#i love how she emotes in the batgirl suit!! | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

dibs4ever · 4 years ago

Text

Injured

Ever since Dick and Barbara ended their little summer of being friends with benefits something had changed between them

There was a tenstion between the two 17 year olds.

Not a bad one, they were still best friends, still amazing partners as Batgirl and Robin.

It wasn’t like they fought or anything

But there was this feeling in the air. A slight awkwardness.....a yearning for more, that neither one one of them wanted to talk about.

Neither one wanted to admit to their desires. After all they only did it so they’d loose their virginities and gain experience for future partners.....that was the agreement.

——————-////////————/////////——-///////——

Dick awoke in a hospital bed in the medbay

Last he remembered he was Robin.

Fighting alongside the team

He went to move letting out a groan at the pain he felt in his left peck, it shot though his shoulder and down his arm

His arm....he couldn't move his arm, it was bandaged tightly and taped onto a splint to immobilize him.

He took notice of his shirtless body. His exposed skin covered by bandaging all around .

“Careful there buddy. You lost over half your blood” a voice spoke

Dick slowly turned his head to see Wally stepping further into the room. He had been leaning on the doorframe observing him apparently

Relieved it wasn't someone who shouldn't know his identity Dick laid back on the fluffy pillow

“What happened “ he groaned

Wally grabbed a medicine bottle, shaking two pain pills into his hand before passing them off to Dick.

Dick gladly took them

“You were shot during the mission two days ago. Which by the way was a success.

You tore an artery and it was a long flight back to the bay. “ Wally began to explain

“Two days....I was out for two days?” Dick’s eyes widened

Wally nodded “Like I said you lost a lot of blood, you tore an artery actually. I guess we're all thankful BG jumped in.”

Dick’s eyes lit up “Batgirl...she okay?”

Wally nodded “She was like magic you would've been proud. On the ship. She unzipped her suit and pulled off an undershirt she just happened to be wearing. She stuck it into your bullet wound and dug around til she found the artery. “ Wally smiled “She kept her fingers pressed in that hole for 20 minutes to slow down the bleeding. Then since she's type O- she donated almost 2 and a half units of blood to you.”

Dick’s eyes widened, he grunted as he tried to sit up “2 and a half units! That's -thats too much.”

Wally shrugged “She insisted dude, honestly she's scary when she's demading.”

Dick smiled “Yeah she is....where is she?”

Wally clicked his tongue and pointed to the other side of the room. In the corner on a plastic chair sat the sleeping red head. Her head rested against the wall.

Wally stood beside Dick’s bed. “She’s been exhausted since we got back. So it's a relief to see her sleeping. Between donating so much blood and refusing to leave your side for anything it's a wonder she's not in a bed right next to you”

The boy in the bed rose an eyebrow “She hasn’t left my side?” He wondered what she possibly had been telling her dad about her whereabouts the last couple days

Wally nodded “Listen Dude ummm not that it’s my business but....she really freaked out when you got hurt. Like the guy that shot you she went at him full force. Then how she jumped into action. You were in and out of consciousness on the ship and even when we had you here it was still touch and got. The emotion I saw in her.” He shook his head “At one point I walked in here on her holding your hand, leaning over you, pressing her forehead to yours and saying ‘Dick please don’t leave me baby I love you so much’ then she pecked your lips. Did I miss something?”

Dick smiled, starting to feel the drugs kicking in. If this conversation continued he might slip up tell him about their secret summer. “No, she was just probably emotional....would you mind waking her.”

Wally smiled “Of course “ he stepped over to the chair and shook her lightly

Barbara shifted before her eyes fluttered open “Wally?” her voice rasped

He smiled “Hey sweetie, he’s awake.”

That woke her, she immediately stood, a relieved smile coming across her face “Dick.”

Be shot her a grin “Hey Babsie.”

She gently fell into him “I thought I might loose you” she whispered

Dick reached up with his good arm and stroked her hair, tears welled in her eyes “Shh I’m okay”

“I’m gonna leave now” Wally thumbed, exiting without much notice

Barbara shook her head against his neck before pulling back to look at him “But what if you weren’t? Dick I don’t know what I’d of done if you’d-“ she paused before saying the word

“Died?” He suggested

Barbara nodded

Dick shrugged “Its a promise we make when taking the job—the possibility of it at least.” He stopped “But for the record I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you either.”

They shared glances. There was that tension feeling again “So, Wally tells me he overheard you in here and the word ‘baby’ was mentioned”

Barbara bit her lip, turning red “I - I thought you were going to die.” She defended

Dick smirked “Uhh huh sure”

She nodded “I did....stop that goofy grin or else when I change your bandages in an hour I won’t be gentle”

“Is that a threat or a promise?” Dick winked

Barbara rolled her eyes “Just- scoot over so I can lie next to you and enjoy knowing you’re okay.”

Dick smiled downward as he carefully shifted over in the bed mumbling “Yes Ma’am”

#dickbabs #barbara gordon #dick grayson #batfamily #batgirl #batfam headcanons #young justice headcanons

66 notes · View notes

ragingbookdragon · 4 years ago

Text

Do You Believe In Life After Love? PT. 2

Arkhamverse!Jason Todd x Reader One-Shot

Word Count: 2K Warnings: Explicit Language and Angst

Author's Note: I have emerged victorious from my second round with the enemy known only as...The Cringe...it was a glorious battle and I FUCKIN' WON IT. Enjoy that I have now edited two previous stories to read better for y'all! -Thorne

Her cowl was discarded somewhere on the penthouse floor, but she couldn’t’ve been bothered to even care about it since most of Gotham either knew who she was now, or they strongly suggested they did. Even if they did know, they still treated her with the same respect as when she was unknown. She moved automatically to the bar as she unclipped the cape from her shoulders, letting it fall with a thud in a heap of leather as she poured herself a generous glass of bourbon. Setting it on the table, she undid her gauntlets, one coming off, and then the other.

She picked up the glass and walked around the bar towards the couch and coffee table. A flashing red light caught her eye and she looked over, seeing the landline blinking on the side table. As she swirled the amber liquor around in her glass, her fingers pressed the button on the answering machine. Her eyes turned to the heavily tinted windows, and she stared at the city below the penthouse as the machine spit out its usual tone.

“You have one new message, Friday, December 19th.” A sigh sounded through the line, followed by a soft and barely cheerful voice. “(Y/N)? It’s me, Dick…calling for…the seventh time this week.” He let out another sigh, and this time, his voice betrayed his feelings. “Look, I know it’s been hard on you since Bruce…died…but I really think it would be good for you if you got out of Gotham for a while, even if it was just coming over to Blüdhaven for a few weeks.” The line went silent, and after a moment, his voice picked up. “…I really miss you sis and I know that you’re suffering from the weight of keeping Gotham in check. Let Lucius carry it for a while and come spend Christmas with me…Look, I have to go to work now, but please think about it (Y/N). For me…and for Bruce and Alfred…they wouldn’t want you to keep all this up…so…just gimme a call back and we’ll plan something, okay? I love you sis…bye.”

The mention of her departed father and butler made her heart tighten so painfully in her chest that it seemed to stop her from breathing and (Y/N) looked down at her glass, seeing a diluted reflection she didn’t recognize staring back.

Lately, it seemed like every time she caught her reflection as Batgirl, she appeared less and less like she remembered, image darkening with every passing night she was out on the streets alone, fighting with no backup, with nobody in her ear telling her where enemies were or encouraging her for a job well done. She could tell that the woman who wore the cowl and the woman who was the cowl were starting to become one instead of two different people, much like her father appeared sometimes. And while it had been his thing when he was alive, it wasn’t her. She was somebody outside the cowl, but now? Now she didn’t know who was Batgirl and who was (Y/N) Wayne—and the divide between was only it was getting worse as it closed closer and closer to the line.

She finally remembered how to breathe and inhaled deeply, shoving it aside and looking back out the window. His image caught in her eye before she focused on the skyline, her voice firm as she said, “You know, I have to wonder…when you kill someone, do you ever get a little voice in your head that tells you it’s wrong…Arkham Knight?”

(Y/N) spun around, turning her attention to the man standing beside her coffee table, dressed in a suit that was armored similarly to his earlier one a few months back, though the colors were different, and he wore a dark jacket with white leather patches along the shoulders and arms. The helmet was different too, instead of mimicking the ears of her father’s cowl, his was simply rounded and crimson in color, though she bet that his visor input ran on the same tech her father’s did. Her eyes briefly fell to the red bat symbol painted across his chest, and for a moment, everything seemed to fade until the anger came back to her.

She clapped a hand to her chest, her voice cheerfully fake. “Oh, silly me, I forgot! You’re not going by Arkham Knight anymore! You’re going by ‘The Red Hood’!” Her voice lost the fakeness, replaced by a hard edge and she leaned back against the window, suppressing the urge to shiver from the chill, her eyes dark. “What do you want, Jason?”

He stood up straight, his head tipping upwards, and she couldn’t see his eyes, but she knew they were trained on her. “I wanted to see you.”

(Y/N) scoffed, a smile crossing her lips. “Well, you saw me. Now fuck off.”

Jason sighed. “That’s not what I mean.”

“Oh, so you mean you wanted to see how I was doing after you ruined mine and the lives of the people I cared about?” He said nothing, and she leaned over, finger running along the button of the answering machine. “You wanna see me, Jason? Well how about you listen to this?”

She hit play, and a message came through. “(Y/N) Wayne? This is Vicki Vale. I really would like to talk to you about what’s happened in the past few months, and with your dad—”

(Y/N) hit the next button, and another voice filled the room. “(Y/N), this is Jack Ryder. Listen, I know you’ve been hounded by reporters since it’s been revealed that your dad was Batman. I want to talk to you about—”

She hit stop, glowering back at him as she pointed to the machine. “Every. Day. Every day I get the same messages over and over and over again. (Y/N) Wayne are you Batgirl? We should talk about it! Your dad was Batman, so you must be Batgirl! How are you going to pay for all the damage and destruction your dad did all these years? How are you going to answer for what he’s done? How can we trust Wayne Enterprises anymore? What’s it like having to pick up the pieces of a broken life after your dad…after your dad…”

(Y/N) brought a hand to her face, covering her mouth. The tears ran down her cheeks, cascading over her hand, and she glared at Jason, her voice raw with emotion. “Everything that’s happened…is all your fault.”

He took a step towards her, shoulders squared as he placed a hand to his chest. “You can’t blame this all on me, (Y/N). Bruce was the one who activated the Knightfall Protocol—not me.”

Her lips wobbled as she countered hoarsely, “After Scarecrow revealed his identity because of events that you put into place.” She placed the glass on the table, spreading her arms. “So, have you gotten your revenge, Jason? Does it feel better to know that you succeeded in killing my dad? In killing Batman?”

He looked away and something wrathful inside (Y/N) snapped; she picked up the liquor glass and chucked it as hard as she could, missing him by an inch as it hit the wall. It shattered into a million shards as the amber liquid trickled down the wall, and her words came out enraged. “ANSWER ME DAMNIT!”

He met her eyes and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed thickly, hands flexing at his sides. “I didn’t mean for all this to happen,” he said, and she barked a laugh full of disbelief.

“What did you think was going to happen, Jason? Reveal who Batman was, kill my dad, and everything else was just gonna work out in the end?” She pointed to the street below. “I can’t walk ten feet out of this building without being hounded by press and reporters about everything.”

She shook her head, feet carrying her past him towards her bedroom. “You get off scot-free with anonymity and I get stuck cleaning up a giant shitstorm. Figures. You can find your way out.” She hadn’t made it a step past him when a hand shot out and curled around her bicep, pulling her back.

(Y/N) thrashed, trying to yank her arm away from his grip. “Let go of me!”

Jason’s grip tightened, and he grabbed her other arm. “No!” He leaned close to her, his voice firm. “We’re not leaving this alone anymore. We’ve been circling one another since that night, and I’m done playing games, (Y/N). We’re talking about this.”

She huffed in disbelief, staring at him. “There is nothing to talk about, Jason.” (Y/N) waved a hand between them. “What we had…it’s gone.”

“Are you sure it is? Because as much as you seem to hate me, you can’t stay away from me whenever we’re patrolling Gotham together.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Okay, firstly, I follow you to make sure you don’t kill innocent people. And secondly, I’m pretty damn sure what we had is gone. I think about punching you more than I do anything else.”

He hummed, staring down at her and she was starting to get the urge to right-hook him when that familiar smugness set in his gaze. The same smugness he used to pull with her a few years ago when they were together. A memory flashed of Robin and Batgirl arguing, her annoyed and him smug as hell.

“I don’t believe you,” he countered lightly.

“I don’t give a flying fuck what you believe, Jason. The truth is we aren’t together anymore.” She started squirming again. “Now let go of me and get the hell out of my penthouse.”

He fell silent and simply stared at her before responding quietly, “Tell me you don’t love me or that you don’t need me anymore and I will.”

(Y/N) froze and her eyes went wide. “Excuse me?” Her voice was a whisper, as Jason released one of her arms, his gloved hand coming up to caress her cheek.

“You can tell me that we’re done all you want, (Y/N).” His hand left her cheek, rising to pull the jacket-hood from his head and yank the helmet off. He tossed it on the couch and Jason gazed at her, his teal eyes boring into hers. “But until I hear you tell me that you don’t love me anymore, I’m not moving from this spot.”

He held his head high, looking down at her. “So, tell me. Tell me you don’t love me anymore and I’ll go.” Jason searched her gaze. “I’ll go and I’ll never come back.”

(Y/N) stood there, the breath in her lungs frozen as they watched each other. After a moment, she lowered her head and murmured, “I don’t…I don’t…” She stopped, swallowing thickly, the tears that had swelled in her eyes threatening to run down her cheeks. “Oh, fuck it…I can’t do it.”

(Y/N) brought her hand up, covering her eyes even though the tears were already streaming down her cheeks. “I can’t tell you I don’t love you because…I still do love you.” She lowered her hand, gazing up at him. “And I never really stopped…no matter how furious I’ve been at you.” (Y/N) went slack against him, letting him wrap his arms around her. “Damn you, Jason Todd…damn you.”

His breath was hot against her ear as he chuckled lowly, tightening his grip. “I know.”

She pulled back a bit, looking at him teary eyed. “This doesn’t mean everything is okay now. I still want to beat the ever-living shit out of you.”

He huffed. “I know you do.”

Her voice turned watery. “I’m still pissed, and you’re still pissed and we’ve gotta work through that to get better.”

Jason nodded. “We will, (Y/N).” His hands cupped her cheeks, and he brushed his thumbs under her eyes, wiping the tears away. “I love you.”

(Y/N) nodded, burying her face in his chest. “I love you too.”

Do you believe in life after love?

142 notes · View notes

blackkatmagic · 4 years ago

Note

Am also excited for labyrinth!! Mayhaps some Helena processing or reacting to what Marc did when they had finished hunting mobsters for the night?

“Spare room is still empty,” Barbara says, distracted by whatever one of the League members is asking. Helena thinks she catches a glimpse of green light, and—the thought of what Bruce would say about Oracle playing tech support for Green Lantern makes her grin despite the weariness that’s heavy in every limb.

“That mattress is awful,” she complains, and instead of making for the spare room she collapses on the long couch against the wall, practically sinking into the cushions. It’s a terrible, awful couch in a truly painful shade of maroon, but Helena has a long-standing adoration of it that manifests as threats to revolt if Barbara ever gets rid of it.

“Then sleep on the floor,” Barbara tells her, merciless. She frowns, entering a few last keystrokes and then sitting back, watching whatever program she’s got running for a long moment before she pushes her chair back from her computer and turns it. The sweep of her eyes takes in Helena’s slightly battered costume, the empty holster on her thigh, the crossbow on the floor, and she smiles. Helena loves that smile. It’s pure guile, and whenever Bruce or Dick insists that Barbara is the nicest of the Bats, Helena has to laugh. Barbara's tempered steel and opaque glass, never quite what you think she should be, and Helena finds that she likes the unpredictability more than she’d ever thought she would.

“I see you and Moon Knight got along,” she says, lancing her fingers and leaning forward to rest her chin on them.

“When you sit like that it makes you look like a supervillain,” Helena tells her, and leaves out the fact that it makes her look hot, too. The on-again, off-again thing with Dick isn't really something Helena keeps track of, because it’s none of her business. It makes the flirting harder to handle, though. From both of them.

“I would make an amazing supervillain,” Barbara says, unbothered, which is equal parts true and absolutely terrifying.

Helena laughs, pulling one leg up to unlace her boot, then the other, and kicking them off. “If you ever go supervillain, I get first dibs on being your henchwoman,” she says, and Barbara smirks, coppery hair sliding over her shoulders and almost hiding the sharpness in her eyes.

“Only if you go back to the costume with the cleavage,” she counters, and then, before Helena can process the flash of heat at the thought of Barbara looking, she asks, “Moon Knight?”

“I'm keeping him,” Helena says without hesitation, because it’s true. Moon Knight waded into a bar fight right next to her, never even blinked at her methods, and didn’t so much as waver when she all but told him her father was mafia. He’s perfect. She hasn’t had someone willing to brawl with her like that in years. Not since Barbara was forced to leave behind the Batgirl mantle, honestly.

Barbara's smile is slow and a little wicked. “Even though Bruce wants him out of Gotham?” she asks.

