#if their mom is Alfre I’m going to scream

[handsome-edvard]

I’m watching S.W.A.T. and Hondo’s sister is Tilda!!!! lol not Tilda Dillard!!!! 😭

[fancyfeathers]

Hey Fancy! Apologies if this is a wee bit long but it’s a random platonic yandere Batfam idea I’ve had for a long time. Adopted daughter who becomes an investigative journalist. (With Outlast crossover)

Darling was a product of one of Bruce’s affairs and he never really cared, he paid child support and that’s about it. Darling didn’t care as she and her mother were happy together until they weren’t. Darling’s mother starts to have to work longer hours, coming back more and more hollow until there’s nothing left but her corpse. Darling had a gut feeling her mom died because her mom’s boss was cutting corners in safety at some chemical plant and forcing long hours on workers. 

Of course darling has to go to her father’s house now and live with him (I imagine she was adopted a year before Jason died) after a week she’s asked if she wants to become Robin to which she refuses. She wants to fight the criminals who act as altruists, such as corrupt leaders and politicians, companies who have blood on their hands but hide it, because that’s the hero who could save her mom. Bruce accepts this but the family just seems to forget her. Not out of maliciousness, except for Damien, they just don’t have time for a non-vigilante sibling. She feels alone and when Tim and then Damien are welcomed into the family they neglect her too. Damien even mocks her for being useless. The only family she had there is Alfred, as he made sure to care for darling whenever s he could. 

When darling turns 18, she gets out of that house and goes to a university to study journalism. She becomes an investigative journalist who gained her reputation for going deep into the depths of corruption’s depravity and meets this one dude named Miles Upshur who she becomes partners with as they both are freelance journalists because they don’t censor the truth. They get an email one day telling them about messed up things happening at Mount Massive asylum.

They both go and cue the events of the game Outlast and Outlast Whistleblower. I’m not sure if you are comfortable with the contents of those games so I summarize it by saying the patients were being experimented on and broke free causing Miles to get trapped in the asylum with no way to fight back. He only has places to hide and a camera with night vision that drains his batteries. He gets very injured and Whistleblower is the same concept as it’s the same place but from the perspective of the one who sent the email. I imagine the darling was somehow separated from miles but ended up getting out of there with the whistleblower.

She took the footage and instead of letting the whistleblower release it, as the company begging the asylum would hunt him and his wife and kids down, she would be the one as her reputation precedes her. But after dropping the whistleblower off at his home she has no choice but to go to her old one, cause if the company couldn’t ruin her reputation, could just silence her like they did with everyone else. The batfam is going to be very confused when a freshly traumatized, bloody,and bruised darling shows up on their front porch, clutching camcorders to her chest like a lifeline. Who knows, they might just not let her out if this is how she ends up after being on her own.

again really sorry if this is weird or too long! It’s just been brewing in my brain and I needed to share it

God it’s been forever since I played Outlast, I don’t remember everything about the game cause I was screaming and crying for the most part and I literally could only watch Whistleblower and had to skip some stuff

This might not be entirely game accurate cause it has been a hot minute but I will do my best

I do not think Bruce would be exactly neglectful especially since this is yandere content and obsession starts when they normally meet their darling, like a root that takes hold and begins to grow after certain events. I imagine that her mom did not want her daughter to meet Bruce cause she thought he would not be a good influence, the whole billionaire playboy persona. She raised her daughter on her own until her death, her daughter can remember sitting in the hospital when the doctor told her that she was dead, died of radium poisoning, her body decaying while she was still alive.

She remembers sitting in the waiting room of the hospital, waiting after the staff called her biological father to pick her up, a nurse sitting with her. She knew why her mother did not want her to meet her, but her mother was wrong to an extent. She honestly expected someone like Alfred to pick her up, who she knew because he would meet with her mother for fund related affairs since she did not want her daughter knowing her father…

But Bruce was the one who picked her up, in fact he practically came running when he got the call from the hospital when he was at a gala.

When Bruce came into the hospital waiting room, he kneeled down to her level and took her little hands in his, he felt so sorry for not knowing, he could have helped, but for now what he can tell her is…

“Everything will be okay, I’ll keep you safe.”

Bruce is not intentionally neglectful, he really does try his best, but between being Batman and handling his daily affairs as Bruce Wayne he just does not have the time besides to have meals with her. He does keep her safe, puts a tracker in her bag or jacket in case anything goes wrong, but as if something will go wrong while she is playing soccer after school.

Dick is also probably very busy as well to give her much attention but he is pretty similar to Bruce in the way that he cares but he just does not have the time to now that he is Nightwing. He occasionally takes her out to do things, and he apologizes for not being able to spend more time with her, but he is just so busy.

Her and Jason are probably the closest, he is her big brother in his eyes. He helps her transition into her new home the most, making pillow forts, playing video games, taking her out to play in the snow. Then one morning she comes downstairs to see Alfred looking so solemn and Bruce sitting in an armchair in the living room, his head in his hands and still in the Batman suit, but no sign of Jason…

“Dad?”

She knows something is wrong so she hugs Bruce and it is the first time she sees him cry, he hugs her back, as if scared to let her go… but that is because he is.

“Oh sweetheart… I am so sorry.”

He was going to ask her to be a Robin one day, Jason would not have the mantle forever since after all Dick didn’t, but now he can’t stand the idea of loosing her, so he’ll keep her safe, even if that means keeping her at an arms length.

I think after Jason’s death he would probably send her to boarding school in a safer city like Metropolis or boarding school in a small town with next to no crime rate. It breaks his heart to send her away like that, but it is what keeps her alive. She comes home on the holidays and breaks but there is just an aura about the house now that Jason is gone, a constant state of sadness and as if a hand is holding onto her, which is fair because when she is home she isn’t allowed off of the manor grounds, Gotham is just too dangerous. That doesn’t mean they make more time for her, no her summers and holidays are just as lonely as they were before, only this time she is isolated from the outside world and left lonely by her own family.

Tim is similar to Dick in the way that he feels bad but does not make much of an effort to spend more time with her, even less so than Dick does. He only texts her every now and then so show he somewhat cares and talks with her at family meals, but that’s it.

Then there is Damian, she cannot stand him. She knows he grew up entitled in the League of Assassins but he cannot even pretend to be nice. He talks to her as if she is beneath him, despite the fact that when he is brought into the manor she is a senior in high school.

“No wonder you never became Robin, why would father let the most useless child even-“

“Damian, that is enough!”

Luckily Bruce or Alfred normally intervenes and defuses the situation before Damian says something too extreme.

Then she graduates high school and moves on to university, which Bruce pays for in full without hesitation. It is there in university that she meets her partner in crime, Miles Upshur. They are practically joined at the hip and then when that first finals come around and their project is to do a mock investigation and article and they get to choose a topic to do it on and then Miles asked her…

“Hey, what do ya want to do this on? Lexcorp? Abuse in the ballet industry? Maybe-“

“The radium scandal in the Gotham City Chemical Plant.”

“That’s oddly specific, why?”

“It’s how my mom died.”

And that’s how everything started with their chosen path of investigation. They graduate and the two of them even get photos in their graduate robes and degrees together. Her family comes, which an empty seat to honor Jason, despite him watching from a back doorway, she does not need to know what happened to him in the Lazarus Pit and he certainly won’t be caught dead with Bruce at the time.

Bruce is only okay with her going into journalism because he thinks she’ll be working behind a desk at a paper, not what her and Miles plan on doing…

If he knew he certainly would not be happy and try to find a way to interfere…

But sadly he never remembered to ask exactly what she was going to do.

Her and Miles have done a number of stories together, after the first five or so Bruce found out the kind of work she was doing and repeatedly called her to try to talk her out of it, but she would ignore his calls every time.

It was just supposed to be another job, not whatever this was…

They got an email from an anonymous worker, asking to investigate the Murkoff Corporation and their actions at Mount Massive Asylum. The two even joked during their car ride over to the asylum, laughing about stories she shared about her life at the manor and their old college days, they had no idea what they would find inside.

The asylum even looked messed up from the outside, but the inside was a thousand times worse…

Patients who were experimented on, and now they were inhuman and trying to kill, disassemble, mutilate them, you get the idea…

An insane priest to put it lightly…

Dead bodies all over, murdered in horrible ways…

Everyone left alive in there was less than human, insane, or just about to go insane…

And when I say insane, I mean Joker levels of insane.

They get separated along the way, which is good for her, but not so good for Miles.

She makes it out alive thanks to their anonymous source who sent them the email in the first place, Waylon Park who is a software engineer. The two escape together and due to her shock she can’t remember much until long after she left Waylon at his home and she is pulled over at a rest stop half way between Lake County, Colorado and Gotham City, New Jersey, way to exhausted to continue on. She reaches for her phone and finally calls Bruce back.

“D-dad… are you there?”

“Yes, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“S-so much… I want to go home… please I…”

She passes out from exhaustion while on the phone…

But luckily, do you remember what I said about Bruce putting trackers on her things? He never stopped when she was an adult.

When she wakes up she is back home in the manor, in her old room. She is laying flat on her back with everyone around her, even Damian and…

“Jason?”

“Ya… I’m here, lovebug. Just rest, you certainly need it.”

“Need it? For fucks sake she is missing a finger!”

“Dick, shut up-“

Bruce yells them to shut up and he holds her bandaged and stitched hand in his…

“Sweetheart, what happened?”

She only points to the camera in her things as asks them not to play it in front of her. They all watch it together in the Batcave before patrol and…

“Oh my god.”

It is worse than what the Joker did to Jason.

When she finally recovers and is going to write the story and-

No she is not allowed to, Bruce will handle the situation, most likely bringing it to the attention of the Justice League.

In fact she is not allowed to write another story again, she is not leaving the manor again. She is not a hero, she is just a reporter, and Jason is unable to fully move on after what happened to him so how well will she fair out in the real world in her fragile mental state? What if something happens that triggers those memories? They are not letting her take that risk.

Most days she is kept in her room, a controlled environment to make her feel safe. Then most nights one of her brothers or Bruce sleeps beside her in bed after patrols in case nightmare come up and she wakes up screaming. If her mental state get too bad they’ll sedate her so at least her mind is calm and she is not getting flashbacks. Bruce eventually gets her a therapist to work through what happened to her so at least she can have some what of a normal life after what happened…

Well as normal as you can get when you are locked inside for the rest of your life.

[gothamhappiness]

You are my heaven 5 - the end (Bruce Wayne x f!reader)

It was supposed to be a little imagine of a dark and lonely Bruce Wayne switching place with another Bruce Wayne from a parallal universe, but I wrote more than I thought. And then you asked for more :)

My masterlist is here.

Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4

Warnings: no proof reading, fighting, language, violence, angst/comfort (in a way), pregnant!reader

Things went out of hand pretty quickly. Dick joined you home and saw Bruce speaking with you. He was towering over you. You seemed very uneasy. 

“So you knew”

“That I was with a man who was actually in love with me and taking care of me? Yes”

“I am your husband. Is it how you are loyal to me? No, no, don’t answer. You know what, I understand. I haven’t been the best. But once he’ll be back to his world, I’ll do better. I’ll take care of this child and we’ll be happy again. Don’t you want that?”

You didn’t answer because you realised how obvious the answer was: you were in love with the other version of Bruce, not with the one you actually married. You wished for him to go away, you wanted things back like when he was gone. You didn’t even feel guilty anymore. You were allowed to be happy, your children too. Even Barbara started to enjoy the new Bruce better.

“Don’t you want that?” Bruce repeated, losing it over your lack of answer

Dick walked over and with the way the man greeted him, he knew who it was. The new Bruce was always smiling at him, always grateful to have Dick around. This Bruce was a little bit annoyed, a little bit too cold to feel happy around him. Dick wrapped an arm around your shoulders and you relaxed a little bit.

“Stay away from mom” Dick groaned

“I’m not… For fuck sake, can you all stop acting like if I was the intruder here? I belong here, this is my world, my family, my home!” Bruce was getting angry

“Then start treating us better already” Dick continued

“How fucking dare you?! Without me, you’d be nothing” Bruce started to scream

“And you how fucking dare you talking with that tone in front of a pregnant woman? A woman you said you loved too. But really you never knew anything about that, did you?”

The batfamily had always been pretty protective of you, but it was even worse now you were pregnant. And to Dick, his former father was actually a threat to the family. Because it finally felt like a family and after everything that happened, he didn’t want to lose it.

Everything happened in a blur after that. The “real” Bruce threw a punch at Dick, out of pure anger and despair at being so easily replaced. They started to fight. They had no mercy. Actually, all the anger they always felt toward each other was finally getting free and making them even more ruthless.

Alfred quickly grabbed you and guided you away from the two men, finding you a safe place to lock yourself in until everything would settle down. Alfred wasn’t too sure what to do. He had guessed something happened when his Master started to treat everyone like Alfred always wished he would. For once, he had decided to pretend to not understand. But now, to be fair, he wasn’t recognising the man he raised and he thought that maybe he was gone in this other world. Or maybe he never truly existed. He just wanted them to stop fighting, but he didn’t know how to.

You called your lover, you tried to explain to him what was going on, but you were getting close to a panic attack. 

“It’s alright, my love, it’s alright. I’m on my way. Stay where you are, stay safe. This is all that matters to me. Jason will come find you so you won’t stay on your own, okay? I just need you to breathe in and out. Can you do that? For me? I know you are strong. You are amazing, my love. I just need you to trust me” he smoothly told you, trying to appease you no matter how tense he was himself getting.

But all that mattered was you. Always you.

“I… I trust you” you finally manager to whisper

“Good. Lay down and breathe, my love. I’ll be home soon”

After that, he called Kate for her to deal with the security breach while he was coming back to the manor. On his way, he also called Jason for him to protect you and help you calm down. Jason didn’t ask a question. If his father needed you to look after you, he didn’t need to know anything else.

You heard a car coming by, the front doors getting opened and then more sounds of fighting. You knew that your Bruce had started a war with your former husband. You guessed he asked Dick to leave, because he didn’t want his son to get hurt. Hopefully, Alfred was taking care of Dick now.

You started to cry.

You jumped when you heard a knock at your door. Soon enough, you opened the door to a very worried Jason who locked the door back behind him and settled on the ground by your side. He held you and rocked you, whispered words of reassurance to help you calm down. He hated to see you like that.

When he arrived at the manor, he did his best to follow the instructions he received for once, and to not intervene in the fight between the two Bruces. He was now praying to whoever divinity who might hear him to get rid of the former Bruce. He didn’t want to be in the same world as him again. You both heard the sounds of the fight and it was driving you sick with worry. 

“What if he kills him?” you cried our and Jason shushed you

“He’ll be fine” he whispered

“You haven’t seen the way he was acting. He was so desperate to get his life back here, he promised me things…” you felt like you were going to throw up

“Ma, don’t worry. He may want his life back, but I can tell you that dad is actually very desperate to keep this life as well. And you’re pregnant with his baby. He’ll fight with everything he has” Jason tried to reassure you

Jason was right. The two Bruces were on equal strength, on equal intelligence and on equal despair. They both wanted and needed this good life in this world, but for that, one of them needed to be gone.

Both Bruces had thought of so many plans and different contingencies to take care of the other. They hadn’t really planned on simply fighting the other one. But despair drives everyone crazy and makes them act like animals.

You heard screams of:

“This is my home! I’ll kill you or I’ll send you back to your personal Hell!”

“This is my Heaven and you can’t get it away from me. You didn’t deserve any of this anyways. Even my wife knows it”

“She isn’t yours”

“That’s no what she said. That’s not what the children said.”

“Fuck you”

You had no idea how long it last. Forever, maybe.

“I’m going to get sick” you whispered when a terrible silence engulfed the whole manor.

Then you heard a lot of footsteps. The children arrived and were taking care of things. You jumped when Alfred knocked at the door.

