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somnoir · 2 months ago

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Down Bad in Distress - Part 3

Part 2 | Masterpost

"Daniel, I heard from CW that your children are moving here." Alfred said one day.

Everyone immediately pauses, except for Danny who was happily doing the cooking while Alfred served the food.

"Danny's kids?" Tim narrows his eyes, glancing back at Jason. "Danny?"

"Yeah? Oh, right! Dick, you didn't tell them?" Danny asks, glancing over his shoulder.

Dick nervously laughs, "Slipped my mind. What's that about your kids?"

"Right, right. They didn't like being away from me all the time so they decided to move. I was hoping to enroll Ellie into Gotham Academy." Danny hums, serving Damian some vegan pancakes and patting the boy's head. "She'd be in your year, kid."

Damian scowls, swatting his hand away but it wasn't accompanied by the usual snark.

"And your son?" Dick asks, immediately being scolded by Alfred for talking while chewing.

"Dante takes a Mechanical Engineering course. It was harder for him to transfer since this would be his third year into it." Danny sighs, sounding a little tired just as he serves Bruce some coffee. "But my kid's stubborn as hell."

"How old are your children?" Bruce tilts his head, just as Danny swats away some dust of his shirt.

"Dan is 23 and Ellie is 15."

"Jason and Damian's age. Hm."

The aforementioned two immediately locked eyes, already mentally planning on tracking down the Fenton siblings. As per usual, Alfred beat them to it and quickly gave Danny an invitation.

"When are they arriving? I do hope that they can come for a meal." Alfred hums, patting Danny in the back.

"Today, actually!" Danny beams.

"You're not worried about your kids being in Gotham?" Steph asks, mouth still full. Danny doesn't even hesitate to pinch her sides when she does, making Stephanie yelp.

"My parents taught me and my sister how to fight at very young ages. My kids got the same treatment. Ellie has one hell of a right hook and Dan gets creative with whatever the hell he can use as a weapon." Danny snorts, "I got called by the principal once cause he stabbed someone with a pencil. Not that it wasn't deserved. My kid doesn't like it when people go after his friends."

"Gotham Material?" Duke asks.

"Gotham Material." Danny chuckles, "If a rogue attacks, my kids would go on with their day like nothing happened. Weird shit like that is normal back in Amity."

Ah, yes. The illusive amity park. Where everything is utterly strange. Tim still couldn't get a good background check on the small town in Illinois—a place that wasn't even marked on the fucking map.

"So..." Dick grins, "When do we get to meet them?"

Alfred clears his throat, "Would dinner suffice?"

Danny grins back, "I'll wrangle them here if I can."

The moment Bruce found out Danny had kids, something in his brain short-circuited. The knowledge alone was enough to make him reassess everything he thought he knew about his bodyguard, but hearing Danny talk about them? That was something else entirely.

Bruce had barely asked a question before Danny launched into a full-fledged monologue, his usual lazy grin stretching into something softer, brighter. Every word was laced with pride, every detail shared with the delight of a man who lived to brag about his kids.

In the span of two hours, Bruce learned more about Dante and Janelle Fenton than he knew about most people in his life.

Dante—the eldest—was a menace. An antisocial teenager with a violent streak that made Damian look like a well-adjusted honor student. Fights, trouble, a past full of missteps and regret. But Danny didn't speak about it with shame or frustration. No, he spoke with admiration, because Dante tried. He fought against his own nature, struggled to rein himself in, to be better for the people he loved.

"He’s a smart kid," Danny had said, his voice full of warmth. "Too smart. Built himself a motorcycle from scrap when he was sixteen—real Frankenstein's monster type of thing, but it runs better than my car."

Bruce had to physically stop himself from calling Jason right then and there, because if his second son found out a teenager had built the equivalent of the Batpod out of junk, he would never recover.

Then there was Janelle. Just as troublesome as her brother, but in an entirely different way. She wasn’t a fighter, at least not in the way Dante was. Her chaos was more... exploratory. She skipped class not out of defiance but because something else caught her interest. An adventurous child who saw a locked door and immediately wondered what was on the other side. A girl who thought parkour was a valid form of travel, who had given Danny a heart attack the first time he caught her flipping off rooftops like a circus performer—it reminded him of Dick when he was much younger.

"She stuck the landing, though," Danny had admitted, laughing. "I wanted to ground her forever, but I was also kinda impressed."

And the stars. Both of his kids loved the stars. Danny spoke of late-night stargazing like it was a sacred ritual, like tracing constellations in the night sky was an unbreakable bond between them. And despite the fact that Dante was technically an adult now, despite the fact that Janelle was a teenager with her own life and interests, Danny still spoke of them like they were his babies.

Bruce sat there and listened, absorbing every word. He asked questions because he wanted to know more, because watching Danny light up every time he got to talk about his kids was addicting.

It was attractive. Gods, it was attractive.

Danny Fenton loved his children unconditionally. Not just in the way he spoke of them but in the way he understood them. The way he knew them. There was no hesitance in his words, no uncertainty in their relationship. He knew their struggles, their strengths, their habits—he knew them in a way that made Bruce’s chest ache.

Because as much as he admired it, as much as he wanted to drown in the warmth of Danny’s love for his children, there was an ugly sliver of jealousy buried beneath it all.

Danny’s kids talked to him. They trusted him. There was no barrier, no invisible wall of hesitance between them.

Bruce had spent years trying to connect with his own children, trying to bridge the gaps that always seemed to widen no matter how hard he reached. He loved them with everything he had, but love alone had never been enough to stop them from pulling away.

Danny? Danny just had it. That easy, unquestionable bond. That foundation built on trust and understanding, not just duty or protection.

Bruce swallowed down the jealousy. He shoved it into the part of his mind where he buried all his regrets and let himself be smitten instead. Because damn it, responsible and loving fathers were attractive, and watching Danny Fenton light up over his kids was devastating.

Bruce isn’t surprised that after hearing Danny gush about his kids, he feels compelled—inspired, really—to introduce his own children to the Fentons properly. What does surprise him is how little convincing it takes to get his entire family to cooperate.

By the time he makes his decision, every single one of them is already waiting in the foyer, dressed, prepared, and standing with an air of near-military precision.

Bruce narrows his eyes, crossing his arms as he surveys them. "I wasn’t expecting compliance from any of you."

Damian, adjusting his hair in the reflection of a polished vase, merely scoffs. "Tt. You underestimate us, Father. We cannot afford to embarrass ourselves in front of Daniel’s family."

Jason, standing beside him, is… straightening his jacket? Running a hand through his hair like he's actually making an effort to look presentable? Damian barely spares him a glance before adding, "Todd, don’t mess this up. His eldest is the same age as you and Cassandra."

"Wouldn’t dream of it, demon brat," Jason grumbles, rolling his shoulders like he’s psyching himself up for a job interview.

Bruce is still processing this unusual display of readiness when Alfred arrives, a knowing, fond smile settling on his face as he takes in the scene.

"I must say," Alfred begins, hands clasped behind his back, "I am quite proud that none of you needed prompting. Daniel will appreciate the effort."

"You can count on us, Alfie!" Dick declares, beaming.

Steph and Tim follow up with matching thumbs-ups, their grins full of mischief but their intentions sincere.

"We'll be on our best behavior!"

Alfred simply nods, clearly amused but unwilling to acknowledge it aloud. "Very well—" Then a knock at the door interrupts, and his eyes flick toward the entrance. "Ah. It seems Daniel has arrived."

There’s a split second of calm before chaos erupts.

Bruce watches as his children all lunge for the door at once, elbowing, shoving, and stepping on each other’s feet in a desperate attempt to reach it first.

Alfred, with decades of experience in dealing with their nonsense, doesn’t bother reacting beyond stepping forward and opening the door himself. As soon as he does, he turns and pins the children with a look of utter disappointment.

The effect is immediate.

Every single one of them freezes mid-scramble, jerking upright like misbehaving students caught by a strict headmaster. With impressive speed, they fall into an eerily well-practiced formation, arranging themselves with the kind of poise that makes them indistinguishable from their usual gala appearances.

Bruce sighs. No. That won’t do.

Danny doesn’t do the whole stiff, overly formal thing. If they meet him like this, he’ll just laugh and call them out for it.

With a subtle wave of his hand, Bruce signals for them to adjust.

In an instant, their postures relax. Smiles become more natural—real rather than rehearsed. The atmosphere shifts from forced courtesy to genuine warmth.

Good.

Because if there’s one thing Bruce has learned, it’s that Danny Fenton can read through bullshit alarmingly well.

The first thing Bruce notices is that Danny isn’t in his usual suit. No high-collared, sharp-lined professionalism. Instead, he’s wearing something casual but still presentable—comfortable. It makes him look softer in a way Bruce rarely gets to see. More relaxed. More himself.

There’s a grin on his face, wide and easy, and a warmth in his eyes that Bruce has only ever seen in Alfred when the family finally gathers together after too long apart.

“Oh, you’re all here!” Danny laughs—laughs—and Bruce has to physically stop himself from reacting because—shit. That sounds good. No, not just good—amazing.

And then—

“My kids—Janelle, no! Do not chase after the turkey, and don’t pet Ace without permission! We are not kidnapping the dog—we have Cujo!"

Bruce barely has a moment to process that before Damian stiffens beside him, squaring his shoulders like he’s preparing to throw hands whoever is trying to steal their dog and turkey?

“Sorry,” Danny says sheepishly, stepping fully inside. “She likes dogs a little too much. Dante here is more of a cat person.”

Bruce doesn’t even have time to respond before Danny reaches back and pulls someone into the manor.

And—what the fuck?

For a split second, Bruce genuinely thinks Danny has somehow duplicated himself. But no. Not quite.

It’s another Fenton. Just younger. Scowlier. Broodier.

Dante Fenton is just as tall as his father, just as broad-shouldered and built. But where Danny is all easy grins and shameless affection, Dante is—well, Bruce can only describe it as Jason if he had a twin that was worse.

His arms are crossed, his expression set into a resting bitch face so perfectly executed that Bruce has seen lesser versions of it on Danny himself.

“This is my eldest, Dante—smile,” Danny practically hisses, pinching his son’s side.

Dante immediately hisses back like a feral animal, shooting his father a glare before half-assing the most reluctant, teeth-baring grimace Bruce has ever seen.

Bruce is so close to laughing.

But before he can even comment, there’s the sound of something small tearing across the yard, followed by—

“Ellie, come back here!”

Danny barely has time to sigh before bolting back outside, disappearing for only a second before returning—this time, dragging yet another Fenton into the house.

Bruce blinks. Another one.

This one’s smaller. Female. But still unmistakably a Fenton.

“This raccoon is Janelle,” Danny introduces, exasperated.

“I’m not a raccoon!” Janelle yells, pouting hard enough to make even Damian look impressed.

“You might as well be!” Danny huffs, already brushing off the dirt and grime clinging to her jeans, muttering to himself as he adjusts her hoodie and makes sure she’s not too disheveled. “Sorry,” he murmurs again, glancing up at Bruce like he’s worried he’s making a mess just by existing.

Bruce doesn’t even think before stepping forward, automatically ushering the Fentons further inside.

“No need,” he assures, as quickly and firmly as possible. “You’ve seen my kids, Danny. We have Steph.”

“Hey!”

Bruce barely registers Stephanie’s indignation because, frankly, he’s far too busy being weak over this whole situation.

Timothy Wayne-Drake has met a lot of people who love their parents. Some to a reasonable degree. Some to a concerning one. But he has never met anyone as downright possessive of their father as the Fenton siblings.

At first, he thought Dante and Janelle—sorry, Ellie—were just the skittish type. You know, new place, new people, a little wary of the freakin’ Waynes (which, fair). But, uh. No. That is not what’s happening here.

They are, quite literally, guarding Danny.

They don’t let him stay with Bruce for too long. They don’t let Danny play around with the rest of the Wayne kids unsupervised. There’s always one of them around. Always watching.

At first, it’s just funny. Like, ha-ha, protective kids, whatever. But then Tim starts realizing—

Dante and Ellie Fenton have instantly decided to be at least a little hostile to every single Wayne in the building.

Except Alfred. Because, obviously, everyone likes Alfred.

“So… Erm…” Duke, brave soul that he is, awkwardly tries to break the ice, clearly very aware of Ellie’s piercing blue eyes lasering into his soul. “I was just wondering why you two decided to move. I mean…”

“Oh, that’s simple!” Ellie laughs. Cute.

Then she grins. Not cute.

Sharp teeth. Way too sharp. Like her dad’s.

“Dad was away for too long. We didn’t like that.” Her grin widens. “And besides, Dad seems to be okay with staying in Gotham long term. Might as well move too.”

…Yeah, okay, that was definitely a threat.

There’s something in the way she says it. Something in the undertone.

Like she blames them. Like she’s implying they are the reason her father was gone for so long.

Tim resists the urge to raise his hands in surrender.

Meanwhile, Dante says nothing.

Which, honestly? Probably for the best. Ellie is friendly at least—sweet, in a way that would be reassuring if she didn’t just casually drop the most unsettling offhanded comments.

Dante, though? Dante is just vibing.

With Jason.

In the corner.

Where neither of them is speaking.

And Tim isn’t sure why that’s worse, but it is.

"Where are you guys staying at? Danny’s penthouse, or did you get a house?"

Steph plops into the seat beside Ellie, casually pulling out Uno—the game of friendship-ending grudges and betrayal.

"Jason crashed there once," she adds. "He still won’t tell us why."

Dante freezes. Stiffens visibly as he turns to Jason. His eyes narrow, analyzing. Jason immediately reacts in kind.

For a solid minute, neither of them says a word. Just—silent eye contact.

Then, like some kind of telepathic dude code agreement, Dante nods—approvingly.

Jason hums, looking pleased with that, and then just…turns back to the TV.

What the hell was that?

"Same place," Ellie huffs, like her brother didn’t just have a whole unspoken conversation with Jason. Then she perks up. "Oh, which one of you is in my year at Gotham Academy?"

Everyone, immediately and without hesitation, gestures to Damian.

"Demon Brat," Tim says, speaking for the masses.