Helena rolls her eyes, stripping off her gloves and tossing them on top of her boots, her mask following. “Bruce can choke on his cape,” she says without sympathy. “Plenty of people in the League kill when they're forced to, and Bats likes to think he has a monopoly on Gotham, but he doesn’t. If he did try to keep a hero from helping people in the city, when they're only going after bad guys, that would be shitty, and he knows it.”

“I don’t think he realizes that he knows it,” Barbara says, wry. “You know how Bruce is. He’s going to dig his heels in until he’s forced to admit to an emotion.”

Helena pauses, something about that phrasing catching her attention. She tips her head, eyeing Barbara narrowly, and asks suspiciously, “An emotion?”

Barbara laughs, raising her hands. “He does have them, you know,” she points out. When Helena keeps staring, though, she snorts, and says, “When Moon Knight got shot. I saw them together. Bruce was…softer.”

Well. That’s an interesting thing. Helena cocks a brow, and says, “Does Bruce realize that Moon Knight just summoned his god to cover Gotham?”

Barbara's smile is wicked. “Bruce doesn’t even know who Moon Knight is yet.”

That’s even more interesting. Helena laughs, swinging her feet over the side of the couch and sitting up, leaning forward. “There was a god in the sky,” she tells Barbara, and it’s still a little hard to believe. She’d seen the shadow, and the wings, and the wall of darkness around the city like a fortification. “Moon Knight said he’s the doorway. And Bruce Wayne got gooey about him?”

“Before the god part,” Barbara says dryly. “In all fairness. But it will be interesting to see what happens when he realizes.”

Because Barbara isn't going to tell him. Barbara ended up paralyzed by one of the Joker’s mad plots, and Moon Knight killed the Joker, put that particular ghost to rest. Barbara's got her loyalties, but—Helena can understand why they're knotting themselves around Moon Knight, in light of that.

“He’s got a mean left hook, god or no god,” she says, and then pauses, narrowing her eyes. “Wait, this Khonshu, is he, like, a realgod? From an established mythology? Would I find him if I cracked open a world religion book? Or is this another extradimensional entity pretending it’s a god thing?”

Barbara shrugs. “Does it matter?” she asks, a little wry. “Moon Knight believes in him. Khonshu was Egyptian, once, but according to legend he’s a dead god. Maybe it’s something wearing him like a suit, or maybe it’s something pretending, or maybe Moon Knight resurrected a god. I don’t think it makes a difference.”

Barbara's always been the smart one, Helena thinks, amused. Helena’s got good aim, and a good punch, but there’s a reason Barbara leads the Birds of Prey.

“Thoughts on making Moon Knight a Bird?” she asks, leaning forward to give Barbara a smirk. “Honorary, or whatever. His god looked like a falcon there for a minute. I think it should count.”

Barbara laughs. “I was thinking he could be our mascot,” she counters. “Nominal patron god of the Birds of Prey. Khonshu seems to have a thing for warrior priests. I don’t think he’d object.”

“No one should object to having us around,” Helena says breezily. “Zinda’s the life of any party. And Dinah’s probably down with a god who eats hearts and heals human trafficking victims.”

“I’ll start the paperwork, then,” Barbara says, grinning. “Print up a plaque. Should we get Moon Knight a trophy or a condolences card?”

“Both?” Helena offers, and she grins back. Thinks of Moon Knight, perfectly happy to give as good as he got, whether it was in the fight or just when they were bickering, and laughs. “I promised him roses,” she says. “Roses and condolences card in the trophy?”

“Sold,” Barbara agrees, and reaches out. She obviously means to shake on it, but Helena claims her hand, slides off the couch to flop down at her feet, and drops her cheek on Barbara's knee.

“Bruce is going to have an aneurysm,” she says, entirely delighted by the idea. “He’s having feelings about Moon Knight.”

Barbara chuckles, stroking her hair, and she’s really beautiful when she smiles like that. “I’ll show you the tape,” she promises, and Helena is definitely holding her to that.

[On AO3]

#my writing #in labyrinths of reflections #helena bertinelli #barbara gordon #barbarahelena

80 notes · View notes

aquariuscurly94 · 4 years ago

Text

Simple Favor

Summary: Damian Wayne does not ask for help, nor does he ask for any favors. So, this was new to him. If it were any other person, he wouldn’t be doing this. However, the person that he’s thinking of is different. He trusts her and believes that she would do this for him with few questions asked.

It should be easy to ask her for a simple favor. If that was the case, then why is he having a hard time knocking on her door?

Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the DC universe or the Teen Titans! Just the plot :)

This is PRE-DamiRae!:)

“Father.. you can’t be serious.”

“I am serious son. This could be an excellent start if you plan to take over my company one day with Tim.”

“And tell me how by bringing in a ridiculous date help me in anyway?” Damian asked, folding his arms over his chest as he watched his father typing away on the bat computer.

Bruce turned around in his chair to stare at his annoyed son that was standing in front of him. He sighed when he rakes through his hair with a hand. “Damian, people like me because I am good with people. I know how to communicate. I am also very sociable as well. People like that. Especially big investors. If they see you not being happy in any shape or form, they will start to stray away.”

Damian narrowed his green eyes at him, not buying a thing that he had just said. All he knows that this is an idiotic idea that his father had come up and he was known to have smarter ideas than this. “Father..” he started to protest but Bruce interrupted him.

“It’s just for one night Damian. If you need help in that department, I can probably can make a few calls—“

“I don’t need help from you in that department,” Damian said with a roll of his eyes. “You have terrible taste in women and that includes my mother,” he muttered with a sigh after taking a deep breath, wrinkling up his nose. “I… have someone in mind.”

Bruce lifted a brow with interest and leaned forward in his chair as he studied his son’s unreadable facial expression. “Oh? Anyone that I know?”

“Tch. Just know that she will be there with me that night. That’s all you need to know,” he told him, walking out of the Batcave as he tried to ignore the face that his father was making behind his back.

Damian Wayne does not ask for help, nor does he ask for any favors. So, this was new to him. If it were any other person, he wouldn’t be doing this. However, the person that he’s thinking of is different. He trusts her and believes that she would do this for him with few questions asked.

It should be easy to ask her for a simple favor. If that was the case, then why is he having a hard time knocking on her door?

“Damn,” he muttered, bringing his fist down from her door from a failed attempt at knocking on it. He rakes his dark hair with his fingers as he stared at the name that was printed on the door, wondering why he couldn’t just open it already. It’s not like he was nervous or anything right? Though, he could’ve swore that he had felt a little flutter in his stomach as he walked down the hall towards her room earlier after getting back to Titans Tower. “It’s just for one night,” he grumbled to himself. “Stop being an imbecile.”

He raised his fist to knock on the door and waited until he heard the word enter before sliding it open and stepped inside the room. He spotted her floating crossed legged in the middle of the room with her eyes closed as she repeated her mantra.

“Are you alright?” she asked, opening a purple eye to study him briefly before closing it again when she feels a wash of mixed emotions coming from him. “You seem troubled about something.”

Right. He should know by now then to attempt to hide things from an empath.

“I need a favor,” he said quietly, knowing that she could hear him. He watched her open her eyes when he spoke. She gave him a look of surprise. “What Raven?”

Raven shrugged her shoulders at him and smiled at him when she landed on the ground gracefully. “It must be that important coming from you,” she teased lightly, watching his emeralds narrow towards her when she laughed at him softly. She sighed when she caught a whiff of irritation coming from him. “I’m sorry. What do you need my help with?”

Damian cleared his throat as he tried to come up with a way on how to ask her. It should be a simple question, right? So why does he feel nervous the more that his green eyes stare into her violet ones that was looking at him and he knew that she was studying his emotions. “I need you to accompany me to a fundraiser event that’s in two days.”

Raven lifted a brow at him and crossed her arms over her leotard. “Why do you need me to accompany you?” she asked, titling her head to the side as she studied Damian in front of her.

“If I were to help run Wayne Enterprises one day with Drake, I need to start making appearances to these events. No matter how much I truly don’t want to be there in the public eye,” Damian explained, averting her gaze as he walked over to the big open window in her room, watching a few birds flying by the Titans Tower.

“And what does that have to do with me, Damian?”

“Father tells me it would help that it would appear that I am happy. And that I’m..” Damian paused as his mind tried to find a way to give the empath an explanation. “Likable. Otherwise, investors will start to stray away from WE. It’s better to start now rather than later.”

“Hmm..” Raven pondered, walking over to stand next to him. “Why me?” she wanted to know. If she were to do this, she needs to know the real reason why he had picked her specifically. Suddenly she could feel a wave of different emotions washing over her and she looked over at the former assassin that was standing next to her. “Damian… if this is for PR purposes…”

“It is for PR purposes Raven.” Damian told her with a small sigh as he turned his head to look at her. “And I trust you. That’s why I’m asking you to do this simple favor for me. You know me better than anyone,” he explained to her quietly, looking into her violet gaze. “Will you accompany me?”

“What color would you prefer my dress should be?”

“It doesn’t matter to me Raven.”

“So, Bruce tells me that you brought someone to the fundraiser event. Is that true? Because I don’t see anyone next to you.”

Damian sighed as he took a small sip of his champagne glass when Tim Drake walked over to him with his own glass in his hand. He was wearing a similar suit as him but Tim’s tie was blue and Damian’s was a dark green.

“Tch. Mind your business Drake. As I told father days ago that she’ll be here. Where’s Brown?” Damian asked, noticing that the curly blonde wasn’t attached to Tim’s arm.

Tim nodded his head behind him, and Damian eyes finally spotted the former Batgirl engaging a conversation with a board member as the two eat tiny sandwiches. “Working her charm as always,” he said with a smirk. “You sure you got a date to this thing?” he teased the youngest Robin, looking all over the big ballroom of the fundraiser event. “Or were you just lying?”

“Drake..” Damian muttered, pressing his lips into a hard a line. “You do realize that I know how to get rid of a body correct?”

“Relax,” Tim said with a roll of his sapphire eyes, scoffing at him. “We promised Bruce that we can handle this event without him. I’m just making sure that things are running smoothly,” he told him with a slight shrug of his shoulder. “Here comes one of the vultures now,” he whispered, leaning in close to the green-eyed former assassin. “Look alive,” he warned.

Damian looked away from Tim to see Lois Lane from the Daily Planet walking over to them. She had her shoulder length dark hair high up in a bun and was wearing an off-shoulder light blue dress with a pen and notepad in hand. “Gentlemen, would you like to say something about the fundraiser event for the Daily Planet?”

“Of course, Ms. Lane,” Tim said as he immediately went into business mode. “Anything for my favorite news reporter.

Damian rolled his eyes as he half paid attention to what Tim was saying to the reporter. His mind was elsewhere as he scanned across the room to see if he could spot a pair of violet eyes, wondering when she would make her entrance.

“You and Miss Stephanie Brown look quite lovely this evening,” he heard Lois say to Tim and Damian casted his gaze back over to them to see Tim rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “How long have you two been together again?” she asked with a smile on her face. “A lot of TimStephs want to know.”

“Gosh, Ms. Lane it’s been almost a decade for us.” Tim replied sheepishly with a small chuckle at the little ship name she had mentioned. “TimSteph huh? Clever.”

“And what about you Damian? Are you alone tonight? Or have you brought someone as well?”

Before Damian could respond, he finally spotted a pair of violet eyes that was standing a few feet from the three of them and he could feel his breath caught in his throat at the sight of her. Even though they were only feet away, he could tell that she wasn’t used to this kind of event. She had her arms wrapped around her strapless emerald dress loosely as she shook her head when a waiter tried to offer her a champagne glass.

She was wearing green just like his eyes.

Damian tried to recall any sort of conversation about what color dress that Raven would be wearing but he remembered telling her that it was up to her decide on what color to wear and she looked. He wanted to know why she had chosen that specific color. Not that she had looked horrible or anything because that was the total opposite from where he was standing.

“She just arrived actually,” Damian told the raven-haired reporter and cleared his throat. “Excuse me for a moment,” he said, walking by them and completely ignored a look that Tim was giving him behind his back as he walked over towards the quiet empath. She looked over at him once he had gotten closer to her. “You look…” he said quietly, eyeing her up and down as he tried his best to come up with a word to describe her.

“Out of place,” Raven answered for him with a sigh, reaching up to play with the end of her braid that was over her shoulder. “I actually do feel out of place.”

Damian shook his head in disagreement. “Quite the opposite,” he told her, giving her one of his rare smiles that only a few people manage to bring out. “You look lovely.”

Raven could feel her cheeks getting warm at his compliment and looked down at herself. “Thanks, I guess,” she muttered as she looked over to look at Damian and his black suit. “Good thing I picked green,” she said, nodding at his green tie.

Damian lifted a brow as he glanced down his tie and chuckled. “Come on,” he said, holding out an arm and Raven hooked her hand through it. “Let’s get this night over with.”

He led them back over to Tim and the Daily Planet reporter and both raised a questionable brow at him as he brought Raven over to them. “This is Rachel Roth,” he told them, watching Raven smile at them. “She’s my date this evening,” he placed a hand on her lower back and briefly looked at Tim. “I believe you’ve met her before,” he reminded him, tilting his head to the side. “Remember?”

“I do remember indeed Damian,” Tim said, catching on what Damian was doing. “It’s good to see you again Miss Roth.”

“Likewise, Tim,” Raven said. “How’s Stephanie doing?” she asked him.

“She’s doing fairly well. She’s talking to few board members actually,” he told her with a small chuckle.

“Would you mind if I ask you a couple of questions for the Daily Planet Miss Roth? Is that alright with you Damian if I ask your girlfriend a couple of questions?” Lois asked them both, quirking up a brow as she got her pen and paper ready.

“Oh, we’re not—”

“That is fine with me.” Damian interrupted without thinking and looked at Raven sideways briefly and ignored a look that she was giving him. “Just make it quick,” he demanded, crossing his arms with a sigh. “Drake and I have to make a speech soon.”

“Of course,” Lois said, nodding her head and then asked Raven a couple of questions. They were basic questions about the fundraiser event that was being held and how Raven felt about it and both Tim and Damian paid extra attention on how she was answering her questions. Damian noticed that she was a natural at answering them smoothly without skipping a beat. He was about to drag her away from the reporter, thinking that she was doing asking Raven questions when a question made him paused. “How long have you two been a couple? You make a lovely couple. Not to mention,” Lois was saying, looking at the young adults and their outfits. “You two are matching tonight. Was that planned by any chance?”

Damian had realized at that moment, maybe he should have let Raven corrected the reporter. He had miscalculated the next set of questions that the sharp reporter would ask next. He could tell that Tim was trying to hold himself together at the mess that Damian had created for him and Raven and it was too late to try and fix things. Damian shot the Red Robin a glare and the older man had quickly took a drink from his tall glass of champagne.

He had only brought Raven to this event for PR purposes only and to listen to his father’s advice. Damian also knew that this little story about him and Raven would make it to the front page of the Daily Planet, putting them into the public eye even more.

Damn.

“It’s uh,” Raven started, looking at the now frustrated Damian next to her. His emotions were screaming at her and it was hard to concentrate on what to say to Lois Lane. She cleared her throat and realized that this wasn’t part of the plan that he had for them. “New. Fairly new. A few months to be honest.” Damian turned to look at her when she had spoken, and she gave him a small smile when she reached down to place her pale fingers through his tan ones.

Lois smiled down at their joined hands and clicked her pen and placed her notepad in her front pocket. “Alright, I think I have what I needed. Thank you for your time and enjoy your evening.” She cleared her throat as she walked away from them to grab someone else to ask more questions.

“Drake,” Damian growled out in a warning when Tim was about to say something when his mouth had opened. “Don’t you have to make sure that our speech is ready?”

Tim closed his mouth and nodded and turned on his heel to leave Damian and Raven alone. He looked down when he saw that his hand was still wrapped around hers. She was the first to remove her hand. “I apologize for not letting you correct that reporter.”

“It is fine Damian,” Raven told him, chewing her lower lip. “I did not mind it.”

Damian ran a hand through his thick hair and sighed when he looked down to check his watch. “I should go prepare for the speech. Will you be alright here?” he asked, and Raven had nodded at him. “I shall return soon.” There was a pause before he had walked away from her. “Thank you, Raven. For everything.”

“You’re welcome Damian.”

It was very late in the evening when Damian and Raven had finally left the fundraiser and he was driving them back to the Wayne Manor. He had insisted that she should stay in a spare bedroom until the next day before they return to Titans Tower. The car ride was silent except for the low hum of his car. He tapped the wheel with his finger, wondering if he should break the silence between them. He replayed the whole even in his head, from the beginning to the very end when the reporter was asking Raven questions about him and her.

In his opinion, he was impressed with her. She had played the role extremely well despite the little hiccup that he had placed them in. It had made his stomach flutter with how she had spoken to the wife of the Kryptonian. It made him feel things in a way that is making him question everything slowly.

It made him wonder if she would do this again but for more than PR purposes.

“You are speaking very loudly,” Raven commented, breaking into his thoughts. She leaned back against the leather seat of his car and stared out at the darken window at the passing trees. “Want to talk about it?” she prompted.

“I…want to thank you again for doing this favor for me Raven,” he said, gripping the wheel tightly in his hands as he turned on the curvy dark road. “And to apologize again for putting you in a tight situation.”

Raven looked away from the window to look at him and shrugged her shoulders. “You don’t have to apologize. It was…rather interesting to say the least.”

