#close second is how close damian jason and tim are to murdering each other
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aro-aizawa · 2 years ago
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ultimate favourite batfam joke like hands down no competition is how quickly anyone in the batfam will whip out the adoption papers w no hesitation nor consideration if its wanted
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amethystandemma · 4 months ago
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Because my pookie @jnephrite did this for her OC Morgan, I’m trying to do this for my OC Aqua!
Timeline of Aqua Charming!
year -2 — Aqua (11) meets Donna Troy (12) for the first time. The two become close friends and visit each other on their respective home islands.
Meanwhile, Dick Grayson’s (11) parents die and he is left with his Aunt Harriet (53) as his only surviving family member. He is adopted by Bruce Wayne (27).
year -1 — Aqua (12) starts “dating” Johnny Alto (12).
Dick Grayson (12) becomes Robin and meets Donna Troy (13).
year 0 — Aqua (13) and Johnny (13) sneak into the woods at night where Johnny gets turned into a vampire and aged to a 20 year old man. Aqua breaks up with him and he is thrown in prison after terrorizing Brooklinia and Aqua.
Dick Grayson (13) becomes best friends with Donna Troy (14) and Wally West (13).
year 1 — Aqua (14) travels to Gotham where she stays with Bruce Wayne (30), Harriet Cooper (56), Alfred Pennyworth (60), and Dick Grayson (14). She becomes Blue Comet the same year.
Later in the year, she has her first awakening of new powers. She goes back to Brooklinia after her parents catch the culprit trying to murder them. Before leaving, Dick Grayson kisses her on the cheek. The two exchange identities and promise to stay in touch.
year 2 — Aqua (15) returns to Gotham to ask for Dick’s (15) help in finding a friend of her’s named Garth (14). Dick recruits Wally (15) and Aqua recruits Donna (15) to help find him. Along the way, they meet Speedy (14) who helps their search.
When they find Garth, the group of six fight Orm (his captor). They would have been killed if Aqua didn’t have her second awakening while saving Dick Grayson, unlocking a new set of powers. They realize how well they work together, and Donna suggests they call themselves the Teen Titans.
Dick Grayson invites Aqua Charming to his school’s spring cotillion and the two exchange their first kiss.
year 3 — Aqua (16) and Dick (16) become an official couple. The Teen Titans move into Titans Tower and recruit more members. They go on many adventures together, and recruit more members.
Dick Grayson starts to think he should strike out as his own hero. Bruce Wayne and Silver St. Cloud have a son named Arian.
year 4 — Bruce Wayne (34) adopts Jason Todd (13). He becomes the new Robin. Dick Grayson (17) becomes Nightwing.
Bruce Wayne marries Silver St. Cloud (33). Silver is murdered at the alter.
Aqua Charming (17) takes the Titans to Brooklinia where they all witness the murder of her parents. Overcome with grief, Aqua unlocks her third set of powers.
year 5 — Dick Grayson (18) proposes to Aqua Charming (18). The two become engaged and take a leave of absence from the Team, leaving Wonder Girl (19) in charge.
Jason Todd (14) is murdered by the Joker, but is brought back to life rather quickly by his girlfriend Macy Cobblepot (13), who took him to Ra’s al Ghul. In exchange, the two work for him in the League of Shadows.
year 6 — Aqua Charming (19) and Dick Grayson (19) are married. Aqua gets pregnant during their honeymoon. Aqua is crowned Queen of Brooklinia the same year.
year 7 — Aqua Charming (20) gives birth to Richard John “Rickey” Grayson II on Dick Grayson’s (21) birthday. Rickey is born as a stillborn. Overcome with grief, Dick brings his son to the Lazarus Pit in Gotham where he finds Jason Todd (15), alive. Rickey is brought back with a white streak in his hair.
Tim Drake (13) becomes Robin. Bruce Wayne (37) has a relationship with Talia al Ghul (35) before breaking it off.
year 8 — Aqua Grayson (21) unlocks a new, and final, set of powers when Johnny Alto (20) nearly kills Dick Grayson (22). She later gives birth to Caroline and Conner Grayson.
Talia al Ghul (36) gives birth to Damian Wayne.
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oatlystrawberryicecream · 2 months ago
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So i was just fuming because i read a fic that has a line like 'tim is the only bat jason trust to be able to kill someone and live with it and so jason trust tim to do this importantthingythangs while jason went afk' and i kinda wanted to throw my phone against the wall
Though, who do you think will actually able to kill someone and live with it? Either in or out of bruce's influences is fine, thank you!
i think being able to live with it or not is more about the stakes and circumstances than anything else. an accidental kill hurts worse than a split second them or me type kill and both are shocking in a way a premeditated murder isn’t. who also matters. villains are the lowest priority to keep safe, civilians are a rung up, heroes are close to home and there will be heavy repercussions due to the way heroes all share the same networks of peers. i could see a bunch of different scenarios where each character reacts to killing someone completely differently and it is all in the details of who and why and how and who in their social group knows they just broke batman’s biggest taboo. i do think steph and babs are less burdened by bruce’s super intense emotional response to killing and are more realistic about the right to self defense if lives are in imminent danger, partially because they dont try to mold themselves into bruce’s ideal vigilante to the degree that the others do. dick has shown how much he would suffer after taking a life, damian expects better from himself and would feel so much shame at the thought of others knowing he had killed again. it is the worst thing cass can imagine, it is the thing she hates most. tim would treat it as a failing and worry about a slippery slope. i am not very familiar with duke to be able to say exactly how he feels about it or how much bruce’s hangups have influenced him. but even with individual variation of characters i think it is more about the specific situation and what story the writer is trying to tell that determines the fallout and how the characters process what happened.
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redjaybathood · 1 year ago
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1, 5, 7, 8, 4, 11 and 15 for the problematique ships??
oh wow, that's a lot! thank you!
1) what is your favorite “problematic” ship?
Brujay. It is very interesting to get their canon mutual weirdness - their relationship is a mess, it's not healthy - and bring it up to 11. Both because it's like magnifying what's already there, to make it easier to drive things home: none of them is okay and they should, in fact, stay away from each other despite the fact it wouldn't be that hard not just to reconcile but also to respect each other and be deserving of said respect.
It's also curious to me that a lot of Bruce's fan ships are actually... have similar vibes to brujay, minus the "I was his father for 3 years or so" factor. BatCat - I can write an essay about similarities between Jason and Catwoman, and Jason actually feels jealous and replaced by her, at some point in his Robin era. BruTalia, BruHarvey, GhostBat. Especially the GhostBat. It's literally brujay without the incest. Whereas Jason's ships are the opposite. Like, Sladejay comes close but no cigar.
5) a ship you like but can’t find content for because it’s a fanpol fave?
I am like Jaytemis but not enough to go looking. I actually blocked a lot of jaytemis fans because they were dicks in tag. and on some discord server, don't remember details.
7) what kind of “problematic” tropes you like to put your ships through?
Sex while willingly or unwillingly mentally impaired, such as by alcohol (taken willingly), drugs (taken unwillingly), interdimensional demon possession, and having heat while also having a traumatic brain injury. There's also having sex not because you want but for reasons. Proving a point. Trying to manipulate. Things like that.
I think I have about... two fics where a character has sex because they want to have sex, and it ends badly in the second one.
Basically the moral of my stories:
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In one of them, it was quite literal.
8) a character you think did nothing wrong but fandom demonizes?
Damian, easy. I find it irritating especially when he's used as Tim's foil. The little guy was brainwashed, and he still is dealing with the consequences of this trauma and his upbringing overall. It takes years to unpack it.
Talia - just leave her alone. "She traumatized Damian" - the authors did that. She was just a tool, and she was character-assassinated in the process. I mean, it is a bit wrong of her to be, like, in charge of an international murder organization but, we all know what the grip fandom has with her is not about that.
4) a ship you think is fairly healthy and unproblematic but the fandom has decided to hate?
JayRoy and joyfire holy shit. I know it stems, in part, from the hatred to New52 overall and Lobdell's RHatO in particular, and I hear them even if I don't care that much (I see jayroy potential even before New52, and after). But "stealing friends from Dick", "age difference", what the fuck else there was - just no. As long as Jason deals with his commitment issues and self-hatred, this is the healthiest relationship he has ever had with the exception of Artemis and Bizarro.
11) is there a fandom that ever made you think “how are there antis in this fandom, why are they even into this”?
Hannibal, Good Omens, and Sandman, to name a few. Curious that they think that if the creator has public acknowledgment it means that suddenly he's not proship anymore. Or if he is, that's okay, we won't be principled and leave/not join the fandom but rather go bully the proshippers who do not have money and fame.
Oh, and Game of Thrones/House of Dragons - while I don't know if Martin is proship, the subject matter he deals with is no more taboo than what fandom does. "I watch dragon incest show for the dragons, y'all weird" no it's you who's weird, you literally watching a show about incest and complaining about incest. "it's not glorified in canon" That's cute, you sure it is in fics? you read them? you read incest fics? Like, come on.
15) something cool about the last thing you watched/read/listened to!
Last thing I listened to was this youtube comics podcast: Grandpas reading comics (eng subs are only auto-translated so bear with it)
youtube
It's about Ukrainian comics, The Will, and as a person who has two issues of this comic book and no idea of what's going on, I was glad to find out this video exist. I did not finish watching it yet tho - so I still have no idea what's going on - I will keep you guys posted. After I buy the issue 3, maybe.
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kaidatheghostdragon · 11 months ago
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Okay, so I've sat on this au for a few days and thought of a Different Idea (tm). What if the Fentons were distantly related to Jason instead of Dick?. The humor of Danny being related to Dick while having a Dick/Damian relationship with Baby Damian is good, but its even funnier if he keeps the same relationship while being related to a totally different bat.
Being related to Tim could also create some shenanigans (and angst), but Imma stick to Jason here. Danny looks sort of like Jason and is in the age range for Jason's missing years while he was in the LoA. They age difference between Danny and Baby Dami is also close to the age difference between Jason and Damian. Red Robin and Batman do a double take, and their first split second thought was that they traveled back in time and ran into past!Jason and past!Damian doing a joint mission. Danny's green eyeshine as he scans the surrounding forest only adds to the adrenaline spike.
The theory falls apart almost immediately once they both get a closer look. Danny doesn't look exactly like Jason, didn't have pit rage symptoms, the age gap isn't quite large enough, and lastly, Jason and Damian both swear they never met each other in the League. That doesn't knock out alternate reality shenanigans, but this is still a bottom-of-the-list possibility.
How does this change the story that's been fleshed out so far? Does Jason go to Amity Park with the same cover that Dick used? Does danny recognize him as something 'other?' Do secrets get exposed before Jason can even report back to the Waynes? Does he jump ship and join the Fentons just to see the chaos unfold?
Do we go the angst route where the Fenton's hope to fix Jason they way they couldn't fix their son? Or, hilarious miscommunication where they recognize that the ectoplasm in Jason is all wrong and want to filter it out with the clean stuff so he can develop properly? (They already accidentally made two halfas. Now they find a malformed halfa that they had no part in creating, and by the ancients, they're gonna learn from their mistakes and make him the best and healthiest halfa he can be.)
(Danny is choking after hearing his parents use that swear.)
Also, I absolutely love any interaction between Jason and Good Fenton Parents. They would be such enablers for his brand of chaos, more affectionate to him than Bruce could ever hope to be, and completely support his methods of vigilante justice.
Oh wait, this was a baby clone damian au. Jason reports that Clone Damian is just fine almost as an afterthought while nerding out to Dick how cool the Fentons are. Really. Kids a riot. Not murderous. Only a little stabby. But the Fentons seem to have him well in hand. He even goes to public school without complaint.
Seperating this Dami from Danny Fenton would be like trying to separate our Dami from a newborn kitten, and I have no doubt in my mind that Danny wouldn't immediately escalate to murder to defend his brother. Same with the parents. *muttering* unlike Bruce.
Dick hangs up from that conversation with the distinct impression that Jason is gonna change his last name to Fenton.
I saw a post a few months ago (and damn was it really months? In PLURAL?) that was a cracky dpxdc au where the LOS were making Damian clones but the clones kept getting snatched by ghost portals and dropped into Danny’s lap and Danny just goes “ok ig this is my life now” and takes care of each one until he has his own mini army of Damian Clones.
And I remembered it a few days ago, and now I've been thinking about it again. Because I love clone aus (see: clone danny au, the 'danny is thomas wayne' au) because it itches the part of my mind that loves exploring personhood and the exploration of identity and what it means to be clone.
(What do you do when nothing about you is unique? When your face, your eyes, your hands, your hair, your voice, all the way down to your heart, all belong to someone else?)
(When it comes to nature vs nurture what of you came from your environment and your experiences, and what of you was already programmed into you from the DNA that made you?)
(What do you do to make it unique? What do you do to make you unique?)
And if I could remember who made that post I'd @ them right now because it was their original post that inspired this, but I'm just thinking of if the au only had One Singular Damian clone that fell into Danny's life.
(a read more because im apparently incapable of making posts that are less than 1k words...)
One Damian who knew he was a clone and knew that he was to either bring the original back to base or kill him to take his place, who was being trained the same way but kept getting compared to his original over and over again. Like an older sibling who you can never match up to. Who is still a child who craves adult affection and validation and praise, and can't get it because nothing about him is original.
One Damian who, at six years old, in a twist of fate is sucked through a swirling portal and lands in Amity Park, directly on top of, in front of, or in line of sight of one Daniel Fenton, half-ghost extraordinaire and local hero.
What happens next?
Well, for one, Danny recognizes him immediately. He would recognize the face of Damian Wayne anywhere because his best friend was ranting about him all week about Damian Wayne's environmental stuff he does.
And for two, he would recognize that the Damian Wayne in front of him was not Damian Wayne. Because Damian Wayne was a teenager. And the Damian Wayne in front of him is a child. Six years old.
Getting this not-Damian but also-Damian to go along with Danny is not, not an easy task. The tiny Damian is aggressive, regal, and at this point in time, six years old, barely understanding english. He also has a sword.
It takes all day and a google translator to get this Tiny Damian to finally agree to go home with Danny. It's a miracle. Seriously. A tried and true miracle. And its also only when Danny has to fight a ghost does he finally agree, saying something in arabic that Danny doesn't understand.
Danny flies them both home, carrying Tiny Damian like a koala. The ensuing conversation in his room is not any better. It is tiring, long, and exhausting. Tiny Damian is six years old, and every single thing he says when Danny asks where he came from is met with a poorly translated "that's classified".
Danny keeps an eye on the news. There are no reports of Damian Wayne going missing, in fact he's been rather public. Bruce Wayne is not one to lie about his children going missing, and Damian's secretive behavior and young age draws Danny to one conclusion: Damian is a clone.
He doesn't know why Damian Wayne is being cloned. Frankly he doesn't really wanna know, because whatever organization that did it doesn't seem too pure-of-heart if tiny-Damian's immediate attempt of murder when they first met is of any indication. But he's too busy taking care of his city, that he doesn't have time to deal with whatever shady business Tiny-Damian was produced from.
In the end though, he decides that this Tiny-Damian is not going back to whatever place he came from. Tiny Damian disagrees. It is a long, nebulous problem of Damian trying to run away, Danny catching him, and Danny pulling him back home.
In that time, Danny downloads a language app and starts learning Arabic so that they can talk to each other properly. Damian slowly, slowly, starts picking up English.
In that time, Danny also has to inform his friends and his sister about Damian. Tiny Damian is not a fan of this. That is another argument they have. Tiny Damian does not like Sam or Tucker for a long, long while. He only really "listens" to Danny, citing something in arabic that Danny still cannot understand, but has a repeated use of the word "lieazir". It's the only word that Danny can catch in a sentence immediately, because its what little Damian calls Danny.
Tiny Damian, in that front, is very interested in Danny's powers and in his parents work. He finds tubberware of ectoplasm in the fridge once while they're down in the kitchen and calls it something with the word lieazir in it. The other word is something that Danny later learns means water in arabic.
It makes him feel even more uneasy of whatever place little Damian came from.
It takes weeks for little Damian to finally give up on escaping, and then a few weeks more for him to almost entirely lose his spunk. Danny isn't sure what started it. It was as if he'd been flipped with an off-switch.
(Damian had been so confident that the League would go looking for him after his disappearance. He was wrong, and he is crushed. He is still a child, alone, in a country very big and very busy, where nobody understands what he's saying. He feels powerless, helpless.)
(The lazarus boy who calls himself Danyal is nice to him in a way the league has never been, and he's making an effort to learn Damian's language. But he leaves for hours at a time and Damian doesn't have much else to do but wait in this house for him to come back.)
(He tried leaving, many many times, but he doesn't understand the street signs, the roads, the people. He doesn't know where he is, and he feels scared in a way that he's not felt in the League. Danny finds him every single time, hours later when Damian is lost somewhere in Amity Park)
(And he never yells at him. Never. The first time this happens, Damian puffs himself up and prepares himself for this strange lazarus boy to yell at him. Damian feels like he's tripped on the last step of the stairs when Danyal doesn't yell at him.)
