#dick: jason give me back my sweatshirt i know you took it

[roseworth]

broke: jason is mad at dick for putting him in arkham

woke: jason doesn’t care that dick put him in arkham because he was using it as a means to an end and he could’ve escaped at any time

bespoke: jason doesn’t care that dick put him in arkham but he still brings it up constantly whenever he needs to guilt trip him

[shieldofiron]

Vibe Check

The Frat Boy Au, Part 2 - Rated M for UST

Read Part 1 on Ao3 or tumblr.

Billy missed this view. Their room is still only half unpacked, a wreck after they'd stumbled in after the first week of school party, but it has the most important thing in it.

Harrington is asleep, body flung across his bed, his shitty blue comforter bunched around his waist. The early morning light is slanted across mole studded skin, and his long dark lashes flutter.

As do the butterflies in Billy's stomach.

He reaches out with itchy fingers, flinging the comforter up and catching a tantalizing glimpse of Steve's ass in the light as he straddles Steve.

He smacks it lightly, playing Harrington's ass like bongos, hot under the collar when Harrington yelps, jolting for a second up into Billy's hand. He can't really resist grabbing hard, leaving a handprint behind when he has to pull back to avoid Harrington's swinging arm.

"What the fuck asshole?" Harrington pulls the comforter over himself like a chick in a bad romantic comedy, holding it over his tits.

"Wake up, Pretty Boy, we're gonna miss breakfast!"

"I'm hungover as fuck, I'm not going to breakfast!" Harrington flops back to the bed. "Did you hear that screaming last night?"

Billy grins, "Looks like Eddie's mystery girl stuck around."

Steve groaned, "I have to find my earplugs. Last year she kept me up practically every night"

Billy wagged his tongue for a second, "Come on pretty boy, get up, they're making the breakfast burritos you like downstairs. Plus we can see if after a YEAR of dating Eddie finally has the balls to bring his girl to breakfast."

Harrington just covered his face with his arm, "Give me 10 minutes. God, you're such a freak."

"I'll save you a seat," Billy threw his favorite letters over his head, snuggling into the sweatshirt's warmth. "Missed you over the summer, Pretty Boy."

"Missed you, dickwad. You better save me a seat."

Billy nodded, catching another glimpse out of the corner of his eye as Harrington threw off the covers and sat up. But he headed out swiftly, a spring in his step that had been missing all summer, even though he was back in Indiana, aka God's armpit, rather then lounging at Argyle's parents beach house.

Speak of the Devil.

"Ay, brochacho," Argyle threw his arm around Billy's shoulder. "How's the plans for pledge week going?"

"Ask me when I'm not hungover as fuck, Prez," Billy rolled his eyes.

"Yeah," Eden is lounging in the doorway, already looking meticulous in dark lipstick and a full outfit. "Didn't you see how many body shots he took off of Steve?"

Billy just stuck out his tongue at her, getting a certain finger in response.

Argyle snakes an arm around her waist and tows them both forward, "Play nice. C'mon, lets get something to munch on, I'm starving."

The house is lowkey a wreck, even the dining room. Billy can vaguely hear Jason Carver whining down the table that they ought to clean up before the house cleaners got here Monday, just to show house pride. Before Eddie shoves the business end of a burrito in Carver's mouth, grinning when Carver sputters and spits. There's no sign of the screamer that haunts Eddie and Carver's room next door, only the two of them pissing each other off while joined at the hip.

The table's filling up fast, and there's more than one friend or girlfriend or hook up sitting while a brother stands.

"You better be sitting there to save it for me, dick," A whisper shimmers across Billy's skin, and he doesn't have to turn to see that it's Harrington. He knows him by the mint of his mouthwash, by the smell of his hair product, by...

Billy turns and smacks his own lap, "Best seat in the house, princess."

Patrick's girlfriend Chrissy titters nervously on Billy's other side when Steve just huffs in response, his free hand fisting at his side.

"Come on, Pretty Boy," Billy rubs his thigh, "Saved it for you."

Steve slams down hard, clearly intending it to hurt. But Billy doesn't mind, gets a hint of that hair product and mint mixed with the party grime of the night before, hidden under a freshly laundered polo.

Billy snakes a hand around to Steve's stomach, almost laughing himself when Harrington's abs flex under his hand. He wonders if he was puking up in their bathroom. He wonders if Harrington was making use of that morning wood that Billy caught a glimpse of.

He has to take a deep breath of that Steve scented air, curling his hand into Steve's waist while Steve ignored him, digging into his burrito with all the table manners of a feral cat.

It didn't matter how many times this summer he'd caught the perfect wave, or how many times he'd gone out with Argyle, or gone home with someone else. It was stupid, being stuck on a straight guy.

But that had been Billy's reality ever since he'd seen Harrington's big brown doe eyes blink at him during rush week. He was down bad, following Steve to Theta even though he'd been offered several other fraternities hungry to snag his excellent grades and prestigious scholarship cred.

It all didn't matter when he could barely think about anything else. Did he impress Steve? Probably not. Did he have a chance? Not one in hell.

But he had this, hand on Steve's waist. He had mornings sleeping next to him if not with him. Maybe one day he would think he'd thrown his college experience away on this.

He tickles Harrington, who jolted, slamming his knee into the table and glaring at Billy. But he's sinking into Billy's soothing touch, his spine melting a little as Billy rubs slow circles over his hip.

This would have to be enough for now.

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Phantom Grin

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam

Summary: Bruce Wayne visits his son's grave on the night of his resurrection. Will it change Jason's fate, or is it all simply inevitable?

Chapters: 13/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Alfred Pennyworth, Barbara Gordon, Tim Drake, Cassandra Cain

Relationship(s): Jason Todd/Original Character

Additional Tags: Canon Divergent AU, Jason Todd Has Chronic Pain, Jason Todd is Disabled, Barbara Gordon is Oracle, Resurrected Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne is Bad at Communicating, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne Get Along

Chapter Thirteen: First Date

Jason woke up early while everyone was sleeping, and despite the aches and pains he felt, he showered and dressed up. He let his hair down and stared in the mirror. Jason had a hard time recognizing himself in the mirror. It was hard to tell if he even liked what he saw. He didn't talk to his therapist about it because he feared it'd open up another can of worms in his already damaged mind. Barbara knocked on the bathroom door. "Going out?" asked Barbara.

Jason opened the bathroom door, and she grinned. "What? Do I look stupid?" Jason asked. Barbara shook her head.

"Jason, you look... Nice. I have to ask. Are you going somewhere special?" Barbara questioned.

Jason looked away from her. "I'm going to church," Jason answered honestly. He expected her to tease him for being so nervous, but she didn't.

"Buy her a single flower... Something special, unique to her," Barbara advised.

Jason nodded and thanked her quietly before leaving the clock tower. Jason went to the florist's and looked around before noticing a white flower with dark blue budding. He asked to buy one, and the florist wrapped it nicely in wax paper and a ribbon.

By the time he got to the church, Sister Irene was already sitting in the courtyard waiting for him. Jason met with her and gave her the single flower. "The uh—. I don't know what kind of flower it is, but—."

Sister Irene looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "I can't be a nun if I don't believe, can I?" she asked.

Jason shook his head. "You can still help people, though... Besides, being a nun is a serious commitment," Jason whispered as he sat next to her.

"Can you give me two hours and come back?" she asked. Jason nodded. Sister Irene stood up and kissed his cheek. He looked up at her and smiled, but he could tell she was nervous.

Jason held her hand to his face, and she smiled. "One hour," Jason whispered.

"One hour," Sister Irene repeated, "Could I have my hand back, please?"

Jason laughed nervously and let go. "One hour," Jason whispered once more before watching Sister Irene walk away.

Jason's cheeks went rosy, and he rushed back to the car, driving around the city to clear his head. His phone vibrated, and he pulled over. "Dad?" Jason asked.

"Hi, I'm back in town, and Barbara said you were out. Are you busy?" Bruce questioned.

"A little bit," Jason replied, "I have plans with someone in an hour, but I'll be home later on today."

"Do you have a date? Is that a question I can ask?" Bruce questioned. Jason chuckled.

"I think it's a date. I'll let you know when I find out," Jason grinned. Bruce chuckled and hung up.

"Is it a date?" Jason asked himself.

He took the long road to the church, and a girl with bright yellow hair ran to the car with a suitcase. Jason almost didn't recognize her. She had baggy sweatpants and a sweatshirt on. He stepped out of the car and came around to the passenger's side door. "Sister Irene?" Jason asked.

"Not really... No," she replied, "Indigo's my real name... My hair looks—."

"You look pretty," Jason whispered. She grinned and kissed his cheek. "You okay? You got somewhere to stay?"

"Jason, aren't you gonna take me out?" Indigo asked. Jason blushed and nodded. "What do you have planned?"

"I don't know... I—. My head gets so empty when I'm around you... Do you-. Do you want to go eat?" Jason questioned. "Dumb question... Of course, you wanna go eat... What do you wanna eat?"

"Doesn't matter," Indigo replied. Jason nodded and let her in the car. He walked around to the driver's side and took a deep breath.

Jason drove her to a hole-in-the-wall burger spot. She grinned. "It's good... I know it doesn't look like much, but they've got the best burgers in Gotham and the nachos—."

"Say no more. I'm starved," Indigo whispered.

Jason held the door for her and grabbed her seat. "Nachos?" Jason whispered. She nodded. He ordered for her and himself before grabbing their sodas and joining her at the table. "I got our food to go."

Indigo took a sip of her drink and looked at him. He glanced at her and then back down at the table. His cheeks went rosy, and he covered his smile. They didn't speak until after they received their food and left the restaurant. Jason handed Indigo her food before unwrapping his burger. He offered her the first bite without thinking, and she laughed as she took a bite. Jason held a hand under her chin and chuckled. "Don't take the whole thing with you," Jason teased. Their eyes met, and he snagged a few of her nachos to avoid the awkwardness of the silence.

Indigo took her thumb and wiped the corner of his lip. "I'm not running from anything," Indigo announced. Jason blinked at her. "I'm not... You were wondering why I haven't told you much about myself. Weren't you?"

"Well, yeah... But I didn't think it was my place—."

"It is. You can ask me whatever you want," Indigo reassured him.

Jason dug through the bag and ate his fries. "You're not from here. Why'd you move to Gotham?" Jason questioned.

"My ex-boyfriend moved me here after high school... Then we broke up two weeks later, and I tried to become a nun, and then a month later, there was you. I never stood a chance, though," Indigo whispered.

Jason didn't speak. He was far too nervous. When they finished eating, Jason took their garbage and threw it out. "Jason, walk with me? For a little while," Indigo requested. Jason nodded and hugged himself before she took his hand.

Jason's face grew hot, and he looked out toward the street. They did a few laps around the park. "I'm sorry-. I'm nervous. You make me nervous," Jason confessed.

"You don't have to be... Jason, what do you want with me, huh?" Indigo asked softly. Her voice was sweet, and Jason finally managed to look at her. She was just as beautiful as the day he met her.

He leaned down and lifted her chin with his knuckle. But he hesitated. "Jason, it's okay..."

He'd never kissed a girl before. He died young and spent every day since his resurrection recovering, so dating was uncharted territory for him. "I don't wanna mess this up," Jason whispered.

"We can always have a do-over... C'mere, okay?" Indigo replied as she pulled him in by his collar. Jason closed his eyes and clutched his chest with one hand. Their lips met, and he pulled back out of fear before parting his lips. Indigo kissed him, and she held the back of his head, her fingers entangled in his curls and brushing his scalp. He tensed up, hoping her hands wouldn't find his scars, but she did. And she was so gentle. Her lips were soft as they collided with his. It seemed to last forever, that is until his phone rang.

"I'm sorry—."

"Don't be," Indigo smiled as she raised her fingers to her lips.

Jason stood up straight and swallowed hard. "Hey," Jason answered. He was half out of breath, half-exasperated.

"You busy?" Bruce asked.

Jason glanced over at Indigo and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, a little bit. What do you need?" Jason questioned.

"Busy, huh? She must be cute—."

"Dad, please," Jason whispered, "I'll be home in a little bit... And yeah... She is." Jason turned around, and she was gone. "Where—? Dad, I'll call you right back..."

[hintofelation99]

Bruce, handing Jason a present: Happy birthday Jaylad, I’m so glad you decided to spend this one with the family.

Jason, opening his present: Thanks B, it’s nice to- what is this?

Bruce: It’s a new bag, now you can get rid of the old one.

Jason: My old duffel bag is in perfect condition, why would I get rid of it?

Bruce: Well, I wouldn’t say it’s in perfect condition. It has some pretty bad stains…

Jason: Alfred got most of those out for me. You know that.

Bruce: Well, it- I just- for the love of god Jason you kept drug dealers heads in that bag!

Jason: Exactly, that just proves it’s a sturdy bag!

Bruce: But the bloodstains!

Jason: Are mostly gone!

Bruce: Just throw out the bag Jason!

Jason: No! It’s sentimental!

Bruce: It’s senti- what the fuck Jason?!

Jason: I’ve had that bag since I was a kid, since before you took me off the streets…

Bruce: Oh, Jason I’m sorry I didn’t-

Jason: Nah I’m just kidding I got it at Walmart after I cut off the first drug lords head and realized I had no where to put it.

Bruce:

Jason: Still not throwing it out.

———

Dick: Happy birthday Little Wing! I’m so glad you’re back and celebrating with us, I really went all out on your present this year.

Dick passes Jason a large box.

Jason: Thanks Dickface, I’m happy to-

Dick absolutely giddy.

Jason: Dick, is this my headstone?

Dick: Yes.

Jason: Did you steal my headstone?

