#it was how cass felt about what Barbara was doing NOT what Barbara was actually doing

[lesbian-cowpoke]

Barbara who wants so badly for Cass to be happy, but not realizing her way of becoming happy is different for Cass

She thinks being a "normal" teenager and doing "normal" teen things will make Cass happy, because they made herself happy

But they dont

Barbara who just wants Cass to be happy and doesn't know how to do so

[sistertotheknowitall]

Some Guy Bingo

Masterpost.

Nearly three months into (what Jason called) The Haunting, the siblings kinda started a game. (“Either we're haunting him or he's haunting us, I haven't decided yet." "Considering he's the one appearing randomly, I'd say he's haunting us.")

Technically Tim had started it with, “five bucks says Danny went to class today.” (Gotham university was having an out break of fear toxin curtesy of Dr. Crane.) However, it was Jason who kicked it off with, “ten if he says something about actual scarecrows.”

Dick had snorted and said, “fifteen if it’s a personal experience about a farm.”

“I call bingo if he makes a vague statement on agriculture.” So it was actually Steph who started it.

“Bingo? We were placing bets.”

“Unlike you Hood, some people don’t get adopted by money.”

“As if Bruce doesn’t give you an allowance.”

(“As if he didn’t offer to adopt you,” Tim tacked on.)

It became a running joke where they started calling out "bingo if -" whenever they had to go out on a call. The joke had later formed into a running game when Danny had told Cass, “fighting gods is a pass-time, it is humanity that the real fight is against.” (He had trip over a curb and laid on the ground for several minutes before she asked if he was okay.) She said it wasn’t the most concerning thing he said to her and Steph chimed in claiming, “on a scale of one to ten that statement rates at a three.”

Jason had asked why Cass and Steph always got the weird ambiguous statements and he got cryptic shit about his “soul”.

(Damian had pointed out that at least he wasn’t being constantly referred to as a baby.)

I Call Bingo, which they still played whenever a situation required more than one of them, became “on a scale”

Dick was sure that “having given up on optimism, I find your enthusiasm to be overly bright” should be ranked higher then “I don’t like two-stepping but I’m from the mid-west, so do you know how to line dance?” (Danny and Duke had gotten into an awkward side step where they kept blocking each other.) Damian said the wording seemed passive-aggressive but the tone was too positive to be rude so he gave it a three. Jason said it sounded like a bad pick up line and gave it a two.

They often debated and defended the score they gave with Barbara chiming in over coms. She had never met Danny as Oracle but he was a regular at the public library. He was always polite and respectful and had quickly become one of her favorite patrons. Like Steph and Cass she also got odd statements but hers felt more like half-hearted jokes.

Bruce didn't always join in on their game but it wasn't surprising to see the occasional score placed in their reports. (They had a file dedicated to Danny's remarks. Originally it was to keep track of what they knew about him but at this point it was just to let the others know what he said this time.) Alfred was roped into it even if he didn't really participate unless asked. ("Hey Alfie, what would you give 'i'm glad i don't have to fight my food to eat it but if Batburger keeps giving me the wrong thing I'm summoning Lunch Lady.' Cause Tim says two but I think it's a five.") (He gave it a four.)

Post 4

[redflagshipwriter]

Mamabat- enter Jason 1/2

MASTERPOST

The air was different with Cass, now. Danny felt a little anxious as he followed her to the study after breakfast. Something about her was serious-determined-protective. 

She always felt protective towards him. That was why he'd followed her in the first place. Some ghosts lied, but they couldn't do it with their aura. He knew what she really felt for him. 

“Sit?” She asked him. She gestured at the big squashy chair. Danny did without complaint. Cass perched behind him and started dragging her fingers through his hair, relaxing him.

Man. She was good at this. Top tier mothering, right here. Danny went limp. 

“I'm worried,” Cass broke the silence. She didn't sound worried. She never really did. Her voice was quiet and serious, but still kind. Her thumbs dug into his scalp. He pushed his head back against it. Bliss. “Barbara made you sad. Because you miss your sister?”

Danny tensed. 

‘I should have figured that Batman would track me down.’

Maybe he had known, if he was honest with himself. It didn't hit him like a shock.

“Tim thinks your name is Fenton,” she added, brutally sensible as always. And yup, that was it. No point in denying it. “Declared dead. In danger?”

He sucked in air through his teeth. He wasn't going to lie to her. 

“Worried,” she repeated. 

He thought about it. He really did. Danny bit his lip. 

She was liminal. That probably meant she'd come really close to death, in at least one sense of the word. Would that mean she was desensitized to it, or extra paranoid?

…It was hard to imagine Cass over or under reacting to a possible danger. She was just so steady. But would she see him as a possible danger if she knew what he was, what he really was? 

He could feel it out before he took a plunge with the whole truth.

Maybe it was wrong. Maybe it was invasive. She didn't seem to realize that she was liminal. That meant she definitely didn't realize how much she was communicating to him under her words and gestures. 

But Danny deliberately tuned into her quiet aural communication and tested the waters. “Tim is right, I'm Danny Fenton,” he said. He knew he was too tense. She would definitely feel it. But what could he do about that? He was nervous. “I… Maybe I did die.”

Her heart dropped to her stomach. He could feel the crush of grief on her heart. 

But it didn’t wash away the thudding repetition of love-protect-my darling. There was no suspicion, no guilt, no fear. It was just pain for his sake, with no calculation about how to solve a sudden problem. 

God. He wanted so badly for that to have been how his parents reacted. His eyes started to sting.

Danny sniffled. He thought it was safe to tell her. “I died,” he corrected, and he knew he was right when Cass made a little wounded sound and leaned her body into him, aiming to comfort. “Not then, but a couple years ago. I’m different now, and it’s uh… It’s dangerous to be this way.”

“Affects?” Cass asked quietly. She started to pet his hair again. “Mood? Health?”

“...Huh,” he said, because that was a sensible question he hadn’t expected. If he really thought about his mood and emotions before and after the accident: “Yeah, uh, there’s sometimes a mood thing. I might be a little more aggressive than I was before? And I can get kind of intense sometimes.”

He had thought that was basically just a reaction to having a whole bunch of new threats in his life. But would pre-electrocution Danny have been able to actually stand and fight Skulker? He had genuinely been afraid of the jocks. Maybe… Maybe he was different. Sure, Sam and Jazz were up for shooting ghosts with Fenton tech. Would he have been if he was just human? 

…He didn’t really think so.

Oof. Well, that wasn’t exactly great for his sense of self.

Cass shook him lightly. “Health?” she repeated.

Danny forced down that revelation to deal with later. He didn’t like acknowledging that he was kind of a chicken by nature, but historically, there wasn’t much evidence of bravery pre-mortem. “Uh, my heart rate is really slow, body temp is low, so I can’t really afford to go to a doctor for a checkup,” he said. “Uh, sometimes I’ve got none at all and my hair turns white.” He paused there. That was- that was enough, yeah? He was going to be honest with her because she deserved honesty from him. But that didn’t mean he had to explain the whole great beyond and his inhuman status.

“Sounds like Jason,” Cass said, after a long silence.

Danny short-circuited. “Wait, what?” He craned to look at her. “Who?”

Cass darted forward to kiss his forehead. “Little brother,” she said cheerfully. “Want to meet him?”

Uh, yeah. Danny nodded vigorously, wondering what the hell she was on about. “Do you mean he died?” 

“Died,” Cass agreed, getting out her phone and tapping away at it rapidly.

“Not like, heart stopped for a minute on the operating table and he was revived, or what?” Danny pressed.

“Dead in the ground, came back later,” Cass said. “Dead for months. Now, very crabby.”

Danny balked. “What?”

“White hair too,” she said. Then her face did something funny. “I think he dyed it recently,” she said. 

Danny huffed a laugh. “If it’s the same thing as mine, you can’t dye it.” He saw her look over his head for white streaks. He didn’t correct her line of thought.

He hadn’t thought that anything could top the anticipation of meeting Batman. But Danny had to admit the rest of the day was a wash. Apparently Jason couldn’t make it until the evening, about an hour before patrol.

Danny nearly paced a line into the carpet. He had enough energy to do that now, even without ecto. He was getting soooo much food here. A guy couldn’t even stress out for an hour without someone coming by to make sure he had fruit and yogurt or a hot drink.

He didn’t need someone to come and tell him that the much anticipated Jason had shown up. Danny knew it when he went to take a sip of cruelty-free chocolate milk (hand delivered by the most frightening child in the world) and choked on vapor.

Damian gave him a glare and snatched the drink away. “Are you incapable of drinking beverages?” he demanded. His face looked so goddamn cross but he was just worried.

Danny managed a smile. “No, went down the wrong pipe, sorry.”

Damian didn’t seem to even see the fog, so- so that meant that either he was really unobservant or he wasn’t liminal enough to see it the way people did in Amity. That was a small blessing. Danny appreciated it and he took back his drink to have something to hold onto.

That was a whole ass ghost. That was a whole ghost coming onto the property, one that felt big and mad and old. Danny smacked his lips, disconcerted. 

He, uh, didn’t know what to expect from this.

[ofc-vi-writes-too]

Batfam members and what they’d get cancelled for/their apology

Just watched ItalianBach’s youtuber apology tier list video and inspiration STRUCK.

𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹𖦹

Bruce: there are SOOOOOO many things. So so so many things. He has been cancelled so many times that there is a blog dedicated to keeping track of BW apologies. the user is probs something like bruceissosorryagain. Personal favorite was when he ruined a pretty popular and well liked socialite by knocking over a champagne tower directly onto her great grandmother’s wedding gown. For some god foresaken reason the champagne had been dyed red to match the victorian vampire aesthetic of the wedding?? The hashtag “BWmeetscarrie” will forever haunt wayne manor.

Dick: He was literally a cop in 2020. his goose was GOT. He was trying to prove that not all cops are bad by posting to that macklemore song with the little black fist painted on his cheek and BLM on the other. u know the one. It didn’t go over very well. Even macklemore commented “c’mon bro..” This was followed by a 45 minute long apology video explaining how he now understands the harm it can cause to lump all marginalized groups into one category and how he regrets his action severely and yada yada yada hes so sorry, at the end there was a 2 minute long acrobatic performance to the song Nina Cried Power by Hozier. He also donated to several black charities following the whole ordeal. Didn’t leave his house for a week.

Jason: Ran a rage bait account on tiktok when he was like 13-15 where he posted cringe alpha sigma male mogging content, and someone somehow found out it was him, and his apology wasn’t so much an apology as much as it was “I’m sorry you were stupid enough to believe the bs I was posting, and I’m sorry i got caught. Fuck you guys btw now I have to find a new hobby 👎🏽.” The videos are still saved to his phone when he needs a good chuckle.

Tim: Said BTS was ass and BP was even worse (he tweeted it out of boredom, knowing it was gonna be bad, but not knowing exactly how bad). Armies and blinks tried to dox him MUTIPLE times but tim keeps it on lock so his info was safe. There was a boycott for WE so Bruce made him post and official apology. It was half assed and there are kpop accounts to this day that say “Fuck tim drake” in their bio. Either that or he got “cancelled” on some Jynxzi stuff. Like the whole situation to a T. Maybe both are true. He also had a ukelele in his apology vid.

Damian: called an old lady a “stupid ugly stinky bitch” on national television because she “asked father too many questions.” (it was an interview) Jaws were dropped. Nay, jaws were dislocated. Damian was too young at the time to have social media, let alone post his own apology, so bruce did it for him and sent that poor old lady a lot of cash.

Duke: Unironically said “if it’s snowing I’m not going.” the dudebros thought that shit was hilarious. No one else laughed. Duke was serious, but he felt so bad about offending people that there were tears in the apology. At least thats the story he’s currently running with.

Cass: A video of her saying the F slur surfaced. Her apology was her coming out.

Steph: Said something offensive without realizing it and didnt know what she did until she tweeted saying “why is everyone being so wierd around me?? did I do something wrong??” everyones response is either “girl please bffr” or genuine actually helpful input. She apologized less than a day later in a quick and concise apology vid.

Barbara: compared herself to marsha P johnson in an interview and when she was asked to elaborate she simply could not. The truth is, she had no idea who that woman was other than the fact that she was a good, cool woman so she was like yea omg im so her. Her apology was also a mini documentary about Marsha P Johnsons life.