(He can tell he's frustrated by the tone of his voice, but when Danyal lays eyes on him he just looks relieved. He gets scolded on the flight home, but Damian doesn't understand any of it other than Danyal just sounds worried. Not angry. He gets a proper scolding once they get back, with Danyal typing into the google translator and playing it for Damian to hear.)
(This happens every single time until Damian finally agrees to stop running away.)
It's with Jazz's help that Danny finally realizes that Damian was depressed. It's with her help again that Danny tries helping with it. It's like trying to get a stray cat to trust him. And with everything else they've done, it takes a long time.
And it is so, so worth it when it all works out.
Tiny Damian doesn't really like Sam, or Tucker, but he likes Danny. And he finally starts calling him his name. His full name, but his name nonetheless. Danny doesn't bother correcting him. He's not looking a gift horse in the mouth. And it's endearing hearing Damian call him Danyal.
Damian in this time, also begins to take more initiative into learning English. And they teach each other words they know. Danny buys flash cards and writes the english alphabet on them, and then finds a book on arabic to teach himself and Damian. Sam and Tucker and Jazz start learning as well.
And then when Danny knows enough arabic and Damian knows enough english, and Damian trusts Danny, Damian tells him he's a clone. It's a quiet moment, late at night when Danny takes Damian up to the ops center to look at what stars they could see through the light pollution.
It'd be very easy for Danny to tell him, "I know. I could tell from the start.". He doesn't, it's not the time nor the place, and Danny's matured enough to know when to open his mouth and when to keep it shut. He lets Damian, almost seven now, tell him that he's a clone of Damian Wayne. Lets him tell him why he was made, what his purpose was.
(Danny will need a minute later to process the fact that Damian Wayne originally came from some kind of... assassin league with an obsession with immortality. But he's focused on Damian.)
In the end, he puts an arm around Damian Wayne's clone and pulls him into his side. Thanks him for trusting him, it must've been hard to tell him, that he's brave for being able to. And if he wants to, they can find a way to get into contact with the Waynes and let Wayne know about him.
Damian hides his face in Danny's ribs and holds him tight, and tells him he doesn't want to. Danny leaves it at that.
Perhaps it would be more morally ethical to alert Damian Wayne that there was a clone of him running around, that his... uh, grandfather was making clones of him. Hell, Danny would have liked it. But little Damian has asked him not to say anything, and little Damian needs someone to rely on; someone he can trust.
And in the end, its not that hard of a decision to make. Danny knows little Damian more than he knows Damian Wayne, and while Danny likes to think he's a good person, he knows he's not a great one. Nor a perfect one. He cares more about someone he knows than someone he doesn't.
If Sam tries to argue with him about it, then Danny will just double down. If Damian doesn't want to tell Wayne about his existence, then it's not their place to say otherwise.
There's a lot more to talk about over Damian's cloning, like what he wants to do moving forward. But that's a long conversation not meant to be one taken late at night. Little Damian is falling asleep at his side, seemingly much more relaxed than he did before, and Danny wasn't gonna ruin that.
And later he's right, it is a long conversation, and a slow one. Talking with Jazz about it helps him figure out what to do moving forward, and their best bet is to let Damian figure out what he wants to do. So he sits Damian down at the dinner table the next morning and tells him before breakfast that he doesn't need to be Damian Wayne.
He doesn't need to learn all the same things Damian Wayne did. He doesn't need to do anything that Damian Wayne does. And little Damian is seven, and he's smart, but Danny still has to word it in a way that's not too complex for him to realize.
And in the end, what he says essentially boils down to "You are not Damian Wayne, you are just you. Don't be anyone else but you." and it'll take more time to drill that into his mind when all he's ever heard and learned from is that he was a copy of Damian Wayne, and he must act like Damian Wayne. But it'll happen.
It's a hard task when Danny's the only person Damian really trusts and he can't be by his side all the time, but he starts to warm up to the rest of Danny's family. The Fenton parents know of him, it's hard to keep a six year old child a secret for as long as Danny did without eventually having to come clean about it. His parents, much to Danny's relief, are very welcoming to Damian.
Damian figures out what he likes. Slowly. He's six years old, almost seven, and nobody expects of him to figure out who he is immediately. No child knows who they are right off the bat. So like any child he begins to explore. His english is better but still rough, and he struggles to read said language, but the Fenton family are happy to help even if Damian learns words that no normal seven year old does. (Many of them scientific.)
Damian realizes he likes stars, even if said interest is influenced by the association to Danny. Danny is all too delighted to tell him all about them, and in the process takes him flying out somewhere where the light pollution doesn't reach and showing him where constellations are.
Damian is six-almost-seven, so he doesn't find all of them, but Danny helps him figure out the easier ones. He tells him the scientific facts behind them, and then tells him about the mythos of the constellations. Later on they make their own constellations and make up stories about what they are.
(Damian adores Danny out of anyone else in the Fenton Family. The name Danyal turns to Dany. If anyone asks, Daniel Fenton is Damian's big brother.)
(He still refers to Jazz as Jazmine, and Danny's parents as Mrs. and Mr. Fenton.)
He realizes that, like his original, he loves animals, and he becomes vegetarian too. Sam is smug and Tucker is disappointed, but Damian doesn't super care about their opinions. ...he's getting better at liking them, even if he thinks Manson is a bit snobby and Foley is too much at times.
Its inevitable that the conversation of school comes into play. Damian can't stay home all day and he needs proper schooling. So after a long talk with Damian, they agree to send him to elementary school.
...And before they can do that the Fenton Family goes through with legally adopting Damian into the family as Damian Fenton. It takes convincing to get the administration to enroll him into the first grade without a proper schooling background.
(On his adoption form, Damian asks to change his birthday to the day he met Danny. Perhaps its not the most responsible thing to agree to, but Danny wants Damian to find himself. And its not like they know when his actual birthday was.)
And despite where he learned it from, Damian quite likes sparring. And he quite likes sparring with Danny in particular. Danny makes it fun, something that was foreign in his old league training, and Danny never hurts him. It's a lot like roughhousing.
Danny tells Damian how he got his powers, and how his parents don't know. Damian wakes up late at night to Danny sneaking out of the room (their house is not big enough to give Damian an individual room, and Danny agreed to share his) to go fight ghosts.
It's upsetting. Damian knows that Danny gets injured in those fights, even if Danny never comes home until after those injuries have been fixed up. He wants to help, and he voices it, and Danny shoots him down.
It becomes an argument, something that has happened less and less over the months.
Damian is experienced.
Damian is a child.
Damian knows how to fight.
Damian is mortal and fragile. He is a tiny, squishy human boy and the people Danny fights are ghosts who are near-indestructible. Who are intimately acquainted with death but also do not remember that humans are capable of it. Especially when they're fighting.
Damian says that Batman's rogues are capable of the same thing, that he lets his Robins help him fight.
And Danny says he is not Batman and he will not allow Damian to fight ghosts with him. Those ghosts will kill him and it will hurt. Dying hurts in a way that is terrifying and unimaginable and he will not risk Damian experiencing it. Not even Sam and Tucker help him in his fights most of the time, they are not able to. Not in the way Danny can.
Damian doesn't talk to him all day the following morning, but Danny does not budge on his decision. Damian tries to follow him out the next night, and Danny catches him and takes him back. Over, and over, and over again.
Until finally he gets intercepted by Skulker while taking Damian back home and is forced to fight him in front of Damian. (If it had been his choice, he would not have let Damian see it at all.)
It's not pretty. Skulker has new weapons, weapons that hurt, a lot. Danny is stuck between trying to take him down and trying to protect Damian from Skulker's attacks at him and from all the debris being created from the fight. It's with Damian's quick thinking and fast feet that finally helps Danny take Skulker out. But Danny is badly injured in the aftermath.
He doesn't have time to take Damian home and get medical attention. So he takes Damian with him to wherever he has his supplies stashed. He doesn't call Sam or Tucker or Jazz, and has to stitch himself up alone, with Damian watching.
Damian is quiet the entire time, he feels awful. Danny's not mad at him -- well, he is. But not because he had to protect him. He's just tired, and a little disappointed in him. Damian doesn't sneak out again. But he still feels helpless.
Danny tells him that that is why he doesn't want Damian to help him. Ghosts, his ghosts, are hard to fight. They are powerful, and his 'rogues' are mean. They will not care that Damian is a mortal child, if he picks a fight with them, they will fight back. And Damian is not immune to certain ghost powers like Danny is.
Damian is silent. He wants to help. But Danny is right: he is a squishy, mortal, living child. There is not much he can do to help Danny. Not without any gear to do it. Not without any powers to do it. He wants to help. He cannot.
Damian, almost-seven-years old, begins to cry. It is the last thing Danny was expecting, and for a moment he is at a loss of what to do.
Damian reaches for him -- in the Fenton family, physical affection is expected. Damian is getting used to it, but Danny is the only one he likes touching him -- and then stops, cringing away like he only just remembered that Danny was hurt.
He only cries harder.
Danny meets him halfway and pulls him into his arms, situating Damian between his knees from where he's sitting. Through his tears, Damian says he wants to help. He wants to help. He doesn't want Danny to get hurt anymore. He doesn't want Danny to fight ghosts alone anymore. He's scared that Danny will stop coming back.
Danny doesn't have anything to say to reassure him. Can't say anything to reassure him. It'll all just be lies. He's not going to stop fighting ghosts, he can't. He's not going to stop getting hurt, he can't. He's not going to bring Damian with him, he can't. He'd never be able to live with himself.
"I'll always come back." He says though, because that is something he can promise. Whether dead or alive, he'll come back.
When the tears finally stop, Damian doesn't say anything again. He sniffles, and presses his ear to Danny's chest, listening to the steady, slow heartbeat. If he puts his ear to his sternum and strains his ear, Damian would almost hear the low hum of Danny's ghost core, like a small dwarf sun.
"If you die, I'll drag you to the Lazarus pools myself." Damian mumbles eventually, his voice sleep-full. It's spoken in arabic, and Danny only understands half of it.
He laughs quietly, and smoothes his hand over Damian's hair. He hasn't had a haircut since he arrived, it's gotten long and there are curls beginning to form. "Okay."
Damian falls asleep shortly after, and with much consideration to his own injuries and Damian's sleeping form, Danny flies them back home.
It's hard to say, but not much changes in routine afterwards. Damian hovers close to Danny, more than usual. Danny still goes out at night, he still stitches himself up before going back, he still goes back home where Damian is waiting worriedly for him. Damian doesn't like falling asleep without knowing Danny is there.
Now the hard question is: when does little Damian finally meet the Waynes for the first time? There's plenty of ways to go about it, both easy and hard. Perhaps we go this way:
The Fenton family are visiting Maddie's sister in Arkansas. And Damian is dragging Danny around through the surrounding forest. It's his first time being in a forest this large since he moved in with the Fentons. Safe to say he is delighted by all of the nature, and he's dragging Danny along with him.
Danny likes the peace and quiet it gives him, he's found that he enjoys the rural area more than he likes the city. He's happy to let Damian point out every plant he recognizes, even if some of it is in arabic.
They walk around all day until Damian gets tired, and then at night when the sky is clear Danny and him go look at the stars. It's peaceful at first.
On the third day of their visit, Damian drags Danny out far from the house. It's slightly worrying, but Danny can always fly them back if it gets too late.
It's in the woods that Danny and Damian stray much too far from Alicia's house, and from there in the early evening that they run into Batman and Red Robin, both of them in rough 'just got out of a fight' shape.
Safe to say, it was the last thing any of them expected to run into. Damian and Danny had stopped at a small crik to rest, and the two vigilantes came through the tree line on the other side.
It was... quite the staring contest.
Damian, now seven years old at this point, forgot to mention that the Waynes were vigilantes when he told Danny he was a clone. But he was told that Batman was his original's father.
Before anyone can say anything, little Damian wraps his arms tight around Danny's middle and stares Batman and Red Robin down. His sharp edges have softened around the Fentons. But he makes no exceptions to anyone else outside of Danny's immediate social circle.
Danny's arm automatically goes around Damian's shoulders, and he looks between both Red and Batman uneasily. If they were here then it meant that there was something unsafe nearby. Danny did not fight the living, and he wasn't going to put Damian in the crosshairs of anything that does.
"Should... should we leave?" He asks, brows knotted together with a frown. He stands. "Is there something going on nearby?"
Batman suddenly grunts, and looks at him. "It's been handled." He says, and his voice is gruffer than Danny imagined it. Lower. Danny is not all that comfortable with that answer.
"Do you guys live nearby?" Red Robin asks, and Danny can't help but notice that he keeps looking at Damian. Warily. In fact, so is Batman.
He pushes Damian behind him slightly, and Damian's grip tightens on him. "Not... exactly." He says, his eyes narrowing slightly. "My family's visiting my Aunt and my brother wanted to explore since it's his first time out of the city, I guess we wandered too far away if we're running into you."
There's no visible indication of whether or not both Bats reacted to him calling Damian his brother. But he can all but feel little Damian preen at the title, it makes Danny's mouth twitch into a smile as his hand finds Damian's hair.
"Would we be able to go back with you?" Red Robin asks, startling both Danny and seemingly Batman, who looks at him instantly.
"Red Robin." He growls out, and Red Robin throws Batman a look of annoyance.
"We are lost, B. They jammed the comms and our trackers back there and it hasn't come back on yet, his aunt may have the signal we need to let the others know where we are."
They end up walking back with Danny and Damian. It's silent, and awkward, and Danny has Damian walking on his opposite side so he's not near the vigilantes. Red Robin is fiddling with a phone but still can't get a signal.
Batman is silently brooding.
Red eventually gives up and shoves the phone into a pocket on his belt, then turns to make conversation with Danny. "I never thanked you for letting us walk with you. Thanks, by the way."
Danny blinks at him, and smiles awkwardly. "No problem, man," he says, "I'm uh, Danny." He glances down at Damian, who looks up at him with big green eyes, and Damian nods quietly.
He looks back at Red Robin, and says, "This is my little brother, Damian." And Damian peers over his side and glares at Red Robin -- and Batman, who looks over when Danny says his name.
"He looks like Damian Wayne," Red Robin notes, head tilting like he's inspecting him.
Danny huffs dryly, "We get that a lot."
Red Robin smiles at him, its a tilted thing. It makes Danny uneasy. "Where did you say you were from?"
"I didn't," Danny says bluntly, and he really doesn't want to tell them where he's from. Not when Red Robin was acting strange, but they're vigilantes and notorious for their detective skills. If he's suspicious, they'll look into him. "But I'm from Amity Park."
Damian in that moment, peers around Danny again and scowls at Red Robin. Full on scowls at him, as if it were the first months when he met Danny. "You're being nosy." He sneers, his hand squeezing Danny's.
"Damian," Danny hisses, suppressing a smile. Damian jumps like he's been startled, and looks up at him with big green eyes. "He's just being curious."
(He lets his smile slip through briefly, just to let Damian know he's not that upset. A tension leaves his little brother's shoulders.)
"But he is." Damian continues, a whine leaking into his voice. Danny jabs him in the ribs with his fingers, and Damian jumps, swatting away his hand with a squeak.
"Would you rather have us walk in dead silence, Dames?" He goes for Damian's ribs again, a grin stretching across his face as Damian jumps back again and swats his hand. "Hm? Hm? We could just walk in awkward silence for the entire trip back, I know you just love awkward silence, little brother."
(It's funny, saying little brother always sounds so uncomfortable when he reads it in books and watches it on tv. But Jazz always makes it sound so natural when she does it, and Danny finds that he sounds the same too.)
Damian continues to bat away his hands, but it's not enough to prevent him from squealing with laughter when Danny gets a good hold on him and starts tickling him. Danny's grin only gets bigger, and he swoops Damian up with his arm and holds him like a football.
"Is that it? Huh? Me, you, and two vigilantes walking back to Aunt Alicia's cabin in complete, utter silence." He says, "You won't get to hear any of my amazing jokes."
Damian's wriggling, trying to pound on Danny's ribs, he's giggling uncontrollably. It's the best sound Danny's ever heard. "Your jokes are awful! Laeazir! Put me down!" He cries, grinning from ear to ear.
(From the side, both Red Robin and Batman tense up.)
Danny chuckles, and through a short series of flips, has Damian sitting on his shoulders. "I will not. You're sitting up in air jail for insulting my hilarious jokes."
Damian tugs on his hair in revenge, harrumphing at him but making no move to get down. Danny squeezes his ankles playfully, and looks back to Batman and Red Robin.
Both vigilantes look at him like he's grown a second head.
....Red Robin looks at him like he's grown a second head. Batman just stares, and then looks away. Danny tilts his head at them, his smile waning. "You guys look like you've seen a ghost or something."
(Damian tugs on his hair again. A silent boo at him.)
Red Robin jerks, "Oh, sorry." He says, not sounding all that sorry. "It's just... I've lost count to how many times I've saved Damian Wayne from the occasional kidnapping and he's always been very... serious. It's just weird seeing a kid that looks like him be... not serious."
From his shoulders he feels Damian hide his smile in his hair, that's another thing they can put on their "Things That Damian Does That Damian Wayne Does Not" list. It started as a joke, but it's been surprisingly helpful for when Damian is questioning himself.
However, Danny is not a fan of the comparison, and he smiles widely, perhaps a tad passive-aggressive. "It's a good thing that my Damian isn't Damian Wayne then." He says, giving him the slight stink eye.