Dick: Yes.

Jason: Did you really steal my headstone, wrap it up, and give it to me for my birthday?

Dick: Yes.

Jason: And you thought this was a good idea?

Dick: Yes.

Jason: …

Dick: So, do you like it? Or do you love it?

Jason looks at the headstone, face blank.

Jason: Dick, I- this- this is the best fucking present you ever got me, let’s go hang it!

———

Jason: So, Timmy…

Tim, on the bat computer not paying attention to Jason: What.

Jason: Y’know it’s my birthday, right?

Tim: Of course I do, why else would I be wearing all black.

Jason: Okay, hardy har har, a super boy t-shirt and black sweatpants don’t count as a mourning outfit.

Tim: Keep telling yourself that.

Jason rolls his eyes leans on Tim’s chair. He proceeds to subtly try to annoy Tim.

Tim: What? Did you come here just to annoy me or did you want something?

Jason: Well, now that you ask… what’d you get me for my birthday?

Tim: Nothing.

Jason, looking unimpressed: Really? You got me nothing?

Tim: Yup. Nothing.

Dick walks into the cave looking at some papers, not paying attention.

Dick: Wow Tim, nice job with that new community center! I still can't believe you were able to buy Jason's old apartment complex before they demolished it.

Dick looks up: Oh, hi Jason! Have you visited the Catherine Todd Community Center yet?

Jason turns to Tim who's basically glowing red. Tim tries not to make eye contact.

Jason: Did you turn my old apartment into a community center?!

Tim: No.

Jason: You fucking liar! How did you do that without me noticing?

Tim, whispering clearly embarassed about how much effort he put into Jason's birthday: You were off planet... and I was, uh, bored?

Jason: You are such a little liar you shithead, god fucking dammit Tim!

Tim: I'm sorry okay!

Jason: Why the fuck are you apologizing?! This is the best present ever you asshole!

Tim: Then why do you sound mad?!?!

Jason: IT'S CALLED BEING AGGRESSIVELY HAPPY ASSHOLE! Fuck, you suck... and I love you... you're a good brother... asshole.

Tim: It wasn't just me, Cass helped.

Dick: Cass has been coordinating the after school events, she's surprisingly good at it. Honestly it could be a future career path.

Cass: Maybe.

Everyone jumps.

Jason: Holy shit, when did you get here?!

Cass: Been here.

Cass passes Jason a brochure for the Catherine Todd Community Center.

Cass: Happy birthday!

———

Damian: Todd. I am told that it is tradition to give family members birthday presents. Here is yours.

Damian immediately leaves.

Jason, looking at the box and reading the letter aloud: 'For the next time'?

Jason opens the box.

Jason: YOU GOT ME A SHOVEL YOU ASSHOLE?!?!

———

Duke, passes Jason an envelope: Hey Jay, happy birthday!

Jason, slowly opening the envelope: Thanks Duke.

Jason looks at the two slips of paper and smiles.

Jason: Wait, what? Are these?

Duke: Two tickets to hear Margaret Atwood speak, I thought it might be fun together. I mean- uh, unless you don't want to- you can take Roy or some one else. I know we're technically brothers, but like-

Jason: Shut up Dukie-

Duke: Did you just call me Dookie-

Jason: Shhh, shut up, there's no technically about it. We're brothers and we're gonna go to this talk together and bond and shit.

Duke smiles: Oh, okay, cool.

———

Steph throws a book at Jason's head: Happy birthday asshole.

Jason, looks at it slightly confused: Wait, did you get me a fucking coupon book?

Steph: Yup, I'm not adopted, I don't get that good good Wayne allowance.

Jason, looks at it for a second then shrugs: Fair, wanna go to Olive Garden? I have a buy one get one entree?

Steph: Hell yeah.

———

Babs tosses a bag at Jason, and tries not to smile: Happy birthday.

Jason, pulls a hoodie out of the bag: What the fuck?

Turns the hoodie around to reveal a sweatshirt that says "Red-arse 4ever" With a giant heart.

Babs, trying not to laugh: Do you like it?

Jason glaring at her: I hate you.

Babs: Try it on!

Jason: Fuck you I'm not-

Roy walks in and sees the hoodie.

Roy: Babe! I love it!!

Babs starts crying laughing.

[oh-mother-of-darkness]

“Ready?” Tim asked. He took a last look over the microphone on the desk in front of him, then sideways at Dick and Damian, arranged on either side of him, a few feet away, with their own microphones.

Dick held up a sheet of paper. “I have the question list.” 

“I think that’s it, then.”

“Are we supposed to do some kind of intro?”

“Uh, unclear.” Tim snapped his fingers and leaned into his microphone.

“This is a podcast-interview thing,” he said. “We’re answering questions. Okay, I nailed the intro, so let’s hear the first one on the list.”

“Can somebody please explain Bruce Wayne’s family?” Dick read. “I know he has a bunch of kids, but I can’t figure out how many or where he got them from.”

“Interesting phrasing on the back half of that,” said Tim. “I feel like something expensive that went on sale.”

He clutched a hand to an imaginary necklace in feigned admiration. “Why Bruce! You must tell me where you got those!”

“You were never expensive,” said Damian. “Perhaps a grocery check-out display?”

Tim sighed and turned sideways, so he could look Damian in the face. “Being honest, I didn’t think you knew enough about shopping to make that joke.”

“Understandable.”

“I would never set you up on purpose.”

“I know.”

“Let’s get back to the question,” Dick suggested. “Can somebody please explain Bruce Wayne’s family?”

“I don’t know,” said Tim. He swung back towards the microphone, grimacing. “Maybe? It’s complicated.” 

“Complicated,” Dick repeated, flatly.

“Yeah, complicated.”

“It’s your own family.”

“That doesn’t make it simple,” said Damian.

“Do we get time to make an outline?” Tim asked, emboldened by the unexpected support. “Before we do our presentation?”

Damian half-smiled at that, while Dick looked the two of them over with a skeptical expression. 

“Are you telling me you don’t understand our own timeline?”

Tim waved a hand in a why-are-you-looking-at-me kind of gesture. “What, does anybody?”

“I do.”

“You experienced it linearly! We came in partway through, it’s different.”

“Unbelievable.”

“You take the question then.”

“If the two of you can’t manage it,” said Dick, with a distinctly sarcastic shrug.

“Obviously I can do it,” said Tim, suddenly defensive. He knew Dick was trying to get a rise, but Dick was good at that, and it was working. “I’m just saying it’s a confusing story.”

Tim pointed in Damian’s direction. “Back me up.”

“Absolutely not.”

“We can take turns,” said Dick, apparently satisfied with his victory. “Okay. Thomas and Martha Wayne died when Bruce was eight years old. Nineteen years after that, when Bruce was twenty-seven, he attended Haly’s Circus the night two acrobats fell to their deaths during a trapeze routine. Bruce took in their surviving son, me.”

Dick held up a finger. “My name is Dick Grayson, and I was Bruce’s ward from age twelve until the day I turned eighteen.”

“Which is different that being adopted,” Tim put in, “so bear that in mind for later.”

“Right. At eighteen, I became an adult, so Bruce wasn’t my guardian anymore. A year after that, Bruce met and adopted Jason Todd.”

“The second child he took in,” said Tim.

“But the first child he adopted,” said Damian.

“Exactly,” said Dick. “In that moment, Bruce was thirty-four with one former ward and one adopted son— which again, are distinct concepts.”

Tim nodded. “Jason Todd passed away three years after his adoption, when he was fifteen.”

“I never met him,” said Damian, straight-faced.

“Me neither,” said Tim, like he hadn’t spoken to Jason that morning. “I did meet Bruce though, at around that time.”

“The next few years are… harder to explain, I guess,” said Dick.

Tim raised an eyebrow in Damian’s direction, shaking his head in mock disgust. “See? Now he admits it.”

“Unbelievable.”

“The nerve.” Tim grinned as smugly as he could manage, so that Dick could see. Was Tim being difficult on purpose? Absolutely. Was he going to change that? Absolutely not. 

“Right, it can be my turn. I’m Tim Drake, and I met Bruce when I was thirteen years old.”

“I was…” Dick glanced upwards, like he was trying to remember— or, failing that, calculate. “Right now you’re…?”

“Do you not know my age?”

“I probably do.” Dick tapped a finger against the desk a few times, looking pensive. Eventually, he gave up.

“I’m blanking.” 

“Congratulations, Damian,” said Tim. “You are no longer my least favorite sibling.”

“I was your least favorite?” Damian asked, with such innocence that Tim couldn’t stop himself from bursting out laughing.

It took him a few moments to regain control. “You looks so proud of yourself,” he told Damian, as soon as he could.

“Thank you, I am.”

“I’m writing you both out of my will,” muttered Dick, “as soon as we get home.” 

“Shame.” Tim swiped a sweatshirt sleeve over his eyes, still grinning. “I had my eye on your terrible CD collection.”

“The estate in its entirety, I believe,” said Damian. 

“Shut up,” said Dick. “Keep answering the question.”

“Yeah, yeah, give me a minute.” Tim held up a hand to count on his fingers. “We did circus, Jason, Jason’s death— oh right, me. I met Bruce when I was thirteen and Dick was twenty-two, which would make Bruce thirty-seven.”

“I would have gotten there eventually.”

“Go to hell. Two years after that, when Bruce was thirty-nine, he met our sister, Cassandra Cain.”

“She was seventeen then,” said Damian.

Dick nodded. “Simplifying, we met her through a family friend. That same year, Bruce adopted me.”

“Which puts Father at thirty-nine with two sons—”

“One deceased,” added Tim.

“Having already met Tim and Cass,” Dick finished. 

“Now if you think that’s confusing,” said Tim, gesturing broadly, “you’re right, it is.”

Damian nodded. “It gets even worse.”

“Yeah. For another two years we were— again, simplifying— in roughly the same place. After that, Bruce adopted me—”

“—making my life even worse.”

“Shut up, you weren’t even around yet. At forty-one, Bruce had three sons, one deceased.”

“That’s Todd.”

“And then came—”

“Me.” Damian raised his own hand. “My name is Damian Wayne, and I am my father’s genetic son. We met for the first time when Father was forty-one, and I was ten.”

“Four sons,” said Dick. “By age it’s me, Jason, Tim, Damian.”

“But from Bruce’s perspective,” said Tim, “Jason, then Dick, then me, then Damian.”

“I’d note,” said Damian, “that I was born several years before Todd’s adoption, and since I have been a Wayne from the beginning, I am both my father’s youngest child and his first child, whether he was aware of me or not.”

“But wait!” Tim interjected. “There’s more!”

“We’re almost done,” said Dick. “We already mentioned meeting our sister Cassandra. Bruce adopted her formally after Damian arrived, while Bruce was still forty-one.”

“Which means,” said Tim, “that we can do a final tally. Damian?”

“Yes?”

“Assist me. We have Dick—”

“Alive,” said Damian.

“Jason—”

“Not alive.”

“Cass—”

“Alive.”

“Me—”

“Alive, regrettably.”

“And you.”

“Yes.” Damian sat back in his chair. Tim leaned forwards in his, so he could put his elbows down on the desk. 

“That’s pretty much it,” he said. “I won’t say how old we are right now, because it turns out Dick doesn’t know, and I don’t want to help him.”

Dick rolled his eyes. “I barely know my own age.”

“You’re eighty. One thousand, nine hundred, and forty. Some other number. I don’t know, why would I remember a very basic fact about my own family member?”

“To be fair to him,” Damian put in, “you are very forgettable.”

“And you’re my least favorite again.”

“Shame. As a last fact, I’d also note that Martha and Thomas Wayne died when Father was very young, so he was primarily raised by the butler.”

“That’s Alfred,” Tim agreed, “and his formal title is butler, but he’s also, you know, our grandfather.” 

“Can we move to another question now?”

“I guess?” Tim looked over at Dick for confirmation. 

“I don’t know,” Dick sighed. “Maybe.” 

-----------

Merry Christmas, my loves

timeline post / google doc

[ragingbookdragon]

Even Though We May Be Hopeless Hearts Just Passing Through, I Was Made For Loving You PT. 1

Batsis x Kyle Rayner

Word Count: 2.1K Warnings: Explicit Language

Author's Note: I realize the other story didn't follow the whole, dating the brother's best friend trope, so I decided to remedy it. And what do you get when you cross a hopeless romantic with someone who's new to love? Perfection. That's what. Enjoy! -Thorne

**********************************************************************

Saturday mornings, in Dick’s opinion, were meant for sleeping in and quite possibly going to IHOP when everyone finally crawled out of bed at ten. They were not meant for being shoved in the side by a little brother.

“Golden-boy,” a voice grouched from beneath the bedside. “Your phone’s been going off for an hour. Either put it on silent or answer the goddamn thing.”

Dick let out a tired ‘pfft’, rolling onto his stomach, face buried in the side of the bed as he looked down to the floor. “Annoyed much, Little-wing?”

“I am going to shove that phone so far up your—”

Reaching over, Dick put the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

Where are you?

“Still in bed,” he responded, sentence ending in a groan as he stretched. “Why?”

You were supposed to be on the flight back to Gotham two hours ago.

Dick’s eyes went wide, and he sat up, gaping at the bedside clock. “It’s today.”

It is today. I can’t believe you forgot it was today.

“Oh my God, it’s today and we missed our flight.” He stumbled out of the bed, barely registering the shout from Jason as his foot landed in his brother’s stomach. “Jason, get up! It’s today!’

“What’s today?” his little brother griped, rubbing his abdomen.

“(Y/N)’s coming back!”