Damian scowls, clutching Titus like the dog is his last anchor to sanity. Which, fair. Mostly because Ace—the traitor—has already defected, happily nestling into Ellie’s lap like she handcrafted him from scratch.

Ellie narrows her eyes at Damian, then grins. Wide. Too wide.

"Is that a katana?"

The room stills.

Every single person whips their head toward the katana Damian absolutely does not go anywhere without.

Then, hesitantly, they look back at Ellie.

Who has already stood up and is calmly approaching Damian like she isn’t about to start something.

"May I?" she asks, stretching a hand out.

Tim makes a mental note: this one is dangerous.

"Ellie," Dante finally speaks, voice flat but exasperated.

Damian snarls, holding the sword closer. "What makes you think I’d let you touch my blade?"

Oh, she’s smug now. That’s never good.

"I was in Japan for three months when I was twelve," she says, all nonchalant. "Met a lot of interesting people. Learned how to use and maintain katanas during that time."

Damian squints. "Prove it. How does one properly maintain a katana?"

Ellie tilts her head, almost like she’s insulted.

"You start with uchiko, obviously," she says. "Cotton ball, light taps, no rubbing. Clears out the old oil and dust. Then you use a nuguigami cloth—special cloth, not just any cloth—to wipe it down before reapplying the choji oil with an abura nugui cloth. Not too much. Just enough to coat. And for sharpening, you start with a low grit whetstone, move up gradually, and never—never—go for a high grit too early unless you want to ruin the whole edge."

She smirks. "That good enough for you?"

Damian stares.

Tim recognizes that stare. That’s the oh no, I accidentally respect this person stare.

Horrifying.

Bruce and Danny return just in time to witness what should be a nightmare scenario—Ellie handling Damian’s katana like it’s an extension of her own arm.

Damian, to the horror of everyone involved, is right next to her, calmly discussing proper forms and optimal grips like he wasn’t about to stab her five minutes ago.

Tim resists the urge to check if hell has frozen over. Give Constantine a call and everything.

Bruce, naturally, hones in on Danny with that same soft look he thinks no one notices. Gross. He clocks that shit immediately and blanches.

"Your daughter knows how to handle a katana?" Bruce asks, voice way too fond for what should be a concerned question.

Danny, like an absolute menace, doesn’t even blink. "Both of my kids like swords. Ellie just prefers the lighter and faster ones. Dante likes zweihanders and claymores." He waves a dismissive hand. Like this is normal dad talk and not insane assassin lore drop. "Never understood why you like heavy blades, though."

Dante, without missing a beat, defensively shoots back, "They just feel balanced in my hand, okay?"

Tim files that away under: Reasons to Stay on Dante’s Good Side.

Bruce, still doing the gross fond smile thing, tilts his head. "Did you teach them?"

Danny smirks. "I wish. Got a friend who trained me when I was younger. Dante pissed him off just to be taught, and Ellie followed by annoying him until he caved." He shakes his head, sighing like a put-upon father and not a man casually revealing that his kids harassed someone into giving them weapons training. "Least of the crazy shit they’ve done."

Tim immediately clocks the way Dick’s entire being lights up.

"Oh, do tell," Dick grins, leaning in.

Danny, like an absolute maniac, just shrugs and says, completely deadpan:

"Ellie once snuck out in the middle of the night, went missing for a week, and then I found her in Russia, fist-fighting an assassin just last year."

The room freezes.

Tim can physically hear the record scratch in his brain.

Danny, unbothered, continues, "Dante blew up my godfather’s car when he was about to open it."

Tim slowly turns his head toward the two Fenton siblings.

Who are grinning. The same grin. The same sharp, predatory flash of color in their definitely-not-normal blue eyes.

Oh.

Oh, no.

Tim knew Danny wasn’t human. That was accounted for.

Unfortunately, what wasn’t accounted for was the fact that Danny’s kids were also very much not human.

…He needs more caffeine for this.

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luludeluluramblings · 19 days ago

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Smalltown!Meta!Reader x Yandere!Batfamily: Part One - Rewrite

A/N: I got stuck on the action scenes in Part Nine and decided Hey, I should rewrite the earlier parts since my writing has improved. Only to realized, a lot of shit went down in those earlier parts. lol. help. This is 4.6k words and I have to make into two parts because so much happened.

Link to the Original Part One.

Warning: Parental Death, talks of grief, Bruce being an obsessive and cryptic mf, Alfred being a bit delulu, attempted GN!Reader.

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

You had a happy childhood. You know that. You've always known that. People had repetitively said it to you. Over and over again. Blessed. Lucky. Privileged. Not just with material things, but with affection and talents. And, it seemed to increase as you got older and the circle of people you interacted with slowly began to expand and bubble around you. Sure there were some struggles. Some terrifying and suffocating moments. But, life was good.

You were quite serious as a child when you were told to be grateful for what you had. You'd say that mind et helped you retain some level of humility. But, in reality, you were grateful because you were selfish and didn't want to lose what you had. Not even for something better. You had enough. You could make the rain fall or the sunshine or even make a snowman on a hot summer day. And, you were loved. What more could you want?

The children's stories about being greedy stuck with you. So, being a little selfish was fine, but being greedy was not.

Besides, there was nothing to be greedy for. You had loving parents, lived in a wonderful community. Fresh air, good food, good clothes. An annoying, but lovable little brother.

Life was practically perfect.

I mean, sure, you had to live with the knowledge that Daddy wasn't your real father. It wasn't something that had been hidden from you. You knew, you were told. He loved you all the same and spoiled you almost as much as he did your Momma.

The way he loved you was without question. You might have thought he would have been weirded out when you discovered you were a meta, but out of everyone in the town and in the family, he had been your rock. He'd been the one to sit with you when you struggled not to make it rain in the house. When you accidentally shot off lighting when you sneezed. When your crush said you looked cute and a snow flurry followed you around for three days.

But, there was the fact that you just wanted to know who it was. Daddy even agreed that you should have been told who the man was. Not that even he knew. He didn't care about knowing who the man was. He'd probably just thank him for giving him such a blessing before containing to enjoy his easy going life.

You weren't greedy with it. In fact, you had dropped the topic after months of asking.

So why did everything fall apart if you didn't commit the sin of greed?

Why were you standing over two graves in the back of the family property surrounded by your loving town?

You couldn't muster the will to let rain fall. Rain was your delight. A delight you shared with Momma and Daddy. With them gone, seemed the only thing to fall was you and Lukie-boy's tears.

Condolences and condolences. You knew everyone meant well, but right now all you wanted was to curl up in Momma and Daddy's bed with your little brother and bury yourself under the covers. Just pretend this was a nightmare.

You didn't care that you were almost an adult, the grief left you feeling strangely like a child.

Nana had taken over most of the proceedings. While Granddaddy kept you and Luke close. You couldn't stop yourself from leaning into him. Being reminded to the silently way Daddy would hold you. Nana had a tendency to be overbearing and she was even more so today as she fluttered about Luke and you with concern.

You had to remind yourself she was also burying her son, and that made you hold back your tongue and most of your tears.

It wasn't until everyone moved back to the church building for some food that you felt the shift in the atmosphere. One you know you hadn't caused yourself with your lack of energy at the moment.

There was a man. He wore a sharply fitted black suit. Faintly you heard Mae mutter that it was Tom Ford in the same tone she used when speaking about her fabric and bugs.

You didn't recognize him. In fact, no one seemed to recognize him. That was until you really looked at him and you meet his gaze with your own solemn one.

Everyone said you were a sweet child. But, Mae was your best friend and she had little filter on her thoughts. And, you recall what she had said to you once after that long forgotten incident in the bayou a few years back.

"When you frown, when your eyes narrow, when your nose wrinkles in anger and annoyance, you're entire face reminds me of a dark and stormy night. Like from the stories. Even when your eyes glow, there's a shadow sometimes."

You had seen what she was talking about in the mirror once. Had wondered who it was you had gotten that from. It wasn't from Momma, or MawMaw, or Gab. But, you remember the way your Momma would sometimes look at you when you got like that. The way she'd poke your sides until it went away or held you close until it melted it off.

You didn't know who you got it from back then.

You did now.

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

Bruce had hoped this day would come, but not like this. Not in a way that felt like history repeating it's self once more.

Two people dead, but this time two children left.

He wasn't even meant to get the call from what he knew. It was an accident. Something he was grateful for when he pushed that DNA test on Adeline all those years ago. A social worker, fresh to the field, called the manor. Luckily, Alfred had picked up the call. And, right when Bruce had walked down the steps, nearly missing the last one when he saw the expression on his face. One he has seen a few times before.

"Yes, he's just come down. I'll inform him myself, and he will be there promptly. No, no, travel will not be an issue. Thank you, Ma'am. Have a pleasant evening." The elderly man's voice remained stoic and composed, but Bruce watched him lean all his weight onto the decades old accent table enough for him to hear both, the bones of his Butler and the table, creek.

Alfred pressed a hand to his face, only letting out a sigh when he wanted to curse. Curse the word. Curse the Wayne name, curse the blood. Just scream at the cursed world. But, he didn’t.

He couldn't even bring himself to look at Bruce. His son. Knowing that this would break another piece of him once more.

"Ms. Adeline and her husband have passed."

Bruce's reaction is immediate as he moves in a rush. "The children-"

"Alive and well. Or, as well as they may be, all things considered," Alfred manages to finally take a weary breath before letting out an exhausted exhale.

"Drunk driver. Ms. Adeline and her husband had been on a date that evening. The children had been home. They pulled the car from one of the swamps this morning after a fisherman spotted it. It- It appears Ms. Adeline was rendered unconscious during the crash. And, Mr. Anderson drowned trying to unbuckle her." The old butler manages to keep a slightly even tone when speaking. Relaying the information he managed to garnish from the young social worker.

For Bruce it was a tragic sigh of relief. You were alright, but not alright. Tragedy had struck you, but not taken you.

"I'll be leaving to get-"

"The young Jean-Luc is already set to stay with his grandparents. But, the courts deemed you fit to take custody of our-" Alfred coughs, catching himself.

"Understood." Bruce grits his teeth. He doesn't want to separate siblings, but maybe you being around your other siblings will be enough. Besides, he can petition for custody. Surely an elderly couple would prefer their grandson stay with his closest relative?"

"I'll have my secretary arrange a flight out and clear my schedule. We need to cover all press leaks as well." Batman was in control now, already coming up with a plan and mentally coming up with a new patrol roster for the coming few days while he heads towards the cave.

"Alfred, prepare a room for them, please." He also asks, knowing the older man would need something to do unless Bruce wanted him to nearly exhaust himself by cleaning the manor top to bottom.

"Which room, sir?"

Bruce pauses to consider the options in the manor. Most of the rooms having been filled by the others or are in need of repair.

But, one does pop into mind.

"The Madam's Room."

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

During the flight to that little backwater town in Louisiana, Bruce passes the time with his own thoughts. It's only a four hour flight by private jet, but, for a man like him, playing with the thoughts in his head can be dangerous.

The 'what if's linger in his mind. The few times he's allowed himself to stare at you through the screen of the Bat computer on your birthday. The occasional way he'd let his eye's linger on Adeline. Noting how she's aged like wine. How she remained soft and warm in each image and her only wrinkles were faint and clearly from sunshine and laughter. Faintly he could hear it echo even now. The throaty sound added to the list of things that haunt him.

Sometimes his eyes would linger on Jean-Luc in those rare instances. The boy an exact replica of his mother, with her warm brown eyes and curls. Sometimes, he'd pretend they were dark blue like his own. But, only for a second before he wiped to computer's hard drive and replaced it with another one.

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

Your feelings over the entire matter were… complicated. You certainly didn’t expect to find out your biological father was one of THE richest men in the entire world.

But, it was just such an odd situation.

You had wondered about him, yes. But, you didn’t want to leave everything behind in your hometown.

Nana had thrown an absolute fit about him taking you. It was almost terrifying to watch the sweet woman you loved practically spittle with rage. Though in her defense, he had offered to take Lukie-boy too. Like an added bonus. Apparently he collected orphans judging from your quick google search in the bathroom after his arrival. Guess that means you fit his criteria now.

You had flinched when he’d done that. You understood he was trying to keep the two of you together - you did appreciate that, but the dirt over Momma and Daddy’s graves had barely settled before he’d made the offer in that almost posh accent of his.

It had soured things a bit, but you tried. You had tried.

Reassuring Nana that you’d call her every week helped her cope a bit. Telling her you’d promise to keep her updated helped soothe her some. And, asking her that she help by just focusing on Luke seemed to bring her back to reality.

Though she did grumble and get that terrifying look in her eyes when your family lawyer, one of the town residence explained that a new social worker had made the call to him accident. That same look that made Momma weary and Daddy's face age. But, they weren't here any more so there was only you to watch with furrowed brows.

Instead you hugged Luke, kissed his curls like Momma used to only to the be pulled into tight embraces and firm grips by nearly everyone you knew before boarding the private jet with your father.

It felt weird to say father.

Daddy was dead. Drowned and buried and in the dirt. Yet, here was your father. You didn't want to replace Daddy.

You also didn’t know how to react. How to handle this new father. And, you guess neither did he. Since for the first two hours of your flight to Gotham city, the man was completely silent. So instead you decided to look for similarities. Already you found one.

Momma had a thing for the quite type, you decided.

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Bruce couldn't really bring himself to say anything. To see you in person finally after all the years, made something in him break and the pieces collide back together suddenly. He's seen still shots with the highest quality imaging. Videos and audios with the best equipment money could by or he could create.

But, there was something different about watching you breath and blink in real life. No need to rewind and watch the footage again. To pretended he was there in those moments. He had you here beside him now. His baby.

And, you were beautiful.

Just as beautiful to him as you were in the first image he'd received of you in that clear hospital nursery cradle. He stands by his previous thoughts. You had his mother's eyes. And, now grown you had even more of his mother's features, blended together with your own mother, of course. Something he strangely found himself grateful for. A small reminder that he had once held a softer woman once. Even if he ended up letting her go.

