#but sure Bruce Dick would feel bad after beating him to death after he killed Jason

[violentdick]

-source: Batman (1940) #5-

Weapon of Choice: Nothing stronger than DC editorial sadly.

[grahambaham]

Controversial opinion, especially for any Jason Todd fans out there (I'm one of them), but I completely understand why the fans in, the 80' I think, voted to kill him off. Hear me out, okay?

Jason was at first a literal Dick Grayson copy, was legit given his backstory and personality with the name being the only change. And for a while that was all they knew about and, rightfully so, hated about him. Now I'm not sure whether he was given the whole Alley kid who tried to steal Batman's tire story before or after his death but either way, in those fans' minds, Jason Todd was just a boring replica of Dick Grayson and no one liked him. If I was alive and a fan back then, I honestly would have done the same thing.

WHICH IS WHY I HAVE SUCH A HUGE PROBLEM WITH THE WRITERS DOING TO JASON THE EXACT SAME THING THAT GOT HIM KILLED OFF BEFORE!!!

Jason immediately after getting brought back to life was a villain. He wasn't misguided, he wasn't an antihero, my man was a Villain with a capital V. He didn't protect workings girls or children from any drugs or anything, he just made one off hand comment to a guy not to sell to kids and that's it. One of his only interactions with any prostitutes is to mock her for her past and decisions that led to her becoming one. Bruce did not abuse him or attack him unfairly. Jason had not only tried to kill Joker or other horrible villains, he killed anyone whether they were rapists, or robbers, or petty fucking thieves and he didn't do it for justice or whatever the fuck but because he was angry and taking it out on everyone he could get his hands on. He stopped Batman from going after Nightwing after Bludhaven blew up with him in it. He blew up a school. He beat up Tim in his little Robin panties and was a fucking villain.

I love Jason. But I love him as the messed up asshole he is. Not as some misguided wittle antihero. Which is why I despise the fact that the fandom latched onto the completely inaccurate version of him, because the writers of DC had started writing him the way the fandom wanted and he is now irreversibly ruined. Aside from the already mentioned stuff, they made him into a copy of Dick Grayson (for the second fucking time) and Helena Bertinelli.

Helena is the one protecting women and children, the antihero that often uses violent force. She's the one with the reluctant sibling relationship with Tim. Jason was not Tim's Robin by the way, Dick was. Tim does not like Jason one fucking bit and spends most of their forced interactions roasting him so bad he has to buy burn salves. Also her personality was taken and given to Jason in some ways too, like her manner of speech and stuff, but I'm willing to let that slide as accidental.

From Dick Grayson, they mostly took his relationships, romantic and platonic. Jason slept with Barbara and Kori both, which aside from just being dumb as hell is also weird and creepy because Jason is six years younger than them at least and they knew him as a fourteen year old when they were at least twenty, and they would never date someone so much younger than them, they aren't fucking creeps. Then they took Starfire and Arsenal and made them forget their own lives to join Jason's little antihero team (neither of them are antiheroes what the fuck) and act like the sun shines out of Jason's ass and he's their leader or some shit when they would never follow him before that, especially Roy who has led so many other teams and does not deserve that shit. Some fans also ship him and Jason, which is both creepy and character assassination for Roy's entire character more than him being friends with Jason and in the Outlaws already is.

Also, Pit Madness is not a thing you fucking brainless losers. Stop trying to justify and erase the flaws that make him an interesting character. His anger has always been due to the trauma of being tortured and dying and the misguided feeling of betrayal he felt for Bruce. He was unwell and taking his problems out on others. So, repeat after me: PIT MADNESS IS NOT A REAL THING!!!

Thank you for reading <3

[dairy-farmer]

I was rereading the 16 November 1581 + snapped Bruce ask. And it made me think.

The first person to find out that Bruce has essentially groomed Tim is Jason. He comes to Gotham with the intention of killing his Replacement only to find out that he's dead. That the one who killed him was his own dad. He feels bad for the kid (but also kinda jealous because he also has read the reports of Bruce beating Jack up).

So the confrontation between Batman and Red Hood becomes different. He mentions of how Batman had favoritism. How he nearly killed the man that killed his last little bird but hadn't even done the same for the Robin before that. He would've liked to be the one to have beaten and killed Robin, such a shame, he tells Bruce.

After that, he notices something off. The manor has always been well-protected. And the security has been upgraded a lot since his return. But after their confrontation, Bruce has upped the security again. He kinda felt offended. It's not like he plans to attack the manor. Alfred and his favorite books are still there after all. So he wanted to piss Bruce off by bypassing the security.

And then he notices it. There's a room in the Manor far more secured than the others. What's odd is that it's in the family wing. It's not the room with the entrance to the cave. It takes a long time for him to get through it. Thankfully, he has the Bats distracted on a wild goose chase all over Gotham

To his surprise, inside the room is none other than his replacement. Alive and looks to be healthy. Tim is also surprised to see Jason. He didn't believe Bruce or Dick or Alfred when they told him his Robin is now a murderous drug lord who wanted to kill Tim. That's ridiculous! It's Robin! He tells Jason as much.

His surprise was enough to daze Jason into a conversation that didn't lead him into falling into Pit Rage. Tim learns of what happened to Jason and vice versa.

When Tim realizes that Jason is heavily traumatized by his death, he gets the great idea to help him the way Bruce has helped him. He'll make Jason forget about the trauma through pleasure.

Ngl, I've run out of fuel. Bruce comes back after Jason and Tim have several rounds of sex. They decide to explore their difference and vent their anger by spit roasting Tim until long after Tim has passed out. Jason agrees to move back home. Dick becomes the last one to find out and was extremely miffed about that and demands that he gets Timmy alone for a month

-🦆

!!!!!!! tim is a happily caged little bird in that snapped bruce au!!! he's in good, loving hands who treat him gently and understand that he has been horribly traumatized from the experience with his father. and jason has never really developed the hatred he could've since, in his mind, tim had already been killed (and by his own father no less). reading about tim's "death" further fuels his anger and hatred because he was right!!!

when he finds tim in that carefully protected room- surrounded by soft blankets and pillows, stuffed animals, the floor littered with puzzles and books, and toys jason needs to stop just to make sure he's not actually dead. tim isn't afraid of jason because he knows bruce would never have allowed jason to get this far if he was a threat.

tim has been sweetened by bruce's grooming. he's more affectionate and honest and open, he develops a sort of sixth sense for knowing when bruce needs help feeling better and so he does the same to jason!!!!!

then bruce returning!!!! and find tim in his short little nightdress that's been half ripped open, his little pussy open and on display, puffy and leaking cum while jason curls up behind tim, arms wrapped around his front and lazily fucking his hard cock into tim's little hole because it hugs him so nicely. tim sweaty with his bangs sticking to his forehead and whimpering while pressing a hand down on his womb because he can feel the head of jason's cock battering his insides.

of course bruce has his fill once he gets over his shock and is able to talk to jason because a lot of jason's initial rage and hurt has been spent on fucking tim's pussy. tim whines as they talk, bruce slipping his cock into where jason's softened one has gently flopped out. he grinds into tim's warm, wet little cunt while whispering to jason in a low, hurt voice as they talk. when jason gets angry his tone gets sharper and he snaps his hips harder into tim while bruce's brows furrow in hurt and softly rub at tim's baby clit while pincing his tits.

jason muffles tim's soft whining by shoving his cum streaked cock into tim's mouth. bruce watches tim's plush lips begin gently nursing on the cock half down his throat and shivers with enough arousal to begin fucking a little harder until the wet sound of tim's pussy being fucked is almost drowning jason out.

by the end the two have worked out their differences and bruce is giving jason a soft, look as jason finishes with a grunt into tim's little baby making womb.

dick nearly has a heart attack at the sight of jason fucking tim when he arrives a few minutes later though that sentimental crying doesn't last long before he's pouting and furious at both of them for fucking tim behind his back.

but bruce recognizes the possessive look in dick's eyes and knows that he and jason will be cut out from using tim's pussy for awhile until dick decided they'd suffered enough.

but it's worth it. if it brings his sons closer to him, bruce will gladly return to using his hand until dick offers him use of his youngest son's cunt again.

[what-if-this-happens-instead]

It Was Just The Wind

(the bats get a helping hand from a dead bird. Who never really came all the way back.)

When Jason woke up -it was dark- he didn't know where he was --what happened?--

It was so Dark. --Everything was Numb.--

He sat up. Stood up. And passed straight through the ground. The ground??

What?

He stood eye level with the grass. That definitely wasn't right.

Then the memories came flooding back to him. ---Bruce -- Fighting -- Sheila -- Joker --PAIN -- Death -- Nothingness---

So. Apparently ghosts existed. Neat. Apparently he was a ghost. No so neat. Where to go from here. He looks - around? Jason suppose the first step would be to get his feet to ground level. He tries, at first, pulling himself up with his hands, and that just sends him flying forward in a loop of forward rolls. So he tries again. And again. Then he decides that this is definitely not working, so he tries something different and sort of swims- SWIMS - though the air. It works, sort of, and he hangs still in the air, a few feet away from a grave stone, emblazoned with his name. Oh. Well. That makes sense, he supposes. As much as this can make sense. He look around the graveyard, because that's where he is. A graveyard, for dead people. Damn. And - oh.

There, on the grave next to his, is his Egg Donors name. He was - Bruce had- She-

Everything goes white.

The sky is lighter, when he starts being able to see again. When he calms down from - what ever that was. He doesn't think he can even begin to describe what he felt when he saw that - that bitches- name. He was buried next to the woman who had..had helped kill him. Kill him. Because - because he was dead.

Jason wanders, for a while. Walks, or really, he floats, drifts, though the dark streets of his home city. Tries his best to wrap his head around what the hell is going on. It gets dark again, while he's definitely not paying attention to anything other than the feeling of phasing straight through buildings and street signs and lampposts, of being entirely unseen. The sky darkens, and then it's night.

The bat signal lights up the sky. Jason stares up at it for a while, before something - some emotion- builds up, and he thinks to himself 'Bruce - Batman - Surely he can figure this out?' And he starts out in the direction of the manor before pausing. Because he sees a shadow land on the roof a block down. Then - then a smaller figure lands behind him. And - he float-drifts closer. Thats a Robin, he thinks to himself.

Everything goes white.

It takes a while for Jason to get used to this new future he seems to have woken up in. He goes to check on the manor, eventually - Bruce is a mess, Alfred is quiet in a way that's just - wrong. The new kid - the new robin - goes back to an empty mansion a few miles away every night. He's only seen Dick twice, and he's been.. strange, lifeless. It's all so strange.

He follows the Bat and his new birdie out when they go patrol, floating after them. Bruce is more violent, and the kid, while incredibly intelligent, is also nervous and determined and worried and scared of failing. The Bat is more violent. Robin has to keep him in check.

Its on one of these patrols that everything goes a bit wrong - the 'dynamic duo' got separated, and the little bird (why's he so small??) gets cornered. Jason panics, just a bit, when he sees an attack that the kid won't be able to block. Sticks his arm out to block the attack, even thought he knows that it won't-

The pipe the thug was using hits his arm.

It- it doesn't hurt, just a strange pressure, then its gone. The fight ends, moments later, when the big bad bat swoops down and beats them all unconscious. Violently.

That hasn't happened before. He tries again, poking one of the thugs in the face. Nothing happens.He works up some of the frustration he can barley feel these days. (Why is everything so numb--)

And pokes the thug again. It works. It actually works. He can interact with the world around him, even just a little bit.

Jason spends more time wandering around, poking things when he can muster up enough emotion to be sure that it will work.

Eventually, he sees a little girl in crime alley - she couldn't be older than 6 - getting hit and kicked by a group of boys all far older than her. Anger, anger he hasn't felt so strong in what feels like a millennia. He puts it to good use.

(The next day, there will be a group of boys wailing about an invisible spirit beating them up. A little girl will tell her closest friend about how she was saved by an invisible Spector. It's the start of something new.)

Jason has an idea. He sees someone, unable to defend themselves, and he gets himself angry enough to defend them. Watches over crime alley, and ignores and avoids Batman. It get to much to be around him, sometimes. Most of the time.

He sees the baby birdie, joined now sometimes by a kid dressed in purple. He saves their asses a few times, knocks the guy they didn't notice out before the kids can get hurt. Yanks or pushes them out of the way, boosts a jump a bit higher.

They don't notice. The people he helps on the streets do.

[just-an-enby-lemon]

since you're talking about One Bad Day can I share what imo is the most upsetting part in it?

it's the way the narrative treats Edward's father as being right in the end. sure his abuse is shown as bad at first, but then the comic tries to make you sympathise with him as that sad old man that just wanted his child to reach its true potential but instead was burdened with a son that was just a naturally evil monster. By making Edward brutally kill the teacher as a kid without showing any emotion or upset the comic makes it seem like he simply always was an inherently evil coldhearted killer and that he can't be helped by people (like that teacher) being nice to him because eventually he will just kill them on a whim anyways like he did his mother and that the beatings he got from his father and later Batman ultimately were deserved and justified because of that. even worse the narrative makes it seem like the story's world would have been a better place if his suicide attempt as a kid had been successful which is just an awful writing choice

what do you think is the worst part of that comic?

I agree absolutly.

It would have been soo easy to make so Edward actually had an emotional reaction after mudering the teacher (who doesn't matter how much the comic wants to convince me was not nice and instead was just one of thoses guys who watched Dead Poets Society and thinks he is being a great protagonist without really care for his students). Enought to show that he wasn't a cold muderer that it was a trauma reaction and the start of a psychotic break. But no they wanted to make "the abuser was right" into a plot twist and that is disgusting.

Now about the worst part I have multiple answers. On a more general way the worst part was how empty it felt (at least for me). Normally even stories I don't like produce an emotional reaction on me. Even if it is a mix of anger and laughter for the sheer absurdity like in ASBAR. But in this comic I mostly felt nothing.

Awfull things happened with characthers I normally care a lot and all I could feel was "wow that's a pretty artstyle". The characthers felt not only alienated from their original form but also just devoid of anything that made them fell like people instead of drawingns. The were in total two moments that actully got an emotional reaction from me: the woman having an emotional reaction over Batman and Gotham treating her husband death as part of a scripted routine and Edward begging his dad for a punishment in an empty room.

The first one was generic enought that could be in any comic and gather the same response. Actually if Riddler was Joker on that scenario the scene would make more sense and just be better on general. The second is the one that really makes me realize how empty it is because I felt bad but I would feel like it could be any characther. That what I felt there was the pain of a traumatized abused characther and it being Edward -a characther that usualy is a confort characther and I hyperfixate over- added nothing to my feelings over that scene. I would feel the same if it was an OC or even a characther I normaly don't like. Being Edward added nothing to it. And that says a lot.

For instance the scene of Eddie being beaten by cops on Unburied and Barbara being forced to watch is the type of violence that would hurt me no matrer the characthers but the fact it is this characthers and I feel for them and care for them adds more significante, it makes me care more for it. Just like Arkham Riddler calling Batman Dad during their final fight in Arkham Knight is devastating on general but specially because it is Riddler. Or my favorite Hush scene of Batman proudly describing Dick on his thoughs while being sorta dismisive of him when actually talking to him is something that I would enjoy with any other characthers (like Ollie and Roy) but it being Dick and Bruce and feeling like Dick and Bruce turned in my favorite moment. But One Bad Day doesn't have it.

By the end Bruce broke his code and Edward is dead and I feelt nothing for either because they are just drawings and whatever happens to them doesn't really matter at all.

On a more specific answer it would be between the revel of Edward being somehow behind Barbara attack during The Killing Joke (because of course Tom King can't let Barbara live), the tale trying to sell that it's Edward's fault for not just listening to his teacher and going to play games and chill (because that would surely solve the abuse and cure the depression obviously/irony) or the sheer edgines of everyone just being so scared of Riddler that they basically kill themselves when the comic never shows were this fear came from, if they revelead that Edward was just gassing everyone with Crane's fear toxin it would actually make more sense. Tom King wants us to believe Riddler is a dangerous scary non-parody version of Patrick Bateman simply because he said so, we never truly see Edward masterminding and proving that Riddler is actually a serius treat. He just says he is and just like Aladin saying he is a prince with confidence people just believe him. All we see as proof after that is other people saying "wow riddler is scary" and "he is such a serius treat" and the whole cops just killing each other based on nothing while Eddie laughs on the floor in deep edgyness. It means nothing. Just like everything in this comic. Really reading it was such an empty experience and it was soo frustrating because between the angsty, the art style and just the fluidity of Ed's bailarina like moviments during the basketball scene I really wanted to like it.

Not my least favorite thing but another pet pieve is that the flasbacks feel disconected. They don't work either as Edward remembering the past as he is never a vocal part of the comic or as Batman figuring the past out as he only discovers Edward's mother was prostitute he killed and his dad was an old guy he only knows based on a single conversation. The past and the present are more like two different disconected stories and not a single unified comic.

[brucewaynehater101]

I don't have money, so how about more angst? :)

Separate AU, same vibes :)

Tw: Temporary main character death, blood, suicidal ideation

Green.

It feels like Jason's spent his whole resurrection running from the sound of boiling water, verdant acid in his veins, and the way the world films over in green-scale.

He runs and runs and runs, and yet he can still feel its call years later. It never stops.

Instead, there's times when the constant whispers of ancient polluted liquid will quiet. Jason will be able to glance at Bruce, ruffle Tim's hair, and let Dick cling on to him. He may even hug his older brother back.

Then there are the bad days.

The ones that can last for weeks. The waters overwhelm him and fill his thoughts.

He drowns.

He surfaces however long later with blood on his hands.

Hasn't Jason lost enough time?

His life ended with bruises, blood, the sound of his mother crying, and a sudden flare of heat.

It briefly started up again with broken fingernails, harsh breathing in an enclosed space, the taste of mud, and freezing water pouring down on his body.

Jason finally came back with green.

The whole process was years of his life. He keeps losing more to that poisonous water.

The bottom line is that, despite its healing, Jason came back wrong. He'll never escape its clutches. He'll always struggle against the waves of green green green crashing down on him.

He's ruined.

Whatever crawled out of that grave was killed off the moment drops of chartreuse touched its skin. Most days, he's not even sure who's flesh is on his bones or if those memories are his.

After all, fifteen year old Jason Todd would've been disappointed in the wraith who came back.