Jason’s eyes went wide, and he scrambled to his feet, hurriedly finding his bag to change out of his nightclothes. “Christ, I can’t believe we forgot that (Y/N) was coming home today!” he looked at Dick. “This is your fault.”

“My fault?” Dick yelped. “How is this my fault!”

He scowled. “Big brother wanted everyone to be with a sibling for the night, so they’d be together and be punctual but you and I both know neither of us have any concept of time.” His scowl grew. “I knew I should’ve bunked with Cass. She’s on time no matter what happens.”

Dick threw Jason’s sweatshirt at him. “Dress now, bitch later.” He put the phone back to his ear. “We missed our flight, but we can drive there.”

Your car’s in the shop.

“Shit,” he hissed, spinning in a circle to help his brain circuit enough to think of something new. “Uh-uh-uh—”

“Kyle!” Jason shouted, pointing at him. “Kyle’s like thirty minutes away from Manhattan! We’ll go to him for a ride!”

Dick grinned. “We’ll find Kyle.”

You sure Kyle’s at home?

“Pfft, Kyle’s always home on the weekends. He’s lazy.”

Just get here. (Y/N)’s plane is going to land in less than four hours.

“We’ll be there,” he said. “Is Diana coming too?”

Of course. She is (Y/N)’s mother.

“Nice. Alright, see you in Gotham, Bruce.”

Love you boys. And be careful. I’ve already heard that Cass, Tim, and Steph got into a fender-bender with Damian and Duke.

Dick blinked. “They’re…they’re legitimately driving separate cars? How’d they hit each other?”

Don’t ask.

The line went dead, and Dick looked at his brother. “Ready?”

Jason nodded. “Already got an Uber to Kyle’s place.”

“We could always just Uber to Gotham?” he offered, and Jason recoiled with a shocked look.

“And pay a ridiculous amount of money instead of just paying Kyle’s gas? Fuck no, big brother.” He shoved his wallet and keys into his pockets. “C’mon!” he chirped, rather excitedly. “Our baby sister’s coming home!”

***

When he swung the door open to yell at whoever was pounding on it, he wasn’t expecting to see two of his best friends grinning like idiots. “Wha—”

He’d barely gotten a word out when Jason shoved a bag of fast food in his hands. “Get dressed. You’ve gotta drive us to Gotham City.”

Kyle blinked, glancing down at the bag before looking at Dick. “Why?”

“Our sister’s coming home, and we overslept and missed out flight outta here.”

“And you came to me…why?” he asked.

“Because you have the functioning car.” Jason retorted, antsy on his feet. “C’mon Kyle. We have to hurry! (Y/N)’s coming home!”

Figuring it was better to agree than to argue, Kyle relented, handing back the bag of food before he disappeared into his apartment, reappearing moments later, dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans, a graphic tee, and his usual slim casual jacket. He took the bag back and started digging around in it.

“Who’s (Y/N)?” he inquired, biting into a breakfast burrito as he locked his front door behind him.

“Our baby sister.” Jason said.

“I thought Cass was your baby sister?”

Dick nodded, getting out his own breakfast from the bag. “She is. But (Y/N)’s like…the OG baby sister.”

Kyle blinked, glancing over at him as he pushed the elevator button. “That makes no sense.”

“He means that (Y/N) was around before Cass was.”

“And she isn’t with you guys why?”

“She’s been on Themyscira for the last few years training with her grandmother and the other Amazons.” Jason answered as if it was the most normal thing in the world, stepping onto the elevator.

Kyle merely stared at the two brothers who were looking back at him; he felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. “Wait, your sister’s an Amazon?”

“Yep.”

“Who’s her mom?” he asked, stepping between them.

“Wonder Woman.” Dick said.

Strike two. “Who’s her dad?”

“Batman.” Jason responded.

Believe it or not, Kyle went three for three punches to the gut. “Bruce and Diana had a kid together?”

“Yeah.” Dick murmured. “I think it’s also why B’s so insistent against inter-team-relations.” He nudged Jason behind Kyle. “First time he attempts dating a coworker he ends up with a baby.”

Jason snorted. “And all those lessons about, ‘Children, whatever you do, don’t date anyone on your team. It’ll only lead to babies and limited visitation’.” He laughed again, then he frowned. “I don’t think any of us have followed that lesson.”

Dick opened his mouth to make an excuse but all that came out was a pitiful, deflate of air followed by, “That’s actually a good point.”

The elevator dinged and they watched the doors open before walking out towards the parking garage. They climbed into Kyle’s car, Jason in the front because his legs were longer than Dick’s, and Dick was a contortionist anyways so if anyone deserved to have their knees in their chest, it was him.

Halfway through the drive Kyle asked, “You guys are paying for my gas, aren’t you?”

All he received was unsure responses and he merely sighed.

***

He figured he should’ve just dropped Jason and Dick off at the airport in Gotham and drove home, but he couldn’t help but want to see just what the daughter of Wonder Woman and Batman looked like. He imagined a little girl dressed in a Batman suit three sizes too big and wielding a sword and a lasso way too heavy for her. It made him smile, the way that the two brothers gushed about (Y/N). From their praise, she was their world. Kyle had to see her though, because nothing was going to satiate that curiosity of seeing the big Batman’s daughter.

He watched Dick and Jason crane their necks like birds as they looked around. And honestly, the family shouldn’t have been that hard to find considering that every time Kyle was around the entirety of the Batfamily, they were like psychos on steroids—he very much so understood why the entirety of Gotham’s villains became flighty when every member of the Batfamily was out patrolling.

Kyle wasn’t expecting a voice to crack over the airport, loud and bubbly. “Brothers!”

All three of them stopped, even him who wasn’t even a sibling, looking over towards the call and Kyle’s jaw dropped as a young woman sprinted over to Dick and Jason, slamming into them with the weight of a train. The three of them collapsed into a pile on the floor, but they were laughing so Kyle assumed the siblings were alright.

“Princess!”

“Baby girl!”

“Oh, I am so glad to see you both!” she exclaimed. “I have waited so long to come home!” she was on her feet in moments, pulling them to theirs as if they weighed nothing. And Kyle knew Jason weighed a lot—he’d been crushed under his best friend before in fights.

Suddenly, she stopped and looked over at Kyle who immediately felt his heart lurch under her sharp gaze. “Who is this you have brought?”

Jason gestured to him. “(Y/N) this is Kyle. He’s a friend of Dick and mine. Kyle, this is our little sister, (Y/N).”

She huffed laugh. “I am not little, Jason. I am twenty-one.” Reaching out, she immediately pulled Kyle in for a hug, squeezing him tightly. “It is good to meet you, Kyle.”

“You too,” he murmured, feeling his cheeks warm as she pulled away and placed her hands on his shoulders.

“Any friend of my brothers is a friend of mine.” (Y/N) smiled. “Are you a superhero as well?”

He couldn’t help but toss a quick glance towards Jason who nodded. “Uh, yeah. I’m a Green Lantern.”

(Y/N)’s eyes widened in wonder, and she let go of his shoulders in favor of grabbing at his hands until she found his ring. She stared at it, murmuring quiet, ‘ooo’s and ah’s’. “That is simply amazing!” she chirped, looking at him, and then she silently gasped, raising his hand near his eyes. “Oh…your eyes are almost the same color as your ring.”

Her smile made Kyle’s heart beat a little faster as she expressed, “They are beautiful.”

They gazed at each other, too captivated in the moment to understand that the family had gathered around them by then. Someone’s hand curled around (Y/N)’s wrist and she looked over seeing Dick tugging her hand away.

“C’mon Princess, let’s go get your things on the belt.”

She smiled and followed, giving a small wave to Kyle, who returned hers shakily whilst grinning like a dope.

Someone elbowed him in the ribs, and he gasped, holding his side as Jason muttered, “Don’t ever stare at my sister like that again.”

Kyle blinked, glancing at him. “What’re you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, you goddamn skirt-chaser.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Kyle spluttered.

“You’re thinking about it.” Jason warned, pointing a finger in his face. “Make a move on (Y/N) and I’ll kill you with your own ring.” Kyle recoiled just as she and Dick were coming back, both holding a suitcase.

“Father!” she called, glancing at Bruce. “Dick and I have retrieved my luggage.”

He smiled at her. “Let’s go put it in the SUV then.” He paused, looking over the large group. He and Diana had ridden together, and since his children had fender-benders, they’d picked up Cass, Tim, Stephanie, Duke, and Damian; there wasn’t room for (Y/N) too.

“Father? Is something the matter?” (Y/N) was staring at him with concern.

“There’s not enough room in the SUV for you too. Maybe we—”

“There’s room in my car for (Y/N)!” Kyle blurted out, smiling nervously at Bruce. “I can follow behind you.”

Before anyone could screech ‘NO!’, mainly Dick and Jason, (Y/N) lit up like the morning sun. “Oh, that is a wonderful idea!” she grabbed onto Diana’s arm. “We should all stop for ice-cream though! Mother, what do you say?”

She smiled at her and leaned over, kissing her head. “I say that sounds like a fantastic idea, daughter.”

Kyle grinned and held out his arm for (Y/N), her giggling as she took it. “You know, I don’t live in Gotham, (Y/N), but I do know a good gelato store around the area.”

“What is gelato?” she asked, and he groaned.

“Oh, I can’t believe you don’t know what that is.” He started off, pilling her along, leaving everyone behind. “Don’t worry, I’ll show you.”

Jason’s face pinched and he looked over at Bruce. “Can I break the no-kill rule just once?”

Bruce blinked, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched his daughter laughing along with Kyle, both looking like newlyweds already. “Believe it or not, I’m strongly considering it.”

“Bruce.” Diana admonished. “Let (Y/N) and Kyle become friends. You know she doesn’t have many outside this family here.”

Dick growled. “Except Kyle doesn’t want to be friends with (Y/N), Diana. He wants to be her boyfriend.”

“They just met though?”

“Yeah, and Kyle’s a propose on week two type of man,” Jason griped. “Jesus Christ, this is going to be a disaster.”

“I don’t know about you guys, but (Y/N) and Kyle said gelato and you guys are just standing here.” Tim said. “Can we go now?”

[eminems-skittles]

broken promises

requested by @respawningjupiter pairings: eddie munson x fem!reader warnings: jason being a dick as usual, angst, no happy ending word count: 0.9k fluff 3- "i am so madly in love with you" 5- "don't go on that date." "why?" "because it will kill me if you do." angst 5- "you lied! you lied again and i fell for it." 6- "“Let’s just say that if I saw you bleeding out on my kitchen floor, I’d act like I hadn’t seen you.”

all angst no fluff sorry <3 i will write a fluffy part 2 if you want it

despair washed over eddie as he watched you. you were in his room, wearing his sweatshirt, sitting on his bed talking about how excited you were for your date. your date that wasn't with him but with the one person who had it out to make his life a living hell. jason carver, the star of the basketball team and the most popular guy in school.

"i mean, can you believe it, eddie? jason asked me out," you sighed dreamily. it was no secret to eddie that you had a raging crush on jason as it was almost all you talked about to him. he also knew your history with the star athlete.

just as it was no secret to eddie that you were head over heels for jason, it was no secret to the athlete himself. he took advantage of that fact and used it for his own personal gain whenever he could. that often led you to sob into eddie's arms, vowing you would never listen to jason carver ever again. however, the next time jason called, you were stumbling over yourself to try to help him. it tore eddie apart to see you crawl back to the guy who couldn't be bothered to give a shit about you. especially when he was right there, waiting for you to realize that he loved you more than jason ever could or ever would.

"didn't he ditch you the last time he asked you out?" eddie spit, annoyance lacing his voice. he was laying on his bed, a comic book forgotten on the mattress next to him.

"well, no. not really. he just didn't remember he had asked me out so he invited chrissy. no big deal," you hummed.

"why do you keep making excuses for him? y/n, you know he is just using you as chrissy's stand-in," eddie shouted, jumping off of his bed.

"eddie," you trailed off.

"don't go on that date," he all but demanded.

"what?" you asked incredously.

"you heard me. don't go on that date," he whispered.

"why?" you whispered back. you looked so small in the chair where you were sitting.

"because it will kill me if you do." eddie huffed out. he saw the way your breath caught in your throat and you stiffened.

"eddie..."

"y/n, i am madly in love with you. i can treat you so much better than he could. please," his voice broke, barely noticeable but you caught it. "please don't go on that date. i can't keep listening to how much you like him and how much he hurts you."

you looked up at him, biting your lip the way that drove him crazy. silence filled the room and he nodded, a look of realization etching across his face. "eddie, i'm sorry."

"what are you apologizing for?" your heart clenched at the coldness in his voice. "you should go. don't want to be late for your date."

"oh. okay," you mumbled, tears threatening to spill across your cheeks. you stood up from where you were sitting and quickly left the room. you stopped in front of him and mumbled "see you later, eddie," before rushing out of the door and making your way to the diner where you were meeting jason.

--------

cold air brushed your hands and legs as you walked through hawkins. the early autumn breeze was crisp and smelled of wet leaves. the walk didn't take you nearly as long as you thought it would. you pushed the door of the diner open, smiling at the familiar sound of the bell above the door. your eyes scanned the diner in hopes of finding the blond boy.

the smile was immediately wiped off your face. there he was sitting with the one and only chrissy. eddie's words played in your head as you stared at them from the door. you know he's just using you as chrissy's stand in. he was right. of course he was right. this was the second time that this has happened. your heart crumbled at the sight.

the bell ringing caught jason's attention. he hesitantly stood up from his spot at the counter, making his way over to you.

"hey, y/n. i meant to call. chrissy actually could make it so you can go," he made a little shooing motion with his hand. "i'll call you later, 'kay babe?"

"you lied! you lied again and i fell for it!" you shouted.