“Mr Jason, Mrs Y/N, the fight is over. You can come out” he told you 

Jason had to help you get up because your legs didn’t want to obey you anymore. You opened the door and Cass helped you walk to the living room with Jason. Everyone was so tense.

“How’s Dick?” you asked Stephanie who walked by

“He is fine, Duke is with him right now, to make sure he is all good” she answered and you felt a little bit better knowing that

Damian was sitting on the ground with Tim. They were both looking at the two Bruce Wayne lying on the floor. One was stabbed, the other one was tasered. They were unconscious. Damian was lost, Tim was trying to take care of the wound. 

“Baraba called Leslie, Alfred is waiting for her” Cass told you before helping you sitting down on a chair

“What are we going to do?” you whispered

“We need to make a choice” Jason told you

After a little while, the whole family was in the room, looking at the two men. The choice was pretty easy to make. 

Your former husband was locked up in an unbreakable room. Leslie took care of him while he was unconscious, and after that only Alfred talked with him. Damian sometimes too, but he never let his father go. Deep down, you knew that this fate was even worse than just killing him. But you couldn’t kill him; you needed to send him back to the other world, because this world didn’t have any Bruce Wayne now and who knew what the consequences could be.

When your lover woke up, he was in his bed. You were sitting next to him, holding his hand in yours. 

“Welcome back, darling” you whispered

“You choose me” he understood, fully relaxing against the mattress

“We choose happiness. Whenever we’ll find out how, we’ll send him back to the other world. For the last time, hopefully”

“I’ll make sure of it” he hummed before kissing your fingers

The man you loved never had any more nightmares about the other Bruce.

And you neither.

--

Taglist for all my work <3

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Taglist for this series <3 (you’re my heaven)

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Thanks for the ideas & the comments <3

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[pinkiemachine]

More BatFamily X Meet the Robinsons (I don’t have time to draw this whole thing)

Tim: What’s your name, fruit-head?

Jon: Well, Jon, but—

Tim: Jon, huh? Well, say, Jon, you haven’t seen a spleen around here have ya?

Jon: A spleen?!

Tim: Yeah, my spleen! :) Been digging holes all day. Can’t find it anywhere.

Jon: Alright, look—I need to get back to the garage. Damian left me down there, and I wasn’t suppose to leave, and then this monster attacked me on the porch and—

Tim: Monster? There’s no monster on the porch you ninny! XD

Jon: Listen to me—

Tim: Of course, I also didn’t think there was a Starro living on my arm, and—whoop! *lifts arm to reveal Jarro* Looky there! Hope he ain’t got rabies!

Jon: Dude—I need to get to the garage!

Tim: Oh, sure, I’ll get you there in a jiffy. I know a shortcut!

——————————————————————————————

*opens secret entrance to the living room*

Tim: Welcome to the garage! … … … Well, I’m completely lost.

Jon: …

Artemis: Hello, Tim!

Tim: Hey, Artemis! Jon and I are looking for the garage!

Dusan: We have a garage?

Tim: Apparently so. :)

*and maybe Dusan and Artemis have a duel or something, idk*

——————————————————————————————

*Damian arrives back in the garage*

Damian: Alright, Jon. I’ve got the—*the garage is empty* …Jon?

——————————————————————————————

*Tim and Jon walk past Jason who’s beating the snot out of a punching bag and screaming*

Tim: That’s Jason. He’s pretty chill.

Jon: …

——————————————————————————————

*I don’t know how to translate Nyssa into Art’s bit*

——————————————————————————————

*Tim and Jon on the roof*

Tim: Well what are we doing up here?

Jon: Looking for the garage…

Tim: Oh yeah!

——————————————————————————————

*in another room of the house*

Mar’i: Jake! You stop hogging the trapeze or I’m telling mom!

Jake: Oh, lighten up, sis!

Mar’i: Jake, I mean it!

Dick: Children, please! Your mother is trying to take a nap—

Starfire: What is all the yelling out here?!

Jake: She started it!

Mar’i: He started it!

Starfire: I don’t wanna hear any more!

Dick: Now, sweetie—

Starfire: Don’t you sweetie me! I’m going for a drive.

*leaves and peels out*

Tim: That’s strange. She usually takes the Harley.

Jon: …

——————————————————————————————

Tim: Ooh, I think my girlfriend Steph is baking cookies!

*opens door to disco room, and Steph is jamming out*

Tim: Bake them cookies, Steph!

——————————————————————————————

*looking at Ace*

Jon: Why is your dog wearing glasses?

Tim: Oh, because his insurance won’t pay for contacts.

ba dum tss!

——————————————————————————————

Tim: That’s Duke, and that’s Cassandra.

*both wave “hi”*

*suddenly, Goliath appears!*

Tim: Oh look, there’s—

Jon: Ah! That’s the monster!

Tim: Oh no, Jon, this is just Goliath, one of Damian’s pets! And this is our butler, Alfred.

*Alfred has Goliath on a leash*

Alfred: Pleased to meet you.

Jon: Y-you too.

Tim: Hey, Alfie, any idea how to get to the garage?

Alfred: Have you tried Miss Kyle?

Tim: Well, that’s true, we didn’t ask her yet.

Jon: Who’s that?

Tim: Damian’s step-mom, Selina. I think you’ll like her :)

*opens door to Selina’s pet sanctuary*

Selina: Hey guys!

*there’s probably a bunch of cool creatures in there, like magical ones, alien ones, take your pick*

——————————————————————————————

ANYWAY, I’d write that they found Tim’s spleen, but I don’t think anyone wants to read that XD

Original Post for more context 👇

[justanothervigalanty]

[Revenge]

(robin!jason Todd x fem!y/n Gordon)

part 2: the drug ring

Jason’s funeral was probably the saddest thing you ever heard about because you didn’t attend. You couldn’t possibly. Bruce had to make you promise not to push your self. Which meant 4 months on bed rest wich didn’t stop you were on crutches for the next 6 months and that card left a scar from your shoulder to the start of your neck. Bye bye vests. You became depressed. People tried to help you but nothing could help. Dick and Babs tried to talk to you but you didn’t listen or expect their help. One night Your dad had woken up to you screaming having nightmares about that night. Jason’s screaming the crowbar dragging across the ground the last thing he said to you “I’m sorry” repeating in your head. “Hay y/n! Are you ok!?” He asked sitting on your bed. “It’s him the dream dad the joker!” You said crying into his arms. At this point you had told him that you had gone after Jason that you were what Gotham was called the night’s shadow or just shadow.

“Bruce what do you want?” You asked running down the stairs off the bat cave buckling up Jason’s second belt that you used if he was out off Gotham. Around your waist. “Did you find him?!” You said running to the Batmobile. “No, but this is Tim.” He said which is when you saw a small no older than 12 black haired boy sleeping in the back seat. “Ok what is going on?!” You whispered “y/n I know this is wired but I need you to stay calm.” Bruce said carefully talking out the boy. “He knows who we were he knows you’re the night’s shadow he knows dick is nightwing he knows I’m Batman and that Jason is- was robin.” Bruce said handing the kid to Alfred who took him to bed. “What is your point.” You asked “Batman needs robin” he said needing down placing a hand on your shoulder. “That’s why I’m here so that I can help!” You said stepping back “yeah well I’m worried that you might-“ “what kill somebody!?” You yelled “well y/n after last night I thought that you needed a break…” Bruce said walking away. “So you’re fireing Me?!” You asked “why because you don’t have the guts to kill that mad man! Who may I remind you killed your fucking son?!” You shouted “you know what screw you and dick and that random kid you who you think could ever replace Jason! Fuck you bat!” You said storming out.

“Y/n! Y/n! What’s going on!” Babs said as you came storming into the house and started packing your stuff “y/n talk to me!” She yelled moving herself to her wheelchair and coming over to you. “I’m leaving!” You said grabbing your crutches that you needed from time to time. “Y/n! No y/n!” Barbra said grabbing your rist “you can’t leave me!” She said tears in her eyes “please. Mom left us i know you hardly remember her! I can’t lose you too!” Barbra said holding your wrist tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m sorry babs but I can’t I love you” you said hugging her before leaving.

Around a 4 years later you had found your self one off Batman’s most wanted. You were after the joker and if anyone go in your way they wouldn’t get a second chance to tell you. In till you were reached out to by a drug trading ring who offered to help you find the joker as long as you became a sort of protection against other gangs. And you slowly made your way to the top. To the point where you had one of the most powerful gangs by the time you were 18.

But not everyone took you seriously because of your obsession with killing the joker and none would dear to ask why. Some said “joker killed her parents” or “she was jokers sidekick and then she randomly quit so the joker has been after her eversincs” and to closest one “you know that one robin? Yeah the one who was killed yea! They dated but you see boss is the jokers daughter so he killed the boy and well she wasn’t happy so swore revenge!”

But this life that you lived was about to change in a way you only ever dreamed about. The dawn of red hood

[phantom-dc]

Dad Hood - part 7

It’s been a few days since Jason brought Tim some of Danny’s hair. He’d checked on Tim’s coffee stash and agreed with Alfred.

‘Goddamn, Tim! I said you could hide your coffee in that safehouse, not fill it!’

Oh well, it would be worth it. In those few days he’d been waiting, Danny’s list of powers had only grown. He took another look at his notebook:

Invisibility

Cryokinesis

Flight

Soul-pulling-out-powers???

Destructive scream

Lasers

Super strength

(Flying) Superspeed

Photokineses

Shields

Jason was getting worried. Thank god Tim was done with his research. He was confused as to why Tim insisted on meeting him instead of just sending him the list of people Danny was made up off. Jason did NOT want to think that the list was so big Tim wanted to give it himself.

Thank goodness Tim landed on the roof. Jason didn’t think he could wait any longer. Before Jason could say anything, Tim cut him off.

‘You have some explaining to do.’

Jason rolled his eyes. ‘I already told you, RR. I’m investigating a possible Respawn clone. Do you have the list I asked for? I need to kno-‘

‘Oh, don’t start with that bullshit. I know you’re lying!’

Jason was confused. ‘What? Why do you think I’m lying? Do you have the results or not?’

Tim looks angry. ‘Hood, you know full well there’s only 2 people on that list.’

Jason gets annoyed at Tim’s attitude: ‘Fine, so it’s Slade and who? Killer Frost? Superman? Give me details, man!’

‘It’s not Slade. It matches partially with Talia and you.’

Jason’s blood goes cold. ‘Tim, what do you mean?’

Tim rolls his eyes. ‘Look man, if you have a kid that’s one thing. But if you needed a paternity test you could’ve-‘

Jason grabs Tim by the arms. ‘TIM, WHAT DO YOU MEAN: MY KID!?!’

Tim finally realizes Jason honestly has no clue. ‘Wait, you didn’t know?’

‘NO, TIM! I DIDN’T! WTF YOU MEAN HE’S MY KID!?!’

Tim shakes Jason off. ‘Ok, easy man! Calm down! Deep breaths!’

Jason slumps down. Tim takes pity on him.

‘Ok, let’s take a step back, J. I need to know where you got this sample.’

Jason looks at him, and motions for Tim to follow him. As he climbs through Jason’s window, he wonders why they’re there.

‘So, did you have some files you wanted to show me, or-‘

‘INTRUDER ALERT!’

Tim is tackled from the side, sending him into the couch.

‘OH MY GOD!’

Tim tries to wrangle the kid off, but he can’t get a grip.

‘Get off me!’

Jason comes over and picks Danny up.

‘Jason! There’s a stranger here!’

Jason ruffles Danny’s hair.

‘Good job, kiddo. Never trust strangers that climb through your windows. But you can calm down. This is my brother, Red Robin.’

Danny tilts his head sideways. ‘Yum?’

Jason laughs. ‘No, not that Red Robin!’

Pulling Tim up, he introduced him.

‘RR, this is Danny, my… kid.’

Tim sees Jason having some more panic, and takes over. Kneeling down he talks to Danny.

‘Hi Danny! You’re a friend of Jason, right? You can call me Tim!’

Danny is hiding behind Jason’s leg. Tim says Jason asked him some help in figuring out where Danny came from. Danny becomes curious.

‘Did you find out?’

Jason picks Danny of the ground, so he’s on eye level with Tim.

‘Well, no. But I did find out something interesting? Turns out, Jason’s your daddy! Did you know that?’

Danny looks at Jason, and he looks amazed.

‘You are? That’s awesome! I always wanted to meet you!’

This surprises Jason. ‘Wait, you knew that I was your dad?’

Danny shakes his head.

‘No, not that. But mom and dad always said I wasn’t their bo…bia…’

Tim helps out: ‘Their biological child?’

Danny nods. ‘Yeah! So I was wondering who my mommy and daddy are!’

Jason is very tired and needs sleep, so he decides to cut this short.

‘It’s great to find out, but it’s very late. How about we go to sleep now, and tomorrow we’ll celebrate with cake?’

Danny cheers. ‘YAY, CAKE! Goodnight Daddy!’

He climbs out of Jason’s arms and goes to bed, wanting to sleep so he can get cake quicker. Jason head is spinning from being called daddy so quickly. Tim just looks at Jason.

‘You need to tell me everything. NOW.’

First - Previous - Next - AO3

[winter-leftovers]

Til The End Of Eternity || Chapter twelve: A Night to Remember (12/?)

(Douxie Casperan x f!reader)

Summary: Y/n is trying to figure her life out but is going to be hard since her brother is the new trollhunter and she is plagued by dreams and feelings she doesn’t understand.

Chapter Summary: Angor Rot attacks. Douxie tries to talk to Y/n.

Word count: 2566

Warnings: life update in a/n :)

(Season 1 Episode 24,25 )

Song?: Liability by Lorde

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Masterlist

“Why trust this changeling when all he does is betray you?” Draal stood behind the counter.

“I’m with Draal on this one” Y/n looked down from her seat on top of the counter to the floor where Jim was kneeling.

“Because…Because, unfortunately, I have to” Jim was searching through the kitchen for canned food “Is this all the canned food we have?”

“You need more? Mmh” Draal walked to the counter that Jim was looking through “We should chop him into little pieces and can him right now”

Y/n sighed “As lovely as that might sound, we still have a small issue called binding spell”

Strickler threw cereal to Draal's face making him growl.

Alfred rolled his eyes. He was tired of the changeling’s antics.

“Say you do get him out of town. What’s stopping Angor Rot from finding him?” Asked Draal.

“I don’t know. We disguise him” Jim kept looking through the kitchen cabinets.

“Disguise?” Draal looked at Y/n and then back at Jim “Angor is a cunning and ruthless assassin. You think he’ll be fooled by a hat and mustache?”

“Then I guess we’ll fight him. Far, far away from here” Jim took more food from the refrigerator.

“I do not like this plan. He could strike at any time, at any place. He would have the tactical advantage” Draal insisted.

“I don’t know, okay?” Jim turned, overwhelmed by the troll’s complaints “I don’t have all the answers!” He took a breath “Sorry, I know it’s not a well thought out plan, but we have to leave”

Y/n’s phone started ringing.

“It’s mom” she announced. She took her finger to her lips “Shh” She took a breath and answered “Hi! Mom. How are you?”

“Sorry I didn’t come home last night, kiddo. It’s been crazy over here at the hospital. Looks like my night shift is turning into a weekend and shift”

“You’re gonna be gone all weekend?” She looked at Jim “That sucks…” Y/n gave a dirty look to Draal for growling at Strickler.

“I know, but you can take care of yourself and your brother. Just stay at home and be safe”

“Yeah, I can hold down the fort” she chuckled.

“You’re lifesaver”

“That’ll look good on my resume”

Barbara laughed “Love you, kiddo”

“Love you too, mom” Y/n hanged up

“She’ll be out of the house all weekend?” Asked Strickler.

Y/n nodded

“The house would be empty”Jim said.

The three of them smiled.

“Fine. I have rocks for brains. Would someone tell me what’s so obvious?” Draal scoffed.

“I don’t get it either” Al scratched his ear.

“We are going to hold down the fort” Jim started to take back out the food he packed.

