#early on when Damian was still hard to handle

[dragonfly0808]

So my Batfamily brain rot is back (not that it ever really left) and I just had a thought like…

If you’re a henchman/criminal in Gotham, seeing your life flash past your eyes is gonna be a somewhat regular occurance but… what if like… the thing that truly made a henchman’s heart fall to his ass was when they hit Robin just a little too hard and this 10 year old kid just starts crying and goes ‘Daaaaaadddd!’

That’s the moment when they truly think they’re going to die because said dad, the kid is calling for is a 6’6 demon from hell who’s all muscle and shadows and vengance and a lot of Gotham still thinks he’s a cryptid

The henchmen all drop their guns and try to calm the kid down but it’s over in 5 seconds flat. Batman breaks several bones before speaking to Robin in the softest voice they’ve ever heard him use and the criminal world, who was already a bit hesitant to fight a kid have even more reason to take it just a little easy on Robin.

And like, I can picture different reactions with every Robin.

Like, for Dick, he’s ten and we all know he was the most violent Robin second only to Damian so maybe when he’s ten or eleven and has calmed down a little, a henchback who still remembers what a little shit he used to be decides to get back at Robin, slips on a pair of brass knuckles and BAM

And then, little Dick just stares for a moment in shock, cheek already starting to bruise, the criminals he’d been fighting all stay still because it was a nasty punch and then…

“Daaaaad!!!” He cries out in a whiny voice that reminds them that Robin really is just a kid and it all clicks into place.

Even Bruce wasn’t expecting that, Dick has just started calling him dad and he still isn’t used to being called that so to hear his kid calling for him in the moment where he is startled and hurt and a little scared… the henchmen don’t even have time to react and they wake up in the hospital with concussions and maybe a few broken bones.

It doesn’t take Dick long to calm down, it was mostly that the hit from a random henchmen really startled him and got him right in the cheekbone. But Bruce still finishes patrol early and Dick still hides under Bruce’s cape all the way to the Batmobile.

Then comes Jason and Jason was such a sweet kid, I headcannon he was the one that called Bruce dad the most often while being Robin. So one night during patrol maybe he finds himself fighting Penguin or Two-Face and it’s been a long night and he has an exam the following day and Bruce is fighting another villain at the other side of the warehouse

The point is, the henchmen and Two-Face start landing hits on eleven year old Jason in his gut and at some point he loses sight of Batman fighting on the other side of the room. Jason gets scared because he’s never really fought without Batman and while he knows that Bruce is still in the warehouse, he can’t see him and the handle of a gun hits the back of his ankle and he falls and he sees Two-Face or Penguin or one of the henchmen getting ready to grab the front of his uniform and beat him up and…

“Daaaaddd!”

The criminals freeze for a moment. They’ve heard the stories of what happened the last time a Robin called scared for dad.

They’re fucked.

They all drop their guns and try to get Jason to calm down, but he’s crying just a little bit and calls again, his voice breaking and despite having been at the other side of the warehouse just a second ago, Bruce somehow drops from the ceiling and it’s over before the criminals can keep pleading with Robin to calm down.

Jason tries to apologize for ‘acting like a baby’ but Bruce is having none of it and carries him back to the Batmobile and Jason is happy to just hide his face in Bruce’s cape because he knows his dad will always be there to save him.

Then comes Tim.

And Tim gets found out while doing reconnisance and somehow he finds himself face to face with Bane who manages to wrench away his bo staff and Tim is just eleven and he is scared because Bane doesn’t look like he’s going to hold back

All Tim knows is that the crack he hears must surely be his ribs either cracking or breaking and he can’t breath and he can only muster enough air for a single word… and he calls for his dad through tears and fear

And at this point… at this point Batman has already lost a Robin, Tim may not be his legally but he is his son just as much as Jason was

Bane spends a month in the ICU

Tim is embarrased that he reacted like that. He thinks it makes him less of a Robin to called scared for Batman… for dad.

So Bruce tells him of the other two times it happened. It’s one of the first times he’s spoken about Jason to Tim so bluntly.

Then comes Stephanie.

Stephanie never calls Bruce dad when she’s Robin. She’s not his daughter and he’s not her dad. They’re not sure what exactly they are to one another.

As far as Bruce knows, Stephanie’s version of Robin never called out to him when she was scared.

What he doesn’t know is that it did happen. Just once

It was the last time she was Robin. When Black Mask had her and she thought she was going to die

At some point while bleeding and feeling nauseous and so scared she could barely hear anything that wasn’t her own heart beating wildly against her chest… she called for dad. Not for Arthur Brown, but for Bruce

Black Mask laughed at her

Stephanie never tells Bruce

And finally… Damian

Now, we know Damian would probably never be startled enough to call for Bruce out of instinct, so I can see 2 scenarios in which this could happen.

First, he sees another kid do it. He sees a kid close to his own age laughing and playing, then tripping and staying quiet for a split second before crying out for mom and dad and he just… assumes that’s something kids do when scared and hurt and startled and does it mostly in an attempt to be a little more ‘normal’

Or, my favorite scenario… he hears of the other times it has happened. He overhears maybe Dick remind Jason of what Bruce did when Jason called out to dad as Robin. Tim maybe jokes that a Robin calling for dad is still the villains’ greatest fear

So Damian stores that knowledge away as a battle strategy just in case he ever needs it… and maybe a small part of him wants to put it to the test, to see if his father would protect him as brutally as he’s protected the Robins before him

So some random night during patrol, he’s up against several henchmen, a few of them grab him from behind, trying to hold him down. Damian is fighting against them when one of them swings a cylinder of metal that Damian thinks might’ve been meant for the plumbing and…

The henchman breaks Damian’s nose, there’s blood dripping down his chin and staining his uniform

Now… it is most certainly not the first time he’s broken something, he’s more than used to the pain, in fact, he barely feels it. However, it gives him a chance to put his little theory to the test

And so Damian allows himself to sound like the ten year old that he is and in a whiny, teary voice, goes… “Babaaaaa!” (Bonus points if it’s the first or second time he’s called Bruce baba instead of father)

What Damian didn’t take into account though, is that Batman and Robin aren’t the only ones on patrol that night. They made a big bust. The biggest part of the operation was over but they were still fighting a few stragglers. The whole fucking family is here.

And they all hear his cry.

Damian doesn’t think he’s ever seen a fight end so quickly. The henchmen only have a split-second of surprise before vanishing, being tackled or shot or having knives buried on their shoulders by his siblings.

The one that actually broke Damian’s nose is being beaten up by Nightwing, Damian doesn’t think he’s ever seen Grayson so angry.

A shadow kneels in front of him, father. Baba. He’s checking Damian and Todd is right at his side, both speaking in hushed tones, checking his injuries and wiping the tears that usually came with a broken nose.

And now… Damian is used to his father and Grayson treating him like a child, trying to be as soft as they can with him. Even Cain does it to some extent.

But… having Drake wrap an arm around him, calling him baby when knocking out one of the criminals that had hurt him ‘that’s my fucking baby brother!’ and continue to hold him later into the night on the couch, having Brown willingly give up all the snacks she keeps in her utility belt and promise to take him to Batburger the following day for milkshakes because he was ‘a champ’. And Thomas wraps his favorite blanket around Damian while they’re fixing him up.

Todd decides to stay the night at the manor. Which he never does. They all decide to spend the night at the manor when Damian still sniffles on the Batmobile and they have breakfast all of them together. Which Damian isn’t sure has ever happened before and Cain gets Alfred to make pancakes with chocolate chips instead of blueberries.

They call him baby in hushed whispers but for once, it doesn’t bother him even though it really should

But most of all, Bruce refuses to let him go for a good five minutes after he first cries for him. Smoothing down his hair and whispering that it’ll be okay and just being soft in a way Damian has never seen before.

He sleeps between his Baba and Grayson and he knows that Todd and Drake and Cain check in on them at least twice in the night for some reason.

And he realizes it’s… it’s nice. Maybe this really could be an effective battle strategy to be employed again someday.

[damiansgoodgirll]

i know it might be early but can you write about reader being in the judgment day and seeing her family breaking up at summerslam and so even if rhea and damian just lost they comfort her because they know how important was the jd to her? like they were her family.

oh i’ve been waiting for this request honestly

damian priest x reader (platonic) + rhea ripley x reader (platonic)

tw : mention of abandonment, family issues, feeling of loneliness, brief panic attacks

don’t break my heart

if someone told you a year ago that you would have joined the most successful faction in the wwe at the moment you probably would have laughed at them in their face.

and yet, a year ago rhea and the rest of the judgment day saw your potential when you were just in nxt. they saw as the fierce and feisty teenage girl that no one could handle and they knew that they wanted someone like you in their team.

you were only twenty but it felt like you were in the business for forty years. you knew that wrestling was your passion and you wanted to trasform that passion into your everyday work.

your family didn’t agree. they didn’t see what you saw in wrestling and so they couldn’t see the talent you actually had. they said you had to focus on a real career path, that once you finished high school you had to apply for more colleges you could. they wanted a future for you that you didn’t want.

and when you tried to explain to them that all you wanted to do in life was wrestling, they kicked you out. they didn’t want you in the family anymore and you never felt so broken in your life. you were lucky your best friend let you into her house so you helped her with what you could. you found a part-time job so you could help her pay the bills or the food while you were still training to become a wrestler.

it was hard but somehow you managed to get signed into the famous wwe.

but once you joined, you realised that it wasn’t perfect as you thought it would be. you struggled with getting booked and the first time you actually got booked they set you to lose even if you knew you would have won those matches easily. but the pay was good and fans started to recognise you more.

in reality you felt lonely and alone. you barely made any friends as they labelled you as the new one and you didn’t feel welcomed at all. your family still didn’t talk to you and due to you constantly being on the road, you lost contact with your best friend.

one special day the judgment day surprised everyone in nxt, claiming that they were looking for you so when they saw you fighting on the ring, they decided to make a special appearance and shocking everyone.

“we want you y/n” you remembered rhea saying and the crowd screaming of joy “we want you in the team” and so you joined them.

you thought it was all for publicity but truth was that they really saw potential in you. you were young and you already had a big potential of becoming a real threat for the women division.

so they helped you train. rhea and damian showed you some moves and techniques you’ve never saw before, finn was like the mind, teaching you how to trick your opponent with simple mind tricks and dominik was your comfort person, he helped you gaining more confidence, especially during your first matches.

later on you opened up about your past with them. how you basically had no family as they kicked you out, how you had no friends because the girls at nxt didn’t like you and how lonely you felt but they made sure to change all of that. they always included you in their car trips, sundays together and movie nights.

you finally felt like you belonged somewhere.

so you couldn’t believe of what you were witnessing while watching rhea losing against liv at summerslam. tears in your eyes as you watched dominik turning on rhea and betray her like that.

you were backstage watching the whole match with finn and jd and you couldn’t stop your hands from shaking.

“no no no no…dom please…don’t do that…” you whispered as your eyes were glued to the tv.

you couldn’t deny there had been tension this past weeks but you were the judgment day, you always solved all the issues you had so why was it happening now?

“y/n…” finn slowly approached you. his heart was breaking for you, mostly because he knew what was going to happen and mostly because he knew you didn’t deserve to be put into this mess.

“finn…we have to do something we…” he hugged you because he couldn’t lie to you. he couldn’t find words to comfort you because what he was going to later was gonna make you hate him.

you cried into his arms until damian broke into the room and started screaming. he was visibly upset and he couldn’t understand why dom turned on rhea.

“did you know that?” he started screaming at finn but before he could answer you jumped in.

“of course he didn’t…”

“no i didn’t know man” finn lied. he didn’t care about lying to damian, but you, after he said that he simply left the room without saying anything to you.

you stayed there, confused while your brain was trying to elaborate everything that happened in the past 30 minutes.

you knew rhea wanted to be left alone so you guys waited for her to calm down. she joined you a few minutes before damian’s match started “hey” you smiled at her.

“hey…” she put her arm around your shoulder and let you rest your head over it.

“you good?”

“i’ll be okay…not the match i imagined but it will be okay” she softly smiled at you. you knew she was hurting and that she was clearly pissed, but she didn’t want you to worry for her so she pretend that everything was fine.

as damian’s match began, you both had hopes for him to retain his title but everything went downhill when you saw finn turning on damian.

“rhea…what-what is he doing over there?” rhea was as shocked as you were because finn wasn’t supposed to be there.

“i…i don’t know”

“rhea we have to do something! damian’s gonna lose and…” but before you could continue, she grabbed your arm when she saw that you were about to leave the room and she stopped you.

“there’s nothing we could do y/n…” she was hurting as much as you were.

“no no, please rhea…i can’t, this group can’t break up please…” it was like losing a family all over again “we have to go there and help damian, talk some sense into finn’s head and…and”

“hey y/n…calm down, come here” she hugged you as she sensed that you were panicking “there’s nothing we can do right now…they made up their minds”

“but finn…finn, he told me everything was going to be alright, he told he didn’t know anything about dom and now, now he’s just going to betray us like that…rhea we have to stop him…” you were visibly crying right now.

but before you could continue or before, she could answer you, finn did unthinkable and betrayed dam on live tv. he made damian lose his title and while coming backstage, he had this twisted smile on his face that made you sick enough.

“where are you going y/n?” rhea asked you when she saw you about to leave the room.

you stayed there for a minute, thinking if you should go to talk to finn or go to comfort damian “i don’t know…i wanna talk to finn, i need him to tell me to my face that he doesn’t care about us, that he doesn’t care about this group and…”

“love, please stop” rhea’s heart was breaking for you because she knew how much you loved the group as it was your own family “there’s nothing we can do now…finn and dom turned on us but me and damian aren’t leaving you, i promise you”

“rhea’s right…” you both turned your heads to face damian. he had a broken look on his face and it was clear that he was hurting “we ain’t going anywhere y/n…”

“damian…” you went for a hug and he softly smiled when he felt your arms hugging him as strong as you could “i had no idea finn was going to betray you like that…he told me everything was okay and then…”

“it’s not your fault y/n…you couldn’t have known that…”

“are you okay damian?” you asked, feeling guilty that they were the ones who just got betrayed and you were the one crying about it.

“i’ll be okay…you know finn was like family to me and see him betraying me like that. it will hurt for a while but we are a family and we stay together through all of this” he smiled at you.

“i just…i wish i could talk to them and”

“y/n, love…nothing you say would make them change their minds…” rhea softly spoke to you.

“i know but they can’t break this family apart…” you wanted to say group but you never felt like you were part of a group, you felt like you were part of a family and suddenly you felt 18 again, when your parents kicked you out and turned their backs on you.

damian and rhea knew how much that affected you, how scared you were of abandonment and they promised that you would have never felt like that again. but they couldn’t keep their promise as long as they wanted because finn and dom were breaking the group apart and they couldn’t do anything about it to stop them. they knew how much you struggled to make friends and apart from them and a few other wrestlers, you didn’t have many friends.

you struggled again in the women’s faction because they all were too focus on themselves to make space for someone else, apart from shayna or bayley, the rest of them never acknowledged you.

damian introduced you to jey uso and some other people like drew or la knight and even if they were all kind to you, you couldn’t really rely on them as friends because they weren’t.

so all you had left was the judgment day, until now.

“hey hermosa…we are not leaving you okay?” damian reassured you.

“everyone leaves at some point…”

“hey none of that nonsense okay?” rhea almost scolded you “you probably weren’t expecting this, i saw it coming eventually but trust me when i say that me and damian won’t leave you alone…you still are part of this group and we ain’t leaving you behind” rhea gently rubbed your back while you were wiping some of your tears away.

“rhea’s right…we are here and we are here to stay…” damian smiled at you.

“thank you…”

“don’t thank us love, it’s the truth”

maybe, in the end you still had a family that cared about you but for now, you couldn’t wait to kick finn and dom’s asses on monday night raw.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

part two

[thesuperiorrobin]

𝐒𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝~

❥Pairing: Damian Al Ghul x Wife!Reader

❥Word count: 1.0k

❥Warning: mentions of blood but very brief, mentions of killing, mentions of kidnapping

❥S: Damian worst fear is losing his beloved wife (I wrote this in an hour. It’s 3:20 am rn☹️)

“This is so unlike you” Damian grumbles under his breath as he lies on a bed, a green silk robe hanging off his shoulder as you tend to a deep wound on his midsection with a needle and thick thread in hand. There’s sweat dripping down his forehead. A part of you feels bad but at the same time, he decided to have you tend to all his wounds after coming home from a mission his mother or grandfather sent him on.

Some days he’ll come home with a scratch or none and other days he’ll come back with gashes and marks that’ll stay permanent on his tan skin. As the needle in your hand digs into his skin once more—it hits a nerve that has him griping your wrist tightly and hissing loudly. Despite being an assassin, despite going through every single hard training process there was, a torture process, he still feels his pain.

“I’m sorry” you watch as Damian lets out a heavy sigh, letting go of your writs and gripping a metal handle beside the bed. “Just a few more so please bear with me” Minutes had felt like hours to Damian once you finished. And with your help, he sits up straight, groaning as we do so. One last step was to wrap the now stitched-up wound with bandages. His arms are up slightly as you reach over his back with the long white strips and bring them back to his front repeating the same process a few more times.

Once done, you help with his robe, gently as ever. You pat away any dust that drapes his shoulders. There’s still anger that clouds his eyes when he looks down at you “What happened?” Your hand grazes his cheek softly before placing your cold palm up against his warm cheek.

“It’s nothing, Zawjati. Come let’s go to bed” Your heart throbs at the sudden name. His hand reaches up to your hand, the sliver hand on his finger shining brightly as you gently peel it off his face, kissing it softly before he places it back down at your side. A visible frown finds its way on your lips as he walks past you with his head down.

“It’s clearly nothing. I can see it in your eyes” It’s a mumble but Damian can hear it loud in clear. Your eyes connect for a moment before you sigh—averting your eyes away from his “Let me clean up first, I’ll head back in a bit”

Damian leaves without saying a word to you. It takes a bit longer, mostly because you take your time cleaning and sanitizing. It takes thirty minutes before you’re heading back to your shared bedroom. You expect him to be asleep after being away for so long, but he’s wide awake when you enter the room, sitting upright on the bed rob long gone and with a book in his hand waiting for you. He places it down, on the nightstand beside him.

“You should be asleep” You shake your head, making your way to your side of the king-size bed.

“I can never sleep peacefully knowing you aren’t by my side” he lifts the silk blanket from your side—waiting for you to get in the covers.