If Tim had an ounce of self-respect and preservation, he wouldn't have forgiven Jason.

Hell, what are they at? Three times of Jason trying to beat the shit out of him?

The kid (and yes, he's only two years younger than Jason. He knows that. He also knows that Tim has seen and experienced for too much to be much of a child anymore. That doesn't change the way Tim, his younger brother, will always be a kid to Jason), the kid is dumb and too forgiving.

Red Hood knew it would be the younger one's undoing.

Red Robin is a paranoid bastard with a fuck ton of contingency plans. Yet, he forgives slights against himself too damn easily.

If Jason could stomach the implications, he'd wonder how every adult reinforced these ideas in the kid. He'd wonder why no one taught Tim to value himself and why his first instinct is to give and give and give until he breaks.

Jason is curious about what made Tim plan until every friend and family member could be defeated. He wonders why, for those same people, Tim would give every inch of his being to them. He wants to puzzle the conflicting reactions and behaviors.

Jason doesn't ask.

Tim doesn't ask about Jason's night terrors, avoidance of the rain, and the food stashes in every safehouse.

Somehow, with efforts on both of their parts, Tim's shoulders lose their tension. He turns his back to Red Hood in the field. He leaves information for the older hero and drops by for food.

Slowly, with many many setbacks, they learn to trust each other. They learn to be brothers. It's not always easy, but it's enough.

They know the other one cares.

Jason has been vocal in the eradication of all Lazarus Pits. He's threatened to kill any Bat who even thinks about using one. Everyone knows Jason's thoughts, morals, and beliefs about those damned Pits.

He also knew life was cruel.

He just didn't know it would test him.

Jason is under the firm belief that it's better to die and stay dead than bathe in those waters. Every part of him screams, and it is re-written into his very being to reject the Pit.

Jason despises it. He would only subject the worst of absolute scum to it.

Yet, Jason's younger brother is staring up at him.

Pale blue eyes, ones often compared to the bitter arctic winds or frozen fields of snow in sunlight, stare at Jason.

The man knows he must look like a wreck. His helmet was discarded long ago, blood has dried in splatters on his face, he has a black eye, and he can feel a cut on his cheek.

It's been rough.

The eerie glow of the Lazarus Pit bathes the surroundings in its color. Jason can hardly see with all of the green.

Red Hood leans back against uneven rock as Tim is held in his arms.

Pale blue eyes stare up at him.

The teen isn't breathing.

Jason won't subject his brother to the Pits. He won't. He knows how tiring it is fighting its influence every damn day. He knows it's a cruel and wicked experience.

So, Jason won't.

He won't put his baby brother in those fucking waters. He won't allow that.

He won't have the teen scratching at stone as he chokes and breathes in green. He won't do that to him.

Tim won't close his eyes to flutter them open again. He won't glare at Jason, scoff, and then roll his eyes. He won't sneak into all of Jason's places to steal sweaters or place insulting novels on the bookshelves.

He won't snort at stupid jokes or drop in on Red Hood's patrol.

He won't silently sit with the older brother after another rough night.

He won't fall asleep in the most inconvenient places where Jason has to throw a blanket over him.

Tim will die at nineteen because Jason won't force him to live.

He won't.

It doesn't matter that Jason is still trying to make up all of the pain and suffering Jason caused the kid.

It doesn't matter that that's his baby brother in his arms and that he's not fucking breathing.

Jason can't put him in the Pits.

He can't.

The Pits don't heal.

Tim is dead.

Jason asks the corpse of his brother for forgiveness.

He stands with the younger still cradled in his arms.

He moves.

His toes are at the edge of the Pit.

Jason memorizes every feature of Tim. He knows that when his brother fights back to the surface, Tim will never be the same.

Jason let's his brother go.

Sad AU. I'm sorry.

