#bw x reader

[ppnuggie]

Hello may i request a headcannon with waspinator and dinobot with a reader that has trsut issues and it takes time for them to actually trust them and let their gard down ( if you like you can add other its just i havent seen from these 2 much) .and thank you

　　　　　　BEAST WARS x gn human reader

　　　　『　dinobot ,, waspinator ,, gender neutral human reader 』

　　-> bots w/ reader who has trust issues

　　— fluff ,, sfw ,, comfort

　　— dinobot 😭❤️❤️❤️

dinobot ::

• he would understand having trust issues ,, he’s met many bots who have them ,, and would give you time for you to open up

• when you do ,, hes grateful but doesnt say it out loud ,, hes just happy that you’re starting to trust him more and more as the days pass

• he’ll defend you from others who happen to peer pressure you into telling them something that you dont trust them enough to know

• other than that ,, hes quite respectful of it ,, and waits as long as you need him to

waspinator ::

• he wouldn’t exactly understand it ,, but he’s willing to wait he supposes

• hes just confused as to why you dont trust him like he does with you ,, but he knows better than to whine about it when its something personal like this

• when you do finally open up to waspinator ,, hes buzzing in excitement and is ever so happy

• he promises not to let anyone bother you about your trust issues ,, he does !

[eyeheartboobiez]

PLS ABBY THIS WAS TEW GOOD

Stay

Inspired by @eyeheartboobiez Sugar Daddy!Bruce Wayne Headcanons cause I really enjoyed them😌

Summary: Your sugar daddy, Bruce Wayne, asks you to stay the night and then a bit more. How could you possibly resist his allure.

(Fluff, smut if you imagine it, angst, possessive!Bruce as in he most definitely wants to marry you, I imagined it as Bale!Bruce but pick your poison)

"You want me to what?" You ask humorously, but not unkindly, as you lean in towards the mirror over the ornate shiny console table. Carefully, you pull your earrings from where they had tangled in your hair. Then you try to wipe the smudges of lipstick off from the skin around your lips where your makeout had grown... messy.

"I'd like you to stay the night," Bruce says smoothly behind you from the armchair in the sitting room, "If you'd like to, of course."

"Well," You start with a smile, your long silk evening gown moving with you as you turn around to face him," What would I get?"

"Anything you'd like, pretty." He replies simply with an easy sly smile playing on his lips. Like it was just so easy for him, as simple as rich people having different rooms for sitting and living, yet were essentially the same. Oh, and if you didn't have a library in your mansion, how appalling! But Bruce was rather charming, which only sweeter his offer even more.

"A pony?" You tease childishly because you could. Especially after one of these elaborate events, listening to all the trivial little things rich people thought was important, you really couldn't help yourself.

"A whole sable full, sweetheart." Bruce promises with a soft chuckle, leaning forward and gesturing for you to come closer.

"I wouldn't mind staying the night, Bruce." You reply sweetly with a smile you couldn't help as you walk closer. His strong hands hold your hips as you lean down towards him, his little smile twisting to a smirk.

Bruce leans up and kisses you, his lips still tasting of sweet champagne despite only nursing the same glass all night. Not to mention, you could taste your lipstick that had rubbed off on his lips. You hum a little at the pressure he was kissing with. It wasn't overbearing but rather insistent. You brace your hands against his sturdy shoulders and break the suction of your mouth from his.

"Bruce, not here-" You start hesitantly, trying to pull your face away more, only for one of Bruce's strong hands to pull you in by holding the back of your neck. You turn your face away, and he starts pecking little kisses all over your cheek, causing you to start giggling.

"Why not here, hm?" Bruce grumbles like a spoiled child and tugs you even closer by his other hand still on your hip. His chin dips down, and he starts kissing at your neck. Bruce's 5 o'clock shadow of scruff scrapes and brushes along, making you gasp a little.

"Because we almost got caught last time in this exact sitting room."

"Alfred is asleep."

"That's exactly what you said last time!"

Bruce chuckles heartily now and drops his forehead to your collarbone as you are practically hovering over his lap. With a knee between his thighs and perched on the edge of the cushion, you shift your weight onto him by boldly straddling his lap.

Now at the same eye level, Bruce nudges his nose lightly against yours as he looks into your eyes.

"I'm sorry, princess, why don't you let me make it up to you? Oh, and you know what," His eyes twinkle with mischief as they glance at your lips," I'll show you the new jacuzzi tub."

"Oh really, Mr. Wayne?" You raise your eyebrows at him and smile cheekily, offhandedly saying," I might never leave now."

Bruce grins bright then, surging forward and kissing you deeply as his muscular arms wrap around you.

~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~

Snuggled up against his solid warm chest with silky dark grey sheets embracing you both, you sigh tiredly. His chin is nestled against the crown of your head as his calloused fingers lightly stroke down the side of your body. It was honestly so soothing and relaxing. His touch, his warmth, and especially his smile.

Bruce rarely smiled in public even with you on his arm. It felt good to see under the mask he provided to the public of Gotham. That he wasn't only a shallow millionaire with a silver spoon-

"-I want you to live here." Bruce states aloud, his bare chest rumbling under your ear.

"...you want me to live here? With you?" You ask in confusion, propping yourself onto your elbow to meet his eyes. Bruce nods sincerely, as his hand now strokes along the length of your back, stopping at the small of your back.

"Why?" You now ask him softer because surely he had a good reason.

"So I can protect you, baby."

"Are you saying I can't protect myself??"

"No, that's not what I'm saying."

"Then what are you saying?"

"I... I really enjoy having you around, and I want to see you every day."

"You really mean that?"

"Yes, sweetheart, you know I do." Bruce reassures you tenderly, and the sweet puppy dog look within his eyes makes you want you cry.

You kiss him, pecking his lips sweetly as your nails scritch his scruff fondly.

"I want to come home to you," Bruce murmurs against your lips, and that was the icing of the cake.

"I'd really love to move in with you, Bruce." You admit, a breath away from his lips now.

"It's settled then, baby." Bruce smiles softly at you before now kissing you soundly. You smile too as you kiss back, and his legs tangle with yours.

You fall asleep on his chest with his arms embracing you. Lulled to sleep by the intimate and cozy feeling of his warm skin to yours... it felt so nice, really nice. You could easily get used to this.

~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~

Please like, comment, and reblog! I'd love to hear your feedback!! (PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE-)

[killakalx]

17+ content, ageless blogs dni

four batboys + roy bc why not. five blurbs. five different threesomes. that’s it. pls note; any “her” or “she” pronoun refers to your friend. briefly implied ass eating for terry, courtesy of @dosiido

❧ bruce, well versed in handling more than one, finds it cute when you start to get a little jealous. it’s something you wanted to try since he’s so experienced, and he warns you that he has a playboy representation to keep, but he treats both of you with the same praise and pleasure and it drives you insane. bruce fucks you while he’s knuckles deep inside of your friend, apologizing for not fucking her, feeding her the same attention you’ve begged him for many times prior. she’s touching all over him, and god- he’s allowing it? there’s not love to it, of course, but it makes you sit up, just barely yanking him to greet his lips with yours, as if telling him to leave her fucking herself on his hand while you two indulge in each other. he’s charming all the while, cooing about how greedy you are, and you couldn’t bring yourself to care considering you’re the one taking bruce wayne to the hilt while wearing that expensive shiny stone on your ring finger.

❧ dick’s got you and your friend in bed for the sake of a little game; seeing who gets jealous of who first. just for fun, but it’s never acted upon until both of you have a motive after pissing each other off. now you’re both fighting to make the other envious. his idea, of course, but he can’t help the twitch in his brow while his head’s between your thighs and watching you tongue fuck her mouth the same way you do him. holding her face, moaning into her mouth and sucking on her tongue, and he can’t tell if he’s turned on by the obvious oral fixation or pissed off that it’s not his lips you’re biting. you’ve got the upper hand until things switch around, though- and suddenly listening to your boyfriend praise this chick for how good she takes his cock down her throat has you ready to rip her hair out.

❧ jason calls you crazy for even thinking he’d fuck anyone other than you, so it takes a tipsy snd somewhat blurred night for him to let you have fun. he makes it clear that it’s still a dumb idea, telling you not to feel bad when your friend gets blown off. you work around his devotion to you by simply tending to her yourself; moaning into her cunt and fucking yourself on jason’s cock while he zones in on your ass clapping against his pelvis. for just a moment you take after him by loving on her thighs and curling your dainty fingers up her pussy, making sure he doesn’t have to even acknowledge her so you can watch her moan for his attention while he’s enthralled in you. only downside is when jason avoids kisses, because he’ll gag at the taste of another woman on his tongue, and when there’s no tingly feeling to soften him up he takes note to fuck you senseless later for getting him into this.

❧ terry’s tempted to suggest this again, moaning as you kiss down his chest and abdomen while fucking his cock deeper into some other chick’s throat. it’s lazy and laid back, minus the disregard he has for her breath, but he’s never been any nicer to you anyway. terry’s antsy, though, eager to get you on your hands and knees with your pretty holes front and center while her head hangs over the edge of the bed. now his cock’s practically bulging out of her throat, and he’d be enjoying the sight if he weren’t burying his face in your pussy and between your asscheeks. poor girl’s got her makeup all types of fucked up because of your boyfriend, but his tongue drags up to prod at your ass and you feel bad for how quickly he’s got you writhing.

❧ roy’s the type of sleazy motherfucker that wants a girl riding him while she makes out with another girl. ass on full display while you roll your hips on top of him, all while your friend gropes and makes out with you. two pretty girls getting off on him, and he doesn’t even mind that you seem more into her than him because of how hot you two are together. or let him make out with your pretty cunt while you and her share his cock, sucking on the tip while she kisses at the base of it. he wants it nasty, spit and cum leaking between his legs while trails slick up his abdomen, just to make a memory.

[devilfic]

❝honeymoon❞

V. sins of the mother.

parts: previously plot: alfred finds yours and bruce's old yearbook. you reminisce on how you lost him... and how he came back to you all those years later. pairing: battinson!bruce wayne x gn!reader. cw: arranged marriage, friends to enemies to (fake) lovers, implied history between reader and bruce, LOTS of angst, eventual fluff, TW for depictions of brief physical child abuse (specifically to the reader), sorry but your fictional mom SUCKS, sweet ending though. words: 3.5k. a/n: I apologize to any british readers for inaccuracies with the whole yearbook thing. from what I gather, the american concept of yearbooks has gotten popular in the uk in the last 14-ish years but if it doesn't make sense, I'm hiding behind the fact that it's a posh boarding school and also- *runs away before I can think of a better excuse*

The rapping at your door is too gentle to be Bruce, and you're proven right when Alfred peeks into your room, "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

Bruce's guest room had steadily become your home over the course of your engagement. You still had your own place, paying the rent in case all of this fell through in one fell swoop (and it would, you couldn't escape the nagging feeling that it would), but you found yourself feeling some semblance of ownership over the tower. You hadn't even gotten the chance to put your desk up before Bruce was offering you his study—his father's study. He insisted it was because you were CEO, like his father. You dared to think it was because he was starting to see you as family.