“We survived one night. He’s not going to survive the next” explained Strickler.

“Right. We fight here. Take back the tactical advantage. An ambush!” Draal was getting excited.

“I like ambushes” Al stretched his back.

“We’re going to need supplies” said Jim.

Y/n looked at the clock.

“Listen, I have a shift but I’ll be back to help. Ok?” She ruffled Jim’s hair.

—

The day passed painstakingly slowly. Y/n wanted to scream. Jim assured her everything was going fine but she couldn’t focus on anything. She thanked the universe for not having to handle the register because she was sure she would make more than one awful mistake.

The sun had finally set, Y/n felt she could breathe a little bit better. The first part was coming to an end.

The clock reminded her that she still had five minutes before it was an appropriate time to get her bag.

The bell rang and a new customer came in. Douxie. For a moment, Y/n thought about hiding but the store was small, everywhere would be a bad hiding spot, so she stood still next to an old ABBA poster.

“Y/n! I feel like we haven’t seen each other in forever” he smiled.

Y/n’s throat closed. She had spent the last couple of days hiding in the darkness of her room because of him yet his smile still made her knees buckle.

“I didn’t realize” she gave him a half-smile, her voice was steadier than she thought it would be but it was also colder.

“Well… you used to pass by to say hello after work and then you…stoped” his smile fell.

Y/n nodded.

“Did something happen?” He looked concerned. Not what Y/n was expecting.

She didn’t want to look him in the eyes. She was scared that if she looked at him she would let out the screams that she’s been keeping in her chest.

“No. I guess I’ve been busy” she gave him something that resembled a smile.

“Oh” Douxie furrowed his brow.

She felt awful. She thought that Douxie and her were going great but after what he told his friend Zoe made her think otherwise. Y/n had never been close to someone so maybe she was annoying and didn’t know it, but that wasn’t the way she wanted to find out.

Her heart still wouldn’t catch up to the fact that he didn’t want her. She would melt every time she thought of him. Every time she saw that photo he took with her phone of Archie and him. And, right now, she should be nervous about facing Angor Rot yet all anxiety she was feeling was because of Douxie.

He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. His brows were furrowed.

Y/n looked at the clock announcing she could leave.

“I’m sorry, Hisirdoux but my shift is over and I have to go home” Y/n turned to leave but Douxie softly grabbed her by the arm.

“What did you call me?” He whispered. His eyes were shining, full of something Y/n couldn’t explain.

“Hisirdoux? Isn’t that your name?“ she repeated, her eyes full of confusion.

Douxie just looked at her, his eyes scanning her face again and again and Y/n let him. She didn’t move until his soft grip fell.

“I have to go” she whispered and left.

Again, he didn’t say anything. He just stood there. Watching her leave.

—

Y/n drove back to the house in silence. Usually, she would listen to something: music, a podcast or even the local radio station, but this time, she couldn’t, the voices in her head were loud. Angor Rot, Douxie, magic, all turning around in her head like a tornado destroying all other thoughts that would come their way.

She stopped the car when she saw her mother’s car park at the house. Y/n jumped out the car and tried to look through her mother’s car window praying that she would find her before she could get inside, but the car was empty. She ran to the house and pushed the door. It was heavier than usual.

“Mom? ” she screamed “What’s going on?”

She finally opened the door and found her mother sitting in a box drinking water from the jug.

“Did you tell her?” Y/n walked slowly to them.

Jim nodded.

“So let me get this straight. There are good troll and bad trolls and somehow you?” Barbara looked at her son.

“If I may. There is a vast world beneath our feet, Barbara, and your son has stirred up a heap of trouble” Strickler explained.

“Dude!” Jim complained.

“This is so…” Barbara grabbed her head.

“I’ll give you three a moment” Strickler went to the kitchen.

Y/n kneeled down next to her mother.

“I can’t believe this is what you’ve been doing. All those late nights” Barbara looked at Y/n and back at Jim “You getting arrested. Going to the hospital. Why are you this…trollfighter?”

“Uh…Trollhunter” Jim corrected.

Y/n put her hand on her mother’s knee trying to comfort her.

“You should be worried about high school and girls, not this…I mean, can’t you just ask someone else to do it?”

“I’m…I’m afraid it’s a permanent position?” Jim explained “They need me, mom. I know it’s hard to believe but I’m sorta, like, their protector” Jim explained.

“And I've been there with him all I can” Y/n smiled.

“But who’s going to protect you?” Barbara grabbed her children's hands.

“Barbara, you do have to leave! It’s…” Strickler tried to talk but the cans that were hanging above them started to move announcing Angor Rot’s entrance. Suddenly, the cans exploded and the four of them jumped back.

“The basement!” Jim said

“What’s in the basement?” Asked Barbara.

“Draal was supposed to guard it” said Strickler.

A black orb rolled from the basement and with a flash cut off the lights.

“What happened to the lights?” Barbara whimpered.

Jim grabbed a flashlight while Strickler and Y/n guided Baraba behind one of the barricades.

“Stay close, mom” asked Jim.

“But I can’t see you”

Y/n saw a shadow move in the darkness and grabbed the knife she kept in her bag. Jim saw it too and said the enchantment.

“For the glory of Merlin, daylight is mine to command”

“Jim, you’re glowing! How…how are you glowing?” Barbara asked, impressed.

“It’s armor, mom. It’s part of the job” Jim lifted his sword dodging a purple flash.

“Mom” he screamed.

“Stick to the plan. You know what to do” screamed Strickler.

Y/n grabbed the knife tighter while hearing the fight behind her.

“You did not run, brave hunter, but the brave are the first to die” Angor threatened Jim.

Y/n gulped. It was the first time she was close to Angor Rot. His soulless voice made her shiver.

“Get her out of here” Y/n said to Strickler.

“No. No” Barbara complained.

“Go! Go!” Screamed back Jim.

“No. No without my children! Y/n! Jim!” Barbara insisted while Strickler dragged her out.

“Y/n, you too” Jim screamed.

“I’m not leaving” She jumped from behind Jim and kicked Angor Rot off her little brother. Jim attacked but Angor took daylight from him.

Y/n didn’t know what the plan was so she tried to keep the troll from striking Jim.

The trollhunter ran and grabbed the crossbow that Strickler left behind. Y/n saw his brother put a stone on the arrow and shoot Angor off the kitchen counter. She gasped when the troll grabbed the arrow.

“You have to be faster than that” The troll laughed until all the metal in the kitchen started flying to him. Y/n’s knife, all of the kitchen knives, the pans, the fridge hit him in the face.

Jim and Y/n looked at each other panting.

“You think you can stop me with booby traps?” Angor Rot emerged from inside the fridge with daylight in his hand starting the fight again.

Jim was able to dodge all of Angor’s strikes but the troll was able to kick him and lift him with his magic.

“No” Y/n tried to hit him with a stick she found but the troll was faster and he punch her in the stomach making her hit her head with the wall

‘You’re a wizard. Use your magic’ a woman whispered.

Barbara’s scream woke her up. She ran to the stairs and saw her mother coming down grabbing her neck.

“Mom! Are you okay?” She screamed and helped her down.

“My side hurts. Why…” Barbara groaned.

“Come on, I have to get you out of here” Jim grabbed her mother’s bag and with the help of Y/n took her to her car.

“We need to get to the hospital” Jim said as he sat next to her mom in the back of the car.

“They can’t help us. We have to go to TrollMarket” Y/n drove off as soon as Strickler got in.

Y/n could hear Barbara and Jim talking but couldn’t understand a thing. She felt like she was under water, the only thing in her mind was getting to TrollMarket.

In the side mirrors she saw a ball of purple light coming at her. She twisted the wheel to the right, dodging it but driving off to the forest.

“Perhaps now” Strickler coughed “ we call your friends. I think we lost him”

“No, we didn’t” Y/n furrowed her brows and accelerated when she saw Angor Rot appear in front of them.

“Get to the bridge. Now!” Jim screamed.

“I’m trying!” Y/n screamed back. She twisted the wheel one more time and got into the canal.

“Jim!” Strickler screamed.

Y/n looked through the rear view mirror and saw Angor Rot standing on top of the bridge.

“Oh, no, no, no” Her brother screamed.

The troll jumped to the roof of the car and punched the back window. Y/n accelerated without realizing Angor Rot had grabbed Jim.

“Turn now!” He screamed as he climbed back into the car.

The troll jumped back to the roof of the car and this time punched the windshield. The second punch filled Y/n with rage. She felt her whole body buzzing and her jaw tightening.

“Get off” she screamed, hitting the wheel.

A big blast of red light came out of her throwing Angor Rot into the air.

The troll quickly recovered and started throwing enchanted stones to the car making Y/n almost losing control of the car. She turned one last time and drove into the wall praying that Toby was there on time. The car went through the walls and fell down the stairs of TrollMarket catching the trolls attention.

Y/n crawled out of the car and tried to stabilize herself, the fall had made her dizzy.

“Help! We need help!” She heard her brother scream.

She lifted her eyes and everything was blurry. Her chest tightened at the familiar feeling. Last time she felt like that was when she saw the shadow staff.

The sounds of the complaints of the trolls pushed her down. Her knees trembling because of the invisible weight on her shoulder. She tried to focus on the light of the Heartstone instead of the dark cave her mind was trying to take her.

She lifted her hand to grab the person next to her for support, but no one was there. She turned to the empty space and saw a golden armor illuminated by a golden light, she lifted her eyes and saw her: the woman in her dreams, the voice that had been consoling her.

“Are you alright, sister?” She asked.

A silent tear fell from Y/n’s eyes. Seeing her made her body want to run to the tall woman’s embrace. To hold her and be held by her until her wounds had healed, until her soul returned.

“Yes…” she whispered.

The woman chuckled and stroked Y/n’s cheek. She closed her eyes feeling the warmth wrapping her in a tight embrace. Her touch felt like something she thought she could only feel in her dreams.

“Y/n? Are you okay?” Toby ran to her side and grabbed her arm.

“I'm a little dizzy that’s it” she smiled taking the boy’s arm “I’m alright” She turned to her side one more time but the woman was no longer there.

“Quickly. Bring him both at the examination dwell!” Ordered Vendel.

Blinky lifted Barbara and carried her. Y/n left go of Toby and ran next to her mother.

A/n: why i choose liability is beyond me hshshs when i saw it there I laughed like ??? hello?? let’s pretend it was a great choice. I’m really glad I was able to make it!!! If you saw my last post let me tell you i have a happy update!! My dog is fine!! He has pancreatitis but overall he is fine. He is eating and walking and being the diva he is!!! Also here is mother’s day so happy mother’s day 💖🎉

[coyote-nebula]

strawberry

Stephanie is having a life crisis, and Bruce is there to check on her. He relates to her predicament a lot more than she expects.

Prompt: please tell me it's not blood Word count: 1000 Characters: Stephanie Brown & Bruce Wayne Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort

🍓

The granite countertop was fantastically cool under Stephanie’s forehead, but it warmed so fast that she had to keep moving to a new spot. All the thoughts churning in her brain were probably cooking her neurons; she tried to remember if she’d seen any sodas in the Wayne fridge.

Or milk. God, that would be tragic, to make cookies and not have milk— she might have enough time to go down to the fancy twenty-four hour convenience store at the end of the road, but she’d have to go now and probably speed too. Better check.

Stephanie lifted her head and yelped.

Bruce was leaning against the counter, arms crossed, watching her with a half-awake squint.

She tried to push her heart back through her sternum. “B. Can I help you?”

He didn’t react. “Is that blood?”

She glanced down at the container she’d forgotten to lid. “…Uh, yeah. Good catch. I know it totally looks like strawberry puree.”

Bruce hummed. “Have you recently contracted vampirism.”

“No, but a vampire friend recommended it for spicing up my baking, you know? I was thinking about doing some filled cupcakes. Or maybe swirling it in some cake batter. Do you have milk?”

“Yes,” he said, but he went to the refrigerator and looked inside anyway. “Are we out of peanut butter cups.”

Stephanie pictured the empty orange bag she’d stuffed in the trash. “Not… sure? There’s some in the oven.”

“Hn.” He closed the fridge. “Smells good. Cookies? Is there blood in them.”

“No, the straw— the blood is for later.”

“Hn. Are you alright,” he asked. “It’s four a.m.”

The oven timer saved her from having to answer that; she hopped up and took the cookies out— they did smell good— then got two glasses down for milk.

When they were full, she turned around to find Bruce standing over the oven with his eyes closed, sighing into a half-molten cookie.

“How are you not burning the crap out of yourself right now?”

“”S not that hot,” he said, and took another bite. “They’re good. Excellent.”

“Thanks,” she said, trying to keep her preening on the down-low while she hissed through prying half a cookie off the sheet for herself.

She passed him milk. They chewed in silence.

Sugar and carbs combined with crumbled peanut butter chocolate was, as she’d hoped, fortifying.

“You remember when Alfred got fear gassed?” she asked abruptly. “And we found out that after a certain age, you can’t tolerate much of the antidote but it also works better at low doses?”

Bruce’s chewing stuttered. “Yes.”

“So, I had this senior patient at the hospital today who’d been exposed to fear toxin. I was supposed to load her up, just drench her in antidote, so I went to the attending doctor to say ‘hey, I think there’s a mistake here, let’s not give her a stroke.’ She blew me off, so I went to the charge nurse, who also blew me off because I’m a student, right? What the hell do I know— and meanwhile the patient is screaming her lungs out and about to have a heart attack because I have to waste time arguing with people who aren’t listening so I went back and gave her the correct, not insane amount of antidote before she could freaking code and die and then she was perfectly fine! But I charted it like some kind of honest moron and my instructor is pissed—”

“You saved her life,” Bruce said quietly, listening with his arms folded.

Stephanie took half a breath. “I think I’m getting kicked out of the nursing program,” she said, then took a deep breath and let it out. “Actually… I want to quit.”

“You’ve already decided?”

She half-shrugged. “Nursing is great and important and it’s… not for me.” She picked at the other half of the cookie she’d broken. “Leslie thought it would be good because it’s hands-on and it’s a slightly less dangerous form of helping people, and Mom thought so too. But it’s…”

Bruce drained his glass and took another cookie off the sheet while she thought.

“I’m listening,” he said at length, gently even though he didn’t look up from the bite he was about to take.

Stephanie was glad. The illusion of distraction made it easier to think.

“I don’t mind, like… supporting someone else’s problem-solving occasionally,” she said slowly. “But usually, I want to be the one solving the problem, you know?”

Bruce’s mouth twitched. “I can relate, yes.”

“Taking orders from Batman and sometimes even following them is about as much chain of command as I can handle,” she said, watching the good-natured roll of his eyes. “Anyway, maybe I need a day job where I don’t hold lives in my hands.”

Swallowing, Bruce and his thoughtful expression reached for another cookie. “You could bake.”

Stephanie snorted. “Yeah, and have a bakery with evening hours instead of morning hours. I’m sick of not getting my beauty sleep.”

Bruce nodded. “You can borrow the catering kitchen for now.”

For a moment, she didn’t track. “You’re not going to give me a ‘don’t be a quitter’ speech?”

“I work in a quiet office with large windows. Sometimes I nap,” he said, taking another bite and closing his eyes in an expression that, for him, passed for bliss. “I understand.”

Tension Stephanie hadn’t even noticed in herself dissolved. “And… the patient. You think…?”

Bruce looked at her. “I would have done the same,” he said. “I’m proud of you.”

Warm relief filled her chest.

She smiled and glanced around the kitchen, already tidied from the cookie dough and the puree. “Well, no promises that I’ll be a baker instead of a nurse, but I do want to make vampire cupcakes.”

“Sleep first,” Bruce said, wiping his hands. “I’ll hide these.”

She yawned and nudged his arm. “Thanks for being chill.”

“You’re safe,” he said. “I can be chill.”

Stephanie grinned. “It was just strawberry syrup, B. G’night.”

Bruce smirked. “Goodnight, Stephanie.”