[dccomicsimagines]

Bruce’s Birthday - Batfamily Imagine

Requested by Anon - Can I get a birthday with Bruce and the batsibling!reader? Batkids mayhem please

***

Cass peered down at Bruce from her place in the rafters. Below was the Gotham Children’s Charity gala. People in fancy, flashy clothes, milling around. She heard the annoying murmurs of gossip and fake personas. 

Bruce’s shoulders held an unfamiliar tension. She tilted her head. His lips pressed together as he made small talk with a few businessmen. She swore she saw a sadness that felt unknown to her. 

“Cass, you promised you wouldn’t hide up here,” Tim said. He juggled a plate of food in one hand as he shuffled on the rafter to her side. Cass took the plate and helped herself to some baked brie.  

“Watching.” She looked back at Bruce who was now moving through the crowd toward Selina, who had just entered in a sparkly red dress. Cass smiled, noting Bruce seemed happier, but the sadness was still there. Hidden, but barely.

“Yeah, it’s quite a bore this year.” Tim swung his legs as he settled down beside her. He took a grape from the plate. “I wondered if we should have set up Two Face to rob the place or something?”

Cass looked at Tim, narrowing her eyes. “Bad joke.” She turned back to Bruce to find him whispering in Selina’s ear. “Bruce is sad.”

Tim followed her gaze. He raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“He’s sad. He hides it, but it’s stays.” Cass gave Tim the plate and wrapped her arms around herself. The simple black dress was comfortable, but she missed her pajamas. After discovering how comfortable they were, she would only change out of them after being bribed with the promise of more cozy pjs. She was on her twelfth set now.

“Well, his birthday is coming up. He always gets sad around this time. It’s probably because of (Y/N).” Tim took a bite of the baked brie, groaning at the taste. 

"(Y/N)?" Cass blinked. She remembered Alfred and Dick mentioning you in stories about Dick’s early Robin days. You were Bruce's oldest child. Apparently, you haven't been home in almost seven years.

"Yeah, they used to make a big deal out of it." Tim chuckled. "Dick told me about it. I wanted to try to do what they did, but...I think it will just make him sad that they won't come home."

"Why?" Cass studied Tim, noting how he wouldn't look her in the eye.

Tim pursed his lips. "I don't know why actually. Dick won't talk about it, neither will Alfred. Must have been a big deal though."

Cass looked back at Bruce. He was staring at the far wall, not really seeing anything. She tapped her chin as an idea slowly began to form in her head.

***

Dick was just settling down on his couch with a bowl of popcorn in hand and Barbara next to him when Cass suddenly climbed out from under the coffee table. He almost spilled the popcorn, but Barbara caught it.

"I knew she was there," Barbara laughed, reaching up to close Dick's jaw. She offered popcorn to Cass.

Cass' eyes brightened as she helped herself and sat cross-legged on the coffee table. "Thank you."

Dick's heart calmed. He chuckled to himself. "What brings you here, Cassie? You don't normally come to Bludhaven unannounced?"

Cass tilted her head, studying Dick with a carefulness that made his hair stand on end. "Bruce’s birthday."

"Yes, it’s next Sunday." Barbara sighed, muting the TV when a loud commercial started to play. "Do you need help finding something for Bruce?"

Cass nodded. She suddenly stood up and walked over to the wall. Dick leaned over, frowning slightly when she picked up the picture of you, him, and Bruce. It had been taken a year after Dick arrived in the manor. The three of you were in Alfred's garden, helping him tend it as punishment for breaking yet another vase.

"That's an old picture," Dick said after Cass held it out to him. "I think Bruce probably has that one."

Cass shook her head and pointed to you. You were so young, so bright eyed. Dick missed you so much that his heart shattered into pieces.

"That's (Y/N). You know about them, Cass," Barbara said after Dick couldn't get himself to speak.

"Bruce is sad. Misses (Y/N)." Cass pointed at you again. "We find (Y/N)."

"No, we can't do that. (Y/N) doesn't want to talk to Bruce." Dick swallowed past the lump in his throat.

Barbara eyed Dick curiously. "So you know where they are?"

Dick's eyes widened. He suddenly realized he might as well be in a viper's den. Cass leaned closer, narrowing her eyes.

"Fine, I do. (Y/N) didn't cut me out of their life. Jay probably knows too. I made sure to reintroduce him once he...got better." The blood ran out of Dick’s face as he found his phone was suddenly in Cass's hands.

"Cass, no." Barbara held her hand out for the phone. "I love you want to help Bruce, but what happened between (Y/N) and Bruce is between them."

Cass shook her head. "How long will they hurt each other?" She looked at Dick's phone before carefully handing it to Barbara.

Dick frowned. He wondered if maybe he should intervene? Seven years had been long enough. Eventually it would be too late for you and Bruce.

He tucked his phone back in his pocket. Now wasn’t the time to revisit the past. He wrapped his arm around Barbara’s shoulders.

“Cass, you aren’t staying?” Barbara asked. Dick blinked, finding Cass by the window.

“No, enjoy your night.” She opened it swiftly and leaped out into the night. Dick hummed, turning to share a look with Barbara.

“I should be worried, shouldn’t I?” Dick bit his lip when Barbara shrugged. 

“Everything will be fine. Now Hunk-Wonder, start the movie.” She leaned forward, kissing him. All thoughts of you and Cass left his mind.

***

You paced your office at the D.E.O. “I don’t care what you have to do. Kill the project. We don’t mess with Gotham,” you snapped into your phone. The agent on the other end stammered. “No, cut it off now or I’ll be down there and you don’t want me down there.”

The agent sighed. “Yes, chief.” You hung up the phone, slamming it on your desk. Taking a deep breath, you tried to calm down. 

“Fuck me.” You collapsed in your office chair and spun around to look out your window. It was the Gotham skyline. You snorted. It was missing the smog. Mister Bones thought it was funny to give you a Gotham projection on your fake window. You might have to slip him another exploding cigar again.

Your heart panged, but you pushed it away and turned back to your desk. There were files to look through, memos to send, mission to approve. You rubbed your eyes, wishing you could go home to your apartment. Maybe call the number that person in the bar gave you last weekend? 

However, you shook your head and opened the first file. In the corner of your eye, you noticed the date. A lump formed in your throat, but you swallowed past it and focused on the task at hand.

***

The manor library was quiet. Cass’ eyes were on the door as it swung open and Tim walked in. He was consumed by his tablet.

“Tim,” Cass said as she dropped down from the top shelf of the bookshelf and landed silently behind him. 

Tim flinched, almost dropping his tablet. “Geez, Cass.” He let out a shaky breath, pressing a hand against his chest. 

“Bruce’s birthday is in three days.” She held up three fingers. “We need to get (Y/N) here.”

“You’re still on that, huh?” Tim ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. It’s not a matter we should meddle with. Have you talked to Dick?”

Cass nodded. “He will not help, but I got their number.” She tapped her temple. “We find (Y/N) and bring them here. For Bruce.”

Tim pursed his lips. “Like kidnap them? (Y/N) was pretty much a badass. Even if we get them here, then what?” He reached out and put a hand on Cass’ shoulder. “We can’t make them get along. Do you even know why they fought?”

“No, but it doesn’t matter.” Cass brushed Tim away. “Time is short, life is short. We make this happen because we are family.”

A big sigh escaped Tim. Cass smiled, knowing she won. “Okay, okay. I’ll help, but this was your idea. If this blows up, it’s all your fault,” Tim said, handing Cass his tablet. “Type in their number, let’s see what we can find.”

Cass wanted to dance. She knew this would a birthday Bruce would never forget.

***

You knew something was wrong from the moment you stepped into your apartment. Carefully setting down your keys and bag of takeout on the side table, you pulled out your collapsed baton and flipped it to it’s full length. 

A breeze blew through the window. You raised an eyebrow. “Dick? Jason?” You called, turning the corner to your kitchen quickly only to find no one there. Goosebumps rose on your skin as you heard a creak down in your bedroom. 

You moved silently down the hall. A sharp breath gasped behind you. You spun, aiming the baton to hit the person in the face. “Ouch, my nose,” a boy in a Robin suit said, stumbling back and holding his face.

“Why the fuck are you in my house?” You kicked his feet out from under him and held him down with a foot on his throat. He was young, dark hair. Standard Robin. Racking your brain, you tried to remember what his name was. Dick mentioned him once or twice. “Tim, right?”

“Yeah, nice to meet you.” He gripped your ankle. “Can you get off?”

“You didn’t answer my question.” A soft almost silent thump came from behind you. You raised your hand and caught a fist that shot out of the darkness next to you. “Batgirl?”

“Yes.” She stepped out into the light. You took in her in. She was little, but strong. Her face hidden by her mask completely. “We’re here because of Bruce.”

Your heart skipped a beat. You removed your foot from Tim’s neck and stepped back to eye the new Batgirl. What was her name? Jason mentioned she was the daughter of David Cain. Trained to be the ultimate living weapon, but she chose her own path. Cass? That was what he called her?

She helped Tim up. You threw him a box of tissues for his nose. “What does D...Bruce want?” Your gut twisted at the slip. You made yourself stop calling him Dad years ago. It made it less painful.

“Bruce is sick,” Cass said, tilting her head. The look that Tim gave her left you doubting it. 

“And that has to do with me because?” You turned your back on them and went to grab your food by the door. The two followed you to the kitchen as you got out a plate. After a moment, you grabbed two more. 

“He misses you,” Tim said. His nose made him sound stuffed up. You took out an ice pack from your freezer and handed it to him. He gave you a bloody smile, pressing it to his face. 

“Right.” You opened containers, splitting food among the three plates. Luckily, you always bought more than you could eat. Leftovers were must with the D.E.O demanding schedule.

“He does.” Cass took a seat, pulling off her mask. You paused, noting she looked very much like Lady Shiva. Now it all made sense. “You need to come to him.”

You set plates in front of them. “How did you even find out where I live? Or anything about me for that matter?”

Tim and Cass shared a look. 

“I’m going to kill Dick,” you muttered under your breath. “What do you want to drink?” You dug into your fridge. 

“Thanks,” Tim said as he happily took a can of soda. Cass stayed with water. You joined them with your own drink.

“Thank you for feeding us.” Cass’ voice was so soft. You smiled at her. 

“Well, you are family, I guess.” You watched as Tim happily dug into his plate. “Bruce is always picking up new kids.”

Cass frowned, ignoring the food. “You’re angry.”

You took a bite of your food. “At Bruce, I was. Now I’m just...over it.” You shrugged. “He’s going to be him. Nothing I can do about it.”

“He is stubborn. Runs in the family.” Tim took a sip of his soda, smirking when you glared at him. “Alfred said it, not me.”

Alfred’s name made your heart ache. You needed to call him more often. “Yeah, I see you’ve taken to the role of annoying kid siblings very nicely. Dick must be feeling the karma now.” You laughed. “He’s the worst. Always messing with me.”

“Dick didn’t tell us where you were, we found you on our own.” Cass poked at the food on the plate, wrinkling her nose slightly. “Bruce’s birthday is tomorrow.”

You sighed, pushing your plate away as your stomach soured. “I know.”

“Come.” Cass reached out to touch your hand. 

“It’s not that simple.” You flinched away from her. Tim glanced between the two of you, eyes wide. “Some things you can’t come back from.”

“Why?” Cass tilted her head.

You stood up suddenly, taking your plate to the counter. “He wished I’d never been born. Said I was a mistake. I told him he should have died in the alley with his parents.” You winced at the sharp intakes of breath behind you. “But it’s fine.”

“You’re tired.” Her chair scraped and suddenly she was beside you. “You hurt. Bruce hurts too. It’s time to forgive.”

Your temper flared, but you let out a slow breath to cool it. “Why does it matter so much to you?” 

Cass swallowed hard. “Bruce needs you. He isn’t...whole.” She pressed a hand against her chest. “I know people who have regrets because they let things fester. I don’t want that for our family. Jason has made amends, now you should.”

“Well, Jay always needed Bruce. Even when he was younger.” You pursed your lips. Jason craved Bruce’s attention more than anything. Still did. You remembered being jealous, but it gave you time to pursue your own interests without Bruce noticing. “I don’t care.”

“(Y/N), I know it’s not my place and I just met you today, but you’re basically like my sibling with how much Alfred and Dick talk about you,” Tim said. You turned to look at him. He played with his fork, not meeting your eye. “I lost my mom and dad. I wish every day that I could tell them I love them one last time. Bruce isn’t getting younger and things are getting more dangerous...well, I think you don’t want to regret not reaching out or at least trying, right?” 