The tower felt even more yours when Alfred stopped by like this, checking in on you, making sure you wanted him here. You set the papers in your lap to the side with a tired smile, "What's up, Alfred?"

It turns out he was hiding something behind the door. At first, you think it's a folder, perhaps some work that Bruce needed you to do for the company or some files Alfred kept from his time managing Wayne Enterprises. But when he comes round to your bedside, you realize it's a photo album. A yearbook, to be exact.

The green leather is embellished with the sparkling emblem of Silverstone Academy. It makes your heart jump up into your throat, "Where... where'd you find that?"

"After Bruce graduated, he had me put all of his old yearbooks away in storage. Kept this one, though. Would you like to see?" He turns the book to you with a well-meaning smile, and whether he notices your discomfort and chooses to ignore it is... debatable.

Still, your hands reach for it.

The spine crackles, unopened for many years by the looks of it. You thumb through the pages, flipping past pictures of the palatial school grounds and fellow classmates in freshly-pressed regalia. You're about to turn the page on the extracurriculars when Alfred places a hand on the page to stop you, pointing to a rather large group photo, "This was Bruce's favorite, if I recall."

There are rows of you, each one standing on the bleachers of a court, all of you awkward and fourteen and just wanting the whole thing over with. And then there, amongst the rows of smiling teenagers, is Bruce and you.

"Eyes front, students! I will not say this again. We want to look good for our parents, yes? We want them to see how smart and well-behaved you are, yes? Okay, then. Eyes forward. Shoulders back. Smiles on! This is your last chance. There will be no retakes!" Is what your headmaster probably said, but you were far too distracted by Bruce's fingers tugging on the tail of your un-tucked shirt to know for sure.

You bat away his hand but can't suppress the giggle that bubbles out of you. One of your classmates turns to glare, but the heat of it doesn't reach you when Bruce is whispering, "Last one to dining hall does the loser's chores."

"I'm faster than you and you know it."

"Hey, I beat Wilbur in the race on Saturday."

"That's cause Wilbur hit puberty and can't control his body anymore."

Your headmaster's shrill call draws your attention forward, "And three, two..."

You turn and smile. You feel Bruce's eyes still on you. Just as the shutter goes off, Bruce tugs your hand instead. And, even with all your teenage obstinacy wanting to make him work for your attention, make him fight for it, you can't help it.

You turn to look at him and the flash goes off.

"I remember being quite upset with this one," Alfred disperses your memory, gently calling you back to the present, "Bruce always hated taking pictures, but pictures were all I had of him while he was away. But... can't really hate that smile he's giving you, can I?"

You feel breathless at the image of younger Bruce and the look of... adoration he wears. Everyone else is focused on the camera, some eyes closed and some smiles skewed, but Bruce is focused on you and you him. Like you are the only two people in the world. Arguing over chores and who's faster than who. Like best friends.

You don't realize you're holding your breath until your body takes in one big deep inhale for you, "He wouldn't stop bothering me."

"It's funny how we couldn't get you two to talk to each other when you first met, and then years later you were inseparable."

You remembered that. Barely in second grade and being touted around by your parents at galas. You remembered Bruce hiding behind his mother's dress, and your mother guiding you by the scruff to say hello, "British boarding school will do that to you."

Alfred snorts, "I think he just liked that someone was treating him like a person."

You glance up at Alfred's soft expression, fatherly and proud. You've never seen him look any other way with Bruce. "Will you be Bruce's best man?"

Alfred seems to startle at that question, "Oh... well, he hasn't asked, but I suppose I will. Not sure who else he'd ask."

"I don't think he'd want to," you admit, and Alfred looks confused, "ask anyone else, I mean. You're it for him."

Bruce looks just like how you remember his father, but sometimes, when the light hits Alfred's eyes just right (that same color you've come to love and mourn), you think Bruce looks just like him too. You supposed they were always meant to be family, in that inexplicable way.

Alfred watches you for a moment, struck by your statement, and then softens like the teddy bear you know him to be. "And you as well. I'm glad you both found your way back to each other."

You can tell he means it in the heartwarming way, the way you meant it, but it doesn't fill you with warmth. There are no fuzzy feelings in your stomach. There is a whirlpool.

This time, there is no doubt Alfred senses your discomfort. He seizes up. He goes to say something, something no doubt kind and thoughtful, but you beat him to the punch, "Can I keep this? I want to... show it to Bruce later, maybe. Might make him laugh."

Alfred stops in his tracks. Then, as if used to such stonewalling, stands to his full height and begins his trek back to your bedroom door, "'Course you can. I'll see you in the morning. Goodnight."

He waits for your affirmative, then shuts the door behind him.

july, seventeen years ago.

The banging on your door fills you with dread the second you recognize it for what it is.

You are tangled in sheets and limbs—warm limbs, arms and legs and hands wrapped around your body in the witching hour—while the heavy oak door of your dorm room shakes with each knock. You don't know how long they've been knocking, but you fear you have very little time left to answer before you end up in worse trouble than you seemingly already are.

You shove at Bruce and he flounders, half-asleep. He almost doesn't want to let you go until he becomes aware of the banging on the door himself and presses his back to the wall behind your bed, "He snitched."

"He wouldn't! Coulson would never," you grumble, pulling on a hoodie discarded on the floor, too tired to recognize it as Bruce's, "just... get under the bed."

He does as he's told, though he looks rather peeved to do so. You grab the back of your desk chair and twist it out from beneath the door knob, and almost immediately it is thrown open by the headmaster.

Your first feeling is shock. Your second feeling is, undoubtedly, ice cold fear. You never thought you and Bruce would get away with this forever, but to be caught by the headmaster is... way worse than you could've imagined.

Headmaster Collins was a spidery man. What he lacked in muscle, he made up for in menace. His features were all gaunt and shadowy in the dark of your room, and with only the light from the hallway to capture his silhouette.

Before you can speak, he raises a single finger to cut you off, "I will discuss you blocking doors later. You have a guest."

You frown. "I..." You stammer. Even with your hand caught in the cookie jar, you don't yet want to give yourself away. Maybe he had no idea it was Bruce that kept sneaking into your dorm. Perhaps Coulson hadn't divulged that much. You and Bruce had paid him in many ways to keep that part secret above all.

You just make out the narrowing of the headmaster's eyes, "Your mother. She flew in from Gotham. She says she's worried about you."

Your stomach drops. Perhaps Bruce being found under your bed would've been better.

To the headmaster's chagrin, you corral him back out into the hall and shut the door behind you, "What? I wasn't... she didn't..."

"She failed to let us know either. I only received the call minutes ago when she arrived outside. We don't want to keep her waiting, do we?" Now, in the light of the hallway, Headmaster Collins loses some of that menace. He almost looks... just as concerned as you.

He leads you to the library in complete silence.

When you push open one of the double doors, you see there are a few candles lit, the rest of the lights dimmed low, and your mother standing with her back to you in the center of the room.

She doesn't turn around until you hear the door click shut behind you and, just like that, the headmaster has left you to fend for yourself.

Everyone always said you looked just like her. A spitting image, and one day, "if you're lucky", you'd grow up to be just as powerful. As the eldest of your siblings, it was unavoidable. Your fate had been sealed long before you were born.

She opens her mouth to speak and whether out of fear or anger, your next words come tumbling out before she can, "I already know what you're going to say."

She clasps her lips together. Then, after a moment, smiles down at you, "Well, that saves me some breath. Tell me, darling mine: what was I going to say?"

"That you know why I told you so late. And that you're angry with me for not running it by you sooner... so you could be in control of it."

"I was angry eight hours ago. Not anymore. It was almost clever of you."

Almost. A smarter, more clever you wouldn't have run it by her at all. You would've quietly disappeared off to the Waynes' vacation house in Barcelona and, inevitably, when you got the call, you'd have told your mother you wouldn't be back for the rest of summer break.

But she had her claws in you, and try as you might to defy her, you always felt those fingers curling around your conscience, drawing out of you what little truth you aimed to keep to yourself.

"So you flew all this way to yell at me?"

"To join you."

You blanch. "You... can't." There is nothing else you can say. No argument, no temper tantrum. Nothing.

But your mother is smart. The plane ride over would have given her ample time to cancel her duties for the next six weeks, offload them onto someone else because what was more important than joining the future heir of Wayne Enterprises on a summer abroad in Spain? Most people on the board would kill for that kind of opportunity. That kind of favoritism.

She's smart too in that it's only her. You imagined your siblings had been left to the nannies, and if Bruce questioned her presence, she could argue that leaving Alfred to chaperone two teenagers all by himself would be just cruel. Her presence wouldn't tip the scales too far into dangerous territory. In fact, it would be nothing if not practical.

She takes a step toward you, then another, and then another until she is looming over you. Half her face is lit by the fireplace roaring in the corner of the room, casting a shadow on the other side. Like this, she no longer looks like you. She looks something far colder, "You didn't think I'd let you run off to another country and ruin this for our family, did you?"

"What? Wh... ruin what? Bruce is my boyfriend."

"Your boyfriend is Bruce Wayne. There is a very real difference."

You feel your eyebrow twitch at that, "What's your point?"

But your attitude is nasty. Far too nasty for a child. The residual sting of her hand colliding with your cheek nearly sends you back into a chair but you manage to catch yourself after a few steps, staring at the rug beneath you in disbelief.

"My point is," her attitude is much harsher, and as you wipe away the bit of spit that dribbled down your lip, she blocks your view once more, "he is not just another boy, a peer, a boyfriend. Bruce is the heir to the company, and unlike his father, he has no foresight. Under him, this company will crumble. His family's legacy will cease to exist. That is why I am here, darling mine. Why you exist. Legacies must be upheld."

You hiss in pain when she takes you by the chin and forces you to look her dead on. At this angle, you can see her whole face lit up by the fire. Through gritted teeth, you whisper in horror, "What are you asking me?"

"I'm telling you that I'm coming along, or you will not go at all."

Your heart breaks a little more than it already has. This is what you'd thought of all week, what kept you up at night and got you up in the morning. And now your mother was going to ruin it all. A tear slips down your cheek and over your mother's fingers, and she releases you to wipe her hand clean, "Please."