Tw: death, dead body, temporary main character death, open ending

~~~~~

Jason is going to hate him.

He's going to yell until his voice gives out. He'll scream, throw out death threats, and maybe even put a couple of bullets in him. He's going to tear their surroundings apart and cuss and shoot near misses.

The man's hands will shake, but only when he's not holding a gun. His breathing will be harsh and forcefully controlled. His eyes will erratically search the room for exits and threats. His shoulders will tighten in defiance, wrath, and fear.

Jason being pissed isn't the issue. It's not what causes Tim to pause at the edge of a Lazarus Pit.

It's what comes after.

It's when Jason, after finding out, stops moving. When he'll close his eyes and almost seem docile in his sudden quiet.

The man, one scorned from religion after the life he's led, will tip his head to the sky. No words will be uttered, but Tim knows. He knows his older brother will beg another father figure for forgiveness and plead for him to stop the constant torrent of shit that's hitting him.

He knows Jason won't expect an answer.

It's when Jason finally lowers his head to look in Tim's direction. It's when the older brother can't quite meet the younger's eyes.

It will be the heave of Jason's chest as he accepts the outcome. It will be the man trying his hardest not to be mad at Tim, the older brother understanding the youngest actions, and the desolate desperation to try to forgive Tim.

It will be Jason still hating Tim regardless.

Tim knows. He knows this is the furthest from what Jason will want. He knows what this will do to the man.

Tim's never been good with grief.

As the teen's knees start to ache, Red Robin focuses on the body next to him. The carved scar in the young man's cheek, the 200 pounds of mass Tim struggled to maneuver, and the still chest. Cloudy seaglass eyes remain open as white hair strands brush the browline.

He's dead, but Tim's never been good at letting go.

The teen knows this may be a long shot. He can push Jason's body into the pit, and the older brother will merely sink.

Jason was alive last time.

The Pit restored him. It twisted him.

Jason was aware. He was aware of all the death he sought with his own hands. His actions and sins were his own.

He was so angry. He saw so much green.

If Tim truly loved Jason, he would never subject him to its waters again. He would let the man finally rest.

Jason wouldn't want to be revived by sickly chartreuse invading his pores. He wouldn't want to feel his veins burn and watch his vision go green.

Tim, if he truly loved Jason, wouldn't do this.

Tim loves his brother, but he's selfish. He's so so selfish. He can't live through another death. He couldn't handle it. He needs him.

Jason can't stay dead.

Tim wouldn't know how to cope.

Fortunately for Tim, a bubbling verdant pool is right there.

The siren call of the waters is usually so easy to ignore. Tim knows the risks. He's seen report after report of its side effects.

He's heard the soft break in Jason's voice as the man talks about it.

Jason is going to hate him.

Tim pushes him in.

[lily-drake]

The “Talk”

Continuation of Day 5

Marinette stared blankly at the board as Lila and Alya explained the class trip.  She honestly didn’t know if her heart had stopped beating or was beating too fast.  They were going to Gotham, and not just anywhere, they would be touring WE and other places owned by her da Bruce.  Maybe she would be lucky and her host, more like adopted at this point, family wouldn’t let her go!  She wouldn’t have to run the risk of seeing him, but then again it was probably him that had accepted the application, which meant he knew she should be there.  And if she wasn’t there then he would come to Paris, but that would be bad if he got Akumatized.  She wasn’t strong enough to fight her dad as a supervillain.

She sighed and rested her head against the cool wooden desk.  She was tired with all of the late night Akumas, homework, commissions, and tracking Hawkmoth.  She hadn’t contacted anyone in her family in a while, and when she said a while she meant about two years.  She used to talk to Dick and Dad often, but then communication went silent.  She thought it was for a short silent mission and that they would get back to her, but they never did.  Alfred and her talked on and off, she had last talked to him about a month ago.  Sure she missed her family, but they probably didn’t miss her.  She was replaceable afterall, that’s why Tim was adopted by Bruce last year.  Jason was replaceable to him because three or four months after his death there was a new Robin.  Then there was Damian who turned out to be Bruce’s “only” bio child.  She didn’t feel like going back, she’d have a breakdown, and she doesn’t want to have one.  She has to shove down everything, because if she showed any weakness, then the universe would bury her.

The bell rang and she was brought out of her mind.  She looked down at her desk and saw all of the papers needed to go on the trip.  She was honestly surprised Alya or Lila would give this to her.  They would probably find a way to get rid of her though, and she would honestly thank them for it.  She packed up and left for the bakery for lunch.  When she made it she greeted Sabine with a hug and felt that little spark when she hugged her back with a bright smile on her face.

“Hello darling, is everything going ok?  You look tired, do you want me to make you coffee?”

“Yes please.”

“Alright, but when you get home I’m going to make sure you fall asleep, ok?”

She relaxed against Sabine, Sabine’s hugs reminded her of Jason’s hugs.  They were so encompassing and warm and they made her feel safe.

“‘Mkay.”

“Good, now go sit down, lunch will be ready soon.”

Sabine gently pulled away and she quietly sat in one of the bar stools.  She was so happy to be with the Dupain-Cheng’s, they were so nice and real, and it made her happy.  Marinette sighed and brought out the papers and slid them towards Sabine.  She glanced at the papers and her eyes widened.

“Oh, the senior trip is to Gotham then?”

Marinette quietly nodded.

“Well, maybe it will be a good thing.  You should visit your family.”

Marinette didn’t want to, they obviously didn’t care enough to visit or think about her.  Well except Alfred, but he was always too busy making sure Bruce didn’t accidentally kill himself to visit.

“Do I have to go?”

She whispered, the void was creeping up on her again, but she pushed it back.

“I think it would be best if you do.  You need a chance to relax, you need to get out of Paris and let yourself go.  You’ve been so strong all of these years.  Besides, you should go visit Jason, I bet he’s missed you.”

Sabine said gently as she worked.  Marinette sucked in a sharp breath.  She hadn’t thought of visiting Jason’s grave, but now she wanted to.  She had so many things to tell him, and he always listened.  She could apologize to him for not being good enough, she hadn’t been able to do that last time with all the people around.  But in private, she could, and maybe he would forgive her.

________

The day of the trip arrived, and she was going to vomit.  Sadly Lila’s and Alya’s attempts to get rid of her didn’t work and she was in Gotham.  Her skin crawled with the memories that came back to her.  Every corner held something that triggered so many emotions, and she really didn’t want to remember any of it.  She had to stay guarded, she had to make sure her class wasn’t killed on the streets.  The first stop of the trip, Wayne Enterprise itself.

Marinette stayed in the back behind everyone.  They all kept sending her glares and whispering to each other, but she didn’t care.  She didn't even have to listen to the tour guide, she already knew everything about the building.  She watched as Mlle. Mendeleiev and Mlle. Bustier talked, well argued, about the class and their behavior.  Loud confident footsteps approached them and when Marinette looked up so did the ice.  Her brain felt clouded, blurred with grief, betrayal, and anger.  She could hear the gasp from her class, her fingers stung—when had she clenched it—?  She looked straight into deep blue eyes, the same ones she had inherited.

“Leave me the f* alone.”

Her tone was dark and cold, but she felt anything but.  Her heart was pounding in her chest so fast she could hear it reverberating in her ears.  Her breathing was harsh and her eyes pricked with nudged tears.  She couldn’t tell if she was shaking or not, or was the world just spinning?  Loud fast footsteps sounded an a voice called out,

“What’s going o-“

Why was the voice so familiar?  It was deep, but it sounded so recognizable.

“Pixie?”

Her head shot towards the voice.  It was so quiet and was she seeing things?  Was this some sort of nightmare?  It had to be, it certainly felt like one.  She was supposed to visit his grave today, maybe this is her subconscious playing some kind of joke on her.  Something wet was falling down her cheeks, was she crying?

“Jay-Jay?”

She whispered quietly, because there was no way this was real.  Strong arms scooped her up and she was being spun.  She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, because if this was a dream she didn’t want to wake up.  Jay-Jay was back.

“Gotta tell the others you’re back.”

He whispered against her head.  That would be nice, but it was only a dream, she probably wouldn’t sleep long enough to see the others.  There would probably be an Akuma soon.

“‘Mkay.”

“Excellent form by the way, the punch was perfect.”

She could feel the pride in his words and something she hadn’t felt for a long time blossomed in her chest.

“Bas* deserved it.”

He took her away from her home and family, he stopped talking to her, he replaced both her and Jason.  If only she could punch Bruce in real life.

“He certainly did.”

Gentle hands ran through her hair and she melted into it.

“Marinette!  What on earth are you doing?!  How could you punch Bruce Wayne?!  Have you gone mad?!”

Alya shouted at the top of her lungs.

“We are so sorry Mr. Wayne.  Marinette has never done something like this.  We hope-“

Mlle. Bustier began.

He held up his hand as he stood up, a bruise already forming on his cheek.

“No, no.  It was my fault.  I’ll let you continue on your tour, though I would like to talk to her later, if that’s alright with you.”

“Certainly Mr. Wayne.  We apologize again.”

“I always knew Marinette liked going around, but did she really have to do it in public?”

Lila whispered.  She could feel the chill that entered the room upon Lila’s words and Alya’s snickers.  She felt the slow descent and felt her feet touch the ground, but there was still an arm around her shoulder.  She leaned into it, it felt so warm and real.

“How dare you speak of my sister that way?”

His voice was dark, and she shivered in fear, though the arm held her closer.  It was protecting her.

“Your what?  I’m sorry but Marinette is an only child.  It’s kind of pathetic that she had to pay you.”

The chill grew, and she desperately wished it would go away.  Is this the part of the nightmare where Daddy and Dick would fight again, then he would walk out the doors again.  It wasn’t a new dream, but that didn’t make it better.  Fast footfalls made their way towards them and she felt arms land on her shoulders.

“Hey Bean, hey, it’s okay.  Please open your eyes.”

Open her eyes?  They were open, but it’s dark.  When had she closed her eyes?  Steel blue looked at her, and she knew those eyes.  It was Tim.  Tim was here, he looked so much older.

“Tim-Tam?”

“Yea it’s me, Bean.  It’s been a while, why don’t we catch up away from everyone else?  You already know everything and more about this place anyways.”

“Only if Jay-Jay comes.”

“Of course.”

Tim glanced over at something and sighed.

“Can Bruce come too?”

Marinette flinched and followed Tim’s line of sight to see her dad watching them from a distance.  She really didn’t want to talk to him, but it was just a dream anyways.  It didn’t really matter, did it?

“It's fine.”

She said quietly.  The entire floor was silent as they all walked towards the elevator.  She would wake up any second now, and then she would actually go to Wayne Enterprise where she would be in the back and silently watch her classmates make fools of themselves as she heard facts she already knew about spouted off by a guide.

But her dream didn’t end when the doors closed, in fact she was pretty sure she felt more awake as all of what had just happened hit her with a wave of adrenaline.  She could feel the blood drain from her face and breathing felt harder every floor that passed them until they were at the top.  When the doors opened and she saw Dick and a smaller boy with black hair and green eyes she knew she was going to be sick.  Her breathing picked up and she ran out of the elevator, and not to Dick’s open arms, but to the trash can where she emptied out her breakfast.  Tears fell out of her eyes, they felt like acid against her burning cheeks.

There were people surrounding her, someone was talking but she couldn’t hear anything, there was a hand on her back and someone was holding her hair back.  Why hadn’t she woken up yet?  Why was she still here?  Shouldn’t she have woken up by now?

“-t’s ok Blueberry.  Hey, it’s ok.”

“N-no!  This isn’t real!  You left, Jay-Jay’s dead, dad shipped me off, dad replaced Jay-Jay and me.  This isn’t real, it can’t be real.”

The room was deathly quiet, but she could feel familiar string arms wrap her back into a hug with her back against a strong broad chest.

“We should go to the lounge area.”

Tim whispered and turned to leave.  She messed up didn’t she?  She always messed up.  Someone helped her into her feet, but they didn’t want to work.  Right before she fell someone caught her.  It was her Birdy.

“I’ve got you Blueberry.  Don’t worry, I’m not going to leave you, I promise.”

He said gently.  She leaned against him as he scooped her up and carried her to another room.

“You always say that, then you walk out the door.”

She mumbled, but he must have heard it as he stiffened slightly and let out a shaky breath.

“Not anymore.”

She didn’t respond to that and thought back to all the good times they had before everything changed so much.

The couch was soft and comfy, and she was squished between her two oldest brothers while Tim sat on Jason’s other side and the other boy, Damian, sat on Dick’s.  Bruce sat on a separate couch in front of all of them.  He was going to send her away again, wasn’t he?

“Marinette, it’s good to see you again.”

He said gently, in the same voice he always used when she was mad at him and he was trying to make it up to her.  She didn’t look at him though, just stared at her hands as she fiddled with her fingers.

“How is Jason alive if this isn’t a dream?”

She asked quietly.  There was a long pause before she was being pressed into Jason’s side.

“It was the pits Pixie.  The Lazarus Pits brought me back.”

“Oh.”

Because what were you supposed to say to that?

“Marinette, I didn’t, it was never my intention to make you feel abandoned.”

“Well about two years of radio silence will do that.  Especially with you adopting Tim two years after I’m gone, then you magically have a biological child, and apparently he’s your “only one”.”

“Well, maybe if you were better Father would have-“

“Damian!  You don’t say things li-“

“No.”

She interrupted Dick’s scolding as she glared at the ground.

“He’s right.  I wasn’t good enough, I’ve never been good enough.  I was never enough to go on patrols or get to be a hero like all of you, I wasn’t good enough for Jason to stay, I wasn’t good enough for Dad or you, Dick.  I could have been better…I could have been like Tim.  He was always-“

“Marinette.”

Her head shot up in surprise.  Tim had never spoken to her like that.  When did he get in front of her again?

“Marinette, you were the closest thing to a little sibling I had at the time, in fact you now are.  Mari, you were and are good enough.  Bruce didn’t abandon or replace you.  In fact, I think he owes you something.  Right B?”

Soft slow footfalls.  The sound of fabric sliding against itself as someone kneels in front of her.

“Marinette, sweetheart, my beautiful daughter.  I didn’t mean to-I didn’t know you felt like that.  I thought I was protecting you.  I was-I didn’t want-I couldn’t let…”

“You didn’t want me to end up like Jason?”

“I didn’t want you to be in danger.”

“What about the radio silence?”

“I got trapped in a time stream for a long time, and after-I thought that- I…. I didn’t want….”

“Why was Dick silent too?”

There was a pause before Dick spoke,

“I was busy helping Damian, then some things happened, then we were looking for Bruce, and I had to work with the Titans, and I know it’s not an excuse, but so many things happened and I…..I forgot.”

“Oh, ok.”

“Ok, that’s it?!”

Damian yelled out in surprise.  She looked over at him and tilted her head as she studied him.  He was quite a few years younger than her, his skin was tanned, and he held himself with a sense of entitlement.

“Yea, Dad and Dick get busy, and it’s not like I was alone.  Alfred talked to me sometimes, and I had Tom and Sabine.”

“And what when they were busy?”

“I had my work.”

“Who else?  Surely Drake contacted you.”

“No, he didn’t say anything.”

“So you were just by yourself and you accepted it with no fight or push back?!”

Damian sounded angry and she didn’t get why.  It wouldn’t do anyone any good if Dick or Dad stopped helping people because she was lonely.  Besides, once she became Ladybug she understood why everyone was always so busy.  Being a hero was a full time job, and no one ever said that it wasn’t a lonely one.  She mastered the silence years ago, she was fine.

“I understand the importance of their work Damian.  It’s not the first time there was radio silence for a long time, I just usually got a notice of how long first.”

Damian’s fists were clenched and he turned to dad with those fiery green eyes that looked like they would kill the person in their line of sight.

“Father, I demand you remove her from Paris and have her return back to the manor immediately.”

Everyone turned to look at Damian in shock.

“She is blood, and she should be treated as such.”

The silence continued as everyone stared at him, but he continued to stand there with his chest puffed pridefully and his stance was full of confidence.  She stared at him in awe.

“Marinette, do you want to come back to the manor?  You could spend your last year of school at GA, and Alfred would be happy to see you again.”

Dad said with a voice so full of hope, and she desperately wanted to see her family and her home again.  It’s not like she had anything to lose in Paris, and all she had to do was take the ring from Chat, and she knew who Hawkmoth was, so she just had to teleport and take it.  And she should get to know her little brother, especially if he was the one who wanted her to come back.

“Yes.  I-I want to come back home.”

Cheers erupted in the room and—no, she did not squeak, she didn’t—as she was lifted into the air.  She felt her lips tug up into a smile as a laugh tumbled out of her lips.  When was the last time she felt like this?  The void wasn’t gone, not at all, but it felt smaller.  There was something replacing the darkness that crowded her soul, it was so much lighter too.  A talk, that’s what they had, but it felt like so much more than just that.  She was home, and they wanted her home.  Things weren’t perfect, far from it.  She still felt hurt and betrayed, but maybe things would get better.  Maybe not today, not tomorrow, not in a month, maybe not even in a year, but it would one day, and that’s all that mattered.  Because all of her brothers were hugging and holding her, excluding Damian who had a hand on her shoulder, and she had never felt as safe or as warm as she had in that moment.

Taglist:

@queenz-z @aespades @fandomsaremylifeline @stainedglassm @toodaloo-kangaroo @prettylittlebutterflie @trippingovermyfeet @liquid-luck-00

[marauderundercover]

Making Memories: Ch. 26

Day 26: Subtle/Bright

AO3

Prev

Dick glanced at his little sister’s door. It was Christmas Eve, and it would be her first holiday without her parents. He knew how hard that was, but he also wasn’t sure how to bring up the subject. She had been avoiding everyone for the last two weeks. The only time she’d come out of her room was to have a tea party with Mar’i when her and Kori got back a few days ago. Taking a breath to ground himself, Dick walks over and knocks on the door.

“Hey kid! It’s me. I was about to make some hot chocolate and I wanted to see if you wanted any.” He calls, frowning when she doesn’t answer. “Mari?” He tries again. Nothing. He sighs softly. “I’m here if you need me, kid. Promise.” He adds before walking away. Maybe Jaybird would have more luck. Or Dames. He runs into Jason first.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” He asks, frowning.

“Would you please see if you can get Marinette to come out of her room? I think it would be good for her to be around other people for a little while. I know that people grieve differently, but it definitely would’ve helped me to have more to focus on than just their deaths after my parents died.” Dick says. Jason’s eyes widen slightly, and Dick doesn’t blame him. He rarely talked about the tough moments of his life. Yeah, he talked about happy circus moments with his parents, but talking about their deaths? The toll it took on him mentally, and the way it changed who he was? Those weren’t things he liked talking about. But if it meant helping his little sister, he’d do it.

“Okay. I don’t know if she’ll even let me in. She’s been distant with me since we got back. But I’ll try.” Jason mutters, and Dick almost feels bad for asking. He knew Mari and Jason and Damian were close, but he hadn’t realized Mari distancing herself would affect Jason this much. He silently decides not to ask Damian, in case he upset that kid too. Dick stands, leaning against the wall, drumming his fingers on his leg as he waits for Jason. Jason’s slumped shoulders return by themselves, and Dick can’t help but also let his shoulders slump. He didn’t know how to help her, besides saying he’d be there for her. But he didn’t know how to be there for her if she wouldn’t let him be there. Not that he blamed her. But he really wished she wouldn’t isolate herself. Not right now.

“What do we do?” Dick asks softly. Jason shrugs.

“It kills me that she’s locking herself up like this. But if there was ever any doubt that she’s B’s…” Jason trails off and Dick can’t help but snort. Marinette really had been acting more and more like Bruce lately.

“Where is Marinette?” Damian asks, storming into the hallway. Dick blinks.

“Uh, her room?” He says, frowning at his youngest brother.

“No she’s not. Todd knocked and tried to get her to interact with him, but she didn’t respond.” Damian huffs out. Dick sighs.

“Baby bird, I think she just wants to be alone.” He says. Damian scowls.

“Well when he walked away, I tried to get her to respond. But unlike Todd, I opened her door. She’s not there.” Damian says.

“Dames, that’s an invasion of-” Dick freezes, his mind catching up to what Damian had said. “She wasn’t in there?” Damian shakes his head.

“Fuck. Where’s B? The kid can literally teleport. She could be anywhere.” Jason groans. Dick purses his lips, worry washing over him. Where was Marinette?

---

Marinette scowls down at the man in the alley below her. He was rifling through a purse, tossing things from it onto the ground, a gun haphazardly placed in his back pocket. Just as she’s about to drop down and beat the shit out of the man, an obvious mugger, someone grabs her and yanks her away from the edge. She whirls around, glare already in place, when she sees Harley. Marinette crosses her arms over her chest, keeping her eyes set in a firm glare while her bottom lip quivers. Part of her wanted to sit and talk to Harley. To cry, and let everything out from the last week. But the other part of her wants Harley to leave her the hell alone so she can go beat up the mugger in the alley below her.