But, he was afraid. This was a different fear than when he was introduced to Damian. Damian had been a surprised, not entirely un-welcomed. But, Bruce knew Damian was expecting Batman as his father. You were expecting Bruce Wayne. And, Bruce Wayne as a father didn't exist.

The media may say otherwise, but it was an act. And, he couldn't give you an act. He wouldn't. He wasn't going to lie to you. But, he needed you to be safe. Especially now. Especially when you had such sad eyes and a frown like his own on your face from a loss he deeply understood, but couldn't help you with. Not in the way you needed. Your hands were far to delicate for justice.

He'd already made plans to track down the driver that knocked Adeline and her husband into the bayou as you called it. He could see the way you shudder and how your eyes would water each time your mother and step-father's drowning was mentioned. Something he desperately wanted to ask about. A fear he could sense that he so deeply wanted to understand.

Instead, he finally broke his silence after you both were halfway to Gotham.

"Don't worry about being introduced to everyone right away. I want you to take some time to get acclimated to the Manor. Settle in a bit and find a new routine." He finally said, hiding the rough raw emotions he was feeling from sheer will power.

"I appreciate it, sir." Hearing you drawl even though your voice was hoarse was something Bruce found himself taking a deep breath over. Letting it sink in.

"You don't have to call me 'sir'. I know you have manners and all that, but you can call me," Father, Dad - give him the title he desperately wants, "Bruce. If you'd prefer."

"Understood, sir-- I mean, Bruce." You trail off, awkwardly. The silence filling the air. The jet was clearly one of the fancier breeds, considering you couldn't even hear the engines and use them as white noise.

"Um, what's Gotham like?" You finally decided to ask. Crossing your ankles in and attempt to relax while your eyed drift towards him again.

His eyes strangely seem to light up at your question, though a frown tugs at his lips.

"It is, in short summary, dangerous. There a lot of crime in the city. You'll defiantly be staying in the manor after dark."

You try ignore how he's instantly ordering you around. Like your not seventeen. Like you didn't just leave a loving home where you were allowed to float on the breeze through the bayou's trees at whatever hour you pleased. Things were going to be different, and you'd accept that. For now.

"What's the manor like?" You decided to ask instead. Concluding it was a fairly safe question.

"Oh, I think you'll like it." Was all he said while smiling warmly.

Already you wanted to smack him. You wanted conversation, not to talk to a damn cryptic.

☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️☁️

You should’ve taken Bruce’s ambiguous nature at face value for what your life was about to become.

Quite.

You wouldn’t have minded too much, if it wasn’t for the fact that you were stuck inside Wayne Manor while Bruce got all the paperwork set up for your fancy new school and the fact that he wanted to ease you into things at a snails pace.

Though you wouldn’t forget about the overwhelming nature of the entire situation. Looking up at the veritable brick castle of multiple styles you’d seen throughout decades of different architectural trends. The only comment you had gotten from him when you asked about it was that it had been in the Wayne family for over a century while he smiled proudly. Like that single sentence was enough to fill the silence.

You didn’t like silence.

Even when you were alone, you liked to listen. To music, to the wind, to raindrops, to the cicadas and crickets chirping back home. Not hollow echoing silence.

What made it worse was that Bruce practically disappeared after he introduced you to the family butler. A kindly old man that already gave you a fond look as you toddled after like a helpless newborn duck still learning how to swim and trying not to drown. His smile growing even wider when you asked your polite questions about the history of the manor, wanting to feel some familiarity if you were going to be stuck in these dark wood paneled hallways with red carpets.

Apparently, the house castle was built in the Colonial period. Fascinating, when were the gargoyles added then? Keep talking, please. You didn’t want to deal with thoughts of your grief and loneliness.

It was up two flights of stairs that you really got hit with the reality of your situation.

You remember the soft greens and earthy tones your mother was fond off when decorating your childhood home. The white trim that caught the light from the windows. The light oak wood floor that somehow felt softer than the carpets here. Even in the shadowed corners the most dangerous thing you’d find was a dust bunny. Your own room filled with dusty blues and soft whites and greys like a cloudy sky.

Here, you were hit with RED.

So much red. Dark floral wallpaper, that you’d admit was gorgeous in its vividness. But, it almost overwhelmed you. Not even the cream colored sheets and curtains could make it any less underwhelming.

“This is the Madam’s Room. Primarily, it’s been used as a closet and dressing room by previous ladies of the house. An example being your late-grandmother. I’ve taken the liberty of having her portrait hung over the mantel with your great-grandmother also having her portrait in here as well.” You couldn’t even be upset by the hint of pride in the man’s voice. The room was beautiful, tastefully decorated. Charming. Sophisticated. Historical. A million different of fancy words. But, it wasn’t home.

“Thank you, Mr. Pennyworth, sir.” You murmured looking around the room while giving him your best attempt at a smile.

Your eyes catching the aforementioned portrait over the fireplace. The breath in your chest catching. Everyone always said you looked like Momma just with different eyes and a few other little things. They didn’t feel so little now. You looked too much like the woman in the portrait. Way too much like her.

“My own room is right across the hall in case you need anything else, my dear. Please, do not hesitate to ask. And, most importantly, you are more than welcome to call me Alfred.” You snap out of your thoughts and let your manners take over, smiling politely and nodding along.

“Thank you, Mr. Alfred, sir. I most appreciate it.” You hide behind a grateful tone that seems to make him look at you with an even fonder expression.

“I’ll let you to get settled in then, my dear. Feel free to add your own touches and take it easy. Everyone else is out of the manor at the moment so don’t worry about having to entertain any questions for the time being.”

God, you’d rather answer the most invasive questions in existence than be alone right now in such an unfamiliar place. But, you smile anyway.

“Thank you, again. I really do appreciate it, sir.” Are your finally words before your left alone and the thoughts creep in.

It isn’t until you’re unpacking a few of the little things you grabbed from your room and the clothes that don’t even begin to fill the closet that it hits you. Your little happy lightning cloud pillow looking like a children’s toy on the pillows. It technically is one, but seeing it makes you realize you don’t really feel like a child anymore. Though you still cling to it as you cry softly.

You don’t bother causing it to rain.

Instead, it’s noted by those on patrol, how that particular Gotham night is unusually warm.

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Alfred felt unfortunately blessed. Bruce wanted to ease the poor child into life in Gotham, but just from how overwhelmed they were he could tell it was not going to be like any of them expected things to go.

But, it was nice. Pleasant to have someone that just wanted to lightly talk without the long history of patching up their skin and mending their bones to contact them. He would admit he thought often of Martha.

Alfred could easily conclude he was growing sentimental. But, he excused that. It was common at his age. Instead he just enjoyed your company while Bruce had the rest of the family hold back their introductions.

Though really. Bruce’s antics were a little less amusing this time around. Waiting until you were in the house and settled into bed before abruptly calling a family meeting to announce your presence? He doesn’t blame the others for being outraged. They should have at least been informed before you arrived. Though, he supposed it was for the best. It would have to do now, regardless.

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“Alright, B-man. What’s this about? No one’s escaped Arkham, and I have Alfred’s birthday marked on my phone’s calendar. So this better be important.” Jason had sat back in one of the caves chairs, possibly Tim’s judging from how he kept giving him a dirty look for creating his feet near some tech junk on the metal counter in front of him.

“What about the rest of our birthday’s?” Steph had to ask, grinning at him from her own perch next to weapons rack.

“Not as important.” Jason dismissed with a wave of his hand causing her to snicker. Duke also chuckled from his own seat, before sat more at attention. Or, at least as much as he could considering he was just about to head out on patrol.

"Didn't include your own birthday in that?" Dick quipped back, stretching the tension from his shoulders after the drive from Bludhaven. He had also picked up Barbara on the way which had added extra time. She had her chair rolled up to one of the tables where Cass was sitting cross legged on.

Only Cass wasn't in a joking mood, she was to busy observing Bruce. Noting the flickers of multiple contradictory emotions in him. Damian's eyes drifted towards her from where he stood at attention. Already suspicion brewing in his gaze at what she could possibly be reading from the family's patriarch.

“Does this have anything to do with that guest your brought to the manor?” Barbara eventually asked, catching everyone’s attention before their heads swiveled to Bruce. A guest meant they had to be careful in the manor, or at least above ground. Below it things were clear to run like normal.

“Great.” Stephanie said dryly, “How long are we going to be running like this?”

“A while.” Bruce finally answered after a moment. For once feeling out of his depth to explain this. As Alfred walking into the cave, he knew it was time.

“I believe they’re asleep now. The poor dear seemed exhausted.” The older man said while taking a seat himself, his eyes solemn and soft.

In a room of raised detectives they caught the look and the way Bruce was acting.

“Really, Father? Another stray? Thomas was bad enough don’t you.” Damian comments with little heat behind his words while Duke gives him a look of mock outrage.

“This one isn’t a stray.” Bruce admits, knowing that Damian was about to take this the hardest.

“You flew to Louisiana for them. A bit far for your usual route?” Barbara questions already rolling away from the table and towards him.

“Did you finally sign up for one of those adoption websites and get an alert?” Jason scoffed a bit.

“No. They aren’t adopted. They’re my biological child. Officially.” He finally announced, wanting to get the worst of it out of the way.

That seemed to stun everyone for a moment. However, Dick was the first to recover. Catching how serious Bruce was being. “Bruce, is this another Damian?”

Damian bristled at the question, but knew Dick didn’t mean anything harmful by it. However his breath did catch when it was Alfred that answered.

“No, Master Bruce was informed of their birth and subsequently had a DNA test done years previous.”

That made everyone’s heads spin. But, not as much as Damian’s.

“You knew about them and, you never told me?” He had meant to say ‘us’, but this was different. This was a blood matter. And, while he knew blood didn’t truly matter to make a family, it did forge a connection between people willing or unwillingly.

“Hold on, is this from the worst of your playboy days?” Barbara asked, trying to wrap her head around it.

“Yes. But, it was a particular woman. None of you meat her, except Jason.”

Heads and eyes and ears turned to him instead, watching for his reaction.

“Don’t look at me, he went through like fifteen women—“

“It was Adeline.”

Oh.

Jason remembered her. Hell, he had actually liked her. She lasted about three weeks longer than all the others. And, she was softer, warmer, with a drawl that he sometimes imagined reading to him. She hadn’t tried to be motherly to him, but it was clear to him she could’ve been. She could’ve been a lot of things.

But, Bruce had thought her too sweet and too good. And, had let her go. Jason had been sad about it. But, not distraught. It really was for the best, he'd thought. She had been to good for Bruce.

However, if he knew one thing, her kid probably had the best childhood in existence. And, away from Bruce to boot.

“The Cajun and Creole southern belle.” Was all he commented, drawing a few raised brows.

“With a bit more... spice than we anticipated. She had won full custody of their child while Bruce had been on a league mission.” Alfred added to the subject. Making Tim whistle a bit.

“Oh, damn. Those lawyers must have been good.” Was all he could find himself adding to the tense conversation.

“So, they’re… normal?” Was Stephanie next inquiry. Already feeling that spark of jealousy in her chest. A normal childhood only to end up with Bruce as your surprise dad? Talk about winning the genetic lottery.

“Yes. They’re ‘normal’. I don’t want them involved with any of our night work. Everyone is to keep it under wraps.”

“Until?”

“There is no until. Keep it under wraps.”

It was then everyone realized, Bruce was willing to throw away their entire routines and make their jobs more stressful just for this person. A person he saw fit not to trust any of them with. A person he was prioritizing over them, and possibly over the mission.

And, that pissed off more than a few of them.

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Taglist:

@starsdotalk @sleepyghoster @maicenitas @box-of-kinderjoy @yandereheros @skwunkler @cl0esblogg @delias-stuff @rosecentury @lilyalone @addie-r-u-ok @space1crow @imaginarydreams @dhanyasri @rosalietodd013 @rissareader @rando2509 @h0rr0r-10ver-69 @interobanginyourmom @heyitsaloy @myanyan-me @animegoddess15 @resident-cryptid @schaarfyx @skwunkler @erikasurfer @enchantingarcadecreation @redkarmakai @be3b0o @couldeatthatgirlforlunch @ratchetprime211 @labryel @kawaii-cakes @linaisadream @vanessa-boo @m0063576 @oooof-ifellforyou @minkyungseokie @theseustimes @the-ruler-of-death @blueberry19000 @ghostdoodlen @victxria024 @nebulousmoon3990 @bad4amficideas @momentomoribitch @heyitsaloy @grossstinkygoblin @sg-obsessedfreak @anakilusmos @alittletiredcry @stargirl404 @bath1lda @kittzu @numbu5 @stickyricewithmangosauce @twismare @atanukileaf @nommingonfood @bunniotomia @jensenacklestoothpick @jellystar-star

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A/N: Sooooo, what we think? Improvement, I hope? Don't worry, the neglected bits are coming and Yandere bs going to begin. I'm just tightening things up a bit.

A/N: Here's my Ko-Fi link. (My husband encouraged me to make it for diet coke, my weakness.)

#luluramblings #yandere batfam #batfam x reader #batfamily x reader #yandere batfamily #yandere dc #yandere batfam x reader #yandere batfamily x reader #smalltown!reader

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that-weird-thing-in-the-woods · 3 months ago

Text

~{Heyyy, So I got this wonderful idea from @villainmirabelmadriga but it’s not letting me add on to it so I’m just making this!}~

•Protecter•

The JL have a new…problem?

There has been a new pattern when it comes to young vigilantes and young solo heroes where they will disappear for a couple months before showing back up with a power up if they have powers or stronger weapons and technology if they don’t as well as a necklace that they all wear after showing back up.

The JL have located how they get to wherever they are when not fighting but it seems to have something on it to keep everyone out but those who have the necklace or being brought in by someone with a necklace, The JL have tried to take a necklace from a young villain but it burned the one who took it so that plan was a bust.

Martian Manhunter tried to transform into one of the young vigilantes and go in back it sent him flying back if he hadn’t caught himself he would have been thrown more than 20 feet back.

These were the first two plans but the JL have tried many more but all where unsuccessful so they are on their last plan.