You waste zero time as you jump in, head landing on the soft pillows. A sigh of relief leaves your lips once he throws the blanket over your shoulder. He watches as you snuggle closer, eyes closing. Damian’s arm reaches for the small lamp on his nightstand. The once-dim room turns dark within an instant as he turns it off. The wound on his midsection has Damian getting under the covers carefully. The shuffling stops and the room goes quiet. Damian thinks you are fast asleep, but when he feels your fingers tracing gentle shapes on his biceps he thinks otherwise.

Goosebumps cover his body. He can’t sleep either, not because of you tracing his skin, but because his mission early has him thinking. His target threatened you, threatening to take you from his side permanently. The assassin can handle petty little threats, but when they’re about his wife, all he sees is red. His wound was just the aftermath of his outburst. They’re all dead—every single one of them.

He has nothing to worry about—so why is he still worrying about it?

How many others, how many of his enemies feel the need to target you just so they can take him and the rest of the league down?

How much more does he need to paint his hands red just to keep you safe and sound, far away from harm's way? Damian would never say it out loud, out of fear and out of his reputation, you are the most saint and innocent thing to ever happen to him in his life. Someone so innocent and pure belongs to him, someone who’s the exact opposite—someone who can paint an entire city red with his bare hands if he needed to— have you sound asleep beside him—acting like he can’t break you with just his thumb.

When he looks at you—all his worries disappear just like that. Your breathing clams him down. Why worry, when he has you safe and sound right beside him? He takes one glance at your sleeping figure beside him, so peaceful and beautiful, curled up against his arm. His other arm reaches over to brush a few strands of your hair out of your face. He lets out a small breath as he watches you snuggle closer. He moves a bit, arm sneaking its way under your neck and over your shoulders, head on top of his arm using it as a pillow.

“I promise I would never let anything happen to you, beloved. Not now nor ever” A single kiss goodnight on your forehead and he closes his eyes, the darkness following soon after.

[dumbkiri]

𝐁𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐃 𝐒𝐈𝐁𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝟐

Highly requested and I am so sorry it took forever to get this out. I'm still a bit unhappy with this work and I need to get back into the Batboys and their behaviors lol

For now enjoy this part two of Blood Siblings

"You need to strike with more force, [Name]. I haven't seen you this bored since Damian left," Her instructor, Ali, looked at her with his dark brown eyes. His arms fell down at his sides and he set the bottom of his staff down. “Is there anything you-”

“I saw my brother when I left for that short period of time,” [Name] said with her head held down in shame. Her eyes had shown conflict swirling around in the light of the early sun. Her mind was elsewhere and not in her morning training. Her hands wrapped up in white tape screamed at her to use them to fight. 

Her hands knew nothing besides fighting and killing.

Not even the feeling of someone holding it with care and security. 

“And I saw my father. Zhao was going to kill them, but I put a stop to it.” 

She looked up at her instructor and he had his mouth wide open. Then he walked up to her at a brisk pace and set his hands on her shoulder, he whispered, “Does your mother know about this? If she finds out—“ 

“I can handle her punishment, Ali, so there’s no need to worry.” [Name] said looking up at Ali to reassure him. Talia wasn’t the greatest mother, she rarely showed any affection toward her. But she did have her moments. “Damian looked at me in disgust as if I was the one who did something bad. I killed our enemy and saved them by being overrun. So why?” 

Ali moved back and set his hands on his hips in thought. He put his hand under his chin and said, “It’s because he doesn’t have that drive to kill anymore. We don’t have to fight our enemies over and over again because we put an end to their lives. Damian fights in a different way, one that doesn’t really benefit him.” 

“But killing is wrong to him and…” [Name] looked at Ali and whispered to him, “My father said that I was welcomed. That I could be there with him, with my brother.”The hopeful look in her eyes shattered upon seeing her instructor’s face.  

Ali’s eyes grew big and wide as saucers. He shook his head in denial and replied to her ridiculous statement, “You can’t do that, [Name]. Your mother will hunt you down and punish you. Talia will not forgive you for running away, she already gave up on one of her children. She won’t give up on you.” 

[Name] knew Ali was right, maybe that’s why she had this terrible feeling in her gut. She could never be free. She felt like a lioness trapped in a cage pacing back and forth memorizing the perimeter. “I know that, Ali.”

“You know what?” A curt voice cut through their conversation.

[Name] and Ali turned their attention to Talia who stood at the entrance of the training area. The daughter sighed and showed her bandaged hands to her mother, “Ali was reminding me that I should strike with more force. But I don’t know how hard I’m hitting when I can’t feel the pain.”

“Obviously not hard enough if your instructor is telling you,” Talia put her hands on her hips leaning on her right leg. Her eyes were dead set on [Name] and the younger female felt suspicious of her mother. Ali noticed the tension and he brought out some tape taking [Name]’s shaky hands in his. “[Name] let me rewrap your hands. It seems the ones you are wearing are too bloody.” 

[Name] pulled her hand back and said, “I’m fine, Ali. Let’s continue with-”

“No.” Talia said sternly. The older female walked down the stairs with a dark look across her face. Ali immediately took a step back feeling the wrath from Talia come off in waves. [Name] felt it too, but she stood her ground. She wasn’t going to back down from her mother. She would go through torture to keep her pride. Not that the beating did anything to her when she couldn’t feel pain. 

[Name] didn’t dare speak first to her mother and waited for the woman to speak her mind. To ask her questions.

“I know you killed Zhao, many of the assassins that accompanied you two mentioned how you were the one who brought him down.”

“I had a perfect reason to stop him, “ [Name] stated looking at her mother with determined eyes. 

“And what was that reason?” Talia asked with gritted teeth. Her anger showed and it was as if she wasn’t trying to hide it. 

[Name] swallowed the lump in her throat, “Zhao was planning to kill Damian. I stopped him from committing that treason. I won’t allow scum like Zhao to end my brother.” The bracelet she wore around her ankle while training reminded her of her bond with her brother. Despite not helping her a lot himself, she would do anything for Damian. Anything for approval because she knew life with the League wasn’t worth it. 

Obviously Damian thought the same because he never returned. 

Talia raised her hand and back handed the girl with a scowl on her face. “Zhao was ordered to kill Damian, you stupid girl. He had to do it to show his loyalty to you and you killed the man who was going to be your husband.” 

[Name] spit some blood on the cement floor and glared back at her mother. Talia wiped her hand and the scowl on her face never disappeared. “That look,” Talia muttered, “that’s how your father and brother stare at me.”

[Name] straightened out her back and said, “I understand why they do. You’re a monster.” 

Talia laughed and replied back, “My daughter, you will receive that same look from them when you show them your true colors.”

Then everything happened so fast. Ali yelled out her name and [Name] saw many assassins attack Ali with incredible speed coming out of their hiding spots. [Name] took a giant leap toward her mentor, but she was tackled by two other assassins. Quickly, one had sedated her, stabbing her arm with the needle of the syringe. 

She watched as Ali defended himself from his once comrades. 

Talia stepped over to [Name]’s slumped body and said, “I will break your spirit and you’ll become a ghost again. You brought this pain and suffering onto yourself.” 

[Name] could hear Ali’s grunts of pain and suffering. The kicks and punches the assassins delivered. They were merciless. They were demons. Ali’s blood was…everywhere. On his clothing, his body, on their fists and shoes, on the cement floor. She could only watch as she was pinned down. [Name] stopped struggling seeing the life leave Ali’s eyes and his body fell to the floor with a thump. Her heart raced from the disgusting sight. 

Her mentor, the only one who cared for her in this godforsaken place, had died right in front of her. She was woken from her sad state when Talia struck her face with her shoe. Blood leaving her nose and a bruise formed on her cheek. “Don’t worry, darling,” Talia crouched down in front of her and [Name] stared at her with a heated look, “Ali is in a better place now. But you, your punishment starts here and you’re working for me.” 

……

“You are going to pose as a captive of Joker.”

[Name] sat strapped onto a wooden chair. Bruises decorated her body in various places, but that didn’t bother her. The thing that irritated her was the mucky environment and the stench of dead bodies at her feet. 

“We need him to lure out your father and your brother.”

She looked around the living room she was stuck in for 4 days and began counting the seconds in her head, never stopping. It was how she kept track of the time, how much longer that psychotic man and his even crazier girlfriend would walk in with a bottle of water for her. 

“This…man…you will not lay a hand on him. You will need to keep him in front of you and bring your father into the light. Make him vulnerable and when the moment is right, kill him.”

[Name] heard the creak of the door first before it slammed open revealing the green haired man and his crooked smile. He held a bottle of water in his right hand and he dragged a mallet in his left. She knew that the mallet belonged to his woman; Harley Quinn. 

She waited for him to smack that thing across her face like he did to the dead ones at her feet. But Joker had something else in mind as the mallet glided across the wood floor. He set it up against the wall and chuckled, sitting down right next to it. 

“It’s been two days, little killer,” Joker taunted, holding the water bottle in the air, ���two days since you’ve drank your last sip of water and four days since you’ve eaten.”

[Name] knew that, but kept her mouth closed. She hated talking in general, most of all this guy wasn’t someone she wanted to talk to. Her eyes flitted across the room and to the wall opposite of Joker. Another body, most recent, was a woman wearing a pale pink pencil skirt and a white button up shirt. Her heels were on the floor that were kicked off in her struggle to keep the largest of thugs Joker owned off her. 

But she wasn’t much of a warrior. She was an innocent woman that worked for the wrong man, Bruce Wayne. [Name] remembers her screams and the sound she made when the thug slammed her body on the wooden table that matched the small decorations of the chair she was strapped to. 

She remembered the sound of her skull being crushed by Harley Quinn’s evil swing of the malicious mallet. They all laughed when the table broke from the force and the smashed brains scattered in that area. 

The flashbacks of it all came to a stop when thunder rolled and lightning flashed lighting the small apartment up more. “You’re just like him, you know?” Joker said as he put his hand underneath his chin and his elbow rested on his knee. He scrutinized her. 

[Name] just hummed in response and Joker jumped up excitedly. He pointed the water bottle in her direction with a maniacal laugh, “There! Right there, little killer! That hum you made as a response to my statement sent shivers down my spine. That look you give when you want water too! Oh my, I just want to carve you up for him!”

Just like that, Joker dropped the water bottle on the floor and strode over to her with quickened steps. He pulled out a pocket knife from his purple blazer and pointed the blade at her lips. He grabbed her neck in his gloved hand and slipped upward to her chin. [Name] didn’t move or show fear in her eyes and that made Joker all the more ecstatic. 

“Now smile for me, little killer. Show me what you got,” The purr he let out as he let his fingers glide across her flushed lips was disgusting. [Name] wanted to shove that knife into his eye so badly. “I said,” Joker used both of his thumbs to spread her lips open, showing her pearly white teeth, “to show me your smile.”

“I don’t smile,” [Name] pulled her head away from him and replied coolly and to her surprise, Joker relaxed his tense shoulders. His hands retracted to his sides and he backed up with a less than pleased expression, “He would have shown a smile, I knew he would have. I know him, but you,” Joker drawled out angrily, pointing the knife at her, “I don’t know you. Not yet, at least!” He laughed into the air and he spread his arms out wide. 

“Come in, boys. I wanna see if this little killer can put on the same show he does!”

Ten thugs walked in some holding bats and wrenches in their hands as they filtered in the living room. They stood in a horizontal line behind Joker showing their ugly faces and terrible outfits. They really were crazy people in this awful city. Why would she want to live with her brother and father in this city of filth? 

“Clean up any other mess that tries to dirty you, my girl.”

Then a switch went off, [Name] moved on autopilot. She removed the rope around her torso the day the loonies tied her up there and it felt good when it slid off her body. Joker smiled and began to bow in front of her, “I present to you…the little killer of the desert.”

……

“This is!” Damian slammed his fist on the wall and glared angrily at the Bat Computer. He was enraged seeing the sight on the big screen. A picture of his twin sister tied up to a chair seemingly unconscious and beaten bloody. 

Bruce was just as angry as his son, but he couldn’t let that cloud his judgment. Just what was Talia thinking? “Joker sent this to Gordon stating that he caught an assassin from the League,” Tim piped up looking at Damian who was seething in the corner. 

“What is she doing back in Gotham?” Damian asked himself, removing his fist from the wall. He stalked over to the computer and analyzed the photo closer. “I know she can get out of those ropes, maybe she escaped already. But if that’s true, she wouldn’t hesitate to kill Joker.” 

“Finally, we have someone in the family willing to kill that psychotic clown you call a human being,” Jason, donned in his Red Hood costume, crossed his arms over his chest. Everyone looked back at him and he shrugged his shoulders carelessly, “What? I’m just saying that maybe if you just kill the guy, the city can finally get back on its feet. I died because of him, so cut me some slack when your “morality” is on the line.” 

Bruce stood up and grabbed his cowl, speed walking to the Batmobile. “I want everyone searching for her right now.” Damian followed Bruce, right on his tail and said, “Do you think she came back to live with us?”

Bruce jumped into the Batmobile and Damian did the same. Then Bruce pulled out of the Batcave with Jason and Tim trailing behind on their motorcycles. They were driving anywhere and everywhere for clues on where she could be. The rain slapped the earth with a rageful night of fighting. And Damian had to think, question why his sister came back if not for the first reason he gave out. 

“Your mother wouldn’t have let her go that easily, Damian.” Batman replied after a while of thinking.

“I know that, but I got out. [Name] can do the same and I think she only got caught by Joker to get us out,” Damian speculated with his eyes looking at the streets his father sped by. 

Bruce hummed and opened his mouth to say something, but a man wearing a clown mask jumped in front of the Batmobile with his gun raised high in surrender. Immediately, Bruce yanked the wheel to the left and narrowly dodged the masked man. The Batmobile spun out of control before Bruce used the boosters of the vehicle to spin it in the other direction regaining traction.

It worked and Damian looked at his father with a glare, “And you say I can’t drive.” 

……

“W-we need help,” The clown thug pressed his gun closer to his chest, not wanting Batman or his sidekicks to take the only weapon that can protect him away. “She…she’s killing everyone and she’s too fast. Everything we did…she can’t feel it! Her blood, their blood…it’s everywhere!” The thug cried out and pointed toward the alleyway that he popped out from. 

“Who are you talking about?” Batman asked, but he knew full well who the man was speaking about. [Name] was skilled, maybe even more than Damian. He heard the stories of his daughter and felt guilt for not taking her with him. She must have been on the verge of breaking and tonight Joker broke her. 

“Joker called her The Little Killer of the Desert,” The thug looked around to make sure she wasn’t around to hear him. “And she went on this rampage! We hit her with our best shots and she’s still running around killing all of us!” 

“And what about Joker?” Damian walked up after giving his brothers a heads up about their location and status. 

The thug shook his head and scoffed, “That crazy bastard laughed and for some reason, she left him alone even though he instigated her! I’m telling you, you guys won’t even stand a chance against her.”

Damian rolled his eyes and began walking into the alley filled with determination to save his sister. Their mother must have brainwashed her with a mission and keywords to have her perform a massacre on Joker’s men. 

Damian wasn’t surprised to see a factory in Joker and Harley’s style the more they walked into the area. Neon lights were everywhere as well as clown faces and diamond shapes all over the walls. Then there was a chorus of hoots and hollers from a radio, a fake audience. 

A miniature fighting pit had been made in the center of the apartment complex and right in front of the factory. Then a cry of help was heard before the man choked on a heap of his blood. A katana dug deep into his back, the tip of it connecting with his heart of black. Then it protruded out of his chest covered in blood and rain.

“Oh, come on! Is there anyone out there able to stop her! This is getting boring!” Joker’s voice shouted watching the teenage girl swiftly take her katana back. The body in front of her dropped joining with other dead ones surrounding her. 

Joker stood up from his makeshift throne and pointed over at Damian, “The Boy Wonder! What a crazy match up against my little killer! Come on in and take your best shot, be careful though she has been-” He cackled and gestured to the bodies, “killing all of her opponents!” 

Damian cursed under his breath and looked back at Batman, “I can take her on while you catch Joker na question him on why he had her in the first place.” 

Batman silently stared at Damian and mulled over his words. Then he looked over at Joker saying to the teen, “I’ll be back as soon as I can.” 

…

Soon felt like forever especially when Damian struggled to capture his sister. “Is this what Grayson felt like when I first met him?” Damian grunted out when [Name]’s fist made contact with his nose. In his daze, [Name] jumped at him and straddled his waist. Quickly she swiped a kunai from her vest and aimed it at his heart. 

“Snap out of it!” Damian shouted, his hands holding back her own which held tightly onto her kunai. The tip of it touched the tip of his padded armor and he felt her weight pushing forward to drive it into him. She said nothing the entire time she fought him and she still said nothing trying to end his life. 

“This isn’t you!” Damian grunted out, holding her back as much as he could. “I am your brother! You are my sister! Wake up, [Name]!”

She didn’t relent. His words weren’t reaching her. Their mother, their cruel mother must have spent weeks breaking her mind in order for her to forget about him. He yelled out as he forced the kunai away from his chest where his heart lay. His eyes blinked away the rain that fell on his face and her face drowned out in the background. 

Instead his eyes focused on the bracelet he tied around his wrist today. The little charm on it with the button inside gave him some sort of hope. Maybe this could wake her up from this nightmare. Making quick work, Damian let the kunai dig into his right palm and he cried out while pressing the button on the bracelet. 

His blood dripped onto his face as the sound of a small beeping came from her ankle. It beeps continuously and he looked up at her this time, seeing his distraught sister. Not the killer their mother made her to be. The noise, this certain beep, has been her saving grace for a while now. 

“Brother, did you know?” She asked quietly, afraid that somewhere their mother was watching them from afar. She pressed the dagger closer to his chest, keeping up this charade. When Damian subtly shook his head in disagreement, she went on to explain, “Mother brainwashed me with certain words and methods. I killed so many people under the guise of Little Killer of the Desert and I woke up in their blood with their bodies surrounding me. So Ali used the beeps of this charm to snap me out of it. It took trial and error because it had to be activated by you in order for it to ring.” 

[Name] snatched her hands away from Damian’s grasp and with a flash of lightning above their heads, he felt the sharp blade at his neck. “The bracelet went missing for a year, do you remember that? Ali stole it one night and we began training my mind to listen for it. I was sent with Zhao to kill you. But you pressed this charm and snapped me out of my mission. And here I am, on the same mission.”

She backed up and pushed herself off of Damian’s body. She couldn’t look him in the eyes, not when she failed again. “One of us has to die in order for the other to live, Damian,” She dropped her kunai onto the floor and cried, her tears mixing with the rain. She can’t kill her brother, he has a life to live and it’s a fulfilling one. While she…she’s always been a ghost, no one on this planet knows she lives. 

Damian has a family, he has friends and he has enemies that know of him. 