"You would only find some way to make him hate you, and all my hard work for the past twenty-five years would be all for naught."

"Mom."

"I've already let the butler know."

"Please let me have this."

"Tell me you understand." You remain silent, teeth almost chattering from the chill her voice gives you. Her eyes harden, "Tell me you understand why I let you have him at all."

"He's my friend."

"He's your future. Tell me." Another tear rolls down your cheek. Your mother grabs you by the arm and pulls you to her, shaking you as more tears fall. You're doing your damnedest not to sob but you're failing spectacularly, "Tell me!"

"He's my future." You gasp out.

"And why do I allow you to be friends with him?"

"Because..." You blubber, fiercely wiping away the tears, "...to uphold our family legacy."

"And?"

"To keep you on his good side."

"Keep us," she taps your chin with her finger, making you flinch, "us, darling mine. Wayne Enterprises will end with him, but it'll begin again with us. With you. Say it."

"With me."

"So we'll go together. And you will do anything he tells you to. And you will make him very happy because he is not your friend. He is our ticket to owning Gotham City."

You would've done anything Bruce asked of you because you loved him, because you trusted him. The way your mother talked about what he might ask of you made you feel sick to your stomach. She shakes you again, expecting you to say it back.

Your lips part to release a shaky exhale meant to be a word, but behind your mother, you stare past the cracked library door and into the eyes of your best friend. The only word you can get out is, "Bruce?"

Your mother drops you completely. She swings around but the door is shutting before she can catch a glimpse, and you're shoving her out of your way before he can get too far.

You throw the door open and find him rushing back down the hall, a flummoxed headmaster lingering by as you run after Bruce. You shout his name but he doesn't slow for you at all, even as your voice echoes off the old school halls. "Bruce! Bruce, please! Let me explain."

It takes more energy than you have in you to catch up with him, but you eventually slide to a stop in front of him, stopping him before he could ascend the stairs and return to the dorm rooms. You expect to see anger clear on his face, or sadness, betrayal even. Instead, he is cold. He looks right through you.

The emptiness of which he looks at you catches you completely off guard. Anger, you could stomach. But this?

"How much did you hear?"

Those eyes that used to look at you so sweetly hold nothing in them at all. He stares you down as if you should already know.

When he tries to side-step you for the stairs, you grasp desperately for his hand but he yanks away from you like you've burned him, sending you collapsing to your knees against the bottom step, "Bruce, please... I don't feel that way about you. I've never felt that way about you. You... you're my best friend. This is exactly why I shouldn't have told her about the trip, I should've just kept my mouth shut-"

"What trip?"

You look up at him and see a wave of something sharp cross his face before smoothing back over completely. Your mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. He sees the question in you, the thing you fear to ask when it hits you.

Bruce turns his face away from you, "I'll see you in September."

You sit on those steps until sunrise.

The elevator stutters to a stop at cave level, letting you out into Bruce's sanctuary. He's standing at his desk and staring at you, as if he had expected Alfred instead.

"Hey," you start, timidly approaching him with yearbook in hand, "Are you busy?"

He watches you get closer and slowly shakes his head, eyes falling to the book clutched to your chest. They widen some with recognition, a cloudy look overtaking them once you're within arm's length of him. You set the book down on his desk, careful not to disrupt his work. You go to flip open the cover but his hand comes down on the Silverstone emblem, forcing you to draw back your hand in surprise, "Where'd you get this?"

"Alfred kept it." At that, Bruce groans. You gnaw on the inside of your cheek to keep from laughing.

You watch as he slides the book closer to himself, nudging away the files he'd been poring over before you'd arrived, making quiet noises of recognition here and there. When he inevitably lands on the class picture Alfred had shown you, he hesitates. You wait for him to say something, anything, but after a moment of silence, he presses on.

It isn't until he gets to the individual headshots from that year that you notice something odd. On your page, where your headshot and name should be, is a hole cut into the paper. Your heart sinks.

Your mind goes for the worst thing first (that perhaps he had hated you so much that putting away the yearbooks wasn't enough, that he had to cut you out of them too), but Bruce simply traces the neatly cut edges where your face should be.

Then he flips to the page where his picture should be, and his picture is cut out in the same fashion.

You look to Bruce for answers, but his expression is... guarded. He almost looks like he doesn't want to entertain it, almost looks like he's about to tell you to leave him to his work for the rest of the night.

Instead, he pushes the book back to you, "I kept yours in my wallet. I was going to give you mine."

You don't know what to say first, but it finds you in the lull in conversation, "You were going to?"

Bruce's mouth twists in discomfort, still not looking at you. He reaches over and shuts the cover to the book, "I thought... you might tease me about it." For a brief second, he looks at you, "Dunno where they are now."

That brief second is, of course, his tell. It was a shame. Bruce had become such a good liar since he left you on those stairs. He had to have been to get where he is now. And yet, you know in an instant that he's not being honest with you. It feels good this time.

[murderofravens]

artists who draw character x reader but give reader dark skin tones really melt my heart. thank you for not making her white as hell and making my brown ass feel included. i love you. if u need someone to eat your ass lmk.

[glnnnhaps]

[ .perc1eve on tiktok ]

the studios knew they would be too hot together 😖😫

[svndollz]

⠀ જ⠀₊⠀︵⠀let's drive away to highway 1009 ֶ

[in1-nutshell]

Hello! Another request from Beast Wars

Blackarachnia's twin sister and and who ends up dating or in a relationship with Waspinator later on?

Blackarachnia and her twin were the closest twins. They also have similarities like having skills/abilities, spider beast mode, etc. However, they also have differences.

Ex. Blackarachnia is known for being a sultry femme fatale, smart, sly, and dangerous, being a bad girl. while Buddy is kinda sultry-but-moral(?), has a calm/cool demeanor, honest, quick-witted/intuitive, selfless, and compassionate (or kinda like Jessica Rabbit from Who Framed Roger Rabbit movie)

Also Blackarachnia's twin and Waspinator's relationship/dynamic is pretty much like Jessica and Roger Rabbit

Thank you and also remember to take breaks and care for yourself!

I can see that the 'Jessica Rabbit and Roger Rabbit' dynamic is a common one so far.

Not complaining though!

Waspinator deserves all the hugs he can get!

Hope you enjoy!

Blackarachnia's twin sister dating Waspinator

SFW, Familial, Romance, Cybertronain reader

BW

The two were infamously known as the ��Spider Twins’ amongst the two factions.

There was the first twin, Blackarachnia.

The femme fatale.

The bad girl.

The master manipulator who spins her webs of lies to have the odds in her favor.

The spider who accidentally managed to fall in love with a Maximal.

Then her twin sister, Buddy.

The femme fatale.

The morally grey/ the-only-Predacon-who-seemed-to-have-some-part-of-her-Maximal-code-in-in her.

The spider who was kind and had fallen helm over pedes with a Predacon.

Strange how things worked out.

Blackarachnia and Buddy spying on some of the Maximals from behind a boulder. Buddy smirks a bit seeing her twin’s gaze stay longer on the Maximal who had wormed into her spark.

Buddy: “SO, how is the whole talking with Mr. Hero working out?” Blackarachnia gives her a halfhearted glare: “Please Buddy, I don’t love him or anything. Its just fun to mess with him.” Buddy: “I never said ‘love’.”

Her twin stiffens a bit suddenly noticing her slip.

Blackachnia: “Well, what about you and that pathetic Waspinator? You don’t seem to be hiding that dirty little secret.” Buddy blinks a bit before turning to her: “Wait, do you think I’m hiding that?” Blackarachnia now turning to her: “Of course!” Buddy: “I already confessed.” Meanwhile with the Maximals… Silverbolt: “I think I can hear My Lady!” Rattrap: “You said that last time we were on patrol.” Silverbolt: “I can see her!” Rattrap: “I think you need to get back in the CR chamber pal. This heat is brutal.” Faint sounds of Blackarachnia screeching at Buddy are heard in the background.

Blackarachnia does not know what her twin finds in the weakest Predacon in the faction.

Fully believes that she can do better.

… but with the given, it is going to be hard to weed the best out.

Has given him The Talk multiple times without her sister finding out.

If this is what her twin is going to settle with for now, Blackarachnia is going to make sure that he treats her right.

She quickly finds out his treatment wasn’t going to be an issue.

Buddy is laying down on the berth with Waspinator on top of her. Her servos gently playing with his antennas. Waspinator was just looking at her as if she painted the sky. His servos wrapped around her middle.

Blackarachnia: “This is sickening.” Buddy lets out a yelp of surprise as Waspinator quickly let’s go and points his blaster at the intruder. Blackarachnia is leaning on the door unimpressed. Buddy: “Blackarachnia!” Blackarachnia: “Calm down I just came here for the screws. You two can continue with… whatever that was.” She closes the door. Waspinator huffs putting his blaster away and latches onto Buddy pulling her close. Buddy just giggles a bit before snuggling closer to the bot.

When news got back that Blackarachnia had defected, Buddy knew she shouldn’t have been surprised by this.

She could bet her left pede that Silverbolt had a play in her defecting.

Her betrayal led to many pointed glares and rude comments thrown at her around the Predacon base.

Waspinator now refused to let her out of his sight in fear that Megatron or one of the others doing something to her.

The first few nights without her twin, Buddy spent it in Waspinator’s room crying as he attempted to consol her.

Waspinator was sitting on the berth holding Buddy in his lap.

He could still feel the left-over tears on his shoulders.

Waspinator: “…if Buddy want to go with other spider bot… she can.” Buddy looks up at him in disbelief. Buddy: “What?” Waspinator looks down a bit sad: “You not happy here… happier with her around… Wazpinator help you escape—” Buddy: “No.” Waspinator turn to look surprised: “No? But you sad…” Buddy: “I am NOT going to leave you here by yourself. Where you go, I go. I do miss my twin… but I’d rather stay here with you than go somewhere else without you. Waspinator tries to talk but only choked on buzzes and a sob. Buddy pulls him closer, crying again. Waspinator reciprocates holding her like his life depended on it. Hopefully things would turn up for the best…

[spicyicetea]

Eldritch Submas x reader

May contain NSFW topics including violence, swearing and sexual references. MDNI. This is a Fem reader but referred to with GN pronouns the majority of the time. Not proofread because I can’t be bothered.