“Don’t look at me like that, Poppy.” Harley says, her voice soft but firm. “I may not be able to see your mouth, but I know you’re not actually mad at me, kiddo.” Marinette scoffs.

“And why wouldn’t I be? You just stopped me from taking down that man.” She snaps. Harley raises an eyebrow.

“And didya actually see him do something? Or didya decide to put him on your shit list for existing.” Harley asks.

“Look at how he’s treating that purse. It’s obviously not his. He obviously stole it.” Marinette argues.

“But you didn’t see him, kiddo. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?” She asks. Marinette rolls her eyes.

“I don’t care about that. I care about getting the stupid muggers off the street.” Marinette huffs out. Harley frowns.

“Is this about your parents?” She asks and Marinette tenses.

“No.” She lies, pinching her arms to ground herself. Harley sighs.

“Sweetheart, you know you can talk to me, right?” She asks. Marinette sighs.

“Yeah, sure, whatever.” Marinette says. Harley purses her lips.

“Does your family even know you’re out?” She asks. Marinette stays silent. It didn’t matter. She had something she had to do. For her Maman and her Papa. “Poppy, it’s Christmas Eve.” Harley adds. Marinette freezes, counting the days in her head. She frowns as she realizes Harley was right. Oh well. She’d already finished the presents for her family ages ago. All she needed to do now was wrap them, but she can do that after she deals with some muggers. It’s not like she was planning on sleeping tonight anyway.

“My family can handle me being gone on Christmas Eve. It’s not that big of a deal.” Marinette says flippantly. Harley’s eyes narrow.

“You do realize that none of them patrol on Christmas Eve, right? They keep an eye out for the signal and they keep the scanners on, but they don’t actually go out. This is the one day of the year that Gotham is calm.” She says. Marinette gestures down to the now abandoned purse in the alley. Apparently the jerk had decided two of the Sirens arguing about him on a rooftop was a bad sign and ran away. Whatever. She still had all night to find another one. “That doesn’t count, Poppy.”

“Doesn’t count? Yeah, okay. Fine, maybe muggers aren’t one of the big problems in Gotham, but they’re still a problem to me.” Marinette argues.

“Because?” Harley says.

“Because they killed my parents.” Marinette snaps, then claps her hand over her mouth, a sob building in her chest. Harley had been steering the conversation, trying to get her to talk. Most of the time Marinette wouldn’t care. But she needed a clear head tonight if she was going to catch some muggers.

“C’mere.” Harley says, opening her arms wide. Marinette stares at her for a minute before throwing herself into the woman’s arms. It would be okay to take a couple minutes to break. She couldn’t cry like this when she got to a mugger, so she needed to get it over with now. Harley rubs circles on her back, and Marinette decides to admit the truth.

“It was my fault.” She says softly. Harley gasps and pulls back, shaking her head.

“It was not your fault.” She says firmly.

“Yes, it was.” Marinette says, nodding her head. “I knew that the Black Cat Miraculous needed to be active if the Ladybug was. But I didn’t- it wasn’t. This, all of this, all of these bad things happening, it’s because I tried to be too lucky for too long.” Harley frowns, obviously not believing her, but just pulls her back into a tight hug. Marinette lets her, and lets herself cry for the first time since getting back to Gotham.

“Oh, kitten.” A familiar, soft voice says. Marinette looks up at her bonus mom, shoving down the hurt she’d felt for the woman not coming to the funeral. She apparently was on some kind of list in France, and it would’ve been really difficult to get her permission to come into France for anything less of an apocalyptic event.

“Hi mom.” She says softly, trying not to wince at the word. Yeah, she’d started calling Selina mom awhile ago. But it was the first time calling her that since her parents died. Deep down, she knew it wasn’t a betrayal. But it still felt like one.

“Honey, why aren’t you home?” Selina asks, opening her arms in a silent invitation. Marinette moves into her bonus mom’s arms, burying herself into the hug. She didn’t wanna talk about it.

“Your daughter is out hunting muggers.” Harley rats her out. Marinette whips her head around and glares at the woman. She holds her hands up in surrender. “Hey, that’s not something you told me, kid. That’s something I observed when I snuck up on ya.” Selina frowns.

“Harley was able to sneak up on you? Sweetheart, if you’re not paying attention-”

“Really don’t need a lecture right now.” Marinette snaps, pulling away from the woman. “I just- I need-” She screams in frustration before burying her head in her hands and breathing shakily.

“Kitten-”

“No! No one is looking for my parent’s killer. No one knows anything about the person who took them from me. No one! That son of a bitch gets to walk around and have Christmas and live their life like they didn’t take two of the most important people in my life away from me.” Marinette yells, her voice breaking. She stomps her foot, ignoring the way it probably made her look like a toddler throwing a fit. “None of GCPD cares. Except Gordon, but he has bigger problems. But if no one else is going to bring them into justice, I’m going to find every freaking mugger in this city and bring them in.” Neither woman says anything, and Marinette frowns. What, were they surprised that she was actually pissed at the person who took her parents from her?

“That’s a dangerous path, Poppy.” A gruff voice says from behind her. She whirls around, eye twitching when she sees her dad.

“Harley said you don’t patrol on Christmas Eve.” Marinette says, instead of responding to his comment. Like he was one to talk. His parents were the whole reason that Gotham had a Batman.

“I don’t. But when I get concerned boys telling me that someone is missing from their room, I tend to change my plans.” He says, his lips set in a firm line.

“Well, I’m fine.” She says. He huffs.

“You’re obviously not fine. And screaming about your plans on a rooftop in the middle of Gotham isn’t exactly subtle.” He points out. Her face flushes. So she got emotional, sue her. She had a right.

“I’ll try to keep my breakdowns a little quieter from now on.” She quips, and he sighs.

“Poppy, please. I know you don’t see it right now, but if you continue on this path, it will destroy you. We are doing everything we can to bring in the individual that killed your parents. Ballistics reports are proving to be useful, and we’re still trying to track a few items that should’ve been on your parents, but weren’t. But none of that matters if you go out and get yourself killed trying to prove something. You have nothing to prove. You don’t need to deal with this by yourself.” Her dad says, his gruff Batman voice slipping away slightly.

“Do you think they would’ve been proud of me?” She asks, quiet enough that she almost hopes he doesn’t hear. She’d never been able to have the whole ‘vigilante/Ladybug’ talk with her parents. And now she never could. She could only hope that what she’d done, the people she’d saved, that she’d made her parents proud.

“Of course they would have. They already were.” Her dad says. She holds herself back from hugging him, knowing that their conversation so far was already dangerous to have in the open.

“Could- can we go home now?” Marinette asks, a wave of tiredness washing over her. It was exhausting, being furious. Shoving down every other emotion in an attempt to push away the emptiness that she’d felt for days. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, her dad was right. She needed help to get through this one. She couldn’t handle this by herself, not this.

Tag list:  @vixen-uchiha @stainedglassm @liquid-luck-00 @laurcad123 @waiting247 @jayjayspixiepop @mizzy-pop @jjmjjktth @trippingovermyfeet @queenz-z @thepaceperson @iloontjeboontje @toodaloo-kangaroo @ritacrow-blog @deathssilentapproach-blog @kittenmywaythrulife @nerd-nowandforever @tazanna-blythe @jaybird-and-co @lady-bee-fechin @corporeal-terrestrial @unoriginalmess @maribat-platonic-november @jumpingjoy82

[alfredsolos]

Okay, so I'm going to list the things that I hate from the fandom along with somethings that aren't known or popular in the fandom. (Which I desperetaly need it to be more popular)

In DC Canon:

Tim Drake is an asshole. (Still love him though)

Both in past and present, Bruce treated Tim the best.

Tim wasn't left alone when his parents left to travel, he was sent to a boarding school.

The source of Steph's insecurities about not being enough mostly comes from Tim and Bruce's treatment of her.

Cass isn't a goody two shoes princess.

Cass doesn't call; Little brother :), big brother :), to anyone

Jason was a villain when he came back from the dead, not an anti hero.

Jason tried to murder Damian and vice versa. It wasn't a one way attempt.

Bruce treats Damian the worst out of all of the batfamily member.

Damian's real parental figure is (was) Alfred, not Dick.

Dick's favorite brother is Tim, not Damian.

Bruce is a bad father.

Tim doesn't try to snort coffee like coke.

Duke is interesting. I mean, his father is literally like a god and he is the only one with powers etc.

Tim and Damian don't fight the moment they see each other. They do get along.

Damian and Jon would realistically not make a good couple. (If they were the same age and Damian liked boys)

Damian does feel romantic attraction. (Although I kinda get why most people make him aroace)

Damian's best friend is Goliath, not Jon.

Damian's favorite sister is Maya then Steph. He doesn't like Cass.

Tim tried to flirt with Cass. (My mind is fuzzy with that one, correct me if I'm wrong)

Tim definitaly had more lovers than everyone in the family.

When Slade told Bruce and Damian that he was Damian's real father, everyone besides Bruce knew it was a lie. (Even Slade, Talia and Damian)

Damian now canonically has a half brother (clone?) Made from Talia and Slade. He was killed, but then brought back.

Damian canonically died like 5 times, not 1.

Bruce locked Damian in his room and sent him back to the league, just after a few days of meeting him.

Bruce, again, tried to send Damian back to Talia when The LoA attacked Gotham. Damian also had a bounty on his head put by Talia at that time. He was then killed by Heretic.

Damian canonically went to Hell, while Jason went to Heaven.

Damian made Demon friends from his time in Hell.

Damian doesn't like all animals, just the one that are his.

Dick is not cheery most of the time.

The golden child of the family is Dick, not Cass.

Jason did not try or meant to kill Tim when he beat him in the tower. It was to send a message.

Jason did not slice Tim's throat open. It was a small cut.

Bruce sliced Jason's throat open with a batarang to save Joker's life.

Bruce brought Jason to the warehouse in Ethiopia after Damian's death to convince him to help bring Damian back.

Jason and Damian did not meet in LoA

Jason and Damian tried to kill each other and do not get along.

Damian gets along with: Dick, Tim, Steph, Duke and Alfred.

Tim beat and out smarted Lady Shiva 2 times.

The fanon relationship between Ra's and Tim is, in fact, the canon relationship between Lady Shiva and Tim.

Probably every member of the batfam, besides Bruce, killed at least one person.

Jason has a kill count about 90+

Dick did not tried to put Tim in Arkham.

Cass died 2 times.

Batman is friends with The Creeper.

Batman and Harley aren't besties.

Damian only lived with Bruce for about 2.5-3 years.

Bruce physically hit/assaulted: Jason, Dick and Damian.

Tim did not stalk batman and Robin through rooftops when he was 6-7. He stalked Bruce through the crime scenes with his bicycle when he was 13.

Tim saw Batman for the first time when Dick's parents fell to their deaths and Batman came in to comfort Dick.

Dick was never mad at Jason for being Robin.

Dick slept with Barbara. And the morning after, handed her out his wedding invitation with Kory. (Not really sure about that one)

Batman and Catwoman's relationship is toxic.

Damian wasn't taught to be homophobic in the League. His mother literally had an orgy that included both men and women.

Damian met Talia when he was 8. She did not raise him.

Damian met Ra's when he was 8-9.

Damian wasn't this super respectful and loyal heir to Ra's. He was an asshole through and through.

Dick doesn't like it when people make remarks or touch his ass. He even threatened to break Harley's hands if she ever touched him again.

Dick was raped 2 times. One by Mirage, the other by Tarantula.

Dick isn't big on physical affection.

Dick was an asshole during his Discowing and Titans era.

Bruce didn't tell Dick about Jason's death. He found out when he came back from a space mission, and Jason's file was updated to 'deceased'.

Batman hit Dick because he blamed Bruce for Jason's death.

Bruce forced Dick to take on the spiral mission.

When it was found out that Dick was actually alive and had went on for an undercover mission in Spiral; Jason punched Dick in the face while Tim did nothing. When Damian found out, he hugged him.

Steph was the only one who saw Damian as a child, and felt pity for him.

Steph was Damian and Tim's Batgirl.

Steph was pregnant when she was a teen, but gave the child away as she couldn't take care of a child.

Jon wasn't a crybaby that took Damian's bullying. He fought back and did ocasionally used his powers on him.

Damian and Jon was trapped in an alien planet which was a prison for space criminals. Nobody noticed their absence and when they came back, the summer break had ended.

Damian couldn't have beaten Zsasz, if it weren't for Colin. He even almost died.

Joker kidnapped Damian, burned his eyes with amonia and dumped tons and tons of insects and worms over him while he was tied to the ceiling from the ankles. He then Joker gassed him.

Joker kidnapped Jason and Tim together, dug their dads' corpse from their grave and made fun of them.

Barbara had already quit being Batgirl before getting shot.

Dick killed Joker not because he had murdered Jason, but because Dick thought that Joker had killed Tim.

Damian did not beat Joker with a crowbar, it wasn't the actual Joker.

Damian ran over the Joker with an Ambulance.

When Damian first met Superman, he basically told him to shut the fuck up. (Clark was trying to introduce himself to Damian)

Tim strangled Damian because he thought that Damian had tried to push Alfred down the stairs, when Damian had in fact tried to save Alfred from falling.

Jason shot Damian, which caused him to get over 70 stitches.

Cass lives in Honkong.

Duke does not live in the Manor. He stays with a relative.

Cass sees Barbara as a mother figure.

Damian techinally committed a genocide by killing every Bat-Dragon on their world apart from Goliath.

Damian was kicked out of Gotham Academy on his first day. (Took the blame for someone else)

Damian is depressed.

Damian blames himself for Alfred's death. So did Bruce. Even though he was on vacation with Selina while Damian was trying to save all of Gotham from burning down all by himself. And then Bane kidnapped Damian and snapped Alfred's neck in front of him while Alfred was begging Bane not to do it in front of Damian.

The only person who ever celebrated Damian's birthday, while he still lived in the manor, was Alfred.

Bruce most of the time ignores Damian.

Talia loves Damian more than Bruce ever did.

Tim was almost raped.

Damian is really good with using a gun.

Anyways, sorry for the ramble. Thanks for the post OP! Sorry if it was too long.

New plan, I am outsourcing my Batfam anti fanon list! Please reblog, comment or tag with the Batfam fanons that make you want to tear your hair out and grind your teeth to dust! I’ll start: I absolutely cannot stand the fanon that Tim was constantly left home alone as a small child. And if you ever mention the idea that Jason was anything but a good, smart kid who enjoyed school I will bite you

[awhitehead17]

Batfam Alphabet: L - Language 

Summary: Jason doesn’t hesitate to drag his brothers down with him when Bruce starts reprimanding him about the type of language he uses on a daily basis. 

Enjoy! :D 

“Well this is just a load of bullshit! Why do they have to intervene? We’re perfectly capable of handling this.” Jason huffs and crosses his arms over his chest as he leans back in his chair. He can’t believe what he's hearing.

On the opposite side of the table Bruce levels him with a hard look. “Watch your language Jason.”

Jason blinks before sitting up straight. “What, it’s not like the kid is currently around to overhear."

“Jason!”

Glaring at the man, Jason scowls. This seems to be a regular topic of conversation between them recently because according to Bruce Jason swears too much, especially when he’s around Damian. The man, for whatever reason, wants Jason to be a good role model for the kid and apparently that includes him not swearing.

So now anytime he swears, Bruce points it out with a matching scolding tone and expression.

It’s a ridiculous notion because Jason being who he is was brought up with swearing, living on the streets for so many years exposed him to all kinds of things, one of which being the language people use. Swearing is just part of his vocabulary, half of the time he isn’t even aware he is doing it. As long as he’s not swearing at someone, then surely there should be some leniency.

“Oh come on!” He exclaims with a wave of his hands. “He’s been raised as an assassin, he was already tainted before we even met. Me saying a few words isn’t doing any harm.”

Before Bruce could respond a new voice joins the conversation. “To be fair you do swear a lot. Maybe you should try and tone it down.”

Jason turns to his right to glare at his older brother who’s lounging comfortably next to him. “Oh fuck off, Dick, no one asked for your opinion.”

Dick stares back unimpressed, he raises both eyebrows as if to say, “really?”

Jason recalls what he said and grits his teeth.

He points menacingly at Dick. “That doesn’t prove anything. Quite frankly I grew up in Crime Alley, of course I’m gonna swear, you hear it every minute in that place and typically as a kid you’re gonna pick up the habit. You know what they say old habits die hard.”

“Just like you did?” A different voice retorts with a snort.

Jason switches his gaze to Tim, who is opposite him next to Bruce currently playing with his phone, and blinks at him in surprise. “Uh, excuse me? I don’t know whether to be insulted or proud by that.”

It’s usually only him who makes death jokes so it’s come as a surprise to find Tim making one, a well-timed one too. Jason shakes his head, he’ll deal with those emotions at another time.

“Anyway, if we’re talking about who swears too much then why aren’t you giving Tim a lecture? He swears like a bloody sailor. If anyone needs reprimanding on his language it’s him!”

Tim abruptly stops fiddling with his phone and looks up, he rolls his eyes and glowers at him. “Jesus Christ that’s so immature Jason. How old are you, 10? I’m no way near as bad as you.”

His response gets a gleeful chuckle out of Jason. He knows exactly how the next few minutes are about to play out and he can’t wait. While the focus of the conversation had been on him, he’s glad for the opportunity to move it onto someone else and Tim happens to be perfect for the new spotlight.

Without any hesitation Jason digs into his pocket and grabs his phone. Once he has the device in hand he starts searching for the video he has saved for this very purpose. Call him petty, but he knew it would be good blackmail material one day.

“Oh really?” He drawls out, finally finding the video he had been looking for, “then what do I have here…” Jason clicks play and puts it on speaker so everyone in the room would be able to hear the audio.

After a second the sound of Tim’s voice could be heard. The teenager was clearly angry about something and certainly wasn’t holding back from letting his anger be known through his choice of words.

“You bloody bastard, why won’t you work you piece of shit. By god this is pissing me off now, I’ve been at this all fucking day and you’re still not fucking working. I am going to kill…”

The recording lasts for about a minute and is filled with Tim swearing his head off, cursing at everything and everyone and making empty threats. Once it’s finished Jason turns his phone off, puts it back in his pocket and leans back in his chair feeling smug about the situation.

“I rest my case.”

His words are met with a stunned silence in the room. Tim is blushing hard with his head buried in his hands. Next to him Bruce looks concerned, probably for Tim’s mental health and wellbeing. Dick’s staring at Tim with shock spread across his features.

After a few beats Tim lifts his head from his hands but keeps his eyes down staring at the table so he could avoid everyone’s eyes. “Okay in my defence the technology was really piss–annoying me. It wouldn’t work and I couldn’t work out why so I got frustrated and that happened.”

His response makes Jason snort and causes Dick to shake his head in disbelief. He knew Tim could be feisty but until that moment he never realised how bad his temper could get. Jason’s honestly impressed. However that doesn’t mean he’s letting Tim get away with it, especially when he’s getting blamed for something Tim does just as much of as him.

If he's going down then he’s dragging Tim down with him. It’s just unfortunate that he doesn’t have anything on Dick.

Jason’s broken out of his thoughts on ways he could get blackmail material on Dick when Tim speaks up again. He’s finally looking up at everyone though his still flushed face shows his prior embarrassment.

“Let’s be honest, is swearing really all that bad? As long as we’re not swearing at people then I think it’s fine. We’re not harming anyone. Who cares if we swear a little too much. And anyway, doesn’t everyone swear at some point?”

“Clark doesn’t.” Dick pipes up next to him.

Jason snorts. “That’s because big blue is a boy scout, of course he isn’t going to swear. He doesn’t count. Plus we’re from Gotham after all, it’s not like this is the most impeccable place in the world.”

Dick becomes thoughtful, humming his response. “Yeah that’s true I guess.”

“Boys.”

The three brother’s all turn and look at Bruce who had called for their attention. Jason had forgotten the man was even there, he had surprisingly been quiet until now. Maybe it’s because Clark was brought into the conversation, it must have peaked his interest. Jason files that information away for later.

“It doesn’t matter how much any of you swear, you shouldn’t do it at all. Damian is still young, he doesn’t need to grow up listening to that sort of language despite his initial upbringing.” Bruce firmly says, looking at each of them in turn. “You all know better and have good manners, going forward I expect you to use them.”

As Bruce rattles on about proper manners and the importance of them, Jason finds himself resisting the urge to smile. With every second that passes, it threatens to break out on his face. What makes matters worse is that he knows he shouldn’t smile, this isn’t a smiling matter considering how serious Bruce is being but the man is making it difficult to concentrate and to take the topic seriously.

Jason glances to the right to find Dick staring at Bruce with a hand covering the lower part of his face and Jason can tell that his brother is in the exact same boat as he is.

Apparently all it takes for him to break is Dick to glance at him and for them to make eye contact.

