#i refuse to make it business as usual to go into a Cass Damian or Duke tag and see everyone else

[starlooove]

It’s not even that I fully agree or whatever like I’m just so tired of the “it’s not that deep” response when we get tired of the racism we have to face in every single space we’re in el oh el

[thelibrarian1895]

If your sibling is a rogue then make the best of it

I would like to think that Jason is very Hondo Onakha about kidnapping, very dramatic, fairly polite/chill to the one he kidnapped, minimal trauma, very professional overall but also very theatrical. Out of anyone in Gotham to have as your kidnapper, Jason aka the Red Hood is by far the very best person.

ALL of Jason's family whether they be legal, biological, emotional, or honorary, will absolutely try to convince Jason to kidnap them to get them out of some stupid civilian event. Whether or not Jason will go along with it will depend on several factors such as:

Does this benefit Bruce and get him out of a boring civilian event too? Then so sorry, you're just going to have to suffer!

How busy is Jason at the moment? Because being a drug lord and vigilante is actually pretty time consuming and kidnapping can be a lot of work for potentially very little gain.

What does Jason get out of it? Yes money is all well and good but Jason is rich by his own merits and can just steal from Bruce whenever, there's got to be more to it!

When is the last time Jason has kidnapped this sibling? He can't do it too often or it gets less effective. He has a reputation to maintain after all!

It may also depend on which sib is asking and what they need to be "saved" from.

Dick asks to be kidnapped from a bachelor auction charity? Ha! No chance, sorry Dickie! He will be there though and take pictures and laugh. (And also join all the other siblings who are stalking Dick and the winner of the auction in the event the winner wasn't one of the Bats or an invited member of the JL or Titans using Bruce's money) Dick asking to be kidnapped from a gala or some opening night of trendy place he's at to maintain civilian status? Maybe but the bribe has to be considerable. And it cannot benefit Bruce. Dick's normal bribes consist of taking some tedious part of an investigation over for Jason or getting intel from JL databases for Jason and the Outlaws.

Cass? Anytime and always, favorite sister who can beat him up has special kidnapping privileges, though they did stop for a very long time when some weirdos put out the theory that the Red Hood was in love with Gotham's Princess. (idk if Cass is considered Gotham's Princess in any version of canon but she is to me) Cass does still repay Jason in the form of Black Bat keeping an eye on Jason's territory when he's out of Gotham for any significant length of time.

Tim? He does owe the kid for several incidents and Tim normally doesn't abusive the privilege so he'd probably do it but there does have to be some sort of bribe for appearances sake. Tim usually gets Jason to agree in exchange for pictures of Batman tripping over his cape or in some other ridiculous position. Bonus in Jason's mind if Tim requests a kidnapping when Bruce is off world or otherwise occupied, therefore giving Brucie Wayne's reputation a hit. However if Tim wants to be kidnapped from something where Bruce is also suffering as Brucie, Tim is SOL (Tim might get revenge by getting Kon to wear Red Hood gear and "kidnap" Tim from the event if Jason refused. Kon will do it because Tim asked and also I would like to think that Kon isn't too fond of the guy who beat his best friend/boyfriend nearly to death and will mess with him if given the chance) Since kidnapping normally interferes with things that Tim wants to do however, he may instead bribe Jason to not kidnap a sibling that has asked to be kidnapped. Jason usually obliges this no kidnapping request.

Barbara? Sorry, no, he doesn't want to stress the Commissioner like that. He will, however, kidnap other people for her if she asks.

Stephanie? No Stephanie, he doesn't care what you offer, he's not kidnapping you so you can avoid your finals! Stephanie has, however, worn various wigs and been various hostages who died at the hands of the Hood in order to maintain his reputation. She gets paid in baked goods for her service.

Damian? Damian considered the idea ridiculous and proclaimed he'd never stoop so low and he would carry out his duties no matter how onerous! Damian then had to go to a Gotham gala. Damian is trying very hard to figure out a suitable bribe to get the Red Hood to kidnap him often enough that Bruce will be forced to keep Damian away from galas because of the ongoing security threat. So far it hasn't worked because Damian is very bad at bribing Jason, Jason thinks Damian forced to interact with normal people is funny, and Tim is successfully bribing Jason to ignore Damian's bribery attempts. The Red Hood has "kidnapped" Damian once, as a treat, when he thought the kid was looking particularly down about something.

Duke? Duke has yet to be made to attend any society gatherings as the solo Wayne (normally that falls to Bruce, Dick, or Tim) and can usually be spotted hanging out with Cass by the snack table at any gala or trendy event. He's not at Cass's level of reading body language but he's pretty darn good and he and Cass have reached a new level of being able to avoid annoying rich people while at parties. Duke is Cass's favorite gala buddy. Duke hasn't felt the need to ask Jason to kidnap him yet but Jason will allow the first one to be free of charge, no questions asked. After that Duke hasn't figured out suitable bribes for Jason but has realized that all of his siblings are hyper competitive and that Jason would absolutely wager a kidnapping in a competition or for a bet.

Alfred? If Alfred asked then Jason would without any caveat. Alfred will not ask however but might ask on behalf of someone else and Jason will comply.

Bruce? Jason just laughs. And if someone else is planning on kidnapping Brucie Wayne from a particularly boring business meeting or gala? Jason will actively thwart the kidnapping to force Bruce to continue to deal with social activity.

Jason usually splits a portion of the ransom money into bonuses for his goons since their original job outline is drug dealer/enforcer/mobster and not kidnapper. If they're going to get major felonies on their records, better make it financially worth it. All of Jason's goons are masked during any kidnapping event. The rest of the ransom money goes towards a charity of Jason's choosing.

Jason has also kidnapped people who are not his family or family adjacent. Barbara thought her dad could use a vacation at one point but he didn't have the PTO for it so Barbara had the Red Hood kidnap him. James Gordon experienced the weirdest kidnapping of his life that included some of the best food he'd ever eaten, an extremely soft bed, his pile of books that were on his reading list, and access to the sports games he'd meant to watch. The ransom was successfully paid after he had a week to relax. Gordon was then, as per protocol, allowed time to relax after his "harrowing" event. Barbara forced him to take the time. Strangely enough, some politicians who had been giving the Commissioner a hard time were suddenly very quiet when James Gordon came back, well rested, well fed, and ready to get back to the grind. It, of course, had nothing to do with the very polite emails with pictures attached that they all received while the Commissioner was very publicly out of the way.

Oliver Queen, when he was visiting Gotham, was kidnapped by the Red Hood. He was released after the ransom was paid and specifically he was released back in Star City. Mr. Queen was unavailable for comment after the incident but some sources say that he was cursing bats for some reason.

Lois Lane found herself kidnapped by Red Hood and ransomed by the Daily Planet while Superman was off world. Lois Lane returned safely to Metropolis and published a shocking expose on Luthor's latest scheme. Her sources for the article remain a secret.

Bruce is very grumpy about the whole thing, not just because Jason won't help his poor father get out of the stupid social event, but also because Jason being technically a rogue like this makes it very hard for him to successfully argue that Jason should let himself regain legal living status.

[rboooks]

Child Support Part 2

Tim watched the other young heroes as they tried to look around the watch tower without seeming like they were. He's been here plenty of times, but the rest of the Teen Titans and a few of the Young Justice hasn't.

Much was due to the older heroes leaving the younger ones alone. Some not taking them seriously enough to welcome them at the big HQ as much as that made his blood boil.

They were taking the same risks. They were fighting the same good fights. Why was their age the main reason they weren't treated equally?

Some teenage heroes weren't part of a team per see, but they always answered when a call was sent. For example, Cass and Steph were present, speaking softly to Static Shock. Damian was standing next to Jon and his little friend Colin who was just getting into the swing of the hero business.

Bruce almost bit through his tongue when Damian told him Abuse would be joining Robin on parol, and he could do nothing to stop them. (Tim felt like he was watching Damian tell Bruce a paraphrased version of "But Daddy, I love him!" and it kept him smiling for weeks)

It was wild to see almost every young hero in one place. He doesn't think this happened since the last time Justice Leauge got mind controlled and almost destroyed the whole world.

"Any idea why we're here?" Kon asks to his right, lowering his shade to stare at the Outlaws. Jason's team stood to the side chatting iddly while cleaning over thier weapons.

Kon's always like their punk point of view, and he knows his best friend wants to go over there to talk to them. If it wasn't for the issue of the clone still being mad about what Jason did at the Teen Titans tower. Almost murder was hard to forgive for people outside the Bats.

"None. All I know is that John Constantine sent out a message to every teenage superhero group calling for a meet-up," Tim responds.

Bart whistles with a grimace on his right. "Must be bad if that guy is asking."

"I heard Hawkwoman tell Superman that she was worried and wasn't sure she wanted anyone of us mixed up in Constantine's mistakes." Cassie chimes in from where she leans on the couch. The three turn to her as she lowers her voice, attempting to keep the others from hearing. "Batman told her off for it."

"Batman did?" Tim asks, surprised.

Cassie shrugs, throwing a bit of her blond hair over her shoulder. "As much Batman can emote anyway."

Yeah, that sounded about right. Though it must have been something Bruce found disrespectful. His dad usually never reprimanded strangers unless they were saying something or doing something that sounded far too much like bigotry to him.

But to apply that to Constantine? Someone, Bruce generally disliked communicating with because the man tended to backstab his contacts? Yes, Constantine wasn't evil, but he wasn't pleasant either.

If Bruce had magical issues, he tended to contact Zatanna first.

Just then, the watch tower's zeta beams activate. Everyone who gathered turns to the teleporting pads where Constantine appears looking, for lack of a better word, absolutely exhausted. Even Tim knows that his eye bags aren't that bad, and he's usually going hours without sleep.

"Oh good, you all made it," Constantine says, sipping from a mug and wearing nothing but sweatpants and what looks like a nightgown. His signature trench coat was nowhere in sight. "I'm going to be quick about this. I need a team of young heroes willing to accept my son into their fold."

The room is dead silent. Constantine sighs. "Look, I've tried everything, but it's like Danny is allergic to laying low. He fought with a demon the other day over a child's doll- which you all know happens. People get haunted! But Danny refused to do it the right way, and now I had to beat off the demon's marriage proposal at least ten times. Not to mention his lack of social skills! No matter which one I stick him in, he can't seem to make friends in school. He got shoved into a locker on his first day! I thought that was an American exaggeration of the telly!"

Constantine pauses and takes a large gulp of whatever he's drinking before continuing his rant. A hand runs through his already messy hair, leaving it in bigger disarray as he speaks. "He's behind in terms of trends and technology cause his other father raised him outside of the typical timelines, so sometimes it's like talking to someone from the early two thousand, and other times it's like he's a modern Victorian era lad. His powers are also all over the place because the ectoplasm in our world is thicker, so when he breathes it in, he losses his control. Just the other day he accidentally made himself fly through our ceiling and almost reach the atmosphere before I was able to bring him back down."

A few of the fliers in the room wince. Jon nods and whispers under his breath, though his voice carries in the silence. "Yeah, been there before. Flying can be scary if you don't know how to come down."

Johns glances around at all the young people, eyes showing a tad bit of desperation. "He's sad all the time now, and I don't know how to help. If working with you could help him make friends, I would be grateful. He's a great kid. He just needs to adjust."

Tim had no idea what to do with this information; how do you respond to arguably one of the strongest Justice League Darks' heroes asking for a play date for his son?

"How old is the child?" Damian's voice rings out. Colin's hand is attached to his sleeve, a slightly nervous smile on the boy's face as he attempts to hide from the staring heroes behind his brother. Tim bets that if he wasn't wearing the domino mask, they would be able to see slight tears in Colin's eyes.

Damian's other hand goes across his body to cover Colin's hand, and Tim fights a shit-eating grin. His eyes lock with Jason, and the two send each other knowing grins. Looks like Bruce did have to worry about Damian having a secret boyfriend.

He can't wait to tease Damian later.

"He's fourteen....or well, physically?" Constantine answers eagerly.

"What does that mean?" Kon asks this time.

"Okay, so he's half human, half ecto-being. He sired him with his other father, Clockwork, which was only four years ago in this dimension, but since he was raised in the Infinite Relemas, times move differently there? " The British man says, and Raven goes rigid.

"Clockwork, as in the most powerful Ancient?" She asks, looking horror-struck when Constantine nods.

Before anyone asked what that meant, the zeta tubes activated again without permission. Someone had hacked into their systems which were ten levels bad. Everyone naturally fell into a fighting stance, only to blink when a teenage boy stepped out with a loud excited screech.

"We're in space!" The teenager runs to one of the windows, pressing his hands and face up against the glass. "This is amazing!"

Tim only relaxes his muscles once Constantine clears his throat. "Chum...what are you doing here?"

"Oh. One of your curse rocks things started proposing to me again, so I ran out of the House of Mysteries. Thought I see what you were up to." The teenager says, turning around with a smile and utterly freezing at the sight of the gathered heroes.

He had dark hair, wide blue eyes, and the most adorable face Tim had ever seen. Not as sexy as Bernard, of course, but darn close. Judging by the looks of anyone attractive to males, most heroes thought the same.

"Um...hi?" He says, offering the Godsmack teenagers a helpless little shrug. "I'm Danny Constantine."

"It is a pleasure, Constantine." Damian marches over to him with all his little twelve-year-old authority. He barely reaches Danny's chest. "I shall look forward to working with you. Are you formally trained in combat or strictly magic?"

"Um...oh, I can throw a punch or two? I'm mostly self taught. I rely on my powers a lot?" Danny fumbles to answer throwing a desperate look at his presumed father.

"No matter. I shall have you begin training. My Beloved also needs to work on his form. There is no shame in this" Damian nods, and Constantine lets out a large sigh of relief. He jogs over to place a hand on his son's shoulder, giving him a one-sided hug

"Yes, Danny, you will join Robin, Superboy, and Abuse on missions. They agree to help you settle and get used to your ghost powers." Constantine smiles. "I'll give me time to discourage all those idiots from trying to trick you into marriage."

"Oh...okay. It's nice to meet you all. Please call me Phantom on the field. Um, are you the team leader?" He asks Damian as the three youngest boys lead him further into the watch tower.

Constantine watches them go with the brightest smile he's ever seen on the man's face. He looks back to the group, who were barely starting to pick their jaws off the floor and makes a shooing motion with his hand. "You lot are dismissed."

Then the man vanishes in a green portal.

There is a ringing silence until Barts blurts out. "I'm pretty sure this is where the Phantom Fan Club first formed. A historical moment."

Tim wants to take a nap.

( Part 1 )

[cassandracain52]

My BatFamily cooking headcanons

Good Cooks:

Alfred: is the only reason half of them eat anything at all. He is s a great cook but doesn’t tend to use much spices. Can’t make waffles to save his life but it is his only flaw

Jason: Genuinely enjoys cooking and is very good at it. Can make just about anything if given the recipe. Will often purposefully cook way too much food and claim it wasn't intentional. He then insists that everyone needs to have some because he refuses to "let it go to waste" so he doesn't have to admit he did something nice for them

Damian: First learned by occasionally helping Alfred in the kitchen. He initially didn't want to admit he liked it because he was taught it was "beneath him". His family eventually convinced him that cooking was a life skill and something everyone should know how to do and that he was allowed to enjoy it. Now he cooks whenever he can and likes experimenting with lots of different spices, occasionally to his family's dread

Decent Cooks:

Dick: He can't cook anything overly complicated but so long as he has the recipe he can usually get pretty close. Doesn't particularly enjoy cooking but he does like cooking with others. Though he usually ends up making something boxed or cereal anyways

Duke: Similarly to Dick he doesn't make anything too fancy but he's still decent in the kitchen. Doesn't cook very often but when he does he prefers to have the kitchen to himself so he has room to work

Barbara: Learned to cook out of necessity since her dad was often busy. Only cooks when there's no other option because she thinks it takes too much time. Usually will just order take out

I mean they probably won't burn the kitchen down:

Stephanie: Can cook waffles and pancakes and only those two things. Everything else either ends up burnt or raw. These are also the only things she is allowed to use the kitchen for and not without supervision

Tim: He is a rich kid who always either had someone that could cook for him or the money to buy something already made and it shows. It's lucky if he remembers to eat actual food instead of energy drinks and coffee let alone actually cook. Is banned from using the kitchen but will occasionally be allowed to stay provided he promises not to try and help

Cass: Was never taught how to cook due to her upbringing. Barbara did attempt to teach her the basics but it never really took. She usually just ends up making frozen food

Absolutely cannot ever be allowed in the kitchen:

Bruce: Has a lifelong ban. Should he attempt to so much as enter the kitchen call for Alfred immediately. He once managed to set fire to water when trying to make a child Dick Grayson Mac and Cheese and hasn't been let back in since. Anything he does manage to make is definitely not edible and probably poisonous. Do Not Eat It

[squishneedsahero]

A Swing and A Miss

Awesomest of Them All 2.0

Part 9 of 13

Word Count: 2001

Batman x Batmom!Reader

You know what the bat family needs? Someone to pull them together and give them all the love they deserve. Who better to do that than you? An author rising to stardom in Gotham who catches the eye of a billionaire with your standoffish attitude at a huge social gathering. You are yourself and never pretend to be more or less than that. Plus you're the most stubborn person in the world, refusing to let good things go without reason.

This is a rewrite of my story Awesomest of Them All, I wanted to see how much I've improved over 3 years.

You and Bruce had been sitting on the couch together when his phone went off, it was a phone call. Who it was from you didn't know, all you knew was that he got up and went to the other room to take it. He doesn't usually do that, but on the rare occasion he does leave the room to take a call you don't mind as it's usually for a good reason.

Bruce walks back into the room, pinching the bridge of his nose, looking done. "I need to go take care of something. I'll be back later."

"What is it?" You try to ask, and aren't surprised when Bruce doesn't answer. "Okay, I'll see you when you get back," you say going up and kissing him gently on the lips. He kisses you back then heads down to the cave.

