometimes, it's hard to know what really happened.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne | 9.1k words

bruce and dick's relationship is so complex and has so many layers. the entwinement of the past and the present makes it a fascinating read.

You are forever in my mind by orphan_account This started off as a simple idea: Bruce installs a new set of cameras in the manor; cameras he doesn't tell anyone about. One night, he accidentally sees something that fundamentally affects him - and the way he looks at Dick.

E | Underage | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne | 30.1k words

one of the first brudick fics i've read. absolute classic. the prose is wonderful and the author thoroughly explores bruce and dick's relationship.

Playing with Uranium by BlameTheMachines Slade invites Dick into his study for a friendly chat about Rose’s training. It goes poorly.

M | Rape/Non-Con | Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson | 3.6k words

creepy slade wilson and dick desperately pretending he's a villain. i love their characterizations and chemistry in the fic.

Blurry by MissNaya (@herecomesnaya) Jason and Black Mask play-flirt too much. It's only natural that one day they push things too far.

E | Rape/Non-Con | Roman Sionis/Jason Todd | 98.3k words

the first chapters lull you into a false sense of security and make you think that while this is not a love story, it won't spiral into outright rape/abuse. but with each chapter, roman escalates his actions to the point where it's clear what's going on. it's so believably written, a masterful portrayal of an abusive relationship.

The View from the Ground by Gement (@gement) Batman has had it with Evil Superman AUs. Not on his watch, not in this universe. No matter what it takes. He . . . may have overcompensated.

M | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne | 5.4k words

superbat fic with bruce who doesn't hesitate to test clark in unpleasant ways. i love the dynamic between them and how they're characterized.

A River in Egypt by withthekeyisking (@withthekeyisking-writer) Clark's always ignored Dick's crush on him; he's just a boy, after all. A child with too much hero worship. His best friend's kid. Calls him Uncle Clark for God's sake.

But then Dick grows up. And he isn't so much of a little boy anymore.

E | Underage Sex | Dick Grayson/Clark Kent, Clark Kent & Bruce Wayne | 15k words

an exploration of dick and clark's relationship. clark sleeps with dick just before he becomes nightwing. it's told from clark's perspective. deliciously twisted, fascinating fic. q also has a lot of other awesome dc fics, especially sladick ones <3

rules by dexdefyingstunts (@dexdefyingstunts) For the prompt: "Bruce is a pedophile who is sexually attracted to his kids (and probably other kids, too), but actively refrains from giving into those desires because he knows, conceptually, that it's wrong."

NR | Rape/Non-Con, Underage Sex | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd/Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake/Bruce Wayne, Stephanie Brown/Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne/Damian Wayne | 2.2k words

four graves, one gun. by projectfreelancer They are his boys, and Bruce has made them this way.

a character study of Bruce Wayne and the Robins.

M | Underage Sex | Dick Grayson/Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd/Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake/Bruce Wayne | 3.8k words

both fics deal with bruce who is attracted to his robins. both are written from his perspective. he doesn't act on his attraction in the first one and does act in the second one. they have riveting prose and delve deep into bruce's mind.

i've been living six feet down (baby, i'm alive right now) by Anonymous (@necrotic-nephilim) Tim is beaten and cornered by Jason in Titans Tower.

Except this time, it goes a little differently.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Tim Drake/Jason Todd | 6.7k words

you cut so deep (but i always loved you deeper) by Anonymous (@necrotic-nephilim) Going after Jason was a bad idea. Putting on a Batsuit to go after Jason was an even worse idea. Tim pays the price for it, bloody and trapped under Jason with nowhere to go, and unspoken feelings to confront. He was always going to submit to Jason, sooner or later.

or

Tim confronts Jason during Battle for the Cowl, but their fight ends much differently.

E | Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings | Tim Drake/Jason Todd | 6.5k

luciferos is definitely one of the best dc dark fic writers and it was very difficult to choose which fics i should put here. in the end, i think two of my favorites are their jaytim fics set during some of jason and tim's post-crisis interactions: titans tower fight and battle for the cowl fight. the characterization is impeccable and the chemistry between jason and tim is delicious. please check out their other works too, they're a fantastic writer <3

what are y’alls “oh my god” dc fic recs. the ones that break and remake you. the ones that leave you staring at the wall after the words have ended and the story is done on the page but not in your mind.