Elesa time YIPPEE (this took way too long, I’m sorry I’ve been playing dumb demon dating game :/)

It didn't take long for the subway to gain its popularity, quickly becoming a go to destination for trainers passing through Nimbasa. Being the gym leader in Nimbasa, Elesa decided it was her duty to check the place out. It wasn't often she closes her gym for a day but this was an important matter. At first she paid them no mind, stronger trainers in the area means that she'll have stronger challengers but recently the situation has developed. Not only had there been anonymous complaints regarding the depot agents working there and their behaviour, but concern about the strange groups that gather around the streets leading into the railways are festering in the city. It's her duty as a gym leader to address public concern, so she might as well satiate her own curiosity at the same time.

“So this is the railway everyone's been talking about…” She wraps her coat around herself as she looks at the gated off stairway.

It was deep into the night at the time, the perfect chance for her to poke around without anyone knowing. She would never take advantage of it being dark to do something bad, but if a fight broke out it may endanger people during the day, it was purely for safety reasons. She grabbed the key to the large lock holding the gate closed, twirling it on her finger before unlocking and pushing the heavy gate open. The stairs down almost looked threatening, as if something was staring back at her from the darkness, daring her to go down. Swallowing her paranoia, a hand on one of the pokeballs in her pocket, she followed the stairs down into the station. The lights came on automatically, the white tiles reflecting the light back into her eyes causing her to squirt with a groan.

“Visitors at this time? How verrry rude.”

She jolts at the voice, opening her eyes wide and looking at the platform in front of her. Side by side stood two figures, heads cocked while looking at her, one grinning widely and the other frowning. The one in black placed a hand on the other's shoulder, taking a step towards her and bowing.

“It's an honour to finally meet you Elesa, are you here on business?”

She narrowed her eyes at the pair, unsure on what to make of them. She had never seen these two before yet they spoke as if they knew her personally. As she steps back, their expressions falter, both hitting an uncomfortable expression before looking back at her.

“I see your memories remain the same…”

“This is verrry bad Imgo, we can't leave her alive-”

“W What? What do you mean by that?!” Elesa stumbles back, her emolga forcing its way out of the pokeball, growling at them.

Ingo raised a hand to stop his brother's advances, sighing. They could make use of someone who was seemingly unaffected by their powers. Someone as popular as Elesa, as showered in affection and love by her admirers… yes they could use that.

“Ingo? What are you planning?”

“Calm Emmet, we could use the help of a woman like her.”

“What? What in the world are you talking about? Stay away from me!”

“No, please calm yourself Elesa, we mean you no harm.”

“What are you two?” She gulped and held her emolga to her chest.

Ingo sighed and looked away at Emmet.

“You wouldn't be able to comprehend our true forms, but we truly mean you no harm. We are here for… well why we're here isn't important for you to know.”

“What do you mean by, be of use?”

“We are in need of a humans opinion-”

“Ingo, we are not.”

“Brother we agreed we'd rather do this in a way that they could stay happy-”

“Bosses, we finished filling Y/N's paperwork so they can join us at work tomorrow. Shall I call them to let them know they can join us tomorrow?” A depot agent poked their head out of one of the staff only areas, paling once they noticed their company.

“Oh I'll call them! I already miss their voice,” Emmet beamed, cleaning his throat once he noticed his outburst.

Elesa narrowed her eyes as the depot agent left, smirking at the brothers.

“I think I understand what you needed my help for. I'm guessing this Y/N person is… special to you both.”

Both the brothers went silent, whispering to each other.

“I'll help you both, it will let me keep an eye on you two.”

The brothers sighed, Ingo nodding at her in relief

“That makes matters simpler, our friendship will be a fruitful one.”

Elesa went to correct him, claiming they wouldn't be friends, but decided against it. She would be lying to herself anyways, she already has a soft spot for them given their awkward crush, it was pretty adorable. The brother's now eagerly surrounded her asking her opinion on various romantic gestures. She waved her hands to shush them, overwhelmed by their bombarding questions. They went silent looking expectantly at her.

“What? I could barely hear a word any of you were saying!”

“Oh, well I asked what you think our darling's reaction would be if we disposed of all her enemies,” Emmet confidently asked.

“Yes, we wish to show her how we'd care for her, we must prove we're capable soulmates.”

“Soulmates? I… we need to set some ground rules.” Elesa sighed.

[random-fandom1984]

Hi hi hiii!

Saw you're taking requests, so I was wondering if I could request BW Cheetor with a Fem!S/O that is aquatic? Like, her beast mode is a squid/octopus, or a shark (or maybe even a mix of both if you wanna go that far), and alongside that, she has this sort of mermaid mode that's an in-between point of her beast mode and robot mode.

His Sea Goddess (BW! Cheetor x Cybertronian! Reader with an Octopus alt-mode)

Your stasis pod landed in an ocean, and it hit a rock on the way down, causing it to start the process of scanning for a beast-mode to survive on this planet, and it scanned a local Octopus.

You loved swimming. You swam in the river back and forth, even coming across the ship by the waterfall. That's when you met Cheetor. Well, more like he saw you and followed you.

When you did notice him, you started the conversation, you both got along, and the rest is history. You're usually not a social bot for you like being alone, so you striking up a conversation first was a surprise to you.

You both continued to hang out in secret because your dislike for groups. He would make you laugh from his stupid jokes and many dumb one liners, and you would entertain him with tricks and singing like you were putting on a show. It's strange, you don't like being social, but you like the dramatics.

The only reason the rest of the Maximals found out about you is because they and the Predacons were battling near one of your napping spots, the sounds waking you up and making you cranky.

You went up to the surface, and you fought and won against some of the Predacons before they retreated; it was like fighting the Kraken. Literally, the lower half of your body was like Ursula.

When being introduced, you kept a stoic expression and acted cold, but when it was Cheetor talking, you had a happy face and treated him like he was a childhood friend; it's obvious you have a favorite.

Now, your relations with everyone else. For Rattrap, he was basically how he was with Dinobot when he joined but was a bit more linnet and was met with the same kind of sass. You have his respect.

You and Rhinox are like brother and sister with your knowledge for inventions and technology, and with your extra arms/tentacles, you are always welcomed to help whenever he's working. 2-for-2 bud

Your relationship with Dinobot is kinda strained. You both don't like each other, but you both don't hate each other. It's basically looking into a mirror, but with a different reflection.

You get a weird feeling about Optimus, not the bad kind; it's a weird, good kind. Any invention you make, you show it to Optimus first if it would be good to used. If he approves, you feel a sense of euphoria that you made him proud; if he disapproves, saying that it's morally bad to make an invention that would destroy the Predacons in one fell swoop, you take in the information to better your projects- no you don't see him as a Sire! You don't know what Rattrap's talking about!

Cheetor, you've always had a good relationship with him. You heal him up when he gets injured after a battle or an accident, you always volunteer to go on scouting missions with him, you always assist him, you love seeing his cute smile everyday. Same thing with Cheetor! He would do anything for you, even if it's to make you laugh; he loves it.

Meanwhile, the rest of the crew have to deal with watching the two of you pinning over each other, not even realizing your feelings for one another.

Bonus:

Rattrap: Hey, kiddo! So, you have a crush on the fish lady? Cheetor: ...I HAVE A CRUSH ON C/N?! Rattrap: You didn't realize it until now?! Later... Rattrap: So, fish brains, you have a crush on pussycat? C/n: ...I HAVE A CRUSH ON CHEETOR?! Rattrap: Oh, come on!

[shovelbug]

Could you do some general N headcannons,? (Male reader preffered, but feel free to do GN reader!!)

i've actually been doing N's trainer lodge recently + been playing pokemon black, love this guy.

N x Male! Reader general headcanons

Having been surrounded by pokemon his whole life, and what human interaction he did have being... not ideal, N is aware he is probably as underprepared as you could be for a relationship.

But he does like you, and your pokemon speak so kindly of you, so that's all he really needs to know.

pokemon have no real societal structure regarding gender or sexuality, so he doesn't either.

So he's probably a little confused if you have any particular label or something like a pride flag.

He's very supportive once you take the time to explain it a little to him, though.

On the flipside, this means he isn't timid about you two being openly boyfriends.

He's more than willing to let you take the lead and just kind of... flow with you, when it comes to your relationship.

Chances are you have a better idea of this sort of thing, anyways.

Not a fan of PDA? that's fine. Constantly holding onto him? no problem.

Definitely talks about you with your pokemon when you aren't around to hear.

"He's wonderful, isn't he?" Your pokemon responds in kind to him and he laughs. "I'm glad you think so too. You clearly love him a lot too, yes?"

He thinks about you often when you're apart, and when seeing each other after a little while apart, he almost always has some form of small trinket for you.

"I thought you might like it, so I got it for you."

He talks a lot, mainly just to fill the silence, so if you're more of a listener, he greatly appreciates it. Talks fast when it's about math and formulas.

He gets silent when deep in nature, though. Gets this thoughtful look in his eyes, and whispers, as if the forest will swallow the two of you up, or like his voice would shatter the tranquility of the natural world.

He's very happy if he sees you getting along with his pokemon family.

Overall, a very sweet boy :)

[dystopia-incognito]

Vox x Lila, impromptu clubbing. (coloured, sorta)

Finished drawing, here. Vox & Lila lineart, here.

[killakalx]

17+ content, blank blogs dnf

threesome (bruce x reader x selina), sex toys, overstim, begging, very brief double penetration. first time writing for both of them so pls give me grace

they’re no good together. no, too good together. too good at breaking you, reverting you to a wet and squirming mess at his mercy while she holds you in faux comfort.

“bruce,” you cry to him, legs trembling and cunt twitching around the silicon he’s stuffed inside you over and over, too many times to even count. a little vibrator buzzes at your clit again and you sob, thighs snapping together as salty tears bubble under your lashes. “bruce- I can’t, ‘m done, please…”

his eyelids hang low and large hands grip the underside of your thighs, giving what you can only assume is a glare of impatience. “you’re not done,” he corrects, a light slap landing on your swollen clit that has you flinching open. god, he’s insane- you’re leaking around the thing, lips quivering and clawing at sheets, begging for mercy, yet he’s got the nerve to tell you you’re not done.

he’s mean, you realize, and only one arm is needed to leave you vulnerable while the other force’s the thick toy deeper into your cunt. his tongue rolls along his lips, almost in concentration as he stares you down; no indications of his own arousal are clear, but his enthusiasm for abusing your sore and puffy pussy speak volumes.

“I know you can give me another one,” bruce states in a matter-of-fact tone, brows furrowed further when you still attempt pushing him away. “and I know you want to.” the hint of irritation in his voice alludes to dangerous outcomes- hold out on him any longer and he’ll make sure this doesn’t get better for you. he reads you inside and out without missing even one line. bruce knows what makes you tick- what makes you cry, beg, even demand more. he’s almost insulted that you’d even try to withstand his ministrations, and the vibe against your sensitive nerves kicks up a notch.