They will send YJL with Robin and Nightwing to infiltrate them by acting as a new vigilante group that needs help and a place to stay.

Hope this works.

-•—••••••••••••••••—•-

•Background•

Danny was the Ancient of Protection.

So when he came to this world to see if this was a good place to stay for a bit and saw the young Vigilantes and solo heroes, he was reminded of him when he was still a halfa and fighting with the other ghost and G.I.W and that kick starts his protective instincts (As both a ghost parent and the Ancient as Protection).

So he goes to find a good place to set up a gateway to his lair so he can protect and help the kids and that’s when he meets an old woman.

Her name is Lazaire, she seems to be in her 70 or 80 but Danny doesn’t want to ask and she even sees Danny when he when invisible so Danny of course asks how she can and she explains that when she was a young girl she died for 5 minutes before being brought back since then she has always been able to see and interact with ghost so that’s why then she asks why a Ancient like Danny is on this world.

And Danny explains why he’s here then Lazaire offers up the old church that she has been taking care of for the past 4 decades and Danny agrees.

And that’s how we got here!

-•—••••••••••••••••—•-

•Little Facts•

•The portal to Danny’s lair is in a dark cave also the gems in the necklaces are the keys into it

•Some of the people in the Lair will style the gems in different ways like in ear rings, anklet, bracelets, hair pin, pin

•Danny is the Ancient of Protection and the Life cycle, Dani is the Ancient Of Freedom and Chaos, Dan is the Ancient Of Beauty and Destruction

•Danny’s human half died hundreds of years ago so he’s a full ghost now

•Dan and Dani are his children and they call him “Mother” by Dan and “Mama” by Dani

•Priestess Lazaire is the one to take in the nuns who are in dangerous situations and of course with Danny being the Ancient of Protection he’s more than ok with it [and sends Dan, Dani to go beat the shit out of the abusers or send to Fright Night]

•All of the Nuns kinda think of Danny as a mother/Father as he treats them like he treats Dan and Dani

•Dani is the best (besides Danny because that’s mom) with the kids while Dan doesn’t know how to interact with little kids to he mostly leaves them alone but that just makes the older kids love to hang out with (more like follow him around while he does what he wants or naps)

•Lazaire is like the church’s Alfred but with Bruce’s adoption addiction

•Danny is super chill after living for hundreds of years you kinda get this unnatural chill that is always there

•Just wait until Dan and Dick met lol (Dick is going to SIMP so hard)

•On the outside the Church looks rundown and the trees around it are mostly dead but inside the Lair the Church looks new and beautiful and the forest and gardens and perfect (It’s Dan made it like this, Danny just wants to make the kids safe and comfortable while Dani wants them to have fun and be free while Dan makes it pretty lol)

•Danny has a room where he threads tapestries that the nuns like to hang up [He make them like Penelope from Epic or old Greek stories:) ]

•Dan and Dani joined Danny in his Lair after the first few kids as they missed their mom

-•—••••••••••••••••—•-

•Appearances•

Danny

[Instead of blue it’s black and it’s a lot fancier but I could find one that looked the way I wanted :( ]

Dani

[^ This one is for when she’s fighting and ^this one is for when she’s doing literally anything else than fighting]

Dan

Nuns

[They wear long cloaks when outside of the church but they mostly wear the second one as it was given to them by Ellie and makes it easier for them to do chores and cook so they like it]

Priestess Lazaire

[Instead of purple it’s green and black]

~{And that’s it,Sorry if the story stuff is a bit short and choppy the post didn’t save and I had to redo it lol anyway I hope you gremlins liked it byeeeee}~

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dameronspector · 1 month ago

Text

Philophobia (Part 3)

Pairing: Joaquin Torres x Stark!Reader

Chapter Summary: After that…interesting first meeting with Joaquin, You finally join Sam and the three of you make your way to his apartment to get settled. Little did you know, that all of you were going to get the shock of your lives. Oh, and you also reunite with Bucky after 6 months. (10 years.)

Warnings: Mentions of Death and Depression, Mentions of Panic Attacks, Nightmares, Abuse by a parent (not tony), Insomnia, Cursing, Fluff, Grumpy x Sunshine except Joaquin is the sunshine, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Joaquin is Down Bad, Pining, Reader has some phobias, Found family, Reunion with Bucky, John Walker slander, Steve Rogers slander (please don’t read this if this isn’t what you’re looking for). Also, I don’t know shit about technology so please excuse that. 😁

AN: So, a lil change of plans. This series will now follow TFATWS and our family will now be on their way to fight w the flag smashers and also they finally reunite with bucky! I’m so sorry for being a dumbass and not thinking of this before 😭 i was just very overwhelmed since this is my first ever series :( anyways, now we will follow the show! Yay!

After that intense first meeting with Joaquin, the three of you made your way to Sam’s apartment.

You were hesitant about going to Sam’s place because it’s the first time since….everything that you were going to an avenger’s house. If everything was normal, you’d be spending half of your time over at Natasha’s or Bruce’s house but nothing is the same anymore.

Sam, being the empathetic and respectful man he is, sensed your reluctance and gave you some space to be.

Joaquin, on the other hand…

That boy did not have an off button. He really didn’t. He could talk about anything and everything and you hated to admit that you lo-liked his low pitched, smooth voice.

“Um, I just wanted to say that, i really love how you’re so passionate about the charities, you know? You remember that fundraising gala you held in Miami? I attended that. I mean, i crashed it more like. My mom did not like that-”, he chuckled before continuing, “but it was so good. I appreciate you making space for our community and supporting the children. Everybody was so happy. My mom couldn’t stop praising you. Said you were such a natural. You really don’t have to, but you use your privilege for the best causes and i just wanted to say that i really admire that and-”

“Joaquin”, Sam cut him off firmly from the driver’s seat. He turned his head to look at Joaquin for a moment and shook his head slightly to stop him from talking any more. Joaquin shut his mouth immediately and set his lips in a thin line. His eyes wide.

In the back seat, you were staring at the back Joaquin’s head. He sure does talk a lot but….you didn’t know you made such an impact on him?

And…he attended your gala?

“Sorry, (Name). He’s just…happy to be around someone who’s his age. Just-”

“It’s okay, Sam”, you interrupted Sam gently before focusing on Joaquin.

“You…attended the gala?”, you asked him inquisitively.

Joaquin looked at Sam who gave him the go to speak before turning around to look at you.

He still couldn’t believe you were sitting right there. He swore that his heart stopped everytime he looked at you.

“Yeah…you-you were with the kids helping them paint the mural, remember? One of them was my neighbour’s kid. He was so happy. Told me you gave them new art kits? That’s really generous of you. Thank you”, Joaquin replied sincerely, his eyes twinkling.

You felt your throat close up and you swallowed thickly to stop the tears from flowing down your face.

You simply shook your head. “Don’t thank me. It’s the bare minimum.”

You saw his eyes comically widen. Like you personally offended him.

“Bare minimum? Dude, you opened a fucking school for the neighbourhood and an orphanage. And you are sponsoring some of the kids’ education. Not even the government is doing all that”, he exclaimed.

Now it was your turn to widen your eyes. You were speechless. You didn’t know how to handle praise so you did the only thing you can do best- deflect the compliment and give a sarcastic reply instead.

You cleared your throat. “Is he always like this? Why is he gassing me up?”, you asked Sam.

Sam let out a loud laugh and Joaquin scrunched his face in confusion.

“What-” Joaquin sputtered out.

“This is their way of saying thank you, Joaquin”, Sam reassured him while chuckling.

You saw the way Joaquin’s face relaxed in understanding.

“Oh!”, Joaquin let out a delighted chuckle. “Well, it’s my pleasure”, he continued and smiled at you cheekily before turning back around.

Was he flirting?

When you noticed that the two of them weren’t looking, you turned your head towards the window and bit the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from smiling.

You finally reached Sam’s apartment and he gave you a brief tour.

“So, this is my humble abode. There’s three rooms, the one at the end of the hall is the office. You can unpack your stuff there. Joaquin won’t be staying back today, so you can take the guest bedroom. Well, consider that room to be yours anyways ‘cus he’s crashing on the couch always”, Sam finished.

Joaquin gasped dramatically and put a hand on his chest. “You’re already replacing me?!”

Sam just smirked. “And? What about it?”

Joaquin’s mouth hung open.

You let out a soft chuckle and the two of them snapped their heads towards you. Joaquin spoke up first.

“Did you just laugh at our jokes?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“You did!”

“Nope.”

“Oh, you totally did, kid.”

“I’m going to unpack”, you responded, unbothered.

Sam just let out a chuckle and clapped Joaquin on the shoulder. “They’re just like their dad, I swear.”

Joaquin grinned and looked your figure go down the hall longingly.

Sam noticed this.

“Okay, lover boy. You needa get out. Go get some work done, and stop ogling my new recruit.”

“Can I stay-”

“No.”

“Please, Sam. I swear I will work-”

“Hell nah, man. I saw how much you work when they’re around. Nope. Go back to the base”, Sam told Joaquin firmly.

Joaquin let out a dramatic sigh.

“Okay. But, promise me-”

Joaquin stopped what he was saying because you had come back to the living room. Sam rolled his eyes. This boy was whipped.

“Okay, kid. Say ‘bye’ to Torres because he will be going back to the base to work, isn’t that right?”, Sam announced and patted Joaquin’s shoulder.

You shrugged. “Okay. Bye, Joaquin.”

Joaquin stared at you dumbfounded because why did you make his name sound so good?

Sam patted his back loudly and he snapped out of his daze.

“Yeah, yeah. Bye, (Name). I’ll…I’ll see you around”, he murmured.

You nodded your head and averted your gaze to stop your face from warming up.

Sam took Joaquin by the shoulders and pushed him towards the door. Before leaving, Joaquin made one quick request.

“Promise me that you’ll call me if you need anything.”

Sam quirked an eyebrow.

“Oh, I’m sure you’ll be coming to help me and not someone else. Goodbye, Torres. I need that intel report by tonight”, Sam said authoritatively and pushed Joaquin out of the door.

Joaquin just chuckled and jogged away before throwing a ‘bye!’ over his shoulder.

Sam shook his head. He couldn’t believe this teenager in an adult’s body was going to be his protégé.

The day went by, you settled in and unpacked your stuff before diving into work. You were tinkering with his suit and adding some modifications. Sam was sorting out some documents and had a brief call with Joaquin. He had found out some information on a group of people called The Flagsmashers. Something about them wanting a unified world and how they were the ones that Sam had to worry about. You couldn’t help but overhear. Staying observant and vigilant came to naturaly to you.

Sometime later, Sam’s phone rang again and he rushed out of his room to turn on the TV.

You were minding your own business when you suddenly heard the words ‘Join me in welcoming your new Captain America!’

You whipped your head up and joined Sam in the living room. There, on the screen, was a blue eyed-blonde haired- man who looked like a wish.com version of Steve. He stood there grinning, with a blue and red suit. With the fucking shield in his hand.

“What the hell?”, you murmured in disbelief. You looked over to Sam and saw him close his eyes in regret.

“Sam, what’s this? Did you know this?”, you asked him slowly.

He inhaled sharply. “Ofcourse not. Shit…” Sam trailed off and pinched the bridge of his nose.

You knew that something like this would happen the moment you saw that shield in that glass box. Because how can the government resist from finding a symbol- a mascot- that would represent their useless and selfish white ego? It’s almost like they were waiting for Sam to hand over the shield. As soon as you thought of that, your face srunched up in disgust.

“Sam, we gotta stop this shit. Who the fuck is this guy? Who came up with this?”, you said furiously.

Sam shook his head.

“I got no clue, kid. I didn’t know…fuck.”

Your face shifted in understanding. He was feeling guilty. Not for giving up the shield, but for giving it into the government’s hands.

You sat down next to him.

“It’s not your fault, Sam. They were going to do this, anyway. Either by controlling you if you took up the shield or by finding a replacement if you didn’t. This won’t end well, trust me.”

Sam just ducked his head and nodded. He then let out a groan.

“Bucky will not like this. Not like he’s picking up my calls or answering my texts. But I know he’s gonna have a crazy breakdown.”

You blinked in surprise. Bucky. You had completely forgotten about him. The last you saw him was at your father’s funeral. But you were in a very…sensitive condition so nobody dared to approach you that day. You haven’t heard of him or from him since that day. Not that you two ever had the chance to just talk.

You were about to speak when you heard the new cap- John Walker- speak on the TV.

‘Yeah, that and flags tend to start majestically waving in the wind. And how's the tour been? I know they did a big rollout for you, right? It's the greatest honor of my life. Um, but I'm just a little shocked, I think. How did a guy like me end up here?’

‘Oh, wait, wait, wait’, the interviewer stops him.

"A guy like me"? ‘Somebody's being a bit too humble. For those of you who aren't familiar with his résumé, "John Walker, first person in American history to receive three Medals of Honor", "ran RS-One missions in counterterrorism and hostage rescue". The government did a study of your body at MIT, and you tested off the charts in every measurable category. Speed, endurance, intelligence... ’

‘Look, here's the thing, uh, I'm not Tony Stark, I'm not Dr. Banner, okay? I don't have the flashiest gadgets, I don't have super strength. But what I do have is guts. Something Captain America always had, always needs to have, and I'm gonna need every ounce of it. Because I got big shoes to fill.’ Walker interrupted her.

You grimaced. Oh, you hate this guy. What an actor. “He’s so full of it. He could never be Steve or you.”

Sam chuckled humourlessly and furrowed his eyebrows at the screen.

Little did the two of you know, Walker was going to be a huge problem.

Later in the day, Sam and you left for the tarmac to go to Munich and follow the flagsmashers.

You met up with Joaquin on the tarmac.

And you froze.

Because wow he looked real good in that army green muscle tee with his uniform cargo pants.

Your face felt warm. Your throat felt dry and your legs felt like lead.

What the fuck was wrong with you? You had to stop acting like this. You’re not sure if you can handle the pain all over again. And you don’t think Joaquin would be interested–Hell, Joaquin didn’t deserve all the baggage that you came with.

So you shook your body a little, clenched your fists and tightened your jaw before Sam or Joaquin noticed your weird behaviour. You chose to stand behind Sam and let them talk to each other first.