[candycorncannibal]

I just think BruDick is soulmates, BruJay is the opposite of soulmates, and BruTim is for me to have weird incest roleplay ageplay kink times

[haveihitanerve]

Bruce makes his decision the day he fires Stephanie from being Robin. He can’t stand the pain in her eyes, and the anger in his voice. So he stops. His children don’t need him, Steph alone proves that, she bounces back with renewed vigor after he kicks her from being Robin, and spoiler becomes a quick favorite. They ask for comments that Batman doesn’t give, and he patrols alone. Stephanie doesn’t need him, his kids don’t need him, and he won’t insult them as individuals or their pride by claiming otherwise. But Gotham needs Batman. Bruce Wayne dies, publicly and horribly, donating half of his money to people in need and the other half going to his children. Even Stephanie and Duke and Babs and those that never once called him dad. They were still his. Were. Dick is livid when he finds out, storming into the cave in a whirlwind of curses and tears, demanding answers Bruce doesn’t give and trying so hard to instigate a response. He screams and yells and argues and ‘why?!?’ Is at the top of the list but Bruce doesn’t answer, doesn’t fight back. Dicks voice is hoarse, his fists bloody, Bruce’s bruised body his canvas, but still Bruce doesn’t answer him, doesn’t speak, just turns away, unwilling to see the hurt in his son's eyes. “I thought you had died.” Dick finally rasped hoarsely. “I thought you died for real and I didn’t know and no one told me and I thought you were gone.” The words break something inside Bruce, and he’s almost 100% certain it’s his heart but it solidifies his resolve and he doesn’t speak. Dick leaves, finally, and then Jason takes his place. Then Tim. Then Babs. Then Damian. Then Cass. Bruce doesn’t answer any of them, merely offering the new CEO of Wayne Enterprise a small smile and hugging his youngest to his chest, though the boy tries to fight it.

“I’m sorry.” He rasps, when they’ve all gathered, waiting, watching him. They stare at him in surprise, and Bruce cannot blame them, but he doesn’t continue. They know, even if they don’t want to say it. They know they would be better off without him, better without him in their lives. They don’t need him. His greatest successes and his biggest sins. But Gotham needs the Batman. And the cowl will die with him. He hands Tim the keys to the bat cave and packs up his suits and the tools he needs and disappears, although he’s under no illusions that they don’t all know where he is. He takes residence in a small safe house at the edge of Gotham, far from anyone’s patrol routes, and creates a new routine, patrolling at odd hours, straying to the edges, adopting their techniques over his own. He still doesn’t speak, but he smiles, adds splashes of color to his suit, and makes himself appear smaller, less threatening. The Batman myth should be enough to protect his children, and even so, they can take care of themselves. Of each other. He becomes kinder, mimics dicks easy smiles and Jason’s gentle hands. Starts copying Tim’s funky dances and cass’s snaky movements, things that always seemed to put people at ease. He doesn’t speak, but he laughs, and makes funny noises, and Gothamites stop fearing him as much. -Not that they ever really did. But he doesn’t know that.- He ruffles kids' hair and walks teenagers home and stays away from his kids. Not that he has any right to call them that, really, because he’s been an unsuitable father to all of them, but he’s selfish, and in the company of his own mind keeps them. An anonymous tip leads him to Bludhaven and he stumbles apon Nightwing. The hero almost trips when he sees him and Bruce flees, leaving the evidence and information on a roof for his son to find. It’s not his case, bludhaven isn’t his place, he has no right to invade dicks place with his own case. He smiles in pride when he reads about Nightwings success, even though he has no right to be proud of the man, since the man became who he is through his own doing, and not because of Bruce. It doesn’t stop him from being proud though. He hears their voices in his head, Jason’s judgment, dicks happy laughter, Tim’s analysis. He almost bolts when a child he’s helping makes a pun. It’s cowardly, he knows, but when a girl trips and falls in a rough neighborhood he drops a hint to oracle and flees, because that flash of blond hair on her head is too much.