“be nice, brucie,” selina chimes in with a little tut, pretty and nimble hands tracing your collarbone and jawline. the delicate scratch of her nails send shivers up your spine and you whine at the faux sympathy. “we’re just prepping her, remember? save the brooding act for later.” shit, just prepping?

“oh my god,” you gasp, not even a second before that coil of overwhelming tension breaks, clinging desperately to selina’s arm as your body convulses. you hold onto her as if she’s your final thread, the only thing stopping you from passing out, and the sentiment has her smirking. “fuck, selina, make him… please- just make him…” the man torturing your cunt exchanges a sly look to his counterpart, a low groan from the depths of the throat prompting you to look down.

“aw, make him what? make him keep going?”

she’s evil.

they’re both evil.

“just greedy,” selina coos, only now choosing to ignore your more elaborate pleas of clarification. your mouth hangs open with drool near the corners, and you’ve seemingly resorted to the gods above to grant you mercy- then her thumb drags down your lip and rests on your tongue. it quiets you down as she shushes you, gaze landing back on hers. “greedy, isn’t she…”

“since you want me to be so nice,” bruce hums as the head of his cock prods at your pussy, not even bothering to move either of the toys; fuck, you feel like you’ll die from how much he stretches you out. “i’ll give her what she wants so bad.” ❧

[devilfic]

❝right place, right time❞

X. we don't fight fair.

parts: previously plot: you and bruce talk some more about your arrangement. everyone wants to know what's going on with you two. pairing: battinson!bruce wayne x gn!reader. cw: surgeon!reader, secret identities, slow burn, angst is back baby, but so are the romcom plot beats, somebody get gordon a drink and get one for me too. words: 7.6k. a/n: LOTS of plot this chapter, but also some maybe cute things coming later. in between the horrors :D

It takes more coaxing than you would like for Bruce to let you leave alone two days later. Even with proof of a patient, he insists he send you in his car, with his driver and his guards. One of the cops on your detail had confessed they were feeling redundant, leisurely as they were anyway, parked outside General with coffees barely keeping hot in the November chill, “Just the one today, right doc?”

You snuggle deeper into your coat, hands eagerly grasping at the warmers in your pockets, “Just the one. If everything goes smoothly, I’ll be out before lunch.”

“Well, we’ll be here. Holding down the fort.” The two of them snicker to themselves. Glancing to the side, you see Bruce’s men: one in the driver’s seat of his car and the other waiting by the entrance for you. Unlike your detail, they dared not crack a smile for fear of looking too cheerful. You wouldn’t admit it out loud (because these cops were being paid to keep you alive), but you felt like your life was in much better hands with people who weren’t currently goofing around on the hood of their car.

“Right. Thanks, fellas.” You can’t be bothered to sound sincere, and from their general lack of acknowledgement, they don’t seem to care.

You spin on your heels, preparing to follow Bruce’s guard into the hospital, but nearly crash into a woman walking behind you. The collision has you stumbling and jumping back, Bruce’s guard jumping forward, and the woman baring her teeth at you in a… smile?

Her teeth glint bleach-white off the gathering snow, a few shades lighter than the hair smoothly pinned at her crown. Unlike everyone else shuffling past on the icy sidewalk, she is perfectly content with standing right in front of you under the porte-cochère. You supposed the black, mink coat wrapped around her person kept her all warm and toasty. You felt jealous. Then you felt like you should apologize for ramming into her, but nothing came out.

“Apologies, I didn’t mean to scare you,” The extravagant woman speaks first, glancing over her shoulder at the guard who now looms between the two of you, prepared to defend if need be, “Oh! Hello, pleasure to meet you.” She reaches a hand out to the guard and when he doesn’t go to take it, she snatches his hand up from his side in a firm handshake.

You’re more forthcoming with your hand when she turns to you, though you’re not at all sure why she’s bothering to introduce herself. Anyone else would’ve moved on by now. And flipped you off while they were at it.

“Ma’am, is there a problem here?” One of the cops pipes up from behind you, eyes fixed on the woman.

Her smile grows wider, “Not at all, officer. I just thought this all looked so… curious.” She gestures between the cop car and Bruce’s car with one French-tipped finger, “You wouldn’t happen to be a celebrity doctor, would you? Plumping up the pillow-faces of our city’s darling socialites, perhaps?”

You try to scoot around the woman, but she moves with you, keeping perfect eye contact with you the whole time, “I’m real sorry, but I need to get going. I have an appointment-“

“With Bruce Wayne?”

You flinch. The woman looks… familiar, now that you’re looking at her more closely. Her name escapes you. “Excuse me?”

“Bruce Wayne. That’s his car- well, one of them anyway. A source of mine says it’s the same one from two days ago when you both arrived together for… something. And the same one from a few weeks ago; if I recall, Mr. Wayne made a generous donation—a whole wing!—to Gotham General earlier this month. And now you’ve been spotted using his car. What’s that all about?”

The same cop from before flanks your side, locking you in with Bruce’s guard and this mysterious woman, “Lady, they’re busy. I’m gonna have to ask you to leave.”

“I only want to ask a few questions.”

“And they don’t have to answer. If you keep this up, I’m gonna write you up for harassment.”

She looked like she’d been waiting to hear that. She reaches within the folds of her coat and pulls out a badge, brandishing an ID for the cop to read, “Whatever happened to freedom of the press?”

You peer at the ID yourself, at the impeccably styled photograph of the same woman with the same blonde hair falling in loose, Hollywood curls that frame her smile. Beside her photo is her name: Vicki Vale. You suddenly remember where you’d seen her before.

Vicki knows you know, too. You try to sidestep her for the door but she crowds in on you, barreling through the arms that attempt to hold her back, “Are you Mr. Wayne’s doctor? Is he sick? Is he dying?”

Your lip curls back in a snarl, “What ever happened to HIPAA?”

That amuses her. “Is he in the car right now? Is that why you’ve got all this security? Is Bruce Wayne paying for your protection after you were taken hostage a few weeks ago?”

The cop grabs Vicki by the upper arm, managing to wrangle her away from you, but she only pivots to the car, tapping her nails on the tinted windows and calling out for Bruce to comment. You almost feel sorry for her, in the way you might feel sorry for a rabid dog walking in circles on a busy street.

You feel a hand on your back and Bruce’s guard ushers you quickly into the hospital, even as Vicki shouts after you for clarification on Bruce’s whereabouts. His expression, as always, is flat.

When you’re far enough away from the lobby, you ask, “Does that kind of thing happen to… him a lot?”

The guard doesn’t bother to pause in his stride, doesn’t even bother to look down at you as he answers, “Yes.”

You supposed if you had to deal with people like Vicki Vale all your life, you’d become a recluse too.

At the very least, you hadn’t said anything damning. She would have nothing to go off of with whatever soundbite she managed to grab from you, and God save her editor when they’d inevitably have to cut out her getting threatened by a cop.

She’d been waiting for you, though. How she knew you’d be here, at this time, meant she’d either been tailing you or she had someone on her payroll doing it for her. The thought makes your stomach churn.

Bruce had been in your office twice, but you had never been in his.

It was bigger, obviously; it’s two floors below the penthouse with a receptionist outside and some hallways leading to God knows where. The receptionist—Jennifer, who insists you call her Jenny—is very forthcoming with refreshments as you wait outside for Bruce’s meeting to finish. You decide there’s no better time than now to pick apart the marble floors and TVs on the wall replaying WE’s corporate reel.

The lobby downstairs was modern, clearly remodeled, but Bruce’s office and penthouse were comparatively frozen in time. You could almost picture the first Waynes walking through here all those years ago. Everything—from the luxurious leather chair you were sitting on, to the warm low light, to the gentle clicking of Jenny’s fingers on the keyboard, to the empty glass of sparkling water she’d given you had almost made you forget that you were currently living in the penthouse upstairs.

The door to Bruce’s office opens, breaking you out of your contemplation. A man in a fine suit walks out, chatting with Bruce, though you couldn’t see the latter from where you were sitting. You can only catch the last half of their conversation: something about an auction?

You don’t have much time to think on it. Jenny quickly rises from her desk and slips into Bruce’s office, and a few seconds later comes out to invite you in.

You don’t see Bruce at first. The room is just as big as you imagined. Bruce’s desk is right across from the doors, backlit by large windows letting in the noonday light. It’s a heavy, wooden thing that is far bigger than it really has any business being with next to nothing actually on it. And, notably, he is not sitting at it.

It takes you a second to spot him to your left at a built-in bar, washing out a glass of what looked like dark liquor down the drain. It isn’t until Jenny shuts the door behind you that he looks over at you, setting the empty glass on the counter.

Today, he’d forgone a sweater for a white button-up with the sleeves rolled to the elbows. You noted the healed over cuts and scars on his arms and wondered if people asked about them the way you had, enchanted (rather than perplexed) by stories of martial arts hobbies with no concerns for where he went at night. He watches you thinking about it, but before you can ask, he speaks first, “So, you met Vicki.”

Your shoulders slump just at the mention of her. Bruce catches it and a smile, however small, warms up his expression. “Unfortunately.”

“Bet she made an impression.”

You cross the room in a few strides, undoing your coat and throwing it over a nearby chair, “She’s tactless. She said her source recognized your car and now she wants to know what we are to each other,” You pause in your ranting when you see him pour a bit of brandy into the glass next to him, “Is that for me?”

He casually hands it to you, “You look like you need it.”

You don’t have the marbles to take offense to that at the moment. You knock back the shot in one go, then go to pour yourself another one as Bruce watches you. After you throw back the second one, you realize that he hasn’t responded to you. “Weren’t you listening? I said she’s following us.”

“Plenty of reporters are, she’s not special.”

“Wh- sorry, what?”

Bruce shrugs, “Vicki Vale isn’t the only reporter in Gotham who knows what cars I drive, who I go to lunch with, or where I put my money.”

“Isn’t that…” You start to ask, but the way Bruce is looking at you makes you feel like your perfectly reasonable question has a perfectly obvious answer already, “…isn’t that bad?”

“Not when I know what cars they drive. I know who works for them. When I don't want to be seen, I’m not seen. They don’t have that luxury.”

“You keep tabs on all of them?”

You watch Bruce lean against the bar to face you, one hand in the pocket of his- okay, whoa. Either his thighs were getting bigger or his pants were getting tighter. You don’t remember his other suits being this… formfitting. You can’t help but notice how they stretch as he reclines, and though your eyes flick back up to his before he can catch you, he makes no mention of it… even if his eyes narrow some. He waits until he’s sure he has your undivided attention, “I like to be informed. Especially since we’re selling a narrative, now.”