"i didn't lie," jason said harshly. "i never said you were my first choice."

"god, eddie was right about you," you scoffed.

"wait, the freak? i told you to stop hanging out with him." jason was clenching his fists. you looked over his shoulder at chrissy, who was shifting awkwardly in her seat.

"i don't care for what you have to say anymore, jason. you're dead to me. you got that? don't call me, don't talk to me, don't do anything with me ever again."

"oh c'mon babe. we both know that's not true. the second i call, you'l come running. just like always."

"nope. you are dead to me. after today, i will never acknowledge your existence again," you huff.

"oh yeah?" he challenged. "we'll see about that."

"no, we won't. let’s just say that if i saw you bleeding out on my kitchen floor, i’d act like i hadn’t seen you," you seethed.

"have a nice night, y/n." was all jason said before heading back to chrissy.

you stormed out of the diner, tears of anger, denial, and frustration welling in your eyes. you stumbled over to the payphone, dialing the phone number from memory.

"hello?"

"eddie, it's me you were right," you cried. "i know we left on a bad note but can you come pick-"

"i'm on my way."

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

All Men Have Limits - III

Character: Dick Grayson x Reader x Bruce Wayne

Summary: A certain bat believes that Y/N is in way over her head, that she’s too naive to act in her best interest. So, whether she wants it or not, the vigilante family is going to help and protect her before she gets herself killed.

Word Count: 3,500+

Previously on…

Bruce was having yet another night without sleep. It happened often. And similar to the rest of the family, he just learned to function on very few hours of sleep.

So, he decided to make his way down to the kitchen.

But as he walked down the long hallway of bedrooms, he noticed that Y/N’s door was open. He glanced inside to see that it was empty and her bed was still neatly made from this morning. 

He looked down at this watch to see that it was almost 5AM.

A part of Bruce expected to find Y/N snacking or drinking coffee. But she wasn’t in the kitchen either.

Bruce sighed, realizing where she’d be and made his way down to the cave.

He expected to find Y/N with her eyes bloodshot and shoulders hunched over at the computers.

What he didn’t expect was to find Y/N passed out, slouched in the chair, knees in her chest and head balanced on the palm of her hand. How her elbow stayed propped up on the arm of the chair was beyond Bruce.

He smirked at the sight.

Perhaps she’d been spending too much time around the Wayne family. She was starting to adopt their bad habit of exhausting themselves.

Bruce knew she would be irritated if he moved her. But, honestly, he didn’t really care.

Carefully, Bruce slipped his arms behind her back – separating her from the chair – and then behind her knees, slowly lifting her into his arms.

Even though the movement was extremely smooth, Y/N still stirred.

“I was just taking a cat nap,” Y/N mumbled, but couldn’t even open her eyes to make the argument compelling. “I’m still working.”

“No, you’re not. Time to get some sleep.”

“Mmmm. Fine,” she slurred and tucked her head into his neck.

Bruce wasn’t sure if her mind even put together that it was him carrying her.

But he savored the closeness as he carried her out of the cave and up the stairs to the second floor of the manor.

When they got to her bedroom, Bruce put her down on the bed so softly, that she didn’t even feel it. Then he bent down to take off her shoes and unfolded the covers to tuck her in.

Just as Bruce reached the door.

Y/N woke up slightly and muttered, “Night, Bruce.”

His hand froze on the doorknob. It was so quiet that he wasn’t even sure if he had imagined it. But he couldn’t find the courage to turn and face her.

So he shut the door and let her sleep.

————

“Where’s Y/L/N?” Damian asked the table.

She usually ate breakfast with them.

“Still sleeping,” Bruce answered without looking up from the newspaper. “No one bother her today. She needs to rest,” that made him look up and give a warning look to Tim, Damian, and Dick.

Then Jason came stomping into the kitchen.

He grabbed a pastry and ate it standing up, getting crumbs all over the floor.

“Where’s ladylove?” He asked with his mouth so full that he looked like a chipmunk.

Bruce ignored him and looked back down at the paper.

But Dick frowned at him. “Don’t call her that.”

“What do you care?” Jason laughed.

Dick didn’t dignify the question with an answer. He just thrust his chair back and shoved Jason’s shoulder as he stormed past him.

“What’s his fucking deal?” Jason asked once he was out of ear shot.

“Watch your language,” Bruce warned with a glare from behind his paper.

Jason exhaled a laugh. “I’m not a kid. I also don’t live under your roof anymore.”

“And I consider that a gift,” Damian muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Jason smacked the back of his head.

Damian flew out of his seat and lunged for him. “I will end you, Todd!”

“Maybe when you hit puberty, demon spawn.”

“Damian!” Bruce shouted to get his son’s attention. His son snapped to attention. But then Bruce’s tone was eerily calm when he continued with, “Control your anger.”

It was something they’d been working on since Damian arrived at the manor. Bruce guessed that Damian would always have a temper. But he needed to learn how to control it. Through time and practice, he got better.

Damian took in a deep breath, but still looked like he wanted to murder Jason.

“I will be training,” Damian announced through an irritated sigh before leaving.

Bruce glared at Jason. “Don’t push him.”

“He started it.”

“You claim you’re not a kid, so don’t act like one.”

“Speaking of kids…” Jason started with a smile.

Bruce swiftly stood up. “Don’t even try.”

Then he was gone as well, leaving just Jason and Tim.

“Well, it appears everyone is in a rather bad mood this morning,” Jason joked.

But there was no response from Tim.

“Are you sleeping with your eyes open?!?” Jason yelled.

That woke up Tim and he jumped. “Huh? What?”  

————

Y/N would’ve slept the whole day if she hadn’t smelled the coffee and breakfast.

She winced as she woke up to see if her mind was playing tricks on her.

But on top of her nightstand sat a beautiful, antique tray with a full American breakfast on it, a cup of water, a giant mug of coffee, and a little vase with a tiny flower in it – a single, pink peonie.

Y/N rubbed her eyes awake with a shy smile.

Alfred was way sneakier than she realized if he could bring in a full tray like this and not even wake her up. She must be far more exhausted than she originally thought.

But then a piece of paper caught her eye. A note.

Y/N reached for it.

In the neatest handwriting Y/N had ever seen, she read:

“Perhaps you should take the day to relax. I apologize for my behavior last night.”

Y/N snorted at the word ‘behavior.’ Everything he had done last night was passive. It was more of an energy and tension than actual behavior. But Y/N had to give him credit for being aware of it. He had annoyed her last night, especially when Dick somehow took the fall for her own actions regarding her own life.

She ate the food at a disturbingly fast rate, not realizing how starved she’d felt until taking the first bite.

She would definitely miss Alfred’s cooking when she finally left Wayne Manor… whenever the hell that would be.

Y/N hoped it was sooner rather than later.

‘No, you don’t. Liar.’ A voice said inside her head.

Once Y/N had finished eating at light speed, she threw on a pair of baggy jeans and a cropped sweatshirt. She grabbed her coffee and carried it through the hallway.

She heard typing coming from Bruce’s office. He hadn’t used the room since she starting stay at the manor. So, her curiosity got the best of her and she leaned into the doorframe.

Bruce was wearing a navy polo that fit tight on his toned body. He was behind the desk, typing on the computer with his brow folded in concentration.  

He immediately noticed her presence and looked up from his work.

“Hi,” she said shyly before she leaned her back into the doorframe and took a sip of coffee.

“Hi,” he smiled back.

“Thank you for the breakfast.”

Bruce leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms. “I can’t take credit for the actual cooking,” he admitted with a smirk.

“Oh, I know.” Then she looked around the study. “I was on my way to the cave when I heard you in here.”

Bruce frowned at that. “I thought you were going to take the day off.”

“I think you thought I was taking the day off.” Then she raised an eyebrow and glanced at all the work spread out on his desk. “Maybe you should take a break.”

“This is Wayne Enterprises, not my…nighttime…activities.”

Y/N shrugged and sipped more coffee. “Still work.”

Bruce rubbed his face. “Guess so.”

“I’ll make you a deal,” Y/N walked into the room and didn’t break eye contact. “If you take the day off, so will I.”

She expected Bruce to immediately shoot down her offer.

But he was smirking as he considered her proposition.

“Deal,” he told her before standing up and walking out from behind the desk.

He got unnecessarily close, invading her space.

Bruce held out his hand.

Y/N grinned at the formal gesture, but shook his hand.

But when their hands gripped together, the gesture no longer felt formal. It felt intimate. Y/N’s grin fell when she acknowledged it.

“What did you have in mind?” Bruce asked. He put his hands in the pockets of his slacks.

If he felt the same intimacy as she had, he didn’t show it.

Y/N cleared her throat. “How about something simple? Maybe a walk?”

Bruce nodded slowly. “A walk sounds good.”  

“Well, then what are we waiting for?” Y/N sassed.

He shook his head and almost rolled his eyes before gesturing to the door, silently telling her to go first.

Next thing Y/N knew, she was getting an informal tour of the grounds at Wayne Manor from the owner himself.

Y/N listened closely, genuinely finding all the history interesting. Bruce was surprisingly a good storyteller – even if he was more informative than colorful.

“I know you had a hard childhood. But it still must’ve been nice growing up in a place like this,” Y/N tried to tell him.

“I suppose so.”

He glanced at Y/N and found her giving him an encouraging look, as if she was silently begging him to say more, to share more.

But he left it at that.

“Damian is rather fond of animals. That’s why we updated the old outbuilding. He keeps his horses there…amongst other things.”

Y/N chuckled and nodded, “He was telling me about Batcow the other day.”

“I’m sure he wouldn’t appreciate me telling you this, but I think Damian has enjoyed having you around – all the boys have.”

Y/N hummed and turned to fully face Bruce. “And what about you? Have you enjoyed having me around?”

“Wayne Manor is the safest place for you right now.”

“That’s not what I asked, Bruce.”

But he already knew that.

Y/N waited. Because she wasn’t going to let him ignore her question.

“Dick has taken quite a liking to you,” Bruce said quietly.

“Don’t change the subject,” Y/N snapped.

He opened his mouth to continue, but she cut him off.

“We’re not talking about me and Dick. We’re talking about me and you.”

Bruce’s jaw tightened.

Y/n took a step closer to him. “Why did you kiss me the other night?”

He tilted his head to the side. “Did you not want me to?”

“What does it matter?” Y/N sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “I want to know what you’re thinking. I thought I put up walls. But you give me nothing, Bruce. Absolutely nothing. One second I think you see me as a nuisance, then the next you’re fucking kissing me.”

“You’re not a nuisance.”

“Oh, he speaks!” Y/N threw up her arms.  

“What do you want me to say, Y/N?” He asked evenly.

Always calm and collected. Overly polite. Controlled. Closed off.

“Forget it,” Y/N breathed and started walking back to the manor.

But after she was a few yards away, she realized she wanted to say one last thing and turned back around.

“Not that it matters. But I did. I did want you to kiss me.”

“Then why did you run away?” Bruce asked.

“Because I knew you would do it eventually. And I was trying to protect myself.”

-

So much for a “day off.” When Y/N was upset, she turned to her work to take her mind off of things. Was it denial? Was it displacement? She didn’t like to dwell on it. And most of the time, there was no one in her life to call her out for it.

Y/N thought she was emotionally distant, but Bruce won that race by a landslide. And she found it infuriating.

It was interactions like the one she just had that made Y/N think everything Dick tried to tell her about how Bruce saw her was utter bullshit.

Y/N arrived to the cave with an energy she was definitely not expecting.

Damian and Dick were training on the lower level while Tim and Jason observed from the sides.

Y/N had seen footage of each of them fighting before. It was one of the research pieces she’d watched while investigating them before figuring out their identities. But seeing it in person was a completely different experience.

Dick was using his escrima sticks,  while Damian had his katana.

Jason noticed her arrival and made his way over with a smirk.

“Was wondering when you’d wake up,” he greeted.

“Please tell me that’s a sword for training and not an actual blade,” Y/N asked nervously while her eyes followed the two dancing around each other. She could even hear the blade slicing through the air.

“Don’t worry. They won’t seriously hurt each other.” He had a little side smirk. “Especially since Dick is Damian’s favorite.”

Y/N looked at Jason. “I always assumed Bruce was his favorite.”

He shrugged. “Dick’s been a father to Damian far more than Bruce ever has.”

She didn’t have anything to say to that. It caught her by surprise a bit.

“Can you fight?” Jason asked her.

Her eyes widened. “No. I don’t know how to do…anything. I did one of those boxing workout classes. I hated it. All the instructors are male models, and that’s their side hustle.”

“I can assure you that was not boxing,” Jason laughed. “Why haven’t asked one of us?”  

Y/N shrugged. “Seems like a waste of your time.”

“No, it sounds like a fun time,” Jason corrected.

She laughed at that.

They both watched the two again.

A few moments went by before Y/N quietly added, “I have a gun. I don’t really know how to use it. But I thought it was necessary with my…line of work.”

Jason nodded slowly. “These pansies have a certain aversion to guns.” He looked down at her. “If you need me to show you a few basics, let me know.”

Y/N quickly looked at him. “T-Thank you.”

He laughed. “Don’t look so surprised.”

Jason Todd may have been labeled an anti-hero or even a criminal at one point. But deep down, he was still a Wayne. And even though he had the reputation of the bad boy, they all knew he was a sweetheart deep down. However, Y/N was now just seeing it.

Y/N jumped when Damian was slammed to the ground.

“Jesus,” she hissed.

“He’s fine,” Jason insisted.

But then he leaned closer and started pointing out certain moves to her. 

“With Dick’s gymnastics background, he incorporates a lot more acrobatics and moves that require more flexibility. He’s good at improvisation. He also leans more toward taekwondo. But with his escrima sticks, he also uses arnis.”