Sam greeted Joaquin.

“Seems like a good guy”, Joaquin said, referring to Walker.

You scoffed softly. Joaquin looked at you and smiled.

“You met him?”, Sam asked with a raised brow.

“No”, Joaquin said with pursed lips.

Sam nodded.

“Thanks for doing this on such short notice”, Sam thanked Joaquin. He had immediately agreed to joining him on the mission.

“Yeah, No sweat. I'm just finishing up the checklist, you'll be all good to go once you land in Munich”, Joaquin addressed the both of you.Sam nodded and made his way down to the tarmac. Joaquin lingered around and finally looked at you.

“Hey”,Joaquin greeted you shyly.

You glanced at him and gave him a barely there smile.

“Hey, Torres.”

Before he could say something, the two of you heard a voice call out.

“Shouldn’t have given up the shield!”

You paused. That voice-

“Bucky?”, you whispered.

Joaquin looked at you move towards the railing.

You held the railing with both of your hands and leaned over it.

It took you a second to recognise him because-

“He cut his hair?”, you chuckled lowly.

He looked…good. The short hair suited him a lot. He looked healthier. Rhodey had told you that Bucky had finally gotten his pardon and he had to go to therapy as a condition of his pardon. You hoped those sessions were helping him in some way.

But then Sam told you that Bucky was avoiding him on purpose, so Sam was worried that he was isolating himself again.

Joaquin broke your train of thought and joined you by the railing.

“How long has it been since you met him?”, he asked out of curiosity.

You scoffed. “Way too long.”

Because yeah, technically, Bucky and you didn’t meet properly for the last 10 years.

You turned your attention back to the ex-avengers.

“Good to see you too, Buck”, Sam sighed.

“This is wrong”, Bucky responded.

Sam turned around and held out his hands.

“Hey, hey. Look, I’m working. Alright? So all this outrage is gonna have to wait”, he told Bucky firmly.

Sam was already anticipating this reaction from Bucky.

“You didn't know that was gonna happen?”, Bucky accused.

Sam furrowed his brows, tired of being asked the same thing.

“No, of course I didn't know that was gonna happen. You think it didn't break my heart to see them march him out there and call him the new Captain America?”, he accused Bucky right back.

Bucky scoffed humourlessly and turned his head to the side. “This isn’t what Steve wanted.”

You raised your eyebrows and scoffed loudly. You were honestly tired of people mentioning Steve Rogers like his word was the only thing that mattered.

You must’ve been loud enough because both of them snapped their heads up to look at you.

You saw the way Bucky paused. A look of shock was plastered on his face. His mouth fell open.

“(Name)?”, he whispered.

You waved at him.

“Hey, Buc-Barnes.” You almost called him Bucky. You didn’t even know if he would be okay with you calling him that.

He kept looking at you in surprise before Sam brought his attention back to the conversation.

“Oh, my God. So, what do you want me to do? Call America and tell 'em I changed my mind? Huh?”, Sam asked incredulously.

“Yeah, right”, Bucky chuckled sarcastically.

“It’s a great reunion, buddy. Be well”, Sam patted Bucky’s shoulder and started to move.

“You had no right to give up the shield, Sam”, Bucky poked him further.

‘Bucky needs to shut up right now’, you thought.

Sam stopped and turned around to point at Bucky. He was annoyed.

“Hey. This is what you're not gonna do. You're not gonna come here in your overextended life and tell me about my rights. It's over, Bucky. Besides, I have bigger things to deal with now.”

“What could be bigger than this?”, Bucky narrowed his eyes.

“This guy”, Sam showed the photo of the flagsmasher member.

While Sam was narrating the situation to Bucky, you and Joaquin made your way down to set up everything on the jet.

As you neared the two of them, their voices grew louder.

“-So that's where I'm going.”

“Well, I don't trust Redwing”, Bucky said nonchalantly.

You groaned.

Joaquin turned to you. “What?”

“Bucky insulted redwing. They’re gonna argue over this for hours, now.”

And argue they did.

“Hold on a minute. You don't have to trust Redwing, but I'mma go see if he's right. 'Cause I have a feeling they might be a part of the Big Three.”

You, Joaquin and Bucky had identical confused looks on your face.

“What "Big Three"?”, Bucky asked with his eyebrows furrowed.

“The Big Three.”

“What Big Three?”

“Androids, aliens, and wizards.”

You raised your eyebrows.

“That’s not a thing”, you and Bucky responded at the same time.

Joaquin chuckled. For someone who’s never met the other person, you and Bucky were surely alike.

You scrunched your nose and tilted your head like a puppy. Joaquin looked at you. ‘So cute.’ He thought.

“That's definitely a thing”, Sam said surely.

“No, it's not”, Bucky squinted his eyes in disbelief.

You heaved out a deep sigh.

“Come on. This is never ending. Let them bicker for a while. Their reunion is incomplete without it.”

Joaquin laughed and followed you to the jet, leaving behind those two man babies fighting like a married couple on the tarmac.

You were rechecking the tech to see if it was working properly and Joaquin was preparing the jet for the flight.

You were so deep into tinkering that you didn’t notice Joaquin standing right next to you and observing your work intently.

You stood up and flinched. Not expecting him to stand so close.

“Oh my god! Dude, the least you could do is warn me. I had zoned out”, you narrowed your eyes at him.

“Sorry! I’m sorry, you were so focused I didn’t wanna disturb you”, Joaquin said sheepishly and stepped back.

You sighed. “It’s okay. I’m almost done.”

Joaquin hummed.

He watched, transfixed, as you thread your fingers through your soft hair.

You could feel his stare on you. Your cheeks were shaded in a tinge of pink, again.

“Uh- if you don’t mind, can I ask you something?”, he asked hesitantly with his arms across his chest.

You quirked an eyebrow at him. He took that as a sign to continue.

“I saw the way you reacted when Bucky mentioned Steve. You two didn’t get along, or somethin’?”

You paused and turned your attention back towards the laptop.

“That’s none of your business”, you told Joaquin firmly.

You saw the way he deflated and the way his eyes widened. You closed your eyes in shame. You shouldn’t have snapped at him. You felt bad, but he shouldn’t have asked about your deepest wounds on your first day of working together.

“Oh. I’m so sorry, (Name). I didn’t mean to-” his soft voice was cut off by the sounds of Sam and Bucky’s loud banter.

“Are we ready, kids?”, Sam asked the two of you.

Joaquin cleared his throat to get rid of his embarrassment.

“Y-yeah. We’re ready to fly”, he murmured and walked over to the cockpit.

You still hadn’t looked up from the screen.

Sam looked at the two of you sceptically. He could feel the tension.

“Okay…Let’s suit up, Bucky”, Sam announced before leaving to unpack his gear.

You were adding some extra features onto Sam’s vambrace when you noticed a shadow in the corner of your eyes.

“(Name)?”

You turned to look at Bucky.

You gave him a weak smile.

“Hey..how are you?

He smiled at you awkwardly. “Uh- it’s been alright, yeah. How..are you? Haven’t seen you in a while.”

You chuckled lowly. “Yeah, I wonder why…” you trailed off.

He saw the way his smile faded before he clenched his jaw. “Listen- um. Id like to..talk to you. If you allow me to, that is”, he asked nervously. He was clenching his fists which made his leather gloves crackle.

You looked up at him in surprise. He wanted to talk to you?

“Yeah, sure. We can talk, after the mission”, you nodded.

He let out a sigh of relief and unclenched his jaw before nodding at you. He left to get ready for the mission.

You let out a big sigh. This was a long day.

A while later you were finally in Munich.

Everything was set, Sam and Bucky were geared up. All they had to was de-board the jet.

“One minute to drop off, Sam”, Joaquin announced while making his way over to the opened door of the jet. You watched him pass you and observed Sam and Bucky’s banter.

“So what's our plan?”, Bucky asked Sam.

Sam didn’t respond.

“Great. So no plan”, Bucky exasperated.

“Thirty seconds!”, Joaquin yelled out.

“Enjoy your ride, Buck”, Sam told Bucky.

“No, you can't call me that!”

“Why not? That's what Steve called you.”

“Steve knew me longer, and Steve had a plan”, Bucky sassed.

“Fifteen seconds to drop!”

“I have a plan”, Sam replied smugly.

“Really? What is it?”

Before Bucky could get an answer, Sam jumped out with his wings unfurled.

Bucky raised his arms in disbelief.

“Great. Where's the chute?”, he asked Joaquin.

“We're at feet. It's too low for a chute”, Joaquin told him as-a-matter-of-factly.

You narrowed your eyes at Joaquin.

“How the hell is he gonna go down, then?”

Bucky clenched his jaw. “I don’t need it anyway.”

You scrunched your brows. “What do you mean?”

“You sure about that?”, Joaquin asked curiously.

Bucky smirked. “Yeah.”

“Bro, what-” before you could ask what was he thinking, he jumped while yelling.

Like, free falling. In the middle of an area covered by trees.

“What the fuck!”, you widened your eyes and yelled out.

“He’ll be fine”, Joaquin reassured you. You had to check for yourself.

You tapped your comms.

“Are you okay?!”, you asked worried.

Instead of Bucky, you heard Sam.

“I have all of that on camera. You know that, right?”

“Get out of my face, Sam, or I'll break it”, Bucky replied.

You let out a breath. “Yeah, he’s okay.”

“Told you”, Joaquin shrugged.

You just narrowed your eyes at him.

“Get back to work”, you groaned.

You got back to your makeshift work station and tracked Sam and Bucky.

“Guys, I’ve activated the trackers. Please don’t break the comms and please stay in touch.”

“You got it, kid”, Sam reassured you.

Now you just have to sit back and keep an eye on them.

While you were keeping an eye on the footage, you couldn’t help but think about the way you had snapped at Joaquin and the way he had shrunken down. You did what you had been the best at– pushing away people and taking out their light.

He didn’t know what happened, he just asked out of curiosity. That’s just how he was. He had a pure, genuine and inquisitive personality. Unlike you.

You had to grow up and own your mistakes and stop lashing out at someone who doesn’t know about your personal grudges.

Your therapist would be pleasantly impressed at this.

So, you made your way to the cockpit and cleared your throat.

He turned around so quick you thought he would have sprained his neck.

“Hi”, you said awkwardly.

Joaquin, too shocked to see you talking to him, sputtered out a shaky “Hey.”

You wring your hands together out of nervousness and clasp them tightly. You swallowed harshly.

“Um. Joaquin….I’m sorry.”

Joaquin had a surprised look on his face. He was not expecting you to apologise.

“Wait. No, I’m the one who should be apologising. I’m so-”

“No. Joaquin, listen to me, please”, you stopped him.

He shut up immediately and gave you his full attention.

“Thank you. Look, you didn’t know any better. We just met and….you were just curious. I felt like, you crossed a line and that’s why I snapped. I’m sorry. That was an overreaction”, you told him sincerely.

He gaped at you and held out his hands.

“Hey, please don’t apologise. I know I can come off too strong. I should’ve respected your boundaries. Sam had warned me to not say anything stupid to you. I just….i get too excited to talk to you and..yeah. I’m sorry for crossing a line. I’ll be mindful next time”, he admitted sheepishly and scratched the back of his head.

You finally broke out in a smile.

Okay, he was cute. (Too cute)

“Yeah…you do get very excited easily”, you teased.

You saw the way his cheeks turned bright pink and he chuckled nervously.

“So….are we okay now?”

“Yeah, flyboy. We’re okay”, you smirked.

He flashed you his radiant smile. Seriously, he was too pretty and he knew exactly how to use that for his benefit. You were skirting dangerous territory so you immediately snapped out of it and straightened up.

You cleared your throat and switched back to professional mode. “Okay, I’m gonna go check on those two. Let me know if you need anything, alright?”

He threw up a thumbs up. “Yeah, okay, (Name).”

As you turned around to go back to your seat, you could feel his stare linger on your back.

It all went south very quickly after that. Bucky had jumped into one of the vans that were carrying the ‘hostage’ and that hostage turned out to be the leader of the flagsmashers- Karli Morgenthau.

Soon they were ambushed by 8 more people and they were all super soldiers. If that wasn’t enough, Karli had smashed redwing. Seriously, fuck you Karli. How many times are you gonna have to rebuild him? Now you were left with no footage and had to guess the situation based on their location and the audio from the comms.

Safe to say, Bucky and Sam were getting their asses handed to them. It was so stressful because they were fighting on top of two moving carriers. What were these two thinking? Just as you were going to tell them to pull back, two more people entered the scene.

“Fucking Walker? What the hell is he doing here?”, you growled.

“To bask in the glory!”, Sam shouted, out of breath.

So you sat there. With your head in your hands, helpless.

30 minutes later, Sam commed back.

“We’re coming back to the jet, (Name). Tell Joaquin to prepare for take off.”

“Copy. Are you two okay?”

“Well, other than our wounded ego and a few bruises, yes we are okay. Are you okay?”

You let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding in.

“Yeah, we’re alright, Sam. Just don’t get into any more trouble now. And please bring back redwing’s remnants.”

They finally boarded the jet 10 minutes later and just sat down in front of each other. You could sense another disagreement incoming so you took away redwing to start working on him immediately.

“Fuck, what a clean break. I’m gonna have to make the entire display and main controls again”, you groaned.

“You want any help?”, Joaquin approached you.

“Uhh, nope. If I feel sleepy, I’ll tap you in”, you told him distractedly.

He knew you weren’t gonna call him back because Sam had told him about your insomnia. He had decided he’ll come back in an hour and wrestle you to go to sleep if he had to. He just leaned against the wall of the jet and smiled at you.

“Okay, (nickname).”

You stopped what you were doing and snapped your head up.

“What did you-”

He was already gone. That cheeky little shit.

You just shook your head and focused on redwing. You heard footsteps approach and took a deep breath in, ready to ask Joaquin what did he call you.

“You-” you paused.

“Barnes?”

It was Bucky. He held out his hand to stop you.

“Hey, please call me Bucky. I don’t mind”, he requested you in his soft voice.