Selina finds him in the third month and forces a real meal down his throat. She doesn’t speak, just watches him eat, cradling her own cup of tea, silence deafening. “Why?” She asks finally, and her voice almost breaks. Bruce doesn’t have an answer for her. She leaves, like the others, but returns again, with more food. Her silence is like a brand, but she doesn’t speak either, and demands no more answers from him. He is grateful. And when she drops a stray cat off one time, well, he expected as much. He names the cat Robin, silently, in his mind, and Selina doesn’t give it a name, calling it Kitty or Kitten but letting him keep the name he chose to himself. She demands nothing from him, and Bruce is grateful. It’s a year later when… when he breaks.

“Hey B.'' Bruce stares. He doesn’t blink, doesn't even so much as dare breathe because he knows if he does she’ll fade away, the way she always dies. Stephanie Brown has haunted him from the moment Bruce Wayne had died, watching his every move, critiquing every step he took as Batman and not Bruce. Bruce doesn’t answer, less because he had sworn off speaking and more because he doesn’t know what to say. Stephanie fidgets, a move he’s seen her do countless times, her blond hair tied back half hazardly with a black hair tie. She’s wearing her classic, favorite purple sweater and some tight black jeans, but her boots are the ones Bruce gifted her. Hard, steel toed, and able to combat almost everything. “I uh. I saw the news.” Bruce doesn’t speak. She takes a cautious step forward, hands resting on one of the kitchen chairs, an occupation for her hands so she stops fidgeting, doesn’t show her nerves or tells. Bruce had taught her that.

He doesn’t question how she knows where he lives, or how she got in. She’s far too brilliant for him to even come close with a guess. “So uh, billionaire Bruce Wayne is dead huh?” Her lips twist in a wry grin. Bruce just watches her. She sighs, sliding into the seat, and gestures for him to do the same. Bruce does not, moving around the kitchen to make tea instead, always keeping an eye on her, afraid if he looks away she’ll be gone. But she doesn’t move, watching him with all too knowing eyes, and accepts the mug he sets in front of her with a polite ‘thank you’. Bruce moves away quickly after he sets it down and finally sits across from her, cradling his own cup. Steph holds the mug in both hands but doesn’t drink, staring at the dark brown liquid inside.

“Why did you do it?” She asks finally, raising her head to look at him. He knows the others have told her things, so she doesn’t seem to really be expecting an answer. “Because I bring pain to all those around me.” Bruce rasps, voice hoarse from disuse. Steph blinks in surprise. “And because you would all be much better off without me.” He sips his tea finally, stopping himself from spilling everything to her. Not that he didn’t already. It is, truly, the root of his reasons.

Steph stares at him for a few moments, then roars with laughter. “Better off without you?” She echoes in disbelief, wiping a tear of mirth from her eye. “Excuse me??? Have you seen any one of your kids lately?” Bruce blinks. He has not, of course, his goal is to avoid them entirely and then die alone, as he deserves. Steph shakes her head. “They need you Bruce.” Bruce finds that hard to believe, doubts it with every breath he takes even though it hurts to know he is so useless to the brilliant children in his life, but Steph sees the doubt and scoffs, hard and disbelieving and insulting. “Seriously?” Something in her voice softens, a sympathy Bruce is not sure he deserves, and she pulls out her phone, expanding a screen to show him clips of videos. Bruce’s throat gets very tight. They’re videos of his kids, Jason, and Tim and dick and cass, and all of them helping, being the good people he knows they are, but there’s a light missing from dicks eyes, and red hood doesn’t seem to mean his punches, and all of them seem to run slower, looking over their shoulders for someone who isn’t there.

