#but then one day he wanders down to the batcave (fuck you that’s how)

[sleepy-writes-stuff]

I love the tags!

I want a story where DC learns about DP because of Wulf.

Wulf is just chilling when Damian comes across him.

Maybe, at first, he assumes Wulf is like Killer Croc, but when he gets closer Wulf stays calm.

Of course, Wulf only/mainly speaks Esperanto. This leads to Damian deciding to learn the language, so he speak to his new friend.

But also, Damian is his father's son, so he ends up trying to sneak Wulf into the manor.

Eventually, Danny comes looking for Wulf because he's worried and that's how the Bats end up finding out about ghosts and the Anti-Ecto Acts.

[to-the-stars8]

Learning to Love Slowly

Jason Todd x Reader All Chapters AO3

55- Circus Acts and Stitches

You clapped when Dick landed on his feet effortlessly, showing you that even though he was taken out of the circus there was no taking the circus out of him. Jason threw a sly comment across the Batcave about how his tricks were what tipped Tim off, and that, at the end of the day, would probably be the source of uncovering all their identities. Dick didn’t pay any attention to him, instead going back onto the uneven bars, while you turned back to Jason. 

He was sitting in the med bay with Bruce stitching up a cut he had gotten on his arm while sparring with Damian—Jason wasn’t ashamed of getting cut by his younger brother, and even complimented Damian’s growth after he had told him off. 

“How’s he doin’, Mr. Wayne,” You asked, getting up from your spot to wander over. 

Bruce chuckled, “He’ll live.” He turned to his youngest son who was sitting nearby cleaning his blade. “Any deeper, though, Damian, and you would have cut an artery. You need to be more careful when sparring.”

“You can’t blame me for his lack of speed,” The little boy said nonchalantly. “The bigger ones move slower.” 

“You better watch that fuckin' mouth—” Jason started to say before Bruce gave him a pointed look. 

You finally managed to reach Jason before he could get up to return the favor when Damian stuck his tongue out tauntingly, pressing a kiss to his temple to calm him. “Let’s see the damage.” 

Peering over, you could see a long cut on Jason’s arm that would no doubt turn into a scar, no matter how well Bruce could stitch up an arm. The sight made your stomach churn, but you made sure to not let Jason know by smiling up at him.

Your eyes then flickered over to Damian. It was a bit obvious to you that he felt bad about hurting his brother and that he was trying to cover up just how much he cared. Damian was sitting too close for someone who supposedly was proud of his win and his eyes kept looking at Jason’s arm with flashes of guilt, though his face was motionless as he kept his facade of indifference. 

“You got ‘em pretty good, Dami,” You said. 

Damian only nonchalantly said, “Yeah.”

Jason’s eyes looked to you before Damian. He tried to jokingly say, “When I brush up on my stealth, kid, watch your ass.” 

“Jay…” Bruce said, tone thick with a readied reprimand, as he finished up on his son's arm. 

When Jason was all wrapped up and looking as he did before sparring, Damian seemed to relax a little. You reached over and ruffled his hair, whispering that it was okay. All the while, Bruce told Jason the same tale of how to take care of his wound, it sounding more like another lecture than advice. 

“Fuck, it’s hot as hell down here,” He said suddenly, wanting to just stop his endless talking. “Wanna go for ice cream, babe?”

“I wanna go for ice cream,” Dick said as he swung upside-down from one of the bars.  

Jason opened his mouth before closing it again, taking a second to think about what he wanted to say before finally coming out with it. “As long as you’re not gonna do any circus acts, you can come.”

The amount of joy and surprise on Dick’s face told you that it must have been the first time in a while that Jason had willingly let him accompany him anywhere. When he turned to Damian and invited him, the look reflected Dick’s. Surprise, though with a hint of underlying suspicion that sparkled in his green eyes. 

Cooly, he responded, “You’re not planning on some sort of retaliation, hm? This has to be a trick.”

You looked up at Jason, “You better not be.”

“No! No. I just want some fucking ice cream, I swear on my own grave,” He said, mumbling an apology afterward to Bruce who grimaced. 

Damian finally relented, sliding off his chair after putting his sword to the side, though not without a threat that if it was a trick the cut would be worse than before. Jason looked to you for strength before thinning his lips to keep an insult from passing through them. That little boy had a thing for testing every nerve. It gave him pause for a moment, wondering if he had been the same way as Robin.

Dick, overjoyed, hopped off the bars with an extravagant flip. Clapping again, you went over to him to ask him about it, leaving Jason with Bruce and Damian. 

Jay sighed before looking down at his younger brother. “Damian, you don’t have to worry about hurting me. There are no hard feelings. If there were, I’d let you know. And, I...I’m sorry for what I said to you earlier, too. I’m too grown to be talking to you like that.”

Jason surprised himself with his apology and consolation toward his younger brother. It left him to wonder if what he had said to Damian was your influence or something he wished had been said to him when he was younger.

Damian was quiet for a moment, not sure how to respond before finally mumbling something about how he wasn’t worried about Jason being hurt and that his words had little effect on him. Still, his words must have had some effect since his little brother was now sticking around a little closer with more comfort. 

“Are you coming, too,” Jay asked Bruce. 

As quick as Catwoman’s whip, he turned around, “Me?” 

“I mean, who else? You should know that if you come you’re paying, so…” Jason looked down, expecting Bruce to decline with some poor excuse. Instead, the words that hit Jason’s ears sounded so different.

No, not different, he quickly decided, familiar. 

Bruce sounded like Dad again. “I think we can squeeze it into the budget. Let me get my keys and wallet.”

Jason nodded, watching his father walk away before looking over to see Dick attempting to get you to grab onto the uneven bars, to which he was threatened with no ice cream if he continued. Dick pulled away, mumbling about how his little brother was no fun, as you hopped away talking about how excited you were for ice cream. Damian was quick to show off his skills of flips and tricks, all of them Dick’s old moves, which impressed you immensely. 

Jason found himself liking the way you were immersing yourself into his family—better yet, into this life. You acted as if all of this was normal, taking it all with the love and acceptance you could muster. He realized that you were unintentionally reminding him that this life wasn’t always black and blue bruises with bloody cuts. It was family—love.  

[innytoes]

Self-Insert January: Let’s Go Steal A Protégé

Yes I did write a self-insert fanfic of my own fanfic. Most of this was written in December and then um, January happened. This takes place December, probably before Christmas (and is obviously not canon).

Happy Self Insert month!

Being with Leverage, Jamie had seen a lot of weird stuff. Done a lot of weird stuff, too. But all the breaking into highly classified places and museums and pretending to be a circus performer and jumping off the Eiffel Tower did not prepare them for the magic portal that opened up in the ceiling of the Leverage Offices, or the lady that fell through it.

Luckily, their startled yell had summoned an Eliot, which meant that if this was the beginning of an intergalactic space war or some kind of mutant criminal rival of Parker’s, Team Leverage was going to come out on top.

Except Eliot actually put away his knife and greeted the lady, who struggled out of the squashy purple beanbag chair she landed on. “Hardison, Parker, Inny’s here!” he called.

“What the hell is an Inny?” Jamie asked. Was it a species of alien? Was Hardison’s Doctor Who obsession because they literally knew The Doctor? Honestly, it wouldn’t really surprise Jamie.

“I the hell am an Inny,” Ceiling-Lady said, before gasping and pointing at them. Which was concerning, to say the least.

“That’s Inny,” Hardison said, coming into the office and handing the lady one of Jamie’s Mountain Dews. Rude.  “She’s from a darker timeline and drops out of the ceiling once or twice a year to catch up. And get inspiration for her fanfiction. Apparently we’re like, a TV show over there. What’s up, girl?”

“Is that why nobody is allowed to move the beanbag chair?” Jamie asked. They had thought it was some weird Parker thing. Or perhaps that it was on top of some kind of secret trap door to Hardison’s BatCave or something. They ignored the part about the fanfiction and the TV show. That was too Truman Show to think about. Though their brain was already going over actors they’d cast as the team. Eliot would totally be played by Chris Evans, right?

Inny stopped chugging the Mountain Dew long enough to shrug. “They used to live somewhere with way lower ceilings. Nearly broke something falling from this one.”

“Yeah, me,” Eliot grumbled. He nearly broke something again when Parker dropped down from the ceiling onto his back. “Dammit, Parker!”

“Inny!” Parker proclaimed. “How is Deeks?”

“Good!” the lady fished a beaten up phone out of her pocket. “He met some alpacas, wanna see?” Parker snatched up the phone and made delighted noises. Jamie peered over her shoulder. They had to admit the dog was pretty cute, and the alpacas looked very intrigued by their small, same-coloured, short-necked friend.

“How’s life in the darkest timeline?” Hardison asked.

“What date is it here?” the lady asked, looking around. “I mean, if you still know.”

“Why wouldn’t we know?” Parker asked, still swiping through dog pictures.

“Well, I mean, 2020, am I right?” Inny said, waiting for a reaction. She looked incredulous at their blank  faces. “It is 2020, here, right?”

“Um, yeah?” Hardison ventured carefully.

“How dark is this timeline of yours?” Jamie asked carefully. Sure, it was a tumblr joke, usually reserved for stuff like the however-many-renewed-season of Supernatural when great shows were cancelled or whatever creepy feature FriendCzar had tried to impose that month.

The woman paused, frowned, then took a deep breath. “In response to the global pandemic of a deadly respiratory virus, President Donald Trump suggested on television during a briefing that people should inject or ingest bleach to kill the virus.”  She took another big breath. “And that’s not mentioning the fact that he downplayed the seriousness of the virus while knowing how deadly and contagious it was, called it a hoax, made taking safety precautions a political thing instead of a public safety thing, and held massive super-spreader events.”

“Donald Trump?” Jamie asked. “The ‘you’re fired’ dude?”

“Oh my sweet summer child,” Inny responded, before taking another swig of her Mountain Dew. “Yeah, I mean, I thought the fact that Australia was on fire at the start of the year was going to be the only terrible thing I was going to tell you.” She laughed and shook her head ruefully, like that was some kind of funny joke.

“Australia was on fire?”

“Yeah. Parts of the US too, for a while. Orange skies. But since the country was basically on lockdown anyway, it wasn’t like it was very different to stay inside for that…” Jamie stared at the lady, then back at the adults. Parker didn’t look overly concerned, but then, she never really did. Eliot and Hardison were both frowning, though. There was no sign that this was some kind of elaborate prank Hardison was pulling on them with the help of one of Sophie’s acting friends. Besides, he was good, but not ‘fake opening a magic portal in the ceiling’ good. At least not within the five minutes Jamie had been in the other room.

After a litany of horrible things, which were apparently not even all of them, the woman stopped. “On the upside,” she said. “I perfected my banana bread recipe, Deeks met some alpacas, Leverage is getting a reboot, and I figured out why I probably keep dropping in here.”

“To remind us that things aren’t so bad like some messed up version of ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’?” Hardison guessed.

“Because Jamie is my OC,” she said, dropping a fucking bombshell like she just dropped out of the fucking ceiling. Jamie felt their brain fill with static, because no, they were a real person, and that either meant that this lady was full of bullshit, or, well, basically god. The Truman Show feeling returned ten times over. “This is my fanfic.”

Hardison recoiled a little. “No,” he whispered, fully understanding the implications of that. Hell, it was probably even weirder for him. Sure, knowing they were a TV show was probably cool, even more so with the reboot. But Fanfic Land didn’t fade to black and Jamie was pretty damn sure some kinky shit went on behind the soundproofed doors of their bedroom.

“Now, there’s two prevailing theories about this, as far as my internet rabbithole searches can tell,” Basically God Maybe continued. “Either I wrote this world into existence, because the multiverse is ever expanding and that is one of the ways it expands, or I just got some vibes from whatever crack between worlds keeps bringing me here and wrote down your shenanigans.”

At Parker and Eliot’s blank looks, Jamie clarified: “Basically, she’s either God or…”

“Some kind of shitty false prophet,” the lady on the beanbag chair beamed. “Probably the second one, honestly. My subconscious turns everything into a zombie apocalypse sooner or later, and you guys seem to be fine.”

Jamie whipped around to look at Hardison and Eliot, hopeful. “We’re fine, right?” they asked quickly. If anyone knew about a starting zombie apocalypse, it would be those two. Between Hardison poking around in basically every intelligence agency’s server ever and Eliot’s contacts, they’d know. God, Jamie hoped not. They were so not ready for a zombie apocalypse. Eliot hadn’t even taught them how to murder someone with an axe yet.

“We are definitely fine,” Hardison assured them.

“Yeah, I figured,” Not-God agreed. “If I had my say, Eliot would have stopped pining long before he did and kissed you guys.” Eliot grumbled and glared, probably because she was right. Parker patted him condescendingly on the head, which wasn’t helping matters.

The ceiling started crackling and glowing ominously. The lady put her can down as she slowly drifted off the beanbag, alien-abduction style. “Well, it’s been real. Be good, guys. Have some fun adventures. Ruin some rich douchebag’s day for me.”

“Will do,” Parker promised. “Say hi to your dog for me.” She got a thumbs up.

“Let us know how the reboot turns out,” Hardison said. Jamie figured it would probably fuck with the space-time continuum if she downloaded the show and brought it to them, but who knew. Maybe there was some kind of loophole for that, too. They were kind of curious to see what a Leverage show would look like. It probably had kickass fight-scenes.

“Stay safe,” Eliot said seriously. He’d been the most concerned about the talk of the pandemic, probably because you couldn’t punch it.

“Will do,” Inny shrugged. “I mean, 2021 can’t possibly be any worse, right?”

The portal crackled louder, which Jamie hoped wasn’t a sign. The lady was almost at the ceiling. She looked concerned, like she realised she just totally jinxed herself and the new year.

“Hey, just in case you are god,” Jamie called up. “Can you give me superpowers?”

