#i can also actually see him getting introduced when bruce dies

[oifaaa]

Hey I absolute love your baby damian au and all the Talia Bruce custody shenanigan potential so thank you for introducing that into the world.

I have a niche question tho. Cause in that au, Tim side loses all plot relevance and doesn’t become Robin. And it made me think. What happens to a Tim that doesn’t become Robin? Or actually, what happens to Jack and Janet Drake???

My opinion is that they probs both die in Haiti because the only reason Jack survived was because Batman comes to save them and I don’t think Batman would’ve gone to rescue the Drakes without Tim looking sad at him in the cave. Like not in a callous way but like. They’re not in Gotham. And in the comic itself Bruce is already preoccupied with the money spider stuff. (So much so that he fully like interrupts mid-sentence his comforting of Tim to go hacker fight ms lol). And then I assume Tim gets to live out his sad boy arc without bats or even a fake uncle to adopt him.

But like what do you think would happen? I’m trying to collect the opinions of fandom creators who have actually read comics but no worries if this is a question you have no interest in. Tbf it’s got very little relevance to the au anymore.

Anyways love your art - thank you again for sharing it with the world!

Ive actually talked about this before and see I do actually disagree on the jack dying bc while I know obviously tim wouldn't be there to make Bruce focus on it I still think he'd go save them since Bruce has solved crimes outside of Gotham before and the drakes are famous gothamites so I can still see Bruce being compelled to go and save them - so yeah I do think Jack would still survive and go into a coma and tim probably wouldn't be effected much - jack would wake up 6 months later remarry and life would go on as normal - jack wouldn't even die later on consider he was only targeted bc he was related to Robin and if tims not Robin he's fine - so yeah then I can see one of two things happening either tim still trys to become a hero later on (17 to 19ish) but he doesn't have that bat training so he's more in the way then anything or he just has a normal life

[deathmetalunicorn1]

Hi!

Can we go a batfamily x fem child reader?

Reader is like the personification of Gotham

Reader take strolls around Gotham to help people

Reader she's like prim and proper and elegant

Reader who's a little insane and a bit mad

Reader who had a old and dark mansion at the end of Gotham

Reader who's favorite is red hood

Reader who won't hesitate to kill but she stop herself

Reader who got adopted by the batfam

(Can you base reader of this?)

I’ll try my best with this!

-It was strange, seeing such a young child wandering the streets of Gotham so late at night- you didn’t seem scared at all, as you wandered around, almost like you were exploring.

-Batman was watching you from a rooftop, curious about you, wondering where your parents were and wondering why you weren’t scared as you looked out over the harbor.

-His many adopted children were also curious about you- looking down at you, Nightwing, Red Hood, Red Robin, and Robin as you were skipping down the road past a group of thugs as Robin spoke, “Is she really that brave, or just stupid?”

-When one of the thugs grabbed you by the back of your dress, hauling you up, they were quickly springing into action, rushing to you.

-Red Hood hit the one holding you and when you landed hard on your butt, everything froze as a minor earthquake shook the city. Nobody paid it any mind as Red Hood grabbed you, holding you up in his arms as they all took care of the thugs.

-When someone managed to hit Red Hood from behind, he went down hard and took you with him, but he did his best to protect you, but once again, when you hit the ground, another earthquake rumbled through before tears welled in your eyes as you realized, “You’re hurt!” the skies, which had been clear, suddenly darkened with clouds, and rain fell as the first tear slipped down your cheek.

-Nightwing was the one to take you from Red Hood, trying to calm you down as just as the rain started with your tears started, it stopped when you calmed down. Batman was curious, seeing that it was a bit odd, as he remembered the earthquakes as well.

-You were taken to the roof by the group with Red Robin and Red Hood going to get food for everyone, including you, and you introduced yourself, “My name is Y/N!”

-Batman was very patient with you, “Where are your parents Y/N?” you tilted your head to the side, like you were confused, “I don’t have any.”

-They all froze, realizing that you were an orphan, but you didn’t seem bothered as Bruce spoke again, “Where do you live then?”

-You stood from Bruce’s arms, looking out over the horizon, to a large mansion that has long been abandoned, being condemned but not destroyed as it was a piece of Gotham history, being the first building in Gotham, “In that house- that’s where I was born and raised!”

-They all shared a look, a bit concerned, thinking you were an abandoned child that was delusional. When the food arrived, Bruce handed you a burger and you smiled, “Thank you Mr. Wayne!”

-They all froze in shock, hearing you calling him by his actual name, Bruce cautiously speaking, “You know who I am?” you didn’t look bothered, smiling up at him and that’s when he noticed that your eyes were much older than what you looked like- like you were an old soul, “You know who I am?”

-You smiled, but it was almost unsettling, “I do- I know each person that has been born in, lived, and died in Gotham. It’s kind of my job.”

-Okay you just went from poor abandoned delusion child to scary really quick. Damien was quickly on guard, ready to fight you if you were deemed a threat as Jason spoke, looking curious, “And what exactly is your job?”

-You beamed as you stood, twirling before facing them, the Gotham skyline behind you, “I am Gotham! Or at least the personification of Gotham.”

-They all froze before Tim spoke up, “Wait so those earthquakes we felt and the rain when you started crying, that was all you?” you nodded, taking your seat again, but this time in Jason’s lap, as you liked him because he protected you, “Yup- when I’m happy it’s sunny and clear, when I’m sad it rains, when I’m mad it storms, and if I get hurt then bad things happen.”

-Batman was curious about you, and the more he heard, the more his internal adoptive impulses were flaring up, but so were the others, as they realized this was true- you were Gotham.

-You accepted their invitation to live with them with little to no hesitation, showing them that you had little to no fear, which was a bit concerning, but you were excited to have a family again!

[brucewaynehater101]

In reverse Robins, technically Steph would be the second Robin, she would be in Jason's pixie boots and come back devastated and vengeful. Tim would either still be stuck at the one who has to put all the pieces together with people throwing all his effort and work back in his face because of the loss of a loved one and him not being them, or maybe in Barbara's position, crippled, traumatized, and having to rebuild himself both as a civilian and vigilante

Then Jason as the Replacement, the one who has to live up to his multiple predecessors, who has to mediate between two (mostly) grown men, who believes that Gotham needs Robin, needs the hope that Batman brings to the city

Bored with Red Hood Tim, give me Oracle Tim, give me a Tim who's forced to create his own mantle instead of taking on someone else's name while he gets the job done

You are absolutely correct. Why didn't I think about it that way? If we are reversing Robins, Duke would be a very temp "Robin" before Damian, who is older, takes over the role. They wouldn't be called Robin, but whatever mantle they end up passing down.

Duke would be it for like a minute or two (maybe his gang is inspired by Batman, wants to help the crusader, and then Duke settles into being his own role). Damian would then come into the picture, take up the mantle Duke discarded, and need to be Batman's partner (Duke doesn't need to. Damian needs the constant presence of Bruce both so he can get to know his dad and so that he is guided on Bruce's version of vigilantism).

Damian goes off to do whatever (maybe he does a few years in the LoA similar to what Bruce did but obviously different).

Bruce stumbles upon Steph, who's Spoiler, and negotiates with her to take up Damian's discarded mantle. Steph, who has her mom, never actually joins the Waynes. She also never truly bonds with Damian (who's away and not approving of her taking "his" mantle). Duke and her get along, but he typically works the "day shift."

Then Steph spots Tim stalking her on a roof. At first, creeped out, she hits him with a brick. Then Tim shows her the photos of the other Bats and the evidence he's collected of cases. Steph begrudgingly grows fond of the little stalker.

She doesn't have the best relationship with Bruce and is still a little miffed he forced her to be a vigilante under his watch (instead of continuing to be independent). Because of this, Steph keeps Tim to herself and away from the Bats. Tim doesn't want to be a vigilante anyways.

Steph shows Tim some moves to keep himself safe while he collects evidence and becomes a stalker. Cass gets adopted around this point and becomes the only Wayne aware of Tim's presence. It's a secret between the three of them.

Tim even introduces Steph to Helena Bertinelli. He met her while he was gathering clues for a case. While Tim and Helena are closer, Steph admires the older woman and her way of vigilantism. Steph can't copy it cause of Bruce, but Steph doesn't find it to be wrong either.

Then the whole mess with Black Mask happens, and Steph "dies."

Tim, who's devastated at the loss, sees Bruce losing it. He, despite the many jokes and promises he made to Steph, offers to take up her role in order to leash Bruce.

Bruce, who finds out the dead person he considered a daughter had kept a whole side of herself from him, pushes Tim away even more. Tim gets sent away, learns from Shiva, and stubbornly forces Bruce into healthier methods of grieving.

In the end, Tim gets captured by Joker, and the Joker Junior arc happens. While Tim isn't physically disabled, the torture and brainwashing makes returning to the field incredibly difficult. Tim has a hard time keeping himself present when he's not at home (and sometimes struggles even then). He has laughing spells and other shit. Tim has to pull himself from the field because of this.

Bruce, on the other hand, goes off the rails again. Tim, who can barely get out of bed some days, gives up. He can't keep managing Bruce's mental well-being on top of his own.

Tim moves out to the clock tower and spends a while moping (understandably). That is until a villain tries to pull some shit online, and Tim discovers another way he can help without being a liability in the field.

Tim nearly orders a hit on Bruce when he finds Jason in the same role that killed Steph and disabled Tim. Duke talks him down and promises to always look out for Jason. Maybe Damian comes back as well.

While Tim isn't able to go in the field, he can still train. It acts as a soothing routine to him. He ensures that Jason is always able to escape and drills into his head that running away is always better than dying. There are worse things than dying, too.

Then, while Jason is "Robin", Steph comes back as "Red Hood." She would probably do a play on words as Black Mask instead for her name. I'm not sure what her training arc would be like, but I like to imagine that she teams up with Helena sometimes.

Tim, through his connections with Helena and Harley, still creates the Birds of Prey.

Anyways, hope this is a decent timeline! There's more that can be added for each of the Batkids, so feel free to add what else you think should happen

[a-god-in-crime-alley]

So I’mma do a quick rant on Tim and the whole “forever 17” thing people are always going on about.

Disclaimer: some of this is based on my own experience with how I changed as I got older and comments from people that I went months and years without seeing.

I’m AFAB so it’s not quite the same. But I’ve never been one to remember a skin care routine and have relied on good genetics and good hygiene to make this point.

When doing some calculations for another post (you’ve probably seen that post I reblogged about the batkids ages) it hit me WHY it doesn’t look like Tim has aged.

Sure it might just be a style choice because DC wants to keep a chokehold on their Teen audience with Tim. (Even though Damian is RIGHT THERE!!! DC stop making Damian look like Tim for the love of GOD!)

A lot of people don’t actually CHANGE that much from ages 16-24 as long as they are keeping to the same exercise routines and diets. With the exception of Tim’s Brucequest, he kept to a fairly stable routine for Years!

The reason most people change so much early on is because they drop off their usual exercise (gym class) and repetitive diet (school or packed lunch). So you see people’s weight fluctuating (this can have an effect of visible face shape) hair either thinning or thickening and skin either clearing or getting more acne.

Add this to Tim probably having pretty good genetics (his mom looked like she was maybe pushing 30 when she died but was probably closer to mid 40s. Both Janet and Jack were around 10 years older than Bruce, who would have been mid 30s at the time.)

Tim not showing any signs of facial hair can also be down to genetics. Some cis men just NEVER get more than a single chin hair, maybe a max of 5 sparsely scattered along their chin. Those guys usually just pluck them out. They never actually have to shave. Though I think we Have seen Tim shaving again one point. Can’t remember when.

Either way, it makes sense for Tim not to actually look his age in any more than muscle mass. He’s noticeably built compared to how he was when Damian was introduced. (When the artists are going for a more realistic art style.)

Then considering his most recent dimensional adventure to save Bruce after the shit with Failsafe, you see just how much older he looks next to his mother (from that universe) and she didn’t seem that surprised with how he looked. Meaning her version of him is probably around the same age, and anyone who read that issue can see she looked pretty young.

Add all this to the fact it’s Canon that Jason is 23! He’s only at most 3 years older than Tim but is probably closer to 2 years older. (With Jason being 15 going on 16 when he died. And Tim was 12-13 by the 6 month mark after Jason died and Tim became Robin.)

So in conclusion, DC needs to stop acting like Tim’s still a Teenager and acknowledge that he’s a lot closer to 21 (hell, if we go by proper calculations he SHOULD BE 21).

What I’m saying is give us Tim going out for drinks with his older brothers. Have him show up at Jason’s after something bad happens and ask if he’s still up for that drink (in reference to that one time Jason offered to get a 16 year old Tim into a bar.)

Give us Funny Drunk Tim shenanigans to balance out that Dick is a miserable drunk! Have Jason get stuck babysitting both of them because he’s the only one that can actually hold his alcohol. Have the Girls be watching and laughing from across the bar because they unintentionally had their Girls Night and the same place the guys had their Boys Night.

Please DC, I am Begging you!