Red Robin picks up on it quickly, and nods.
The rest of the way is spent in idle conversation. It's oddly casual, even if most of the conversation is Danny talking about himself. It's annoying, but he unfortunately understands the reason. Secret identities and all that.
Damian interjects a few times, some parts to talk to Danny, and other parts to throw shade at Batman and Red Robin. Mostly Red Robin, who seems begrudgingly used to it.
("I'm surprised you haven't asked me much about myself." Red Robin says at one point into the conversation. Over his shoulder Batman glares at Red Robin. "A lot of civilians do when they're able."
Danny stares at him. "You're a vigilante." He says, frowning, "Isn't it superhero 101 that you don't ask superheroes for their secret identity?"
"You'd be surprised."
"Huh. Well, no. I'm not gonna ask you about yourself. I quite like talking all about me.")
When they finally reach the cabin, it's late into the night and Danny has moved Damian from his shoulders to his front in a koala-like carry. Damian's fast asleep with his head on Danny's shoulder.
His family was also frantically searching for him, and Jazz sees him first. She immediately turns behind her and yells "I FOUND HIM!". And then sprints over to him, his parents thundering not too far behind.
Both vigilantes are subsequently ignored as Jazz dotes over him and Danny, and soon enough so is his mom and dad. They're all talking all at once, asking him where he was, they were worried sick, did he know how late it was.
He shushes all of them, loudly. And whispers that Damian is sleeping. His family then immediately quiet themselves, and go back to yelling at him in a more appropriate manner.
"Me and Damian walked too far by accident." Danny finally says when he can get a word in, and then he jabs his thumb in Red Robin and Batman's direction. "We also found two superheroes who need assistance."
The speed of which his family all snap their heads over to the direction he's pointing is almost comical. As is all of their expressions of shock.
His mother is the first to regain her senses, and she sighs at him. She sighs! "Only you, Danny." She says, and Jazz snorts into her arm.
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lazydoodlesandfanfic · 2 years ago
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Turning Into Jason (Bruce Wayne X Daughter!Reader) *PARENTAL
Characters: Bruce Wayne X Daughter!Reader, Jason Todd X Sister!Reader
Universe: DC, Batman
Warnings: Murder, attempted murder (both off screen) blood and violence, swearing
Request: Bruce's daughter killing someone in cold blood on a mission out of anger (they disserved it tbh) and bruce having to talk her out of becoming like jason. (She doesn't listen tho.)
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Bruce had long learned about the complexity of having multiple children, and their relationships with each other; Dick seemed to get along with everyone for the most part, though he got along best with Tim and Duke, Tim, Duke and Cass got along quite well, as well as with Damian in a strange way, Damian mostly hid any actual preference or feelings behind a cold exterior, but as referenced earlier, he got along strangely with Tim, and he also had a rather healthy relationship with Cass. However, there were two odd ones in that group: You and Jason. Jason, being the second oldest, was always standoff-ish, had a temper and had never really gotten close to anyone in the family, always keeping a wall between himself and others, even more so after his resurrection. You were quite similar, though several years younger. By the time you joined the family, Jason had died, been resurrected, and was on speaking terms with the family again, and when he came to see his new sibling, you two immediately connected very similarly to the way that the others had connected with each other. At the time, this had actually made Bruce happy- a sort of reassurance that you had someone, and so did Jason. Someone you actually related to to help each other in rough patches.
Well, now that wasn’t the case. Honestly, Bruce blamed himself for not thinking about the fact that Jason- his wild child and the one who actively doesn’t listen to him and goes out of his way to kill criminals, was so close to his little sister, an impressionable teen who looked up to him and saw herself in him in so many ways. He should have talked to you- or Jason, about keeping you away from that side of Jason’s work, or maybe not have involved you in the vigilante lifestyle at all. Because you’d done it. You’d crossed the line. You killed someone. 
Bruce wasn’t sure what to do, in all honesty. You had been out on Patrol unsupervised, and it was a busy night so it took a moment for anyone to realised you hadn’t checked in for a while, and then they couldn’t get ahold of you, leading to your father going to search for you, leaving strict instructions to hold off on telling Jason, knowing he’d kick off and go full guns blazing, and he was glad they’d listened. He was able to trace your steps, and soon found you heaving for breath, sat against a wall in an alley, covered in blood with a distant look in your eye. Bruce immediately presumed you were hurt, in shock and struggling to process anything. Then he saw the body further down the dark and damp snicket, not moving in any way. He went over to the man, confirming he was dead- with a cut to the throat of all things, the weapon- a batarang- nearby. Bruce picked up the weapon, turned back to you, walked over, grabbed your arm and heaving you up, and pulled you home, where you were now. 
You were still in your vigilante attire, though the mask was off, and you hadn’t moved from the chair that your father had sat you down in. He didn’t know what to say and where to start. He wanted to yell at you till his voice was hoarse, asking, begging, demanding that you give him answers to what happened and what led you to that point, but then he remembered how he did that to Jason, and how it only widened the gap between him and his second eldest, contributing to the domino effect that led to his death. He’d grown from that, at least he hoped he had, and he tried to prove that by waiting to gather himself in some way, promising that he was going to do this right this time, but he didn’t know what the right action was yet. He didn’t want to give you in, and your actions since he had found you had made him believe something happened that you hadn’t told him yet. He needed to talk to you. Alone. No Jason, no Alfred, no one else. He pulled a seat up, sitting down and facing you, arms resting on his knees. You were sitting back in your seat, arms flopped in your lap, head low, an almost dead look behind your eyes, not really looking at anything. “Y/N?” He called your name, and almost immediately your eyes looked up at him, meeting his own. “I don’t think you need me to say that I’m not happy about this. At all. You know we have a no kill rule, and for good reason, so you better have a pretty good reason.”
You didn’t answer him immediately. Instead, your eyes wandered down to your hands, still covered in the man’s blood, though no longer wet, and now soaking moisture out of your skin. You lightly picked and pulled pieces away from your skin. “You know those murders happening?” 
“You need to be more specific.” Bruce hated that he had to say that, but it was true. Murder was daily occurence in this city, no matter how hard he tried. 
“There’s been a series of murders on young women in that specific area. I always like to note down every case across the city just in case I notice a pattern and a link and… I found one. All the victims have similar appearances, similar age, and were killed in similar fashion. All were different from the usual attacks, and I realised it might be a serial killer…”
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I wasn’t sure. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions and be completely wrong and cause panic. I actually hoped I was wrong and none of these cases were linked, but… I decided to gather more evidence first before showing it to you. I went to investigate the location of where one of the women was found and… he showed up while I was there. I was looking for anything the police missed or left behind, and he came up behind me and-” 
“What the fuck happened?” 
The voice interrupted your explanation, and both yourself and Bruce became tense, knowing who that voice belonged to. Jason. He came rushing out of the elevator from upstairs, practically shoving Bruce to the side to look at you, ripping off his helmet so you could see him properly as he examined your hands, and then the blood on the rest of the clothes. “It was an accident. He was gonna kill me. I didn’t know what else to do.” You started to crumble so easily now that he was there, and Bruce watched as you let yourself immediately break down, becoming vulnerable and showing all your weakness in the presence of your big brother, who immediately made you feel safe with a soothing shush and pulling you into his arms as you started to sob. He got his answer. He now knew what happened. He of course still wasn’t happy it happened, but… He understood. 
“You did the right thing. You shouldn’t feel bad for defending yourself, you hear me?” Jason assured you. You nodded, sniffing as you pulled away, but still leant forward to be close to Jason, who still remained knelt down in front of you. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you.” 
“She went off by herself to investigate a possible serial killer.” 
“Oh? You got a serial killer? That’s great! Do you have any idea how many people you’ve probably saved? Think about it. That’s pretty special.” Jason responded to Bruce’s little comment, being complimentary and keeping his voice low, calm and kind when talking to you still, though there was a dog whistle of a threat in there that Bruce heard loud and clear, backed up when Jason looked over his shoulder to glare freezing, deadly daggers at him, telling to shut up. “But you’ll still feel bad for taking someone’s life. That’s normal, it’s expected, and it’ll be hard to deal with, but I’ll help you, okay?” Jason promised, looking back at you. “Want me to stay over for a few days? Help with any nightmares?”
“Yes please.” You answered quietly. Jason nodded, standing up in front of you. 
“Go take a bath, I’ll be up in a bit to set up a bed on your floor, if you need me, holler.” Jason told you, and you quietly and quickly walked to the elevator, head still low, still picking at your hands. The second the door shut, Jason turned to Bruce, and pointed to him. “Don’t you fucking dare blame her for what happened.” 
“Jason-”
“You heard her! She was attacked by a killer. He was gonna kill her, and she had no choice but to fight back with whatever she had available. It was him or her, be glad your daughter’s alive. Imagine if you found her dead, not him. Could you live with yourself if you lost another one of your children to a murderer?” Jason questioned, not caring if his voice echoed through the cave, disrupting the bats ahead, because he knew Bruce needed to hear it. 
“...I’m afraid she’s turning into you.” 
“Oh don’t you dare.” Jason growled, sort of pacing in an infrequent manner without pattern around the man, who remained perfectly still, not moving except his eyes who followed his second oldest. “Don’t you dare compare her to me. She is so much better than me. I know I’m a cold hearted son of a bitch, but her? She gives a fuck about Gotham, she wants to do what’s right still, and believe it or not, she wants to do you proud, she still has hope. This… accident will change her. It might break her. I don’t know to what extent, but what she needs is her family backing her up, being there for her, not demonising her and having her compared to the black sheep of the family, essentially threatening to disown her for not dying for your pathetic cause!” He snapped. The words made Bruce flinch slightly, though he hid it by looking down and making it seem like a long blink. Deep down, no matter how much it hurt, he knew Jason was right. He still didn’t know how to handle situations like these. He didn’t understand Jason, and he didn’t understand you. But Jason did. And so, with great reluctance, Bruce spoke up. 
“You know her best. What should I do? To help her?” He asked quietly, just above a whisper. This seemed to be the right answer, snuffing out Jason’s fuse, at least for a moment. 
“When everyone gets back, you explain to them what happened. Carefully. You tell them how Y/N was attacked by a serial killer, and in self defense, killed him. You tell them how she’s clearly shook up by the event, because she is. You make sure they don’t see her as another criminal, because if she feels like the people who are supposed to have her back are turning on her for this… then she will turn into me, and trust me, no one wants that. Especially me.”
Hope you like it! If you have any questions, please send them in! 
*Not my gif
TAGS:  @freyathehuntress  @courtneychicken​  @graysonmalfoy​ @bellero​ @originalpottervengerlock​ @supernatural-pan​ @esoltis280​ @lady-of-lies​ @lenaswritingandstuff @macbetheliza @mandywholock1980​ @cdwmtjb8​ @caswinchester2000​ @determinedpines​ @huntheimpossible
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night-fallz · 3 years ago
Text
We're Tired of Him
Ao3 // Wattpad
previous II next
We’re Tired of Him (part 5)
Jason frowned as he studied the scene in front of him. Everyone was fighting each other on who should ask the kid the first question.
The room was loud and…
His eyes turned to the couch where Damian resided, frowning as he replayed the earlier events.
Damian was off.
The intense look on his face softened by a fraction when he realized that this was the calmest he has ever seen Damian. The kid looked
like the kid he was supposed to be. As if he was just about to take a nap after a stressful day at school.
And wasn’t that fucked up?
The most at peace he’s ever seen Damian was when he was drugged up and drunk.
Jason felt someone watching him. When he turned, he met Tim’s eyes for a brief second before Tim quickly turned away, frustrated and… jealous?
He scoffed to himself. Now he knew that he was definitely imagining things. What would Tim even be jealous of?
“Look,” Tim practically snarled at the room. “I know that all of you had a bad experience with Damian’s normal Damian-ess.” Eyes followed Tim as he walked around the room, “But you guys weren’t the ones that he tried to murder.” Tim paused before adding, “Multiple times.”
Jason tried to keep his body language at ease. It never made sense to him that Tim forgave Jason but never Damian.
The room was quiet before Wally spoke up. “Go ahead, then.”
Tim walked towards Damian and he didn’t care enough to hide the grin forming on his face as he felt the room watching him.
He stopped in front of the brat, who was about to fall asleep. Tim rolled his eyes. Was it past the kid’s bedtime or something?
Tim wanted to slap Damian awake. Wanted to look down at him as he stared up at him, all bleary-eyed and hurt. That would’ve just been the beginning.
But Tim knew he couldn’t. Not with Dick and Jason watching him.
Jason.
He saw how the man looked at Damian with that stupid softened expression that was and should only be reserved for Tim!
He closed his eyes for a few seconds and let out a breath.
Tim gently shook Damian awake.
The brat squinted up at Tim and tilted his head to the side. It was cute, even he could admit that. But Tim also knew the truth.
Behind that face was nothing but the fucking devil.
Damian’s eyes were unfocused and Tim decided that it would be the perfect time to ask his question.
“Why did you try to kill me?”
Tim’s voice cracked and it was full of so much insecurity that even Dick couldn’t hide his flinch.
He knew that Tim still wasn’t over that incident but he thought that his youngest brothers were making progress. Sure it was small. But at least it was still there.
Right?
He brought his hands up to his face. What would Star do?
“My mom told me to do it,” Damian answered.
If Dick thought that the room was quiet before, it was completely silent now.
His eyes watched as Tim clenched his fists.
Dick’s eyes met Jason's who nodded in understanding.
All Tim could see was red.
“What do you mean your mom told you to do it?” His voice grew louder, angrier. “I went through all that just because you followed mommy’s orders? WHAT ARE YOU? SOME SORT OF FUCKING PUPPET?”
Tim could see small tears begin to form in Damian’s eyes and he relished in it.
He scoffed, “Well Dami.” he spat the brat’s name with as much disgust as he could muster. “Aren’t you gonna be a good little puppet and answer my question?”
Tears ran down Damian's face as he responded. “Yeah,” he whispered, trying to wipe the tears off his face. “I was bred and raised to be the perfect soldier. To follow orders and to follow them with no hesitation. If I didn’t…” Damian’s voice trailed off, something getting caught in his throat.
Before Tim could tell Damian to hurry up and answer the damn question, someone beat him to it. “What happens if you don't follow orders, Damian?”
Jason asked the question softly as he gestured for someone to grab him a cup of water.
Not even a second later, a cup was in his hand. He knelt on the floor so he could gently tilt the water into Damian’s mouth, wiping as many tears as he could running down his face.
“Thank you.” the kid murmured to him.
Jason gave him a small smile, “Always.” he assured before his face grew serious again. “But can you answer my question? Please.”
Dick saw the pointed look Jason sent him.
Change of plans, he guessed.
He stood up, heading towards Tim. No one noticed as they were too busy staring at Jason and Damian.
Tim was staring at the two of them too, not even acknowledging Dick as he led them back to the other seats.
It became obvious that Damian didn’t want to answer the question. Wally ran a hand through his hair. This was taking too long. He wanted it to be his turn.
The drink they gave to Damian at the beginning of the night was obviously not enough. And if anyone asked if he added more alcohol to the drink he handed to Jason earlier, he would deny it.
No harm, no foul.
“Since the brats not answering your question.” he yelled out, “Can it be our turn?” he gestured to the rest of the Teen Titans who looked bored out of their minds.
Jason looked like he wanted to argue but Tim sighed. “Just let them have their turn, Jay. We can coax the answer out of the brat, later.”
Jason’s eyes narrowed, “Fine.” Tim’s eyes lit up and he patted the seat next to him. Jason took the hint and sat next to his brother.
It was obvious that Jason was still lost in his thoughts but Tim didn’t care. Jason was next to him. Acting brotherly towards Tim. Not Damian, him.
“So Damian,” Wally leaned forward and he could see just how red Damian’s eyes were. He hoped that the camera was getting a clear view of this. “How do you feel about the team?”
“They don’t like me.”
That was all Damian said. It was clear, precise, and straight to the point.
Tim scoffed, “At least he’s aware.” he whispered under his breath.
Jason nudged him and sent Tim a warning look. Tim scowled.
Dick spoke up, this was the opening he was looking for. “Do you know why?”
Damian didn’t answer.
“Even while he’s drunk, he can’t follow directions.”
Dick ignored that remark. “Come on, Dami.” Dick urged, trying to get the answer out of his little brother. “Do you know why your team doesn’t like you?”
Damian's body began to tremble and tears began forming in his eyes once more. He clenched his fists, “Cause I’m stupid and useless and I can’t do anything right.” he attempted to wipe his tears away but more just came coming. “I tried to get them to like me,” he confessed. “But it didn’t work.”
Maybe it was because of how pathetic Damian looked but even Wally began to feel bad.
“What do you mean you tried to get us to like you?” Crush asked.
“I apologized.” Damian started, “And I know it wasn’t enough so I tried to start a conversation. Tried to connect with them. But it didn’t work either.” Damian stared at his hands, “I asked Alfred for tips on how to make friends and he told me that giving people food was always the right answer. So I did. I baked items to give to them and I thought it worked. But-“
Damian looked away. Dick could tell that Damian didn’t want to continue but he needed to know more. “But,” he pried. “What happened, Dami.”