The portal closed to the sound of laughter, and then there was silence. All that remained was a dent in the beanbag and an empty can of Mountain Dew.

“What the fuck,” they told the room at large.

“Yeah, you get used to it,” Parker said, before wandering off back to the blueprints she had been studying.

“I’m just gonna… check some things,” Hardison muttered, making a detour to the kitchen to grab a ginormous bottle of orange soda before getting behind his computer. “And buy a bunch of disinfectant and toilet paper, just in case.”

Eliot rolled his eyes, before bumping his shoulder against Jamie’s. “Come on,” he said.

“Come on where?” Jamie asked. “I’m having a bit of an existential crisis here.” If they were someone’s OC, did that mean that they didn’t have free will? Did it mean that all the cool things they had done the past year had only been because of some weird lady that fell out of the ceiling? Or did it mean-

“I’m gonna teach you to throw a knife so you can take out a zombie,” Eliot said.

Fuck that, the existential crisis could wait until 2am. They had more important things to do. Knife throwing would be fun and useful no matter if there was a zombie apocalypse or a pandemic, or they got superpowers.

[itzagothamcitysiren]

Welcome to the Family

I went missing for a few days, I’m sorry about that. I haven’t been feeling the greatest and had to put my dog down late Saturday night. So that was pretty rough. I’m still kinda meh, but felt some inspiration to sit down and finish what I have planned for you guys. 

So pretty much how these next few chapters will work is that they’ll each be about a different part in Jason and Halley’s relationship before and leading up to Death in the Family, because that’s coming up soon! 

Like You Imagined When You Were Young pt. 1

           Being back at Titan’s Tower was something Halley hadn’t quite been ready for. She’d been excited, of course, but she hadn’t been back to the Tower in almost two years now. She felt bad, not having the chance to visit really. She had fully dived into her life in Gotham, having been living in the manor for close to two years at this point now. Between school, being Nightshade, and her new found normal teenage life, she sort of pushed the Titan’s aside.

           She saw them all once over the summer for her sixteenth birthday when Dick threw her a pool party at the manor and invited the entire team. It had been a great day and she hadn’t realized how much she had missed them all. She wished she could make more time for them but she was reaching the end of her junior year of High School, and the pressure was already starting to be put on her and even Jason to get ready for college by not just her teachers but by Bruce.

           She was all too crazy about or good at school, only really having an interest in her English and History classes, and of course Journalism. Her talent for it came out of nowhere but she ran with it, finding herself getting excited as her teacher started talking about possible summer internships the school offered with different newspapers and outlets. Of course, only if all of her grades were good would she even be considered for the internship, so her hopes weren’t being set to high.

           At first she’d been pretty annoyed when Bruce told her that he was sending herself and Jason off to stay with the Titans for their winter break, him having to attend to Justice League business and wanted to give Alfred some time off while he was gone. Jason insisted that they’d be fine alone in the manor alone for two weeks but Bruce knew better. So after a phone call with Dick, they were now set up at the Tower until Bruce could come back.

           “So you really don’t want to check out the Tower with me? Babe, they got an entire room dedicated to obstacle courses! This place is better than the fuckin’ Batcave!” Jason said, clearly overly excited about their stay.

           “Jay, I’ve lived here before. I know everything this place has to offer.” She rolled her eyes but didn’t removed them from her laptop as she continued to furiously type away. “Also, watch your mouth. You never know who’s listening in this place.”

           “I’m pretty sure they won’t care if I say the word fuck,” Jason chuckled, plopping himself down on her bed. Resting his arms underneath his head, he looked up at the ceiling; he was so excited to be able to bring Robin out of Gotham without Bruce’s watchful eyes.

           “I didn’t mean that.” She laughed back, letting her head fall forward in amusement. She let her fingers halt their movements, feeling them grow cramped. Leaning back into her chair, she stretched out her muscles, satisfied when she heard a pop. She craned her head to look at Jason, still resting it against the head of the chair. “You called me babe.”

           “Oh dear me, I am so terribly sorry for calling my girlfriend babe.” He exclaimed, a little too loudly for her liking.

           “Jason!” She hissed, shooting him a warning look as he sat up from his spot.

           She watched him gingerly as he swept his feet over the bed until they rest on the floor. Placing his hands on his knees he pushed off them until he stood, walking the short distance from the bed to her. He stood behind the chair, placing his hands on her shoulders. Giving them a gentle squeeze, he began to massage them, feeling how tense she was from focusing so much on her school work.

           She relaxed slightly, forgetting how Dick or anyone could just barge right into her room at any second. She let her eyes close as Jason continued to move his fingers up and down her shoulders, squeezing and pulling the knots out. Before she could stop herself she let out a moan as he hit a particular spot. She hadn’t even realized the sound she made until she felt Jason’s lip on top of hers. Now completely and uttering in a trance she let herself moan again as he deepened the kiss and let his hands wander downwards, her feeling them brush against her chest-

           Her eyes shot open, seeing Jason’s face titled down above hers and smirked, playfully swatting his hands off of her. He let out a grunt, protesting but when she swatted at him a second time, he pouted but pulled away. She sniggered at him before patting his cheek gently with her hand.

           “You have a death wish don’t you?” She teased, pulling her chair forward and turning her attention back to her laptop that rested on her desk.

           “No, but I do wish to be able to do things to my girlfriend.” He pouted a second time, resting his upper body on the head of her chair.

           “You whine a lot,” She teased but softened her face when she found she was the only one who found her comment amusing. “Jay, come on,” she sighed, feeling bad but knew that this wasn’t like back at home. “It’s two weeks. You can wait two weeks.” She said, not only trying to reassure him but herself.

           “Says you,” he grumbled, turning around to go back onto her bed. He face planted into her pillows, muttering something under his breath that she couldn’t make out and didn’t bother to ask him to repeat.

           They’d been here for three days already, they were semi-almost halfway there. They could get through this, she once again repeated to herself, blushing as she thought about how silly their whole problem really was. It was actually quite comical actually, causing her to cover her mouth in order to suppress a giggle as she snuck a glance at Jason’s distressed form.

           They’d just started to be more intimate with each other, only having sex a handful of times now. She felt her cheeks burn just thinking about it, trying to focus back on her paper. Now wasn’t the time to be thinking of those things right now especially not while she was so close to finishing her English paper. But she had now found herself losing her train of thought completely. Her eyes trailed back to Jason only for her to shake her head and turning back to the screen.

           Dick’s room was right down the hall, along with Wally’s and Hank and Dawn’s; there was no way they wouldn’t be heard. Though, she knew Wally and Dick had gone out for the day, stating they’d come back around dinner time with pizza. And Hank and Dawn would most likely not be interested in spying on them in the slightest no matter how much Dick begged them.

           She found herself biting her thumb as she thought about it, until she ultimately saved her word document and shut her laptop silently. She slowly looked towards her door, knowing that it was locked but if Dick suspected anything he knew the code to unlock it. Taking another look at Jason she felt her thighs push themselves together deciding on taking a note from Jason’s book and say fuck it and stood up from her chair.

           As she rose up, she started to pull her shirt up until it was up over her shoulders and her head, tossing it down to the ground hurriedly. Jason heard her stand and lifted his head up enough to peer an eye out at her, a smirk pulling itself up on his face. She gave him a daring look as she moved to take off the rest of her clothes, knowing they’d have to be quick as there was only about an hour before dinner time.

           “You gotta be quiet though,” she warned him as he sat up, pulling her down onto the bed.

           “Oh yeah, sure,” he muttered sarcastically as he flipped them so she was beneath him. “I’ll be quiet.” He teased before leaning down to capture her lips with his own.

           The pair meshed together, their bodies moving in synth and making sure the other was taken care of. They’d begun to get a rhythm down, having learned what the other liked and what the other didn’t. It wasn’t awkward as the first couple of times, the first being something they still laughed in shared embarrassment about, both having been truly unsure of their movements. It wasn’t anything like it was now; now once they done their cheeks weren’t red from embarrassment but just from exhaustion.  

           Once Jason finished cleaning himself off, knotting off and throwing the condom in the trash barrel in her room’s bathroom, he returned to her bed. He crawled in next to her, pulling her back to his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around her, loving the feeling of her still naked body against his. She pushed up against him finding it comfortable in his warmth but knew they couldn’t stay this way forever.

           “We should get dressed,” she said sadly, wishing they hadn’t had to rush. She missed him, not used to not being able to share the same bed with him at night as Dick was still suspicious of them and did periodical bedroom checks at night.

           “Give me a minute.” Jason’s voice was muffled by her hair as he snuggled into her neck.

           “You’ve had a minute,” she said patting the arm that wrapped around her waist. She began to drag herself out of the bed, shivering from the lack of coverage. Jason’s hand trailing up and down her back also didn’t help with her growing goosebumps, she smirked as she reached down to pick up her underwear.

           Jason reluctantly followed, not instantly getting up to change but instead sitting up and leaning against the headboard to watch her change. He watched as she slipped her sports bra back on, wanting to frown as she did so but found himself smiling at the sight before him. He hadn’t thought they’d be where they were today. It wasn’t like he saw themselves not lasting long, but it was just hard to picture himself with someone like her.

           He didn’t know how she put up with him and was sure he’d annoyed her away from him. He was a hard person to get along with, being closed off and slow to open up. But the two off them had clicked almost instantly; almost, he had been quite the asshole to her at first, something he still apologized to her for. He wanted to think that he didn’t deserve her or more so that she could do better than him but he also wanted to think that he did deserve her. He’d been through enough where he thought he should at least have one good thing in his life.

           “You know I love you right?” He found himself saying as she pulled up her leggings.

           She paused once her pants were up over her hips, looking at Jayson after he spoke. Of course she knew that he loved her. Sure, they didn’t outwardly say it a lot, not really needing to. It was kind of an unspoken thing that only became spoken when it felt right or needed. She could remember them saying it two times, seriously at least, like it was yesterday.

           Obviously she remembered the first time they told each other. It had been a few dates after they first snuck out to go on a date together. This time they opted on going to a concert for one of Jason’s favorite bands. They told Bruce that they’d be out with Dylan and all of them, knowing that even though Bruce actually and surprisingly liked the Clash, he wouldn’t let them go to some punk show in a not so great area of Gotham.

           Halley had never been to a concert before and was somewhat afraid when she watched the crowd willingly thrashing their bodies together, knocking into each other and flaring their arms out. Moshing, was what Jason had called it but Halley just called it stupid. She tried to stay focus on the show, loving the sound of the pounding drums and heavy bass lines.

           Her favorite song from the band was being played when she saw a body come flying towards her. She clung to Jason like a child, pulling herself out of the way before she could be knocked down. She stayed like that for the next couple of songs and apparently the guy behind them thought her fear was hilarious and proceeded to shoved her into what Jason had also called the pit.

           She didn’t remember much, feeling herself enraged as she was pushed around and prodded by elbows and other body parts. She pushed her way out in a matter of minutes even though it felt longer. Her hair was a mess and her shirt was slightly jerked up, revealing her stomach; she hadn’t even realized she lost her beanie until she had gotten home that night.

           She saw Jason and the older guy who pushed her arguing, Jason clearly pissed that he had done so. She was going to grab Jason’s arm and pull him away, not wanting to chance him breaking into a fight because Jason would obviously lay the guy flat on his ass if that had happened but she stopped herself. The guy was either drunk or just didn’t care about punching a kid right in their face because that’s exactly what he did, after vulgarly declaring that he should “take his bitch home” and that it was past their bedtime.

           She marched right up to him, cutting Jason off as he was about to punch him back with his free hand; his other was now holding his bloody nose. She stared up at the guy, her eyes almost venomous and found herself stomping on his foot with her platform combat boots she had just bought. As he cried out, calling her a bitch again, she raised her leg, kneeing him as hard as she could in his groin. He reeled forward in pain and she used it as leverage to use her favorite move and flip him over her shoulders.

           She didn’t care if it was excessive but she was mad. The people around them parted, some laughing, some sneering at the teenagers. Her heart pounded at the sudden attention but focused on Jason when his hand grabbed hers. His face looked ecstatic as he smiled widely at her with wide eyes, the blood from his nose now dripping onto his t-shirt.

           “I fuckin’ love you,” He shouted before catching himself.

           “You-you do?” She stammered, slightly shouting so he could hear her.

           Jason looked down, having some difficulty maintaining eye contact with her as he realized what he had just revealed. He’d only just come to terms with his feelings and recognizing them as love towards her. He let out a shallow breath before nodding. “Erm, yeah. I do. I love you,”

           “Oh.” She said feeling her toes curling up in her boots. “I- um, I love you too.”

           The other time they had exchanged I love you’s hadn’t been so harmless in retrospect. It had been on Halloween night and Scarecrow of course thought it was the perfect time to test out his new fear gas. With the help of the G.C.P.D. they were able to subdue the leak and affected people into one area of the city as Bruce, and with the help of Lucius Fox, rushed to make an antidote.

           It had been the first time they were allowed to patrol alone, Batman needing more ground covered. He even called in Nightwing and Batgirl for backup. Halley had met Barbara once, liking her but never worked with her; it felt weird working with another female on the team.

           When Nightshade dropped down from above after seeing a little boy being cornered by a group of clearly infected men she wasn’t prepared for them to get the upper hand; she was too focused on grabbing the boy and getting him to safety. She knocked down most of them but one had snuck up behind her, crying about how she was some sort of demon or whatever; who knew what he was seeing. He punched her in the face, cracking her gas mask as her head was slammed into the concrete, knocking her out cold.

           Robin had swooped down, taking them down easily as they were now distracted. When they were all down, he saw how her mask was cracked and panicked, not wanting the gas that was still in the air to affect her. Without thinking he ripped his own mask off and replaced hers with it.

           When Nightshade came too, she noticed the child had already ran away but she was still not alone. Robin laid a little away from her, curled up into himself as he cried. It didn’t take long before she realized what he did and freaked out. Why would he do that? She rushed over to him and didn’t flinch when he jumped at her touch. He was stammering on about his mother, her noting him crying for someone to stop.