[confused-wanderer]

I like to think that when Cass first was introduced to the batfam she was always shy or just didn’t seem happy cuz she couldn’t hear or understand what they were saying.

This lead to 2 things.

1. The batfam started purposefully making their body language more dramatic and open so Cass could understand better (she could read them no matter what but the gesture really touched her). This lead to theatre boy Todd enacting on a full drama while in the middle of a heated discussion about why wearing soggy socks was a crime. It’s also become an unconscious habit when whenever Cass is around so all the other batfam can know more easily tell if the others upset or not doing well when Cass is present.

2. Bruce taught her sign language. It had helped him when he was younger and still does when he shuts down and doesn’t have the energy to talk. Alfred had always encouraged him to find a different medium to express himself when this happened so he’d picked up this nifty skill. It was torture at first, but her face when she realised they could actually have a conversation was worth it in Bruce’s eyes. He taught her how words could also be weapons, and that’s why every motion and thought should be precise. It makes use of her skills and feels like familiar territory for her.

Dick knows about sign language, and Bruce had taught him too when he was and still struggling to put some thoughts or talk in English rather than Romani. He still uses it on occasion, even when he’s upset. The rest of the OG Titans also picked up enough to get by to better understand Dick.

The only other person aware is Tim because after Jason died Bruce didn’t speak for months, and once when he was Robin and was having an intense argument after an exhausting operation Bruce repeatedly kept signing the words “STOP PLEASE NOT NOW” before walking away.

Clark knows about this too because sometimes when Bruce thinks no one is around he sometimes signs to himself. He says it helps him think, and Clark has even caught him signing the words while listening to his favourite songs. Bruce unconsciously also sometimes makes brief hand signs that can translate into what he’s thinking and how he’s feeling. It’s come in handy for battle, and if Clark also uses it to check in and see if Bruce is doing okay well the Worlds Greatest Detective can live without knowing a few things.

Dick and Cass both converse in sign language sometimes and when Damian entered the family they’ve both been teaching him pieces so he can better communicate and express himself.

[soleminisanction]

What did Tim think of Jason when he became Robin? I ask because I keep seeing posts about Tim supposedly making fun of and disrespecting Jason’s memory when that’s not at all the impression I got while reading 

Well, to be honest, Tim didn't have much of an opinion on Jason at first. The idea that he and Jason had any particular relationship prior to the Red Hood-era death threats is very recent, mostly introduced in the New 52. Originally, Tim's focus was firmly on Bruce and Dick. In A Lonely Place of Dying all he really has to say about Jason is this:

"Bruce hasn't been the same since Jason died... He seemed happier with Dick."

Which, given the very metatextual nature of aLPoD, is much more about commenting on how dark the stories were becoming during Jason's tenure in the 80's, compared to the happier times with Dick in the preceding Gold and Silver Age.

That said, during Tim's training -- his probationary period when he's not allowed to go out -- Jason's case is a constant presence, reminding Tim of both what he's working towards and what danger that path represents.

Keeping in mind that the 80s could be a little melodramatic, there were actually a couple of times when Tim would dream (or possibly hallucinate from overwork) visions of both Jason and Dick-as-Robin acting offering him advice like spirit guides.

This included the pair of them appearing to help Tim break himself out of his first encounter with Scarecrow's trauma-resurrecting fear gas -- something Bruce himself was unable to do during the same scene.

I honestly can't think of a time when I'd say Tim ever disrespected or mocked Jason, though I'm sure somebody could dig up some isolated examples -- canon is huge and frankly, while it's impossible to gauge how the fandom at large actually received him at the time, the prevailing wisdom of the 90s was that Jason was an unpopular character that had been voted off for a reason and that didn't really change until Under the Red Hood gave him a re-evaluation.

Most of the time when I see people complaining about "Tim" """disrespecting""" Jason's memory, they're talking about things like that last panel there, where dream/ghost Jason takes the blame for his own death, or when other people likewise describe Jason's death in similar terms. Because, frankly, some people have a real problem with acknowledging when their favorite character's choices contributed to a negative outcome.

Jason was lured into a trap that preyed on his emotions. If he'd thought it through, he might've realized that; if he'd just listened to Bruce and waited for back-up, it wouldn't have mattered that he didn't. If he'd been a little less passionate, a little less eager, a little less trusting of Sheila, he would not have died. That's what makes it a tragedy. It's like that one post about Hamlet and Othello trading places, tragedy happens when you put a hero in the wrong goddamn story.

But there are some people on the internet who would call acknowledging that "victim blaming" because it implies that Jason wasn't just swept along by events beyond his control. These are the same kind of folks who'll have an aneurysm if you suggest that, actually, Steph kinda deserved to get fired from being Robin and also she's partly to blame for that gang war and she should've learned a lesson from it. Or who try to ignore that the entire first arc of Red Robin starts at the lowest point of Tim's life and then gets worse, not because people are turning against him, but because he keeps digging himself deeper.

What can I say, people say they want complicated drama and then immediately try to reduce that drama back to black and white good guys vs. bad guys morality plays where choices only result in bad outcomes when they're Morally Wrong. I guess because it's scarier to acknowledge that, in the real world, sometimes you can make a completely neutral choice, or even a choice with the best of intentions, and it can still go horribly wrong.

[egglantine23]

Titans part 4

Wow it’s been a while with this one! I wanted to sort of lay out a few good ideas for the first season of titans since I never touched it in my first posts. So without further ado here it is:

Let’s get this out of the way nightwing is nightwing from the very beginning no stupid still robin stuff he is nightwing and he moved out of Bruce’s manner.

Cory’s memory loss is fine but I want badass alien star so she is shipwrecked on earth and hiding from her crazy sister

Raven can keep her name for a civilian identity but she goes by her nickname raven, she stays the depressed goth kid who witnessed her moms murder.

And gar is mostly fine but I want to add some things to him since I only really remembering him being very bland, first he’s the theater kid, you don’t have to lie about green hair in theater dyed hair is the norm, but i don’t know if I want to put him in tech or as a actor. Nope great idea he’s in tech which makes him a jack of all traits, the April has a crane license in rottmnt.

Now I of course will now be adding the wonderful and amazing victor stone aka cyborg! Man I missed this guy, he was probably my favorite character in the animated show. He plays high school football and is friends with gar and knows about gars powers, he also knows raven from poetry club

In titans they also introduced Jason Todd as a recurring character but I don’t like that so we will push him to later

Time for PLOT!!!!

In the beginning not much will change for raven and dick, her mom still dies and dick is trying to help her get to a safe place and there being chased by something evil like demons that dick has been searching for for months

Now the deviations gar and victor and walking home from school and they are just about to meet up with victors dad, dr. Stone at his job when Cory’s ship crashes and victor gets caught in the blast, the group rushes him inside and dr. Stone has them bring him to his lab, cyborg is here!

Raven and dick also witness the crash and rush over to help by this time they where able to shake the demons but the crash makes them come back, they are getting destroyed by these demons when star sees them and comes out to help, cyborg is still processing what just happened with his dad and gar, somehow they end up coming to the conclusion that since gar and his family knows a lot about being an outsider cyborg might stay with them a while, we have a heartfelt scene with cyborg and his dad before

Star crashes into the window after being thrown by the demons!

Star gave the group an upper hand but after a while it wasn’t enough, gar and cyborg now join and we get a epic fighting as a team battle

Afterwords dr. Stone comes out to see if his son is ok and recognizes dick from the many times he has worked with Batman, and we have a catch up scene with the group and they realize that there are going to be a lot more demons and someone need to stop them this transitions into the titans tower and the team is now formed.

This is rather a two part episode with more plot I didn’t go over or above is part 1 and below is part 2

Now next episode

Titans tower is an old Wayne building that is sadly unprepared for its new job so dick calls Alfred, no not Bruce he’s still mad at Bruce for whatever reason, Alfred can’t make it so he sends Jason to drop of the stuff instead.

Now time for Jason Todd, now you might ask oh egglantine how will you integrate Jason one of your favorite Battfam members into the story?

I won’t

Yea I love the guy but this is titans and in order to avoid the transition into a Batman show Jason Todd will not be a recurring character. There will be cameos but any story that involves him will be a dick Grayson storyline.

I actually have the idea that as the show progresses the Batfam will be more comic relief or a running gag of no one knows how many siblings dick actually has and dick never tells

*titans in a later season calling batcave* Dick: hi Jason! Gar: wait Jason!! I thought he was dead!!! Jason eating a bagel: yea I’ve been good for like 6 years now Dick: that time you tried to kill us was pretty crazy though 😊 Titans: 😦

This is getting long enough and I have homework so I will see you next time! Also I am more than happy to answer any questions inbox should be open!

[chronicbatfictioner]

Exchanges and Compromises - Chapter 23

The next time Bruce Wayne - or maybe faux-Bruce Wayne - arrived at Tim's DI office, he was with Dinah. Actually, they were talking of her own investigation of the possible whereabouts of the real Bruce Wayne and was a little surprised when his secretary announced Bruce Wayne in.

Bruce was followed by Alfred, who has also broken all the protocols Tim knew of: He was staring straight into Tim's eyes as he announced Bruce. Tim may not have long enough rich family pedigree - compared to the Waynes - to have a butler; but he knew the basic etiquette. First and foremost is that a butler should not and will never behave like a bodyguard and glare at the host.

"Mr Bruce Wayne," Alfred announced ahead of Tim's secretary. This, too, was a breach of protocol. Bruce was a prominent person. There was no need for him to be introduced by name. And if anyone was to do an introduction, it should be Tim's secretary.

"Bruce! To what do I owe this pleasure?" Tim greeted automatically, because Mama Janet Drake taught him manners and etiquette very well, thank you very much.

"I want to know why are you snooping around my private life!" Bruce snapped.

Tim raised an eyebrow and prayed that Mama Selina's acting lessons hold fast. "I'm snooping what?" he feigned surprise. "What on Earth are you talking about?"

Just then, Dinah turned her chair around a little, and Bruce's eyes landed on her. True to his reputation as a playboy, Bruce remarked, "oh hello, lovely lady. I didn't see you there. Pardon me if I have assaulted your sensitivities. Allow me to introduce myself..."

"Bruce Wayne, I've heard. I am Dinah Drake, Tim's aunt." Dinah replied coldly. "Now what is this about my nephew snooping? I thought Janet taught you better than that, Tim." Dinah scowled haughtily, an actual scowl on her face that would have make Tim's mother proud.

Tim gave her a withering glare. "Yeeeah, I don't have time to snoop at my secretary, let alone-- What the hell, Bruce?"

"Language," Dinah chided. Tim wanted to chuck a paperweight at her head, if he didn't think she would have caught said paperweight and chuck it back at him.

"You!" Bruce's attention was back at him. "I know you've been asking around my whereabouts during... during Bane's crimes! How dare you!"

Tim blinked twice, and his other eyebrow joined the earlier one. "I've been... I seriously don't know what you're talking about. I think you're confusing me with the cops or detectives or something. Why should I care of Bane's crimes? I mean, I'm glad he's arrested for murder and whatnot and didn't murder me, of all people. But why-- what does it have to do with you? Or me? Or... I'm not even making sense to myself, aren't I?" he spluttered. Deliberately.

If Bruce has a reputation of being a vapid playboy, Tim Drake has one as a Kid. A Kid who was sitting somewhere out of his league and couldn't handle stress. Only the BOD members of DI knew of Tim's intellect and shrewdness. Outside the board room, Tim Drake would always appear as a blundering, awkward teenager whose interests were limited to social media and impressing people his own age.

Getting and sounding exasperated at someone a decade older would be the quickest way to achieve his purpose.

"Okay, hold up." Tim held up a hand before Bruce could speak. "The thing is, I have no interest in your life whatsoever because, well, why should I? It's not like you're some innovative green inventor who can help people by pointing a stick to the ground and make all guns illegal. Or whistle and get a rise out of people to start protecting each other instead of attacking each other. Or..."

"Tim!" Dinah stopped him. "Bruce Wayne. Snooping. You. Point. Ten seconds. Go." she dictated. Because Dinah knew the threshold in which an adult would just scream at Tim for rambling pointlessly.

Tim inhaled dramatically. "No, Bruce. I have not been snooping on you. You, on the other hand, have been snooping on me, I think. And was just looking to divert attention." he stated, adding the last sentence on a whim.

It worked. Bruce's reddish face suddenly turned pale, as if all blood has rushed off of his head. He spluttered something incorrigible, pivoted on his heels, and stalked out; followed by Alfred, who gave Tim an exaggerated bow before following Bruce out.

Tim and Dinah exchanged glances. "Well... that was... different." Dinah remarked.

"Tell me 'bout it..." Tim grumbled, signaling Dinah to keep talking. She did, ranting about rich people and their insolence and other things that Tim didn't really pay attention to; while he prowled the room with his tracker. He found what he was looking for on the far corner of the room: a tiny little bug that would have looked like a crumpled gum wrapper. Tim showed the bug to Dinah, who rolled her eyes.