🍓

view on ao3

[p-artsypants]

Paint it Black (16) Sharing

Ao3 | FF.net

Black sat on the couch, criss-cross applesauce, with his hands in his lap. He hadn’t bothered to put on his shirt, and merely laid it on the couch next to him. 

A few moments passed in silence as Bruce tried to determine where to begin. 

“What do you remember about your parents?” He finally asked. 

“Um…” Black tapped his chin thoughtfully, his eyes screwed shut tight and his lips pursed. “I dunno.” 

“Really think. You can take the photo out to look at it if that helps.” 

He removed the photo from his pocket, which fortunately had a plastic sleeve over it to keep it safe during his manic episodes. He placed it on the table and then leaned forward, chin in his hands to study it. 

The other Titans tried to get a closer look as well. From their perspective, it was a husband and wife in matching shirts. The wife was blonde, while the husband had black hair like Robin. 

“My daddy…is really strong. He…used to throw me in the air.” 

Bruce nodded. “Good. What about your mom?”

“She is…really pretty, and sings a lot.”

At this point, Alfred returned with the item Bruce requested. A child’s stuffed elephant. Well loved and worn. He handed it to Bruce, who held it out to Black. 

“Do you know what this is?”

Black’s eyes widened as he took the toy like it was precious treasure. “Zitka…” 

“Where’d you get it?”

“My daddy gave it to me. I named it after my friend—” he gasped and stood abruptly. “I remember now! We’re circus performers! The Flying Graysons!” His voice changed. As Black, his voice was more child-like, like a cartoon character. But now it deepened and sounded almost like Robin. “We perform at Haly’s Circus, and we’re the headline act! I remember our car! And where the dressing tent was set up and how we did the rigging! I remember all of it! We can go! I know where we can find them!” 

Bruce took a deep breath, bracing for what was about to happen. “What happened in Gotham?”

Black frowned. “I…I’m not sure.” 

“Close your eyes and think.” 

Black obeyed, hugging the elephant to his chest. 

“You saw a man talking to Mr. Haly, right?” Bruce prompted. 

Black nodded. “Yeah…yeah, I see it. He was kinda ugly and scary and was telling Mr. Haly about insurance, but Mr. Haly just yelled at him. I saw him again later that night…leaving the tent.” 

Bruce didn’t prompt him anymore, just bit his thumb anxiously. 

The Titans watched Black pace back and forth, a scene playing out in his head. 

It was then that Bruce was finally able to see the tattoo covering his back. He clenched his teeth in anger, but said nothing. 

“I told my dad that I saw him earlier, threatening Mr. Haly, but he told me not to worry about it. So I didn’t. I trust him. So we went to perform as usual, and I had to wait for my cue—” he halted mid step, his eyes blew open wide. “The rope.” He turned towards his friends, but didn’t look at them. Instead, it seemed like he was looking right through them. “I saw it fray and—” 

The Titans then witnessed the horrific sight of their friend become absolutely unraveled. Grief built up and flowed out as he screamed, wailed, howled, and fell to his knees, weeping. He slammed his fists against the table, utterly overwhelmed with anguish. “MOMMY! DADDY!” he shrieked as the tears just kept coming. 

Bruce knelt at his side. “I’m sorry, Dick.” 

Black lashed out, grabbing Bruce by the collar and shaking. “Why the hell would you make me remember that!? Did you think I’d be happier knowing they’re gone?!” 

Bruce, only mildly disturbed, covered Black’s hands with his own. “It’s been ten years. It doesn’t do anyone any good letting you believe that didn’t happen. I know it’s painful—”

“You don’t know anything! All you do is cause me pain! All you want to do is hurt me! Just like the Masters!” 

Bruce squeezed his hands tighter, making him look up. “I saw my parents die too,” he snapped. “And I saw your parents die, Dick. I was there that day.”  

“I’m not Dick!” He screamed. “Why can't everyone just see me for who I am?! MY NAME IS BLACK! Like darkness! Darkness is eternal, uncatchable, unlimited, and invincible! Black can do anything! Black can do everything Dick can't! Everything he couldn't!”

“Pretending to be someone you're not isn’t going to bring your parents back.” 

Black pried his fingers off of Bruce and fell back onto his butt. With tear soaked cheeks, he looked around the room, meeting the sympathetic gaze of all his friends. His eyes were wide and glassy, full of fear and uncertainty. He clearly had no idea what he was supposed to do. In a small voice, he turned back to Bruce and said, “can I at least have my medicine back now?” 

Bruce shook his head. “Not yet. Do you remember what I said earlier? We’re making an antidote so that you won’t need the medicine anymore. Won’t that be nice? Not having to pay attention to when you took your meds? Not having to be afraid of feeling that pain?” 

Black held out his hands in front of him, studying them. His brows furrowed, as if the calluses hid a secret message he was trying to decode. “What’s wrong with me?” He asked it like he wanted a diagnosis.

“Why don’t you tell us?” Bruce asked. “We can’t begin to understand until we know what you went through.” 

“Oh no…no I can’t…I can’t talk about that…” He began to get emotional again. “You don’t want to hear about it.” 

“I do, actually. And I think talking about it will help. Whatever you can share.” 

Black looked unsure, and hunched his shoulders. He rolled up to be on the balls of his feet, and placed a hand on the table, ready to bolt. 

Instead, Starfire took the initiative to scoop him off the floor and placed him on the couch next to her. She rested an arm around his shoulder and pet his hair. “There there, dear friend. You may share safely now.” 

Black swallowed thickly, and did not relax, but he didn’t seem prepared to bolt. 

“I…can’t remember.” 

“You’ve repressed a lot of that, which is understandable,” Bruce placed a hand on his knee. But, what can you remember? What are your first memories?” 

“It…smelled bad.” He began. “It was dark and dirty. There was another boy there, but he didn’t say anything, or move much. Just laid on that bed all still.” 

The others recoiled slightly as they understood what he was saying. 

“Then sometimes, there was another boy. He talked to me and tried to keep me from hurting myself. He was kinda a bully.” 

“What did this boy look like?” Starfire asked. 

“I dunno. Never saw him. I only heard his voice.”

“Like through a speaker?”

“Nah, in my noggin’. Sometimes I still hear him. It’s like this little voice that’s like, ‘eeuuu don’t eat that, you don’t know where it’s been’. He’s kind of annoying and persistent, but I think he’s keeping me alive.” 

Bruce sucked in a breath. “That’s your conscience. Robin’s conscience. That’s your guide. Once we make the antidote for you, it will become a lot easier for you to behave normally.” 

He seemed to clam up then, twining his fingers together into a tight knot. “That’s all I got,” he said firmly.

“So why don’t you try to relax? The fentanyl will run its course through your system, and then the pain will come. We’ll try to make you comfortable, and once we think it’s out of your system, we’ll take a blood test. Then we’ll get you a new dose and keep you dosed until you don’t need it anymore.” He reached out and touched his shoulder. “Think you can handle that?�� 

“No, but you said I don’t have a choice.” 

Bruce just gave him a little pat, not having any words of comfort. 

“Perhaps,” said Starfire. “At any point you do remember what happened while you were being held captive, you could tell me in private? It is sometimes hard to divulge things openly and honestly.” 

“I’ll think about it,” said Black. “I kinda feel like the proverbial rug was pulled out from under my proverbial feet. If you know what I proverbial mean.” 

“Not even slightly.” 

“Things will begin to make sense soon,” Bruce assured. “Just try to stay calm.” 

“Perhaps some lunch will ease you?” Alfred asked, standing. 

“Ooo! La-gas-na! It’s spaghetti in cake form!” 

—

They were able to keep him occupied for several hours. They watched Robin’s favorite movies, told him stories of their villains. Some went over better than others.  

As the day went on, they all witnessed the major veins on his body turn darker and more visible. As night came, he became more agitated and snippy. He whined and moaned as he moved around, but seemed to be trying to ignore it for everyone else’s sake. 

Then it was time for bed. 

“Come and get me when it becomes too painful,” Bruce instructed. “Then we’ll check your levels and see if we can take a test.” 

Black didn’t look convinced, but begrudgingly agreed. 

Starfire stayed up late. In the last few months, peaceful sleep hadn’t been guaranteed or expected. So she sat up reading to clear her head. 

What was she reading? A psychology book, provided by Raven. At first, Starfire had hoped it would give her enough information that she could be helpful in diagnosing her friend. But the more she read, the more lost she became. The human mind was complex and strange, capable of bizarre changes from seemingly simple affects. 

But the book was still interesting and just boring enough to make her sleepy. 

A knock at the door grabbed her attention immediately. 

“Yes?” 

“It’s me,” said Black’s voice. “Are ya decent?” 

“Yes Black. You may enter.” 

The door slid open, and he stood in the entry for a moment, wringing his hands. His hair was a mess and he looked worse than he had all day. 

“What brings you here at this hour?” 

“I…couldn’t sleep,” he answered, haltingly. “The pain is getting worse. So I was walking the halls. I saw your light on…” 

“I understand. Would you like to come in and talk?” 

“Are you busy?” 

She closed the book and shook her head. “No. I was only reading to clear my thoughts. I would not turn down your company.” 

He shuffled inside, glancing around the room. He had been in here once before, as Black, though he would never tell her that. 

“You can sit, if you’d like.” She patted the mattress. 

He did so, and brought his legs up so that he could rest his arms on his knees. “You said, earlier, if I wanted to talk about what happened, I could come to you.” 

“Yes, that offer still stands.” 

“I lied earlier. I remember all of it. The very beginning is hazy, but things become clearer after a certain point. The medicine makes it easy for me to block it out, but without it…” 

“I will listen to whatever you are willing to share, if you do not mind if I take notes?” 

“Are you gonna tell Bunny Man?” 

“Only the things that I think he needs to know. I can keep secrets as well.” 

He didn’t ask her permission to recline, just assumed the position of a patient in a therapy session, lying on a couch, hands folded over his stomach. 

Starfire retrieved her notebook she had been using with the psychology textbook. 

As far as she had seen, Black lacked the capacity to be serious in most situations. He was either goofing around, or violently unpredictable. So when he started speaking, his voice deeper than usual and tone focused, she almost thought Robin was at the helm. He took a deep breath and said, “have you ever heard of Tartarus?” 

“…that is…of the Greek Myth?” 

“Yes. It’s a deep abyss that is used as a dungeon for the wicked. I can only assume that’s where I was born. It might have been Hell, but I was under the belief that Hell had fire. This place was cold. Sometimes cold enough to see your breath. It’s a kind of cold that makes you numb after a while. You think about snuggling up to the people around you, but then you think about who they are, and you decide against it.” While he said this, his face remained eerily calm.

“There were 20 of us originally, though I only remember about 15. We had no names. Only numbers. I was number 8. I’m sure some boys tried to introduce themselves, but the Masters were quick to chastise. We weren’t people. We weren’t anything. There would be no mercy or kindness, nobody cared about each other. We were all enemies.” 

Starfire scribbled this all down, eyes only flicking to the paper momentarily as she wanted Black to feel like he was receiving her full attention. 

“They had us wear these short, thin shirts that tied in the back. Everyone’s asses were hanging out. Most of the day, they put us in a room with three beds, and we had to fight for them. One guy had his eye poked out in the chaos. Then other nights they put us in a tight space that was even colder than the normal room, and we had to huddle together to stay warm. One time I woke up and nudged the guy next to me...but he was dead. Frozen to death. Other guys lost fingers and toes on those nights.”

Starfire swallowed thickly, a pang to the heart. 

“They marched us to a bathroom once a day. They stripped us and tied chains to our feet and put bags over our heads…then we walked blindly for a long time. Then we were told to do our business, still with the bags on and chained to each other. There was only one bathroom break, so if you had to go, it was then that you did it. Otherwise you had to hold it or crap in the corner. We collected filth on our feet and legs and everything smelled. But after a while…we kind of got used to it. Then new smells would emerge. Smells of rot and infection. 

“They humiliated us...called us names, made us feel like animals. They worked us too, made us carry weights for long periods of time, and made us hold our hands over our heads for hours. With the shirts we wore, raising your arms exposed everything. And they’d take the time to emasculate us. They would beat us for punishment, and chastise us verbally…using profanity that would make a sailor blush. They pointed out our flaws and made us feel weak and useless. I have scars on my scars from them. Then if you said anything wrong, you were put into solitary confinement, The Hole. Then they beat the other prisoners outside of The Hole, and you could hear their screams of pain…the other boys hit the door and shouted out profanity and said how much they hated whoever was in the hole for getting them in trouble.”

“Were you ever put in the hole?”

“Everyone was. I was doing pushups and singing Amazing Grace, when one of my Masters asked me why I was being so obedient. I told him I was obedient by nature, and he called me a liar…then he threw me in The Hole for four days.”

“Four days?!” Starfire was familiar with solitary confinement. Four days was a long time, even for her. 

“It was almost three, but my freedom depended on the other prisoners. The Masters said if everyone was willing to give up their blankets, I would be let out.”

“How many sacrificed?”

“None.”

It wasn’t all that surprising, but still sad. 

“There was one boy…he barricaded himself in the corner, using the bed, and he shouted and screamed and raved like a madman. Something about needing a doctor…So the Masters let him out and we all thought he was being set free. But when that door swung closed…we heard a gunshot and that was it.

“Like I said, the early days are the haziest. I’m sure there were whole days I don’t remember. But then…things got worse. It turned into real torture instead of abuse. One at a time, they would take a boy from the room and hours later, return with a bloody remnant of a shambling body. Some never came back.” 

Starfire watched as he raised his hand, seemingly scrutinizing the webbed surface. “I got taken twice. Both times I remember some things clearly, and some of it is completely blacked out.” 

He fell silent. 

“What happened?” She pried gently. 

“I don’t think I want to say it out loud.” 

Starfire took his hand. Very patiently and tenderly, she explained, “before I came to Earth, I was a prisoner on a slave ship of the Gordianians. Before that, I spent many months being experimented on by the Psions. If anyone can understand what it was like for you, I believe it is me.” 

He looked at her, lips pulled into a grimace. “What if you had it worse and I…I had this transformation that you didn’t?” 

“We all deal with trauma differently. I will not judge what you went through compared to myself. Just understand that I can handle whatever you may say. I may seem rather soft, but I am not.” 

He nodded and turned his head back to look at the ceiling. “I guess you are pretty tough. I like that about you, Starfire. Tough, with a soft facade.” 

She smiled a little. The compliment sounded like one of Robin’s. 

“I don’t know what the purpose of that chair was. Maybe they just wanted to cause pain? Or maybe there was something more to it? They found the perfect ways to cause pain. They cut just deep enough to hit all the nerves, and poured acid and alcohol into the wounds. They hammered needles under my nails and poured hot oil on my genitals. 

“I lost my voice screaming both times. The water was scarce and smelled like rotten eggs when they actually allowed us some.” 

Starfire silently wiped the tears from her face. She could handle what he was saying, but her heart was big and she empathized far too much. 

“One of the Masters laughed through it all. The other was silent. The laughing man had pure white skin and this horrible, evil smile. He thought my suffering was funny. The more I cried, the more joy he felt. I remember glancing down and seeing my naked body covered in blood, and asking for him to kill me. He just danced and clapped his hands with glee.” 

“That must have been the Joker,” Starfire guessed. “Batman said he was responsible for this.” 

Black seemed to mull this information over as he ran his tongue over his teeth. “Yeah,” he croaked. “That sounds familiar.” 

“What else do you remember?” She pried gently, hoping to maybe redirect him and keep him from shutting down.

“There was the food.” He acknowledged. “We started out on bread and water...and then over time they gave us meat. Just meat, no vegetables or even bread. It was boiled, but tasted like pork…and they let us eat as much as we wanted. I distinctly remember one boy eating so much that he puked…” Black swallowed deeply. “Then someone freaked out, because they realized they were chewing on a finger. And then we all found out that the boys who had died had not been buried…but we were eating them…”

Starfire covered her mouth in sickness. She had witnessed such things on the Gordianian ship. But to see one alien species eat another was not all that odd. But for one human to eat another? 

