#but all the batkids younger than Jason (and Cass who could also be older) | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

transtravisstoll · 8 months ago

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Batkids Age Reversal List

want to do a age reversal AU for the batkids but why do the comics keep fucking up their ages this has taken me weeks of trying to figure out i’m gonna off the DC comic writers. if you have any better ideas for their ages pls let me know im going to gouge my eyes out if i have to do any more math.

alfred: ???

-immortal. fuck you. he looked death in the face and told him to stop tracking mud all over his freshly mopped floors and that dinner was at eight.

bruce: 39

-had damian at eighteen bc i wanted it to be as close to his age gap with dick in canon as possible but i am not having this man fathering a child at 15

damian: 21

-came to gotham at age 8, refused to be a normal kid bc he was literally raised an assassin and bruce doesn’t know how to encourage nonviolent activities in children so letting him fight crime seemed… better than being an assassin. he, at the age of eight, could not come up with a name that wasn’t fucking Terrifying so whenever gordon asked for his “little shadow”‘s name they were suspiciously silent bc no, damian, you can not call yourself Vengeance or Malice. the media called him shadow and it stuck.

duke: 18

-wanted to keep his age gap with tim similar, but with duke being the older one, instead of doing dick and jason’s age gap bc it makes more sense this way.

-his parents got jokerified when he was 12, and so did a Lot of people in the Narrows. it absolutely decimated their little community so duke became signal. he didn’t fight crime, he gave back to his community, he helped with the cleanup. bruce ended up basically kidnapping the poor kid. (duke ran away from his foster home because he wasn’t a glorified babysitter or maid, fuck you, he can crash on couches.)

STEPH: 16

-again, wanted to keep the age gap between steph and tim the same but keeping steph the older one. makes more sense this way!! leave me alone.

-became spoiler at 13, was only spoiler for a year before she became shadow at 14 for about six months in between damian and jason. there was a six month period as well where bruce didn’t have a shadow and alfred literally had to bribe steph to be shadow bc he wasn’t abt to let a kid run around the gotham night without knowing batman was two steps ahead of them. plus, having a kid with him made bruce more cautious.

TIM: 15

-FINALLY got to mimicking the age gap between dick and jason in canon

-never becomes shadow, actually, he takes bab’s spot as their computer wiz. doesn’t call himself oracle though because he fucking sucks at making names. calls himself override (barf).

-also, steph is the only one who hes told he’s override to and also knows the batfam’s identities

-duke knows tim is override bc he’s scary like that!! tim doesn’t know duke knows he’s override, but duke knows that tim knows their identities and tim Also doesn’t know that. duke is fr terrifying. love him.

-tim figured out the batfam because of duke’s meta abilities bc he’s also scary like that

Jason: 14

-oh, he’s… currently out of commission. became shadow at 12.

-didn’t die in ethiopia, because fuck that plot. he was doing a stakeout but the joker had kidnapped this itty little baby (an eight year old boy) who he found running around the gotham night. jason went out of commission saving that little boy. what does out of commission mean? who knows. could be dead. could be severely injured. kidnapped. the possibilities are endless.

-i think it’s fucked that the comic fans voted for a fifteen year old to die by the joker. y’all are crazy.

cass: 13

-mimicking jason and cass’ age gap with cass being younger bc it makes more sense leave me alone

-isn’t a Batman approved shadow (yet) but she shadows batman anyways after jason’s… indisposed. the bonus is that batman doesn’t Know he has a shadow but gotham is kept in the dark abt shadow being (redacted) because cass and jason had the same exact fucking build, okay, jason hasn’t gotten his growth spurt yet (because of childhood malnutrition) . weird how batman lost weight though, after he went on that rage incident after the latest arrest of the joker. he’s leaner now. (is it the same batman? who knows.)

dick: 8

-mimicking the tim and damian age gap, bc it’s six years in my head leave me alone.

-huh, jason went out of commission saving an eight year old and dick is eight… suspicious. coincidence? hm.

babs: 7

-mimicking the babs and dick age gap but with babs being younger bc i think she’s older in canon? unsure. DC please i’m going to kill you and then me.

#batkids #batman #dick grayson #stephanie brown #tim drake #damian wayne #duke thomas #jason todd #reverse robins #dc comics

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leoruby-draws · 1 month ago

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Kid Villains, pt 2.

Decided to post more kiddy villains, bit of a sequel to this. First up is Kitten, Mothman's bratty daughter from the 2003 teen titan cartoon:

Modeled her costume after the Rosy Maple Moth, while there are species of moths with the name kitten on them I figured she would prefer a pink outfit.

Thought it'd be kinda cool for her to be a villain for the batkids, she's already evil so why not. I don't imagine her to be all that talented at the job tho she would still be very dangerous if you underestimate her. I think she would work particularly well against Steph, being that Mothman started as a villain for Barbara (Cass might be too high level for her tbh).

Here's some more doodles:

Here's my Scarecrow's sidekick oc, I should probably name her something like Rag Doll or Raggedy Scream maybe? The three boys are oc's modeled after the Terrible Trio, criminals who commit crimes wearing animal masks. Their identities change a lot over continuities, so these kids are probably aspiring to be the next incarnation of this group.

Here's another random oc, a sidekick for White Rabbit (Jaina Hudson). Thought it'd be funny if it was just a kid in a silly rabbit suit, like what the kid wore in that movie, A Christmas Story. I'm not sure on what his personality should be. Maybe someone genuinely nice, a cheerful, polite boy who likes to hand people bombs (unintentionally dangerous) or maybe someone pretending to be nice but is actually malicious. Whatever's funnier I suppose.

Here's some characters inspired by the Super Friends enemies, the Super Foes. You'd see some of them return for the Robins 2021 mini, except for Toy Boy. Giggles and Guffaw are newer, only appearing in the mini.

I messed with their designs a bit to make them more unique looking. Honeysuckle for example was shown with either red or brown hair but I gave her a sorta dark maroon, thought it contrasted well with her green outfit. Honeysuckle btw, is older than the rest, and is more of an enemy to Dick and Barbara, tho her teenage self has no problem attacking the younger sibs.

Also Giggles and Guffaw might look a little similar to a certain anime starring a group of sextuplets, just being a little funny there. I gave these kids some made up names, mostly taken from whatever writer created them. Couple of them worked out pretty well actually, like Bridwell (well, spring, stream) and Estrada (Road).

This next one is a character from the 2004 cartoon The Batman, which I never actually watched but I did see commercials of. His name is Prank ( Donnie ?), a protege of the Joker. He wasn't evil enough to stick it out, but I gotta say I just loved his costume (esp how the jacket resembles Robins coat a bit). Made up a last name for him, just a random one from searching up famous clowns.

Being Barbara's peer, he's also more of a antagonist for the older kids, decided he and Honeysuckle should friends. I kinda want to use them as a sorta contrast to Babs and Dick, that could be fun to do. Also look at baby Dick, I don't draw him enough at this age.

Speaking of Barbara, I've been going back and forth between having her start out as either 12 or 16. All the other kids start out really young, so it makes sense for Babs to do so as well. But I kinda like the thought of her starting out much older, makes her more unique among the batkids (in pre-crisis she became Batgirl in like her 20s btw, cool huh?)

More various rivals for the kids to fight, excluding my oc Pink Rabbit, all of them more antagonists for the kids themselves rather sidekicks of the villains that Batman fights.

Here's Jason and Steph torturing poor little Enigma, who would be considered the bad guy here?

Here's some more proteges, Holly probably exists in this world, she's a bit too old for all this nonsense tho. Kitten is also a Super Foes member and was in Robins 2021 as well, she's been shown to be a sidekick to the Cheetah and Catwoman. Maybe she's just likes to attach herself to any cat-themed villain.

Crazy Quilt is more of an enemy to Robin than Batman, plus he has his own legacy in Crazy Quilt II, so obviously I had to include them. I wonder what name should I give the younger one, Duvet? Silly Blankie? idk

Lastly here's Earth 3(?) Jason Todd as Talon II paying a visit to the Training Wheels universe, seems like hes a bit of a crybaby. I don't think we've seen a earth 3 variant of Jason, so I'm just making up my own version of him. Wonder why he seems so nervous...

Anyways!! That was a lot, hope you liked all that!

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zorilleerrant · 1 year ago

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and if you want to do the ask game: 17?

the ask game

each of the Batchildren's favorite sibling... I've done this before, but I do go back and forth on the answers, so this is what I think at this moment before I change my mind again. (this is long tho because I count as many batkids as possible.)

Cass's favorite is Steph, and Steph's favorite is Cass. there's something about being the only girls surrounded by boys - they love Babs, but she's older, and has different pressures in the public eye, so they're not quite in the same place - that really makes them turn to each other and be like. you. you get it. and their bond is a lot older than the other girls, so it's there even once there are more of them in the Manor. also they both love boba.

Damian's favorite is Cass, but he won't admit it. the bond he has with Dick is more father-son, so it doesn't feel like a sibling bond in the same way, so for a while he feels like he's doing all the sibling bonding stuff wrong. but he's jealous of Cass overcoming her training and knowing exactly what she wants out of fighting, and it slowly morphs into respect. he just thinks she's very cool.

Jason's favorite is Dick. it's awkward for him, because he really wants to reintegrate into the family and be more than just a peripheral hanger-on like he feels sometimes, but none of them feel like real siblings to him except for Dick, and sometimes Luke. there's a basis there for Dick, back when he was a kid, and he can't really figure out how to make the shift from 'technically siblings' to 'actually siblings' in his mind.

Lance's favorite is also Dick, by default, and not necessarily because he actually likes the guy, but he does appreciate how hard Dick is trying, even if he's never willing to admit it. he doesn't really know how to deal with having a brother, but he would've learned how, if he'd had the time.

Tim's favorite is Dick, too. that's his childhood hero and his original mentor, and possibly the coolest superhero to ever exist. and not only did Dick try so hard with him in order to make sure he felt loved in a way Jason didn't, but they were for a long time the only ones there, and so had a lot of time to bond one to one. Tim loves Cass, too, but he managed to bond with her as a peer in a way he never did with Dick (he still can't get over his hero-worship entirely), so it's less intimidating. and it's weird to him to think of Steph as a sibling so he tries not to put too much thought into it.

Babs's favorite sibling is Dick, because they were childhood best friends and made a pact to always be there for each other, so she feels it's important to her many friendship bracelets from him to honor that. she also tries not to play favorites with the younger siblings because it's not so good for training them, so it's easier for her to have a quick answer to the question.

Bette's favorite is Babs because she's absolutely a worthy successor, and Bette doesn't want to have to worry about who's in charge of the mantle. she also trusts Babs to hand it off when the time is right to someone else who can take it on.

Harper and Cullen's favorites are each other, even though it feels a little mean they think their relationship is realer than all the other siblings, but they do.

Claire's favorite sibling is Helena because she's simply so badass. even with superpowers, Claire just really wishes she could rise to that level, and occasionally gets Helena to train her, when possible. she's not as impressed by Cass because Cass is a lot closer to her in age, and she just never managed to be wowed by anyone else in the family right off the Bat.

Duke's favorite sibling is also Helena, because he feels a little bit the outcast with everyone at the Manor looking so similar, and so he latches onto Helena just to have another black face to look at. he trusts Luke's advice, but he doesn't think of the man as a sibling in the same way, since at least Helena really is Bruce's daughter instead of just his mentee. he doesn't get along with Damian at all because they're too similar in age, so his second favorite is Cass.

Helena's favorite sibling is Babs, for also being a peripheral member of the family, never living in the Manor, etc. because, yeah, Bruce is her dad in a very technical sense, but he's also sort of like Babs's dad, and that doesn't seem to phase her any, even though she already has a dad that she loves. due to this favoritism, Helena often gets Selena to mom Babs as well.

Turner's favorite is Tim, for managing to be so competent all the time, and confident even when he's not. he's massively impressed by the whole figuring it out thing when he. didn't. kind of jealous? but also his mind is just blown on the sheer scale of puzzle pieces it takes to do that. wishes he had a skateboard.

Luke's favorite is Tiff, because she's the baby. he always felt too responsible for what his other siblings were doing growing up, and struggled to help them with it when he was only a kid himself, but by the time Tiff comes along he's sort of got things figured out, and he can do a lot more to help her. she reminds him so much of himself at that age, with such a determined sense of justice, and the belief she can change the world. also she's so tiny???

Tam's favorite is also Tiff, because there's a unique sort of joy in being able to impart all of the things she's learned and warn Tiff away from all of her mistakes, because Luke doesn't have to deal with all the things she and Tiff do, and also he's sidestepped a lot of the issues both Tam and Jace have dealt with. Tiff looks up to her for life advice, fashion advice, school advice - all sorts of things that Luke never learned breezing through life. she takes great pains to teach Tiff how to do her hair in convenient ways, and have a great time giving each other makeovers. also. she's tiny

Jace's favorite is also Tiff. it's not just because she's the only one he's not fighting with. it's also the fact that she sees his vision and doesn't question him on it - well, he's worried about her, of course, but they have the same end goal, the same beliefs about the things that need to change, and the ability to work together to get it done. and that impresses him to see in her. also she's tiny

Tiff's favorite is Luke because he's always seemed so perfect to her, and she's put him on a little bit of a pedestal. he's her big brother and he's always so careful to be sweet to her and not yell at her, even when she's accidentally broken his things, even if he does baby her a little. and he just seems so cool all the time.

Terry's favorite is Mattie because that's his baby brother he would do anything for, and Mattie's favorite is Terry because that's his brother who always took care of him, and this would be true even if they had much closer relationships with the rest of their siblings.

Carrie's favorite is also Terry, because the rest of them feel like they're sort of distant so it makes sense they shine so brightly, but Terry's her age and he's managing to kick serious ass. she tells Mattie he's her favorite tho because it makes him feel special.

Maps's favorite is Steph, because she once talked some youtuber into eating an actual sock, or at least part of one, which is a life goal. anyway it's better than eggplant

Bao's favorite is Jason, because of all the murder. there's someone who really gets it, he thinks, and sometimes feels conflicted about all of that. but that's someone whose goals and ideals really seem to align with his.

Diego's favorite is Dick, for, um, obvious reasons. also he'll have you know they're not actually siblings, they're colleagues, and also obviously he's not going to make a move until he turns eighteen because that would just be rude. but yeah he has super huge respect for, uh, the first Robin and all that.

Merissa's favorite is Helena, because she loves to see a woman of color being in the spotlight and kicking ass. and also her mom is Catwoman and, possibly unethical life choices aside, because they were cool irresponsible decisions, well, Merissa loves cats.