"I don't care what Wayne said. I'm going to lunch and some retail therapy, and you're coming with me. Also, I don't think that man had showered after his bullfighting or whatever manly activities he'd done recently. My sensitivities are assaulted." Dinah said, glaring at him meaningfully. Tim just grinned. Blonde, buxom, tall - and a black-belt and teacher of several types of martial artistry, Dinah was used to be demeaned and underestimated solely by her appearance. Mostly by men like Bruce Wayne. Tim sometimes wondered if he should let Dinah lead the company for a year, just for the sake of watching her take over and/or ruin a lot of companies associated with those who'd harassed her.

"Retail therapy...?" Tim asked, an hour later, after they had lunch and presently walked along the storefronts of Diamond District.

"Why, yes, Timmy dearest. Didn't you see that good 'ole Bruce has set out a tail on you?" she replied, smiling fake-coyly.

Tim rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I noticed. But why can't I just go back to the office?"

"Why would you want to go back to your office when there's a cleaning crew there? I mean, really, Tim? I saw some dirt and candy wrappers on your floor just now! Ew!" Dinah remarked. Tim rolled his eyes, again. That meant that Barbara has sent a sweeper crew into his office to clean-sweep it for all and any kind of surveillance devices. Said devices may or may not be removed, but they shall be decoyed to high heavens.

Tim momentarily hoped that Barbara would decoy Bruce's listening device to a hip hop club or something.

"Plus, I gotta keep you company to pick up your garb for this weekend's date. I really can't let you go out in your office wear, or in those... plaids... you're so fond of." Dinah stopped in front of a high-end men's wear store.

Tim blinked. "What date?"

Dinah's gasp should have been a category of itself in the Academy Awards. "Why, Timothy! I knew there's a good reason why I came here..." she paused and showed a cellphone screencap on her phone. Tim nearly choked on air when he saw Jason's icon as one of the parties of the text exchange. He didn't choke even after he saw his bold request for a date to Jason when he spotted a fleetingly familiar face of a stranger reflected on the shop's window.

So he was actually physically followed.

And for the love of all things mighty, Tim hoped that the screencap was just a fake screencap. Because as much as he would like to ask Jason for a date, a text was not something he intended to do it with. Yet he realized that it was almost necessary. The boys' bi-weekly chess games have been interrupted more than once when Bruce decided to join Jason, Dick, and Damian on their excursion to the Drake House.

"Anyway, when Babs told me you're going out with him, I told myself, 'Dinah, if that baby nephew of yours go out on a date looking like a Generic Gen-Z, his mama would crawl out of her grave to scratch your face'. So," she presented the store exaggeratedly. "Here I am, to your rescue."

Tim felt a little odd, and wondered if he'd just slipped in to a parallel dimension or something. To him, Dinah Drake was more of a teammate. The Black Canary. Never much as Jack Drake's cousin. His fashion 'mama' was Selina - who pretty much allowed him to wear whatever he wanted.

"Does it have to be here?" he protested. "This... the ties in here could pay a family's rent for two months."

"Baby, you're going out with someone who was raised by the Al Ghuls!" Dinah exclaimed. "Have you ever seen the Al Ghuls looking like a bum? Or in yesteryear's fashion? Goodness!"

"Yeah, but Jason is not an Al Ghul. He prefers simple clothes..." Tim went on with the charade, watching the man outside walked a few stores away. "Seriously, if I buy these, Jason would sneer at me for being a pompous snob." he told Dinah, who was picking up a thousand-dollar shirt. Her eyes, however, would have caught on the follower's new location.

"Just pick one, you don't have to wear it for the date." she advised. "It'll be odd for someone like you to come in here and come out with nothing. We'll get real clothes somewhere else."

Tim sighed, but he paid for the shirt anyway, and made a face toward a surveillance camera, knowing that Barbara would be watching from there. "I'm so reimbursing this thing..." he muttered under his breath.

[justhereforsomethingnice]

“Great, welcome mr. Wayne.” Danny sighed when a man who introduced himself as Bruce Wayne entered the shop. “So happy you could make it. I’m Danny, I’ll be doing your reading today.” God, one ounce of energy less in his words and he wouldn’t be only dead on the inside anymore.

The man beamed at him. “Amazing to meet you Danny. Say, I’ve never seen you here before, are you new?” The man asked jovially.

Danny grimaced. “Yep, now please follow me.” He was going to get so nauseas from those damn fumes back there, he just knows it. With how shit had been going, he’s going to throw up that one sip of milkshake he managed before yesterdays disaster on those fancy ass shoes. And that man couldn’t stop smiling and touching every damn little trinket on his way to the back.

“And what is this,” Wayne asked holding up a shiny trinket, immediately dropping it and picking up the next one, “fascinating, and this? Is this a spell book, how peculiar.” Danny was going to add another shade to the collection here.

He finally reached the room. “Sit down over there please mr. Wayne. Now, what exactly did you want to achieve when coming here?” He asked. The only thing miss. Claire told him to actually do before the reading.

The man actually seemed to become bashful at that, a bit nervous. He wrung his hands before rubbing one of his hands over the opposite wrist. “I was actually hoping to talk to some resently deceased people. A friend of mine died and but was very fond of this shop you see.”

Danny held in the sigh. Great, it was most likely the woman with the pearls floating behind him. “Let me guess, lady, dark hair, nice pearly necklace.”

The man seemed caught of guard for just a second before becoming it seemed angry. Or just very very sad. “See here young man, I will -,”

“Yeah yeah, save it.” Was he being an ass? Yes. Did this man deserve it? Most likely not. Did he care? No. He just spend the entire night trying to find shelter for the rain just for it to either crumble, leak anyways or in one kinda memorable occasion, blow up. So no, he did not care that he hurt some Vlad’s 2.0 feelings. The woman eagerly began speaking so he just repeated what she said. “Great, so she wants you to not let the Matt hatter ruin Alice in wonderland for you?” Danny looked at the lady like she had gone crazy. “Really, that’s what you’re starting with? Anyways.” He sighed.

The man had become silent at that. “Also, we I ask Alfie?” He looked at the spirit lady who nodded enthusiastically. “Give you the book he wrote named ‘how to navigate social situations: a step by step guide’ and use it to finally have a good talk with her grandson.” Okay, so rich dude had family issues. None of his business. “And, in her words, ‘chance the time on the grandfather clock, this is just getting depressing’ whatever that means.” The man was just silently staring at him now.

Another ghost tapped the lady on the shoulder before he turned to Danny too. “And great, another one joined.” They linked hands. “So it’s a date now, great.” He grumbled more to himself. So it was two friends who died and not just one. Okay, he could deal with that. “He says that they will always love you no matter what.” So it was a lovers affair instead of just friends? “And that the name you’re looking for is Edward Colson? Sheesh, was this a murder or something.” The two were getting more exited and talking his ears off.

“One at a time please.” He glared to mr. Wayne’s left. The man glancing behind him, predictably seeing nothing. “Anyways, was that what you came for? Or do you need anything else?” The man seemed to have actual tears in his eyes.

“You can see my parents?” Danny snapped his eyes to the two who looked sadly at their apparently son. Well, that explained the fashion choice. Also, that was almost worse then a love affair murder case.

Danny just stared at the man and didn’t really know what to say. He was translating this guys dead moms words to him. Ancients, he was an asshole. Stupid, idiotic, moronic move Fenton. Great, how to cut this off as soon as possible. “Only for a while. The power in this room will fade in a bit.” The man was a totally different person now. Danny hesitated. “Do you want to say anything to them?”

He thinks he had much more tact just now than in the past 10 minutes. “I’m sorry.” The two ghost seemed to decent on the man. Cooing at him, telling him he was not at fault, that he couldn’t know, couldn’t have done anything, was only a child when it happened.

“Ah screw it.” Danny said before making just the tip of his finger invisible. That should contain the spirits becoming visible in the area, right? He was still debating wether this was a mistake or not while the spirits of Martha and Thomas Wayne became visible to their sons eyes. Ancients he needs Jazz.

I’m a Size Medium, Thanks.

Danny is irritated. No actually he is beyond irritated. He is annoyed, he is frustrated, he is…. He’s really fricking irritated and can’t be bothered to remember any more of Jazz’s SAT words.

He continues his glare out the window as he searches for his straw with his mouth.

He just- where is it- thinks it’s a stupid fricking-stupid ass milkshake-he shouldn’t have to basically-gah! Danny snaps his head down to find his suddenly missing straw, only to successfully poke it directly into his eye.

“Ow! Fricken-“ He groans, throwing his head back, and putting his hands to his face, “Mother-tucker, Holy Taming of A Shrew!” He pounds his free hand not cradling his eye on the table, trying not to make more of a scene. Of course, this utterly fails because it immediately tips over his milkshake glass with a clatter as it spills onto his pants, making him jump up with enough force to knock the table over and drop the milkshake glass the rest of the way to the floor.

Danny stares at it with blurry vision and a watery eye. He sighs, “At least-“

The glass shatters.

Danny sighs again, deeper. “Of course.”

He looks up at the restaurant around him. Noticing the many, many people staring at him.

Wonderful.

Danny grimaces, “Sorry, I so didn’t mean for that to happen, uh-“ Danny reaches to straighten the table, fumbling for a second before it stands upright, he steps away from it, “If there’s any way I can help or.. like fix it. I can pay for the cup..” a server comes over to him, “if you want..?”

The server’s dead eyes don’t waver as they silently place a wet floor sign over the spilled milkshake.

“Thanks.”

“Uh huh.”

The server walks away, leaving Danny to sigh all on his own. He leans over to grab his backpack from the booth, checking it over for milkshake before slinging it on his back, thankfully clean.

He makes it one step forward before he feels the floor go out from under him. Ah gravity. His greatest enemy. This is karma for all those times he’s ignored it, isn’t it?

The wind is knocked out of him when his back slams to the floor, cushioned by the dulcet sounds of his bag crunching against broken glass.

He looks up at the wet floor sign.

The man on the yellow plastic mocks him.

Danny sighs.

He curses his stupid luck.

He curses this stupid city.

Then he curses himself because he knows any of this stupid city’s curses end up affecting him anyways.

Danny gets to his feet, ignoring the feeling of milkshake on his hands and his… everywhere.

He trudges out of the diner without looking back. At least he’d already paid for it.

He grimaces at the milkshake handprint on the door, trying to wipe it away with his shirt and only succeeding in making it worse.

Danny catches the eyes of the server inside, staring at him, eyes progressively more annoyed.

Danny puts his hands up in surrender and backs away.

Directly into a person. Only his milkshake covered self prevents him from being hit with anything more than the man’s scathing glare.

He puts his hands back up and moves away to dodge everybody else on the sidewalk. Along with the occasional ghost. Visible only to him of course.

By the time he has managed to escape the sidewalks into an alley, he is certain there is a trail of slightly sticky businessmen behind him.

Danny crouches to swing his backpack down in front of him and take stock. Okay, he could put his sweatshirt on over it… but it would also get ruined… damn it.

Danny looks around, checking every inch of the alley for cameras and then backing himself into a corner just to be safe. The flicker of intangibility is barely noticeable except for the wet squelch of milkshake remnants dropping to the alley floor. Lovely.

And of course, the flash of every single Gotham ghost in the area becoming visible and almost tangible for a split second. Also… lovely. There’s a couple startled shouts on the street.

Maybe an alleyway was not the best place for that.

Danny slides his sweatshirt on over his shirt to at least pretend like he was covering a mess and then shimmies out of the alley while trying to make as little contact with ghosts as possible.

He’s almost completely certain he looks crazy as all get out if the stare he gets from a passerby means anything.

Of course… now he’s left glaring across the street again.

He can feel the Infini-Map burning a hole in his backpack. It said this was the next place a natural portal would open and get him back home.

It just didn’t say… when that portal would open.

But of course, it’ll be right in the middle of somebody’s store. Usually not an issue. Except again, this stupid city’s curses are attracted to his energy, so of course the store couldn’t be literally ANYTHING ELSE!

Danny glares at the stupid fricking sign and the stupid predictable pun and the stupid neon hand in the front window waving at him.

‘The Claire Witch Project: psychic, medium, and Claire-voyant’

Danny is on day three of simultaneously avoiding the entire building while remaining close enough he can be there when the portal forms.

He is dirty, tired, and running out of money. In short, Danny is starting to lose hope on this endeavor.

The worst part?

He has the perfect solution.

There’s a pathetic little piece of printer paper taped to the inside of the window.

‘Help wanted’

When he’d first gotten here, Danny had followed the infini-map all the way to this horrific city, seen the sign, and turned a quick 180. He’d rather die again thanks.

He’d smacked into two billboards just coming into the city, and there was literally no stars, why would he want to stay here till the portal opened when he could just find another?

Except.. Danny’s eye twitches dangerously as he thinks back on it- except there wasn’t another portal. This was it. For the foreseeable future, he either caught this portal or was stranded for whoever knows how much longer.

Danny sighs again and dreads his continued existence. He looks both ways on the street, takes a step forward, nearly gets run over, steps back, and turns for the nearest crosswalk.

Fine. He could follow rules if it meant increasing his chances of leaving.

He tries to hold in the sigh this time, he really does, he swears.