Your mouth gaped. Bucky allowed you to call him by his name?

“Oh. Okay. Thanks, Bucky”, you smiled at him gratefully.

He smiled back before swallowing thickly. You observed his nervousness.

“D’you wanna sit down?”, you offered gently.

He cleared his throat and nodded yes.

The two of you sat side by side on the nearest seats. You weren’t sure if he’d like the proximity so you chose to sit down a seat away from him, leaving a safe distance between the two of you.

He was restless. Kept fiddling with his hands. You noticed that he hadn’t removed his gloves around you which means he still felt like he had to be cautious around you.

“Uh...How are you?”, he asked tentatively.

“I’m good, Bucky. How are you?”, you smiled softly at him to encourage him to speak.

He nodded. “I’m…alright.”

You decided to lighten up the situation.

“Nice haircut, by the way. You look like a hunk”, you smirked.

That brought out a weak chuckle from him.

“Yeah? Thought so. A grandma told me I look handsome the day I got it.”

You grinned. “A grandma? I’m sure she’s still younger than you, Bucky.”

He laughed. Actually laughed. Eyes crinkling and nose scrunched up. You felt proud. You made The Bionic Staring Machine* laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, I know.”

Both of you calmed down from your laughter and sat in silence. You leaned your head back to the wall. He was the one who broke the silence.

“Listen, (name). I’m sorry we never got a chance to talk like this, before. I know it’s way too late for all this. I….”, he took a moment to let out a shaky breath.

“I never got a chance to…apologise. To your dad. For whatever happened. I will never forgive myself for that, kid. There’s not a day where I don’t think about it. I know something like that can’t be fixed with a simple ‘sorry’. But, I have to do this. For my sanity. And because I really didn’t do it willingly. I’m sorry, (name). Please forgive me if you can”, he finished shakily.

By the time he finished his speech, tears were streaming down your face. You knew he would feel immense guilt over it. You never wanted to hurt him. You never wanted his apology. It was never his fault. It was all because of a stupid lie that Steve Rogers had made up.

You turned your teary eyes to look at him.

He had leaned his head back, with his eyes closed and tears streaming down his cheeks. He was trying to hard to keep them in that his body was shaking. He was clenching his hands which made the leather creak.

You steadied yourself and spoke up.

“Bucky, look at me.”

He finally opened his bloodshot eyes and looked at you. His face was scrunched up in pain.

You gave him a teary smile.

“I don’t know if Steve ever told you this, but dad was never actually angry at you. He was pissed that his closest friend and ally, Steve, had lied to him. And he wasn’t angry that his parents were dead. He was angry that his mom was killed because she’s the only one who would protect him. She’s all that he had”, you began gently.

You saw how he leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees to give you his full attention.

“Contrary to popular belief, my dad was actually the most sensitive person ever and when he came back home after fighting with you and Steve, I saw him crying in his office. He was talking to Rhodey and he told him how he didn’t want all of that to happen. Bucky, dad had forgiven you long ago. His problem was with Steve, not you”, you explained to him delicately.

Bucky dropped his shoulders in between his knees and his shoulders started shaking. You looked at him with empathy and gently put your hand on his back to give him support. He shook his head in agony. His voice cracked when he spoke up.

“But I still hurt you-”

You clicked your tongue to stop him.

“None of that. You didn’t hurt me. First of all, I never met my grandparents so that didn’t affect me. And I especially don’t give a damn about my abusive grandfather who would hurt my dad.”

His head snapped up to look at you in shock.

You scoffed. “Yeah. Howard Stark. Resident Genius and Abuser. Who would’ve thought? Anyways. You didn’t hurt me. I’d always been on your side. I even talked to dad about how I thought you were the innocent one in all of this mess. Yes, I was upset and sad when dad came back home hurt because Steve had decided to abandon him. But never did I ever blame you for that. And I’m sad that you and dad won’t be able to sort out your differences now but it’s okay, Bucky. You never did anything wrong”, you told him in the most genuine way possible to convince him.

He took a few steadying breaths and finally looked up at you.

“Thank you, kid. This means a lot to me”, he admitted shakily, his voice hoarse from all the crying.

You gave him a sad smile. He looked so pitiful and small that it broke your heart.

“Can I….give you a hug?”, you asked hesitantly.

Bucky didn’t respond, he simply leaned towards you and brought you in for a warm hug. You felt him speak against your shoulder.

“I’m sorry for your loss, kid”, he murmured weakly.

You just wrapped your arms around his back tightly and closed your eyes. You felt tears fall down your cheeks. You simply nodded.

After 10 long years, you (your dad) and Bucky got your well deserved closure.

The two of you broke away after a brief moment and wiped your tears. He was the one to speak up first.

“So….how’s it going with the new kid? What’s his name? Joaquin?”

You groaned. “Don’t ask. He’s like a mini version of Sam. Non-stop yapping. And so many questions. I feel like I’m hanging out with a 5 year old.”

Bucky smirked, mischief shining in his ocean blue eyes.

You narrowed your eyes at him. “What?”

Bucky just shrugged. “I don’t know, kid. I see how y’all look at each other. Hell, even Sam noticed it.”

You sputtered and your face twisted in shock.

“What does that mean?! We don’t look at each other in any way! Shut up, Barnes. I swear to god, all the adults in my life gossip like high schoolers”, you groaned and pushed his shoulder.

He just laughed and got up to leave the room.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, kid”, and left the room chuckling.

You let out a groan and hid your face in your hands. You need to control yourself around Joaquin before Pepper or Rhodey or Happy find out.

You went back to fix redwing, hoping to distract your thoughts from wandering off to other things.

Or rather a certain curly headed flyboy.

BONUS:

Joaquin came back to check on you exactly an hour later.

And to his delight, he found you slouched over the table with your head resting on your arms. You were sleeping.

He quietly studied your calm and serene face. The way all your grumpiness and the lines of tension on your face were smoothened out. You looked so small and angel-like.

He knew he looked like a creep, staring at you while you were sleeping, but you looked so peaceful that it made his heart soar. He listened to your soft breaths and saw the way your body went up and down with your breathing. It was meditative. His eyes shone with love.

He took off the jacket he was wearing and gently laid it on you. He was trying to hold back from touching your face but your hair fell into your eyes at that exact moment.

He brought up his hand and gently, oh so carefully, pushed your hair back. He let his hand linger by your temple and he caressed your hairline with his thumb. You let out a content sigh and tugged the jacket closer before leaning your face against his hand.

His heart sped up and his breath hitched. He carefully removed his hand and made his way back to the cockpit.

Fuck, Sam was right. He had it bad for you.

“Get a grip. You don’t even know each other like that”, he murmured to himself and clenched his hand into a fist.

Part 4

AN: ooo the tension is rising between the lovebirds hehe! as we can see, Joaquin fell first and he fell harder cus that’s just how freely easily he loves. And writing that scene between bucky and reader cured my years worth of pain honestly🙏 Tony and bucky deserved to get their closure.

IMP: I have to change some things from the show to fit the story better. So that’s why Sam wasn’t in Delacroix when they announce Walker is Captain America. Instead, Sarah calls him to tell him to turn on the TV. Assume that Sam has already visited Sarah before recruiting Reader. Sorry for the changes! :( But our girl Sarah will be back soon!

Hope you liked this one! Please like and reblog <3

#marvel #marvel cinematic universe #joaquin torres #danny ramirez #fluff #joaquin torres fluff #joaquin torres x reader #joaquin torres x stark!reader #bucky barnes #sam wilson #bucky barnes x platonic!reader #sam wilson x platonic!reader

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grahambaham · 9 months ago

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Controversial opinion, especially for any Jason Todd fans out there (I'm one of them), but I completely understand why the fans in, the 80' I think, voted to kill him off. Hear me out, okay?

Jason was at first a literal Dick Grayson copy, was legit given his backstory and personality with the name being the only change. And for a while that was all they knew about and, rightfully so, hated about him. Now I'm not sure whether he was given the whole Alley kid who tried to steal Batman's tire story before or after his death but either way, in those fans' minds, Jason Todd was just a boring replica of Dick Grayson and no one liked him. If I was alive and a fan back then, I honestly would have done the same thing.

WHICH IS WHY I HAVE SUCH A HUGE PROBLEM WITH THE WRITERS DOING TO JASON THE EXACT SAME THING THAT GOT HIM KILLED OFF BEFORE!!!

Jason immediately after getting brought back to life was a villain. He wasn't misguided, he wasn't an antihero, my man was a Villain with a capital V. He didn't protect workings girls or children from any drugs or anything, he just made one off hand comment to a guy not to sell to kids and that's it. One of his only interactions with any prostitutes is to mock her for her past and decisions that led to her becoming one. Bruce did not abuse him or attack him unfairly. Jason had not only tried to kill Joker or other horrible villains, he killed anyone whether they were rapists, or robbers, or petty fucking thieves and he didn't do it for justice or whatever the fuck but because he was angry and taking it out on everyone he could get his hands on. He stopped Batman from going after Nightwing after Bludhaven blew up with him in it. He blew up a school. He beat up Tim in his little Robin panties and was a fucking villain.

I love Jason. But I love him as the messed up asshole he is. Not as some misguided wittle antihero. Which is why I despise the fact that the fandom latched onto the completely inaccurate version of him, because the writers of DC had started writing him the way the fandom wanted and he is now irreversibly ruined. Aside from the already mentioned stuff, they made him into a copy of Dick Grayson (for the second fucking time) and Helena Bertinelli.

Helena is the one protecting women and children, the antihero that often uses violent force. She's the one with the reluctant sibling relationship with Tim. Jason was not Tim's Robin by the way, Dick was. Tim does not like Jason one fucking bit and spends most of their forced interactions roasting him so bad he has to buy burn salves. Also her personality was taken and given to Jason in some ways too, like her manner of speech and stuff, but I'm willing to let that slide as accidental.

From Dick Grayson, they mostly took his relationships, romantic and platonic. Jason slept with Barbara and Kori both, which aside from just being dumb as hell is also weird and creepy because Jason is six years younger than them at least and they knew him as a fourteen year old when they were at least twenty, and they would never date someone so much younger than them, they aren't fucking creeps. Then they took Starfire and Arsenal and made them forget their own lives to join Jason's little antihero team (neither of them are antiheroes what the fuck) and act like the sun shines out of Jason's ass and he's their leader or some shit when they would never follow him before that, especially Roy who has led so many other teams and does not deserve that shit. Some fans also ship him and Jason, which is both creepy and character assassination for Roy's entire character more than him being friends with Jason and in the Outlaws already is.

Also, Pit Madness is not a thing you fucking brainless losers. Stop trying to justify and erase the flaws that make him an interesting character. His anger has always been due to the trauma of being tortured and dying and the misguided feeling of betrayal he felt for Bruce. He was unwell and taking his problems out on others. So, repeat after me: PIT MADNESS IS NOT A REAL THING!!!

Thank you for reading <3

#dc #dc comics #jason todd #red hood #dick grayson #nightwing #helena bertinelli #huntress #rant post #rant

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alilobsessive · 4 months ago

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Bruce and Jon are divorced parents who shit talk the other parent to their kid(s) and other family members.

Riddler is fighting for the right of best /favorite uncle or godfather.

Bruce seems like the type of dad to bribe his feral(non-hero/villian in Reader's case and/or anti-hero in Jason's case) children to acknowledge his existence through money or things he thinks they liked when they were alive/ living with him. And if they don't Gotham gets a pouty 6 'something Batman.(Gothamites are one step away from asking Crow to speak to Batman just so he can stop pouting/ glaring at everyone like their the reason his kid(s)won't acknowledge him).

For the question of whether or not Crow moved out/ still lived in the Manor when Damian was there. What if you did Crow was in college when Damian 1st arrived at the manor and only visited for the holidays/ when they thought no one not even Alfred was there meaning Reader and Damian never personally knew each other even though Reader's aware of Damian's existence/ him living with Bruce. ( I image Reader having connections that spand all throughout the globe even within the League of Assassins)/ shadows and Justice League. Bruce would be seething if he knew his most deadly archenemy Deathstroke or Ra's was speaking to his child or someone like Hal or Oliver that he can't stand is his kid's go to JL member).

Another thing about Reader's past prior to moving in with the batfam was their mother killed? Gave them up for adoption/ placed them in the system? Or something or did they live somewhere else( like another state/city) before moving in with the Batfam. (Are they older , younger, or the same age as Tim cause you said they were living with Bruce prior to Jason's death and were training to be Robin? I ask because I keep imaging someone around Duke's age so a year or 2 younger than Tim)

Reader seems like the type to have multiple disguises tied to each of the villians that they like like Middle/Name Quinn, Mother's maiden name Kyle, Nickname Dent, etc.

Sorry for the long reply/ask I ramble when I'm excited or find something interesting.

When I first read that I thought you were giving me Bruce/Jon divorced addition and got slapped with “hu I never thought about that before, let me think about it for a second. Hmm I guess? That sounds fun!”

Riddler already has that right, Superman who?

God that must be terrifying, poor Gothamites. First they had to deal with a grieving Batman after Jason’s death. Now they have to deal with a bat who just lost custody of one of his kids.

Reader is already out performing there mentor with building underground connections. Damien probably also knows about reader but is also aware of the neglect they faced. So he doesn’t worry about them to much, what he does worry about is getting the same treatment they did. It’s making his already desperate attempts to prove himself and solidify his place in the house worse.

Honestly I’m still not to sure on the timeline myself? They definitely lived with Bruce long enough for them to consider it there whole life. But there exact age I’m not to clear on, there an adult so at least 18. I’m thinking they came around the same time Dick appeared, we’re old enough to train with Jason as he acted as Robin and maybe trained earlier then that, around the same time Dick was about to stop being Robin. So I guess that would make them younger than Tim if not the same age as him. But the rest of there backstory, I haven’t the faintest idea.

Reader went from being neglected there whole life to suddenly collecting family members like their Pokémon cards.