Now [Name] has her brother, only Damian knows how she laughs or how she used to pull pranks on him when they were younger. He knows that she likes to read books, to dive into different worlds that aren't always just about fighting. Damian knows she likes to dream, to dream of a life where she’s in control. 

“It’s me or you, brother,” She swallowed thickly and brought her eyes up to him, “Do you understand?” 

“I understand.” He solemnly whispers and with another flash of lightning, she attacked him. In his defense, Damian picked up the kunai off the floor and raised it up. His instinct had been faster than what his father taught him. The kunai she slipped from her hip didn’t even make it to his heart. But his did with a nasty squelch. 

He refused to move, but she pressed it further into her chest and smiled softly. The relief, it was such a relief to feel the weight of all the ones she killed off her shoulders and back. Blood leaked from the corner of her lips as she said, “Better you than her.” [Name] looked up from his teary eyes and at the woman standing about ten feet away from them. She rather die in her brother’s arms than the woman who claimed to be their mother. 

“Live long, Damian.” [Name] gazed down at his trembling hand that caused her death. Yes, her death would haunt him forever. But he understood what she meant. He had to be the one to end her life. She held his hand tightly in hers and she slumped forward in his sitting position. Her head hit his shoulder and he sat paralyzed in his spot. 

His beating heart pounded louder than the rain hitting the cement. He struggled to breathe because he felt the breath leaving her lungs. He felt her tight grip weakening and her heart slowing down. “No, wait,” Damian pleaded and shoved her backwards, her eyes already closed, “no, this wasn’t- Why! Why would you make me do that!” He shouted in anguish. 

Then the clicking of calculated steps from behind him got louder. Talia was here to collect his sister’s body, probably to drop her in the pit. He couldn’t let that happen. [Name] belonged with him, finally put to rest and to move on. 

Before Talia could reach any closer to her children, a clang of metal pierced the air. A batarang stuck out from the cement, warning Talia not to step any closer to the twins. 

“Back away from them,” A deep voice warned with anger laced in his threatening tone. 

Damian looked up from [Name]’s fatal wound and saw his father emerge from the shadows with a beaten Joker and Harley Quinn. Both criminals were knocked out and captured, his bloody knuckles holding tight onto their leashes. 

“I’m taking her back, she belongs with me” Talia said with a click of her tongue.

Batman dropped the criminals onto the floor and walked with an aura of darkness shrouding him. He stepped right in front of a crouching Damian who held tightly onto [Name]’s dead body. 

“She’s going home with us and having a proper burial. She deserves it,” Batman said.

“You don’t know what the girl deserves!” Talia lashed out, her nails digging into her palms. 

“She’s not your daughter, Talia!” He snapped back. 

“You ruined that the moment she died and you resurrected her in the pit. You forced her into becoming a killing machine, making her forget who she truly was. A girl who loved playing tricks on her brother, a girl who read books to escape her reality and a girl who dreamed of a life that belonged to her. You stripped away my right to being her father and supporting her like I did for her brother. She’s going home where she belongs.”

Talia faltered and looked down at her children. Damian was still in a stump, never moved away from the feuding parents. “How much did he tell you about her?” 

“Everything,” Bruce said with a stern voice, “I wanted to know what my daughter was like. If she had any hobbies or interests besides what you made her do. I wanted to know her just in case she came back with us, just in case she wanted my help getting away from you. I may not have been the greatest father or the best at times, but hearing about you and what you did to [Name]...” 

Bruce wanted to ask how Talia could mistreat [Name] like that. But one look at Damian and he knew he needed to get his son home before he completely broke. 

“She’s an assassin to you, but she’ll be a daughter to me most and foremost.” Bruce declared and Talia scoffed at his words before turning on her heel. If Talia had the League with her, maybe she stood a chance against Batman, but she didn’t. 

With Talia gone, Bruce knelt down in front of his grieving son and placed a hand onto his shoulder to ground him. 

“Damian,” Bruce called out gently, “it’s time to go home.” 

Damian looked down at [Name] and pressed his face into the crook of her neck and let out a wail of sadness. Those words should have been for [Name] too. It was always what she wanted to hear. Instead she lived a life as a ghost. Her name will be remembered only by him and their father. 

He didn't understand why this had to end like this. So why did he tell her he understood?

[multiverseworm]

You know what? My current obsession is Master Chef, so… Here is how I picture that would go with the Batfamily.

MasterChef: Batfamily Edition

For obvious reasons - Alfred is the chef judge.

The competition gets one person eliminated each week. They get tested in skills such as chopping, cooking, baking, plating, problem solving, and other miscellaneous events.

There’s 10 participants and each week one gets eliminated from the competition until the master chef remains.

Participants:

Bruce, Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, Steph, Cass, Barbara, Kate and Duke.

Week 1 - Soups

As we enter the competition, all of the participants are expectant of what their fellow competitors are able to achieve.

The most experienced ones in the kitchen wanted to demonstrate their skills right away and set precedent so everyone else would know who to be afraid of.

Kate, Duke, Barbara and Dick demonstrating great abilities with their different kinds of soups and appetizers. However, seems like the billionaire really can’t have it all, and that includes kitchen skills.

Eliminated: Bruce Wayne.

Week 2 - Sandwiches

Easy enough one would think. Well, Steph and Tim fell out hard in this challenge since they had never made anything that didn’t involve PB&J.

Damian made an excellent comeback from last week’s match and demonstrated an exceptional performance with his cucumber sandwiches (the other participants don’t seem to be happy with this result since it seems favoured enough).

Eliminated: Tim Drake.

Week 3 - All things Eggs

As the weeks start to go by, each challenge starts to get more and more complicated and the participants are feeling it.

Kate and Barbara are still holding strong their top spots in the competition bringing Benedict eggs or a Croque Madam, but this week Jason surprised everyone with a perfect French omelette one could fine at a decent Gotham restaurant.

This week, two contestants had a rough week when they burnt or included cracked egg shells into their food.

Eliminated: Cassandra Cain.

Week 4 - Italian

For this week’s challenge, the contenders were allowed more freedom to choose their dish with the condition it had to be Italian cuisine.

Duke and Damian prepared similar dishes by preparing tomato pesto and basil pesto for their pasta. This caused a timeout imposed by the judge when the youngest Wayne unsheathed his sword. This will retract points from next week’s challenge.

Steph and Jason both prepared pizza but the burnt edges on Steph’s are not a good sign.

As usual, Barbara, Kate and Dick remain on top each with a different type of dish.

Eliminated: Stephanie Brown.

Week 5 - All things Potatoes

So many variations, so many uses. Potatoes were brought by the participants in very creative ways now that we are in the middle of the competition.

Damian won this week’s challenge with an effortless and exquisite scalloped potatoes. Who knew he had this much talent to cook in him?

However, repetitive and boring dishes cost the top to our usual favourites. Only one dish that was presented in the form of French fries left out judge sighing and not in a good way.

Eliminated: Jason Todd.

Week 6 - Bake Off Part 1: Cookies

Baking is the most difficult part of being a chef. And the contestants found out the hard way.

Barbara delivered some ginger cookies she used to bake every Christmas at home, putting her at the top of this week’s challenge.

Kate and Dick barely handled their cookies not crumbling all over the place. But our two last competitors lost track of time: one got the cookies in too early and the other got them out too late. Raw or burnt?

Eliminated: Duke Thomas.

Week 7 - Bake Off Part 2: Dessert

In this week’s challenge, freedom to choose was once again granted. The only condition was to prepare a dessert that needed baking.

Dick’s strawberry cheesecake won over the judge’s palate since this recipe is something he seems to prepare quite often for his partner at home.

Damian had a good week with an Arab recipe for a Harissa, while Barbara’s brownies were out of this world. Kate however, seemed to made the mistake of using salt instead of sugar.

Eliminated: Kate Kane.

Week 8 - Bake Off Part 3: Pastries

Remaining top three in this competition and the first of the last two challenges is here. One of the most if not the biggest challenge for a baker: pastries.

This challenge was met with the best results of the contest so far. All three pastries were made almost to perfection.

Damian decided to go for something simple but effective, a cream puff. While Dick chose a chocolate croissant and Barbara Classic Éclairs.

A minor technicality should about all of this should decide the final two. And that is, the croissant was not bathed with egg wash and therefore lacked glaze.

Eliminated: Dick Grayson.

FINAL WEEK - Worthy of a Gala Dinner

As our two finalists enter the final round of the competition, our judge congratulates all the past participants for their ability to NOT burn his kitchen in the process.

This week’s challenge is meant to be the most exciting and stressful of them all. Our two finalists have to prepare an entree, main course and dessert worthy of a Gala for the Wayne Foundation.

All these weeks have been a preparation for this.

Damian and Barbara went their different directions to get this done. Barbara going for a classic approach and Damian having to adjust his dishes to his vegetarian style.

Here are the final dishes prepared by each participant:

Damian Barbara

Entree Tabbouleh Antipasto platter.

(Middle Eastern salad)

Main Meat-free Moussaka. Creamy salmon with

(Middle Eastern dish) roasted potatoes.

Dessert Lemon Carlota. Tiramisu with ice cream.

Damian’s dishes are a clear result of his heritage, the love he has for it, and discipline to learn new abilities and skills like he was always taught. His start in this competition was bumpy, but after assessing his mistakes he knew what he needed in order to succeed.

Barbara’s dishes are the result of years of helping out around the house when his father had to stay extra hours helping Gotham and learning how to do things on her own. She maintained her top profile throughout the competition, defining how a good and deserving competitor looks like.

Both of them clearly deserve the title.

So, for this time, and this time only, the winner of MasterChef: Batfamily Edition is…

[cdelphiki]

Jason and the Three Terrors spoilers

So I got an ask I'm going to put under a spoiler to answer! I'm going to include a snippet of my draft of a side story I'll post eventually, showing what's going on in Gotham right now!

HI I LOVE YOUR COMMENTS. Okay, to answer: We do!!!!! I don't now how much of the details will be put into the actual main story, since it's all Jason's POV, but I am working on a side story that's from Tim's POV. I might have it just be one "big" fic where I also have Bruce and Clark's POV and it's basically just jumping through part II showing what's going on with all them. Also Alfred will be preparing rooms for them all, just not quite yet. Bruce knows the kids won't be coming to him yet, but he and Clark are both working toward the four of them moving to Gotham to be with Bruce.

Tim basically figures it all out, Bruce had left the case to him to deal with, and Tim figures out Clark is in contact with the defectors pretty quickly, and once he makes the connection to Jason and Damian being Bruce's kid, he brings all the info to Bruce and Bruce is PISSED lmao. Anyway here's a small snipped from Tim doing the detective work: Its the most polished part I have, but it's still a rough draft. (This takes place on either Friday or Saturday morning, when Tim went over to Clark's house that same Saturday morning.)

-

Tim finally tracked down the League kids. It was surprisingly difficult. Whoever was on their side was good, because the paper trail of them going through airport security was wiped almost immediately after they left the airport. Tim couldn’t find any close up photos of them anywhere.

So it took him a week to figure out where they’d gone, but once he finally figured that out, it didn't take too long to track them down.

They’d bought train tickets to Metropolis, and Tim found where the teenager had exchanged his fake New York drivers license for a real Delaware one. Which was pretty damn impressive.

But it meant Tim had a clear photo of him.

And his first name.

And honestly? Tim was very, very confused.

Because this kid looked exactly like Jason Todd, just bigger, with straighter hair, and a white streak in his hair.

But Jason was dead.

Bruce grieved him way too hard for that to be fake. Jason was definitely dead.

But this kid went by the name Jason… Jason Johnson. Which was Jason Todd’s adoptive mother’s maiden name.

And the eyes were exact.

Tim had run them through a program to compare them to Jason Todd’s and, well. It said exact match. Same with a facial recognition.

When a new photo popped up on his newly created alert, Tim easily pulled the Daily Planet employment records and was able to double confirm. This definitely looked like Jason Todd.

But if he was Jason, why hadn’t he come to Bruce?

Was the League threatening him? Was he afraid to come to Bruce because of that? He’d gone to Metropolis, which was close. Did he know that the bats would figure it out, find him, and help him?

Tim was honestly ready to go straight to Bruce with all this, but he hesitated. Jason’s birthday was coming up in a little over a month, and Bruce was not handling it well.

If Tim was wrong here…

So Tim needed to gather more evidence.

The first thing he did was enlist Kon.

“Tim why are we doing this,” Conner asked, after he’d flown the two of them to Gotham Cemetery. It was just before dawn, so the cemetery was completely abandoned, giving them perfect privacy.

And it was way too early for Bruce to be awake, so he wouldn’t notice what Tim was doing, either.

“I have a hunch, okay?” Tim said, as he walked the last few paces over to the gravestone that said Jason Todd.

Conner stayed back where he landed and said, uncertainly, “This feels wrong. Isn’t it wrong? Like… grave robbing?”

“It’s not wrong,” Tim shot back, “We aren’t digging him up. Just looking.”

“What if I don't want to look?” Kon whined back.

Which was fair enough. Tim didn’t want to look inside coffins, either. But this was necessary.

“If I’m right, there’s nothing to even look at,” he said, “It’s empty down there.” And if it wasn’t empty down there, then they were dealing with a clone.

But the clone clearly wasn’t doing what Ra’s wanted him to do, because he’d gone and stolen three kids right from under Ra’s nose.

Kon held his gaze another long moment, clearly hoping Tim would change his mind. When Tim held the gaze firmly, and didn’t budge, Kon dropped his shoulders and grimaced.

And, finally, looked down at the grave they were standing near. He took a deep breath, then really looked, and his eyes went wide.

“Damn,” Kon exhaled, “You’re right.”

Tim couldn’t help his grin.

“How are you right?”

“I don’t know,” Tim said, “that’s what I need to figure out next.”

[davidmann95]

Momentarily returning to Tumblr for my SKYROCKET thoughts, in total:

I think the pitch is kinda overstuffed with blorbo-bait for what amounts to a really extended misdirect, but those are MY blorbos so excellent chance I would've enjoyed it on a month-by-month basis. Having on a mad whim recently read about half of the 90s/early 00s Superboy ongoing along with a few subsequent greatest hits, I think the actual core character arc and reconceptualization of Conner is smart and thematically justifies itself. I recognize this is reading stuff into the character that was not previously intended to be there and does not square 1:1 with every prior appearance, to which I say, welcome to figuring out new shit to do with collaborative open-ended characters who have been around for entire human lifetimes.

Skyrocket is a pretty dopey name though.

The look though? The look goes hard.

Sucks not to get a rare entry into the canon of high-profile queer superhero titles that wouldn't have been about the lead immediately finding a cool-but-not-in-a-threatening-way love interest and fighting a mystery evildoer trying to take over the world by doing A Homophobia.

How was it ever in question that Superboy: Man of Tomorrow was 'in continuity', it establishes that on the first dang page. And then still running the Action 'prelude' to this story that isn't happening? Some real nonsense.

"Conner Connie Kent is the Jason Todd of the Superfamily" is totally understandable, but nah, they're the Damian if Damian wasn't handled by Morrison and therefore a giant mess, as evidenced by 99% of non-Morrison Damian. If we as a society had guts and integrity, Kara would be the Jason, and then she would finally be cool. This has been my fandom hot take for the day.

My brand has been so cultivated that when "Superman Secundus" got a namedrop someone messaged me about it, lol.

[samgirl98]

Cain and Abel Wept 15/?

Prev | Next

Not too proud of this chapter, but here it goes. I'm posting it a day early so enjoy.

Danny pressed the panic button his brother had given him.

Then, Danny and his family attacked without a moment of hesitation. It was their right; these people were invading their haunt.

Danny went straight for Talia, not wanting anyone else in his family to attack the dangerous woman. He made two swords from ectoplasm and swiped at the woman. She dodged both swipes and brought up a knife with a green and gold handle to stop one blade, and with her free hand, she caught Danny’s wrist.

Danny went intangible and used the element of surprise to punch Talia in the gut before kicking her off the porch. She quickly got up and dusted herself off. She looked proud for some reason.

Danny brought one blade to cut across Talia’s chest and another across her neck, uncaring if it would be fatal. She dodged it. Talia got one of the blades, and it disappeared in her hand. Danny smirked and swiped the remaining sword. Talia barely dodged. A few strands of hair danced in the air from where they were cut.

“Oh, habibi, you have become a better fighter. More ruthless,” she praised. Danny gritted his teeth. When he was distracted by her words, Talia kicked his stomach breaking his concentration. The last sword disappeared. It didn’t matter; Danny went on the offensive with his fists.

(He always liked using them better than a weapon, anyway.)

Danny punched Talia in the face while she punched his solar plexus. Thankfully, it didn’t do much, as Danny didn’t have to breathe; it still hurt. He got a handful of Talia’s hair and pulled hard. To her credit, Talia didn’t make any noise while a handful of her hair ended up in Danny’s hand. Instead, she used the proximity to judo flip Danny to the ground.

Danny noticed his family had taken care of ten people, but they were getting overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Danny got angry. How dare Talia come to their haunt and start a fight? How dare she?!

Danny didn’t care how much Talia knew about his powers. He got up and threw an ectoblast at the remaining assassins. Danny turned neon-glowing eyes toward Talia after he knew his family was safe.

“What do you want, Talia?”

His family came to stand behind him, weapons ready.

“Really, habibi, I know I haven’t been there for you, but calling me by my name instead of ‘mother’ is rude, isn’t it?”

Danny’s anger grew.

“No, you know what’s rude? You and your lapdogs are invading our haunt and threatening us!”

Danny saw Talia flinch; it was barely noticeable. He knew his voice was growing inhuman, but he didn’t care. He wanted Talia and her assassins out of their territory.

“I’ll ask again, Talia, what do you want?”

“Can’t a mother come and visit her child?”

“You’re not my mother. You lost the right to call yourself that long ago,” Danny said viciously. His mom put a hand on his shoulder, showing her support.

Talia looked at Maddie’s hand before looking back at Danny. Danny could almost swear he saw hurt in her eyes. It couldn’t be, though; Talia didn’t care about him, about the failure of the al Ghul line.

“I found the Ghost Investigation Ward in Gotham. It seems your father missed their arrival to his city. The only reason they’re still breathing is that I didn’t want to bring attention if they went missing. Habibi, what has happened while you were away from my protection?”

Danny went his blood go cold. Beside him, his family stilled. The GIW had found him; they were in Gotham. They had run out of time.

Danny felt the world tilt.

“Tell me, Danny, why are these scums hunting you? From what I can tell, you are alive.”

Danny glared at Talia, “Why do you care?”

“I was the one who got you out of father’s rule. Do you honestly think I don’t have an invested interest in keeping you alive?”

Danny laughed sarcastically.

“Oh, mother,” Danny transformed, “I am far from alive.”