Lucas's favorite is Luke because he seems like the only one in the entire constellation who's making sensible decisions. not always, obviously, but way more often than the other people. he even saw Batwing eat a vegetable on purpose once.

Dick's favorite isn't as obvious, and he'll often say Damian just because Damian is the baby and needs to hear it, or Tim if Dami's not there to complain, but his favorite sibling is his older brother. he's lionized the man to the point of unrecognizability, and he knows that, which is why he never talks about it, because he was just a person and people aren't perfect. he loved Dick, tho, and Dick loved him, and misses him every single day.

#look i said something

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fantastic-nonsense · 2 years ago

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If you don’t mind me asking, one question I have that you might be able to answer (seeing as your pretty much the Cass expert around here) - how often has her age relative to the rest of the batkids been brought up in canon?

I’m just curious because every now and then I see it mentioned that she’s around the same age if not slightly older than Jason, which always sort of throws me off a little given how she’s more often paired with Tim and Steph. I guess I’m just curious if you know whether or not this was just something mentioned once and then forgotten about or whether or not this has been a more consistent part of her character.

You're actually insanely lucky you asked me this question tonight, because I had a twitter conversation that prompted me to go hunt down relevant panels and information about this very thing about a month ago. tl;dr: post-Crisis!Cass is the second-eldest Wayne kid and generally written as such; she's consistently two and a half years older than Tim, at least a year older than Steph, and seven months older than Jason legally (and one year older biologically, since Jason was dead for around six months). The only Batkid older than her is Dick.

Canonically, the age gaps between the (pre-reboot) Batfam look something like this:

Depending on which age retcon you prefer (post-Zero Hour or post-Batgirl: Year One), Barbara is either 6-7 years older than Dick or 3-4 years older.

Dick and Jason are approximately 6-7 years apart. Dick is 18-19 when Jason is adopted at 12 and thus 21-ish three years later when Jason dies at 15.

Cass is 7 months older calendar-wise than Jason; biologically she's about a year older, since Jason spent ~6 months dead

Tim is around two years younger than Jason: Tim was 13 when he was introduced a few months in-universe after Jason died at 15. By the end of the post-Crisis universe, Tim is 17 (potentially 18, depending on when Gates of Gotham takes place).

Stephanie is one year older than Tim. This has been confirmed on several occasions, but most notably Steph is explicitly 18 and a college freshman in her Batgirl run, when Tim was 17.

There's 6-7 years between Damian and Tim. Tim is 17 during his Red Robin run and Damian is ~11 by the end of the 2009 Batman & Robin run, though he never turns 11 on-panel.

Those are still the basic age gap guideposts, regardless of "on-panel" post-Flashpoint age retcons. Dick is the sticky one here, mostly because writers could never decide on a) what age he was when his parents died and b) how long he was Robin before becoming Nightwing. Dick's age is also complicated by Tim's backstory, because it gets really sticky if he's too old for Tim to have been in the audience when the Graysons fell.

Anyway...Cass. Cass was 17 in Batgirl (2000) #1; Tim had just turned 15 and was living with his father. While her age isn't consistently brought up, she was treated as a mature older teenager who switches between living with Barbara and independently in the 'cave' that Bruce gives her. We also know she's 18 by 2002 because of Batgirl #33, the issue where Cain tells Cass that her real birthday is January 26th, and Batgirl #37, where she formally turns 18; Tim is still 15 at the time.

Tim turns 16 on July 19th in Robin #116, published in 2003. This once again indicates that Cass is approximately two and a half years older than Tim. This is further confirmed by Batgirl #48 in 2004, where Bruce mentions that Cass is 18, and the fallout of War Games later that year, since Cass relocates to a new apartment in Bludhaven without all of the messy convoluted legal hoops a 16-year-old Tim jumps through to do the same.

As for Cass and Jason, that's discussed in Detective Comics #790, also published in 2004. Bruce takes Cass to Jason's grave on what would have been Jason's 18th birthday, August 16th:

"No one talks about him. All I know is...he was the second Robin. And that the Joker kil-" "He would have been eighteen today." -Detective Comics #790

Ages are always a bit difficult to parse in comics, but this issue confirmed that Cass and Jason were around the same age. While we were never explicitly told whether Cass was 18 or 19 in this scene, we have a very important context clue that provides the answer: Cass's birthday, January 26th.

This would make Cass still 18 during Tec #790, around 7 months older than Jason should have been. This would also keep the correct age gap between both Cass & Tim (since Tim had just turned 16) and Jason & Tim (since they're two years apart). This is further confirmed by Jason being around 19-20 during Under the Red Hood (which I previously puzzled out here), published the following year in 2005. This makes Cass vaguely 20-21 during the Reborn era, since we know that Tim is 17 (nearly 18) and Steph is solidly 18.

In terms of writing, Cass was consistently treated as a slightly "older" character. Tim and Steph were a bit of a matched set even though they were a year apart, but Cass's stories were always pitched for a slightly older and more mature character than theirs. Any writers engaging in infantilizing behavior tended to do so because they were trying to make points about Cass's social skills, not her age. Cass being grouped in with Tim and Steph rather than Jason had more to do with Jason being dead until 2005 and a villain until 2011 than it did age considerations.

So then we get to the post-Flashpoint universe, where we have to throw literally everything I just said out because welcome to the reboot, where the timeline is made up and the ages don't matter:

Cass was re-introduced in Batman and Robin Eternal, where she is explicitly noted to be 16. Stephanie and Tim were both about 17, since Tim's college application arc in Detective Comics Rebirth puts him at 17-18.

But Cass is written as slightly older than Duke during the 2019 Outsiders run, and Duke was 16 when he was introduced and supposed to be slightly younger than Tim and Steph.

Then we run into Tim's "eternally 17" issue compounded with DC actually allowing Damian to age (first to 13 in 2016 and then to 14 in 2021), which throws literally everyone else's timeline into whack.

We also get the Infinite Frontier era allowing Dick and Babs to be in their late 20s again (vs. being 21, like they both had been since 2011) while also dealing with the Batgirls writers admitting they thought both Cass and Steph were 13-14 before being corrected (which explains a lot about how they're written right now).

If all the information I just threw at you confuses you, congratulations: it confuses everyone else, too. Don't worry too much about it. This is why most people ignore any on-panel age considerations we've been given since 2011 and go with pre-reboot ages. Anyway, Duke is now in college as of Urban Legends #18. Logically Cass, Steph, and Tim should thus all be between 20-22 right now, if the timeline actually made sense. Accounting for basic pre-reboot age differences+new age considerations, here's where everyone SHOULD be:

Babs: early 30s

Dick: 28-29

Cass: 23

Jason: 22-23

Steph: 21-22

Tim: 20-21

Duke: 18 (confirmed)

Damian: 14 (confirmed)

............yeah. That's clearly not how they're all being written, but that's the best age approximations I can come up with based on the super convoluted and contradictory information we've been given over the past 11 years. Love how canon is instead acting like Cass and Steph are 13-14 (but still getting less mature storylines than the actual 14-year-old), Tim is eternally 17, Jason is somehow 21 and 35 at the same time, Dick is forever in his mid-20s, and no one knows whether Babs is supposed to be 21 or in her 30s. I hope this answers your question sufficiently despite all of the confusing info!

#rip sorry for that info dump because that was probably way more information than you probably wanted #cassandra cain #dc comics #tim drake #jason todd #dick grayson #damian wayne #stephanie brown #duke thomas #barbara gordon #long post #batfam meta #batman meta #cassandra cain meta #tim drake meta #jason todd meta #asks

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moonlit-imagines · 4 years ago

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Misbehavior (Part 1)

Jason Todd x batkid!reader

warnings:

a/n: tysm anon!!

prompt: anonymous: “Hello Lacey! Hope your doing great! Could I please request a bat family x batsis!reader where the reader is Kind of the middle child (I was thinking older than Damian but younger than Tim) and she’s always forgotten and in the back. Maybe some scenarios can be that no one listens when she talks or they forget to invite her to do stuff. So then one day she acts up in school like maybe punching someone for no good reason because she’s craving attention but instead of Bruce showing up to get her Jason shows up and he sees that she’s actually really sad and starts to question her until she tells him everything and maybe spills some tears and it ends with just Jason comforting her and cheering her up. Just some soft Jason for my soul! Also have a great day and I hope that you feel better and more motivated now after your break! 😘”

part 2

No matter what you did, none of your deeds went unnoticed. Good or bad.

You always heard how Dick was so independent, the one everyone should use as an example.

You always heard how Barbara could do it all, she never failed to impress.

You always heard how Jason was reckless, someone who needed to get his act together.

You always heard how Tim was such a prodigy, he was one of a kind.

You always heard how Steph was so determined, she had such amazing goals.

You always heard that Cass was perfect, they’d never change a thing about her.

You always heard that Duke was so strong, he’d never give up no matter what stood in his way.

You always heard that Damian was dangerous, a kid that needed to be guided.

But what about you? What did they hear about you? Nothing. No one ever spoke of you, they didn’t have the time. It seemed as if you were just unimpressive, there wasn’t one thing that needed to be mentioned. Stuck in the middle of a bunch of bats and birds, no way to stand out in the crowd.

Maybe not in a mask or a cowl, a dress or a suit, behind a computer or among the darkness, but there was one place you couldn’t be ignored...

You sat at your desk, picking at old tape with the tip of your fingernail. The teacher had nothing interesting to say, so what was the point of being here? What made Gotham Academy so special that you just had to attend this place?

The uniform was overkill, the classes went nowhere, the students were too preppy, and you didn’t have a single thing in common with anyone here.

Anger was starting to bubble inside you as you continued your internal self-loathing. Your mind was only focused on the negative, but it was shifting from school back to home.

No one was ever there for you, not even on patrol. You’d called for backup several times on missions and nearly lost it all when you had to go in alone. If it were anyone else, a teammate would have met them in a heartbeat.

Your plans were always overshadowed whenever you tried to set up a mission or even just a day off. You wanted cookies? Too bad, Tim wants brownies. You wanted to watch a movie? Too bad, everyone chose a TV show. It was the little things that irked you the most. Half the time, you never even got the memo.

And what about when you all come back from patrol with all sorts of injuries and Alfred comes to patch you up? Well, not you. He’ll run to check on cuts and scrapes. Meanwhile, you had a broken wrist and a black eye.

You’d finally run out of things to pick at around your desk which resorted in you tapping instead. There was a brief bit of zoning out as you remembered the time that Damian’s plan for evading Killer Croc’s attack was to push you in the way. Or the time that Jason hid his guns in your bed for reasons he didn’t care to explain. Or when Dick drank the last of the milk and didn’t tell you until after you poured your cereal. Or when Tim told you that you weren’t fit for the mission he had been planning. Or when Bruce blatantly ignored the story you told out of pure excitement, giving you nothing but a “sounds like you had fun.”

While you were in a horrible daze, you felt a hand on your shoulder that snapped you out of it faster than the Barry Allen. Without even evaluating the situation, your reflexes caused you to turn and twist your classmates arm backwards as he screamed.

“Hey! Stop, ow, that hurts! Stop! Stop it!” You processed his words too late and knew exactly what was coming next.

“Y/N L/N!” You teacher shouted as you drew your hand back. “Dean’s office. Right now.” Her sharp voice sent a chill down your spine, not even the Joker could do that. You’d be able to explain the situation pretty easily, you just didn’t want to make it worse. But there was one ankle that sent you off the edge. Another student tripped you on your way through the aisles, and that student caught a fist to the face. The audience gasped and shouting from your teacher ensued, but you didn’t listen, you’d take the punishment at this point. So you walked right out and headed for the dean’s office without so much as a hall pass.

“Mx. l/n? What’s this about?” Dean Williams was surprised to say the least, you’d never been sent in for discipline before. Was there a certain way to do this?

“Well, I zoned out and some kid behind me grabbed my shoulder, I accidentally twisted his arm.” You retold your story, the abridged version. “But on my way out I punched a kid in the face because he tripped me. That one’s on me.”

“...Well,” the dean frowned at his obligations, but had to go through with some kind of punishment, “I’m going to have to suspend you for physical contact with a student. I’ll call your father to come pick you up.” You shrugged and slouched back in your chair, giving up on any hope of talking your way out of this. It might as well just happen. You listened to the clicking of the buttons on the dean’s phone as he typed in the Wayne Manor phone number, obviously reaching Alfred almost immediately.

“Wayne Manor.” You eard his faint voice through the speaker.

“Hello, this is Dean Williams from Gotham Academy, may I speak to Mr. Wayne? I have his child in my office.” Your dean explained over the phone, peeking back at your for a split second. You were completely unbothered, it was baffling.

“Is it Damian?” You heard him ask, causing an involuntary eye roll.

“Y/N, actually.” There was a long pause before someone else picked up the phone. “Mr. Wayne, this is Dean Williams at Gotham Academy. I have y/n sitting across from me right now, they seemed to have gotten themself into a physical altercation with two separate students, I have no choice but to suspend them.” You heard a deep sigh over the phone, then the handheld piece was handed to you.

“Bruce?” You asked.

“Really? Fighting at school?” He sounded unimpressed. Nothing new, even when you do something new.

“Something like that. Whoops.” He hung up on you right after that, so you handed the phone back and told your dean, “Guess they’ll get me soon.”

“You call your father by his first name?” Dean Williams had nosily questioned.

“I’m adopted.” He obviously didn’t know you as well as your more troublesome sibling, it was time he just minded his business.

After a good thirty minutes of silent waiting while listening to keyboard clacking and papers flipping by the front desk, the office door opened, and to your surprise, it was one of your brothers.

“I’m here for y/n.” He mumbled, signing the piece of paper and showing his ID.

“Alright, Mr. Harper, I just have to check some paperwork really quick...” The receptionist went into your file and checked for your emergency contacts. “You’re all set. Now, y/n has been suspended for two weeks. I suggest you get to the bottom of their little ‘outburst’ before they’re able to come back to school.” It actually pissed Jason off to hear her say that.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” His sarcasm wasn’t subtle. “Come on, kid.” Your brother gripped your arm and led you out of the office, noticing your bitter expression that he couldn’t even rationalize. Was that normal? “So what happened. Bruce just told me to come get you.”

“Of course he did.” You rolled your eyes on the brink of tears, he didn’t even come to get you himself. Jason opened the car door for you and nudged you inside, slamming it once you were clear.

“You better have a good reason,” he warned as he started the engine, “I was in the middle of a poker game.”

“Oh, yeah, ‘cause I’m such an inconvenience.” You were starting to remind him of himself. That was never a good thing.