After that Jason couldn’t help himself but to burst out laughing, next to him Dick also breaks out into a fit of giggles. They laugh for a good while until they’re able to start calming down, by that point Jason’s cheeks are hurting and he even had tears forming in his eyes. As he takes a deep breath to compose himself he makes the mistake of looking over at Dick again, Dick looks back at him too and just like that they fall into another uncontrollable laughing fit.

While laughing Jason gets a glimpse of a confused looking Tim and a disappointed Bruce, but it’s Bruce’s scowling expression that triggers off another wave of giggles.

It takes even longer for the two of them to calm down. As he sits there Jason repeatedly takes deep breaths in order to collect himself. Once he’s calmed down a little, now able to breathe somewhat normally, he could feel how his sides are aching, how his cheeks hurt from the wide smiling and the tears coming from his eyes. He can’t remember the last time he laughed so hard that it hurt, and over something so trivial nonetheless.

When it feels like he’s finally composed himself he risks a glance at Dick to find his brother also in the state of calming down though there’s still a wide grin on face. He then looks at Bruce who is still staring at the two of them with his disappointed look. That’s almost enough to set himself off again. Almost.

“If you’re both quite done, we have important business to discuss, may I remind you that being the reason we’re meeting to begin with.”

“Hey, you’re the one who started on the whole language topic that derailed us in the beginning.” Jason defends himself and his brother’s. All Bruce does is huff at that, knowing Jason is right and can’t defend himself against it otherwise. Jason smirks victoriously.

Opposite him, Tim sighs loudly and makes a show to sitting up straight and sorting out some of the paperwork between them all on table. “Enough already, can we just go over the details and the police reports again and get to the end of this. I have better things to do than hear everyone bicker about language and manners.”

Dick gives the youngest a side look. “What you got planned? Is that who you were messaging just now? Is it your boyfriend?”

“What? No. Just friends. I ain’t telling you.” Tim snaps glaring at Dick.

Jason whistles. “Timmy’s getting some tonight then eh? Make sure to stay safe and use protection.”

“Jason!”

“Well he’s not wrong Tim, but where are you going? We need to know so if something happens we know where to look first.” Dick’s looking more concerned by the minute and Jason could see the flip switch from carefree older brother to over-bearing mother hen.

Tim blinks at them before turning his gaze to Bruce. In a whining voice he pleads the man, “Bruce, get them to stop!”

To begin with all Bruce does is run a hand over his face like he’s regretting every life choice he’s made and how he would rather be anywhere else but here. After a moment he sends exasperated looks at his eldest sons.

“Not much more to go, then we should be all caught up and ready to proceed with the case further tomorrow. Is it too much to ask for your full attention for the remaining hour?”

Jason sighs and sits up straighter, knowing play time is over and it’s time to be serious. One more hour won’t hurt, then afterwards there’s nothing stopping him from having a little fun is there. He nods at Bruce and picks up the piece of paper closet to him to examine the page. Dick does the same and finally Bruce proceeds with their meeting.

[stxleslyds]

LET’S TALK ABOUT BATMAN AND ROBIN #20 (2011).

And the issues that followed that story (Batman and Robin vol.2 #34-37)

DC and the fandom really let Bruce get away with what he did to Jason in that issue. DC because they had Jason go back to Bruce a few issues later to finish their story and the fandom because this moment in comics isn’t talked about enough which has led people to believe that the the concept of “batfamily” as it is in fandom belongs in canon.

This type of moments in stories should make a bigger impact on comic relationships and fandom’s perception of said relationships. From where I am standing Bruce’s actions in that issue are right on the edge of unforgivable and they could have used them as a key moment for Jason to finally move on from all Bat related bullshit without thinking that he had to stay and finish the job (of getting Damian back).

Making Jason move on so easily from that situation really makes it look like if Batman is physically, emotionally, or mentally abusive to his children then it’s not that much of a big deal, it’s just a subplot to a bigger story.

And that is something that happens repeatedly in current comics and it’s disgusting.

Anyway, now that I am done with my rambling, I will start talking about the issues that I mentioned.

Batman and Robin (2011) #20 – Written by Peter Tomasi.

For a little context, this issue is set after Damian’s death and Bruce is looking for ways to resurrect him.

And in this particular issue of this run, Batman recruits Jason Todd between the events of RHatO vol. 1 #18 and #19, that’s why in the cover of the issue the name of the run is changed to ‘Batman and Red Hood’.

A bit more context is that in issue #18 Jason finally recovers from the injuries that he got when the trap that Joker had put on his helmet detonated, and Jason was also having an existential crisis after the Joker convinced him that he was always present in Jason’s life and that he shaped the man that Jason had become (If you want to read more about that and the times' Joker has played with Jason’s mind, I have this post in which I talk all about that).

Good, now I can finally talk about this hellish issue.

Bruce asks for Jason’s help because he wants to take down some marksmen and women that are based in Ethiopia that might or might not have been the same people who took on the job of looking for Damian when his mother had put a bounty on his head.

One would imagine that Bruce calling Jason for this job means that he would let Jason kill some people, bounty-hunters that are money-driven enough to kill children seem to be the kind of people Jason would have in his black list, but Jason is smart and he knows that Batman won’t let him kill so he asks why is Bruce asking him of all people to join him on this mission, Batman replies with “Because I am seeing red”.

If you, like me, don’t understand why Batman would ask the Red Hood to stop him from killing some very shady people then don’t worry, Batman was lying, he didn’t ask Jason to go with him to beat some bounty-hunters, he has ulterior motives.

I will give it to Tomasi, he wrote Jason as the smart cookie that he is because Jason doesn’t stop picking up on the weird technicalities of the mission, and I will go as far as to say that Jason never truly believed that Bruce was being honest about the true nature of their mission. Smart Chonky, I miss you and love you.

Once they get to Ethiopia Bruce starts setting the rules of engagement (don’t shoot to kill, only hands, knees, and elbows), and off they go. Bruce even makes a comment about how it “feels like old times” and Jason is all happy and warm that Bruce invited him to beat some baddies and he also brings up the fact that Bruce stayed by his side while he was recovering from his injuries, very lovely stuff that will soon mean nothing (and that should have meant nothing because Bruce and his lies had resulted in Joker knowing all of their secret identities and messing with all of them in horrible ways, but the Bat can get away with that too).

Here is part of Bruce’s speech about trust and his lies, “You don’t ever need to thank me, Red Hood, for a family always looks out for each other” to which Jason says, “Yeah but a family also needs to earn each other’s trust” and Bruce continues his speech with, “comes a time when having to keep earning someone’s trust stops and you hope the people you’ve put your faith in will always have your back no matter what”.

Batman, everyone, master detective and master manipulator.

As Batman is talking manipulating Jason he beats every bounty hunter almost effortlessly because he had brought some bat-gadgets that were going to make the fight really easy. And as the fight is over in what looks like a minute Batman and Red Hood get on the Batmobile ready to leave Ethiopia… or not.

Jason is very aware that Batman didn’t need him for that so-called mission so he starts to ask more and more firmly about the real reason as to why Batman brought him to this place.

Batman brought Jason back to Ethiopia, but most importantly back to the Magdala Valley because he wants to see if Jason going back to the place where he died will make him remember how he was resurrected.

Yep, talk about having messed-up parents. Bruce is positively the worst at this moment, but it gets worse.

Jason is rightfully pissed off, he says, “You lied to me, this wasn’t about taking down those mercenaries. You wanted to bring me here, to the worst place in the world and here I was starting to believe all your crap about trust and faith...”

To which Bruce says, “I thought bringing you here could jog your memory, maybe retrieve a detail buried deep in your subconscious that could help piece together how you came back to life so I…”

And my man Jason really continues his thought process only to later tell him how much of a piece of shit he truly is (I love this Chonky, go Jason show this man that he ain’t shit).

“…could apply it to getting Damian back. Yeah, I get it. Did it ever occur to you I might like keeping whatever the hell happened to me buried deep? If you cared about me, you wouldn’t want me to dredge up the one thing I’ve been trying to forget. I don’t want to remember the most horrific day of my life all right? You may like wallowing in your tragedies, Bruce, but I’m done looking back!”

Jason, bravo, tell him exactly how you feel! Any sort of good human being would surely accept that they crossed a massive line and that they should ask for forgiveness next, right?... Right?

No. And that’s because Bruce is a horrible human being, I am sorry but it had to be said, this man has zero empathy for Jason and he proves it when he says the following.

“If you cared about me and what I’ve lost, you’d want to dredge this up! Don’t you see, there is a chance you can help me erase one of the worst days of MY life, Jason! You can give me the greatest gift of all and help me figure out how to bring my son back”

Fuck Bruce Wayne. This man has no right whatsoever to talk this way to Jason, no matter how you see this situation, the whole thing is fucked up. Bruce puts his needs above Jason’s feelings and he diminishes Jason’s position as his son because Bruce only refers to Damian as his son. This whole thing is incredibly nasty.

Here we should have had the point of no return for Jason and Bruce’s relationship, although if you are like me, you might think that the point of no return happened way back in Batman (1940) #650 when Bruce decided that saving the Joker by throwing a batarang at Jason’s neck (how did he know that Jason would survive that, I have no idea, maybe Bruce can see the future) was a better option compared to Jason finally killing the clown. Because that’s the thing, Jason was going to kill the clown but Bruce didn’t let him because he didn’t want more blood in Jason’s hands, I laugh until this day about how stupid Bruce’s thinking was there.

Anyway, the point I was trying to make is that Jason should have said bye-bye to Batman and all related Batman crap from this moment on. It would have been perfect but DC can’t help themselves and Lobdell’s self-insert-Jason really wants to be part of this amazing family so, no luck for Jason or us.

If you have read my latest post about Joker getting under Jason’s skin or read issue #18 of RHatO you know the context of what Jason says next.

“Yeah, and how about me? How about the gift of not knowing that the Joker manipulated my entire life, huh? The clown tainted everything, the good, the bad, hell my life’s even been tainted by you!”

Yup, Jason was going through it, and he had talked about these feelings with Bruce previously in issue #17 of RHatO, he had asked Bruce if he thought that Joker had created him and Bruce said, “No Jason, He didn’t make you, I never did either. You made you” and Jason was extremely thankful for that. And now, here we are, these feelings are being brought up again but in a very different situation.

Them arguing becomes a physical fight and after Jason asks Bruce “why are you making me stand in the exact same spot he beat me to death?” He replies this “Because I want to watch Damian grow up damn it! Damian earned that right! And I want to give it to him!”

This conversation only gets worse and Bruce’s most horrible side comes to light, like, I understand that Bruce wants Damian to be alive and all that but he is saying all the wrong stuff to Jason. I feel like as the reader I am being told that Bruce values Damian more than he ever did Jason because he is willing to put Jason through his own personal hell for Damian but refuses to see the reasons as to why Jason doesn’t want to do it. Bruce is being incredibly selfish and he is not caring enough about Jason to notice that he is hurting him. He even doesn’t notice after Jason says, “I was ready to stand by your side and you’ve thrown it all away!”

It is incredibly sad but it's also a bit of a look into what Bruce will do to Dick in Nightwing vol. 3 #30. It has the exact same vibe in both issues, Bruce going completely berserk on his children and telling them that he “trained them to be better”.

This issue ends with Jason punching Bruce several times and Bruce taunting Jason by telling him that he might as well continue because he is “still standing”. The levels of manipulation that Bruce had going on here weren’t as high as the ones in Nightwing #30 but he sure was a little bitch every step of the way.

Jason, being smart, doesn’t take the bait and tells Bruce that he is leaving and he is taking the car.

Wouldn’t this have been an amazing moment for Jason to finally rid himself of all Batman-related events and bullshit? How did DC miss this amazing opportunity to make Jason Todd/Red Hood a character that can stand on his own and with his own rules?

The potential that was wasted when they made Jason go back to Bruce and help him get Damian back in issues 33 to 37 of this same run is immeasurable. And just like Joker being able to get under Jason’s skin, him going back to Bruce and the “family” for plot purposes harmed Jason’s characterization greatly.

Batman and Robin (2011) #34-37 – Written by Peter Tomasi.

Whatever kind of respect I held for Tomasi because of the way he wrote Jason in #20 is now gone. Issues 34 to 37 have Jason fighting alongside Batman and him being all buddy-buddy with him.

Now, let me make something clear, Bruce wanting to bring Damian back to life/from Apokolips is absolutely fine with me, a father fighting for his son’s life can always make a good story, the thing is that at this point in time not only the events of Batman and Robin #20 have happened but so have the events of Nightwing #30.

So, Bruce going through all of this for one of his kids (that keeps being brought up as if he were his only son) after he emotionally manipulated Jason and Dick makes this story very bitter.

But I understand what DC is doing, you know? Here is how they manage to make this story as bitter-sweet as possible. In issue 34 of this run, Dick shows up in his Spyral get-up and offers his help in getting Damian back, because the kid meant a lot to him but Bruce can’t have Dick helping him out along with Barbara and Tim because Bruce has everyone convinced that Dick is dead. So, DC was like “here is this big brain idea, let’s have Jason, Barbara, and Tim helping Bruce get Damian back”. And that’s exactly what they did.

They dragged Jason back to Batman-related crap after he was manipulated, insulted, and punched by the man that is supposed to be his father. And this issue is also happening after Jason had such an immense existential crisis that he decided to have his memory wiped so he could cleanse himself on any doubt that the Joker had manipulated his free will.

How on earth are we supposed to believe that Jason is dumb enough to go back to Batman after all that? Does DC and its writers read their own material? Do they check if the characters that they are planning on using have contradicting narratives?

It’s so messy, the opportunity that DC, Tynion, Tomasi, and Lobdell got to make Jason his own man and his own character was completely wasted, just for a Batman event!

And it isn’t like Jason’s participation in getting Damian back was crucial, it really wasn’t, if I am planning on taking a team of heroes to Apokolips for a rescue mission, Jason, Barbara and Tim wouldn’t be my first options. Jason was put in that book only so they could have someone making snarky comments and for Jason to be like “Bruce we are family, we will always have each other’s backs” I mean, who is Jason supposed to be, Dom Toretto?

Here are some of the moments that seemed the most out of touch for Jason in these issues.

Batman and Robin #34

In issue 34 Bruce gives a long speech about him not wanting to hide things anymore from them (like he did during the events of Death of the Family) and that he wants a new start because they “have been broken long enough” so from that moment forward “good or bad, the truth rules”.

The audacity of this man, my god, how dense can Bruce be? “we’ve been broken long enough”? YOU have broken your relationship with these people time and time again! As you are standing there talking about the truth you are hiding the fact that Dick is alive and well somewhere far away because YOU sent him on a very dangerous mission after he died and you manipulated him.

THE AUDACITY OF THIS PIECE OF SHIT! Am I becoming an anti-Batman blog? I think I am and quite honestly, I am having the time of my life. Fuck this guy.

But back to the issue, after Bruce says that the truth is all that goes now, Barbara basically says that she doesn’t believe him, that all it takes for Bruce to go back to lying is “another situation that justifies you going dark on us in more ways than one” HA! You go, girl! But he is already hiding something from all of you.

Jason being himself supplies a situation like the ones where Batman lies to them in order to get them to work for him, he says, “or bringing me to Magdala Valley on a sightseeing trip to reminisce about the good old days of crowbars and explosions”, ah yes, sure, Bruce did all that back in issue 20 and now it is brought up as an afterthought… how wonderful.

Bruce, of course, lies to their faces when he says “I promise that nothing gets held back. We speak our mind no matter what the cost” to which Jason says “Unconditional truth now and forever, Bruce, otherwise this is all a load of crap”.

AND IT IS! IT IS ALL A LOAD OF CRAP CHONKY! RUN, RUN LIKE THE WIND!

Man, what a mess, poor Dick. He had to wait there and watch his father lie his ass off. And he really wanted to help Bruce get Damian back. Even after Bruce told Dick (as well as Barbara, Tim, and Jason) that he had to go to Apokolips alone Dick still helped Bruce in other ways, Dick really is the MVP, what a man, I love him so much!

(I really needed to show my love for Dick right then and there, sometimes you just have to do it. Dick Grayson is, after all, the greatest comic character to have ever been created).

Batman and Robin #36

First of all, seeing Jason and Barbara wearing the Robin symbol really makes me laugh. It’s just weird to see Barbara wear it, it almost feels like it’s something that shouldn’t have happened and in Jason’s case, well, the last time he wore it he died and it’s kinda funny to see beefy and tall Red Hood wearing a Robin symbol, it’s just funny not a critique.

What I am going to critique from this issue is that after they (Jason, Barbara, and Tim) go to Apokolips and find Bruce they say, “You’re here in this hellish place for your son, Bruce” and Jason continues that with, “And we’re here for you”.

Ah, the irony. Of all people, having Jason say that to Bruce is wild. This man has done nothing for Jason and here Jason is, in Apokolips, of all places, to help a man that does not deserve it. This is proof that Jason is a good man but its also proof that he is an idiot in the New 52, I am sorry but come on, writing Jason this way after what Bruce did to him in issue 20 seems like DC is confirming the fact that even though Batman does the most horrible stuff to his kids, he can still get away with it because his kids still love him all the same.

I understand, loving your parents when they are flawed but Bruce had been written at this time like an abusive father, and he was written like that towards Jason and Dick, so it is not a good look. Bruce saying that he promises that he won’t do it anymore isn’t enough DC, make the man pay for being that way, make his kids stay away from him for a while (or forever).

And here is the other thing, I say that Bruce is Jason and Dick’s father but DC doesn’t, they only acknowledge Damian as Bruce’s son and they do it because the New 52 timeline is non-existent. After all, they deleted a lot of history from these characters, I think it’s fair to assume that Bruce never adopted Dick or Jason and that both of them were Robin for a very short time. What I am trying to say with this is that not only is Bruce getting away with being abusive but he is also getting away with being an abusive father. Because Bruce is their father, at least I see it that way, he isn’t just his friend/mentor/tutor he is their father. He used to be before New 52 and that’s not something that we as the readers are ready or want to let go of.

All in all, Jason didn’t do much in these issues thus confirming (to me, at least) that the only reason he was invited to the party was because they couldn’t use Dick. And that’s an insult to Jason’s character, it would have been better if Jason didn’t appear in this story and he actually had the chance to do something else, like go back to being the proper Red Hood, an anti-hero that does what Batman won’t do for Gotham and its people.

[forestlingincorporated]

Teen Titans #29

So, one of my favorite types of fics to read is Different First Meeting fics between Jason and Tim. I looooove reading Enemies To Caretaker, of which I fed handsomely on fairly recently. Big Brother Jason fics give me warm fuzzies, and Tim Drake needs a hug, and I feel like if these two actually got to know each other and worked past their preconceptions, they’d get along surprisingly well. And Still A Jason!Robin Fanboy Tim Drake is just a fun concept. 

Also, it just FEELS right for the middle siblings to band together after Damian comes along, lets get those abandonment issues in the party. 

So, for mysterious and very secret TimKon Week 2021 reasons, I was rereading some Teen Titans, and I stumbled over the Original Tim+Jason First Meeting, and I just sort of wanted to talk about some interesting things I found in there rereading it after several years. 

First thing right off the bat, when reading fics, normally it’s either the Core Four at the tower that Jason puts to sleep, or it’s Tim alone for the night. In the comic, none of Tim’s close friends are even at the tower, Jason waits for Bart and Cassie to leave, and Conner actually hasn’t come around for an in-universe month, because this is after the Superboy’s Birthright arc where Lex mind controls Conner. 

The people Jason knocks out were his own teammates when he was a Titan. He specifically says he never got to work with Beast Boy or Cyborg directly, so he doesn’t feel bad electrocuting them, but he feels bad putting Raven under much more gently because she used to worry for him. 

Tim has just gotten off the phone with Bruce when Jason shows up. It seems like Bruce might’ve been picking Tim up, but something’s come up with Martian Manhunter going missing, so Tim tells him he’ll catch a ride with Cyborg. 