____

Damian was busy chewing Richard and Timothy out when he got a distress call from Danny. His family looked at him in confusion before the sound registered.

“We need to go. Now,” Damian said. He went to his room, got his sword, and put on a League outfit (his Robin outfit would be too conspicuous) before dropping out his window.

He didn’t have time to wait for his family to suit up.

Damian was halfway down the driveway when Jason stopped in front of him on his motorcycle; he was still wearing his civvies.

“Get on,” Damian didn’t hesitate.

The ten-minute drive felt like an eternity.

As they pulled up to the safe house, Damian saw Danny in his ghost form in front of their mother. Damian jumped off the motorcycle before it completely stopped and toward his brother’s side, sword out and ready.

“Mother, what are you doing here?”

How had their mother found Danny so quickly?

“Damian, you’re looking good. I’m here to warn your brother.”

Damian felt his blood go cold. Was mother here to threaten Danny?

“Dami, the GIW, they’re here; they’re here in Gotham.”

“What,” Jason asked as he walked between the Talia, her assassins, and the Fentons.

“Where did you see them,” Maddie asked. She tightened her hold on a glowing green staff she had in her hands. Jack’s face was grim but determined, and Jazz was wearing a mechanical suit while holding a nine-of-tail whip with her father's face on it. Damian knew when someone was moments away from a fight; he saw it often in his own family’s faces.

Jason must’ve seen the same thing because he turned toward the Fentons, “Wait, we should wait for Bruce to get here. It wouldn’t do you any good to go and attack them.”

“We have the element of surprise,” Jack said, “and we have weapons. We are not letting them get hold of Danny. He’s our son!”

“Mom, Dad, Jazz, maybe we should wait for Bruce,” Danny whispered.

“Honey, if we wait for him, they might find you. She was able to. What’s stopping the GIW from standing in front of our doorsteps any second now?”

Talia lifted her chin, “I was able to find you the old-fashioned way; I doubt those blundering buffoons would be able to. I have an eye on them. They’re still setting up their base of operations. However, if you want to attack them, you have my and my assassins’ full support.”

“Thank you,” Jack said instead of denying help, “we would appreciate having your…expertise.”

“Okay, whoa, before we start, um, killing a bunch of government operatives,” Jason started, “why don’t we wait for Bruce and see what the Justice League has to say? The last thing we want is to compromise any peace between the Infinite Realms and the human world.”

“He’s right,” Danny said, “The GIW could easily spin any attack from us as a danger to all humans from inhabitants from the Infinite Realms. I understand you guys want to protect me, really, I do, but I have to think of my people’s safety as well, not just my own.”

Down the road, the Batmobile could be heard. A few seconds later, it stopped right in front of everyone. Batman came out, looking angry.

“Talia,” he said, “I think it’s time we talked.”

Daddy bats is angry lol; anyway I hope you liked

@spectralstardustandphantomnights @avelnfear @idfk-man10 @blackroserelina @candeartist422 @luer-mirin @mur-ururu @insufferablecrab @skulld3mort-1fan @meira-3919 @aethernorwood @mimilikey @marshmelloe @latheevening226 @ahyesanerd @lexdamo @chrysanthemum9484 @spooky-fm @gmkelz11 @jotaroslooseeyebrowhair @supershot73199 @starscreamlover @booberrylizard @pastalavistamf

[kiragecko]

Some thoughts on Dick's relationship with Damian, from a parent with a 'difficult' child:

a parent's world tends to shrink, when their kid has a lot of needs. Keeping every trigger and support in mind, at all times, uses up a lot of energy. They never fully relax, because they could be needed at any moment, and have to be able to respond QUICKLY when needed

doing things that don't involve their kid becomes almost unimaginable. No one is able to babysit. Few people want them to bring their kid with them. Their kid doesn't handle new situations well, anyways. They'd have to leave early, and probably deal with misbehaviour until the kid settles again, so is it really worth it?

talking about both their kid's strengths AND the challenges becomes fraught. People give looks of doubt when they bring in positives. They agree too wholeheartedly with the challenges. It feels like they need to protect their model of their child's value, because everyone else wants to wear it down.

even when they can talk about their child's victories, translating the importance is difficult. These things seem tiny, or actually negative, or are things the other people have never even considered.

listening to other people's valid pain is equally fraught. YES, of course that's true, but SOMEONE needs to believe in this kid! If they agree, too often the other person doubles down, and says all this poison that HURTS. It's true, but it hurts so bad!

only about 50% of other people's criticism is actually valid. The rest is usually 'this neutral thing made me uncomfortable, and the kid ACTUALLY hurt me a different time so I'm assuming this was cruel as well'. And the parent understands why other people aren't willing to be charitable, but it's still adults blaming a kid for not being perfect. Over and over again.

even once they get to a point where they can step back, it's almost impossible. The crises that happened in the early days are hard to forget. And the fall-out if things go wrong is SO MUCH harder to work through than preventing things from going wrong in the first place

there are so many reasonable, easy to provide, needs that are impossible to explain. That the parent can NOT expect of others, but which cause the child SO MUCH PAIN when denied. It hurts, and it makes it hard to respect other people, sometimes.

it's hard to connect with others when their world consists mostly of a person that other people don't want to hear about. There's so little time for other interests. Which means there's little to talk about. It's lonely.

they find that their version of respect has shifted, and no longer matches what other people expect. Things that they're used to doing, either to respect their child, or to offer relief to the other people involved in raising their child, are meaningless to other people. They've stopped doing certain things that are unhelpful in their home, but expected outside of it.

they mourn who they used to be, but also value who they now are, and struggle to work through this with people who ALSO mourn who they used to be.

That's just a few things. There's lots more.

[writingsofwerewolves]

I'm only uh... two years late posting this. 😅 Hopefully y'all when understand why when you read it.

I ended up not censoring anything so uh. yeah. Enjoy this sex scene with my self insert character, Damian, and Vikram. This was a really early thing I wrote, while I was still getting comfortable writing sex, so please be kind. 🥺

~

I was ready at ten on the dot, but still my heart raced when a message came in saying “I’m here. No hurry if you need more time.” Taking a deep breath, I stepped into my garage and opened the garage door. As it slid slowly open, it revealed a sleek black car in my driveway.

Trying desperately to keep my heart under control, I walked purposefully towards the panel with the garage’s keypad. Ignoring the man getting out of the car, I pressed the button to close my garage. When the door started closing, I faced him.

I’d already seen him in our video chat, so his appearance didn’t surprise me. Black curly hair, brown eyes, and a tentative smile.

“Indigo,” he greeted, “It’s good to see you in person.”

“We should… go before my parents see us out the window,” I commented.

“Of course,” he inclined his head. He moved around the car and opened the passenger door for me, “After you.”

“Th-thanks,” I stuttered as I got in. The car smelled of new leather.

Damian got in the drivers’ seat as I buckled my seatbelt and pulled out of my driveway without another word. I fidgeted with the strings of my hoodie.

“If there’s anything I can do to help with your anxiety, please let me know,” Damian offered softly.

I swallowed hard and nodded.

“Would you like to have music going?” he asked.

“Sure.”

He grinned and turned on the stereo. My eyes widened and then I glared at him.

“What, it’s a good song,” he shrugged innocently.

“Supermassive Blackhole… Really? Really?”

“It worked,” he smirked, “You’re distracted.”

“You’re evil.”

“And now you have visions of vampires playing baseball in your head. So it worked.”

I rolled my eyes, “You’re gonna be even more insufferable than I thought.”

“That sounds like a challenge… I accept.”

“Is Decode gonna play next?”

“Of course.”

“Lovely.”

“With the ice successfully broken, is there anything you want to know before we get there?”

My heart raced as I considered everything I wanted to know, but mainly one thing was on my mind.

“How do I know you’re really who you say you are?” I whispered.

“Beyond what I’ve told you, I don’t know. I can prove I’m a vampire, but I don’t know how much that’s worth.”

“It’s worth something.”

“Do you want me to prove it now?”

I chewed my lip.

“Probably should before we get too far from your house,” he commented. “I’ll pull over.”

He found a wide shoulder and pulled the car over before facing me.

“This may scare you,” he warned, his eyes nervous, “Seeing it can trigger a…”

“Visceral reaction?” I questioned.

“Exactly. Maybe I should take you at least back to your neighborhood so if you run, you can get home.”

“I’m not running.”

“You say that… I never know how well people will handle seeing this.”

“I’m not running,” I repeated, “If you’re trying to talk me out of it because you’re not really a vampire and this is all a scam…”

“No, I’m really a vampire.”

“Then put your fangs where your mouth is,” I crossed my arms, fighting a smile.

He laughed appreciatively, “Alright.”

In the darkness of the night, Damian's eyes started to glow red. He opened his mouth wide enough so I could see long fangs emerge.

He was right about the visceral reaction. Something in my stomach twisted. Maybe a part of me knew I was seeing the ultimate predator for humans. A hunter. A danger. But I didn’t run.

The red glow faded and the fangs retracted, “What do you think?”

“I think you’re a vampire,” I confirmed.

“Ready to continue?” he asked.

I nodded and he pulled the car back onto the road.

“Anything else we should address?”

“No, I’m still coping with the vampire thing…” I admitted as Full Moon played.

“Understandable. How is that going?”

“You’re… a vampire.”

“I am,” he agreed with a laugh, “Any thoughts on the subject?”

“Are you going to bite me?”

“Not without permission.”

“With permission, you would?”

Damian grinned at me, “At some point, yes. I don’t want you to feel pressured into it. That’s only something I would do if you thought you’d enjoy it.”

“There’s no… practical reason why you would?”

He frowned suddenly, “I feed on Vikram regularly. I’m in no danger of starving.”

“That’s not a no.”

“Is there a reason you think I would need to feed on you?”

I looked out the window.

“The issue is,” he began slowly, “I don’t know how much you know. Clearly you know the basics. Far more than you should since you are not an After. I don’t know where the line is, Indigo.”

“So there is a reason you’d feed on me?”

“I won’t if you wouldn’t enjoy it, no matter what practical reasons there may be.”

“Is there a practical reason?” I pressed.

He hesitated before saying, “Yes. Your blood would let me go in sunlight safely.”

I let my breath out in a whoosh.

“That wasn’t something I planned to tell you so soon,” he admitted, “I didn’t want you to feel any sort of pressure.”

“I already knew.”

“That’s unfortunate…”

“You planned to lie to me?”

“No, just hold that information back until you were more comfortable. If you think being bitten is something you could enjoy eventually, then we can have a discussion about that but I don’t want you to feel you owe me your blood for any reason. I’m fine as things are. I do not need to go in sunlight.”

“Okay,” I agreed.

“Okay?” he frowned at me, seeming suspicious. “What does that mean?”

“It means that’s one of the many things we’ll need to talk about.”

“I see…” His suspicion didn’t ease, “Is there anything else we should discuss? We will be at the house in about ten minutes.”

“I guess… I have a bit of irrational anxiety about something.”

“Alright. What is it?”

“Well, I feel like I should have irrational anxiety about it… Even though we did just cover it, you’re not in any danger of like… attacking me?”

“No, I am not,” Damian said gently. I’d expected him to laugh or something, but he didn’t. He took my question seriously, “I’ve had many years to perfect my self control. I’m only a danger to humans when starved or drained. I can assure you that I’m fully sated right now.”

“So if I were to somehow cut my finger or something…?”

“A paper cut will not put your life in danger, Indigo,” he assured me, “To be perfectly honest, yes blood always appeals to me. But I can control myself.”

“That kinda brings up another question… To get your eyes red and your fangs out, do you have to… think about blood?”

“Ah,” he seemed a little embarrassed, “Yes, I do.”

“Is it too personal to ask what you were thinking about?”

“I certainly wouldn’t recommend asking that of other vampires,” he chuckled, “But I am willing to answer. However, you may find the answer anxiety inducing.”

“I’d like to know.”

“I listened to your heart beat and breathed in your scent,” he explained, “And I did imagine what it would feel like to bite your neck and to taste your blood.”

My heart pounded in my chest and unfortunately lower down.

“Oh,” I squeaked.

He smiled, his eyes firmly on the road, “Does the idea of that appeal to you?”

“You can tell it does,” I grumbled.

“Not necessarily. Things can arouse without actually being appealing. Our bodies are programmed to respond to certain stimuli. It doesn’t mean that stimuli is actually enjoyable.”

“True,” I agreed. I cleared my throat and said, “At the very least, the idea of you thinking about biting me is… exciting.”

“That is something I can work with,” he shot me a grin.

“You mentioned other vampires,” I said quickly, needing a change of subject, “But you told me there weren’t other vampires.”

“Yes, as far as Vikram and I know, there aren’t any vampires or werewolves in this dimension. I just meant in general. I didn’t want to say your question wasn’t too personal, just that I was willing to answer.”

“Got it,” I nodded.

“We’re nearly there,” Damian informed me, “How are you feeling so far?”

“Anxiety filled.”

“There is something I wanted to mention before we got there. I wasn’t sure if I should leave this for Vikram to explain, but I’ve decided you need time to think about it and make a choice first. You know that you’re… a reincarnation of me.”

I nodded.

“That means that you’re Vikram’s mate. I’m sure you’ve read about mates in books like the Grey Wolves series and it’s similar. It means that his touch can give you comfort. It can ease your anxiety. If you want, he can hold your hand or touch you in a way that will help keep you calm.”

“Okay.”

“You… knew that?” he questioned.

I nodded.

“Well then,” he let out a breath, “I don’t know what else we can tell you, then.”

“I didn’t know your names,” I reminded him.

“No, just literally everything else,” he chuckled as he parked the car in front of a house, “Regardless, you should know that Vikram will be willing to help you if you want him to. There is no pressure either way.”

“Thanks. That’s good to know.”

“I’m going to get your door for you,” he stated.

He got out and came around to my door to open it then he led the way up to the front door. I followed him in and he took off his shoes.

“You can keep your shoes or take them off,” he said.

I took them off.

Damian led the way into the house, to the living room where Vikram sat. As we entered, Vikram rose, his eyes on me.

Damian spoke in an unfamiliar language and Vikram nodded.

“It is good to see you, Indigo,” Vikram said, “How are you?”

“F-fine,” I stuttered out. I shuffled my feet uncomfortably.

“Would you like to sit?” he gestured at the couch where he had been sitting.

I nodded and sat. He sat on the couch, but a distance away. Damian sat in a recliner beside the couch.

“Is there anything you would like to ask?” Vikram questioned.

“Uh… a million things, but…”

“You can ask anything of us,” he assured me.

“Well, uh…” I felt a lot more uncomfortable talking to Vikram than Damian, “You’re really a werewolf?”

“I am,” he confirmed.

“I already proved I’m a vampire, so I think it’s your turn, husband,” Damian teased.

Vikram sighed heavily.

“You don’t have to,” I whispered.

“It is not as easy for me,” Vikram said apologetically, “I can shift at will, but it expends a lot of energy and I would be unable to return to this form for approximately an hour. I am willing, but then we could not speak for that time. It is your choice, Indigo. Damian would still be able to answer any questions you had.”

“Not yet,” I said, “It would be nice to know that you’re… telling the truth. But not yet.”

He inclined his head.

“Does it… hurt? To shift?”

“Not anymore. For a long time, shifting was uncomfortable. It comes much more naturally now that I can shift at will, however. Before, I was forced to shift during full moons and could not do so at will.”

“Do you… like or dislike shifting? Now that it’s different?”

He gave a small smile, “I like it. It took time for me to come to that conclusion, but I do like now. It does not feel so much a part of me I have to combat, but rather another side of me I can embrace. For a long time, I was dangerous to be around during full moons and I had to work very hard to control that aspect. It comes much more easily now. Now I can spend full moons with those I love.” He turned to look lovingly at Damian, who smiled back. “Being a werewolf now is not as painful or isolating as it was for many years before.”

I was silent, processing all that and feeling anything I could say would be rude.

He faced me again and said, “I apologize. That was perhaps more than you wished to know.”

“No, that’s… Thank you for telling me. I’m glad being a werewolf isn’t awful for you anymore. I can’t even imagine how hard and… scary it was.”

“Yes,” he mused, “Scary is a good word. I never knew what my body would do. Who I would hurt… But that is in the past. I can assure you I am safe to be around, during the full moon and outside of it.”

“Okay,” I nodded.

“Do you have more questions about my lycanthropy?”

“Yeah, but I don’t wanna be invasive…”

“I am an open book, Indigo.”

“Well… What do you look like? When shifted?”

“My werewolf form is very tall. Perhaps eight or nine feet tall on my hind legs, though we have not measured. I have some human characteristics in that form, such as the ability to stand on two legs, and my paws still function decently as hands. Are there specific traits that interest you?”

“No, that covers it. Thanks.”

“This does not seem like it is new information to you,” he commented.

“I’d… kinda… uh…”

“May I ask you a few questions about what you know?”

My heard pounded loudly in my chest.

“It is alright,” Vikram said quickly, reaching for my hand automatically but stopping himself, “You do not need to answer.”

I tentatively held my hand out to him. He smiled and took my hand in his, enveloping it in his warmth. My body instantly responded to his touch. My muscles relaxed, the tension evaporating from my shoulders. I leaned back against the couch and let out a breath.

It was just as I’d written, but I really didn’t expect it to be so quick and thorough.

“Is that because I’m touch starved or because we’re…?”

“Mates?” he finished for me, “Perhaps a combination of the two. Are you alright?”

“Better than alright.”

I felt so good that my evil plan actually felt doable.

“Hold me?” I asked Vikram.

“Of course,” he said and he pulled me to him, so my cheek rested on his chest.

Holding his hand was nice, but being wrapped in his arms was heaven. I inhaled deeply and took in his scent. Beautiful and warm. I wanted to never be without it again.

Actually, I realized, my evil plot was being foiled. I wanted them for sex, but with how he made me feel… I wanted more. But I still wanted sex.

“Wh-what do y’all want from this?” I asked, a little breathless.

“We want for you to be happy, Indigo,” Vikram murmured against my hair, “If you did not want to meet us, we were content with that. And now that you are here, you can choose how to proceed.”

“What if you don’t want what I want?” I mumbled, embarrassed.

“That seems unlikely,” he said and he kissed the top of my head. “Did you have something in mind?”

I nodded against his chest.

“You want us to fuck you,” Damian guessed.

I pulled away from Vikram, my face burning.

“Damian,” Vikram said reproachfully.

“It needed to be said,” Damian shrugged, “I think it’s why they wanted to meet. Isn’t it?” he looked at me expectantly.

I nodded and looked down at the floor. Vikram still had his hand on my arm, which helped keep me from panicking but I still didn’t feel great.

“Alright,” Vikram agreed.