You don't sit back down, instead going to find something to do, to occupy your mind while Bruce is gone. Something had him upset but until he was ready to talk about it you weren't going to get it out of him, so that meant you got to either worry or keep busy.

Keeping busy was obviously the better option, so, you went and found the kids to sit in the same room as them. There's your two sons, Dick and Tim, your one adopted daughter Cass, plus Stephanie and Barbara who were like daughters to you.

"Hey mom," Dick says, looking up from where he was on his phone next to Babs, "where's dad?"

You shrug slightly, "not sure, he said he needed to take care of something and took off towards the cave."

"Oh, you want me to go check on him?"

"Not yet," you smile at your oldest who was always trying to take care of you, "he just left. I'm pretty sure he just needs to figure it out on his own first then he'll let me know what's going on."

"Alright," Dick concludes the conversation, but you can feel the eyes of the other kids on you.

Cass catches your attention and signs, "you can come sit with us," from her spot on the couch. She then pats the empty seat next to her.

You thank her in ASL with a hand to your chin as you go take a seat next to her. Cassandra was quiet, having an easier time communicating through asl than out loud. It always made you smile on the rare occasion you got her hear her soft little voice, and to know she was comfortable enough to talk to you, but you had learned sign language specifically for her, wanting to make sure she was comfortable all the time.

You gently put an arm around her and kiss the side of her head, then you go to remove your arm, knowing she doesn't always like to be touched. But she stops you from letting go of the hug and leans against you, maybe she just knew that you needed it at the moment to help get your mind off Bruce but either way, she didn't let go so you didn't either.

Stephanie scoots closer to you, taking the other seat next to you and offers you a controller. "We're playing Mario Kart, you want to play a few rounds Mrs.Wayne?"

You laugh gently, "I'm afraid I'm a bit out of practice, all of you would easily kick my ass."

"Come on, pleeeaaaasssee mom," Tim joins in in begging you with his ex, turned best friend.

You laugh and take the controller, "fine I guess I'll try a few rounds."

"Yes!" Dick joins in, cheering you on as Babs gets things set up.

Tim had hotwired the two Wii's so all of you could play together without having to figure out how to do it online. So, the six of you were easily able to start a game and begin racing the many different tracks just having fun together as the kids knowingly distracted you from your worries.

It's a more than a few hours later when Bruce returns home. The kids had all gone down to the cave to get ready for patrol, and you had gone with them. They were about to head out when the roar of an engine cause everyone's attention and Bruce parked the bat mobile and got out, looking stressed and tired.

Dick goes over to him and tells him they're going to head out, and can cover things tonight.

Brice nods and doesn't argue, simply turning to look at you as the kids leave. He doesn't approach you until they've all left and you don't give him a choice but to hug you as you hug him.

"Do you want to change?" You ask, knowing he's obviously upset about something, but willing to be patient while he figures out what it is he needs to tell you.

"Sure, I'll change and we can go sit in our room," he says and kisses the top of your head before turning to get out of the batsuit.

It doesn't take him long to change, and the two of you head upstairs, hand in hand and take a seat on the couch in your bedroom. He just holds you for a while, obviously thinking through what he needs to tell you, and this only causes you more worry.

"Bruce, my love, you know you can tell me anything," you try and reassure him with a kiss on the cheek.

This reassurance works, as he finally speaks up, gently saying, "I have a son, he's 9."

This surprises you, and you don't exactly have a good response, you lean back away from him to look at his face as you quietly ask, "you have a biological son?"

"Yes, I didn't know until today, but he's 9... we've been together 11 years, my love-" this is when he begins to break his normally stoic demeanor.

This is also when you catch on to what he is saying. You had been with him at the time this child was conceived. That hurt. You turned to look away from him, not moving away but taking a moment to think.

There's a few minutes of silence before you speak, "how did it happen?"

You give him a chance to explain and he jumps on it, beginning to tell you what he knows. Starting with the fact that Thalia Al'Ghul was the mother, how she had apparently drugged him in order to have a child with him. His son had been raised by the League of Assassins, taught that he was the one to inherit the mantle of Batman.

It was... a lot. And it hurt to hear, especially due to the fact that you and Bruce had been unable to have a child of your own for many reasons. But, you turn to your husband, the man you were still head over heels for and say as gently as you can, "I'm not sure what I'm feeling right now but it isn't anger."

He looks at you and brushes your hair out of your face, "are you sure you're alright?" He's clearly still worried about his standing with you.

You gently lean to kiss him on the lips, "I'm not sure I'd call it alright, but we will be fine. My husband isn't a cheater, and that would be my biggest worry."

You can see more of the stress and worry leave his face as you speak and he pulls you into a tight hug. "I am so sorry my love. Thank you for giving me a chance to explain-"

You lean back from him once again, taking your hands to cup his cheeks. "Bruce, you didn't know. She drugged you and I trust you enough to know that's the truth. I'm going to need some time to get used to the idea, and figure out exactly how it is I am feeling. But promise me that we will be open and communicate about all of this as we get more information, deal?"

Bruce sighs in relief, "Deal," with that he wraps his arms around your waist and kisses you deeply.

It's at this point he informs you that Thalia had sent Damian, their son, to live with Bruce for a time. Damian would be coming the next morning and Bruce hadn't been able to have any say in it, barely able to convince them to wait long enough for him to talk to you first. It was yet another thing you could only describe as a lot but this was life, you had to roll with the punches or you'd never be able to move forward.

Two days later you still had yet to meet Damian. You were ninety-five percent sure it was because the boy was avoiding you. You sat eating breakfast and contemplating this when you hear someone behind you say, "Tt, you must be my father's harlot."

You raise your eyebrow and turn around to face the boy, "Harlot?"

"That is what my mother calls you," Damian says looking at you disgustedly.

You are so exhausted by this entire situation that the sass just slips out of you and you laugh. "I mean, that's one way to go about saying she's jealous of me because I have a ring and she doesn't."

Damian is clearly surprised by the fact that you just laughed off him calling you a harlot. He, "tt,"s again and just walks right back out of the kitchen, unwilling to admit you had surprised him.

You watch him leave, and he passes Bruce as he does. Once Damian is gone you shake your head and go back to your breakfast.

"I see you've met Damian," Bruce comments.

You offer him a slight smirk and a shake of your head, "yep, finally showed himself just to call me a harlot."

"A har-" Bruce starts, clearly outraged by the fact that anyone would dare call his beloved wife a harlot.

"Yeah," you laugh again, "he left just as fast because I laughed at the thought."

Bruce sighs, relaxing with how you had taken it, he takes a seat next to you and wraps you in a hug. "I'm glad that you didn't let him get to you."

"Yeah, though as far as introductions go, I think he's going to take some getting used too."

"Yeah, he's quite the character after being raised by the LoA."

You smile and lean against Bruce as you finish your food, "yeah, but eventually he'll have to figure out I'm just as stubborn as him for having put up with your shit for this long," you tease and he laughs.

It's a few hours later the next time you see Damian and he tries to insult you in yet another way, "you're weak, and would never be able to take anyone down. You aren't worthy of father."

This one is creative, you'll admit that but you shake your head. "I never claimed to be a fighter, if you'd stuck around earlier I could have told you that. Though, the first time I met your 'father," you say mocking his tone, "I kicked a green haired clown in the head so that has to count for something."

Damian once again just leaves, you weren't supposed to take these things so well, you were supposed to run off crying, not agree with him.

This goes on for a while, him trying to insult you and you just not having it. It goes on until he stops, knowing he'd have to find some other way to get under your skin. Meanwhile you try to get to the bottom of his behavior. Why does he feel like he needs to put you down in comparison to his mother and how can you show him he can trust you enough to not have to do that to keep a place in this family? It might take a while but you'd sure as hell figure it out.

[youwerenevermeanttofeelalone]

can you write christmas headcanons with the batboys, the batgirls, and bruce? like setting up the apartment/house and baking blablabla

✦ a/n — I’m writing this with the holiday celebrations as a secular thing in mind.

Bruce Wayne

Bruce honestly doesn’t have enough time to set up the manor, but he makes it up to you by actually helping you choose the decorations.

I mean, don’t get me wrong, he’s enthusiastic about it, he’s just busy. And he makes as much time as possible for you and the family.

Bruce enjoys baking for the holidays. I’m sure that’s one of the few activities he enjoyed as a kid when Alfred tried to keep his mind off how sad the holidays would be without his parents.

December is like Gala Time™︎ so the season is hectic for everybody at the manor. Never a dull moment is spent at that house.

And he likes it that way. I think Bruce prefers the erratic nature of having the entire batfamily around him throughout the festivities, it’s a reminder that he isn’t alone even though he feels like it sometimes.

He goes out of his way to get everybody a special gift. Alfred helps, of course, but Bruce takes his time to give his input and think about them.

Dick Grayson

You find out he’s a good singer while decorating the apartment. He starts by whistling and then he’s full-on belting while singing different Christmas songs.

He claims he isn’t a “Christmas guy” but he enjoys the cheer the season brings. He finds it contagious. (He sooooo is a Christmas guy, but don’t tell him I told you.)

Dick’s less impulsive throughout the holidays because he doesn’t want to miss any party or event.

Really indecisive as to what to get his family for Christmas. He low key panics when it’s time to choose Damian’s present.

You will never get Dick Grayson to bake. I’m sorry, but he’s a menace in the kitchen. He also hates measuring ingredients.

Buuuuut, he’ll happily watch you and keep you company. He might take place in decorating cookies. They don’t turn out that pretty, but it’s a blast.

Jason Todd

Setting up the apartment with Jason is really fun. And he can reach anywhere so he does all the hard work.

However, when you get to the Christmas tree it isn’t as fun anymore.

You see, Jason is very protective of the people he loves. He loves you very much. And Christmas trees are a fire hazard.

He’s almost ready to throw out the tree but he can never say no to your puppy eyes. So he agrees. And he turns into a clean freak because “artificial trees collect dust and that makes them a fire hazard.”

I have this headcanon that Jason is a great cook and I also think he’s a great baker. The apartment usually smells amazing, and it smells even better throughout winter.

Don’t tell Alfred, but Jason’s cookies are the best in the world.

Tim Drake

I see him as somebody who’s really into the festive season.

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” he says, unironically and with a sweet smile on his face.

Colors everywhere, stockings, mistletoe, ornaments... decorating the apartment takes you a few days because neither of you can decide how much is too much.

Not much of a baker, but he’ll give it a try just to have some festive fun.

He’s an expert at wrapping gifts. Seriously, he does it quickly and without a struggle.

I think everybody from the batfamily enjoys doing charity work around the holidays, but especially Tim.

Damian Wayne

I’m certain Damian didn’t grow up celebrating the holidays to the same level westerners did, and he probably started tolerating them in his late teens.

That being said, he prefers simple decorations. Too much color is headache-inducing and he thinks it doesn’t look good when a pallet isn’t being followed.

Tease him about how colorful Robin’s suit is and he’ll send you the deathliest glare you had ever seen.

Damian takes decorating cookies very seriously. And he’s a really good artist, so as expected, his cookies are gorgeous.

Never take him Christmas shopping, please, the world isn’t ready for that catastrophe. He does all his shopping online and he always knows what to buy for everybody.

Expect a gift that could only be considered as a lot. Damian doesn’t know what a small present is — or if he does, he chooses to ignore the concept.

Duke Thomas

The two of you slow dance surrounded by the Christmas lights when you’re done decorating the apartment.

Movie marathons are a usual thing for you, and they only get more frequent as the holidays approach because there are a lot of holiday movies and he loves most of them.

The entire month, he tries to take a peek into what you buy in case his gift is there. Sweet Duke doesn’t know you bought his gift earlier because of that specific reason.

He tries to get you to spill what you bought for him. Mostly with spontaneous kisses. He makes it reaaaaally hard to keep the secret, but you manage.

He’s a decent cook, but he cannot bake to save his life. He can bake pre-made stuff and even that turns out burnt sometimes.

Look, he’s busy rather often and he can’t remember everything he has to do — that includes that there’s good in the oven. BUT IT’S OKAY, HE’S CUTE, NOBODY’S PERFECT.

Barbara Gordon

Babs gets you matching Christmas sweaters for every occasion. You don’t know where she finds the ugly kind but she manages to get her hands on some atrocious stuff (in a fun way.)

The two of you most likely spend Christmas Eve at her family’s. She’ll be okay with visiting your family too, and will probably try to bring something special to charm your parents.

She’s already charming as she is, but festive!Babs is 100x more charming.

You have a tradition of giving each other awful gifts on Christmas Eve and good gifts on Christmas Day. She switches it one year and it’s chaos.

So. Many. Cute. Photos. Together. Dressed as elves, as Santa, as reindeer; with your Christmas sweaters; on your pajamas; dolled up for a party... you could fill an album with photos exclusively taken on the holiday season.

Christmas Day is for cuddling and eating candy you found on sale.

Stephanie Brown

Picture her in one of your sweaters, stretching her arm to teach the top of the tree so she can do the finishing touches. She’ll refuse your help, but will kiss you as soon as she’s done as a thank you for being helpful.

The two of you host a small holiday party at your apartment and the preparations are the most fun you’ve ever had.

Like finding Christmas markets in Gotham is hard and the city is awful sometimes, but the process is fun and Stephanie’s excitement makes it even better.

And the party is a success. Your friends are there, and your girlfriend is so happy because the apartment feels so much like home that you can be comfortable with hosting parties.

Instead of baking cookies and being a cute couple by smearing royal glass over each other’s faces only to clean each other, you have a gingerbread house competition.

It gets messy, and Steph laughs throughout the whole thing. Nobody wins, but it’s fun, and it isn’t particularly cute, but you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Cassandra Cain

Like Damian, she didn’t grow up celebrating the holidays as westerners do.

Cass isn’t the most open person in the world. She tries, but it’s hard for her sometimes. She makes more efforts around the holiday season. As cliche as it sounds.

If she’s spending the holidays with the batfam, she partakes in the family traditions Bruce has set up for everybody.

If she’s on her own with her S/O, I see her doing chill stuff. The two of you cook your favorite food and watch movies the entire day, perhaps indulge in a bottle of mauled wine or something of sorts.

She’d be okay with going to your family’s Christmas celebration as long as you also get time for yourselves later.

Cass will give you hands down the best Christmas gift you’ve ever received. She’s observant so it’s hard to hide things from her and that means she knows exactly what you want or need.

[batfoonery]

No Matter the Weather....

Doing this on my phone whilst my chrome book gets repaired..... fingers crossed the formatting isn’t too funky!

Anywho. Here’s my thoughts on the Batfam’s weather preferences. Stupid? Possibly. But we all have them.

Bruce

Likes clear nights. Easier to patrol, bc visibility.

Wont admit it, but prefers spring nights. Not too cold, but cool enough that he isn’t overheating in his armor. And the few trees in Gotham don’t trigger his allergies until autumn so....

Abhors smoggy/foggy nights because Trauma. He is always extra vigilant on nights with lower visibility—refuses to let his Robin (whichever one it may be, even if he’s on patrol with a no-longer-Robin like Steph or Tim) go more than an arm’s length away. Everyone is irritable by the end of patrol because of it.

Dick

Also prefers spring nights, but of the lightly misty variety. Not full on rain, and he’d rather not patrol in the mist (the dampness brings oil to the surface of cements and pavements, and makes it tricky to get a good grip, making it a dangerous patrol).

Likes it best in evenings or early mornings, when the sun would be hazy anyways. It reminds him of being a kid, when they’d had a few high altitude venues and he’d wake up, walk out of the trailer into a literal cloud.

Not fond of thunderstorms. As a kid they wouldn’t ever perform in storms, because they risked the poles being struck by lightning. He’s still wary of it as an adult, because it was one of those safety rules drilled into him so heavily (childhood swim team people—you know what I mean?). Has adjusted his patrol routes so that he has a safer route on storm nights—he goes by the streets rather than rooftops those nights.

Jason

Likes storms—they provide good cover and all that. But also, there’s something innately soothing about the storms outside reflecting the general chaos of his mind/emotions. Likes to sit and just. Watch.

Probably a summer child. Likes the way that sitting in front of a window lets the sun seep into his bones and soothe old aches.

Not fond of the muggy weather before or after a storm. The humidity messes with his hair and his helmets get all sweaty, which is really really gross tbh.

Cass

Likes crisp, clear autumn nights. She doesn’t seem to have any allergens in Gotham, so she enjoys the full benefits of autumn.

Gotham has a few autumn celebrations and street festivals, so clear nights filled with the lights and smells of fried festival foods bring her joy. Watching from the shadows as kids shriek on the tilt-a-whirl and parents take pictures and eat funnel cake... everyone knows Black Bat is watching their backs. Batman is scary, but Black Bat is a nightmare when crossed, so major villains steer clear of these smaller festivities, and the rogues that do intrude quickly learn why it is a bad idea.

Doesn’t like snow. It makes her joints stiff.

Tim

Winter baby. He’s allergic to everything, so in winter when everything is dead or sleeping and he doesn’t have to worry about his eyes itching while on patrol he’s happiest to be on patrol.

Likes snowy nights. When it’s dead outside, everyone tucked away unwilling to embrace the cold. If things time out just right, in the wee hours of the morning Gotham looks like something out of a fairy tale, snow undisturbed and air quiet. He’s gotten some of the best shots of the city at these times and looking at them makes him nostalgic.

Doesn’t like sunny summer days. He thinks he’s melting in his suit, and there’s always something making him sneeze. Probably has to carry around a parasol.

Steph

Likes winter nights too. Likes the clear nights when the air just feels clean (even if all the pollution means it isn’t ever clean anymore). It feels like she could be anyone on these kinds of nights—go anywhere and start over, be someone new. But then morning comes and she remembers that she doesn’t know how to be anyone else, deep down.

Not crazy about spring. It’s a different muggy than summer, and all the bugs come out.

Hates fog. Scary things lurk in the thick mist, and B gets even more annoying and controlling than usual. They aren’t allowed to patrol together on foggy nights anymore, as per Alfred.