You sighed. Cass nudged your arm. You glanced between the two of them. “Fine.” 

Cass smiled, eyes lightening up. “Really?” Tim dropped his fork in surprise.

“I’ll go, but don’t get your hopes up. Bruce is still a stubborn pig.” You rolled your eyes as Cass suddenly hugged you. You blinked at the touch before gently patting her back. Tim hesitated, but you opened your other arm and let him join too. “For what it’s worth, it was nice to meet you two at last either way.”

“Ditto.” Tim grinned. Cass just buried her face deeper into your shoulder.

***

Bruce rolled his eyes at the sound of clattering in the kitchen. “Alfred wouldn’t be happy to find you in here,” he said as he opened the door to find Dick, Tim, Barbara, and Stephanie in the middle of attempting to make breakfast.

Dick and Tim were covered in flour. Barbara was by the stove, frying what looked to be turkey bacon. Steph happily chopped fruit. 

Bruce noticed the swelling around Tim’s nose. He made a note to ask him about it later.

“Alfred asked us to help,” Dick said, pushing Tim away from him. Tim laughed, grabbing a towel to try to clean up. 

“He did?” Bruce raised an eyebrow. 

“Alfred is having tea with a guest out in the garden. He wanted you to join him once you woke up,” Barbara said, rolling her eyes at Dick and Tim. 

“Don’t worry. It’s not Selina.” Steph smirked as she ate a piece of banana. Bruce narrowed his eyes at her, but she just laughed. 

Bruce hummed. “Alright. Barbara, don’t let the boys near the stove.” He walked out with the sound of Dick and Tim’s protests behind him. A rare smile tugged at his lips. 

For the one hundredth time today, he missed you. He imagined you would have been in the kitchen, keeping Dick and Tim out of trouble while baking your special birthday breakfast that only you could make. His heart ached. Why did he push you away when he should have been pulling you close?

Cass was waiting by the doors to the garden. She skipped up to him and kissed his cheek. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you.” He smiled, frowning at the glee hidden in her eyes. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Alfred’s waiting.” She gave him a quick hug and ran off. 

Bruce stepped out into the garden. He walked the path toward the place Alfred always had tea. Laughter reached his ears as he approached. He stopped just before the final corner, listening.

“That cannot be true. You must be pulling my leg,” Alfred said, chuckling in a way Bruce hadn’t heard in a long time. “They can’t have created a Superman musical.”

“Yep, it’s all the hype in NYC right now. Apparently, it got nominated for a few Tonys.” Bruce’s heart stopped. That voice. Could it be? Bruce peeked around the corner. “I think one of the songs goes like ‘Superman, he flies as much as he sings. Superman, he does all the things.’ Honestly, it’s stuck in my head,” you laughed hard. You were older, more mature.  A lump formed in his throat. His little baby grew up.

Alfred shook his head. “Unbelievable what the theater has become.” 

“I’ll get you tickets next time you’re in town,” you said, picking up your tea cup. 

Alfred clicked his tongue, standing up. “I’m happy you are finally home, Mx. (Y/N).” He poured another cup of tea in the third cup on the table. “Now I believe it’s time for me to go in and check on the others.”

“I’ll come with...” You stood up, stopping when you turned to meet Bruce’s eye. Bruce almost ducked back around the corner, but stopped himself. 

Alfred patted your shoulder. “You both have much to discuss.” He walked toward Bruce, leaning over to whisper. “Don’t you dare blow this, Master Bruce. I doubt you’ll get another chance.”

Bruce pursed his lips, watching as Alfred left. He hummed, turning back to you when you took a breath. 

“So...” You shoved your hands in your pockets, rocking on your feet like you used to do when you were a child. Bruce felt a smile tug at his lips. “Happy birthday.”

“Thank you.” He approached you slowly. To your credit, you didn’t move away. “(Y/N)...you’ve grown.”

You snorted. “Yeah, that happens after seven years.” 

“I heard you are pretending to work for Broadway,” Bruce said, raising an eyebrow. The Batman in him wanted to interrogate you. The father in him cursed the Batman in this moment. “But you are actually working for the D.E.O.” 

You chuckled, rolling your eyes as you looked over his head at the manor. “Sure, I am. I should have known that would be the first thing you would say.” Bruce could feel you distancing yourself. 

“I...” Bruce sighed. He pressed a hand over his mouth. “I always mess up with you, don’t I?”

Your eyes widened in slight surprise. “Yeah, you do. I suppose you do it to all of us except maybe the new kids. Tim and Cass seem very nice. Maybe a little too intrusive?”

Bruce blinked. He remembered Cass and Tim went off comms last night. Tim’s bruised nose made more sense. You always aimed for noses. A habit he tried to break you of. “They brought you here, didn’t they?”

“Mostly Cass, but Tim was there too.” You shrugged. “They convinced me to come. Cass wanted me here for your birthday because she said you missed me.” 

He blinked. Of course Cass would have noticed that. “That’s true.” Bruce took a step toward you. “So much. I miss your laugh, your smile, the way you make fun of me at every turn.” His chest was heavy with rare emotion. “You’re my child. I loved you since you were first put in my arms.” A lump formed in his throat. “I was angry and I didn’t mean what I said to you all those years ago. I’ve regretted every day since.”

A cloud covered the sun. Your face disappeared in the shadow. A low hum came from you. Bruce wondered if this was how everyone else felt when he responded with only an indecipherable hum. 

The cloud passed. Bruce saw tears in your eyes as the light revealed your face. “I’m sorry too. What I said in return...unforgiveable.”

Bruce opened his arms. “(Y/N), I’m happy you are home.”

You stared at him for a moment and suddenly you were flying into his arms. Breath left Bruce’s lungs. You were bigger and stronger now. “I love you, Dad.” You whispered softly, hiding your face into his shoulder.

“I love you too, my little cookie monster.” Bruce smirked when you scoffed, pulling away to look him in the eye.

“Don’t ever call me that again, old man.” You narrowed your eyes as Bruce laughed, clapping a hand on your shoulder. 

“Sure.” Bruce led you over to the tea table. “Now I want to hear everything.” You tensed, but Bruce held up his hands. “Nothing you don’t want to tell me and I actually prefer if you don’t tell me about the D.E.O.” 

You snorted. “Wow, you have gotten softer. I thought Dick and Jay were lying.” You took a seat and added sugar to Bruce’s tea. Bruce smiled, realizing you remembered how he took his tea.

“We’ll spar later and then you can see how soft I’ve become.” Bruce studied you. When you were younger, Alfred always claimed you looked a lot like Bruce. Bruce never could see it. He always saw your mother, but now, you were definitely his child and he couldn’t be prouder.

***

Cass tittered, watching you and Bruce from a window on the second floor. The two of you were laughing. Her lips pulled up in a big grin.

“How are they doing?” Tim asked suddenly. Cass jumped a little, narrowing her eyes as he laughed. He stepped up beside her to look out the window too. “I’m getting better at sneaking.”

“Better, but not great.” Cass snorted as Tim gasped. She ignored his protests. Bruce’s shoulders relaxed. His jaw loose, smile lines appeared on his face. She sighed.

“What?” Tim asked once he realized Cass wasn’t listening to him. 

Cass looked at Tim, reaching up to touch his bruised nose. Tim winced. “Bruce is happy now.”

Tim looked out the window. He smirked. “Yeah, I think he is.” Cass wrapped her arm around him and rested her head on his shoulder. Both of them kept their eyes on Bruce and you. The family was finally reunited.

[jaysgirlx]

❝ 𝐀 𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐏𝐄 ❞

❥ pairing: dick grayson x civilian f!reader (part 2 of a series)

❥ summary: dick has to find you after all he put you through you don't deserve what your ex is doing to you.

❥ warnings: moreee angst, fighting, acts of violence, many mentions of depression, anxiety and thoughts of death

❥ wc: 3.8k

"I think the best plan here may be to pay the price, Grayson," says Damian walking into the Batcave, nearly dragging a half-awake Tim.

"That's just dumb, for all we know he'll just use the money to take her away with him. Steph and I will get her back. This guy is clearly a coward" Cass says in an annoyed tone while leaning on Duke who kept quiet.

"What if he has used his own money to hire people to fight us, he can't be that sure that we would actually pay the price," Bruce says interrupting the conversation. "And I do mean "we", y/n is practically family Dick if you decide you want me to pay the ransom we will"

"That's quite a lot of money to risk Bruce," says Barbara "Cass may be right, he might just take her away once he gets the money"

"Stop it you guys, just let me think!" Dick nearly screamed, trying to hold himself together. He felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see that it was Jason, "I know you're not exactly happy with me right now. But out of all of us, we need to be strong Dick. In a situation like this, we need you as our leader"

Dick didn't know how to feel, of course he needed to be the leader but he couldn't even manage to be a good boyfriend to you. Could he even save you? Were you still even alive? The blood on that envelope had been dried for fucks sake. And Steph had told him she hadn't seen you in 2 months, not since you moved back into your place.

No wonder he couldn't track you, you had been kidnapped for 2 goddamn months, and was his fault. He fucked up and left you alone to heal, he didn't realize how stupid of an idea that was. But for now, he needed to let go of that, he needed to find you and rescue you.

"We're not paying the ransom, even if y/n is still alive…he'll most likely take her with him," Dick says, causing everyone to stop their chatter. "Babs I need you to try and locate them, I know it may be a lost cause but it is our only bet"

He pauses for a second formulating a plan. You had been kidnapped for an estimate of 2 months now and if you were still alive, that meant your ex was still here. Which means he needed money.

"Tim, could you do a background check on y/n's ex? Find out his patterns, if he doesn't get money from me he'll definitely be looking for other ways to obtain some" Tim who was half awake, nodded and opened up his laptop to work alongside Barbara. Dick kept silent for a while before asking the rest of them to try checking abandoned warehouses, or any other places they possibly thought you could be.

Bruce tried talking to Dick but he tuned him out. Over the years he learned how to pick out the bits and pieces Bruce wanted him to hear and ignore the rest but right now he was tuning him out completely. The thought of you being dead made him sick, things weren't supposed to be like this. He was supposed to protect you, he loved you that's all there was to it. He felt a hand on his shoulder and it was Jason. He didn't say anything and that's exactly what Dick needed. He needed a moment to breath and just think.

He knew you ex was crazy but he didn't really know anything else about him. He didn't know if maybe there was a past of crimes he overlooked or maybe your ex was even the man he claimed to be. For fucks sake, he wished he had listen to you more when you talked, when you had practically begged him to. He thought that he was doing you a favor but all he did was put you in danger.

He could only hope that you would forgive him.

It was cold and empty. The air felt harsh to breathe and you never felt so dead. You weren't sure if something was holding you down or if you just couldn't move.

Everything hurt.

There where flickering screens in the background while soft hum got louder and louder. You could barely make out what was happening around you and maybe you didn't even want to know. Your eyes searched the room, you were in a bed covered by what seemed to be a blanket. You were tied down, your body was just weak. Where were you? What time was it? When was the last time you had eaten food? Were you dying?

The flickering screens finally caught your attention and there you saw him standing in front of a bunch of TVs, your ex-boyfriend and all your memories came flooding back. He kidnapped you...how long ago was that? And where were you? Your mind could only think of one person: Dick Grayson. You meant it when you told him, you couldn't be with him any longer but that didn't mean you didn't still love him. You'd be crazy not to when you and Dick had met you not he was some flirty playboy who flirted with every girl until he showed you otherwise. After dumping your crazy ex and going to Divk for comfort, you realized how caring he could be. So you entered a relationship with him with high expectations that he'd always treat you so well and everything between you to have been perfect.

Then he'd started cancelling plans last minute and you knew something was up. Dick didn't like secrets and it was the biggest surprise when he confided in you that he was Nightwing. You were obviously worried, worried one night he wouldn't come home but you accepted him because you loved Dick Grayson, not Nightwing. You met Jason soon after and the two of you hit it off, Dick wasn't fond of the friendship but Jason didn't mind looking after you. Jason saw you like family. Yes, he was dangerous but he knew it would break Dick's heart if anything ever happened to you.

A quiet sob fell from your lips while you thought about Dick. You hadn't even realized your eyes were filled with tears and that your fingernails were digging into your palms. You wanted to cry and shout, but you knew that was dumb. You didn't know if anyone was coming to save you but that didn't mean you wouldn't try and keep yourself alive.