“Okay, my bad. I didn’t mean it like that.” Jason began speeding down the block, you’d never once seen him obey a speed limit. You’d think someone with a fake ID and a death certificate would want to avoid any run-ins with the cops, but Gotham was just one of those cities.

“Yeah, right.” You reached for the radio knobs and felt Jason’s hand wrap around your wrist.

“No music until you explain yourself.” You fell back into your seat to pout, muttering some curses under your breath. “I won’t tell Bruce or anyone. I swear.”

“I just zoned out. Reflexes.” You bluntly replied.

“What?” He still didn’t have any context to go off of.

“I twisted someone’s arm backwards. Honest mistake.” Jason knew there was more to this story. “But on my way out of the classroom, I punched this kid who tried to trip me. That was on him.”

“As much as I condone payback, you can’t do that at school.” He sighed. “You’ve never been sent home before. That I know of. So why now?”

“Yeah, you know, maybe that’s the issue? You couldn’t tell me if I’ve ever gotten in trouble before. None of you could. You couldn’t tell me a definitive thing about me. When’s my birthday, Jason?” He was at a loss for words. “That’s what I thought.”

“So this was all for attention?” Jason asked. “There’s a hell of a lot of better ways to go about that.”

“Tried them all, this one barely even worked.” You replied with a crack in your voice. “How come none of you care about me? Why am I always looked over? I’m just like the rest of you. I put on that stupid suit every night and kick ass, I get my job done, I get good grades, I’m resourceful, I’m special—” You’d let that last one slip in your rant to your older brother, it shocked him so bad he stopped the car.

“I know what you mean.” Jason stared straight ahead at the empty road. “I felt the same way when I came back. After everyone was used to me being back, it was like nothing ever happened. Bruce just went back to calling me careless, irresponsible.”

“At least you get noticed, Jason. Your identifiable.” You turned to him with a pained look and he risked his confidence to look you in the eye. Once he did, he couldn’t look away. It hurt him to see someone so familiar to himself have tears running down their face because they felt forgotten. No kid should ever have to feel like that. That was why Bruce took him in. That was how Jason became Robin.

“Fuck this.” Jason hit the gas and turned the car around. “We’re getting ice cream. Do you like ice cream? That’s a serious question.”

“I...I guess.” You were somewhat confused by his sudden literal change in direction.

“Good. You’re my kid for today, all my attention goes to you. I’m sure Bruce won’t notice if you’re gone for a few hours.” Jason’s jaw dropped at his last comment. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

“No, you’re right and you should say it.”

taglist: @thatwaspossession // @ravenmoore14 // @thisetaernallove // @kinoko-kai //

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imonthinice · 3 years ago

Text

The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 8/?

Word Count: 1.6k

Author’s Note: Y/N - Your Name, A/N - Any Name (Your Best Friend’s Name)

This one is shorter because of the last one’s length.

Hi everyone! By the time you see this, I will probably be out and therefore cannot update the other parts with this one’s link, so don’t worry about that if you notice it.

Warnings: Swearing, Mentions of Jason’s Trauma and his Death, Lightning, no beta bitch we die like Jason Todd

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

Going on day 5 of knowing each other, Jason and Y/N would spend the day apart. Why? Because they gave each other the chance to have family time, Jason got it by playing around with his baby siblings, playing Assassin.

Fluff Head canon came from frownyalfred on Tumblr, who wrote about Jason playing Assassin with his brothers

He would go running through the halls playing the game that he and Dick knew all too well, it had been the only ‘no contact’ game they were allowed to play at a summer camp Bruce had sent them to all those years ago when they weren’t adults with a bunch of other siblings, and girlfriends. But here they were, explaining the game to their younger siblings while Alfred and Bruce hung out with Barbara, who wished she could play, but was paralyzed.

Everyone missed playing games with her like they used to, but with the video game consoles in the house they did transfer a lot of their gaming to online so they could relive memories with Barbs. It was bittersweet, and everyone remembered when she became paralyzed like it was yesterday, but she always wanted them to play games like they used to, with or without her.

Jason admired his, hopefully, one day older sister for how she treated her disability, like it was a gift, not something that impacted her everyday life and made her have to hang up the cloak of Batgirl.

But running around chasing after Dick, because of course, he got Dick, the universe wanted them to play again, was something he missed so much. They hadn’t had so much of this time, family time, ever since they all became vigilantes, and they never realized how much they missed the thrill of running around with each other.

Jason ended up getting Dick and throwing him out of the game, calling it a ‘selfless act of brotherhood so you can hang out with your girl’ and they both laughed at it. Titus, Damien’s dog, ended up barking up a storm at Jason when he killed Dick, like the big dog was rooting for Dick to win the tournament.

“Down boy! It’s a game!” Jason would whisper-yell at his dog.

“Yeah! Good boy, Titus! Get him!”

“No!” Jason would yell while running throughout the house, Titus on his heels. Passing by Alfred, Bruce and Barbara, where Titus would stop and go lay at Bruce’s feet, but Jason didn’t know that.

Jason would end up coming in just 10 minutes later, with a green slash on his neck. Tim, who had pulled Cass but killed her, Cass, who had pulled Jason. Tim now had two kills in the game and both were to people who could have easily overpowered him.

“Jase! Welcome to the land of the dead,” Dick greeted him.

“God dammnit I’ve already been here,” Jason whined in a joke.

“You and your ‘I died pity me’ jokes,” Barbara said.

“It’s called a coping mechanism, Barbs. And hi dad, Alfred,” Jason said as he waved slightly at both of them, Alfred waved back and Bruce nodded at him.

“You could just to go therapy, Jase,” Barbara said, seeming concerned for someone who she considered her baby brother. She remember when he came into the Manor, she was older than him, sure . But he had nightmares and she and Dick would switch between who would sleep at his door at night, they both had terrible backs until the nightmares calmed down. Jason never knew they did this.

It also happened when he was resurrected, but the nightmares were worse and he’d wake all sweaty and upset. There were too many nights where batkids would be in Jason’s bed with him from 12am to when Alfred would greet them in the morning. The nightmares had slowed down a lot in the past few years with the introduction of his Goddaughter into his life, but they still came by to remind him of what happened.

He didn’t talk about it much. They would always try to edge him on about about really happened, but he was stubborn. It made sense, sure, trauma is trauma. But they all wanted to help him get better. It hurt them all that he was hurting and they didn’t know how to help him get through it.

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

Y/N would sit on her bed that morning and finally finished organizing her criminal psychology and regular psychology notes when she came across her printed copy of Dr. Barry Allen’s dissertation she had studied so hard. She found it so weird that she was so close to someone who she looked up to in the field while also being so far in the same breath.

She didn't dote on it for long, she stocked it away with her forensics notes in their place. This, the relationship she had with Jason that intertwined her with so many people, was something she was getting used to by the minute, but it was never something she’d get fully used to as time goes on.

She would put on a JCS - Criminal Psychology video in the background as she worked and tried to make her journal look nicer when Jason texted her,

Good morning. He said.

Good morning :) She said back.

I just lost a game against a 16 year old.

Huh?

My brothers and 2 of my sisters were playing Assassins with me right? Well my 16 year old brother, Tim, he ended up getting the better of me and beat me.

Oh! So you suck!

What!? No, I’m literally so cool what do you mean? He said, it clearly had sarcasm undertones to it, so Y/N wasn’t worried if she offended him with saying he sucked.

Oh yeah? Then why’d you lose?

Well, I killed Dick.

Okay so you didn’t lose, Dick lost.

It started raining a little bit, the sounds of it hitting lightly against her window, and she felt at peace. It was never hard for her to feel peace when she was by herself. She only had one roommate because she liked the silence, to be alone to collect her own thoughts in her head.

Her parents said it was because she probably had underlying mental illness that they never had the money to diagnose. She agreed. But she still didn’t have the chance to do it.

Jason and her deserved so much more than what the world have given them up to this point, so when they found each other it was, in a way, the universe saying ‘I’m sorry, you deserve this’ and with each passing day it made the pain they had both felt in their lives just a little bit more tolerable.

No, I guess Dick sucks at the game more than me.

Where’d you even get the concept for that game?

Dick and I used to play it at a Summer Camp before we got kicked out.

For playing the game?

No, for being unruly children.

You seem like you were a handful back in the day.

I was, I was the worst kid to raise, my dad has a shirt that says ‘Proud parent of a kid who is sometimes an asshole but that’s OK’ and he wears it all the time.

What a dad moment. Don’t tell my father that shirt exists, he’ll get one for my mum and himself to represent my sister and I.

Were you an unruly child as well?

I was a troublemaker. Getting into arguments with my authoritative figures about dress codes, rules, why girls couldn’t carry chairs, literally anything that was unequal, I was at their throats about it.

I mean, as you should. My older sister, Barbara, and my younger sisters, Stephanie and Cassie, they would like that about you.

I feel like in someway I’ve won over every part of your family.

The rain would get more violent as time went on. Strikes and hits of lightning would strike all around the city, hitting those gargoyles on every building, she always figured they were decorative, but A/N explained that their horns were made out of copper so people wouldn’t get struck by lightning. Bruce Wayne actually made that a thing, A/N said.

Y/N got a message from the dance competition that she signed up to, turns out, California was hit with a hurricane and most people evacuated. No one was allowed in or out. She guessed weather was being funky everywhere. It sucked, but she already was wishing she could spend time at home instead of out in the world.

A feeling she hated.

She would spend the rest of the day on and off the phone with Jason while it stormed. She would go to bed early that night.

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

Jason slipped on his vigilante uniform, the Red Hood was going to be on patrol over this night, stormy or not, it was his duty and he knew that. Did he want to go? Yes. He was killing for some action and he was going with Dick. They would probably have some ‘Bro Time’ which Jason wanted.

Even if it was silence, having Dick nearby him meant enough and gave him peace of mind.

He grabbed his guns and loaded them while packing a few extra magazines in his belt, when Dick placed a hand on his shoulder, “You have to be careful tonight, Jase,” Dick said as he gulped down tears, “Just come back to me alive if you break off from me, okay?”

“Alive but bruised,” Jason joked.

“I’m serious. I can’t lose you again and tonight is going to be massively dangerous.”

“You won’t.”

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duketectivecomics · 4 years ago

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You might've answered this already and I just didn't find it, but one thing that always perplexed me about Duke was how old he was in comparison to the other Batkids. It's obvious he's younger than Dick and Babs, and I pretty sure he's younger than Jason and Cass, and older than Damian, but I cannot tell if he's meant to be Tim and Steph's ages, younger, or older. Could you help me?

You’re all kinds of good here, anon!!! I answered a similar ask abt the Order of Adoption but didn’t dive into specific ages on that post BECAUSE well they didn’t ask lmaooo but ALSO:

Comic ages are very fluid usually! While Years™️ might pass in the canon proper, or while time seems to slow to a crawl, having a character’s age outright stated is something that occurs very rarely for most characters, if at all!

Because it’s always much easier to have a floating age range to work and play around in! It’s easier to keep a character Perpetually 12 or 16 or 25 or mid-40s or- you get the idea. SO, with that in mind. Let’s do our Best to Break Down What Age Duke Might Be Currently A N D how it might interact with the Other Batkids!

(Warning for a Very Long Post, lots of issue citations, and a LOT of comics terminology regarding specific runs/events/continunity. I’m gonna try to keep it as clear/concise as possible ofc but plz keep these things in mind! If you’re not at least marginally familiar with Bat-Comics, you might find yourself feeling a little lost here!)

So from the Zero Year arc we see a common Trend that plays out pretty consistently with Batfam comics: a Life-Changing Event Occuring while the protag is Young™️.

(Batman (2011) #30)

With how Duke is drawn in these particular issues, and given the trends of the past, I’d place him in the 8-12 range. The historic precedent being ofc that that is the same range that canon usually places both Bruce and Dick at for their Tragedies™; the more benign reason being that he... just very much Looks to be drawn in that Range. He’s very clearly an Older/Prepubescent child here.

Fast Forward to his Next Appearance in the Endgame arc and-

(Batman (2011) #37)

He’s definitely older! He’s wiser! And he’s giving Batman a fistbump lmao. Again, no strict age given here BUT, since they condensed each Robin to a Year or Two tops with Bruce (its n52 and its fucked up is what it is), we can assume it’s been at least 4-5 since Zero Year (which would mean if we go off the age range I proposed for that year, then theoretically he could be anywhere from 12-16 here, and I think that tracks pretty well. Not Perfectly and Certainly Not so well with Pre52 continuity ofc, but I’ll talk about that later!)

In We Are Robin, while its not stated Directly In The Text, it IS given as an Informational Tidbit that Duke is 16 (specifically this can be found at the end of issue #4)! (Sweet sweet canon confirmation FINALLY)

We know that WAR takes place Fairly Soon after Endgame (almost immediately, give or take a month or two given that Duke’s been placed in a few foster homes at this point and has racked up Quite A File) now, again id like to remind y’all that while this is a NICE starting point to have, keep in mind that comics are fluid and this may be retconned slightly/ignored in later stories bc Keeping Duke 16-ish is in DC’s Best Interest at the moment. (Having Relatable Teen Characters afterall is a Good Marketing strategy™️. And the longer they can Keep them Young, the Better)

With that in mind let’s take a moment to Highlight the fact that Duke and Damian have crossed paths at this point AND the storylines that have occurred during this year that were meant to be in conjunction with one another!

Because Prior to Endgame, Damian had Died! And just a year (in real, meat-space time) before We Are Robin, he was resurrected and had begun his “Year of Atonement” in the Robin: Son of Batman maxiseries. Midway through both this series and WAR (and, we can assume, midway thru this “Year” for Damian) the Robin War begins/ends and we see at least one major Moment between these two boys who will soon call one another brothers:

(Robin War #2)

Given that R:SoB is followed up VERY quickly by Teen Titans Rebirth (in which Damian celebrates his 13th birthday), we can conclude that Damian would be 12 during this time (well, 12 and 1/2 to play it safe lmao). That being said, this Confirms about a 4yr gap between Duke and Damian! (One Batkid down at least! but he’s the key to the others so put a pin in him!)

As We Are Robin draws to its conclusion, DC was releasing another arc that would eventually flow into the Rebirth Era, by the end of which, Bruce would approach Duke with an Idea (which involves Bruce becoming Dukes temporary guardian & as he states Many Times “Trying Something New” with Duke).

And thus the Rebirth Era begins, and Duke began his Year of training (most directly encapsulated by the Cursed Wheel arc in the All-Star Batman run:

(All-Star Batman #1 (back-up story))

Bruce introduces Duke to a training regimen that Alfred has named “the Cursed Wheel”. It encompasses all the training Bruce and the other bats have undergone and condenses it down into color-coordinated segments that will take Duke a Year to Complete.