Bruce feels hope glowing in his chest but he squashes it, turning to Steph with a shrug. “They love me. It’s a flaw I’ve never discouraged as much as I should have. It’s likely they need a bit to adapt.” Steph looks at him and her jaw actually drops. “Excuse me?” She hisses, and for the first time since she appeared in his kitchen he can see some of that fire in her eyes that made him make her Robin, and then fire her. “Are you calling our love for you a flaw?!?!?” Her voice is dangerous and Bruce knows nodding is the wrong answer but… but… “I ruin everything Stephanie.” He rasps. Steph shrugs. “You’re human. Well, we think you are. Bruce,” her voice is gentler, and some of the fire dies down, but not fully. “You are not perfect. We do not expect you to be. And sometimes, yeah, we want to strangle you. But that doesn’t mean we don’t want you in our lives. Are you overprotective? Yeah. Do you butt into stuff we don’t want you in? All the time. But there’s ways for you to adapt without- without-“ her arms flail wildly. “Without just leaving us!” Her voice breaks and Bruce is moving before he thinks, grabbing her in a hug. “I’m sorry Stephanie. I’m so sorry. For everything.” He whispers, holding her close. Steph doesn’t fight, just collapses against him, tears staining his suit. “Come back.” She pleads. “Just come home.”

The reunion is tentative, the first dinner bordering on dangerous. The first patrol is easy, surprisingly, everyone falling into place next to each other, communicating with ease as they storm through Gotham. Bruce, because that’s who he is again, looks at them again and again and grins, wide and proud, when he spots the blond hair at his side, when he sees Nightwing and Red Hood working seamlessly side by side. The public is a little uneasy, but more than happy to buy their recovery story and accept their Prince back, but Bruce leaves Tim the company, and stays out of the public eye for a while. He no longer cares what others think of Batman, or Bruce Wayne. Only what his children think. And the pride gleaming in their eyes when Damian comes and Bruce actually gets through to him, makes it all worthwhile.

[kevin-day-is-bi]

cleansing your inbox part 2! trick or treat ask game! any ship, go absolutely wild :) (once again necrotic-nephilim from my main, tumblr give us side blog ask rights-)

VERY VERY VERY DARK

Most of them treated her like something that would be taken away, like outside time at Arkham. They treated her how they wanted, left her with bruises, drugged her, shared her around, but always cleaned her up and set her head straight before sending her on her way. The nicer ones even bandaged her wounds.

She had hoped Slade was the same.

He was not.

He was worse.

He had ordered her to strip in the most perfunctory way she had ever heard (and she spent most of her days being ordered around by Bruce Wayne) immediately upon her entering his space. She had done so, but left the mask. That was her only stipulation. Or maybe it was Bruce's stipulation. Or maybe it wasn't a stipulation at all and it was just expected.

Once she was naked, she stood in the middle of the room while he circled her. She was hyper-aware of everything her body did, every brush of her hair against her back and wobble when she tried not to turn with him. He came back to stand in front of her, gaze slowly traveling up and down. He didn't even try to hide the fact that he paused on her breasts. He was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved black shirt, no mask, no swords, nothing, but somehow he still looked terrifying. He hit her face and tilted his head.

"I wasn't promised a sullen teenager. I was promised a Robin."

Steph kept staring at him, not really sure what to do. The others just grabbed and used her. Well, Ivy liked to talk, but Ivy talked to anything that listened. Sometimes Harvey asked her how her day was going while he was strapping her into the gloryhole. But she didn't have to initiate anything. Bruce said she was too blunt when she tried to turn people on. They were working on it. Which really meant Bruce would sometimes force her to flirt with him over and over and over again to earn the right to wear her own clothes, and if she wasn't satisfactory, she would shiver in lacy lingerie - or nothing at all - in the Cave while trying to hunt down serial killers.

Slade started walking and her head snapped up. She was too nervous, too unfamiliar with what he wanted.

"I've heard so much about you whoring yourself out that I expected you to be a little more seductive." He sounded a little interested. She wasn't supposed to be interesting. She was supposed to be fuckable.

"Sit on the table." She did. The wood was cool under her skin.

"I'm going to be honest, because your fear is useless to me. I have other emotions I want to wring from you." He placed his hands on the table, leaning uncomfortably close to her. "I'm going to hurt you. A lot."