He looked down to make sure he wasn’t boring Y/N before he continued.

“He almost moves like a dancer,” she thought aloud, proving she was interested and engaged.

“Exactly,” he nodded. “Whereas Damian is still a kid. It’s less about power and more about agility. Before he got here, he was trained to kill. He’s mastered the sword better than any of us – but don’t tell him I said that. Damian’s had to adjust his technique and turn it non-lethal.” He smirked, “Just think devil ninja and that pretty much sums it up.”

Y/N laughed.

“And Tim?” She asked.

“Tim leans towards Kobudo, which is an ancient style developed by the Japanese. He prefers to use a battle staff. He’s smaller, so his technique is very calculated and controlled. Every move he makes counts for something. He’s extremely observant and can read his opponents like a book. Dick tries to create his openings, while Tim waits for the exact right moment.”

“Smart,” Y/N commented.

Jason nodded in agreement.

She turned back to him. “And you? What’s your style?”

“Brutal,” a voice said behind them.

Y/N whipped around to see Bruce standing behind them with his arms crossed. He’d changed, and was now wearing a tank top and sweatpants. Clearly he came down with the intention to train as well.

Jason didn’t seem surprised nor did he acknowledge him, meaning he probably knew the moment Bruce had arrived. He just didn’t care to notice him outwardly.

“Wing chun. Heavy-weight boxing. Krav Maga,” Bruce continued as if he was just listing of stats. “Angry…” he shrugged, “sometimes reckless.”

Jason scoffed at that.

“And he can’t seem to get over his complex for guns,” Bruce finished.

Jason turned to him. He was just an inch or so taller than Bruce. But he looked like he was twice the width and his muscles were somehow even bigger.

“Should we give her a show, B?” Jason offered with amusement.

“We’re not a spectacle, Jason.”

Jason looked down to Y/N. “Such a party pooper this one.”

She smirked at his sass. Bruce was not in her good graces right now, so she would support any and all mocking of him.

Y/N hadn’t even looked at Bruce since he arrived. And now she was choosing it as a perfect time to finally make her way to her computers and away from him.

Jason didn’t miss the cold shoulder. “What did you do to piss off yet another woman?”

Bruce glared at him, and walked down to the training area with the boys.

Jason followed after him. 

He looked back and forth between Bruce and up at Y/N, a plan developing in his head.

“$100 bucks Bruce can lay out Dick in two minutes,” Jason said loud enough that Y/N could hear him.

Tim and Damian shared a smirk.

Bruce and Dick glared at him.

“I’m not betting against that,” Damian announced.

Tim smiled. “But I will.”

Dick shook his head in submission, “Fine.”

Bruce needed the practice, even though he was aware Jason had ulterior motives with his request. So he just gave Dick a look of consent.

Y/N tried to ignore what was happening, even though Jason made it very clear for her. She heard the sound of fists and feet hitting skin. He heard their grunts of pain and exertion.

It wasn’t until she heard Dick torment Bruce with, “Come on, old man,” that Y/N couldn’t help but turn to watch them below the platform she worked on.

Dick’s teasing worked, but not in his favor.

Bruce no longer took it easy on him. Maybe that’s what Dick wanted, but he was now on the defense.

They were fighting hand to hand. No escrima sticks or gadgets. Just hand-to-hand combat.

Y/N could tell the that Dick was starting to get frustrated. 

Bruce, however, seemed completely calm. He knew all of the boys’ fighting styles and taught them the majority of what they knew. There was a part of Bruce in all of them. It almost made for an unfair fight. 

Their movements got faster and faster. Y/N was struggling to figure out what was even happening anymore.

But just when she was about to give up her observing and get back to work, Bruce managed to get a proper grip on Dick and flipped him over his shoulder.

Dick landed on his back hard. So hard, that Y/N heard the smack and the sound alone made her feel sick.

Y/N gasped, and put a hand in her mouth when the sound came out louder than she expected.

Jason, Tim, Damian, and even Dick glanced up at her.

But Bruce was staring down at his opponent.

“Your weight placement was off and you know how to get out of that hold,” Bruce lectured. “You know better.”

Dick glared up at him.

Bruce offered him a hand up, but Dick ignored it.

“I know,” Dick growled as he got to his feet.

“You’re letting yourself get frustrated. It’s causing your mistakes.”

“I said I know,” Dick snapped louder this time.

Before an argument could really start, Alfred made his presence known by clearing his throat.

All the boys looked up at him, as well. 

“What is it?” Bruce asked.

“I was rather certain you’d forgotten. Seems I was right.” Alfred cleared his throat. “I came to remind you all that the annual gala for the Martha Foundation is tomorrow night at the manor.”

“Can’t we reschedule it,” Damian whined.

Bruce shook his head. “The Court of Owls is made of Gotham’s elite – many of who are invited. If we cancel, it will cause suspicion.”

“You can’t honestly think we should risk that with Y/N being here,” Dick called out, gesturing up towards Y/N.

Bruce and Dick had a silent conversation.

Y/N knew it was about her, so she did not appreciate being excluded.

“Oh, wow. Looks like one of my safe houses is finally more secure than this place,” Y/N spoke up melodramatically.

But she should’ve known it wasn’t going to be that easy to escape.

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

Next chapter is gonna be fun, guys. 😈 But let me know what you thought of this one. 

[anothertimdrakestan]

Dying In The Batboys Arms

reqs: "do you write dark stuff like the boys reaction to the reader dying??? i love your blog btw!" & "Hi could I get some a n g s t"

sooo i'm terrible at angst or anything involving sadness because i ~fall apart~ and give up but for you two i tried my best haha and went for a HC cuz it's easier right? anyways hope you enjoy i cried like twice while writing this but i'm a weak bitch so i had to end them all decently to sleep alright tonight oops

Damian Wayne:

- damian would never let you die, so this would have to be you fulfilling some kind of deal or something unavoidable like yeeting into the speed force or something

- rushing to his embrace one last time and throwing your arms around him

- feeling him shake in your embrace as he whispers "please don't go beloved" and "ill never forget you" reducing you to tears as well

- your last kiss is salty and desprate, like he's trying to remember every moment, every feeling of you

- telling him it's not his fault and that he'll need to move on, but he's too busy promising to find you and save you even if there truly is no hope

- when you leave his eyes are the last thing you see, they were always your favorite and after years of looking at them it felt fitting they'd be the last earthly thing you saw

- as soon as you're gone damian isn't leaving the spot for weeks

- he's basically camped out, hair grown out, cheeks permanently stained as everytime he thinks of you he's crying again- making up for all the tears he held in his whole life

- jon is the only person he'll speak to, and even in that his words are softer than they'd ever been, damian would be to broken to hold his regular facade

- eventually jon coaxes him to return, seeing your belongings unmoved for months

- he'd almost undeniably quit robin, taking up a nickname you called him or wearing a suit in your favorite color, his only driving force after losing you will be the hope you had in him, he tells himself that even in death you're still watching over him forever... it may bit be true but it's the only thing that gives him a reason to keep living and not try to join you

Tim Drake:

- coughing up blood you'd search frantically for tim until he was at your side, crying uncontrollably as he tried to push away your hair matted with blood

- "hey timbers i don't think i'm gonna make it outta this one" you whispered, your hand reaching up to caress tim's cheek, wiping away the tears

- "no, stay with me help is coming i'm right here!" he'd scream spamming the 911 button on his suit as you shook your head "i might be dying but i'm not stupid" his eyes softened at the light smile that traced the lips he loved to kiss

- pulling him down to whisper everything you needed to say all he'd be able to get out it "i can't keep going if you leave me"

- squeezing his hand with every last ounce of strength you reminded him "it's not goodbye timmy it's a see you later, right?" with a soft nod he looked at you, eyes still brimming with tears

- "i've always been so proud of you timbers, don't stop now. see you later okay? i love you" the last words were strangled, but you had to give him something to hang on to as you let go, fading into the pain

- "see you soon y/n l/n ill love you always" were the last words to grace your ears, fading into a dull white noise as you slipped into peaceful bliss, tim's fsvorite soft smile permanent on your lips

- his family found him clutching your limp body, rocking back and forth promising to make you proud, repeated pushing your hair behind your ears because he knows you hate having hair fall in your face

- the strangled noises leaving his families throats as they realized what happened didn't help, neither did dick falling to the ground next to him, and steph bawling into jason's chest. duke had softly grabbed damians hand, both staring at the sky praying to whom ever was listening while bruce pulled tim up and into an embrace

- carefully the family left, one member- and a huge piece of their heart missing. broken at the scene.

- tim threw himself into work, determined to make you proud- but his family would catch him sitting in front of the small, supposedly secret, shrine he'd made in his closet for you, if damian presses his ear to his closet wall he could hear tim softly telling you about his day and what he did that would make you laugh

- months later he seemed calmer, no one could figure it out until dick took the time to ask. tim didn't say much but he held up his left hand ring finger and in a writing dick hadn't seen in months, the perfectly messy scribbles tattooed on his hand said "see you later timmy"

Jason Todd:

- seeing you minutes from death would send jason into shock, unable to move other than sinking to his knees next to you as you groaned with pain

- "at least hold me while a go jaybird" you mumbled through the blood trying to fill your throat. quickly he'd wrap his arms around you

- jason's embrace was comforting as always, you tried to memorize the way the scars landed on your abdomen and his calloused hands tentatively held you like you could break at any wrong move- i guess he was right this time

- "just hold on babe" jason was never good with words was he? with the last ounces of strength you cupped his cheek, bringing his head down to yours "stop talking and kiss me one last time" you whispered

- jason's hands fell to their usual position, one keeping you upright by holding your lower back, his rough hands creating perfect friction with your smooth skin, his other secured to the back of your head, lightly tugging on loose strands of your hair, it was like a puzzle piece fitting together, you melded perfectly to his lips

- the kiss was slow and loving, taking a moment you deepened it just to burn the memory of his passion into your brain before returning back to his loving and slow kisses

- you realized you were crying into the kiss when his rough finger swiped away tears, his lips never leaving yours

- pulling apart to breath and cough jason clung to you "please hold on please" you gave him a sad smile "it's okay jaybird i'm last where the pain hurts that means it's coming soon" you whispered, your hand still on his cheek, feeling the light stubble you always thought was so sexy

- "i love you jason todd, but i've never lied to you and i'm not starting now, this is goodbye babe" you told him bluntly, his face contorting as he pulled you back into his chest "no no no no" were the only words he could think of "i love you jay, it's okay baby" you pulled his lips back to yours until you felt the pain incoming

- "i don't think i've got much longer. hold me?" you looked up to jason who was pushing away tears

- "always" he replied, clutching you to his heaving chest as you snuggled into his embrace, you were sad this would be the last time you got to feel his heartbeat and chest rise and fall, you loved the feeling and knew you'd never forget it, even in death

- "y/n? babe? no" jason realized you were gone, and he lost it, screaming at the universe for taking the one good thing, crying like he promised he'd never, and punching almost everything within a 5 foot range

- his family found him bloody and broken, clutching your lifeless body as he tried to wrap him mind around what happened, he might never get better, the memory of your loss burned too deep and scarred too hard, but if he truly understood your love for him he'd use that love he had for you to drive it towards good, fighting for whatever you believed in most as an homage to you, hoping that when he next saw you he'd get to remember the feeling of you throwing your arms around him like you always did when he did something you were proud of, that desire was the only thing keeping him going

Dick Grayson:

- imagine an impending death with dick grayson, maybe it's a medical diagnosis and hope has run out, or a known death date, whatever it maybe- i think only dick would be a character strong enough to stay by your side through it all

- when it just became too hard to go on you and dock both knew what was coming

- he took weeks off nightwing duties, traveling the world and falling deeper in love, eloping somewhere deep in europe to solidify your love eternally no matter where either of you were

- the day it was finally time you were wrapped up in his clothes, your favorite hoodie and sweatpants that smelled of the warm vanilla toasted marshmallow smell you fell in love with

- you'd catch dick swiping away rogue tears all day, trying to make the most of your time together

- as the final hour ticked down you both let everything off your chests, not that there was really anything left

- nestling himself one the crook of your shoulder you inhaled the warm comfortable scent, willing yourself to never forget it when he whispered "i'm not ready to let you go yet" and it broke the both of you, sobbing into each other's shoulders as time stopped

- feeling death begin creeping in you were curled up in dick's embracing, having said your goodbyes to loved ones, damian especially heart broken he was clutching one of your sweatshirts, one day he'd grow out of it but you assumed by then he'd be over the loss

- "does- do you hurt?" dick asked softly as you soaked in his embrace, feeling his tears roll down your touching cheeks

- "it's not scary when you're here dickie" you whispered, pulling his lips in for one last kiss, as you began drifting away you shifted to rest on his collar bone, inhaling the vanilla scent that had been your rock for years, you were glad it would be the last thing you remembered, the best sendoff you could ask for

- dick watched you exhale your last breath peacefully, part of him was glad your pain was over, but that didn't stop the sobs from escaping

- damian crept in, still clinging to your sweatshirt, hopping up into dick's lap, nestled between you and dick, he'd only done it a couple times but he needed it almost as much as dick this time

- and the two held you together, more family members came and went but damian and dick held your vigil, together they helped each other get up and live, falling into a routine of sitting in the same position, your sweatshirt held in their lap, occasionally they'd raise it and take a trip down memory lane with your familiar smell still lingering on the sweatshirt, and that was all they had of you, but now they had each other. and that would have to do until they saw you again

[ereawrites]

i'm cashing in my one free jason blurb 😡💕🔪 give me kissy needy jason or else

“-fuck- jesus christ, jason, don’t sneak up on me like that!”, you yelp. a thick pair of forearms have snaked their way around your waist, caging you in against a firm chest, and you only know it’s your boyfriend - your boyfriend, not a home invader - by the familiar smell of leather and cigarettes and fresh air.

he may as well be a home invader. he’s been gone for almost a week: stormed out, left his key, meaning he must have come in through the window. both of you have been too caught up in your own pride to text the other. and you’ve missed him so, so much, and you’ve been half out of your mind with worry, but navigating your first fight as a couple is hard enough as it is without the concern of pissing him off more and making him shoot someone.

you melt back into his body despite everything. “are you hurt?”

jason hums against where he’s buried his head into your hair. “no.”, he says, pulling you closer, and then-“i missed you. i missed you a lot.”