“Some cried. Others made themselves vomit. I just curled up in a corner and decided I would never eat again.”

“I understand your decision to not eat processed meat quite clearly now.” She tried to speak softly, but her voice held an edge. One belonging to someone with revenge on the mind.

Black brought his hands up to his face. “They injected us with poison.” He continued. “I don’t know what it was, but it glowed green in the syringe and we could see it in our veins. It burned. I swear that’s how all of this happened. They shot us up three times daily. It had different effects on each of us. One boy dropped dead. Another started eating himself…bit the skin clear off his arm. Most of them, though, just vomited blood and died.”

Starfire watched in amazement as Black relayed his story with no emotion on his face. As for her, she was white-knuckling a pillow, trying to keep her anger in check.

“Sometimes at night, if I listened just hard enough…I could hear singing. I think it came from my own mind, my subconscious. But it was the most wonderful thing I had heard in the world.”

She had always known Robin enjoyed listening to music. It wasn’t uncommon for the boombox in the ops room to be on when he was around. Even when he was in his office doing research, orchestral music could faintly be heard, likely to fill the silence. 

With some sort of music often playing around him, it wasn’t hard to imagine he’d subconsciously sing to comfort himself. 

She noted this observation and theory down on her notepad and then looked to Black to ask him further questions…only to find him already asleep. 

It was a little flattering, seeing that talking to her relaxed him so much that he fell asleep. 

With a smile, she draped a blanket over him. As she got close, she got a whiff of his deodorant. He smelled like Robin again, and not the foul stench of death and rot. He smelled clean, with a hint of a musky spice. The scent of hair gel was missing though. 

She contemplated going to sleep in his room, or even the Ops room, but in the end, she decided to stay. Shyly, she scooted closer to him so she could feel a bit of his body heat. 

He mumbled in his sleep and shifted, bringing his leg over to touch hers. 

She blushed wildly. 

Eventually, she calmed down enough to feel sleep coming for her as well. Her eyes were heavy and despite the horrors he had shared with her, she felt rather at ease and soon drifted off to sleep, forehead lightly resting against his arm.

[marauderundercover]

A Robin in the Making: Ethiopia

“Jay?” Marinette’s sleepy voice rings out throughout the cave. Jason curses under his breath. 

“Go back upstairs, M.” He says, trying to move to hide the screen behind him. Marinette rubs her eyes tiredly. 

“Why’re you down here? We were having a movie marathon.” She says. Jason shrugs. 

“You fell asleep, kid. Just go back up, I’ll be there soon.” He lies, hoping she won’t argue. Before he can hurry her out, her eyes wander over to the screen and widen comically. 

“Jason! Are you running away?” She asks, her voice shaky. Jason winces. 

“I- well- no. It’s not that I’m running away, but I just- Look, M, if you had the chance to meet your mom, would you?” He asks. Marinette flinches, then shrugs. 

“I dunno.” She says softly. Jason sighs. 

“I found out Catherine wasn’t my real mom, and I think I found her. My real mom, and I’m gonna go meet her. She’s the last family I have-”

“What about us?” Marinette cuts him off. “What about me, and Dickie, and Dad, and Alfred? We’re your family too.” She yells, glaring at him. Jason runs a hand across his face. 

“Yeah, Mari, you are, I just- I need to do this, kid. You understand, right?” He asks. Marinette frowns, but nods slowly. 

“I guess.” She says, before a grin slowly takes over her face. “But I’m not letting you go alone.” She declares. Jason raises an eyebrow. 

“Excuse me?” 

“That’s right. Either you take me with you, or I call Dad right now. Better yet, I’ll hit my panic button and start screaming. Your choice Jay.” She smirks. Jason’s eyes narrow. 

“You wouldn’t.” 

“Do you really want to test that?” She asks, hand moving towards her charm bracelet where the panic button was hidden. Jason groans before tossing her a domino mask. 

“Bring this just in case, you little shit.” He huffs out. Why were little sisters so annoying? Marinette grins, shoving it into the front pocket of her overalls. 

“So how do we get to Ethiopia?” She asks, trailing after him as he heads towards the jet. This was going to be a long trip. 

---

“What is this?” Jason asks, shifting his position so that he’s standing slightly in front of his little sister. The kid that had nothing to do with any of this until he’d dragged her into it. The Joker cackles, pointing a long, pale finger at Sheila. 

“She sold you out!” He says, before snorting. “Sorry birdy, looks like mommy doesn’t give a fuck about you either.” Jason shifts his weight, preparing to fight, when Joker pulls out a gun and aims it in his direction. 

“Is that supposed to scare me?” Jason taunts, and Joker grins. 

“Maybe not. But it’s definitely scared her.” He says, nodding behind Jason. Jason turns slightly, heart breaking at the sight of tears silently falling down his little sister’s face. She was tough. One of the toughest kids he knew, but she’d never been this far from home before without backup. Well, better backup than just Jason could provide. Dickhead wasn’t even on planet and B had no idea where they were. If something happened to either of them, it would be all Jason’s fault. 

“Don’t you dare touch her.” Jason hisses under his breath. Sheila frowns. 

“This wasn’t-” She starts to say, but Joker cuts her off by shooting her in the leg. Sheila shrieks and drops to the ground, hands shaking as she tries to apply pressure to her own wound. Jason twitches. Although he may want to help Sheila, he’d never leave Marinette out in the open to try and help someone who sold him out. 

“That’s better. Now, if you don’t want me to shoot the little one in the head, I suggest you let me secure you, Boy Blunder.” Joker drawls out. Jason starts to move towards him, but a small hand wrapping around his wrist stops him.

“Please don’t leave me.” Marinette whispers, her voice barely audible. Jason frowns. 

“I’m sorry kiddo. If I don’t, he’ll hurt you.” He says lowly. Gently, he tugs his wrist away from her before stepping forward quickly. She whimpers a little before going silent again. 

“Now that wasn’t so hard, was it?” Joker taunts as he binds Jason’s wrists with rope. Jason glare at the man as he ties the other end of the rope to a column near the center of the room. “That should do it. Now, dearie, come along. It’s your turn.” He says, turning to Marinette and holding a hand out. Jason immediately fights against the rope, practically snarling with anger. 

“You stay the fuck away from her, do you hear me? Don’t you fucking touch her!” He yells, trying desperately to make it to her. 

“Well, if you won’t listen…” Joker trails off, and before Jason can make a plan, something collides with his shoulder. Hard. He bites back a scream as he feels the bone crack. 

“No!” Marinette yells in horror. 

“If you don’t want Robin here to get hit again, I suggest you walk over here, sweetheart.” Joker instructs. Jason shakes his head, trying hard to ignore the shooting pain in his shoulder. 

“Don’t listen to him, kid, I’m fine.” He tries to reassure her. There’s a scraping sound, like metal against concrete, before the fire-like pain is back, this time in his abdomen. Jason can’t help but let out a shrill scream this time. 

“Stop! Please, stop!” Marinette cries, rushing forwards towards the Joker. Jason struggles against his restraints, his breaths coming quicker and quicker as he starts to panic. It can’t end like this. He’s Robin! He has to save his little sister. He can’t let the Joker hurt her. 

“That’s it sweetheart, just let me tie your hands like this.” Joker says, wrapping the rope around Mari’s wrists. Before he can pull it tight, Marinette stomps on his foot and Jason sucks in a sharp breath. The Joker turns, his eyes narrowed in a glare. “That wasn’t very nice.” He says before backhanding her. Jason sees red. 

“Get the fuck away from her! I’ll kill you!” He yells. He didn’t give a shit what happened to him, but he’d be damned if he let the bastard hurt his little sister. Joker cackles, throwing his head back with laughter before he slowly looks to Jason. 

“Not if I kill you first.”

***

@maribat-get-in @blackroserelina

[iowriteswords]

Let's kidnap the Waynes, and Jay Text <3

Let's Kidnap the Waynes:

One man grabs the girl by the waist, and she screams. The sleeping boy opens his eyes just as Joe crouches down to get him. A few sleepy blinks, and then he smiles, sharp and bright and manic. A leg sweeps out, effortless, and Joe finds himself on the floor, uncomfortably reminded of the Joker, that one night they worked together before Joe decided some things were above his pay grade. A gun goes off.

Glancing around proves to be a fascinating mistake. Three of his men are on the floor, unconscious, two of them bleeding profusely. The girl sits on his fourth man’s shoulders, bringing him down with a strange twist. The fifth man is nowhere to be seen.

The larger boy has a gun in one hand, a phone in the other, dialing without looking down at the keys. “Tim,” he says, “you wanna grab the runner?”

Tim gets up off the couch and jogs out of the room, and the girl drops into his spot.

“Commissioner,” the boy says into the phone. “Yeah, I know. Attempted kidnapping, I think. We’re gonna need two, maybe three squad cars?”

A slight pause, and he sighs. “I know. You told me last time. But Bruce won’t let me get a gun license!”

A much longer pause. He rolls his eyes.

“He’ll pay the fine. Come on, you know you can’t give me community service. I’m not stable enough. Like, mentally or whatever. And I’m already in court-mandated therapy. What you gonna do, Jim?”

A heavy thud upstairs.

“Cass, go help Timmy with the body.”

He turns back to the phone. “Yeah, no, I get it. We’ll just—hang on.  I think this goon is conscious.”

The last thing Joe sees in Wayne Manor is a boot approaching his head.

Jay Text (I'm just gonna post the entire thing; it's short):

DickieBird: Some kid stole Bruce’s tires

BarbieGirl: I’m in class, D.

DickieBird: his nighttime tires

BarbieGirl: And suddenly accounting seems unimportant.

DickieBird: His name is jason and i love him. I think we’re gonna keep him.

BarbieGirl: We? Thought you weren’t speaking to Bruce.

DickieBird: Alfred called. I came. Great kid. New brother.

BarbieGirl: you and B are both ridiculous. You cant just keep a random tire thief.

DickieBird: he’s from crime alley. Dad in prison whole life. Mom died 2 years ago. On streets since then. 12. Desperate enough to jack B’s tires.

BarbieGirl: …fine.

DickieBird: Come meet him.

BarbieGirl: Still in class, dick.

DickieBird: Later, I’ll pick you up

BarbieGirl: Is my name still Barbie in your phone?

DickieBird: …maybe?

BarbieGirl: Change it and you can pick me up at 6.

[marvelsimp]

Hope

Green and Red Masterlist

Masterlist

Genre: action, angst, fluff, comfort 

Pairing: platonic!Jason Todd x Devon, platonic!batfam x Devon, secondary!Kara danvers x reader

Warnings: offensive language, descriptions of violence, blood, dead bodies, and a panic attack. 

Description: Devon Wayne, is dealing with their past and spending time with their girlfriend when they see a mysterious figure that feels hauntingly familiar.

Devon’s  Abilities: Trained in hand-to-hand combat and is trained to use most weapons.

Word Count: 1717

It wasn’t like this was the first time that this had happened. Someone finds me on the bathroom floor gasping for air and I knew it wouldn’t be the last time either. 

“Devon, look at me.”

I almost always only ever see flashes when I’m awake, the blood, the crowbar, the body. Sometimes it’s just the sound, of screaming. Almost always screaming. The type that makes you nauseous. Sometimes mine. Sometimes my fathers. And sometimes his. God my chest hurts, I try to breathe but I’m met with fire in my lungs.

“Sis, I need… focus…at me.”

I blink hard, trying to dig myself out of the hole I’m in. The person in front of me has dark hair, which doesn’t do much in helping me figure out who it is. But I can’t breathe, this shouldn’t matter. It’s hard to grasp what’s real, the sound of metal hitting concrete or calming whispers. They’re both fuzzy and wrong, this shouldn’t be happening. A hand on my face, its thumb attempting to soothe me. Dick. Dad would be rubbing my back, if I even allowed him to be near me. 

It’s not like I want to remember but sometimes I feel like I deserve it. You get what you earn, right? I’m the one that survived.

“Start noting things in the room, to ground you.” His voice is shaking a little but it’s soothing nonetheless.

I see his face, Jason’s face, so clearly for a second. It’s covered in blood and I can’t help but stare. His dead eyes stare back. A hand guides mine, drifting over what feels like smooth ice, tile. I’m not there, it’s not the concrete of the warehouse. I’m not looking at my dead best friend, it’s just Dick. I grab his hand that's on mine and count his fingers. He’s real and that's all I need to know for now.

I take my first full breath and try to stand.

***

I’m sitting in the study with my head bowed down as my father paces across the floor. He’s fidgeting with the sleeve of his jacket and his shoes are loudly thumping on the carpeted hardwood.

“We have to talk about this, it's been months.” He never sounds like this, desperate. “At this point, you don't have to talk to me. Talk to Dick or Alfred, I’ll track down your mom. I’ll get you Dinah or a priest, just tell someone. You’ve shut everyone out and you know that I’ve been here.  You know what I’ve lost and been through, you’re old enough to know and understand all of it now!”

I could feel tears prickling my eyes, threatening to overflow as I blinked them away. I couldn’t look at him. His pain just increased mine. Couldn’t we be done with this?

“Jesus, Helena, let me help you,” he almost screamed. Bruce put his hand on my shoulder. “Please,” his voice broke. A sob escaped my throat. One that had been building up in my months-long silence. He knelt down and you clung to him.

***

“He needs this.” I looked down at a boy, four years younger than me. Who is currently studying a Batarang.

“I can’t. I can’t do this again.”

I turned to your father, knowing what had to be done. “He’ll just go out on his own… He’ll die. You know it. Do you want that?”

“Will you be okay with this?” The sob bubbling in his throat was audible. But it is one that will never come out.

“Will you?” No.

Silence.

Neither of you would survive another dead Robin.

“He would hate this.” I laugh. “He would think that we’re replacing him. But we both know we’ll never be able to do that.” 

*****

“Babe, we’re gonna be late!” I yell to my girlfriend in the apartment we share.

“Ready!” 

God, couldn’t I have super speed? It would make everything so much easier. “I hate when you do that.”

“I know.” she grinned, tucking back one of my loose hairs. “But you love me anyways.” 

I give her an unimpressed smile. Which is a secret code for ‘I definitely love you’.  “There may be another reason.” I lunge my body out to stare obviously at her ass.

“Oh stop that!” I love when that happens. When she gets frustrated and her accent comes out. She slaps my arm. Hard, leaving a slight sting. She’s sometimes too strong for her own good. God, what I’d do to give her everything she deserves and desires? 

She doesn’t talk about it much, her home, Krypton. So I never ask, I know it’s painful. Losing a person. I couldn’t even start to imagine the pain of losing your whole planet.  But the days she does talk about it, I allow themself to continue the conversation but I never push. She’s told me stories about various gardens her parents would take her to, school, going to her parents' work, her friends, the birth of her baby cousin, and she’s shared some about the death of Krypton. She’s as healed as one could expect. 

Some days she’s just angry, I saw the footage years before I even met her. She feels alone, she lost everyone she ever knew. But she finds hope in Clark, Connor, and Jon. Sometimes even Krypto. She says she sees it in me, too. But I don't know if I believe that. I hope maybe her days will continue to shine brighter. 

I kiss her lovingly, grab her purse, and lead her out the door of the Gotham apartment.

***

Kara giggles when we arrive at the Daily Planet and go into the building. She slips her hand on my back as the elevator doors open to the top floor. Clark makes eye contact with me and smiles. He makes his way over and gives us both a hug, he better be glad I love him.

“Hiya, kid!” God, he’s so much but I don’t feel the life sucked out of me at the very least. He invited us both because Kara wanted to see about talking to someone for an interview and I wanted to make a few deals with CEOs. 

“How’s Jon?” she smiles.

His smile grows. Is he glowing? Is that one of his abilities? I swear I can’t keep up. “He’s doing great, since he started middle school he’s really enjoyed anything art…”

I see Lois walking this way. Thank god. Clark’s great but she’s always been my favorite.  