Damian looked away from the road and lifted a brow at her before turning his attention back to the road ahead of him. That was not the response that he was inspecting from her. He had hoped that she would be angry at him for the questions that the reporter had asked her about them being a ‘couple.’ Was she telling him the truth right now?

“Yes, Damian I was telling the truth,” Raven answered him, and he rolled his eyes. “It was an interesting event,” she told him honestly, nibbling her lower lip when she used her hands to undo her braid and let her hair fall on her shoulders. “If you need me to do this again…”

The words were left hanging in the air between them and it was quiet once again during the drive to the Wayne Manor.

Damian cleared his throat as he walked inside the spare bedroom with Raven and watched her looked around at the neat room. “Will you be comfortable in this room?” he asked her as he leaned against the open-door frame with his arms folded over his chest.

“It feels cozy,” Raven said, placing the heels that she had borrowed from Kori at the foot of the bed. “Thank you.”

“Good. Good night Raven,” he was about to leave the room to let her get some rest when he felt a tug on his arm and looked down at her with his head cocked to the side in confusion. “What is it?”

Instead of answering him and before Raven could chicken out, she leaned up to kiss him softly on his cheek, blushing at the shock expression he was giving her and leaned away from him. “If you need me to do any more favors for you just ask me and I will do it. It doesn’t matter if it’s a simple favor or a difficult one. I would do it for you and for you only Damian.”

“I’ll…definitely keep that in mind,” Damian told her in a serious tone, reaching up a hand to touch the spot where she had kissed. “Good night Raven,” he said, clearing his throat and stepped out of the room.

“I’m going to definitely keep that in mind,” he repeated to himself, touching the spot on his cheek again and his stomach started to flutter again. “Definitely.”

AN: So I am highly new to this fandom and I truly hoped that you guys had liked it!! Even though it was heavily Pre-DamiRae lol. Please let me know what you guys think!:) have a lovely day:)

#damirae #raven x damian #teen titans #damian x raven #demonbirds #damian wayne #fanfiction #timsteph #tim drake #stephanie brown

104 notes · View notes

miss-choco-chips · 4 years ago

Note

Umm... I was wondering if you could Maybe do a follow up on your mini fic Last Line from dicks pov? It gave me alot of feelings and i would love to see the fallout?

Your work is really good! Its so cool how your brave enough to put pieces of yourself out there for other people!

Hey babe! Thank you for your kind words! It made me smile getting this, you are very sweet <3

I totally forgot about Last Line lol, but when I saw it reminded me that I actually wrote a bit more of it, both before and after the scene I posted. So, this isn’t exactly what you asked, but here’s some backstory and then the fallout!

---.---

Four years old, and he watches the red string on his finger pulled taunt towards the crying boy, the color of the thread well disguised among the red blood of the murdered acrobats.

Nine, and he watches from the shadows as it swings right and left, following Robin’s pirouettes from building to building. The thread, that usually goes a few feet before ‘vanishing’ from sight, was almost completely visible now, at such a short distance from the person holding onto its other end.

He’s on his twelve when he tries to explain to Dick the importance of him going back home. He wasn’t sure of his success, even though the older hero took him to the manor, because during his whole speech, Nightwing hadn’t looked up from the red joining them together. It wasn’t exactly how Tim wanted him to find out, but… Batman needed a Robin, and he was out of options.

At fourteen, he feels Kon’s hand clenching on his shoulder, as they both watch from the side how Nightwing swept Barbara off her feet and twisted her around, laughter falling from both their lips even as Dick thread’s end was pointing towards Tim. The third Robin didn’t turn to look at his best friend, didn’t meet Bart’s eyes or react to Cassie taking his hand on hers. He just made sure his face was perfectly devoid of any emotion when he muttered, low enough only a kryptonian would hear, ‘I wish it was any of you’.

(A few nights later, when he and Conner were sitting quietly on the Tower’s roof, the clone took Tim’s hand with his own, his lack of red string blatantly obvious as he said ‘If I had any, I wish it could be you’. To this day, it’s the sweetest thing anyone ever said to him)

He is so, so tired, and he’s only sixteen. But keeping up with the shitfest that was the Battle for the Cowl, helping Dick while ignoring his red string (pulling him towards Nightwing, now Batman, stark contrast against the dark of his suit, with distracting insistency), dealing with Damian’s abuse as expected of him as the ‘mature, older brother’, coping with Bruce’s death, the shock of Dick throwing him, his soulmate, away so so easily…

(Shouldn't be surprising; Dick had been discarding him in favor of others since they met, shamelessly displaying his various relationships in front of him with an attitude that might be called cruel from anyone else but that just earned him playful shoves from other Leaguers while Tim was expected to swallow his pain, because a red string isn’t a promise, Dick is free… and yes, he knows that, but it doesn’t mean shit to his dying heart)

(Maybe, when he left for proof of Bruce being alive, it wasn’t so much for his old mentor than it was for himself)

----.----

Tim is seventeen and halfway across the world, looking at the string attached to his hand that never truly meant anything to any other than him (not to Bruce, who never took Dick aside and talked to him about consideration with his soul mate; not Dick's conquers, who never gave a fuck about the red string in the hands that touched their skin, even when a lot of them knew who was on the other end of it; not Dick himself, who after asking every thing out of Tim and having it, forcefully took the one thing Tim wouldn't give by choice and claimed Tim was his equal, his soulmate, so he never could be his sidekick... even if it was the first time ever that Dick even mentioned the string tying them both together), when he thinks 'you were always free; now, I'm freeing myself’.

He gingerly bites on the string, and with his other hand takes a handful of it and pulls.

The pain piercing his heart is expected, but not new. He had been feeling it since the first time he saw Dick's back as he walked away with someone else.

He times it carefully, too. He doesn't think Dick would care, but just in case, Tim waits until it's morning in Gotham, when he's sure Dick is probably sleeping after patrol.

Maybe he would wake up without noticing

---.---

In Gotham, Dick is carried by Alfred and Damian to the cave, when the new Batman's screams of pain woke everyone in the Manor up. They are suspecting cardiac arrest, and then Dick looks down to his hand and notices the string, always tense, signaling him where his north is, where Tim is, laying loose and lifeless.

He panics, asks Superman to track Tim down or something, and when the man confirms Tim is still alive somewhere in the Middle East, he knows.

And like a freight train, the parting words Kori told him the last time they saw each other hit him right in the chest.

"He isn't going to wait for you forever"

----.-----

When Tim does come back, at nineteen, it’s a quiet thing.

He spent the last how many days carefully setting his systems up, making sure his mainframe would outstand Oracle’s scrutiny when she realized he was back in town and tried to hack her way into his life.

(He didn’t blame her, of course not. Dick was charming enough, good enough, anyone he set his eyes into would be helpless to nothing but fall in his arms.

And, wasn’t Tim the one who would have been intruding, had he tried to chase after the first Robin? Everyone knew he and the original Batgirl were a perfect match, thousands of times better than Tim, whom Fate just wanted to screw over.

But not anymore)

The first thing he did, once the safe houses were chosen and his programs up and running, was to ruthlessly hack into the Batcomputer and take a look at patrol routes.

He would need to keep clear of Diamond District and Old Gotham, least he risked crossing paths with B and R. The Financial and City Hall Districts were apparently Batgirl’s playground for the night, and if he wanted to drop by and let Cass know he was back, he could always search for her by the Upper West Side down to Chinatown.

He would avoid the Upper East Side like the plague, though. Maybe Coventry too, just to be safe. Lots of skintight blue in that direction.

Which left… Crime Alley, the Bowery and Burnley, mainly. He needn't check to know who’s house that was.

And that’s how he ended, on his very first night back on the streets, dragging Red Hood’s bleeding ass away from a blowing up building.

-----.-----

Apparently, saving a recently rehabilitated murderous vigilante was a bonding experience, because Jason didn’t kick him out of his side of town, nor tell on him.

He couldn't, however, do anything to prevent the criminal gossip mile from spreading, and before a week had passed, half the city was aware of the new player on the board.

-----.------

Jason was taking a breather, smoking while sitting on his favorite rooftop, when the rustling sound of fabric told him his peace and quiet was over.

“I thought you were back at being N”, he greeted, not bothering to turn around or get up.

“B was out of town, and Robin needed someone to watch over him during patrol.”

A quick glance around had Hood snorting, “Then y’re doing a shitty job. Don’t see the midget anywhere.”

It would never NOT be weird to hear a strangled laugh coming out of the Bat suit, as tight and humorless as it was now. It seemed big ol Dick wasn’t doing so great tonight.

“Batgirl took him to a party in Diamond District. Gang war.”

He humms in response, not bothering to keep on the smalltalk. N, no, B was here for something, and it wasn’t Jason’s job to ask it out of him; if it was important, he would do it himself.

“Where is him, Hood?”, he finally went to the heart of the matter.

Jason tilted his head, still looking over his city, unmindful of the steps coming closer to his position, “Robin? Ya just said it, B. Going senile? Gang war, wasn’t it?”

“Don’t play around. You know I mean…”

Oh, yeah, Dickie still wasn’t sure what to call Timbo. Criminal gossip only went so far, for someone who didn’t bother to shout his hero name to everyone he beat up. It was very possible only Jason was aware of his new monicker. All gothamites knew was a young vigilante showed up recently, wearing red and black and hanging out with the Hood, which immediately upped his street rep to ‘not to be fucked with’.

“Lil red?”, he completed for his older brother, feeling both charitable and petty. Batman’s wince was more evident by the rustling sound of his cape; he had hit a sore spot, hadn’t he?

“Where? I’m not asking again.”

“Good, ‘cause I’m not answering. Must be ‘roundere somewhere, the little creep.”

“Hood, I’m running out of patience.”

“And I’m out of cigarettes, your point? I don’t have him on a leash asshole. We just share the same hunting space, it’s not like we go home together and do face masks while we talk about feelings.”

They did go to a safespot, though, and share beer and pizza while cursing their relatives and Fate as a whole, but it wasn’t necessary information for the fucker. He just breathed in the last of his smoke before dropping the cigarette butt and stepping on it, stretching as he did.

“Now, any more of this riveting conversation, or can I go? No, wait, it was a rhetorical question; get out of my part of town, ass. I’ve been plenty generous by letting you come this far, but our truce lasts as long as the lot of you don’t build any sandcastles on my playground and you know it. Now, scram.”

He could feel Dick’s reticence at leaving without what he came here for, but Oracle must be talking him into letting it be for tonight, because he didn't push. Jason turned just in the right moment to catch the way Dick looked down to his gloved hand, as if expecting the lifeless red string to be pulled taunt in Tim’s direction by some miracle. Jason felt the smallest ping of pity, quickly washed away by the memory of the younger hero’s haunted eyes as he told Jason the story of his severed soul bond and how he came to do it.

Thirty seconds after the bat vanished into the night, a little red bird landed softly on the spot next to him.

“Thanks, Hood”, he muttered, just as tired and hurting as he’d been ever since he saved Jason’s ass and they became partners, but with the smallest hint of lightness that made him prouder of driving Dick away than he’d ever been.

“Don’t mention it, but fair warning, the big B scomin back home in a few days, and he’s harder to kick out than a hurting, annoying bluebird.”

“I know”, Tim sighed, well aware of both facts. “I’ll play it by ear. For tonight, what about bashing some skulls and ruining Two Face’s new op? Good intel says it’s just a few blocks from here, and shattering bones always makes you smile.”

“Babybird, you speak the language of love.”

“Wasn’t that french?”

“I’m trying to compliment you, don’t be a smart ass about it.”

“I am smart, and I do have a good ass. That seems like an impossible request.”

----.----

#ask #last line #dicktim #but not #soulmate au #red string au #angst #tim drake #dick grayson #jason todd #red robin #nightwing #red hood #jason is a good bro #dick sucks as a soulmate #bruce is gonna be confused as fuck when he comes back #my writting #my writing

208 notes · View notes

herstarburststories · 5 years ago

Text

Important Milestones (Damian Wayne x reader)

✾ Summary: An intimate look through your and Damian's relationship. Requested! It’s been a hot bit since I wrote for Damian, so I hope this one is good!

↼❈⇁

First meeting

Dick was taking Damian to the circus

Add a long conversation and lots of "Yeah, Dami. I'm sure the animals are treated well-- Actually, animals aren't allowed in legal circus anymore. You don't have to worry."

They were watching the show, and Damian couldn’t believe that Grayson was so excited about clowns

Damian excused himself to get some food

Dick asked him to get a hotdog, but Damian will bring him popcorn #beaveg

Thing is, you and Damian arrived the food trunk at the same time

Which leaded to an argument

Y/N: I got here first!

Damian: You are not on the line!

Y/N: Because you almost ran over me!

You two kept going long enough for a worried Dick to show up

How to trust each other

You know when you've never seen a person before, but once you lay your eyes on them, you start seeing their face in every crowd?

That's basically you and Damian

How come you didn't know the idiot from the circus was also the Wayne guy that studied with you?

How he, with Talia and Batman's observation skills, never noticed you walking around Gotham's School and now he always caught a sight of you?

You and Damian quickly fall into a weird routine:

Glare each other during lunch

Rolls your eyes when the others was talking in class

Annoy each other whenever you had the chance

Jon teased him a lot

Talking about Superboy...

He seemed off in the morning and he hadn't showed up for lunch like he always did

Damian decided to look for his best friend

Surprisingly, he found Jon crying in your arms in the middle of the chemistry laboratory

You just looked at Damian and nodded for him to come in

Y/N: His parents had a big fight. I found him here alone and thought I could help. Since you are here, guess I'll go.

Damian: You can stay. I mean, Jon probably could use your emotional assistance.

Damian still finds you annoying (and so do you), but you helped his friend

He trust you... A bit

Recognize your feelings

Damian came to school one day. He is clearly hurt-- he couldn’t even walk straight

Jon remained quiet. He was there when the week's villain throw Damian against a wall as if he was a bag of potatoes

But you don't know about the Robin detail

Besides, you are sort of a trinity with them now

Therefore, you worry

And you ask

And you worry some more

It's been a few weeks since your friendship started. Damian trusts you, he really does, but not enough to tell you

Let's keep in mind that pretty much like Bruce, Damian isn't the best when it comes to expressing his feelings through anything but violence

So, he acts like an idiot

Y/N: Damian, come on. I'm not stupid enough to believe you’d fall hard enough to get yourself hurt like this. Talk to me.

Damian: Stop pushing your need to fix everything on me, Y/N. You are not my mother. Don't waste your worry on me, I don't need it.

You realized you liked him when you felt way more worried than you usually would

But Damian just noticed his cherish for you when you glared at him with evident hurt in your eyes and left the table

He just wanted you back, making silly jokes with Jon and stealing his fries

Kiss me, idiot

Two days

48 hours + 12 minutes since you two fought

A whole weekend

LISTEN, his life was going perfectly well before you came along

Now it seems like you opened a spot that's exactly your fit and put yourself there

Whenever you aren't around, Damian feels this weird sensation of missing

Jon convinces him into talking to you

As soon as he sees you in school, he does

Apologize becomes another argument (surprise, surprise)

Damian: Why do you care so much?!

Y/N: Because I like you, idiot!

Damian: You, you like me? As in--

Then you kiss him

Because, let's be clear, you'd end up kissing or punching him

Finding out he's Robin

It's the most stupid way possible

Like, for real

Last night, his Robin's duties kept Damian up until 5am

Instead of leaving his clothes inside the Batcave as usual, he just crumbled to his bed

The sun arrived and so did you

School project

While Damian was out to grab some books, you were studying his room

A picture of him and Jon. Some papers with Arabian words. A dog's bed. Robin suit. A sword

Wait, come back

A. Robin. Suit.

Damian Wayne was many things, but cosplayer certainly wasn't on the list

The pieces glued together fast

A rich family would make sense: Batman and Robin's instruments never looked cheap. Four Robins existed among the years, and Damian had 3 brothers. Not to mention that he'd show up with random scratches and never explain what happened. He was good with swords, and the current Robin had been seen with them a lot of times. Besides, Damian Wayne would never wear a costume willingly, much less keep one in his room

He walks inside the room to see you wearing his cape and mask

Y/N: Guess I'm robin' your persona, huh? Wanna tell me something?

Meeting the family

You come from a big family

Good thing because anybody else would be scared if they were in your shoes

MESS, MESS, MESS

Dick is smiling like a crazy all the time, and making dad jokes

Tim is teasing Damian by asking you to blink twice if you need saving

Jason is directly fighting Damian and calling him devil spawn

Bruce is quietly watching everyone with a subtle smile on his lips. He asks you a few questions, and occasionally asks the boys to behave before answering his phone and excusing himself

Babs, Steph and Cassandra come in later

Now the teasing is divided between you and Damian and Steph and Tim

You tease them a lot, blushing Tim is adorable

You are wearing purple boots, and Steph already loves you for that

Dick tells Babara about you being aware of the family secret

She offered to train you for some self-defense

YOU ACCEPTED, DUH. SHE IS THE BATGIRL!!

Cass is more quiet, but very friendly

Alfred was the first batfam member that you'd met, though (also your fav)

You try (key word being try) to help him in the kitchen

Batcow became your best friend, sorry Jon

You met the Titan family as well

Now you had munition to tease Dick as much as he teased you and Damian

Thank you, Kory

Also, Kor is a real life alien princess, how cool is that!?