I looked up at him in surprise.

“Did you have a timeline decided?” he asked, “Tonight or after getting to know us better?”

“T-tonight,” I stuttered.

Vikram looked at Damian and spoke in their language. Their change lasted a few minutes, in the meantime, Vikram’s hand moved lazily up and down my arm. It send a shudder up my spine.

“Is sex all you want from this?” Vikram questioned.

“It was,” I admitted, “But now with how good this feels… I don’t know.”

“Now that you have met us and felt this,” he indicated his hand on my arm, “Has your plan changed?”

“A bit… I, uh… I’d kinda planned to just come over for sex whenever… If y’all were into that, at least. But now I think I want more.”

“So you don’t want to have sex tonight?” Damian asked.

“I’d love to have sex tonight,” I disagreed, “But my plan beyond tonight changed. If y’all don’t hate me, I’d like to… hang out. Be… friends. Or… more,” I added shyly.

“I would love that,” Vikram reached up his free hand to run a finger across my cheek. I closed my eyes and savored the feeling.

Arousal started to build again. I wanted to feel him touch me everywhere.

“You do not wish to wait until you are more comfortable with us?” Vikram asked softly.

“Are you actually willing to have sex with me tonight?”

“Yes. If that is what you want, I am very willing. I only want to be certain it is truly what you want.”

“It is,” I said eagerly, “Please.”

Vikram cradled my cheeks and pressed a kiss to my head, “Yes. We will.”

“Fuck,” I hissed, “I… I didn’t think you’d say yes so I didn’t… uh…”

“Do you need some human moments?” Damian asked.

“Fuck you,” I said automatically and then covered my mouth with my hand.

“You will soon,” he winked.

“We have a shower you can use,” Vikram offered, “And clothing you can change into. Take your time. I believe we also need a few ‘human moments’ to prepare.”

“Okay,” I agreed nervously.

“I’ll show you where the bathroom is,” Damian offered, getting to his feet.

Vikram lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss on my palm before releasing me. I shakily followed Damian to the bathroom. Except he didn’t lead me to a bathroom. He led me to a bedroom with an adjoining bathroom.

There’s clothes in here that should fit you,” he said, gesturing at a dresser, “You can wear as much or as little as you like when you join us. Be comfortable,” he stressed. “There’s a robe hanging in the bathroom for you to use however you see fit. The bathroom is stocked with things you shouldn’t be allergic to, but if you find it lacking, let me know. There’s toothbrushes and toothpaste. Use as much or as little of anything as you want. It’s all for you anyways.”

“You… stocked a bathroom for me?”

“Yes. Of course,” he said, as if that was a given, “As Vikram said, take your time. We weren’t exactly ready to have sex with you tonight either, so we’re going to prepare.”

“Okay,” I nodded.

“All that said,” he took a step towards me, “If you change your mind, that’s fine too. Vikram or I can drive you home. You could stay in here,” he gestured at the bedroom, “Or you can sleep with us without having sex. You have options. I know that may not be what your anxiety wants to hear,” he smiled, amused, “But you have options. You aren’t locked into anything at any point. You can always say no. You can always change your mind.”

“Thank you,” I told him, “Can you just tell me one thing?”

“Of course.”

“Do you really want to have sex with me?”

Damian slowly looked me up and down before answering in a deeper tone, “Oh, yes. I want to have sex with you.”

I shuddered and nodded, “Okay then.”

Damian turned to leave, but I put my hand on his arm and he faced me again.

“Can I ask you a TMI question?”

“Yes, Indigo,” he said gently, “What’s wrong?”

“Should I… shave? My legs or… anything else?”

“I don’t recommend shaving… anything else,” he said pointedly, “Right before sex. And shaving at all is your choice. Perhaps this won’t ease your anxiety, but I can promise hair doesn’t bother either of us. We don’t shave and we enjoy each other’s body’s just fine.”

“Wow. TMI.”

“You’re going to be having sex with us soon,” he shrugged, “You’ll need to come to terms with the fact that we often have sex with each other. Wild, passionate sex.”

“I’m going now,” I said.

“Take your time,” he grinned.

~

I took time to pick through all the clothing options. Thankfully no sexy lingerie was to be found. I selected a few options to try on after my shower. I brushed my teeth three times and spent time in the shower cleaning every inch of my body. The shower was beautiful and giant, so it was very comfortable.

Once out of the shower, I tried on the clothes I’d picked out. There were fresh socks and underwear which all fit perfectly. For clothes, I went with a small tank top and shorts. In the mirror, I thought I looked pretty hot but I had no idea if they would think so. I covered up with the robe.

When I emerged from the bedroom, Damian was there. He smiled at me.

“Sorry I took so long…”

“No, your timing is perfect actually. Are you ready?” he held out a hand to me.

I nodded and placed my hand in his. His skin was cool, but not extremely cold. Warmer than air temperature, but cooler than a human would be.

“I do generate some body heat,” he commented, guessing where my thoughts were, “Not a lot, but more than a slab of marble.”

“Are you going to reference Twilight constantly?”

“Sorry,” he said, not looking sorry at all. “I like your reaction to it. It’s cute.”

My face flushed.

He led me across the house and into a bedroom. In the center of the room was a massive bed. Vikram was perched on the edge of it. I realized both Vikram and Damian were wearing different clothes than before. Previously they were in jeans and button up shirts but they had changed into pajama pants and Vikram wore a tshirt and Damian wore a skin tight tank top.

“Please, sit,” Vikram patted the bed beside him.

Damian kissed my hand and released it and I joined Vikram’s side. Damian pulled up a chair to sit across from us.

“We have to have a talk first,” Damian stated.

I groaned quietly. I’d been worried about that.

“Neither of us are capable of having STDs,” Vikram informed me, “And we are both infertile so there is no pregnancy risk.”

“Okay…”

“We still tend to default to using condoms,” Damian explained, “Because a lot of people prefer that.”

“I’m allergic to—”

“Latex,” Vikram nodded, “We have latex free condoms.”

“But they aren’t needed?”

“No, it comes down to preference,” Damian said, “It makes for less… cleanup.”

“I… I don’t know what I’d prefer,” I said shyly.

“That is alright,” Vikram put his hand on my back, “We will use them to start with.”

“Okay,” I agreed.

“You’ve never had sex?” Damian asked.

I nodded.

“But you’ve pleasured yourself?”

“Really?” I whined.

“This is important, Indigo,” Vikram told me.

“Fine, yes I have. Do you want details?”

“Some,” Damian confirmed, “If you are expecting penetrative sex, I would like to know if you’ve used any toys for that before.”

“Yes,” I said stiffly.

“Has it ever caused you pain?”

“Not… when I’m careful,” I said quietly, “Is… is it going to hurt?”

“If we take things slowly, no,” Damian assured me. He put his hand on my knee and gave it a comforting squeeze, “If you feel any pain, tell us to stop and we will. We don’t want to hurt you, Indigo. It may feel strange or uncomfortable, but there should not be pain.”

“That is why this conversation is important,” Vikram added, “We need to know if anything has caused you pain before, so we can avoid it.”

“We also need to know what you enjoy,” Damian said, “Do you like penetration? Or is there something else we should explore?”

“I like it. I mean… it doesn’t feel extremely, uh… pleasurable… But it’s… The idea excites me.”

“Alright,” Damian nodded, “Are there things you do find pleasurable?”

“Well, the… normal stuff,” I mumbled.

Vikram wrapped his arm around me and kissed my forehead.

Damian shook his head and said, “Indigo, I need details. There is no ‘normal’ here. Everyone enjoys different things. Some people get pleasure from penetration. Some don’t. Some enjoy their clit stimulated. Others don’t. Some like their chests touched—”

“Okay, fine,” I said, “Yeah, I like my… my…”

“Clit?” he questioned.

“Are you really gonna make me say those words?”

“Yes,” Vikram said, “Indigo, we need to have a blunt discussion so we know what to do. This is your first time and while perfection may be an impossible goal, I do want for you to enjoy it as much as possible.”

“Well, what about your enjoyment? What do you like?”

“You want to know?” he questioned.

I nodded.

He bent down so his breath was in my ear, “I want to turn you around and take you from behind against the bed.”

Well, my brand new panties were soaked.

I let out a shaky breath, “Yes please.”

Vikram chuckled and kissed my cheek, “Soon enough, my love. I want to be more gentle your first time.”

“But I like rough,” I whined.

“That’s good information to have,” Damian said excitedly. “Can you tell us more?”

“Fine, you want details? I really like the idea of just being used for your pleasure. I want you to hold me down, ignore my pain and protests, and fuck my brains out. How’s that?”

Damian grinned, “Beautiful. We’ll certainly keep that in mind going forward. For your first time, a little more gentleness is required.”

“Can’t you just throw me on the bed, take my virginity, and be done with it?”

Damian winced.

I covered my mouth with my hand, “Sorry! I’m so sorry! I… I forgot.”

“You… forgot something I didn’t tell you?” he questioned, “I never told you that word is a trigger of mine.”

“No, but I knew. And I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, “I’m fine, Indigo. Thank you for your consideration. Regardless, I know the idea of that turns you on, but I think practically you aren’t going to enjoy that as much right now as you will down the road. Right now, you don’t know us that well and engaging in that type of play may be too much. We need to have a far longer discussion before we can engage in consensual non-consent. We need a plan and safe words. It is something we can do down the road, but not tonight. Not your first time.”

I sighed and nodded, knowing he was completely right.

“Tonight, I would like to go down on you,” Damian said, “Would that be alright?”

I swallowed hard and nodded.

“May I kiss you?” Vikram asked softly.

“I… I don’t know that I’m comfortable with that,” I whispered.

“Alright,” he nodded.

“We can—” I said quickly.

“No, that is fine, Indigo.”

“Do you like the idea of light bondage?” Damian asked.

“Yes,” I breathed, “I like… being restrained so I can’t mess things up.”

“You won’t mess up regardless, but that is something we can do,” Damian said, “This isn’t serious BDSM or roleplay, though. If you say stop, we stop. No safe word.”

I nodded.

“No contract?” I teased.

Damian chuckled, “Do you want one? Should we cross anal fisting off the list?”

I grimaced, “Yeah, actually. Anything anal… Not yet.”

“Understood. And vaginal fisting?”

“Uh, if you can fit a fist in there without causing me pain then you’re clearly practicing witchcraft of some kind.”

“I think you’ll be surprised what I can fit in there,” Damian laughed, “Now…” he spoke to Vikram in their language.

Vikram nodded and kissed my neck before urging me to lay back on the bed. My heart beat out of me chest.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

I nodded wordlessly.

Vikram held my arms above my head on the bed with one hand and stroked my cheek with his other, “You can say no at any time.”

Damian put his hands on my thighs and pushed the bottom of the robe up, exposing my shorts.

“May I remove these?” he asked.

“Yes,” I breathed.

He gripped the hem of my shorts and pulled them down, taking my underwear with them. Automatically, I pressed my legs together. Damian rubbed his hands on the tops of my thighs.

“You look beautiful, Indigo,” he assured me, “May I pleasure you?”

I took a deep breath and let my legs relax. He gently eased them apart.

“You won’t bite me?” I asked, suddenly fearful.

“Not tonight,” he grinned, “That isn’t what I have a taste for right now.”

Then he was between my legs. He blew gently on my mound, causing me to arch my back. Then I felt his tongue gently probe my folds. I whimpered and rocked my hips impatiently. Damian put his hands on my waist to hold me still as he sucked on my clit.

“Oh!”

Damian pulled back as I got close to orgasm and looked between me and Vikram.

“Do you want your chest touched?” Damian asked.

I looked up at Vikram and nodded.

“You are certain?” he asked.

“Touch me!” I begged.

As Damian returned to his task, adding fingers to his ministrations, Vikram carefully unfolded my robe, revealing the tank top. Through the fabric, Vikram cupped my breast, rubbing his thumb over my nipple. I arched my back, pressing myself into his hand. Then he ducked down and tongued my other nipple through my shirt.

“T-take it off,” I panted.

Vikram made quick work of pulling my shirt over my head and taking the rope with it before pinning my hands again. I was completely naked and exposed as he used his free hand to knead one breast while taking the other into his warm wet mouth. I’d never liked my breasts being touched much, but it felt so good.

Suddenly it was all too much and pleasure broke out over my body. I moaned and whined and twisted as my orgasm took me, urged on by Damian's tongue on my clit and fingers inside me. Damian prolonged my orgasm far longer than I thought possible.

“Oh…” I breathed.

Damian rose and kissed my forehead before breathing in my ear, “Who do you want to take you first?”

“I… I don’t know,” I said, looking at Vikram.

“Yes, you do,” Damian said, “And I don’t blame you. That’s one sexy man.”

“Indigo, are you certain?” Vikram asked.

“Yes,” I begged, “Please! I want you… inside me.”

He released my hands and moved back. He pulled off his shirt and pants, leaving him in his underwear. I watched eagerly as he removed his underwear. I inhaled sharply. He was much larger than the tiny toy I’d used on myself.

“It is alright,” he murmured, positioning himself between my legs as he ran a hand down the length of my body, “I will not hurt you.”

“You’re sure?” I asked doubtfully.

He bent over me and kissed my forehead, “Yes. I am sure. But we do not have to do this.”

“Kiss me,” I told him.

He smiled and cupped my face, lifting me to meet his lips. He was gentle and probing but I had no idea what to do so I opened myself to him and felt his tongue invade my mouth. I gripped his arms and arched my back, feeling his length between my legs.

When we broke apart, I was ready. I smiled up at him and nodded.

Damian held out a foil packet to Vikram.

“No condom,” I said.

“You are certain?” he asked.

I nodded, “I want to… uh… feel you.”

“Alright,” he agreed, putting one hand on my hip and probing my entrance with his other.

I gasped at the intrusion. His fingers felt so much bigger than I was used to.

He wrapped my legs around his waist and kissed me again as he fingered me. I kissed him back as best I could with my inexperience. I was too excited to care about embarrassing myself. He swirled his fingers inside me, stretching me beyond what I thought possible.

I was in the verge of another orgasm when he pulled back, but then something thicker replaced his fingers and pressed against me. I whimpered and started to struggle.

“Sshh,” he soothed, “It is alright. Relax and this will not hurt.”

“You don’t know that,” I shook my head, starting to second guess everything.

I felt his fingers in me again and inhaled sharply.

“Does this hurt?” he asked.

“N-no…”

“I will not hurt you, Indigo,” he said, “But we can stop.”

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, focusing on the feeling of his warmth around me. It relaxed me.

“No, I’m… I’m fine. Just please be gentle. I’m scared.”

Vikram kissed my forehead and pulled his fingers from me. “You can tell me to stop for any reason,” he assured me, “Relax.”

I took another deep breath and let his warmth release the tension from my muscles. He pressed against me again and slipped inside.

I gasped in surprise and he stilled.

“Indigo?” he questioned, his voice strained.

“I’m fine,” I squeaked.

He moved within me, dragging across my inner nerves slowly. His pace gradually quickened and I found myself rising my hips to meet him. Soon, he gripped my waist and held me in place so he could pound into me with wild abandon, all gentleness forgotten.

I arched my back and tightened my legs around him as my orgasm gripped me. I felt my inner muscles massaging him and he pressed into me and grunted as I felt warmth fill me. I moaned and ground my hips against him as we climaxed together.

Vikram’s body laid heavy atop me. Not enough to crush me, just enough to be pleasant. When he stirred, I whimpered and held on to him.

“It is alright,” he murmured, “I will not move until you are ready.”

I whined a little and nodded, feeling how sensitive I was down there. Every breath felt like sandpaper. After a minute I said, “Okay. Slowly?”

“Always,” he kissed my forehead and slowly pulled out of me.

I winced but it didn’t hurt.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

“I… I think so.”

Vikram scooped me up in his arms and moved me into the center of the bed, onto the pillows. I saw Damian enter the room with a bowl of water and washcloth.

“Did… did you want to…?” I asked him.

“Not tonight,” he murmured, stroking my forehead with his thumb, “Another time. May I clean you?”

I swallowed hard and nodded. He eased my legs apart and started cleaning away the fluids with the warm wet rag. It felt so strange for liquids to be leaking out of me. I squirmed uncomfortably.

Vikram laid beside me and kissed my shoulder. “Did you enjoy it?”

“I did,” I said, trying not to wince as Damian carefully cleaned my sensitive parts, “It was… amazing. Did… did you?”

“Yes,” he assured me, “Very much. I did not hurt you?”

“Not at all. Sorry I freaked out…”

“No, it is alright. I hope I did not pressure you into continuing.”

“I wanted to.”

Damian kissed my thigh as he cleaned, causing me to moan a little.

“You sure you don’t want to?” I asked him.

“Oh, I do. But I think that’s more than enough for one night. Recover.”

“But I’m not… injured, right?”

“No, but you may feel sore,” Vikram told me, “It is best to not overexert yourself tonight.”

“I don’t want anyone to be left out, though…”

Damian and Vikram smiled to each other.

“No one has to be completely left out,” Damian said, putting the rag away and climbing over me to straddle Vikram.

Vikram hissed as he put his hands on Damian's hips, “Gently. I am still sensitive too.”

“Just how I like you,” Damian quipped, leaning forward and kissing Vikram passionately.

I scooted away from them, uncomfortable.

“You can watch,” Damian told me as Vikram kissed his neck, “Or not. Whatever you want.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” Vikram panted.

I retrieved my robe and wrapped it around my shoulders as Damian undressed. Vikram tried to sit up, but Damian pushed him back down and rocked his hips on Vikram’s length. Vikram groaned and pressed his head back against the pillows. Damian directed Vikram’s cock into himself and moaned in appreciation. Damian expertly worked Vikram, moving just right to drive him wild.

Eventually, Vikram flipped Damian over so he was on top, driving into him roughly, as he had done to me. They both soon found their release.

When they were able to move again, Damian started to get up, but Vikram pushed him down and said something lovingly in their language before kissing him. Vikram then got off the bed and went around to the bowl and rag, retrieving it. As he passed me, he bent down and kissed my forehead before returning to Damian's side and dutifully cleaning him as Damian had done for me.

“Enjoy the show?” Damian asked me.

I silently nodded.

“Good. It was quite good for me too. We should do that more often,” Damian said as he grabbed Vikram’s hand, “I like fucking you when you’re so sensitive.” He kissed Vikram’s hand.

Vikram set down the bowl and climbed into bed on top of Damian, kissing him. He murmured something in Damian's ear that made Damian laugh.

“That would be rude to our guest,” Damian admonished teasingly.

“Hmm, true,” he rumbled, kissing Damian's neck before pulling back. “Indigo, where do you want to sleep tonight?”