Duke

Likes early late spring/early summer mornings. The air is still cool and crisp, and the morning dew clings to the grass as he heads out for patrol. There’s no worry about overheating and the world is still sleepy and silent enough for him to have space to think.

Probably lowkey terrified of hurricanes. Has a stockpile in the house specifically built up for hurricane season. Every year it is dutifully checked and batteries refreshed etc etc. Gotham doesn’t get them often, but it still haunts him.

If one does hit, all the kids stay in from patrol (and Bruce too, if he isn’t away on JLA business) and they let him herd them into his designated safe room and they ride it out together. They don’t get much flooding because of where the manor is situated, but sometimes Batcow’s pen gets a bit soggy.

Damian

Likes misty weather, especially in the fall or spring. Weather is nicest then anyways, and he likes the way that the city looks when it is overcast out. The lights seem brighter and the shadows darker and the buildings both stand out and blend into the sky..... a place full of adventure. A siren song for a little boy.

Hates hail with a burning passion. Hadn’t experienced it much before moving to Gotham. It makes no sense! Ice from the sky?! In summer spring and fall but NOT winter?! He knows the science of it but it’s still annoying as heck and he hates it.

Clear nights make him sad. It’s one thing when he’s out in the Midwest with Jon, and the corn fields stretch out for forever and they can spend the evening pointing out stars and he can recall all the stories about them from his childhood (secret whispers, his mother’s voice hushed so no one else would hear as she told him about sailors and heroes and gods, whispered promises about how he would be the greatest among them someday.....). But in Gotham, there are no stars even when the sky is completely cloud-free. There is too much light pollution and it makes his heart heavy.

Babs

Likes when it just starts to snow. She’s got all these cozy afghans all over the clock tower, and it’s kind of nice to curl up with one and a mug of coffee or cocoa in the windows and just watch the little flurries flutter down.

Rain is the same, she likes watching the drops race down her windows, leaving little paths behind.

Probably doesn’t have a season or type of weather she doesn’t like. She just prefers ones that give her an excuse to get cozy at home. And ones that provide white noise that help her sleep.

[peterxwade24]

Safety Found in Red Sleeves

Chapter 9

I know it's been nearly four months (just five days shy of four months) and I apologize for that.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy.

Thana watched as all of the patrons of the Iceberg Lounge turned to look as they entered. She knew they weren’t the usual crowd, seeing as how Adrien had on a fanny pack, but since they all had red, or some shade of pink, sleeves Uncle Ozzy would let them in.

“I’m sorry. Do I-” Oswald Cobblepott was, fundamentally, a good man. He would never turn away a child in need and he remembered the children he gave shelter to, so imagine his surprise when the person standing in his place of business was none other than the girl who’d managed to burrow under his skin and earn a special nickname. “Chick? Is that- are you- you’re really here?”

Thana let out a laugh and rushed at the man, throwing her arms around his neck before letting out a louder laugh. “I’m taller than you Uncle Ozzy!”

Oswald laughed before his gaze drifted back to the rest of the teens gathered just inside his place of business. “Chick, as much as I love seeing you, who’re they?”

“Oh!” Thana pulled away from Oswald before turning to her friends. “Well, the tall boy with black hair and frosted tips is Kim, the blonde girl is Chloé, the guy with short brown hair is Nino, the other blond is Adrien, and the short sporty girl is Alix. They’re friends I made in Paris, with my mother’s cousin.”

Oswald smiled and waved. “I see my niece has given you a heads up on the dress code around here.”

Kim nodded, a smile on his face. “Mèo con’s always reminding us that we have to wear red when we’re in Gotham, says she’ll ditch us if we don’t.”

Nino snorted before his eyes drifted over to the turntables. “Do you mind if I?”

Oswald smiled and nodded. “Go ahead, you can’t be any worse than my usual guy.”

Nino drifted over to the turntables and began playing some music.

Chloé strode over to the duo, a smile on her face. “It’s so nice to finally meet Fragolina’s Uncle Ozzy.”

“You must be the one my Chick won’t stop saying reminds her of the second Robin.” There was a twinkle in his eye as he pulled Thana close.

Adrien and Alix followed Kim over to the trio, where Kim draped an arm around Chloé’s shoulders. “That’s a possibility.”

---

Thana and her friends, accompanied by Thana’s Uncles Ed and Jon, toured Gotham. Thana made sure to show her friends around, showing them shortcuts to use to get around if they ever get separated from Madame Bustier. Eventually, the group came to an overgrown looking park.

“Uncle Ed, Uncle Jon. I’m going to show them around, and if we run into her introduce them. If we don’t, could one of you text her to let her know where they’re staying so we can do the introductions there?”

“Of course Mini Todd.” Her Uncle Jon nodded and wrapped an arm around Ed, who smiled softly at the act before nodding as well.

“And we’ll keep an eye out for You-Know-Who. He seems to think that you will come crawling back any day now.” Her Uncle Ed rolled his eyes.

“Thank you both so much.” Thana pressed kisses to their cheeks and smiled. “If we ever come across him, I’ll send an SOS to the group chat and then beat his ass.”

Jon and Ed pressed kisses to her cheeks and smiled. “Be safe.”

“With Aunt Pam? Always.” Thana turned towards the park and took a breath, smelling the local flowers and feeling better than she had since she’d been removed from the streets.

---

Thana led her friends around the park, pointing out all of the Poison Ivy original plants and warning her friends to stay away from them since they hadn’t built up an immunity to the toxin within the plants, with a smile on her face. “Aunt Pam always has a new plant that she’s making, and she’s been sorta kinda courting my Aunt Harley since she first saw her, although Aunt Harley used to be with this abusive asshole. I do wonder what happened to Aunt Harley’s daughter, I know she said she was with her sister but still.”

“Who?” Adrien asked, his hand hovering dangerously over a hybrid Venus Flytrap and Trumpet Pitcher plant, as he looked back at the group.

Adrien’s hand was saved by a wall of Boston ivy that shot up out of the ground. A loud scoff could be heard just beyond the plants before a beautiful head of red hair appeared through the leaves. “Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to touch wild plants?”

Thana smiled and allowed Kim to pull her into his side. “Are all of your relatives ridiculously attractive people?”

“You’ve met my Ma’s cousin,” Thana shrugged and settled more firmly against his side, “and Jervis Tetch is a rotten man, he’s rotten to the core.” Thana’s head rested against Kim’s chest, her ear close to his heart, as she forced thoughts about her birth father out of her head. “My Uncles and Aunts have this friend, Harvey Dent, who’s a little disfigured. He was in this really bad accident a while back and his face is a little hard to look at. He’s kind of nice, never really been mean to me specifically. I think he’s kinda cool though, he’s got a whole schtick about truth and luck.”

Kim nodded, his eyes flitting over the rest of their friends. Kim had never really had a big friend group, not until Thana joined their class, and then suddenly Kim was always around other people, had a shadow who was nearly as protective of him as his Mẹ was, and suddenly his fledgling crush was one of his best friends. Kim would probably always be thankful that Thana showed up when she did. Without Thana, Kim probably would have always been just a dumb jock who fell for some perfect princess. Kim knew his Mè was as thankful as he was that Thana had shown up in their lives, that Thana had stayed after she learned about the skeletons in their closets.

Kim looked at Thana, and he could see how much lighter she was here in what was the darkest city Kim had ever stepped foot in compared to back home. He could only hope that no matter where she went after Lycee, she would keep in contact with him and his Mè.

---

Thana and her friends left Robinson Park just before dinner that evening, her Uncles Jon and Ed escorting them back to the hotel when Thana’s friends went in for the night. Thana, however, followed her friends in and ate a meal with the class before ducking out of the hotel to go spend the night on the streets.

Thana refused to spend any more time in that building than absolutely necessary. She could still feel the cold lead encased in steel as it pierced her abdomen.

Thana hunkered down in an old spot, one she knew like the back of her hand, and could only hope that she would be safe here. She could only hope that she wouldn’t catch a cold while she slept on the streets.

Thana’s friends, however, slept fitfully that night in their comfortable beds in the hotel. Their thoughts filled with worry about Thana on the streets.

-*-*-*

Jason puttered around the kitchen, his feet encased in his slippers, and let out a yawn. He looked at the counter and noticed the already full coffee pot. He glanced around the room and frowned when he didn’t see anything before the sound of the TV reached him a moment later. “Duke?”

Duke’s head popped up over the back of the couch and he gave Jason a sheepish smile. “Yeah?”

Jason let out a breath and his whole body sagged for a moment. “Just had to make sure. Little twitchy after our late night visitor last night.”

“Who stopped by last night?” Duke stood up off of the floor and walked into the kitchen, sitting down on one of the counters like Tim, Steph and Cass had started doing.

Jason set his coffee mug (which read “World’s Greatest Dad” in a similar red to his helmet) down on the counter with a little more force than necessary. “The Bat.” Jason turned to the fridge to pull out the coffee creamer, but frowned when the only creamer left was the Southern Butter Pecan Pie flavour. He simply reached past and grabbed the milk to add to his coffee instead of creamer. “He wanted to know why I’d ‘taken you as well’. Because he sees you all as things to be taken and not children to be taken care of.”

---

Jason pressed a kiss to Steph and Cass’ foreheads before hitching Damian further up on his hip. “I’ll be back later. I just need to take Damian to finish introducing him to his aunt’s aunts and uncles. Unless of course, you two wish to join us.”

Steph looked at Cass and shrugged. “Timmy’s got work. I think Bart is out running around.”

Cass nodded before mussing up her hair and frowning at her sister in question.

“Kon might be in Kansas, I think he mentioned going to visit Clark’s parents. Cassie is hanging out with Donna, getting advice most likely. Cissie is spending the day with Oliver.” Steph slung an arm around Cass’ shoulders and smiled. “Give us a few minutes to get dressed and then we’ll join you.”

Jason nodded, a small smile on his face. “Of course. Take all the time you need.”

Steph and Cass disappeared into the room they had officially claimed, coming out a few minutes later in coordinated outfits.

Steph walked out wearing a dark purple crop top with black shorts and a black sweater tied around her waist. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and a pair of black sunglasses, easily recognized as Kon’s, sat atop her head.

Cass, who walked out just a step behind Steph, wore a black t-shirt under a black and yellow flannel paired with black high-waisted jeans. Her hair was freely flowing around her shoulders while her wrists sported scrunchies she’d pilfered from Cassie and Cissie.

Jason shook his head at his sisters, Cass who was just a scant six months older than he was but acted so much younger and Steph who was just a few months older than Tim, and smiled. “Any particular reason for the attire today?”

“Just felt like coordinating.” Steph smiled at Jason and slung an arm around Cass. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

---

Jason led the way into the Elizabeth Arkham Asylum for the Criminally Insane, his sisters just behind him and Damian clinging to him like he was the only thing keeping him attached to the planet.

“So, not to question your sanity or anything but, why are we here?” Stephanie’s voice was filled with trepidation and Cass’ arm was wrapped around Steph’s in an act of comfort for both girls.

“One of Thana’s uncles is here right now. He’ll be out soon. Do not compare him to the guy who killed me.” Jason smiled at the guards on duty and continued into the building.

The person at the front desk, a young individual of indeterminate gender with short brown hair and brown eyes, looked up from the clipboard in front of them and deadpanned. “Name of the patient you’re here to see?”

“Jerome Valeska. He should be expecting me, Jason Todd.” Jason smiled and shifted slightly so Damian’s face was more comfortably buried in his neck. “My son and sisters will also be joining us today.”

The receptionist nodded and jotted down the details relayed to them. “Identification?”

Jason handed over his identification card while Steph and Cass pulled out their driver’s licenses. “My son is only nine and only has a passport, will that work?”

The receptionist nodded and smiled. “A passport will work.”

Jason pulled Damian’s passport out of his pocket and handed it over. “We’ll come back to collect those when we’re finished visiting.”

“Have a good visit.”

“Thank you.” Jason smiled and led the way back into the rehabilitation center, his sisters sticking close to his back with their free hands clinging to the back of his shirt just over where Damian’s leg rested, passing the cells filled with the more humane residents of the asylum. Jason paid them no mind, having grown used to their hooting and hollering as he passed on his previous visits.

The little four person group of the family finally reached the rehabilitation center and were let in by one of the orderlies, a bulkier individual dressed in teal scrubs. They all gave the orderly a smile and a nod as they passed into the room.

Jerome was sitting at a table with blank sheets of paper mixed in with sheets of paper filled with writing, and as soon as Jason could read what was on the paper he could see that the pages were filled with apologies and plans to become a better person if for no one other than his favourite niece and her wellbeing. Jerome looked up when Jason started to cast a shadow across his paper. “Hey buddy. You’re standing in my- Jason! What a surprise!”

Jason’s face grew soft, a smile on his face and pulled out the chair next to Jerome to sit down in. Damian was settled into Jason’s lap while Steph and Cass sat down in the chairs next to Jason’s. “How are you today Jerome?”

“I’ve been better.” Jerome had been better, before his parents and his uncle died, before his twin fell apart and brought him down with him. Jerome had been happy in the circus, performing with his family for crowds of people who adored their act, and then everything changed.

“Jerome, I’d like you to meet my son. Damian al Ghul-Todd, nephew of your niece Thana Todd, as well as my sisters, Cassandra Cain and Stephanie Brown.”

“Oh come on Jace. Why’d you have to use last names?” Steph pouted and punched Jason’s upper arm.

“Because now that Uncle Jerome knows of your parentage he’ll be less likely to toss anything you say aside.” Jason smiled as Jerome spoke about himself in the third person.

“What he said.” Jason let out a chuckle. Damian frowned at the lack of attention he was receiving and simply headbutted Jason in the chin. “Yes, yes, we know you’re here Kutlat Saghira. I’m sorry that we’re not paying attention to you.”

Damian pouted and puffed out his cheeks. “Baba, not here.”

Jason smiled at his son, knowing that he was safe in his arms. “I love you my Little Nugget.”

“Baba!” Damian frowned and looked towards the table, effectively ignoring the four other people at the table.

Steph and Cass watched the moment between father and son, sharing only a look before looking back at the duo.

Jerome watched as his niece’s brother smiled at his child, glad that he got to see it but all he really wanted was to see Thana.

“She’s in the city.” Jason’s voice was quiet, barely heard over the lull of the rest of the patients in the center. “She’s in the city and she, she got so big Jerome. She has a really good group of friends. You’d be proud of her.”

Taglist:

@amigotasbien @maribat-is-lifeblood @mystery-5-5 @our-preciousss @mochegato @chocolatecatstheron @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @2confused-2doanything @wannajointhecrabcult @dreamykitty25 @tomanyfandomsonmymind @moonlightstar64 @justafanwarrior @mialuvscats @pheony1882 @pepelachanel @moongoddesskiana @abrx2002 @ladybug-182 @greatcatblaze @thatonecroc @vixen-uchiha @superbwhispersconnoisseur @sauseyyy @susiej1118 @bluesimani @thatonecroc

[sweet-sammy-kisses]

Monsters of Past

2

For my @badthingshappenbingo​ prompt take me instead.  Fandom: Batman Characters: Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain, Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne, Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, and OC Rating: M Warnings: Past rape/non-con, rape/non-con elements, Tim Drake has bad parents (they are the worst) Lots of protective Jason, Cass and Dick Summary: "That is what I was trying to protect you from Damian." Tim's voice was hollow. "You talk about your birthright as Bruce's blood son, that you want everything you deem yours handed to you on a silver platter without knowing that there is a price you are going to pay. Do you know how many there are who would love to have the Crown Prince of Gotham's blood son in their power? Forced to do whatever they want to seal the deal? They are the monster waiting in the shadows knowing their money and power will protect them. I was trying to protect you, Damian.

"To protect Damian Tim gives himself to a monster of his past. Word Count: 2,901 You can also read it on AO3

"Enough is enough. Today is the day that I take my birthright back from Drake." Damian had waited long enough for his father to dismiss the unwanted one, he had already been removed as Robin as one of them now it was time to remove him from his position as CEO - it was his birthright and that Drake was still in his place filled Damian with rage - and once and for all show Drake he wasn't wanted nor needed and it was time for him to move on, far away from them.

Damian had overheard a conversation between Drake and Tam before Drake discovered and destroyed the bugs Damian had planted in the CEO's office the last time he had been there reminding Drake that he was nothing but a temporary replacement until father took back what was his or passed it onto him as it is his birthright.

Tam had brought up the owner of a company that they needed to work with but the CEO was holding out until Tim agreed to a private meeting with him.

"We can't keep putting this meeting off. The board members are beginning to ask questions as to why you don't want to meet with Aiden Tyler."

"I know. His company is doing some good but Aiden Tyler is an ass."

"Tim!"

"I'm sorry but I have dealt with that man in the past and he is a real scumbag and if we didn't need his product I would tell him to go to hell. Call and see if you can make an appointment with him sometime next week."

Damian knew that was his chance to prove he was worthy to take over now, despite his age.

+******+

Aiden Tyler quickly agreed to meet with Damian and the youngest Wayne couldn't help but preen with pride.

"That will show Drake." He will secure the deal and prove once again how worthless Drake is then maybe they could finally be rid of him.

Dressed in his finest of suits Damian arrived at the five-star restaurant where he walked in and owned the place like the Prince he is. "I am meeting Aiden Tyler, take me to him." He demanded.

The host quickly did as ordered and Damian couldn't help but smirk the man knew not to mess with a Wayne.

Led to a booth in the back a handsome man with deep brown hair with streaks of silver the man was fit for nearing his fifties. Dark eyes met his and Damian refused to shiver as they roamed over him with something in them that made him uncomfortable.

"Mr. Tyler, I am Damian Wayne, I am thankful that you could work me into your schedule." Damian greeted him.

Aiden's lips curled up into a smile, "Please call me Aiden and when it comes to Wayne Enterprise I am always willing to make room. I'm sure that we can work out a partnership that is agreeable to both parties."