Beast Boy is the funniest guy -- and now you are pretty sure you became a vegetarian because you can't eat animals after seeing his transformation

Raven reminds you of Cass

Donna is so powerful, and she knows so many languages!

You get along with his two families

Although Damian rolls his eyes a lot during y'all interaction, he is really happy

First kid

You and Damian are in university when it happens

You both know it's a big step

There's no turning back, you two will always be connected

Damian and you are now responsible, parents

Of the cutest bunny!

Yep, you insisted on naming him Robin

The first kid you both adopted together

Get on your knees for me

Damian isn't much of a romantic

You don't really mind

But when he proposes, it's the sweetest thing

You two had ordered some veggie food to celebrate the end of your finals

Finally a break!

Damian was holding you on the couch as you both watched one of your favorite movies when Robin, the bunny showed up

Y/N: Batbunny, just because we have vegan food, it doesn't mean you can get some. Go eat your lettuce.

Damian: Beloved, maybe you should see what he brought for you.

The bunny had a necklace wrapped around him!!

And the said necklace was attached to a ring!!

A FUCKING DIAMOND!?

Extra of love:

You became a vigilant for a bit before deciding how you truly wanted to help people

Besides charity, you became a lawyer specialized in cases of racism and immigration

Your and Damian's wedding was a mix of your culture and his

Comment/Reblog if you liked it, feedback is magic! Wanna see more? Check my Masterlist! How about get tagged on my batboys or just Damian works? Ask me or add yourself to my taglist!

477 notes · View notes

phoenixlionme · 3 years ago

Text

DC’s Tiffany Fox and Nell Little

NOTE: I deleted the original post because I felt it didn’t talk about the titular heroes in great form. So, I did some tweaks and I think it’s better than the original.

Both are black female superheroes who each take up Batgirl mantle. Tiffany Fox underneath the guidance of her uncle, Luke Fox; Nell Little is a young fangirl of Stephanie Brown during the latter’s time as Batgirl and Stephanie even dreams that Nell becomes the future Batgirl. Now, while I do love DC comics, I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t read the comics, so I haven’t seen the comic appearances of Tiffany and Nell. But here, I am going to differentiate the two.

Tiffany Fox - Young sister of Batwing

1. Costume - I see her Batgirl suit being just as mechanical as her brother’s; it nearly resembles his but pink linings to match her comic counterpart. Maybe inspired from Power Rangers uniform (maybe she’s a fan in-universe).

2. Personality - I see her being a crazy-prepared type of person; like her family, she’s logical, patient, thinks ahead of most people. And since she comes from an affluent family that prioritizes responsibility and good values, she’s very principled. Given how she has Alopecia and limb difference, she was unfortunately bullied and, as a result, has a rather dim view on humanity. But she’s a strong believer in responsibility and accountability. She’s a huge scifi and mystery nerd. Oh, and like most people (including me), she loves to read analysis posts of her favorite shows and movies.

3. Appearance - I saw a video of a young girl with Alopecia who admired the Dora Milaje from Black Panther. So, I like to see Tiffany as someone with Alopecia. Also, she was born without either of her arms. Her favorite color is pink and she likes to wear either bows or ties, showcasing her professional nature. Now, why she’s not as muscular as Nell, Tiffany is muscular but she has a more lithe figure.

4. Powers/Skills/Abilities: Like the rest of the Fox family, she’s a tech genius. Her specialty is nanotechnology, robotics, and chemistry but she’s fully capable of learning just about anything. Her batgirl armor incorporates all three of those specialties, and she uses mechanical arms that both contain all of the needed Batgirl equipment. She is a master a Krav Maga and can accurately use pressure points on an opponent. Since she was born without arms and might only have her legs to defend her, Tiffany is also a master in Taekwondo, Capoeira, Judo, and Muay Thai, all of which are primarily leg and kicking based martial art styles. Also, because she may have to rely on only her legs at times, she’s also extremely capable of using her legs as well as her hands.

Nell Little - An admirer of Stephanie Brown’s Batgirl. She also appeared in the Bombshells universe.

1. Costume - Like the future version Steph dreamed of, Nell would have a standard Batgirl uniform with blue/purple/grey linings in her costume. On the grey linings, there would be some sort of material that makes it look like it’s sparkling.

2. Personality - I see her as a passionate, emotional person who’s somewhat reckless. She’s a lover of comic books and superheroes, being the one who probably has the most info on them, but doesn’t say anything, simply because “even heroes need privacy”. She’s an animal and sports lover; given how she’s the latter, Nell is also plays different types of sports which help crimefighting. She likes sparkly anything and is more fond of the nighttime, which inspired her costume. Unlike Tiffany, she’s people-friendly and sociable, but doesn’t like bullies. Her favorite genres include fantasy (specifically, urban fantasy) and action/adventure but also has to have a good story.

3. Appearance - I would give her long, afro-textured hair that that would be let out in the back. She’s taller than Tiffany. Why? Before checking, I decided that whoever came first between the two, she would be taller one (Nell was introduced in 2010, Tiffany in 2013). Plus, besides being taller than Tiffany, Nell is taller than most of the average teenage girls and adult women in her teen and adult years, respectively. Broad shoulders and notable six pack.

4. Powers/Skills/Abilities -To distinguish her from the BatFam, she’s uses random ANYTHING to gain an advantage on people. Maybe she uses a self-made swiss army like weapon (not sure how that would work). Or maybe she’s one of the few (or two) meta-humans in the Batfam (the other being Duke Thomas): Given how Tiffany is fond of the nighttime, maybe she gained moon-related powers that ONLY work during the nighttime and are more enhances with a full moon - Illusion casting, gravity control, transformation into living creature, and ability to make copies of herself (probably gained these powers in a freak lab accident or something). She’s great at analyzing people, not like with Cassandra and her ability to read movements, I mean Nell has a high amount of emotionally intelligent and is good at being an excellent judge of character and like a chessmaster. She’s not a trained martial artist until she interacts with the Batfam but has above average strength, speed, and stamina due to being an active sports player. I also see her being an expert in boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Wrestling.

If anyone has some evidence that would better help distinguish the two, feel free to comment. But BE RESPECTFUL. NO TROLLS.

#dc #tiffany fox #nell little #black supers #batfam #my posts #the batgirls #fam appreciation #reminder #mine #super idea #fam analysis #fam parallels #fam idea #favfams

8 notes · View notes

dcnatural · 4 years ago

Text

The Dominoed Daredoll

Word Count: 3656

Pairing: Arkham Knight!Jason x Reader

Rating: Explicit

Synopsis: You, the hero Flamebird, thought you would never find love again after your first love, Jason Todd died. In a attempt to rescue Oracle, you run into the mysterious Arkham Knight.

I should’ve waited for Bruce. That was the last coherent thought that crossed your mind before everything went black.

You woke up what could have been minutes or hours later, hands cuffed together behind your back and your ankles tied up preventing you from running. Your head still pounded where you had been hit and you could feel the dried blood that clung to your scalp.

It all had happened so fast: in one moment you were jumping from building to building following the trail that the Arkham Knight had left behind and in the next he had been upon you. You could only hope that, since you were still alive, maybe there was a chance Barbara also was. She had been your mentor from the moment you entered the world of crime fighting and you couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. You still hadn’t healed from the death of your best friend years ago, you couldn’t lose her too.

And so, you had sprung into action the moment you heard Oracle had been kidnapped, ignoring Bruce’s orders to stay away from the militia. You wouldn’t let anyone take anything from you again; as long as you were breathing, you would protect the ones you loved. But it seemed you wouldn’t be breathing for much longer, unless you could find a way to escape.

The room you were in was completely dark and you couldn’t see anything. The floor and wall behind you were made of cold metal and you assumed they had taken you to an abandoned warehouse. The only sound was that of your own erratic breathing; they had left you alone.

Except you weren’t. You heard the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking and felt the muzzle pressing up to your forehead. Whoever it was, had approached you in complete silence. Not only that, but they had been able to see you, even without any lights. It must be the Knight himself, you guessed.

“Look who finally woke up,” his modulated voice announced, sending chills down your spine. He loomed over you and even though you couldn’t see him, there was something familiar about his presence. Like the two of you had met before.

“I swear I’ll beat the fuck out of you when I get out,” you hissed in return. Even being at an extreme disadvantage wouldn’t stop you from getting mouthy.

He laughed dryly. “You surely talk a big game for someone who can’t even defend herself.” And as to prove his point, he slammed the sole of his boot against your ribs, causing you to growl in pain. He kicked you again, stronger this time and you felt the air leaving your lungs. You bit your tongue to avoid screaming, not wanting to give him the satisfaction.

“Fuck you,” you managed to curse as you coughed, blood spurting out of your mouth. “You’ll see. I’ll get Oracle and we’ll defeat you.”

“Keep dreaming, daredoll.”

You flinched, the nickname hitting you harder than any punch could ever have. A wave of nostalgia rolled in as the memories flashed in your mind.

You and Robin, fighting side by side against Two-Face and his thugs. You and Jason, getting ice cream downtown. You and your best friend, taking out drug dealers. You and your first love, swaying in the gym during a school dance. You alone at his funeral, watching as the empty coffin was lowered into the earth. And echoing through the memories, his voice calling you his daredoll.

“My dominoed daredoll. The Batgirl for my Robin,” you remember him saying on the first night you donned your cowl, draping his arm around your shoulders and tugging you closer to him as you both watched Dick and Barbara, now in their new mantles of Nightwing and Oracle, kissing in the Batcave. You had blushed, wishing he would kiss you like that.

“Don’t call me that,” you said through gritted teeth. You focused on your breathing, refusing to let yourself cry in front of him.

He snickered. “I think it suits you, don’t you agree?”

You ignored him and tussled against the restraints, desperate to escape. If you could only free your hands, you knew you could disarm him.

“I asked you a question, daredoll .”

You felt a silent tear running down your cheek. There was something about the intonation he said that stupid nickname that was so like Jason. Annoyed by your lack of response, he pressed his feet to your injured ribs, threatening another blow. Finally, you gave in and slowly you shook your head, the gun's barrel sliding down your cheek until the muzzle was caressing your mouth.

“I hate it. It reminds me of someone I once knew.” Another tear fell down your face and your captor crouched in front of you, using his free hand to wipe them away. His touch was cold and harsh, a mockery of what should have been an endearing gesture. This close to him, you could hear his heartbeat and the faint buzzing of the circuits of his suit.

“Why so sad? I thought bats didn’t cry,” he taunted.

You shook your head again, feeling the cold metal sliding across your lips. “You know nothing about us. About what we have lost.”

He chuckled, amused by your answer. “I know more than you would think.” There was an edge of sadness in his tone, the first emotion he had shown since you woke up. Or perhaps you had only imagined it.

Either way, he couldn’t possibly know what it had felt like after losing Jason. You couldn’t even look at your Batgirl outfit without feeling guilty. Guilty that you were alive and he wasn’t. After Tim came along, it became too much. You didn’t blame him for taking Jason’s mantle, you saw it as a way to honour him, but you simply couldn’t be another Robin’s Batgirl, and so, you abandoned the purple and black suit to adopt a new one. Following the step of your older brother, you moved to Bludhaven and began to call yourself Flamebird. Not only the kryptonian bird was a perfect match for Dick’s Nightwing, but it also symbolized rebirth. Just like a phoenix, you had been reborn. It did nothing to quell the ache in your heart, but at least it was easier than to be constantly reminded of your deceased love.

A new idea seemed to cross his mind and, grabbing you by your chin, he pressed the pistol past your lips. Before you could react, it was already half buried in your throat and you choked on it, struggling to breathe around the large intrusion.

“Suck it,” he ordered and, not seeing another alternative, you did as you were told. His finger was on the trigger the whole time while you shoved your tongue inside the barrel, the taste of gunpowder and metal coating your tongue.

There was a fire building inside you, not of anger, but of excitement. It was dangerous and thrilling and you wondered how it would feel if, instead of his gun, he had placed his cock in your mouth. You quickly dismissed the thought, he was a criminal, for God’s sake. When he pulled it out, you couldn’t help but be a bit disappointed.

“Damn,” he exclaimed as he looked at you, drool dripping down your chin and cheeks flushed red. “I wonder if you’ll be as good when sucking my dick.”

His words affected your body in ways you refused to acknowledge, the mere threat of what he would do to you making you squirm. You knew your arousal was building up and really hoped he didn’t notice.

Even in the dark, you felt when he got up and walked away, causing your heartbeat to quicken. You feared what he was going to do, thinking that perhaps he would try to assault Barbara too. Please don’t harm her, you begged mentally. You would take whatever he threw at you, as long as it meant your friend was safe. She needed to survive, she had Dick waiting for her, she had someone to return to. You had no one. Perhaps if he kills me, I’ll see Jason again, death will reunite us for all of eternity, you thought hopefully, recalling the words engraved in his tombstone, a line from one of his favorite poems: “No more let life divide what death can join together.”

You were blinded by brightness when all of the lights lit up simultaneously, your eyes, already accustomed to the darkness, struggling to adjust to the change. The Knight came back and now you could see him properly. He wore an armor with the symbol of Arkham Asylum on the chest and his physique was in top shape, not even the metal protection being able to hide his muscles. On the holster, his pistol still glimmered with the wetness of your mouth. As you analized him, your eyes stopped a second too long on his thighs, your brain already starting to think about how it would feel to straddle one of them.

The light also allowed you to inspect your surroundings. Like predicted, it was indeed an old warehouse, a rectangular space empty except for the wooden boxes piled up under the mezzanine. You caught sight of your utility belt tossed on top of the boxes. If you could escape the binding on your feet, you could reach it and use one of the many tools it stored to open the cuffs and escape. The only problem would be doing all of that before you got shot.

“Much better this way,” he said, looking around at the lit up room. “You look much better without the night vision lens.”

He sat on your legs, pinning you down even harder. From a pocket, he pulled a sharp knife, which he ran across the skin of your neck, erupting goosebumps and leaving a faint red line across your skin, blood barely prickling through the cut.

“It would be so easy to kill you right now. No one would miss you. Hell, they likely haven’t even noticed you're gone.”

You knew he was just trying to get under your skin, but there was some truth to his words: with everything going on, your absence would take a while to be noticed. Especially since you had been doing exactly what Bruce had ordered you not to do. He probably thinks I’m patrolling Bludhaven like he asked.

The Knight then pressed the blade to your shirt, cutting past the yellow and red kevlar from your suit and exposing your breast to him. He tossed the pieces of fabric aside and cupped your boobs with his gloved hands. You ignored the sensation running through your body as he pinched and twisted your nipples, focusing solely on reaching one of the shredded bits. You took advantage of his assault to wiggle a little, making it seem you were only reacting to his ministrations. When you finally felt the cut material under your fingertips, you began to peel away the many protective layers in search of the metal wires, knowing that you could use those to unlock the handcuffs.

Unfortunately, he soon got bored of your chest and your red skirt became the next victim of his knife, followed closely by your leggings and panties. Your heartbeat quickened at the realization of what he was going to do and you began to work faster on freeing yourself. You closed your eyes in a pathetic hope that, if you couldn’t see it, then it couldn’t be really happening. However, you sprung them open again when you felt a cold object being pressed to your pussy lips. His gun.

“Please, don’t,” you croaked, eyes tearing up again. “I’ve... I’ve never…”

“Oh, don’t tell me you are a virgin. With such a pretty face, it’s hard to believe that.”

“It’s true. I'm in love with a dead guy,” you said in almost a whisper. After Jason died, you promised yourself to never be with anyone, and so, despite the many admirers who were constantly asking you out, you always declined, knowing they were nothing compared to your deceased beloved.

He seemed surprised at your confession, and he hesitated for a moment. But just as you took a breath of relief, his demeanour went back to what it was before. “Liar. Everybody knows you are a slut for your stupid boyfriend.”

You frowned. “I swear it’s the truth. I don’t even have a boyfriend.”

“Do you think I’m stupid, daredool?” You muttered a ‘no ’. “I’ve seen you and him together. Nightwing and Flamebird. Crime-fighters and lovers.”

You shook your head vehemently. “No, you got it all wrong. He’s my brother, I’m telling you. The boy I loved died years ago. So, please, I beg you, let me have this last symbol of loyalty to him. Don’t touch me where he never had the chance to.”

You wished he wasn’t wearing a helmet so you could have seen his expression as he pulled away the gun. You didn’t understand why he cared about this detail, but mentioning Jason seemed to have affected the Arkham Knight in one way or another. Perhaps this could buy you enough time to escape.

“Tell me more about this boy,” he demanded.

“What do you want to know?”

“Everything.”

You had to suppress a cheer as you finally pulled free a wire from the discarded armor. “Okay. His name was Jason. We were the same age,” you began, thinking carefully of what you could say without giving away your secret identity. “We were adopted by Batman at the same time. He trained to become Robin and I, Batgirl. Jason was smart, handsome, strong and passionate. I was in love with him for the whole time, but he only saw me as a friend. And then he died.”

“How did he die?”

By that point, you were crying freely. “The Joker… the Joker killed him.”

“If you loved him so much, why didn’t you avenge him?”

You didn’t know what to reply. The truth was that you had wanted to do just that, a life for a life. But Bruce always stopped you, saying you wouldn’t have been able to live with the guilt. “I couldn’t. Batman didn’t let me. But I should’ve. At least the Joker is dead now.”