Not the one before he opens the shop door though, that sigh deserved freedom from his trials. It joins the myriad of whispy translucent shades lingering in the store. Because of course there was just enough spiritual energy in here for them to be visible to him.

“Hey there!” A girl in loose fitting colorful clothing appears from behind a corner, “I’m Claire! How can I help your life journey today?” He can see the way her bulky crystal hair accessories sway with her movements. What was he getting into here again?

Danny tries to ignore the incense shoving itself up his nose as he speaks, “Hey, I was…” He was really doing this huh? “Hoping that the help wanted position is still available?”

The girl looks him over as she moves to the back of the checkout counter. The clear observation makes him nervous, and he takes his hands out of his pockets to try and look marginally more… candidate-able.

“You have experience?”

“Sure d-“ He wants to throw up in his own mouth, ancients this is so cringe, just let him die, “Sure do!” He says through choked back vomit and false cheer, “I’m a…” -barf- “I’m a medium.”

“Oh don’t worry about that, you don’t need a uniform, I don’t need your size silly!”

Danny blinks. What? Also. What?

“Wait-I’m hired?”

Claire pauses from getting something from under the counter, “Didn’t I already say that?”

“Uh…” Danny’s eyes dart around the shop, “No?”

“Oh well, you are, you have the right vibes, don’t worry,” she slides a few papers onto the glass counter, and Danny is abruptly, horrifically reminded he has no legal documents to speak of here. He thinks. He hasn’t actually checked.

Crap.

“Of course, most of my clients pay in cash, so I’ll pay you in cash too just to make it easier, and any crystal sales I’ll just add to it. Sound good?”

“Sure?” Oh no, is this gonna be Danny’s first real job? “But I don’t know anything about crystals. I have a goth friend but she’s not into that stuff.”

Claire waves his comment away, “Oh no worries, I can leave a packet.”

Danny nods, “Thank- wait, sorry. Leave?”

Claire laughs, pulling out a bag from behind her counter, “Yes I leave for a trip in two days. Family things you know,”

Danny feels like his brain is being scrambled, “Oh, what, what happened? Is everything okay?”

Claire looks at him, blinking wide, “What? Why would anything have happened?”

“Because… you said, you were leaving for-“

“Just don’t want to get caught in a bad position, you know how it is.”

Some of the shades stir in the air, their misty movements twitching with agitation enough to draw his eye for a second.

“Right. Well I’m glad I came when I did then,” Danny says, because he still doesn’t want to be rude.

Claire smiles at him.

Danny pats his hands against his sides awkwardly, trying not to look up at the movement of the shades intertwined with incense smoke at the ceiling.

There’s a little jingle behind him, which he belatedly realizes is the door when Claire moves to greet them before he can even turn around.

“Ms. Jives! Wonderful to see you! How’s the goldfish?”

Ms. Jives turns out to be a slightly older woman, maybe early seventies with a cane but she looks good. The coffee brown hair is almost certainly a dye job but it frames her wrinkled face well.

“Oh Jim is lovely dear, much better this way, I bought him a new plant just the other day, he just loves it.”

“Good, here for your reading right?”

“I am! But you can finish up with your customer first if you need,” Ms. Jives says. Claire waves her concern away.

“No need, this is Danny, I just hired him, he has a similar mystical connection.”

“Oh that’s lovely,” Ms. Jives says as she passes by him, “Would you like to come with dear? Claire is going to do a reading for me.”

Danny grimaces, “Sure.”

In the end, by the time Ms. Jives makes it slowly to the back room, Danny is trying to think of where he’s gonna sleep tonight. He mostly zones out when Claire dims the lights and starts talking nonsense.

All he heard was “something something card, something something magician something reversed something something balance something something chihuahua.”

Ok, maybe he wasn’t listening. But he was trying to focus on not staring at the movement of the shades, and the incense was mega strong and Claire had some weird ass music playing. He’s almost certain she’s faking everything. Down to the atrociously bright bead earrings.

Danny sags when she finishes, all too happy to leave the weird little curtain covered room.

He stands in the front awkwardly while Ms. Jives pays, twiddling with the various crystals and trying to figure which ones are actually y’know.. mystical or whatever.

Answer? Surprisingly most of them. That he could tell, at least, but it’s not like he actually knows how to sense that out on purpose. He’s pretty sure a couple of the heart shaped rose quartzes are complete duds but what does he care.

He’s thoroughly bored by the time Claire calls him back over. Apparently to tell him that he’ll do a reading tomorrow.

“Tomorrow?!” Danny blurts, “Don’t you want to like- I don’t know, make sure I can- or like.. I don’t know, but tomorrow?”

Claire just smiles at him, “I believe you can handle it, trust me.”

‘Trust you? Lady, I just met you and you’ve been nothing but crazy the whole time!’ Danny wants to say, instead, he keeps his mouth shut and nods with what he’s sure is fear in his eyes.

Then she’s pressing something into his hands and when he looks down it’s a key. A key. There’s no way-

“So be here 9am sharp, Danny! You can open up and I’ll come in later!” Claire starts pushing him towards the door, “And Mr. Wayne should be waiting for you when you get here!”

Danny turns around to catch himself in the doorframe, “Mr who will be what now!? Wait, Ms. Claire, Ma’am- why-!” He stops to lower his volume and ask politely, “Why am I doing this? You don’t even know me,” Danny says, one leg still in the store.

Claire smiles, “Because the universe told me to silly! See you tomorrow! Here’s my number!” Then she slaps a sticky note to his chest with enough finality that Danny takes a step back. The door closes with a click and ring of the bell inside.

Danny stares at the door with his eye twitching for at least a minute.

What the hell did ‘the universe told me to’ even mean, you kook!?

Danny sighs and looks down at the sticky note, quickly inputting the number in his phone before something happens to it.

He’s barely hit save when he finally steps away from the shop front and…. is immediately drenched to the bone.

Because apparently it’d been pouring rain and he simply hadn’t noticed from under the awning.

He watches as blue ink slides off the sticky note in little sad face streaks.

Danny sighs.

[obsidianwolfxredux]

Watched Batman caped Crusader

Okay under a cut to avoid spoilers

Now let's see okay when this series is good it's really really good. That said there are some fumbling parts.

Let's start with how this honestly reminds me more of early post crisis Jim Starlin Batman than a lot of modern portrayals. Stuff like Batman not killing but being willing to jump out of the way while two goons gun each other down and I'm fine with that but it is a slight tonal shift from some of Timm's other Batman work.

I like this take on Barbara Gordan and while I hope Timm won't go there again this is a Barbara I wouldn't be completely opposed to having a romance with Bruce because she's far more equal feeling than BTAS Barbara ever got to be before Batman Beyond.

Catwoman is a lot weaker this time around though. She's not bad for a one shot character but if they were going the playful way they played it I'd have rather she be just a recurring bit scattered over other short scenes in multiple episodes instead of introducing her and dropping her in one of such a limited number of episodes.

I also enjoyed the blending of some old classic takes on some villains along with the blending with more modern ones like how they handled Clayface.

Now onto the more reimagined characters I feel the new Harley Quin really works for this series as a departure from some of the more recent modern takes on her. Her earlier appearance seeing through a lot of Bruce's bull shit set up the reveal of this dark take on her Psychiatric practice much better than letting him completely fool her while also not making her too smart and her friendship with Barbara and crush on Renee helped to show hints of modern more redeemable Harley without downplaying that she's dangerous.

The same is true for Alfred as strained as his relationship with Bruce is there's something incredibly tragic in the hints that he desperately wants to fix things so Bruce can be normal and healthy and that he just can't that he knows he missed his chance when Bruce was a kid. His lien about always thinking Therapy might help was just so tinged with regret. . Plus the tantalizing hint at something he desperately doesn't want Batman to know. It's a good hook going forward and seeing things change from Pennyworth to Alfred is an interesting arc to follow on Bruce's side.

I'm not as big a fan of this Two Face since I found Harvey a bit too crooked already to really see it as a good man pushed to the breaking point and as a result Alfred's speech contrasing him with Bruce felt really forced. The fact he died also bugs me as it robs us of Two Face going forward and while I'm fine with villains getting killed to serve the story it just felt a bit incomplete

But the big one is I find myself so torn on is the Penquin. The Penquin as presented is a phenomenol Mob boss character who actually gets to get one over on Batman with the umbrella trick and the cold way she dealt with her sons was chilling.

I just don't feel Penquin from her. Other than the Iceberg lounge, outfit and Umbrella. She screams more showgirl gone bad mob boss than a female version of the classic Penquin and I'm a little disappointed she still has such a classically feminine hour glass figure with a pointed nose instead of a woman with a body that could realistically be nicknamed the Penquin.

Another part I really wasn't feeling was the Cameo by the Robin themed Orphans. It was already pushing it when Dickie and Jase appeared at the start but then we had Stephanie Brown and Carie and it just got too blatant as an in joke which will make it really awkward if this series ever does Robin and has to either dove tail back to these orphans or ignore their existence.

One last thing that last scene was not surprising in the least. I think everyone called it that no Batman series can leave him out of it for long. I will say the voice was an interesting choice and I actually kind of like it.

[thehitchhikerguide]

Season 1, Episode 1: Shattered Vows

Many times the first episode of a series isn't the best example of the show. It may not have figured out what it wants to be yet or maybe the characters haven't been fully realized. But let me tell you, this episode as a first start was fantastic. It pretty much had everything you would expect - the semi famous actors, supernatural forces coming out of nowhere, the crazy scenarios and the sexy results.

What I did notice though, in these early episodes, they seem to not really know what to do with this Hitchhiker character and how to relate him to these stories. I also need to mention that Page Fletcher was not actually the first Hitchhiker and the first few episodes were filmed with an actor named Nicholas Campbell playing the title character. The only version I can find of this episode was the version where they re-filmed his shots with Page Fletcher, so I'm not sure if anything was changed. In this particular episode, the Hitchhiker is shown hitchhiking and the main character's car drives past him fast, not bothering to stop for him. This appears to be his first mistake, possibly contributing to his downfall at the end.

But let's get into it. The episode starts with Jeff, played by Bruce Greenwood. This actor has been in a lot of things, but I mainly know him from the mostly forgotten late 1990s movie Disturbing Behavior. Yeesh, not even that awesome Harvey Danger song could save that movie. Anyways, he's apparently a professional water-skier, who doesn't like picking up hitchhikers. The Hitchhiker describes him as "not a bad guy" but comments that ambition can take people places they wouldn't usually go. This water-skier is soon to be in water way over his head.

After almost hitting the Hitchhiker with his car, he goes to an old Eastern European woman's house. We find out this is his grandmother and she is giving him a wedding gift, a old figurine of an old couple.

Thanks grandma, I'm sure this will totally fit in with my freewheeling, waterskiing lifestyle. He mentions something about how he is going to be living in a big house after he is married, so we can assume he is marrying for money. Waterskiing doesn't pay too much I guess.

Then we meet his wife-to-be or the old bag I guess. She is a very attractive semi-older woman played by Alexandra Stewart. She looked so familiar to me, but looking at what she's done, I realized I was remembering her from a couple episodes of Highlander, the series. They have sex while a bird watches.

It's hard to tell from this screenshot, but this bird is definitely forced to watch their intimacy and if you think that doesn't come up later, you are wrong.

After the soft core, we get a nice establishing dinner scene. Introducing, the sexy step-daughter, who says...well I have no idea. Let's just call her Mushmouth.

This is the old bride-to-be's step-daughter and you can tell there is some friction between the two and maybe some heat between her and Jeff?

He's just watching his favorite TV channel, the pool, when what do we have here? They have sex in a jacuzzi while there are no birds watching.

Then the blessed day arrives! The wedding day is here and I mean I know this was filmed in Canada but why is this bride dress like Anne of Avonlea? We get it, she's old.

This is where we find out all about Mushmouth's inheritance which she only gets if her step-mother dies. Hmmm interesting.

Then the maid, Edith Bunker lights candles on the wedding cake right near that old figurine from Grandma.

The wedding couple suddenly feel like they are burning up and then...

The couple also falls over after this figurine falls and gets a face full of cake. You know, I'm getting some serious Teen Witch vibes from this when she makes that voodoo doll of her teacher. That bird is watching this too by chance. Is this like The Crow, and the Hitchhiker is seeing all this through from the bird's point of view?

After another experiment involving the figurine, Jeff has now pieced together the connection and has a brilliant plan for being able to have his cake and eat it too. He will kill his new-old bride using the figurine so that he can have the young girl and all the money...wait did she say she was going to stay with him after she got her inheritance? Boy this guy is confident.

The plan starts with Jeff taking his new-old wife's friend scuba diving. Because you know he's a water-skier, so he's an expert. They don't get far from the land while Mushmouth is taking part in the other part of the plan, placing a glass case over the figurine.

Jeff has his regulator in, so he can breathe fine, but his wife suffocates and dies. Wow, I can't believe that worked.

After the funeral, it's time to have sex, and that bird is kept from the action yet again. He must not be happy about it because he squawks like crazy, escapes the cage and makes his way towards that figurine. You would think if this thing was basically the cause for his life and death, they would keep it in a safer place.