           “Hey! It’s me!” she shushed, brushing his hair out of his face, noting how he was sweating. Without a thought she clicked her emergency signal on her belt, knowing that there were hundreds of others who needed help but she could only see Jason. “You’re okay, I got you. Ja- Robin,” She corrected herself, trying to keep herself from having a panic attack. “Robin, you’re okay.”

           The next morning Jason woke up in his bed with the worst migraine he’d ever had in his life. It didn’t take long before it all came back to him and he let out a loud groan. He’d never hallucinated that hard in his life. He’d been sprayed with fear gas once before and had to be put under anesthesia when he broke his leg really bad during his first year of being Robin and thought those times were bad but holy shit was last night a rough, he thought.  He swore he was back hiding under the dining room table in his parent’s shitty apartment as they went through one of the bouts.

           “You’re awake!”

           He looked to his left to see Halley, looking more exhausted than he probably did, sitting on a chair next to his bed. He felt bad, clearly seeing how worried she looked, before he could apologize she punched his upper arm. He cried out, “Ow! What the hell was that for?”

           “You scared me, you asshole!” She shouted. She hushed herself, not wanting to bring the attention of Alfred or Bruce into the room.

           She brushed her hair over her shoulder before looking towards the door. Looking back at Jason she stood from the chair and leaned down to pull his face to hers, giving him a rough kiss. When she pulled away, her eyes searched his, as if making sure the antidote Bruce and Fox came with was really working.

           “Why would you do that? I can’t believe you did that!” She hissed, feeling her eyes water up, remembering his face being so afraid of her touch last night. “I love you so much and you shouldn’t have taken your mask off.”

           “I took my mask off ‘cause I love you.”  Jason teased, somewhat enjoying her fretting. She slapped him again causing him to laugh and concede, reaching to grab her hand in surrender.

           “Gross, that’s so cheesy, Todd.” She scrunched her face up and snorted.

           Halley stopped her train of thought when she saw Jason give her a confused look, wondering why she just suddenly froze. She took her head, looking around to find where she had thrown her shirt. She couldn’t find it and instead just threw on Jason’s, not even thinking twice about it.

           “Yeah I know.” She said as she straightened it out over her. She looked up at him curiously, “I love you too. What’s wrong?”

           “Nothing’s wrong,” he waved her off. It was true, he was completely satisfied at the moment. Well not completely; he had wished that she was back underneath the covers with him and her clothes were back on the floor.

           “You sure?” she pressed, grabbing his boxers off her floor and tossing them to him.

           “Yeah,” he assured, catching the material in his hands. “I just wanted to tell you I loved you that’s all. You know? I love you, don’t make it weird.” He shrugged, feeling heat rush back up to his cheeks.

           His awkwardness was adorable to her and she couldn’t help but feel her features soften. With a light chuckle she moved towards the bed, jumping onto it and on him. He huffed, telling her to go easy has she roughly made her way on top of him, straddling his waist. She could still feel him underneath her clothes and seats and hummed. Maybe they did have time for another go?  

           Jason got the same idea just from the look in her eyes and was already pushing his shirt off of her as his lips attacked her neck. Halley let out a soft moan, grinding her hips down. She was about to raise her arms so he could remove the shirt from her torso but both teens froze, hearing the sound they dreaded hearing: the sound of a code being entered into the keypad outside of Halley’s door.

[wisdom-walks-alone]

maybe someday i’ll come back to you

Dick and Damian centric. Emotional hurt/comfort. Hurt Damian Wayne. Amnesiac Dick Grayson (Ric). Coming out. 3019 words.

Summary:

"Do you wanna come in?"

He wants to say no. But there's a pang in his chest, a desperate ache for someone who no longer exists, and he finds himself saying yes.

In which there's only one person that Damian would want to go to for comfort.

Shoutout to the AMAZING @darlinglissa for betaing this!

read it on ao3

The key feels familiar in Damian's hand, familiar like the pattern on the carpet and the musty smell of the hallway. He stares at it, feels it between his fingers and fidgets with it. His grip tightens as he feels his expression sour. If he wanted to, he could put the key in the doorknob, turn it, hear the lock click and push the door open. It would be so easy.

But he can't do that. Damian knows this, so he doesn't. Instead, he pockets the key, and he lifts his hand to knock. But all of his usual confidence and self-assuredness suddenly evaporates, and he hesitates, staring up at the numbers on the door and catching his lip between his teeth. Dropping his hand, Damian steps back to lean against the wall and lets himself slide to the floor, still staring up at the numbers on the apartment door.

This was a stupid idea, he tells himself. He shouldn't have come here.

Just as he's about to get up and leave, the door swings open. "Can I help you?" asks his brother. Except it's not his brother, Damian has to remind himself. His brother is dead.

"No, no," he replies, standing up quickly and dusting himself off. "I was just leaving. Sorry to bother you."

Before he can make it more than a few steps down the hallway, Dick's voice calls after him. "Kid, wait." Damian looks back and sees the man biting his lip as if contemplating something before shaking his head in resignation. "Do you wanna come in?"

Damian stares at him and blinks, not quite processing what he just said. The man just raises an eyebrow at him and tilts his head. Well?

He wants to say no. But there's a pang in his chest, a desperate ache for someone who no longer exists, and he finds himself saying yes.

For what it's worth, the apartment hasn't changed much. There's a few pieces of clothing he doesn't recognize draped over various pieces of furniture, but it's the same mess all the same. Some things just never change, Damian supposes. 

The pictures are gone, though. Dick always kept pictures around his apartment, dozens of them. Damian has a mental catalogue of every single one and where it hung or sat framed on a shelf. All that's there now are bare walls and the ghosts of a thousand memories.

"Do you want something to drink?" Dick's voice comes from the kitchen.

"If it is not too much trouble," Damian answers, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Thank you for your hospitality, Richard."

"Ric is fine."

"That is duly noted, Richard."

He can hear a deep sigh from the kitchen. "I've got coffee, coke, and… You're a kid so you probably don't drink, so, uh, do you want some apple juice? Orange juice?"

Damian scoffs. "I am fifteen years old, I am not a child."

"So, a coke then?"

"Do you have tea?"

"Uh." There's some shuffling sounds as Damian imagines him rummaging through the cabinets. "Yeah. I have earl gray or chamomile-"

"Do you have jasmine?" Damian asks, biting back a little bit of hope.

"Um, I don't think…" There's some more rummaging, then a surprised, "Oh, yeah, I do have jasmine."

Something tugs at his heart as a wry smile tugs at his lips. Dick hated jasmine tea, but he always kept a box of it for Damian. He knew it was his favorite. Memories of late night post patrol drinks as Batman and Robin come to mind, Dick telling Alfred to surprise him as they began to unwind in the cave. Dick never minded what beverage he had after patrol, but Damian always had jasmine tea.

His eye catches on something laying on the arm of the couch, and he picks it up to inspect it. The hockey jersey from the game Dick took him to for his fourteenth birthday. It was the poorly named Gotham City Penguins against the Star City Icewalkers. Gotham had won eight-to-two, and Dick had insisted they get matching jerseys of the player who scored the winning goal. Damian had scoffed and turned his nose at the idea then, but now he wishes with every inch of his body that he could go back.

There's a laundry basket at his feet next to the couch, and he's about to drop the jersey into it when he sees a woman's blouse laying inside.

A woman has been staying here.

Damian internally shivers at the thought and drops the jersey into the basket.

He wanders back to the small dining table and reaches for a chair that has a jacket draped over the back. It's one of Jason's jackets, Damian registers, that Dick borrowed and evidently never returned. He pulls the chair out and sits as Richard emerges from the kitchen with two cups, setting one in front of Damian before taking a seat across from him.

"It's Damian, isn't it?" Richard starts, and Damian pretends his insides don't twist a little at that.

"Yes," he answers, sniffing his cup of tea as he brings it to his lips and takes a sip. The warmth of it pools in his chest, the familiar taste dancing on his taste buds, and for a moment he can imagine he’s ten years old again, sitting at the table in the batcave after a night of patrol. Damian has to keep himself from chasing the euphoria of it before he chugs the whole thing in one go.

Richard takes a sip of his own drink. "So, what brings you here, Damian?" he asks, but he looks like he already knows the answer.

"I…" Damian licks his lip and bites down on it as he struggles with his words, blinking hard. He'd avoided voicing his feelings on the matter, had avoided the subject altogether for the last few months. He hadn't talked about it with anyone, not Father, not Tim or Barbara, not even Alfred. He hadn't even allowed himself much time to think about it as he spent countless nights in the cave training, trying to escape from his own thoughts. "I—I just miss him, I suppose." Richard just makes a humming noise.

"I'm sorry, and I know you've probably heard that a million times, but that's really all I can say." He looks at Damian sympathetically, but Damian looks away to stare into his drink. "I know it must be hard, and that it really sucks, but I need you to know that I'm not-"

"I am well aware that my brother died that night," Damian interrupts, his grip on his cup tightening. He takes a second to concentrate on his breathing, then lets the warmth of the cup on his hands ground him as he finally looks up.

The man in front of him doesn't look like Dick, not really. His hair is still short from when it had been shaved, which gives a perfect view of the ugly scar above his ear, and he carries himself in a way that Damian’s never seen with his brother, not even when undercover. But he's looking at Damian with the same kind, patient eyes that he knows so well, and Damian bursts into tears.

-

Ric isn't sure why he invited the kid in. Maybe it was how sad and dejected he looked, the way he seemed already so resigned. Maybe it was the way he hadn't barged in here insisting that he remember memories he doesn’t have and that he be someone he’s not. Maybe it was the fact that he was about to leave.

Whatever the reason was he’d done it. He didn't mean to, he’d just blurted it out. Something just told him he couldn't let the kid go. As soon as the offer had come out of his mouth Ric knew it was a mistake. Or, at least, he thought it would be.

This time is different, Ric can feel it. He’d expected another desperate “family” member begging him to come home to a place he doesn’t remember ever being to. For tears and pleas and mentions of moments he doesn’t recall in the hopes that there’s one that he will. But the kid just looked at him like a kicked puppy and tried to run away.

He couldn’t just kick a puppy to the curb.

The kid—Damian, if he remembered correctly—had defied all of Ric’s expectations. He was quiet and didn’t make any attempt at conversation, didn’t make any move to initiate the dance he’s done countless times with Bruce and Barbara. And for the first time since waking up in this mess Ric feels bad—really bad, not just the obligatory pity.

And now, fuck, now the kid was crying. It’s not like Ric hasn’t dealt with crying before, Barbara had cried plenty. But this is different, somehow.

“Shit, hey, kid, I—”

“Fuck, fuck,” Damian swears breathily, the sweatshirt sleeves that are too long for his arms covering the heels of his hands as he digs them into his eyes. He hunches into himself, his chair skidding back a few inches, still cursing and trying desperately to reign in his sobs. “Fuck, I—I’m sorry, I should go.”

He stands up abruptly and swiftly starts toward the door, ducking his head, but Ric reaches out and catches him by the arm. "Hey, shit, kid, wait a minute, just… Don't—don't go." Damian stares at him, that kicked puppy look mixing with deer in headlights, tears still prickling at his eyelashes. Ric doesn't take his hand away, just stares back pleadingly.

He's not sure why, but he just can't stand to let the kid leave in tears.

Damian stares at him for a long time, green eyes scrutinizing him, all the hurt written as plain as day on his face. When he finally speaks it’s sharp, barely above a whisper. “Why shouldn’t I?”

The question stumps him, it packs a punch he wasn’t expecting, and Ric is left with his mouth hanging open looking for words that don't come. “Look,” he finally manages to get out, “I just want to talk. You were there when I woke up, weren’t you? So you must’ve been important to me, right?”

The words feel wrong on his tongue, but they're all he could come up with to try and get the kid to stay, his efforts to separate himself from that guy be damned.

It must have been the wrong thing to say, though, because anger flares in the kid’s face, mouth contorting in a sneer. “You’re not him,” he spats, eyes like ice. “You’ll never be him, so you can stop trying.”

Ric doesn’t know what to say to that. Shocked, he lets go of Damian’s arm and slumps back in his chair. And that’s when it hits him that this is the first person who doesn’t expect him to be Dick Grayson, doesn’t want him to try to be. He laughs at the irony of it, which clearly startles Damian. “You're right,” Ric says, “I’m not him. And I don't want to be him. I don't know if I’ll ever be him again, I don't think he’s here anymore.” He taps himself on the head. “But you look like you need to talk. To him or about him, whatever you need to get off your chest, and I’m offering you a chance to do that in one way or another. So if you wanna sit back down and talk about it or get the hell out of here, that’s up to you, and it doesn't matter much to me either way.”

That's kind of a lie; he'll feel guilty as hell if the kid leaves now, leaves angry, but it doesn't look like he needs to worry about that as the kid sighs and slumps back into his seat. He looks tired.

“It’s stupid,” he says quietly, leaning forward on the table and rubbing a hand over his face. “It’s pathetic. I just…I miss him so much. Not that it matters to you, but Grayson—Dick was my most trusted confidant. There has been…a lot on my mind, recently. There is a lot I wish I could tell him.” 

This kid just looks so lost and alone, and Ric’s heart aches for him. Ric doesn't know how to say that it does matter to me, kid, just not in the same way it would matter to him.

The kid looks like he’s about to break down again, and for the first time Ric wishes for all the world that he could be Dick Grayson.

Instead, he settles for something else. “Look, kid, it’s not stupid and…and it’s not pathetic. It’s normal and understandable. You miss him, and…he was obviously important to you.” He sighs, runs a hand over his face roughly. “Listen, I’m not going to sit here and try to be anything close to what he was to you. But I’m offering something else.”

Damian smiles ruefully. “I wouldn’t know where to start.”