“…I’m really proud of him. He really seems to just want to help people.” Lois taps him on his shoulder. His face softens to something closer to admiration rather than pride. “Hi.” Her face reflects his, softening a little. I look at Kara and she looks at me. I’m glad that we’re like them. Her face is as soft as Clark’s and I know I am in bliss.

“So,” Lois starts, she grabs Kara’s arm, “I can start to introduce you to everyone.”

Lois leads Kara away and I turn to Clark. “Wanye Enterprises has a Banquet in two weeks. I would love to see both of you there. Either as friends or journalists, whichever you prefer.” 

“I’m sure we could both find good stories to pursue there.” He pats the side of my arm, his face is showing pride again. 

I was what? Two or three when Bruce decided he need some extra help with me and Dick. Or that’s what he likes to say but Clark told me he wiggled himself into our lives after meeting Robin. I of course don't remember meeting him so he’s just always been there, my Uncle Clark. I was six when I figured out he was Superman. I was the one that told Dick. It was obvious and he should’ve figured it out before me.

“Send us the details for it and we’ll be there.”

I excuse myself and find a few CEOs to chat with, I tell them of the Banquet and how it will help both Gotham and Metropolis. Whatever bullshit will make them attend and empty their wallets. I even convince some to talk to Kara about a story.

I climbed the ladder at Wayne Enterprises faster and younger than anyone could expect. People like to say it is because I’m Bruce’s child but I quickly prove to them that I am worthy of my position. It took a little while for people to even consider calling me charming. I was a little rough around the edges in my late teens. When I stopped being as angry all the time was when I perfected my skills and began to excel at manipulating million and billionaires.

At some point during the night, my hair started to stand on end. I wasn’t sure what it was but I’ve learned to trust my instincts, it has saved my life more times than I could count. Something is wrong, I can feel it in my bones.

People started to trickle out. By eleven everyone has left, it’s just four of us now. 

We all start to clean up, most things go in the trash but anything salvageable we pack up to donate. Once everything is cleaned and put away, Lois and Clark grab their things from their offices as Kara takes me by my arm and walks me to the elevator. She presses the button causing it to light up. Something is really wrong, I look around while we wait. Nothing is different, nothing looks off. I’ve been here a million times and nothing has changed. I would know. That’s when I look out the window.

A figure outside on a rooftop. My pulse starts racing and I feel my body start to shake. Something is familiar about it. I let go of Kara’s arm, walking closer to the window. Each step is slow like I’m trying not to scare it away. My instincts kick in and I crouch down a little.

“What’s wrong?” Kara’s voice is deeper than usual. Serious.

A figure stands on a rooftop, he’s staring at me. Most of his body is obscured by the darkness, but I see a red helmet. No. This is wrong, he shouldn’t be there. This isn’t right. I blink hard because this can’t be real and in the next moment, he’s gone.

next chapter

Ask to be Tagged!

[just-jessie0]

Pip of a Raptor - The Death of the American Dream (Chapter 7)

The rain started early and came down hard. Thankfully, Mrs. Beyer’s morning book club was canceled due to the weather, and she was able to drive Jon the short distance to Alfie’s house, dropping him off at the back door and backing out of the driveway to retrace the route back home.

Linda took Jon’s coat as he walked through the door and hung it up on the weathered coatrack on the wall. 

“Hi, sweetheart. Come in, come in.” She ushered Jon into the house. “Did your mother drop you off.” 

Jon nodded. 

“She could have come in if she wanted to. We could have some tea and chat for a while,” Linda said as she scurried around the tiny kitchen. 

“I think she already had plans today, Mrs. Franco.” Jon doubted that his mom had made any other plans but for some reason she had never tried to bond with Alfie’s mom and Jon didn’t want to hurt Mrs. Franco’s feelings. 

“Of course,” Linda said, unfazed. “Well, she’s always welcome.

Jon left Linda in the kitchen and joined Alfie in the living room, who was already busy setting up the Nintendo. 

Around 15 minutes later a soft knock at the door sounded and a sopping wet Heather followed Linda into the kitchen. Her sweatshirt was saturated to the point of dripping onto the floor, and her hair was plastered to her face. After some insistence by Mrs. Franco, Heather changed into one of the woman’s old t-shirts and pajama pants before handing her waterlogged clothes to Linda to throw into the dryer. She joined the boys in the living room, squeezing her hair out with a clean towel that Mrs. Franco grabbed from one of the upstairs bathrooms. 

Jon took in her appearance. “You walked over?”

Heather shrugged, “Don’t have a bike.”

She sat down next to them on the rug and Alfie handed her a controller. 

Much to Jon’s dismay - and Alfie’s delight - Heather proved to be a natural at Smash. Initially teaming up with Alfie against Jon, it wasn't long before Heather mastered the game, strategically knocking both of them off the stage and inflicting her fair share of damage. Alfie stopped helping her after that and before long her and Jon had formed an alliance, hoping to dethrone Alfie, who still held the title of undefeated champion.

Throughout their game, Linda entered the room multiple times. Initially, she offered snacks to the three kids, then returned to ensure they had enough water. A third time, she checked if they desired something warm, like tea or hot chocolate. After the fourth interruption, which was simply to gauge if the three were enjoying themselves, Alfie began to get an attitude with his mother.

“We’re FINE, Mom,” he came short of screaming. Linda mumbled something about just trying to help and once she disappeared back into the kitchen Alfie let out an exasperated sigh. 

“She’s so annoying,” he whined.

Jon snorted, “She just loves her little Alfred,” he teased, poking Alfie in the ribs before hitting Heather’s icon with a jump-kick combo to try and knock her off the platform. 

“I’m not a baby and I’m so tired of her treating me like it, I can’t even move without her breathing down my back,” Alfie uttered without shifting his gaze from the television, attempting to counter Heather's barrage of punches.

Jon began to laugh at Alfie's retort, but his laughter was quickly cut off by Heather, whose soft voice now held a stern edge.

“You’re acting like a brat, you know.” She said, glaring at Alfie.

Alfie blinked stupidly, “What?”

“You’re acting like a brat,” her brown eyes shot daggers at him. “All she’s doing is trying to be nice and make sure you have everything you need. She’s going out of her way to make sure that you’re comfortable. You’re lucky, not many people have that. Stop acting like a spoiled child and start being a little more appreciative.” 

Both Jon and Alfie stared at Heather, their mouths agape. The only sound in the room was the clicking of Heather's controller.

They were still looking Heather when she nodded toward the TV, redirecting their attention back to the game.

“I won,” she said. 

After a lunch delivered to them in the living room by Linda — for which both Jon and Alfie sincerely thanked her — the three settled onto the couch to watch the movies that the boys had picked out earlier. The credits began to roll for the second Spider-Man when Heather nodded to the side of the room with the old leather chair.

"What are all of those?" she asked, pointing to a two-foot by two-foot acrylic display case on the wall, which held a plethora of small, shining medals, patches, and pins, all in different shapes, sizes, and colors.

Alfie followed her finger, and his face lit up with pride when he realized what she was asking about.

"Those," he began as he jutted his chin out, "are my Pop-Pop's medals of valor."

“For war?”

"Yeah," Alfie said, his chin wiggling as he nodded excitedly. He grunted, rolling up off the couch and walking over to the display case. Heather followed. 

"He served in the army for over 25 years," Alfie began, "and almost all those years were during the Vietnam War. Americans were supporting South Vietnam, and the Soviet Union was supporting the North." Alfie paused, "That's Russia now."

Heather scowled, “I know what the Soviet Union is, Alfie.” 

Alfie grinned before continuing.

"Pop-Pop is a hero, and he’s earned over 20 medals. He enlisted when he was 17 and served all the way past the end of the war. His first tour was as an advisor for the Southern Vietnamese troops. At the time, he was only a private first class. As the war escalated, he was assigned to Cambodia as a helicopter door-gunner, completing 7 missions there." Alfie's voice shook with reverence as he recounted the stories he had begged his grandfather to tell him when he was younger. 

“The last mission his helicopter ended up being engaged by the North Vietnamese’s Air Force, and they perused them deep into the jungle. Pop-pop was shooting at the bird while the pilot pulled these crazy maneuvers to lose them. The Vietnamese tried to follow them, but the pilot lost control and they ended up crashing into the Mekong River. The captain didn’t know it until later, but Pop-Pop was hit by a bullet in the shoulder. He earned his first Purple Heart for his bravery.”

Alfie pointed to one of the two identical medals that were in the center of the display case. 

"After healing from his injury, Pop-Pop still wanted to help the country win the war. He trained in combat operations and, with special permission from President Nixon," Alfie glanced at Heather proudly, "was deployed to South Vietnam. And get this,” Alfie paused and lowered his voice to a whisper as if he was telling Heather a secret, “the whole platoon was issued suicide pills. Cyanide. Just in case they faced capture. They were assigned to do reconnaissance on the enemy. During an ambush, Pop-Pop saw their machine gunner fall and ran through a hail of bullets to take his place. He ended up covering his platoon’s withdrawal from the area so they could get to safety.” 

Alfie pointed to a star shaped medal off to the side of the case, “That’s what earned Pop-pop his first silver star.” 

“It was only a couple of weeks later that Pop-pop earned his second Purple Heart. They came under fire again, another ambush. They platoon tried to retreat to the trench that they dug for safety, but they were under heavy fire, and many didn’t make it. Pop-pop made it to the trench, but he was shot in the leg. He looked up and saw two of their men that were still out in the open, too wounded to make it to the trench. Pop-pop quickly bound up his leg to make sure that he didn’t lose too much blood and then ran out onto the field and dragged the first man back.” Alfie’s voice softened, “After he got the soldier to safety, he went out a second time and was able to rescue the other soldier, too.”

Alfie paused, seemingly lost in thought. He caressed the display case gently, then turned to Heather. 

“Pop-pop is a hero to this country. By the time the war ended, he was a Sargent First Class. He earned 2 purple hearts, 2 silver stars, a bronze star, that’s this one here. These down here are his badges. He has a marksmanship badge and a parachute badge and his aviation badge, or wings.” 

Heather could feel the pride radiating from Alfie. 

"He sounds like an incredible person," she said, smiling. Alfie's admiration was infectious. 

"He is. I wish he was here today so you could meet him, but he’s visiting with one of his friends. Maybe he'll be here the next time you come over."

Heather felt a warmth in her chest at the implied invitation for a next time. They walked back over to the couch, where Jon had unceremoniously sprawled out while Alfie recounted his grandfather’s story.

"When I grow up, I want to be just like him," Alfie declared, shoving Jon to the side to make room for both him and Heather. Even in the dimly lit room, Heather could see Alfie's eyes glittering with excitement and conviction. "I'm going to be a war hero too. After high school, I'm going to go to West Point for college—that's the most prestigious military academy, you know—graduate as a Second Lieutenant, and then join the army as an aviation specialist."

Alfie's chest puffed out so much that it seemed like he might burst. His enthusiasm deflated quickly when Jon let out a bark.

"Alfie, those guys are machines," Jon said, smirking. "And I'm pretty sure they're also geniuses. You're going to have to get into shape and ace all your classes if you want to even be considered."

Alfie's face flushed with color, and he looked down.

"OW!" Jon screamed as Heather slammed her foot down on top of his.

"I can lose weight," Alfie mumbled under his breath.

"Alfie, I think it's really great that you want to follow in his footsteps," Heather said, extending an arm and touching his hunched shoulder. She gave him a small smile, but it didn't seem to reach her eyes. "Anything is possible."

"Yeah," Alfie responded, giving a half-smile back. "I'm also really good at precision shooting. Better than most people my age and even a lot of the older kids. Pop-pop takes me to the gun range with him sometimes to practice. I also play a lot of paintball."

Alfie side-eyed Jon. "Which I'm undefeated in."

Jon rolled his eyes.

"Is he as bad at paintball as video games?" Heather remarked.

Alfie laughed, "Worse."

"Damn," Heather said.

"You guys are really funny," Jon said sarcastically, then turned to Alfie. "Seriously though, the army?"

"It's noble to fight for your country," Alfie said with a level of austerity that sounded strange coming from a fourteen-year-old.

Jon shrugged, "Good for you, but I wouldn't." He leaned back, resting his arm over the back of the couch. "It's law and politics for me, just like my old man," Jon said with conviction, as if it were already a done deal.

"I'll probably go to Yale or Stanford for undergrad," Jon yawned, "or maybe U Penn. I haven't decided yet. But I'm getting my bachelor's in business administration. Then I'll take the LSAT and get my law degree to kill the time until I can run. Dad says that most people try to get their bachelor's in political science or international relations, thinking that it'll give them a leg up for election, but really most people vote for whoever they think will be able to run a business the best. After I graduate law school, I'll probably just work at my dad's office, build my resume up from there, and then start campaigning once I turn 25."

"How is that more likely to happen than me getting into West Point?" Alfie asked, not unkindly.

Jon smiled nonchalantly, "My dad's the best; everyone loves him. Everyone will love me."

Heather let out a snort.

Jon cocked his head, "Something I said funny?"

Heather shook her head, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "No. You just sound a little like your dad, that's all."

Jon's eyebrows shot up, "You've met my dad?"

"I've seen him around," Heather said.

"The Breyers are at every single community event. I'm pretty sure that everyone on this side of the state has met your dad and mom," Alfie added.

"True," Jon said.

“What are your plans, Heather?” Alfie asked.

Heather pursed her lips, contemplative. “I’m not sure.” She paused briefly before adding quietly, “I haven’t thought that far ahead yet.”

“Well, what do you think you want to do,” Alfie pushed.

Heather thought for a moment before she whispered, "I want to stop being so afraid all the time." She cleared her throat and continued, "I want to be brave enough to do more than just survive. I want to live."

"What do you mean?" Alfie said, confused.

"Pray that you never find out," Heather said gravely, her eyes fixed on the far wall that displayed Alfred Senior's medals.

"No offense, but you're pretty weird, Heather," Jon said after a beat of uncomfortable silence.

Heather held up her middle finger towards Jon before reaching for the stack of DVDs piled up on the living room table.

"So, Spider-Man 3?" she said, reading the titles of the cases.

It was early evening by the time the three finished their third movie. Linda asked both Jon and Heather if they would like to stay for dinner, but both declined. After Heather traded in her borrowed sweats and t-shirt for her washed and dried clothes, courtesy of Linda, both she and Jon put on their shoes and stepped out onto the back porch, followed by Alfie.

The rain shower had worsened, now bucketing down so fiercely that it made it hard to see more than a couple of feet at a time.

"This is insane," Alfie said, sticking his hand out far enough from the porch awning to feel the water pounding down onto his fingertips.

"Mind if I hang out for a couple more minutes?" Jon said. "My mom is on her way."

"Yeah, no problem, man," Alfie replied.

"See you guys later," Heather said, giving a wave, pulling up the hood of her sweatshirt, and stepping out into the rain.

Alfie grabbed her arm and pulled her back under the awning.

"You're gonna walk in this?" Alfie said, his eyes wide.

"That's how I got here, Alfie," Heather said, smiling.

"Do you want me to see if my mom can drive you? I'm sure she wouldn't mind," Alfie said, turning to head back into the house to get his mother's attention.

"No, don't bother her." The three startled as a loud clap of thunder boomed overhead.

"But maybe I could borrow your bike?" Heather said, sounding uncertain. "I'll return it first thing tomorrow, I promise."

"I can drive you," Jon said, looking at the two of them like they were slow.

Heather fidgeted, looking uncomfortable. "No, that's okay," she said.

"I literally live right next to you," Jon said, rolling his eyes.

"Perfect!" Alfie said, smiling. "You can borrow my bike anytime, but it's definitely better to drive in this weather."

"Seriously, Jon, I'm fine biking," Heather said, looking at Alfie. "Or walking. It really doesn't matter."

"Don't be an idiot," Jon said.