There was something about the way the man spoke that reminded Damian of a predator stalking its prey. 'Well, Mister Tyler you will learn that Damian Wayne-Al Ghul is no one's prey.' "I hope that as well."

"Well isn't this nice but if you want to do business with Wayne Enterprise you need to talk to me."

"What are you doing here Drake?" Damian hissed out, he couldn't believe that Drake had the nerve to show up here and ruin his chance to prove to his father he was ready.

Thankful for all the train Bruce had given them Tim was able to hide his feelings behind a cool mask as he was forced to face someone he hoped he would never see again unless it was behind jail bars. "I am doing my job, Damian. Now, why don't you run along and leave this to the grown-ups." Tim ordered not suggested.

Damian bristled much like Alfred the cat and he looked ready to spew his usual vile insults towards Tim but right now he didn't care, he needed Damian far away and somewhere safe.

"If you leave now I will not inform Bruce of you trying to endanger Wayne Enterprise's." Tim held up a hand as Damian went to speak, "As you would know because of your age any agreement you reached with Mister Tyler would not be binding. So in order for this partnership to be legal, it is me that must make the deals. Now head home Damian." Tim ordered.

A low growl escaped Damian he hated to admit that Drake had a point, after all, he was not of age to make any partnership legal which is why he had planned on creating the agreement than bringing his father in to show him he was capable. Now he couldn't for that surely end with his father agreeing with Drake. "This is far from over," Damian warned before storming out.

"Such a shame, I was looking forward to seeing what young Mister Wayne had to offer me." Aiden's voice was like nails on a chalk board and all Tim wanted to do was run far away but it was too late for if he did nothing the man would go after Damian again.

'You can do this Tim. You have faced the likes of the Joker and Ra. You can face him.' Tim repeated to himself as he forced the smile back on his face, "I'm sorry but you will have to settle with me."

Aiden's smile turned wicked, "We both know that I won't be settling for you, Tim. Come sit, let us catch up before we get down to business."

Having little choice Tim slipped into the booth.

Tim could feel the vile beginning to build up in the back of his throat as Aiden's hand slid up his thigh. He did his best not to shudder as unwanted memories flooded his mind.

Moving closer Aiden removed any space between the two of them, "I still hope that you cry as pretty as you use to do." Aiden whispered in Tim's ear. "I am going to have so much fun breaking you all over again. It was so sweet of you to offer to take your little brother's place."

Tim wondered if it was wrong that he wished for an Arkham outbreak at that very moment. "As long as you leave Damian alone you can have me instead."

"Agreed." Never had such a word sent pure terror flowing through Tim's body.

+******+

"Father! I demand that you talk to Drake!" Damian growled as he slammed the door to the manor open.

Bruce could feel a headache building, he wished that his two youngest sons could get along. "What now?"

"I had a meeting with Aiden Tyler, one that Drake has been putting off for a month, since he wasn't in a hurry to seal the deal I took it onto myself to see it through."

Cass appeared out of nowhere, her expression hard, "Did you leave Tim with him?" She shocked everyone with her growl.

Damian blinked at Cassandra, taken back by the rage burning in her eyes. "Yes."

Horror filled Cass' eyes before she was moving. Bouncing to his feet Dick followed after his sister, "Cass, what is going on?"

"Tyler hurt little brother in past and is hurting him now." Was all that Cass offered before she was gone, leaving their very confused family behind.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound too good, someone gets Babs on the line and have her find out everything she can about this Aiden Tyler," Jason suggested. Something was bugging him, he had heard that name before and the fact that it made him want to reach for his guns wasn't a good sign.

Worry shone in Dick's blue eyes, "Do you think Timmy might be in danger?" His and Tim's relationship hadn't been the same since he didn't believe Tim that Bruce was alive and caused him to lose his standing in the hero community, he kept meaning to fix it but he kept pushing it off and now his baby brother might be in trouble and he might turn away his offer of comfort.

"I do," Jason growled out.

+******+

At Alfred's suggestion, they had moved down to the cave to do a background check on Aiden Tyler and discovering that Tyler Holdings had a history of deals with Jack and Janet Drake made Jason even more on edge.

He stepped over the edge when Cass returned a protective and murderous aura pouring off of her and a long line of hickies on Tim's neck arrived. Cass was curled around Tim, looking like a mama bear ready to take down anyone who proved a threat to her cub, her sharp glare had everyone on edge.  

A gasp of horror escaped Dick, "Timmy."

Jason knew what those marks meant, he had worn his own when he was living on the streets.

Bruce looked like he was going to be sick, his parents and then Alfred had shielded him from the lengths some would go to get more money.

Though Damian had been raised as an Al Ghul his mother had made sure he would never have to lower himself to serve others so he had no clue as to what powder keg he was about to set off. "What is the meaning of this Drake? You were supposed to be sealing a deal not lowering yourself to be a common whore." Damian snarled at Tim.

"Damian! Enough!"

Shock filled Damian's face as he found himself taking a step back at the anger in Dick's voice, his Batman had never spoken to him like that and he didn't know why Richard chose know to speak up. "Why are you defending him now Richard? I am only speaking the truth as I have before, Drake has proven himself to be nothing but a whore unfit to wear the Wayne name."

"I'm only the whore to spare you from becoming one." Tim's voice was soft but it echoed through the cave.

Damian could only blink at Drake before scoffing at him, "I would never lower myself as something so disgraceful. You make no sense."

The fire burned in Tim's dull eyes, "There was a reason that I kept putting off meeting with Tyler. I was waiting until I was sure that Bruce, Dick or Jason could be there with me. The bastard wouldn't try anything with one of them there. He just likes them young and pretty."

"What are you saying, Timmy?" Dick didn't know if he wanted to know the answer.

"You think that this is the first time that I had to give myself over for a business deal?" The laugh that escaped Tim was bitter. "I have been doing this for years. I was a prize that my parents dangled before anyone they could. Now that I am CEO of Wayne Enterprise I am an even bigger prize."

Jason's eyes were glowing green as he realized what his baby bird was saying.

Dick looked like he was going to murder someone.

Bruce looked horrified.

And Damian... Damian looked baffled.

"That is what I was trying to protect you from Damian." Tim's voice was hollow. "You talk about your birthright as Bruce's blood son, that you want everything you deem yours handed to you on a silver platter without knowing that there is a price you are going to pay. Do you know how many there are who would love to have the Crown Prince of Gotham's blood son in their power? Forced to do whatever they want to seal the deal? They are the monster waiting in the shadows knowing their money and power will protect them. I was trying to protect you, Damian."

To no one's surprise, Jason took a protective stance in front of Tim, there were few things he hated more than child rapist, the main one being the Joker, and to hear that his little brother had been forced to entertain monsters like that had him tasting the pit in the back of his mouth and he wanted nothing more than to hunt all those bastards down but that would come later right now all that matters is Tim. "Cass, take Tim upstairs and call those friends of his. He needs to be with people who will love and support him."

It was telling how awful that Tim was feeling as he didn't put up any protest as he allowed Cass to lead him out of the cave, he stopped only once to look at Damian, "You might not believe this but I do love you Damian and there was no way that I was going to let my little brother be forced to do something like that, not if I could protect him in ways that no one protected me."

Bruce collapsed into the chair as he buried his face in his hands. Dick would have offered him comfort but his legs gave out beneath him.

A dangerous growl escaped Jason as he flew a fist at the punching bag, he didn't care what Bruce said tonight he was going hunting.

"I didn't know." A shaken Damian whispered, he thought that Drake hated him just like he hates him but to know what Drake protected him from made his world spin. His mother had drilled into him that Timothy Drake was his enemy and the only way to take his place in his father's family was to get rid of him. "This makes no sense. Why would Drake do that for me?"

"Because you are his little brother and he was trying to keep you safe," Dick answered him with a sad smile on his face. Tim had protected Damian but they failed in keeping him safe. "There has to be a way to fix this." Dick just didn't know how to start.

A strong hand landed on his shoulder lifting his head Dick found himself staring into Bruce's grim face, "We messed up B."

"I know." Bruce felt guilt building up in him, he is Tim's father it is his duty to keep him safe. "All we can do is be there for him. Jason is right though Tim needs his friends here. We need to show him that we love him and are here for him."

No one noticed when Jason slipped away from them he had a monster to hunt.

+*****+

Kitchen

Jason stalked towards the door with purpose in his step.

"Master Jason."

Halting in mid-step Jason clenched his fists at his sides, "I cherish you Alfred but not even you can stop me from doing this." Jason warned.

"I don't intend to Master Jason," That had Jason whirling around to look at Alfred, the man looked calm but Jason could see the storm brewing in his eyes, "I would just like to inform you that Aiden Tyler will be attending a party tonight and from his habits, he will not arrive at home until around 2 am, which at such time the Sirens have promised to keep the rest of the Bats busy," Alfred informed Jason. No one hurt one of his grandchildren.

A wicked grin appeared on Jason's face, "This is why you are the best Alfred."

"Indeed. Now I need to prepare snacks for Master Tim's guests. Do be sure to return tonight and I shall have your favourite cookies waiting for you." Alfred gave Jason a soft smile.

"You rule Alfred." Jason would come back for Alfred and look after Tim.

+*****+

With Tim curled up in a puppy pile with Bart, Connor, Cassie and Cass watching Star Wars. The Sirens leading Batman, Nightwing and Robin on a chase throughout Gotham the Red Hood was free to deal with business.

Aiden was riding a high he had sealed a deal with Wayne Enterprise that was sure to make him an even wealthier man and his favourite toy returned to him. Nothing could bring him down.

That was until he felt the cold metal of the barrel of the gun pressed against his forehead. A red helmet followed and Aiden felt a sense of fear.

The Red Hood was in his home.

"Whoever sent you I am sure that I can pay you double what they offered you."

"I am a Crime Lord I don't need your money and no one sent me. See I have issues with people like you who target children and think because you have the money and power that you are above the law. But you aren't above me. I am here to ensure that no other child is gifted to you."

Aiden had been so focused on the gun at his head he never noticed the second one aimed at his groin until it was too late.

Beneath his helmet, Jason grinned as Aiden screamed in pain on the floor, blood pooling around him.

+*****+

"Is he dealt with?" Dick asked.

Jason grinned at his older brother, "He will never hurt baby bird again."

While Dick wished he had been the one to deal with that bastard he needed to keep Bruce busy, still that didn't mean he wouldn't ruin him in other ways. Someone had sent Clark a copy of everything Babs had dug up on Aiden. He would see that monster ruined, without money and his power stripped from him, until he was as helpless as he made Tim feel.

[reddrobins]

of coffee cups + criminals - three [j.todd]

TW: language

ONE - TWO

Chapter three

Waking up whilst tied to a chair was not on [Y/N]’s to-do list. 

Groggily, she tried to look around the dimly lit space - though found it nearly impossible to open up her eyes. The front of her face felt hot and sore, a temporary reminder of the punch she had endured. 

Pushing through the searing pain, she opened her swollen eyes to the best of her ability. From what [Y/N] could make out, it was a large room - the ceiling nearly impossible to see. The space around her seemed to be crowded. Multiple different crates littered the area, some open - their covers tossed among the floor, others stacked atop each other. 

Based on the minimal sight of her surroundings, [Y/N]’s best guess at her location was a warehouse. Though, that didn't really help her narrow down exact places as Gotham was full of warehouses. 

Assuming that the Black Mask was smart enough to operate in secrecy, she knew that the warehouse wouldn't be one near Gotham Square. No, it must have been near the outskirts of town, maybe even close to Blüdhaven. 

“...my end of the deal.”

A voice sounded from the far right of the room, [Y/N]’s head snapping towards the sound. It was just light enough to make out a few figures, one animatedly talking.

“I told you, I always keep my word.” 

[Y/N] could easily tell who the baritone belonged to. Hell, it was the last thing she had heard, right before that fucker punched her in the face. Sionis grew closer, his conversation now clearer to her ears. Deciding it better to be found asleep, rather than face the criminal again, [Y/N] drooped her head, feigning a deep slumber.

“Not sure why you think she’s needed, didn't seem to know a lick about the Hood - but if this is all I gotta do to make sure he's taken care of… She's all yours.”

The small group was now mere feet in front of her, all the members oblivious to her eavesdropping. Risking it, she peaked open an eye in an attempt to count the pairs of feet.

One, Two, Three… 

On the fourth pair, her breath caught in her throat. 

She didn't believe it.

There was just no way.

And then in one quick sentence, Roman Sionis confirmed her fears.

“Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. J.”

-

Seven hours, thirty-two minutes and 12 seconds since the last time he had heard from her.

Jason was officially starting to panic. After phoning, dare he say it, Batman, he had sent a signal to the rest of the family - putting his own hubris aside to get [Y/N] back safely.  Though, that was over 6 hours ago.

Dick and Damian had gone to Blüdhaven, expanding the search effort outside of Gotham. Meanwhile, Tim had been instructed to remain in the cave and access each and every public camera in the city in hopes to catch a glimpse of [Y/N]. Steph stayed too, wanting to be on guard just in case Tim found something. Cass and Duke briefly went out on recon, but came back empty handed. The only two that were actively on the scene were Jason and Bruce. The distant father and son duo had spent the waking morning on the roofs of Gotham. 

Currently, Batman stood with his back towards Jason - getting intel from Oracle through the cowl. It had been like this for a while now, Bruce would silently get filled in whilst leaving his son to wonder what Barbara had said. Jason had just about had enough, it was his search after all, no one would be involved if it weren't for him. They should be filling him in, not Bruce.

“You ever planning on filling me in, old man?” Jason finally spoke. He leaned against the rooftop ledge, angrily (and anxiously) drumming his gloved fingers against his leather coat.

Bruce grunted as a reply, acknowledging his son's question, but not bothering to turn around.

Jason, with years of practiced impatience, scoffed and tapped the side of his helmet, tuning into the comlink. “Oracle, do me a favour - quit talking to Bats and actually tell me what's going on.”

He almost cringed at the harshness in his tone. He had never had anything against Barbara, if anything he felt closer to her than anyone else in the family. Shared trauma tends to do that to a person. Nonetheless, the secrecy between her and Bruce was getting on his nerves. He knew the longer he was out of the loop, the longer it would take to find [Y/N] - and that was the opposite of what he wanted. 

“...Red Hood, I don't know if that's the best course of action right now. I think letting Batman handle this would-” Jason was quick to rebuttal, the notion of letting Bruce handle anything set him off.

“I’m sorry Babs - But last I checked I asked him for help, not the other way.” The name drop, Jason will admit, was immature. Though the line was secure, he knew better than to expose identities. Sighing, Jason apologized, “... Sorry Oracle, that was on me. I just… I just need to find [Y/N].”

It wasn't often that Jason shared his true feelings with the Batfamily, thus this admission of truth was a pleasant surprise to Barbara. The older woman then spoke through her link, “It's fine Hood.” She then turned her words to Bruce. “I- I think he's right Batman. It is his case… He deserves to know everything.” 

Maybe it was admiration for Barbara or maybe it was the swell of ‘I told you so’ to Bruce, but Jason, for the first time since [Y/N] had disappeared, felt hopeful. 

Bruce finally turned around to face his son, who in turn titled his head in earnest. “Oracle,” The older man voiced, “shut off the coms.” A click resounded inside the two mens headsets, signaling the radio silence.

“Before I disclose the information, I need a promise.” Though he donned the cape and cowl, Jason knew that this was not the caped crusader asking for a promise, but his father. As civil as he could be, Jason nodded for him to continue. “I need you to promise me that you won't go running into wherever, that you won't let your emotions get the best of you.” 

The former Robin wanted to scoff, but opted for rolling his eyes under his mask. Bruce was being ridiculous, “This isn't fucking Serejavo, alright?” He knew that he stuck a nerve, he could see a fraction of a flinch from his mentor. “I’m twenty-two, not fifteen - remember? Or do you have me confused with another one of your child soldiers?”

Uncomfortable silence ensued between the two, the seconds ticking by as Jason quietly wished for [Y/N] to be by his side, making this time spent with his adoptive father tolerable. 

Bruce’s response was monotonous, practiced as to not show emotion, “That's enough. We’re on a life or death search, this isn't time for a pity party.” 

‘Okay, Ouch.’ Thought Jason, ‘Thanks for rubbing salt in the wounds, really great work there B-man.’

Having had enough of this familial crap for the day (lifetime it felt like), Jason conceded, “Just get on with it.”

Heaving a sigh, Bruce took a small tablet out from under his cape. He handed it to Jason who quickly sifted through all of the information. It was chocked full of files, pictures, videos, fingerprints, fuck - blood samples. He perused more and more, going further into the database and then - 

Jason thought his heart stopped, again.

He felt as though all the air had been pulled from his lungs.

File 104 out of 305: a single strand of acid green hair paired next to an unknown fingerprint.

“Nightwing found it while crashing a drug trade.” Bruce stated, tone calm and collected.

At that, Jason's brows furrowed, “That's not usually his M.O. Drug trades were never his thing.”

‘No,’ A sick voice hissed in Jason's head, ‘Brutally beating a child to death is though!’

Batman nodded, “Correct. He didn't conduct it. The Black Mask did.” 

Roman Sionis, that fucking dweeb. 

Jason had had a personal vendetta against him ever since his successful take over of the Gotham underground. In the past, he wouldn't have paid a second of attention to that idiot, but once Falcone dipped, the crooks of Gotham were his for the taking. Sionis seemed to think that just any ‘Roman’ could replace ‘The Roman’. 

“What's this got to do with [Y/N]. I don't have time for an extra case, if you haven't realised, my girlfriend-”

Bruce was quick to interrupt before Jason continued one of his heated tangents, “We have reason to believe that he and Black Mask are working together.”

Jason stayed silent, for the first time actually wanting to hear what Bruce had to say. “That being said, rather, we believe Black Mask has hired…” The older Wayne looked at him head on, trying to gage his emotional response before he pressed on, “We think he has hired the Joker.”