While you tried you calm yourself down, you saw a black figure walking over towards you. You knew it was Roman so you closed your eyes.

Pretend to be asleep.

He won't notice.

You steadied your breaths and allowed them to fall into a pattern while his steps grew heavier and closer. His hand gently stroked your face, making you mentally gag. "You used to be sooooo perfect for me...but then you put your nose where it didn't belong" You felt something cold and thin press across your face. A blade. If you hadn't been scared before you definitely were now.

The fear inside you wasn't just from the blade but more of what he was going to do with you after. You know he isn't going to kill you because he would've done that by now but no possible way he wants to stay in Gotham. Were you still even in Gotham? There were still so many unanswered questions, but all I knew was that this room was decorated with old TVs that it seemed that Roman had been using. Still, all that didn't matter, staying alive and staying put did. If there was any chance you were in Gotham and anybody was looking for you, all you had to do was just hold out a bit longer. Dick would come for you, if anybody would, it had to be him.

The cold feeling of the blade eventually left your face and after a couple sentences of mumbling and mutters, those heavy footsteps finally walked away and slammed a door behind him. A opened your eyes and your breaths became more frantic, you knew for sure now that you were alive and that you could handle this. Small bits of pieces of what you had experienced here popped into your head but you shoved it back down. Now wasn't the time. You need to calm down and think. For all you know staying put may not work. You wanted to still be angry with me but how could you be when all you wanted was to be in his arms again. You need to see him again, even if it's just to hug him.

You needed to see Dick one last time because you were still so hopelessly in love with him.

Dick is standing in front of your favorite cafe. It was on the verge of closing and he could never understand what appeal you found in it. You said the coffee was really good especially when you put a bunch of sugar in it but didn't that apply to most coffee? For a brief moment, he smiled at the thought of maybe being able to share coffee with you like that. Just one last time, if you'd still have him.

Dick had always been fascinated by you. You were so accepting of him and his family and there was never a moment where he doubted your love. He never meant to accuse you of cheating, if he could take it back he would. If he could re-do that entire night over, he'd do it properly. He'd apologize for canceling your date and explain to you how he had been feeling for your safety. He shouldn't even have let you go that night, he should have told you the truth.

For the last month, while Tim and Barbara endlessly searched Gotham's cameras CCTV, and public records the rest of the siblings spent their free time tearing through every abandoned warehouse in hopes of finding you but they failed every single time. Every day Dick contemplated paying the ransom and risking losing you if you weren't already gone. He needed you back and he wasn't the only one worried about you.

Your parents were worried sick, all they know is that you were kidnapped but it still hurts them. Your relationship with them may not have been the greatest but that didn't mean they wanted to lose you completely. They never liked Dick, they tried to be supportive but Dick once showed up. He knows now how badly he mistreated, how much he fucked up. All you did was love and care for him and he let you down time and time again but wouldn't this time. He was going to find you and never leave your side again.

He left the cafe and went towards the phone store nearby. Dick had bought you your latest phone but never got around to connecting it to Barbara's location system which tracks all of them including Bruce. Which meant he had to go to that store and see if they could track it using the information when it was bought. He even managed to find the box it came in in your apartment.

He was able to find out that your phone was either dead or broken because it was disconnected. He thought he had reached another dead end until the cashier said its last location was tracked which was supposedly a play near Gotham's most popular TV company's buildings. The only abandoned one is the former headquarters but just getting into there is difficult, there is no way you'd be there and no one knew right?

He left with that thought on his mind and a cup of disgusting coffee full of sugar.

The quiet hum of the computers and the small chat between his sibling filled the room while Dick tried to eat his dinner. He picked at the fried rice Jason had picked up for him and the rest of his family. All it did was remind him of you and the way you always wanted to order out instead of eat something home cooked. It wasn't cause you were bad at cooking but more because you loved trying new foods every once in a while. Dick bit down on his tongue hard, tasting a cold metallic taste that barely brought him back to reality.

It had been nearly a month since you had gone missing. Daimen thought you were dead. Cass and Steph kept going through your apartment, looking for something to stop them from giving up. Jason was silent. Bruce was angry, he saw you as the perfect fit for Dick. He had never seen his son happier. Babs knows you're a survivor, you wouldn't die on her like that.

"Dick, snap out of it", Barbara said slowly reeling him back into reality. You and her had always gotten along so well, especially after Barbara got shot, you were there for her like a sister. That when he knew, that's exactly when Dick knew he was in love with you and couldn't handle watching people he cared about in pain. "Tim and I found some stuff...we have good news and bad news"

"Just tell me" He grunted out, whatever it was he could handle it, as long as there was a chance you were alive. You had to be alive, you still loved him and he had so many apologies to give you once he had you back into his arms again.

"Once I hacked the CCTV of y/n's apartment I was able to get a couple of photos of this "Roman Jennings" guy and I had Tim cross-reference them with what we knew already knew about him.." she paused as if what she said next could break Dick "This guy doesn't exist in Gotham. Not only do no records tie to him...there's no information on him anywhere"

Dick knew that most of Roman's murders had been made look like suicides and hadn't been caught but he hadn't realized that maybe "Roman Jennings" doesn't exist and that they might've been following a false lead the entire time. How could he waste a month on this? What if she's really dead-

Calm down, Grayson.

Worrying will get you nowhere.

"I'm guessing that's the bad news?"

"Yup, the good news is that, on the cameras near that abandoned TV company's old headquarters, I found the same guy leaving and entering the building every day for the last 6 weeks. I'm not completely sure but I think that's our guy" Dick was sure he heard her completely but that didn't matter. Your phone had last been located in that area and it was the only lead they had. He knew you didn't have much time and there was no way he was just going to sit here and wait.

"I'm going to check it out, Babs sends me the coordinates," Dick said as he put down the food on the counter. The silence that was surrounding him, should've been a sign that for the words that come next but Dick just couldn't think about all that right now. He needed to get to you, bring you home. Bruce felt a need to interject but he felt that it wasn't his place. But Jason had no problem with interfering especially in this situation, "Y'know you're not going in alone right? And definitely not without a plan"

Jason grabbed onto Dick's arm, roughly pulling him away from the door. The tension between them had never been resolved, no matter how many times Jason tried to make it clear that he never had any romantic feelings for you. Jason saw you as family and tried to be there for you especially since most of the time you got upset because of Dick. Bruce was ready to step in now, seeing as Dick was now angry, stressed, and running on practically no sleep. Dick rips his hand away in anger and pushes Jason, "Jason I really don't need your opinion on this, y/n has been trapped for almost 3 fucking months now. If I don't go right now, she could die"

"If you go in alone and angry, you might just be the reason she dies. Do not fuck this up for the rest of us" It hadn't really occurred to Dick that maybe this wasn't just about him and that the rest of the family had cared about you. Dick had always seen Jason as a wedge between the two of you but he never really thought he actually cared. He thought Jason just did it to mess with him. Before Dick could even respond, Steph spoke up, "She's our family too Dick, we all want her home but we have to do this right"

"Y'know she's the only one, I can talk to about menial matters," Damian says quietly, "She made it easy to just talk about those small things even the stupid ones" Maybe the stress of the situation had caused him to forget how much of positive impact you had on his family and how much this was affecting them. "Look I'm sorry guys I just…

"Want her back?" Bruce says looking over at him "we all do, so just give us a couple more hours to plan how we're getting inside and what we will do?"

Duke who had been quite quiet finally speaks up, "I think you should rest Dick. If you're going to be the one to get her out of there you need rest. Proper rest"

"I second that!!" Cass says, appearing from behind Duke. All Dick could do was nod, he was tired and stressed and just needed a little bit of sleep. He left with a weak smile and found of the guest rooms in the manor. Once he hit the best he was out like a light. That night he dreamt of you, your smile, your cute hobbies, your contagious laughter, and more. While he slept he dreamt of you, kissing you, loving you and even marrying you. Dick Grayson was utterly in love with you and couldn't wait any longer for you to come home to him.

The next morning after that was stressful, to say the least. Barbara and Tim had calculated the best time to infiltrate the headquarters when Roman wasn't there. Except that was during daytime which meant no Nightwing. Attracting attention could only get more people hurt and Dick wasn't going to risk it. Jason, Cass, and Steph agreed to come along while Damian was on standby with Duke and Bruce. Tim and Barbara would be feeding Dick information through an earpiece and would be doing the same for everyone else.

Their plan wasn't perfect but it was the best they had. Dick would in with Steph, while Jason and Cass stayed outside to not only stop Roman from entering but also catch him. Jason and Cass had no problem being ruthless if they had to be but since there was still light out they would have to keep a low profile. Officer Gordon borrowed them police uniforms which they hoped would be enough to scare Roman away if he even sees them. If not, they were ready to fight if it came to that.

Dick and Steph quietly entered the abandoned building, they went through a back door Tim was able to locate after finding the building's original floor pans. The entire building was very old and quite huge so, Tim mapped out the building for them so it would be easier for you to be found. If you were even in there. Inside the building was extremely cold but it didn't seem abandoned. It actually looked like a home. Which was a good sign, it confirmed someone was staying here. It meant there was a chance you were here. "Did she talk about me?" Dick asked Steph, trying to break the harsh silence. The two hadn't spoken up since the two of you had broken up. Steph didn't take sides but she wasn't exactly happy to hear how Dick was treating you and behaving.

"Depends, what are you willing to hear"

"Anything at this point"

Steph was quiet for a while, the two of you had searched through about 2 offices and 4 other open spaces and nothing had come out of her mouth. Dick was just about to let it go just before Steph finally spoke up, "She hated loving you. Not in a bad way, just in a way that made her miserable but feel ungrateful. She thought that she was difficult to love especially since you had been the one to approach her. She hated fighting with you but she hated the thought of her not being enough more"

Dick knew he had fucked up at every turn of your relationship but he hadn't realized how much that really had affected you. how much damage he did. In his mind he was just hurting himself but this whole time you had been the one suffering. "We all have underlying issues Dick so not everything that went wrong was on you and believe me y/n really loved you. After she'd been done ranting, she'd always think of how happy you made her and how sweet you were to her when you actually showed up. There's no doubt she would have married you"

"Would have?"

"You accused her of cheating Dick, she loved you endlessly and you just threw it in her face," Steph said after checking another room that was once again empty. "You hurt her in a way that shouldn't be forgiven and you'd be very lucky if she did forgive you"

"I know, I know! I would do anything to take back what I said to her, what I did to her. Do you know what I would give to be able to restart our entire relationship from the beginning? Do you know what I would give to open this next door and believe she's in it?" Dick kicked open the door in anger, the room was filled with lit-up TVs that seemed to be surveilling the abandoned building and parts of Gotham.

Dick wasn't sure if was he hallucinating from all the anger, stress, and need but there you were in what seemed to be an air mattress with a blanket and a book. You looked weak, like you hadn't eaten much but you seemed okay? Like you weren't hurt physically because Dick knew the deepest scars were always mental.

"y/n?"

Your name barely left his lips but it was just loud enough for you to hear. You turn to look at him and first he can see the surprise on your face and the relief but that quickly changes to a soft smile. A smile that could break his heart and fix it in an instant. A smile that he hopelessly missed. Dick never stopped loving you and he could only hope you still loved him and maybe, just maybe in that moment that's all that matters.

❥ taglist: @meowkn, @kazzattack @chichinaylo, @yourlocalcringydaydreamer, @orchidsangel, @nia-jul, @mayfieldss, @millyhelp

[rokishimizu4]

Arrows and Smoke

(Realized that Bruce and Oliver were married in one past or another, but I love Roy and Jason more)

It wasn’t often that Oliver Queen found himself actually busy at a gala, as it usually him bullshitting his way through the conversation and polite smiles. However, after getting the message from Flash, it was all hands on deck.

Even poor Roy, who usually never goes to any galas, was forced to attend as Cass’s plus one. As, and Oliver would never admit it out loud, but Roy was a better, quiet, shot and Cass’s ability to read people makes for a great duo.

Oliver stood off to the side, surrounded by chatty women with big earrings and even bigger check books, and felt like he rather switch places with Flash, risked bite mark and all, but notices a man entering with his wife and twin, which was someone that he never saw before.