“It was after a mission briefing. And everyone left for a team bonding activity that I wasn’t invited to. I had to throw something away and they were all there.” Damian sniffled, wiping more tears away from his eyes. “I worked so hard on them.” he blurted out. “And they were unopened. They didn’t even give it a try.”
Wally turned to face the Titans and he could see the conflicted emotions crossing on their face. Hell, he could feel the conflicted emotions going through him now.
He remembered the day Damian was talking about. How could he not? He was the one that convinced the others that the food might’ve been poisoned.
Wally was also the one that “unintentionally” raised his voice to talk about the place where the team was going. And how happy everyone was that the br- kid wasn’t going.
No one spoke for a while.
Jason shut his eyes. He knew that he wouldn’t like the answer to this question. But he needed to know.
“How do you think me, Dick, and Tim feel about you?”
“You guys hate me.” Damian whispered, “Father wishes I was more like all of you. But I don’t know how. And when I do try to become like you, it’s never enough.”
“No.” He heard Dick whisper in disbelief. “Dami, you’re wrong.”
If Damian heard the eldest Robin, he didn’t acknowledge it. “He thinks you guys are perfect. And you don’t-“ his voice cracked. “And you don’t even have to try.”
“Dam-“ Tim tried to interject but Damian ignored him.
“It’s not fair!” Damian lashed out. “Father wishes I got along with you guys. But when I try, it doesn’t work. I always mess things up.”
“That’s not true.” Jason found himself murmuring.
“That’s why I’m not invited to your bonding sessions. That’s why you guys always call me a demon and a brat. That’s why whenever you guys talk about me, my name always gets insulted.” Damian shut his eyes. “I don’t get it.” He admitted. “I was raised to be perfect. But it's like everything I do turns out to be a mistake.”
Dick wanted to speak up. To tell Damian that he was wrong. That he wasn’t a mistake. But his mouth wouldn’t open.
He could only listen as Damian continued to talk. No one else had the guts to stop him.
“Do you think that’s why Ummi sent me away?” Damian quietly asked, “Because I wasn’t good enough? Because I wasn’t perfect.”
Damian was talking to himself now. Dick didn’t know who this Ummi was and he didn’t think that anyone else did either.
“Sometimes, I wonder if I was sent here as a punishment,” Damian admitted. "I don't know what I did wrong but I think I was punished enough." His voice lowered. "So why won't my Ummi take me away?'
That brought Jason out of his trance and Dick watched as Jason moved to console the youngest bat. He wrapped his arms around the kid, not caring how his shirt was damp from tears. His eyes were shut as if Jason was trying to hold back his own tears.
It was like the events of the night just crashed into everyone’s heads as they turned to look at each other and back to Damian in Jason’s arms.
They fucked up.
________________________________________
So, guess who’s back… ish after four months of no updates.
I am so sorry for taking so long to write this chapter. I know that I replied to a lot of comments saying that I was releasing this chapter a lot sooner than I did but things came up.
I hope you guys like this chapter!! I feel like it could’ve been a lot better (and definitely a lot angstier) but I really wanted to update this fic. Especially since my life’s gonna start picking up once again. With finals around the corner and volleyball tournaments about to start soon, life’s gonna be super busy once more.
Like always, please leave a comment. I love reading them and I try to reply to every single one of them. It also helps that they motivate me so much! Let me know your thoughts, reactions, or anything!
If you don’t wanna leave a comment, that’s fine. If you liked this fanfic, please hit that kudos button though.
And once again, if you have any fanfic requests, questions, or just suggestions for a specific fanfic I’m writing, just leave it in a comment down below. You can also message me here at Tumblr.
Have an amazing day and wish me luck for finals!!! I’ll try to update as soon as I can!
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sparkypantaloons · 3 years ago
Note
a booth at batburger (and all the memories tied to it)
Oh man, sorry I'm just seeing this now! Thank you so much for the prompt. A nonsense drabble below I hope you enjoy :)
~~
If he’s honest, Bruce hates Batburger. The whole premise makes his stomach churn. Not just the gimmicry of his life’s work, or the glorification of violent, murderous criminals. But he also just doesn’t think the Batburger itself is that good... He'd rather a Big Mac any day.
Except, Batburger’s a local business and Wayne Enterprises whole thing for near enough twenty years now, has been about local, so Bruce hasn’t had a Big Mac since Tim was Robin. If he absolutely has to, maybe seven times out of ten he can force down a Killer Croque Monsieur, but even that depends on how and what Waylon’s doing.
His kids though, despite Alfred’s tireless efforts, love the place. All five and a half of them. And Bruce has been forced to decide whether to Jokerize his fries more times than he cares to count.
It was Dick who discovered it, back when he'd been thirteen years old and had the metabolism of a Speedster. He’d positively shrieked with joy, ordering Robin-nuggets (in uniform) and promptly scoffing all 24 of them in about six minutes. Bruce had never driven the Batmobile so slowly, convinced Robin would regurgitate the deep-fried nugget of undetermined meat origin at any moment.
It was Dick too, who had chosen ‘The Booth’. Perfectly positioned, apparently, to have a good view of both exits, was equidistant from the Little Batgirl’s Room and the Little Batboy’s Room, wasn’t too far from the jukebox and was close enough to the counter to order seconds without having to get up.
Bruce hadn’t thought too much of it if he was honest, spending pretty much every moment he was in the joint wanting to leave, rather than caring about where he was sat. Blown up photos of his own cowled face watching him from every wall made him feel like he was in some sort of Twilight Zone. But like so many things that Dick was passionate about, somehow Batburger, and The Booth, stuck.
 It was there that Bruce had first introduced Jason and Dick to each other, deciding neutral ground might be less stressful than the Manor, for all involved. (Alfred had point blank refused to attend, sat in the car in the parking lot instead). Bruce had swelled with pride at how patient and kind Dick had been with an eleven year old Jason, who still struggled to look either of them in the eye. And then quietly berated himself for thinking that just because Dick and Bruce were at odds, his first son was the kind of man to assign guilt by association.
A couple of years later and Jason, no longer the quiet, shy type, had had a rowdy 13th birthday party there, in that same Booth. Inviting his friends from his old neighbourhood and cackling with glee when Bruce agreed to wear the cardboard Robin mask that came with his Bat-mite Meal. The staff had made the thirteen year old stand on the table as they sang Happy Batday, and Jason had stomped a dent into the table top as he dabbed and danced his way through the song.
Tim, too, loved the Booth. Would scowl irritably if ever it was taken during the day and post-patrol had no qualms kicking people out. Bruce would watch uncomfortably, somehow feeling more ridiculous than ever under the flourescent lighting and surrounded by giant photos of his own face, and awkwardly wait as Robin ruthlessly demanded interlopers make themselves scarce.
Apparently Tim's passion for the Batburger Booth meant he had taken Stephanie there on their first date. Though the way Steph told it, it was definitely not their first date and actually not even a date at all, just a post-patrol snack, Tim, god you really don’t know romance at all do you. Somehow TD + SB still found itself scrawled into the table, surrounded by a heart.
Damian, loathe to admit he liked anything too frivolous, would usually feign indifference to both Batburger and the Booth, but he’d slide into it immediately on arrival and wait imperiously for one of the others (usually Dick) to bring him his order. It was here, on a rainy afternoon one weekend, that Bruce had first seen Damian give into his childish side. A table top battle between Bat-mite Meal toys, escalating to a full blown offensive. Dick and Damian’s Orphan and Red-Hood toys had destroyed Tim’s meagre team of Batman and Two- Face, despite the fortress of burger boxes they'd built. But it was the momentary flicker of pure joy in Damian’s eyes that had made Bruce commit it to memory, and definitely not the astoundingly awful Nightwings Bruce had been convinced to try.
Tim and Steph had both taken Cass there, gently easing her into their lives and their culinary choices. She'd loved the Riddle-me-Fish so much she’d dragged Bruce there every night after patrol for nearly two weeks running. They’d sat across from each other in that same Booth, and slowly developed their own quiet way of sharing words without speaking. Cass had pointed out marks on the table, there from years of wear and tear, and drawn a smiley face between them with her finger. Bruce had never noticed it before and now every time there it was, his daughter's smiling face, waiting for him.
All of which is to say, that despite his genuine hatred of the place, and seriously, he really really did hate it, Bruce still found himself there, early Tuesday morning, in the same Booth he’d sat in so many times before. This time, waiting for Jason. Their first meeting out of uniform in... he can’t think how long.
Things between the two of them... well, they’re on the up and Bruce had surprised himself by suggesting breakfast, with Jason surprising him even more by saying yes. The younger man had actually laughed, genuine and full when Bruce had suggested a League of Muffins breakfast, an old favourite of his second son’s from back in the day, and for the first time in a long time Bruce felt the distant but familiar, warm swell of happiness in his chest 
He ran his finger nervously over the dent Jason’s feet had left all those years ago, looking up just as the younger man walked through the door. There’s a small smile on Jason’s face when he sees where Bruce is sitting. Bruce grins backs, and thinks maybe, just maybe, that despite the questionable decor and the awful food, the unforgiving lighting and the far, far too many photos of Bruce Batman, there was something about this place. Something about this booth, that was good luck. Because even if Bruce has never, ever, like literally ever, enjoyed a single bite to eat he’s had in here, it’s okay. Because instead he’s full of happy memories, of time spent with his kids.
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bitimdrake · 3 years ago
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im curious how would batman!tim and robin!damian work in a dick dies universe? since tim isnt adopted and that probably means damian is going to tolerate him a bit more? but like, batman tim is almost always Dark Future Tim too, to how would that go? personally i think the only way to salvage this is by doing Batman!Cassandra and Robin!Damian, but id like to hear from an expert!
(in reference to)
Oh I don't think it works at all!!! This is not intended to be functional! The conceit here really is that Tim tries to do something out of a sense of responsibility/obligation except ultimately it fails and everything sucks, because the universe where Dick dies in infinite crisis is an inevitably bad one.
(I mean, you could write a version of it that works out, but that would really require nudging Damian's characterization, to an extent that imo would not be able to remain in-character. I might still enjoy it, because I'm a sucker for stories of people who don't like each other learning to get along, but...it would be a stretch. I really think Tim and Damian coming around to like each other requires Dick to be there for Damian first.)
Tim not being adopted might soften Damian a little bit, but my interpretation was always that Tim being Robin--being Bruce's partner--was the greater source of his resentment. I did propose in my "what would happen if dick did die" theorizing that Tim and Bruce might drift apart and not end up entirely close, so that might make Damian less insecurely jealous and bitter towards him. But it also leaves Damian with even less reason to respect him, if Tim (seemingly) doesn't even have the endorsement of being Batman's partner.
...or maybe in the brief time they knew each other, Bruce still managed to say something complimentary about Tim to Damian and/or Bruce and Tim were still a united front in the face of this new element, so Damian comes out with the exact same resentment anyway.
Now, the silver lining for Tim not going evil future Batman is that Cass and Alfred and Cassie are all still around, and Bart and Conner come back right about when Bruce 'dies'. (Steph is also back, but things are very awkward/tense between them at this point, so I don't know if that really counts as a mark in his favor.) I think that's too much of a support system to let him slip fully into the dark side or depression.
...but that still doesn't actually make the "being Batman" or "trying to be responsible for Damian" parts work out.
Batman!Cassandra and Robin!Damian, though? That's a great solution. Hmmmm potential story thoughts under the cut:
OKAY. Tim takes after Dick in the "emotional support child" determination to fix everything, so in the aftermath of Bruce's death, with Dick not around this time, Tim feels compelled to try to make it work. He can't give into his own emotional struggles, because Dick isn't there as a safety net to pick up the slack. Clearly Tim must Fix Everything.
And in the same way that canon Tim broke a still murderous Jason out of prison because he thought Bruce would want him to have a second chance (does he still do that in this AU? not sure. we could lean on the butterfly effect to avoid it, or could leave it), he thinks Bruce would have wanted Damian to be looked after and trained. And since clearly Tim must Fix Everything, Personally, Himself, that means he must also be Batman (which Gotham needs), and try to look after Damian (which Bruce would want). And probably he can win some points by giving Damian the Robin name he's been gunning for the whole time? Plus, it'll give him a great excuse to push Damian to abide by The Code because everyone knows Robin doesn't kill, and he wants to be Robin, doesn't he? This will work out great.
[Narrator: it did not work out great.]
MEANWHILE, over to the side there is Cass, who is going through a bit of a crisis of faith in herself. Maybe we are actually keeping the brainwashed and evil arc and this is a reaction to that. (Or maybe she's just messed up that her mentor and not-dad has died so suddenly, and she wasn't ready yet, but let's go with the former for now.)
And Cass does not have the "I must fix the people around me" instinct that Tim has. She's much more inwardly-focused. She's trying to work-through/avoid her own issues while drifting away from everyone else, and wondering if maybe she shouldn't be Batman because: is she really good enough? She killed people (while drugged and brainwashed, but she accepts no excuses for herself). Her idea for the network fell apart. All Bruce's message told her was to make Stephanie Batgirl. Maybe he didn't even believe in her. Tim has already taken the cowl, and he knew Bruce better and longer, and maybe she just isn't good enough :(
And so we end up with this structure of dramatic irony, where Cass wants to be Batman but doesn't want to want, and is convincing herself that Tim has it covered. And Tim doesn't want to be Batman and is crashing and burning and has no idea how to get this awful little gremlin of a child to listen to him, but he's trying to act like everything is okay because It Has To Be. His mentally stability is kinda hanging by a thread right now and so Everything Has To Be Okay. And Damian is half a blink from leaving Gotham forever because fuck this, fuck Drake, this sucks.
Aaand then something something Tim has a breakdown, or Cass realizes he's struggling hard as Batman. Or Cass has a solid interaction with Damian for the first time and realizes she can relate to and/or help him, or Tim realizes that by seeing them together (because Cass just assumes that she's not doing anything special and everyone can talk to Damian like this) which either encourages to ask Cass for help or causes that aforementioned breakdown depending on his current state--
Or, I don't know, some combination thereof. And Tim and Cass realize this situation is terrible and stupid actually. Tim is like what do you mean you don't know if you can do it; I did this because you acted like you didn't want it anymore, of course you can do it. And Cass gets the cowl and cape and mantle she desperately wants. And Damian has way more respect for her to follow her lead, and she gets him way better than Tim. And Tim gets to not be Batman, which is so much better for him--though he is still very much supporting Cass in the areas she's less secure in.
(And we did start this whole AU with Dick dying, so when Tim gets a new mantle he might take on Nightwing in his big brother's honor. But I want to say he takes on a different name that is still in tribute to Dick but not directly picking up his name again.)
(and uuhhhh also someone else is going to have to figure out that bruce is alive and what happened and how to get him back. whoops)
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flashflashhundredyarddash · 4 years ago
Text
batkids and their relationships with their siblings headcanons. under read more because this got fucking LONGGG
dick
dick is the eldest so he doesnt want to bog down his younger siblings with his problems, but if he DOES, he tends to talk to jason about it
dick and cass start to really begin to bond when Cass shows up to dicks gymnastics class for 3rd-6th graders and then cass shows up all the sixth graders and they get frozen yogurt after lmao
dick and tim are Very much thick as thieves. tim is very much like bruce on the Emotional Suppression scale, so dick just really wants to make sure his little brother is safe and happy ALL the time
Duke and Damian are the only two really permanently at the manor anymore, so when dick drops by he tries to do something with both of them. duke frantically zoom calls dick every other week to help him with his his trig homework. dick shows up to dukes high school graduation with literally the BIGGEST SIGN
everyone insists damian is dicks favorite but he does actually genuinely love all his siblings equally, his relationship with damian is just Very different from the others because of the age gap and being dami's primary caretaker for a year. dick babies dami every chance he gets
jason
would sell Dick to satan for One corn chip
him and cass don't have the greatest start to their relationship because cass is very much Against Killing so it takes a while for jason to warm up to her and earn her trust. now, though, jason is competing with steph by showing cass all the classic American Teenager things she missed out on. steph is currently winning but jason is like 98% positive a crunch wrap from taco bell is going to push him over the edge
tim and jason are currently competing over who can solve the most cases in a month. tim is winning. that won't last long.
jason Loves to Big Brother duke its so embarrassing. duke will get out of school and go to his car and jason is SITTING IN THE FRONT SEAT FRANTICALLY WAVING TO GET DUKES ATTENTION. JASON THAT IS MY CAR. signal has one (1) mission with arsenal and arsenal goes hey did you ask that girl to homecoming yet and duke is like I DON'T EVEN KNOW YOU.