It was involuntary, just an ingrained reaction for him to tense up at the mention of the Clown Prince of Crime. Maybe his constant thoughts of [Y/N] were clouding his detective skills, but he had yet to make a connection - or maybe he knew exactly where Bruce was going, but refused to even think of the implications.

“So what are you saying…”

The dark knight closed his eyes, composing himself before giving the final blow.

“I am saying, Black Mask has hired the Joker… to get rid of you.” Even with the mask on, Bruce could sense the indignance oozing from Jason, he held his hand up to silence him and continued, “You’ve been severely depleting the Black Masks profits - he’s losing grip of the crime world. He’s deemed you as the one thing stopping him from complete control, and he's desperate. So desperate that he's hired a maniac to do his bidding.” 

Taking another deep breath, Bruce let the information he had been keeping in, spill out, coating Jason in its toxic bearings. “The Joker knows you, as much as I hate it - he knows you better than any other criminal out there. He knows how to get to you. He knows your weaknesses. He knows your strengths, and he knows your allies. Even Jason Todd’s allies.”

And just like that, the small ounce of hope that Jason had felt earlier, diminished to nothing.

He would have taken being blown up again than this.

“Where is he?” Was all that Jason could muster. 

Bruce immediately shook his head, “No, Rob- Red Hood, I told you, you promised not to go in like-”

“Like last time?” Jason interjected.

Under the cowl, Bruce's face felt hot, unexpected embarrassment rising to his cheeks. “I didn't say that.” He grit out.

Jason finally let out the over do scoff, “But you meant it.” He then approached the larger man, leather gloved hand stretched out, “Now give me the fucking location.”

Though Jason was the closest to Bruce's build within the family, the older Wayne still had a height advantage on him. He stared down at his son, piercing eyes glaring at Jason to ‘stand down’.

Lifting a hand to press the comlink on, Jason spoke into the helmet mic, “Oracle, send me the Jokers coordinates.”

Before Bruce even got a chance to interrupt Barbara's channel, Jason had received the map, location locked in.

Jason backed away from the Bat, crossing over to the ledge once more, grappling gun at the ready.

“Jason!” 

Annoyed, he turned around to catch a glimpse at his mentor, expecting to be yelled at or lectured. Surprisingly, Bruce gave him a tight lipped nod, then - “Be safe.”

Not bothering to acknowledge his fathers - what he assumed to be - half assed façade of care, he swung to the next building, ready to get his girl back.

Bruce knew that two words wouldn't make up for all the hurt he's put Jason through, but it was the most he could do at this moment. He was afraid, he was worried, he was everything a father would be when their child throws themself into danger. Letting out a sigh of built up frustration, he linked up to Babs.

“Keep an eye on him, if it gets out of his control - I’m going in.” Oracle gave a hum of recognition, tuning in her cameras to Jason's helmet. 

“Keep him safe… please.”

[soulmate-game]

Part 2 Of that brucinette one-shot I guess

Caution, this gets a little steamy in the beginning. Nothing explicit, but I’m not subtle.

Part 1

Marinette placed down her now-empty wine glass. Her deep red sleeves, fanned out around her wrist to create a dramatic drip and natural yet artistic wrinkles in the delicate fabric, pooled against the silver tablecloth as she leaned on that now-empty arm. Her blue eyes, partially obscured by thick lashes, looked up at her company as her wine-colored lips tilted upwards at the corner. Not a spec of lipstick was out of place, not a wrinkle could be seen that wasn’t deliberate. Despite the homey, slightly awkward person she had been when in front of his family, this version of Marinette was very much comfortable to be as teasing as she wanted. After all, the two of them were alone on a rooftop and she had waited for this date for twenty-three years.

Sure, she hadn’t stopped dating during that waiting period. She tried to get over him, and she didn’t moan and groan every day at not having him there. She lived normally, for the most part. Had normal relationships, even managed to hang onto one particular boyfriend for two years before she admitted to both of them that it just wasn’t working. It wasn’t what either of them needed.

But despite the normality, despite the attraction and the feelings she built and lost for other men, she never forgot Bruce Wayne. Not truly. Of course, it was hard to completely forget about the man when he still commissioned her twice a year for a new suit but refused to entertain any non-business related conversation. The guy was frustrating, aggravating, but damn did that just endear her to him more. Even when she was in relationships with other people, her image of a perfect family always seemed to star him at her side.

In the end, she knew exactly why she never mourned his loss for long or despaired over their lost relationship. It was never lost. She knew that she would stay in Paris until HawkMoth, and later Monarch, fell. She knew Bruce would avoid Paris just as long. But she also knew that she would see the day that Paris was no longer oppressed by supervillains, and she knew that once that day came Bruce wouldn’t have the chance to get away from her. If he broke it off even after that, then she would leave well enough alone and mourn for real.

But, her smirk widened as she saw Bruce place down his own glass from his spot across from her, a part of her knew he wouldn’t run. He had stayed away because he was bad at emotions, something Marinette had become an expert in herself. He was scared and worried, he didn’t want to lose someone else close to him and knew that superheroism rarely allowed a death of natural causes. He wanted to shield her from everything, keep anything bad from happening, but she told him that she couldn’t allow outside heroes to try to help. He felt like she was keeping him from doing the one thing he wanted to do, be there and make sure she stayed alive.

As usual, his issues with emotion led him away from realizing that she only forbade Batman from helping, not Bruce Wayne. She never would have stopped him from coming to help outside of his costume. He had more to offer than just brawn, after all.

Her eyes trailed along his arms. More to offer, indeed.

What? She was a grown, forty-three year old woman. She was entitled to a bit of fantasy about the guy of her dreams.

“So,” said dream guy spoke up, watching her with an equally, sweetly dark smirk. “I believe I owe you a patrol now?”

Marinette barked out a short peal of laughter, taking the hand he offered to her and allowing him to help her up.

“Are you sure your kids don’t realize that patrol is basically foreplay for seasoned urban-city heroes like us?” She teased him back, her blue eyes sparkling with mirth. Bruce chuckled, resting a warm hand on her lower back, right above the low dip of fabric in her dress and on her bare skin.

“No, because it’s only like that for us and not all seasoned urban heroes,” he corrected, his voice a low rumble in his throat that did things to her, especially with the way he gazed down their gaping height difference into her now dilated pupils. Marinette’s smirk widened into a heated grin.

“I suppose you’re right. But I’d like to get started, and standing on the top of your business’s tower in formal clothing and flirting isn’t exactly going to help us get to that patrol any faster, you know.”

Bruce smiled down at her, picking the smaller woman up to place a gentle kiss on her wine-painted lips. When he pulled away, his own blue eyes were sparkling in mischief to match her own. “Lucky for us, I have an extra suit in my office downstairs.”

“Pfft, amateur,” Marinette teased, tapping her earlobe. “I carry my suit with me everywhere.”

—*—*—*—*—*

Polite knocking on the door caused Marinette to groan, flipping over to bury her face in the scarred, solid, and deliciously bare chest that had been holding her while they slept. A soft chuckle, still deep with leftover grogginess, rumbled through the warm skin and made Marinette burrow in even closer. Her protection from the blasphemy that tried to awaken her rose slightly, making her groan again in protest of her comfort being disrupted. A warm arm wrapping over the top of her body to pull her closer silenced the groan and replaced it with a pleased hum.

“We’re awake, Alfred.”

“Good. I seem to remember Miss Dupain-Cheng having trouble getting up in the morning, so there is still half an hour until breakfast is ready. Masters Tim, Damian, and Miss Cain are already downstairs.”

Bruce laid back down all the way, allowing one hand to smooth down Marinette’s hair. It was still tangled and messy from the previous night. “Thank you, Alfred. It might take more than half an hour to get her up, but we’ll be down for breakfast.”

“Very good, sir.”

Bruce waited until he was sure Alfred was gone, allowing himself the luxury of just enjoying the feel of Marinette’s skin against his own as they laid peacefully in bed. Finally, though, he knew he had to get the both of them started for the day or they would miss breakfast.

“Mari, it’s time to wake up,” he made sure to speak at his normal volume, knowing from experience that trying to wake her up gently would not work. Out of all the heroes he had ever met, she was the deepest sleeper. He never understood how she managed to get away with it.

“Mmmm. I am awake,” she grumbled, but the way she just pressed herself closer to him to absorb more of his warmth just gave her away. Bruce rolled his eyes fondly, running his hand through her hair and picking apart tangled as gently as he could with one hand.

“That’s a lie. Come on, we need to get up and take a shower.”

“Is that an offer?” Was the mumbled response against his chest. He raised his eyebrow despite her not being able to see it.

“If we miss breakfast, Alfred will kill us both. Besides, if we aren’t down in time then the kids will know. They are old and smart enough to put that together, and I rather not scar them for life or endure their relentless teasing.”

“Uuuughhhhhh,” Marinette finally flopped over to lie on her back, one arm slung over her face as she groaned in despair. “I guessssss you have a poinnnnt,” she whined reluctantly.

“But, considering we only have twenty minutes left, we don’t exactly have time for individual showers, do we?”

Marinette’s pout turned into a grin.

Once they both rushed through a shower, absolutely innocent despite Marinette’s sleep-induced teasing earlier, they got dressed. Marinette just raised her eyebrows when she saw that Bruce had a small section of his massive closet stocked with clothes that were mysteriously in her size, but accepted them without a word. She wasn’t surprised.

Walking down the stairs together, Bruce realized he miscalculated when they were greeted by a wolf-whistle. Tim was the culprit, grinning unrepentantly. Damian looked sour as ever, pointedly ignoring the couple, while Cass just smiled knowingly.

Of course. He would have to endure their teasing anyway, because coming down the stairs with Marinette pretty much announced to all of them about how their night went. Great.

Marinette, however, just blushed. She had matured a lot over time, and owning her own fashion label for over fifteen years had helped her get used to being in the spotlight; she still wasn’t the best at dealing with attention though. She waved at the kids shyly before dragging Bruce over to where she knew he sat at the head of the table so that everyone could be distracted by Alfred’s cooking.

Most of the day went by fairly casually. Bruce had brought a lot of his work home with him, so he and Marinette spent a lot of time in one of his sitting rooms just doing paperwork side-by-side on a couch. Owning a company didn’t always allow for vacation time after all, and even though she was overseas Marinette still had forms to fill out and reports to read.

Throughout the day the amount of people in the mansion fluctuated. Damian and Cassandra left for their respective schools, and Barbara went to work. Dick popped by during his lunch break to waggle his eyebrows at the finally official couple and steal some of their cereal. Jason even entered through the window of the sitting room that they were working in, somehow with a knife already in his bicep, about an hour before dinner.

Jason Todd-Wayne learned to fear Marinette Dupain-Cheng that day, as Bruce allowed her to be the one that stitched him up and berated him for not being careful. He would never admit just how much he adored the unfamiliar feeling of being mothered.

And that led to patrol. Marinette knew she couldn’t get Batman to relax for more than a day or two at a time unless he was injured and it was logical for him to rest (and even then she knew it would be an uphill battle).

Having immediately connected all of Bruce’s myriad of children to the appropriate members of the BatFam, and having known Bruce’s identity longer than anyone else in that mansion besides Alfred, she was allowed into the Batcave to watch everyone train and get ready for the night. She was serious about relaxing though, and was sitting back to monitor things at the cave with Oracle this time.

Marinette blinked as Bruce sparred against Damian, the young teenager aggressive in his combat style. She didn’t know his full backstory, but she could piece together the obvious bits. Bruce hadn’t been aware he was conceived, she would have heard about it from Alfred if Bruce knew he had fathered a child, and something about his birth mother must have been touchy enough for Alfred to not have told her about the child when he finally did make his way to Bruce’s care. But seeing the way Damian fought was familiar, and made Marinette stand up and walk over to the spar. She pretended to not care about the heavy gazes that followed her.

She waited until Bruce pinned his son to speak.

“So your biological son has a history with the League of Assassins,” she mused, raising an eyebrow at her boyfriend even as the atmosphere grew thick with tension. “Honestly, What is with you and dangerous women? At least compensate a bit more for his past training,” she shook her head as if she was scolding a child before holding her hand out to Damian. “Come on. Bruce is trying to teach you defensive maneuvers, yes?”

Damian looked cautiously between his father and his father’s new lover. As soon as his father let him go and allowed him to stand up, the boy grabbed Marinette’s hand and tried to toss her over his shoulder. Little did he know, she fully expected that. She pushed herself off the ground, going along with the momentum he had given her. But when he tried to let go of her hand, she held on tight and tugged him along with her. Spinning in midair, she pinned Damian’s arms against his side in mid flight, and when they landed the force allowed even her light weight to completely knock the wind from him. The thirteen-year-old was already just as tall as Marinette and had more solid muscle mass, yet he ended up thoroughly immobilized in less than ten seconds without Marinette ever attacking.

“First off, if you don’t know what your opponent plans to do then it is a good idea to let them attack first. Go with their momentum instead of against it, because nobody is weaker than when they think they have you right where they want you.”

She held the position for another second before stepping off of Damian, and dusting her hands off. Dick whistled appreciatively.

“Wow. Amazing fighting, and good tips to boot. Have you taught other heroes before?”

At that Marinette couldn’t help but cackle, a hand flying to cover her mouth and try to muffle the sound. Once she calmed down, though laughs still forced their way from her throat every few seconds, she waved her hand over to Bruce. He was trying valiantly to loom intimidatingly since he knew where this was going. It did nothing to deter his girlfriend.

“Why do you think I met Bruce when he was eighteen?” Bruce had told her how much of their past he had relayed to his kids. “Back then he was in the thick of his training to become Batman, he didn’t think about much of anything aside from the next person to learn from. He found his way to Paris because a friend of mine happened to meet him in Tibet. Her own family had ties with the League back then and she was making sure they were severed for good. She saw how he was being trained, and after a few days of examining his character, she hinted to him that he could find a good teacher in Paris for what he wanted to achieve.”

“No way,” Jason breathed, eyes growing wide as he and the other kids already started to put together what she was getting at. She smiled widely, nodding.

“I had years under my belt as a hero by then. I’m not versed in nearly as many combat styles as Bruce, but I had a lot of practical experience. I taught him tactics and field improv. The whole reason he decided he needed to carry around Batarangs with him all the time is the fact that I once told him to try to attack me when all I had on me was a normal yo-yo and a length of rope. I handed him his ass for four hours straight. After that, he decided that having something sharp on hand at all times was necessary.”

While she spoke, Marinette went over to her purse and pulled out a normal yo-yo. It was a metal one, but not made out of anything expensive or unbreakable. Just a normal metal yo-yo.

And when she walked over to pull a coil of rope down from their weapons wall, everyone seemed to realize where this was going. She turned back to Damian, ignoring the feral smirk that was now on Batman’s face. She smiled with false innocence.

“Now, for some defensive training you benefit from a bit more, Damian. I’m going to attack you with nothing but this yo-yo and this coil of rope. Defend.”

—*—*—*—*—*

[what-if-i-imagine]

What if Jason had gone to Sanctuary and died with Roy... how would the batfam react?

I’m sorry if this is not exactly what you asked for (I added in a splash of Jayroy) but I hope you enjoy it!

The alarms had gone off and the Justice League snapped into action. Something had happened at Sanctuary, what they didn’t know yet. All of the cameras and ways to contact them had been shot in a power surge, so they were left with having to go to the center themselves.

When they got there, it was a bloody mess.

The bodies of patents were strewn across the center in shows of bloody death, and they couldn’t find a single one left alive. Many members of the League searched among the victims in panic and grief, finding friends and family alike dead. Booster Gold and Harley Quinn were discovered to be the only survivors, neither having seen what happened.

This place that had been created for others was filled with the bodies of those it was supposed to help. They had died while looking for help.

Green Arrow and Batman were searching among the bodies, praying to not find any of their loved ones there. Nightwing followed Batman right on his tail, calling all the hero numbers in his phone in hopes that they would pick up.

Superman and Wonder Woman tried to stop them from entering one of the rooms. At first they hadn’t understood why. This was just as much Batman’s work as it was Superman and Wonder Woman’s, they had created this place together. Then Nightwing had gotten to Arsenal’s contact, and he hadn’t picked up.

“Let me in,” Green Arrow shouted at the two members of the trinity stopping them. “Let me in! Let me see my son!”

“Oliver please,” Diana started.

“No! Let me see him!”

While Oliver’s shouting distracted them, Batman shoved past his two friends. They couldn't catch him before he took in the sight of the room, and Green Arrow was soon able to push past them as well with a crying Nightwing right behind him.

The room was covered in chaos, the metallic scent of blood tinging the air. Batman remembered when this room had been designed. It was meant to help people, just like the rest of Sanctuary. He had made this place to help people, and it had instead killed them. Like lambs to slaughter.

They found the Flash’s body first. Wally West was added to Batman’s mental list of people whose lost souls would weigh down on his conscience, because he had promised Wally that he could heal here.

The next two bodies they found sent Batman to his knees.

Arsenal laid on the ground, his head rested near Flash’s. The second body lay next to Arsenal, head and one hand pillowed on his chest. Arsenal’s hand was on his head, as if trying to comfort or protect. Both were bloody, both clearly long gone. And though the second body’s face was pressed to Arsenal’s chest, its attire was immediately recognizable.

Nightwing screamed but the sound didn’t register in his mind. Green Arrow was crying beside the two bodies, hands flitting in the air as they shook.

“Roy,” Green Arrow sobbed brokenly. “I’m so sorry. I should have been here. I should have protected you.”

“B,” Nightwing said, grabbing his arm like a vice. “B it’s-”

“I know,” Batman said. His voice was rough, ragged. He didn’t care to try and control it. To hide it. This hurt too much to bear alone.

Batman reached out with arms that shook just as badly as Green Arrow’s and gently pulled the body draped over Arsenal’s into his lap. The body rolled over with dead weight, head lolling back off of Batman’s lap.

Batman reached up and cupped the face, moving it so it would face him, and let out a cry that had been building in his chest.