Blood starts pouring out of Jeff. Before you can say "scratch his eyes out", the bird does just that. By scratching the figurine of course.

He runs outside and then...shattered vows.

Mushmouth has nothing left to do but stare confused at what happened. Well at least she's rich right?

The Hitchhiker doesn't have anything too clever to close this, by voiceover only at this point. Something about stumbling into Hell.

Okay, but my question is why didn't the waterskiing come up again? Wouldn't it have made more sense if he was a scuba diving instructor at the beginning? It never comes back around.

All in all, a great start to this series. You get deception, someone wanting too much and a horrific, confusing ending. I can't wait to see what's next on this Hitchhiker's adventure.

[impyssadobsessions]

Ok ok I love the idea of Danny becoming Jazz's couch gremlin after she moves out because homelife is hard and dangerous.. mixed with gotham. And I love platonic shit so here's my idea~ Steph and Cass going to college, sharing an apartment bruce pays for. They wanted to make sure there was one extra room, having to convince Bruce really hard- because they wanted the college experience of having a random roommate. Turns out finding a good roommate was hard. They were either too messy or broke stuff, or was very into drama. Here comes Jazz, she begins college in Gotham on Steph's second year. She notices Steph struggling in the library trying to finish assignment. Jazz sits down and helps her without question. Steph staring at Jazz like THIS ANGEL Q A Q SAVING ME! Jazz then apologizing for just stepping in, she just look like she was having trouble. Steph like NOOO don't apologize.. actually can you help me with this?

And so Jazz and Steph end up bonding because Jazz tutors her. Steph realizing this girl probably has not had much fun in her life, ends up bringing Jazz out with Cass to have some fun, and even Babs for movie night. Jazz hesitant at first but then enjoys herself, because she hadn't had many friends if any in years to do stuff like this. Steph then starts thinking like.. Ok this girl is cool, she's probably a neat freak, a little weird. She'll probably refuse but I'mma ask if she wants to room with us! To her surprise, Jazz immediately says yes very loudly. Then just chuckles nervously starting to explain herself. That she was planning on getting an apartment in gotham anyways, because she doesn't like being in a dorm. It made it harder for her little brother to visit.. yada yada. Steph just getting a good laugh, okaying. Jazz asking if it be fine if her little brother come every now and then. Steph doesn't see the problem though not how she expected. Jazz giving steph a squeezing hug in thank you, making Steph both suspicious but also like aw ok this is cute. Jazz tries to help pay rent when steph like nah its paid for. Trust me, you couldn't pay for it. Having to explain a bit why they got this fancy ass apartment for "free." Jazz like oh.. We still have to pay for our own food though. Jazz smile like ok, I can do that. Determine to be the best roommate so they don't regret it. Plus she does really enjoy hanging out with them. She cant move in til like before the holidays. Steph saying she can move her stuff in before and fix it all up after coming back from home. Jazz saying if its ok for her brother to come up here, she rather stay. Feeling bad that be the first experience with them as roommates. Steph and Cass shrug, though keeping note of it, since they be mostly at the manor anyways. Steph almost dies when she first meets Danny, like ok is this how I get introduce to B's new wards? Not even a text? DAnny confused like..what? No.. uh.. is Jazz here? Oh gawd did I get the wrong address? Steph laughs even harder, then tells Jazz her brother's here. Also stating now both Dick AND Bruce are not allowed to come visit. =w= Just to pick on them really. Red-head Jazz and black hair/blue eye danny. But can see them all getting along. Tim coming over ready to pick them up for some vigilante or hanging out. That's when Cass noticing something's wrong with Danny, getting a look at him now. Danny trying to shake it off, but she insists he's hurt. Can tell that his rib is broken. Jazz then like "DANNY?! Why didn't you tell me?" "I didn't want to worry you! I'm fine!" "Please tell me the rib got removed before you came over." "Yes! I removed the rib, its fine! Just healing." The three of them finding this odd, but assuming Danny recently got out of the hospital and try not to tell Jazz. When really he got his butt kicked, and then flew all the way over. Then over time just little things about Jazz and Danny start piling up, like the way they're jumpy, or keen reflexes. Cass noticing the most. Jazz's medical knowledge, helping Steph or Cass when they have an injury from hero work that's bothering them. Jazz also finding out pretty quick they're vigilantes, just because of how they have a family thing to do at night. Or a night job. Jazz recognizing the signs, and accepting it because she likes them. Though finds it funny how her little brother and her bestfriends are vigilantes. I don't know if I explained this well, just basically a more domestic route to finding out identities and them bonding as friends first. >w< Steph and Cass getting worried when Danny comes by one night, just panicked and looking hurt. Jazz freaking out.. the girls like dont even have to ask ;3.. though they would like to know what happen. Jazz having to vaguely tell them about their parents.

[robinasnyder]

What I love about this most isn't the normal time travel stuff I love, like future knowledge, but the damn skill gap between the first time Bruce was Batman and now. Because he knows so much, so much that he actually postpones Batman for a month to do some upgrades.

He spends two full days overhauling the Batcomputer to make it a lot closer to what he used to have. He added a ton of notes about what he could remember to the computer the second it was done. He entirely redid his Batsuit so it was stronger, more reinforced and better for his non-fucked up body while also providing extra support for say, his knees and back.

He's actually got a decent work-life balance compared to last time because he has a baby to raise. He'd already started on the playboy bit the moment he got back, and it's super easy to roll into "playboy suddenly has a kid" and just be a dotting father in the press, even if he still pulls dumb shenanigans occasionally.

For a couple months, most of his detective work is just finding out the locations and getting proof bc he doesn't have to investigate what he already knows. He's working more on the police situation and trusts Gordon immediately this time.

He knows about members of the JL but just chooses to not deal with it. They can handle themselves. They did last time.

When Danny is two and suddenly Superman's made his debut, Batman takes a trip to Metropolis to introduce himself. He's kind to Superman, friendly. He tells him to stay out of Gotham unless Batman calls for him, but that Batman will come if he needs help and gives him his number and a JL comm (or what will become a JL comm when the JL comes into existence) .

Superman is so excited and happy, and Bruce lets him in on his identity early. The two even pretend to date for a bit so that Clark can hang out more often.

Danny starts to develop his ghost powers at three.

Superman moves in for a few years to try and help contain Danny's abilities so no one finds out.

Bruce takes Danny and Clark to see Haly's circus when Danny is four. He plans to rescue Dick's parents. Or he means to have Clark do it. He doesn't care how it gets done.

Clockwork freezes him and Clark so that he can't do anything but watch it happen. Clockwork says something about how it's no good to change every event, something Clark hears. Bruce can't give him an explanation immediately because there's a crying, devastated child and Bruce has to help.

He got himself approved to foster ages back, just in case. It's so important for Bruce to be prepared, now more than ever. He's grateful for his foreknowledge, foresight, and paranoia.

Dick never goes anywhere but the hospital, police station and then right to Wayne Manor.

It takes a few days, but eventually, Bruce does explain to Clark what's going on. And he tells him *everything*. He tells Clark about the Justice League, about how Superman dies and comes back, about Conner, about Jon, about Lois. He tells him about Bruce's children, the fights where they stood against each other for, and the ones they fought side by side. All of it comes out.

And then he talks about Clockwork and the deal. And the fact that Clockwork had intervened, which means there are some things that just will happen, and Bruce won't be able to stop it. But he's always going to try.

Dick still becomes Robin, still needs to fight. But he has a new grandfather and two new foster parents and a little brother who calls him "Dididididididi" as he follows along behind him.

Dick is 9, and Danny is 5 when the Justice League forms.

If Bruce was able to beat the JL before when he was still new to all of them, at this point it's easy. He knows them too well. He knows their weaknesses and strengths. Barry and Ollie think he may be a god. Clark tells them about Nightwing, the Kryptonian god of justice and darkness. And then people *really* think Batman is a god, just an alien god. (When Dick takes up the name Nightwing, this doesn't help those rumors at all.)

It suits his purposes.

After a few meetings, Batman calls Captain Marvel to Gotham. He tells him straight out that he knows who he is, he knows he's 9, and also that his own son is 9. He'd always known Billy Batson was small as a child, but seeing him de-transformed, standing on top of Wayne Tower, well, it about kills him.

He takes Billy home, offers him a home or at least safe houses in Fawcett so he can still protect his city, but he doesn't have to be homeless.

Gotham has a lot of unexplained lightnight strikes for about 6 months until Zatara can properly teach Billy how to open teleportation circles.

Billy and Dick get on like a house on fire. Billy thinks Dick's acrobatic skills and self confidence is so cool, and he wants to be just like him. And Dick respects Billy's magic and wishes he could be respected like an adult the way Billy is.

When Billy and Dick are 11 and Danny is 7, Clark finally moves back to Metropolis. All of the boys are heartbroken, but there's no changing it. Clark's in love and wants to marry Lois soon. Clark continues to sleep over two nights a week and is over every day for a little while. This lessens with time, but he never stops being over for multiple hours a week.

Dick starts the Teen Titans when he's 13. Bruce does everything he can to support this endeavor.

When Dick turns 18, he moves out. Bruce tried, but he still has a temper, and so does Dick. Bruce does manage to continue to offer gear. He doesn't ban Dick from coming home. He sends a batch of sweets to Dick's apartment every week. He doesn't try and make him go to college (that much). It's not great, but it's a lot better.

Billy moves out at 18 as well. Because of the way heroing calls him away, he does online classes so he can go at his own pace. He comes home a couple times a week to bake with Alfred and play with his little brother. He doesn't talk to Bruce much, having taken Dick's side in the fight. Plus, Billy is old enough to care for his own city, too. If it weren't for Danny and Alfred, he might not come home at all. (Or at least that's what Bruce is afraid of.)

That same year, in October, Danny wakes up screaming in agony. He remembers how he died. He's starting to get his memories back. And all those powers he had on lock start to go haywire.

One month later, Bruce finds Jason jacking the Batmobile tires.

"Please," he whispers to Clockwork, "does he have to die this time?"

The only answer he gets?

"We'll see."

He brings Jason home.

He calls Dick. He calls Billy. He calls Clark.

He finally lets Dick and Billy in on his big secret. He doesn’t ask them to come home. He tells Dick that he is going to give Jason Robin. He doesn't think he has a choice this time.

He doesn't tell them Jason dies. He doesn't tell them that Clockwork blocked his memories of Jason until he saw him again, so he couldn't try to save Jason's mother. He doesn't tell them about all of their siblings and friends.

Clark heard everything. Besides Bruce, Clark is the only one who knows the full truth. He's also the only one who's been held hostage by Clockwork's machinations.

Bruce couldn't tell the boys everything, as in literally was unable to tell his boys all of it.

He doesn't ask them to come home. He tells them even if he didn't know already what great heroes they were, that he'd know because of everything they've shown them up until that moment. He does ask them to help him with Danny's powers and Jason's abandonment issues.

Neither older boy is happy. But they're smart enough and knowledgeable enough to know that there isn't much arguing with Father Time.

Dick's still bitter about Bruce giving away Robin. Bruce manages to whisper to him that many more people wore the title, and that it was a beautiful legacy, something built on Dick Grayson and his parent's love. It helps the sting.

Jason loves Danny. Danny's grieving a whole life he lost and everyone he loved. He's 14, he's moody and angry and quiet in a way he's never been before. It frightens Bruce. But when Jason's around, Danny loves on him so much. He's two years older than Jason and loves him so much.

Jason still runs away at 15. In the weeks before It's like Jason's having arguments with Bruce that Bruce isn't even a part of. Bruce is begging Clockwork every night to please, this time, let me save him. Please don't make him die.

Jason dies anyway.

Bruce holds his son's dead body and weeps. Clockwork appears at his side.

"Can I have him back sooner?"

"Yes."

"When? Can I just keep his body on ice?"

"No. He needs to be in the ground for it to work."

"Can I find him right after?"

"No."

"Can I find him before he comes back?"

"No."

"What can I do? What use am I?"

"Care for your children. Be patient."

Bruce is just as destroyed as the first time, even knowing Jason will be back. He doesn't bother trying to go after the Joker this time. Clark stays with him, going back and forth between his job and Gotham for a few weeks. He reaches out to the Green Lanterns to try and bring Dick home for the funeral. He's the one who holds Billy when he can't keep up a brave face for Bruce and Danny. He's the one who makes dinner when Alfred can't make himself move for those few days.

Danny is nearly catatonic. He's 17, and his one friend is dead. He'd closed himself off from everyone at school years back. The only person he let in was Jason. And then Jason died horribly, brutally, and practically at Clockwork's hand. Danny doesn't go back to school. He drops out by proxy. Bruce has to help him do everything for a little while. Even when Danny manages to be able to care for himself again, he's so quiet.

Billy, Dick and Clark leave, go back to their lives. Alfred pulls himself together but seems more like a ghost in the manor. (Or better to say that Bruce and Danny are the ghosts, and Alfred can't reach them to help them).

It takes a couple of months, but finally, Danny opens up to Bruce. His silence breaks, and all his fears spill out as gut-wrenching sobs and admissions.