This is actually really interesting to me, because it’s a small moment of Bruce letting Tim down. It’s a conversation he’s probably had with his biological father many times when Jack’s canceled on him. 

Gonna acknowledge this abomination real quick. This is So Stupid, and I’m glad as a fandom we just all agreed Jason didn’t do this. It makes me ask so many questions. Where did he get that oversized Robin costume? Why’d he tear off his perfectly good clothes? Why did he do this? Why the yellow tights? WHY? 

A lot of things are actually happening here that are actually Really Interesting if you just look past the stupid fucking outfit. Because this comic actually flew really close to greatness, they just ended up dropping the ball by not continuing to do more with it. 

First off, Jason doesn’t beat around the bush. He’s immediately like “yeah, yeah, yeah, Red Hood, whatever, I’m Jason Todd, bitch! Fight me.” 

Secondly, Jason’s done his homework. He knows A LOT about Tim. He knows his name, he knows he has a dad, he knows he went to prep school, and he knows the story of how Tim became Robin. How he GOT that last bit of information, I’d honestly like to know. But even HAVING the information isn’t enough; he’s still letting his preconceived ideas get in the way. The surface level information about Tim’s life only served to fuel his jealousy and anger (thanks, Lazerus Pitt!). He’s so focused on Tim’s privilege that he’s looked past evidence of hardship; if he’s done this much research on Tim, he’s no doubt seen records of multiple boarding schools, lengthy travel records, news reports, a death certificate.... He can’t even bring himself to BELIEVE parts of Tim’s story that aren’t lining up with his world view, like HOW he became Robin. 

Jason has convinced himself that what he’s discovered about Tim and the period of time when Jason was dead - the fact that Bruce was spiraling after his death, that his family mourned him, that Tim had to step up to the plate at a weird suicide prevention buddy system - is all a lie. Despite the fact that he’s beating Tim’s ass, he speaks to him with the assumption that Tim’s a child who’s been manipulated and lied to. 

Meanwhile, it must be SO PAINFUL for Tim to hear Jason say these things: I bet he said the same thing to you he said to me, didn’t he? That you have the talent to make a difference in Gotham. That he needed someone he could trust in his war on crime. That you were one of a kind. The light in his darkness.

Bruce never said any of that to Tim. Bruce rejected Tim, he didn’t want Tim, and begrudgingly accepted Tim. 

Going back to Jason waiting for Tim’s other young teen friends to leave the tower before going in, only drugging his own former teammates, is much of his anger seems directed at THEM, not just Bruce. To Jason, it looks like they didn’t mourn him either, he has no statue. I find it interesting that he smashes Donna Troy’s statue, who died after him, and I believe she came back before he did. 

Unless he was keeping track of the news from the League of Assassins, to Jason, Donna never died. 

And most importantly? Tim shuts Jason down. Tim “Bitch, Please” Drake out here like: you’re a fucking idiot, he loved you to death, he barely let me audition for the role. 

Tim shows some deep resentment towards Jason in this scene. I mean... earned, Jason literally came into his house and starting hitting him, but Tim’s relationship towards the Idea Of Jason has gone through a few changes. At first Jason was ROBIN! THE BOY WONDER! And if maybe Tim thought Bruce wasn’t AS happy with Jason as he was with Dick, there was still SOME hero worship early on. But it only takes Bruce and Alfred and Dick using Jason’s death as a cautionary tale a few times to get Tim to see Jason AS a cautionary tale - the kind of Robin NOT to be. But the more Tim craved Bruce’s paternal attention and approval, and the more Bruce withheld it or made Tim work for it, knowing that Bruce did that, in part, because of his love and grief for his dead son (Tim having an actual living breathing father plays a part, too), and those feelings towards Jason have started to fester.

Jason can’t let it go, though, he thinks the concept of Robin was a mistake and had always been a mistake, and if he can hurt Tim, so can Scarecrow, Penguin, The Joker. 

This is a good time to bring up that one thing I think Jason probably doesn’t know is Tim is injured. It is a little over a month since since Conner shattered Tim’s right arm. Tim is still healing from a comminuted fracture in his forearm. And looking at this picture that is - ah, yes, that is the injured arm Jason is swinging Tim by. Tim is probably healed by now, the cast IS off and he’s a child, but bones don’t fully return to full strength for 3-6 months. 

Jason is conflicted. This is clearly, in part, a fucked up way of “protecting” what he sees as a manipulated child, to convince him to leave Bruce. But there’s also clearly some deep, deep jealousy thrown into the mix to complicate matters and cloud his judgement. Ultimately, Jason isn’t there to kill Tim. Tim would be dead if he was. He’s there to “beat some sense into him,” and he ultimately fails, and fails badly. 

Tim is found by the older Titans, awake by now, though it seems Jason knocked him out to, uh, fuck with the memorial chamber, and Tim... does not beat around the bush. No secret identities here just “yeah, Jason Todd beat the shit out of me.” 

And their reactions are HILARIOUS. 

One more little sidebar, in the comic, Jason gets in with a D.N.A. check that never removed him from its permissions. Usually in fic this is a unique pass code. I’m not sure which version I like better, honestly. There’s something about Jason physically inputting a code that accepts him even though he’s supposedly dead that I really like, and just feels better than a dna scan. A dna scan sounds SAFER, sure, but there’s something about the Titans leaving in an honest SECURITY RISK out of sentiment that I like. 

Lastly, I really like how it ends. Jason honestly thinks Tim IS a good Robin, and it seems like Jason’s done some research on the core four, mentioning Tim’s “real friends” again while the “camera” is on Conner and Cassie, suggesting that Jason KNOWS about them and possibly that targeting the tower while they were gone maybe wasn’t an accident or out of convenience, but fully intentional. And again, Jason’s real problem is highlighted: he feels alone, forgotten, unmemorable, no family, no friends. 

Thank you for coming to my TedTalk. 

[robinrequiems]

ok ig cashier damian is my latest hyper fixiation, so let’s add

• Ight so, on fridays, jon cannot come in all the time, very rarely can he. and when he does. he sees a very cute sleepy damian who also wants to punch him:)

• damian is just a mess. he didn’t have time to fix his appearance because as soon as he got out of school, he had to change in a shitty unsanitary grocery store bathroom.

• it was not fucking fun. it never is. damian is so over it. jon normally sees Damian working on homework quickly before putting it away when Jon or other customers show

• damian cannot be asked to look like a normal human being when he just finished 7 sad hours of school in ANOTHER shitty uniform. he hates uniforms

Jon: you look like you’re gonna fall asleep

Damian: ugh, look who it is, the good boy from metropolis who doesn’t look like a creep at all when he comes here just to talk to me. woo hoo!

Jon: nice to see you too

• jon normally sucked on lollipops when he didn’t want to chew on gum, plus sometimes he chews on gum really aggressively and it hurts his jaw

• but let’s talk abt jonny: star athlete ( I’m a simp for athletes jon, please kill me. he’s a basketball player in this though. he got the height for it anyway ), himbo-vibes, and overall sweetheart.

• at least that’s what everyone else thinks. his life is a cycle. A very miserable cycle. It’s honestly tiring and hurts his head and generally takes his mood down

• but then he drove to bludhaven in his new car and brand new license. and he saw him.

• sure he’s seen moody teenagers working at stores before, but this boy; Damian, by his name tag, was different. He SENSED IT

• jon found that he liked different

• damian.. just didn’t easily talk with Jon like so many did at home. he liked a challenge

• and Damian was his challenge

• so he wasted so much gas and time and money to visit him.

• he was so whipped

• he was attracted to him. just the way he did things. like goddamn. ok.

• then his friends and him took a trip there. it was Saturday, they were gonna leave on Sunday. it was for Kathy’s birthday. He had no idea why she wanted to go here.

• oh. yeah. The idiots taken in for underaged drinking. Jon didn’t drink. ( he was a good boy and designated driver ) so he was just there trying to get the officers to let his friends off the hook

Damian: oh look, guess the good boy isn’t really a good boy.

Jon: Damian—? No! I’m here to get my friends out!

Damian: figures, you’re too innocent to do bad things.

Jon: what did you do then?

Damian: well wouldnt my you like to know

Dick: Damian! There you are! Sorry, I was calling up some parents- who is this?

Damian: Good boy.

Dick: ah.

Jon: Jon Kent.. nice to meet you

Dick: wait. As in Clark Kent?

Jon: yeah? that’s my dad

Dick: aw your dad used to babysit me

Damian: can we go now

Dick: hush Damian, I’m feeling nostalgic

• so Damian learned jons name. And jon got to see Damian in regular clothes, so that was cool

• he also got in trouble and couldn’t see Damian for a month because his parents were upset about what happened.. understandable, but jon was still upset

Tai: soo, that was him?:)

Jon: shut up

• tai accidentally found out about cashier boy, it was very funny for tai. not Jon. he teased jon for being whipped.

• sure jon liked damian for his looks at first. then he liked him for him.

Jon: dad, some guy named dick said hi

Clark: jon it isn’t— wait-

Jon: he said you babysat him

Clark: really? You saw him, how did he look? I haven’t seen him since he was a kid!

Jon: um. good?

Clark: where did you see him?

Jon: ..the police place

• his parents put a tracker on jons phone. now they were so confused why their son kept going to Giant Beagle in bludhaven. it was. weird.

• they just- was he meeting someone?? why was he doing this? WAS HE GETTING DRUGS? wait. no. it’s jon. jon couldn’t even stand the smell of cigarettes

Lois: jon.. honey.

Jon: yeah?

Lois: why do you keep driving to bludhaven? I’m worried about you and want to make sure you aren’t doing anything.. bad. Or dangerous.

• granted, it was very dangerous going out there, but he liked it. he liked the thrill of when he got to walk damian back sometimes! HE WAS GETTING CLOSER TO DAMIAN!

• oh also. it turns out damian gave him a fake number

• rude.

• damian always warned him though. and tried to make jon not walk far. jon was.. jon was a good boy. he would never survive in bludhaven frequently, jt worried humored damian.

• sometimes jon came by during the day. Damian’s Sunday shift was in the evening while his Saturday one was in the morning. jon got to go get lunch with him sometimes if Damian felt like there were enough people around that would know if he got kidnapped or not

Damian: why do you bother talking to me? most get bored of me and my attitude.

Jon: I find it charming. you’re fun to talk to. you feel so real. almost everyone in my life feels artificial and like I’m living in a disney Chanel movie.

Damian: *he laughed* oh?

Jon, loving Damians laugh rn: yeah! it’s like they’re.. androids or somethin’.

Damian: why don’t you just find someone snarky from metropolis?

Jon: it wouldn’t be as fun then.

Jon: i like a challenge.

• getting to know damian was like trying to beat the hardest level in his game. it was mind blowing how many times he basically had to restart. Damian was also like a Rubix cube, but jon will get there. He already has 1 side done on it.

Jon: so you live with your brother?

Damian: yes.

Jon: nice

• jon didn’t pry. Damian and dick had became forgotten after bruces death, a lot of the kids did. they just all disappeared from the media like ghosts.

• so jon didn’t know that dick wasn’t his blood relative, or that Damian was Bruce’s child. no one really did

• it wasn’t like it mattered though anyways

Damian: basketball is lame.

Jon: have you ever played?

Damian: yes. it sucked ass

• jon has helped Damian restocked late at night sometimes. Damian doesn’t like him touching things, but the faster he does it, faster he can go home to get his pets, alfred, and his idiot brother

Damian: you waste a lot of gas coming to see me.

Jon: it’s worth it.

• jon had to get a job. boo. he worked on days he didn’t have practice and sadly, on sundays.

• he was a worker at a small cafe, he was just a waiter there

• and then one day, on a Sunday, Damian came in with a few people. WAIT DAMIAN CAME IN

Jon: DAMIAN

Damian, clearly startled: what the fuck, jon!

Jon: why’re you here! how long are you staying! ARE TOU REALLY HERE!

Maya: is this who you were talking about?

Damian: shut up.. but calm down, idiot.

Damian: .. you got a haircut.

Jon: you- you noticed? sorry I couldn’t come this week. was busy this week and needed to catch up on sleep.

Damian:’it’s fine. I guess I really should give you my number now.

Colin: that was smooth

Jon: really?

Damian: mhm. after you seat us, dumbass.

Jon: oh right

• and Damian did give jon his number

• a real one dw

Maps: he was cute.. he single?

Maya: he wouldn’t be single if Damian just manned up

Colin: they practically just stared at each other the whole time when they thought the other wasn’t looking

Damian: wait he was looking at me?

Maya: oh damians so whipped.

• oh how the cashier is falling for the waiter

• sounds like a hallmark film.

• next week jon did end up visiting him in ‘haven, and drove him home.

• damians feet were hurting and he was tired so he didn’t even bother to argue.

• jon couldn’t come to visit his favorite cashier during winters a lot, he may of liked his new “dangerous” life, but he heard how bad the roses could get from Damian

• damian was a bit sad and moody because of that. but shut up. you don’t know anything dick

Dick: you know.. you should invite him inside

Damian: so you can embarrass me? no thank you.

Dick: me? embarrass you? never. but come on, you have never shown interested in anyone before! I wanna meet him!

Damian: you already did. At the police station. you forget or something?

Dick: .. that wasn’t really the best first meeting. come on. please?

Damian: no.

[americancowgirl19]

Expendable

Summary: Consumed by your grief over Jason’s death, you track down the Joker on your own. Only you end up finding some... thing very different.

Warnings: vampires, violence, depression, fluff, angst

Reader: Female Reader

Pairings: Dick Grayson x Reader (Platonic), Jason Todd x Reader (Platonic), Tim Drake x Reader (Platonic)

Word Count: 6,113

A/n: Enjoy

Masterlist

You heaved heavily hunched over the bathroom sink. Your fingers grip the edge of the counter top, knuckles turning white. Your eyes are screwed shut as you try not fall apart for the millionth time that week.

It’s only been a month since Jason died and you felt as if you saw his freshly dead body a few hours ago. Your dreams are riddled with nightmares. You can’t even escape the thoughts while awake.

All you can think about is Jason’s beaten and burned body. You can hear the Jokers mocking laugh when you and Batman found him after Jason’s death. Bruce refused to kill him and stopped you from doing it yourself. Batman turned him into Arkham and like everyone could predict, the pale bastard escaped.

Slowly, your eyes open. You look at yourself in the mirror. You try to push back the tears as visions of Jason plague your mind. 

You were Bruce’s daughter. You were a few years younger than Dick but a few years older than Jason. You and Dick had a rocky friendship the first couple of years but you managed to work it out. With Jason, however, the connection was instant.

The both of you had tempers. Tempers which the other knew how to calm. The two of you just had an understanding. You became close quickly. 

You didn’t want to believe that Jason was dead. You didn’t want to believe that Bruce just let Joke get away with it. You wanted your brother back, you wanted Bruce to avenge him.

“I’m sorry, Jason,” You whisper. You wished you could have been there to save Jason. If only you had gotten to him sooner. Just 5 minutes would have made all the difference.

Your anger bubbles up to the surface all at once and before you know it, your punching the mirror until it’s all broken in the bathroom sink. Ignoring the stinging pain in your hand, you march out of the bathroom.

You storm out of your room and head toward the Batcave. You didn’t have to worry about running into your father. He’s either hiding in his room or out capturing other bad guys that have nothing to do with Jason’s death. Because apparently everyone else mattered while you, Dick and Jason were expendable.

Not to you, however. Your brothers were not expendable to you. They’re your world and the fact that you couldn’t protect Jason killed you. If Bruce wasn’t going to avenge him then that responsibility fell onto you.

You changed into your Sparrow uniform. By the time your pulling your mask on and making your way to your motorcycle, Alfred is entering the cave. You ignore him but he isn’t a man you can just ignore.

“Ms. Y/n?” He questions. You adjust your getup and swing your leg over the bike. Before you can turn the bike on, the man you’re closer to than your own father appears before you. “Where are you going?”

“Out,” You answer. He gives you a look but you don’t back down.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” He advises.

“Then it’s a good thing I’m not asking for permission,” You snap. “Why don’t you go tend to daddy dearest and let me do what needs to be done?” Alfred looks even more concerned as you turn the bike on. You don’t allow yourself to feel guilty for being rude to Alfred. You have to stay focused.

You speed away from the manor and toward Gotham City. The Joker could be in a number of places but you knew who to ask to narrow down his location.

Before Jason’s death, you weren’t as ruthless as you were now. You were a happy medium between Bruce’s temperament and Jason’s. But now, you didn’t even recognize yourself anymore. 

You wanted blood.

You interrogated bad guy after bad guy. You left each of them in the streets, inches from death like the scum they were. You felt no sympathy for them as they struggled to breathe. You ignored their pleas for mercy and for help as you walked to your bike to find your next target.

You were so consumed on what you were doing and your goal to find the Joker that you didn’t realize you were being watched. And Bruce wasn’t the one stalking you.

“Where’s the Joker?!” You shouted before slamming your fist into the guys face. “Tell me!” You screamed. He grunted when you resorted to breaking his rips with your foot. You kicked him before he rolled onto his back prompting you to switch to stomping on his chest.

“Oh, you poor child,” A voice sounded from the shadows. In an instant, you whip the gun you had stolen out of the thigh holster and point it into the dark blindly.

“Show yourself,” You demand. You listen to the steps before a tall man comes into the moonlight. “Who are you?” You ask.

“Someone who can help you,” Your head tilts. “You can put that gun away, it cannot harm me.” He states.

“Who. Are. You?” 

“As I said, I’m someone who can help,” He says, sauntering closer to you. Your eyes narrow at him. “I know where the Joker is, I can take you to him,”

“Where is he?”

“I’ll tell you, but that information isn’t free,” He shakes his head.

“Tell me or you’ll end up like this deadbeat,” You motion to the man on the ground that’s slowly choking on his own blood. The man in front of you looks at him and smirks.

“You surely have potential... and you certainly have anger. Oh, so much anger,” He whispers coming forward. “You live on the need for vengeance. I can give it to you and so much more. All I want is to make a deal,”

“What kind of deal?” You ask, tilting your head. 

“I give you the Joker, and you give me your allegiance,” He says, stepping up to the end of the barrel of the gun. If you pull the trigger, the bullet goes straight through his heart.

“My allegiance?” You ask, slowly.

“You get the chance to finally sate your need for vengeance and you work for me.”

You stare into his eyes for a few moments before lowering your gun to the holster. He smirks and scoops you into his arms. Before you can ask a question he’s running at a speed that could outmatch the Flash.

“What the fuck?” You gasp when he comes to a stop and sets you down. “You’re a metahuman?”

“Not exactly,” He smirks. “I’ll explain everything once you’re finished. Inside is the Joker along with a lot of his friends. If you survive, you’ll be an excellent addition to my collection,” He states, prior to running off.

“Who the fuck is that guy?” You mutter to yourself. Sighing, you turn towards the building. A moment later, people start coming out. Large men in suits. They stop and look at you. A few draw their weapons. You smirk. “Who’s first?”

It took you a half an hour to reach the Joker. You’re not sure if you killed anyone, although it’s highly likely that you have. By the time you reach the pale skin fucker you’re covered in blood and bruises (maybe a bullet hole or two). Some of the blood is yours but most of it isn’t.

The Joker talks. He’s taunting you. Yet, you don’t really hear what he says. As you look at him, your mind is filled with images of Jason’s dead body. You stalk closer to him. 

You put your weapons away and pick up the crowbar you had found on a lower level. You had set it down in order to take care of the goons in the room quickly. 

But now you had the Joker right where you wanted him. You weren’t going to make this quick. Every time you brought the crowbar down on him, he only cackled loudly. Every strike just fueled your anger. 

You continued to beat him. At some point, his skull caved in but you continued to swing. You scream, tears falling down your face but you hardly notice. You just swing and swing until you collapse on the ground.

You let out one large, loud scream that echoes throughout the entire building. When you quiet down, your body curls into a tight ball and you begin to sob.

“Easy now, little one,” The inhuman man whispers, kneeling before you. “I’ll take your pain away,” He promises, picking you off the ground. “Rest now, I’ll look after you,” He whispers, racing you out of the building seconds before Batman shows up.

You don’t know how long you’re asleep, but when you wake up everything is different. You sit up from the unusually comfortable bed and look around. You don’t recognize where you are but at the moment it’s the least of your worries.

You never had absolutely perfect vision but now you’re eyes were acting like binoculars. You could see a far distance out the window and everything in clear detail that’s around you. Hell, you could even hear the cars going down the road miles from the house you’re in.

You move closer to the window but stop at the sound of the man who had taken you. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” You spin around toward him. You frown your eyebrows and look back to the window. You didn’t understand what he was warning you about. 

You soon find out when you step into the sunlight and find your skin heating up until it begins to burn. You gasp and speed to the other side of the room.

“What’s happening to me?” You whisper, watching your skin begin to blister. 

“Here, drink this,” He tosses you a bag. Your reflexes catch it. You want to ask what it is but your instincts take over as the smell reaches your nose. Within a minute, you have the bag drained of it’s liquid. 