You had opened up thinking that he would change his mind, but that hope was crushed as he spread your lips open and pressed the muzzle to your entrance. “If your Jason hadn’t died, would you have allowed him to do this to you?” he asked, a hint of playfulness in his voice, as if it was a private joke only he understood.

“Yes,” you told him, not missing a beat. “If he was alive, I’d let him do anything.”

“And if I offered you a deal... You cum for me once and I’ll return him to life. Would you take it?”

“Yes. But you can’t bring him back. He exploded, not even Ra’s Al Ghul with his Lazarus pit could bring Jason back.”

“Just remember that you consented to it,” he gave as a last warning before shoving the gun into you. It slid in easily, the path well lubricated by your arousal. Still, it hurt. The barrel was wide and it felt like it was splitting you apart. The metal was cold and it was a sharp contrast to your own warmth. You wanted to shout to the Knight that you hadn’t consented to anything but you couldn't find your voice.

And then he began to move in and out of you. The pain melted into pleasure and your hips rocked automatically to meet his rhythm. His thumb circled your clit in ways that made your whole body shake with passion. Moans left your throat against your will and you knew he was smiling behind his mask. His pace quickened and you felt your orgasm building up.

You climaxed with an explosive scream, its sound covering the noise of the metal handcuffs hitting the ground. You were unable to move, your limbs were heavy and your vision blurred. Besides, in that very moment, you had no wish to leave.

The Knight holstered his gun and brought his hands to his helmet, slowly removing it. At first, you thought you were imagining things. But there was no denying it was him. You would recognize those blue eyes anywhere.

“Jay,” you yelled in joy, jolting up to throw your arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug, the context of your reencounter completely erased by the sight of him. Your hands roamed his face, assuring you he was real.

“That’s me, daredoll.” Without the modulator, his voice was exactly the same as it had been when you had last seen him and you were flooded by a mixture of emotions.

New tears began to fall from your eyes, this time out of happiness. They were mirrored by his own as he reassured you time and time again that it was really him. He placed soft kisses all over your face and whispered secrets only he could possibly know. When your mouths finally met, it was everything you had ever dreamed of and more. You were lost in pure bliss. When you finally broke away you had a giant smile plastered onto your face. It was like all your dreams had come true.

He looked older, of course, but other than that, it was the same face from before: from the disheveled dark hair to the crooked smile. Then your gaze fell to his left cheek, where a “J” shaped scar marked his otherwise perfect skin. Your eyes widened in shock, and his smile faltered, a dark shadow crossing his face.

Your hand raised upwards to touch the scar and he turned away. “What happened to you?”, you asked quietly. The euphoria of finding him alive had run out and the situation once more hung heavy above you. And by hugging him, you had thrown away the chance of catching him by surprise, as he now knew you had freed your hands. Stop, you told yourself, he’s not the enemy anymore. There must be an explanation to it all. He would never intentionally hurt any of us. We are family.

“The Joker happened,” he stated simply. “He didn’t kill me, no. He kept me prisoner at Arkham this whole time. And none of you came looking for me.” There was anger in his voice, but also disappointment.

“That’s not true. Bruce tried to-”

“I DON’T CARE!” he shouted and stood up, his helmet tucked under his arm. “He tortured me, daredoll. The Joker did things so awful I can’t even put it into words. And no one stopped him. No one. Not you, not Bruce. Bruce. Bruce fucking Wayne. You know this is all his fault right? If he had gone to a fucking terapist instead of dressing up like a bat our lives wouldn’t be this messed up. I’m just trying to fix what he ruined.”

He began to walk away, his heavy steps echoing in the metal walls. He did have a point. If it wasn’t for Batman, there would be no Joker. Besides, who in their right mind would train children to fight? You had once thought that being chosen to be Batgirl was the highest honour possible, but right now, you felt like you had been manipulated to take on a duty that wasn’t yours.

You untied your legs and followed after him, grabbing his arm just before he could open the door. “Where are you going?”

“Away. I need some air,” he ran his finger through his hair, “I need to think. I-”

You shut him up with a tender kiss. “Don’t leave me. Not again,” you pleaded.

“You were the one who left me.”

His words shattered your heart. It hurt that he thought of it in that away. He’s not wrong, though. I should’ve done something. I shouldn’t have sat back and listened to Bruce.

“So tell me how to make it right. Please, Jay. I just want you. I don’t care if you are trying to kill Batman or to destroy the city, I wanna be with you. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. Let me show you.” Your voice broke as you spoke, words being cut in half by your sobbing. You didn’t know when you had started crying again, but now you couldn’t stop. “Whatever you are doing, you can count on me.”

You could see the doubt in his eyes. “You would turn your back to the only family you ever had?”

“ You are my family. Besides, I told you. For you, I’d do anything.”

He pulled you into his arms, hugging you tightly, and placed a kiss on your forehead, like he used to do when you were kids. “I love you, daredoll.”

“I love you too, Jaybird.”

And with that, he escorted your out of the warehouse, careful to cover your exposed body with his on the way to the car. An hour later you stood in his headquarters dressed in an outfit matching his. He didn't admit to it, but the fact that he had an armor waiting for you proved that he had never given up hope that you still loved him.

Outside, a mass of soldiers waited in a semicircle, a fire lit in the middle of it. Your former uniform burned to ashes and fed the flames, which went high into the night sky.

“I introduce to you my partner, and your new captain,” Jason announced as you walked to his side. “Lady Arkham.”

Holding his hand, you raised your first to the sky. You glanced at him out of the corners of your eyes, still kind of wonderstruck on how it had all worked out. “Let’s make this city pay for tearing us apart.”

#jason todd #dc imagine #red hood x reader #red hood imagine #jason todd x reader #jason todd imagine #jason todd x you #reader #dc #Smut

110 notes · View notes

nokomiss · 4 years ago

Text

@wardinpanties requested stephcass on patrol, and this is what happened. Set in an ideal continuity where Steph’s Batgirl run continued while Cass came back to Gotham.

Patrol was going well. Smoothly, even, considering Steph had stopped three separate crimes (a mugging, a liquor store robbery, and had taken out a dealer trying to hook little kids) and was now sitting on a rooftop looking out over Gotham itself, trying to decide which direction to head next.

She heard the slightest scuff of a boot against the rough surface of the roof, and turned, expecting to see-- well, she wasn’t sure. She mostly patrolled alone, these days. Batgirl didn’t precisely have a partner, and everyone else was pretty wrapped up in their own deals.

It was Cass.

Steph beamed, and threw herself at Cass the same way she always did. Having her back in Gotham was a continual gift -- Steph hadn’t quite adjusted to it as normal, not yet, not after missing her for so long. Cass laughed and squeezed her back, face tucked into Steph’s neck, her breath a sigh.

“Patrol?” Cass said, and Steph nodded. Cass was her favorite person to patrol with -- always had, from the first realization that Cass respected her determination. Them running across the rooftops as Batgirl and Robin were some of Steph’s most cherished from that brief, bright stint of her life.

Steph filled the silence with chatter as they traversed the rooftops-- telling Cass about the successes of the night, commentary about the relative merits of each restaurant and kiosk they passed, about her frustrations and pride in college. Cass listened and laughed and shared a few scant, precious details about her life in Hong Kong, and Steph hoarded those details close, trying to create a picture of what her best friend’s life had been like.

It was wrong to feel joy when finding a crime in progress, but it meant they got to fight together, and Steph pushed away the vague sense of guilt and instead threw herself into the fight full-force. It was a skirmish between two groups of goons -- Steph thought they were associated with the same gang, but apparently a splintering had happened she wasn’t aware of -- and for a time the world narrowed down to just action. Kicks, punches, spinning out of the way, the bark of gunfire and the groan of pain after a wrist was broken. Cass was a marvel to watch, as always, effortlessly dancing between goons, leaving mayhem in her wake.

Steph gave as good as she got, and before she knew it, all the goons were incapacitated. Steph called it in, and they fled the scene, swinging through the city.

Breathless, they landed on a rooftop that had an overgrown garden. It was private and lovely, and felt strange, standing amongst plants instead of the cold expanse of concrete she was used to. Cass was looking at her in that strange way she had since her return to the city, and all Steph could think about was how strange it would be to see someone else wearing your uniform. How she would feel if she saw a Spoiler swinging between buildings, at that faint, regretful stab of emotion she’d felt seeing Tim back in the uniform, at seeing Damian in it.

Cass had to feel the same, seeing Stephanie as Batgirl while she forged ahead anew as Black Bat.

Steph wished, quiet and desperately, for a fraction of Cass’s ability to read people. To be able to be sure of what she was interpreting. “You know I’d give Batgirl back to you in a heartbeat,” she said, because while her own heart might break at giving it up, she knew that she couldn’t step into the costume every night knowing it upset Cass.

Cass paused, just for a second, then shook her head, her hair fluttering around her face. Steph loved that she could see Cass now, that the quirk of her lips was visible, even though a part of her felt like it made them both more vulnerable. When they’d started -- both of them had kept every bit of skin hidden, had shielded themselves from the night and all its terrors, and she wondered if maybe they’d been smarter. They’d definitely been happier. More innocent.

At least, she had.

“I mean it,” she insisted, not sure why she was choosing now to push this, but knowing it was a conversation they needed to have. And a conversation they had to have alone, without anyone else, not even Babs, weighing in.

Cass reached out and traced the Bat on Steph’s chest. Steph felt her breath stutter, even though Cass’s touch was delicate and there were enough layers of the suit that she couldn’t actually feel the touch. Then Cass touched the Bat on her own chest. “The symbol is… what’s important.”

Steph could take her at face value. “Yeah, but Batgirl is... You made it yours. It’s who you were. It’s who you are.”

“So have you,” Cass said. “You’re… different. Not as scary.” Steph huffed out a tiny laugh; it was too true to argue, and she could tell that Cass meant something else by it. “Batgirl isn’t a… weapon. When it’s you.”

“Cass--” Steph said, choosing to totally disregard the no names in the field rule. “It wasn’t when it was you, either. Watching you as Batgirl was like…” She reached out and took Cass’s hand, palm-to-palm. “I never thought of you as a weapon. Watching you fight is like seeing… seeing poetry in motion. Like you’ve achieved the potential that we all have, and you’re allowing us to see what we could be capable of.”

She pulled their joined hands closer and pressed a soft kiss against Cass’s knuckles. “We aren’t who our fathers made us to be, Cass. We aren’t even what Batman wants us to be. We’re more than that.”

Cass breathed out slowly. Her body language was guarded; tense shoulders, jaw tight. Stephanie desperately wished that she could see her actual eyes, but then the tension just… eased out of Cass. “We are,” she said. “More.”

“So much more,” Steph agreed. She was still clutching Cass’s hand like a lifeline.

“I like seeing you as Batgirl,” Cass said. Her tone was matter-of-fact, but in their joined hands, her thumb traced a slow circle against the side of Steph’s. “I like us… being Bats. Together.”

“Together,” Steph repeated.

Cass nodded once, assuredly. Like she’d made an important decision that Steph hadn’t quite caught on to. She hated that Cass could clearly see her own uncertainty about what was happening, but Cass didn’t seem upset. She seemed almost amused, like she was waiting on Steph to catch up. Like rooftop tag; her expression was like the one she wore when she would look back at Steph in pursuit, knowing that she would escape, but taking a moment to share her joy.

Steph absurdly wanted to break the moment and suggest rooftop tag, to settle back into territory where she was confident.

Maybe she could read Cass better than she thought, if a single nod could launch Steph into a crisis.

Steph licked her lips nervously, and Cass’s eyes tracked the movement, obvious even through the domino, and… oh.

Oh.

Maybe she was in territory where she was confident after all.

“Cass,” she said. “I missed you so much when you were gone. When I was gone.”

They didn’t talk much about that time, about how Steph had been ripped from her life and set adrift, and how she’d let it go on for longer than she needed to, once she’d regained herself. They didn’t talk about what it had done to Cass. They didn’t talk about what it had done to Steph.

But with Cass, sometimes words were the least important part.

“Me too,” Cass said. “I… understand. Better, now.” Now that she’d left Gotham behind, too. It did something to you, escaping from this city. Leaving it behind and being someone new. It cast into stark light just who you were, and since they were both here, standing on a rooftop with Gotham’s lights twinkling behind them, beautiful through the fog that was settling into the city, she knew that they’d come to the same conclusion.

This was their home. This life was what they were meant for. And happiness wasn’t something to squander.

Steph didn’t hesitate a moment longer. She flung herself towards Cass, like she had when she’d appeared behind her earlier that night, only this time with different intent.

She’d kissed Cass dozens of times before -- soft forehead kisses, happy kisses on the cheek, gentle make-it-better kisses against sore muscles, even a few delighted smacks on the mouth -- but never like this. Never with this thrumming confidence that this was what Cass wanted, that this was what they truly meant to each other. Never with such hope.

This kiss was a thousand emotions twined together into a singular action. Cass’s eyes were shut, her ability to read body language unnecessary. It was perfect and it was messy and it was graceless, bumped noses and a soft giggle into another mouth, and Steph never, ever wanted it to end.

Their clasped hands were trapped between their bodies, a Bat pressed against them on either side, and Steph tangled her free hand in Cass’s loose hair. Cass’s hand scrabbled at her side, like she was trying to pull her closer, but unsure how, given that they were pressed as tightly together as humanly possible.

Steph understood the urge; it felt like madness that they’d never done this, that they had reigned in all this want and all this love for so long.

It came to her, suddenly, that she might have misinterpreted Cass earlier. That her tension had been unrelated to Batgirl, and instead related to something more visceral.

When they finally broke apart, breath coming fast and desperate, like they’d just single-handedly reigned in an Arkham breakout, Cass laughed, that bright, bell-like sound that Steph loved so much. She reached over, a mischievous grin on her face, and pressed two fingers against Steph’s shoulder. Pushed hard enough to knock Steph even more off-balance, then she said, “Tag.”

She took off, launching off the rooftop, her silhouette against the night a thing of beauty. Steph laughed herself, taking in one more deep breath of Gotham air, and raced off after her.

She thought that tonight, she just might catch Cass.

#my fic #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #stephcass

46 notes · View notes

black-streak · 5 years ago

Text

Little Pistol - Daisy

Chapter 1

Previous Next

I'm trying to keep this in line with her canon personality to an extent here. Determined, focused, conniving and scheming. A little obsessive. But also needs to give herself a little pep talk to go through with things. Let me know how I'm doing?

Btw, title is by Brand New.

LP Taglist

@zalladane @moonlightstar64 @amayakans @elmokingkong @queen-in-a-flower-crown

Permanent list

@naoryllis @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @my-name-is-michell @maribat-is-lifeblood @dast218 @novicevoice @shizukiryuu @princess-of-fangirls @bigpicklebananatree @pirats-pizzacanninibles @abrx2002 @breemeister @darkthunder1589 @thestressmademedoit @severelyenchantedwonderland @isabellemasen @multi-fandom-freak0221 @fantasyloversblog @bzz75 @cloudiedraws @jardimazul @orbitsvt @gingerdaile @sotheresthatthought @kadmeread @novaloptr @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine @crazylittlemunchkin @18-fandoms-unite-08 @tiny-goddess-of-chaos

~---~

Convincing a miniaturized pocket god that your intentions are sound came surprisingly easy to her.

That could be in part due to all the prior planning. Considering every possible argument the goddess could come up with and creating contingencies to match. Really though, taking out Tikki's own advice and laying it out as a perfect reasoning quieted her down quite nicely. Not that Tikki agreed with her, but the logic was too sound to push back on and the little bug never expected Marinette to come up with such thoughts without getting emotional. It just wasn't the way the girl was as far as Tikki was concerned. So it could only be taken at face value without the usual accusations of her being overdramatic.

It was an early Saturday when she voiced her thoughts.

"Hey Tikki?"

"Yes, Marinette?" the red bug looked up from her perch.

"Our biggest priority is to stop akumas and find Hawkmoth, correct?"

"Of course. You know that," she dismissed.

"So is it reasonable to say that Chat has been a hinderance to our duty?"

"How do you mean?"

"He distracts me or sits out on important battles. Threatens to quit if details that don't pertain to our purpose are withheld. He refuses to remain professional in the face of an attack."

"Well yes, he has been rather unhelpful lately, but then again, you are teenagers. It's to be expected, I suppose. Though I do wish he'd be a bit more focused," she easily agreed.

Marinette bit back a victorious smile and kept her expression closed off but for the determined, calculating expression she saved for important moments. Like now.

"In that case, it would be a good idea to make him focus any way I can. To make it easier. To hurry along the hunt for Hawkmoth."

Tikki's expression became weary as she stared at her welder, taken off guard by the open statement, "I don't know, Marinette...What did you have in mind?"

"Nothing yet, but I think I'm going to start brainstorming some ideas. Maybe do a little research. Something needs to change though," she emphasized, staring down her kwami with a hopeful, prodding look until she hesitantly nodded her agreement.

With the god's blessing, she turned to her tablet, pulling up everything she could on different heroes and their methods. Down the rabbit hole she fell.

…

Some thirteen hours had passed and she felt the strain of her eyes and the bright burn to her retinas for the effort of her work. She refused to believe that no inspiration would come from this effort, though she'd moved on from conventional heroes and into a more sketchy territory by now, having been let down by the uptight views of others who'd obviously never been harassed or neglected by their partner and therefore wouldn't understand her need for a more, let's say, gray solution.