He talks about Dan and the first time he met Clockwork. He talks about everyone he loves dying, him turning evil and killing everyone. When Bruce points out that Vlad doesn't even exist in this universe, that Danny can't become Dan, Danny tells him that he's already older and stronger now than Dan ever was. In his own world, Danny didn't get to exist beyond barely 16. This is the oldest he's ever been.

Danny goes back to his silence, but it's not as heavy. Bruce telling him about how many universes he's seen where Bruce turned evil does help.

Bruce breaks down one evening after beating a couple of muggers far too hard. He hates himself, knows he's better than this, knows what Tim gave up to help him be better, knows that Jason will come back to them, so why can't he keep himself together? Why does this hurt worse somehow? Is it because he knows everything Jason's going to suffer now? Is it because he still can't give Jason what he needs?

That's when a tiny hand grabs onto his gloved hand. There's blood on his glove from the men he'd beaten to the point that Bruce is afraid to check if they're even bleeding. It soils the small hand that squeezes his fingers so tightly.

"I've called the ambulance. We need to go," Tim says to him. "They'll survive, but the police can't see you like this. People can't see you like this."

Batman kidnaps Tim Drake that night. They're both soaked with rain when they arrive to the Batcave. Bruce has to pull off his gloves so he doesn't get blood on the towels, and still has to be careful after that. He gets Tim bundled up, and goes to shower and change.

The surprise on Tim's face when he emerges isn't because he doesn't know who Batman is, but because he couldn't believe Bruce wasn't hiding who he was. But Bruce is so tired of his life and so sick with his own disgust and so, so weak.

"I know who you are. I know you knew who I was. I know you're about to go bother Dick and ask him to be Robin again. It won't work. I know you'll come back here and take Robin instead, because Batman needs a Robin and I'm not able to control myself the way I should be right now. No, I haven't seen you before tonight, even though I've known you're there. You're still my sneakiest child and Damian was raised by ninjas and Danny doesn't need to breath or walk or use doors."

Tim's stunned. He's never heard of Damian, for one. For another, how did Batman know all that?

"Do you have future sight?" Tim asks like the clever boy he is.

"Time Travel," Bruce said. "You were my Robin for a few years, and then you took your own mantel. But you've always been one of my sons. I'm somewhat bound by the contract I signed that let me have a second chance. I'm sorry I couldn't get you before now. I'm sorry you've been alone for so long."

Tim doesn't fall into his arms and sob, but Bruce knows he wants to. He does move into the Manor the next day, and he doesn't move out. Bruce doesn't let Tim live alone this time. He'll make up charges if he had to in order to sever the Drakes' claim to Tim and keep him as his own. He needs Tim too much.

For once, Danny's the one who's pissed. He's pissed because all he sees is Bruce replacing Jason. It's almost laughable, really, hearing Danny shouting the same things (almost verbatim) that Jason shouted at him so many times when he came back.

Danny leaves and he doesn't come back. None of them can contact him. Tim is crushed and offers to leave, apologizes for ruining everything. Bruce holds him for the first time in this world and promises him that isn't true, that Danny's grieving and he doesn't mean it like that.

They don't see Danny again for two years.

Clark's died by that point, and Clark's come back. Superboy's been found. It's cute watching Tim be smitten with the other boy, in a pulling pigtails kind of way.

Clark's prepared for Superboy this time. He accepts him immediately, offers him a place with his wife and son. He tries to help. The two are actually close this time. Bruce is grateful for that. Clark's doing better learning from the past than Bruce is.

One day, not long after Danny's 20th birthday, he shows up through a rip in the fabric of reality. In his arms are a nearly rabid Jason and a surprisingly calm Damian.

"Dad, take this one. Jay and I need to fight this out."

"Try not to break anything important or disturb the bats."

"Got it!" Danny chirps with a wide grin. He's gotten so big. He's not that quiet, broken teenager anymore. He's a man, an adult, and bright and happy the way he was before he got his memories back at 14.

Bruce doesn't know what happened, but Danny's better than before. And Bruce is holding Damian, who's even smaller than he remembers.

"B, what even?" Tim asks, half in and half out of his Robin suit, too stunned to finish changing one direction or the other.

"Meet your little brother, Damian," Bruce says.

"The one raised by ninjas?" Bruce didn't talk about Cass, Damian, or Duke. But he'd let slip about Damian once, and, like always, Tim never forgets.

Damian immediately starts talking about the League and his whole thing about being the blood son. Bruce places a hand over his little mouth, stopping him before he gets too far. Damian's even younger and his eyes fill with fear he can't quite hide.

"I love you all equally. I've been wanting to meet you again, Habibi. It's been too many years since I last held you. At least for me."

"You met me?" The question Damian's really asking is "why did you leave me?"

"In another life," Bruce tells him. "You were a strong partner and one of my beloved children. I'm grateful I get you two years earlier this time."

Damian, who's confused, but who's grandfather is practically immortal, rolls with it and just lets Bruce hold him while they watch Danny poke and prod and goad Jason, flying and staying *just* out of reach. He keeps it up until Jason's suddenly flying too. Jason's nearly frothing at the mouth with rage when Danny starts to lead him on a chase, but the more he flies, the more Danny coaxes him to use ghost powers, the more Jason relaxes.

That's how Bruce learns that the crap that makes up a Lazarus Pit is ectoplasm, and that Jason isn't the same as Danny, but he's halfa too.

When the fight finally ends, and his middle sons land nearby, Bruce hands Damian to Tim and goes and grabs Jason into a bone breaking hug. Jason ends up sobbing into his shoulder before it's all over.

Danny has to take Damian from Tim before he gets too squirmy. And while Bruce is focused on Jason, Danny gives Tim a heartfelt and sincere apology for everything he said. He was hurt and angry, and Tim didn't do anything wrong, and in fact, it seems like he held the family together really well.

Bruce hears about this from Tim later, who's so excited and proud to be recognized for the work he's dond. It hurts Bruce because he knows he leans on Tim too much. It hurts that even Danny can see it. Bruce suggests Tim ask Danny about his old life. After all, Danny knows a few things about having to hold a situation and a group of people, which is and who are, rapidly unraveling and pulling at the seams.

Jason finally gets an explanation, about Bruce's experience in his old life, about the way Bruce failed before, about the way Bruce tried and begged and pleaded and bargained, trying to save Jason, or not bring him into the situation. About Jason having the arguments he had with the Bruce he was before that the current Bruce wasn't participating in. He talks to him about Red Hood and their family and his knowledge that Jason probably does need to go back to Crime Alley and that he is a force for good and that Bruce loves him.

It's healing for both of them.

Jasom stays for a month before he leaves. He lets Dick and Billy constantly hug him and ruffle his hair. He follows Danny around like a duckling all over again. He carries Damian around on his shoulders. He cracks jokes with Tim.

They can't stay like that, but it's a good time.

Bruce refuses to let Damian have Robin at 8. Tim's got it for at least another two, three or four years, thank you very much. Dick, seeing the same trouble he saw last time, takes Damian as his sidekick in Bludhaven. It's not Robin, not yet. But Bruce is grateful, because Damian and Dick's relationship was always so special.

Danny and Bruce talk. Danny gets everything on Cass, Steph and Duke, and collects them early. Bruce couldn't save Barbara from the Joker. He couldn't stop Harvey from becoming Two-Face, he couldn't keep Harley away from the Joker. He couldn't stop people from becoming who they were before. But he could help them sooner, encourage them with what he knew. For instance, he could help Harley and Ivy meet. He could try to talk to Harley about healthy relationships. He could offer understanding that was more pointed. He could save lives he hadn’t managed to before.

He could help.

His body had been honed to a sharp knife back in the old world. But with the amount of experience and skill Bruce started with this second time, the injuries he was able to avoid, he was a much more effective hero.

Then the worst came, the threat that killed so many, including Bruce’s entire family. Well, this time, there isn't the same type of distrust. There's no hesitation.

When Billy's voice is stolen by a magical enemy, he's able to fight in other ways, and manages to steal it back and defeat his foe, when he'd simply been killed before.

When the invasion happens in Crime Alley, Steph and Tim are right there with Jason. None of them die alone like they did before. None of them die at all.

When the monster drags Bludhaven into the ocean, Dick and Damian had already been evacuating people for a while. They aren't trapped with everyone else when the city sinks. They're able to rush back to Gotham when Tim calls for help.

When the invader nearly rips Superman in two, his two sons are there, and able to rescue him so that the three of them can defeat their enemy together.

When Darkseid arrives, Danny is at Bruce’s side, willing and able to be a hero when he's shied away from it before. Bruce gets to see just how powerful Danny really is.

It ends in death. It ends in victory.

There are casaulties, people Bruce cared about. But this time is family is alive, and bigger than before. Bruce grieves the loss of life, but for once he accepts that he did everything he could, that there's only so much he could do, that he saved so many lives, that he's just a man. And he accepts that he can be okay with that.

The heroes have lost.

Superman, Wonder Woman, and Shazam are dead. The only thing that’s kept Batman alive was his wit, but that’s not enough.

His wit didn’t save his children.

His wit didn’t save Alfred.

His wit didn’t stop the world from burning.

He’s become desperate for a miracle. He had never been desperate before, but all hope had been lost. He was one of the last teams of heroes that had survived the initial onslaught. He had no contingency plans, nothing he could invent. No weapon, no weakness.

His desperate plea was so strong it went through the fabric of the dimensions. Clockwork, who normally had no intention of looking into that dimension, decided to look at the timeline. He didn’t like what he saw, so he appeared before Bruce Wayne in the middle of the night. After a brief discussion, he decided to send Bruce back in time.

When Bruce opened his eyes next, he scrambled to find the date. He almost laughed in relief when he realized that this was the day he had become Batman. The day he had first donned the cowl. He was over twenty years in the past, and he still had the knowledge of what had brought the timeline to the brink of disaster last time.

Clockwork gave him a gift. A son named Danny, to be raised by Bruce. The boy was a newborn infant, with a head full of black hair and startling blue eyes. He didn’t know what Danny’s backstory was, or why Clockwork had possession of the infant, but he wasn’t going to ask questions. His world was safe, and he had another chance to prevent the end of the world twenty years early.

He would love his son as if he was his own flesh and blood. Then he would be the best Batman the world had ever seen.

[batpham-discord-highlights]

Twins AU - Danny Adopted Seperately

Source: #ghosts-and-bats

DS

….imagine a Damian and Danny are brothers au, but Danny gets adopted completely independently from that, so when they’re introduced for the first time as “adoptive” brothers it’s just

A

Damien: What do you mean you did not know Danyal was your son, Father?

Damien: Was no blood work done?

Damien: Does he not look like you?

MF

Danny: To be fair I am not healthy.

A

Bruce: Damien, all my sons look like me

MF

Danny: Ectoplasm food sucks

DS

Damien: “did he not tell you ??”

Danny; “do i look like i remember things ??”

A

Bruce: Also, Danny's meta abilities affect his blood so we could not do blood work

I

lol just reminds me of Bruce who forgets that all his kids are adopted

MF

for example trying to figure out genetic diseases

and heights

A

Damien: Danyal is a meta??? Since when?

MF

Danny: Since I half-died

A

Danny: (to himself) well it's not like there'll be a better time to tell them

DS

dami : “since you WHAT”

A

Exactly!

MF

Danny: Yeah, it was electrifying

DS

Tim: “hey, let’s be fair here… he’s not used to seeing your face smile, he wouldn’t know what to expect!”

-----

S

The idea that Danny's adopted² now

(Adopted by the Fenton’s) + (Adopted by Bruce & co.)

Is hilarious

MF

double adoption™️

L

They won’t notice. Then Dami accuses him of being a clone

DS

“Nah, but i do have a clone”

S

The idea that Danny can fool Batman that he isn't Phantom for this, until it's right in front of his face it Danny outright tells him, would be hilarious.

MF

"I have several clones actually."

I

most dissolved into goo all except one

S

Especially if Bruce ends up being the last to know somehow

L

Bruce now has to find the missing clone: it’s another child i needs to care for them- shush I don’t have a problem

I

Bruce too busy trying to reconnect with a child he also didn't know was his and is hurt by his former parents

to connect the dots

DS

Danny: “haha, yea, i spend a lot of time with ghost kids cause most of ‘em are orphans and don’t have much parental influence of any kind”

Bruce: *heavy breathing*

S

Danny: you know it's funny because I call you "Dami" but I have a mini-me called "Dani" and she's cool, actually you 2 would probably get along I should get her over here-

Tim: wait,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, "mini-me"? 👀

MF

Danny: She's my clone, cloned by a fruitloop.

DS

Danny: she was trying to kill me for a while haha, but we talked her out of it :>C

S

"Was it L Luther?"

Danny: lol no, my guy had hair.

"Who is it then?"

Danny: that's classified 😎

"Why protect their identity if they cloned you?....... Was it your parents?

Danny: (Hah!) No 😎 stop asking 😎

SK

People in the batfam (Bruce) would be having heart attacks!