Don’t worry bro! I love these, every time we or the others? I’m honestly not to sure if the anon I’m talking to about this are the same person or not. I’m using it’s one or two people but you can never fully know unless they say so. Anyways every time we have like quick successions of answers and it suddenly stops I get a little sad because of how much fun I’m having talking about this with you all! of course it’s only happened like twice but still! I love brainstorming with you guys! It’s fun!

#batfam x reader #platonic batfam #x gender neutral reader #x reader #neglected reader #crow reader

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brucewaynehater101 · 3 months ago

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I got you something. In the tim is bruce's dad hc/au. Tim is the reincarnation of Thomas Wayne.

Shit happens and tim revert to his last life form, being thomas before diying.

I just want to traumatize bruce.

You got me angst? 🥺 And it traumatizes Bruce???? Gods, it's perfect. Thank you ^^

~~~

Tw: Death, blood, shit ton of angst

Tim feels a nudge sometimes. A little pull, a small urge, an inclination. Just a gut feeling of what to do, to say, to think.

When he was younger, it rarely happened. It popped up here and there, most notably when others needed medical aid or other kids needed help, but it wasn't a feeling Tim noticed. He chalked it up to nerves or luck or something he read previously. It wasn't noteworthy or concerning.

But then he meets Bruce Wayne.

Tim is ten the first time he remembers meeting Bruce. Tim recalls the way his shoes pinched his feet, the stiff collar of his shirt pressing into his throat, his mother's perfume and father's cologne, the stern way his parents told him to be on his best behavior, and the kind elderly man who greeted him at the door. Wayne Manor shone vividly in his memories with dazzling chandeliers, an impeccably maintained ballroom, and a scrumptious spread of food. The event, as all Wayne hosted events are, was spectacular.

It all paled in comparison to Bruce Wayne.

When the man meandered over to the Drakes to say hello, Tim was hit by a dizzying wave of fondness, nostalgia, bereavement, and parental pride. He looked upon this man, this adult with children older than Tim, and felt the compulsion to scold him for his rumpled appearance while praising him for the man he's grown into.

Suffice to say, ten year old Tim did not handle this very well. To his parents' bemusement, he promptly started to bawl.

It was another three years before Tim saw Bruce again (though he did keep tabs on the older man).

This time, though, the butler who greeted him was weary and exhausted. The Bruce that Tim found was harsh, cold, and drowning in his grief.

Tim was thirteen. He didn't know how to help Bruce, to save him from himself.

But there were those little urges, those impulses and nudges. The ones that indicated to Tim when he should force Bruce to shower or relent with a disappointed sigh. The clues on when to push the matter, when to lecture Bruce, and when to provide solace. They weren't always correct, they weren't perfect, but they helped. It seems they also learned and were wrong less and less.

The pushes and inclinations aided his quest to be there for Bruce, but they also increased his fatherly tendencies. He found himself tucking the Bruce into bed, calling him nicknames like "sport," and ruffling his hair. The older man would send him a confused glance when Tim did this but eventually got used to the eccentricities. It became routine and common for them.

Tim would never, ever admit it out loud, but he saw Bruce as a son of his.

As Tim got older, his instincts got louder and clearer. They became more frequent to the point that he almost saw memories associated with the feelings. Memories Tim never lived.

He tried to push down his fears and confusion at the escalating symptoms. He ignored the information he suddenly knew about Gotham, Alfred, and Bruce. He pretended nothing was amiss the first time he saw Martha's face clearly after getting an urge.

Most of all, he kept all of this from everyone else.

It was hard to hide some of his symptoms, though. The way he paused too long when called "Tim," the increased fatherly behavior to Bruce, the treatment of Alfred to that of an old friend, and the familiar, almost instinctive movement of his hands when performing medical treatment. His family didn't understand what was happening to him, they didn't have enough pieces, but they knew something was happening to Tim. Something the teen refused to elaborate on.

It was causing tension and fights borne of worry. Arguments constantly occurred as Tim kept the information to himself while drowning over the realization and suspicions he had.

It boiled over one night on patrol. Bruce, in a desperate measure to figure out what was wrong with Tim, placed them on patrol together. He swapped routes and rearranged partners with others to ensure this would happen.

Bruce tried to reach out to Tim. He tried to approach him and reassure him and ask him to just fucking talk to him.

But Tim refused to explain and Bruce was tired of waiting.

Batman was angry and short with Red Robin, the two of them mid-dispute, when the sound of a scream interrupted them. The vigilantes are professionals, they've been at this for years, and they know how to navigate their emotions in the field. Being deflected shouldn't have posed an issue.

But Tim's been off lately. His body felt small, it didn't fit right, and his appearance freaked him out. He keeps glancing at mirrors and expecting a different, older, taller reflection.

It's a combination of shitty variables, a mirror in an unexpected place, that distract Red. Usually, this wouldn't have the consequences of Tim acquiring a gaping hole in his stomach. Usually, he wouldn't be faltering mid-fight.

Red, as the professional he is, quickly neutralizes his target. He's making his way back to Batman when he stumbles to his knees. He hadn't realized just how much he was bleeding.

Batman hears Tim's pained gasp from the other room. He was checking on the victim, but he immediately sprints towards Red at the sound.

When he arrives, Tim is laying in a pool of blood staring at the ceiling. For a long moment, Bruce fears that he's dead. At the sound of a wheezy, wet gasp, the man drops to his knees next to Red.

"Red? Red Robin!"

Bruce frantically applies pressure to Tim's wound, ignoring the pained groan at this action.

"Come on, Red. Keep your eyes open."

Tim's form... flickers beneath Bruce's hands. Bruce can almost swear that he sees his father, sees Thomas Wayne, in Tim's place.

Bruce has made that connection before, the one of his parents' death reminding him of the tragedies his children have faced. It's never been this vivid before.

Red Robin's costume, smeared with the blood gushing from Tim's stomach wound, wavers out of focus with the image of a bespoke suit marred by bullet holes and blood. The depiction is so tangible that Bruce can't help when he calls out, "D-dad?"

Tim's Thomas's face splits into a pained grin at the call. A pale hand rises to cup Bruce's face.

"Hey there, bud. It's alright. You're going to be okay."

Bruce chokes on a sob, two of his loved ones staring up at him. He leans into the touch, tears freely falling down. Tim Thomas wipes the tears as best he can.

"I need you to be brave for me, son. Can you do that?"

Biting his trembling lips, Bruce shakes his head.

"I know, chum. I know." At the anguished whine from Bruce, Tim's Thomas's face is sympathetic and desolate. "I know, son. I know, but I need you to be real brave for me."

Bruce's eyes slide shut with a shaky exhale.

"It's okay, bubs. You're going to be okay. Can you be brave for me?"

Bruce nods.

"I need you to promise me that you won't push your family away, that you'll let them help you. I need you to be brave and continue loving them."

"Okay."

The dying man clicks his tongue in disapproval. "Look at me, son." Only when Bruce's eyes meet his does he continue. "Promise me."

"I promise, Dad."

A relieved smile appears on Tim's Thomas's face. "That's my boy."

#tim drake #thank you for the ask!!!!#dc au #bruce wayne #i refuse to edit this so hopefully this is good :)

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gojoidyll · 28 days ago

Text

Red Riding Hood pt. 1

Jason Todd x Reader

A werewolf is on the rampage in Gotham and Jason decides to look into it. However, by doing so he may have set himself up for failure. Can a silver bullet really solve his newly adopted problem? Or was that all made-up fairytale bullshit from the get-go?

cw ; grammatical errors , strong language , blood , mentions of death/murder , unreliable narrator , etc.

Your phone was what woke you up at 3am that morning. Your whole body ached as you sat up and reached for it blindly. With some sort of miracle, you did find it, but only to silence the buzzing sound, until you saw the caller ID when you squinted your eyes at the screen.

“Jason?”

You held back a yawn as you spoke on the phone.

“Good, you’re awake. Thought I wouldn’t be able to reach you for a second there. Listen, I need you to be my eyes and ears, so go down to the batcave-“

You stopped him right there, “what?”

“Batman and Robin are with the Justice League, Dick is in Bludhaven, and Tim, Cass, and Steph are busy doing a team-up thing.”

“And Barbara?”

“Helping Dick.”

You swung your legs over the side of the bed and stretched, “and you couldn’t bother Alfred about this?”

“You know I can’t.”

“Right,” you let yourself yawn this time, “what do you need me for anyway,” you asked as you made your way to the entrance of the Batcave. Your feet padding along the cold tile of the manor as you tried not to get spooked by the smallest of things.

Why you lived there? Well, you certainly weren’t one of Bruce Wayne’s children, and you weren’t adopted either, but you were asked to assist with things just like this when Barbara had her hands full. In other words, you were like an intern. An intern who just so happened to get a fancy room and whatever else one could want or need. How Bruce came across you and your knack for being someone’s eyes and ears though? Well, like any other sad sap of a story, your parents died. It was as simple as that.

“Alright,” you said, “I’m going to hang up and connect you to comms.”

You didn’t wait for a reply as you hung up on him and leaned back in the chair as you grabbed an earpiece and turned on the batcomputer. Your eyes watching carefully as each screen popped up along with a map of Gotham.

“Do you hear me?”

“Loud and clear. Now, Jason… mind telling me what you dragged me out of bed for?”

You could practically hear the smirk in his voice, “we’re on a werewolf hunt tonight.”

Your heart jumped as you reached for the keyboard and looked up the recent news that has spread like wildfire in Gotham, specifically to the news report that had happened the previous morning.

“A family of five found dead this morning. The attack resembling recent cases as police-“

You muted it as you sat back in the chair again. As of late, there have been numerous reports of a werewolf roaming the streets of Gotham. A man with a head of a wolf standing on his hindlegs. You honestly hoped it was just a fake story to scare children, but Jason seemed to have other plans.

“Do we have to?”

“Yes.”

You wanted him to say no. Sighing as he gave you his location a moment later, you pulled up the camera feed that was connected to the building he was about to enter. Abandoned and had little lighting.

“This is a bad idea,” you muttered to him as he snuck in through one of the windows.

“You need to relax,” he said as you finally got him in view of one of the cameras, “now talk to me, you see anything I don’t?”

Your eyes flicked from room to room before landing on one that was completely blacked out.

“Floor two, the room at the end. I can’t see shit in there.”

“Perfect. See anything else?”

“No, looks like you’re alone, but maybe that wolf is just good at hiding.”

Jason snickered as he found the stairs.

“What’s so funny?”

“You keep calling it a wolf or referring to it as well an it. I don’t know, kind of sounds like you’re afraid.”

You scoffed, “me? Scared? As if… besides, a werewolf in Gotham just makes no sense.”

“So a wolf makes more sense?”

“Makes better sense than a werewolf. I mean, I can accept demons and fighting them off with Constantine, or dealing with another alien invasion, but werewolves?”

“Gotham does have bats.”

“Yeah, bats. Not freaking Dracula.”

Jason rolled his eyes as he finally got to the room that you saw on the cameras. His eyes looking at that long scratch marks that marred the door before pushing it open.

“See anything,” you muttered in his ear.

“Not yet…”

He entered the room, his eyes glancing down at the floor as his feet kicked against something. He squatted down, his fingers pinching at what he kicked and picked it up. Fabric? He tossed it towards the window. The moonlight shone on it a moment later. A torn shirt with blood splattered on it.

“What did you throw?”

“a torn shirt. Also, I thought you said this room was dark. There’s a window in here.”

“Huh? No there is- Jason, you went to the wrong room.”

Behind him, in the hallway, he heard a door creak open.

“Jason another door opened.”

He could hear heavy steps echo loud.”

“Jason, something is moving down the hallway.”

There was a scraping along the wall. Jason could feel the hairs on his arm stand up as he turned towards the door.

“I don’t like this, Jason. Get out of there.”

He readied himself, his hand reaching for the gun strapped to his thigh, and just as his hand grazed the grip-

“Jason?”

“Dick?”

“Y/n,” you muttered quietly as you slumped into the chair, Nightwing appearing a moment later on the screen as you felt like crying tears of joy. This was literally getting too much for your heart. You for real thought you were going to see Jason getting beaten and possibly mauled by a werewolf.

“Dickhead! What are you doing here?!”

“I heard that you were investigating the recent attacks and thought I could help out. Oracle is here too,” Dick said as he pointed to his ear. And just like that all the comms were connected and you could hear both Barbara and Dick over the other line.

“Well,” you said, “if you all got this handled, then I’m going to bed-“

They didn’t hear you at all as you sighed. Your racing heart finally calming down as you disconnected yourself from the comms and turned off the batcomputer. Your bed was already calling you from afar.

They didn’t need you, so you weren’t worried.

#dc #dcu #jason todd #red hood #jason todd red hood #jason todd x you #jason todd x y/n #jason todd x reader #red hood x you #red hood x reader #red hood x y/n

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haveihitanerve · 7 months ago

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I request Bruce chasing his children down to put on scarves and gloves in the cold ass winter of New Jersey because despite being some of the strongest people (martial arts wise) on earth, they refuse to believe in cold temperatures and keep getting sick.

refuse to believe in cold temperatures is my new favorite sentence

anyway your wish is my command-

Kevin did not know what he was expecting to see on a Friday night at three am, but it was certainly not Nightwing and the fucking Red Hood running as fast as their legs could possibly carry them as the Batman chased after them, holding scarves and gloves in his hands.

He reached them just before they could round the corner and Kevin watched in amazement as Batman forced the gloves onto the two grown men who squirmed like five year olds.

"Don't-! wanna!" Red Hood screamed petulantly, trying very hard to escape the Bats grasp. "Your brother already has a cold!" Batman snarled back, winding a scarf around his head like he was trying to choke him.

"He doesn't have a spleen!" Nightwing argued, attempting to pull off the gloves that seemed to have some sort of suctioning power and would not budge. "They come off when its not cold. So finish patrol with them." Batman offered them both a sweet smile before grappling away before they could hit him with snowballs.

It was, probably, most arguably, the craziest shit he'd ever seen, and he lived in Gotham and got robbed by dudes wearing purple and green and asked questions before ordering their coffee.

And then it happened again. This time he was staying with his brother on the other side of town, when Orphan and Spoiler showed up. Neither seemed to be particularly cold, but Kevin remembered vividly how he and his siblings used to pretend "no its not cold!" to their mother because they had made such a fuss before but it really super was cold.