If he wanted that to alleviate her fear, he failed.

Carefully, slowly - giving her time to process? Why? - he pulled out a knife. She stopped breathing, then started again. With his other hand, he reached out and ran a hand down the top of her thigh like she was an animal he was examining for slaughter.

"This area doesn't have as many scars. Why?"

Steph opened her mouth to speak and failed. She cleared her throat. "My cape. I don't wear one just to dramatically drop down from ceilings, y'know."

"Interesting," Slade mused, before slashing down. She flinched, fighting the urge to kick the knife out of his hands, but she didn't flinch enough, and the blade hit flesh. It was a relatively shallow cut, and clean, but blood welled up immediately. He didn't give it time to flow. She tried not to flinch again as he reached down and swiped his hand through the blood, pulling it up onto his fingers before reaching forward and rubbing his hand on her right breast, leaving bloody smears. Her stomach lurched and she opened her mouth (that was supposed to be trained out of her, she wasn't supposed to talk so much). He shoved his fingers into her open mouth.

The taste of blood was so immediately revolting that she tried to pull away, but with his other hand he grabbed the back of her head until she stopped struggling.

"Don't do that. I would really hate to punish you." He did not sound like he would hate that at all.

He kept his fingers in her mouth while he unzipped his jeans and pulled out his cock. He wasn't long, but he was uncomfortably thick. Also hard.

He pulled his fingers from her mouth and wrapped them around himself, her bloody saliva smearing and dripping. She watched, horrified and fascinated. He reached out and stole more blood, the pressure burning. his breathing turned labored. And then he stopped.

With the hand still covered in far too many fluids for her comfort, he reached out and grabbed at her breast. Not a grope, but holding it, like he was weighing it. Judging it.

"I love your tits," he said, and she cringed internally. He was older than her dad. Sure he could be better than that. "They're so perky and full. Any tricks?"

"Genetics." Also Bruce forcing her to wear push-up bras 24/7 for three months. To sleep, during sex, on patrol. He found a swimsuit bra and forced her to wear it during showers. He still made her do it while on patrol and in civilian clothes.

Slade slapped her breast. She'd been expecting that. Everyone loved to do that. It still hurt.

From a small box that she really should've noticed sooner (sue her, okay, there was only so much she could take when a mercenary was masturbating with her blood) he withdrew a vial. She tilted his head, and he shook it at her.

"Peppermint extract. Very strong. Lie back."

Steph blinked, not understanding, but she lowered herself onto the table. And then she squirmed in surprise.

Droplets on liquid on her nipples. She didn't understand, it felt cool but not-

Peppermint extract. It burned. She reached up without thinking to wipe them away, but Slade caught her hands and slammed them back into the table. She was twisting under him, the pain driving pained gasps from her.

Slade transferred both of her wrists to one grip and yanked her forward, off the table and onto her knees.

"Open."

She couldn't do anything else. This was something she was used to, but the peppermint was fuzzying her mind. She knew how to lick and suck, apply the right amount of pressure, open her throat up.

She didn't do any of it. She just knelt there and choked. Eventually the burning faded - or she got used to it? - but every light breeze or brush of his jeans brought the pain back to the front of her mind. Slade was groaning above her so he was obviously pleased. He held her head down - and down and down and then she was losing the ability to breathe and her gag reflex was kicking in and she tried to get away. He pulled her off and smiled down at her as she coughed.

"That was lovely, thank you." His voice was rough, but content. He pulled her up and gestured back to the table. "Face down."

She did. The first touch was terrifying, but he just...touched her. Ran his hands over the planes of her back, the sharp edges of her shoulder blades. The press of wood against her nipples alleviated the ache and she could finally think again, sucking in deep breaths to clear her head. He shoved her legs open and they went easily. It wasn't until he traced a finger over her folds that she realized she was soaking wet. She felt sick.

One finger was inside her, then two, then three. His other hand stayed on her skin, tracing the scars.

"Have you been eating? You feel thinner than the boys ever did."