Damian is proof that Actually, Little Brothers are Pests. Jason fully believes that he was brought back from the dead PURELY to torment damian and he will fulfill this mission at any cost
cassandra
it actually really upset her when Dick didn't accept her at first. she knows her other siblings really adore dick so his lack of trust was really disheartening. it takes dick a while but once he Actually Accepts that cass is going to be a permanent part of their life and oh, wow, dick you really hurt her feelings he really hyperfocuses on bonding with cass for a couple of months which definitely improves their relationship
she really likes jason!! their relationship doesn't start well but because he's close with steph and tim who are cass's top two favorite people to exist ever, cass is like well i GUESS ill hang out with him more. jason is fun to talk to because he always tries his best to explain jokes and give context to what people are talking about (also tim took her to taco bell already but she didn't tell jason she just wanted to hang out)
cass LOVES tim. they just click okay. tim always seems to know when to give her space and when to push and come closer. Tim's "guest room" is just her room lets be real. tim and cass occasionally get mistaken for twins and Cass Loves it.
duke makes cass listen to metal once and cass loses. her. damn. mind. they bond over music a lot because they both Love Music to a degree the others in their family don't.
damian!! damian is her little brother!!! dami isn't As Hostile to cass at first because he is 100% aware cass has the edge in fighting and respects her. cass likes all of his instagram posts and they have a snapchat streak going
tim
tim Loves dick, dick was his first sibling!! he had Very strong hero worship when he first met dick but it mellowed out when tim got older because wow 17 is really not that cool and mature lol. tim has an open invitation to dick's apartment which he does occasionally take advantage of. tim has more than once scared the shit out of wally when wally comes over and wally is convinced they're being robbed (HA) for half a second. i mean. he's not wrong.
listen. tim understands that forgiving the guy who tried to kill you would be a Struggle for some people and it was! definitely! but also at least he can trust jason to, uh, be open about if he doesn't like tim. which is not an assurance he has with other people. so if the guy who tried to kill him tells him tim is cool now then like. maybe tim isn't that bad or annoying a person? also jason arrested a whole gang and won the cases competition but then it created a power vacuum that the whole batfam had to clean up the rest of the month. thanks, jason.
tim LOVES cass. you know how most of the time theres this empty feeling inside you and you just kind of ignore it because you don't know what will fix it or if you do, you know you can't fix it? cass makes that empty feeling feel a little less empty. they just click. tim always tries to travel with cass whenever she leaves gotham.
tim and duke. Tim is actually the sibling who duke goes to whenever he has questions he doesn't want to ask bruce or alfred about, like, life or vigilante-ing or school or college or whatever and Tim is always like yes!! i love Giving Advice and Solving Problems!! tim and duke and jason fill out their college applications together.
tim and damian. LMAO. ROUGH START THAT'S ALL ILL SAY. at some point alfred goes like fuck it. family therapy. and tim and dami are PISSED. tim and damian get along best when they have a common enemy to work against. their relationship gets much better when damian is older and they actually talk about their feelings like emotionally stunted bats. despite how bad their relationship was, tim will ALWAYS protect damian
duke
very much intimidated by dick at first. dick is so much older and has his own job and friends and life and is very much AN ADULT. dick likes to take duke out to do lots of cool stuff (paintball, lasertag, tech exhibitions, concerts, etc). also, dick PERSONALLY introduced duke to superman and is dating THE FLASH. 10/10 awesome big brother.
was intimidated by jason for 0.5 seconds before jason actually opened his mouth and started speaking. jason is literally. So Embarrassing. which is weird because nobody else really seems to feel that way about jason but duke knows he's 100% in the right here. like yeah jason is also An Adult and does Adult Stuff but he's also at the manor like every other weekend???? and he always complains about bruce but always seems to be in the same room bruce is in????? like okay jason. they bond over literature!! jason and duke and alfred will spend literal hours talking about books and duke loves it. duke is the only one who doesn't think jason is funny and jason gets so upset about it lmao.
cass has this one week where she gets really into photography and by virtue of being nearby (and also not nocturnal), duke becomes her victim subject. duke prints out all the pictures and hangs them up in his room (his favorite is one he took when he stole the camera and took a really bad selfie of them together).
tim is closest in age to duke so duke tends to hang around with him a lot. tim introduced duke to his young justice friends and duke is like yes!!! meta-friends!!!! tim really helps duke out with his powers because tim is always like wow i wonder if your powers would work if we did This? can you see farther than other people? is your visible spectrum of light different than other humans? Bruce does the same thing but bruce is boring about it lol.
damian and duke live in the same house and will be in the same room and just send each other social media posts back and forth. they follow each other on instagram and will, OCCASIONALLY, make tik toks together because they're tik tok fiends. each of his siblings have visited his parents once or twice but damian routinely comes with him.
damian
damian gets a special bullet point to say that it took him. forever to come around to the idea of having siblings. he very much believed that he was Bruce's Blood Son and everyone else were just tagalongs or allies. it took him ages to acknowledge that dick, jason, tim, and cass were his siblings, so when duke came and like a week later damian was like Ah, Yes, this is my brother Thomas everyone else was like dude wtf
listen. LISTEN. Obviously. Richard is very highly skilled. and also Father values him highly. and also Richard will listen to Damian complain about his schoolmates. and also Richard is much more patient with Damian than other members of his family. listen....,,, (all this to say damian kind of fucking adores dick lmaooooo this kid).
Todd is kind of unbearable but damian has been informed this is both a normal feeling when it comes to Todd and also big brothers. damian was an only child for ten years so yes, Father, if Todd attempts to tickle me I WILL break his fucking nose. yes i WILL put money in the swear jar but I want you to know i don't regret it. they always try to sneak up on each other but mostly fail.
DRAKE!!! but no lol once damian grows up and is like I Apologize for attempting to murder you it was wrong and you are just as much a son to Father as I am tim is like UGH i guess its cool since ur being so emotionally mature and all. also im 2 for 5 on siblings trying to murder me so im definitely going to win trauma bingo and damian is like i take it back you are insufferable. When Will My Older Siblings Stop Joking About Their Trauma.
CASS!!! listen. cass is cool. Cass Gets It. They have a special Bond. also damian really likes it whenever cass is home because 1) he gets to hang out and do something cool with cass and 2) he feels significantly safer with cass in the house because Nobody will be able to hurt any of their family if Cass is there. ALSO he tries to call her cain but everyone is like DONT DO THAT and he doesn't want to call her wayne bcus theyre ALL wayne (dick adds it on as a middle name but also Richard John Wayne West-Grayson is just. the lamest name ever so dick needs to reconsider it before his upcoming nuptials)((dick will not reconsider it except maybe whether grayson-west would work better)) and so he tries cassandra but cass is like :) call me cass and damian is like cassandra is more formal and respectful and cass is like :) and finally damian just has to give in.
Duke! him and duke actually live together so they get the Most Bonding Time and have a bunch of inside jokes as a result. (is it bad i wanted to laugh because inside jokes... joker... i'll see myself out). they're eating breakfast together (and also alfred sits with them IM NOT A MONSTER ALFIE'S LIKE 70 NOW OKAY) and duke laughs and bruce is like what are you laughing at, son? and duke is like oh damian just showed me this funny meme and then he shows the phone to bruce and bruce grabs it (both the boys groan) and after WAY TOO LONG is like "i don't get it" and so now duke and damian have to try and explain the comedic intricacy of bob's burgers
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hintofelation99 · 3 years ago
Text
Jason Chaperons Damian's Field Trip
Damian and Jason in the Batcave trying to murder each other
Jason: I'm going to kill you demon brat!
Damian: Ha! I'd like to see you try Todd!
Fighting continues for the next two days
Bruce: That's it! Jason, Damian, no more fighting. You two are going to bond even if it kills you!
Jason: Again?
Bruce: Not the time Jason!
Damian, rolling his eyes: And how exactly do you expect me to bond with this barbarian?
Bruce: A trip to the art museum.
Damian and Jason look confused.
Bruce: Damian's class is going to the Gotham art museum next Friday. I was going to chaperon, but since you both decided to try and stab each other in public I have some PR matters to attend to. So, Jason will chaperon.
Damian: That is absolutely ridiculous father. Is it not enough that I am already forced to see subpar art with snot nosed brats? Now I have to take the zombie?!
Jason: Watch it brat!
Damian: Tt
Jason and Damian glare at each other.
Bruce: No, your brother is taking you to see world renowned art with your peers.
Jason: C'mon Bruce, world renowned? It's the Gotham art museum.
Bruce, glaring: Fine. Country renowned.
Jason raises his eyebrows.
Bruce: Don't push it. I'll call the school and let them know that you're taking my place.
--> The Next Friday <--
Jason: Damian! Get your ass down here!
Damian: I am right beside you Todd.
Jason: Where's your tie? And your blazer? Where's your backpack?
Damian: Calm down Todd. I have never been late for school and I do not plan to deviate from that today.
Jason: Whatever. Just be ready in the next five minutes, I want to get coffee first and we are not going to be late.
Damian: Pennyworth has already brewed a pot of that infernal drink.
Jason: And Tim has already called dibs on the entire pot. That kid is scrawny, but when it comes to coffee he's vicious.
Damian: Tt.
-------
Damian: STOP THE CAR RIGHT NOW TODD!
Tires screech as Jason whips into a parallel parking spot in front of the school. Damian's entire class watches this happen. They look terrified.
Damian, jumping out of the car, cursing in Arabic: Are you trying to murder me?!
Jason, casually getting out of the car with a Frappuccino, shrugs: I told you we wouldn't be late.
Damian: WE ARE THIRTY MINUTES LATE!!
Jason, shrugs: Oops.
-------
Teacher: Ok class! This is Jason Todd, he is Damian's older brother and he will be helping out on the field trip today. I expect you all to be on your best behavior today! Now Mr. Todd, would you like to tell us a little about yourself?
Jason, feet on a desk not paying attention, glaring at Damian.
Teacher: Mr. Todd?
Jason chokes on Frappuccino, stands up.
Jason: Uh, yeah, sure. Um, my name is Jason Todd, feel free to just call me Jason. Uh, what else?
Teacher: Maybe give us a fun fact about yourself?
Jason: Sure, sure. Uh I recently spent some time down under.
Teacher: Oh, in Australia?
Jason: Yeah, let's go with that.
Damian facepalms
-------
On the bus, kids screaming and throwing things at each other. Damian and Jason sit at the front near Damian's teacher. Jason has his eyes closed and looks tense.
Teacher: Uh, Mr. Todd? Jason? Are you alright?
Jason: Just peachy.
Damian: Pull it together Todd. You are embarrassing me.
Jason: Listen demon spawn, I'm trying to keep it together and not maim a rich brat. So why don't you shut up.
Damian: Tt. Everyone knows you are too cowardly to maim a child. However, I do admit that the loud and confined environment could cause stress... Here. Take these.
Damian hands Jason headphones. Jason looks confused.
Damian: Grayson claims that music can have a calming affect.
Jason: ...Thanks brat.
-------
Teacher: Ok class we are here! Remember to stick with your groups. Group one is with me. Group two is with Mrs. Smith. And group three is with Jason.
Kids break into groups, each group has seven kids.
Jason: Group three over here!
Damian rolls his eyes as the other six kids approach.
Jason: Be nice. Ok kiddos, we're starting at the uh American Rural Avant Garde exhibit. What the fuck is that crap?
Teacher: Oh my! Um, Mr. Todd. We do not encourage such strong language.
Jason: Wha- oh! You mean crap, so teach' that's my bad.
Teacher: Uh, no I uh-
Jason: Anyway c'mon demons let's go look at shitty art.
Teacher, chanting under their breath: The Wayne's donate a lot of money. The Wayne's donate a lot of money.
-------
In the cubism section.
Kid 1: Mr. Todd! When's lunch?
Jason: Call me Jason kid, and it's only ten? Lunch isn't until one.
Kid 2: But I'm hungry!
Kid 3: And this is boring!
Jason: It's not that bad, look at this thing! It's- oh shit is that a Picasso?
Kid 4: Uh, yeah?
Jason: Fuck that asshole, let's go get ice cream.
Damian: Todd! That is not in the schedule, we can not skip a section just because you dislike the artist!
Jason: See, that's were you're wrong baby bird. I'm in charge and I say that Picasso is an asshole and we're skipping his shit.
Damian: We are already in trouble with father, if we exhibit bad behavior he might force us to spend more time together.
Jason: Look kid, Bruce sent me here because he wants us to bond. The greatest form of bonding is breaking rules and skipping school. So, really, by skipping we're actually doing what he wants.
Damian: Tt. I suppose that sounds accurate.
-------
Jason: Time for lunch kiddos.
Kid 2: But we just finished our ice cream break?
Jason: No, we just finished the seeing the museums second floor. Right?
Kid 6: No we-
Jason: No no, we finished the second floor. The whole ice cream thing, that's our little secret. Right?
Kids: Ohhhhh
Jason: Now you're getting it!
-------
Damian glares at his lunch
Jason: What's wrong kiddo?
Damian: Tt. It appears that I might have, accidentally, taken Drake's lunch instead of my own.
Jason: And? What's the problem?
Damian: Drake, packed that abomination that he calls a sandwich.
Jason: Oh, god. He packed a peanut butter pepperoni sandwich again?
Damian, looking at the lunch with complete disgust: Yes.
Jason: Here, take my PB&J.
Damian: ...
Jason: Timbits taste in sandwich's is a crime against humanity. But I'm not vegan, so if worst comes to worst I'll eat it.
Damian: ...Thank you Todd. I- I did not think you cared about my dietary choices.
Jason: Just because we fight sometimes doesn't mean I won't have your back kid. Yeah, I guess being vegan is a choice, but it's a choice that I'll always support.
Damian quickly hugs Jason before taking his sandwich and pretending nothing happened.
Damian: I appreciate the support. Thank you, brother.
Jason: No problem baby bird.
-------
Jason: So, we have an hour before we have to get back on the bus. And, uh- oh shit! Ok, so apparently we had an assignment. Uh, the instructions say to draw your favorite work and write why you like it. What the fuck kind of bullshit assignment is that?
Jason: Uh, ok we're doing a speed draw. Everyone just pull up your favorite work on the museum website and try your best.
--> 40 Minutes Later <--
Jason: Ok, hand me your sheets and let's head to the bus.
Damian, hands his assignment in.
Jason: Whoa, huh.
Damian, looking nervous: What Todd?
Jason: Nothing, just this is a really good drawing kid.
Damian blushes: Of course it is.
Jason smiles and ruffles Damian's hair: Good job brat.
Damian smiles and heads to the bus
------
Both in the car, about to drive back to the manor.
Jason: You know, I actually sorta had fun today.
Damian: Your presence was... enjoyable.
Jason: We're never telling that to Bruce, right?
Damian: Obviously, if father thinks that his plan worked he will be completely insufferable.
Jason: Agreed. Y'know, sometimes field trips go long.
Damian: Oh?
Jason: Yeah, I mean, it wouldn't be too weird if we were an hour or so late getting home.
Damian: If we were to be late getting home, how would we spend that time?
Jason: There's a cool arcade that should be open right now.
Damian: I do not believe that I have ever been to an arcade.
Jason: Well, that needs to be fixed right now. You down baby bird?
Damian: I- uh I am down, is that the correct usage of the term?
Jason: Hell yeah.
---------------------------------------------------
Based on this headcanon.
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marauderundercover · 3 years ago
Text
Taking Chances Ch. 23: Stealing the Batmobile (Alt Prompt Driving)
AO3
Prev
Marinette looks at her little brother with an amused expression before asking:
“He really stole the Batmobile?” 
“Yup. Claimed he was a better driver than me.” Dick says with a snort. Marinette winces. 
“To be fair, he’s probably right. You’re kind of an awful driver.” She says with an apologetic smile. Dick clutches his heart and sniffles loudly. 
“My own flesh and blood!” He cries dramatically. Damian scoffs. 
“Tt. She is on my side, Grayson. As she should be since she is <i>my<i> flesh and blood.” He says with a scowl. 
“The pain!” Dick cries, throwing himself off the couch and onto the ground. Jason just sighs and shakes his head, while Tim looks on tiredly. The five of them had decided to hang out at the manor together earlier, which had somehow shifted into telling stories about each other and funny things that had happened. Marinette loved hearing stories about her brothers from when they were younger. 
“Out of all of us, I am likely the most competent driver.” Damian says, glancing at Marinette before nodding once. “And I assume Marinette would be the second most competent.” He adds. Marinette’s face instantly turns red- she’d never driven before. Her little brother (who was two years younger) was already a great driver. And she…..was not. 
“Oh, uh, I’ve actually never driven before.” She admits. Damian frowns. 
“Wait, you’re almost fifteen and you’ve never driven before?” Jason asks, leaning forward. “Like, ever” 
“Well, no. You can’t get a license in France until you’re eighteen. So no one in their right mind is going to let a fourteen year old drive around the city.” She explains. She watches as a thoughtful look crosses Damian’s face before settling back into a neutral mask. 
“I require your assistance with something. Follow me.” He says, standing and walking out of the room. 
“Er, okay.” She says, furrowing her eyebrows. “We’ll be right back.” She reassures her other brothers. She walks quicker, trying to catch up with Damian who was practically running at this point. He glances at her and raises an eyebrow. 
“Did the others act as if they would follow?” He asks. She frowns, but shakes her head. “Excellent.” He says, opening one of the entrances to the Batcave. She follows him, but freezes as they walk in and she sees where he’s heading. 
“Damian, we’d get into so much trouble.” She says, planting her feet and freezing in place. 
“Not if we aren’t caught. Which we will be if we don’t leave soon.” He says, rushing into the changing room. She stays where she is, glancing down at Tikki peeking out of her purse. 