It can be assumed that by the End of this Year Duke will somehow miraculously still be 16, despite, again, an entire ass year passing.

There’s one story that takes place mid-year in All-Star Batman, and the Cursed Wheel is meant to be capped off by Duke’s first Official Day as the Signal (in the titular Batman & the Signal ofc) BUT, near as I can tell after this story, Dukes age is not brought up again. So until they DO bring it up either in Batman & the Outsiders or whatever future run Duke becomes involved in, we can assume DC will be working with the idea that he’s meant to be in that 16-18 range from here on out (ie still a minor).

But, dear anon, you might be saying “okay, that’s cool, but how does that relate to my question abt how he falls in with the other Bats?” You’ll have to be a little patient with me here, but I think I may have cracked the code!

Keep in mind I’m gonna be addressing both the Post-Crisis to Flashpoint Continuity (ie mid-80s to 2010 in comics history) and the N52-slash-Rebirth Era (2010-Today). Its generally agreed by fandom and DC alike that these points of rebooting &/or Major Events constitute the era of “Modern” comics, and that everything from the 80s-on might more or less be canon on some level, even if not All of it is.

(Plus, most of fandom usually likes to borrow elements from both eras and much more rarely from stories before it, SO-)

Lets do a quick rundown of how everyone who’s Closer to Duke’s Age, Relates to each other first, age-wise:

Given that Jason was 15 when he died, in A Lonely Place of Dying its established that Bruce had become increasingly reckless since his death, and by the end of the story, Tim has stepped in to fill Robin’s shoes (he states that he’s 13 during this story btw). Pretty soon after, Stephanie Brown is introduced & established to be about a year older than Tim (wish I could pin-point a specific issue BUT, i unfortunately haven’t read any Tim OR Steph-involved comics that predate No Man’s Land... Besides the aforementioned Lonely Place and Young Justice technically, but im working on remedying that soon!)

NOW, during the No Man’s Land event, Cassandra is introduced, and pretty soon into her Batgirl run, its revealed that she’s around the same age as Jason (or at least how old he Would Have Been, had he not died.) Now, given that Jay has an August bday and Cass has a January one, fandom sometimes likes to play around with the idea of one being older than the other (OR even speculating/placing them in an AU as twins/siblings, given that Lady Shiva (Cass’ mom) was a Possible Candidate to be Jason’s biological mother but that’s a Whole Other Thing i wont get into here.)

The point being, Cass, in this era of comics, IS slightly older than Tim and Steph. At Tim’s start as Robin, their ages could either line up like: Tim-13, Steph-14, Cass-15 (being a few months ‘behind’ Jay), then Jason at 15/16 (depending on how soon Tim filled the role after Jay died in April) OR Jason-15/16, Cass-16/17 (in this case she’d be a few months ‘ahead’ now instead)

So brief detour to talk New 52, however! Because Tim, Steph & Cass all got switched around from where DC originally left them prior to the reboot! Now I haven’t read much of them in this era, other than Batman & Robin: Eternal, so my Understanding of their current ages is Spotty at Best. The general consensus seems to be that while before N52, Stephanie had been attending her first year of College (& doing VERY WELL i might add), with the reboot she was set back a few years alongside Tim to a vague Late-Teen state (so 16-18-ish, instead of a Very Clearly Established 18/19). Cass is probably the worst off for this reboot, given that B&R:E basically constitutes her new origin for the new continuity, and does nothing to confirm her age (all I really know is that she’s a Vague Late-Teen too... Probably? Maybe?), given how much they infantilize her, and subsequently how fandom in turn has taken to infantilizing her too, theres a semi-popular fanon that places her Younger that Tim and Steph. And I, for one, propose that we ignore that bc its Weak Sauce my dudes.

Some fans chose to ignore N52 continuity due to this vagueness, and will stick to the ages established before the N52/Rebirth reboots. But its something to keep in mind regardless bc we’re all obviously going to pull from what’s most familiar to us!

But WHERE could we place Duke with regards to them, then? Because them being “Late Teens” is certainly much too vague to work with!

This is Where Damian is the key!

Because Damian is one of those rare exceptions to the Reboot Rule. His story flowed almost seamlessly over from before to after. While he was made a Robin at the age of 10, he continued to grow and learn even after the universe was being rewritten to suit the whims of DC editorial.

If we choose to ignore how everyone else’s ages and origins were swapped around, and stick with the growth that was presented before the reboot, then we can draw some interesting conclusions!

Firstly, though Stephanie also had Died and subsequently Returned, she hadn’t lost much, if any time, from the Ordeal. At the start of her Batgirl run, she is enrolled at a Gotham university and making headway with a more firm foot in the Batfamily (even to the point that she and Damian spend a few issues bonding. At this point in time, Damian is definitely 11, and again, Steph can be assumed to be 18/19 during the course of her run. We’ll assume 18 for clarity’s sake.)

So, then when Damian is 11, now our line up is as Follows:

Dami - 11, Steph - 18, Tim - 17, Cass 19-21 (the range depending again, if you subscribe to Cass being either older/younger than Jason).

WHICH MEANS, If during Robin War Damian is 12 (and a half) THEN We’ve got an age line-up that Potentially looks Like This:

Dami -12(and 1/2), Duke - 16, Tim - 18, Steph - 19, Cass - 20-22 (And Obvsly Jason, Babs & Dick at their varying Older Ages than everyone here)

and im just now realizing i Didnt include Harper in this line-up, but thats bc she’d also throw a big wrench in all this. I’d personally throw her in with being Steph’s age, but I’m pretty sure she was supposed to be either that, or between Steph and Cass (again, since its N52, i believe Cass was/is assumed to be Younger than Steph, but that contradicts the assumed following of pre52 canon that we have for the above line-up, obvsly, and so we ignore that lmao)

All this to say, however, that canon and fandom is what you make of it, and if you want to wiggle these ages around a little, you’re more than allowed! God Knows i usually like to skew the Tim-Steph-Cass age group to be a tad older than this in my own fic writing, and I like to have Duke start as a Robin at 14/15 instead of 16, but that’s just bc I like the dynamic potential it could bring with them being Definitively Older that him, and thus in a more secure place to be Mentoring him right alongside Bruce & the others.

But you might see these age ranges and want to do something Different (say, making Tim, Steph, Cass, & Duke all the Same Age at 17 instead! And that very well tracks with how current comics kinda looks right now!) and you’re absolutely valid to do so! Because again, comic character’s ages are meant to be fluid, not fixed!

And at the end of the day, its all about wanting to see these teen heroes kick serious ass haha

#duke thomas #guest starring:#batfamily #damian wayne #tim drake #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #randywrites #randys meta #meta #asked and answered #anonymous asks #this was A LOT and i tried to throw some humor where i could #but uhhhh yeah!!! i hope this helps anon!!!#also just realizing its TWO AM WHERE DID THE TIME GO #ah well. Worth It

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fishfingersandjellybabies · 4 years ago

Text

Abandoned - fic

Characters: Jason Todd, Ric Grayson, bits of Tim, Cass and Damian Summary: Ric was an only child. A man named Jay decided to remind him that, in another life, he wasn’t. A/N: Reminder Ric Grayson is one of the worst things to ever exist and the fact that they completely ignored what would happen with those really close relationships he had with his siblings is a bunch of bullshit. So here’s Jason word-vomiting for me. I wrote this in one go in the middle of the night. Sorry it’s garbage. The batkids were driving back to Gotham from some top secret mission and shit probably.

Ric frowned as he stepped out of the bar. There was a car blocking his cab in the alleyway.

And that in itself wasn’t a problem, not really. Had happened before. What made it worse was that there was a man in a leather jacket standing nearby, leaning on a light pole, puffing away at a cigarette. Ric didn’t know why, but he had an intense feeling the man was the car’s owner, and that this little blockade was on purpose.

Ric huffed, shoving his hands in his pocket as he began to stomp closer. He didn’t really want to fight one of the fine folks of Bludhaven today, but would if he had to. He had fares to find and bills to pay, and this guy looked like one of those smarmy assholes who would drag out a stupid argument just out of spite.

As he got closer, the man glanced over, a sharp grin flashing onto his face in recognition. He popped the cigarette into his mouth and pushed off the streetlamp, fixing in his jacket. While he did so, Ric caught a glimpse of scars, violent looking ones, and even a few wounds still in the process of healing.

Ric blinked, and his stomach dropped in frustration.

One of them.

“Bruce Wayne sent another one of you, huh?” He snapped before thinking too much about it. The man snorted a laugh, running his fingers through his hair. Ric took note of the white streak near his bangs.

“Nah. If he knew I was here, he’d kill me actually.” A drag of the cigarette. “Again.”

Ric stopped in front of him, waiting.

“Ah, yeah. Sorry. Amnesia.” The man exhaled smoke right into Ric’s face. “You wouldn’t get the joke.”

“Doesn’t sound like it’d be funny even if I did.” Ric countered easily. “Mind telling me why you blocked my cab?”

The man shrugged. “Wanted to talk.”

Ric groaned, glancing to the skies. “Look, I’ll tell you the same thing I told that Barbara woman. I’m sorry I don’t remember whatever relationships we had before, but I don’t want to come back to Goth-”

“I don’t give a shit about all that. Don’t come back, I don’t care. It’s your life.” The man cut off. “That’s not what I wanted to talk about.”

“…Oh.” Ric pursed his lips, looking around. “Then what do you want?”

“I want to talk about…” The man seemed to think over his words. “What you else left behind.” Suddenly he gestured his arm towards his own car, directing Ric to look for himself. “I want to talk about them.”

Ric glanced over and realized that the man’s car wasn’t empty. There were three people inside, three kids by the look of it. Two in the back and one in the front.

The teenagers in the back could have been twins from where he was standing. Both with black hair and pale skin. Petite. The girl’s hair was longer, almost to her shoulders, but the boy could have used a haircut himself too. The girl smiled and pointed to something on the phone the boy was holding between them. The boy laughed too.

In the front passenger seat was a younger boy. He was also consumed by the phone in his hands, headphones shoved into his ears and sweatshirt hood over his head. His knees were curled up to his chest, and he looked like he was hugging himself.

He looked…sad.

Not that the two in the back looked any better. They looked tired. More tired than a couple of teenagers should. Concerningly tired.

Ric looked back to the man. “Who are they?” And almost an after thought: “Who are you?”

“…You used to call me Jay sometimes. So let’s go with that.” Jay said absently. “And they…are your siblings.”

Ric was already shaking his head as he looked back. The three in the car didn’t seem to notice them. “I don’t have any brothers and sisters. I’m an only child.”

“By blood, yeah. By found family…you’re the oldest of five. Legally too, technically.”

Ric looked back. “Five? There’s only three kids in that car.”

Jay pointed to himself. “You were also kiddo’s legal guardian for a few years, too. But that’s less important in the long run I guess. Kind of.”

Ric’s stomach was churning now. “Okay, so Bruce Wayne had a bunch of kids besides me. So what?”

“So…that’s what I wanted to talk to you about.” Jay took another sharp inhale of his cigarette, seemingly steeling himself. Thinking. “Because Bruce is one thing. The secret cave and what we did down there is one thing. Don’t want to come back to that? Fine. Be as big an asshole as you want about it. I don’t care. No one does. Nightwing was a beloved hero around the world, but if it came down to the world having Nightwing or having Dick…Richard Grayson safe, not a single person would pick the former. Besides, heroes retire. Heroes quit. Heroes become bad guys. No big thing. It was wrong of Bruce and Barbara and whoever else to try to force you back into a role you didn’t remember.”

Ric waited.

“That’s one thing.” Jay repeated, and suddenly his voice was angry behind the cigarette. “But abandoning those kids is another.”

A moment to let that sink in.

“And sure, at first I thought I’d come here and say abandoning the people who love you was really shitty, but you know? A lot of people fucking love you and I don’t care about a single one of them.”

He pointed towards the car.

“But them? They adored you. Still do frankly. Especially kiddo.” Jay emphasized his point by jabbing his finger forward again. “You saved his life. You saved all their lives in one way or another. And even more than that – you loved them when it kinda seemed like no one else would. You gave a shit when not even Bruce did.”

Jay dropped his cigarette back between his fingers. Exhaled, and it was shaky. Upset.

“And I get it, I do. Leaving Batman? Easy. Leaving Bruce? Honestly, even easier. It’s not a life any of us should have or want and…you got out. Yeah, it was through getting shot in the head and forgetting everything, but. You got out.” Jay waved it off. “But what I have a problem with is that you left them and you don’t even care.”

“Because I don’t know them.” Ric countered, feeling his own emotions bubbling up. “How can I care about someone I don’t know?”

“Literally, you did all the fucking time!” Jay hissed. It seemed like he wanted to shout, but instantly turned it to a whisper. He glanced nervously at the car, and Ric realized – the kids didn’t notice them because Jason didn’t want them to. He didn’t want them to see Ric, or hear this conversation. “It was what made you…you. What made you special. Because it didn’t matter who it was or what they’d done. Even if you didn’t know someone’s name, you cared.”

Ric just stared. “I’m not that person anymore.”

“And I’m suspicious about that, because I’m pretty sure amnesia doesn’t change who you are as a core person, and Dick Grayson was no fake when it came to his heart, but that’s not what’s important here.” Jason snapped. The cigarette was close to burning his hand and he dropped his, squishing it under his heel. Immediately he pulled another pack from his pocket, along with a lighter. He shoved the stick into his mouth and lit it. “Because, okay, I can even forgive you not caring about some of the people around you when you woke up. Bruce, Barbara, even Alfred, maybe. Me.”

He paused, to inhale. Then exhaled the smoke, but into the sky this time.

“But they’re just kids.” Jay whispered, looking at Dick with some of the most pained eyes he’d ever seen. “What happened wasn’t their fault, wasn’t their choice. Trust me, if it was, that asshole in the front seat would have taken that bullet for you in a heartbeat, a goddamn thirteen year old.”

Ric let his hands in his pocket roll into fists.

“But this wasn’t their fault, and they’re the ones suffering the most here. Because, yeah, you’re not Dick Grayson, and you’ve made that clear. You’ve made it very clear you want no association with how the old you was, or anything he did. But they’re a bunch of fucking kids who have to convince themselves that their older brother is dead and gone and never coming back, but watch you be alive and well down here in fucking Bludhaven anyway.”