“Uh… I can… go home if you two want to fuck more?” I suggested.

They both laughed.

“We aren’t going to fuck more,” Damian said firmly, “You can sleep in here with us. Cuddled up between a vampire and werewolf… Perfect temperature.”

“Fuck,” I covered my face with my robe, “Why’d you have to find that blog?”

“I liked it,” Damian said as he got up, “Gave me all sorts of good ideas.”

“It was quite the invasion of privacy,” Vikram commented, laying back against the pillows.

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Damian said, “I stopped checking that blog after I messaged you, though.”

“I stopped posting after you messaged me,” I grumbled, pulling my robe tightly against me.

“That’s too bad. Looked like a pretty popular blog. Lots of monster fuckers really resonated with your posts.”

I frowned.

“Am I… a real monster fucker now?”

“You have fucked a monster,” Damian agreed.

“True,” Vikram nodded solemnly, “And now this monster wants to hold you while you sleep.”

I smiled and moved towards his open arms. He held me and Damian moved to my other side.

The pair held me as I fell asleep.

For fun #12 plz? :3

Sorry for the delay in posting this! I've had this ask for a few days. 😅

I've been busy writing new stuff so I haven't had a chance to track read through #12 and uh... it's a pretty personal one so I may want to do some censoring before I post it.

Right now, I'm working on For Fun 19, which is already 10k words after only three days lol. When I feel like taking a break from that (or lose interest), I'll post #12. Sorry for the wait!

[nyadami]

It’s an early morning after a late patrol, by this point Dick Grayson would literally pay to sleep, even an hour-- that’s how bad his sleep deprivation is. 

“Grayson, you look awful” the high, annoying voice of his Robin comes from the corner of the kitchen and he flinches. Not now he thinks, mildly annoyed.

It takes a long baffled moment to realize that his favorite coffee cup is gone, he finds it shortly on the table by Damian, full of hot coffee.

He’d get annoyed, expect Damian doesn’t drink coffee and he knows it.

“...Thanks..” the first smile of the day cracks through his grumpy morning mood as he looks at the prideful brat huffing and making a ‘Tt’ like it wasn’t him.

[damiansgoodgirll]

I would like a story where Damian becomes extremely protective of his wife and child after a dangerous event occurs.

i looooove writing about this kind of stuff! let’s say this is kind of an utopia but it could still happen, okay?

anyway

damian priest x reader

‼️angst and fluff

wrong house

your life was perfect.

perfect like in one of those romantic comedy.

you had a loving husband, a beautiful daughter and a big house like you dreamed about when you were a kid. a huge living room, plenty of space for your daughter to run and play, a backyard pool and the classic white picket fence. you were in a nice and wealthy neighbourhood, surrounded by lots of parks and kind people.

what more could you ask for?

a couple of blocks away from your neighbourhood there’s been a few robberies, nothing major, just some teens thinking it was fun scaring old people, but police officers told you multiple times that you didn’t have to worry about it, that they have it handle it.

damian wasn’t so sure about it tho.

he made everything in his power to provide you with a beautiful house, a nice neighbourhood so you could feel safe when he was travelling for work so the idea of having teens breaking into people’s homes late at night made him shiver, especially when he thought about you and your daughter.

“are you sure it’s okay? i can come home early…you know it’s not a problem mi amor” he said through the phone.

“dam…” you said laughing “everything been calm for over three weeks, we’ll be okay…”

“i know it’s just…you know how i get when i’m not home, i’m only thirty minutes away from you and in case anything happens you give me a call okay?”

“i promise you dam…go back to training” you said laughing again.

“i will, tell maya that i love her okay? and that i miss her so much and that i will crush her with hugs and kisses once i come back home” he said smiling, thinking about his two years old daughter.

“i will i promise…go back to training, we’ll see you in a couple of hours…” you said giving him a kiss through your phone and hanging up.

you smiled watching your daughter being completely invested in the cartoon she was watching.

the evening went on normally.

you and maya had dinner together, you got her ready for the night but as usual she didn’t want to go to bed without having a goodnight kiss from her father, so, instead of going to bed, you spent the early night together, watching some cartoons and eating popcorn.

you watched the time and you knew damian would be back in an hour so you took a few seconds to close your eyes and relax a bit.

non even a minute passed that you heard some weird noise coming from the back door.

you knew for sure that damian wasn’t back, you didn’t hear the car and even if he was, you knew he never used the back door, so what was going on?

then you heard them, two, maybe three voices talking softly. saying how hard it was to open your door and that maybe they should go to another house. you prayed that they would let you alone but when you heard the click sound of the door opening you realised it was too late.

you grabbed maya into your arms and pulled her towards your chest. moving fast to the bedroom, you locked yourself in, and then you locked yourself into the bathroom, hiding maya behind you in the tub.

you knew you should have called the police, you knew that but the first person that came to your mind was damian.

you didn’t know what was going on, and if something bad was going to happen you wanted to hear damian’s voice one last time.

“please…” you whispered, waiting to hear his voice.

your hands were shaking and even if you were crying, you were praying no one would be able to hear you from downstairs.

“hey love” he answered.

“dam?” your voice broke.

“hermosa…what’s going on?” he asked, alarmed by the sound of your voice.

“dam they’re here…”

“who?” he knew who, he just didn’t want it to be real.

“someone’s in the house…dam, they’re in the kitchen, looking for something i guess, i’m in the bathroom with maya, we’re locked in…i know they never hurt anyone, they’re just kids but…damian i’m so scared, i don’t want anything to happen to maya” you broke down, trying to muffle your cries.

“listen to me amor, i’m coming back home right now okay?” he said and you hummed “you’re on the speaker, finn is with me and he’s calling the police right now, you stay at the phone with me okay?”

he didn’t know how he was able to remain so calm. in reality he was freaking out, just the thought of you and maya being in danger made his blood boil.

“is maya okay?” he asked.

“she’s okay, she’s scared too but she’s okay” you said, looking at your daughter’s face. she was confused and definitely scared but still she didn’t know what was going on.

“are you okay love? i’m coming back home, right now..you stay at the phone with me okay?”

“okay…” you said.

you hear the noise from downstairs growing closer to you, they were in the living room right now. you were lucky your house was big enough that you had the time to hide.

“damian they’re closer…i can hear them… i’m so scared…”

“i know princesa i know….keep holding on for me okay…i’m driving as fast as possible, keep holding on”

“i love you so much damian…so so much”

“don’t say that like it’s the last time you’ll say this…” damian’s heart broke, he couldn’t imagine how scared you must have been “i love you so much mi amor and i’m not going anywhere, ill stay at the phone with you, finn just told me the police is on their way…”

“okay…” you whispered.

damian kept talking to you but you stopped him when you heard the sirens ringing.

“police is here…” you whispered letting damian know about it.

you heard them breaking down the front door. you heard them chasing the kids around your house and you heard them calling your name.

you waited until they found you. they were police but you didn’t trust them enough to come out yet, you didn’t feel safe. the only place where you always felt safe was between damian’s arms and you couldn’t wait for him to be back.

you and your daughter were brought downstairs. you didn’t care about the broken furnitures, not when something worse could have happened.

damian ran into the house, fighting off police officers who told him to stay outside.

“my wife and my daughter are inside!” you heard him screaming, shoving past one officer.

“dam…” you said, tears running down your face.

“hey…” he whispered hugging you tight. maya was watching the whole scene with a confused smile. she was just a kid, too young to understand what was going on. one police officer was sat next to her, while you couldn’t let go of damian’s embrace.

“i was so scared…”

“i know mi amor, i know…everything is over now, you’re safe, you and maya are safe…” he kept repeating, more to himself, because he couldn’t describe how terrified he was when you told him someone broke into your house.

“i’m so glad she’s okay…i would have fought with all my life if something happened….”

“i know hermosa…she’s so lucky to have you as her mom, i’m so glad to call you my wife…and i’m so happy to see you both here alive, i’m so sorry i wasn’t here”

“damian, it’s not your fault” you said before he could blame himself “you’re here now and it’s all that matters”

“i love you so much…and you too maya” he said moving to bring her up in his arms.

she was just happy to see his daddy smiling at her.

“missed you” she said with her soft voice that always made your heart smile.

“i missed you too princess…and i’m not going anywhere for a long time” he said kissing her head “daddy is gonna stay here with you”

she seemed happy with his decision and so were you.

it was kinda selfish taking him away from his work but he knew that you wouldn’t trust yourself to be home alone for some time now and he didn’t want to leave you alone, never.

[bruciemilf]

There's something so goddam tender about Bruce referring to the batkids as his babies;

These instruments of unlimited but painful strength, who have been through hell and have the scars to prove it, - are Bruce Wayne's most precious, fragile, dearest treasures.

Like, he doesn't give a FUCK how old they are, you best believe he refers to each and every one of them with that pet name and it immediately comforts them.

I SPECIFICALLY want Bruce to use that term when trying to comfort or calm them down, because that endearment is their WEAKNESS

Give me Bruce, still in his Batsuit, grabbing Jason, his Goliath of a son, by his hands when he interrogates someone too harshly, all because they made a remark about Bruce.

" You're above this, baby. We both know you are." With such a GENTLE voice that Jason breaks for a few seconds, to squeeze that tender hold back.

Give me Bruce, waking up at asscrack of morning, because Dick phoned him about a nightmare. He's been like this since he was old enough to crawl in Bruce's bed, but, " I'm supposed to be grown up and handle this like an adult but it's just - it's so hard, Dad,-"

" Stop that. You'll still be my baby when you're grey and wrinkly. Now let's start from the beginning... At home."

Give me Bruce bringing Tim his coffee after an exhausting corporate meeting, sending everyone OUT the door with his icy glare that immediately melts when he smooths out dark strands of hair from Tim's tired eyes. " Don't push yourself, baby. You can go home early."

Give me Bruce, holding Damian in his arms with so much controlled gentleness as they're waiting for Ace to be done with his vet appointment. His youngest hates showing what he considers to be weakness, but he can feel dampness on his shoulder. " It's going to be okay. You'll be okay, baby."

And Damian cries even harder because no one called him that before.

[watchtowerindistress]

we are not our demons (9/24) - bruce wayne x batmom

Gif source: aleclightwoodt

Author's note: I wasn't sure if I mentioned Dick's eye color in the first book, so I decided to give him turquoise-green eyes - with Dick's light blue eyes from Young Justice and Finn's peculiar mix of turquoise, blue or sometimes green. I know the comics have inconsistency regarding how many children Bruce adopted? For this case, I decided that all the kids you're seeing (Dick, Tim and Damian) are all his children/legally adopted, including Jason.

Regarding Tim's eyes, I was bored with every single one of those people having blue eyes, so I gave him green ones. Are you able to detect The Princess Bride easter egg?

Is it such a surprise that I surrendered to the will of the community and can totally see Matthew Daddario playing Jason Todd? Just imagine he has the grey lock. Finding gifs is just so hard. Is it too much to ask for a bleeding Alec Lightwood??

Beta-read by Heidi

Words: 4.2k

Please reblog/leave a comment.

Series Masterlist | Want to be tagged? | Read on AO3

And I wanna believe in a world we can’t see

Millions of particles passing through me

And I know there’s a meaning

I feel it, I swear

I can’t see the future, but I know that it’s there

- Fall on Me by A Great Big World and Christina Aguilera -

To say that Ellie had been sleeping restlessly would be a massive understatement.

She felt bad for her reaction in the Batcave and how she handled things. On behalf of her friend, Ellie couldn’t help this mounting stress and anger. It was bound to erupt sooner or later.

Ellie just regretted the way it came out. Still, her reaction didn’t diminish the turmoil she was feeling.

Ellie actually needed a second to breathe and think before she would have to start her day. She was sitting on her bed with her knees bent and the sheets pushed down her calves.

Ellie turned her head to the uncovered windows that let the blue shimmering light of the lake shine through the room. Her bleary eyes were thanking the soft illumination of the early morning. With everything within her she thanked the location of her guest room that wouldn’t intrude with glaring sunlight. Not to mention her alarm that woke her up—there were some things on her agenda she had to get done for today.

At long last, she stretched her legs until the warm material fell away with a soft caress.

Ellie uttered a stretched-out groan when her arm reached towards the nightstand and opened the lid of her pill bottle. After one daily dose and a long, refreshing gulp of water later, Ellie was ready to put her clothes on.

It was time to get out of her worn pajama shorts and white tank top and get to the real world.

After a quick shower and change of clothes, Ellie’s feet dragged her down the stairs and towards the kitchen. Ready to get some caffeine into her.

Alfred’s back was facing her and, like a deity with superhuman senses, his body turned around.

Ellie swore her heart almost stopped beating. “Okay, that was eerie.”

Alfred’s brown eyes twinkled with playfulness behind those glasses while his mouth twitched. “Good morning to you too, Miss Ellie,” he teased without preamble.

Ellie merely shook her head.

“Tea?” Alfred offered and lifted an empty mug.

A grateful smile was playing on her lips before she adjusted the thick-framed glasses on the bridge of her nose. “It’s like you read my mind. Thank you, Alfred.”

Comfortable silence lingered in the air while Ellie took a seat at the kitchen island. Her eyes observed the butler’s actions of filling two mugs with tea bags and steaming water. The brunette helped herself with a small porcelain can of milk.

Her fingers let the invigorating warmth calm her senses. Mindlessly, her hand wove through her hair while she opened her mouth. “How is she adapting?”

Her focus was on the frown on Alfred’s face. “To be expected. Miss Gordon is a strong one who can withstand anything.” Alfred paused, mulling over his next words. “But I’m afraid that she’s far more torn up about this than she’s letting on.”

Ellie nodded numbly, yet she still felt the effects of her inner agony. “Trust me, Babs is letting on exactly what she’s feeling.”

The distress in Alfred’s brown eyes only enhanced his inner conflict. “Do not take Miss Gordon’s words to heart. I’m certain that she would appreciate you seeing her.”

The heated liquid pouring down her throat felt like a welcome distraction from her wayward thoughts. “I won’t. Take them to heart, that is. She’s got to do a far worse to push me away. But I will see her later. Unfortunately, I have some things to do for today. But later,” Ellie promised quietly.

Alfred nodded in understanding, his eyes glinting in the morning light. “Explains your early rising, Miss Ellie.”

She sent him a blank stare but shook her head while chuckling to herself.

The older man’s expression turned mournful. “You did wonderfully yesterday.”

The day before had been … eventful to say the least. The only thing that was stuck on her mind were the painful words she threw at Bruce. One of the reasons why her face revealed her doubts.

Alfred clarified, “Master Tim is a sensitive young lad.”

A small smile played on her lips. Alfred’s words remained true. Ellie couldn’t help the soft spot she had for the Wayne son.

Sometimes she had to hold herself back from taking him into her arms and ruffling that messy hair of his.

“I know. That’s why I like him.”

For some reason Alfred could tell that there was something else on her mind. He narrowed his eyes slightly. “What’s troubling you?”

The heavy sigh breaching from her lips felt like anxiety slowly leaving her body. “I said some things to Bruce,” Ellie admitted painfully.

Alfred took a gulp from his morning drink. “The question is: was it deserved or undeserved?”

Her eyes rolled to her head in thought. “It was more like something inside me just snapped. I just don’t understand how Bruce can remain so calm in all of this.”

Alfred’s eyebrows arched high. “Master Bruce is anything but calm. You need to see it from his point of view. This feels like history repeating itself.”

Ellie’s features tensed at the reminder of their previous loss. “Exactly. But how much does it take for him to finally act? Before someone else gets hurt or worse?”

“At the cost of his own humanity?”

Those words felt like an ice-cold shock to the system. Of course, it had to be Alfred who remained the voice of reason.

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” Ellie muttered under her breath as her gaze on Alfred turned wistful.

The front door banging shut pulled her out of her musings. Alfred merely lifted his head to the point of almost throwing his head back in frustration, without turning his gaze to the culprit in question.

“Master Dick,” he admonished tiredly.

“Sorry, Al,” a male voice called back from the foyer.

The force of déjà vu hit Ellie. Intuition was telling her that Alfred suffered many times under Dick’s furniture abuse.

“Did the Ming vase survive this time?”

Dick entered the kitchen with a weary expression on his face. His gaze met the two people in the room with a greeting nod.

“Hey, guys.” His eyes wandered back to Alfred. “And don’t worry, nothing got broken this time.”

Sympathy rose inside her once she took notice of the dark circles under his eyes.

“Need some coffee?”

Dick threw his head back and grunted, “Loads, please! Just pump it into me, will you?”

Ellie’s inquisitive gaze met Alfred’s. “You want to look after Babs?”

He remained still; the butler gene ingrained into him like second nature. “Are you certain?”

She chuckled quietly. “Don’t worry, Alfred.” Ellie eyed the fresh pot of coffee at the butler’s back. “I can serve a cuppa coffee just fine.”

Alfred’s lips twitched at her choice of words before he went around the kitchen counter. “Fair enough.” After that, Ellie could hear his steps recede in the distance. She stood up and helped herself by pouring Dick a steaming cup.

The familiar sound soothed her mind like nothing else ever could. When anxiety episodes arose, her psychiatrist told her to think ‘happy thoughts’ or to center herself in the present with her senses. In the end, this was her routine.

To drink her daily dose.

It was tough for Ellie at first—to abstain from caffeine for a few weeks if she was getting used to her meds being introduced to her bloodstream. It was no surprise that her body fought the cold turkey with headaches and fatigue. These symptoms could make anyone wonder where anxiety started, and coffee deprivation ended.

“Here you go.” Ellie let Dick fend for himself as he drank up his portion like a thirsty man.

His actions made her raise her eyebrows in fascination—

(The thought that someone raised them like a pack of wolves rang through her head)

— before she placed the pot back into its assigned spot.

Ellie folded her arms over her chest, observing her companion calmly. “You look like shit, Dick.”

The dark-haired detective didn’t even bat an eyelash when he continued burning his tongue with gusto. “Oh, thank you very much. I’ve worked extremely hard to become so.” Dick lifted his cup in a congratulatory manner while staring at her in return.

Ellie shook her head and pressed her lips together before cocking her head. “Rough night?” She inquired sympathetically.

Dick took the opportunity to place his almost empty mug back on the counter. “You could say that.” He was blinking rapidly, his insecure nature shining through his wide blue eyes. “You’ve seen her,” Dick mentioned as a statement and continued after a paused breath. “You think she’d want some company?”

Barbara’s testiness in the hospital came to mind, but on the other hand, Ellie didn’t want to change his mind, just in case she was wrong. Who knew, maybe she would react differently upon seeing Dick now?

Ellie shrugged her shoulders. “Honestly, I don’t know. I thought you would have seen Babs that day at Gotham General.”