“Marinette, your father would not like this.” She warns. Marinette bites her lip. 
“I know, but Damian seemed so excited.” She counters, with a small smile. Tikki gives her an unimpressed look. Marinette watches as her little brother walks back out, dressed in his uniform. He nods at her once and then climbs into the driver’s side. She hesitates, weighing her options. She could go with and attempt to drive the Batmobile, or she could watch her little brother drive away and know that no one knew where he was. Crap. Pushing away every instinct telling her this is a horrible idea, she rushes after Damian and hops into the car, calling her transformation as she does. She grins at her brother, her Ladybird suit had started giving her more confidence than her Ladybug suit. It was odd, but she loved it. He immediately slams on the gas, driving out of the cave and into Gotham.
“Ukht, will you be driving as well?” He asks and she hesitates before nodding. It was the Batmobile, what could go wrong?
---
Okay apparently a lot could go wrong, she thinks, watching as the Batmobile slides into the Gotham river. 
“How the fuck did you guys manage that?” A voice asks. She whirls around, wincing when she sees Jason, as Red Hood. She can’t see his face but she can just imagine the look he’s giving them. 
“In my defense, we were left unsupervised.” She says. He scoffs. 
“You little shits left us!” He reminds her. 
“Ladybird had never had the chance to drive before. It made sense to make sure that she could drive and to train her in case she ever needs to utilize a vehicle on patrol.” Damian reasons. And yeah, the reasons are sound. But the Batmobile slowly sinking into the river kind of makes his reasons weak. Just a bit. 
“And driving into the river was, what, to see if she could drive a boat?” Jason asks, crossing his arms. 
“Don’t be ridiculous, Hood. That’s a car.” She says, the words tumbling out of her mouth. She regrets it, but only for a second because then she hears Damian snort. Score! Every time she was able to make her angriest brother laugh, she gave herself a point. She was so close to double digits.
“Well B’s gonna be ready to go on patrol in less than an hour. Either of you two geniuses have any ideas on how to get the car out of the river and back to the cave?” Jason asks, pulling Marinette from her silent celebration. 
“We could call a tow truck.” She suggests. 
“Tt. That is unwise. The Batmobile is not a regular car.” Damian argues and she huffs. 
“Okay well, last I checked you didn’t have any bright ideas either.” She quips, annoyed with him again. They were good at that. Laughing one minute, then annoying each other the next. She figured it just meant they were doing something right as siblings. 
“Ladybird might actually have a good idea, Robin. Unless you want to call Superman here and have him rat you out to B.” Jason says. A devious smirk stretches onto Damian’s face and Marinette suppresses a shudder. She was definitely glad the kid was on her side. Most of the time, anyway. 
“Excellent point, Hood.” He says, clearing his throat slightly before yelling. Well, not really yelling. Just talking slightly louder than normal. “Jon. I require your assistance.” A few moments later a boy flies down and lands in front of Damian. If she didn’t know any better, Marinette would assume the boy was another of her dad’s kids. Dark hair, blue eyes. But this kid had a huge smile stretched across his face. So maybe not. 
“Hey Robin! I haven’t seen you in ages!” The boy says cheerfully before waving at Red Hood. He turns to her and his smile falters slightly before it’s back full blast. He sticks out his hand. “Nice to meet you! I’m Superboy.” He says. Marinette grins, shaking his hand back. 
“Ladybird, and likewise.” She says. 
“So what-” Jon (Superboy?) starts, glancing at the river, eyes widening at the car. “Did you steal the Batmobile again!?” He yelps, obviously shocked. And concerned. Which she understood. It’s not everyday you see the Batmobile slowly sinking into the Gotham river. 
“Er, temporarily misappropriated.” Marinette says, glaring at Jason who snorts at her response. 
“No, they definitely stole it. And Ladybird here decided she’d try to drive for the first time. What I’m not understanding is why you knuckleheads thought it’d be smart to drive so close to the river?” He says. 
“Obviously I wasn’t thinking clearly, Hood. Can we please just focus on getting the car out of the river before I’m murdered by Batman?” Marinette rambles, looking pleadingly at Jon. It was odd, begging a little kid to drag her superhero dad’s super car out of a river, but it had to be done. 
“Oh, yeah, of course!” Jon says, his earlier shock replaced with a wide smile once again. He flies over and grabs the car, gently pulling it up and placing it back on the road. Marinette winces at the water pouring out of the car. She was so grounded. 
---
Walking into the Batcave, Bruce frowns at the lack of Batmobile. He’d passed Tim and Dick on his way to the Cave, so he knew they didn’t have it. Which left his two most mischievous sons and the daughter they had so easily corrupted. Hopefully they were just getting fast food or something again. Hopefully nothing bad was happening. He winces. That was unlikely with his children. He rushes over to the computer, tracking the Batmobile and accessing the cameras near the car. The image in front of him makes him pinch the bridge of his nose and grit his teeth. 
“Just one day, one day is all I ask.” He mumbles under his breath. Because of course traffic cameras would catch Superboy lifting the Batmobile out of the river. Of course. He sits in his chair and watches as the kids argue for a few minutes before getting in the car and driving off. He tracks them all the way until they’re past cameras, and then he waits. Knowing it’ll only be moments until they’re in the Cave. He sits, silent as they get out of the car. 
“No, seriously, he’s gonna know.” Marinette is saying, obviously looking nervous. 
“Then beg Tikki to take all the water out or something. It’ll be fine, Pix.” Jason says. 
“She’s gonna be so mad at me though. She warned me that it was a bad idea.” Marinette says, and Bruce decides to speak up. 
“She was right.” He says, turning his chair to face them. 
“SHIT! Goddamn you Bruce, why the hell would you sneak up on us like that?” Jason huffs out, glaring at him. 
“Perhaps it’s the same reason that you three thought it was a good idea to steal the Batmobile.” Bruce says, crossing his arms. 
“Uh, fuck that. I wasn’t in on it. I went out to try and find the little shits when I realized they were gone.” Jason argues, crossing his arms too. 
“Ukht had never driven before. I believed it was a useful skill that she could utilize on future missions or patrols.” Damian says simply, his calm demeanor the complete opposite of Marinette’s current demeanor. She’s obviously panicked and anxious, avoiding looking at him. He feels his former resolve soften slightly. No one was hurt, they obviously felt bad. And Marinette obviously felt bad about it. But still….
“You’re benched for the night. Both of you.” He instructs. Damian grits his teeth but nods, while Marinette looks confused. 
“But I’m not even-” She starts to say, stopping as Jason throws a hand over her mouth. “Well, well, look at the time. I’ll take them upstairs and tuck ‘em in before patrol.” Jason says, rushing away with Marinette and leaving Damian behind. Damian turns to Bruce and frowns. 
“It did not go unnoticed by me, Father, that you benched the one child you do not allow to patrol. You may have done this in an attempt to not punish Marinette, but make no mistake she will remember this. And she will be on patrol later this week. After all, you only benched her for tonight.” Damian says, nodding at his father before walking away. Bruce sighs. He hadn’t thought this one through.
---
“What was that for?” Marinette asks, frowning at her brother as he drags her to the house. She drops her transformation as they walk, wincing slightly at the ‘we’ll talk later’ look from Tikki. Oh yeah, she was definitely getting lectured. 
“He just benched you for tonight, right?” Jason asks, a smirk on his face. Marinette huffs. 
“Yeah, but I’m not even technically allowed on patrols.” She reminds him. 
“Except now, you’re technically allowed to come tomorrow. He said you were ‘benched for the night’.” Jason points out. Marinette opens her mouth to argue, then closes it. She blinks before a wide smile stretches across her face. Was she really gonna get to go back on patrol on a technicality? Suddenly, she no longer regretted driving the Batmobile into the river.
Next
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aimless-imagines-for-fun · 4 years ago
Text
Damian Wayne Dating HCs
Pairing :: older/adult!Damian Wayne x fem!Reader
Headcanon :: How Damian gets into and acts in a relationship
Word Count :: 1,676
Warnings :: N/A
A/N :: The image I’m using I created with Artbreeder. 
I didn’t call Damian “Robin” and referred to him as a vigilante because Dick stopped being Robin at 25, Jason 22, and Tim 18. The Damian I’m writing is 22. We don’t see much of Older!Damian, and when we do he’s either taken up the mantle of Batman or The Demon’s Head for The League Of Assassins
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Getting into a relationship (all of this is in roughly a year) :
Neither you nor Damian know when you started dating, it just sort of happened
He met you at a bookstore you worked at, and you noticed he always came in buying older books about history, warfare, and strategies.
You found the warfare and strategies odd at first but chose not to question it
You asked him out first.
“Why do you always buy these books?” “I like history.” “Oh cool, I do too... Wanna hang out and talk about the First Battle of Tarain?”
You were joking, he said yes to get out of doing a thing with Tim
You each thought it was going to be a small amount of time spent together at some local cafe. You two ended up staying until closing talking about history.
This becomes a bi-weekly thing, you meet up at the cafe, talk until it closes, or go out and talk in a nearby park until sunset.
Damian’s family notices, but choose not to question what he’s doing because it’s seemingly making him less annoyed with people
Dick starts getting curious when he sees Damian smile just a tad bit looking at a text from you
You text him random facts all the time, but they’re weird. “Did you know squirrels are behind most power outages in the US?”
Eventually, you two stop talking about just history and start talking about other things that interest each of you and your personal lives. 
You open up more than Damian
Damian pays close attention when he notices you’re talking about something you’re genuinely passionate about He pays attention to detail in general.
For your birthday he got you a leather swiss army medic bag from WWII. You cried tears of joy and jumped onto him for a big long hug.
That was the first time Damian’s heart skipped a beat. After seeing you overjoyed, he realized he likes seeing you happy. It gave him a warm feeling, but he doesn’t know yet he has feelings for you.
Yours and Damian’s first “official date” was to a fancy Wayne Ent. event. This time Damian asked you. He’s super stiff.
“Would you like to accompany me to the upcoming-” “Are you asking me out on a date??” “No, I’m asking you to accompany me-” “I’ll go.”
No one in his family knows your coming, except for Alfred because he was asked to pick you up and bring you to the manor the day of. Alfred is confused the entire car ride because you act super chill
When you show up, the other boys surround you. Dick realizes who you are instantly, Jason thinks you’re not human, Tim is afraid you’re like Damian.
Bruce is silent, and a bit thankful his son found a normal human
Damian picked out your outfit: A fancy dark Sacramento green dress with black heels, a pearl necklace, and pearl bracelets to match.
You panicked when you saw the jewelry and Damian instantly goes into “comfort mode” to reassure you it’s fine. The family is shook.
At the actual event, you feel SUPER AWKWARD. Your family had enough to get by in life, so you feel very out of place around all the rich people
Damian can tell you’re uncomfortable and so he tries to hold onto you at all times to help you feel comfortable
Ex: He holds your hand, puts a hand on your shoulder, stands directly next to you so your arms are touching.
You eventually feel comfortable, but, you’re both bored there, so you suggest hiding in the outside garden
Finally alone, you two start talking about the other batboys
“Does Dick always try to show off odd party tricks?” “Only when he sees a pretty lady.”
“Why was Jason just standing in the corner looking at everyone?” “He doesn’t like dressing up.”
“Come on, there’s no way Tim’s actually happy here.” “Did you see him on the dance floor?” He has awesome dance moves, he’s just very energetic.
You eventually start talking about something else.
You can hear the music from inside, so you two start slow dancing together.
He’s holding one of your hands and has a hand placed on the small of your back. You rest your head on his shoulder and have your free hand flat on his chest.
It’s in this instant you each realize you have feelings for one another.
You two swayed around slowly until the song eventually ended.
When you two pull away, you stare into his green eyes briefly before you place a hand on his cheek and pull him down for a kiss.
Once In A Relationship :
You and Damian are a good pair because he’s serious and you’re go-with-the-flow. If he starts over-analyzing something, you start relaxing him. 
You two spend at least one day a week together, and you constantly text each other basic messages like “How was your day?”, “Are you okay?”, “Good morning/night”, “Have a nice day”
If you take over an hour to reply to Damian he gets anxious something bad happened to you.
He legitimately gets ready to start searching EVERY PART of Gotham until he gets a text “Sorry, I was taking a nap. Long day at work.”
When you two are together, you’re usually out or at your apartment. He only takes you to the manor if none of the other guys are there.
He took you once with everyone there. Never again.
Dick: “Oh my god! Look! He has a little girlfriend! How cute, Damian’s growing up.” “I’m 22.”
Tim: “You… You look so nice. Why? How is she so nice and you’re so… you.” “I’ll murder you and make it look like an accident.”
Jason: “How? Did you threaten her? Is he threatening you?” “Dames is super sweet.”
When you call Damian “Dames”, your nickname for him, they all lose their shit.
“DAMES?” “YOU HAVE A NICKNAME FOR HIM?” “DA-ME-SSS?” “DO YOU HAVE MORE?” “D-A-M-E-S?”
Your nicknames for Damian: Dame, Love, and Mr. Serious
Damian’s nicknames for you: Beloved, Love, and Sunflower
He briskly drags you away before you can say anything else, and you just go with it. 
“??I thought we were going to talk more to your brothers??” “They’re not my brothers.” “Okay. I appreciate you.” “.....I appreciate you too.”
You two don’t say “I love you” very often. Instead, you say “I appreciate you”. You do say “I love you” in private/intimate moments, but in public/at random you say “I appreciate you”
Damian isn’t possessive, just protective. There’s a difference. 
He’s never been in a serious relationship before and he’s never loved someone romantically like with you before, so he wants to make sure you’re safe and comfortable 24/7
The first time a random guy catcalled you while you were with Damian, he instantly defended your honor.
“What did you say?” He grabs the guy and easily raises him a foot off the ground. He forces the guy to apologize and lets him fall on the ground after.
Quickly, you reassured Damian he doesn’t need to go to such lengths to “defend your honor”. You tell him to ignore people like that guy because they’re nobodies.
After a few months, you start to pick up on the fact you two rarely spend time together after sunset.
You questioned him once about it and he quickly told you it’s because he helps his father with Wayne Ent. You never questioned him again.
You didn’t 100% believe his answer, but trust he wouldn’t do anything to hurt you
One time you called him crying at night. He was about to go on patrol, then dropped everything to go to your apartment and make sure you were okay.
Damian got a key to your apart about a year into the relationship.
There are times you go to sleep alone and wake up with him asleep, arms wrapped around you. He doesn’t do this often, only after a rough night on a patrol or a particularly dark mission.
Damian’s usually a realist, but when he sees you smile and laugh, he becomes an optimist for a split second
He isn’t big on PDA, so depending on his mood sometimes you hold hands when walking, other times you just lock your pinkies together.
When one of you notices the other is upset though, then you get touchy to calm the other down
Sometimes, when you two are alone at your apartment or the mansion, you don’t speak. You just rest and enjoy the silence while laying on top of one another.
If you lay on Damian, you’re literally on top of him snuggling into his chest. He holds one of your hands and rubs your back.
If Damian lays on you, you’re usually sitting and he places his head on your lap. You love playing and messing around with his hair.
When you found out Damian’s a vigilante, it was a massive accident
You called him while he was on patrol, whispering in a shaking voice that two men had broken into your apartment.
He booked it to your apartment and busted through the window, in costume.
After taking care of the guys and handing them over to the authority, he starts questioning you to make sure you’re okay. When you don’t answer he realizes he’s still in costume talking to you now.
You’re in shock because now a lot of things make sense.
You’re upset for about an hour(because Damian knows how to make you happy when you’re angry) and then you’re utterly fascinated by Damian’s other life
Damian tells you he doesn’t want you to know a lot because it could put you in danger and you’re the one part of his life that’s normal
You accept his wishes and continue with your relationship as normal.
There are only two things that changed:
One: Damian moves you to a more secure apartment and makes sure you have plenty of bats or batons you could use to protect yourself “just in case”
Two: Damian spends almost every night at your apartment after patrol now
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icerosecrystal · 4 years ago
Text
Day 2: Swordplay
@daminette-december2019-2020
The Waynes knew that Damian was hiding something from them. Why else was he sneaking out about every day at the same time to god know where? What they didn't know was WHERE he was going. So, they did the most logical thing they could do other than following him. Because unlike Jason, who seemed to have a death wish, the rest of the Waynes were quite happy staying alive. And they didn't want the words,' maimed by their little brother' written on their tombstone. They decided to confront him.
One day as Damian was sneaking out once again, all the Wayne siblings stopped him from going through the door. They noticed the sword in his hand but didn't say a word about it. Instead, Jason gave Damian a shit-eating grin and said, "So Demon Spawn! Where are you going? Do you have a cute date, or are you planning someone's murderer?" ...Yeah, Jason had a death wish.
Dick quickly broke in before Jason could do any further damage, "That's not what he meant, Lil' D. We're just curious about where you've been going lately. We want the best for you, Dami."
Damian looked conflicted on what to do, and his siblings thought that they had put him in a hard place, but instead, he answered them like the brat he was. "Tt, it is not the business of any of you imbeciles. So go and get your idiotic brains out of my business and go and annoy someone else." He then stormed out of the manor and quickly got into his car before driving off. Dick, Jason, Tim, Steph, and Cass all looked at each other. Yeah, they were going to go follow him, but they were curious. And at this point, they were willing to die if only to get information. Guess curiosity really did kill the cat...