She'd seen the ideals of Superman and the Lanterns and the generalized view of both the Teen Titans and Justice League alike. Many worked with partners, many had betrayals or interpersonal problems. The solution they always took was for one or both parties to leave the team and travel to opposite sides of their country. Or world. Or separate worlds. Either way, avoidance was key. That didn't really work for her though. She had to stay in close contact with her partner while not truly working together. Remain civil within the same city limits. Fight side by side even. And it's not like she could just leave her responsibility here or allow Chat to go unchecked with a miraculous on his own.

Then she stumbled upon Batman's history. The infamous bat had many a partner or sidekick with their own rough history and seemed to be operating with them regularly still. His solution to a lost or dead partner seemed to be a steady stream of replacements. Unfortunately, unlike a vigilante suit, a miraculous has to resonate with the wearer and no one she knew and trusted would fit the black cat. So she was stuck with the one.

Still though, Batman apparently had a falling out with his first Robin who became Nightwing. Those two were seen together regularly now so something must have happened to fix their issues. Gods, she was so lucky the internet seemed to stalk these people hardcore enough to have so much information on them so readily available. However, looking deeper, the resulting theories and knowledge did not bode well for her. It seems Nightwing had been in much the same state as her and with zero apologies from the Bat, had forgiven the man and resumed operations as usual. Well she was done with forgiving and forgetting. She wanted a real solution, not just rolling over and letting Chat do as he pleased!

Alright, so Batman was the Chat Noir to the Robin's Ladybug. Maybe the others fared better?

Nope, second one died.

Current one seems to be a literal feral child out to bleed Gotham dry. Not sure how that helped, though maybe she could go just psycho enough to force Chat to be the responsible one? No, he'd just try and quit again.

Huh.

There was a third and fourth one apparently? Between the murder baby and the dead one. What happened to them?

The fourth was a blonde girl with a short stint. Seems she just moved departments since many speculated she might be a batgirl or working with a few others in the city. Not much more.

But what about the other one?

The third Robin, who worked with the Teen Titans for a stint. Who worked many years under the Bat, who gave away the title to the blonde only to return after and disappear once more with the coming of the blood toddler. What happened? Where'd he go?

…

Thousands had apparently asked the same question themselves. All signs seemed to point towards a betrayal. Something went wrong. The first resigned, the second died, the third just seemed to drop off the face of the planet. Did Batman kick him out? Replace him? For child's play, sword addition? She couldn't be sure, but it seemed the most likely guess. Much more believable than alien kidnapping or a quest for a dead man or his predecessor coming to life to end him.

But what after that?

Surely, Marinette could've stopped there. Obviously, this wasn't the same as her situation, but she couldn't help but be so very intrigued. She watched videos of the boy in his Robin suit (much more practical than the first two if you asked her, though still slightly shameful) fighting and flying across rooftops and working with his team. He was so. So. Efficient. So clean. Ruthless when he decided to be. Calculated. Everything she ever wanted to be.

He was amazing.

And then he disappeared.

Where did he go, that perfect Robin. How could anyone ever think the position needed an upgrade when the perfect bird was already there? It made no sense. And then she found him. Hunting through the rogues and heroes and inbetweens of Gotham, hidden in his own layerings of cover stories and identities. Her new aspiration of what a hero should be, mixed into the Anti-heroes of the city.

The vigilante of the more morally ambiguous variety, manipulating the world to the way he saw fit, using whatever method he wished. And the way he seemed to bend the city to his whim, well it matched quite well with how she wished her own city would be. She found her solution. Now it was showtime.

…

"Are you ready to apologize, m'lady?" Chat dropped down at her side, the akuma of the week tied up below them. It was a relatively easy battle, with no need for special abilities for once.

"Whatever for, Chatton?" Marinette asked, already tensing at the response she knew she'd receive. She hated when he tried to coerce her into apologizing for things that aren't her fault.

"For your neglect of your kitten, obviously."

"I don't have a kitten," she stated plainly.

"What? You wound me, to disown me so abruptly," he put a clawed hand to his chest, offense and hurt in spades marking his features.

"I can't disown what I never adopted," she went along with the analogy so he wouldn't complain about her ruining his fun again. The last thing she needed was his whining.

He perked up with this, "Well we can draw up some adoption papers right now if you wish? I'd love to be yours," he smarmed, leaning into her space further.

This was it. Time to turn the tables. To make this work in her favor. She just needed to play it right, the way her Robin did. By manipulating the enemy into doing her bidding. She could do this.

"That's just it, though. I don't believe you would," she frowned, letting her eyes soften the way she'd seen Lila do so often. Might as well learn something from the girl.

"What? I would," he insisted, eyebrows furrowing.

"See you say that, but where's the proof? You've done nothing but pester and punish me over these weeks. You say you love me, but then watch me get hurt by akumas and make me fight all alone and threaten to leave me. That's not the actions of a loving partner. It feels like you hate me."

That had him panicking.

"No no, I don't hate you, you're my sun and my moon. My everything. Surely you know your worth in my life. I only did those things to show you how much you hurt me." He attempted to reason with her.

"See, but I've never intentionally hurt you. And always apologized to you when I realized I had. Whereas you just admitted to causing me distress as a form of punishment. It seems to me that I'm far more attached to you than you are to me and I'm just not willing to hurt myself by getting involved with someone who so obviously dislikes me."

"I- no- that's not- I love you! I didn't mean to do that, I shouldn't have. Please believe me? I love you, Ladybug," he begged, ears dropping and body tensed in fear.

"I'm sorry, but until I see some proof, I can't do that," she shook her head before taking off home without a backward glance, leaving the cat to his misery.

…

That night, Tikki went straight to bed and refused to speak to her for the next two days.

#timinette #timari #ml x dc #maribat #if she can recognize akuma victims she can recognize a costume change fight me #Dark!timinette

532 notes · View notes

danny-chase · 4 years ago

Photo

Thanks to anon for requesting On the Run with Cassandra Cain and Dick Grayson!

Read on AO3

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Nightwing (Comics), Batgirl (Comics) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Dick Grayson, Cassandra Cain & Barbara Gordon Characters: Cassandra Cain, Dick Grayson, Barbara Gordon Additional Tags: Canon Divergence, blockbuster arc alternative ending, POV Cassandra Cain, Cassandra Cain is Batgirl, Dick Grayson is Nightwing, Cassandra Cain Is a Good Sister, Cassandra Cain is bad at feelings, TW: Suicide, tw: ambiguous suicide attempt, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, there are no hugs sorry, Batfamily (DCU) Feels, Batfamily (DCU), Dick Grayson Whump, Cassandra Cain Whump, Hurt No Comfort Series: Part 1 of Bad Things Happen Bingo Summary:

The one where Cass runs away with Dick instead of Catalina (Catalina doesn't exist for the sake of this AU - and this is not romantic between Dick and Cass).

Full story under cut

“Cass? You here?” Light poured into her room as Barbara cracked open the door. Cass tucked her head under the blanket, yawning - it was too early to get up. “Cass, please.” The anxiety in Barbara’s voice made her reconsider – and she sprung upright, she could feel a mission coming on, and Cass didn’t pass up missions.

“What’s up?” She asked, striding over to her closet, pulling out her Batgirl suit.

“It’s Dick, I’m worried… He left in a rush yesterday morning.” Barbara’s hands were shaking – that meant it was serious. “Cass I was watching the news… I… God…he…”

She pulled on her costume in record time. Dick was nice, he made Barbara happy. Made her happy too. Brought over cookies and told funny stories, he made the apartment feel… warm. He was a friend… no… family, they were family.

She glanced back at Barbara, pulling the door wider, she looked pale, about to cry. She shifted uncomfortably, not sure how to help. “What’s up?” She demanded, stepping around the wheelchair. She grabbed the handles, and quickly steered them both towards the mission room.

Barbara wiped her eyes as she reached the computer, pulling up a video clip. Cass recognized the apartment building; she’d been there a few times after joint missions. That was Dick’s-

Oh.

Fire rained down on the screen, the building reduced to rubble.

Barbara sobbed next to her. “I don’t know if he was there… I don’t even know if… Cass… He… What if…?” Cass tentatively patted her shoulder, uneasiness filling her stomach. “He hasn’t called… his trackers are either off or…”

“I’ll find him.” She promised. That was her mission. Find Nightwing, bring him home, then Barbara wouldn’t cry. She didn’t like when Barbara cried, it made her want to cry too.

She dove out the window, swinging through the sky, down to where she kept her bike. Gunning the engine, she flew through the streets, Blüdhaven was an hour away – but she could make it in half the time. She could feel her heart hammering in her chest, she tried to settle in for a long ride.

It wasn’t hard to pick up the trail – she followed the flashing red and blue lights to scenes of carnage, masked men beaten and discarded in Nightwing’s wake. The whole day, she snuck around, carefully out of sight, watching as ambulances carted away people, describing them to Barbara and learning their names.

“This… isn’t working.” She complained, her legs swinging off the side of a roof. “I don’t understand.”

“He’s not taking a predictable path.” Barbara noted. “We’ll find him, we’ll just have to be patient.” She sounded much more confident than this morning. Cass sighed, leaning back to stare at the clouds. Why was Dick running around in circles? She reached up as raindrops began pattering down, feeling them seep through the suit. She let her hand fall across her face. Something felt off – wrong.

The injuries Nightwing left behind were violent – he was violent, but not this much. Too much force. “This isn’t right.” She muttered, reaching her head behind her head. Dick wasn’t someone that lost control – that much she had learned.

Cass sucked in a breath. It bothered her. Something bad was happening. “He’s hurting people.” She tried to explain. “Bad.” Breaking bones that would never heal right, being careless in his aim. “He doesn’t do that…” Normally, but it’s happened before. It’s happened when… “They’re threatening his family.”

That felt right. Despite what the others thought, Cass wasn’t dumb – she was a detective too. And this was her case.

“We’ll have to assume it’s connected.” Barbara mumbled. “Haley’s circus was attacked by Firefly a few days ago.”

“Huh?” What did some circus have to do with-

“It’s where he grew up.” Barbara explained. “You’re right, I suspected… we need to find him, someone might have figured out his identity.” She paused a moment. “Keep trying to track him down, I need to call Batman.” The line cut off.

Cass frowned, she figured something out… but it hadn’t been good. She briefly wondered if she’d caused more trouble by bringing it up. Hopefully, it would make sense when-

Light flooded the sky, lightning cracking, and moments later a symbol arose, shining against the clouds and illuminating the area. Another clue. She swung off the roof, careening towards the source of their troubles.

Nightwing was leaving as she arrived, tearing through the city skyline. As it poured, she did her best, following in his tracks, though not quite able to catch up. He was angry, she could see it even from far away. She was at a disadvantage; he knew the territory – knew the destination, and she frustratedly sighed as he slipped into a building a few blocks ahead.

She leapt off a balcony – about to enter where Nightwing had, when a flicker of movement caught her eye a few windows away.

“NO!” She screamed – too late, glass shattered as a bullet ripped through the night, thudding as it found a mark. An enormous man barged through the broken windows. Cass scrambled to follow, scurrying across the ledges. She could hear voices arguing in the room – Nightwing and the man, the sounds of smashing, they got farther away as she got closer.

She burst into an empty hotel room, leaping over the woman’s dead body, and running past a destroyed wall to the end of a hallway.

“Do you like being alone, Dick?” The large man caught sight of her, throwing Nightwing against the wall as he charged. Cass readied herself, rolling under his legs as he passed.

“Batgirl?” Dick mumbled, running after the man. “Get out of here!” He shouted, leaping into a flying kick, and connecting with the man’s head.

“I’ll make sure you can’t save any of them.” He punched the man again. “I’ll make sure you relive over and over, your failure to save my mother.” The man elbowed Nightwing out of the way, diving for her again. She jumped this time, using his head as a springboard. He grabbed for her ankle, but she slipped out of his reach, pulling out batarangs and throwing them as she twisted in the air. Each hit their mark, sinking into both his shoulders.

The man didn’t seem bothered, simply turning to chase her again. “It’ll never stop.” Nightwing slide tackled his ankles, and the man fell, his hands grabbing at her feet. Cass danced closer to his head. “Every loved one, every stranger, I’ll kill-urk” She struck a nerve in his jaw, kicking it a second time for good measure as the man fell unconscious.

“Call the police?” She asked, reaching up to her comm, glancing towards Nightwing. She froze in place. He was running towards her – reaching, about to hit, no he was –

She dodged reflexively as he tried to swipe her comm. “We can’t.” He was shaking – tired, exhausted, pained, scared(?) – Cass recoiled, that wasn’t how Nightwing normally was. “Give it! We can’t call anyone! You need to run, he saw you!”

“I’m not scared.” She stated, standing her ground – she was strong, she wouldn’t be killed so easily.

“You should be!” He was – what did Barbara say? Upset… no - hysterical. Panic laced his voice. “He’s not kidding, he has people – he’ll kill people just for talking to me, I’m talking to you – if he hears us talking to-” Cass handed over the comm as he frantically grasped for it again. He threw it to the floor crushing it under his boot.

“We have to go… I-I… I don’t know what to do.” He paced back and forth, muttering to himself. “I-I can’t talk to people, I need to be alone… but he saw Batgirl, she’s not safe…” He stopped, looking directly at her. He swayed on the spot, she felt uneasy – he didn’t look well. “You’re coming with me.” He demanded, grabbing her hand, and she let him lead them out through the fire escape.

She didn’t understand, she had never seen him so… frightened. They didn’t need to run, Barbara would send the police – the man couldn’t hurt anyone, they’d won. “I don’t-”

“He has power.” His breathing was ragged and pained. She cringed, he needed help – not to run. “He won’t stay in jail… He has people everywhere – there’s cameras they see everything. He-he…” They dropped into an alley. “It won’t stop.” The hand in hers was trembling.

“I can-” He stopped in his tracks.

“NO! YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” He bellowed, angrily snapping at her. “YOU’RE NOT SAFE – NO ONE’S SAFE UNTIL I’M GONE.”

Dick’s body was a wave of emotions, and she was being swept along with the current. “I’m strong! You’re being a coward!” She yelled back – but she already knew she wouldn’t change his mind.

“Maybe I am.” He deflated and began running again. “But everyone’s safer this way.”

She was at a loss for what to do, so she kept running. She couldn’t leave him alone; she couldn’t go back and explain to Barbara. She regretted letting him smash her comm. And so, she followed, and they weaved in and out of street after street, rain soaking through her costume, chilling her to the bone.

While they ran, Cass had formulated a new strategy – wait until Nightwing lowered his guard, then nerve strike him, and bring him back to Gotham. A struggle would be too risky – he was acting erratic, someone (him) might get hurt if she tried too soon. So, sitting atop a train, watching as hills rolled over the horizon trying her best to be patient.

The wind whipped in her face, the rumbling of the train drowning out all other noises. Nightwing paced beside her, obsessively turning from side to side, trying to keep all directions in his line of sight. He was getting too close to the edge.

His movement wasn’t correct – Dick’s gait was normally smooth, intentional. Now, he dragged his steps, the normal grace gone. He kept tripping over his own feet.

She couldn’t understand how one man could have such an effect; he was still shaking in anger and fear. They’d defeated the enemy, she’d won, right? Cass never really thought much about what comes after that – but Nightwing seemed convinced the battle wasn’t over.

Dick was staring over the edge of the car. Cass was moving before she realized what was happening. She grabbed a fistful of his costume as he leaned forward, pulling him back.

“Don’t.” She couldn’t tell if it was accidental or intentional – but she didn’t wait to see if he’d pull back on his own. Nobody would die tonight. Maybe she’d have to speed up her plan.

He remained silent and stepped away from the edge. They slowly fell back into their routine – Nightwing pacing as she kept a watchful eye. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she watched him make his careful pattern – now staying three feet from the edges.

Cass sighed. She was tired of running – she could protect herself; this was pointless. She wasn’t sure how long they’d wasted like this – the sun had been rising when they got on the train and now it was starting to set again. She was hungry, thirsty, and hadn’t slept in two days.

She kept waiting for Dick to crash, but he never even sat down. He couldn’t stay like this forever - she was pretty sure he was injured based off his movement, he had to rest soon.

“Sleep.” She demanded (as she had maybe an hour ago). He shook his head, going back to his pacing. Cass groaned, lying back to look at the sky, though keeping him in her field of vision. Stars were starting to peak out, though clouds were blocking some of them. She bit her lip; she was never good at helping people like this.

Her stomach growled loudly, and she looked at him pointedly. “We’ll get food when we get off.” He replied in a monotone voice.

She blinked sleep out of her eyes, digging her nails into the palms of her hands, and sitting back up. Nightwing could not be left unsupervised – that much was clear. And so, she resigned herself to watching pacing once more.

The sun was high in the sky when the train finally began rolling to a stop. She followed Nightwing as he leapt off the car and began running after him towards the tree line. He made it about ten paces before collapsing. Cass rushed forward, as he began pushing himself up.

She struck his jaw without warning, and he crumpled to the ground. Finally, she sighed in relief, things were easier this way. Crouching down, she hiked him into a fireman’s carry, and then looked around.

She was in the middle of nowhere. Cows grazed off to the right, and there was an open field to her left. Straight ahead, the land eventually reached a forest. A small train station sat maybe a mile away.

It would take a day to get back to Blüdhaven, but she was hungry and tired, and had no idea where she was. The train still rolled along behind her. So, she decided to walk alongside it – towards the lonely little station, away from home.

Nightwing was heavy. She was strong, but he was… heavy. And she was tired.