“i wouldn’t have known, considering how you vanished for six days and didn’t bother to text me.”

even though you’re doing your best to sound scathing, you know he’s unconvinced; you’ve hardly slept for missing him, your body is fighting to fold into his embrace, and you know you sound on the verge of tears. jason presses a kiss to your head. “i got caught up with work. i’m sorry.”

he’s apologising for more than that, you know. his gloved fingers have begun to trace circles on your waist through the fabric of the gotham university sweatshirt you stole from his drawer. “i’m sorry too, jay.”

“it wasn’t your fault-”, he murmurs, dipping his head even lower so he can intersperse his words with kisses to your shoulder. “-i was being a dick. don’t apologise.”

you interlace the fingers of each hand with his own. “it took you a week to realise that, huh? i just... i care about you, jason.”, you sigh, squeezing his hands as his breath hitches uncertainly. “i care about you a lot. i don’t want you getting hurt out there.”

“let’s not talk about work right now. yeah?”

jason’s voice is bordering on shaking - a bad week, maybe, a few close calls or too many dead bodies - but his touch is firm against you, like he’s anchoring himself from your body, and you think you’re falling in love with him but you don’t really want to be. this will be your life. you nod, silently, and tilt your head to capture his lips in your own.

he responds instantly. it’s softer than he ought to be: jason is hard lines and rough edges wrapped around a warm but broken core, and it feels wrong to have such a hardened man kissing you like he’s afraid he’s going to break you. this is your jason, though, so you wrap your arms around his neck, run your fingers through his hair, when he spins you in his arms to face him.

your heart nearly breaks when he whispers against your lips, “don’t leave me yet-”, tugging you further into him by the small of your back and kissing you again. you’d only meant to pull away for a moment - cup his cheeks and tell him, everything will be okay - but he sounds so lost and instead, you push up onto your tiptoes and kiss him harder.

this is your jason, and he needs you even more than you need him. “i won’t, jay, i never will.”

[andromedia5]

Hold My Girl

My girl, we've got nothing to lose

She was healing him. Slowly he had stopped reaching for cigarettes because they weren't in his jacket pocket anymore. His showers had stopped stinging because she was there, tracing his scars. Maybe she was a reason to stay in bed, get a few more hours sleep.

They could only have made each other better, how could things have gotten worse for either of them? But he hadn’t expected this. He had been so convinced he had imagined that feeling of going to sleep and wanting to wake up the next morning. That the version of him, that kid who had gotten excited when Dick called, who wanted to help, not blow things up until they couldn’t hurt anything ever again, was gone. This was what being reborn was supposed to be like and everything about his perception of the word was shifting. Green is Artemis’s eyes not the Lazarus, life isn’t cold and unyielding, uncaring of if you want it or not. Life is fire and lips so hot they burn and he can’t get enough.

Life is her.

Life is his again.

-

Cold nights and Sunday Mornings

Gotham was too cold. Maybe it was a side effect of the most murders per square foot in America; whole damn city made you feel like a corpse. He tried to get up as early as he could during winter, the second the sun rose. Something about their kitchen in the morning felt safer, more alive. Jason was making pancakes when he felt the pair of arms wrap around his middle.

“Morning, Princess”

Artemis groaned into the back of his neck. He twisted around to face her and she dropped her nose into the crook of his neck.

“It’s cold,”

“I noticed, sweetheart. S’why I put the oven on,”

“The oven is not an actual heater and ‘sweetheart’ is not my name,”

“That’s also not your sweatshirt,” He took a step back to look at her, flaming hair spilled out over her shoulders, draped over the sweatshirt she was wearing like a cape. She looked like summer, that thing from ninth grade English; juxtaposition. Jason took her hands in his, trying to squeeze warmth back into her fingers. “That’s mine,”

“Be grateful I haven’t taking the clothes off your back, Todd,”

“Thief,”

“Takes one to know one,” she teases and the house (safe house? pile of shit no one but Outlaws would have wanted? his favorite place?) isn’t so cold anymore.

-

Crowded town, silent bed

Jason knew the sounds of the city, his city. He had pointed them out to Bizzaro that very first night, the microcosm that was Gotham. They could hear it all. That was the thing that had felt most different when he had first come to live with Bruce, all those years ago; the quiet. The manor was quiet, aside from a few birds, branches at the windows, the occasional party or gala that was still going on when he had been sent to bed, a few of Bruce’s “sleepovers” who apparently hadn’t cared about being quiet (you could say what you wanted about Selina but at least she had the decency to only traumatize him as Catwoman). It was only now that he hated the quiet.

Jason sighed and rolled over, throwing his arm to the other side of the absurdly large bed whose size only seemed to make its emptiness more obvious. His hand groped in the dark till he found his phone, fingers almost instinctively finding her contact. She picked up after the second ring.

“Good morning,”

“It’s the middle of the night,”

“It’s one in the morning, little one”

“Why’d I call you, again?”

“The same reason I cannot sleep,”

Jason snorted and rolled over to his side, phone still pressed to his ear. “Miss you too, Arty,”

“Do you have any idea when you’ll be back?”

“Not soon enough. It’s too quiet here, babe,”

“Quiet? Are you sure you’re with the correct family?”

“I’m not.” Somehow he could feel her smile on the other side of the phone. She was silent for a moment, “You still there?”

“I love you,”

“Moon and back, Princess,”

Jason woke up the next morning, sunlight streaming through the windows, his phone still clutched to his chest.

-

Pick a place to rest your head

He had tried a weighted blanket once, got one from Roy. If it was possible it made his anxiety worse. Trapped under the blanket that felt more like a net. He had kicked it off. This was better. Christ, this was so much better. Her head tucked under his chin, fingertips grazing at his shoulder as he tried to breathe correctly; 4, 7, 8. This was probably what that blanket was supposed to do, the weight of her against his chest keeping him grounded to their shitty old couch. One arm wrapped around her, the other hand in her hair cause it was her; Artemis who kept him grounded.

-

Give me a minute to hold my girl

“Do you wish to talk about it?”

“Nah, I’m,” Jason exhaled and squeezed her a little tighter as she pressed kisses to his collarbone. “I’m alright, Red. Just let me hold you for a minute?”

“Always,”

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Lily of the Valley

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam

Summary: Jason Todd dies and comes back to life. As the League takes him in, he navigates his morality and family values over the years.

Chapters: 28/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Talia al Ghul, Ra’s al Ghul, Damian Wayne, Barbara Gordon, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Sheila Haywood

Relationships: Jason Todd/Original Character(s)

Additional Tags: Immortal Jason Todd, League of Assassins Jason Todd, Protective Talia al Ghul, Good Parent Talia al Ghul, Jason Todd Needs a Hug, Good Sibling Jason Todd, Hurt/Comfort, Adopted Children, Resurrected Jason Todd

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Chrysanthemums

One month after being hired as a security guard, Paul barged into Jason’s trailer, waking him out of his sleep in broad daylight with a young woman. Paul bound the woman with duct tape and gagged her with socks and a bandana. Jason sat up, blinking hard as he stared at the woman. “What’s going on, Paul?” Jason asked. His voice was even and gentle, lacking any kind of emotion. 

“I caught this kid pouring sugar in the bulldozer’s gas tanks… And I want you to make an example of her,” Paul replied. Jason nodded, never taking his eyes off the girl. 

“You want me to dispose of her in any particular space? I can do it clean, but I’m gonna need a minute,” Jason replied as he opened a jar by his bedside and used a fork to fish out a few slices of pickled mango. “Give me a minute to wake up… I’ll get her.” Jason’s eyes glowed, causing something behind in the front of his skull to burn. Paul turned without a word and left. Jason held his breath, his eyes still glowing, and his skull still burning as he waited for Paul to get a short distance from the trailer. Once Paul was out of the way, Jason dropped to his knees and cut the tape that bound her hands. Jason cut her legs loose while she took off the bandana and removed the socks from her mouth. He pressed his forehead to hers and sighed. 

“This isn’t like you. You’re getting sloppy,” Jason whispered, “He’ll think I dismembered you and put you in acid. You can’t let him see you again. It took a lot to plant a false memory like that in his head. It’s messy. I had to unravel his memory and plant an entirely new thread… Is this your mission?” Saru nodded. Jason looked at the coded tattoos on her neck and face. They looked realistic, but they were temporary. The snake on her neck had a red ribbon wrapped around the tail, which meant she was there to kill a woman. The heart and daggers on the back of her neck had the number twenty-one in the center which meant she was alone without backup and the three daggers in the heart meant it was personal. “Who did Trista kill?”

“It’s none—.” 

“It is my business. I have access to her. I’ve been picking off some of her goons one by one… And she likes me. Really likes me. I can kill her for you,” Jason offered. 

“No,” Saru hissed the word. 

Jason squinted at her. He looked into her eyes and felt her hurt. Without a word, he pulled her into his arms. He rubbed her back, feeling her unravel at the seams as she broke down in his arms. “It’s Imay… She killed Imay,” Jason whispered. Saru wrapped her arms around Jason, hiding her face in his sweatshirt as she wept. “Can you wait two weeks? She’ll be here in two weeks to start bulldozing. After Paul tells her I killed you, she’ll want to reward me to keep me quiet, and I’ll be her personal security that day. You can strike then, and I won’t come between you and your target when that happens.”

Saru pulled herself together, but she didn’t let go of Jason. “If something happens—. I—. I don’t want to be revived again. I won’t miss her when I get my hands on her, and I need you to know that if I die killing her, I’m okay with that.” 

“Saru, you can’t be—.”

“Please respect that, Jason,” Saru replied. He shook his head. 

“But you said—. No, I can’t—. I can’t promise you that—.” Saru pushed her way out of his arms. “I love you. I don’t want to live without you—.”

“I slept with someone,” Saru confessed. Jason blinked hard and shook his head. 

“That doesn’t matter,” Jason whispered, his voice breaking as he said it. He knew she wasn’t lying. She still smelled sweet to him, so he knew she used that harsh truth to protect him. “Why would you want to turn your back on me? I know you still love me—.”

“I do… And things have changed since I saw you last. I didn’t know that woman was responsible for killing my brother, and I hadn’t betrayed you yet. I slept with him… With Paul. I wasn’t pouring sugar in gas tanks. I slept with him to find out where Trista was. After it happened, he—.” Jason started to cry. 

“You could’ve asked me. Saru, I never would’ve let him touch you. I would’ve told you anything you wanted to know—.” 

“I don’t need your help, Jason. I don’t want your help. I want you to leave,” Saru replied. Jason held her wrist in his hands, gently as he tried to guide her palm to his cheek. 

He knew what she wanted to do, and it made his heart sick. “Please,” Jason wept like a child as he begged her. “I need you. Please, Saru. I don’t want you to. Say that you won’t—.”

“If you stop me, I’ll lose all the love I ever had for you. I’ll hate you,” Saru threatened him as she took her hand. 

“I don’t have any say in this… Do I?” Jason asked. Saru shook her head. 

“I never thought I’d get the chance to do this, Jason. I said yes to your proposal before I knew my brother’s killer was in this city… You’re free from me. I set you free. You can leave. If she’s dead, the people backing her will disperse. There’s no reason for you to be here. There’s no reason for you to—.”

Jason parted his lips, pressing his forehead to hers as tears streamed down his cheeks. He wanted nothing more than a kiss. If she could kiss him, he could stop crying. If she could kiss him, he could pretend it was all a bad dream. “Please,” Jason whimpered, “Please.” He begged and gasped as if he couldn’t breathe without her. 

Saru chewed her lip and recoiled. “Get out of this city, Jason. Go home to your mother if you have to,” Saru replied. Jason chased her for eye contact, struggling to connect to her one last time, and she reeled back and slapped him. He could’ve stopped her, but he didn’t want to. Jason wanted to remember the sting of her hand across his cheek. He tilted his head back, his eyes closed as tears slid down his cheeks. 

When he opened his eyes, she was gone. It was the last time he saw her before she died. He left the city, returning within two weeks to see if he could catch a glimpse of her before she departed, but he was only horrified to see her gunned down after setting Trista ablaze. It changed something inside him, and he wandered the Amazon in a sickened haze for days out of grief. Paul eventually caught up with him, snapping Jason back to consciousness. He quickly overpowered the man, using his dagger to slice the man open from sternum to stomach. He bathed in the river and returned to his hotel room in the next town to grab his bag. He had to get out of the country, not for fear of being caught, but for fear of losing his mind completely.

[emu-lumberjack]

Don’t Answer the Phone Tired pt. 2

It’s the next day and Damian has gotten even less sleep, thankfully he’s not too tired after a some surprise news shocks him awake.

———————————-

Hey guys here’s the sequel everyone was super excited for. I really hope y'all like it, I definitely wrote it tired, but it should be coherent. 