He was not the only one to notice as he could see Jason, damn that kid got tall, do a quick circle once and flashed a polite smile at the family as the father grabbed a glass of champagne. (Aka not familiar but not on the Bat’s hit list)

However, his attention is ripped from the strange family as Bruce strides up to him, and his group of older ladies, and asks if he could “steal” him away for a moment.

”Thank fuck, I thought those ladies wanted to strip me.” He teases as he follows after Bruce, talking nonsense to fool everyone else, but tries to keep any eye on the family-especially on how much the father drinks.

“It seems like a few of your kids couldn’t make it. Who has a gala in the middle of the day anyways?” (Aka has your kids find anything? Reason for the early meeting?) “I can barely keep up with my own business nowadays.”

”Duke and Dick are in an early meeting and Barbara is meeting her father for lunch. Cass and Damian were the only ones that could make it.” (Aka busy as all hell). “It’s been sometime since we were able to have a proper get together.”

”Tell me about it! I can barely sit down to eat without someone in my ear talking about recent events.”

The two men talk and flirt with young women for a few more hours, never drinking more than a glass or two. Keeping eyes out for anyone that could be a target. Until a crash of a metal tray hitting the polished marble.

Eyes turn towards the noise and everyone sees the father, of the small family, raising his hand towards his wife as if to smack her, but Jason got in the middle of it.

Bruce and Oliver rush to the scene, only to find the man crying while his wife stands there indifferent. As if her almost being hit was just another day for her. The twins stand a little ways off to the side with Roy and Cass.

”What is the meaning of this? Security!” Another man, the Host of the Gala, calls but Oliver holds up a hand to stop the guards.

”I believe he just needs some fresh air, I’ll escort him out. Please, continue the party.” Oliver flashes his Ollie smile and helps the man to his feet and politely drags the man out and into the fresh air.

”It’s not what it looks like, I swear.” The man mumbles, clearly having more than a few glasses of champagne but not sure what else he could have drank.

”That.. that woman… don’t let..” The man tries to continue but his eyes begin to droop, and Oliver starts to worry.

However, before Oliver could get more out of him the man starts coughing violently. He tries to keep the man on his feet and tries to call for help. He manages to get the attention of people, and calls 911.

Police and ambulance arrives even before the first ring, signaling that someone else called long before he did. The medics take the man as Oliver rushes back in, almost being trampled by the mob rushing out of the building while screaming bloody murder.

It doesn’t take long for Oliver to figure out why as the windows burst apart around the force of a ice slide rampaging through.

Several people?, burst down the ice slide cackling like children, with the twins in the arms of a red werewolf (Having the time of their lives). A winged girl, with blue and pink hair and a very revealing dress, flies down and snatches the man right out of the medic’s grip and spreads some type of dust as she flies.

A man with a black fedora mumbles spells and chants for all to hear and Oliver starts to feel dizzy as a sudden sleepiness overcomes him.

Then the strangest of all, a black and purple monster of oil follows after, carrying the screaming woman out of the building and drops her violently off at Jim’s police car. Her screaming about her head being ripped off and eaten.

Then, as if nothing happened, the group disappeared in the fedora wearing man’s smoke spell, but not before an arrow shoots through it and hits the man’s fedora.

”Nice shot kid.” Oliver whispered in awe as the police and medics quickly take over the scene, only making way for Signal and Nightwing once they are on scene.

“Commissioner Gordon, please bring this woman in for kidnapping, drug and sex trafficking, and for the murder of Mrs. Bolton, a Metropolis running mate for mayor.” Nightwing orders, and Oliver thinks that he and Roy should have stayed in Central City with the Flash.

[meara-eldestofthemall]

Now it’s been months after the fact and likely the spoilers are out there;

Batfamily Response to Godzilla Minus One? Their favorite scenes from it? Their viewpoint on the special effects? Commentary on its setting and plot? Etc?

This is an excellent and timely question now that Godzila: Minus One has won an Oscar for special effects. Hmmmm...

It's tradition that Dick and Tim go to see any new Godzila movie on its opening night for the midnight showing. They even do cos-play (the original 1954 movie) since the crowd is usually filled with young adults and college students. Dick dresses as Ogata (the young, handsome protagonist with perfect teeth and lush, muffiny hair). Tim is Dr. Serizawa, complete with a white lab coat and an eye-patch that Tim tends switch from eye to eye. It confuses people and he finds that amusing.

After seeing the fun these two were having the viewing party has grown over time. Jason decided to come and Damian insisted that he be included. Duke was asked to join them and thought it sounded cool. Barbara, Stephanie and Cass were also invited along. Barbara simple gave Dick a look he knew all too well and he tendered her regrets to the others. Stephanie decried it as too much in the nerd zone whereas Cass doesn't like subtitled movies ("bad translations hurt my soul") but said to ask her when the dubbed version comes out.

Jason and Damian walked several paces behind Tim and Dick (pretending they didn't know them) but Duke got an old T-Rex costume and joined in on the cos-play as Godzila. Duke wasn't the only Godzila there and the management had to remind the various kaiju in the audience to remove their heads so as not to obstruct the view of the screen.

While Dick and Tim were fully expecting a remake of the 1954 classic they were not prepared for just how good it was. The acting was top notch, the music was excellent and the special effects were mind blowing.

Being Godzilla purists, Dick and Tim loved the kaiju's first destructive romp through the Ginza. They particularly loved seeing the reenactment of the classic commuter train scene, applauding loudly along with half the audience when Godzila had the passenger car in his teeth. They both cheered at the specticle of Godzilla's atomic breath and agreed that it was even better the Legendary movie version.

Duke was enthralled by the special effects. He declared the scene where the old battle cruiser Takao takes on the monster epic and seamlees. He cheered when Godzilla swallowed the mine and then regenerated (after a rather satisfying explosion). In fact both Duke and Tim were happy to enjoy the massive property damage in the movie since they could not be blamed for any of it. The two spent the ride home trying to calculate how many new kaiju were going to come out of all of the various chunks of Godzilla from the movies' ending. Their laughter as they talked about how many cities the herd of Godzillas could demolish was vaguely disturbing.

Jason was honestly surprised how good the movie was. He declaring that, unlike the 2014 Legendary movie, he actually cared about the squishy human's stories. Considering himself the family's preeminent movie critic, Jason gave the flick his top rating of five bullets.

Damian, unsurprisingly, found himself sympathizing with Godzilla. After all, the kaiju was only doing what his instincts prompted him to. Damian's opinion that it wasn't Godzilla's fault that humans were in his territory and were attacking him.

Having been schooled in the principals of Bushido, Damian also appreciated Shikishima's need to atone for his past and the guilt he felt at surviving when his comrades did not. It was what happened to Noriko and Shikishima's vow of revenge that seemed to truly speak to Damian. He and Dick had a deep conversation on the way home about how revenge is a double sided blade that hurts you when you wield it. If the suicidal pilot had followed through with his plan then he would have denied himself the very thing he craved the most - love and a family. Of all the things Dick hoped for from the movie, a life lesson for Damian was the most welcome and the most unexpected.

[falling-in-reverse-thewolfverse]

Falling in reverse

Reverse batbrothers/ Bruce's relationship with his children

Damian and Bruce have the rockest relationship. When Tim came into the picture things got worse because Damian thought that Tim was taking his place. He even resented Tim because he believed Tim was going to take the mantal of Batman which was rightfully his. After Tim's death, they became distant only addressing each other when in costume. Damian blamed Bruce for Tim's death and never really got over it.

Tim and Bruce have the most complacent relationship. Tim doesn't blame Bruce for his death but it did mess up their relationship. Tim never really felt like he was good enough to be Robin and after his death, he saw himself as a complete failure thinking that he brought shame to both Batman and Robin. He still looks up to Bruce and has a great admiration of Batman. When he found out there was a new Robin part of him was glad because Batman needs Robin. Another part of him is terrified though that something is going to happen to Jason so he watches over the kid. After everything that happened, he thinks doesn't deserve to be a part of the family so he chooses to stay separate. The pit made him cold and distant he uses that to his advantage, he starts working in the darkest parts of Gotham's underbelly. He tortures and kills so that no one else has to, he doesn't take joy in it but sees it as his duty to keep the rest of the bat's hands clean. (One of the main reasons is he remembers how much Damian struggled with not killing and doesn't want him to relapse) Bruce and Tim both still care about each other but Tim is to afraid and ashamed of his past and Bruce is struggling with the idea that Tim could do all the awful things.

Cass and Bruce have a pretty good relationship. Cass gets along with pretty much everyone in the family. When she has a problem she usually goes to Barbara or Damian.

-Most of the Siblings go to Damian with their problems. At first, Damian felt awkward not sure what to do or why they would come to him of all people. Now he's used to it and pretends it annoys him when in truth he loves that they rely on him

Jason and Bruce have the closest relationship out of all his sons. Bruce is the first real father that Jason ever had and takes an active interest in what Jason likes. Jason is the only one who actually calls Bruce Dad.

Bruce does adopt Dick, due to the fact that Tim is legally dead but Dick never really thought of him as his dad more of a grandpa since Tim was the one who raised him. Bruce and him have a decent relationship.

More info on Falling in Reverse

[smittywing]

Ficbit 9: Jason Todd/Tim Drake

Previous parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8

So I hear the fandom chatter is on discord these days. Is there a Jay/Tim channel I should look into?

In the meantime:

Tim turned 18 on a Wednesday. Jason sent him a text message and did not stalk the marina. 

The party was scheduled the following Saturday and Jason tried one last-ditch effort to convince Roy that they needed to go off-planet. When that failed, he put on the jeans with the least blood and his nicest black t-shirt, and delivered himself to the Manor. 

He was exactly on time for Tim’s party but he entered through the kitchen and lingered there, secure in Alfred’s quiet presence.

“Your own birthday is in less than a month,” Alfred observed, spacing candles on Tim’s cake. Alfred remembered everyone’s birthday but Jason always remembered Alfred’s because it was the same date as his own. “Have you thought about how you would like to mark the occasion?”

He had not, but he did now, because it was a delay to thinking about the current day and the birthday celebration that he would have to bear. “I think I would like to go to high tea at the Intercontinental Hotel,” he suggested. “With my birthday twin.”

“Birthday twin.” The corners of Alfred’s eyes crinkled. “I quite like the term. And appreciate the company even more.”

Jason smiled. He watched Alfred set the candles aflame on the chocolate-frosted mocha cake, and lift the tray. His respite in the kitchen was fast coming to an end. “Shall we?” Alfred suggested, and Jason had no recourse but to stand and follow him into the sitting room where the party was underway.

The balloons were black and silver and everything looked extra polished. Tim was wearing black skinny jeans and a band t-shirt and had a ridiculous cone-shaped hat on his head, pink and purple, with a silver pom-pom on the top. He was wedged between Bernard and Stephanie and Jason wasn't entirely sure which of them was responsible for his condition. 

Duke and Cass were arm-wrestling, but instantly called a truce when they saw the cake. Dick struck up a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” that everyone save Damian joined to some degree, and Jason peeled out of Alfed’s shadow and lurked at the edge of the room with Barbara. 

“Two social events in six weeks,” she commented while Tim was blowing his candles out. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

“Bruce said pretty please,” Jason said, which wasn't actually a lie. Barbara snorted anyway. “Doubting my veracity?”

“Doubting your auditory comprehension,” Barbara said. Which was probably fair. “It’s nice to see you.”

“Same,” Jason said, suddenly awkward. He accepted a slice of cake from Alfred to cover. “Thanks,” he muttered.

“Time for gifts!” Steph announced to the room. 

Jason was glad he’d had Tim’s gift sent to the mansion. It was big and bulky and there was no way he’d have been able to take the motorcycle to Wayne Manor with that on the back. Of course, because he did not come over early, it wasn’t wrapped, but someone - Alfred, of course it was Alfred - had pinned a large red bow on it and placed it with the other packages and gift bags.

“I gave Tim his gift on Wednesday,” Bernard piped up. “It was personal.”

“Thanks, dude,” Steph shot back. “We didn’t need to know you got Tim a dildo.”

Jason felt the back of his neck go hot and itchy. He wasn’t a prude for fuck’s sake, but the thought of - yeah, no. Tim’s sex life with anyone else was definitely off-limits. He glanced anywhere in the room but Tim, and saw Bruce close his eyes and shake his head slightly. At least *someone* was in more mental pain than Jason.

“Well, clearly I didn’t need to tell you,” Bernard returned, which was a somewhat decent comeback if you knew Steph well enough, but it wasn’t an emphatic denial, which was the only thing Jason was willing to process.