Every step was painful, it wasn’t long before she was drenched in sweat. She could see the station in the distance, slowly getting closer. She could make it… She could push through this – she’d pushed through worse.

She focused on her breath, staring at the ground as she took step after step.

“Lose some weight.” She muttered to the side of Dick’s head. She cursed herself for not packing more water and snacks – she’d run out while tracking him yesterday.

She refused to stop, pushing past the pain of burning muscles, her suit unbearably hot in the afternoon sun. Gritting her teeth, she powered on.

She wanted to scream with furry, at the man who’d hurt her brother – who’d left him so worn out and totally beaten despite losing the fight. She wanted to scream because she didn’t understand – why was this happening to them? They were strong – their family was strong – they shouldn’t have to live like this. Cassandra Cain did not run from fights, neither did Dick Grayson, and yet here they were.

She grunted, shifting Dick’s weight on her shoulders. Cass didn’t like thinking about these things. She liked when things were easy – when she beat the bad guy, and things were over. Though, with every mission, she was starting to realize things weren’t always that simple…

She thought of the man she’d rescued, who’d died on a train like the one beside her, because he’d wanted to say goodbye to his mom. Of the girl who’d she’d rescued from her father, yet she’d condemned to a different kind of hell living with her mother. Of the boy who wanted his father to come home safely, despite the man being a ruthless killer.

And finally of the man who’d defeated Nightwing, his words dealing more damage than his massive fists.

This world was so confusing – sometimes she missed the days before the words clouded her mind, muddling her in the mists of gray that transformed what she’d seen before in black and white. Was she better for living in that gray? For knowing it was there? Sometimes, it was hard to tell.

She stumbled on uneven ground and soon she was falling, Dick sliding off her shoulders. She hit the ground face first and tasted blood. She let out the pent-up yell, frustratedly pounding the ground. This sucked. Everything sucked. Why couldn’t things just be easy for them?!

Dragging herself to her feet, she ignored the pain wracking her exhausted body as she lifted the broken vigilante once more. She took slower steps, but certain ones, and inched closer and closer towards somewhere she hoped would be better.

#bad things happen bingo #batfam #cassandra cain #cassandra wayne #dick grayson #barbara gordon #tw: suicde #tw: ambiguous suicidal intent #tw: Blockbuster arc #batfamily #batgirl #nightwing #my writing

10 notes · View notes

sarasapen · 4 years ago

Text

White Roses and Scarlet Letters

Been awhile since I’ve posted or updated due to exams so I’m reposting the first four chapters because why not!

@jason-todd-squad @lucy-roo @rockyrocket15 @toleble @n1ghtsh4d3-67 @belovedbratwonder @aprilchagoyaaa @vespertxne @thatwaspossesion @attackonnat @roseangel013bf

Red Roses and Scarlet Letters

----- Like most people, your life had a routine. You’d wake up early and go for a jog or do some yoga, depending on the weather. Then you’d spend a half hour on your phone, before you glanced at the clock and scrambled to get ready on time. You normally met Dick for breakfast before making your way to work.

Generally, your nights and weekends were more entertaining. You spent your nights donning a domino mask and Kevlar, punching assholes and stopping crime. Saturdays were sleepover nights with Damian, and Sundays were girls’ days.

So, considering you were standing on a rooftop with dead bodies littered around you when you were supposed to be watching a movie, you were not happy.

“Robin, come to my coordinates.”

“Tt.”

You smile slightly, rolling your eyes before you turned your head, catching sight of a man with a red hood and a symbol on his chest. You eyed the symbol skeptically. “I didn’t know the Bats had a new associate.”

The man remained silent, staring you down. His fingers twitched, and you noticed the gun holsters on his thighs. Two guns. Five dead bodies. He had seven bullets left. Okay, so maybe Bruce didn’t have a new associate.

“You gonna threaten me, or shoot me?” You say nonchalantly, gripping your escrima sticks. He moves quickly, and you’re darting to the side before you fully internalise he’s pulling the trigger.

“Alright then,” you huff dryly. “Guess you’re shooting me.” He raises the gun again, and you backflip away from the next bullets, lunging in his direction. Five. Four. Three. The next bullet snags your cape- two- and you swing your leg and attempt to knock him back. He dodges the kick and intercepts your path, moving to flip you. You kick back off the wall, using that as leverage to swing your body around his. You slam your escrima stick into the back of his head the same time his fist comes into contact with your jaw. You slip from his body, and he used the opportunity to kick at your ribs, sending you stumbling. He lunges at you, causing you to slam against the wall. One of his hands is around your throat, cutting off your air supply, and the other is holding his loaded gun, pressed against your temple. You know you can easily break his arm from the position, but for some reason, you can’t seem to move. Even through his voice modulator, the man’s anger is clear when he speaks, the words he growls out making your blood run cold.

“You let Jason Todd die.”

Your eyes widen and you’re going to swing out but instead of shooting you, he drops the gun and slams you back into the wall, your head hitting the wall with a loud CRACK-

-and then all you see is black.

-----

The first thing you register is the pounding in your head.

You groggily try to sit up and wince at the bright lights. A hand on your shoulder pushes you back down- what? No, you need to get up, you need to-

“Lie down.” A voice commands and your body goes limp. The figure looks funny. He looks like a bat. And a man. Hey! Batman!

A whine emerges from your throat as your face scrunches up.

“I don’t wanna,” you protest weakly, trying to get up again. Your voice comes out scratchy, and your throat hurts when you talk. Suddenly there are two hands on both of your shoulders, keeping you on the bed.

“Do you want Alfred to scold?” The voice softens slightly. You shake your head, wincing when it hurts. Fingers dance along your hairline, soothing you.

“Rest. Once you’re better, the family’s going to have a chat.”

“Mkay,” you wrap your fingers around the wrist above your head, and you let sleep overtake you.

-----

When you wake up, you’re alone. Well, for approximately 0.3 seconds before Alfred enters through the door. He’s carrying some meds and soup. He stands over you, making sure you finish every last drop even though your throat hurts like a bitch.

You manage to convince him you’re fine, with Barbara's help, before you spend a good hour or so on trying to conceal the bruises on your neck.

Barbara drives you and the girls to Metropolis to pick up Kara before heading to Central City. Despite all the fun the others seem to be having, you can’t take your mind off the previous night, or off Jason. You had no idea who that man was, or how he knew you were connected to Jason.

The weight of Jason’s death had weighed down on you somewhat heavier than the rest of your family. Bruce became reckless, and almost killed multiple times. Dick went off the grid for 6 whole months, and when he returned, he acted like nothing had happened. No one knows what he did or where he went. Barbara stopped coming to the cave. She still went out on patrol, but didn’t talk to you. Alfred assumed you needed some space, so he gave you that.

As your family pulled away, you started falling into the dark abyss of depression. You resorted to self harm as a way of coping. After Alfred inquiring on your long-sleeves, you moved the cuts to your thighs. You fell so deep into the hole that one day, you grabbed some sleeping pills and swallowed about 20. Alfred noticed the bottle was empty, and he rushed to your bedroom in time.

That was around the time Tim popped up as Robin.

Despite trying to help you, your family never quite understood you. Perhaps Bruce did, better than the two of thought, but Bruce was rarely one to talk about his emotions. When Jason died, you felt like you were to blame. You were quite literally the Batgirl to his Robin. You always patrolled together, always hung around, plotting the next prank to pull on Dick. Considering the two of you were practically inseparable, you felt so damn guilty that Jason went to the warehouse himself. You should’ve gone with him. Maybe if you had gone with him, he would have still been alive.

The guilt had been gnawing at you for five years. There wasn’t a single damn day that you didn’t miss Jason. The day he died, you had furiously scribbled a letter that was about 5 pages long, listing all the reasons you hated him. You were angry, and you wanted to make sure he knew you were angry. The next day, you wrote a tear stained letter saying you loved him, and you were sorry for everything.

You then wrote him letters, one for every day that passed. This time, Day 1564, you reccounted the Red Hood guy occurrence, before telling him about this cute waiter that Dick said had been flirting with you at the cafe. You asked him, rhetorically, if you should go for it. You signed off as usual, saying you loved and missed him.

You slipped the letter into a red envelope, making your way to the garden of Wayne Manor. You couldn’t shake the feeling you were being watched, but then you remembered Bruce had tinkered with the security, so that was probably it.

You moved towards the rose bushes, and eased your way into the tiny opening in between the white rose bushes. You grabbed a long wooden box you had been stashing there, slipping the latest letter inside. You shut it, placing it back in the bush, before you straightened.

Shoving your hands into your jacket pockets, you made your way to the living room, where Bruce was trying to get everyone’s attention.

“I have some information pertaining to the Red Hood. We all need to talk.”

-----

And So the Sky Shall Weep

-----

“We all need to talk.” Bruce moves to the grandfather clock, adjusting the time on it. The door swings open, and he goes in, beckoning for you to follow. Bruce stops in front of the Batcomputer, his face hard.

“You may want to sit down,” Bruce gestures to you, Barbara and Dick. Barbara complies, and Dick leans against the table. You do the same, crossing your arms. What could possibly be so shocking that Bruce wants you to sit down?

Bruce turns on the computer screen, and you hear Dick swear beside you. Barbara buries her head in her hand, letting out a choked ‘Oh my god’. Tim and Damian stop poking each other and pause. You seem to be the only one that’s got their shit together, but by the way Bruce is looking at you, you feel yourself unravelling and quick.

Because on the screen, bold and bright as day, the dna samples of Jason Todd and the Red Hood were a 100% match. That could only mean one thing.

“He’s alive?” Dick croaks, eyes shining with unshed tears. Bruce gave Dick a brisk nod as he placed a hand on Barbara’s shoulder.

“This concerns me how?” Damian drawls, earning a well deserved shove from Tim. Damian of course, retaliates, but Bruce ignores them. His eyes are trained on you, obviously concerned at how you’ve just frozen up.

“He’s dead.” You say, voice too loud and too far away.

“He’s alive-“ Bruce starts gently, but you cut him off.

“No!” You don’t realise you’re shouting until your throat burns painfully. That doesn’t seem to deter you though.“He’s dead! I saw his body! He can’t- he’s dead.”

You don’t want to believe Bruce, don’t want to believe the test. “It’s faulty,” you say.

“I sent it to seven different labs, all of them came back with the same report,” Bruce soothes. You’re trembling, and Bruce reaches out to touch you. You push him away, walking backwards.

“I- I need to think.”

You sprint out of the Batcave, pushing past Alfred and out the door, getting on your bike and driving past the gate faster than you thought was possible. There was a strange sort of numbness that overwhelmed you, and you knew it was only a matter of time before the dam that held your feelings back broke. And you’re pretty sure you didn’t want to be around others when that happened.

You were unlocking the door of your apartment without properly registering it, your body moving on its own to put on your suit and grab your escrima sticks. Next thing you know, you’re on the roof of your building. Your eyes scan the skyline of Gotham, and you inhale deeply, letting the cool night air surround you. In. Out. In. Out. In-The rumble of clouds overhead breaks your focus, and you suddenly find yourself running.

You don’t know what you’re running from - or towards - but you just kept running. You leaped over the gaps in the buildings, hopping over ledges and power lines. Tears begin to blur your vision, but you don’t stop running. You regret that decision as soon as you trip over a plank of wood, flying forward. Luckily, or unluckily, the building had a ledge, which meant that instead of falling down 20 stories, your stomach collided with the ledge.

Hot tears fell from your eyes, and you didn’t bother trying to hold them back. You gripped the edge of the ledge tightly, your chest heaving as you choked on a sob. Lightning cracked nearby, and rain followed a millisecond later.

Five years. Five goddamn years. You mourned him for five years, you felt all that pain, all that guilt, and he was alive? You knew you were screaming when you felt your throat burn.

Screaming didn’t alleviate the weight on your chest, so you lifted your fist and brought it down on the concrete. The pain was shooting up your arm, but that didn’t stop you from hitting the ledge again. You felt like a five-year-old throwing a tantrum, frustrated and angry and sad, and having no clue on how to handle the situation. You screamed again, shoving the ledge and hitting it as if it could solve the problem.

Black gloves hands encircled you, gripping your wrists tightly and preventing you from hitting out. You thrashed in the hold, kicking out uselessly.

“You’ll hurt yourself!” Bruce’s voice came through. He hadn’t switched on his voice modulator.

“I don’t care!” You punctuated each word with a shove, but you slumped into his chest, closing your eyes. You’re sobs died down as Bruce held you, and you let the rain lull you to sleep.

-----

Love is Slowly Losing Your Mind

-----

Tick.

You can’t see.

Tock.

You can’t move.

Tick.

You can’t breathe.

Tock.

You hear footsteps.

Tick.

“She’s finally awake!”

Tock

You know that voice.

Tick

“Decided to join the party eh?”

Tock

Its always that voice.

Tick.

A cloth is ripped away from your face.

Tock.

Red lips smile right in front of you.

Tick.

Fuck.

Tock.

“Let’s play.”

Tick.

Your eyes snap open. You can’t breathe, you can’t move.

It was just a dream. You force yourself to close your eyes, focusing on the whirring of the fan above you as you calm your breathing. Just a dream, you tell yourself.

You sit up, pulling your hair into a ponytail and heading over to the bathroom. You brush your teeth, wash your face, and look in the mirror.

He can’t hurt you anymore.

You dress and go to the cafe, arriving half an hour early. A waitress places some coffee in front of you and you thank her with a smile. You don’t drink the coffee though.

The sound of the chair scraping on the floor causes you to look up, and Dick smiles down at you. Except this time, his smile isn’t genuine, it doesn’t reach his eyes. He looks tired, and worn down, something that shocks you a little. Dick isn’t normally one to be anything less that happy.

He sits across you, swallowing, eyes darting anywhere but your face. When the waitress placed your usuals down, neither of you make a move to eat.

“So,” he starts, voice rough. He clears his throat, sighing heavily and running a hand across his face.

“So,” you agree, picking up your cup and lifting it to your mouth. You wrinkle your nose at the now cold beverage. You make eye contact with Dick and the unspoken question hangs in the air.

Now what?

He’s a mob boss, Dick’s raised eyebrow says.

He’s dangerous, your frown responds.

He almost killed you, Dick slumps further into his seat, eyes never leaving yours.

“He’s family,” you say, voice quiet. Dick closes his eyes for a moment. “Yeah. He is.”

You don’t say much else, and you part to go to your respective jobs. You reach your office, and there are no new cases or any overdue paperwork to deal with, which is a first. Your boss tells you to take the rest of the day off, so you do.

You walk around Gotham for hours, only going back home when the sun begins to set. You contemplate skipping patrol, but you know you need the exercise.

Suddenly you were 10 years old again, clinging onto Dick’s hand before your first patrol.

There’s nothing to be scared about, you rationalise. Absolutely nothing.

You were wrong.

You don’t make it very far, just two blocks away from your apartment, when you see the Red Hood.

-----

When Can I See You Again?

-----

You stumble onto the roof, fisting your cape on your side. He’s leaning against the edge of the building, his arms crossed. He seems to be watching you, or waiting for you, whichever it is, you’re not entirely sure.

He watches you for a moment, and you watch him, a voice in your head telling you that there’s no way in hell that’s Jason Todd.

Red Hood pushed himself off the wall, striding towards you and easily towering over you. Your heart is drumming in your ears, with him being so close to you that you can smell him, and the doubt begins to fade.

The scent is a deep, musky sort of aroma, whiffs of cigarette smoke and alcohol mixing in nicely. It’s strange, reminding you of dark and dingy corners of bars late at night, but at the same time it’s so incredibly him, so incredibly Jason, that you don’t have the heart to deny yourself a little hope anymore.

Especially not with that stupid leather jacket of his, making his arms look so good.

You swallow nervously, tilting your head up to look at him. If either of you move any closer, your chests would be brushing.

And then he moves. He takes a small step closer, one of his hands now on the small of your back and guiding you backwards, into the shadows, until your back touches a wall. You don’t know why your body lets him, why you’re not reacting to him dragging guiding you around.

He’s practically pressed against you, one of his legs between yours, the hand not on your back is resting on the wall on the side of his head. He’s so much taller than you, your head practically looking straight up to look at him.

You hear an intake of breath which could be him about to say something, but then your hands touch his mask gently. He flinches away, body tensing. His hand leaves your back and is suddenly gripping your neck, pressing you against the wall.

“You got some fuckin’ nerve,” he starts, voice gravelly. You don’t care, or seem to have heard him, really, your hands going straight back to his hood. “Take it off.”

“Given’ me orders, huh? Never would’ve thought you-”

“Take the fucking thing off or get your hands off me!” You retort, tugging at his hand around your neck. Surprisingly, you don’t seem to mind it at all. Hood’s eyes narrow and he pulls back very slightly, his hands leaving you. You’re almost disappointed until he pulls his helmet off, dropping it onto the floor. Not a second passes before he’s closed in on you again, this time applying pressure on your neck.

You’re nearly gasping for air, but you don’t struggle or make any attempts to get out of his grasp. Instead, you look at him, memorising his features. His eyes have hardened, a new steel in them that wasn't there before, but somehow they’ve stayed exactly the same. You see his features soften just a little as you breathe out his name, and you watch as his pupils dilate. Jason - it’s so clearly Jason - smirks, his head dipping down to yours. You can feel his breath on your face, your eyes locked onto his.