“Arsenal and Red Hood came to sanctuary together,” Superman said as softly as he could, reporting the information he must have read from a chart. “Arsenal wanted to kick his addictions for good, start recovery from the death of his daughter, and learn to cope with the horrors he witnessed every day. Red Hood wished to finally permanently move on from his first death at the hands of the Joker, and to cope with the grief of being disowned from his family and kicked out of his city, as well as the disappearances of the other two members of the Outlaws.”

Batman pushed off his cowl and cradled his son’s broken body close, resting his head on top of his. He didn’t hide his tears. He didn’t have to. Everyone was broken today.

Oliver refused to let them take Jason’s body back to Gotham. He had said he didn’t trust the bats with his burial, as the last time they had buried him they had done so right next to the very woman who sold him out instead of his mother or the Waynes. Instead he insisted on Jason being buried in Star City with Roy, right next to the grave of Lian Harper.

It only took a day for all members of the Batfamily to fly over to Star City. They would be staying a week there, three days before the joint funeral and four days after. With the help of the other League members, both the Wayne and Queen families achieved privacy from the public eye for their grieving.

Dick was destroyed. His two best friends and his younger brother were found dead in the same room, so no one could blame him. For once the usual support of the family, of the entire super community really, was allowed to crumble and rely on the others to pick him back up.

Cass was impossibly quieter than usual, no words escaping her mouth, no sound in her movement. Her face was blank as she resigned herself to the grief and shut down.

Tim cried. The tears never seemed to stop, and even as he tried to refuse comfort, one of his friends was by his side at all times. He cried, and when on the second day he finally couldn’t cry anymore, his tears turned to anger directed towards his father. Tim had worked so hard to get Jason back in the family, and Bruce had thrown all his work away.

Duke tried to hide away. He locked himself in his hotel room, and stayed in the back of groups, and hid. When Tim’s tears had turned to anger, Duke’s silence had turned to tears. He talked to Jason just like he had talked to his parents when he lost them.

Damian was angry. He blamed anyone he possibly could, including himself. No one could go near him without suffering his harsh, searing words. Not even Talia was allowed near him without getting burned. When he wasn’t blaming others, he was curled up on his bed surrounded by his pets.

Steph, Harper and Cullen all tried to help the others, but it didn’t do them much good. They traded off on helping put Dick together again, trying to coax Cass out of her shell, comforting Tim and Duke, and pretending Damian’s words didn’t hurt. They busied themselves so that the reality that Jason was gone wouldn’t crash down on them yet.

Leslie refused to go to Star City until the day of the funeral.

Talia showed up, and swore to Bruce that she had no intention of putting Jason through the Lazarus Pit again. She couldn’t bear to bring that pain on him again. She busied herself with helping prepare the funeral.

Alfred went through intervals of crying silently into his hand and trying to help the others. His efforts were weak despite how hard he tried. He didn’t have it in him to be strong when everything was so wrong.

Bruce blamed himself. Jason had gone to Sanctuary party because of something he had done. Jason had died a second time seeking comfort for something Bruce had done. His son was dead again, and it was all his fault. And he wasn’t coming back this time.

When the day of the funeral came they all shut down. The bats were known for their emotional repression, and the arrows had never been much better, so they stood on that grassy hill silently after the ceremony and watched as the coffins, Jason’s first followed by Roy’s. They had been engaged, so it wasn’t hard to convince the service they were going through to bury them in the same grave as they would with a married couple.

Each member of the families placed their handfuls of dirt in the grave. They watched as the graves were covered in dirt, but didn’t move or speak.

Bruce stared at the grave of his son and the man he had planned to marry. He stared at the tiny grave beside them of Lian Harper. He stared at the faces of his family and friends. He stared, and he knew, nothing was going to be okay again. Not for a long time. It was something he had known the first time Jason died, though the knowledge had been filled with much more devastation that time. This time he was resigned to the knowledge because he knew from past experience, not even the world’s greatest detective could solve the mystery of how to make this okay.

[goldandbluesmiles]

Heading Towards Something Good

Summary: Damian, Father, Family and Affection

Notes: Based on this prompt by @just-an-aussie-otaku Hope I did it justice.

Ao3

XXX

The relationship between Damian, his family, and affection was...unnamable at best.

The League had not been big on displays of affection, praise had been sparse and the only positive touch had been after a job well done. Jobs that had let Damian empty and hollowed out. His mother had tried, but in keeping the balance between keeping her father happy and keeping her son safe, his mother had let normal child-rearing slide.

It was probably why she had sent him to Gotham.

When he had first come to the manor, he had been distant from his family. Then his father had died and the emotions that he had tried to keep a lid on had exploded around him.

And there had been Grayson.

Grayson, who had sat up with him at night, even when he had acted terribly to the older man.

Grayson, who had given him hugs and ruffled his hair even when he had threatened to stab him.

Grayson, who had ostracized one of his brothers for him. Damian himself might not like Drake but he knew how much he meant to Grayson and how much it had hurt the man to drive him away to look after Damian.

Grayson had given him unconditional love even though Damian had made it extremely hard for him.

And now Grayson wasn't there anymore.

He wasn't gone per se. Bludhaven was only half an hour away after all, and Damian could not begrudge him his own life. Damian was also quite glad to get to know his father alone.

However, Grayson's absence was felt. Especially on nights when Damian felt like peeling his skin off.

Grayson had always had an infinity for knowing when Damian needed him. And while Father was there now, he had no such instinct. They simply did not know each other enough.

The only way for Damian to get anything out of him would be to ask.

And really, he'd rather just take comfort from the dark.

xxx

Damian might not have had much training as a Bat but he had more than enough as an Assassin. He thinks that maybe his family had forgotten that sometimes, especially during the time his father was lost in the time stream.

Damian had started to silently creep around the house at night and none of the present occupants of the house had ever caught him. It had allowed him to hear conversations and exchanges he wouldn't have usually been privy to.

One of the first ones he had heard had taken place three weeks after Father's disappearance.

"I don't know what to do Wally, it's just so hard. I don't know how Bruce used to do take care of little me- Yeah okay, I guess he wasn't grieving at the time but still-"

If Richard and Alfred ever figured out that he overheard their conversation they had never shown. Hearing them had given him a new perspective on the first Robin, it had allowed him to appreciate what the older man was doing for him and had brought them closer.

It was this closeness that had allowed him to learn more about the kind of man his father was. Richard had told him stories of how in the beginning he had practically forced tactile affection on the repressed man. By the time Jason had come along, Father had been so well conditioned by his eldest that he had reached out on his own. Both he and his young ward had been at an uneasy middle until Jason had finally succumbed to the comfort. Post-death Jason had a relationship that consisted of barbs and retorts underlined with the care that existed years ago. Drake had been different, he had had parents and Father had been grieving, but eventually, they had been headed to a sort to a resolution that had picked up now that Father was back. Cassandra and Father had their own language, consisting of silent looks and precise movements. Stephanie and Barbara were not his children but they both had history and respect with him.

Damian had no idea what he had with Father.

"He'll want something with you too," Richard had said a little while after the original Batman had shown back up.

Damian had not answered him but that statement was the reason that he found himself slinking down the hallway towards Father's room.

Tonight was not a good night. It was the kind of night that made him want to silently scream, made the glass shards inside of him scrape at his sides and made the insistent buzzing in his head loud enough to drown out his thoughts.

It was the kind of night that Richard would have held him to sleep.

But Richard was in Bludhaven. And Father was just in reach.

The door was open. A few more steps and Father would surely notice him.

For a second, just a second, Damian consider just turning back to his room and forcing himself to go to sleep. However, the idea of being alone in his room again made him want to be violently ill.

By God, Richard had spoiled him. He had never had this problem with the League.

Making up his mind, Damian went forward until he was standing on the doorway to Father's room. The man was sitting up in bed and seemed to be looking at some papers with WE logo on them. It took him almost a minute to look up from them but when he did, his eyes alight with curiosity.

"Damian?" he asked

Feeling a bit panicked he blurted out the first that came to mind.

"Father, I need affection,"

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Damian felt his whole body grow still and cold. This was not how he was supposed to say that! He looked pathetic! Father was going to think-

Except.

Except that Father merely raises his arm outwards, a clear invitation to sit with him. Refusing to overthink, Damian moved until he was in the circle of his father's arm. Once he was there, the older man bodily hauled him onto the bed. The reports were moved around until there was enough room for Damian to curl up in Father's lap, right against his chest.

"Oh, baby," said Father, once Damian was settled in his arms, "You only have to ask. I know I'm not good at noticing when you kids need something like this and I try to be better at it. But Damian if I don't notice, please ask if you need me,"

Damian nodded against the older man's chest and his father gently kissed his temple.

"Do you want me to turn off the light or is it okay for me to continue reading?"

"It's alright," murmured, already starting to get hazy. Father was warmer then Richard and while Richard's hugs had been tight and soothing, Father's was all-encompassing and safe.

Damian fell asleep as the glass inside carefully receded and his skin finally felt right again.

xxx

After that small incident, Damian became much more comfortable asking his Father for what he needed.

He even used the same line he did the first night. It never failed to make Father's lips twitch up in a smile.

Usually, they were alone when Damian asked. Just before school in the morning, the study or the lounge in the evenings, their rare lunches together, sometimes in the Batcave after patrol.

But they were always alone. Then came the day when Richard was over. School had been long and tedious. Homework had taken more energy than he had anticipated. All he wanted was to curl up with Father and just spend the evening in his company, however, it happened.

He first checked the study. Father was not there. The next place to look was in the lounge. Damian did find Father there, lying horizontally on the couch, book in his hand. However, he was not alone. Richard was there too, working on his laptop. He hadn't called Damian before coming over which meant the decision was last minute.

Damian contemplated just going to Richard and sitting with him the way they used to. However, his older brother looked busy and Damian was surprised to find that he wanted to sit with Father. Not just because he was the only option, but because it was honestly soothing.

Mind made up, Damian walked over to Father and stood by him with his arms crossed.

"Father, I need affection,"

In response, the older man raised his arm without taking his eyes off the book he was reading. Damian ducked under it and ended up laying on top of his father, head pillowed on his chest.

Damian knew Richard was watching them but with the way his muscles were uncoiling, he couldn't bring himself to care.

Dick, for his part, hid his shock pretty well. On the inside, he was squealing in delight but he kept his composure, occasionally sneaking glances at Bruce and Damian. Bruce kept reading his book and Damian seemed to be texting someone. After every few minutes, Bruce gently stroked a hand through Damian's hair and give his temple a kiss.

So Adorable.

Dick discreetly took a picture. Damian obviously didn't notice and if Bruce did, he didn't say anything.

The picture was later sent to everyone he knew.

And if Damian internally smiled at the copy he was shown by Selina...well no one needed to know.

xxx

Tim and Bruce were sitting in the cave working on their perspective reports when Damian walked to them. Tim side-eyes him, surprised to see the boy in his civilian clothing. Most of them tried to keep both lives separate and Damian especially never stayed in the cave in his civies.

He was even more surprised when Damian climbed into Bruce's lap. There were no words spoken, no indication. He just climbed up there and started reading the case file along with Bruce.

And Bruce. Just did nothing. He just let him sit there.

Had Tim missed something? When had these two gotten so comfortable? He'd seen the picture but this-? And since when did Bruce let people that close to him?

Tim himself was rarely on the receiving end of the closeness.

As soon as Tim had that thought, he regretted it. He knew from stories that Bruce had been a different man before Jason's death. His relationship with Cass was good. Tim had been unfortunate with his timing. At first, they were just professionally linked and by the time he had been adopted, they had had a habit neither one had taken the time to break.

Tim couldn't begrudge the man trying to have a better relationship with the child he never knew he had. He just wished watching it didn't make him feel a little hollow inside.

Still, as the even went on Tim couldn't help but feel a little happy about it too. He loved his family and both of them deserved this.

And anyway it wasn't as if his relationship with Bruce was lacking any love. He was especially reminded of this later on patrol when Batman bought Red Robin his favourite shake 'just because'

xxx

Jason was halfway out the door when he realized he didn't have his keys with him.

Damn it.

This is what happened when he came to the manor as Jason Todd and got comfortable. He started acting like a normal human being instead of the paranoid and cautious bat he was supposed to be.

It's good to keep them separate. You can be just Jason too, son.

And that was Bruce's voice in his head.

Jesus Christ. He really needed to get out of here and get drunk with Roy. Maybe Kori could be persuaded to come too.

He headed to the TV room and was treated to a lightly odd but admittedly adorable sight. Bruce was sitting on the couch with Damian in his lap, both of them fast asleep and snoring lightly with their mouths open. Cassandra was also there leaning into Bruce's side, looking sleepy but awake.

Jason let his lips twitch up at one side and grabbed a blanket from the armchair. He spread it over Bruce and his siblings. Bruce and Damian barely stirred but Cass smiled at him and mouthed 'Thank you'.

Jason gave her a salute, grabbed his keys from the table and headed out again, a little more bounce in his steps.

Later when Roy asked him why he was smiling like a moronic sap, he just grinned harder and pushed the other man to the ground.

It's what he deserved.

xxx

"Oh Hey, Bruce-"

Tim entered the living room and was greeted to the sight of Damian, once again, curled up in Bruce's lap. Stephanie was there too, sitting on a different couch and discreetly snapping pictures of the pair.

He had been hoping to get Bruce alone and while he wouldn't mind Stephanie, Damian still had some problem sharing his time with his dad.

"Tim did you need something?" asked Bruce

"Uh, well I was hoping to show you my report but we can do it later. I'll just-"

Before he could walk away, Bruce's voice stopped him.

"Why not now, Tim?"

He turned back to look at Bruce and saw that he was frowning in confusion. Tim didn't know how to tell him that his youngest was most likely to stab him at his intrusion. And the was Stephanie was stifling her laughter wasn't helping either.

Before he could come up with an excuse, however, Damian straightened up and jumped to his feet.

"Father is right, Drake," said Damian, "Putting off work is not a good look. You just reminded me I have a report on my own to finish,"

Tim raised his eyebrow at the boy. Even if Tim hadn't been trained by the Bat, he could have seen the lie from a mile away. Which meant-

He shared a disbelieving look with Stephanie. Had the Batbrat just read the room?

Wonders would never cease.

Tim sat down with Bruce and they carefully started to go over the reports from WE.

As he was sitting, Tim found himself leaning closer and closer to his dad. Finally, he just decided to take a leap of faith and put his head on Bruce's shoulder. Without any hesitation or lull in the conversation, the older man put his arm around Tim, pulling him close and giving his hair a kiss.

Huh. So it was that easy.

Stephanie raised her camera at them, looking at them in amusement.

Tim looked her dead in the eye and, very maturely, stuck his tongue out at her.

The deep sigh from Bruce did not deter either of them.

xxx

Bruce had noticed how comfortable his youngest had become around him and it never ceased to warm his heart.

They were at a gala, Him, Dick, Tim and Damian. It was late into the night but only halfway through the party and Bruce was chatting with a group of socialites. He was in the middle of pretending to find Mrs. Doser's vacation story interesting when he felt a tug at his side. He looked down to find his youngest standing by him and sleepily rubbing his eyes.

Damian didn't say anything but when he looked, Bruce read his face loud and clear even if that wasn't Damian's intention. Without any hesitation, he picked up the young boy and settled him against his shoulder. Damian squirmed a little but in the end, he relaxed under Bruce's gentle coaxing.

Damian was surprised at his Father's actions. At best he had hoped to have some of his Father's attention, at worst be berated or sent away. He had not expected this and could find no reason for it to be happening. But as the night went on and people merely cooed and awed at them, he figured this was just something people did with their children.

He got an image of his mother carrying him after a brutal training session but banished it from his mind. She had done her best and thinking about it wouldn't help.

During a separate incident, Batman was sitting in front of the Batcomputer having a meeting with the core members of the JL. He was in the middle of explaining the budget when Damian marched towards him wearing a mask and completely uncaring of the faces on the computer. As soon as he reached Bruce he jumped into his lap and closed his eyes. He must have been severely sleep-deprived because it only took his moments to fall asleep.

Bruce was torn. On one hand, his sweet, precious baby was sleeping in his lap. On the other hand, the founding members of the JL were still online and only Hal Jordan knew his identity.

In the end, the meeting continued with Batman glaring every time anyone tried to deviate from the subject.

If he smiled at the string of emojis and supportive texts Superman and Wonder Woman sent him on hs secure computer, it was his own secret.

xxx

Damian couldn't sleep and the most frustrating thing was that he couldn't pinpoint the reason. He hadn't gone on patrol and his day had been relatively uneventful.

He just couldn't find sleep.

Damian finally gave up and padded down to the den. He was surprised to find that Richard was there too.

"I guess we had the same idea, huh?" said Richard, sending him a soft smile

A closer look at the older man's face and Damian knew that Richard had a good reason to not be asleep. His eyes were puffy and face a little pale as if he had been crying.

"Couldn't sleep," mumbled Damian

"Same," said Richard waving his arm to invite him over.

Damian went over situated himself beside his older brother leaning slightly against his arm. They sat there in silence for a little while until Father came into the room.

He stopped in the doorway, almost as if he hadn't expected anyone to be down there.

"Boys," boys he murmured sounding tired but awake at the same time

"Hey B,"

"Father,"

"You know what we should do?" asked Father, taking in both their appearances.

Damian was confused by Richard seemed to perk up.

"Pillow fort!" he said

Father smiled, "Pillow fort,"

What followed was one of the most confusing half-an-hour of Damian's life. He hand never made a pillow fort before but he was good at taking directions and arranged blankets, pillows and support as required. When they were finished, they had quite a big tent with pillow walls, blanket roof, and cushions to keep them comfortable.

"Why is it so big?" he asked

As if on cue, Timothy, Stephanie and Cassandra stumbled into the room.

"See, I told you I heard voices," said Stephanie

"Yeah, yeah," said Timothy, "Are you guys making a fort?"

"Yup," said Dick, "Join us! The more the merrier,"

Damian expected himself to feel annoyance at being interrupted but found that he felt...content.