“Perhaps this package from Master Damian,” Alfred suggested, ignoring the inappropriate conversation around him, and handing Tim said package. Tim handled it gingerly, like it might start leaking poison or explode. Jason didn’t judge him.

Tim ripped off the paper and frowned at the box in his hands. “You got me an ant farm?”

“Now that you have reached the age of majority, you may be required to care for less capable beings,” Damian explained. “Ants are very persistent creatures. You would find it very difficult to fail in your caretaking duties.” 

“Ants,” Tim said.

“There is a certificate enclosed which authorizes you to order the ants online,” Damian said helpfully.

“I’m not going to *order ants*,” Tim said. Bernard reached over and squeezed his knee. He tucked his head against Tim’s shoulder and said something in his ear.

Jason looked away.

“Thank you, Damian,” Tim said awkwardly. “I will make sure their habitat is appropriately set up before I send for them.”

Jason ate another piece of cake while Tim worked through his prodigious stack of gifts. Finally, he hit the sizable box on the bottom with its red bow.

“I love it,” Tim said, staring at the pile of metal inside the cardboard box. “What is it?”

“It’s a Webasto FCF unit. It’s AC for your boat,” Jason said, when Tim and Bernard both looked at him blankly. “So you don’t die in the humidity.”

“Oh, sweet,” Tim said immediately. “Thanks, Jay. Will you help me install it?”

Bernard cleared his throat.

“I mean,” Tim said with a glance back at his boyfriend. “Of course you’re going to help, too. But neither of us has done this before.”

Jason hadn’t actually done that before either and he wasn’t entirely sure Tim thought he did, but he was smart enough not to say anything this time. Bernard looked like he was going to ask, but changed his mind at the last minute and shrugged.

“It’ll be nice to be able to go below without boiling,” he admitted.

“Mine next!” Cass insisted with timing that made her Jason’s favorite sister. (It was a short list and Stephanie was no longer on it.) She’d gotten Tim a scarf, which, did Tim actually *need* any more scarves?

Jason skulked around the edges of the room as Tim unwrapped some video games from Duke and a new tablet from Barbara. Was it late enough? Had he been here long enough? Could he leave?

“Hey.” It was the birthday boy himself, released from the pile of gifts and nudging his way into Jason’s space. “Thanks for the AC. That was really cool of you. Ugh.” Tim rubbed the back of his neck ruefully. “The puns are totally Dick’s thing.”

“Nice try,” Jason said. “Being Robin means punning against your will.” He turned his drink in his hand. “So listen, I don’t actually know how to install that thing so I think you and Cannon Fodder are on your own there.”

“Really?” Tim asked, his face falling. “You don’t even want to help?”

“Doesn’t matter what I want,” Jason said. “Your boyfriend does not want me within a hundred feet of that boat. Or you.”

“Oh,” Tim said. He looked awkward. “Okay. So, um. Been to any new clubs lately?”

“Ha!” Jason barked out the laugh before he could stop himself. “Yeah, no,” he said, shaking his head. “Haven’t really been back.”

Tim nodded. “Does that mean you, um, you know. You found what you were…looking for?” he asks, and suddenly Jason’s patience, already threadbare, wore through.

“I think I’m going to go,” he said stiffly. “Happy Birthday, Tim.”

Tim looked like Jason had slapped him, but Stephanie, who had been in earshot, was right there, pulling him away. “Tim,” she snapped. “A <i>word</i>?”

“Hey, it’s been a great party,” Jason said, generally to the room, but really to Alfred. “I just, I have to go.”

And he goes, as fast as meets the minimums for decorum. Maybe faster.

He’s on the motorcycle with his helmet on when the door opens and Dick comes jogging toward him with one hand raised. Jason twists the key, hoping to peel away before Dick gets in shouting distance, but the engine turns over and doesn’t catch - today of all days? - and claps a hand on Jason’s shoulder.  Jason shrugs it off but then Dick says,

“Hey. Tim was out of line.”

Jason pauses. Everything is always his fault, he’s the one who does everything wrong, and he can’t help but be tempted by the idea that Tim has fucked something up. “He’s just trying to - “ To what? See if Jason’s gotten laid? If Jason’s found someone else? If Jason’s done his experimenting and is over it now? If Jason’s over Tim? “How many of you are going to ambush me today?” he asked instead.

“Just me,” Dick said. “Be grateful, I told Bruce not to come out, and Tim is getting an earful from Steph right now.”

An earful from Steph is no one’s idea of a good time and Jason actually wonders if Tim’s going to be okay before he scolds himself for caring. “He’s always been a nosy fucker.”

“Yeah, and it’s always been a problem,” Dick admitted. “He doesn’t do this shit on purpose but his parents taught him even fewer emotional skills than B. He doesn’t always focus on things in the healthiest way.

“Yeah,” Jason blurted out, pulling off his helmet. Guess he was staying a while. “What was that? Like a test to make sure I’m over it? I’m fucking trying. But it’s not like I feel like this…ever.” To his horror, the lawn blurred in front of him and he looked away. “It’s gonna take a while. And I tried backing off! But I keep running into him. I don’t fucking know.”

Dick took his helmet and set it on the ground. Goddammit, how was he going to roar off in a fit of rage now? At least his eyes had cleared. “I think it’s maybe the opposite,” Dick suggested gently. “Tim has hang-ups about being wanted by anyone at all. He doesn’t know what to do with multiple cute guys wanting to kiss him. You didn’t see him with that other girl and Steph back in the day. He’s a mess. That said,” Dick continued, “it’s okay for you to enforce whatever boundaries you need. Your heart matters just as much. To all of us. Tim, too. And you did a good job with that today. I just wanted to let you know.”

Jason scrubbed a hand over his face. “Thank you for the gold star,” he said sarcastically. 

“Yeah, well.” Dick shoved his hands in his pockets and shook his hair out of his face. “You should come out to Bludhaven some time. We can punch bad guys. I’ve got enough to share. It’ll be fun.”

Jason huffed out a laugh. “Yeah,” he said. “I could do that.” In fact. “I’d like that.”

“Yeah, I would, too,” Dick said. The next few beats were awkward and then Dick scooped up Jason’s helmet and handed it to him. “Thanks for sticking around for that. I know I’m a pain in your ass.”

“Yeah,” Jason said, taking the helmet and looking down at it. “You are. But that’s what big brothers do, right?”

Dick smiled and Jason fitted the helmet back onto his head. “I’ll text you,” he said.

Jason revved the bike again and the engine turned over and caught. “Do that,” he said, barely audible over the roar of the engine. He pulled out onto the road and didn’t let himself look back.

[sardonic-sprite]

Ok ok so @quotidian-oblivion has been (lovingly) pestering me to make something of my/our comment thread on "bane" where we were talking about the whole "Ra's wants tim's babies" thing, and what if that actually happened, so here it is 😂 (tw for referenced rape)

So obviously this could only happen if Cass didn't save Tim from Ra's's half-sister so. Hella angst

Poor Cass is devastated that she was too late to stop it. She blames herself, even tho everyone tells it her its no one's fault but Ra's and his sister. She becomes ridiculously protective of tim in response, even well beyond the time she forgives herself

Dick clings to Tim for an entire day when he finds out, trying not to feel rain on his skin, promising it'll be ok someday, that he's there, he'll do anything he can. He's guilty too, wishing he'd been in better contact, gone with Tim, done anything that could have spared him Dick’s nightmares

Damian’s world has shattered. Grandfather... does not want Damian. As his heir. He wants a previously nonexistent child. DRAKE's child. And he has stooped to the lowest low to get it. The carefully built family around Damian is in mourning for something he doesn't fully understand, and Drake now flinches when Damian, in what was supposed to be a peace offering, calls him "Timothy"

Steph and Tim make up as friends when she comes to support him with the shock of knowing that he has (will have, bc they are NOT leaving it with Ra's) a child now that he was not ready for. She doesn't touch him once while she's there, stays at arm's length, and that, Tim thinks, is what makes the visit feel as comforting as a hug

Jason is horrorstruck and breaks out of the rage/aggression and channels it towards hunting down League assassins bc what the fuck how DARE ra's? Tim was fucking 17 and Jason does not care how powerful this bastard is, he's going the FUCK down because NOBODY messes with Jason's baby brother but Jason himself

Barbara is ranting about how Ra's cant even know the genetics are going to fucking WORK how he wants them to, but breaks off abruptly as Tim's eyes well up, changing to enumerating all the baby things she's ordered and telling the dumb science jokes on the onesies because she NEEDS to see Tim laugh

Alfred LOOKS composed but every night he grips that shotgun real tight and has to remind himself that these kids need him, he can't risk himself for vengeance, what matters is Master Tim and the new little master or miss to be. He asks Tim privately if he'd like to choose a room to be the child's nursery. Tim doesnt know, but that's ok, dear boy, that's ok.

Bruce comes home and instead of the joy of reunion (or well, after it) has to struggle not to cry bc God his poor little boy... Damian was a shock too but at least Bruce and Talia loved each other. At least Bruce fucking consented. At least bruce was a goddamn adult. He doesnt think he will ever be rid of the guilt that Tim only found his way to Ra's by looking for Bruce

And Tim himself...

He can't go underground, at all. He redesigns his costume so that he can only unfasten it with a biometric lock, and doesn't tell anyone where it is except Alfred (medical emergencies). Some days, he can't look the girls in the eyes. Some days, he can't look at them at all, not without memories of things he isn't supposed to have seen or. Or felt. He's kidnapped as Red Robin once and chained to the wall, and he dissociates until someone (Jason this time, and who'd have believed THAT a year ago?) comes to save him. He can't get a good night's sleep anymore, not that he ever could but still

He feels paralyzed. There is no putting this off, no playing for time, nothing. They were able to confirm that Ra's's sister IS pregnant, and he knows damn well it's his, and nature waits for no one. In less than nine months now there's going to be a squalling, breathing, tiny, fragile, entire child, and unless he steps in, Ra's is going to raise it. Which means torturing it into a killer.

Every part of Tim screams NO

So they use those months to plan. How do they get in, how do they get out, WHEN is this supposed to happen because they can't well kidnap the child from the delivery room, the poor thing has to be in some kind of stable health, they need to KNOW these things, and thats when Bruce gets a call

Because Talia is fucking livid. She knows Ra's is an asshole, that's why she got Damian to Bruce, but this was a whole new low, her goddamn AUNT pregnant by her teenage non consenting STEPSON? She can't stop that any more than the others now, but she knows what she CAN stop: another tiny child being twisted and corrupted by this absolute monster. They need a spy, right? Well they got one

So there y'are, Q, the horribly angsty beginnings of this Dad!Tim AU. It doesn’t look pretty right now, but it will slowly get happier bc babies are adorable, dammit.

Edit: Part 2

[luvly-writer]

"But oh..Cara mia”

Ch. 5: We needed the context

———————————————————

Dick Grayson x Latina! Reader

Status: Ongoing

Warnings: Toxic Relationships

Author's note: Originally, chapter 4 and 5 were supposed to be one, but it was too long so I have to cut it into two. Enjoy!

Taglist: @lorosette @prettyacademia00 @nanas-teatime

Series Masterlist:

———————————————————

Babs paused to drink water and take a deep breath. Everyone else stayed in silence, processing what was going on.