A car turned into Alfie’s driveway, headlights illuminating the porch, slowly creeping down the driveway to where the three were standing under the canopy. Heather went from looking uncomfortable to looking full-on stressed out.

"You know, I actually like being in the rain. I read somewhere that it’s important to connect with nature. Good for the soul," she said, forcing a pained smile, and backed further into the porch as the car stopped in front of the kids.

"Also, I just realized that I have to go to the bathroom. I'm gonna go really quick, but I'll see you later, Jon," Heather said, turning to head back into Alfie’s house. Before she could get through the door, Jon grabbed her arm and dragged her out into the rain and toward the car.

"We're three miles down the road," Jon said, pulling a very uncooperative Heather. "You'll be home in less than 5 minutes."

Heather made a strangled sound in the back of her throat but climbed into the back seat when Jon opened the door. He closed it behind her before jumping into the passenger seat of the car.

"Hey Mom," Jon said, shaking the rain out of his hair. "This is Heather; I told her that we could give her a ride home." Jon gestured to where Heather sat behind him.

"Hi, Honey," Mrs. Breyer said, leaning over to give Jon a kiss on the cheek. She twisted around in her seat and faced Heather. Mrs. Breyer locked eyes with Heather and froze, her eyes widening slightly. A fraction of a second passed before Mrs. Breyer regained her composure. She fixed a friendly smile on her face, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"It's nice to meet you, Heather," Mrs. Breyer said, turning back around.

"You too," Heather murmured, sinking as far back into the seat as possible.

"Heather lives across the street from us, down that long driveway," Jon informed his mother.

Mrs. Breyer made a sound of acknowledgment before waving to Alfie and backing out of the driveway.

"What did you all do today?" Mrs. Breyer asked Jon.

As Jon recounted their day, Heather caught Mrs. Breyer flicking quick glances at her from the rearview mirror. Her face reddening, Heather turned her head and looked out the window, fixing her hoodie so it obscured her face.

They turned onto Cider Creek Drive, and Mrs. Breyer slowed the car down as they approached the turnoff for Heather’s house.

"I can just get out here," Heather said quietly, already reaching for the door handle.

"We can take you down the driveway," Jon said, but Mrs. Breyer had already stopped the car fully on the side of the road.

"Your father is expecting us, Jon," Mrs. Breyer said. Heather caught Mrs. Breyer gripping the steering wheel so hard that her knuckles began to turn white.

"No, this is fine," Heather said quickly. "Thanks a lot for the ride," she said to Mrs. Breyer before saying goodbye to Jon. Mrs. Breyer nodded but didn't turn around.

Heather flung open the back door and stepped out into the storm, quickly disappearing from view as she trotted down the gravel path toward her house.

As soon as Heather shut the door, Mrs. Breyer cut the wheel and accelerated the car in the direction of their driveway. Mrs. Breyer stayed quiet until she pulled into the garage and cut the engine.

"Wait a minute, Jon," said Mrs. Breyer, halting Jon before he got out of the car.

"Yeah?" he asked, one hand on the door handle.

"When did you start spending time with Heather Morrison?" Mrs. Breyer asked, fixing him with a cold stare.

"Recently. Alfie and I just met her a day ago," he said, confused as to what caused his mother to be so tense. "Why? Is there a problem?"

Mrs. Breyer opened her mouth before quickly shutting it without saying a word. She turned toward the front of the car and stared out the windshield, thinking, before once again facing Jon and smiling.

"Of course not," she answered.

She fixed Jon with an indecipherable stare, looking deeply into his eyes. Feeling awkward, Jon cleared his throat before asking, “Can I go inside now?”

“Yes, yes,” Mrs. Breyer said with feigned enthusiasm. “Ask your siblings and father what they want to eat for dinner. We’ll do takeout tonight.”

“Sure thing,” Jon said, opening his door. He looked back at his mom. “Are you coming?”

“Yes,” she said, “I just need to get some things from the back, and then I’ll be in.”

Jon hit the button that closed the garage door and headed inside the house, leaving his mom in the car, hands still clutching the steering wheel, staring straight ahead at nothing.

[cjsmalley]

Baby Bat:

“Please help,” Dick had a tight smile as he bounced the wailing toddler, “we’re all out of ideas, not even Jase can calm him and babies love him.”

Damian’s eyes went wide and he nodded, opening a portal, “Father, Mother! Uncle Bruce has been deaged.”

“Oh no. Okay, stay calm,” Danny spoke, already shouldering Anakin’s diaper bag, “where’s Alfred and how old is he?”

“On vacation and we think a year and a half,” Dick responded desperately, “I’m so sorry, Your Majesties, but you’re the only ones with baby experience.”

The three, for Sam was carrying Anakin, stepped through the portal and it rippled closed.

“Have you fed, changed, and/or had him nap?” Sam asked, trading her calm toddler for the cranky one; Bruce only cried harder, “is he verbal?”

“Yes, yes, and we’ve been trying to,” Dick nodded, much more comfortable with the snuggly, happy child he now held, “he’s been crying for his mom, dad, and Alfred.”

“Okay, we can handle this,” she assured, “where does he nap?”

Dick led the way to a bedroom that had clearly been bugged; the bed was very large and there were pillows lining the edges like walls.

Danny was digging something from the bag he carried, sighed, opened another portal, and grabbed a boombox from what was clearly the Palace nursery.

He set the boombox on a side table and pulled a CD, an actual disc, in a sleeve from his bag.

Then he gave Dick some earplugs.

Dick wisely used them; it dulled Bruce’s screaming at least.

Sam was on the bed with Bruce, propped up against the headboard and remaining pillows, holding the child to her chest and murmuring to him. He was crying quietly by then.

Danny placed the CD into the boombox, shifted to his ghost form, and pressed play.

The strains of a lullaby began; a woman’s voice began singing and Bruce’s eyes began drooping with the words.

Danny, Dick, and Anakin left the room.

Danny took Anakin as soon as the door closed and led Dick away from the room. Dick removed the plugs and asked, “How?”

“Our Royal Bard, Ember,” Danny explained, “she can hypnotize with her voice. She made that CD when we first got Damian. After a particularly bad night. Each lullaby’s a Suggestion to go to sleep. We only use it when one of the kids won’t or can’t sleep and it only works if they’re already tired. Even tired, adults can fight it off when they know what to expect.”

“The earplugs,” Dick realized.

“Filter out the Suggestion,” Danny nodded, “you seem exhausted and weren’t prepared to fight the Suggestion. I bet most of you Bats could fight it easily but not Bruce…not right now. Poor little guy’s exhausted and scared and doesn’t understand why his mom, dad, or Alfred aren’t coming for him. Sam’s got a nice heartbeat—well, compared to me, and she’ll keep him from falling off the bed. She’s used to fighting the Suggestions too. So he’ll be safe. Dami, there you are.”

Damian had been with Jason, each wearing earmuffs.

Danny sighed and tapped them on the shoulders.

“Father,” Damian greeted, taking off his earmuffs as Jason did as well, “is Uncle Bruce asleep?”

“Yeah, we used the Sleepy-Time CD,” Danny replied.

“Sleepy-Time…CD?” Jason repeated incredulously.

“Apparently, there’s a ghost that can use hypnosis,” Dick explained, “the CD has songs to put someone to sleep.”

“B won’t like magic being used on him,” Jason pointed out.

“Bruce can brood all he wants when he’s full grown again,” Dick shot back, “he was gonna make himself sick and not even you were able to calm him down, Jason.”

“Calm yourself, Richard,” Damian ordered sharply.

Dick dragged a hand down his face, inhaled, then exhaled slowly, “Right. Right, you’re right, Dami. Sorry, s’just…we’re so not prepared for a baby Baby Bat.”

“Do you know how long—?” Danny asked, settling Anakin on the floor and pulling out a small container of blocks for him to play with as they spoke.

“72 to 94 hours,” Dick answered, “and it happened six hours ago. We had Zatanna check the spell. She can’t undo it safely.”

“Dami, watch Anakin for a few minutes will you?” Danny opened a portal back to the Palace and left; the portal closed behind him.

“What’s he doing?” Jason asked, perplexed.

“Possibly fetching supplies,” Damian replied, sinking to the floor to play with his littlest brother, “Mother and Father keep a stockpile of infant and toddler necessities.”

“’Cause they don’t know when they’ll get their next kid,” Dick nodded.

“Precisely, Richard.”

A bigger portal opened at the other end of the room and out streamed a line of ghosts carrying toddler gear, including a potty chair.

Danny was last out and was directing his subjects on where to put everything, before turning to Dick and Jason, “Okay, so you should be okay ‘til he reverts—we’re not leaving!” he assured to the clear panic, “Sam and I’ll just sorta…move in ‘til Bruce’s back to normal. Clockwork and Danielle have the throne. But now you have everything needed for a toddler Bruce’s age. I know you said Alfred’s gone, do we need a cook or chef?”

“I’m allowed to use the kitchen,” Jason said with a knowing smirk to Dick who flipped him off, “I can handle making food.”

“You have a blender, right?” Danny pressed, “and fresh fruit and vegetables? I’m not sure where Bruce is on eating solid solids right now.”

“Oh yeah, we can blend him up some organic baby food,” Jason nodded, before pausing, “does he need formula?”

“When Damian was around the same age he was taking a bottle a day, on top of solids,” Danny shrugged, “we were still weaning him. I brought some formula just in case and a few new bottles. Anakin’s already weaned so I didn’t have any in the bag. I also had some diapers, wipes, and pull-ups brought. Don’t know where Bruce’s on potty-training.”

“What about clothes?”

“I had Clara—our nanny—pack some of Anakin’s clothes. He and Bruce seem about the same size right now. I think Bruce can handle hand-me-downs for a few days.”

Danny grinned reassuringly, “It’s gonna be okay. Just relax.”

Jason cracked his neck, “I’ll get started on lunch. Yo, Tim. Any news?”

Tim had just shuffled in, and shook his head, yawning, “No sightings of the bastard.”

Danny peered at him closely, “When did you last sleep?”

“I’ll sleep when I’m—” Tim began, then trailed off as he remembered who he was talking to, “Uh, sorry. I’m fine.”

“Dick, take him to Bruce and Sam,” Danny sighed, “Ember might relax him enough…”

“C’mere, Baby Bird,” Dick led Tim back to the room and got him into bed with Sam and Bruce.

“This’s ridiculous,” Tim whispered fiercely, not wanting to wake Bruce even as he was herded into the bed. But the lullabies were working their magic; his eyes were drooping and he was yawning.

“Sorry,” Dick wasn’t sorry at all, “King’s orders.”

“Settle down, Tim,” Sam told him quietly, adjusting her hold on Bruce as she made room between them.

Tim grumbled, yawning, but laid still and was soon asleep.

Dick left the room again, tiptoeing out and closing the door near silently.

He returned to the sitting room and joined Damian and Anakin on the floor; Danny had joined Jason in the kitchen.

A couple hours later, lunch was done and Sam carried Bruce from the bedroom to settle him into the highchair at the table. A second highchair was brought for Anakin.

Bruce was still unhappy but no longer wailing, willing to eat his lunch, fruit sliced very small. If Sam was visible to him that was.

So set the routine for the next few days; Bruce clung to Sam so she took over his care.

He tolerated everyone else.

It turned out that Bruce was already potty-trained, much to the relief of his children who did not want to change his diapers just yet, and able to eat solids without wanting or needing formula.

“Not my first rodeo,” Sam said when Green Lantern showed up to check in and mentioned that she seemed at ease with two toddlers, “we once had three toddlers all at once plus a tween, while still in high school. Two were magical.”

“Yikes. Guess mini-Spooky’s a walk in the park,” Hal replied, “what about Anakin? Any Force stuff yet?”

“Yeah, he definitely has the Force,” Sam nodded as she held Bruce on her hip, “we’re going to talk to Mister J’onn, Miss Zatanna, and Miss Raven for help.”

“Mama, Mama!” Anakin came toddling up.

Sam knelt with a smile, “Yes, baby?”

Anakin made motions to be picked up; without hesitation, Sam picked up her son, placing him on her other hip, and stood.

“Where’s Daddy, huh?” she asked Anakin.

Anakin giggled, “Daddy flying!”

“Father’s doing a flyover of Gotham proper,” Damian joined them, “invisibly.”

“Ah.”

“Well,” Hal said, “I better get going. Keep us updated?”

“Of course.”

Later that night, during dinner, Bruce finally reverted to adulthood.

“Yes!” the Bats and Birds cheered happily while Bruce, naked and almost confused, sat in the wreckage of his former highchair.

Bruce shook his head to clear it, accepted the dish towel to cover himself, and stood up.

He hurried to dress and was then debriefed, with pictures because he was a cute toddler when he wasn’t crying.

He turned to the Fentons, “Your Majesties, thank you.

“No problem,” Sam shrugged.

Wished Away 8:

“Mom, Dad, help,” Dean said, holding a baby out.

A whirlwind of activity followed.

“He is Nephilim,” Castiel declared, having inspected the boy, “though I cannot tell his true parentage. It is being…hidden from me.”

The pediatricians took over as soon as the angel stepped back.

“Nephilim,” Danny said slowly, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, “isn’t that half-angel or something?”

“Precisely,” Castiel said just as slowly, measuring his words like they were his last rations, “They are…it is Forbidden for angels to lay with mortals. The creation of Nephilim is even more taboo as the first, the original, were monsters more often than not. It is an intentional act, to create Nephilim; the angelic parent must give a portion of their own Grace to the child during conception.”

“So they purposely knocked someone up then ding-dong ditched the kid,” Dean growled.

“Perhaps they heard that we are romantically involved, Dean,” Castiel offered, “and hoped we would take in the child as our own.”

“Well, of course we are,” Dean huffed, rolling his eyes at his angel who shook his head fondly, “I’ve already picked out a name too. A good human name.”

“Oh?”

“Jack, after Grandpa Jack. Unless, you have a name?”

“Perhaps…James, after James Novak?”

“Hmm…Jack James…James Jack…JJ…no, definitely Jack James. I like it, Cas.”

“Well, little Jack is healthy as far as we can tell,” Doctor Peterson joined the little huddle, “every scan we can perform came up normal, perfectly within range for his age group.”

Both Dean and Castiel visibly relaxed.

“We’ll get you set up,” Sam promised her son and might-as-well-be son-in-law.

A servant brought David’s old wrap and Sam showed Dean and Castiel how to wind it around their bodies to carry little Jack close to their hearts.

“Does the heart even beat?” Danny asked Castiel with interest, referring to his Vessel.

“Yes, I have kept all systems functioning as intended,” Castiel confirmed.

“Good. Because babies this young are used to heartbeats,” Danny explained as Sam worked with Dean, “they just spent nine months with their mom’s in their ears.”

“I see,” Castiel nodded, “well, Dean has assured me that I have a perfectly human sounding heartbeat.”

“What’s the likelihood that his mom was the human?” Danny asked next.

“Oh, quite likely…angels with female vessels most often shutdown the reproductive system. It would also be quite hard to hide the evidence of the gestating Nephilim. His mother likely died in childbirth; her body finally unable to handle his Angelic self.”

Danny winced; that would be a horrid way to die and he fried like a French fry.

Within hours, little Jack was all ready to go home.

Over the next few days, a room in the Bunker became a nursery and supplies loaded in.

[imaginingmarvelandeverything]

I love love LOVE Convenience (read through it a few times already) and the What If bonus chapter is one of my favorite chapters. I was wondering/hoping you’d write one with them taking care of baby girl Wayne because honestly, that is some fluff I could use right now ^_^ getting a glimpse of Bruce with his baby and his new little family is something I’m hoping you have planned!

Word count: 447

A/N: Thank you so much! I hope you like it! Also I'm going to apologise in advance for the almost 3000 words of pretty much pure angst that I'm going to drop tomorrow. Hopefully this makes up for it in advance.