Ric smiles in a way he hopes is encouraging. “Well, why don't you start with what brought you here? Did anything happen or…were you just missing him?”

Damian ducks his head, and Ric thinks there’s something like a blush painting his cheeks. “Yes, well, that actually is stupid.”

“Come on, kid.”

“It is trivial,” Damian corrects. “It’s stupid that something like this is what brought me here.”

“Try me.”

Damian sucks in a breath and releases it through his nose, closing his eyes. “I kissed my best friend yesterday.”

Ric has to laugh out loud at that. “What, so you think just because you dress up in spandex at night and punch criminals you’re not allowed to have normal teenager problems? Those bat-freaks really did a number on you, huh.” Damian just scoffs.

“It’s trivial. It’s insignificant. In the grand scheme of things—”

“You’re allowed to be a teenager, dude. No matter what freaky night job you might have, you’re allowed to have feelings. Man, has no one really told you that? That’s—”

“Dick would have.”

And Ric stops in his tracks.

Damian’s gaze shifts down to his lap. “That’s why I’m here.”

“Oh.”

It’s quiet for a minute. Damian fidgets in his seat, and Ric tries to think of what to say next.

“Well…” He finally breaks the silence. “What happened after you kissed your friend? How did she react?”

Damian laughs sadly, humorlessly. Ric just tilts his head. “I don’t know. I didn’t stick around for his reaction.”

Oh.

“Oh, shit, kid, this is something Dick would’ve known about isn't it, I’m sorry.”

“No,” Damian shakes his head, “he didn’t—I mean, he knew Jon was my best friend, but he didn’t know—”

“Oh, kid.”

“Yeah.”

“Does anyone else…?”

The kid lets out a strangled sound. “I wanted him to be the first one I told.”

“I am so sorry, kid.”

“I know you are.”

It’s quiet again. The kid cries softly, and Ric waits for him to get a hold of himself again. “So you kissed your best friend,” he reiterates. “And you didn’t stay for his reaction. Is there anything that he’s done that makes you think he’d react badly?”

“No,” Damian answers instantly. “He wears his heart on his sleeve. He’s the kindest person I’ve ever met.”

“So what’s the worst that could happen?” Damian looks at him and gives him a look that begs him to understand. Ric huffs out a laugh. “You’re afraid of rejection.”

The kid looks away quickly, a scoff on his lips. 

“Everyone gets scared of rejection, kid. That’s normal.” Damian still won’t look at him. “I get it. You’re afraid of what this means for your friendship. You’re afraid things’ll be weird.”

Damian nods slowly. “Yes, to all of that, but…I am also afraid of what would happen if…if he…”

“If he reciprocates,” Ric finishes. Damian nods again, finally looking back up at him.

“I’ve never been in a relationship before,” he admits. “I think I am the worst person you could be in a relationship with.”

Ric’s heart stutters a little at that. “Listen, kid, everyone deserves to be happy. Don't let what you think of yourself get in the way of that.”

The kid tucks into himself again, rubbing his arm. “Jon is too good for me. I would just corrupt him.”

“Would Jon say that?”

“No—”

“Well there you go.” Ric grins at him. “Talk to him. If he’s as great as you say he is I’m sure only good things can come from it.”

Slowly, Damian nods. “Yes. You are right.” He looks up. “Thank you.” And Ric can tell he means it.

“Anytime,” Ric replies, and maybe he means it, too. He gives the kid a small smile, and he’s pleased when it’s returned.

“I should…I should get going.” Damian stands and pushes in his chair. He stops, as if suddenly remembering something. “You might want this back,” he says, digging something out of his pocket and holding it out. It’s a key.

Before he can think about it too much, Ric makes a decision. “Keep it,” he says easily. And then, before he can think too hard again, “I meant it when I said anytime.”

Damian doesn’t try to hide his surprise, just stares at Ric for a long moment before sticking the key back in his pocket. “Thank you,” he says softly. “Thank you, Ric.”

Ric smiles, nods genially. “Anytime, kid.” And as the kid makes his way to the door, Ric makes one more split second decision. “And kid?” Damian turns around in the doorway. “Call me Dick.”

The kid looks startled for a second, but then he smiles a little, huffs out a little laugh. He says one last thing before he turns around and leaves. “Thanks, Dick.”

-

When Damian leaves, he feels lighter. As if all the weight he’s been carrying around has finally dissipated. He still misses Dick, the real Dick, but this isn’t so bad. It’s not the same, but it’s not completely different, either.

[kimberly-spirits13]

For Wandering Dreamers (Pt 1)

Pairing: Damian Wayne x reader

Synopsis: After hearing your parents argue about something for what feels like the zillionth time that night, you escape to your books and comics for some escaping of reality. Just as the argument ends with slamming doors, a note and locket landed on your bed. Inscribed on the note was a promise of new adventures and a better life awaiting you.

Warnings: Mentions of fighting and terrible parents, attempted rape on random person (not character or anyone significant), language

Word Count: 2482

You shut the door of your bedroom after hearing your parents arguing about something for what felt like the billionth time that night. Just for precaution, you locked it hoping that they wouldn’t come in to get you to settle an argument. Oh, how you hated life. It was a terrible, worthless, annoying piece of garbage that eventually fucked everyone over. The only thing that you had to distract yourself was your books, and your comics. It was a world of escape that was so simple, yet so complex and distant. The objects were for any lost soul, bound to a place and reality where they could not help the need to float away from at times. Seeing the problems of the characters play out on the pages and eventually be solved was a comfort for some. It was to you at least. You sat down at your bed with one of your books. Tonight, you would be embarking on the adventures of Batman in your graphic novel.

           It didn’t take long before you were totally and completely engulfed in the book. The action of it all and the keen problem solving of the world’s greatest detective was enough to pull anyone in. You almost didn’t notice the strange piece of paper and pendent drop onto your bed. You wouldn’t have if you didn’t hear a door slam in the background. You looked down seeing the gold piece of paper. It looked like it had fallen from the heavens the way the color was so untarnished. The pendant looked that out of a fairy tale, gems of all sorts outlining it and a silver base. You saw that in elegant white lettering was inscribed a message. It read as so,

           “Pack your things and leave your cares for new adventure awaits everywhere. To and froe, here and there, the words inscribed will take you erase all cares. Reality will sleep and dreams come to play but you may return any day. No time will change and life you may live but for a lovely vacation, at your service this pendant is. Take the pendent and repeat the top, for awaiting you are worlds of unmatched beauty and action. Made for lost souls and wandering dreamers, here you may leave this place of pain- stricken fever.”

           “This is a joke.” You mumbled aloud. And then again why not test it to find out, “Fine.” “If this really is some magical pendant or something to take me away, I’m ready to go, 100%.”

           You noticed that it was a locket, large enough to store the little note. So, with this, you folded gently the piece of golden paper and tucked it ever so neatly into the locket. You then decided that you would take your most valuable asset. Books. It was important that you took ones that you might find most important and then a few that you hadn’t read. There should be food on the worlds. I mean, there always is. But then again... You grabbed your hidden food stash and notebook plus a few pens.

           “Well how do I know where I am going?” You asked to the paper.

           Another piece dropped on your bed and you look up. This one wasn’t in rhyme so you assumed that whoever was making it just got tired of having to make up weird quest like pieces to please the book worms.

           “To assure your location think of the place you would like to go as you repeat the verse.”            

           “Thanks.” You said half expecting to see another piece float down with a, “You’re welcome.” scribbled on it.

           You thought of where you wanted to go and then looked down at your Batman book.

           “I want to meet the people that raised me.” You stated grabbing that book and your entire DC character guide.

           You had learned from all of your studying how to solve mysteries. You had decided at a young age that the only way to not end up like those around you was to do better than everyone else around you. That wasn’t a hard thing to do, however, it meant long hours studying and working to be the best.  You had however thought that if nothing else worked, bringing this to the cave would be a sure- fire great way to make Batman take you in. You also took your knife that your Karate teacher had gifted you once you joined the adult league at the youngest age there. They knew that it was something that you might need even though a few months of boxing and years of Karate was already under your belt.

           You stuffed all of this in your bag including some hygiene things and a few sets of new clothes. Man, your bag was stuffed, however the duffle would just have to carry all of this. The back of your book had a map of the DC World. In it, was a map of the Batcave and from different shows that you had seen you had noted the best ways to get inside. I mean sure, you could just go get yourself into trouble or go just knock on the front door, but, this sounded more fun. You started to read the note before thinking about something, you had better take your phone and charger just in case.

           “Okay here we go.” You read the top part of the note aloud thinking of where you wanted to go.

           Without any more notice, a bright purple mist was spiraling up your legs, and then torso, and then you were completely wrapped around in it before it suddenly disappeared. You looked around seeing that you were in an alley way and your bag was on your back.

           “Oh, thank God.” You sighed in relief glad that your things came through, “Okay first order of business.” You got your knife out of the side pocket of your bag and then locked it so that no small potential Robins could pick pocket you. The knife was for extra protection. You knew that the street life in Gotham was wild so it was better to be possibly over cautious than sorry.

           “Alright, next I need to get to a roof top.” You mumbled looking around for a fire escape or something to aid you.

           “Watcha doin on a night like this pretty?” You heard from a small distance away.

           “Please, l-leave me alone. I have kids to get back to.” There was a woman’s voice along with the other.

           “Come here sweetheart, if you play nicely I might just let you go.” He said before you heard a slap and then him becoming visibly angry, “Why you little bitc...”

           “Great Gotham! Didn’t your mother ever teach you how to treat a lady?” You asked the man throwing an empty beer bottle at his head. “Oh, thank Gotham for having the drunks.” You thought.

           He looked at you and dropped the woman before running at you.

           “Aye mate!” You said in a funny accent, “I guess she never did.” You stabbed him in the shoulder causing him to holler out in pain before you drop kicked him and knocked him out with the base of the other bottle that you found.

           “Ms., please call the police. I suggest that you find somewhere safe. I can walk with you if you’d like. I’m a black belt.” You remarked to the terrified woman, “Hey, you’re alright now, and your kids will still have a mamma to come home to.” You helped her up and then pointed to an open drug store, “I know that this is Gotham and it sucks at night, but it might be your best chance.” “I’ll stay here and make sure that he doesn’t get away.”

           “T-thank you.” She said, “Do you need any help, a young lady shouldn’t be out here at night.”

           “Oh, no thank you. I am just fine.” You answered, “Now please, I don’t really know how efficient the GCDP is after 9 so if you don’t mind, my cell is dead.”

           She nodded and crossed the street to the Gotham Drugstore.

           “Well, I guess B will have to wait for a few minutes.” You said.

           You stopped suddenly when you heard someone drop behind you.

           “Supervillain or Bat?” You asked.

           “Robin actually.” You heard in response, “That was impressive from someone just off the streets. Is it true that you are a black belt? Karate I presume?” He asked just as you turned around.

           “Omg you’re Dam...” You stopped yourself, “I can’t say that with him here never mind.” “Oh, I’m Y/N to answer your question, and yes I am a blackbelt in Karate. Glad that you noticed.”

           “Wait... you know my name?” He asked, “How?” He took out his swords and you took a nope step backwards.

           “Woah, calm down there. I’m from a different universe where you and this entire universe are in comics.” “Cliché I know. I just discovered I could travel here 10 minutes ago.” “I have proof too.”

           “Fine. Come with me.” He said as he grabbed your waist and shot the grapple up making the two of you fly to the top of the building.

           You blushed for a quick second almost noticing that he did the same.

           “Show me your evidence.” He demanded.

           “Very well.” You plopped your bag onto the rooftop and pulled out the Batman comic and character guide.

           “Damian Wayne?” You looked up at him as he sat down.

           “C-correct.”

           “And Nightwing is Dick, Hood is Jason, Red is Tim, Batgirl is Steph, or is she Cass right now?” You asked.

           “No, Brown is Batgirl.” He affirmed.

           “Okay so that means Black Bat is Cass, B is Bruce, Batwoman is Kate, Oracle is Babs...” You were about to go on before he stopped you.

           “Okay, okay, I believe you please don’t share this to the entire city.” He smirked some.

           “Oh, trust me, I won’t.” You put your hands up and showed him the pendant, “I came here because this necklace thing and a note on how to use it landed on my bed in the said different universe.” “It’s addressed to lost souls and wandering dreamers but my first thought was to come here and meet the heroes that raised me as a kid.”

           “Excuse me for being so brash but, do you not have parents?” Robin asked.

           “Poor excuses for them.” You answered, “But yes, I do.” “However, I was never raised by them at all. It was always books and comics that did. I learned to solve mysteries and started homeschooling on top of regular school at a young age (I actually do this with a friend of mine it isn’t easy but we have big dreams lol). Wonder Woman and Batman taught me a lot so I just wanted to come and meet them.”

           “And you thought saving a civilian was the way to do it?” He asked interested in your story.

           “No actually, I know where the cave is and figured I would go there as a start, but you know Gotham is weird like that.” You answered laughing some.

           “You know where the cave is?” He asked floored at the statement.

           “Duh, there’s a map in the back.” You smiled some flipping it to the very back of the book, “There’s also the Fortress of Solitude.”

           “Impressive. Wait... do you know who the Joker is?” Damian questioned as you packed the bag up.

           “Give me a place to stay and I might just help with that.” You replied standing up and giving a hand for him.

           “Deal.” He then stopped, “If you really know where the cave is, show me.”

           “Okay.” You shrugged, “What building is this?”

           “We’re near the bank, it’s this way.” He took you to the bank top and you smiled looking over what you knew as Gotham.

           “Alrighty. Let’s go.”

           The two of you made it to the cave in what was almost record time, though he wouldn’t admit it, he was very much impressed by you in multiple ways. The two of you walked in talking some before you were stopped.

           “Robin who is this?” A stern voice came.

           “Batman this is...” You cut Damian off.