“A narrative.” After a moment, it clicks in your mind. “That we’re together. The narrative we never agreed on selling.”

Bruce brushes right past that, “So what’d you tell Vicki?”

You pour yourself a third shot, though it’s a bit more modest. You cap off his brandy and move away from the bar as if it would silence the siren song of day-drinking, “I told her that asking if you're dying is a HIPAA violation.” Bruce's mouth twitches as if containing a laugh. "What?"

You watch him contemplate telling you, and then, as if he suddenly thinks better of it, he shakes his head. “You just reminded me. If we do agree to do this, I will have to fire you. Patient ethics."

“Which is another reason why we probably shouldn’t do it.”

His head tilts, “Probably?”

You flush. You sip on your drink, folding your other arm around your waist as he questions you with his eyes, “I just… I’m frustrated. I hate this. I hate that the safest choice here is to hide away while you take care of it. It’s not that I don’t trust you to do it, I just don’t want to run away.”

Bruce watches you in that way of his, calculating and assessing. “Going in alone is running away too. You’d be Isaac bound at the altar.”

“And you, Abraham? Delivering me to a cruel god?” A rush of exasperation sours his expression. “I’d be stopping him. It’s me he wants.”

“And what about your parents? Your friends? Judith? You’d be fine leaving them to bury you?”

“Of course I’m not- of course not.”

“Then you don’t have to do it. Trust me.”

“I do trust…” You stare at him for a moment, “I trust you. I have to. But you get that this is weird, right? Getting together for the press? Putting all eyes on us? You get why this feels weird for me, don’t you?” Bruce is quiet, holding your gaze steady. You know that this plan wasn’t his first choice, and yet he didn’t look nearly as put off by it as you were. Perhaps it was another way you two differed. Something else to chalk up to being so rich that things like this- maneuvers like this become necessary. “Why do you want to do it?”

He pushes himself off the bar, taking a step and then another until he’s squarely in front of you. You have to squeeze your hands into fists to tamp down the immediate flight response you feel being this close to him, seeing this almost unguarded side to him. It was different from the deer-in-headlights deal he had when you first met: open, but unsure. It rocks you that he doesn’t look so unsure anymore. You swallow and keep his gaze, but it feels like a lot more work for you than it is for him.

“You said you don’t want to hide, and I don’t want to make you. We need a good reason for me to stick by your side. This is a solution.”

“You don’t need to stick by me. I’ve got a detail, remember?”

“I don’t trust two cops to keep you safe.”

“Your guards, then. You’ve got more than enough to do the job for you.”

Something in Bruce’s eyes flicker, “Maybe I want it to be me.”

Your courage slips. Your lips part, sounding out words you can’t bring yourself to say. What do you say to that?

He wants it to be him. He wants to be the one to keep you safe.

Logically, you know he’s right. GCPD’s finest couldn’t hold a candle to his strength and dexterity. They couldn’t even keep him out of their servers. And his guards were better, but they were still fallible. A gunshot or a stab wound would take them out just as easily as it would anyone else. The man before you had survived both of those things and more.

Uncanny warmth unfurls your fists. It curls around your rib cage, through each bone, around each lung, worming its way up your throat and unspooling in your mind. You feel warm all over. It is a terribly strange feeling to have for Bruce Wayne, but you’re having it all the same.

If he was still just Batman to you, you might’ve done something you couldn’t easily take back.

You suddenly wish for the times when that was the case, when blindfolds were commonplace, so you wouldn’t have to look him in the eye or think through how one might have gone through with those thoughts, if one had the chance- “As far as reasons go,” you struggle around the lump in your throat, “That’s not the worst.”

Bruce smiles.

He skirts around you and heads for the desk as you watch him go, the scent of him finally permeating past your defenses. He didn’t smell like green apple today—more sandalwood or pine—and as you debate on the specific notes, he comes back to you with a flier in hand. It takes your scent-drunk mind a minute to read it.

Gotham City Food Bank presents: The Thanksgiving Bachelor Auction!

You stare. Bruce is still holding the flier out to you, expecting a reaction. You can’t really think of one. “Uh.”

“I’d like you to come.”

“Why…?”

“The food bank puts together Thanksgiving baskets every year for the needy: turkeys, tofu, yams, stuffing, the works. They do a charity event to raise money to stuff the baskets. It’s for a good cause.”

“That’s awesome. What does this have to do- oh, fuck.”

Bruce raises his eyebrows. You recall what the man from earlier mentioned about an “auction”. You snatch the flier away to look at the finer details. It would be this weekend, there were six bachelors planned (including Bruce), and each person was encouraged to bid big for charity. Dinner would be provided. It sounded nice.

“You can bring Dr. Madison,” Bruce offers, “I think she likes me.”

She does. She painfully does. You could imagine her emptying this month's and last month's paycheck on a date with Bruce. Taking him to the nicest (and least vandalized) sushi joint in the city, engaging him with tales of the kids she's saved and her love of Broadway. Pampering him with praises for his charity work, admiring him openly and easily, charming him the way she charmed him at General.

She is a charming, sweet, beautiful woman. Bruce would look very good with her, even for charity. You wonder what things would've been like had he broken into her apartment instead of yours.

“Just wait 'til she finds out you personally invited her," you force a laugh, "She's going to have to take out a loan."

"I didn't know you were planning to bid on me, too." He's joking. Obviously, he's joking, if the barely restrained smile is anything to go by.

"In your dreams, maybe." Bruce shrugs. "But... I thought we were creating a narrative. Letting someone else buy you for a night isn't very romantic." You hate how hesitant you sound, like the idea of it displeased you. You don’t mean to sound that way, of course. It's just that if anyone were going to go on a date with Bruce... shouldn't it be you?

“The dates are just for fun. You'd be my real date.” His real date. God. “It would make you look like a good sport." He sees you mulling it over, still unsure. He folds the flier into his pocket. "Or not. We don't have to tell them anything yet. I wouldn't want to make it awkward for Dr. Madison if-“

If what? If she found out you were "dating" Bruce days after telling her to her face that you didn't know his relationship status? God forbid she rub it in your face after you spent so long being indifferent about him. “It's fine. We'll come. But maybe hold off on calling me your real date until you’ve fired me. Officially. You know.”

“I'll have my people talk to your people.”

You feel queasy at the smile he gives you, so casual and reassuring. You could really use a lie-down right about now. “Okay. Well. I’ll see you at home.”

Bruce blinks, but you’re already heading for the doors of his office before you've realized what you just called his place. You hear a quiet “see you” from behind, but you don’t dare to look back.

“Please don’t agitate the inmates. We are liable for anything that happens to you on the premises, but if you go poking around where you shouldn’t, that’s on you.”

The corrections officer hands you a clip-on badge with your name on it, but when she goes to ask Batman for his ID, she hesitates.

“He’s with me.” Detective Gordon assures her from his other side. The officer’s eyes narrow. James raises an eyebrow, “I talked to the warden about it. If you’d like to bring it up with him.”

That seems to be all the convincing she needs. She passes James his badge and gestures for you three to continue on down toward the visitation room.

It had been a hassle getting Bruce through the metal detectors, and it had been distraction enough that it didn’t weigh on you just who you were going to see until you were already in the room.

It was wide, with vending machines and a couple of tables scattered about, barred windows allowing a look into the unusually sunny afternoon outside. A handful of inmates were already there: some visiting family, others meeting with lawyers. It made it easy to spot him. Lucien was the only one alone, and from the looks of him, he was more happy to see you than you were to see him.

As you three walk over, he stands from the table, grinning ear-to-ear. You barely remembered his face from when you were younger, save for the same patchy beard that had yet to fill in after all these years. He greets Bruce first, holding out a hand, “Wow. You know, I’ve never seen you up close before. Kinda glad about that.”

Bruce does not shake his hand. Lucien’s smile is unwavering. His eyes slide past yours to meet the detective’s, and James shakes his hand out of pity.

It isn’t until you and James sit down that Lucien finally looks at you dead on. “You look good.” You feel your stomach lurch. It didn’t feel good to hear, especially when he looked at you like freshly caught prey. When you make no move to reply to that, he shrugs, “I almost didn’t recognize you. I hear you’re a doctor now. Really worked your way up from gutter trash, huh?”

Your expression hardens and he snickers.

James cuts in for you, “Mr. Goulding, we requested a visit because we think you might be able to help us with an ongoing case you were involved in. Can you tell us what you remember about Dimitri Young?”

Lucien’s eyes slither back to James, “Not much. Kid wasn’t with us long. He was… skinny. Cried easy. Up Nat’s ass all the time.”

“Were you close with Ms. Young?”

“Yeah, yeah. You could say that. We worked with each other. Ran the trade for a while with a couple other kids. Got a lot of customer service experience back then. She was… nice. Shame what happened.”

James raises an eyebrow, “Seems like you were on good terms. And after Natalie was killed, did you keep up with Dimitri? Visit him at Arkham, maybe? Write him letters?”

Lucien glances at you. “Well… it was tricky. Thanks to the good doctor and friends, I had to steer clear of the whole thing for a while. Felt bad for the kid, though. When I heard about the plea deal… I’d have taken life here over Arkham. I don’t care how fucked up the kid got over Nat’s death. What they’re doing down there?” He looks over at James and grimaces, “That’s the real criminal shit.”

You remembered that. His lawyer had pleaded insanity under the guise he’d get parole on good behavior, gain sympathy for having lost his only family so brutally. You remembered what Bruce said too; he’d been good. He was doing good until he saw you.

James gears up to ask another question but Lucien cuts him off, “Are they gonna talk or are they just decoration?” He points his finger at you and Bruce who hovers over your shoulder.

You wring your hands underneath the table, feeling Bruce’s eyes burning into the back of your skull. The truth was that you had a list of questions to ask him. You’d stayed up all night writing them down, rehearsing them.

Now, you could only remember Natalie and the barrel of her gun.

Lucien was there, too. He was on the frays of the memory as he always was. The shootout had yielded successes and failures, and Lucien, who’d been there that night—who laughed as Alex laughed and laughed harder when the bullet nestled itself into the meat of her brain—had not been found for years after that. You thought sometimes that you saw him on the street, but his appearance in your memory was just as frayed.

It all comes back to you now that you’re sitting in front of him. The everyman, a person meant to blend into the crowd. It didn’t surprise you that he’d managed to stay out of here for so long.

“…You don’t have to if you’re not ready.” James’ voice floats in between your musing, making you aware of his and Lucien’s eyes on you. Lucien is still smiling, strands of golden hair slipping out of the small bun at the back of his head.