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Bruce rolled over and switched the baby monitor off before it had the chance to wake Y/N. He pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder before climbing out of bed and pulling on a pair of sweatpants. He ran a hand through his messy hair as he walked down the hall to the nursery. Grace was crying softly but he knew it would only be a few minutes before she started screaming her lungs out.

“Hey, sweetheart. You hungry?” He lifted her into his arms and made his way downstairs. He tried to shush her as he turned on the kitchen light and the bottle warmer. He pulled one of the bottles Y/N had preprepared out of the fridge and put it in the machine. He gently bounced Grace in his arms in an attempt to get her to quiet down as he waited for it to be done.

“Here you go.” He sat down at the table, Grace in one arm and the bottle in the other. She grabbed the bottle in her chubby, little hands and looked up at him with his own eyes. “I don’t care what your mom says, you’re definitely going to grow up to look like her.” He smiled and glanced around the kitchen. “Alfred’s right though, this place needs a lot of baby proofing before you start walking. I don’t think my parents designed it with babies in mind.” He looked back down at her. “I wish they could be here. I think they would definitely spoil you rotten. Not that Alfred won’t, but he has a bit more restraint.” He chuckled and set the empty bottle on the table. He threw a towel over his shoulder and shifted her up before patting her on the back.

“Right, let’s go back to bed.” He threw the towel in the washing machine and walked back upstairs. Grace’s eyes fluttered shut and she rested her head on his shoulder as he hummed to her. He laid her carefully back in the crib and made sure the baby monitor was still on before quietly walking out.

Y/N had shifted to face the middle of the bed. He smiled softly at her as he switched the baby monitor back on and climbed back into bed.

She moved forward and rested her head on his chest once he had got situated. “Everything okay?” Her voice told him she was still mostly asleep.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she threw a leg over his. “Yeah, she just needed feeding. She’s asleep again now.”

She hummed and quickly dropped back off to sleep. He pressed a kiss against her hair and did the same.

Taglist: In a separate post

[iguana-eyanna]

The Blood Within Us Chapter 18

Pairing: Bruce Wayne x Pregnant! Reader

Summary: Will the reader do whatever it takes to protect the ones she loves when tragedy hits the Wayne family? How far will the truth be tested when she realizes she’s not the only one with secrets of her own?

Warning: abduction, mobster activity, labor

Two motorcycles rode in the busy streets. Snow was slowly falling, but soon the roads were almost covered in ice.

The two cyclists parked underneath a bridge and took off their helmets.

“Anything out of the ordinary?” Jason asks.

The other person lets out their ginger locks, shaking his head.

“What are ordinary standards in Gotham City?” Roy Harper asks.

Jason rubs his jaw, releasing a sigh.

“I’m sorry, man. Ever since I heard about my mom, I started to just be in vigilante mode.”

Roy pats his friend’s back. 

“Hey, I get it. But you guys are going to find her.” 

Jason looks down at his meter. He doesn’t like people giving him false hope. He promised himself that he wouldn’t believe in those loose terms. If he lost you, there was no going back to his sanity.

Roy realized what he said may have triggered Jay, so he got off his bike to talk.

“We’re not strangers to losing people, especially in this line of work. But didn’t we have that strong optimism as kids? You know, ‘Speedy and Robin: the sidekicks of tomorrow?’”

Jason snickers. It felt just like yesterday, they met at a justice league meeting, and how they just bonded. They shared stories of how Roy stole Oliver’s wallet and Jason met Bruce by stealing his tires from the batmobile.

“I think you mean, ‘Robin and Speedy: boys in tights.’”

Roy laughs out loud, as his breath was visible in the air.

“I know it’s hard to think back when we were just kids, but we were so hopeful for the future. You need to think like that for your mom. She never lost hope in you, in any of us. So let’s not lose sight of getting her back, ok?”

Jason smiles and hugs Roy, internally thanking him. Jason needed to be motivated, to stay hopeful for you and his unborn sister.

Suddenly, Jason feels his phone buzz and he pulls it out.

“Tim?” Jason asks.

“Get back to the cave, Dick and Damian are coming back with intel,” Tim said through the phone.

“On it, be there less than 10.” Jason said, already hopping on his motor.

“Thank you, for everything.” Jason stated, looking at Roy.

“Just doing my job.” Roy smirked before he rode off in the distance. Jason started his motor and rode to the cave.

Once he arrived, he already throwing his helmet to god know’s where. He heads toward how his brothers and Alfred.

“Alright, what’s going on?” Jason asks. 

“From our intel, Mom is being held at the old Gotham Hotel. It’s been shut down for the past 60 years due to illegal activity, according to old police records.” Dick said.

Tim pulls up a holographic 3D model of the building.

“Not only do we have to look out for any of the security, but a lot of people are wanting to hurt Dent by bidding on mom.” Tim said, a bit grim.

“What!?” Jason screamed. 

“Restrain your anger, it will lead you nowhere.” Damian said as he sat in the corner.

“He’s right. None of you are able to get her back if your minds are not clear.” Alfred said. 

Jason was about to say something until he scanned the room.

“Where’s Bruce?” He asks. 

No one replied yet, but soon they turn their heads to hear boots walking toward them.

There stood their father, wearing his uniform. 

His gloved hands held his mask. He doesn’t say a word as he passed the boys and stood at the end of the table.

He looks at them then back at the 3D model, already taking charge.

“I need eyes on the perimeter, someone to scout how many people we’re dealing with at the roof.” 

“I’ll do it.” Dick said.

“Tim, I’ll task you to get mom. Find the nearest exit and take her to the mobile.”

Tim nods as he makes his way to change. 

“There’s going to be guns blazing so I need some muscle on the ground.”

“On it.” Jason and Damian said in unison. 

“Okay, let’s get them back.” Bruce commanded as he slipped on his mask.

All the sons leave to get ready, turning around as the worry for their father began to grow. 

Tim returns, already in uniform. He looks uneasy as he approaches Bruce who was about to step onto the mobile.

“What do I do if one of us find Dent?” He asks.

Bruce looks over his shoulder.

“You’ll know what to do. I trust you.” Bruce said before jumping into his seat.

“How about you?” Dick said, joining them.

Bruce’s features harden. 

“Bruce, whatever you’re thinking, it’s not right. We have to turn Maroni in the right way.” His eldest urged. 

Bruce didn’t reply, his mind already set in his dark ways. Dick turns around, trying to find any support from his brothers to change their father’s mind. Damian places his katana in his sheath and runs up to the car, jumping in the seat. He shares a quick glance to Dick, letting him know that he’ll look out for their father. Dick nods his head and backs away from the car as it speeds away toward the exit.

Dick looks back to Jason and Tim who also look a bit hopeless. Grayson takes a deep breath, putting on his mask.

“We have one mission to do: save mom and the baby.”

The ride with Bruce was silent. He never stopped once while he drove, not even for the roads that were closed down. 

Damian didn’t dare turn his head to Bruce, but he knows what he looks like: bloodthirsty. Damian knew the feeling, he felt like that every day of his young life.

“You’re worried I’m going to kill him, aren’t you?” Bruce asks out loud, breaking the glass.

Damian just stares at his hands.

“I don’t blame you, I’d do it too if I had the chance.” Damian mutters, feeling sick to his stomach as you’re out there alone.

Bruce looks at his son who looked conflicted. 

“Your mom saved me, many times. Whether it be coming back to her with broken bones or a heavy heart, she took care of me… even when I don’t deserve her.” 

Dami looks out the window, feeling like a helpless child.

“She’s more of a hero than any of us were.” 

Bruce returned his attention to the road, his hands grabbing hard onto the steering wheel.

“She is.” 

--------------------------

You and Harvey were forced back into a musty kitchen in the back of the banquet room. All of the guards were either outside guarding the area or counting in the people for the bid. You’ve felt more defeated than ever, especially as Maroni forced you to look at him and burn all of the evidence.

Harvey hasn’t said much either. He hasn’t even looked at you until now.

You were staring at your wedding ring as you were still tied to the chair. You’d think that one of the guards would take it from you, but you think they’d pity you a bit. 

“Why am I here? I’m supposed to be protecting my daughter, and now I’m here, risking her life. What kind of mother am I?” You asked yourself, feeling your tears stain your face.

“You don’t have her eyes.” Harvey said.

“What?” you ask.

“Maroni was wrong when he said you looked like his daughter, I don’t even think he took a glance at you when you were born.” Harvey said.

“I don’t want to hear about her right now.” You said, looking away, feeling the past trauma wash over you like a tsunami.

Harvey looks up to you, his features changing. It was like he was turning paternal. 

“You’re better than me, better than her, better than all of us. I can’t imagine anyone else that’s selfless and compassionate like you. I mean, who raised four boys for ten years and loved them as your own?” he asks.

You lightly snicker.

“They’re a bit hard to handle, but I’d do anything for my sons.” You said.

“And I know for a fact that they’re looking for you right now, especially that husband of yours. He’s been fighting for you all this time.” 

You look down at your ring again, feeling heavier than before. 

“I went behind his back, I promised him I’d wait but-”

“You wanted to get back at him, for what he did to you… for what all of us did to you.” 

You stare at Harvey, shocked. Not because his words were cruel, but because it was the truth.

“You’ve been hurting for the longest time, and you shouldn’t be answering for my crimes. I’m going to get you out of here, and you’re going to take Maroni down.” He said.

“With what? He burned all the evidence.” You said.

“Not all of it.” He said, opening his closed fist and showing off a memory card. 

Your eyes widen. “How... What…” You try asking.

“I knew that paper files could be easily disposed of, so I made all of my copies in here. I forgot I made it until Maroni spilled all the files on his table and I saw the card fumbling down. I faked that I was going to charge him so I could reach the ground and took the beating. You’re not the only actor in this family.”

You laugh, forming a small smile.

It was short-lived as you grunt lightly, hunching over.

“Are you alright?” He asks.

You nod your head, closing your eyes as you inhaled sharply.

“I’ll be fine. Just the stress catching up to me.” You lied.

Harvey didn’t buy it one bit, but he knew not to push too far. 

The doors pushed open and two guards walk side by side with Maroni, who looked too happy.

“It’s a full house tonight. I’d love for both of you to attend if that’s alright.” He says cruelly. 

You both don’t answer, but the guards forced you out of your chairs and walked you out.  

Once you enter the banquet hall, your senses are heightened as half of the room were full of crooks, corrupted politicians, and foes of Gotham. They turned their heads as you came into the room, only displaying a sinister smile. You and Harvey were separated as he was kept to the side. A guard takes you to the stage and forces you on your knees, making you wince as you probably scrapped them.

Maroni claps his hands in delight, grabbing the attention of the room. 

“Friends, allow me to introduce to you the spawn of your enemy.” He announced. 

A grumble spreads around the room, some surprised or impressed. You felt you were an attraction at a circus, people watching you with vicious eyes and cold hearts. Soon your ringmaster turns to you temporarily, more villainous than any man breathing in this room. 

“Let the chaos begin.” 

After his statement, there was a sound that pattered across the floor, like someone dropped a metal sphere. It stopped in its place, then it exploded in a puff of smoke. The whole room yelled, almost as if someone was fighting others. 

You held your breath, knowing what was happening. You know the mysterious gadgets that can go undetected in the public eye. 

Maroni gets angry, trying to order his men to clear the smoke. 

Suddenly, out came a man cloaked and masked. No one could see the majority of his face, but you did…

It was full of rage.

“Batman.” Maroni mutters under his breath, almost afraid. 

Out of the shadows came out Red Hood, Nightwing, and Robin. A few men tried to take them down, but the young men knocked them out in seconds. 

You hear someone landing behind you and see Red Robin in the corner of your eye. 

“Are you ok?” he whispers as he cuts off your restraints. 

You frantically turned your head around, suddenly realizing the disappearance of important people. 

“They’re, they’re missing.” You stuttered as Tim released your restraints.

“You’re going through some shock. We need you to get out of here right now.” Tim said as he helps you to stand. Tim looks up, seeing how the fight hasn’t died down. 

With you and the baby to worry about, Tim felt overwhelmed. You guys couldn’t make a run for it, especially since you weren’t 100% at strength. You begin to whimper at his side, holding your abdomen. 

Nearby, Dick kicks a goon in his stomach. He sees his brothers fighting as well as his father facing Toyman. He scans to the end of the room and sees Tim holding his mother who looked like she was in pain. He quickly runs toward them. 

“What’s wrong?” Dick asks. 

“We need a clearing for her to get out.” Tim says. 

“I- don’t think we can…” you panted, screaming again in pain. 

Bruce turned around, hearing you. He doesn’t realize that the Toyman threw out a jack in the box until Jason joined his side and knocked it back to him. Bruce looks at his son in gratitude and focuses on the situation. 

“She can’t stay in here.” Bruce said, his mind racing as all he could think was you.

Something broke inside of him broke. The way you were standing there in pain, it was like he was repeating the same day he chose to leave you. He promised you he’ll leave you again.

And he’s going to stick with his promise. 

He decided to run towards you without wasting another second, fighting anyone that got in his way. Jason got his back and he was hot on his tail. They finally arrived to you in time as you were heaving. Bruce came closer as he took you in his arms and held you close. You were basically crying at this point, but you couldn’t tell if it was because of the pain or that he was here.

“Maroni has him somewhere, he has the drive for the evidence.” you uttered out before pain waived over your body, making you double over. Bruce holds you steady and decides to carry you in his arms, making you press your face in his chest while you hung onto him. 

“Look for them and find the drive. This ends tonight.” Bruce said to his kids. 

“The nearest hospital is two hours away including the snow. I don’t think mother’s able to make it.” Damian announced. 

As if on cue, you whimper in Bruce’s arms. He looks down at you, feeling his heartbreak to see you like this. 

He looks up to his sons who look worried. “Can you make a clearing for us?” Bruce asks. All of them nod their heads and turn to their opponents that were collecting themselves. They make a path for Bruce to run out and successfully made it out of the banquet hall. 

“Hold on tight.” he whispers in your ear as he feels your grip get stronger. He aims his grappling hook into the sky and releases, getting hooked onto the ceiling You two flew straight up, away from the fight. Bruce swings his body to jump right onto an opening on the top floor and lands on his feet, as both hands are now carrying you again. He looks straight and charges to a door, kicking it down. 

Bruce quickly walks in and searches for a bed in what appeared as the suite that looked untouched. He makes his way to the mattress and lets you sit on the edge of the bed. Your face turned more red and patchy, and your skin glistened from sweat. 

“Hey, hey… look at me, darling.” Bruce bent down and took off his mask.

“Br-Bruce your mask-” you said, worried someone could walk in.

“I don’t care. All I care about is you and Lily.” 

You begin to silently sob as your husband dries your tears. 

“I’m so sorry. This wouldn’t have happened if i-” you release a blood-curdling scream, crouching forward. 

He takes your hands and let’s you squeeze it, not caring if you break them. 

“Don’t be sorry. I should be apologizing, for everything i’ve done to you. I’ve been lying to you since the start and you’re only here to make things right. You should have never felt like you had to this alone.”

Your eyes begin to water. “I’m scared Bruce,” you whispered, slightly trembling. 

“I’m right here, and i’m not going anywhere.” he said.

You were about to say something until you felt an uncomfortable feeling. You grabbed Bruce’s arms, unable to speak as the pain intensify. 

Bruce looks down and slightly pales, seeing that your water has broken. 

“Baby, it’s time.” Bruce softly said as he helps you recline by the headrest. You shake your head, feeling too overwhelmed.

“No, I want to go home. I can’t do this here.” you cried more. 

Bruce connects your foreheads together, as he started to tear up. 

“I know, but you can do this, okay? Soon we’re going to have our daughter in our arms, and nothing will take that away from us.”

You look up to bruce who smiles at you, giving you the love you always needed. 

“Ok…” You whisper.

He smiles at you and kisses your lips, then goes to your end.

"On the count of 3?" he asks.

You nod your head as you feel a contraction begin to take over your body.

"1, 2, 3, Push!"

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