When your done drinking, you look at the man. He nods to your arm and your eyes widen. You see your arm heal until there’s no trace of what had happened.

“Come, we have a lot to talk about,” You follow him down the hall. “My name is Vladimir but you may know me as Dracula,”

“Dracula?” You deadpan. “For real?”

“What? You do not believe that vampires are real? Even though you are one?” You stop walking. He stops as well and turns to you. “You are the daughter of Bruce Wayne, The Batman, you should be able to connect the dots,”

The blood, the enhanced senses, the vulnerability to light. You didn’t know how it was possible, but it was true. You were a vampire. You had made a deal with the devil... But oh, was it worth it.

****

“Whe-where am I?” A pale, redhead whimpers.

“Vicki Vale,” You state from the shadows. Your voice echoes off the walls making it impossible for her to pinpoint where you are. “So, you’re the one that’s obsessed with my father,” You growled. For a long time, the woman in front of you reported on both Bruce Wayne and Batman. She wrote article after article about him.

“Who are you?” She asks, in a shaky voice.

“Oh don’t worry, it’s not me you have to worry about,” You assure her, a smirk dancing on your lips.

“Alright, Y/n, that’s enough,” Vlad says coming into the room. Vicki gasps and turns to him. “Oh, you are beautiful,” Vlad whispers. “You will work perfectly,”

“Wh-what?” She whimpers, shying away from him.

“Y/n, leave Vicki to rest in peace, we have things to discuss,” Vlad calmly orders before turning to leave the room. You come out of the shadows, smirking when you startle her.

“So, she’ll work?” You ask him, the two of you walking toward his office.

“Yes, but we must move quickly. Your father and brother are causing trouble,” He tells you. Your head tilts at the information.

“They’ve killed more of your vampires?” You ask him.

“They found a way to cure them,” Vlad corrects you. “I need you to end them. I can’t afford to lose anymore vampires and I will not let them stop me from bringing Carmilla back,” He growls.

“Don’t worry, master, I’ll stop them,” You promise.

“I don’t want you to just stop them,” Vlad says, moving closer to you. “I want them dead and I want you to bring me their bodies. Do not fail me,” He growls.

“Have I ever?” You ask, smirking.

“Be quick about it,” Vlad orders. “The sun will be up in a few hours,”

****

“Viki Vale has gone missing,” Bruce informs Dick and Tim as he enters the Batcave. 

“Dracula?” Dick asks, crossing his arms in his Nightwing costume. His mask resting on the desk by Tim.

“He’s planning something. More and more people are being turned, we have to stop him before we’re too outnumbered.” Bruce says.

“Reports are coming in about a string of animal like murders in the Narrows. Fits vampire descriptions,” Tim says, reading the reports off the computer.

“Can you get a read on how many vampires there could be?” Dick asks.

“Doesn’t seem like a lot,” Tim mutters. “One, possibly two,”

“Let’s check it out,” Bruce orders. Tim nods standing up. He and Dick pull their masks on. Tim and Bruce get in the batmobile while Duke powers up the motorcycle. They both drive to the Narrows to investigate.

****

You hide in the shadows as the infamous Batman, Robin and Nightwing appear. You glare at the young Robin boy. Of course Bruce replaced Jason. It was typical for Bruce to replace someone. Fury fills your heart but you manage to control it knowing that if you waited a little longer, you would get the opportunity to unleash hell.

You didn’t want to hurt Dick. He’s your brother. But you didn’t have a choice. Vlad ordered you to kill them and that’s what you had to do. You wouldn’t necessarily take pleasure in killing your father and his newest protégé. However, you hoped that with Bruce’s death you would finally feel at peace with yourself.

You killed the Joker but your anger remained. You killed Jason’s bitch of a mother yet storm within you continued to rage. Maybe with the death of Batman you would finally know peace and tranquility. You didn’t blame Bruce for Jason’s death but you hated that he didn’t avenge him. You hated that he replaced him. That hatred mixed with your growing anger consumed you.

“This one’s still alive,” Dick announced, kneeling beside a woman. Bruce moved to kneel beside him while Tim wandered off. You smirked and followed him. You made some noise to draw him further from the others.

“You’re the new Robin, hmm?” You asked. Tim looked around. Technically, Tim wasn’t new. He had been at this for a couple of years now but you aren’t exactly up to date on the world around you. You’ve been training and isolated from the world for a long time. So, while Tim isn’t exactly new, he’s new to you.

He took a defensive stance but it wouldn’t do any good against you. You could kill him with a flick of your finger.

“We can help you,” Tim says, his eyes searching for you. “You don’t have to do this, you don’t have to be a vampire,”

“Oh, but I want to be,” You smirk, walking around him but continued to stay out of sight. Tim looks confused by your statement.

“We have a cure,” Tim states. You sneak up behind him.

“I don’t want it,” You whisper, in his ear. By the time he spins around, you’re out of sight. You grin, loving the sound of his heart hammering in his chest. “Tell me, what do you know about the Robin before you?”

“What?” Tim asks, tensing.

“You’re not Jason Todd,” You growl. Tim becomes increasingly more nervous. “So, may I know the name of his replacement?” You spit. He doesn’t answer you. “Fine, don’t answer, doesn’t matter anyway,” 

Tim tenses as things fall eerily silent. He goes to fall for back up but before he can finish the first syllable he’s lifted off the ground. You hand becomes tighter and tighter around his throat.

“You’re not Jason and you will never be him,” You growl, glaring at him. Tim choke, gripping your wrist but your grip doesn’t falter. His eyes widen a fraction as he recognizes you.

All throughout the mansion there’s picture of you. Dick talks about you all the time. He knows who you are but he can’t believe it. Bruce assumed you were dead, Dick insisted you were just missing. For nearly 7 years Dick worked to find you. Almost every spare moment went into finding some clue about you but you had vanished. 

“If you were,” You smirked. “You would have been able to take me down... You’re pathetic... Weak,” You bring him closer to your face. He struggles to breathe, looking even more terrified when your fangs extend. “And I’m so hungry,” 

Before you can feed on him, you’re knocked to the ground. You let Tim go as you tumble away. The boy collapses on the ground, coughing and struggling to breath in.

“Has anyone ever told you not to get between a vampire and her meal?” You growled, standing up. You turn to the man who had tackled you and smirked. There, only two feet away, is your older brother.

“Y/n,” Dick whispers, his defenses falling.

“Hey, big brother,” You wink. You take advantage of his astonishment and attack. You don’t even realize it but you’re holing back. You’re not going as fast as you could nor are you striking with all your strength. Hell, you’re barely hitting him with 20% power.

“Y/n! Stop! This isn’t you!” Dick shouts but you don’t listen to him. You grab his shoulders and fling him into a nearby wall. He collapses and struggles to breath.

“I’m not you’re little sister, anymore Dickie Poo,” You say, stalking up to him. “And all you are to me is a meal,”

“Then why haven’t you killed me yet?” Dick groaned pushing himself up. You freeze for just a moment but Dick notices it.

“What can I say? I’ve always liked playing with my food,” You growled, trying to cover up your hesitance.

“You’ve always been a shit liar, sis,” Dick teases. You hiss as he stands. “You’ll always be my baby sister, you’re just more of a pain in my ass right now,” He smirks putting up his hands. “And you hit like a bitch,”

Crying out, you attack Dick once again. This time you hold back even less but you’re still not aiming to kill him. It angers you as you hear Vlad’s comment in the back of your mind. Your vampiric instincts are fighting against your humanity. 

Just when you’re about to give into your inclination to follow your masters orders a batarang sinks into your arm. It snaps you out of your instinctual daze. You look at it before following it’s path. You’re eyes land on Batman. For the first time in years you stare into your fathers eyes.

Before anything can happen, something catches your attention. You turn your head and watch the sun begin to peak over the buildings. You’re out of time.

“Wait!” Dick shouts reaching for you but you’re already gone.

****

You stand in front of Vlad for a solid five minutes. Five minutes of absolute silence. Intense, awkward, silence. You barely have the strength to hold his gaze for these few minutes but know if you look away you’ll look weak.

“I told you not to fail me,” Vlad tells you.

“I underestimated the skill of-”

“You’re a vampire!” Vlad shouts. It takes everything in you to not flinch. “You have the strength of a hundred men! I could possibly forgive you not being able to defeat your father, I failed that as well. However, you couldn’t kill an 18 year-old boy? Or your older brother?” Vlad asks, walking toward you.

“My humanity got in the way,” Vlad backhands you harshly.

“Your humanity,” Vlad says slowly. “For 6 year I’ve been working so hard to perfect you and yet here you are, a disappointment.” He spits.

“I’ll make it up to you,” You promise.

“You will,” Vlad nods, walking back to his seat. “And if you fail me again. I will rip your heart out,” You bow to him. “Wait for my word in your room,”

“Yes, master,” 

****

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Tim asks, his voice horas. You had bruise his throat pretty good. It was a miracle he was able to talk at all at the moment.

“If anyone is going to get through to her, it’s him,” Dick assures him. Tim presses his lips together and follows his brother into the worn down building.

“How do we know he’ll even help?” Tim wonders.

“Because it’s Y/n,” Dick answers simply. Tim glances at him but says nothing else.

“You’ve got a lot of balls to come here, Dick,” Tim and Dick spin around to face Red Hood. Tim is in a defensive stance remembering the last time they had crossed paths. Red Hood and him fought, Tim barely escaping hospital time.

“Relax,” Dick mutters to Tim.

“What are you doing here, Dick?” He asks, looking around for Batman.

“Bruce isn’t here... It’s just us,” Dick assures him. They stare at each other for a moment before he takes off his red mask. “Jason,” Dick nods. Jason ignores the greeting and walks around them to get to his stuff. “Y/n’s alive,” Jason freezes completely. “We saw her a few hours ago,”

“Where?” Jason asks, keeping his back to them.

“Have you come across any vampires?” Dick asks. Jason turns to them.

“They’ve been crawling around town like cockroaches,” Jason says.

“Y/n’s one of them,” Dick tells him. “She attacked us a few hours ago. She tried to kill us but didn’t follow through.”

“We think that she still has some humanity left,” Tim says.

“I know she’s still in there.” Dick insists. “She could have very easily killed Tim and I but she held back,” Jason looks at the bruise around Tim’s throat. 

“She still mourns you,” Tim tells him. “If she knew you were alive, maybe we can get her back. If we can get her back to the mansion, we can cure her,”

****

“Everything is in place,” Vlad says. You stand in the background watching him. On the tables in the middle of the room lay two women. One is Vlad’s beloved Carmilla. The other is Viki Vale. The plan was to transfer Viki’s life essence into Carmilla to bring her back to life.

“Master,” A newly turned vampire interrupts. Vlad turns to her. “Batman, Robin and Nightwing have arrived.” Vlad snarls and turns to you.

“They must not stop the transference,” Vlad tells you.

“I will kill them once and for all master,” You vow.

“Kill the Batman, capture Robin and Nightwing. Take them to my office and keep them there,” Vlad orders. You tilt your head but nod.

“As you wish,” You bow and exit the room. You hunt down the three men but only find two of them; Dick and Tim. “I see your stubbornness has only increased with age,” You state standing at one end of the hall while they stand on the other. They look a little worn down but you can tell they still have plenty of energy.

“Guess I spent too much time around you as kids,” Dick shrugs, twirling his batons. 

“You should have stayed away,” You tell them, cursing yourself for how soft your voice had gotten. Your humanity, yet again, was showing. You pushed it back and locked it in a box but the little slip up was enough to confirm to both Dick and Tim that you could still be saved.

“You’ve been gone a long time, little sister,” Dick states. “It’s time to bring you home,”

“This is home,” You hiss. Dick shakes his head.

“This is a prison,” Dick corrects you. You smirk.

“You once said the same about Wayne Manor,” You remind him. You stare at him and your eyes flicker to Tim. “Join me,” You suggest. “We can give you the power you can only dream of,” You say, stepping closer to him. “We can be a family again,” You whisper, your humanity coming up once more. You allow it, for now.

“We can be a family,” Dick agrees. You perk slightly. “When you’re cured and back at the Manor,” Your face turns sour.

“Fuck the Manor,” You spat. “Fuck Bruce and Fuck Batman,” You hiss. “You think he cares?”

“He does!” Tim snaps. You laugh.

“Where did he pick you up from?” You ask Tim. “You must have a past. Bruce never takes in anybody mentally stable,”

“We’re not talking about that right now,” Dick cuts in. “If you don’t want to go to the manor, fine. Come with me,” Dick suggests. “I have an apartment in Bludhaven. You can stay with me... It’ll be like old times,” You’re so tempted to give in.

“I can’t,” You shake your head. “This is who I am now, this is where I belong,”

“No, you belong with us,” Dick insists.

“I haven’t belonged with you in years,” You mutter but he hears it. “I’m happy to see you alive, Dick... But you really should have stayed away,” You said, your voice hardening.

“We don’t have to do this,” Dick says. He and Tim fall into a defensive stance.

“I won’t go back,” You tell him. “Not with you, not with him and certainly not with Bruce,” You growl. “Why can’t you see that you’re not worth anything to him! All you are is an expendable tool! He’ll just replace you when you’re done being useful to him,”

“That’s a lie!” Tim shouts.

“Oh really?” You ask. “Then why are you standing here? Tell me, how long did he wait to replace Jason with you?” You wonder. “You’re nothing to him and when you die, he’ll move on like he always does and not give you a second thought!”

“You’re head is twisted, Y/n! You’re blinded by hatred and anger and grief, let us help you!” Dick pleads.

“No, I don’t need your help,” You growl racing toward them. Tim and Dick put up a good fight but you were done letting your humanity control you. Before they could pull any fancy tricks like they used to stop the other vampires, you knocked them out cold. Grabbing them by their collars you drag them to Vlad’s office. You lock them inside before hunting down your father.

You find him in the transference room fighting Vlad. You quickly join your master. With the both of you fighting against Batman, you’re beginning to overpower him. Until he uses a UV light which causes you and Vlad to scream in pain. When it’s gone, you slowly begin to heal.

“No! No! No!” Vlad screams seeing Vicki has disappeared before the transference  could complete. “NO!” You force yourself to a stand. You gasp when Vlad appears before you and grabs you by the throat. You struggle against him but he’s a great deal stronger than you. “I told you to kill him!” He snarls. You try to talk but he’s crushing your windpipe. “You’ve failed me for the last time,” He goes to rip your heart out when he’s pull away from you.

You fall to the ground and shake the dizziness from your head. You look up and see a grappling hook in Vlad’s chest. A man by the door holds the string and continues to pull Vlad from you until he gets his footing and yanks the man to him. You watch as Vlad throws him across the room.

“You vigilantes are a disease,” Vlad growls stalking toward him. You force yourself to stand. You feel your thirst begin to rise as your healing completes. 

Fresh blood gains your attention. You turn to the door seeing Dick and Tim at the entrance. You figured you had the guy in the red mask to thank for their escape

“Ah, look at this,” Vlad claps his hands. “A family reunion,” The red mask guy pushes himself up, grimacing at the pain in his back. “If you want another chance to live, Y/n,” Vlad turns toward you. “I want you to kill your brothers,”

You turn to Dick and Tim. They’re eyeing you as you eye them. The human voice in your head gets smaller and smaller as your animal instincts and need for blood overcome you.

“Kill them,” Vlad orders. Unable to fight his order, you advance to Dick. You stop when a clunk of stone is throne at your head. It doesn’t hurt you but it gets your attention. Your head snaps to the red mask guy with a growl.

“You on your period or something sis?” Your entire body freezes at the sound of his voice. No, it’s not possible. “You know how you get during that time of the month... I swear you turn into a fucking gremlin,” He raises his hands and takes the mask off. “Or, I guess, in this case a vampire,” Jason smirks.

“No,” You whisper shaking your head. “It’s not possible... You... you’re dead,”

“Didn’t stick,” He shrugs with that arrogant smirk of his. “Amazing what a Lazarus pit can do, huh?” Your breath hitches in your throat. It was possible.

“Y/n,” Vlad says regaining your attention instantly. “Kill. Them.” Your humanity vanished. With a hiss, you turn to attack Jason when Dick’s voice reaches your ears.

“You’re not expendable,” Dick states. You don’t look at him but it’s obvious you’re listening. “You mean so much more to us. We’re here for you and we’re not leaving without you. You’re one of us, not this creature he’s turned you in,”

“You know how much I hate agree with Dickwad,” Jason chuckles. “But on this, I do. Look, we’ve both changed over the years and that’s fine but that doesn’t change the fact that we’re brothers and you’re our sister. You went against father and killed the Joker for me. You beat the shit out of that one girl that cheated on Dick. You’ve stood up against Bruce for both of us on more than one occasion. You’ve always been there but now we’re here for you. It’s time to come home. Come with us,”

“Kill them!” Vlad shouts. Your eyes screw shut as you struggle between obeying Vlad and listening to your brothers. Realization hits Tim like a freight train.

“Don’t listen to him!” Tim encourages you. It finally made sense. All the vampires they came across were unnaturally loyal to Dracula. It was like they had forgotten their human lives and followed him. He figured it was just instinct but it was something more than that. Vampires were connected to their creator, Dracula, on a level they had severely underestimated. Tim theorized that Dracula had gotten to you, changed you, and manipulated/forced you to follow him. You had to follow his orders but that didn’t mean you wanted to.

You showed multiple signs of humanity. Dick and Jason were you’re anchors to your human side. If you could fight against Dracula’s orders then you could sever the connection. If that happened, getting you back to the manor and cured would be much easier.

“He’s the one who doesn’t care! He’s the one who believes you’re expendable, not us! We care about you, we’ll help you but you have to break his hold over you!” Tim said as clearly but as quickly as he could.

“Shut up!” Vlad shouted turning toward him. Before he could attack, Jason launches a wooden stake at him. It doesn’t kill him but it knocks them to the ground. “Kill them, Y/n! Kill them right now!”

You groan. Your hands grip your hair and begin to pull. You felt as if your head was being torn apart. You fall to your knees. A large part of you wanted to kill them, needed to kill them. Yet a big enough part of you didn’t.

“Y/n,” Jason says, softly. He slowly knelt a few feet in front of you. 

“Kill me,” You whimper, looking into his eyes. “I can’t hold myself back for long,”

“You can,” Jason encourages you. “You’re not going to hurt me, Dick or Tiny Tim,” Tim scowls but remains silent. “You’re Y/n Y/L/N. You were turned when you were 18 years old but you’re 24. You’re favorite food is y/f/f and your favorite show is y/f/s. You always let me sneak into your room if I was having trouble sleeping and you always helped me through the bad days just like I did for you. We look after each other, we have since we met each other. That didn’t stop when I died and it isn’t going to stop since you’re a vampire,”

In the corner of your eye you see Dick and Tim going to end Vlad. Something within you snaps. You snarl and before you know it you’re protecting your master. Before you can reach Dick and Tim, something pierces your shoulder. You look down to see a similar grappling hook hooked into you.

You gasp as Jason yank you back. You snarl and struggle but Jason is able to fight against you allowing Dick and Tim to destroy your master.

“No! NO!” You scream. The pain of your bond to Dracula is excoriating. You scream and writhe on the ground.

“It’s alright sis,” Jason whispers, knocking you out with a special tool they used on all the other vampires. “You’re safe now,” He whispers picking you up. “How do we cure her?”

“We have a serum at the manor,” Tim says,

“Bring it to my place,” Jason ordered. Tim goes to argue but Dick lays a hand on his shoulder. Dick nods and Jason nods back.

****

When you wake up you have the worst hangover known to man. You groan, your hand slapping your forehead. You try to think about what could have given you this feeling but you get nothing. Until everything comes rushing back to you a minute later.

All the killings, Dracula and the whole vampire ordeal hardly phases you. What makes your heart quench is the man you saw before you passed out.

“Jason!” You cry out, sitting up quickly. The motion causes you to groan again.

“Easy, easy,” You’re gently pushed back onto the bed. “Welcome back to the land of the living,” Opening your eyes, you look at Jason. You really look at him. He still has that spark, that anger in his eyes but there’s also relief and happiness. You lift your hand and gently caress his face. He leans into your touch.

“You’re real,” You whisper.

“Yeah, I’m real,” He whispers, tears coming to his eyes. “I thought I lost you there for a second,” He laughs.

“I did lose you,” You whimper. 

“I know, I’m so sorry,” Jason gently pushes you over and climbs into the bed. You instantly hug him with all your might. “I’m here now and I won’t be leaving your side for a damn long time,”

“You saved me,” You whisper. “You, Dick and Tim,” You whimper the tears coming down your face.

“You just got a little lost for a while,” Jason muttered. “You would do the same if any one of us was in your position,” You nod, snuggling into his chest. He rubs circles into your back. “Everything’s going to be ok, now... You’re cured, Dracula’s dead and you’re with me,”

“Can I stay with you?” You whisper, looking up at him.

“I thought I told you that you weren’t leaving my side for a long time,” Jason smirks. “We have 6 years to catch up on and I need my big sis to keep my head on straight,”

“I need you too, Jason...” You whisper. “God, do I need you,” You snuggle back into his chest. He kisses the top of your head and holds you even tighter. “I was so lost without you,”

“Shh.. You don’t have to worry about living without me again,” Jason promises.