           “Mr. Wayne, I’m Y/N. I came from a different universe where you guys are all in comics and books and basically are fictional.” You said, “And it is totally normal that I know who you are so you can stop internally freaking out.” “Also, the famous Batman “I am the night” monologue is fabulous and I recommend you do it more often.” You laughed some at the last part as Bruce was shocked to see that you knew all of this and that his son of all people was okay with you.

           “Show him the books Y/N.” Damian suggested.

           “Oh yes. Good idea.” You said opening the bag, “It isn’t every day you get to meet your childhood hero so I’m over here internally freaking out to be honest.” You smiled flipping to the page that had Batman plastered all over it before passing it to Bruce who now saw no point in keeping his mask on since now he knew that you knew who everyone is.

           “So, “The Adventures of Batman”?” He asked giving the famous bat-smirk.

           “Not only that, but you have a ton of animated series, movies, and even appearances in things like “Justice Leauge Unlimited” and a bunch of other forms of entertainment. The others do as well.” “You guys, well Wonder Woman, not really Clark, yourself, and a bunch of others were better parents then the ones I have at home. I practically dedicated my life to learning everything that I could and solving cases because of you all.” You took the book back, “I figured that bringing this book would help solve even more and maybe get Timothy to sleep.” You smiled some packing it away.

           “Father, Y/N took down someone that was 2 times larger than her and was going to rape a young woman.” “Apparently she’s a black belt in Karate which is believable with the form that I witnessed.”

           “Well, Y/N. Do you have anywhere to go?” Bruce asked, “I trust that my son knows what he’s doing and don’t entirely doubt your story.”

           “I mean I have no where besides home in the different universe. Trust me when I tell you that I do not want to go home.” You said in a serious tone throwing Bruce off some since you had been so kind and upbeat, “It’s not pretty there.”

           “Very well, I will have Alfred show you to your bedroom.”

           “I GET TO MEET ALFRED?” You almost blew up in excitement, “Sorry, Alfred is just awesome.” You laughed awkwardly some.

           That was the most eventful night of your life, and unbeknownst to you, life was only going to get wilder.

Note: I have been wanting to write this for a minute. I know that it is a bit cliché, however, I wanted to put a spin on it with the book and mad detective skills. I remember back when my family was going through some pretty shitty times, music and books were my go to escape when sleep stopped working. Also, as stated in the story, my friend and I do actually do homeschool on top of actual school. He wants to go to Harvard and I Oxford so we’re working hard lol. Anyways, I hope you’re having a wonderful week. If you have any requests, please feel free to send them in. If you pick up on anything you’d like to correct me on, please go right ahead and message me, I love fixing mistakes and being better at writing. I hope that you have a lovely week and stay safe and healthy. 😊

(PS: Thank you so much for all of the sweet messages! They make my day when I read them.)

[thewriterwithnoplan]

Fire, Brimstone and the Glory of Gotham (Part 1)

Summary: Bart Allen always seems to know something about something. Strange facts or secrets or theories gifted to him from his soulmate. This ‘gift’ along with his forbidden speed wielding abilities, get him landed smack bang in the center of the Gotham Resistance - an army fighting against the Reach with the help of villains and assassins. Tangled up with the Council of Robins - an elitist group of heroic descendants - and their fearless leader Y/N Drake AKA Commander Apocalypse, Bart must navigate this new environment like a minefield. Because one wrong step could bring his life and the lives of every last human being, to a short and bitter end. Pairing: Bart Allen x Reader Word Count: 2377 Warnings: Probably swearing.

The Reach liked to say that Humans had brought this upon themselves. With their medalling heroes and their strange customs. They liked to blame the Earth itself for being so enticing with its meta-humans and its soulmates. It had only been a matter of time before an alien race had discovered the true power human's harbored and decided to take it for themselves.

Sometimes Y/N wondered if the Reach would have left them well enough alone without soulmates. Not that she'd ever wanted a soulmate or even given the concept much thought. But the arrival of the Reach had put humanity at an impasse, and it was common knowledge nowadays that soulmates were not something to celebrate.

In fact, many couples despised each other or went as far as getting rid of their soul bound. Significant others or relationships of any kind were far too dangerous in the modern era. Why would you want a soulmate when the most they could do was give you more to worry about? Honestly, Y/N couldn't see the appeal and that was perhaps the only thing that had kept her alive all these years.

"Ready?" Mari' Grayson – Y/N's closest thing to a sister – nudged her softly, green-glowing eyes innocently curious. The H/C haired girl kept her eyes trained dutifully forward, watching the digital numbers flash above them, announcing their acescent through the elevator shaft.

"Kind of feeling the mode actually," She answered honestly.

Y/N hated choosing ceremonies. Hand-picking someone to put their life on the line in order to help them in their war against the Reach. But it was one of her most important jobs as Commander of the Gotham Resistance. If she chose wrong and they accidentally divulged secrets to a spy, the entire operation could come crumbling down. It was one of the few things that Y/N despised about her life; the fact that she had to send people to their deaths and the fact that said people were willingly lining up for it.

"Have you seen the line up yet?" Mari' asked as she repositioned her tiara and brushed off her purple vigilante outfit, appearing far too old to be a mere ten years old. "Riding Hood says there'll be mostly civilians like usual, but apparently one of the descendants is going to come. Crash, huh?"

"A descendant? As in, child of one of the old heroes?" Y/N frowned at the too eager nod she received from Mari', "Haven't seen a new one of them in a good few years. Speaking of Riding Hood where is Jocelyn? I thought one of the Todds would want to be here especially if there's supposed to be a descendant."

"Uncle Jason has them off patrolling Star City." The young girl shrugged, raven curls bouncing with the gesture. "Apparently the Arrows called in a Code Blue."

"They saw Blue Beatle, and nobody thought to tell me?"

"They asked specifically for the Todd's help." She murmured timidly. "You know how the Arrows get, but Uncle Roy and Lian trust them."

"Still Mari' we've talked about this," Y/N sighed as she straightened out her own outfit – mostly consisting of black with red and yellow highlights, "Jocelyn may be eldest, but I was elected as Commander."

Mari' gave a small apologetic smile as the pair continued to stare at the many, many levels of the Batcave. Once upon a time – according to Mari's father, Dick Grayson – there had only been a few small levels that they mostly used as a base of operations. It was still a base of operations, but desperate times had called it into service for more than that.

After the destruction of the Mount. Justice, Bruce Wayne had gone to work on the cave. And thank the gods he had. The rebellion didn't just work out of the Batcave, they all lived there. They had been forced to after the destruction of Wayne manor. It was the only home that Y/N had ever known. She'd been raised here, trained here, had run the Resistance from within the cold stone walls for years.

But it was times like these that she didn't recognize the compound. Perhaps it was because she was so very different from the starry-eyed girl that had bounced the halls like Mari' herself could. Sometimes she envied the young girl for her innocence – even if she was prone to violent joy like the rest of them. Y/N would never admit it but sometimes her mind wandered, and she found herself contemplating what it would be like if she wasn't the second oldest.

"We'd likely all be dead," The boy behind them chimed, making Mari' jump out of her skin. Even Y/N had forgotten that Dorian Wayne was there. "Yeah, people do that a lot."

"Again Dorian, stop reading my mind."

Gods sometimes Y/N fucking hated Dorian. Don't get her wrong the boy was basically her sibling – as was Jocelyn and Mari' – but he could drive her crazy sometimes. His Telepathy could get rather pesky in a domestic situation, so it was lucky that they were barely ever off the battlefield. Besides, Y/N would have to deal with Dorian anyway even if they hadn't been almost siblings. The fact that the boy was heir to the League of Assassins always seemed to work in their favor despite the fact that Dorian was a dumbass.

"Rude." He hissed lightly, although she knew that he put up with them too. From what he'd told her, the Resistance's compound was a much better place to be raised in comparison to the League of Assassins. Even if they were constantly in battles or at these choosing ceremonies or sitting through lengthy council meetings.

Dorian frowned at her, "I was being serious though. If you weren't the commander, then the Resistance would probably have been moded years ago."

"That's crash of you D." Y/N gave a dry chuckle. "But I'm just the face of the Resistance, the Council is a collective it's not just me pulling the strings."

"Bullshit," He grumbled like a small child – unsurprising for his fourteen years. "We all listen to you. Mari' follows you like a puppy and Jocelyn... Bad example but if she listens to anyone it's you."

"Thank you, Dorian."

"It's true," Mari' grinned up at her, "Whenever Daddy stops by, he says that the Old Heroes would have liked you. He thinks you're the perfect leader for the Council of Robins."

"Sweetheart." Y/N sighed deeply as the young girl sniffled softly. It wasn't often that Dick Grayson – the Golden boy and first Robin – was seen or discussed but whenever he came up it was a sore subject. Ever since that first day when he had swooped in, dropped Mari' off and disappeared they'd all made it clear how they felt about him. But the Council – meaning Dorian, Jocelyn, and Y/N – knew how important that relationship was to Mari'. It didn't make it hurt any less.

They'd all been there though. Mari' was just the latest one to be dumped at the compound where all sorts of meta children seemed to end up. Although Mari' was still one of the lucky ones, children - like the ones they were going to be choosing from – often didn't have parents and had to fight to get a place in the Resistance. Even meta-humans and descendants of the old heroes had to earn their keep. Mari' was more fortunate than she knew, being born into her position on the Council of Robins was probably the only thing that had kept her alive all these years.

Y/N sighed and pulled the young girl - who was still unnervingly small for her age - to sit on her hip. Dorian and Y/N began cooing at their fellow Robin, talking about how proud of her they were. It was something they all did for each other, especially since only Jason had stuck around for his child. Neither of the elder council members seemed to hear the elevator ding over their coddling but they certainly realized after the doors opened. Eight young faces stared at the three Robin's as they swiftly straightened and exited the elevator.

"Not a word." Was all Dorian bothered to say to them as he settled into a highbacked office chair. Despite the fact that the black leather half-swallowed him, he still managed to make the gesture look threatening. Y/N stifled a laugh as she gently set Mari' down and took her own seat.

"Now," Y/N said calmly, "As most of you know, the Resistance houses all those who can make it here-" A few tense shoulders slackened in relief but then the girl added sharply, "However. Those of you who are here to join our fighters will not be so easily accepted. If you would like to take a place in the Resistance step forward."

One of the boys stepped forward eagerly, almost vibrating with excitement. The others seemed less than sure as they glanced between one another. Only three more stepped forward before the remaining four were escorted out and to whatever room that Alice Pennyworth - their head of care and communication - had assigned them.

Y/N glanced at the four left - the over-eager-brunette-boy, a stoic-blond-girl and a pair of twins who stood far too still to be natural. Dorian frowned at her, motioning to his head as if to say; let me read their minds. She sent him a harsh glare, the last time he had tried to read anyone but his family's minds - who he got into far too easily - they'd ended up as drooling messes on the floor.

Noticing that her cousins were caught up in a glaring competition Mari' spoke for them, "What makes you special?"

"I am Kun and this is Lou." The first twin said softly, "We hail from Metropolis."

Someone sucked in a sharp breath at the mention of Gotham's sister city. Metropolis was said to be a dead zone for anyone foolish enough to go anywhere in the vicinity. Once upon a time, it had been protected by the Superfamily who had run an operation much like the Council of Robin's.

Whenever Damian Wayne and Jon Kent visited, they often spoke about how it had once been the Sunshine city. Nowadays Gotham was the only safe place - save Star city thanks to the Arrows but they didn't run anything like the Resistance, they protected it mostly for spite. So, coming from Metropolis was skill enough.

"I spent three years in the pits," The red-haired girl huffed. It suddenly made sense why her body was mostly muscle even when her face seemed hollow. Kids who got caught by the more merciful Reach members were sent to the pits where they mined for them or fought each other for entertainment.

The over-eager-brunette-boy sped forward a few steps as he blurted, "I'm the last descendant of the Flash!"

Silence rolled over the room as the three other contenders winced. Descendants were usually their most sought-after members. Often, they got accepted immediately after a blood test. But a child if the Flash? Yeah, Y/N didn't think so, she sent Dorian a look that said as much. He nodded once and drew the sword from across his back. Mari' jumped slightly, skittered off her seat and leaped onto Y/N’s lap.

“Children of Flash are enemies of the Council of Robin’s,” Dorian gave a savage grin as Mari’ buried her head in the crook of her Y/N’s neck, “Leave Gotham or we will be forced to call in a full response.”

A full response. Not something they did for just anyone but speedsters? Hell yeah, they were going to call everyone they knew. The Council of Robin’s had lost far too much at the hands of the Flash and his descendants. It had been one of the Flash’s descendants – Y/N had never cared to learn which one - who had chosen to check on his soulmate instead of saving countless civilians. The decision had left Jocelyn’s mother, Nightingale, Mari’s mother, Starfire, and Y/N’s own mother – Wandera – at the mercy of the Reach’s very worst members.

The Council of Robins - and the Gotham Resistance by extension – liked to call it the Spitfire complex. It could happen to anyone if you thought about it, but those with the power of the speed force seemed programmed that way. They fell madly, irreversibly in love. Y/N thought it might have been nice had they not been living in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where that sort of bullshit could get them all killed. Spitfires were dangerous, they often went insane if their other half passed – so Y/N wasn’t taking any chances.

“Wait n-” The boy protested only to be cut off by Dorian placing his katana at his neck.

Y/N nodded to the girl and the pair of twins, “You three are dismissed, training starts tomorrow at eighteen hundred.”

“Thank you, Commander.” The girl breathed in relief, that tough exterior breaking for a moment as she ducked her head in thanks and followed as Alice returned to lead them to their quarters.

Y/N’s eyes settled on the brunette. He was so energetic in a way that she could almost feel the innocence rolling off of him in waves. It almost made her feel guilty for nodding to Dorian and watching as her cousin dragged the shaking boy off. But that boy – no matter how innocent he seemed – would grow to be just like the man who had let her mother and the mothers of her beloved cousins die.