Now wasn't that a thought.

They had just started to arrange themselves when Jason walked in with Duke right behind him.

"Pillow forting without us," said Jason

"That's not a word," mumbled and Timothy, "And there's room,"

"What do you think, kid?" Jason asked Duke, "Should we grace them with our presence?"

Duke grinned, "I don't know about you but that looks comfy,"

"The Duke has spoken," Jason mock cried, "Make room brats,"

They moved around until Father in the middle. Dick and Tim on either side of him and Damian on his lap. Duke curled up across Tim and Father's legs while Jason took the spot opposite of him. Stephanie and Cassandra ended up curled together on the comfy couch behind Father.

"Good Night, everyone," said Father

There were a few mumbled answers as everyone started to nod off surrounded by the comfort of family.

Damian fell asleep with a smile on his face.

The relationship between Damian, his family, and affection was still unnamable. But he liked to think that it was heading toward something good.

[ellana-ravenwood]

The Batfamily TV show I wish existed but that will most likely never be (wecanhopethough) :

I’ve been fantasazing a LOT lately about a Batfam centric tv show. Not a story just about Bruce and then the kids are somewhere in the background, or just about one of the kid, or one character of the “extended family”. Nope. A TV show, that would focus on everyone. And here’s a few of my thoughts haha :

We’ve seen enough of times Bruce’s parents murder so no need to have a scene of that again. Even people who never read a Batman comics or watch a movie/animated show, sort-of know how he ended up being Batman ya know ? It kinda became a trope, a classic scene, to see little eight year old Bruce screaming above his parents’ bodies, in an empty alley...We really don’t need to see yet another one of those. We all know the story. And for those who are not up to date, there will be hints of what happened dropped all through the show. Because it’s still about Batman.

The Robins and all though, often people don’t even know there’s more than one Robin ? Or at least don’t know how many there are really...So here how I would love for the show to start/be : 

The first few episodes would only be about ONE kid, and ONE “extended family member” (Like Babs, ya know ?). My absolute biggest dream would be to have the ENTIRE Batfam represented (or most, there’s some members from alternate timelines/world that I’m not sure would appear...or maybe just as a cameo ?), and each of them would have their moments, and be just as important as the other. My perfect Batfam TV show would portray how they are all linked, how they’re a family (albeit not always a very functional one) So. Here we are. Longer episodes than normal shows,more mini-series sort of things than the traditional 40 minutes episodes. I think an hour would be a good timeframe, at least for the “origin story” episode...so, yeah, longer-than-usual episodes about all the origins of the kids and all.

First episode start with Dick coming in young Bruce Wayne’s life. We quickly understand that Bruce just came back after years away from Gotham (and that it was to train to become Batman). He’s been back for less than a year, and already started to be a night vigilante...And here he comes. Little Richard Grayson. A boy in which Bruce sees himself a lot (because of the way he lost his parents). And so Bruce makes the crazy decision to adopt the kid (yeah yeah I know “ward”), and it literally changes the way he lives. And boom, Dick’s origin story. Maybe a little shenanigans across the Manor. Dick’s difficulty to adapt to living with Bruce now, and not having his parents. Showing how he can get so angry at times ! And how he isn’t just that jolly little boy who jokes around and hugs everyone he sees ? Basically, an episode that could show every faces of Dick Grayson. Because he deserves to have a show where an entire episode is JUST FOR HIM, and how he is.

Second episode would be Barbara Gordon’s introduction. Pretty straight forward. Who she is, daughter of who, how she came to become Batgirl. Her close relationship with the Batman and his sidekick(s). Showing all the dimension of Babs, her intelligence and such. She isn’t just “a badass girl” (she’d only be a girl at the beginning), but an extremely intelligent one who’s able to turn situations around that look desperate, thanks to her analytic brain etc etc. She’s essential in a lot of Batman stories.

Third episode would be Jason’s arrival. Completely different from Dick’s. the episode would focus on the few years he has with Bruce, and where he comes from. How Jason hasn’t always been “the rebel of the family” (and how actually Dick has that role more than any of his brothers really...in this episode, probably there will be a quick mention of how the “previous Robin” is sort of a taboo subject because he left Gotham to go with the Teen Titans and Bruce is still not over it...). How he’s actually really sweet, and so SO happy to be Robin, and finally have someone that cares ? Which will explain why he became Red Hood later on...The episode would end on his death.

Fourth episode would start with Bruce being depressed, still not over Jason’s death. It would show how he became even more violent, which he has fights about with Dick...At the same time, Dick came back to Gotham as Nightwing after Jason’s death to still be there as a support for Bruce. Dick is always there when his friends or family members need his help...Doesn’t mean they don’t fight though. Bruce is even tougher to get through to than he used to. Jason’s death really hardened him further, the guilt not helping, of course. And then...Here enters little Timothy Drake. “Hey, I know you’re Batman !” he tells him, smiling widely...A few of his (baby) teeth are missing, that’s how young he is. The episode would be about how Bruce refuses to take Tim in as first (even more so since Tim’s parents are still alive by then), and would show their relationship evolves, all the way up to Bruce officially adopting Timbo.

Fifth episode : Hey is that Stephanie Brown we see ? Yup it iiiiiis !! Her story. Her background. What’s up with her. This episode is all about her. How she’s an important part of Bruce’s life, however isn’t one of his adoptive kid (it would be weird anyway...it would mean she ends up dating her own brother...). I always viewed Steph’ as an important member of the “Batfam”, but not as one of Bruce’s kid ? Like, she’s most definitely cared for and loved, but she doesn’t permanently live at Wayne Manor, and isn’t officially his ward or adopted kid etc etc...Doesn’t mean she isn’t included and not sort-of-family ! But, ya know what I mean, extremely close friends can be family too (remember : this is only MY opinion and how I view the characters after I read comics with them, you can totally disagree...in that case do it nicely, please).

Sixth Episode would be Cassandra’s. Bruce is fighting against her father, and that’s when he finds that young girl that appears mute, and that just killed a few men in front of him. He learns of her story, how her father tried to turn her into a weapon since she was born, via some audio recordings he found in one of his hideout. And he feels utterly disarmed. What is he supposed to do ? He can’t let such a dangerous person out, at the same time, she looks so young...And it’s not quite her fault, according to the recordings...He can’t just leave her there, but he’s also sure that locking her up would do more harm than anything else. So he takes her in. Ensues the beginning of Cass’ evolution (the rest will be in other episodes).

Seventh episode would be the one where Bruce discovers that Jason is still alive, and that he HATES HIM. Fighty fights fight...Oh shit it’s my son. Flashback of how Jason got resurrected and his short time with the Al’Ghuls, and a little speech about why he hates Bruce so much. Very “Under the Red Hood”, I guess. Ends with a heartbroken Bruce, and an even angrier Jason (because he saw Tim and Cass and can’t believe Bruce still enrolls kids to be his little “child soldier”...of course, it’s more complicated than that).

Eighth episode, Damian’s dramatic entrance. “I thought you’d be taller”. He tries to fight every single one of his siblings (that he most definitely not consider as such yet) (and yes I’m including Cass because I want her to be part of it all...), and it’s obvious they let him win. Sure, the kid trained since he was born...But they’re all pretty old now, and trained by the Batman too. Damian couldn't overpower them that easily (yeah it’s a canon thing I’m not a fan of...). In any case, Damian’s first few days in the family are tough af...

Then after all those origin stories, a lot would happen before Duke’s episode finally comes (because he appears quite late in the Batfam). So an explanation about how he came to get in, what happened to his parents, etc etc. An episode about Duke ! He might come in only like, in a later season (again he comes really late into everything, although he appears before). But when he comes in, Damian is less of a brat now, and considers everyone his family etc etc.

I know there’s a lot more people that are friendly with the Batfam (like Luke Fox and all) HOWEVER, I wanna talk about the “core” Batfam, Bruce and the kids and all. Family. Now of course, Kate Kane would appear. Maybe have her own part of an episode about how at first she decides to become Batwoman of her own volition and isn’t even affiliated with Bruce. Her story at her military school. Why she decided to get into this business etc etc...Probably things about Jim Gordon too. Oh, and the villains ! But really, only full episodes about the ones that are really...family. Like, Kate is Bruce’s cousin and all, but...they always kinda had their own things going on. Now as I said, she’ll appear, but you know what I mean. Basically, allies and friends will most definitely appear, but they won’t all have a full episodes about them ? Maybe a story revolving around them, and therefor we learn the essentials. Also, lil introductions to all the pets the Batfam has (of course we’d have Batcow, Titus, Ace and other Alfred the Cat hehe). 

The narrator would be Alfred Pennyworth, because he’s the one constant in every story. He’s always there (or almost). First episode would start with Bruce as a little boy, after his parents’ death, training around the house, and then as the episodes unfold, more and more members appear, training with him (opening credits).

We’d just have episodes about their domestic life AND their detective life. A perfect mix of both World. And after all those introduction episodes, that would be all interesting because we all know those peeps have some wild backgrounds, then the audience would know everyone ! Now, it’s a lot of characters, so, once they’re all introduced, they don’t need to always appear. There would be episodes of all of them together, and sometimes of just two of them bonding over whatever ? Like, Dick and Jason. Tim and Damian. Etc etc.

And every episodes would talk about all the different facets of their personalities, and not only focus on stereotypes (like it’s often the case :/). Like, NONE OF THEM are one-dimensional characters. So, let’s show that Bruce is a caring man but also a total jerk sometimes, that Dick is the “carefree” one but also the “angry Robin” more than Jason is, that Jason isn’t just a killing machine and a rebel, but also very sweet. That Tim isn't just that coffee addict boy who never sleeps, but a selfless man who’s in it because he thinks he does the right thing. That Damian isn’t just a brat who hates everyone, but tries really hard to better himself and is actually extremely scared of becoming like the Al Ghuls and turning bad etc etc...Show their complex personalities, and not just boring and lazy cliches. 

Are you starting to see why this show would be impossible to exist, wether live action or animated ? Haha yeah, it’d be like, 300 seasons long hahahaha. Because there’s so much material ! ...But I’m pretty sure so many of us fans would watch every single episodes.

PS : This is an “adaption” I imagined, so of course not every subtlety about everyone are in the short synopsis of their episodes I gave, and there would be much more than that. And some aspect of the stories are switched a little. And it’s only snippets, small portions. My idea would be much more worked on. I just wanted to share the little things I thought about ^^. '

[m00nslippers]

Just a few more of Jason Todd’s feats (Part 2)

Part 1 | Part 2

This is continued from Part 1, where I went through most everything relevant in the Preboot-era for Jason that I’m aware of. The exception to that is the events of Countdown which does feature Jason but also had him fighting extra-dimensional people so there is not much relevance to the main DC universe, and Lost Days where he doesn’t fight anyone who has ever fought anyone else of note. Happily, Jason kept the vast majority of his stories as canon after the reboot, so the only things from Part One that are questionable are things that don’t take place in Batman comics. I totally forgot Nightwing: Brothers in Blood though so I’m adding it, even if it isn’t canon anymore.

As before, I’m listing the major fights where Jason fights against skilled vigilantes or assassins, basically people skilled/important enough that you can use the match to measure his ability, so I’m discounting fights with nobodies and goons and low tier vigilantes/criminals.

To reiterate from Part 1, Jason is often in a position to kill his opponents, so in many matches he could technically win at any point, but he chooses not to. In the New 52 and beyond Jason acts more as a hero/protagonist in many cases so he runs a lot less and fights other Bats less often. But as before in the case that he does run or the fight is inconclusive, I’m just going to call it a ‘tie’. I’m going to rate the outcome of matches as such:

Win - Jason kills, incapacitates, checkmates or otherwise defeats his opponent.

Tie with an advantage - Jason escapes or stops the fight with less damage than his opponent or having achieved more goals.

Tie - More or less an equal amount of damage, or goal achievement on both sides.

Tie with a disadvantage - Jason escapes or stops the fight with more damage than his opponent or not having achieved his goal.

Loss - Jason is captured, incapacitated, checkmated or otherwise defeated.

Let me just preface this by saying that many fights in the New 52/Rebirth, especially any instance where Jason fights alongside other batkids--especially Tim and Damian--Jason is purposefully made to look incompetent and the other superior, contrary to pretty much everything we know about Jason and Damian or Tim’s skills. Not that Tim or Damian are bad fighters, but Part 1 of this series makes it pretty damn clear that Jason is superior to both in skill/ability--which makes sense, he’s bigger and older and been fighting longer, there is no shame in that. So take the fights that involve them with a grain of salt, because most of them paint one or both characters as OOC. I usually try to be quick with the summaries of fights but I’m going to go into why some of these fights don’t make sense.

Nightwing: Brothers in Blood (1996)

Nightwing (Jason Todd) vs Nightwing (Dick Grayson)

Win - Jason actually saves Dick from falling off a building right before this, which Dick doesn’t really appreciate. They roll about fighting on the rooftop a bit with Jason seeming more playful while Dick is furious, ending in Dick hanging off the side of a building Lion-King style and Jason slashing his hand to drop him, effectively winning the fight.

Nightwing (Jason Todd) vs Nightwing (Dick Grayson)

Win - Dick leaps off a catwalk to try to fight Jason in civilian identity, which is silly but whatever. They trade some good blows but in the end, Jason knocks Dick out and escapes.

Batman, Incorporated (2012)

Wingman (Jason Todd), Redbird (Damian Wayne), The Hood and El Gaucho vs Merlyn, Sportsmaster, and thirty of the best League Assassins.

Win - Jason just walks through these guys. Damian shoots Merlyn with an arrow which was helpful but completely unnecessary and Jason electrocutes the guy. El Gaucho and The Hood help out but they struggle throughout. Jason casually takes out anyone who gets close. I only bother mentioning this fight at all because we are explicitly told these guys are THE BEST THIRTY assassins the League has, including named guys like Sportsmaster and it’s a joke. That is the level Jason is at.

Red Hood and The Outlaws (2011)

Red Hood and Starfire vs Lady Shiva, Manbats and Bronze Tiger

Tie with an advantage - Jason starts this fight chained to a pillar, which he gets out of in the blink of an eye. He then proceeds to punch out some manbats, gets in a fight with Lady Shiva, which he wins with a nerve strike, though it’s implied to be cheating by the dialogue, and then trades blows with Bronze Tiger. Granted, he gets in a tight spot with Bronze Tiger, for Star to jump in and assist. I’ll call it a tie, but anytime you take out Lady Godamn Shiva it’s a win.

Red Hood vs Ra’s Al Ghul

Win - This fight has more going on than just the martial arts, there’s magic Well of Sins/All-Caste stuff going on too, but generally speaking it’s a sword fight between Ra’s and Jason, in which Jason has the upper hand throughout and in the end he strike Ra’s down and strips him of the power of the Well of Sins.

Red Hood vs Ravager

Tie - Jason and Ravager are pretty evenly matched but it’s likely neither are trying their hardest because even after they stalemate each other, the fight ends and they go about their business.

Batman And Robin (2011)

Red Hood vs Robin (Damian Wayne)

Tie - By his own admission, Jason isn’t fighting his hardest against Damian. They exchange blows, Damian at one point has Jason at sword point, but Jason pulls an electrified baton like Nightwing’s, only Damian isn’t there, he’s escaped with his objective, which is Jason’s Red Hood helmet. So you may wonder why I classify this match as a tie when Damian seemed to get away with his objective. Well, it’s because Jason’s helmet can be remote detonated. Jason technically has Damian at a checkmate, but he’s not going to blow up his baby brother so I’d call this a tie.

Red Hood vs Batman

Tie - Jason is compromised through this whole fight but despite feeling betrayed and anxious he manages to hold it together pretty well. He and Bruce trade blows that results in a similar amount of damage but neither are really trying to win they just want to hurt each other. In the end, Jason is the one to decide to stop fighting and walk away.

Batman Eternal

Red Hood vs Batgirl (Barbara Gordon)

Loss - Even though Jason really is purposefully not hurting Barbara, because she’s been mind-whammied to think he’s the Joker, it still shows him getting his ass kicked more than it probably should. Basically Jason losses because he’s not trying to win. The win is waking Barb up, which he does, so it’s hard to tell how useful this fight is to gauge his abilities.

Batman & Robin Eternal

Red Hood vs Orphan (Cassandra Cain)

Win - Jason pretty clearly had the upper hand in this fight, though Cass gets some good hits in. Jason checkmates her twice, Cass breaks the first one when Jason is distracted on the phone with Dick, only for Jason to get her in another that could have resulted in real injury if Dick hadn’t stopped him from landing the blow.

Red Hood and Red Robin vs Bane

Tie with a disadvantage - First of all, Tim just gets in the way in this fight but it’s presented as if he is the smarter/superior fighter/strategist somehow. Jason gets a good hit or two on Bane even if he takes some bad hits too. But Tim straight up throws some birdarangs into Jason’s chest like an idiot and then when Bane manages to get Jason down, Tim pulls Jason’s gun and ‘checkmates’ Bane...except who in the hell believes Red Robin would actually pull the trigger to kill Bane? Nobody, so it’s a stalemate at best. This fight is dumb and Tim especially is written stupidly in this fight but I’d be remiss if I didn’t include it.

Red Hood and Red Robin vs Azrael

Tie with a disadvantage - This fight is less out of character but is still stupid. It shows Jason on the ground right at the beginning but doesn’t even show how/why that happened. Red Robin refuses to run when Jason tells him to, as if he’s going to have better luck against the guy, and jumps into the fight with Azrael. He knocks off his helmet somehow but then pretty much gets whooped, at which point Jason gets a good knock on Azrael, steals Tim and escapes.

Deathstroke (2014)

Red Hood vs Deathstroke

Win - Granted, Slade says his healing factor is compromised in this fight, but when it comes down to it, that doesn’t make him fight better, just bypass damage. They trade blows pretty evenly but as soon as Slade seems like he might get a real hit on Jason, our Jay just shoots him and it’s over.