“Good... Because next time, you die I die,” Jason smirks.

“We’re going to be one kick ass team,” Jason mutters. You grin closing your eyes. The both of you got the first real sleep you had since Jason died.

[avaritia-apotheosis]

Phantom Children Ch. 6

Hi guys! I'm back <3 (also, I'm currently looking for alpha/beta readers for Phantom Children, so if you're interested, feel free to shoot me a message!)

In Which: Danny Attempts to get Answers, Bruce Learns, and Dick Finally Learns What's Inside the Door that Doesn't Exist

AO3 | Prologue | 5 | [ 6 ] | 7

DANNY IS KNOCKED DOWN three, four, eight times on the ice. Each time made his back ache, his bones bruised and tired, and his mind burning with embarrassment and a drive to lash out. But each time he gets back up. Each time he lasts a little bit longer against Talia.

The ice still shifts, cracks and rumbles with every wrong move. Danny learned to roll with it. Move on light feet but attack with a firm stance, gauge which parts of the ice are stable and which should be avoided. Multi-tasking has never been Danny’s strong suit, but he’s good at learning and learning quickly.

Talia corrected his form as much as she beat him down. Exploited every one of his openings until he learned to defend them and praised him whenever he managed to pull one over her. The League’s martial arts was the holy amalgamation between almost every single fighting style there is, mashed and refined to perfection to become almost unpredictable to the untrained. A vast improvement to Danny’s previous ‘fuck around and see what works’ brawling and had the added benefit of meshing together with his spontaneity.

“You are doing well, Daniel,” Talia said as she sheathed her sword, hand resting just above her hip. “You have improved greatly in such a short time, as I have expected.”

It takes every ounce of Danny’s superhuman energy to not collapse to his knees, his every breath a ragged shudder as he tries to get his breathing under control. “Still can’t beat you, though.”

“Very few can boast that feat.”

“I’m not exactly sure if that’s supposed to make me feel any better or not. Do I get my prize at least?”

Tahlia tossed her braid over one shoulder with a laugh. “Come, then, let us rest in the caves. The sun is to set soon and we must make camp before we freeze to death.”

“Hypothermia is so last season. I’m way too cool for that.”

He didn’t know whether to be disappointed that Tahlia didn’t react to his pun. It was pretty clever, in his opinion.

('Puns are the lowest form of comedy,' said mind-Jazz.

Says the one who named the Box Ghost the ‘Crate Creep.’

'That’s alliteration, not a pun.')

It was kind of pathetic that even his mind-version of Jazz was smarter than him.

“What would you like to know first?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Sarcasm dripped from Danny’s voice. He sheathed his sword and let it hang loose at his side. “Maybe how old this mysterious brother of mine is?” Ancients, his life was weird enough already, it wasn’t supposed to sound like the B-plot to a bad soap opera.

“Damian is younger than you by a little over four years. He will turn eleven this year.”

“Huh. Never been an older brother before.”

“Perhaps you might have been, if circumstances had been different.”

Cryptic. Great. Danny stepped over a particularly large crack in the ice and scampered over to solid ground. “You gotta give me more than that. What’s he like?”

“Prideful,” she said. “But skilled enough to warrant it. He was raised like a prince—as how you should have been.”

“And he lives with…our dad?”

“Yes. In America.” The cave was deep enough to shield them from the worst of the eventual mountain winds. Tahlia had already started building a campfire with equipment from her knapsack, embers eating away and growing into a steady flame. He sat down, legs crossed, beside the fire, hands tucked beneath his armpits.

He bit his lip, a question forming in his mind. “Do…do we have the same dad?”

Tahlia looked up at him. “Of course. Only your father has had the privilege of being called my beloved, and only he is worthy enough to have sired my children.”

Once night fell, it fell quickly. Blanketing as far as Danny could see from the mouth of the cave in a thick darkness. Snow fell from the skies in thick tufts and covered their footsteps.

“Does he—do they know about me?”

“No, they do not.”

“And you probably aren’t going to tell them anything about me, if you could help it.”

“That is very perceptive of you, habeebi.”

“You won’t tell me anything more about them, will you?”

“In due time, I will.”

Danny blew part of his fringe away from his face. Figures.

Despite the ever-present niggling at the back of his mind, Bruce had yet to see what was in the flash drive. The weeks since his strange meeting with Vlad Masters suddenly exploded with criminal activity with the recent breakout in Arkham and the brewings of another gang war in the shadows of Gotham’s paved streets. It was all hands-on deck. And Bruce, whether as Batman or Wayne, had always prioritized Gotham and its citizens over anything else.

The flash drive remained on his person despite the crisis, tucked away in one of the sturdier compartments of his utility belt to prevent the data inside from becoming damaged. Sometimes he found his hands gravitating towards it, fingers brushing against the button that would release the mystery from its confines before he realized what he was doing and steeled himself. Hands fisted to his side and attention forcibly directed elsewhere.

Eventually, the rogues were placed back into Arkham, and Gotham let out a shuddered breath of relief as it remained standing for another day.

Most of the family were out on a light patrol, cleaning up the remains of the breakout and helping where they can. Jason and Dick bickering over the comms whilst Barbara laughed in her clocktower.

(“It’s not that bad.”

"‘It’s not that bad’—shut the fuck up.” Jason spat. Bruce could hear him revving his bike. “You’re a fucking idiot, you know that? Certified Grade A idiot. B’s gonna kill you.”

He could hear Dick roll his eyes. “Sure, pile it all on, Jaybird. Blame the victim.”

"It was your fault.”

“It’s not my fault I didn’t see it there!”

"You tripped and got a concussion. From a stick. A. Stick.”

“Can we please just leave that out of the report?” Dick groaned. Barbara laughed. “Oh god.”

“Richard motherfucking John Grayson. I swear if you vomit on me then—”

“I’m not gonna vomit on you! You just turned the corner a little too fast. It’s nice to see you care though.”

"Fuck no, I just don’t wanna smell like regurgitated cereal.”)

Damian was benched from a patrol. Their last conflict with Poison Ivy ended with Damian sticking a bad landing and twisting his ankle. He dealt with it with as much grace as can be expected. Meaning that he spent the last few days sulking as he caught up on his missed schoolwork and shooting daggers at everyone else who came back from patrol.

Bruce flicked the flash drive open and plugged it into the computer. The flash drive contained only a single folder dated six months ago.

He clicked it, and a news headline popped up.

LOCAL TEEN DIES AFTER DRIVING OFF CLIFF

Beneath it, a picture. Blue eyes. Black hair. A familiar face.

Blood pounded in Bruce’s ears. He could hear nothing except a sharp gasp from Damian behind him.

When Dick and Jason arrived at the batcave, it was to an eerie silence. Not that it was usually loud, only that Bruce spent most of his free time down in the cave and Dick had come to expect hearing some signs of him around. Typing on keys, the clicking of a mouse, the heavy thuds of a fist meeting a punching bag or a training dummy, etcetera, etcetera. Or maybe even Alfred cleaning up around the cave, feeding the bats, or restocking their med bay.

(Dick, it turned out, didn’t have a concussion. Probably. Not a severe one anyway. What mattered most was that he managed to convince Jason to have dinner at the Manor. Alfred was making a tarte tatin for dessert tonight and those were absolutely to die for. )

One of Tim’s cases took him to the other side of Gotham. The only person in the cave was Damian, who was staring agape at the batcomputer.

“Why the hell is the demon spawn looking at old pictures of Bruce? We get it. They look alike.

“Uh, Dami? What’s up?”

Damian snapped his mouth shut. “I believe it might be best if you asked father that, Grayson.” Despite his clipped tone, there seemed to be little anger in his voice. His proud shoulders were hunched over on the chair, eyes trained on his lap.

He looked so small.

Damian clucked his tongue. “He’s upstairs, if you need him. So is Pennyworth.”

Dick shot a glance at Jason who raised his hands in mock surrender. “You’re up golden boy. Whatever the fuck the old man’s problem is this time, I’m not dealing with it.”

Dick sighed. “Fine.”

There was a door in Wayne Manor that didn’t exist.

When Dick was a child and recently adopted by Bruce Wayne, one of the first things he did was explore the manor. It’s the prerogative of every child that somehow found themselves in a large mansion—even more so given the castle-like exteriors of Wayne Manor. All castles have secret passages, and if the Batcave lay in the subterranean depths below, then surely the manor proper must have its own secrets.

Dick would tumble and cartwheel along the hallways, opening any and every single door he came across. A lot of them were just empty bedrooms or unused parlors and sitting rooms; the furniture covered by white sheets to keep the dust away. Alfred was probably magic, but even he can’t keep the entirety of the manor dust free.

The majority of the unused rooms were unlocked.

Except for one.

It was a room in the west wing, on the second floor. A couple doors down from where Bruce’s and Dick’s were. Why it was locked, Dick never found out. But he was curious since it was the only room on that floor that remained shut.

When he asked Alfred about it, the old butler only said that it was an unused storage room they preferred to keep locked just in case. When he asked Bruce about it, he’d be quick to change the subject. Usually something Batman related. Which, well, always worked, because it was Batman related. And Dick, young and spry and itching to fly under Batman’s wings, would quickly forget about that curious little mystery in favor of punching bad guys in the face and flipping over rooftops.

At some point that locked door quietly disappeared, leaving a blank expanse of wallpaper and a decorative vase where it once stood. It was never brought up again. And Dick slowly forgot that it was ever there in the first place.

Until now.

The wooden table and vase were shoved off to the side. Wallpaper sliced away to reveal the lines of a doorway. The door, covered in its faint damask wallpaper, was kicked open, the wood around the bolt splintered and cracked. He could hear voices—Alfred’s and Bruce’s—speaking softly on the other side.

He pressed his back against the wall and kept his breathing quiet.

“Three times, Alfred.” Bruce’s voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper. “Three times she’s done this to me.”

“Master Bruce…”

“I don’t—I don’t understand why—” Bruce choked, swallowing a shuddered breath. “Damian, I can understand. Jason, I can too. But…This? I—” Bruce suddenly quieted. Dick knew the jig was up.

He unlatched himself from the wall and slowly slid through the once-hidden-door, a hand kept on the frame. “Um. Hi, Bruce? Alfred?” The words fell flat, stilted. Dick winced as he said them. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but, uh…” He trailed off the second he registered what was in the room.

It was large, as so many rooms in the manor were. The room was covered in peeling green wallpaper with faded pictures of baby deer and owls and other woodland creatures prancing about. There was a dresser on one wall. A shelf filled with little picture books and stuffed animals on the other. A brown teddy bear had fallen on its face on one of the shelves.

In the middle—where Bruce was hunched over—was a crib. The wood streaked and aged with time, the beddings within pristine and untouched, if not dusty. Hanging overhead was a mobile with little animals dangling on a string.

“Worry not Master Dick. It is good that you are here since it will inevitably involve the rest of the family at some point.”

Dick nodded absentmindedly, trying to lock eyes with his guardian. “B? What’s—what’s going on?” Dick took one step deeper into the room. “The pictures in the cave. I thought they were you since they were too old to be Damian—” Bruce’s hands on the crib’s railing flinched.

Dick’s breath hitched.

“They’re…not your photos, are they.”

Bruce took a deep breath in, the lines of his shoulders tense. “No. They’re not.”

In their line of work, the answer could have been anything. Clones, magical doppelgangers, alternate universe counterparts, hell, even just someone’s genetic code being coincidentally similar to another person. But…this room, this nursery, pointed towards only one conclusion.

“Who is he, Bruce?”

Bruce angled his head towards Dick, unshed tears glimmering in his eyes. “He’s my son, Dick.

“He’s my son.”

[ships-bynoa]

The Titans are almost back, bitches. aka 3x06

Guys, literally every time the titans are together-or even paired up-the episode gets ten times better, but in 6 episodes there is simply not enough Kory and Gar. I can easily forget that when I’m basking in the episode they are in, especially when they’re giving us family dynamics.

Kory:

“You’re not mad that I left. You’re mad I came back.” Kory’s face tells us Blackfire is right on the money, and who would know her better than her sister?

So, Kory, oh boy. Our girl is on edge. She is slowly unraveling and is super vulnerable and raw with Kom around and little sister is going to exploit it and her guilt, which I think she’s carrying a lot of. So far their dynamic has been fascinating because there’s so much to read between them and so many accusations being flung back and forth, from both. From Kory; you sense guilt and even contempt and from Kom there’s envy and resentment, but also there’s a sense of idealization for her older sister, too, which of course, with younger siblings, there always is an element of that. And as an older sibling, there is always an unspoken and sometimes spoken responsibility placed on them for their younger siblings. Parents often don’t realize it, but they can create a lot of tension within siblingships by assigning roles.

They remember home and family very differently, which is often the case, too. Kom was often thrown in the pit and to that, Kory attributes her sister’s constant rebellion as the reason, and yet, Kory herself was a bit of a rule breaker, sleeping with her guard, Fiddei.

Kory was being suffocated by the laws and customs of her home planet; one could say she rebelled by going on a mission, to escape her duties. Home did neither of them any favors because while one rebelled because she did not fit in, the one who did fit in was dying inside, surrounded by little robots and becoming one herself. Being told what to eat, wear and who to love or be friends with is yikes.

I was thinking Kom began her game of manipulation in the bunker, but she really started before that when she sent Fiddei to bring Kory home when she probably intended to kill him all along. After all she would’ve castrated him if she’d had the chance to for sleeping with Kory in the first place. Shortly after Fiddei’s death, Kory flamed out. No powers. Emotionally wrung out from the news her family was dead and now the culprit is here. These two know each other very well and know exactly how to get underneath each other’s skin. Right now Kom is getting underneath Kory’s and our girl is losing patience fast. 

I’m wondering when exactly Dick will tune into Kory’s anxiety-ridden state and step in to support.

Ultimately, I just want to see what truly happened to the girls on their planet and how we have the versions we have now. Like, Kory said to Rachel, “No one is born good or bad, we are defined by our choices.” I get the feeling Kory has given Kom so many chances to make a different choice and has become disillusioned, meanwhile Kom believes nothing she does will give her the respect she feels she deserves anyway, so she may as well blow shit up, figuratively and literally. At least then she’ll have Kory’s attention.

Gar: 

Gar losing it on Dick was so cathartic and yet he could’ve gone much further, considering Dick abandoned him last season to go jail and hallucinate Bruce. It ultimately led to Gar (and Conner) being kidnapped and experimented on by Mercy. It’s actually all the adults fault this happened, but as the leader promoting his family everywhere he goes, he needs to keep his eye on the ball. He would know if he spent five minutes at home with them that Gar is struggling. Last season Gar was #OperationSaveTitans and this season he’s #ThisFamilyIsDying. He’s doing what the adults should be doing, or at least leading the charge on it. He’s the glue, but who will hold him together?

He’s carrying too much emotional responsibility and Dick’s dismissal, because he is fully locked into Gotham and being Batman, makes me mad. Get your head in the game, Grayson. Gotham is going to eat your family while you retread the nostalgic steps of your past.

We all know Dick’s not good at expressing himself emotionally, though he’s usually forced to express something when talking to or being confronted by Kory, so I was proud of him for giving Gar the floor to speak. I just wish Gar spoke about himself, but then again, he needs more time and consistent offers to be heard. I’m happy Dick followed up the conversation up with a bonding/training session. There was definitely pride in Dick’s face because Gar really has come a long way in this group, but he needs MORE SCREEN TIME. I’d like to see the two of them out in the field together the way we’ve seen Kory this season with Gar and Conner. 

I wonder if Gar losing control is the start of all his trauma bubbling up to the surface, will being in Gotham, hunting down a friend be too much?

As a side, has the CGI tiger face gotten worse?

Kom (and Conner):

First thing’s first, what music are we thinking Kom listens to? Probably the kind of music she can break your tailbone to, like, Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Jay Z, or Prince, Jimmy Hendrix, Stevie Nicks and Led Zeppelin? Rihanna?

Kom is absolutely a villain this season and if she isn’t, what a waste that’ll be. A mastermind at mind games (see, her picking up the chess piece), who is going to drum up Kory’s paranoia and anxiety around her being there. Trying to kill her suspicion by guilt tripping her while simultaneously being a do good-er to the group, feigning interest in helping the Titans to earn her way in, a tip from our boy, Conner.

She says she wants acceptance and I believe that’s absolutely true, but she doesn’t know how to get that without using power, so she’ll continue to covet acceptance through and with power because according to Kory, she’s always been a climber. Add to that, being born the cursed child and the only royal member born without the gift of fire, something that differentiates them from the common folk, being too frail to participate in the same games as Kory, having a speech therapist be her only friend while being the object of ridicule and you have a villain origin story nicely set up.

I really enjoyed Conner and Kom’s exchange. The boy lit up when he spoke about seeing his family happy and it made me light up. He’s so genuine and has a big heart and Kom is going to take advantage of it, that’s not to say she won’t develop real feelings for him, but she can like him and still use him.

Conner’s “you have to earn your way into the family,” is perhaps an internal and personal struggle he has from sharing blood with Luthor. I think it may come from an insecure place because he was made a titan as soon as he woke up and no one questioned it, but as he’s only half of superman, he’s constantly trying to prove his usefulness for good, which losing Hank has rocked, leaving him vulnerable to Kom’s recognition for his otherness. Their otherness.

She gave us insight into her mind, but also she has likely seized an opportunity to use the vulnerability against Conner and to her favor by making him her kindred. Outcasts. Will she gain influence over him? He’s still young and learning, and trusting, too.

Her interest in him felt layered, ignoring the ugly customs of sex servants, she was also observing Kory’s relationships and ranking them in her sister’s life. Her being able to determine who may have Kory’s interest (which Kory gave away with her vulnerable display of worry over Dick’s welfare in front of Kom) will surely come into play at some point, right? After all, Kom did kill Kory’s last lover/royal guard. This may be me projecting. LOL.

Romantically, I’m waiting to see how they play it before I decide if I like it or not, but so far, they have a nice chemistry. Friendly.

Dick (and Barbara) :

What a lovable dumb ass. 

I was so happy Kory lost it on him and called him on his lone ranger shit, at least when it’s her, even when he’s being an idiot, he’s still listening. “Let’s go.” and I thought it was hilarious that he tried explaining himself, but when Gar called him out, he got all huffy with, “Excuse me, young man.”

Gar asking Kory not to have words with Barbara over Dick getting shot was so funny because Dick’s face seemed to ask the same when she asked how it happened. We love a protective Kory. I’ll be looking at him when it’s his turn to reciprocate.

I don’t like him dismissing their concerns about his personal safety and how it affects them, it’s like he’s learned nothing after running off alone to battle Trigon, or rather has unlearned his lessons of S2. I’d like to see some more permanent emotional growth from him by this season’s end. In his current state, he’s not an exuding leader. He can’t be when he’s still wrapped up in Bruce and all things Gotham. He’s not tuned into Kory’s anxiety, or Conner’s grief and insecurity, or Gar’s emotional burden. 

He’s started making it up to him, but he has much to do in taking Gar’s concerns and emotional needs seriously.

I’m not even going to try and work out the timeline between Barbara and Dick and Dick and old Titans in San Fran and S1. But it doesn’t bode well that Dick’s dream with Barbara ended in a nightmare. 

I wish they’d never did the whole Dick and Dawn relationship in S2 because they’re basically repeating some of the beats in showing us how they don’t work as a couple, only his relationship with Babs makes a lot more sense even though I don't care. Dick has unfinished business with that relationship, Bruce and Gotham and I can only hope he’s wrapped it up for good by this season’s end. I want to see relaxed, smiling and happy Dick in THE PRESENT. I still Babs will be the one to notice and point out Dick's feelings for Kory.

Barbara (outside of Dick) is being downplayed a little, no? Dismissing Dick’s suspicions about Jason when he arrived, showing no knowledge of Jason’s visits to Crane and then taking the bait and moving Crane after he got a light beat down. A commissioner who was also a very capable vigilante is tricked by a recording and goes to meet “Bruce” on her own. I really enjoyed that she could hold her own and the fight scene was really good, but it was a bit baffling that she fell for that ruse. So far, she’s not entirely good at her job.

Dick’s a distraction in his own right and her feelings clearly get in the way, which is why she keeps asking him to leave the precinct and Gotham; because she’s pining a fantasy and he’s ruining it. Lastly, I really like the way Savannah plays Barbara.

Why’d they do that to Tim?? :(

Overall, it was a better episode and I enjoyed it more than latter episodes, but they’re not quite there yet for me. I’m  still waiting for Team Titans.