“Why did you stay with the Vipers for so long?”

Your question surprises him, like he hadn’t expected you to have a voice after all these years, “I was open to new opportunities. But they paid well and you’re almost guaranteed a good position if you don’t get gunned down before 18. I was running my own little unit of teenyboopers before I got locked up.”

You frown. How casual he is describing it all. “They didn’t toss you aside as soon as you got too old to control?”

“No, no. That was your friend’s big issue, wasn’t it? Scared to be controlled. Nah. The boss man liked me. You know they like ‘em young, easy to impress upon and all that. They want the lifelong loyalty. I’ve never been that devoted, you know? But I liked the money.”

“Do you know what happened to Dimitri?” This question, Bruce asks. For the first time, you see Lucien’s smile dim some.

Lucien clears his throat, “No. Kid kick the bucket?”

“He broke out with some inmates not too long ago. He’s on the street hunting down people related to Nat’s case.”

Lucien looks from Bruce to you, then breaks out into a fit of hysterical giggles. The sound is grating to your ears. “Holy shit. He wants to kill you.”

“He’s killed one person already,” James stresses, trying to save you the humiliation. “We need to know if you think he could be working with the Vipers again. We believe someone is supplying him with… venom.”

“Venom? Fuck me. That’s expensive, especially those newfangled strains they had on the street when I was out. Can really fuck you up if you’re not careful.”

“Did the Vipers have their hands on that kind of stuff? You were a lieutenant after all.”

“Maybe. Not as much as they did drops. That was all the rage. Venom’s too volatile and, like I said, it can really fuck you up,” Lucien exhales hard through his nose. “If Dimitri’s on that, he’s not gonna last. Especially if the Vipers are giving it to him.”

You frown, “Why especially?”

“I mean, come on. Same reason you and your friend beat the shit out of him all those years ago,” You flinch at the memory. “He was weak and nobody gave a shit about him except Nat. My guess is the kid probably went back to ‘em for help, and they saw an opportunity to make him a lab rat.” You feel Bruce shift behind you as his cape brushes what little of your arm you were allowed to leave exposed here. Lucien’s eyes drift up Bruce’s body, sparkling with some new recollection, “And with Mr. Vengeance on the streets, I imagine juicing your best men up with venom oughtta make a nice challenge.”

Lucien watches as you process what he'd realized instantly. Behind the feigned impassivity, some little bit of him seems to find this just as awful as you do. Even if it's just pity, a shake of the head as foresight grants him the knowledge that what comes next will undoubtedly be a tragedy.

It had to have been Dimitri’s first time on venom when he attacked Russo, and as uncoordinated as he was, he had put up a fight against Bruce. You couldn’t imagine what he’d be like if he got better at it. If he got more of it. And he would, if the Vipers had any sense. You knew they didn't give a shit about you, or Russo, or Alex, or Dimitri. They were just hoping that his rage would make a casualty out of the Batman.

He was going to kill himself for the chance. And the Vipers wouldn't care. They would leave his doped up, bloated carcass in the street like they had left Nat.

You realize that you aren't breathing when you feel a cool hand on your upper back, closing around your scruff and sending a jolt of awareness through you. You almost think that it's Dimitri—having crawled out of your racing thoughts and come to take you once and for all—before realizing that it was Bruce, hovering so close now that his cape brushed your shoulders. His leather-clad thumb brushes against the nape of your neck, and when you look up to see him looking down at you, you catch him imploring you for something. Urging you to get out of your head.

Looking at him reminds you to breathe. You take one deep breath in, holding his gaze, and turn back to Lucien.

When you do, he looks different now. His eyes linger on Bruce’s hand. When you ask him your next question, he doesn’t seem to delight in the drama of it anymore, “After Dimitri was put away, what did the Vipers do?”

Lucien stares at you, then past you. His tone is solemn after a few moments of silence, “It was business as usual. They packed up what they could, moved to their other safe-houses in the city, relocated and reallocated. They talked about… the kid costing more than he was worth. Handful of us pitched in and got Nat a grave. I’ve been a few times. Not recently. It was nice.”

“Where?”

His eyes narrow at you, “Why do you give a shit? You feel guilty? Wanna leave some flowers for the dearly departed?”

You feel your lower lip wobble and you curse the feelings burning inside you. You were trying so hard to keep it together. “Do you think any of the Vipers would bother to tell him?”

He stares at you for a minute. Someone new walks into your peripheral view. It’s one of the correctional officers warning you about time. Something soft coats Lucien’s voice then, "She's in St. Agatha’s cemetery, near the treeline. The name on the marker is Adelpha Lions. We couldn't bury her as Natalie.”

Adelpha Lions. St. Agatha's. You think about bringing her flowers, but the thought leaves a terrible taste in your mouth.

The officer from before comes back to escort the three of you out, and Lucien doesn't bother to acknowledge her or James thanking him for his time. He only watches you, leveling you with a look of such contempt that you feel your chest hollow out, breath stolen again. He watches you well until the door to the visitation room swings shut.

Bruce and James walk ahead of you, though you notice that Bruce lags behind, glancing back at you every once in a while to make sure you're keeping up. James mentions something about keeping an eye on the cemetery, just in case Dimitri does know about it, and it leaves the same terrible taste in your mouth from before.

You know you ought to say something, but you find yourself drifting after them, mind elsewhere, stuck on the way Lucien looked at you. It was like a switch flipped when he saw Bruce touch you.

Why had he touched you? So blatantly, so intimately? He had to have known how that would look. Could it have been that he didn't care? Or, that he cared more about you?

You peek at Bruce’s profile as you walk; the cold lights above you both make the black of his cowl stand out, but they also make the blue of his eyes that much more piercing when they suddenly zero in on you. Your name is called. You look to the side and see James staring at you, expecting, worried almost, “You good back there?”

“Sorry. What?”

“I said I’d like to talk to you.”

“Oh. Sure.”

“Alone. If you don't mind.”

You look at Bruce. His eyes have focused on James now, searching for what he might want to talk about. You wished you could read minds. You decide it couldn't hurt to ask, “Can I ask what about?”

“Just some... questions. We haven't had the chance to really speak since the night you were attacked. I'd like to follow up with you." You bristle when you realize he expects Bruce to fully leave. James notices, glancing between you and Bruce. "I’ll drop you back at Wayne Tower, since your detail says that’s where you’re staying now.” When you don't make a move to confirm, he sighs, jerking his thumb toward the exit, "...I'll let you two talk."

You watch him walk toward the parking garage, just as Bruce crowds up against you, dropping his voice to a whisper, "He wants to know about me."

"Yeah, no shit. What do I say to him?"

"I told him I'd look into Bruce Wayne to keep him off my trail. There's not much I can do since you told him what you saw." You can hear the irritation bleed through his words. "As far as he knows, Bruce Wayne could be a suspect and you could be in danger."

You curse under your breath, "So I need to clear your name."

"What exactly did you tell him the night you were attacked? Exactly."

"I... I said that I had reason to believe... uh, confidential information was leaked to Bruce."

"Did you tell him exactly what the information was?"

"No."

"Did you tell him where you saw it?"

"No. Just that I knew you knew something you shouldn't. But he knows I had no proof."

Bruce goes quiet. You see him looking off to the side, eyes flicking to and from as he thinks about what to say next. Each second feels like a minute, and you keep watch over the direction James went for fear he'd come looking for you after too long.

You feel Bruce's hand take your upper arm and he brings you closer, tucking you away from the security cameras overhead and into him instead, "Can you lie?"

"You want me to lie to a detective?"

"We don't have a lot of options here. Can you lie?"

You frown, biting into your bottom lip to ground yourself. The pain focuses you some, "What do you want me to say?"

It's your luck that James is patient. A few minutes later, you find him propped up against the trunk of his car, hands in his pockets as he waits patiently for you and Bruce. Bruce gives you both a single nod before heading off to his own car, leaving you alone with the detective and the world of questions he could be gearing up to ask you.

But before you prepare yourself for the first one, James walks around to the driver's side door, flashing you a playful look, “You ever seen the Bat Signal up close?”

The answer was obviously no, but now that it was right in front of you, you wanted nothing more than to see it turned on. You'd seen it light up the cloudy night sky a million times it felt like, and it never failed to take your breath away. It's far too sunny out to see it now. As the chilly breeze tries to sneak under your clothes, you turn to watch the sunlight glint off the skyscrapers, enjoying the little bit snowy Gotham afforded this late in the year.

The city’s still loud from this high up, but it’s different. Kind of like how it felt watching the city from the penthouse. Up here, it felt secluded. Private. Perhaps that’s why James picked it. He kicks the base of the floodlight with his shoe and it barely tremors, “Was a hell of a time trying to get this thing up here. Chief's still coming around to it.”

You think about the burner phone in your pocket. Bruce’s relationship with the rest of the GCPD was… strained at best, but he and James seemed close; you wondered just how deep their relationship went, exactly. Apparently, not deep enough to tell him who he was.

His voice catches your attention just then. “You living with Wayne, now? How'd that happen?"

You breath out a heavy sigh, “I uh… yeah. He offered. After the whole thing with Dimitri. Just until he’s caught.”

“That’s awfully generous.” You don’t respond to that, so he presses more. "Did he offer or did he...?"

"He offered. No coercion." That wasn't entirely the truth, but you had no room for nuance right now.

“Do you feel safe with him?”

“I do.”

“You seemed worried when we first talked about him. You said he had your file.”

“I... I said that I thought he had access to it. Because of something he said."

James’ eyes narrow at you, watching you with his head tilted. “What'd he say to you?"

"He just mentioned something about the... the case. I told him where I grew up and it jogged a memory."

"Is that so?"

You cursed how apathetic James could make himself look. You had no clue if this was working on him, only that you had to follow through with this, seams tight, no loopholes. "He heard about the shooting. His butler, Alfred, he's always been really protective of Bruce. Everyone knew the Vipers snatched kids with no one to check on them, I think he just wanted Bruce to stay safe. Make sure he didn't make the wrong decision if he went out and got himself in trouble. Like I did."

"So, you told Wayne where you grew up, he brought up the shooting, it triggered something in you. You assumed he knew about your file and you felt threatened. That's why you went to the Bat."

"Yeah."

"And now... nothing?" James raises an eyebrow, gesturing to the empty air. "It's all good now?"

It wouldn't be a good story if it was all good. You twist away from James, leaning against a nearby pillar, "Not exactly. I don't know if he really knows or not, it just felt like a scary coincidence. You know? But I told Batman and he said he'd look into it. I trust him above all else."