DS

Danny; “sorry, can’t say, they got blackmail on me”

“THEY HAVE W H A T”

S

Dani shows up (portal travel courtesy of Wulf) and they realize she just has a Cain instinct a mile wide and it went from threat to just regular "sibling" behavior.

ND

Tim : opens Bat Computer We counter blackmailing that bitch

S

Danny: good luck with that; but just so we're clear you learn nothing about who it is from me 👀😎. Plausible deniability 😎😎😎

[dysfunctionalmaki]

To Realize

Main Masterlist

Pairings: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Stark!Reader

Summary: Natasha's been connecting all the dots about how she feels about you, it's up to her to how she'll handle the situation.

A/N: This was supposed to be a oneshot until... I wanted to base it on the whole Black Widow movie :"))

Warnings: none, let me know if there's any.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Your last interaction with your father didn't go well, he simply told you that Secretary Ross is now after you and Natasha after helping Steve, and Bucky to get in the Quinjet while T'challa was after them.

Quickly tackling the king of Wakanda on the ground, while Natasha shot something at him to give Rogers and his friend time to take off, as soon as the jet flew away, you removed your arms that are restraining him.

"Your father will hear about this, and you too Miss Romanoff." The exact words that came out of T'challa, and now you're on the run with Natasha, considered as a global fugitive.

Your father looked at you with disappointment when he mentioned that Ross will be chasing you and the latter, you looked at Natasha before she took your hand and leading you out, taking you to who knows where.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

"You miss your daddy?" Natasha spoke while driving, you chuckle at her words then resting your head against the car window. "Hmm, kinda, so what are we doing here in Norway?" You ask the latter.

"Well, you've noticed that Ross is after our asses after assaulting the King of Wakanda, and helping Steve and Barnes escape the airport, I believe we should lay low, right?" She propped her elbow by the window, resting her head on her knuckle as she drives with one hand. "Oh? I didn't know that." You replied sarcastically, making Natasha roll her eyes.

"What I mean is, why Norway of all places?" Now you're kindly asking, arms crossed over your chest and slowly drifting off to sleep, exhausted after hours of traveling, without Daddy's private planes, sports car, and Quinjet also.

Natasha noticed how your voice softens, a long yawn coming out of your mouth, and quickly glancing at you. "Ross has no jurisdiction here, his boys would stay away from here for the time being." She answered, you softly nodded and replied with an 'okay' almost a whisper with how silent it was.

In a split second, you're already fast asleep at the passenger seat, both arms hugging yourself and your head resting against the window. Nat maintained her eyes on the road as she attempts to reach for a blanket she stashed in the backseat, after few shifts in her place, the Russian managed to grab the cloth.

She gently placed the soft blanket over you, and now focusing herself on driving, for some reason, she has always felt this warm feeling in her heart when she's alone with you, adoration maybe?

Your peaceful state while you're in deep slumber, and hearing your soft snores as she admires the view of the landscape, she would offer everything she has just to stay like this most of the time.

The thought caught her off-guard, why would she want to spend all of her time with her friend's daughter? She shrugged the thought off from her mind, she knows what love feels like, she felt it with Bruce until Hulk decided to drive off somewhere they won't find him.

She did get sad because of it, but she chose to move forward and move on, successfully removing any romantic feelings for Banner, focusing on her work as an Agent and an Avenger.

But why is she feeling this way with you? Her heart melts when she sees you getting all excited when you've successfully upgraded your techs, how she would automatically smile when her eyes would catch you smiling, and how she feels warm when you're there to ease her mind when a mission didn't go as planned.

She's now connecting the dots, using the silence and peace surrounding her, she got time to think about herself and her feelings towards Tony Stark's daughter.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

After half an hour of the drive, you slowly wake up from your nap, looking around the surroundings you're in the middle of the woods, Natasha's still driving. "Good uhh... Evening?" You greeted Nat with your groggy voice.

Natasha stopped the car beside the safehouse, which is a caravan and you don't mind, you can't really call your father to get you a 5-star hotel to stay in. "Did you manage to replenish your energy?" She asked, unbuckling her seat belt and you did the same.

Getting out of the car, she has her gun out and you also have one on your hand, staying alert until both of you heard a loud snore in the room. Natasha immediately returned to her relaxed posture before heading into where the sound belongs, and she found her contractor sleeping.

Kicking his foot that is off the bed, the man immediately woke up. "You're sleeping in my bed." Natasha commented, "I'm not even under the covers." He replied, then his eyes trail at you, awkwardly looking away noticing that the two seemed close.

"I've got what you asked for, fake IDs, drivers licenses, and some VISAs, also for Miss Stark too, just like what you've told me to do." He says as he handed out the fake identifications to Natasha, while reading, the Russian frowned upon what she just read. "Really? Fanny Longbottom?"

"That is a legitimate name." He defended himself, them Natasha handed your fake IDs, taking a good look at them and you're amazed about how real they seem to be. "Thank you...?" You softly spoke.

"Rick, Rick Mason." He introduced himself, and you shook his hand also introducing yourself, with little chit-chat soon after the man left leaving you and Natasha alone.

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An hour has passed it's already dark out, you're currently sitting by the front door, knees up to your chest, and you already felt homesick, Natasha's company is nice honestly, but the feeling of being far away from your father and home sucks.

Natasha looks at you while you're way too busy gazing at the woods, she knows you aren't used to this type of setup, running away from authorities, and far from home, she felt bad for you.

She walks up behind you, making sure you're aware of her presence before placing a hand on your shoulder. "I'm going to watch a movie on my laptop, feel free to join me, I'm also eating the ice cream we bought at the convenience store earlier." She softly spoke before leaving you alone.

Minutes after, you finally stood up from where you are sitting and closing the front door, almost dragging your way to Natasha. Two bowls of ice cream in front of her, and her laptop already on, she was waiting for you.

You placed yourself beside her, head resting on her shoulder then she plays the movie on the screen, lazily taking a spoonful of the cold treat in your mouth, and eyes glued on the screen, but you weren't paying attention to the movie, you're spacing out.

"Hey, Y/N? Are you okay?" Of course, not, Natasha knows damn well you aren't okay, she thought that it's a dumb question. "Of course, why wouldn't I be?" You answered just like your father, she paused the film and causing you to look at her. "No, you're not okay, and that's okay." She says before taking you into her arms.

You're surprised actually, Natasha isn't usually the one who initiates physical contact but here she is, her arms wrapped around your body. You needed this, you needed to feel home and somehow being hugged by Natasha feels like it.

Burying your face at her shoulders then you knew you're melting in her arms, it almost brought the tears out of you, as if her touch is enough the lift the burden you've been feeling.

Natasha feels like home.

You try not to think anything about the affection she just gave, but damn, you think you'd go batshit crazy if you won't get to experience this again.

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Let's be clear here, you've had a crush on Natasha while she's still Natalie, then as soon as Fury revealed that she is some secret agent, you were so amazed that you started liking her, though she didn't contact after that.

You weren't part of the Avengers initiative, but you did join them in the battle of Sokovia, but she and Banner have a thing going on, so you've decided to set those feelings aside. Which you successfully did for a few months, and after Bruce flying who knows where maybe you can make a move?

So you did, you would jokingly flirt around Natasha, and your father would give a questioning look then you slowly back away, but you were also a great friend to Nat, it's just that you can't seem to get all romantic with Natasha.

Just as much of a playboy your father is, that's all his, you suck at this type of thing, so Nat probably thought you're just a caring and affectionate person.

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You gently pull away from Natasha's grasp, and she looks at you with her emerald eyes. "Better?" She asked, placing a hand on your cheek softly caressing your skin. "Much better, thank you." She smiled with your answer, the next thing you know is that you're way too close to her, and you're looking at her plump lips.

This would be a perfect time to make a move.

You hold the back of her hand that is on your cheek, slowly closing in, and Natasha is leaning closer, so near that you could feel each other breathing, just when your lips were about to touch hers... the power died.

Nat cleared her throat and awkwardly moving away, removing her hand away from you and she stood up. "I'm just going to check the power generator." She says before going outside.

Her face turned red as soon as she was out of your sight, she got way too vulnerable with you, she almost kissed you but she sure knows she's going to like it but no, not at a time like this.

She tried to get the power back on, only to find that there's no more fuel in the generator, she came back inside finding you eating ice cream in the corner, and probably waiting for her to come back.

"I'm going to a gas station, do you want to come with me?" She asked, you nodded before getting off your ass and bringing yourself into her car, there's this awkward tension between the two of you, and as soon as she started driving, the silence swallowed the two of you.

"Can I turn the radio on?" You asked her, she simply nodded while eyes fixated on the road, you played the radio, and Sia's Cheap Thrills came on. "Damn, even here? When is this song going to die?" You commented.

Natasha taps her fingers on the steering wheel according to the beats, despite hearing the song over and over whenever you would turn on the radio, you still liked it.

Midway through the song, you felt chills on your body, and as soon as you look at the window beside you, suddenly you see an RPG heading towards the car.

"Nat—" Before she could react it has already hit the car causing an explosion, now the vehicle is hanging on the edge of the bridge, and with one wrong move it'll head straight down to the water. "Ooh, fuck that hurts." Hissing as you try to collect yourself and trying to fight the headache it caused.

Natasha on the other hand is in pain and boy, she's mad. "I'm pretty sure Ross has no jurisdiction here, and you should know that I'm a better shot when I'm pissed off," Nat spoke before firing few bullets at the person, you look at her and biting your lip, finding her hot.

"Wow, that's hot..." You spoke under your breath but Natasha heard, glaring at you. "Really? At a time like this?" She says, before heading out of the car when you tried to get out Nat stopped you. "How long can you hold your breath?" She asked. "Last time I beat Sam it was a good 4 minutes and a half."

"As soon as this psycho comes close enough, I'll push you into the water, it's not after us." She says you look at her as if she's speaking lies. "Nat, I'm not leaving you here–" before you could protest, you felt her lips against yours it was quick but you know damn well, that Natasha kissed you.

"I'll meet you down there, I promise." She says before a shield comes charging towards her, and managed to avoid it, yet it hit the car, now you're falling off the bridge and you suddenly noticed a small case on her hand.

You quickly got out of the car before it could hit the water, then you swam heading to safety where the one who ambushed wouldn't see you.

Closing your eyes hoping that Nat would come back to you in one piece, there's no way you'll let her die after kissing you, of course, you wanted to fight but your body just wouldn't.

You can't risk losing Natasha now.

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Next Part: To Remember

[echoghost1]

Crossover Danuary - DC Day! ~ Batman ~

Chapter 1: The Ol' Switcheroo

Summary: It was just an average Saturday morning when a group of strangers come with news that changes everything the Fenton's thought they knew about their family.

Word Count: 3,238

Characters: Danny Fenton, Jack Fenton, Maddie Fenton, Jazz Fenton, Original Fenton Characters, Bruce Wayne (mentioned)

You can read this, really long for me, first chapter below the cut as well

Danny awoke to the sound of the doorbell being rung so many times the rings started to overlap.

Groggy and annoyed by the noise, Danny grumbled as he made his way down to the front door. What could possibly be so important this early on a Saturday?

Whatever sarcastic remark Danny had planned for the uninvited guests on his doorstep died the second he saw who was there.

A group of tall, dark-haired, and broad-shouldered people, who all looked very annoyed, were crammed together on his family’s front stoop.

The strangers also looked oddly familiar.

The closest, and potential oldest of the group, spoke first, “Is this Jack Fenton’s house?”

Danny couldn’t help but glance up at the very large, neon sign above them that confirmed that this was the Fenton house. “Who wants to know?”

“Look, kid, we’ve just traveled a long way after finding something very important and we really need to talk to the guy,” interrupted a lady on the right.

Danny didn’t really enjoy being talked down to, but also couldn’t think of a reason to tell them to leave either.

He shrugged and led away from the door to shout into the house, “Dad! There’s some people here to see you!”

“We have guests?” Jack asked, poking his head out from the kitchen.

Danny didn't have time to question why his dad didn't get the door before he saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes and immediately got out of the way.

Once he saw his Dad right in front of the group of strangers, Danny finally realized why they looked so familiar.

They all looked just like his dad.

Apparently, his dad saw the resemblance too because he was happily inviting them all into the house, no questions asked.

The group seemed just as confused as Danny felt.

Were these some cousins he hadn’t met before?

“Maddie, come down here! The greatest thing just happened!” Jack called upstairs with nothing but glee.

“Well, this isn’t going how I thought,” One of the shorter members of the group muttered to themselves.

Maddie stopped on the stairs and just stared at the group before she relaxed her shoulders and came down fully. “Jack dear, who are these people?”

“That’s just it, Mads, I didn’t know either! Isn’t it great?” he said with the biggest smile, despite how not great that sounded. “But man, they look like family, don't they?”

“What do you mean you don’t know them?” Danny asked, still amazed that these people looked so much like his dad.

They looked more like him than he did.

Weird.

“You’re right! I should introduce myself!” He turned to the group again with an outstretched hand and a smile he just couldn’t seem to get rid of, “Hi! I’m Jack Fenton!”

“The name’s Robert,” the one Danny assumed was the oldest step forward and shook his hand, “and it’s the family resemblance that we came to talk to you about.”