Mari’ looked up at Y/N with round green eyes, as she huddled tighter into her embrace. She whispered something far too softly for the older girl to hear. Again, and again the youngest Robin whispered until her voice grew confident enough for Y/N to hear.

“Nightstar,” Mari’ murmured, a small smile erasing the wary look in her eyes. The tradition always did that to any of the Robin’s on the Council. It had started with their mothers – whispering their names until they felt free enough to say it to the world – and they had passed it to the Council.

“Nightstar.”

Y/N smiled softly down at the young Tameranian as she added her own name to the chant, “Apocalypse.”

@hm02​

[pineapple-qween]

Batman and the P.I.

Relationship: Batfam x Reader

Summary: You’re a private investigator and you were hired to get insight into the Wayne family.

Key: Y/N= your name, L/N= your last name

Warning: Language, mentions of abuse

A/N: This is like, fucking long bro. Have fun!

You sat in your office, going through old photo sets and deleting the bad pictures and enhancing the better ones then downloading them to two external hard drives. Hey, you never know what’s gonna happen and what you may need.

This is how you spend your off time, the occasional appointment popping up, but day time wasn’t when you did your work. You were a private investigator and you knew that most dirty deeds happened in the darkness of the night. You were decently well off, Gotham always seemed to be in need of a P.I., so you weren’t terribly worried when you had a more quiet day.

That was when he busted into your office.

“Are you Y/N L/N?”

Not bothering to look up from your computer, you yawned and replied, “Who’s asking?”

He slammed his hands on your desk. You lazily lifted you head to look at the man. He was a average looking businessman, his hair a little wild, his shirt was not tucked in and his tie was loose around his neck. “Are you, or are you not Y/N L/N?”

“Yeah,” your voice expressing your disgust, “And who the hell are you?”

“I’m Cole Roman and I need to hire you.”

You snorted, “Why else would you be in my office?”

“I’m not here to kid around. Listen, I know there is something up with Bruce Wayne, something weird, and I need you to figure out what it is.” You were about to laugh again, but his face was deadly serious.

“You’re serious about this, huh? Alright, sure. I’ll follow around the most important man in Gotham, but it’s gonna cost you. Big.”

Cole nodded solemnly and handed you a bag. You peeked inside. There was quite a few bundles of Benjamins. You looked back up at the man, nothing in his eyes wavered. 

“This’ll do. What information are you looking for?”

“I work at Wayne Enterprises in accounting and I’ve found some discrepancies in finances. I want to know where that money is actually going. I want to be able to expose him. Whatever he’s using that money for, it’s gotta be big and obviously expensive.”

“That’s a start.”

You infiltrated Wayne Enterprise three days later as a mail room attendant. It wasn’t too difficult and it gave you access to Cole Roman’s computer on an unrestricted basis. Every chance you got you would slip into his office and hack further into the Wayne Enterprise system, trying to get as much information as possible. That afternoon you made some big progress.

Tim noticed it first. Someone was getting further and further into the computer system, and one of his alarms triggered. Whoever it was seemed to be looking for the “Batman Expenses”, the nickname Tim had given to the expense reports that went to gadgets Bruce and Lucius worked on for Batman.

Slightly worried because of how close the person had gotten to the reports, Tim decided to pay a visit to Bruce’s office.

Tim approached the receptionist, “Hey Becca, Bruce in?”

Becca looked up from her computer and smiled. “Hi Timmy! Yes, Bruce is in, but he did ask to not be disturbed until lunch.”

“Well, can you let him know that it’s really important. Like, terribly important.” Tim gave her a pleading smile.

“Okay, okay! Give me one moment,” she held up a finger as she used the phone, “Yes, Hello Mr. Wayne. Mr. Drake is here, he says he has something important to discuss with you. Uh huh. Yes, I know. He was very insistent. I’ll let him know. Thank you!” She nodded to Tim and he thanked her then walked in.

“Tim,” Bruce stood from his desk and approached him, “What’s wrong?”

Tim explained the situation. As he talked, he watched Bruce’s face get more and more concerned. When he finished, Bruce had sat back down at his desk and steepled his fingers.

When Bruce finally spoke, his voiced was strained, “This is not good Tim.”

“I know that, why else do you think I came to you?” Tim’s hands flew up to his hair. “Bruce, what the hell are we gonna do?”

“We aren’t going to freak out. We need to figure out who is doing this. Come here,” he motioned for Tim to come to the other side of his desk, “We need to look into the usage data, see if we can track the IP address.”

Bruce began pulling up the advance computer accessing programs and Tim borrowed Bruce’s laptop and did the same, they both looked for irregular IP’s that may have broken into Wayne Enterprise’s systems.

Hours passed and they could find nothing irregular. Getting frustrated, Bruce leaned back in his chair. That was when he noticed the pattern.

“Tim do you see that?” Tim looked at Bruce confused. “Right there, and there. And again a few rows down.”

“Holy shit- yeah Bruce. But that’s...that’s one of ours.”

“We need to figure out who that is and fast.”

Your “shift” ended just an hour before sundown, when the real work begins. You left Wayne Enterprises, much more informed than when you entered and made your way back to your office. Once you go there, you wrote down all the numbers from the expense sheet you memorized, not that you really needed to, but sometimes it was helpful to be able to match the numbers with the pictures.

You got your camera and stealth supplies together and made your way to Wayne Manor. Slipping through the gate, you tip-toed over sensors and motion detectors to place yourself in a tree not to close to the building itself, but far enough to be able to get pictures of all the floors. You were slightly surprised that Bruce Wayne didn’t seen to have any blackout curtains on any of his windows, but you guessed he assumed no one could get past his security systems.

You waited patiently until you could see a fancy car pull up to the house around the corner. The driver exited and opened the passenger side door to release a boy, no more than ten, you listened to the boy complain about school as he walked into the manor. Damian Wayne, you thought, Not connected to the data, moving on. You took a closer look at the driver, he was an older man, well dressed. Alfred Pennyworth, probably connected, closer investigation. Not long after those two had enter the manor, another even fancier car pulled up. Bruce Wayne exited the driver side and Timothy Wayne exited the passenger side. Strong data connections, investigate both, you noted as they walked inside.

It was midnight before anything else of informational value happened. As you were scouting the manor, you noted two more men and two girls inside. You noticed Richard Grayson immediately, noting he probably has a strong connection. The other man wasn’t a normal associate of the Wayne family, he was a bigger guy with a white streak in his black hair. The girls were Cassandra Wayne and Stephanie Brown, girlfriend of Timothy, Cassandra was noted as involved but Stephanie was noted uninvolved. Weirdly, all of the people in the house appeared together in what seemed to be a study. You watched them through your camera trying to understand what was happening. It was hard to make out, but then something even more strange happened. They all walked behind the only thing obstructing your view and never returned.

It was bizarre. Every last one of them, gone. Even Alfred Pennyworth. This piqued your interest. You slowly made descent from your perch and slipped into the manor. Stepping lightly, you weaved through the maze of the manor and found the study. Looking around the door frame carefully, you found it was completely empty, like no one had ever entered. You wandered into the room and looked around, taking a few pictures here and there, and tried to find the spot that was obstructed from your tree view. You found it as the grandfather clock against the wall. You studied the clock, the time was wrong.

Carefully, you reached out and pushed the minute hand slightly. The clock shuttered and began to slide aside, revealing a hidden staircase. Refusing to let yourself back out, you began silently descending to a secret level.

“-breach is from within.” You could hear the tail end of someone’s conversation. You pressed yourself against the rock wall at the end of the staircase. You took out you camera and flipped the screen so you could see what was going on beyond the wall. In the screen, you saw eight people, but not the people you witness disappear. These eight people were in uniforms: Batman, Robin, Red Robin, Nightwing, Red Hood, Batgirl, and Spoiler. But then you saw him, Alfred Pennyworth and you put it all together.

The expense are withdrawn by Bruce Wayne to make gadgets for Batman.

And Bruce Wayne is Batman.

Your camera clattered to the ground.

*Clunk*

Everyone’s heads whipped around to the sound and found a camera at the base of the stairs to the Batcave. Cass ran over and ran up a few stairs before she returned, grabbing you by the arm. They watched as you struggled to escape her grasp, doing so a couple times, but Cass would fix her grip and pull harder. When she reached the group, you stopped struggling and looked Bruce right in the eyes.

Bruce used his Batman voice, “Who are you?”

You stood taller, “Y/N. Y/N L/N.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I was hired to investigate Bruce Wayne. Or I guess I should say Batman?”

Bruce’s mouth turned down into an even deeper frown. In the blink of an eye, his hand was around your throat. You didn’t gasp, actually the look in your eye intensified. “Who hired you!” He shook you a little. “Who?”

You smirk at him, which surprised Bruce causing him to loosen his grip. You slipped away from him, but not before the rest of the vigilantes surrounded you. “Just some accountant. No one important or dangerous, I promise.”

“Why?” Dick spoke up, “Why did he want Bruce investigated?”

You turned to face him, “He noticed a discrepancy in the numbers, wanted to figure out what was going on. Flashed me some Benjamins, so I took the gig.” You looked at the ceiling in thought, “$150,893.43, $471,990.21, $1,004,561.08 to name a few amounts that disappeared.”

Dick’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, “H-how did you know those numbers?”

You shrugged, “Saw ‘em, memorized ‘em. Took about five minutes after I found the spreadsheet.”

Dick looked at Bruce in surprise, noticing the Bruce looked just as shocked himself. Tim and Bruce locked eyes, the same question going through both of their heads.

Tim was the one to ask it aloud, “How did you get to that spreadsheet?”

You shrugged again, “I got a job in the mail room. Whenever I got a chance, I got onto the accountant’s computer and wiggled through some firewalls. It wasn’t too hard, part of why I became a P.I.”

If Tim didn’t know any better, he would’ve guessed the look on Bruce’s face was one of admiration. Actually, Tim himself felt a certain admiration for Y/N. Not many people had your abilities. Actually, no normal people should have your abilities.

Bruce finally spoke up again, “So what are you going to do now that you know about all this?”

“What do you think I should do?”

Steph spoke up, “What do you mean by that?”

“You could tell the world who we are, what we do. You have the proof right? Why not? What could stop you?” Bruce didn’t sound worried, but he wasn’t sure what you would do.

You sighed, “No, I won’t tell. Listen, my work...it ruins lives. I’ve seen it happen, and it’s not something I want to repeat. I’ve also seen what you guys do,” you shifted from one foot to the other, “You guys do good, I’ve seen that. I can’t interfere with your work. No, I won’t tell anyone.”

Everyone studied Y/N carefully. Damian was sure you were lying, but he couldn’t detect deception. Dick was slightly amazed at your response, and Tim was in awe as well. Steph and Cass began whispering their doubts to one another. Jason couldn’t help but scoff, he could believe you wouldn’t tell anyone, but not without a price.

“You wouldn’t do this without a price,” Jason got up in your face, “What do you want?”

Y/N didn’t shrink back. You actually got closer. “I don’t want shit.” Your eyes didn’t waver.

Bruce approach the two of them, he grabbed Y/N and took you aside. “I could use a brain like yours.” He watched your eyebrows shoot up. “You’re smart Y/N, there’s no denying it, and I can always use fresh eyes.”

“I would be honored, but...I mean...I’m not all that special. I mean... I can’t see what you see. When I think of myself, all I can see is an asshole that abuses people’s weaknesses and hate for a quick buck.” Y/N’s head fell for the first time in that cave. “I almost got her killed,” your voice no more than a whisper.

Bruce grabbed your shoulders, “What are you talking about?”

You raised your eyes to meet his. “This guy hired me, one of my first gigs, wanted me to figure out where his girlfriend was going. Easy, yeah?” Your shoulder tensed under Bruce’s hands. “She was going to a reproductive care clinic. I didn’t bother looking into why, and I told him. He got furious, right there in my office,” your eyes began to well up with tears, “He screamed ‘That bitch’s body is mine, she’s going to regret ever thinking otherwise.’”

Bruce watched as you took a deep breath. The tears spilled over your cheeks. “But you stopped him,” he asked softly.

You nodded, “I found her, before he could, told her what happened. I will never forget the fear I saw in her eyes, and that feeling of powerlessness because I couldn’t change what I had done.”

“You fixed it though,” Bruce noted, “You did good in the end. That’s why I think you’d be a good fit around here. Remorse, it can be used for good, motivation to do better in the future.” Bruce then did something everyone else in the cave thought was unthinkable, he hugged Y/N. Bruce felt as your arms tightened around his waist, and felt you shaking as you leaned into him.

Bruce gently pulled you away from him. “Y/N, I don’t know know how you feel, but I can tell you I did things I’m not proud of when I started out, just like you. The thing is...are you looking for a second chance?”

You took a moment to process what he said. Bruce watched as your tears disappeared, and a determined look settled onto your face. “I am.”

“So, what did you find?” Cole Roman paced around your office after waiting all morning for you to return.

“Sorry to disappoint Roman, but Bruce Wayne is not particularly interesting. The money went to a charity and charity auction item which, subsequently, was a fraud and the money disappeared.” You showed him some staged pictures you and the Wayne family had set up as added proof. “Nothing exciting going on in Wayne Manor.” Then you got out his bag of money, handing it back. “Full refund.”

Cole Roman grabbed the bag hesitantly, looked through it and nodded. “Fine. I guess it’s just weird to have a normal rich guy in Gotham.”

You smiled to yourself, “Yeah. Normal people in Gotham is rare.”

You bid Cole goodbye, and watched him leave the office. When he was out the door, you began packing it all up: external drives, cameras, lenses, notebooks filled with dirt on all kinds of people. Before you packed up your computer, you erased your business and yourself from the internet. 