Robin War

Red Hood vs Robin (Damian Wayne)

Loss -  This fight is short and completely stupid. Jason doesn’t land a hit, Damian essentially knocks him out with the ground.

Red Hood and the Outlaws (2016)

Red Hood vs Artemis of Bana-Migdall

Tie - Artemis has an overwhelming strength advantage over Jason, shattering his helmet with one punch and deflecting his bullets, but Jason does manage to briefly knock her out with the tazer in his bodyarmor, which some might call a win, but considering he was on the ropes most of the fight seems like a reach. After this they team up, and the fight ends without a clear victor.

Red Hood and Artemis of Bana-Migdall vs Orphan, Azrael, Batwing and Clayface

Loss - Hey, remember those fights with Azrael before in that trash comic that shall not be named? This is a more accurate representation of Jason’s strength. Jason starts off fighting Batwing, Clayface and Azrael, which he seems to easily be able to handle individually and in twos, while Artemis takes on Orphan and gets a hit in on the other opponents when there are openings. The fight seems pretty well in hand until Bizarro is taken out, causing Jason to turn to save him, at which point Batwing tasers him with a shot in the back. Despite technically losing, Jason was clearly superior to any single fighter on the other side who participated.

Red Hood vs Batman

Loss - This is the only time Jason has ever outright lost to Batman, but he was compromised and rushed through the entire battle, having been trying to rescue his friends and then reacting to their presumed death. He made a few defensive maneuvers and counters but it was clear he wasn’t trying to fight, whereas Batman beat at Jason, even when he was checkmated. Despite being rescued by Arsenal at the end of the battle, Jason definitely lost, but it’s difficult to say how invested he was in winning to begin with.

Teen Titans (2018) Annual 1

Red Hood vs Robin (Damian Wayne)

Win -  Jason starts off the fight trying to avoid fighting or hurting Damian. He lets Damian get in a number of hits on him without retaliation, until Damian pulls some kind of box that seems to upset Jason enough to get a real fight going. At this point Jason destroys Damian, the kid really never had a chance. And Damian resorts to trying to stalemate Jason with a suicide bomb, which Jason calls Damian’s bluff on and just leaves the battle with Damian defeated.

Conclusions

Fights from the New 52 and onward involving Jason are inconsistent compared to those before the reboot.

In his own title he fights mostly within a team and has few solo fights with street-level martial artists to really gauge his abilities.

The few times he does though, it upholds the skill that he is shown to have in the preboot era, showing him defeat Lady Shiva, Ra’s Al Ghul and survive in a match against Bronze Tiger, Ravager and Artemis of Bana-Migdall.

Taking into account all of his feats, it’s pretty easy to point out which fights are outliers: every fight with Tim in Batman and Robin Eternal and the fight with Damian in Robin War. Some other fights in Batman Eternal are also suspect.

Before these instances Tim never really had much chance against Jason in past fights. He could get good hits but for the most part he was on the defensive and absolutely nothing has changed to make him suddenly superior enough to perform better in fights or treat Jason the way he does in those comic runs. Jason is just completely written out of character in those runs. He doesn’t even act like himself most of the time.

Similarly Damian beating Jason at all is stupid, especially since it’s later shown Jason is still superior enough to Damian to basically toy with him. Damian being shown easily defeating Tim is also dumb because Tim tends to do better against Jason than Damian so really Tim should be a slightly better fighter than Damian.

A number of other fights also show Jason not dodging big, clearly telegraphed punches or dive kicks that make him look really incompetent, and which he would never be shown getting hit with in his other appearances.

The only fight involving Jason in those comics I’m not dismissing out of hand is Jay vs Cass. Cassandra fans will probably be upset with Jason beating her, but with Jason easily beating Shiva, and Cassandra also shown beating Lady Shiva in Detective Comics, it’s consistent at least. I’m tempted to say she wasn’t really trying, but considering Jason was about to open her up, that would be a pretty dumb decision. Unlike Jason, all of Cassandra’s appearances from the preboot have been completely retconned, so you can’t take any of them into account in this new iteration of her.

Basically just anything involving Jason in Batman Eternal and Batman and Robin Eternal and Robin War is stupid and you shouldn’t base your idea of his character on either of those runs because they’ve proven themselves to be inconsistent with EVERYTHING ELSE EVER WRITTEN ABOUT HIM.

Honestly the only good thing about his appearances in those runs is he consistently has the best one-liners.

[headcans-oneshots-and-stuff]

Independence

Requested by a super-duper-amazing anon

can i get a oneshot in which Batsis is very independent and lives on her own (basically like Jason) but the batfamily wants her back to the Manor and they invite her for dinner and stuff?? A lil angst and lots of fluff?

I hope you like it. It kind of escalated, making it way longer than I intended and it‘s more Angst than Fluff...Way more Angst than fluff. Hope you‘re not disappointed

Warnings: It’s Angst. Much, much Angst. Not as bad as you’d thing tho. And it ends with fluff. And some swearing.

Word count: 3096

Summary: Basically what the request says

The silence filling the empty flat was deafening, surrounding you like water in the deep sea. It was always the same thing. You came home and opened the door to the un-furnished hall, walked through an almost empty kitchen to take a soda (one of the only things in your refrigerator) and ended up in your bedroom.

There were only three things in said bedroom, a bed, a suitcase full for your suit and weapons and a carton with normal clothes. It had been like this for all your past accommodation. You never bothered to really furnish or decorate, since you knew it would only last for a few months tops. None of the places you stayed at ever felt like home. They never did.

The only place you ever called home and whichever really felt like it, was the house you grew up. Wayne Manor.

But things have changed, you have changed.

With a sigh, you sunk down onto the bed peeled your mask off of your face and flung it into the corner of your room. You took your pillow from beside you, placed it behind you and laid back so that only your legs were dangling down from the side of your bed.

It was then that you realized the stinging pain in your side and remembered the bullet that hit you earlier. A groan left you when you realized that you were most likely bleeding all over your bed and would need to change the sheets later. Your own well-being was not really your first priority, in fact, it wasn't even in your top ten. Not anymore.

The sound of your window creaking made you sit up just enough to aim your 'Emergency'-gun at the door that leads to your room.

"I'm so not in the mood for fighting, so I'd really advice you to just turn around and leave," you shouted, even though it was more sarcastic than anything.

"It's me Ukthi," your youngest brother said, appearing in the doorway. You were happy to see him, but you knew better than to show it. You just fell back onto the pillow, careful laying your hand onto the part of your suit that was ruined and bloody in order for him nor to see it and grunted: "What do you want Damian?"

He looked unsure for a second, surely not having expected such a hard tone after not having seen you for five months straight. He was used to you basically suffocating him with hugs after being gone for the weekend, but now...now you reacted cold. And the look on his face broke your heart a little bit, but you knew that it was the right thing to do. Or at least you hoped so.

"Did Bruce sent you? I told him I'd contact him if there was something important," you said, rolling your eyes. Damian's eyes widened a bit when you called your shared father by his first name, something you've never done before, but he tried to not let you see how unsure he was. But you did. He was transparent for you.

"No. Father didn't send me... But he mentioned that he thought about inviting you to dinner this Friday and...uhm," usually you would have teased him for not wanting to outright say that he was worried for you, but this time you just ignored it. You huffed, but finally stood up, your back turned to your brother.

"I don't think Friday works for me, I have some business to attend to," it was a straight-out lie, but Damian didn't know that.

By now the blood loss from the bullet wound made you slightly dizzy and you were glad when you heard Damian's footsteps. I seemed like it made you dizzier then you thought, then contrary to what you thought, one of his hands landed on your arm, meaning his footsteps were coming in your direction.

"Please. I-I don't know what exactly happened that caused you to move out and," he made a short pause and you felt the need to lay your hand on his, but fought against the urge, "-and I understand that you don't tell me, but please," your breath hitched a bit, he rarely said that voice in such an honest fashion, "It's not the same without you in the manor. Father is getting even more distant than usual, without another girl in the manor Cass is feeling alone, Tim tries to help her, but it's not the same, it's not like the way you managed to do, the only times she is acting the way she...uhm...should, is when Steph or one of the other girls is visiting," he withdrew his hand and you felt a cold shudder run over your heart, something you were used to by now, but it hurts none the less.

"Tim and I manage, we're both used to the way it was before you came to us before you became part of our lives, but that doesn't mean it makes it easier. Jason doesn't come as often as he used to, even Dick is rarely seen anymore, we all depended on you, you know," his voice was timid and made you feel ashamed of yourself, "I know it's not fair, I have no entitlement to demand so, but please, come back to us." The tears were pricking in your eyes, but you held them back like you always did.

"Damian," you started, turning your head to look at him, the look on his face reminded you so much of how you felt when your mother left you, when you begged her to come back to you, and it reminded you of how painful it was for you when she didn't. At first, you wanted to deny him, to stay strong, but all those memories stopped you from doing so, but you couldn't give in fully either, "I can't say I'll come back, I- I don't know if I even can," you began, but before you gave Damian time to comprehend what you said, you continued: "But I think I can make some time for Dinner on Friday. I'll come around at 6 p.m. You think that would work?"

For the first time in months, you allowed yourself to truly smile, it was only for a second, but it was a real smile.

"I think that should work," Damian said with a small smile as well, "see you on Friday?"

"See you on Friday," you confirmed.

As soon as he was gone through the window, you collapsed onto the floor. That Bullet really took a toll on you, it angered you, but you knew you couldn't patrol until the wound was closed enough to not let you bleed out as soon as you started fighting.

"Fuck," you groaned but managed to get up on your feet again. With support from the wall, you made your way into the almost jokingly tiny bathroom and ripped the drawer over the sink open. You searched through it with drastic movements that made half the stuff (empty painkiller bottles mostly) fall out and land beside you on the floor. As soon as you found the gauze bandage, some cotton and disinfectant, you shut the drawer again and sunk down onto the toilet.

After you overcame the burden that was taking the suit off without getting into even more pain, you cleaned the wound as good as you could and took the gauze. You bit your lip and carefully stuffed it into the hole that led to the bullet still impaled into your intestines.

“That‘ll have to do,“ you mumbled and sank down from the toilet to the cold floor which embraced you like a frosty hug. At this point, it was impossible for you to keep your eyes open and they immediately shut, sending you into the dark world that was lead by your nightmares.

The Days leading to Friday were painfully slow, especially since you couldn‘t go on patrol like you‘d like to and the would in your stomach would just not stay shut for once, making every move at least very, very uncomfortable. But not moving wasn‘t a change either. You still needed to get the money to pay the rent.

Bruce had told you oft enough that he could pay, but that would only send you deeper into the mindset you already had, the mindset that had established itself ever since you‘ve begun to distance yourself from your family. So you refused and instead started to work as one of Gotham's private investigators. At first, you thought it would just be a way to pay the bills but by now you actually enjoyed it. It helped you forget and it helped you relax, something you really needed.

Your latest client has just left your office (the first room to the right in your Appartement and all in all the only room that had more then five peace’s of furniture and looked at least somewhat comfy), when you looked at the clock over the door and saw that it was time for you to get ready for dinner.

You didn‘t really have much choice clothes-wise, since most of them were bloody from the ever opening wound and had to be washed, so you settled for a simply form-fitting black T-shirt, high-waisted jeans that would sit above your wound in an attempt to keep the (new) gauze in it ‘in it‘, brown boots and a Trenchcoat to help you against the chilling cold. Nothing too special, but also not to unfitting. You should be good to go.

You‘ve already drawn your phone out of your pocket with the intent to call yourself a taxi since you only had a bike which you couldn‘t ride in your condition when you opened the buildings front door to see one of the black limousines of your father drive up. A warm feeling settled in your stomach when you saw the man who partly raised you step out of the front door.

“Hello Mistress Y/N,“ Alfred greeted you, a warm smile settled on his lips. “It has been quite long since I‘ve last seen you.“

“I‘m sorry, Alfie. It has been...“ you searched for the correct word, “busy.“ After you hugged him, you looked around in confusion, “What are you doing here anyway?“

“Oh, Master Bruce sent me to drive you, since he knows you don‘t have a car yourself.“

“But I have a bike,“ you said, knowing that Alfred had no idea of your current handicap.

“Yes, indeed, but it‘s a cold night and-“ before he could finish you interrupted him. “And he hopes that I stay for a while,“ the tone in your voice was bitter, but the bitterness wasn't really aimed at your father.

Alfred made no further comment to your interruption but opened your door for you to enter the car.

The drive to the Manor was silent, but pleasantly so. No pressure. Not yet.

When the car was parked in the garage, Alfred opened the door for you yet again and led you into the main building where you already heard different voices coming from the dining room. You had expected your father, Damian, Cass and, if he was not to tired or busy, maybe even Tim, but now you identified the voices of not just those four, but also your two older brothers Jason and Dick.

“They are all here?“ you asked Alfred quietly, not really trusting your voice.

“Yes, Miss Stephanie, Miss Harper, Miss Barbara and Mister Duke wanted to be here as well, but your father said something about baby-steps and someone having to patrol.“

You nodded and took a deep breath, getting ready for the hell that would be unleashed upon you in only seconds. Alfred opened the dining-room door and said: “Mistress Y/N has arrived, I‘ll give you some time to catch up, dinner will be served in about fifteen minutes.“ You walked into the room and all eyes immediately landed on you. You cleared your throat before giving an awkwardly “Hey“.

In order they all greeted you. The first one was Damian, who tried to keep his ‘tough‘ persona up and so didn‘t hug you, slightly smiling at you, quietly thanking you for keeping your promise, followed by Jason who gave you a half-hug-half-handshake combination, causing you to have to bite the inside of your mouth in pain. You wouldn‘t let them see your pain...you couldn‘t.

Tim and Dick both gave you bear hugs that luckily, due to their height, didn‘t hurt you any further. The whole time you had a tight, just somewhat off, smile on your lips, that only got real when your eyes met Cass‘.

God, you‘ve missed her. Of course, you missed all off your family members, but Cassandra and you always had a special bond, you could communicate without words. One look was enough. She was the only one who knew and understand why you had to leave. She tried to talk you out of it but accepted her defeat once she saw how determined you‘ve been. You weren‘t so sure anymore...

Cass took your hands into hers and smiled at you, looking right through your eyes into your soul. “Hey Pumpkin,“ you greeted your little sister and let one of her hands go to caress the top of her head. The only one left was Bruce, your father, who looked at you with a pained smile. He missed you so much. He didn‘t know why you left the manor. He tried to pinpoint the moment when you decided to leave, but he couldn‘t find anything different.

You had just healed after some time having to rest after a mission gone slightly wrong when you told him that you had to take some time for yourself, get some distance between you and them. You didn‘t tell him why or when (or if) you‘d come back. It threw him back to the time Dick moved out and somewhat also to the time Jason died, how he never really became the old one again. He had hoped so badly that that wouldn‘t happen to you.

“Hello Dad,“ you said, the tight smile back on your lips. He didn‘t respond, he just took you into his arms and gave you the tightest hug he could without knowingly hurting you. The problem was that he still did. Normally it wouldn‘t be a problem, but with the wound in your stomach, you felt your skin pierce and felt the area on your stomach get wet. Besides that, a pain roared through your whole body that made you scream in agony. Bruce let you go in shock, maybe thinking that he was the one who hurt you, which caused you to fall to your knees, your arms tightly pressed against you under-upper body.

You were immediately surrounded by the others. They all asked what could be wrong and held your shoulders in support, which caused you to momentarily forget the pain.

“Stop!“ you shouted, making them all back off slightly, “Please. Just stop.“

The first one to recover from the shook was Damian, who then kneeled down in front of you and laid one hand on your shoulder. “But Ukthi...You‘re hurt. We just want to help you,“ he said, earning a few agreeing noises from the others. The mix of pain and emotions made tears well up in your eyes and finally spill over, causing your next words to be interrupted and followed by sobs.

“Bu-but you-you shouldn‘t,“ a few harsh breaths rippled through your body, “You‘re always helping-helping me b-back up and I fall down none the- none the less. I can‘t do anything alone, I-I can‘t even manage the easiest missions. I‘m s-such a burden to all of you,“ even if you would be able to see anything through your blurry-tear-stained-eyes, you still couldn‘t, since your eyes where directed at the floor in shame, “How can you not be annoyed by me?“ you quietly mumbled, the tears now streaming down silently.

That made all the pieces fall into place for Bruce. You thought the failed mission shortly before you left was your fault. On the inside he cursed himself out for not noticing further, he had just overseen that you were hurting.

He gently pushed Damian away from you and sat down beside you, pulling you into his lap.

“I‘m so sorry Y/N. I should‘ve realized what was going on. Please believe me when I tell you, you‘re one of the best things that ever happened to me, I wouldn‘t know what I‘d do without you, without any of you. You have never been, nor will you ever be a burden to me. What happened wasn‘t your fault. None of it. Mistakes happen and that‘s all it was: a mistake.“ His works soothed you, but it was hard to let everything, you made yourself believe in the last few months, go. But you could try. For their sake. The way they looked at you and the way they worried for you showed you, that your siblings and your father did not think of you the way you thought of yourself. For them, you were a treasure and they hoped they could show you why they thought so. Engulfed in the biggest group hug ever, you felt at home, you felt safe again. You even Managed to forget the pain. Cass didn‘t. She came to your other side, remembering how you held your tummy. She gently moved your arms away from your body and carefully touched your T-shirt. The red liquid that drenched her fingers made her gasp softly.

“Y/N, what happened?“ she asked, directing the attention of the other males in the room to her and her hands.

“It‘s nothing,“ you started, but immediately noticed the looks in their eyes, “I got shot on my last patrol. I have been at home for the past week, but it‘s just not healing.“

“Was that the reason you didn‘t look at me when I came over?“ he asked and you nodded silently.

“I believe we‘ll postpone dinner until later and now go and get Misstress Y/N fixed up.“ It was Alfred who said that and broke the mega-group hug apart.

Maybe it was time to go back home. Go back home and stay. Because nothing is as good as home and family.