“Oh?”

“It just recently came to our attention that there was an,” Robert paused, “error made in the past that we thought you should know about.”

“Error is putting it lightly,” the woman from earlier muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Although, now that she was inside, maybe she wasn’t as old as he thought she was. Maybe she was actually closer to Jazz’s age? It was hard to tell.

Then again, maybe Danny was just really bad at guessing ages.

Robert took a moment to compose himself, “I guess I’ll just get to the point then,” he muttered before tugging on the bottom of his shirt and straightening his posture. “Apparently the company that our mothers used to have us, were lied to, and the person who they thought they were getting the samples from was not who they thought.”

“Aren’t those supposed to be anonymous?” Maddie asked as she crossed her arms.

“They are if you’re poor,” came a rude remark from the back of the group.

Robert spun around to address the speaker, “Veronica!”

“What?” Veronica responded, “it’s not like I’m wrong.”

Robert turned away from her and rubbed his temples, “I should have left you all at the hotel.”

“At the Holiday Inn Express?!” Veronica and what Danny assumed was her sibling both dramatically gagged in unison.

“What’s wrong with the Holiday Inn?” Danny asked, curious as to what could be wrong with the nicest hotel in town.

The two, probably siblings, shared a look that not only confirmed they were siblings, but also made Danny feel like an idiot.

The pair were on either side of Danny and he had a fleeting moment of wondering if this is what swimming in shark-infested waters felt like.

“Oh honey,” Veronica smiled with false sincerity, “clearly you never been to the Ritz.”

“I highly doubt he’s even seen it in person,” her sibling responded with a matching condescending attitude.

“Would you two cut it out!” the older girl snapped, “we have way more important things going on right now than asserting playground dominance!"

“Playground dominance?!” Veronica and her sister argued in unison.

“Hey,” a new voice interrupted.

Danny joined the others as they looked to the speaker.

The guy was huge both in height and in the type of bulk that most guys could only dream of achieving.

“You’re upsetting Theo,” he grunted more than said.

Danny and the siblings looked over to where he had nodded and found the youngest, but not the smallest much to Danny’s dismay, member of the group.

The kid, Theo, was just staring at them. He didn’t look upset, but maybe he just showed it differently than Danny was used to.

“Apologize.” Theo’s defender demanded.

“Sorry?” Danny apologized automatically.

“Not you. Them.”

“Sorry.” the siblings said quickly in Theo’s general direction.

The big guy sighed and shook his head, “not to him.”

The siblings shared a look and then turned to Danny. The one that wasn’t Veronica spoke first, “Sorry for making fun of you.”

Then Veronica added, “even if you did make it super easy.”

“Brody it’s fine,” Robert interrupted before this conversation could derail any further. “Just take the twins and your brother and sit on the couch while I try to explain the reason we’re here.”

Brody gave a single nod before corralling the twins and Theo over to the couch.

“I’m sorry, where was I?” Robert asked as he turned his attention back to Jack and Maddie.

“You mentioned our mothers were scammed but didn’t get to the part that involves them.”

“Thank you, Jacqueline.”

Danny looked to his parents to see if they were as confused as he was, but his mom looked worried.

Wait, were these people actually making sense right now?

Danny realized he may be missing some vital information.

“Put simply,” Robert started, “the sample our mothers received was from a single different donor.”

Maddie gasped and placed a hand on her husband's shoulder, “You don’t mean what I think you mean do you?”

“Yeah. I do.”

Whatever he meant, his mom didn’t take it well at all.

“But that’s not possible! It was supposed to be in storage! I made sure the form was filled out correctly! When did this happen?!” She shouted as she jumped between her husband and Robert.

As if Robert was a threat.

“Mads, it’s okay.” Jack tried to comfort Maddie but all it did was manage to redirect her anger.

“How is this okay?! That stupid clinic didn’t do what we asked them, what we paid them to do! They sold your-! Don’t you understand what this means? Who they are to you?”

Jack placed his hands on his wife’s shoulders and gently held her, “I know. And it’s okay.”

“But Jack?”

Before she could protest more, he smiled and added, “It just means that our family is a little bigger than we thought.”

“Mom?” Danny asked.

He really didn’t want to be this confused. Especially not with something that sounded this important.

His mom turned in surprise as if she had forgotten he was there. Then she got a look as some idea was forming in her mind. She spun in place to face Robert again, “How long has this been going on?” she asked in a rush.

“I’m 18.” he sighed, “and as far as I can tell, I’m the oldest.”

Danny was surprised that Robert was only 18.

Maybe he was bad at guessing ages.

“And how many times-?” his mom started to ask but Robert quickly answered.

“You’re looking at us.”

“You’re sure.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know how it happened?” Maddie asked as she slipped her arms around Jack for support.

“Not yet, but our families are putting a lawsuit together, you’re welcome to join us,” Robert offered.

“Money isn’t going to fix this.” Maddie snapped back but then sighed, “there is no fixing this, is there?”

Jack gave Maddie a reassuring squeeze and then addressed Danny, “Could you go fetch your sister? It’s only fair she knows what’s going on too.”

“Let her know what’s going on?! I don’t even know what’s happening right now!” Danny felt stupid for letting his frustration get to him, but he couldn’t help it. He didn’t like seeing his mom so upset.

Maddie came over to Danny and took his hands in hers, “Sweetie I know this is a lot but I promise I’ll explain everything.”

“Promise?”

“Just find your sister first.”

Danny sighed but relented, “is she still home, or is she at the library already?”

“Oh you’re right,” Maddie looked towards the door as she tried to think, “maybe I should just go.”

“No, it’s fine!” Danny interrupted, “I’ll go get her!”

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” he smiled and was actually looking forward to the excuse to be out of the house for a bit. “I’m sure I could use the fresh air anyway.”

Maddie kissed his forehead, “thank you.”

Danny was about to just leave but he remembered he was still in his pajamas and had been this entire time.

Well, that was embarrassing.

================================================

Danny, now fully dressed, was off to the library to find his sister.

He planned on telling her what happened before they got home, one because it was fair, and two, maybe she knew what the heck everyone was talking about.

He really didn’t want to end up asking something dumb.

Luckily, Jazz is very reliable when it comes to following routines, so finding her was no trouble at all.

Unfortunately, Danny didn’t do a very good job at informing his sister of the current situation.

“Hey, Mom and Dad want you to come home now because they have something to tell us.”

“Oh? What is it?” Jazz asked as she finished placing the book she was holding back on the bookshelf.

“I’m not really sure, but whatever it is it has something to do with the six randos in our house and it’s made mom really upset.”

Long story short, it became very apparent who gave Jazz her driving lessons.

Before the car was even at a full stop Danny phased out of the car and blocked Jazz from getting into the house.

“Before you try and kick the door down, you need to know nobody is in danger!”

“But you said there were strangers in the house?!” Jazz reminded him, still very much ready to fight.

“Yes, but they were invited in. They aren’t threatening anyone.”

“Then why is mom upset?”

“They didn’t come with great news?” Danny shrugged.

Jazz finally relaxed her shoulders, “news about what?”

“That’s just it! I have no idea! I was hoping maybe you did?”

Jazz smiled and took a seat on the stoop and patted the spot next to her, “alright we’ve got a few minutes before they should be expecting us. Tell me what happened, from the beginning this time.”

================================================

Once Danny had told Jazz everything, she was quiet.

“So? Do you know, or were they talking in some kind of code?”

“I have a hunch, but I’m not sure.”

“Why not?”

“It’s just not something Mom should be upset about if it’s what I’m thinking of. Unless I’m missing something.”

“Are you going to tell me your hunch, or do I actually have to ask?”

“No, no, I don’t want to get the wrong idea in your head.”

Danny rolled his eyes in annoyance. Of course, he goes out of his way to make sure she knows just as much as he does and she doesn't do the same for him.

“Look Danny, this probably is something we should just let Mom and Dad tell us themselves.”

“Easy for you to say, Ms. I-have-a-hunch,” he mumbled back.

“Danny,” Jazz pleaded as he got up to go inside, “I’m not trying to keep you in the dark.”

At the last second, he stopped himself from snapping at her. He took a breath to compose himself and tried again, “I really don’t want to go in there mad. Can we just drop this and get it over with?”

She nodded and waited with him to get himself in the right mindset of learning something about his family that may or may not be completely life-altering.

Oh great, now he was nervous.

Since it wasn’t anger he guessed that meant he was ready to go inside.

Everyone was still in the living room but now they all had a place to sit. There weren’t normally enough places to sit to accommodate ten people, so chairs from other parts of the house had been relocated.

Their guests took up the entire couch, both armchairs, and a pair of chairs from the kitchen. Maddie was sitting on a stool that was normally in the lab, and Jack had a folding camp chair that might have been in the shed or something.

Two more kitchen chairs were waiting for Jazz and Danny.

The siblings both took a seat once Jazz had been introduced to the group.

“Danny, were you able to tell Jazz about what we were discussing earlier?”

“I mean I tried too, but I’m not entirely sure I understood it well enough,” he admitted while doing his best to ignore the twins' snicker.

“What part was confusing?” his mom asked.

“I guess the sample bit? You guys kept saying it was supposed to belong to somebody but then it was someone else’s or something? And no one said what it was a sample of?”

“Alright, context.” Maddie took a deep breath to steady herself and began. “Back when your father and I were in college we decided we needed to think a little bit more about the future.”

Jazz nodded and had a look that made Danny think that this was exactly what she had been thinking this was about.

He decided to stop looking at his sisters' reactions so he wouldn’t get annoyed again.

“You see with our field being so new and very experimental at the time, even more so than it is now, there are a lot of potential dangers.”

“Like what happened to Vlad?”

“Well yes,” his mom admitted with a bit of a grimace, “that event certainly was an eye-opener for me.”

“It was after he stopped talking to us that you brought it up, right?” Jack added.

“Yeah, that’s right.” Maddie agreed. “You see sometimes advancing the scientific world leads to long-lasting health issues.”

“Like how Marie Curie died of radiation after studying it?” Danny asked.

“Yes, exactly.” His mom smiled.

He couldn’t help the small bit of pride for remembering that science fact correctly, so he rode that high and asked his next question without hesitation, “so what did you guys do?”

“We decided it would be best to freeze samples of our egg and sperm in case we wanted to have children later.”

“Were you guys a couple yet?” Jazz asked, and now that she did Danny was also very curious about that.

“We’d been on a few dates but we weren’t really a couple yet.”

“We weren’t?” Jack asked, “I thought that going on dates was dating?”

Maddie looked like a deer in the headlights as she tried to think of something to say, “okay let me rephrase that. I didn’t know Jack was the one for me until after we went to the clinic together. To see someone else, not only love science as much as me, but also be able to think about the future and look forward to having a family one day really sealed the deal for me.”

“Aw shucks, really?” Jack blushed with the goofiest grin on his face.

“Yeah, it did.”

“Man, you guys are lucky,” Jacqueline said wistfully, interrupting the cute lovey-dovey moment.

“How so?” Jazz asked.

“If my parents loved each other even half as much as yours are right now I’d, god I don’t know, I’d probably be a different person.”

The rest of the guests agreed that they were all in a similar situation, and how odd it was to see two married people act this way in real life.

Danny and his family really weren’t sure what to say to that. It certainly was sad to hear.

“Look it’s fine,” Jacqueline said as she tried to wave off the situation, “I was just thinking out loud, I shouldn’t have interrupted. Please continue.”

Maddie nodded and refocused on her story. “Once your father and I graduated and were married, we tried to start our family. It turned out that the only way I could seem to successfully get pregnant was to use in vitro fertilization. Which is what we used to get both of you.”

Jazz gasped at the news but Danny had a feeling he might not have all the pieces yet.

“Okay,” Danny said slowly as he tried to piece together what she had just told them and the conversation from earlier, “so how are they connected to that?”

“The clinic we used would either store your samples for later use or offer them for anonymous donation. The samples we were talking about were your father’s.”

“Hold on, let me see if I have this figured out right. Their mom, moms?” he asked the group of guests.

“Mom’s,” they clarified.

“Right, their mom’s got a sample from the same place you guys,” he pointed to his parents, “used to store your own samples and then later have me and Jazz?”

“Yes.”

“And because of a mix-up, they are all siblings but not in the way they intended?”

“Correct.”

“So the reason they look so much like dad is because they are directly related?”

“Yeah,” Maddie answered with an extended sigh.

“So the bad part is?” Danny finally asked despite feeling like everyone else in the room knew what was going on but him.

“The bad part is that it doesn't make them our siblings,” Jazz explained. “Because we don’t share a father with them.”

The reality of the situation crashed into him hard enough to render him speechless.

His dad wasn’t his dad? What did that mean for him? Or Jazz?

While Danny was busy feeling a crisis coming on, his sister asked the question he hadn’t even been able to even think of yet. “Do we have any idea who’s sample we did get?”

“We won’t know for sure until we do a DNA test,” Maddie started, “but the sample their mothers were expecting maybe the one we got.”

“And who would that be?”

“Bruce Wayne.”