They all knew Dick and Yn's relationship was rocky at best. They had their peaceful moments but it was still terrible. Yet with all the context Barbara had provided, the only thought in their heads was "What in the actual fuck?" Stephanie spoke up, "Honestly, I don't know how everyone around them could handle all of this. I'm getting a headache just listening." Duke and Cass nodded numbly. Damian was baffled, how could these two people that were known to be anything but hateful, be nothing but destructive to one another. Jason was just staring into the abyss. He had talked about this before with Barbara and Yn. He knew what was coming next and he knew that what Barbara would tell now, would be the main reason for the present-day issues. Tim was eating everything up. His mind was going a mile a minute. This had been the one question he had never been able to answer and he was anxious to finally understand what went wrong. Finally, Barbara continued. "Like I said, the arguments they had at the moment, allowed me to see details I had missed before. I would see how Yn's distance hurt Dick, how he would constantly search for her everywhere, how his words were the only ones that could bring her to tears. Oh, it was truly catastrophic. You never knew what was going to happen, whether it was Bruce and Dick or Yn and Dick. Finally, Dick moved to Bludhaven at 19 and Yn was allowed space to breathe. One day, however, my curiosity got the best of me and I cornered her and asked her what truly was wrong. I used all the evidence I had gathered and presented it to her. She had no fight left to give me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Barbara had invited Yn for a sleepover at her house. They had this a million times, yet this one felt different. Yn was a junior now and was working her ass off for a summer scholarship at MIT before her senior year. They finally had a break to sit down and relax. The day had gone great so far, both went to see a movie, did some shopping, and enjoyed some of their time together. Soon it was nightfall and in normal sleepover tradition, they decide to stay out late. Bruce had given them the night off, wanting the girls to enjoy some me time because they deserved it. Barbara was laying on her bed and Yn sat on the mattress she usually slept on whenever she stayed over. They were both scrolling through their phones. Barbara was working up the courage to ask Yn about all the things she had doubts regarding Dick. Finally, she sat up, took a deep breath, and called out her name. "Yn", The girl looked up from her phone and once she saw Barbara's anxious expression, she climbed up and sat in front of her, "Barbie, what's wrong? Are you okay?"Yn asked worried about her friend, and so Barbara began, "We are best friends, right?"Yn nods, "and you'd tell me everything, right?" Yn nodded again, "Even if it is about a boy you deemed to hate but started to have feelings for and said boy is my ex?" Barbara laid it out there. She knew she should have had a softer approach, but that would have given Yn, time to evade the question and topic like she had so expertly done many times before. Yn tensed up and her eyes widened. She then asked, "What do you mean, Barbara?" and Barbara deadpanned at her, "Yn, you can't possibly believe that me, YOUR best friend in the entire world, wouldn't notice it. You avoid any conversation with him, you avoid him as a whole, you care about him, you care what he thinks of you, you care for him, YN, don't lie to me anymore. Don't carry such a big burden yourself, we are best friends, almost sisters, I'm here for you." Having said that, Yn burst into tears, "I hate him, Barbara, I hate him so much! But I hate even more, that I can't completely hate him because it's him!" Barbara pulled her friend into a hug. "and I tried so hard to get rid of these feelings, I tried Barbara, but they won't go away!" the young girl wailed. Barbara held her friend and allowed her to calm down so that she could explain everything. Once she did, she began her explanation, "It began when he came back from the Teen Titans, he was different, not just physically, but emotionally too, he felt different. I thought of it as just a silly crush because he had grown up and he looked soo good and he had matured. I said to myself that it was all looks and just like the time we met, once he opened his mouth, all the charm would go away. But oh Barbara, it didn't, the feelings didn't go away! We still kept on fighting but he made it nearly impossible to not like him. Do you know how many times we had to be tied together, with me smelling his cologne and just having him near me. And he had gotten smarter too, I never wanted to admit it, but his tactics were amazing. Then one night, I went down to drink water and I heard whimpers coming from his room. He was having a nightmare. I tried to wake him up, and help him. At first, he was disoriented and called me Slade, which I was confused by. I helped him breathe and relax his mind. After he had calmed down, I gave him the water I had taken and stood up to leave but he asked me to stay. He looked so vulnerable and broken so I did stay. I asked him if he wanted to talk about it and told him that most times when you talk about nightmares, they don't repeat themselves. And so he started telling me. He told me about Slade, how he was manipulated by him and taken as his apprentice, he told me of how he put the Titans at risk, and how even after he was defeated he was still hunted by him for some time after and it was killing him from the inside. Thankfully, the Titans were able to find a cure. After he told me everything, we decided to stay there and talk.

We had never really actually had a civil conversation before. I asked him about his life at the circus and if he missed it. He told me about his parents and about everything there and how he did miss it sometimes. I told him about my parents. He asked about Puertp Rico and I told him about every summer when I spend half of it in Puerto Rico and the other half on Themyscira and how Diana always tried to help me maintain both of my heritages alive. He taught me a few words in Romani and I taught him a few in Spanish. It was a great moment. Then The day after, it felt as if something had changed. Whenever he had a nightmare, he would text me or call me and he would tell me about it and we would talk for hours on the phone. Those hours of vulnerability were the highlight of my days. Then both of you became a thing and I didn't want to lose you, Babs. I knew that from his side, there were no feelings aside from a partner in the hour of sadness, but I knew there were feelings on my side and I wanted to end them. So I distanced myself. You must believe me, Babs, I wanted to get rid of those feelings. If I had to choose between you and him, I would choose to stay by your side before anything. Yn said panicked and Barbara reassured her with a smile, "Im not mad, Yn. You never acted on them, On the other hand, you distanced yourself. I know you would never try to hurt me. I'm not mad at that. I'm not angry at you. Well a little, but not because you feel that, but because you felt as if you needed to suffer alone. I'm always here." said Babs and a fresh round of tears overtook Yn, she continued her story, "Then you guys broke up, but I still didn't want anything to do with him, I felt disgusting, liking my friend's ex. By then I still hadn't identified that what I felt was..." YN didn't want to say it, because saying it confirmed it, "Love?" finished Barbara and Yn did a face. Barbara couldn't help but laugh at her friend. "It's not bad! You can say you love him Yn!" Yn looked at her exasperated and said, "No Barbara, we will not confirm this by saying it, there is no it to confirm, it is a meaningless crush, and infatuation at best, IT WILL LEAVE" It made Barbara laugh again and say, "You are so deep in denial, but continue" Yn glared at her, making Barbara laugh once again and continued. "Then, my kidnapping happened and Slade took me and tortured me, Barbara I was so scared cause I knew what had happened to Dick and it was going to happen to me. Slade thought that the only person whomst he was causing damage to was Bruce and I didn't want him to know, Dick was close to me too cause then it would be worse. Yet he still found out, and Barbara that was terrifying. He truly is a monster. When I was rescued, Dick slept by my bedside the majority of the time. He would visit and those moments of vulnerability came back again, this time it wasn't me providing the support. One time, I even expressed that I would sometimes feel used and that he only saw me as a therapist but he reassured me that what was between the two of us was different. He didn't put a name to it, and neither did I but I just viewed it as two people finding solidarity over the same traumas. It was all fine while I was in recovery, but once was done, I distanced myself again. Barbara, I hate these feelings so so so much. Then, he began to fight with Bruce and he took it out on me. I thought we would be past that but we weren't. Even if I knew he wasn't in the right headspace, I was not going to allow him to step over me and treat me like shit, and even if I knew he never meant the majority of the things he said to me, they still cut worse than a knife! Oh, Babs! GOD FUCK NOOOOOO! I SHOULDN'T FEEL THIS WAY!" she said, her final words being muffed by her friend's shoulder as she tried to comfort her. The two girls stayed a while, Yn calming down from the intensity of the moment and Barbara processing all the information given to her.

Finally, Yn whispers, "How'd you know" and Barbara answered, "The change was visible to everyone. We all knew something happened. What exactly? No one knew what to say, but we knew. We could tell you guys had changed." They stayed in silence for a while, but Barbara wasn't going to let these sleepover be ruined by feelings and sadness, so in true best-friend nature, she turned to Yn and said, "Taking out ALL of the trauma and shit, YOU like Dick Grayson! YOU!" she teased. Sensing the teasing tone in her best friend's voice, Yn took a pillow and smacked her, "Shut up, no I don't" and Barbara laughed out, "Oh yes you do! You so do. You don't just like him, yn, you fell IN LOVE with him." Yn, who had opted to stare at the ceiling, widened her eyes in alarm. "oh no...OH GOD NO! I'M IN LOVE WITH DICK GRAYSON! DICK FUCKING GRAYSON!" she said horrified and Barbara laughed so hard that tears came out of her eyes. "Oh my, you love Dick Grayson!" and Yn sat up even more horrified, "This is disgusting!" to which Barbara wheezed out another round of laughter. What a night...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Barbara recalls the memory fondly, she looks around, to see everyone waiting for her to finish, this is the quietest they have ever been. She continues, "Thankfully, Dicks departure to Bludhaven gave the girl time and space to breathe. Time passed and Jason arrived, stealing everyone's heart with him. Yn adopted Jason as the younger brother she never had. She graduated from high school, high honors the bitch, and entered Gotham University. Most days, she would take Jason with her to the library to study, for ice cream, or just anything. She truly adored Jason, " Jason smiled softly, recalling all the moments he shared with his older sister before his death. "Then, Dick came back and he would fight with Bruce, feeling replaced by Jason and Yn would come to both of their rescues. "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yn, Bruce fucking replaced me! WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING HIM?!" Dick screamed at the young girl, who was looking at him angrily. "Richard, you CHOSE to leave! Jason earned the mantle fair and square. YOU DON'T GET TO WHINE ABOUT SOMETHING YOU ABANDONED" she responded frustrated

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Yn always stood up for both of them. Bruce, being the only father figure she had, even though it was sometimes dysfunctional, they both care for one another, and seeing as she never left Bruce for long lapses of time, they had formed a bond. And Jason, well that was her little brother, he had no fault in any of this. Finally, Dick came around and started treating Jason and Bruce better. Finally giving in to the brother figure. Dick and Yn went back to civil terms, even to the point that Bruce's PR decided to pull a move and have Dick and Yn play the two happy young lovers at a gala. Each was set to take waltz classes growing up and had been taught by Bruce and Diana how to behave at galas, so this small mission wasn't too bad for them," Jason's eyes lit up in recognition, he then said, "I remember that, Alfred told both of them to teach me how to waltz!" and Barbara laugh, "OMG! Yes! I remember that

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were standing in one of the living rooms, Jason and Barbara on the sofas and Yn and Dick, standing in front of them. Yn began explaining, "It is said, that when the perfect waltz is danced, both people can have a candle in their hands and it won't blow away because of how smooth the dance is." she explained, lighting a candle and getting into position with Dick. Barbara whispered to Jason, "The real phrase is when you dance the waltz with the perfect partner, but neither of them would ever EVER admit that they are each other's perfect waltz partner" making Jason giggle. Finally, Yn and Dick began counting the steps, "Ok, pay attention, Jason, Babs, stop distracting him. And one, two, three, one, two, three..." said Yn, and at some point, Dick, whispered at her, "Stop looking at your feet, you have to look at me. We need to sell it, plus, looking at you feet makes you not dance with fluidness" making the girl look up and glare at him, "I'm making sure that I am teaching the correct way, Richard." This made the boy laugh and retort, "how will you teach him if you aren't being natural. Relax, we'll do great" Truth be told, Yn didn't want to look at him for fear that she would get lost in them, those baby blues had a hold on her. Finally, she did end up looking, and just as she had thought she got lost in them. She stopped counting and just kept dancing. Both too busy and lost with the other person failed to see, a. Barbara looking at Jason and telling him that she told him so, causing the boy to laugh, and b. the candle that never blew away.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Unfortunately, good things can't last forever. Yn and Dick would return to their bickering yet this time it was a whole different reason than the other times. Yn would always tell me that this whole relationship of solitude never ended. On the contrary, anytime Dick or her needed comfort, they would always turn to each other. Late-night calls became a constant, and that created another problem. You see, every time Dick left Gotham he reunited with someone. Kory. They dated when they were back on the Titans but by then Yn wasn't an issue since they still despised each other. Then, the second time he left, Kory felt something had changed but having assumed that Yn was still an annoying kid to him, she directly assumed it had something to do with me. Then The third time he went back, her attentions were on YN. After the publicity stunt, many arguments between Kory and Dick had Yn as a topic. She would scream and fight that he was falling for her and he would defend that they weren't even friends, to begin with so how was that possible. Then she would ask him to cut ties with her and he would explain that he technically couldn't because they worked together every time he was in Gotham. Then, frustrated with his relationship falling apart, Dick and Yn would argue again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We can't have contact anymore," said Dick looking at the girl. Yn didn't understand the problem, she didn't want to cut ties with him. "Richard, we literally have never had a romantic sentiment between us, what the hell?" A lie. She knew it was a lie on her behalf, but he didn't need to know that. "We are coworkers, only that. Tell her that," she said and Dick brushed his hand through his hair. "I did, YN! Don't you think I haven't fucking tried!". He was frustrated as fuck, "Then try harder, Richard, because I'm not compromising a team dynamic just because some girl wants you to quit with someone who has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE RELATIONSHIP!" From there, the fight escalated and it could be heard by both Jason and Barbara who looked at each other and shrugged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Time passed and they grew distant again, much to Yn's dismay, who still had feelings for him. Like all the other times, she still believed that this time apart would help her get rid of her feeling, yet it didn't. Then well...Jason died....and it absolutely destroyed both Dick and Yn. Yn was torn to pieces. That girl was devastated. Dick, Yn, and Bruce constantly blamed themselves for Jason's death. It was horrible," Jason, cleared his throat, trying to hide the tingling feeling he had in his throat, "Each of them did things in the midst of their grief. Bruce almost killed the Joker, but was held back by Superman, who heard his cries all the way from Metropolis, Dick hunted Joker down and tortured the Joker to the point where he would have killed him if Bruce hadn't pulled him away, and Yn? She gave up her mantle. Yn didn't want to live in a world where she was a vigilante yet she couldn't save Jason. Even more, fights began between the three of them. Dick blaming Bruce, Bruce lashing out and blaming himself, and Yn blaming both of them. It took a while before they all calmed down and per Yn's request, sat down and talked about it. It helped them heal. Their relationships mended, but Yn never took the mantle again, she focused on science. By that time, Tim had arrived. Yn was no longer a vigilante, but she still helped around. That's when she began what she does today. Her one motivation being that as long as she made sure you all were in optimal condition, she wouldn't lose someone like she lost Jason. She made sure our weapons and suits were the best and that our health was at its peak. Exactly what she does today. Then Joker kidnaped Tim and created Joker Junior. Yn worked her ass off in order to save Tim and bring him back to health. Reverse all the trauma Joker had inflicted. Thankfully, she succeeded, " At that, Jason looked at Tim who smiled fondly at the thought of the girl. They both adored their older sister. " Just like she did with Jason after the pit and with me after my Joker attack. Yn threw herself to her work and she thought that everything with Dick had left, yet every time he came back? It was everything all over again. The bickering, the longing looks from both of them, the soft words, the caring for each other, and inevitably a fight that would make them go back to square one. It was all the same every. single. Time! And you all know that cause you see it every time. No matter how many times either of them leaves, they always come back for the other. It's a cycle with no end." finished Barbara as she leaned back.