You found yourself in Wayne Manor the second time that day, now a welcomed guest. Bruce had set you up in one of the many rooms in the manor. When you walked in, you were in awe. The room was three times bigger than your office and looked like it was fit for a king. You began to set up all of your stuff when a knock came from the door. You turned to find Jason Todd, the only one you hadn’t know from before.

“Settling okay?”

“Yeah, just setting up my computer.”

Jason looked at your computer confused. “I’m sorry, what century is that computer monitor even from?”

You snorted, “I know, its a box. It’s all I could afford and I hadn’t been to keen to lose my office space or, you know, food by spending my income on a new monitor.”

“Bruce will have no problem getting you something better, he’ll want you working at a hundred.”

You nodded and continued setting up. Jason crossed the room and started helping you unpack. “Thanks.”

“No problem...” He trailed off. Then he turned to face you. “Y/N, why are you doing this?”

“What, unpacking?”

He chuckled, “No. I mean joining the life. It’s not easy and people get hurt.”

You looked Jason in the eyes. “I’ve already seen people get hurt. I know unease. I’ve been looking for a second chance and Bruce gave it to me.”

“Okay...alright. I get that.” Jason laughed to himself, “It’s probably better than the second chance I got.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I died, I was twelve. Bruce’s mortal enemy resurrected me. It was one of the worst times of my life.”

You looked at Jason like he was joking, but nothing changed in his eyes. Your eyes widened, “You serious?”

Jason shrugged, “Yeah.” 

“Oh.”

“Well,” Jason set down a camera and walked to your door, but before he left he turned to look at you, “Welcome to the family.”

You watched as he walked away from your new room, processing his story.

“The hell have I gotten myself into...”

[callitfreedom]

IT’S A BIG WORLD OUT THERE

Leaving Borneo was hard for me. Really really hard. This place was like home. I had family there, people I trust, people I love and truly care about. Malaysia was in familiar in a way I can’t really explain, it was a feeling like I belonged there. Heading to Thailand was a big deal, bigger than it should have been. And I remember not wanting to go at first.


Things didn’t get easier when I checked my mails the day before my departure and I saw that my flight was delayed so much that instead of just changing the plane in KL I had to stay overnight. This was something I didn’t expect at all but it was actually doing me a favour. Some of you might remember Andy (wildlife photographer, married to Maureen, stayed with them for a couple of days in the Owl House in Ba’Kelalan). Andy happens to live in KL so I asked him to stay at his place for the night. He and one of his friends (who happens to be a uber driver) picked me up at KL Central, we went for some nice Indian food and chit chatted for what felt like a couple of hours. That evening (mostly spent at that Indian place and later at his apartment aka “the batcave” where you have by the way a stunning view over KL) was full of laughter, great stories and really good conversation. It was like reuniting with an old friend and was exactly what I needed before leaving Malaysia for good. 


Thank you Andy, for giving me those last couple of hours in that beautiful country! And I’ll stick to my word, it is still a see ya and not a goodbye

THAILAND

Phuket gave me a rather unpleasant welcome. As soon as I stepped out of the airport (again massive delay of flight. If anyone of you ever plans a trip to Asia NEVER take Malindo Air!!! they are rude, always late and I think I never had less space in a plane) I immediately wanted to go back. Outside of the airport were like a billion people, Thai and foreigners. It was horrible. Taxi drivers yelling at you and following every tourist that was stupid enough to slow down for a sec. Tourists pushing their way through the crowd. HORRIBLE! It was just too much for me as I was never a big fan of crowds but after the peace and quiet I enjoyed in Malaysia it was downright terrifying.
Anyway I managed to get away from the busiest spot and tried to find the cheapest way to Phukets pier where my ferry to Koh Phi Phi departed and where I was finally meeting the family friend I was supposed to meet a day earlier. Because of my delay and too many people I made a big mistake. Dumbest thing I’ve done so far. I forgot there was an hour difference between Malaysia and Thailand which meant I had one hour more to get to the pier. However, I thought I had one and a half hours for a way that’s supposed to take one hour with the bus (cheapest way to go, 150 Baht) which departure was 40 minutes later. So I figured I had to go there on the fastest way (and most expensive, 700 Baht) and took a taxi. Fuck me, I spent almost five times more than I had to just because I was being stupid. Here’s my advice for you: always let your phone set the time zone automatically and you won’t make this stupid mistake!! I assure you my day got better as soon as I was on that ferry. I met my travel mate, we chatted for a while how everything’s going and arrived on the stunning Phi Phi islands! We didn’t expect so many people to go there but it was still a breathtaking view.

We shared a nice bungalow in the hills with a pretty good with over the island and far away from the loud beach parties at night (you can hear them on the whole island). After exploring our accommodation we went swimming on a smaller beach. The sea was stunning, almost hot and really clear. That day we watched one of most the beautiful sunsets I’ve ever seen from the beach with some nice fruit shakes and me trying Pad Thai (Thailand’s national dish) for the first time.

The second day we started exploring the small city and decided to go out at night. Well, I decided to get really drunk. Which I did. We went to a pretty cool rooftop bar, wandered around in the town and ended up at the beach parties where we enjoyed watching the fire show, Limbo and dancing. 

My body thanked me for the mixture of delicious cocktails, beer and (free) shots with a massive hangover the next day. I cured it at a nice beach bar with a mango shake and some really good fried noodles. I ended up staying at that place for more than two hours because that one Thai (former tour guide) working there started telling me about Thailand’s main attractions, where to go an what to see. He’s a funny guy, always smiling and joking around. I went to that bar again in the evening or rather night after I got my first bamboo tattoo! Funny thing: I went there by myself, a little bit nervous and ended up chatting with a really nice american guy for the whole procedure who joined me for a drink after that.

The following day we continued our trip to Koh Lanta. I’d really like to tell you something about that island but I’ve been sick for the whole time we spent there. Yeah, had a really fun time there! But at least now I know that you can just walk into a pharmacy and buy some penicillin without prescription. Oh, I actually have one thing to say: I watched Dark while I lay around in our hotel room (almost dying) and I strongly recommend watching the show!!! That’s it for Koh Lanta, sadly.

Less than a week ago I spent three days in Krabi, exploring the cute city and area. On my very first day I discovered a beautiful buddhist temple! Think I sat there for two hours just enjoying the sensation of finally being alone. It was very peaceful. That and having a full body massage that night made me sleep like a baby and fully recover.

The next morning I went for a day trip to Rai Leh. It’s really close to Krabi, you go from the city to Ao Nang Beach where you take a long-tail boat to the Rai Leh. This place is stunning. Just beautiful!! But way too crowded in my opinion. Which made me go climb up all the way to the viewpoint and later to a small lagoon on top of the hill.  Climbing up to the viewpoint is exhausting but manageable. Going to the lagoon is not for the weaker hearts. There are some points where you only got a rope to hang on or some bamboo-ladders (not trustworthy at all!) to climb down. Good for me, tho. Cause that meant not a lot of people went down there. That lagoon was magical. Like a home for fairies. Probably the most beautiful thing on Rai Leh, definitely worth a visit.

Truly shattered I fell into bed that evening and woke up to a morning full of excitement. You wanna know why? Well, I decided to try something new. That morning I started hitchhiking. Usually not a big deal, but it turned out to be rather difficult because where I started (Ao Luek) NOBODY spoke english. So i had to write down some useful phrases in Thai (took me ten minutes for like four sentences). That actually helped even though it led people to the conclusion I had no money at all (Thais are not familiar with the concept of hitchhiking). 
So I ended up in a truck with Bunsong and his sleeping daughter who took me home to his family to offer me accommodation. He lives near a town called Surat Thani. This area was so originally Thai that they don’t speak a word english except for “hello” and “thank you”. How did we manage to communicate? Google translate for the win. Just try to imagine spending nearly 24 hours with a bunch of people and the only way you can talk to them or explain yourself is via a translation app. They didn’t really understand me, were really concerned and started buying me food and cooking for me even though I insisted they should not. Everybody wanted to take some pictures and talk to me (how??) and was really really kind. 
I would say first time hitchhiking in Thailand went good. Strange and complicated but good!

The day after I got to the airport nearby to meet Raf (a guy from couch surfing who wanted to join me). We met up and started half an hour later and had a lucky strike!
David, a cute old guy from the UK who happens to live in Thailand for seven years, picked us up and gave us a lift. He brought us to a small temple in the middle of nowhere (Amphoe Lang Suan - Na Phaya) right at the sea and even offered us to give us his bike as long as we are around. We asked the monk if we could stay for the night and he agreed immediately. To be honest I never met a stranger person than that monk, he was just downright crazy! Whatever, we stayed at the temple for a night. A night full of bugs and spiders and two hours of sleep. 

David came to see us again and offered that we could stay at his house if we want and now I’m here in Lang Suan, exploring the area (hot springs, luminescent plankton, temples and beaches) with Davids bike and babysitting his dog, Charleen, for two nights because he is on a business trip. Funny where you end up when you’re hitchhiking, I quite like it. We’ll see where I end up next.

This world is getting bigger and bigger. Basically it’s not, it’s still the same no matter how much time flies by. But for me it is. Every decision brings me closer to exploring, every day gives me a thousand opportunities to see and understand the things that are so different than back home. It’s scary sometimes but what would life be without overcoming your fears and go further and further from where you started.

[batmomhoe]

Light Within the Dark (Batfam)

Requested by @robinlover11620​

Summary: Batsis(brother) has depression and self harms but tries to keep it from the family.

Warning(s): DEPRESSION, SELF HARM, ANGST, Pretty long but worth it

With a sigh you rubbed your forearm, simply just to give your hands something to do while you tried to keep your thoughts from wandering. The big mansion was always its emptiest at night, the only other inhabitant being Alfred. But even he was preoccupied with manning the computers. It left you completely alone, feeling helpless  while your father and siblings fought crime.

To say you were defenseless was an understatement. You just weren't able to catch on to any sort of fighting lesson any of the family attempted to give you. It was difficult for you to muster the strength to even hit the punching bag let alone try and hit another person. Hiding your failure was tough, mainly because the family was so tight knit, regardless of your differences, that every member was interested in your training. So when they heard of your failure, most of them took it upon themselves to try and find a different teaching approach.

No one was able to succeed and you were left with Alfred, trying to help maintain the computers. But yet again you proved you couldn’t complete even the simplest of tasks. In the most affectionate way, Alfred suggested that you try and just focus on leading a normal life, different from your father and siblings. Though you couldn’t understand how that was possible in such a household, you tried your best.

You put on a smile, you tried to make friends, and friends you had! However, they weren’t friends, not true friends at least, they simply acquainted themselves with you because of your last name. They were superficial and never had their own, original opinions on anything, just assuming the opinion that was most favorable. Although they were people to talk to, you couldn’t help but loathe them, and loathe what they made other people think about you just because you associated with them.

Pulled from your daydream, you watched as the vigilantes made their way to the grandfather clock. They all were pumped up regardless of the serious faces they had plastered on while they chattered and bickered excitedly. You let out a small sigh and continued rubbing your arm, trying to focus on the color of your skin and the small birthmarks until they were all gone. After they were all in the batcave you headed up to your own cave, otherwise known as your room.

The familiarity and coziness welcomed you as the darkness and loneliness consumed you at the same time. The feelings seemed to hit you all at once, practically taking your breath away and immediately forced you to crawl into your bed to try and escape. You curled up and rested your head against the wall as you reached for your phone, hoping maybe you’d be surprised and someone felt interested enough about you to reach out and start a conversation.

Alas, that wasn’t the case, it never was the case, hell, not even your fake ass friends texted you, didn’t even try to invite you to their tea soiree this weekend. Upset at the lack of notifications on your phone screen, you threw it across your bed and curled into a tighter ball. At this point you couldn’t hold back the bad thoughts, or the tears. They all came pouring at once, tears streaming down your face as the voice inside your head reminded you about how much of a failure, how much of a loner, how much of a goddamn fuck up you were.

Instinctively, the hands resting on your head pulled themselves away slightly before they collided with your head again. You hit yourself again and again until there were no more tears to accompany your hands. Instead, you let you hands fall to your sides and you looked up at the ceiling. Now was when the darkest thoughts crept in, as your eyes stung from crying so hard.

Tiredly, you lolled your head to the side, looking over to your bed side table. You knew what was in the drawer and you tried, you tried so hard not to reach over, but before you knew it, you already had the small razor blade in your hand. No matter how many times you tried to convince yourself that you should stop cutting, you just couldn’t. Pulling your pants leg up, you looked over all the past scars peppering your skin before you pressed the cool metal against your flaming skin.

Tears stung your eyes again as the blade sunk in while you applied more pressure. Before long, the familiar crimson red began to ooze from where you first started the cut. When you stopped, you simply pressed it to another spot and started again, the pang of pain forcing your thoughts to focus on it rather than your failures. You don’t know how many times you repeated the process, but your leg was a mixture of bright red and crimson red.

Suddenly the door opened to reveal Tim’s figure, standing in your doorway, “(Y/N)?” He questioned softly and looked around the dark room for you before he flipped the light on. In your after-breakdown slump, you couldn’t even bring yourself to hide what you had down. You simply laid there, looking at Tim with blood shot eyes, tears dried on your face as scarce ones still fell, your arms limply to your sides, the blade still in hand, and your pant leg still up, showing off your latest masterpiece.

“(Y/N)?!” Tim’s eyes went wide and he lunged himself on to the bed, kneeling next to you in no time flat. He looked you over quickly, the sight quickly bringing tears to his eyes, the familiarity hitting him. “Why didn’t you tell me...” He trailed off and looked down as you could only manage to close your eyes as your lip quivered. Tim pulled you into a soft hug, rubbing your back oh-so-gently. “I know how you feel...” He admitted quietly, almost whispering. Slowly he pulled back and lifted himself off of the bed.