Read part 1 here

Read part 3 here

Read part 4 here

Read part 5 here

He really needed coffee, especially after dealing with his brothers after they found out about Marinette. The youngest Wayne was up till four yelling at them to lay off, among more colorful terms, everyone time they called. He would’ve just ignored them but he knew that ignoring them would just wind up with him getting a surprise visit sooner than later. The fresh Parisian air felt good against his face as he stood on his balcony.

“Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair!” Marinette's voice called from the street.

“Only if the prince is willing to protect me from my aggravating brothers!” He cracked a smile as he shouted back.

“Alas I cannot do that, but would my damsel take this as a reward?” She held up a purple travel mug and a bag filled with a croissant.

“I think I could take that deal. I’ll be down in a few minutes.” He ran inside to grab his bag and throw on some day clothes before meeting Marinette.

“Have I mentioned you’re the best girlfriend? Because you’re the best girlfriend.” Damian said walking up to Marinette.

“You could stand to mention it more.” The bluenette replied handing him his promised coffee and croissant. He gulped down the coffee barely taking a breath until Marinette laughed and said, “Slow down there, you won't have any time to savor any of it.”

“If you want to stay up late dealing with my brothers, please be my guest but if not,” He gestured with his cup, “I’m gonna drink as fast as I want to.” Marinette nodded to that.

“Was it that bad last night after you left?”

“By bad do you mean each one of was trying to call me every five minutes out of ‘concern’ for my health or to check to make sure I hadn’t kidnapped you.” Marinette laughed again. “Anyway if I didn’t talk to them at all they probably would’ve hopped on the first flight they could to see what’s going on.” They stopped at the light, when Damian turned to look at Marinette he noticed she was avoiding his gaze. “You wouldn’t happen to know anything about my brothers. Would you Angel?”

“Well, I might have gotten a text from Aurore to keep you away from school because three older guys had come and were asking around for you. One of them was half asleep and she couldn’t figure out how he was functional.”

Damian paled, after a moment he said “And why then are we going to school, I personally want to get as far away from them as possible.”

“She sent me a follow up saying to get there as fast as possible. Lila told her lie in front of the wrong person and, well I’ll show you the video.” Marinette handed her phone to Damian who hit play on the video that was up.

The forms of Grayson, Todd and Drake half asleep leaning on Jason. A voice came from off screen saying,

“Girl I can’t believe Tim’s not taking you to the Wayne Gala.” Alya, Damian thought. She was beginning to walk into frame with someone else. He knew who she was before she spoke.

“I know right. It’s just why would he invite someone else!” There in all her demonic glory stood Lila Rossi, not yet realising who she was walking next to.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but are you talking about Tim Drake? Adopted son of Bruce Wayne?” Grayson asked innocently. Damian knew that voice, it was the same one he used when he was going to demolish someone. “Well yeah. He’s her boyfriend, who are you anyway? Why do you care?” Alya was immediately there to be Lila’s guard dog.

“Well my name is Richard Grayson-Wayne. Tim’s brother and Bruce's son. I care because unless he’s as good at keeping secrets as Damian is, which he’s not, then he isn’t dating this girl.” Alya paled, the camera zoomed in on Lila’s face. She looked like she was about to be sick

“Huh? I heard my name.” Drake, who was in a rare moment of lucidness, looked at Dick.

“Are you pulling a Damian and secretly dating a girl in France?” Todd still Drake’s support was glaring at Lila.

“What?! Are you kidding me? No!” Drake looked like he was just hit with a cement slab.

“What are you talking about obviously you’re dating Lila! Stop Lying! I bet you're not even the real Tim Drake.” Alya was shouting now drawing crowds from around the courtyard. Drake looked at Grayson confused.

“She does realize that we can sue her if she’s really telling these types of lies right? Like she can’t be doing that.” Tim stood in front of Dick and turned his back to the paled liar and fuming reporter

“Oh leave Lila alone!” Alya came towards Drake and shoved him into Grayson.

“That does it.” Todd who had moved off to the side started walking towards the brunette rolling up his sleeves. Grayson and Todd recovered quickly, and moved to hold Todd back.

“We should get there before Todd kills them.” He said calmly before handing the phone back to Marinette. “Otherwise we won’t be able to take her down ourselves.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

In no time the duo were walking up the steps of Françoise Dupont where the sounds of shouts could be heard. The scene they entered was somehow more chaotic then the one Aurore had sent in the video. Todd was hanging upside down, the rope leading up around the handrails on the second floor then back down to a corner of the courtyard. Drake was on the bench snoring softly with his head almost touching the floor. Dick was on the phone, presumably with some lawyers. The entire bottom courtyard of the school was littered with papers and balloons were strewn about. Lila was nowhere to be seen.

“It looks like they’ve taken care of the situation, and they haven’t spotted us yet so I’m just gonna…” Damian began.

“There he is! Demonspawn, finally I thought you’d never get here.” Jason interrupted. He had spun around and caught sight of Damian and Marinette walking in. Dick turned around at the sound of Jason’s voice before saying “Yeah Duke I’ll have to call you back, but we need to sort this Lila stuff out.” He put his phone away before walking over to a corner of the building where he took out his knife and slashed a piece of rope. Jason came crashing down.

“A little warning next time Dick.” Jason said brushing off some dust that had settled on his tan leather jacket. Each one of them were dressed in their civilian clothing. Dick had on a pair of blue jeans with a grey t-shirt paired with some black sneakers. Jason was wearing his usual jeans, t-shirt, and leather jacket combo. Drake was in some weird form of pajama and day clothes mixing a graphic T-shirt and red flannel with grey sweatpants and slippers.

“Now I know that we have to be dreaming. Demonspawn is actually wearing a sweatshirt. I don’t even think Alfred could get him to do that.” Damian had run out once he heard Marinette’s voice that morning so he had just thrown on a pair of pants, a shirt and a sweatshirt barely thinking about it. He had become relaxed in Paris.

“What the hell are you guys doing here.” Damian’s face was quickly beginning to match a tomato in color and he was backing out of the entryway.

“Well obviously we had to come and see you, and meet your girlfriend.” Dick who had walked over to Marinette grabbed her hand and shook it. “My name’s Dick, the grumbling menace over there is Jason. The one currently passed out is Tim, nice to meet you, uh”

“Marinette.” She supplied. “I also have to thank you for taking care of a certain person, I’ve been trying to figure out how to get rid of her for a year.”

“Oh it was no problem at all, especially after she claimed she was dating Tim.” Damian quickly interrupted the two with a few well placed coughs. “I don’t mean to cut this short Grayson but we have to be getting to class.”

“Oh don’t worry. Bruce already called you out for the day, and Marinette I’m sure you can miss one day of school.” Jason said walking up behind Marinette.

“As much as I’d love to, I have two tests today. I’ll be happy to meet up with you afterwards though.” Damian’s eyes widened as the words sunk in and he realized what that meant for him.

“Please don’t leave me alone with them.” He looked at Marinette pleadingly.

“You’re gonna have to tell us how you got him to say please, it took Alfred a month to do that.” Jason remarked.

“Maybe another time, now I’ve gotta get to class.” She gave one look at Damian and there was laughter in her eyes.

“I hate you.” He said.

“No you don’t.” She called back, disappearing around the corner.

“So how bout we wake up Timmy and go get breakfast. I for one am famished.” Jason came up and put a hand on Damians shoulder.

“Ya know that doesn’t sound so bad Jason. Then Damian can tell us all about Paris, and the people he’s met.” Dick stood in front of Damians glare gleefully looking at Jason.

“I will kill you both and Father will never be able to find your bodies.”

“Yeah but then Marinette will be disappointed. For some reason she gives off the ‘thou shall not kill’ vibe.” Grayson said. “Now how are we gonna wake Tim up.”

“Oh I’ll  take care of it.” Damian said grabbing his Ice filled water bottle.

 Tag List: 

@ur-average-reader @kristycocopop @k-laconia-bug1 @smolplantmum @dast218 @pirats-pizzacanninibles @acoursedprophetwithasmothie @g-arya @loysydark @mewwitch @itsemeanne @hauntedstudent99 @clumsy-owl-4178

[nobodyscarebutandyou]

The Protective- Chapter 1

The Protective

Pairing: Tim Drake x Reader(slow burn) , Adora x Catra, Glimmer x Bow, Oc x Bruce Wayne.

masterlist

Part 1- New Life

Chapter 1- The Letter

Currently Jason Todd considers himself a lucky man, despite coming back to life and having gone through hell and several other things, but he would do it all over again if it would make him meet his girlfriend, Sam L/N.

 She's a good girlfriend, of course not every relationship is perfect, but they're both trying hard to make it work. So of course he got confused when he came into the house after the patrol and saw his beautiful curly-haired girlfriend, packing a suitcase.

"Honey?"

"Ah, hi Jason" Sam returns, Jason realizes that she was distracted, and it appears that she is on autopilot. He lets out a sigh and touches her shoulder causing her to stop tidying up her stuff and looking at him.

"Sam, are you okay?"

The curly-haired woman takes a deep breath, Todd realizes that her breath was shaking, without answering her boyfriend Sam's question, and Sam hugs him, and he reciprocates and kisses the top of his head

"My mother... she's gone".Jason doesn't say anything, what should he say? Am I sorry?It didn't feel right.

 "She died in a car accident”Jason squeezes more the hug "And Y/N was together"

"Is she okay?"Jason knew that although Sam did not keep in touch with his family in Canada, he knew that she loved his younger sister and her entire family.

"She's alive, that's what matters."

"Do you want me to go along?"

"You don't need to... I'm only going to stay a few days, help Grandpa and Y/N."Jason walks little away from the hug and looks at Sam

"Are you sure? I think Bryce and the devil, along with Dick and Tim, can take care of Gotham.”

"Absolute, I'll be back in a few days"

"Good..."Jason walks away from Sam and starts packing, Sam smiles back and repacks his suitcase with Jason.

Ranch L/N, Alberta, Canada Present

Y/N looks at his pancakes, poking with his fork and completely ignoring the tension that existed. She lets out a sigh and gets up from the table.

"I need to pack my clothes for the... Funeral"

Sam gets up, looking a little excited, probably wanting to put the tension aside and try to have a conversation with his sister

"I can hel-"

"No."Interrupts Y/N, ignoring his grandfather's look and leaves the kitchen. Sam licks his lips and sits in the chair again.

"She'll get used to it, that's it...".

"I know Grandpa, it's just that... I wanted to get closer” Jack clears his throat

"It's kind of hard to trust the people who abandon us."

 Meanwhile, Y/N looks at her mother's bedroom door, she takes a deep breath and puts her hand on the doorknob, takes a deep breath and holds the tears, opens the door and enters, and then closes slowly. 

The girl looks around, could feel the crying and the longing go up her throat, her breath is trembling, she could feel her body start shaking. Y/N starts crying, tries to calm down, drying them, but that doesn't seem to work, which makes her a little frustrated.She kneels on the floor, near the bed, extends her arms under the bed and takes off a rectangular lilac box, which looked rather old. Open the box, and start seeing the pictures that your mother kept, start taking one by one, your mother did everything, but it seemed so little, she died so young, why did she think about it? Now, Y/N has just remembered his mother's favorite song "Lost Time", the band Legião Urbana", a Brazilian band that his brother-in-law introduced him to, and introduced his daughters, Sam and Y/N.Y/N after taking all the photos, find letter envelopes and lots of papers. The girl smiles, her mother loved letters. She begins to open one by one, and feels a little joy in seeing the letters that her mother sent to her father.

 After the small conversation with his grandfather, Sam gets up and decides to talk to his sister, but changes his mind when he arrives in the hallway and hears crying sounds. I knew I had to go help, but she's the one who left, decided to exclude her family, let out a sigh and take a deep breath.God, she felt so stupid now. Maybe you should do what your sister wanted, leave and never come back. Sam walks away from his mother's bedroom door, and enters his old room, feeling the guilt erode in his stomach, closes the door and picks up his cell phone, give a small smile when he sees Jason's message. He was a sweet, big teddy bear. ...Sam throws himself into bed, ignoring the roar of the springs, unlocks the screen

.From: Bear  To: Sammy How's the situation in there?

 From: Sammy

To: Bear

Tense, I feel like I screwed up when I left.

From:Bear To: Sammy You didn't screw it up, everyone makes mistakes. You can still fix everything.

From: Sammy

To: Bear

I hope so.

She turns off the cell phone screen, puts it aside, looks at starry ceiling, her room never changed, seemed untouchable, except that it looked more dusty. Close your eyes and focus on your breathing, finally manages to calm down and completely ignore the guilt. Open your eyes, get out of the room, get the keys to the truck.

 "GRANDPA, I TOOK THE VAN"

Get out of the house, get in your grandfather's truck, turn him on and get off the ranch.

Y/N comes out of her trance upon hearing her sister's scream, realizes she has stopped crying, lets out a sigh and smiles at a picture of her mother holding her in her lap, with her father by her side and her older sister in the center, with a yellow smile. She let out another sigh, God, she hated feeling so frank, wipes the tears from his face, looks at the piles of letters and papers, mixed with the photos, picks up the papers and letters all at once, but before putting the pile back, notices one last envelope, throws the pile back on the floor, takes the letter envelope, and flips it, Y/N realizes it was addressed, and feels confused to see a different name, but recognizes the letter of his mother, was sealed 'she never sent the letter' thinks to herself. And open the envelope with some care, and take the paper out of it and start reading the letter.