Ric found his gaze slowly drifting back to the car. The girl in the backseat had taken the phone now, the boy next to her leaning on her shoulder with his eyes closed. The little boy in the front hadn’t moved.

“And I take back what I said earlier. You being his legal guardian is important. Because you were like his dad, then. His motherfucking dad. You remember losing your dad. Imagine how it is for him to be forgotten and abandoned by his, while he’s still around out there enjoying his life?” Jay spit. “And Tim – you were there when his dad was murdered. When his best friend was. His girlfriend. One of the only ones there for him. You were there for Cass when she didn’t even know how to fucking speak. When she had no one but some parents who wanted to kill her. It was years ago, but how do you think they both feel now? How do you think they’re coping?”

“So what, are you saying this whole mess is my fault?” Ric snapped back. “It’s my fault I got shot and lost my whole life?”

“No. It’s not your fault what happened to you. But it is your fault how you reacted to it.” Jay answered coldly. “Avoid your old job. Avoid the people harassing you and trying to force you to remember something you can’t. But those three did nothing to you. They’re children. And you abandoned them without even giving them a damn chance. Without even attempting to start over with them or let them try.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Ric demanded. “What do you want me to do about it?”

“Nothing. I don’t want you to do a damn thing.” Jay shrugged. “I just wanted you to know.”

“Why?”

“So you know what you’re missing out on, being a stubborn piece of garbage who refuses to even acknowledge the people of his past, let alone interact with them.” Jay took a long inhale, and Ric watched the cigarette slowly turn to ash. “They’re good kids, Ric. Good kids you helped make. And now you’re mocking them with your mere existence and man. It just sucks.”

“And what am I supposed to do about it?”

“Like I said – nothing. Just wanted you to know. Barbara came down here and said her peace, so I figured I should be allowed to say mine.” He dropped the remainder of his cigarette and snuffed it out. “You mind going to your car first? I’m sure you’ve picked up on it right now, but I don’t want the babies to see you if I can help it. You’re still a bit of a raw wound for them, if you didn’t catch that.”

Ric stared at him for a moment. “…Tell the kids I’m sorry, if the conversation ever comes up.”

Jay shrugged. “I would if I thought you meant it, Ric. After all, Dick made it a point to not lie to them, if he could help it.”

Ric grit his teeth and turned towards his car without another word, making sure to keep his face in the shadows as he passed the windows of Jay’s car. None of the occupants even glanced up.

“Good luck with those memories and shit.” Jay called after him. Ric didn’t respond, and slammed his door a little harder than he meant to after he dropped into the car. He started his engine and rolled down his window, listening.

Jay was whistling as he walked back to the car, and jerked open his own driver side door.

“What took so long?” A young voice whined. Ric glanced into his rearview mirror to see it was the boy in the front seat. He hadn’t looked up from his phone. “I didn’t think destroying your lungs with cigarettes was an extended affair.”

“Was watching some old men down the street fight over a chess match.” Jay seemed to say nonchalantly. “Also had more than one cig. Excuse me if I don’t want to waste my supply, and enjoy the moment.”

The boy’s answer was cut off as Jay got into the car and shut the door. Ric listened as his engine started, and watched as they pulled away, freeing him from his temporary prison.

He threw his cab in reverse, dropping out of the alley and onto the road. He shifted to drive, and took off, ironically, the same way Jay and his crew went. In fact, they were at a light just down the block, waiting for it to turn green.

And Ric found himself frozen, blocking both lanes with his car, because the girl – Cass, he’d called her – was staring out her back window, directly at him.

When she’d caught his eye, she simply smiled, though it was clearly sad, and gave him a single wave.

Then the light turned, and Dick Grayson’s siblings disappeared around the corner.

#Jason Todd #dick grayson #ric grayson #cassandra cain #Damian Wayne #Tim Drake

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elyreywrites · 4 years ago

Text

hips don’t lie (shakira shakira)

a crack fic born of a typo, and enabled by discord (shout out to the C&C discord server!! y’all are amazing.) also, it was a motivational gift for a friend. and a huge thanks to Bumpkin for being my beta on this fic!

title from Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie”.

please REBLOG -- DO NOT REPOST

AO3 Link

Teen 1,895 words Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne part of my batkids shenanigans series

Summary:

Tim breaks a hip. Dick and Jason fight for the right of sitting shotgun. Barbara is the Actual Best. And Bruce is Suffering.

- - - - -

Tim leaned back against the wall in his cell and waited. He certainly wasn’t going to escape at the moment – not after some goon had slammed a metal bat into his hip. Standing wasn’t going to happen, much less fighting. As it was, Tim could block out the pain while sitting down and not moving. He’d dragged his body out of the desert after he was stabbed in the spleen, he could ignore this pain.

The sound of shattering glass and indistinct yelling brought a grin to his face. Ah, his rescue had arrived. Who did they send this time? The gunfire that broke out could mean Jason, or the goons had guns. Maybe both. The only guarantee was that it wasn’t Damian. He had a final paper due in the morning for school and Bruce ordered him off patrol.

The commotion lasted all of ten minutes. After another couple of minutes, something banged on the other side of the door.

“Hey Red, yell if you’re in here,” called Dick. After a second, he squawked, “What was that for?”

“He might be unconscious and can’t fucking answer,” Jason snarked.

Huh, both of them to the rescue. “I’m conscious,” he yelled. The lock clicked and his two older brothers strolled in, the keys dangling from the lock.

“Oh good,” Jason drawled, “then you can explain why the fuck you didn’t escape on your own.” He tossed Tim an extra comm, which he immediately put in.

Tim hummed. “I mean, it might have something to do with the metal bat that some asshole caught me in the hip with.”

Both men paused, just as Bruce appeared in the doorway. Tim knew his eyebrow was raised expectantly under the cowl. Tim looked straight at him and said, “I’m not very hip.”

In the background, Dick started snickering as Jason choked on his laughter. Bruce, though – Bruce went still. Bat still – the kind he only got in two situations. One, if he was about to drop into a fight. Two, when one of his kids made an exceptionally bad joke. The second often came before the Heavy Sigh of Exasperated Dad. “Your hip is injured,” he inferred, returning to the matter at hand. “What else can you tell us about the injury?”

Smirking, he complained, “Help, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”

The snickering turned into near-hysterical giggles. Jason was wheezing under the helmet. And there was the Heavy Sigh of Exasperated Dad.

“Someone call Life Alert!” Dick gasped out through his giggling.

“Fucking hell, kid,” Jason managed. “You little fucking shit. We were worried about your goddamn ass, and here you are, making shitty jokes like you’re Nightwing.”

“Hey!”

Bruce shook his head. “Your hip might be broken. Let’s–”

Dick cut off their father. “That’s so sad,” he choked out past his widening grin, “Oracle, play ‘Hips Don’t Lie’.”

Bruce froze. Tim watched with glee as Jason sunk to the floor, his wheezing turning into the high-pitched keening of someone laughing without air. And then – because Babs was the Actual Best – the song started playing over the comm line.

Ah, there it was: the second Heavy Sigh of Exasperated Dad, almost entirely drowned out by Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie”.

“Why,” he asked, long-suffering. “Why do you do this to me? Just… you two, get to the Batmobile. I'll get Red.”

Tim raised an eyebrow behind the mask. “You’re the one that chose to be a father. Really, you should have expected this.”

Bruce tilts his head, his own equivalent of a raised eyebrow when he’s in the cowl. “Oh, I’m supposed to expect my children to reference memes and make jokes when one has broken a hip. That’s what I was supposed to be prepared for, when I decided to take in a grieving child. The parenting books never warned me about that.” He leaned down and tried to carefully pick Tim up, as Tim gritted his teeth against the pain. In the background, “Hips Don’t Lie” faded away.

Over the comm, Jason scoffed. “As if you ever read any parenting books.”

“I know for a fact that you didn’t,” Dick added. “Agent A made enough pointed comments about it that I know you didn’t. Also, I call shotgun.”

“You can have shotgun over my cold, dead body, you dick!” Jason snapped.

“First of all, stop joking about your death! Second of all, fuck you, you know the rules! Hood, get back here! I fucking called shotgun as soon as the Batmobile was in view, respect the fucking rules!”

“You’ll have to drag me out!”

“Red Robin gets shotgun,” Batman cut in.

Tim looked at Bruce blankly. “One, Red Robin is staying out of this, as one of them has already tried to kill me before. Two, Red Robin has a broken hip and needs to be in the backseat, because there is no way in hell I can sit upright very well right now.”

“For shame, B,” Dick sighed. “Hood, I swear to fucking god, get the fuck out of shotgun! Batmaaaaan, Hood isn’t following the ruuuules!”

Tim felt the Heavy Sigh that time. Damn, three in one night? They were doing pretty well. “That’s not really anything new, though, is it?” Tim snarked.

“You wanna fuckin’ go, punk?” Jason called back.

Closer now, Tim could see as Dick shook his head in over-dramatic disappointment. “I can’t believe you, Hood. Breaking the Sacred Rules of Calling Shotgun. Threatening to fight a kid with a broken hip. What would Agent A say?”

“Oh shit.” Tim whispered, grinning, “you’re gonna be in trouble.”

Jason growled back over the line, apparently kicking out at Dick from his spot in shotgun. “Fuck you, I’m an adult!”

Someone hummed on the comm line. “Would you care to repeat that?” Alfred said, as calmly as ever.

At the same time, Dick grabbed Jason’s leg to pull him from the Batmobile. Both things caused Jason to squawk as he landed on his ass on the ground. “No, Agent A. Sorry, Agent A. Hey, that is not fair, I got there first! I have longer legs, and you’re gonna stick me in the back?!”

Bruce stopped for a second, watching the chaos of Dick trying to get into the passenger seat by climbing over Jason, who was still laying on the ground, while Jason kept grabbing his legs and pulling him back out. Tim watched Bruce, waiting. Wondering.

Bruce inhaled and–

Jason and Dick both froze as they heard the fourth Heavy Sigh of the night.

“Is… is that a record?” Jason asked, in a reverent whisper.

“I don’t know,” Dick replied, just as awed.

Tim smirked. “Robin and I have managed seven in one night.”

“What?!” Dick shrieked.

“How?!”

Bruce only looked tiredly upon his eldest sons. “Robin and Red Robin,” he said, as though that was enough explanation. Tim had to admit, it kind of was. No need to mention that it was only for show now, more for the purpose of antagonizing their family than anything else. Cass knew, because Cass always knew, but she only giggled whenever she witnessed their fights.

Jason and Dick stared at each other, Dick’s leg still caught in Jason’s grasp. “We can probably get at least five before we get back to the Cave,” Dick muttered lowly, as though the comm wasn’t picking up everything he said.

“Done,” Jason said. “But I still got here first so stop trying to claim shotgun.”

“Hmmm, nope. I called it as soon as the Batmobile was in view. Them’s the rules, little brother.”

Jason snarled. “I’m taller than you! I need the extra leg space more!”

“You are barely taller than me, and not enough to really matter for leg space.”

Batman carefully put Tim down so he was stretched out along the length of the backseat and climbed in the driver's seat. “How is it,” he began, “that Red Robin, your younger brother, is acting more mature than both of you.”

Jason and Dick both stared at Bruce in utter betrayal. Then Jason looked back at Dick. “Go share the backseat with Red, you’re the oldest. He’s in pain. He needs his big brother to tell him it’s okay.”

“God no,” Tim muttered. He did not want Dick’s smothering right now.

Dick gasped, head snapping to stare at Tim. “Holy shit, I didn’t even think about that! Red, does it hurt a lot? You need a hug.”

Plans for revenge were already forming in Tim’s mind as Dick climbed in the backseat with him, letting Tim lean back against him. Dick’s arms wrapped around Tim in what some considered a hug and others considered an inescapable hold. A hand was already carding through his hair and his oldest brother reassured him that they’d be back at the Cave soon. Jason was snickering from the passenger seat.

Dick needed a distraction.

“Hey, O?” Tim asked, “Can you connect to the Batmobile? You probably already know what I’m thinking.”

“Sure thing Red,” Barbara smirked. He knew she did – he could hear it. Through the speakers in the car, “Hips Don’t Lie” started playing, again.

Tim didn’t miss Bruce’s hands tightening on the steering wheel, probably refraining from sighing again. Of course, now that he knew they were actively trying to antagonize him, it was going to be a lot harder.

As Tim expected, with Shakira blaring out of the speakers, Dick and Jason joined in on the singing. Loudly and off-key. A grin stretched across his face. Normally, he’d join in, but the pain was a bit too much for him to do that. That was fine, Bruce was getting twitchy enough as it was.

There was still no sigh yet, though. No matter how terribly Dick and Jason sang along, even going so far as to be off-beat, Bruce only twitched. At least, until the Spanish came.

“You know Spanish,” Bruce whispered, pained, as Jason sang English words that sounded just similar enough. Dick was doing the same, but without coordination, they were singing different words, creating the sound of pure chaos. “Why are you doing this to me?”

“You only have yourself to blame,” Tim snickered.

The fifth Heavy Sigh of Exasperated Dad cut the awful singing off so Dick and Jason could scream their victory. Tim regretted nothing as he slammed his head back into Dick’s chin.

“Ow! Reeed, whyyyy?” Dick whined, leaning his head back away from Tim.

Tim would have twisted around to glare at him if that didn’t seem like a Bad Plan. “You yelled in my fucking ear! What the fuck is wrong with you?!”

“We’re here,” Bruce called desperately, dragging himself out of the car. “Please, boys, please. Just… stop. It’s been a long night. Take pity on your old man.”

“Eh, I’m gonna go the fuck to sleep anyway,” Jason shrugged as he climbed out. “We succeeded in our goal. Have fun with the broken hip, Timmers! Night!” Tim watched him go, incredulous. A broken hip wasn’t what he’d call “fun” – despite the jokes and references that could be made.

Dick helped Bruce get him out of the car, and then smirked. “Your new ringtone is ‘Hips Don’t Lie’, just so you know. Night, Timmy!”

Tim watched his brothers leave, beginning to twitch himself. “I’m never going to live this down, am I?”

“You’ll never be hip again,” deadpanned Bruce.

#batfam #batfamily shenanigans #batkids shenanigans series #puns #fanfiction #crack fic #elyrey writes things #tim drake #dick grayson #jason todd #bruce wayne #dcu #batman #red robin #red hood #nightwing

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thatblondeperson · 6 years ago

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AU Questions: If an older Batman secretly made a young adult clone of himself, with all his knowledge and personality traits, and trained him for ten years in a hidden cave until the clone has enough experience to be on par to how he was in his prime, how would the Bat Family react if a hologram of an elderly Bruce (Batman) told them this shortly after the actual Bruce died? And what happens if the hologram told them that they have to watch over the clone?