And then Batman showed up. Orphan melted into the shadows and Spoiler made eye contact with Kevin, flying across the street in an instant and pushing past him inside the apartment. His brother, wide eyed on the couch, looked between them.

"I'm not here." Spoiler hissed, forming an X with her arms. "I'm not here!" She ducked behind the couch just as Batman landed on the balcony and Kevin, he was raised in Gotham man, but he still flinched.

"Sorry," Batman grumbled, voice rough and low and also a little pouty. "I know she's inside. This won't take long." He stepped off the railing onto the balcony, but Kevin, telling his fear and survival instinct to fuck off, stepped in his way.

"She's uh- she? There's no she in our building sir. Believe me, we've tried." He swallowed, looking up into those endless white slits. The slits narrowed, and he turned to look inside. Brad was pale, but his brother, bless his heart, lifted his beer in a salute at the bat, before turning back to face the TV.

Batman looked about two seconds away from not being apologetic and screaming, but he finally gave a nod to Kevin and hopped off the balcony. Kevin didn't even bother to watch him hit the ground, because he knew he wouldn't, and cracked open the door instead.

"He's gone-" Spoiler poked her head over the couch hissing, "NO!" but it was too late. Batman appeared, one hand flinging him back up onto the balcony, and he was past Kevin before he even had a chance to scream, tackling Spoiler to the ground.

"I! Don't! Need it!!!" She screamed, struggling against him as he pinned her down, panting, legs trapping her lower body as his hands snagged her hands. "It's... for- your.. own good!" He grunted, pinning her hands down with one finally.

And as Kevin watched her buck, fruitlessly, and watched Batman slide gloves onto her hands and wrap a scarf around her neck, not effortlessly, he realized just how much of a threat Batman truly was. Sure, he had seen the Bats in action, and everyone knew the Bats were trained and raised by Batman, but he had never actually seen Batman work.

Old friends, goons, told him how he skilled, how efficient, how brutal he could be. But Kevin had laughed it off as propaganda, as some more bolstering of the Bats ego's. But now...

Batman's work wasn't effortless. Spoiler was fighting him every step of the way. But he wasn't struggling either, moving quickly, but also carefully, his hips pressing down enough to keep her still but not enough to hurt, hands pinning hers down but not enough to bruise....

Kevin knew Batman didn't kill. But he had never considered the amount of strength, precision, capability, it required. Not killing over killing had always seemed, to him, to be the easier thing. Not anymore.

Batman finished his work, standing and lifting Spoiler in one swift movement, and hauled her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She had stopped struggling at this point, and Kevin was fairly certain she was just hitting him because she could. Because she wanted to. The look on Batman's face revealed he was aware of it too.

"Thank you for protecting her." He growled, voice low but not hard. At that, Spoiler finally stilled. Kevin blinked in surprise. That was not what he had been expecting. He didn't know what, exactly, he had been, but a thank you was nowhere on his bingo card.

"N-no problem." Brad stuttered out when it was clear Kevin couldn't answer. Batman nodded to the both and left, setting Spoiler down on the balcony next to him, and wrapped his cape around her shoulders, murmuring something in her ear. She laughed, then stuck her tongue out at him, but Kevin noted how she leaned closer, wrapped herself in the warmth he provided.

Orphan materialized at their side and Batman tugged her to his side too, muttering something that sounded like admitting defeat, and Spoiler fist pumped, high fiving her. Orphan grinned and Batman rolled his eyes, wrapping his arms around both of their shoulders and jumping. This time, Kevin watched until they disappeared.

#batfam #batman #batman and robin #nightwing #red hood #spoiler #orphan #idk #i hope you liked #it seems like something theyd do #wonderful idea #good dad bruce wayne

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workingbynyx · 1 year ago

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hello baby I love your theme !! i saw you were doing jason todd x readers so i’m gonna shoot my shot OFC NO PRESSURE

so we all know bruce is rich so jason must be as well but WHAT IF reader also came from a rich powerful family of Gotham, I think they would maybe meet through a gala or something and Dick would joke to Jason about how he is drooling at the sight of reader IDK BABES IT’S UP TO YOU, i hope it inspires you <3

City of Stars — Jason Todd x F!Reader

↷ summary — what happens if one of the bat sons meet the striking heiress of another powerful family? ˎˊ˗

↷ pairing — jason todd x f!reader ˎˊ˗

↷ genre — romance, fluff, slight comedy and eventual angst ˎˊ˗

↷ warning/s — a few curse words here and there ˎˊ˗

↷ a/n — hey!! tysm for this prompt oml its the cutest, and ik its a bit of a cliché but reader is an heiress to stark industries here 😭 i figured it would be interesting since, contrary to popular belief, tony and bruce wouldn't get along so it offers the question what would happen if their children got together (tea 👀🍵) this isn't based on anything btw! so there might be some ooc instances. OH AND I'll probably make a part 2 of this soon if i get motivationekehwjd soooo i hope you enjoy reading! ˎˊ˗

— wayne manor, present day

bruce fixed yet another gala for the year, inviting multiple billionare ceos and business owners to the humble party. gotham city strived under the great care of his trusted partners even when crime and corruption still runs in the city. the bat took care of that of course, with the help of his sons and daughters who also attended the event in simple dresses and suits and ties tailored to their liking.

the gala had been going on for a few hours or so which eventually became boring enough for jason to take a few shots and drinks by the bar as he scanned the crowd with people in bejeweled clothes and shimmering jewelry that blinded him as the chandelier shined on them. "is all that really neccessary.." he mumbled to himself, taking a sip of his 3rd drink of the night. "yes it is, would you rather people come into sweats like you would?" dick suddenly chimed in as he walked up towards jason and leaned against the counter of the bar, asking for a drink of his choice.

"It wouldn't hurt to try next year" jason said with a stern look on his face, occassionally shooting up a short smile to people walking by. "if bruce allows it, i doubt he would. the man practically lives in a suit and tie" dick replied, "well, tough shit grayson. you might be forgetting being the rebel is sort of my thing" jason shot back with a smirk. "ah, my bad" grayson said with a chuckle as he sipped on champagne. "so, anyone caught your eye yet?" "If you mean spoiled little kids running around with chocolate smeared on their faces then yeah" jason sighed while dick suppressed a laugh. "c'mon man, there's at least gotta be someone" "dick, i didn't come here to look for 'someone' nor do i ever plan to"

and right when jason uttered those words with no remorse, he immediately swallowed them right back when he caught a glimpse of you in the crowd. the dark yellow dress you wore complimenting the red of his suit, its like a match made in gotham, as one would say. the man had to double take in your way when you slowly walked through the room with your father, tony stark. the man behind stark industries, one of the richest companies based in new york. jason knew they recently opened a branch within the city to make way for new advanced technology and scientific engineering. that was probably the reason why you're here from jason's assumption.

"i'd say otherwise" dick snuck up beside jason and whispered to taunt him, his eyes following the lady that caught his brother's attention. "..what?" the other finally said, snapping out of it. "you should go up to her instead of drooling over here, you look like a total loser dude" dick patted his shoulder which annoyed jason. "cut it out dick, i'm not going up to her" "why not?" "i have other things to tend to" "like?" "...shut up" "jason, this is your only shot. are you gonna waste it on brooding the whole night?" "i'm NOT taking any of your dating advice" "i didn't say you have to date her dipshit, what could a friendly conversation lead to?" "a can of worms, go figure" jason then started walking away from dick as soon as he sets the glass down on the counter.

"jay c'mon," dick caught up to him which released a frustrated groan from jason. "she seems like a nice woman" "you're really living up to your name right now, stop it" jason said through gritted teeth.

in other people's point of view, it looks like two grown men are silently arguing in the corner of the big hall which then caught your attention soon after. you wanted to get to know bruce's children after he warmly welcomed you and your family to gotham before they got down to talking business, it obviously lost your interest so you quietly excused yourself from the conversation to wander the mansion.

you stumbled upon one of his daughters and had a nice conversation, they didn't seem intimidating as they said they'd be— not until you went up to his sons. you mentally prepared yourself as you slowly walked over to the duo, straightening the slight wrinkles on your dress and patting down your necklace.

"uhm, hello there. i hope i'm not interrupting" you called out to them which caught their attention. dick and jason quickly arranged themselves to look presentable, even if they were just arguing seconds ago. "hey" jason said as he cleared his throat, to which you replied with a smile. "its a wonderful party, i see mr. wayne has good taste" you tried to sound polite as possible...was it even worth trying?

"yeah, definitely" dick nodded his head. "i'm richard by the way, richard grayson. but you can call me dick" "oh uhm, pardon?" "it's unusual, i know. but trust me its fine" you couldn't help but slightly giggle at his statement, he was quite the charm. jason, on the other hand, couldn't stand seeing the two of you almost get along. he had to do something if he wanted to win you over.

you then looked over to him in anticipation, "jason" he says. "jason todd" he added. "it's nice meeting you, i've heard..interesting things about you" you said as you reached out your hand for a shake as he returned the gesture. "mhm, that's..great i guess" he nodded. "well uhm, i just wanted to come over and say hi. if our dads are gonna work together i should probably get to know his children too as a courtesy" you said with a smile, talking to bruce's oldest sons was quite nerve wrecking to say the least. they were tall, fit, sharp and certainly attractive, they're also intelligent one might add.

"huh" jason blurted out. "i didn't know bruce and mr. stark had to work together" he said. "oh, mr. wayne didn't mention anything?" "he never does" he replied. "hmm, that's a bit odd.." "trust me, everything's odd when you're around him" you couldn't help but chuckle which took jason back a bit, seeing you find his 'joke' funny enough. it was...adorable.

"i'll take your word for it, jason" hearing you say his name was like hearing angels sing to him. he didn't even realize he was developing a crush on someone he just met at a random gala, that never happened before. it must be something about you that attracted jason a lot.

"oh and, do you know where to get some fresh air? all this business talk has been making me ill for the past hour" you asked, a bit embarrassed to say it in front of them. but they seem to get your pain. "I'll let my brother show you, he knows this place a lot more than i do" "wh— you literally live here" jason whispered loudly. "i'll see you around ms. stark, i look forward to working with you soon" and just like that, dick had left you and jason alone.

your eyes followed dick as he walked back into the crowd until he was no longer seen, your gaze returning back to jason who was just staring at you unconsciously. at some point, you found yourself admiring his features for a moment. his eyes that shined against the light, his ruffled hair that sat prettily on his forehead, and his prominent jawline. 'he's cute...i guess' you thought to yourself, not until he cleared his throat when the silence got too loud.

"sooo, shall i show you around or are you gonna keep staring at me?" he said which made you lift a brow. "staring at yo— weren't you the one staring at me first?" you argued, making jason laugh at your protest. "relax, i was kidding" he added, flicking his head towards the staircase for you to follow him. "y'know, for a sec i thought you were a royal of some sort" jason started as the both of you went up. "how so?" you asked. "i don't know, you look all elegant and..the way you speak" you chuckled at his remark. "should i be flattered or is that a bad thing?" "not at all" jason said, a short smile forming. "well, that's what my mother taught me. she didn't want me to be a 'smartmouth' like my dad. he's probably annoying mr. wayne by now because of it" "bruce has already been around smartmouths enough," he turned towards you, "exhibit a" then gestures to himself.

you couldn't help but chuckle at jason. "is that so?" you asked with an exaggerated tone. "i didn't take you for a smartmouth if i'm being honest, more quite the opposite really" "well you might've if we met under different circumstances" "maybe, maybe not" you looked up to him with a mischievous glint in your eyes, a slight smirk forming on his face.

as the two of you walk through the empty halls of the mansion, you both reach the huge balcony where the doors are wide open. the cold breeze seeping through the curtains which sent shivers down your spine. you tried to fight the chills around your skin, but it was evident to jason you were clearly freezing. he unbuttoned his blazer and wrapped it around your shoulders, giving them a quick squeeze when you thanked him. "ahh, this is nice" you exhaled, relief washing over you when the distinct conversations are finally blocked. you stared into the dimmed city lights of gotham, poorly glistening from where you stood.

"it kinda is" jason added, his hands now both in his pockets as he admired the view...and you.

the longer you stared, the longer a thought began lingering. you cracked your head to the side to look at jason standing behind you, ushering him to come forward. "so uh, how long have you been here?" you started. "since birth, i'm pretty much stuck here" jason answered as he leaned against the railings. "but either way, gotham is my home afterall. i don't think i'll ever have the chance to leave this behind, even if i wanted to" there was a bit of sentiment behind his words, but you understood him. you were also pretty much stuck in one place before your father finally agreed to take you elsewhere, to finally let you handle things your own way when you came of age.

he was always protective over you which partially hindered you from living up to your true potential, but now that he's giving you a part of his legacy you have the chance to prove yourself.

"how was it like? y'know, growing up in a city like this" you followed up. "nothing to sugarcoat i'll tell you that, but uh...that's probably a story for another day" jason says, a quick glance to your direction. "another day?" "yeah another day" he said, studying your reaction. his eyes gleamed with hope, hoping that you'd understand where he's getting at. "are– are you saying—" "yes, ms. stark. i, jason todd, am hoping to see you another day"

your cheeks flushed pink, the heartfelt conversation suddenly turning into whatever this was. it was a pleasant surprise. "i— well, i don't see why i'd say no to that offer" you said with the brightest smile on your face. jason contained a smile however, letting his head fall down between his arms while he sighed in relief. that could've gone the wrong way. he tapped against the stone railing and brought his head back up, his cheeks also dusted pink. "a'ight so, when can i see you then?" he raised a brow.

"i'm in the city for the next few weeks, come visit at the flat two blocks away from the stark industries site. i'm at the third floor, second door to your right" jason took note of that mentally, making sure he got every detail down. "right," he nodded. "uhhh, how do they say this— so it's..a date?"

"it's a date, mr. todd"

#dc comics #jason todd x reader #jason todd #red hood #red hood x reader #jason todd x f!reader #✎ ─ nyx fics !#dceu

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