Dear Bruce, I know we did, no, what I did was wrong, but I believe you should know. You have a daughter, her name is Y/N Martha L/N. I'm sorry if putting your mother's name in the middle was something kind of, I don't know, weird? God, I feel like a teenager. She's five years old, and she's cute, she's a little mix of the two of us, and every time I look into her eyes, I remember you. She has her glow. I don't want anything, I don't want money or anything. I want you to be a part of her life. I hope you'll be all right, honestly, Me, your beloved Amy L/N

When you finished reading the letter, Y/N didn't know what to feel, she wasn't your father's daughter? Wasn't she Derek L/N's daughter? Why couldn't she breathe? How do you breathe again? Tears fill her eyes, how should she deal with it? Should I go after Bruce Wayne? Show this letter? No, that wasn't a cliché story, sure he wouldn't believe it, she was just a fruit of an affair, Bruce doesn't even know of her existence, but what if he knew? Maybe he knows she exists, but he doesn't want anything to do with her. 

Y/N tries to take a deep breath and control his tears. She gets up quickly and leaves the room, she couldn't stay in this room. Put your hands in your hair, go into your room, need to get ready for the funeral. She closes the door and starts changing clothes and putting on his black jeans, with a black shirt, with his gray sweatshirt and his denim jacket, picks up the black cowboy hat, puts it on and out of his room, going into the living room, then seeing his grandfather, sitting in his armchair and looking at the fireplace, which was built by his great-grandfather , the family fireplace.

 Y/N sits in the armchair in front of your grandfather. 

"I heard the crying"

"Grandpa..."

"Y/N, it's normal, feeling this way is normal"

No, it wasn't normal for her to feel that way, like her whole life was a lie, but she couldn't take it all out on her grandfather, maybe he doesn't even know she's another man's daughter, and if you know, because he never told her? Why didn't your mother ever tell her? 

'I'm thinking too much' thinks and shakes his head, and refocuses on his grandfather. 

"Granpa"

"Yes?"

"I will stay with you?"

Jack goes silent, touches his moustache before answering

" If it is up to me, yes"

" But what if it does not depend?"

" Your mother was smart, she wrote with whom you will stay, you will be fine"

After this little conversation, silence reigns in place. Minutes later, Sam enters the house, goes into the living room, the three of them look at each other and get up. And without a word, goes to the truck, get in the vehicle. Jack calls, and the rest of the Campbell and L/N family go to the funeral.

[fishfingersandjellybabies]

Abandoned - fic

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

~~

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

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

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

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

Ric blinked, and his stomach dropped in frustration.

One of them.

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

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

Ric stopped in front of him, waiting.

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

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

The man shrugged. “Wanted to talk.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He looked…sad.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ric waited.

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

A moment to let that sink in.

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

He pointed towards the car.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Ric let his hands in his pocket roll into fists.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Why?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Good luck with those memories and shit.” Jay called after him. Ric didn��t respond, and slammed his door a little harder than he meant to after he dropped into the car. He started his engine and rolled down his window, listening.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[bisexualsforprompto]

Of Roommates and Red Heroes Chapter 1

AO3

One (You are here)     Next

One- Of pilots and new beginnings

Jason Todd ran, ran away from the legacy he could never fill. The one he was still expected to fill. Didn’t they know? Didn’t they know he had changed?

God, was had he even changed? It’s not like he could ever make up for what he did. But he couldn’t wear the colors of the Robin ever again either. He crossed a line, he was past the point of no return.

And Bruce couldn’t let him forget it.

As far as Jason was concerned, he didn’t deserve a redemption.

He didn’t deserve a happily ever after.

Dick (in more ways than one): [is online]

Lil bro Jason: [is online]

Dick (in more ways than one): Come back.

Lil bro Jason: No.

Dick (in more ways than one): Please, Bruce didn’t mean it.

Lil bro Jason: Honestly I give zero f*cks if he meant it.

Dick (in more ways than one): So that's it. You’re just solo now and we’ll never see you again?

Lil bro Jason: You are welcome to visit when you’d like, along with Steph, Tim, Barbara, etc etc. I don’t want to see him again.

Dick (in more ways than one): He’s your dad!

Lil bro Jason: Godammit Dick! He’s not! Open your goddamn eyes! He’s not our dad, he’s a man who just uses us for his dirty work!

Dick (in more ways than one): I can’t stop you from doing this, but just talk to Bruce at least, if you don’t you’ll regret it, trust me I know.

Lil bro Jason: [is offline]

•~•Sunday Nov.17, 8am EST•~•

Knock, knock, knock.

“Mr. Todd.” 

Knock, knock, knock.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Jason said as he peeled a case file off his face, he’d fallen asleep the night prior reading it. Jason walked over to the nook where he kept all his ‘borrowed’ GCPD case filed which just happened to go missing from their archives every so often. For some reason, Jason liked to review case files. A lot. Maybe it was living with a detective for so long, but he felt at home in his own little world of files.

Jason brought a hand to his head, trying to shield his pounding headache. He remembered going out to the bar, but not much else. He brushed his hand down his face to feel stubble, another thing he’d have to deal with later. He fixed his hair a little bit before getting off his brown leather couch. He checked out what he was wearing, only pants. He sighed and picked up a plain black t shirt off the ground. Sliding it on, Jason walked over to the door and opened it.

Of all the things he was expecting today, he wasn’t expecting his landlord in full suit and tie showing up at his door. Unfortunately, it was his reality. A tall slim and bony man in a tacky olive green suit and oversized brown plastic glasses was holding a clipboard and pen in his hands. 

“Mr. Jason Todd?”

Jason sighed, “That’s me.” The man looked him up and down. Jason was about to yell at him for judging but decided against it. 

“You’ve been behind on your last payment for this flat. You have one week or you will be evicted.” The man said properly, leaving directly after despite Jason’s protests. Sighing, Jason shut the door.

He hadn’t found work in a long time. He’d been fired from his last job for drinking, and he couldn’t change his ways after being Red Hood and working with Batman. He went by the same mantle but working with Bruce did a number on him as always, only this time it was a positive change. He couldn’t work and make dirty money off drug cartels anymore, Red Hood was a lone vigilante but Jason Todd could only find himself doing honest work. Honest work that was very difficult to find in this day and age.

The only thing Jason could think that would save him would be getting a roommate. Jason sighed once more, all Gothamites were bat-shit crazy (pun not intended) and there was no way in hell he was taking Bruce’s blood money. Jason started drafting an ad and put it on Craigslist. The best he’d be able to do, hopefully before the date he’d be able to meet all of the candidates to make sure they weren’t insane. 

‘Searching for a roommate in a flat in Gotham Sun Apartments. $500 per month expected. Contact xxx-xxx-xxx for more information. (Images attached below)’

Jason rubbed his pounding temple, all he could do was wait.

•~Friday Nov. 22, 10am EST~•~•

“Voyage.” Marinette called before stepping into a black portal. She whimpered as she landed in a dark alley. “Tikki, Kaaliki, divide.” She whispered. “Spots off.” She was released from her heroine persona. Marinette was bloody, bruised and confused. She didn’t know where Kaaliki had taken her but she hoped it was far away from Paris. Marinette walked warily out of the alley to see a beautiful city full of life around her. Many people walked past and she could hear snippets of conversation, only something was off about them…they were in English! Marinette realized, could Kaaliki’s Portal have taken her to America or England? Thank god for Madame Bustier’s lessons or Marinette wouldn’t be able to speak a lick of English, she was practically fluent after all of her lessons. Marinette took out her pigtails and slid the bands onto her arm, she checked her purse, Tikki and Kaaliki were in there as well as $2000. Master Fu had given it to her before her...departure. 

Marinette continued down the street hoping to find some sign of where she was. Pedestrians gave her strange looks, most likely because of all her evident injuries. Marinette passed by street signs, all to generic to tell her anything. She accidentally bumped into a small girl wearing a sweatshirt that read “Gotham University”. 

Marinette knew it was a stretch, it could just be a random sweatshirt but still she was determined to try. 

‘Gotham University’ she typed into Google. Bingo. ‘Gotham University is a college in Gotham, New Jersey, America.’ So could she be in America? Marinette surveyed her surroundings, the most prominent building read Wayne Enterprises. ‘Worth a shot’ she mused. ‘Wayne Enterprises, Gotham’. Millions of hits, now she knew she must be in Gotham. Marinette continued to walk the streets to solve her next problem, where could she stay the night? 

Marinette sighed turning corners, looking for any signs around. She felt a rumbling in her stomach, she couldn’t remember the last time she ate. Marinette couldn't see any food places around. She wandered around looking wildly for a café, bakery, restaurant, anything. She didn’t even realize she was on a collision course until she bumped into a muscular boy, about 4 years older than herself with black hair with a white streak in it and blue eyes.

•~Friday, 9:40am EST~•~•

Jason groaned as he got up. He wasn’t drunk like most nights before. He immediately went to check his computer, still no hits on Craigslist. Jason sighed, he didn’t know what he’d do if he couldn’t get anyone to rent with him by Sunday. He refused to move back into Bruce’s mansion again. Jason picked up his apartment keys and went to look for some food, he couldn’t find a solution to a problem without food or caffeine (Tim had rubbed off on him more than he wanted). 

Jason opened his door and walked down the hall, he opted for the stairs as he didn’t feel like interacting with anyone at the moment. Jason brushed past the Gothamites on the street feeling extremely aggravated. He got lost in his own world of annoyance and didn’t even realize when he ran into a small blue-haired girl.

“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!” Marinette said turning pink. She backed away feeling extremely embarrassed, “I just wasn’t looking where I was going and-“ Jason recognized that she wasn’t from Gotham. She just didn’t have that shrewd personality that came with the territory of being a Gothamite. For some reason it made him feel warmer, and his anger felt more soothed.

“It’s ok little lady, really. What brings you to Gotham?” Marinette stared up into the caring blue eyes of the boy she ran into. “I uh, well, um nothing in particular. But would you mind showing me somewhere to eat?” She asked, not wanting to revisit why she had to leave Paris. He seemed caring enough, hopefully he’d take her somewhere to eat. The man nodded, “Of course. I was headed to a café myself little lady. Hey, what’s your name?” Jason could respect that the girl didn’t want to talk about why she was here, after all, Jason didn’t like talking about his own past. 

“Marinette.” Marinette blushed. “Alrighty then Marinette, I’m Jason. I’ll take you somewhere.” Jason wanted to scold her for putting so much trust in a stranger blindly as she followed him, after all this was Gotham but he just silently thanked that it was him who got to her instead of some creep. Jason led her to the Garden Café right next to where his flat was.

It might’ve been one of the only places in Gotham that wasn’t completely littered with garbage. It had beautiful flowers and an outdoor patio where patrons could eat. Jason lead Marinette to an empty black table and pulled out a metal chair for her. “Merci!” Marinette smiled, “Thank you, I mean.” Jason made the connection, “So are you from France?” Marinette nodded, “Yes, Paris actually.” Jason nodded, “What's it like there?” Marinette sighed, “Well aside from the terrorist, it’s beautiful and a great place to live.” Jason didn’t even had a drink yet but if he did, he would’ve spit it out right on the spot. “Did you just say terrorist?”

“Um yes, I assumed it was common knowledge. I mean I know Ladybug reached out to the Justice League many times…” Jason gritted his teeth, the damn Justice League. His father’s call no doubt.

“So whos Ladybug?” Marinette pondered what to tell the man across from her, on the one hand, he was the only kind one to her, but she didn’t want to accidentally give away her identity. “She along with Chat Noir, are magical heroes who wield jewels that give them power. Hawkmoth, the terrorist, wants them, because with them he can make a wish and have absolute power.” Jason's eyes widened, sure her story seemed like a poorly written children’s TV show but from the little time he’d known Marinette he’d figured a lot out about her, and he trusted that she wasn’t a liar. And wasn’t a very good one at that. Living with the world’s greatest detective, as much as Jason hated to admit it, did have some perks, Jason could read people without knowing them for long. 

“I guess it’s not ideal to escape a terrorist and end up in the crime capital of the world though,” Jason said, he couldn’t imagine why anyone would rather be in Gotham than anywhere else. Marinette hadn’t known it was the crime capital of the world, she wondered why Kaaliki’s voyage sent her there. Maybe she was meant to resume being a hero in Gotham?

“Y-yeah.” Was all Marinette could stammer out. Talking to Jason made her realize so many things she had to do, she hadn’t had much time to think about what it could be like living in another country. She didn’t even have a place to stay yet!

“I know this might be a touchy subject, but...how’d you get those bruises Buttercup?” Marinette touched her hand to her face and ran her fingers down one of the scars. “H-Hawkmoth.” At least it wasn’t a complete lie. She saw Jason clench his fists. 

Jason was seething, he couldn’t believe the league would ignore this! One look at this girl would prove that they should’ve listened. If Jason was still aligned with Bruce he would’ve had some choice words with him, instead he decided that he’d notify Dick and possibly the Outlaws the next time he saw them. Jason couldn’t help but feel awful for the girl, he knew what it was like to feel like you couldn’t escape the clutches of a madman. He’d lost a bit of soul to Joker. He wanted to run his fingers down all of her scars and just make everything better, she didn’t deserve that kind of torment. If anything, he did.

“Say Buttercup, where are you staying?” Jason asked before the waiter came to take their orders. Marinette answered the waiter with a simple sandwich and Jason ordered the same. “Um well...I don’t really know yet,” she responded to his previous question. 

Unacceptable, she was staying with him now. “How about you come back with me Buttercup. I know we just met, but I don’t want you sleeping on the streets. Gotham is dangerous.” Marinette blushed, just now noticing the nickname he gave her. “I couldn’t do that to you!” She protested.

“It’s not a problem, Buttercup, really.” Marinette sighed, she felt grateful for Jason. Maybe she was being too trusting, but she had no other options. “As long as you let me pay you something.” Jason thought about it, he didn’t want to put this poor girl out but then he realized,

“I think there's a way we can help each other.”