I AM SO SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO ANSWER!!! Omg, my first ask in idk how many years and you hit me with a tough one. I'm gonna try to break this down by batkid with an extra added bonus of Alfred. Though considering that we are suggesting that Bruce has died of old age in this AU, Alfred has probably long since passed. (But really, he's probably immortal right?)

ANYWAY

Dick: I think Dick would naturally step up and want to take the most responsibility, but not right away. I think part of him would feel hurt that he didn't know about this, and also confused/angry as to why Bruce would want to leave "himself" behind in this way. Dick is seems to be one of those in the family most prepared for the natural outcome and progression of the hero-ing gig, so seeing a younger Bruce, at this point maybe even younger than himself would throw him for a BIG loop. He would need adjusting. Dick and Bruce were the first team, and Bruce took him in before the others. Despite their setbacks during a period of Dick's transition years, I think eventually Dick would see this as an opportunity to step up for the man who stepped up for him? But it would take him a BIG adjustment period.He tries to stay positive throughout it all. He knows it wasn't Bruce's intention to upset any of them, so he sets an example for the others. If this was Bruce's final wish, he doesn't want to let him down.

Babs: Something tells me that Babs would be someone who might have been let in on the secret before everyone else. She's been helping him train, and she helped Bruce set up the hologram. Hell she seems like the one that would call the meeting that would break the news to everyone. Initially I think she would have thought it was a bad idea for Bruce to secretly "preserve" himself like this, but she would eventually agree to help him. She knows Bruce only wants the best for Gotham, and it has nothing to do with his lack of trust in his children to take care of their city, but he wants to leave behind more than that. Gotham needs more than just Batman, they need a symbol of everlasting protection. He wants to ensure safety long after he's gone.So she helps him in the training and in keeping this secret until it was ready to share with the others.

Jason: Jason takes it pretty hard. For me, Bruce in his prime lined up with a lot with his time with Jason. That's not to say he declined afterwards, but he had established himself pretty well by then. Jason is looking at the man he felt betrayed by. He worked very hard to come to terms with what happened to himself, and to forgive Bruce for his death. This is a major setback from him. Looking once again at the man that he kept hoping he would see in front of him in the seconds before his death, looking in his eyes and feeling the wave of anger...Jason stays away for a while. With a lot of encouragement, he eventually starts coming around again, but he never fully warms up to Bruce 2.0, and rarely looks him directly in the eyes,

Tim: Tim also takes it kind of hard but in a different way. Tim has experience a LOT of loss. (not that the others haven't) Seeing Bruce again almost as he remembers him kinda puts him into a state of shock. He's confused, much like Dick, as to why he wasn't let in on this. He could have helped. Despite it, Tim almost clings to Bruce 2.0 in a way. He works with him, and monitors him, almost testing to see how accurate of a copy it is. He finds himself forgetting that it's not REALLY Bruce, and it hurts when he remembers. Tim knows the pain of trying to make a copy of someone he lost, he didn't plan on how it would feel if he ever succeeded. Sometimes he brushes against Bruce 2.0 on "accident" to make sure he's actually there.

Steph: Steph is definitely weirded out. She thinks Bruce is pretty insane for wanting to leave an exact replica of himself behind.She always thought Bruce was a little unpredictable, but this is a smack in the face that's hard for her to wrap her mind around. She though, like Barbara, understands his reasoning. She sees the others reactions over time as well, and learns to accept Bruce 2.0, and actually ends up treating him the most normal out of everyone. She jokes with him, and includes him in "family" stuff. She also works with he and Tim on occasion. She recognizes the subtle pieces of him that aren't an EXACT copy, Bruce could never fully program those kind of tiny details in. Not the things that made him human. But this new Bruce 2.0 has potential, and he will learn.

Cass: Cass is pretty wary and untrusting at first. She buried her father, she mourned him. She tests him as well, looking not for mistakes, but things she missed while he was alive. She is the first to hug him. He has Bruce's memories, and it happened on a night when he was talking about things in the past. Babs helps her adjust to clone overall and talks with her a lot about why Bruce did it, and what it was like building the clone. Cass finds it comforting and overall trusts him eventually. With her initial wariness, it takes her a while to speak with him. When they are alone at first, Bruce 2.0 does more of the talking, but eventually she talks with him more and ends up training with him on a fairly regular basis.

Damian: Damian rejects the notion that this is his father. He is upset that Bruce would consider a substitute something that all of them would just accept. It takes a lot of convincing to warm him up to the idea, but he doesn't call him "father" or "Bruce." Initially he defers to him as "Clone", but does slip up on one night without realizing it. He misses Bruce, but does not want a replacement. He sees that Bruce spent a lot of time building an exact copy. The training, the knowledge, the personality...all there, but it isn't enough. It never will be. Bruce is gone and he cannot be brought back.

BONUSES

Duke: (I don't know much about Duke so bear with me.) Duke doesn't necessarily agree with Bruce's decision to clone himself. He knows that Bruce understands the risk and inevitability of the crime fighting gig, so it's hard for him to wrap around Bruce wanting a way to almost "cheat death." But understanding the symbol that Batman represents to Gotham, he accepts the idea in theory. He looks at Gotham as a whole's reaction to Batman's return, and settles into a more appreciative mindset eventually. Part of him didn't think Bruce would have left without one last trick up his sleeve anyway.

Alfred: Assuming Alfred is still alive and assuming he knows about this as well, I think he would initially try to talk Bruce out of this. The Batman will be carried on by the other, it shouldn't be carried on like this. Alfred knows that in a way, this is a reflection of the fear Bruce still has in his heart. The fear of his own death, the fear of not being able to protect his family after he's gone. It's not just leaving behind a protector for Gotham, he's leaving behind a protector for everyone he loves. Alfred knows this isn't the way to help those who have already probably mourned his loss, but Bruce is adamant. Alfred helps him, but regularly reminds him that after he's already gone, it might not be received in the way he thinks. Alfred doesn't talk much about how he helped Bruce with the others. The pain of seeing his son before him after his own mourning is very difficult for him to deal with. But he cares for Bruce 2.0 fiercely, often wondering if he did enough for his own son while he was alive, and how he would have done any of it differently.

OK YOWZA. I hope that was what you wanted, this took me a WHILE and I'm not fully confident ont his because this was very very VERY hard to answer. Gauging each of them individually (and yes, I'm sure there's some I've left out) was harder than I thought it would be. For some reason especially Dick? Idk anyway, hope this was enjoyable at least.

People are free to correct me on anything that might be inconsistent with canon or if they have a differing opinion.

Thanks for the ask @frostbite883 !!!

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superdorkcat · 6 years ago

Text

Alright, you’ve all heard of Batdad. Now, get ready for: Bat Big Brother. Or: the idea of Bruce just adopting some of his reformed rogues as his younger siblings (or at least befriending them and later becoming something of an older brother figure) is really interesting to me, so I’m gonna talk about it in AU form.

Alright, the first rogue I wanna talk about is also the easiest to talk about, as he’s currently reformed in the comics and is currently interacting with Bruce fairly regularly: the Basil Karlo Clayface.

Basil’s Face-Turn is executed pretty well in canon, so it wouldn’t be too different except that Bruce and Basil interact far more often due to one important factor: Cass. Because Cass... Cass is Bruce’s daughter, his BABY. (And no, Jason, Bruce doesn’t still see his babies as children, whatever gave you that idea?) As a result, he’s more paranoid cautious about Cass and Basil’s developing friendship. Sure, he wouldn’t have offered Basil a place in the Batfamily if he wasn’t 100% sure that he wouldn’t turn on them, but like I said: Cass is Bruce’s little girl; he’s allowed to be protective.

Eventually, Basil catches onto this and confronts Bruce about it. Bruce, realizing how he’s been coming across, apologizes for his paranoia extreme caution and explains (without revealing his and Cass’s secret identities) that Cass is his adoptive daughter. Basil forgives him and reveals that he has his own daughter: Katherine. He continues, further revealing that the mental effect his powers have on him caused him to treat her poorly and he expresses guilt over it. Bruce then offers to use his connections to help get Basil another chance with her, which Basil gratefully accepts.

Katherine starts calling Bruce “Uncle Bat” by the end of next month.

Next would be Harley Quinn. Like Basil, Harley has been portrayed as more of a hero (well, anti-hero) lately. So, she’s fairly similar to her comic portrayal, but her personality is more in line with her original BTAS version.

Unlike Basil, Harley actually seeks Bruce out instead of the other way around. However, it doesn’t have anything to do with wanting to become a crime fighter; she instead wants to make sure her best friend’s boyfriend/partner/whatever he and Selina are is actually a good person whose worthy of her instead of some no-good dirt-bag like Mistah J. Just imagine Bruce’s surprise when she pops out of nowhere during patrol and starts doing some Twerp Sweating.

She also takes it upon herself to familiarize herself with the Batkids, seeing as how they’re Selina’s possible step-kids. Their reactions to “Auntie Harley”, as she calls herself, vary. Dick is bemused, Jason is irritated, Tim is perplexed, Cass is just happy to have another family member in her life, and Damian is indignant because how dare this clown presume that his father will marry some criminal?! (Damian warms up to her once she starts to let him spend time with Bud and Lou, though.) Bruce, meanwhile, is starting to wish that he bought Advil in bulk.

However, they start getting closer once Harley starts to put her psychology background to use assisting the Batfamily, both with crimefigthing and interpersonal stuff. It’s also not unheard of for a red-and-black figure to assist the Bats during particularly hairy situations.

Bruce also goes out of his way to look after Harley. Even so much as a rumor of the Joker seeking out Harley to get her to become one of his henchmen again rekindle their relationship is enough to get Bats to seek Jokes out and throw his sorry ass back into Arkham.

Finally, Eddie Nygma AKA the Riddler.

He’d be a PI, just like the stint where he was reformed in the comics. Initially, he does his best to take on the same cases as Bruce just so he can upstage Bats by solving them first. However, as time goes on, Bruce’s feelings regarding Eddie go from him being an unwanted rival who Bruce just exasperatedly ignores to Eddie being like an annoying younger brother who Bruce is irritated by and does his best to ignore at some points but at the same time who he wouldn’t trade for the world.

Eddie in return starts to see Bruce as an older brother figure who will always look for him. He’s a complete tsundere though, so he’d rather die than let anyone know it. However, he isn’t exactly subtle when it comes to how he truly sees the Dark Knight. (He legit hid behind Bruce during an encounter Killer Croc. However, if anyone asks, he was using B as a human shield. Nobody buys it.)

Also, Bruce introduces him to Detective Chimp and, once Eddie gets over his pride (because this is just some animal, how on Earth could it be anywhere near as smart as him), they and Tim become something like Bruce’s backup sleuths, people who assist Bruce with detective work whenever he’s stumped on a case.

And, while the Batfamily is initially put off by having one of their old enemies become a member and two more of them becoming semi-members, they eventually become so used to them that them just hanging around the Belfry doesn’t feel out of place in the slightest.

This winds up having an adverse effect when the Justice League visits the Belfry and they just awkwardly stare at Basil, Harley, and Eddie for awhile before Bruce asks them what’s wrong. Cue one of the Leaguers making an uncomfortable quip about not knowing that Bruce adopts his enemies too while the entire Batfamily stares at them like Are you sure? I’m pretty sure they’ve been here the entire time. Haven’t they? and the Leaguer finally just gives up and asks Bruce to continue showing them around.

#batman #batfamily #bruce wayne #basil karlo #harley quinn #edward nygma #cassandra cain #katherine karlo #selina kyle #detective chimp #justice league #AU #au ramblings #bruce wayne adopts everyone #batman adopts the dcu

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words-writ-in-starlight · 7 years ago

Note

Head cannons for Bruce Wayne and all his kids

Oh shit. You don’t ask much, do you. Okay, let’s do it, hell yeah, let’s talk about the Waynes et al at parties.

Bruce is not a particularly social person, left to his own devices, but the charming hedonist Bruce Wayne persona gets a lot done, so he throws galas and parties and shit on a fairly regular basis. Contrary to popular opinion, he actually doesn’t sleep with models very often (some of those girls are younger than his kids), but he does tend to gravitate toward them. His kids aren’t surprised by this, because Bruce just sort of orbits between clusters of models and makes sure they’re not drinking underage, but it BAFFLES the press, which is part of the reason that everyone assumes that Bruce Wayne is a playboy who sleeps his way through every model in the city.

Dick is actually genuinely a very charming guy. He grew up in a circus, which is a huge crowd, so he learned how to talk to people pretty young and kept it up as he got older. Even on days when he’s not really in the mood to play nice with the crowd, he comes off as endearingly weary rather than prickly or rude. He’s easily one of the more trusted Wayne kids, especially once he’s off doing his own thing as Nightwing--his grasp on the amount of trouble the press can cause improves exponentially as a cop, so suddenly he’s very good about making sure the others don’t get themselves into too much trouble.

Jason, obviously, is not a presence at parties. However, every once in a while someone will approach part of the Wayne family with a question about him and it always goes one of two ways.

Reporter: So we’re coming up on the anniversary of Jason Todd’s tragic death, do you have anything to share about your son?Bruce, thinking about the article he read that morning about the Red Hood, teeth gritted: We miss Jason every day.

Reporter: So we’re coming up on the anniversary of Jason Todd’s tragic death, do you have anything to share about your brother?Dick: [twenty minute monologue about his beloved brother intended purely to embarrass Jason in the event that any of it actually makes print]

Tim isn’t super comfortable with large crowds, but he’s generally reliable in terms of not, you know, causing a riot. That being said, he also tends to run down his mental filter an hour before the gala ends, so the savvier reporters know that they can get the good shit from Tim Drake in the last thirty minutes of his presence at a party. This can be somewhat ameliorated by giving Tim a more problematic Bat to keep an eye on, but on the other hand sometimes Tim will just lie his ass off to a reporter for fun and that’s the story of how everyone thought for a while that Wayne Enterprises was building a moon colony.

Stephanie actually has a very bad track record. This is mostly because, while she won’t defend Bruce (”he’s a grown-ass man,” is her reasoning), she’ll go the fuck to bat for most of the others, and has punched out more than one reporter on their behalf. More commonly, however, she’ll stare a reporter dead in the eye while she breaks their camera or phone or recorder. One time she slowly tore off a sheet of notes and stuffed it into her mouth and ate it while the reporter gaped at her. Bruce has paid for several expensive recording devices or cameras because of Steph.