“So fuckin’ pretty,” he murmurs, his thumb stroking your jaw.

“I could destroy you,” he continued, voice soft and eerily soothing. “I could wreck you and ya wouldn’t stand a chance. Could snap this pretty little neck o’ yours.”

A normal person would be trembling, scared shitless in this situation. You… were not normal.

“What’s stopping you then?” You say, voice low and equally calm. You inhaled and god he smelled good.

“Nothin’ if you keep runnin’ that mouth.”

“I’m calling bullshit,” you say, smug under him, despite the fact that he has you pinned and his hand is tight around your throat. He cocks and eyebrow, waiting for you to continue. “If you wanted to kill me you would’ve done it that other night.”

“Maybe I’m regretting’ leaving you alive,” he shoots back. You shrug, leaning your head back as if you were extremely comfortable. (Which, for the record, you totally were.) Jason - Red Hood?- lets his forehead rest against your for a moment, your lips almost brushing. You could just… tilt your head up…

With a heavy sigh, he releases you, taking a few steps away from you. He picks up his helmet, back turning towards you, and you let out a shaky breath.

“Next time I’m gonna kill you,” he says, voice not in the least bit threatening.

A sudden urge to touch him again courses through you, and you lunge towards him. His reflexes are still sharp, and he spins around, anticipating an attack. Your body slams into his, and he barely shifts. He only seems to stiffen when you wrap your arms around him. You press your cheek to his chest, breath shaky as you listen to his steady heartbeat. You don’t realise you’re crying until his gloved hand strokes your cheek. His other arm wraps around your shoulders awkwardly, unsure of how to react. You sniffle, arms tightening around him. He seems to get the hint and tightens his grip on you, his touch full of warmth and comfort.

You pull away first, and he avoids your gaze.

“You still gonna try to kill me?” You say, trying to lighten the moment. Your voice comes out a lot weaker than you would’ve liked.

Red Hood straightens up to his full height, staring at you head on.

“You’ll have to wait and see.”

77 notes · View notes

our-happygirl500-fan · 5 years ago

Photo

The Batman Reborn era is my favourite time in comics because it was when I first started really getting into them so it has a large nostalgia factor for me and I love that period even more after over ten years because it was a time when not only did Stephanie Brown (my favourite character in comics) become Batgirl and get her own book as well as the recognition she deserves but I also really liked Dick Bats and his dynamic with Damian and I really loved how Gotham had a new Batman, Robin and Batgirl and they were all learning and trying to grow into those roles and I honestly would have loved to see more of the Dick, Damian, Steph dynamic.

My only real problem with the Batman Reborn era was the distinct lack of Cass and if I could redo it I would have made the Red Robin book a ‘Red Robin and Black Bat’ book. Basically Cass would come in around issue 2 or 3 maybe we’d need an extra issue but anyway there would be flashbacks to Cass trying to keep the peace around Gotham while it goes slightly crazy at the loss of Batman but as she fights each criminal you can tell she’s slightly distracted and there’s a voice over of Bruce’s messages and instructions to her.

And as the instruction to give Steph Batgirl comes up Spoiler suddenly appears and helps Cass take out the last few criminals. Then in the rain Steph rips off her mask and we see that she’s in tears, she’s just come from her confrontation with Tim and Cass learns what’s been happening with Tim who’s been distant and avoiding her to this point since Bruce ‘died’ and Cass asks Steph whether or not she thinks Tim’s crazy and if she believes if Bruce is alive. Steph says she doesn’t know if Bruce is really dead and she doesn’t think Tim is crazy but says that she is scared of Tim going off on his own and she’s worried that Tim’s going to end up in a dark place.

Cass pauses and then nods finally sure about what she has to do and starts taking off the Batgirl suit and Steph asks what she’s doing and Cass says ‘Tim isn’t crazy and Bruce isn’t dead I’m going after him. I’ll take care of Tim and you’ll take care of Gotham’.

Then it jumps back to present day with Cass confronting Tim in Paris and she’s wearing the outfit we see her in in Red Robin #17

Tim starts off defensive and confrontational and demands to know what Cass is doing in Paris and Cass says that Steph was worried about him which stops Tim in his tracks for a second before he gets defensive again and says that he’s not crazy and Cass says that Steph doesn’t think he’s crazy she thinks he’s right which stops Tim in his tracks again and Cass continues saying that Steph’s just worried about Tim going off on his own and Tim is quiet for a second and asks Cass what she thinks and if she thinks he’s crazy and Cass says that she agrees with Steph and says that Tim isn’t crazy and she also says that she doesn’t believe that Bruce would die so easily and Tim snorts saying that only Cass would say getting killed by Darkseid would be dying ‘easily’. Cass then tells Tim that there are people who believe in him and questions whether or not he really wants to do this alone and leaves him alone with his thoughts.

We then flashback to Steph confronting Cass at the airport begging Cass not to leave and Cass says she has to and tells Steph not to come after her and Steph tells Cass that Gotham needs Batgirl and Cass tells Steph ‘it already has one’.

We then see Cass confronting Tim in Berlin and Tim quietly thinks that he’s not surprised she tracked him so easily. Tim tells Cass that he’s gotten a good lead and that he’s heading to Baghdad next to follow it up. Tim then hands Cass her Batgirl suit (don’t ask him where he got it) and tells her he doesn’t know why she isn’t dressed as Batgirl but that even if Bruce had died, Bruce dying doesn’t change that and Cass tells Tim that she doesn’t know if she can be Batgirl anymore and Tim reassures her saying that he doesn’t really feel like he could go back to Robin right now either honestly but that no matter what Cass calls herself whether it’s Bat-Chick, Knight Bat or Black Robin she’s always his sister and the Bats are always her family Cass tells them those are all terrible names but takes the suit anyway and leaves.

Cass then appears again in issue 5 wearing the Black Bat costume, storming the League of Assassins compound to save Tim and Tam but Tim calms her down. Tim then convinces Cass to go along with his plan to work with the League and Cass doesn’t like it but agrees to the plan. Tim then asks what he’s supposed to call her and Cass answers Black Bat.

Cass then works with Tim and they blow up a bunch of League compounds and then race to Gotham to protect it. There they finally see Steph as Batgirl, Tim is surprised while Cass is happy and proud. Also in this rewrite there are twelve targets not eleven like in canon and the 12th target is Jason who Ra’s calls ‘the lost soldier’ and Tim sends Cass to protect him. Jason tells Cass that he didn’t need protecting and Cass gives a look and tells him that she could arrest him right now but she has more important things to do and also admits that she doesn’t want to and gives Jason a ‘you can change speech’ before going back to the others.

Even though Tim’s proven Bruce is alive Cass can tell that Tim wants to kill Captain Boomerang and decides to stay with him to stop him from making that mistake. So she ends up going on all his adventures with him acting as a sort of moral compass at times.

Mingjue Helen Chen did a Burnsides Batgirl design for Cass and Steph here

And I kind of want that to be Cass’s Undernet outfit it’s either that or a Batman Beyond outfit anyway Cass wakes up in the opposite end of Undernet Gotham than Tim and when she wakes up there’s a little Robin Steph (who I imagine having her World Without Young Justice design) there giving Cass advice and helping Cass manoeuvre through Undernet Gotham like how Tim had Riddler representing his subconscious mind trying to figure the situation out Cass’s subconscious creates a little Robin Steph that voices all of Cass’s worries like where she’s going from now on, her thoughts on giving up Batgirl and how she’s worried that Tim’s going down a path that she can’t stop but the Little Subconscious Robin Steph also gives Cass advice and support and tells Cass that she can do anything.

It’s sort of like an internal pick-me-up.

Cass and Subconscious Robin Steph find Tim and Tam and Anarchy and Tim is shocked to see Subconscious Robin Steph and he keeps staring at her while Cass notes that Tim has one too looking at Subconscious Riddler and Tim realises that Robin Steph was created out of Cass’s subconscious and looks sad for a second while Lonnie notes that ‘there was a girl Robin for a little bit wasn’t there?’

When Tim summons the ‘Future Heroes’

Cass has a small moment of just looking at her Batman self in awe because that’s her dream that’s everything she wants to be and that’s how Tim sees her which makes her a little emotional.

Then Robin Steph goes to join the battle and Cass asks what she’s doing and Subconscious Robin Steph goes ‘that’s Batman and I’m Robin what do you think I’m doing?’

When Anarchy offers to stay behind to keep the heroes present Cass points at Robin Steph who’s standing proudly next to Batman Cass and tells him to take care of her and Anarchy joke ‘oh well I have to now’

Any way that’s my Red Robin rewrite I hope you like it the art is by @multiple-non-alcoholic-dogs who drew it for me and let me post with permission

#DC comics #cassandra cain #stephanie brown #tim drake #dc #tamara fox

336 notes · View notes

dilfdoctordoom · 4 years ago

Note

What do the JL think of Bette? Specifically Barry, Hal, Clark, Arthur, Ollie, and Diana

I very much love that you included two of my favourite characters here.

Barry:

Bette spent many of her formative years in Gotham, so you can bet your ass that this girl is ACAB

Now, I don’t know if you’ve been called a bastard by a thirteen-year-old in a red dress, but Barry Allen has

Life-altering experience

He spends an hour asking Bruce what he did wrong, why does Bat-Girl hate him? He hasn’t even spoken to her yet what could he have done

And Bruce just... the fun explanation that she hates all cops. Instantly. Oh you’re a CSI that must be fun, it doesn’t matter, it’s already on sight for you

Like, okay, in Gotham? Pretty much every cop is dirty. Gordon, Montoya & Bullock are the only ones that Bette knows aren’t & she still doesn’t really trust them

So she’s not gonna be particularly nice to Barry Allen & Bruce literally has to tell her to behave

(Kathy is very amused by it all)

There’s a moment where Barry thinks she just hates speedsters, but then she & Wally seem to be getting on great. Like, Kid Flash is awesome, cool fast guy. Flash is a cop & therefore she cannot trust him

Bat-Girl: I can respect you as a hero but I do not like you as a person

So, yeah, Barry’s, uh, iffy on her. He’s sure she’s a great hero & she seems nice to the others, but he’d really rather not work with her, even when she’s Flamebird/Hawkfire. Especially when she’s Flamebird/Hawkfire, then she’s got tasers & flamethrowers

Hal:

Very different from how she interacts with Barry

Mainly because she first meets Hal after Kathy’s died & she goes to Coast City as part of her whole ‘run away from her emotions’ thing

She’s always loved the beach & Coast is supposed to be so nice. Plus, they’ve got Green Lantern; they’re not gonna need her to suit up, are they?

And then there’s an incident with Manhunters & like, Hal’s got this handled, no doubt about it, but also, Bette is impulsive & has a massive hero complex & yes she does suit up & help out. She does it because it’s right, because she’s angry, just because

But Hal kinda freaks out? Because she’s a kid and yeah, that might fly in Gotham where Batman can keep an eye on her, but oh god, what if he was fighting Sinestro? That’s low key terrifying to him, he doesn’t wanna put a kid in danger

He’s still good with kids. Like, that’s canon, he’s just good with them. So he & Bette do get along & after he gets over the initial ‘please do not fight mass murdering robots you need adult supervision & idk if I qualify for that’, they do actually spend time together!

Mainly because Hal isn’t too comfortable letting a teenage vigilante who just experienced a massive lost be alone & honestly? He’s right. Like, Kathy has just died & Bette threw herself into an extremely dangerous fight... red flags all around, my dudes

So they do work together while she’s in Coast. She only stays a few weeks before she moves on, but she does kinda like Green Lantern?

And the feeling’s mutual. They don’t really keep in contact but Hal keeps an eye on the news to make sure she’s okay & not, uh, dead

They don’t actually meet face to face until a dumb Justice League party years later & then they discover that Bruce finds Hal annoying... he finds the concept of Bette & Hal even being acquaintances annoying... he’s given them the ultimate weapon. Bruce Wayne goes grey earlier and it’s because Hal & Bette spend an entire night pretending that they went on a massive space adventure, full of danger & peril, solely to drive up his blood pressure

Hal doesn’t look into her identity all that much, but thinks she’s fun. Anyone who annoys Bruce for fun is cool in his book

(And I know this is supposed to focus on his feelings about her but consider: Bette meets the Green Lantern of Coast City & he lets her stay in his shitty rundown apartment. Everything that can go wrong for him seems to, but he’s still there, making jokes and saving people and doing the right thing. His willpower keeps him going, even on the darkest of nights and maybe, just maybe, Bette’s stubbornness picked up a little bit of inspiration for somebody along the way)

(And maybe, maybe, she joins the fight against Parallax and realizes just how far her heroes can fall)

Clark:

Um, well, I absolutely headcanon that Clark gave Bette the name Flamebird. Like, told her the story, made a series of not-so-subtle mentions that she should take up the name...

So, yes, Clark knows Bette

She’s Bruce’s cousin, after all, and he’s his best friend. Of course, their paths would cross, especially with how often Clark seemed to work with Batman & Robin when they first started out

He’s worked with her a lot when she’s Bat-Girl & every single time, Bette is starstruck because oh my god, that’s Superman, she’s talking to Superman, she’s working with Superman

He tells her the legend of Nightwing & Flamebird when she’s a kid & she loves the concept of Flamebird. She’s only twelve at the time, but something about it clicks with her

And when she gives up on being Bat-Girl, but is still determined to be a hero, he suggests Flamebird

(Bette absolutely tears up at this)

They don’t really work together when she gets older, except on big, world ending disasters that require the entire Justice League’s attention, but he still sends her one of Ma Kent’s apple pies for the holidays

Clark’s just the cool uncle from when was younger

She stills freaks out a little every time he talks to her, though

She’s never gonna get over knowing Superman

Arthur:

It took me a while to think about this but, yes, Arthur likes Bette

Mainly because Bette is a friend of La’gaan’s. That’s pretty much how he knows her

He doesn’t even know she’s a part of the Batfamily for years, because she’s always seen with the Titans

So, like, he doesn’t really know her that much, but she’s a good friend to one of his sidekicks & La’gaan’s already made passing mentions to crashing at her & Gar’s place, so. Yeah. She got Aquaman’s seal of approval

Though Arthur is always gonna be entertained by how much teasing Flamebird is allowed to get away with. Most of the League may not be aware of her Special Cousin Privilages, he isn’t either, but it’s absolutely hilarious to see her tear into Batman at random

11/10, good friend to La’gaan, very entertaining. Would be better if she could keep a goldfish alive

Ollie:

Okay, so, Ollie is, like, shown to be nicer to the younger heroes, Kyle excluded because he’s dating his son, so she’s gonna be nice to her. Or, at least, Ollie nice. Hm.

He thinks she’s way too small when she first starts out because even when she’s eleven, Bette still looks like she’s nine, but she’s got two heroes looking out for her & with a kid sidekick of his own, he’s not in a place to judge

Aside from one poor team-up between Green Arrow & Speedy and Batwoman & Bat-Girl, where Ollie & Kathy absolutely butted heads, oh my god, they’d hate each other, he didn’t see much of her. He works in Star, she works in Gotham, when are their paths gonna cross

While she works less with most Leaguers the older she gets, she actually ends up working more with Ollie when she’s older

Mainly ‘cause she’s friends with Roy & Cass may be friends with Connor, but that doesn’t mean she can drive so sometimes she’ll get Bette to bring her to Star

Which is honestly what Ollie knows her most as: Batgirl’s older sister who’ll lend a hand whenever she’s in Star

She’s good with kids, efficient & a little showy, but he really can’t judge that last part. Got Roy & Dinah’s stamp of approval, though, & that goes a long way with him

They never, like, exclusively work together, but she’s good to call on in an emergency

He did do a double take when she called Deathstroke ‘uncle’ though because... well, look, at Flamebird. Now look at Deathstroke. Do you see his confusion? It only grows when Slade lets out the most exasperated sigh, mutters something about how he wishes he could kill her without Addie getting mad, and then Bette sticks her tongue out to him & makes some joke about the shitshow he married into

Well. At least his family will never involve Deathstroke

Diana:

Diana gave Bette the shovel talk

This is when DonnaBette is happening & close to figuring out each other’s identities & probably the biggest hint for Bette is Wonder Woman flying down to tell her that if she breaks Wonder Girl’s heart, she’ll have her to answer to

So. Diana’s first impression of Bette is Flamebird having an anerysm on a rooftop in Gotham because she just realized she’s dating Wonder Girl

The absolute dumbassary of DonnaBette, unparalled

Diana likes Bette, thinks she’s probably a great person, but it is her legal job as Donna’s big sister to make it clear that if anything happens to her baby sister, it means war

They end up meeting later, after Donna & Bette have had their mutual break-up, when Diana is working with Kate & Bette is still unable to form a full sentence. Wonder Woman oh my god, oh my god, her brain doesn’t work that’s actual literal Wonder Woman oh my go-

Bruce did later let it slip that after the Maxwell Lord incident, Bette was 100% on Wonder Woman’s side, which she honestly didn’t expect, but eh. Bette’s not as big on the whole no killing as her cousin

Diana mainly knows Bette in the capacity of her being Donna’s girlfriend

Definitely prefers her to some of Donna’s other partners ie Terry because I don’t csre what anyone says, that relationship was trash & I will not pretend that miss Diana Prince was okay with her nineteen-year-old sister dating a divorcee in his thirties that was also her professor

#bette kane #q & a #this is bad but it took me forever so idc

14 notes · View notes