Biting his lower lip, Dick’s gaze wandered to the living room near them. “This thing between Babs and I is … complicated,” he explained vaguely, and without offering anything else.

The computer engineer arched an ironic eyebrow. “You guys,” Ellie groaned. “Life is short. Now is really not the time to hold back but to appreciate what you have.”

“Says you?” Incredulous eyes were staring back at her.

Ellie sighed; her eyelashes fluttered slowly. “This better not be about—”

“You know, dear old Bruce is really a fine guy once you get over the moping mess he is, the strange work hours, the overprotective nature, and his strange fixation of beating up people in Halloween costumes. Not to mention that he’s probably richer than Oliver Queen.”

Rolling her eyes, Ellie replied, “Well, that’s not really an accomplishment. Queen lost his company and fortune several times now.”

Dick’s hands lifted in the air in skepticism. “Come on, put the poor schmuck out of his misery. You have no idea how rough it was for him the first few weeks.”

Ellie tilted her head, feeling inner turmoil arise in her. “It isn’t a matter of a simple choice. That I can just decide to get over it. It was about trust. Besides, now we have a relationship that works,” she whispered the next three words under her breath, “more or less. And is bound to both of us depending on each other. I don’t want to jeopardize that.”

Dick’s eyes narrowed slightly while pondering over something inside his head. Ellie’s muttered words might have sparked his suspicions. “Did something happen between you two the last few days?” He inquired quietly.

Ellie sighed wearily once she sat on the bar stool next to him. “Bruce and I had a disagreement on how to proceed with the Joker.”

A crease formed between his eyebrows as a sign of confusion. “Elaborate.”

“Bruce clings to his—in my eyes—unreliable principle of just sending him back to Arkham while I … can’t bear the thought of that clown only getting a slap on the wrist.”

Dick deduced her depraved needs correctly. “You want to see him dead.”

“Is that so wrong of me?” Ellie supported her chin with the ball of her hand. “I mean, how did you cope after the death of Jason?”

Dick’s breath stuttered in his throat and his tempestuous ocean-green eyes widened at the mentioned name. It was a stigma these days. How it had become a taboo word, never to be uttered again.

“He told you about Jason?”

“Bruce didn’t have to. His ghost remains in the cave like a memorial.” Her expression softened; her curiosity couldn’t be contained any longer. “How did he die?” Ellie rasped carefully.

Dick’s breath exhaled through his lips like a deflated balloon. “Jason was the second Robin Bruce trained under his wing. God, he was just a reckless and angry kid—sometimes too much to handle. And that was before Bruce even took Damian in.”

Ellie chuckled softly. “Alfred might have mentioned that about him.”

“Jason wanted to prove himself to Bruce and went after the Joker on his own. It was a trap. That psychopath didn’t care one bit who he was hurting as long as he got Batman’s attention. I don’t know how many hours he was beating Jason with that damned crowbar.”

Ellie swore her heart stopped beating while she whispered, “Oh my God,” with a pained expression on her face. She didn’t know what to think when she remembered that weapon next to his suit. That Bruce would keep that thing as a memory.

“The file stated that he suffered under a pneumothorax and internal bleeding before the Joker set the warehouse on fire. Killed more than just Jason in it. Batman tried to save him by running inside, but it was too late.”

Her hand covered her mouth at the gruesome images invading her mind.

“I’m trying to understand why Bruce wouldn’t avenge him.”

“It was harder for him than you can imagine. Jason was his adopted son.”

“How are you not…?” Ellie shook her head and tried to shape into words how all of this felt like a cruel twist of fate.

“As much as I want to kill him for what he did … I know there’ll be no way back. And I would be no better than him and all the other bad guys we put away.” Dick tilted his head, focusing on Ellie. “Don’t lose yourself in his madness.”

“How are your meds working, Ellie? Are you still feeling tired?”

Ellie rubbed the smooth material of her black jeans and leaned back against the maroon couch. The office of Dr. Claire Foster in Blüdhaven always seemed cozy and homey in her eyes. The small variety of green potted plants decorating her desk always managed to calm her nerves.

The box of tissues placed on the table at her knees felt like a default object in every therapist’s office and left a sour taste in her mouth, although it should have made her chuckle to herself.

“It’s getting better,” Ellie assured her with a small smile. “I no longer fall head-first into my dinner meal.” She really wasn’t looking forward to remembering the first two weeks—time felt fuzzy from that medication, it could have been longer—of immeasurable tiredness, the sensation of elephant tranquilizers infusing her system.

Dr. Foster nodded to herself, scribbling something down on the notepad sitting on her knees and focusing her dark-brown eyes back on her. “That’s a relief. It’s always hard getting used to the side effects of new medication.” The woman tilted her head in speculation. “I’d say the dosage you were prescribed had been pretty invasive. Has anything new happened since our conversation last month?”

Ellie was breathing heavily now, not knowing if she should reveal the latest events. Some variances of truth would be in order.

Her eyes swept to the ground. “My best friend … was attacked and badly injured in her own home.”

“That must’ve been traumatic for you.”

Ellie folded her arms over her chest. “I wish I could do more for her. I know how much she’s hurting.” The crease between her eyebrows grew at her last statement. “Actually, I don’t. She’s paralyzed from the waist down. I just wish she would trust me and let me in.”

The therapist let out a sorrowful sigh and tilted her head. “Am I correct to assume that she’s feeling bitter about her situation? How are you feeling about that? Guilty because you believe you could’ve changed that from happening?”

“I don’t feel guilty. I feel angry.” Ellie exhaled the breath she had been holding slowly out of her mouth. “I feel … My emotions are conflicted and out of control. Even I don’t understand how my thoughts could shift so much. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this helpless.”

The gaze of the dark-skinned woman ventured briefly to the clock over her shoulder behind her. “My advice would be to just be there for her. You have to remember that this is even worse for your friend. What’s important right now is to not forget your own needs and even yourself in the process.” Dr. Foster leaned forward in her seat and weaved her hands together. “You said that your thoughts were shifting. What did you mean by that?” She asked carefully.

Ellie sent her a blank expression before letting air exhale through her nose.

“Shifting as in … I’m harboring thoughts I never thought I would have.”

Her index finger patted against her chin. “Morally?”

“Especially.”

Dr. Foster’s gaze turned speculative. “Perhaps it would be a good idea to find an outlet, maybe a hobby. Do you partake in any interests?”

Intrigue was shining in her eyes at the suggestion. “I think I can find something, Dr. Foster.”

It was around three o’clock in the afternoon when Ellie went down the hallway on the second floor, in search of little Timmy. Her right hand held tightly onto the plastic cup, hoping to do something nice for him if he was going to be holed up in his room.

Not to mention how Ellie always felt so drained after a therapy session and decided to bring some self-care drinks with her.

With her hand placed against the door, she knocked a few times before a quiet, “Come in,” reverberated through the doorway. Ellie pushed down the door handle and stepped through.

Tim’s room had a down-to-earth feel to it and with light colors adorning the walls. Now that she was facing her new surroundings, she couldn’t imagine it any differently.

A blue pennant with the words Brentwood Academy and a griffin embellished the material and hanging on the wall above the bed’s headboard. A tall mahogany bookshelf was standing in the corner of the room and offered shelter for reading material, such as ‘How computers work’ or ‘The Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology’.

Ellie’s eyebrows rose in surprise at the extensive library for a 9-year-old and stepped further inside. Tim kept quiet, still fully engrossed in assembling his computer. Like her presence didn’t even dissuade him from his year-long quest.

“Still working on that computer of yours?” Ellie’s lips quirked into a fond smile.

Tim’s arms shielded the device, like the young boy believed she was going to stop him from his aspiration, or it was some sort of surprise Ellie wasn’t supposed to see. “It’s not done yet,” he mumbled with a stubborn attitude.

Pressing her lips together, she shook her head while chuckles left her mouth. “It’s okay. I just wanted to bring you something to drink if you’re intending to work on your project for hours on end.”

Ellie lifted the mentioned cup in the air and placed it at a safe distance from any important tools but close enough to catch his attention, on the windowsill.

The golden flecks in his green eyes glinted with interest. The black-haired boy stared at the object out of the corner of his eye, while he twiddled with the screwdriver in his hands.

“No strawberries?”

Ellie shook her head. “No strawberries,” she assured him of the absence of his food allergy. Alfred disclosed that tidbit of information about the boys in the household early on. “Just some good old-fashioned boba tea. With some black tea and lychee fruit.”

She pointed her finger in the air as a reminder once she noticed the gleam in his eyes at the mention of caffeine. “But don’t think this is going to be a daily occurrence.”

Tim lowered his head, hiding the smile on his face. “Thanks,” he whispered quietly.

“Don’t mention it.” Ellie bent forward with interest and leaned her arms against the table to try getting a better view. “Tell me about your undertaking. How far did you get?”

To lay people, the computer monitor seemed pretty much done but a feeling and the motherboard and a few wires laying on the table told a different story. Sentimental nostalgia rose in her when she eyed the Windows ‘98 computer.

“I still need to connect the wires and a few other things to get this thing running.”

Ellie leaned forward like she was divulging a life-long secret. “You know, when I was a kid, I did that too.” Tim’s head twisted in her direction before she continued speaking, “I created some sort of ‘super computer’ as I liked to call it. Scared the … daylights out of my uncle who I was living with at the time once he saw a dismantled computer on the carpeted floor.”

Tim giggled quietly at the vision she portrayed. His tinkling laughter only tickled her own mirth from her chest.

“If you want, I can help you with that.”

Tim lowered his head for a few seconds before he slowly nodded. “Okay.”

Ellie closed the door behind her with a quiet click, her hand resting against the metallic door handle. A small smile was still playing on her lips, savoring the quality time she just spent with Tim. Holding the tools in her hand and instructing him how to improve the tinkering process brought her back to being that geeky kid without a care in the world. It actually took her by surprise how Tim accepted the know-how she was offering since a part of her was afraid that the boy wouldn’t trust anyone with his passion project.

Ellie shook her head and turned her body around until she was facing the hallway.

Out of nowhere, Bruce was standing with his back against the banister, one foot placed on the highest step.

Ellie suppressed a gasp from leaving her lips. That sneaky cat. Over time, she realized she would never grow out of that phase of holding her hand over her chest, like she wanted to contain that cardiac arrest just waiting to happen.

“Jesus,” Ellie muttered under her breath. She slowly walked towards him, like she was reluctant in facing the confrontation. “Someone decided to be a freakin’ ninja again, huh?” she mused.

Bruce decided not to dwell on Ellie’s words and merely nudged his head towards Tim’s door. “Everything okay?” Already concerned that Ellie knew something about his adopted kid of which he wasn’t aware.

The brown-haired woman waved her hand, dismissing it instantly. “Don’t worry about it. Just brought him something to drink. What are you doing here besides stalking in the shadows?”

“I feel like we need to clear the air,” Bruce mentioned softly, making Ellie’s heart thump nervously in her chest. His gaze didn’t hold hers for long.

Her anxious gaze swept over anything but him. “Do we have to though?”

Boundless patience shone in his hazel-brown eyes while he waited in silence for her to come to terms with the talk that was inevitable.

The breath she was holding expelled from her lips in a whooshing exhale when she laid her hands on her hips. Ellie let her hair drop over her eyes as a sign of surrender before she threw her head back.

“Okay, fine. You’re right. I might have gone all bloodthirsty on you. All this wrath and bitterness just swept over me. I just couldn’t help it when it felt like I was all alone with this.”

Bruce calmly arched an eyebrow. “You’re not.”

“Well, you’re like an oyster. I can’t tell what you’re feeling, Bruce, unless you actually say it out loud.” Ellie sighed, spreading her arms at her side.

Bruce blinked slowly. “If I would say what I was feeling, I wouldn’t get anything done around here. Besides, you have no idea how hard this is for me.”

“Then tell me,” Ellie whispered quietly.

“This is excruciatingly hard for me.”

“I just didn’t get you with everything that happened to Jason,” she explained cautiously. Ellie’s voice shifted to something sentimental. “You never told me he was your son.”

Something mysterious blinked in his eyes. “Jason Todd is … not someone I like to talk about,” Bruce muttered with a clenched jaw.

Ellie felt like she was invading unfamiliar territory but couldn’t help her fascination. She genuinely wanted to get to know Bruce again and understand him. “I noticed Jason’s costume … you put it down there on display like you don’t want to forget how he died. Like some sort of memorial.”

Bruce closed the distance between them, making her believe that they were the only people in the world. “I need to remember … the guilt, the shame, my biggest regret. That I couldn’t save him.”

He shook his head, letting a curl of his hair fall distractedly over his eyes. “Trust me when I say this, I never felt more conflicted than now. If I had stopped him before.”

“I’m sorry that you lost him,” Ellie breathed, her gaze sweeping to the ground before her eyes met her hand inching towards his chest in slow motion. Bruce’s warm skin under his clothes made her stomach slip downward. The tips of her fingers stroked his black sweater soothingly.

“Please tell me I’m not the only one who feels this murderous urge….” Ellie shrugged her shoulders teasingly. “Or just to maim.”

The corners of Bruce’s mouth twitched. “Maybe just a little bit.”

Tagging: @mellowstatesmanhandsempath​ @ravenmoore14​ @alwayshave-faith​ @ikranfuad​ @daydreaming-gemini​ @bluegalaxyprime​ @liadamerondjarin​ @steph21369 @andrewswifes-blog​ @yanna-banana

[redhoodieone]

His Girl

Plot: Dick Grayson has a type in women: athletic, feminine, and classy. However, the reader is completely different as she is plus-size, tomboyish, and spontaneous. But a conversation about Y/N between Dick and the batboys takes an unexpected turn one night.

Warnings: Language, Sensitive topics, and Fluff.

“What the hell’s up your ass?” Jason asks Dick, as he hands him a bottle of beer from the refrigerator in the Batcave. It was only until last week that Bruce gave in and allowed a refrigerator to be down there after the boys begged him for one.

As long as it was only for beverages, of course. Bruce had mentioned the boys have been eating too much junk food lately, but the boys knew deep down that his rule is simply for him, because of his age, and maybe for Y/N, too.

Y/N has only been with the Batfamily for a year since her family died at the hands of Two-Face. She had only started training with Bruce for two months now, and the two of them have been working out quite a bit.

Which makes sense of Bruce’s one rule for the refrigerator, though. But that hasn’t stopped Jason from sneaking in food anyways; mostly pizza and lunch meat and cheeses for sandwiches.

But now, Dick’s distant and silence is unbearable since the circus descent acrobat is usually excited and rambling about anything and everything.

“Uh, nothing! I mean...” Dick stutters. His behavior tonight was questionable to say the least. Usually, he would be on his game and even throw some wisecracks but he’s been awfully quiet, nervous even.

“Uh-huh, sure. Whatever you say,” Jason scoffs.

Dick sits on top of the hood of the Batmobile while he peels the sticky label from the beer bottle. He notices Tim and Damian walking out from the showers and are already dressed in sweatpants and t-shirts. Bruce is seated at the Batcomputer, still in costume but minus the cowl. Jason sits at the small table and sips from his beer and snacks on a triple meat and cheese sandwich he must have made quickly.

And Alfred had long gone to bed after Bruce forced him to get some rest since they’ve returned home and are not dead.

Dick suddenly notices Y/N must still be in the showers, on the other side of the cave for privacy where the guys can’t bother the girls.

“Fine...I’ve been...having these thoughts and dreams about Y/N lately,” Dick confesses. He notices Jason staring at him with a confused expression.

“Yeah, and…?”

“Well…lately, I’ve been thinking about her as…more than a friend. I’ve been seeing her in a new light. And you know I’ve always thought she was cool, and funny, and incredibly smart,” Dick continues, with a small smile. “But…I’ve never been sexually attracted to women like her before.”

Jason purses his lips and appears to think it over. “So, I don’t see the problem.”

“I just told you I’ve never felt this way about Y/N or any woman like her before.”

“Because you’re shallow.”

“I’m not shallow,” Dick argues, suddenly feeling defensive at Jason’s attack. “I just…I’ve never seen heavy women as hot, you know?”

“You can try to justify all that, but the point is, you’re shallow.”

“Have you ever slept with a heavy girl before, Jason?!” Dick snaps.

Jason chuckles and grins. “Actually, I have.”

“Bullshit,” Dick scoffs.

“Yeah, I have Dickie-bird. It happened three years ago, when my Outlaws and I kicked Black Mask’s ass. We went to a bar to celebrate in downtown Gotham. Roy and Star left early to go fuck or something. I was left alone and I was about to call it a night until this smoking hot woman took a seat next to me. She had long dark hair, tan skin, and curves that made my mouth water and my cock hard enough to pound nails. She was gorgeous, but there were these assholes around her and were calling her fat and telling her to leave because no one here would take her home. And do you want to know what I did?” Jason asks.

“What?” Dick asks quietly.

“I took her home, after I broke all those guys’ jaws. She was fucking amazing, man. She had a magnificent ass that she actually allowed me to spank. Her curves were endless, and after I fucked her good three times, cuddling and falling asleep with her was probably the best part of the night. I’ve never felt so…comfortable and felt warm, because I actually felt someone beside me,” Jason admits.

Dick raises an eyebrow at him. “Wow, I didn’t think something like that could happen to you, Jason. If anything, I thought you were shallow.”

“I used to be, until I realized I was judging others, when I was actually trying to have others not judge me. Alfred actually helped me with that. I don’t remember every word he said exactly but he said I wasn’t trying all the ice cream flavors out there. Like, I was always sticking to a certain flavor of ice cream, and I wasn’t trying other kinds, meaning I should be looking at all types of women. And after my one night stand with that magnificent woman’s ass, I realized bigger girls aren’t deal breakers; they’re just more to love,” Jason admits, and shrugs with a smug smile.

“That’s…I don’t even know what to say. But Y/N’s different. She’s someone we know and it makes it harder. And my problem isn’t that I’m shallow, it’s how I’m supposed to handle my feelings about her.”

“Yeah, you are, Dick. Y/N’s literally the best woman we’ve ever met. Hell, the best woman I’VE ever met. She’s fucking funny, she’s so caring and kind, she’s smarter than Timbo when it comes to common sense,” Jason lists off his reasons.

“That’s true! I’m not going to lie about that!” Tim interrupts from the distance.

“Y/N’s real, she doesn’t bullshit about anything like other girls. She’s honest, and that’s a rare thing to find nowadays. And fuck…she can really handle her alcohol, she can down shots of Fireball like it’s water,” Jason adds.