Cass is very cooperative and very uncooperative by turns. She’ll smile nicely for the camera and play the game, but also God save the upper class snob who actually pisses her off. Up until she reaches the end of her patience, Cass is implicitly trustworthy. Afterward, she is a candidate for ending the gala early by way of violence, or she might just disappear and be found four hours later eating an entire platter of hors d’eurves alone on the roof.

Damian basically cannot be trusted at a gala for love nor money. He’s absolutely charming, of course, when he wants to be, but he’ll also bite the hand that feeds as soon as he’s bored or no longer getting anything out of it. He’s on the top of the list to be chaperoned at parties because he’ll tell the press absolutely anything to fuck with people, especially Tim. One time he successfully sold an entire story to a tabloid about how Tim had kidnapped him once. Dick is the unspoken Damian-wrangler whenever possible.

Barbara sometimes shows up with her dad. Not often, though, because she’s undercover, natch. That being said, after every Wayne gala, Oracle sends the Batcave a Greatest Hits of what the press and social media put out about it. Duke’s SnapChat usually makes the list. Babs has handed in more than one Batkid like this, sometimes on purpose and sometimes not.

Duke is So Tired. He puts up with So Much at parties. One time he had to grab Cass around the waist and keep her from punching a Times reporter in front of a Daily Planet reporter. That being said, he has a flourishing SnapChat story full of videos of him narrating shit at parties, including videos ‘guest starring’ the others when they get into trouble. Bruce has used these videos as evidence to put his kids on probation before. Bruce knows you tried to stab a reporter with a fork, Steph, Duke has it on video with the caption he asked if it was true she was carrying Dick’s illegitimate child and while your technique was flawless, it would be so, so great if you could just Not.

Alfred is years and years past being surprised by any of this. It’s a known fact that if any of the Batkids shows up to Alfred with a complaint to the tune of “So-and-So did this, isn’t that shocking”, Alfred will stare directly back at them and say, “You are aware of the fact that I have been supervising Wayne children at galas since before you were born, correct?” Literally nothing fazes Alfred and nothing has in years.

Sometimes other people show up. One time it was this enormous young man built like a fridge with black hair and inhuman blue eyes and a permanent scowl of concentration when he handled delicate glassware (he only broke two) and stayed three inches from Dick at all times. Another time it was a twelve-year-old who kept petting the sleeve of his suit in fascination, with black hair and the strangest bursts of wisdom. Sometimes it’s just some random kid--a handsome young black man with strange tattoos on his arms, a skinny boy who talks at a hundred miles an hour and puts away food like it’s his job, just people. Getting a legitimate answer about these people depends heavily on who you get to first.

Reporter: Mister Wayne, can you tell me who your companion is?Bruce, kind of tired: One of my kids’ friends? They wanted company.

Reporter: Mister Wayne, can you tell me who your companion is?Tim, whipping out a forged document: Bruce adopted Connor last week, I’ve got the papers to prove it.Bruce, sensing Shenanigans from across the room: Tim, I will pay you to stop.Connor, bristling: Stop taking pictures of me.Reporter: Can we get a last name from Connor?Connor, backing toward the nearest window: NO.

#batfam #batman #headcanon meme #ask meme #listen i really like kon el/superboy/connor kent #and i care more about him than superman any day #specifically i am thinking about the young justice version since that's who i'm most familiar with #if stephanie and cass seem a little ooc it's because SURPRISE ain't got time to read a bunch of batman comics #but yeah anyway the summary of this is just 'bruce is so tired'#he does as much or more damage control for these children as he does for anything else #damian is not allowed to know that damian-wranglers are a thing but hoooo boy they sure are!#tim got taken in to be questioned about the 'kidnapping' before they could get damian to admit he made it up #shoutout to alfred for having to live in this fucking madhouse #also i'm very serious about duke's snapchat #THIS WORKED OUT GREAT #I HAVE A HEADCANON PER BAT #don't tell me if that's not true i'm still high from finishing taz #and none of you fuckers have sent me any fic asks!#i'm disappointed in you #send me taz fic asks #anyway here's wonderwall #idiot teenagers with a queue #anonymous #asked and answered

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zorilleerrant · 1 year ago

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people say Dick would just blame things on Jason, but that doesn't make sense at all. pre-crisis Dick is already ride or die as soon as you slap the 'brother' sticker on someone. but then we have this revamped version where Dick is angry at Jason, a little bit, for the awkwardness of the whole thing, but mostly he's mad at Bruce. and he wants Bruce to know about it.

so if Dick accidentally breaks something, he's going to be like I did it! I did it on purpose! and if Jason breaks something, by accident or on purpose, Dick is going to jump in immediately and be like I was here the whole time! I broke all these things! I'll break even more things! but he's also a lot older than the rest of the Batkids, and he starts taking a parental view of them very quickly, and he wouldn't blame little kids for anything he's done.

Lance would blame things on Jason. Lance would blame anything on anybody if he thought he could get away with it, and even if he survived, it would take years and years to break him of the habit. he'd probably continue to blame things on Jason reflexively as an adult, even if he managed to stop doing that to the younger kids.

now if Jason survived, and we have Tim and Jason, who are about the same age, stuck in a house together, Jason would definitely be willing to blame things on Tim. not if Lance is around, then everyone would just pin everything to him in retaliation, but if it's just Jason and Tim, Jason would definitely blame Tim. probably not even maliciously or for funnies most of the time, but because Jason's going to have even more insecurities trying to grow up next to a rich kid who knows all the right words. he thinks he's on thin ice already, and doesn't want it to break underneath him. he'd blame Dick for the same reason, especially if Dick's the only one around.

Tim doesn't know any of that. he wouldn't think to think about it. he gets angry and blames Jason back because Jason's being a tool, or he thinks it's fun bonding time and he's supposed to do that. he definitely blames things on Damian, out of jealousy, but he's probably grown out of that by the time Duke comes around, depending on where you want to put the timeline. he's also going to blame Damian in retaliation. he blames Cass if he's mad at her, but it's more likely they'd team up, more likely the more siblings are in the house, because they're close in age and get adopted around the same time (again depending on where you want to tweak the timeline). blames Harper and Cullen because he thinks of them as a teamup and that it's 'fair' that way

Cass doesn't blame anyone for her accidents. at first she would definitely be under the unconscious impression that everyone can tell when she's lying, and because of that her tells would be obvious anyway. but later she's just like. what's the point. she just tells the truth always. she won't blame anyone but she won't cover for anyone either, not just for a household accident.

Damian blames everyone for everything all the time. he's used to other people taking the blame, and he's also used to no one really caring what he has to say, so he thinks no harm done at throwing attention onto someone else, they won't take it very seriously. he's self-conscious and anxious about getting in trouble, but even more about looking incompetent. as he settles in Dick gives him the impression that older siblings are always there to look out for younger ones, and probably even says to blame things on him if he needs to. so he continues blaming everything on any sibling older than him, like he's supposed to. depending on how close in age you want him and Duke to be, Damian could either demand a coalition with him, or treat him protectively as a tiny baby because his life is so different he seems even younger than he is to Damian. in any case Damian would definitely tell him outright to blame older siblings for things.

Harper blames everyone for everything at first, too, just because she's lashing out because she assumes they'll blame her for things if she doesn't act quickly. Jason recognizes this and lets her do it, and she stops blaming him. Dick thinks he genuinely did something wrong and tries to make it up to her, so she stops blaming him, too. Tim has no idea this is a coping mechanism and starts an all out blame war with her, so she blames him for even more stuff even harder. if Damian is a lot younger, she doesn't blame him because she thinks he's a baby, but if he's only a little younger, then she takes it personally that he blames her all the time. she's reticent to blame Duke for stuff because of the racial politics of it all, and she doesn't want to blame Cass or Claire because she thinks they need Batgirl solidarity. she never blames Cullen for anything and takes the blame for him on most occasions.

Cullen is used to letting Harper take the fall and continues blaming her, but it starts to make him feel bad quickly. he notices Tim (and possibly Damian) being really mean to his sister and starts developing a vendetta. he probably also blames Cass because he's noticed she simply doesn't care and it seems like an easy out for him. he grows out of it faster than the rest of the siblings because he's fairly conflict averse and questions why he has to.

Duke is too worried about being seen as aggressive to blame anything on the rest of them, especially while he's worried about being caught out and then kicked out. he does let Luke cover for him at first when he knows for sure they're not being recorded, and then is convinced over time to let Dick cover for him too. he remains very worried about trying to shuffle off the blame, though. he grows more comfortable exaggerating other people's part in a problem, but not completely throwing them under the bus.

Claire is too much of a follower to blame anyone else, too willing to just take anyone else's blame. she probably thinks they're doing a bit or it's part of an important plan. she trusts other people's ideas more than her own, and so isn't even that bothered when everyone blames her for everything. because of this, a lot of the time everyone else will get uncomfortable blaming her, except Damian, who has great respect for her doing her duty just like Dick, and so loves to blame her for everything. she thinks Damian doesn't like her.

Terry is like: who are any of these people. Matt blames everything in the world on him.

#look i said something #batman

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dickie-gayson · 7 years ago

Text

SHENANIGANS

DUKE VS THE SUN AND DICK’S HAREM OF OLDER MEN

Summary: After a rough night on patrol, Duke just wants the sun to go away. In trying to do so, he manages to drive Dick up the wall about his harem of older men.

Otherwise known as: In which Duke is too stubborn to just move his seat and Dick is in serious denial.

Characters: Duke Thomas, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain, Luke Fox, Stephanie Brown, Harper Row

Genre: Family, Humor

Length: 4k+

Other: Just a funny, nonsense fic (that was only supposed to be like 1k wtf) i tried to give everyone speaking parts w./o making it too confusing. Dialogue Heavy.

Find It On: Ao3 Fanfiction

All was quiet in Wayne Manor as the sun sat high in the sky. Such a thing was not odd for the mostly nocturnal family. Today, however, was a special occasion. The previous night's patrol had been somewhat strenuous for the patrolling bats and birds, and as such, they were given a day to unwind and recover from the fatigue. Naturally, after crashing for a few hours, the members started to slowly rise and shuffle about, none-too-happy about being conscious, but alas, they were never known to maintain a healthy sleep schedule. There was always something more important to be done, even on a 'day off'. A day off in the Batfamily was really just another way of saying 'paperwork and investigation day'.

Duke slumped at the absurdly long dinner table with a loud, beleaguered groan, as if the sheer act of being conscious was a great torment of some form. Slowly, deep brown eyes rose and squinted at the window that let sunshine wash across the room. It almost looked as if the force of his glare alone could close the curtains. There was a soul-deep hatred one could only get after being put through hell and having to stave off the sweet embrace of slumber for more work. That, or being so incredibly hung-over and being forced to attend a third-graders school concert. It was almost impressive, really, how much it seemed that the sun itself personally offended him.

Another person walked into the dining room, loudly munching on their choice of breakfast (and wouldn't you know that's the only sound they made?). Duke was still getting used to living in a house full of goddamn ninjas. He purposefully ignored the person as they drew closer, in no mood to converse. Really, all he wanted to do was curl up and sleep off the rough night he had. That, and throw the sun in the fucking trash because nothing had the right to be that bright and cheery when he felt like he went twenty rounds with Troia.

His attempts to ignore the person were rendered useless as yet another person entered the room and he just knew shit was going to go down. No more than two (2) Bats can be in a room together without some sort of catastrophe going on. It's like a scientific law at this point. He let out another melodramatic sigh and let his head drop to the table with a 'thud'. Then, he winced and groaned again as his headache increased just a bit from the unnecessary abuse.

"Aww, what's wrong baby bird? Long night?"

That soul-penetrating glare was leveled to the owner of the teasing, baby voice. An amused smirk is what met his eyes. Of course, it'd be Jason ready to fuck with him. He was pretty sure the oldest Batkids didn't sleep. Ever. And that they had some unnatural ability to bounce back from the worst situations like goddamn bouncy balls. Duke wasn't fully convinced they weren't secret metahumans. Just last week he caught Tim trying hang-glide with one broken arm so he could meet up with Kon at four in the morning for waffles or some equally dumb shit. And then there was the time Dick walked out of an exploding building while he was on fire and just laughed about it. Duke was almost positive there was some amount of mental trauma at the very least, given all their head and non-physical injuries.

"What is wrong with all of you?"

There was no true venom behind the words; just the understandable irritation of a kid who got clotheslined by some ugly dude in an even uglier suit at two in the morning. Jason just laughed and Dick chuckled around his spoon of probably overly sugary cereal. Great, he had the two oldest to deal with. He could already feel his desire to leap out the window rising. At least he wasn't going to get beat up by a thirteen-year-old again, that's a plus.

"Before or after the Crowbar Incident? You want a list? I bet I have more problems than Dickhead."

At that, Dick gave a derogative snort and flicked some of his cereal at Jason, who dodged it. The bit managed to hit Duke in the forehead and his glare just narrowed just a bit more at the older vigilantes. Jason pointed and laughed as the piece slowly slid and plopped onto Duke's lap.

"I'm going to go out and spit on your grave."

The oldest hero laughed loudly at Duke's irritation. He had to put his bowl on the table and steady himself at the affronted look plastered on the formerly dead man's face.

"Wow, Duke, tell me how you really feel."

It was still odd, adjusting to joking about some of them having died before. But, as he learned over time, they loved bringing it up in every situation. Mostly Jason, if he were being honest. Duke was still too scared to bring it up to Cass and Damian. Cass was too nice and also fucking scary, and Damian already beat the ever-loving hell out of him once. He did not want a repeat, thanks.

The cloud formerly hiding the sun for just a bit finally passed and Duke was, once more, hit full force with the rays of the sun. His look of intense hatred was once more turned to the offending light. Without turning his angered stare from the window, he spoke up.

"Dick, call your leather daddy."

He didn't need to turn to know the eldest just choked on his food and was trying to hack it up from the wrong tube. Jason, meanwhile, was absolutely dying. Duke shifted to glance at the two. The younger of the two ex-Robins had one hand on his knee and was pointing at Dick with his free hand, laughing obnoxiously. Meanwhile, the older was glaring, face red from just having choked on Crocky Crunch.

"Shut up, Jason. And what do you mean 'leather daddy'. I don't have a leather daddy."

Just to irritate him, Jason laughed louder. The laughter seemed to have drawn others in, because Tim slipped in, looking just shy of actually dead. Behind him was Cass, looking graceful as ever. How she did it, he'd never know. Tim looked at the scene with mild suspicion, not that Duke could blame him. There was always a fifty-fifty shot that someone laughing at another member was bad. Cass just looked entertained. Her ability to read a situation so quickly was as unnerving as it was awesome.