And that is why they were now following Damian's car to his unknown destination. After a couple of minutes, Damian finally stopped the car in front of a building. They looked over to the building and realized that it was the local gym. But, the Waynes always had a rented out room because it wouldn't be a good idea for them to be seen sparring. It would create too much gossip, and the Waynes already had enough of that circling around them 24/7.
They all quickly took off their suits, wearing their civilian clothes again, before walking into the gym. They hurried inside, hoping to see the cause of Damian's secrecy.  And what they saw greatly surprised them.
There inside the room was Damian and a girl! They were both holding katanas. The one that Damian was holding was the katana he had snuck out with today.  The girl, on the other hand, seemed to be using one of Damian's katanas as well. But something that all of Damian's siblings knew was that Damian NEVER let anyone touch his katana. Just who was this girl?
They watched the pair swordfight. But two things seemed odd during the match. One was that Damian and the girl were equally matched, and Damian didn't look to be holding back. Another was that they weren't just sword fighting. They were flirting the whole time! During the match, they danced around each other exchanging blows and witty, flirty remarks. What they were doing wasn't a swordfight. No, it was swordplay.
Finally, the girl pinned Damian to the ground while smirking, "Looks like I won, Habibi Al-Shaytan (My Beloved Demon)."
Damian chuckled lightly which scared his sibling half to death. "It seems so, Malaki Jamiliti (My Beautiful Angel)." He then leaned forward to kiss her. And that was when Jason decided to announce his presence along with everyone else.
"WHAT THE FUCK!!! You have a fucking girlfriend! Why the hell would she want to date someone as demonic as you?!" When the girl heard that, she walked over to Jason and roundhouse kicked him. This effectively made him shut up, and she released the anger she felt when he said negative things about her boyfriend. Her actions left everyone in shock except for Damian who was smiling at her proudly.
Jason groaned in pain while muttering, "Shit, that fucking hurt. How could a small pixie manage to do that?" His words ended up snapping everyone out of their shock.
Stephanie bounded forward and shook her hand furiously, "Hi, Tiny! I'm Stephanie! But, you can call me Steph! The asshole you kicked is Jason. The smiling man is Richard or Dick. The quiet but analytical girl is Cassandra or Cass. The man who has a coffee in his hand and looks like he's seconds away from collapsing is Timothy or Tim. It's nice to meet you!"
The girl smiled pleasantly before replying with a hint of a French accent, "It's nice to meet you too, Steph! I'm Marinette. I assume that you are Dami's siblings."
Dick smiled widely, "Oh, little D! You talked about us!"
Damian huffed, "Tt, they're mostly complaints about you imbeciles."
Marinette shook her head with a smile on her face. She then looked over to Tim as he asked, "How did you meet?"
Marinette replied, "We met a few years ago through a mutual acquaintance. We became friends and started dating two years ago."
They looked from Damian to Marinette in disbelief before shouting, "YOU'VE HAD A SECRET GIRLFRIEND FOR TWO YEARS!!!".
Oh boy, was the thought that went through Damian's head. This was going to take a lot of explaining.
Bonuses:
#1 Bruce and Alfred find out about Marinette.
Bruce: You're saying that Damian has been dating someone for two years and NONE of us knew about it
Everyone other than Damian, Marinette, and Alfred: YES!
Bruce: I'm going to go process this somewhere else. Congratulations son on your girlfriend
Alfred: *Starts tearing up:
Everyone: What's wrong?!
Alfred: I'm finally going to have a great-grandchild
Everyone other than Damian and Marinette: ...
Damian: This shows how much faith Alfred has in you guys getting a partner and keeping them
#2 Marinette's reaction to Alfred wanting a great-grandchild
Marinette: Wait! You're relying on us for a great-grandchild
Damian: What's wrong, habibti? Don't you love me?
Marinette: *Red as a tomato and buries herself in Damian's chest* Why are you supporting them?!
Damian: I want a kid with you, Angel. *kisses her neck* Good thing we have good genes, we'll be able to make amazing children
Marinette: *Marinette.exe has stopped working. Would you like to close the program or wait*
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miss-choco-chips · 4 years ago
Text
Favorite color
Ever since he was born, his world was filled with colors, a beautiful rainbow at his fingers. He’d look down at them at night, or when his parent’s leaving made him want to cry, or when a horror story told by a classmate in the playground scared him half to death, and find comfort in their silky touch and bright hues.
He was seven when he learned the meaning behind them. And the blaring lack of red signaled the first, but not last, heartbreak of his life.
Blue, green, purple, black… and bright yellow. A teacher, a missed opportunity, a first love, life and death… and friendship. No eternal love for Tim, it seemed.
Well. He hadn’t really expected any different. Who would love him forever, when his own parents didn’t?
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
He had forgotten it, and it escaped his notice for many years. Until one night, following Dick Grayson as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, when he noticed his purple string moving in synch with him. Pointing towards his hero, the boy who had given him his very first hug that night at the circus. His First Love, his Not Meant to Be.
That night, Tim packed up early and went home. He just couldn’t stand the red uniform contrasting sharply with his purple thread.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
When Dick left, he thought maybe now he could go back to his old habits, to run the streets looking for flashes of the new robin without the baggage of avoiding to look at his own hand.
No such luck.
The green made a whole lot of sense when news of Jason’s death reached him, tough.
It wouldn't be the last night he’d cry himself to sleep, holding the frayed ends of his fated Almost.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Becoming Robin was both easy and painful. Comfortable, because the blue string pointing him towards Bruce meant this was always supposed to happen; heartbreaking, because it took a kid dying. Because Tim might not have a romantic soul mate, but his hands, that had made a green string break to grant him access to the blue path, were stained red nonetheless.
Wearing Robin’s red, with all the hurt and bad memories it carried, felt like a subpar punishment.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
Meeting his Yellows almost passed his awareness. In the middle of a crisis, every adult missing, no mentor to guide him, he couldn’t exactly spare a thought for the kids looking shellshocked at him, each other and their hands.
After, when Young Justice was officially formed, he firmly avoided looking at Bart, Superboy and Wondergirl. Their eyes followed him, pleading, but he’d learned no good ever came from strings that weren’t red.
And the red in his soul wasn’t from love.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Despite himself and his best efforts, they grew closer. Life or death situations had that effect on people, after all.
His own reluctance, which had in turn provoqued Kon’s anger, Bart’s dejection and Cassie’s confusion, slowly began to crumble. He was helpless in the face of their unrelenting friendship.
The strings grew shinier, stronger, healthier, the yellow a stark contrast to frayed (dead) green, cold blue, distant purple. Scary black.
Tim still despised the rainbow in his fingers, but… he could maybe withstand the sparks of yellow he’d catch from the corner of his eye, knowing just who were at the other end.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
It wasn’t exactly team training. Greta, Anita, Cissie, Slobo and the others didn’t join them, for whatever reason. It was always the four of them, leaning on and learning from each other.
When Kon’s strength frustrated him, when the world around him seemed to be made of bubbles and sea foam, Tim stayed late at night every weekend to help. Every spare moment directed towards coaching him, again and again, through exercises he had to come by himself (Clark was no big help, here), until exhaustion made his muscles tremble and Kon’s anger had burned out from frustration to soft acceptance that he just wasn’t like the rest. Until he could hold still and let Superboy trace the side of his jaw with a careful finger, and exchange proud little smiles when his face remained unbroken.
Bart being raised by video games had the expected outcome; he had little to no practical, day to day life knowledge. He was the closest living thing to a Looney Toon. Which was fun and good when crime fighting, his crazy ideas often saved their ass last minute, but unacceptable if integrating him into society was to be considered. So Tim would take him out, hand in hand so he didn’t forget himself and ran on his own, to leisurely stroll down busy streets, arcades, schools, libraries. Talk to people in parks and visit recreational centers, barter with street vendors and ask the little boy selling flowers on Jump Street how his mother is doing. Whatever Tim could think of that would soften Bart’s cultural shock.
In that regard, Cassie was a godsend. With her own attentive mentor, and raised like a normal girl until she obtained her powers, she was the most well balanced member on their team. Tim had started to feel a little restless (how can he help her, how can he convince her to stay…), when he noticed her frustrated, sad face whenever Donna was mentioned on Tv, when any reporter or older hero compared the two Wonder Girls. Familiar as he was with imposter syndrome, Tim would rest his arm around her shoulders and turn to the rest of the team, loudly reminding everyone to ‘speed up guys, Cassie here’s already done with her training routine’ or slump tiredly against her while complaining about ‘how immature they are, I can’t deal, thank God you’re here to remind me competent people do exist’.
It was familiar, to help them along. To nudge them forward and watch their backs as they went, firmly making their way towards being the awesome men and woman he knew they’d become. Lending a hand here and there, working on steading their foundations, so he’d be remembered fondly when they inevitably took off and went on with their lives.
He was used to that, to looking for ways his fated people would want him around. Being a good brother to Dick, an eager student to Bruce (a good mourner for Jason).
What he wasn’t used to was reciprocation, though.
Tim had learned how to fly from the best, from Dick Grayson himself.The boy with no powers that looked at gravity and laughed, sayed “thanks, but no”. But there were some things only a true meta could experience, ways to move his body just so, to take advantage of wind currents to either speed or slow his movements. Kon also visited him in Gotham, unknowing or uncaring about its meta restriction, risking pissing off Batman himself just to spend time with Tim.
There was Bart, kind, cute, friendly Bart, who would stop eating and playing around to drag Tim to the training grounds and run laps around him, as silently as he knew how. Making Tim used to fighting against someone quicker than him, lighter on their feet. To count incredibly soft steps even when they made no sound, and use other senses to pinpoint exactly where the next hit was going to come from. And after they were done, there was always a warm smile and some sweet treat (always different, as if Bart was determined to figure out Tim’s preferences by trial and mistake), the new knowledge and delicious prize worth the dirt in unmentionable places.
As stated before, Cassie was an absolute godsend. But it wasn’t just because she was easier to deal with than the rest. Or because she understood the pressure he had on his shoulders, being raised in the shadow of two incredibly renowned heroes. When Tim’s position as leader had been taken away (after Bruce’s plans for taking out the league became known, and ‘what if he has the same for us’), she took him aside. Hugging him, promising him the team’s anger was going to pass, that she could see why those contingencies might be necessary, that even if she was officially in charge, she’d always defer to him when it mattered. Her trust in him and his heart was unshakable, firm as the arm he’d put round her when self doubt arose its head.
(It wasn’t supposed to be this way; if they reciprocated, they didn’t owe him, and then how was he supposed to keep them close? To convince him to stay, to love the boy with loveless fate?)
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Jason was unexpected, but Tim couldn’t hold it against him. Even there, bleeding out in the Tower, he felt… at ease.
His predecessor was back. Bruce’s son was back. The prodigal Robin had returned, by some miracle. Tim’s shift had come to an end; even if he died here, he had succeeded in keeping Bruce sane, and now that the real deal was in town, Jason could take over and everything would go back as it should have been. Everyone (B, Dick, Babs, Alfred) would be happier. Maybe they’d mourn him, for a bit, but with such a joyous occasion as a beloved one returning home, it wasn’t like grief could stay for long.
Someone yelled, near. Warm hands shaking as they touched his face infinitely careful, small fingers intertwined with his in a very familiar hold, a strong and slender arm around his back as he’s being held in a half hug. Cries, pleas, demands.
And while nothingness claims Tim, drags him to a well of black, yellow still clings to his eyelids. A touch that keeps him warm even though unconsciousness is supposed to be so cold.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Death and life. Damian.
Tim can see the first one, what with all of the brat’s attempts to end him. It’s the second one that has him stumped.
He knows not all strings go both ways. His purple one, for example; even if Dick was Tim’s first love, everyone and their mother knew Babs’ was his. Dick had a string pointing towards Tim, but it was a mentor-student one. Same as the one he and Bruce shared. Jason, too; Tim’s side of the string was the green of Almost, while the former Robin’s color was black (Tim taking his place as Robin, and being the only one in the family offering his hand again and again despite his murderous actions, was in some poetic sense the death of an old role, and the birth of a new family dynamic).
Damian, though… Well. He was almost sure they had the same color for each other (how else to explain such dangerous rage), but really, unless the kid was willing to share, it was only suppositions for now.
His only comfort remained the three beams of light, of a yellow almost golden in its healthy shine.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
When Tim changed his suit following Conner’s death, everyone thought it was an homenage. A way to pay tribute to a hero that was his closest, dearest friend. A way to never forget (as if he could, ever, with the lifeless line of pale beige, once yellow, dangling from his twitching finger).
They weren’t wrong, but it wasn’t just that.
Red had always pained him, in a deep, almost forgotten place. A thorn on his side, scratching against his heart. For the longest part, yellow had filled him to the brim, until hurt and yearning had no place inside him. With Kon’s warmth missing, red bleed in the place between Cassie and Bart, despite their best efforts to close ranks and keep it out.
Their sad eyes followed him during the funeral, knowing what the color meant to him. Just how much he was hurting himself, right now. But, lost in their own grief, there was little to be done.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
By the time Tim got the call about Bart, he already knew.
He ignored the ringing phone, holding a sobbing Cassie in his arms, both desperately clutching at their only remaining yellow string.
Between the two of them, color like blood seeped.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Every so often, when Ra’s voice in his ear became too familiar for comfort, where lines draw in sand begane to erode and blur, he’d raise his hand, eyes locked on the three yellow strings, and watch as Cassie’s moved, disappearing end pointing always in her direction.
He was fairly sure that, wherever she was, she was doing the same. Reminding herself he was alive as well, hadn’t left her behind.
Her absence from his life was necessary, finding Bruce a priority, and the red of his new suit (his new name) was proof of just how deeply it all ran. But it didn’t mean he wasn’t yearning for her lighter color.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
They were back, and he was hiding.
He wanted to run to their arms, hug them and never let them out of his view, far from where he could protect them (keep them). He wanted Kon’s hand on his face, delicate despite his strength, un-trembling when Tim’s own would softly join it on his check and held it there; Bart’s fingers between his own, too steady and constant for the boy who didn’t know how to sit still; Cassie’s arm on his waist, his own on her back, as they shared the weight of the world in their shoulders.
And because he wanted so damn much, he couldn’t do it.
He was covered in red. His first love discarded him, his Almost died so Tim could have his Teacher, his Life and Death was so heavily focused on the last bit… his hands lacked red, but oh, how much he leaked of it in his soul.
He couldn’t let them die again, be stained by his twisted fate; even if it meant he could’t hold them close any longer.
Letting go was more painful than holding on, but he was used to it by now.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
They find him. Of course they do; even without Kon’s senses, they all have beams of gold pointing them towards him, like Dorothy’s yellow brick road.
Tim knew it, was ready for it. And as such, had prepared the words that would push them away, to where it was safer.
Or so he thought.
“We are not leaving you.”
“Who cares about fate? You are ours, Rob.”
“It’s been long enough, Tim. Time to come home, we are done waiting.”
He denies them, shakes despite his usual iron clad control over his body, heart wrenching painfully at their decided expressions.
“You don’t understand. I’m Red Robin now. I’m not… I’m no good for you.”
“I could literally snap your back with the flick of a finger, shut up with that ‘I’m dangerous’ bullshit.”
“Yeah, even Bart could be dangerous given the right circumstances, you aren’t the only one here to watch for. It doesn’t mean shit to us.”
“That’s right, I- wait, what do you mean ‘even Bart?”
“Not the point, Imp.”
They don’t get it. He takes his mask off, wants to give them a good look at his eyes, to read his emotions there and finally realize what’s wrong about him.
“Almost all my strings have something to do with death, or were touched by it. Don’t you see it?” He raises his hand, despite knowing they can’t see his strings, only their own. “I have no red here, only blood. I can’t… I’m not safe to love. I’ll never be loved.”
Kon snaps, something he had rarely done since their Young Justice days, hands on Tim’s shoulders, seemingly torn between shaking him and pulling him close. The latter wins.
(As it always does)
“This is love, you idiot! WE love you!”
Tim chokes on something (saliva, his own breath, emotions). Gasps, tears coming to his eyes unbridled.
He feels two pairs of arms joining the first one, a cocoon of warmth and unconditional love forming around him.
Bart’s sad eyes watch Tim from under Kon’s hug. “I don’t have red either, Rob. Romantic, platonic, filial… who gives a fuck”, he shrugs, before hiding his face against the red of Tim’s uniform. Uncaring of all it represents for him or perhaps doing his best to defy it.
Cassie just holds them all in the circle of her own embrace, forehead to the back of Tim’s head. Her hold is the tightest, and he just realizes- she lost all of them, didn’t she? To death and grief, all too far to touch, and now that they’re back in her arms, there’s little chance of her ever letting go again.
“Love has more than one form, Tim.”
He shudders in the middle of this weirdly emotional dog pile, and thinks. About Bruce and Dick’s pride when they successfully taught him something new. Of Jason’s reluctant smile when Tim first tugged him along to some joined patrol, sneakily edging him closer to the family with every interaction. Of Damian, who would often look down at his own hands (and Tim would honestly kill someone to know just which color the young boy had for Tim) and then at him, with something like hope in his green eyes.