"Thanks, dad," she said, adding as much sarcasm as she could manage, though her voice was shaky. Slade tsked, running a hand down her spine.

"Don't say that if you're not going to follow through."

She turned her head so she could see him through gaps in her hair. This was familiar ground.

"Daddy," she said, unable to summon the will to moan it. It was low and rough and a little detached. Bruce wouldn't have liked it.

Slade smacked her - not her ass, where most of them liked (Harvey had once said he liked to watch it jiggle and Bruce had changed her workout routine to remove her glute strengthener), but rather the inside of her thigh. It stung, but it stung so close to her cunt that she moaned. She didn't like moaning during these things, or at least moaning unintentionally. She was doing a job.

Besides, no one really ever did anything that would make her moan.

"I'm going to fuck you now," Slade said, and then his fingers were gone and he was inside her and it was so sudden and unexpected that she just gripped the table and stared.

Then there was pain on her back - another cut - and she was shaking under his sure hands.

Slade did not last long. He came inside her, which was not a surprise, and pressed his fingers into the cut on her back, which was also not a surprise but did hurt a lot.

He pulled out. Steph started to shift, but he grabbed her hair and pulled her towards him. Awkwardly, she slid off the table again and was presented with his cock.

"Clean it."

She stared. Her blood was on it. The grip in her hair tightened.

She cleaned him off. It tasted horrible. She was used to semen - one of her earliest aspects of training was that she wasn't allowed to eat any food without having semen ahead of time, but semen and blood and her own juices combined was disgusting. When she pulled back, Slade tilted her head up.

"Open."

He spit into her mouth. She swallowed without being asked.

"Good girl," he murmured, one thumb stroking her cheek. His age and emphasis on "girl" made her feel very young. She guessed she was, actually. His son was two years older than her.

Steph got up, legs aching. She hesitated, unsure if they were done, but he was reaching into the box again.

"One more thing."

Clamps. Not nipple clamps. Construction clamps. She took an unconscious step back, but that was just table. The clamps were put on and she yelled. On top of the peppermint it was so painful she thought she was going to start crying. Normally, of course, this would be horrifying. No one wanted a toy they couldn't break. But Slade looked delighted. She reached up, desperate to get them off, but he brushed her hands away and reached up himself.

And yanked them off without opening them, the textured grips on them scraping her skin raw. She did start crying, mostly out of shock. Slade slapped her breast again, and through her obscured view she watched him nod appreciatively at the bounce. Bruce would be pleased.

"You can go now," he said, again grinding into the cut on her thigh. "You were perfect. I can't wait for this to happen again."

Steph got dressed in her suit, the tight fabric horribly painful against her cuts and abused skin of her breasts. As she pulled the hood up, Slade called out,

"Oh, and tell the Bat I'm giving up on Sionis."

Slowly, she turned to look at him. He was seated at the table, cleaning off his knife. He winked at her.

"Your pussy is just that good. No reason to bring drugs into Gotham if I get that as my incentive not to."

She basically ran out of the door. When she was several blocks away, she ducked into an alley.

Steph leaned against the wall, shaking. When she moved, her underwear was sticky. With him. She raised a gloved hand to her comm and clumsily pressed the button.

"I'm done. Slade is withdrawing from the partnership with Sionis."

She held her breath, waiting. He had told her to go back and do more before. She didn't want to do it again. Or maybe she did. Or maybe she wanted more. Unbidden, an imaginined image of Slade's hand softly brushing her hair away from her face flashed through her mind. Nausea rolled through her in a shiver at the same time as heat pooled in her stomach.

The comm beeped.

"Thank you, Robin. That was well done."

An ugly feeling grew in Steph's stomach, a rolling, oily sense of pride. She didn't like it. She would do anything to feel it.

"We'll work on your oral. Finish patrol and come back to the Cave for training."

Her head hit the wall with a quiet thud. She stared at the smog-filled sky, swallowing down the tears/bile/scream/laugh. Slade liked it, she wanted to whisper, but Bruce was listening. He was always listening.