Tim went back to the doorway and called out into the hallway, “Damian. Come here.” He caught Damian’s attention and Damian was about to retort at him before he noticed Tim was standing in front on your room. Damian raised an eyebrow and Tim lowered his eyebrows before answering the unspoken question quietly, “Go get Dick. But not Bruce, not right now...” The detective ordered secretively before watching Damian take off faster than he knew was possible.

In the meantime, Tim helped you move, giving quiet praise and words of encouragement as you moved and got yourself back in order. He gently cleaned your leg and pulled your pant leg back down before wiping the dried tears from your face. Dick all but sprinted into the room, face white as a ghost while he quickly examined the scene, with Damian and Cass right behind, looking quite similar. Although Tim did a good job of getting you back together, Dick noticed the bloodied razor on the night stand.

“(Y/N)...” Dick trailed off and came to sit on the other side of you, pulling you in for a hug and into his warming aura. Damian stood at the edge of the bed, eyebrows furrowed, not sure of how to process the situation let alone react to it. “You can always come to me, no matter what.” Dick continued as he stroked your hair, trying to fight back his own tears. Cass sat right in front of you, her face obviously upset as she patted your knee.

“We don’t want to lose you,” Tim chimed in solemnly, rubbing over your leg where he bandaged. “We can’t lose you.” Damian spoke up, voice cracking, and everyone looked at him, slightly surprised to find tears streaming reluctantly down his cheeks. “I can’t lose you.” Damian added gently, “You’re the only sane one around here.” He joked lightly as he flashed you a small smile.

You couldn’t help but start to cry again because of their sweet words, and mainly because you couldn’t stand to see Damian actually cry, let alone Dick and Tim crying too. Damian ended up sitting next to Dick, and gladly participated in the group hug. Cass was the only one not crying at this point and she waited until it seemed like everyone settled down to speak up. “Talk?” She questioned gently but firmly as she cupped your cheek and wiped away your new tears.

With a nod you pulled your knees up to your chest again and softly began explaining to your family members how left out and useless and alone you felt. Sad faces surrounded you until you finished and it seemed like everyone sighed. The severity of the situation fully sunk into everyone, and they were all a bit shaken up at the thought of loosing a family member and not to some crazed villain but the fact that they neglected to think about how alienated you must have felt.

The long talk ended in an ice cream social in the kitchen at about three in the morning, all of you continuing to talk through problems and feelings. During this, no one held back, not even Damian’s wall around his feelings could stand to stay up. Cass admitted she felt neglected because hardly anyone came to her last ballet recital. Dick confessed that he thought everyone hated him for being so happy-go-lucky and emotional at times. Tim revealed that during his late nights of staying up he often had similar breakdowns and dark thoughts as well. Damian, although reluctant, disclosed that he believed everyone thought less of him because of how he was brought up and the beliefs that were instilled in him from birth.

Although the siblings were quick to extinguish the other’s worries, it brought a lot to light that the others didn’t think about. Everyone went back to normal the next day, but they also made sure that every now and then, they’d go out of their way to make sure that everyone was doing okay. Damian made it a point to remind the family if Cass had a recital coming up. Dick made sure to call Tim during the early hours of the morning in case he was in the middle of a slump. Cass went out of her way to make sure she smiled back at Dick and hugged him when it looked like he was feeling down.

And each and every one of them made it a point to invite you to do something or talk to you. Barbara called and invited you to computer/comic/technology conventions where you were able to meet a lot of people. Tim invited you to crash in his room to keep him company while he worked out a case. Damian invited you to his early morning meditation(which sometimes you actually did attend.) Dick pretty much always invited you over for sleepovers in Bludhaven.

BONUS - STEPH AND JASON

Three weeks later...

“So, I herd you were having some troubles.” Jason brought up the subject nonchalantly as he flopped next to you on the couch.

With a huff, you crossed your arms and nodded, you knew he had ulterior motive to invite you over, “Yeah, I still kinda am, but it’s... it's better now.”

“That’s good. We felt kinda bad when Dick told us and we weren’t there, well, actually Cass told me first, but still,” Steph piped in, sitting cross legged on the rocking chair.

“Y’know you can always call us. I just didn’t ever think you’d be down for a sleepover in this dump, “ Jason shrugged as he referred to his apartment.

“And trust me, I am always down for Denny’s literally any time of day. Literally. Breakfast all day is my shit. Also the zoo is my shit. And camping...” Steph grinned as she continued on.

Jason sighed and turned to fully face you, “A lot of times we did think about reaching out, but y’know, I always thought you were busy doing normal stuff, or didn’t want to associate with the shit we do.”

Steph nodded with a small shrug, “I didn’t think you’d wanna hang out with me.”

“Really? But you guys are so cool and kick literal ass, that’s something I can’t do. I thought you were too busy to do stuff, and to be honest I thought you didn’t want to hang out with someone as weak as me.” You admitted in return with a meek shrug.

“That just means I’ll get to protect you!” Steph chimed with a wink and a cheesy finger gun before flexing her arms.

Jason laughed and grinned, “I could always teach you how to shoot.”

Your eyes went wide, “Uh, no thanks, I think I'm better with just sleepovers. And Bruce would not like that.”

“Exactly!” They both grinned and looked at you excitedly.

“Let’s just stick with the South Park marathons for now.”

“Fineee,” Jason and Steph huffed and Jason played the next episode before passing around the plethora of junk he bought for the occasion.

(I’m sorry Barbara didn’t get much D: but this request really hit home hard.)

IF YOU ARE FEELING DEPRESSED/SUICIDAL PLEASE USE THE RESOUCRES:

Suicide Prevention Website: Phone Number: 1-800-273-8255

Teen & Health Wellness Website

Seven Cups of Tea Website

[ratsnessst]

( being all careful so he doesn’t hurt his new small friend but then one day he wanders down to the batcave (fuck you that’s how) and sees dami sparring with tim or someone wulf perks right up ‘OH new tiny bestie can fight excellent!’ and he just joins right in and scares the piss outta the bats cuz i have just decided this is the first they learn that wulf exists dami has about 30 seconds of ‘oh shit is my new friend evil???’ but then wulf is just so visibly happy cheering dami on even when he dodges wulf wins from sheer surprise even though tim got serious the first second wulf appeared cuz the bats have 0 ghost weapons they just cannot touch him wulf sitting on tim and giving him a big ol hello lick when wulf learns the lack of ghost weapons is the problem he texts danny cuz it’s no fair to win like that tim promptly kicks his ass wulf is delighted his new pack is the best )

I want a story where DC learns about DP because of Wulf.

Wulf is just chilling when Damian comes across him.

Maybe, at first, he assumes Wulf is like Killer Croc, but when he gets closer Wulf stays calm.

Of course, Wulf only/mainly speaks Esperanto. This leads to Damian deciding to learn the language, so he speak to his new friend.

But also, Damian is his father's son, so he ends up trying to sneak Wulf into the manor.

Eventually, Danny comes looking for Wulf because he's worried and that's how the Bats end up finding out about ghosts and the Anti-Ecto Acts.

[thewriterwithnoplan]

Dirty and Useless (Part 3)

Summary: Jason Todd had always said there were only two types of cop; Dirty and Useless. So when Y/N comes along with a spunky partner and a laughable code name it’s safe to say they don’t exactly see eye to eye. But if they’ve got anything in common it’s their secrets. Both are hiding behind masks whether they know it or not. Will the Robin get the Nightingale to come out of the shadows? Pairing: Titans!Jason Todd x Reader Word Count: 1371 Warnings: Swearing

A/N: Just a head up, Bruce Wayne is kind of portrayed as a really bad father in this.

"You're the Nightingale," Jason fawned he sat across from the disinterested girl. "As in lost daughter of Batman, Nightingale."

"Yup," Y/N grumbled as she busied herself with repairing the damaged Robin suit.

Y/N didn't like talking about her father to anyone, especially not the replacement of her replacement. In fact, Y/N didn't even like thinking about her father. For a while, the girl had even entertained the idea that she didn't have a father, that she was simply alone in the world. Depressing as it sounded, she found it was a more peaceful state of mind then what she now had.

"Oh man, you and Dick are like my idols." Y/N tried not to wince at his statement. "I mean Alfred and Bruce talk about you all the time. And your work in the Batcave? I made some upgrades to the Batcomputer myself and all but your coding is almost perfect."

Y/N dropped her head for a moment, "They let you touch my fucking computer?"

The boy pulled a face that roughly translated to; Well yeah. If Y/N hadn't punched this kid already she would have hit him now. But she stopped herself if only because she didn't need Jason to go crying to Bruce Wayne. Really, she didn't want any attention from the Caped Crusader. So, for now, she could play nice with Boy Blunder 2.0.

"Could you please just shut up, replacement?" A shame, really, that she'd never actually learnt the definition of playing nice.

The taken aback expression on Jason Todd's face didn't last long, "So how exactly did the Princess of Gotham end up in Chicago with a cop partner and an alias like Sparrow?"

Y/N sighed through her nose and tried to focus on the chest plate in her hands. She'd have to find where she'd left the leftover Zylon fabric from her last project. Of course, nowadays she made everything out of Dyneema SB61 - a plastic stronger than ever Zylon. Not that she used any of the newer suits she'd made, but sometimes it was hard to stifle the voice that sung to create something, anything. Besides, having a few Nightingale suits in her closet just in case wasn't a bad idea.

But considering the suit was outdated by several years she'd have to dig up the old stuff. Meaning Zylon fibres from the basement and- She'd completely lost herself in thought. Y/N looked up at Jason who stared curiously at her, awaiting a response. Oh god, what was the question? The boy repeated himself exasperatedly.

"Well, I-" Y/N frowned to herself. "The Sparrow is a symbol of protection, simplicity, teamwork and freedom. The freedom to choose between good and evil, I never had that as Nightingale. Or that's what I think, it's just what the Bureau calls us."

For a moment Y/N thought Jason was choking again, "Bureau? You work for the FBI? Aren't you like, my age?"

"Daughter of the Greatest Detective of all time. Besides, I don't really work for them, they just hand over a case and I do it." She shrugged, running a cloth across the suit to make sure the acid was gone.

"And your partner, Melody?"

"Melisa," Y/N hissed. "I rescued her from an illegal meta-human experiment. Her thing is enhanced senses and integrated battle reflexes, plus a silver tongue but I'm pretty sure that's just her. We are the Sparrows."

"So why'd you run away?"

"You sure do ask a lot of questions boy blunder." She pressed her lips together firmly, a glare set heavily into her features. Y/N set the chest plate onto the coffee table and stood, "I can fix it but I'm not sure it's worth it, most of it's outdated. May as well get another made."

Jason shook his head and dragged the armour plate toward himself, "B said the Joker killed the guy who made them a while back. This is the last Robin suit he made so-"

"Yeah, of course, he said that."

"And that's supposed to mean..?"

Dick wandered into the room, frowning at the tension he sensed between the two nineteen-year-olds. The eldest Robin seemed to read the situation quickly, he gave his successor a bemused look. Y/N refrained from glaring at either one of them.

Dick snorted, "Y/N made the suits."

"And the last Robin suit? Please, there at least a half dozen in the Batcave." Y/N rolled her eyes, "Typical of him to try and pretend I didn't exist though."

A cross between an unamused snort and an indignified scoff escaped the new Robin. Jason Todd stood up, towering over the girl even as she glared defiantly up at him. An unending rage burned in the woman's eyes even as cool anger radiated from Jason's. Dick stood awkwardly to the side, watching helplessly as fire met ice.

"You're just jealous." Jason seethed.

"Jealous?"

"That Bruce took me in, instead of looking for you."  He said simply. "You're jealous because even when you were around he decided he needed Robin. You know even the cops in Gotham refuse to help him find you, no matter how much money he offers. They don't care that you ran away."

"I didn't run away!" Y/N burst and like a tidal wave, it all came crashing down. "I was emancipated, meaning I became an adult and stopped living under my father's thumb. Those cops are doing their job."

The boy wonder spluttered for a moment, "I- Why would you... I mean what-"

"Growing up there was no one, except for my father, Alfred and an empty mansion. For years all I did was train to be worthy of the great Batman. And then one day he was just, there. This little bird with a broken foot, that I could hold in one hand; a robin. I thought that I'd nurse him back to health and he'd leave, just like everything else left. But he just stayed there and I-" Y/N wiped harshly at the tears that threatened to send her over the edge.

"Then a year later," Y/N spread her hands out, examining them as if wondering how she had let it all slip through her fingers. "It's back to an empty mansion and I just stopped. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep, I didn't train. I guess it finally caught my father's attention because he made a plan. A new Robin, a new friend and then Batman could have his Nightingale back in action."

Even Dick blinked at her, "Y/N I didn't know I-"

"And then Batman decided that he didn't want a Nightingale, so the dynamic duo was born. Batman and Robin against the world right?" She sniffled, "So I filed my case and left. I didn't have to watch him weaponize the Robin like he did to Nightingale like he did to me. Finally, finally, I have it all figured out and then Boy Wonder drops in," A dead, hollow look fills her reddened eyes, "His first words to me are; who the fuck are you?"

"Look Y/N," Dick tried to console only to once again be cut off, "He didn't mean-"

"Who the fuck am I?" She rubbed her hands over her face, "I'll be gone by first light. Chicago's been... tainted. I hear Star City is nice this time of the year. Actually, no, it sounds like a shit hole but you take what you can get I guess. I hope to see you never, boy blunders."

Y/N scooped up her handbag and stalked from the room without so much as a wave. Jason turned to stare at Dick who simply gave him an accusing look. The second Robin glanced back at his suit guessing that he'd have to repair it himself. The movement didn't go unnoticed by the first Robin who rolled his eyes and huffed.

"It's not like all that was my fault," Jason grumbled lowly.

"Yeah," Dick snorted. "I'm pretty sure it was."

"Well, what am I supposed to do?"

Dick gave him an incredulous look, "With Y/N? Let her leave the city in peace."

Yeah, Jason probably should have done that.