He thinks… yeah. And this one…
(He gives up, closing his eyes and snuggling deeper into Kon’s chest, knees buckling but staying up thanks to his three rays of sunlight holding him in place between them.)
This one’s shape might just be his favorite.
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pl-panda · 4 years ago
Text
The vines that bind us - Chapter 9
Chapter 1 || Previous || Next
------
She opened the window and picked a pencil. With deadly precision she tossed it. The wooden tool sailed through the air until it hit the binoculars and broke one side of them. She huffed and closed the window before pulling the curtains closed. How rude.
Jason cursed under his breath. Any other day he would probably avoid the projectile, but it caught him completely by surprise. By all accounts, it was physically impossible to use a pencil with such precision and force to destroy military-grade night-vision binoculars. At least the memory card was safe so he could give it to replacement later on for analysis.
Still in bad mood after having his gear ruined, Jason zipped to Dupain-Cheng’s window and gave a light knock. No response. Another knock. Still no response. Finally, after the third knock, the blinders opened and the window itself followed, revealing a very angry girl. Jason finally had a chance to get a better look at her. She did, in fact, have blue hair and now that he’d seen it close, he would bet half his paycheque that it was somehow a natural color. The purple too. She must have had her hair dyed for the first day of work. Her eyes were another part that he memorized. They were blue and iridescent green at the same time, giving a slight unnatural aura. Or maybe it was just that she looked ready to murder him.
“Are you done staring?” She asked, clearly annoyed. “You are not my type and much too old. And the stalker routine is plain creepy. Get lost old guy.”
She was about to close the window when he started speaking.
“I actually came to apologize. I did not ‘stalk’ you, thank you very much. I was just checking on you, miss. You do realize that you single-handedly kicked Riddler’s ass and got quite a bit of publicity.”
“Suuure. You do that for every brave citizen?” She asked with a raised eyebrow and a small grin. “You would be really short-staffed. I hope that overgrown furry does pay you for the overtime.” Any traces of amusement disappeared from her face. “Now get lost before I sic Chloe on you. She recently started dating Damian Wayne and the two seem to bond over ruining people. I’m sure you would make a decent target.” Without further ado, Mari closed the window and put the blinders back in place, completely cutting him off. 
Jason didn’t protest. He was too busy processing the fact that Demon Spawn apparently started dating someone. Oh, he would have so much fun teasing the little menace. 
----------------
When the motorbike entered the Batcave, Jason expected to meet perhaps the Replacement or Demon Spawn. He definitely did not expect to see the entire family sans B and Alfred. 
“Do you want to perhaps explain why dad received an angry call about ‘some idiot in red bucket’ stalking her through the window?” Barbara asked. frowning deeply. 
“Or at least why were you stalking her?” Dick added.
“Or where you hid my coffee?” Tim joined.
“Timothy!” Several of them shouted.
“What? It’s important!”
“Back to the matter at hand.” Dick turned back to Jason. “What exactly were you thinking?!” He screamed.
“Geez. You thought about joining some opera?”
“Tt. Answer the question.” Damian interrupted.
“That reminds me. Did you know Demon Spawn got himself a girlfriend?” Jason asked, trying to deflect. He really did not like how they jumped at him.
“Not… important.” Cass stared daggers at him. “Talk.”
“Fine!” he threw hands in the air. “I followed a hunch. And I was right. She is a meta!” He procured his destroyed binoculars. “There is no human way to destroy military-grade equipment like that with just a pencil.”
Tim picked it up and quickly tossed it onto the table nearby. A blue light scanned the products and the bat-computer started to display the scan plus introductory analysis.
“Well, he is right. There is no way that a simple pencil could destroy it.” He pressed some buttons and recording from the last seconds of the item’s life played. They could clearly see her throw a pencil at it and then everything went black. “Or I was wrong.” Tim started to do a series of calculations. 
“Bucket-head might be onto something. With her muscle mass, it would be impossible to throw a pen with enough force. Actually, it’s almost impossible to make that throw. Not with human muscle density…”
Barbara rolled over to him and the two started to work side by side. “But that’s also not probable since the body is not…” 
“She would probably…” 
“Plant fibers have a similar structure, but she would…” 
“Maybe… Unless she is not strong and instead…”
“Um… earth to nerd corner. Can you explain?”
“Jason might have hit the bullseye.” Tim grinned and several groans could’ve been heard. “She is definitely a meta. It still doesn’t explain why you stalked her.”
“Is that not reason enough?” Red Hood asked. He immediately regretted it when Duke stared daggers at him. 
“You do realize, that metahumans are not as rare as it was believed at the beginning?” Tim asked.
“What?”
“Roughly ten percent of humans are born with dormant meta-gene and the number is increasing each year. And about one in twenty people have an active meta-gene. They just don’t go around wrecking everything or don a cape and run around beating people.” Tim spoke in a matter-of-factly tone. 
“What?”
“Yeah. Eidetic memory, or perfect recall for our uneducated bucket-head,” Tim snickered while Jason grumbled.
“I hate that name.”
“I think it will stay for a while.” Stephanie was smiling. “She does have a way with nicknames. First an overgrown furry, then red Buckethead…” She was on the verge of laughing. “I wonder what she does next?”
“As I was saying,” Tim regained the control of the conversation, “eidetic memory is actually one of the earliest forms of registered active meta-ability.”
“What?”
“The gene tends to activate under extreme duress, but, as we learned, the definition of extreme duress varies from person to person.”
“So what? A guy afraid of failing an exam might accidentally unlock super memory?” Jason dismissed it.
“More like if someone lived in years under pressure and is about to crack.” Dick pointed. “I mean there was even this large awareness campaign about four years ago led by Beast Boy. Where were you?”
“Dead.” Jason deadpanned. “I was dead.”
“Oh… I guess you didn’t see Garfield’s movies then?” Steph asked, being the first to break through the heavy atmosphere.
“She is still a meta.” Jason tried to fight, but his arguments were wavering. 
“Which changes nothing. You will go to her tomorrow and apologize.” Tim said categorically. 
“Ugh! Fine. But I got one more interesting fact: Demon Spawn got himself a girlfriend.” He grinned and turned to Damian. Everyone followed his gaze.
“Tt. I have no idea what you are talking about Todd.” 
“That blonde! Charlie saw you two sitting and eating pastries together! She is the new intern!” Dick had a big fat smile on his face and his eyes were almost glittering. “Who is she? How did you two meet?”
“Blonde?” Tim suddenly paled considerably. “There is only one blonde intern. Please tell me you aren’t dating Chloe Bourgeoise of all people!” He squeaked.
Damian wanted to deny it further, but seeing the Replacement’s reaction he changed his mind. The grin that formed on his face was borderline malicious before turning back to the emotionless mask he wore every day. “Yes. She finally admitted that I was not at fault for the cake incident. She is actually tolerable now.” 
“What cake incident?” Steph asked, smelling some juicy story about her ex. That kind of story was the best.
“Tt. When we were at this gala in Paris two years ago, Replacement attacked me and we fell into the birthday cake.”
“It doesn’t sound…” Dick started, but Damian interrupted him.
“The cake had six levels and was about as tall as I am now. Mayor Bourgeoise was not happy that we ruined his precious princess’s birthday.”
“So that’s why we no longer go to Paris?”
“Tt. No. That’s because Jason almost trashed the Louvre.” 
“Right…” Tim mumbled while his eyes closed. In just a moment, he was snoring away on the chair.
“Damn. I thought it would work faster.” Barbara complained while peeling the near-invisible sticker away from his neck. 
-----
Thursday actually passed without any trouble for Marinette. The class finally got it through their collective single brain cell that she had the power to end their trip with two words. She was slowly getting the grip on the work and after some talk with Penny, where the woman practically forced Mari to listen to some additional advice. She was actually offended that the girl didn’t call her immediately. 
She did have to practically drag her barely conscious boss to a meeting in the afternoon, but he didn’t put up much of a fight after she gave him a Tikki Special Coffee. The small goddess giggled inside her pocket the entire time as the boy begged on his knees.
After work, she and Chloe went to the Gotham Zoological Garden. At first, she wanted to go to the Botanic Garden first, but their class was supposed to visit there after work, so the girls went to Zoo instead. Gotham had a much broader collection of birds than Paris did. And the less chance of running into their classmates, the better.
“...He did what?” Chloe asked louder than necessary, but nobody paid the two girls in smart outfits any attention.
“Yeah. But don’t worry. I gave him a piece of my mind.” Mari dismissed it.
“It’s still creepy.”
“I know. That’s why I sicced the police at him.”
“That’s my girl!” 
“Well, I threatened to send you and Damian after him, but I decided it would be too cruel.” She smiled. “Besides, I’ve seen that Red Buckethead is trending already.” She pulled out her phone and showed a post there was a picture of Red Hood next to a reversed red bucket.
FashionMari @QueenGoldie Someone in a red bucket was stalking me. I was torn between calling the police and criticizing their fashion choice. In the end, I did both. 
“Only you Goldie. Only you…”
--------
Friday was press conference day. For once, Mari woke up earlier and got dressed in record time. Chloe watched from the side-lines as the girl moved around like a tornado, preparing everything and triple-checking all arrangements. She changed outfits four times before finally the blonde grabbed her by the shoulders and forced her to sit down. 
“Goldie! You know I love you and I would kill for you,” She started, “but if you don’t calm down I will tie you up and leave you here for the day.”
“But…!” Bluenette tried to protest, but Chloe cut her off.
“No buts. We are only sixteen. I for one came here to learn a bit and maybe meet someone. You are supposed to be learning. Nobody said anything about getting a full-time job.”
“The deal…”
“So what if they fire you?” Chloe raised her hands over her head. “Ridiculous! Utterly Ridiculous! You have Gabriel Agreste and Audrey Bourgeoise fighting over who will get you while Jagged Stone is willing to fly over half the world just to give your references in person. You run a very successful flower shop and even more successful boutique.”
“But…” She tried to muster a weak protest, but Chloe’s angry gaze made her wither. 
“I will not let you run yourself dry!” The blonde stated firmly. “So either you take a step back and breathe or I will call your uncle.”
“Not uncle Jagged! he already banned me from drinking coffee!”
“So you will behave?” Chloe asked with a smirk. 
“Fiiiinneee!” Mari couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Queenie. I needed this. I’m glad I have you as my friend. And sister.” 
“Well of course you needed me! Everyone needs me!” She huffed before her expression became more gentle and she pulled Mari into a hug. 
Downstairs the class was waiting for them. Probably they finally gathered the courage to confront her about Alya’s fate. The girl shouldn’t have lied while filing for promotion. Mari and Chloe stormed past them not even sparing them a glance. Outside, Adrien was already waiting inside the limousine with Gerard at the driver’s seat. 
“I’m glad your driver is finally here.”
“Me too!” The blond boy was practically beaming. “I’m free from Lila’s clutches.”
“Could you drop us at… No. 2 Twine Street?” Mari asked the gorilla, who only grunted in response.
“Um… We should be going to Wayne Tower.”
“Nope.” Mari popped the ‘p’. “You,” she pointed at Adrien, “are an intern in PR. I asked for you to be present at the press conference to help move stuff around and so on.” 
“And me?” Chloe asked. “If you expect me to…” 
“You’re there to support your boyfriend. He was the one that practically demanded that I get you there. He hates publicity.”
“Oh… Good then. Let’s go.”
“Boyfriend?” Adrien asked curiously. “You mean Wayne?”
“Yeah. Apparently Chloe found herself a partner in scheming.”
“I bet that their dates are filled with planning to take over the world.”
“We could’ve taken the world over by lunch if we wanted.” Chloe looked almost offended. “The question is what way would be the most suitable one.” 
All three of them broke into laughter as the car rode through the city of crime.
----
About fifteen minutes before the press conference was scheduled to start, Tim Drake was still not there. None of the Waynes were there in fact. She sent about fifteen angry messages to Mr. Drake and he was still not here, which only fueled her stress and anger. 
The press had no idea so far and they were eagerly awaiting whatever news the company wanted to present. She bit her lower lips. Chloe was on the phone, trying to reach her boyfriend.
“If that idiot doesn’t get here in the next ten minutes, I’m going to consider stabbing him.” 
“Damian?!” Chloe shouted into her phone. 
“Tt. What do you want?”
“First of all, that’s not how you talk to your girlfriend. Second of all, where in the world is your excuse of a brother?! Mari is an inch from going ballistic!”
“Tt. He’s asleep.” Damian answered in an impassionate tone.
Mari leaped over and wrestled the phone from Chloe. “You go to him right this moment or I swear to all that’s holy and…”
“I get it.” He interrupted her, showing signs of irritation. There were some static and the camera blurred for a moment from the fast motion. When it returned, she saw barely awake Tim Drake wearing blue onesies. 
“wah…”
“Get yourself cleaned up and into a suit in the next three minutes!” She shouted. God bless the soundproof backstage.
“Um… But I will never make…”
“I’m certain you have a great webcam somewhere in this big mansion of yours. Set it in the library and call me in the next few minutes. I so hope you were not supposed to be the model because gods help me…” She took a look at his terrified face. “Of course you were…” 
“In my defense…”
“Shut up. Get going!” She hanged up and turned to Adrien and Chloe, who were looking at her with a mixture of fear and awe. “What are you waiting for?!” She tossed a package to the boy. “You get dressed in the new product.” She pushed him outside and into the janitor’s closet on the other side. “And you’re coming with me!” She dragged Chloe toward the main room. The blonde was sent to the technics room to get the feed started while Mari stepped on the scene. The chatter died quickly and all reporters turned to her.
“Hi. Please forgive us for the slight delay. We have minor technical difficulties that are being solved as we speak. In the meantime, you are free to take the seats. The conference is about to start.” 
Behind her, a screen slowly descended. She saw Adrien leaning from the doors leading backstage and smiling at her. 
“Without further ado, I present you Tim Drake, CEO of Wayne Enterprises.”
The image of the teen with black hair appeared on the screen and he waved everyone. He was holding a red cup of coffee with black polka dots, the same Tikki summoned for him the first time. 
Satisfied with herself, Marinette allowed herself a moment of rest. The conference was going well and after a minute of silence for the dead in the recent attack, the presentation began. Adrien was a natural model so it all went great. Wayne Tech in co-operation with Gabriel brand was introducing a new line of ‘smart’ fabric that could withstand medium stress and was almost impossible to dirty or stain. She had to admit it was quite amazing. Apparently, it was partially how Mr. Agreste got her class internship. Granted, Adrien was not supposed to be the model but you don’t look a gifted horse in the mouth. 
Everything was going great until the doors to the room were kicked open and several goons barged in, followed by none other than Two-face. Everyone immediately fell onto the floor. Mari couldn’t help but sigh exasperatedly. Why did it have to go wrong at every turn?
Ignoring the terrified stares, she stormed toward the intruders. “Excuse me, sir?” She asked with an emotionless face.
“What?” The man looked clearly irritated.
“I don’t see your name on the guest list. Did you remember to call in advance?”
“Of course not! Do I look like…” The criminal was clearly angry. 
“Then I apologize, but I must ask you to leave now.” 
“Do you have any idea who I am?” Two-face pulled his gun.
“I’m sorry, sir, but if you are not on on the list, I can’t let you stay.” She said in an emotionless voice. Mari was honestly too tired to care at this point. Maybe at least the evening would be better.
“I’m not sure you get the situation, miss. I’m not here for the interviews. Everyone pull out your wallets and drop them in the sacks!” He shouted while his men started to walk around.
“Hm… That won’t do.” She said. After muttering something under her breath, Mari tossed her clipboard. The spinning board hit one of the mooks in the head, knocking him cold, before bouncing and hitting the next one. After that, it returned to her hand. 
That was enough for Two-Face. He aimed his gun at her, but she moved faster than he anticipated. Within seconds, she grabbed his wrist and pushed it up so he was aiming at the ceiling. She squeezed it hard enough to make him drop the gun right into her other waiting hand. The girl let go of his wrist and disassembled the gun into pieces in what could become record time. 
Now irritated, Mari grabbed Two-face by his tie and pulled him down until they were at the same eye-level. 
“I was trying to do it peacefully sir. I am now ordering you to leave. Otherwise, I will actually have to hurt you.” She leaned closer until she was able to whisper. “And don’t make mistakes, Dent. I can and will hurt you.” For a moment her eyes lost the blue coloring and became entirely iridescent green, glowing slightly. 
Harvey Dent rarely felt fear. His life was more often than not guided by the toss of a coin. Now though, he stared in the eyes of Poison Ivy, except ten times scarier. He was already afraid of that woman after she almost fed him to her ‘precious’.
“I… I am deeply sorry madame.” He spoke carefully. “Men! We are moving out. Leave the bags!” And with that, they were all gone. 
Most of the reporters gave Mari big applause. There was only one angry old man that stared daggers at the girl. 
“You let that scum go away!” He shouted. “He was a criminal.”
“Sir. You are free to go after him if that’s your wish. I’m at work and my job description never included chasing after criminals.”
“But… But…” 
“Anyway, we were in the middle of the press conference if I’m not mistaken.”
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