"Why does Jason look like he's about to pass out? Did they break out the mullet pictures again?"

Dick turned his glare to Tim.

"Not you too! There were no mullet pictures this time! Jason's laughing because he's dumb."

Jason wiped a pretend tear as he straightened up slightly.

"Wrong, Dickface. I'm laughing because Duke is my new favorite brother."

Duke just looked at him with mild confusion. Tim seemed to mirror his look, though there was a bit more skepticism. Sometimes Duke still marveled at just how much like Bruce the other was. Did they teach 'paranoia' classes here or something? Was it like a required trait when being adopted by the big bad Bat? You had to be at least level 5 in either Paranoia, Nerd, or Athlete to join their cosplay group. Dick was staring at Jason as if just said the Riddler was the new fashion icon.

"That makes no sense Jason, but no surprise here. Also, why is he your favorite? He threatened to spit on your grave!"

Jason just raises an eyebrow in response. Duke wished he could do that.

"Yeah? And he didn't wear a rainbow polka-dot shirt with high-waisted jeans and dad loafers. Not to mention you had The Mullet at the time."

Duke couldn't help but let out the disgusted sound at the mental imagery. Tim visibly shuttered and even Cass looked at Dick with something akin to mild horror. Dick just put his head in his hands.

"Why? Why am I stuck with you all? Where's Damian, I need someone in my corner."

The words basically fell on deaf ears as Duke was still marveling over the atrocious mess that was Dick Grayson's fashion choices. How the man got voted the Most Eligible Bachelor and posted up as a part-time model when he was strapped for cash, Duke would never know. You could tell he grew up in a circus from the way he dressed. Not that Duke would ever say that because it felt like a really douche thing to say and he didn't want to get suplexed by the eldest. If he didn't stand a chance against Damian, he would get demolished by Dick. The guy had more fighting experience than most heroes in the business. So, for that, he could forgive his fashion crimes. But that didn't mean he forgot what he's been trying to get Dick to do before everyone derailed the conversation. Duke snapped his fingers for attention.

"Hello? Leather daddy? Call him."

Jason started to chuckle all over again, and Tim let out a startled sort of laugh, caught off-guard by the words. Dick let out an aggravated breath. Duke could see Cass laughing silently behind her hand as she watched the idiocy unfold.

"For the last time Duke, I do NOT have a leather daddy! And why do you need Midnighter, anyway?'

Everyone went dead quiet for a moment before Jason roared with laughter, almost on the floor at this point. Even Tim was having trouble remaining standing. He needed to lean on Cass to stay upright. He wheezed out between laughs.

"Oh my god, Dick. You just- He never said it was Midnighter."

Dick's face turned an interesting deep crimson, which was still frustratingly handsome. Duke didn't think it was fair, really. When he got embarrassed, he looked something like a frightened chipmunk.

"I...Uh...He's the only one I hang out with that wears leather and you guys tease me about."

Now, Duke was no expert or anything, but he was pretty sure if Jason didn't start breathing soon, he was going to pass out from lack of oxygen. Being that he was too indisposed to speak, Tim had the honors of filling in for him in the 'irritate Dick Grayson' category.

"Bullshit, we keep a list."

Somewhere between the stunned look on the veteran hero's face and the surprising snort of laughter that came from Cass, Luke entered the fray. He looked around the group warily. Good instincts. While Luke was busy eating his apple and surveying the scene, Dick managed to recompose himself. He narrowed his bright eyes in distrust.

"A list?"

After a noisy bite, Luke spoke up, not content with being left out of the loop.

"A list of what?"

From somewhere near the floor, Jason managed to choke out between panting breaths.

"Dick's sugar daddies."

"Ahh, that list. You add Raptor to it yet?"

Duke slammed his hands down on the table, catching their undivided attention. The sun was hitting him just right and it was annoying as all hell. He wondered if he could convince Superman to move the sun. Or the manor. He wasn't picky.

"Focus! I'm the one with the issue here! Call up your scary leather boyfriend and tell him to bring his boyfriend here."

Dick's gaze only grew more suspicious as he eyed up Duke.

"Why do you need Apollo?"

Tim snorted and faux-whispered to Steph, who had shown up with Harper and Barbara in the time that Duke was ranting.

"He didn't even try to deny being Midnighter's other boyfriend."

If one looked closely, they could almost see a vein in Dick's head throbbing like some sort of cartoon.

"Shut. up."

Duke, in a show of almost supernatural willpower, managed to ignore them and press on with his own devastating issues. Really, they should be paying full attention to his issue. He was the new kid and this was serious.

"I need Apollo here...so I can punch him."

His voice had been so calm and serious that it actually garnered incredulous stares. Dick had to take a moment to himself out of surprise. Luke just looked at Duke with something close to disbelief.

"Wha- Why do you want to punch Apollo? You've never met him. Also, he's super-powered, my dude."

Duke gave a flat, dead-serious stare.

"I know, I don't care. I want to punch him."

This time, it was Harper who piped up.

"But why?"

"Well, I can't feasibly go outside and punch the sun, now can I?"

Dick finally seemed to recollect himself, because he took back the reigns of the conversation.

"You...want me to call Midnighter."

"Yes."

"So he can bring Apollo."

"Yep."

"So you can punch Apollo."

"Correct."

"Because you can't punch the sun?"

"You got it."

There was another beat of silence. Then, Dick decided to break it with possibly the most somber voice Duke's ever heard come from the man.

"...Duke, what, and I mean this as nicely as possible, the fuck?"

"Listen, it makes perfect sense. Back me up, Tim. You're the smart one here. I can't fight the sun, but I can fight the guy who is based on the Sun God."

It looked as if Tim was actually debating the merits of the plan when Damian spoke up. The newest addition to the batclan nearly had a goddamn heart attack because he had not seen or heard Damian come in. He eyed up the smaller boy warily.

"Wrong. You can get decimated by the guy who is based on a Sun God. Because that is exactly what will happen if you attempt to fight him, Thomas."

"Hey, all I need is one hit and I'll feel better."

At the disparaging scoff that came from Luke, Duke shot him a Look. It wasn't quite to the Bat-level yet, but he was working on it. Hey, he was pretty proud of his Look so far. It scared a few of the baddies. He'll get there one day. At the moment, however, Luke just gave him a smirk back and spoke.

"Man, you'll feel a helluva lot worse, I bet. Not only would you be fighting a superhuman, but the superhuman's angry superhuman boyfriend."

Steph piped in with a look of exaggerated and obviously fake confusion on her face.

"Dick isn't a superhuman, though."

Dick let out a frustrated growl, clearly having fallen for the bait. Steph just smiled in satisfaction.

"He meant Midnighter! I am not dating Apollo!"

"Right, you're just dating M. Who's dating Apollo."

"For fuck's sake. I'm not dating either of them!"

If Dick got any more aggravated, Duke was betting his hair would either start turning white or just fall right out. He was mentally betting on falling out. A Luthor-style Dick would be hilarious. Meanwhile, Harper figured now would be a good time to join in on the 'irritate the oldest' bonding moment they were having.

"Yeah, he's clearly dating that one angry dude who worked with him when he was a super spy or some shit."

Babs gave an entertained look to Harper at the words. She seemed to be having the time of her life messing with her ex. The look in her eyes made Duke mentally remind himself not to piss her off anytime soon.

"You mean Tiger?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

"NO I'M NOT!"

He had to idly wonder where Bruce and Alfred were. They were being obnoxiously loud for being bats. Dick looked like his head was going to pop, either from aggravation or embarrassment, and the rest were having a blast. 'Nothing like family bonding over dragging a sibling.' Jason finally seemed to come out of his laughter-induced coma.

"Duh, if Dickie were smashing anyone, it'd be Constantine."

The look of sheer incredulity on Dick's face was priceless. Duke would admit this one threw him for a loop. He's heard of the tricky magic-user who sold his soul however many times. But, he's never heard of the Brit liking Dick. Not that it'd be a surprise. Duke could probably throw a rock in any direction and hit someone who wanted to bone the original Robin.

"What the hell? John Constantine? Where did that even come from?!"

Jason just gave him a serious, flat look.

"He totally has the hots for you."

Babs gave a sage nod, as if nothing truer had ever been spoken. Even Luke gave a sound of agreement. Dick couldn't help but look at them in surprise.

"No, he does not. Where did you hear that?"

"I heard it from Kyle who heard it from Simon. Apparently, during a meeting of some form where he was with John, John wouldn't stop talking 'bout how much of a beefcake you are."

"Oh my God, just end my life already. For real this time."

Tim snapped his fingers, as if remembering something.

"Oh yeah! I heard about that! It was the talk of the Watchtower for a bit there."

At this point, Dick had his head in his hands once more and looked ready to resign from life in general.

"I hate you. I hate you all."

Duke cleared his throat and waved his arms to garner their attention.

"Guys, we're getting off track. We can talk about Dick's Harem of Older Men later. I have a sun to punch."

"I do NOT have a Harem of Older Men! Where do you guys get this information?!"

The joined 'siblings' shared a look. The fact that this might have been discussed before left a look of true horror on the first Boy Wonder's face. Duke apparently hadn't been around long enough to enjoy these sessions. He wasn't sure whether he should be pleased or disappointed about that fact. Cass started ticking off sources, much to Dick's shock.

"Other heroes. Villains. Oracle. Watching you and enemies. Very obvious."

Babs looked from her successor to Dick with a growing look of amusement.

"They're not wrong. We're keeping a tally on who's in the Dick Grayson Older Men Fan Club. Fifty bucks say you get a new member in the next two months."

"There is no fan club."

Tim shook his head, as if saddened that Dick couldn't accept the obvious. Steph was having a ball needling Dick.

"There totally is. Slade's the president, M's the treasurer, Thomas Wayne Jr. is the VP, Constan-'

At that, Duke shot the blonde a look of confusion. He was still going through the list of criminal profiles and hadn't made it to that name yet. It was the fact that he recognized the name Thomas Wayne as Bruce's father that caught his attention.

"Wait, Thomas Wayne Jr.? Who the hell is that?"

Steph, as if realizing that not everyone gathered witnessed whatever fuckery brought the man around, took pity on Duke and explained just a little.

"Oh, Bruce's older brother from an alternate universe or some shit. Evil. Totally has a hard on for Dick, anyway-'

"That's so fucked up, man."

He marveled yet again over the sheer level of absurdity this family went through on a near daily basis. And he willingly submerged himself into it. Great.

"GUYS! SHUT UP! THERE IS NO HAREM OR FAN CLUB.-'

"I think we established that there is."

'-SLADE IS DEFINITELY NOT THE PRESIDENT-'

"Oh, please, he liked invented your fan club."

'-AND BRUCE'S BROTHER DOESN'T HAVE THE HOTS FOR ME."

"Yeah, cus just anyone goes to an alternate universe to stalk the alternate version of their old partner and kidnap them to keep them."

"That is NOT what went down."

"Suuuuure."

Duke really didn't want to think about ANY of that for more than three seconds, because honestly, what the in the fresh hell. How is Dick alive with that many crazy creeps after him? If it were Duke, he probably would have just hung up the tights and called it a day. He does not need whacked out assassins after his ass, no thanks. Shaking his head, as if it'd rid him of disturbing images of way-too-tight suits and creepy old men, he spoke up. Duke still hasn't gotten to punch the overly cheerful ball in the sky or its metahuman counterpart. This is unbelievable. Bats got shit done except when he needed to beat someone up.

"DICK. Bring your boyfriend's boyfriend here! I need to hit him! This shit is too bright. Gotham ain't ever this bright, what the fuck."

"Oh, for the love of- Duke, if you want to hit someone, go punch Jason."

At that moment, Damian shoved his way to the front and center of Dick's view. There was a look of disgust and irritation scrunched up on his otherwise adorable features. Duke subtly (or tried to be subtle) scooted back from the duo. That look meant he was unhappy. And if it was involving his precious oldest brother/father-figure, Duke was not getting in the middle of that. He wasn't suicidal, despite what his late-night activities might suggest.

"Grayson, we need to discuss this harem of older men dedicated to you."

Dick took a deep breath and tried to appear calm for the youngest of the family. He gave the boy a patient look that only came with years of practice.

"Damian, there is no harem, they're being dumb."

Clearly, that wasn't the answer the young hero was looking for. He gave one of his infamous little tongue clicks and rolled his eyes.

"That isn't new knowledge. However, I have seen and heard things that would coincide with their stories. I do not approve."

Just like that, Dick's calm facade shattered. Honestly, he was impressed it held for even half of the sentence.

"I swear to god, there is no harem. There isn't even a fan club. None that I've heard of, at any rate."

Damian merely gave a contemplative hum. There was that look in his eyes. You know, the look of a Bat who just became obsessed with a case. It was almost worrying because Duke was positive the kid was going to take this way too seriously.

"I need find this 'fan club' and dismantle it before they attempt anything."

Jason was practically vibrating in his seat in an attempt to hold in his raucous laughter. This was clearly the best day he's had in a while.

"That's right, baby bat! Go get 'em! They're out to steal our precious big bird."

Dick shot him the patented 'Batglare', though years of exposure lessened the effects to the smartass vigilante.

"Do NOT encourage him, Jason."

It was obvious Jason heard him, but he pretended not to and merely kept his attention solely on the youngest Robin. Tim, seeing this as a wondrous and golden opportunity to fuck with Damian, pitched in his two-cents.

"In fact, I think you should join the fan club. Work your way up the ranks, like a sort of double agent, and then bring them all down."

"Hmm...this plan has merit, even if it's coming from Drake."

"Thanks, Dami."

Jason scoffed from his position against the table.

"He only wants to join for the t-shirt."

"Tt, no. If I wanted any Grayson merchandise, I could simply go to the dollar store and buy something. I need to ensure that these...miscreants have nothing nefarious planned. Grayson often leaves himself open in such stupid ways around them."

"Excuse me? I do not. And for the last damn time...you know what? Never mind, have fun trying to find this imaginary club. And you,-'

He pointed directly at Duke, the one who started this whole thing. Duke just gave him a squinted look, still waiting for him to call Midnighter for him.

'have fun trying to fist fight something that would destroy your ass. I'm out."

With that, the eldest stalked out of the room, having hit his quota for irritation and insults for the day. Though, Luke managed to slip one more in before he was out of hearing range.

"Try not to pick up any more older men while you're out!"

"FUCK OFF!"

There was a moment of silence in which they all just kind of reveled in the shared amusement. Then, Duke turned his squint to Tim as the sun still burned his retinas.

"Hey Tim, you think you can call Superboy?"

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