“You don’t think I know all that? Of course, I do! That’s why I’m having such a hard time dealing with my feelings for her. I’ve only ever been with tall, athletic women, who wear skirts and dresses, eats healthy, and are…well, feminine,” Dick confesses. A guilty expression shows on his face. “And Y/N’s not any of that. She’s really short, kinda chubby, and she’s more of a tomboy type, who’s loud and rambunctious, and eats like a man.”

Jason snorts. “And that’s a problem why? That’s why Y/N’s fucking awesome, man! I actually really like how she’s not afraid to be herself. She’s not fake. Do you know how long it took for her to be comfortable with all of us and be who she is rather than how she thought we expected from her? And I don’t know about you but I love how she eats, whenever we go out to restaurants, I actually like how I can eat the way I want and not feel like a fat ass because I know her and I both love what we love and fuck all who have a problem with that!”

Bruce turns around in his chair and gives both boys a warning look. Even Tim and Damian silently take a seat and watch closely.

“Fuck…Y/N is the perfect woman. She’ll always be in my eyes,” Jason admits, looking down at his beer longingly before taking a sip.

“If you feel so strongly about her then why haven’t you tried to go out with her or sleep with her?” Dick asks angrily.

Jason’s pause takes everyone by surprise. “Because she can do better than me.”

“You-you actually tried to get with her?” Dick stammers.

“Oh, yeah I definitely did. I think about a year ago. I had spent the summer with her here while everyone was busy with the whole Justice League and Superman bullshit,” Jason explains. “You were with the Titans with Tim and Damian. It was just me and her.”

“Alfred was there as well,” Bruce mumbles.

“Anyways, call it cheesy as hell like those romcoms, but we actually got really close. She’s a spitfire for sure, but she really knows how to get under your skin,” Jason chuckles.

Tim and Damian nod their heads in agreement with that.

“And I obviously made the whole situation uncomfortable as fuck because when I told her how I felt, she rejected me. She said we were too alike, we’d butt heads all the time. And after that, I never brought it up again.”

Jason’s confession gives Dick a sense of confidence.

“Look, if you want to ask her out and do all that then I support you. Just know if you fucking hurt her or do anything wrong, I’ll slit your throat even if you’re family,” Jason threatens seriously.

“I wouldn’t even know how to bring it up with her,” Dick says.

“Well, don’t bring up how her weight and appearance bothers you,” Jason says seriously.

“It doesn’t!”

“Okay. How did you ask Barbara, Star, Zatanna, and-”

“I get it, Jason. I’ll just talk to her and tell her I have strong feelings for her,” Dick interrupts him. “I’ll just tell her the truth.”

“You already did.”

That voice belonged to none other than Y/N. All the guys in the Batcave jerked their heads to the top of the stairs where Y/N stood and looked down with tears running down her cheeks. She was wearing her plaid pajama pants and a loose black t-shirt she stole from one of them a long time ago, she doesn’t exactly know who though.

Dick and Jason slowly stand up. Dick carefully walks over to the stairs while Jason cautiously follows.

“Y/N…” Dick whispers, already feeling guilty and nervous that she had probably heard everything. “Please listen to me…”

“WHY?! So, you can tell me you didn’t mean any of that, when you actually did. I thought you were different! I didn’t know you could judge someone like that! Especially someone like me!” Y/N yells. “I thought you were my friend!”

“I am your friend! Y/N, please give me a chance to explain! I really like you, and-and I was just trying to ask for help so I can talk to you!” Dick pleads.

“Don’t lie to me! You were only asking for help because you didn’t know how to deal with me being fat and manly! I’m sorry I’m not like Barbara and Star! I’m sorry I’m not beautiful and thin! I’m sorry I’m not perfect for you!” Y/N cries out and runs up the stairs.

“Y/N! Wait! Please!” Dick shouts for her. He chases after her.

By the time Dick reaches Y/N’s bedroom door, it’s locked. He can hear her crying, automatically feeling like shit for being the reason why she’s hurt.

“Y/N, please…” Dick tries again.

“Leave me alone, Dick!”

Dick swallows hard and forces himself to move away from her door. There was no use for him to stand there; he’d already broke her trust and possibly ruined their friendship. He might have even ruined his chances with her.

Jason approaches Dick. “Is she crying?” he asks.

“Yes,” Dick chokes out. He runs a hand through his dark hair. “Fuck, Jason…I don’t know what to do. She won’t even talk to me.”

“You should go, Dick. I think you’ve done enough.”

Dick was a little taken aback by Jason’s command. He pushes himself to walk away anyways.

“Bruce wants to talk to you. You should go find him before he finds you,” Jason adds.

Dick exhales heavily and leaves. Jason shakes his head in disappointment at him. He takes a deep breath and knocks on Y/N’s bedroom door.

“Doll, it’s Jay. Please let me in,” Jason says softly. “I just want to talk to you.”

He didn’t think she would open the door for him. He didn’t think she would want to talk to him even though he hadn’t pissed her off or upset her in any way. But Y/N unlocked her door and even opened it for him.

Jason was deeply heartbroken to see Y/N; her eyes were red and swollen, her cheeks were wet, and she had the devastating look on her beautiful face. He quickly walked into her room and shut the door, quickly locking it.

He had to be cautious though. He knew couldn’t say or do the things he wants to do with her right now. Instead, he slowly and carefully approaches her. She allows him to wrap his strong arms around her, bringing her closely to his body to hold and protect her from everyone and everything.

“Shh…it’s okay, sweetheart. I got you. I’m not going anywhere,” Jason whispers into her hair. He tries desperately to not inhale the addicting scent of her shampoo and lingering perfume so much. “You’re okay. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Y/N lifts her face from Jason’s chest and gazes up at him. The sight of her glistening eyes makes him draw her closer to him.

“What did I do wrong, Jay? What did I do to deserve all that? Is everything about me really bad?” Y/N asks softly, on the verge of tears again.

“No. No, don’t say that. Don’t say any of that! Nothing is wrong with you. You’re beautiful, Y/N. You’re perfect just the way you are,” Jason admits.

Y/N shakes her head in disbelief. It breaks Jason’s heart more when she tries to pull away from his embrace, but he refuses to let her go. His grip tightens and he holds her as if she’d disappear and leave him all alone.

“That’s not true, Jay,”

“It is true. Hell Y/N, you’re the most badass woman I’ve ever met. You don’t take shit from any of us. You’ve managed to stay here even after all the bullshit everyone has put you through,” he explains. He even chuckles at a memory. “You’ve even made Bruce cry, remember? Remember you called him out on his bullshit when he refused to train you? You’re almost a savage like Alfred, you even make Wonder Woman and Catwoman look like dollar tree prizes, and that’s no lie.”

Y/N looks down at her feet. Jason knows she still doesn’t believe him.

“You’re always perfect in my eyes, Y/N. There isn’t a goddamn thing I would change about you,”

“If I’m so perfect, then why does Dick think so low of me?” Y/N asks. She sniffles adorably and looks back up at him.

“Because he’s a fucking idiot who can’t see the best thing that’s in front of him,” Jason answers, and looks into Y/N’s eyes before he looks at her lips. “But his loss is my gain.”

[novaviis]

sick!dick au. Bruce's POV. read in order here.

For most everyone else, it starts at the Gala.

For Bruce, it starts in a grey little office, with a stack of papers and a glitter pen.

Dick will confess after the fact to the fainting spell in the apartment he shares with Wally, and the months of progressively worse migraines, including an incident on patrol with Jason – and Bruce is none-too-pleased with that information being kept silent, but he picks his battles and this isn’t one of them. Still, looking back nearly everyone will unanimously agree that the night it really “began” was the Gala.

For Bruce, it begins when the social worker hands him a creased manila envelope. Inside is a birth certificate, a social security number, and an immunization record. Bruce looks through the contents of the envelope. Is this really it? Yes, he’s never exactly done this before, but he feels like there should be more. Guardianship of a child shouldn’t be reduced to three pieces of flimsy paper in an envelope. There’s a coffee stain on the corner. The social worker doesn’t really know what to say to that; this is just the way it is. She slides the rest of the paperwork across the table. Everything’s already been looked over by his lawyers, all he needs to do is sign. She pats her pockets, muttering to herself before bringing out a red glitter pen and sheepishly offering it to him.

Bruce is in his twenties. He’s impulsive with his compassion and he just witnessed another little boy watching his parents die. He knows he can give this boy what he needs. Or he’s going to try. But between the drive to bring this boy’s family justice and the need to heal a part of himself in the process, he’s somehow skipped over just how huge this is. He’s thought about it, of course, but always with the under current of doing whatever it takes to make it work. He was going to give the boy a home, give him the closure that Bruce never got, and maybe he’d save him from turning out like… well, like Bruce. Only now he’s staring down at Guardianship written in big block letters across the top of the stack, and it’s sinking in now that he’s not just taking the boy in. He’s going to be his family. And it doesn’t change a thing, his resolve doesn’t waver, because he knows he can give him a good life, but it’s that one word. Family. His family is starting out with a coffee stain, a stack of papers, and a glitter pen.

He signs the papers. Dick is already waiting outside with Alfred, who’s taken him to the small cafeteria down the hall. The boy hasn’t spoken much, in the days Bruce has taken to get to know him. Bruce had asked Alfred if he was like that – after. And Alfred had looked at him sympathetically, answered carefully. Yes, he was, in a sense. Bruce had been quiet. Shellshocked. Traumatized. But Bruce needs to remember that he had him, at least one steady presence in his life. Dick has no one. It’s going to take time.

It shouldn’t be so easy, Bruce find himself thinking over and over as they finish up. He tucks everything away into his briefcase, bears with the social worker smiling and shaking his hand and thanking him for doing such a good deed as if this is a charity stunt for publicity and she doesn’t seem to care either way. He asks again, just before he closes his briefcase, if she’s sure that there’s nothing else he needs. Report cards, keepsakes, family medical history, he doesn’t know. She shakes her head, all pleasant smiles. No, that’s all he came with – as if he’s a shelter dog. Bruce latches his suitcase shut.

Back then, it was just a passing thought. He doesn’t spare it another over the years, because he doesn’t need to. Time went on, Dick becomes an inseparable part of his life. Bruce will always silently maintain that Dick was the one to save him in the end. He’s not a perfect guardian, not a perfect father, and he makes more mistakes than he can count. They argue, they have fallings out, and still they always work through it – because they’re family.

And the issue of the family medical history does not resurface until that champagne gold night. Until he catches Selena watching him from across the ballroom, smiling behind the rim of her wine glass and cocking her head to tease him. Until, he’s distracted between secretively searching the crowds for her and forcing himself to smile and laugh with Gotham’s elite, so he doesn’t notice the commotion rising up on the other side of the room. Until his youngest son comes racing toward him through the crowd looking more scared and shaken than Bruce has ever seen him. Until he breaks through the ring of bystanders and sees Dick passed out on the floor, Wally kneeling over him beside himself with panic. Until the ambulance and the fury of the waiting room (making a mental not to raise absolute hell with the Hospital’s board of directors) and the doctor pulling him to a side room, a little grey office, to ask the dreaded question. All at once, it comes back to that moment, and Bruce sighs, scrubs his palm over his tired eyes. No, he doesn’t have Dick’s family medical history. It doesn’t exist. Realistically, it isn’t Bruce’s fault, but that has never stopped him from shouldering blame.

Selena reaches out in the following days it ask in on how Dick’s doing. Bruce is cordial, tells her that her concern is appreciated but Dick seems to be doing fine. And on the other side of the phone, he can hear her moving around her penthouse, maybe standing at the window – she’s glad to hear it. Let her know if he needs anything, if she can do anything to help. It’s early days then, and none of them know just how bad it’s going to get.

It’s a slow progression at first, and then it’s not. It’s months between seizures, a steady increase in migraines – but life goes on. It’s not as if Bruce is hovering every Dick at every second. He’s a grown man now, with a career and a home and a partner. Bruce supports him in any way he can, until it gets to the point that he has to make the hard call. The argument he has with Dick that night, in the study of Wayne Manor, is something he’ll never wash from his memory. He’s used to making the tough decisions. He’ll be the asshole if he has to, he can handle Dick’s anger, but he’s not going to allow him to take this much risk into the field. Benching Nightwing until they have a handle on this is a necessary call, but Dick is stubborn (who on earth did he learn that from), and unwilling to step down so easily. And as the argument reaches its fever pitch, Bruce pacing and ranting, listing off his rational, he hears Dick call his name in a wavering voice and it cuts through the background noise. Dick, the colour drained from his face, eyes unfocused, conceding that he’s about to lose this argument, will haunt him in the same way as the worst things he’s seen in the life he’s chosen. That’s the moment he knows that this isn’t just going to pass, the moment he bolts to catch Dick before he can topple forward and hit his head. This isn’t something they can wait out. He’ll never regret making the call, but he will always regret the way he put the pressure on Dick, as if he’d just made things worse.

The thing is, this lasts years. It becomes a part of all their lives – because it’s Dick. It isn’t all consuming, it doesn’t eat away at their thoughts every minute of the day, but it’s a resurfacing concern that’s rarely spoken about aloud. And Bruce sees how this changes his family. No one can say that the Wayne clan is the most well adjusted and healthy family, but Bruce does his best. He realises and appreciates now more than ever just how much work Dick put into keeping them all functioning. Keeping them together. He never thought he’d taken it for granted until then. It shouldn’t have taken this to bring the family closer together, but it does, and as much as Bruce hates that, he’s not going to fight it.

Time goes on. Still. It’s a slow progression at first, and then it’s not. Bruce is in a meeting with his chief executive officers when his secretary buzzes in over the speaker saying there’s a call for him on the line. He thanks her for letting him know and tells her to take a message. She says the young man is telling her it’s an emergency. One of the CEOs is about to launch into a presentation and Bruce doesn’t spare him a second thought. Picks up the phone, pushes away from the board table, and paces to the window. Wally’s voice comes through saying his name, shaken and urgent, rambling out sentences too fast for Bruce to hear.

Wally. Slow down. What happened?

He stopped breathing. Fuck, Bruce, he called me at work – sounded like a seizure so I ran home, but he – it didn’t stop, he wasn’t breathing.

That first night, after Bruce has sent his reluctant children home with Alfred, it’s just him and Wally left with Dick. The end of visiting hours is fast approaching. Bruce steps out to let Wally have his time with Dick, allows him some privacy. He eventually makes his way up to the terrace balcony on the upper floors, a green space with massive glass walls and an open ceiling. Fresh air for the first time in hours does wonders.

Selena is there. She approaches him from the other side of a low hedge, bundled up in a cashmere sweater and scarf – ones he bought her ages ago. When he asks how she knew, she smiles. She has her ways. Tim called her, didn’t he. Yeah, he did. They stand in silence for a while, staring out at the mosaic of lights against the persistent dark of Gotham, before she puts a hand on his arm. I know you’ve got a lot on your plate, Bruce, she says, and the coy smile fades into sincerity. Come to me when you need to.

Three days after Dick is admitted to the ICU, Bruce calls Damian into the study. It’s late, they just got home from visiting an hour ago. They’ve been arguing a lot lately, before Dick went downhill. Mostly regular thirteen-year-old boy versus father arguing, but a few too many frustrated shouting matches in the Cave. Bruce can’t help but wonder if it’s in part because Dick hasn’t been there to act as a mediator. Still, the past few days have been quiet, if not tense. Damian complies when Bruce calls him down. He’s wearing a sweater he stole from Dick months ago, the bulk of it swallowing his smaller frame like a blanket. He has the sleeves rolled up, his hands in the front pocket, when he pauses in the doorway. Bruce gestures for him to sit across from him at the desk. He can see the way Damian is bracing himself for a lecture, wondering whatever it is he did wrong this time, as he takes his seat. Bruce, in his chair on the other side, watches him for a moment before deciding this won’t do. He stands, and pulls his chair next to Damian’s and pulls a file over from the other side of the desk.

Wayne Men are at a higher risk of Prostate Cancer as they get older. I get tested every few years. He tells him. My Mother’s side of the family, the Kanes, have a history of Crohn’s Disease. It’s prevalent in people of Ashkenazi Jewish decent. I’ve never had it, or had symptoms, so it’s unlikely that I passed it on to you, but not impossible. And when Damian stares back at him, he leans forward, presses his hand to his son’s shoulder. I want you to know these things, Damian. It’s important that you know your history.

And with any other child, it may have not been a good idea to have this conversation right then. Any other child may have been scared. But this is his son, and Damian is as frank and pragmatic about these things as he is, and Bruce knows that he will appreciate the honesty, knows that those questions have likely been rattling around in Damian’s head for a while now. They spend another hour that night talking about their family, beyond just medical history, and Bruce answers any questions Damian has.

Dick gets worse. Wally leaves to find answers. Bruce is doing everything he can; medical bills are nothing to him, he checks in on his children, calls in favours from the league to keep watch of Gotham when he’s needed at the hospital. It’s the most he’s ever relied on others in his entire life.

It’s just him in Dick’s room one night. He’s at the window when he hears Dick rasping his name. It’s been rare lately that he’s been coherent enough to really speak without being prompted, so he has Bruce’s full attention immediately. He crosses over to the bed, braces a hand over Dick’s. And Dick doesn’t say anything for a long while. His eyes are half closed. Bruce is close to assuming he’s fallen asleep, when Dick’s unsteady hand slides out from under his, and rests on top with a barely there squeeze. Dick is staring up at him. His voice his so quiet it’s almost drowned out by the monitors, but Bruce hears it.

Take care of Wally.

Bruce doesn’t waste time on don’t talk like that sentiments. He doesn’t tell Dick that he won’t need to, that he’ll be fine, because Bruce does not make promises he knows he cannot keep. He nods. He will. Dick doesn’t need to ask him to take care of the family, that much is an unspoken understanding, but if this is a piece of mind he can give Dick, it’s without hesitation.

He ends up at Selena’s door after visiting hours. She buzzes him in, and when she opens the penthouse door neither of them say a word. She guides him over to the couch, pours two glasses of good wine, and when she returns, he’s already got his face in his hand – not sobbing, not breaking down, just… exhausted. She isn’t sure Bruce knows how to break down anymore. In the end, she just sits with him. Rubs his back, tentatively at first, not sure if he’ll let her. Bruce not only does, but he shudders under her hand, allows himself to breathe with her, and it’s enough to let the pressure ease and the ache to come in. He allows himself feel to it.

Because that’s his son. That’s his first son. And he’s failed him.

Years from then, when this is all in the past, he’ll let it slip. It’s over a late night coffee with Dick in the Cave as they wrap up a case, near to the anniversary of the Dick’s surgery. Maybe it’s the string of late nights and no sleep wrecking his inhibition, maybe it’s something he needs to get off his chest. But Dick stares at him, goes quiet, sets down his coffee mug.

You did everything for me, Bruce. He says. You never failed me.

And, someday, Bruce will believe it.