"You seemed so sure the night I interviewed you."

"I was looking for patterns."

James hums. "The Bat seems to really like you."

That a was a shift. You perk up a bit. “What do you mean?”

“He speaks highly of you. Says I can trust you like I trust him. If you say you feel safe for now, I trust you." Your skin prickles with flattery. "There's just something that's not quite making sense to me."

“Oh?”

"When I looked into your file, nothing looked out of place. GCPD keeps a log of who accesses a file, and from what I could tell, it hadn’t been touched in years. It looked fine… at first.”

Had this been a few days ago, this information would have shook you to your core. It still does, but for an entirely different reason now.

“I’m—admittedly—not great with computers. Normally, I’d ask the guys down in IT about this kind of thing, but seeing as… anyone could be involved, I had my daughter take a look at it. She-“

“Your daughter?”

James pauses. You were no cop, but that didn’t sound particularly legal. Then again, you didn’t have much room to speak. “She… she showed me the metadata, beyond just the stuff we usually see up front, and she found something. The database logs who accesses what because poking around files you have no business looking at can get your badge taken. Needless to say, she found more than a few things wrong.”

“Oh?” This time, your “oh” sounds decidedly more nervous.

“The name and badge number of the last person to access your file was scrubbed from the frontend, but it was still available on the backend. It was an officer, Paul Brown. When I pulled him aside to ask why he needed your file, he claimed he didn’t know anything about it or you. He seemed to be telling the truth, but doing some further digging, I found a trail of cases he’d been accessing over the past two years. Cases related to certain notable figures in the city.”

Notable figures. Like Bruce? Was there more he hadn’t told you?

"I found a connection between those cases and some recent movement from the Penguin. Turned out the guy was a mole feeding intel to Cobblepot. And not just him. I was checking the files he accessed against a timeline of events, and I have reason to believe he’s been feeding a couple of politicians the same need-to-know information. Politicians like Daniel Roberts.”

“Councilman Roberts.” You feel your blood pressure rise as James nods, “Detective, I don’t mean to be rude, but should I even be hearing about this? This sounds serious, way too serious for me-“

“You were there that night at the party Wayne threw, and so was Roberts.”

“Well, yes, but that doesn’t mean anything. There were tons of politicians there who support the mayor. Bruce is interested in politics. Doesn’t mean he’s in bed with them.”

Your defense seems to intrigue James. He rests an arm on the floodlight, “Did the two seem chummy at the party?”

“They didn’t really… talk. I mean, he intervened when I got into an argument with Roberts, but-“

“An argument about what?”

You could kick yourself. It was like this man had a skill for drawing the truth out of you. “It was stupid. He said some stuff about Batman and it got me riled up. Bruce put out the fire.”

“Roberts is the most vocal anti-vigilante member on the city council. Now I know he's connected to a dirty cop, and that he's in Bruce Wayne's circle. Doesn't that seem a little strange to you?”

You swallow, “What exactly are these questions leading to, detective?”

James moves away from the floodlight, approaching you slowly, cautiously, as if he expected you to take flight the second he got too close. “You told me that night that you knew Wayne had information about you he shouldn't have. I found the thread, I pulled it, and now I find Wayne at the center all over again. I'm looking for patterns, too. So, I'm going to ask you again," You watch him reach into his pocket and pull out his phone, flipping the screen to you. In big, bold text, it reads, "NOD IF WE'RE BEING RECORDED" "Are you sure you're safe?"

You should win an Emmy for how you school your expression into one of complete nothingness. All the while in your head, you are cursing the very bed Bruce was conceived upon. You curse him for leaving you here to explain all this, but most of all, you wish you’d kept his bottle of brandy.

You shake your head. James blinks. "I'm sure." You watch him exhale heavily, shoving his phone back into his pocket. "I'm telling you what I believe, detective. I believe I was wrong about Bruce Wayne."

"Maybe. But maybe there's more out there I still need to find."

"You're a good detective, James. Thank you for caring so much. If you can't trust me, trust Batman. If there's something to find, he'll find it."

You can see the slight shake in James’ shoulders. You wonder if he’s starting to freeze up here. You reach into your pocket and hand him one of your warmers, and though he recoils when you first hold out your hand, he thinks about it for a moment, then takes it. "You and the Bat..." He starts, rubbing his thumb against the heat pack in his hand. "He tell you who he is?"

You dodge the question as stealthily as you can, "Did he tell you?"

James considers your question, stern-faced and shivering, “No. But I have my theories." After a moment, he side-eyes you. "You didn't answer my question."

"It's... not for me to say."

He's not satisfied, and you didn’t expect him to be, but he looks too tired to argue now. He runs a hand along his face and looks out onto the city horizon. Under his breath, you hear him whisper, “Yeah. I figured.”

"He trusts you a lot, you know. For the record. I can see why."

You watch him reach into the pocket of his coat and pull out a lighter and cigarette, bringing it to his lips to take a long, deep drag. He holds one out to you, but you shake your head. You'd never been one for smoking (you'd seen the effect it had on the insides), but you could envy the temporary peace on James' face as he blows out a cloud of smoke. "Not a lot of that to spare these days."

a/n: this was a bitch to write with a headache

[onlyasimp4nobody]

B&W Dividers

↑ gif dividers ↑

↑ still dividers ↑

↑ 18+ dividers ↑

(made for myself no need to credit or rb to use.)

[crying-fantasies]

Forfeit

Masterlist

It's early in the solar cycle, mornings you call them, he is sure you've barely left your little human made hut of steel, gone to do your science, most likely with an empty tank and pressing him once again to wake before the first sunlight gleam even when you haven't told him so, but it's easy for him, sharp teeth and claws, experience on his side makes it easier to bring down a decent prey, he ends it's suffering quickly as he knows from experience you don't like to end your prey yourself, making him do all the job.

But alas, Megatron and Primal said to be helpful to the fleshies, so Dinobot drags back the prey back to your steel hut, sure this is going to last you for a while once you drain the last bits of energon out, he expected you to at least do that with one of your machines, so he can be left to attend his own business.

He expected your steel hut to be left alone, just drag the big prey to it and be done with it, maybe if you were back already or it was a "hoolidiy" he would teach you the best way to skin it and don't leave any meat on the bone, at least show you basic knowledge as courtesy for whatever you humans are doing in Eukaris that seem to be good for his people, so while dragging the big body to your territory and giving the most hateful glance to anyone that looks at him funny, be it for even believing they could take the prey from him or for that strange lopsided smiles, Dinobot finally arrives, noticing the upper cover of the steel hut open, meaning you're in there, the smoke is elevating to the sky and making him cringe, how many times does he have to tell you to stop that? Not only are you damaging the atmosphere you humans so much need for only a meal, he has taught you how to don't produce ashes or do you really wish for any predator to know where are you and all the tiny, defenseless and ridiculous looking humans?

Primal is way too lenient with the humans, Dinobot curses with gritted denta while increasing his pace, cursing along the way as his stabilizers drag him and the prey, he doesn't ask to be left inside because this is Eukaris maximal territory, not Earth, and that's what is custom here so if you even try to make him get out to ask first to get inside again he will-

Dinobot was ready to impart some words to you, don't be foolish to get an open fire like that so early even when predators are scarce in daylight, don't be so conceited to think he'll always hunt down prey and bring it to you ready to eat as he has spent some hours draining the blood in the river an hour away, taking it to you in beast form to show it doesn't even have importance enough to carry it in root mode, not because the fur will fall naturally while dragging it, saving you the problems from cleaning, not because it shows the blood of the prey on him proudly.

He was ready to put things on place, leave you something to make your weak constitution somewhat better by consuming better things than your strange meals inside shiny envelopes, just be done with this for a few days, but the smell on your steel hut make his optics constrict.

There's your smell, but also the one of an intruder, which make his plating flare, his denta twitch and his vocalizer produced a threatening growl to the open air.

His bloodthirsty growl is received by squeals of joy.

Said squeal leads him more inside your steel hut, claws and struts silent, his posture ready to jump at the minimal movement or provocation, his centered optics are no more than a thin line of light inside the dark room, his denta his bared to whatever is inside the pod you have slightly elevated, it's little, looks cozy, and he knows why when he finally realized what was inside.

"Dinobot?"

You appear on the doorless entrance of the room, a tray of food in hand, poorly jellied energon on it, your voice makes whatever is in the pod, a crib pod, smile even more, laugh louder.

It makes him shudder on his place.

"Did you meet one another already?", he gives you a lot of distance when you get near the crib, which is curious as he, normally, would be already asking, if not demanding, what had you done, especially since he didn't hear anything from you about this, well, he didn't even know you got back to Cybertron.

Dinobot watched as you got whatever that was in your hands, it looks like you but he is sure it smells like a cybertronian, but also like you, it's a mix soon to make his tank turn.

There is obvious care in your touch, giving support to the short, weak neck of it, bringing it close to your chest, you smile at him, "He still doesn't have a name".

You refer to that as a him, his optics travel over your body, what little skin is exposed in those strange fabrics called clothes, there are no marks, no signs of you being claimed or of you doing the same to someone, but he does notice the scarred skin of your hands, Dinobot isn't versed with things related to Cybertron, the first planet, but he knows enough to figure out what it means, his frame, his scales shudder, he makes a little chit chat with his denta, his long, deadly claws scratch the ground and before you have time to even realize Dinobot is acting strange or get to thank him for the prey you didn't see yet, all you get to see is his tail exiting your house.

You don't see Dinobot for days, days you pour in work and your child, who isn't growing up, expectable since he isn't really human even when he looks like it, everyone has already seen him, more than one had their big, shiny and curious optics above him, wishing and asking to hold him without words as the fear of breaking him showed to be too much when even the medic of the maximals almost didn't move when he tried to check him over for the first time.

When you see Dinobot again he is ignoring you, or he seems like it, actively moving out of your way, searching for something around you, apparently he didn't notice at first but as time came and no one appeared next to you, he came back to leaving things on your doorstep.

He looked downright murderous, snarling all the way and muttering about a "useless deadbeat" before dropping whatever thing he catched, leaking energon all the way, different from before as he stopped you to even make a question, "just purge the energon and put it in a refinery for that" he said, referring to your child as a "that", saying sorry when he realized the mistake you were not even aware.

Some looked at him funny, Cheetor said something to Dinobot that earned a snarl at him and almost go into a physical fight in the middle of the comunal fire, your child was climbing his leg struts, catching your interest how Dinobot let him do his own thing, moving sluggishly, almost falling if not for the servo of the older bot, careful with his deadly claws but not exactly containing his own sharp tongue to your baby.

"Your talons are shameful, where is the utility?"