They all stayed in silence, processing the information. Yn loved Dick and he loved her back, so what the fuck were they waiting for? Soon, they all began to stand up and to their rooms in order to get change for patrol. They had all agreed to not speak of this with anyone aside from this group. Damian had a lot to think about. He had one last question, a curiosity that sparked there, and asked Barbara before she left, "Gordon, you said Yn worked on getting rid of your trauma because of Joker. I knew he helped with Drake's and Todd's, but those were psychological. What did she do to you?" Barbara in return smiled at him and answered, "She reconstructed my spine. After Joker's torture, I was left in a wheelchair. Because of that, she was motivated to help me, and a lot of time after, she helped reconstruct my spine. I have my ability to walk, run and fight, thanks to her." Finally, having cleared everything up. Damian went to his room. It was a lot of information to process. They hated each other because of how much they loved each other? How was Gordon so sure Grayson loved Yn? I mean, she obviously had confirmation that Yn loved Grayson, but did he love her back, or what he just fond of her? Too many questions surrounded Damian. It was a lot to process and because of so, Damian told his father he would tune in for the night. His investigation had gotten 10 times more interesting.

[zahri-melitor]

Is Dick Grayson-Batman not getting the opportunity to be on a big name JLA squad, (a la Kyle Rayner and Wally West take over for Hal and Barry during Morrison’s JLA era) a missed opportunity? Yeah, there was James Robinson’s “epic” C-list lineup, but I was wondering why you think DC seemingly weren’t interested in Bat-Dick having a bigger role in the wider DCU at the time? And in-universe, how would Dick function in a real Justice League, compared to Bruce? What would the dynamics with Clark, Diana, J’onn, etc. look like in your opinion?

There was definitely a push during Batman Reborn to have Dick strangely isolated from his support systems, to a level that it seemed to have some level of editorial mandate.

Dick got to be Batman, but he had to do the loner thing in Gotham, even though the loner thing in Gotham is not actually what Batman is about, really.

But Dick was not allowed to ask for help, even if his friends who would normally check in on him were nowhere to be seen. Tim got sent away and Morrison actively worked not to use him. Barbara and Dick was arguing. Dick and Helena were arguing. Cass was sent to Hong Kong. Bruce wouldn't return to Gotham and went country-hopping with Batman Inc. And Dick only really had a half-hearted JLA turn, though admittedly the JLA was also in the middle of dramas between Blackest Night/Brightest Day and Cry for Justice.

In terms of what Dick would look like on a 'proper' (classic titles) Justice League lineup? Honestly, it really sort of depends whether it's Dick doing a Wally and having to step up as a colleague of their mentors, or if it's say Dick-Wally-Kyle-Roy as a core plus some of the older generation.

Dick's not afraid of calling JL members out if he thinks they're not behaving correctly and he's directed field ops in events before. I think the big thing if he had had to do a Wally and step into Bruce's shoes surrounded by Bruce's ordinary colleagues would be that he would have felt somewhat unready, but also gotten annoyed if anyone tried to empathise with his loss. He can do the job. It's everyone treating him as Bruce or as Nightwing that would be his issue.

In a lot of ways, especially if there are chunk of members who are in his age cohort, it would just be like a Titans team. Dick's got a good working relationship with all these people, he knows all their skillsets, and he's acknowledged to be one of the strongest team leaders in the community. However, he also knows how to fold and act as a lieutenant if someone more senior is leading (like Diana. Or Clark) and I suspect he'd get slotted into that role at least initially.

[smileyallthetime77]

Yandere!Damian Wayne x Reader Pt.12

⚠️Warnings⚠️: Cursing, Argument, Sexual Harassment,

🇺🇸Word Count🇺🇸: 1,641

👾Characters👾: 9,206

“I’ll go get us some food, you stay right here”, he said before walking out of the dorm. You felt bad, but you needed to figure out if Barbara was really at this school a year ago. So you made your way down the halls and onto the third floor. As you enters the room, opened Mr.Wilson’s laptop, and typed “Barbara Gordon” into the machine. It began to load. 1-5-10-15-20-25-30-35-40-45-50-55-60-65-70-75-80-85-90-95-100%! Loading….. ………………………………………………………………………. NO FILES FOUND ON “GORDON, BARBARA

##############################

No files found? This-this wasn’t possible! Damian wouldn’t! Could he? Was Barbara Gordon really kidnapped! Why would Damian lie about something like that? The betrayal seemed to grow inside of you. It filled you with rage and the feeling of being stupidly naive. You believed him after everything he did to you. Damian was going onto your list next. But what you didn’t expect next was the loud “boom” of the office doors to open! There, they stood. Damian, Mr.Wilson, Cory, and Mr.William’s.

“Y/n”! Damian roared like a lion. “What are you doing in here?! I told you to stay put”! He said before walking quickly over to you and going to grasp your left arm.

“Y/n! What on earth are you doing in my office. You are not aloud in here”!, Mr.Wilson’s voice boomed out loud.

“You’re a liar! All of you! You-you manipulated me! You-you-you wanna kill me”! You screeched out loud!

“You’re right”, Damian said as he pulled a sharp blade out of his pocket. Professionally quick he lifted the blade up and over your head and then pushed it down and your blood wen-!

You gasped! A dream! It was all a dream. Well, not all of it. Barbara Gordon not being found was not a dream. But no one found out you had looked for her, expect for Cory you guessed. You hadn’t told anyone about it and instead went back to the dorm and fell asleep in Damian’s bed. You wanted to tell him, but how were you suppose to tell your kind of boyfriend that you didn’t listen to him and that you found out he lied?! So instead, you opted to keep your mouth close instead. At least until you were readier to find out the truth about Barbara Gordon. If she even was real. Though, last night, you still choose to but Cory’s name in your locker note. Hector, Josiah, or Damian? You were still partially deciding.

You were more leaning more towards Damian though. You knew he meant well or at least he thought so, but everything wasn’t adding up! It was confusing and quite frankly, unnecessary. You were just going to put Damian on the list tonight, and then tomorrow you were going to put Hector than Josiah. Easy peezy lemon squeezey.

As you walked down stairs and got some breakfast you went over to sit with Cory instead of with Damian, Steph, Jason, Cass, and Tim. You didn’t need them annoying you anymore than they already were. And beside, you found out you Cory had a lot more in common than you thought. For the rest of your stay here, you were going to sit with Cory and his friends during meal breaks!

Though, of course there were a few glares here and there. Especially because Cory was touching your thigh and was going to a little too high for comfort. His friends were also giving you googly eyes. The thing that really seemed to push Damian over the edge was when Cory bent over and tried to kiss you! He instantly stood up and marched over to you saying he needed you. You were thankful, but Cory seemed to be glaring in the back of your head.

“That was unnecessary”, Damian said sarcastically with a straight face.

“He was just being friendly, Damian. He’s actually really sweet if you get to know him”, you said with a small smile slowly creeping up your face.

Damian scoffed. “There’s nothing sweet about him! He’s an asshole who clearly has you fooled. You can’t trust anyone, Y/n. What would happen if Cory really does know who’s threatening you? It’s the perfect cover up for him,” Damian said with a serious tone.

“Damian…… did you lie about Barbara being real? Listen, I know! I know you told me not to worry about it, but I searched up her files! She’s-she’s not real! Is she, Damian”, you said with a hint of desperation in your voice.

“You disobeyed me. Y/n! I told you not worry about it! Barbara’s files were deleted after she went missing! That’s what happens! The police take it so they can investigate! Did you seriously think I would make something like that up”?

“But Cory said he knew everyone in the school! He-he said he didn’t know Barbara! So that’s why I checked. I had to make sure you weren’t my stalker”, you said hoping he wouldn’t be angrier than he already was at you.

“Why the hell would I be your stalker?! And the fact that you believed Cory over me, makes things ten times worse! I stayed with you through everything, Y/n”, he shouted drawing attention to the both of you.

“I know- I know. I’m sorry okay! It was a bad idea! Please Damian”, you said desperately reaching for his hand. You expected him to move away but instead, he let it rest next to his left side. He let the warmth of your hand sink itself into his ice cold hands.

“I’ll only forgive you because I owe it to you after going along with everyone thinking you were crazy. But you owe me. You have to sleep in my dorm for the rest of the week”, he said with sly grin plastered onto his face.

“Deal”, you sighed out and then hooking your pinky’s together.

“Why don’t we head over to L/c? I already finished our project, so we can have a relaxing period”, Damian said as he wrapped his arm around your waist and kissed your cheek.

“Whatever makes you happy”, you said before resting your head on his shoulder.

As you both neared your L/c you saw a familiar shadow. Cory. You just prayed that when Damian saw him, he wouldn’t make a big deal out of it. You thanked whatever god was up there that Cory didn’t have that language class with you.

“Hey Y/n. Damian”, Cody said sourly. Though, he did stick his hand out for Damian to shake, which was pretty nice. But, Damian didn’t return the favor so he, instead, crossed his arms clearly refusing to shake Cory’s hand.

Don’t you have Geography, Cody”, Damian said sarcastically.

“It’s Cory. And a matter affect I do! I just thought I’d stop by and say “hey”, Cory said with a grin and crossing his arms. Almost like he was mocking Damian.

“We’ll you might want to get along to that”, Damian said rolling his eyes and gripping your arm, pulling you inside of the classroom.

“Damian, you didn’t have to do that”, you said as you took his hand and pulled him towards the front. Though, he directed you towards the back of the room and pulled you down so you sat directly next to him.

“Well, what can I say, I don’t like someone who currently has been suspended more than his record can hold, talking to you”, Damian said reaching down to hold your hand.

“Well I’ve got the whole class period, so what can I do to make it up to you”, you questioned him while you gently began to raise your hand higher to his upper arm.

“We could ditch and go make out in the bathroom”, he suggested

“Sure”, you said seducingly. As you made your way out of the classroom with Damian quickly following behind you, you both told the teacher you were heading to the nurse. Damian ‘insisted’ on coming with because your ‘severe headache’ could have you fainting any second. Since he was the top of all of his classes, the teachers would believe he knew about health more than they even would.

You both began to run down the hallway giggling like fools. You really couldn’t remember the last time you felt like this. I mean sure, you had an ex-boyfriend and all, but he never made you feel like this. But then again, it wasn’t like you both faced life or death. Mason Gray was his name. You both loved each other very much, but when he moved away to be closer to Harvord, his dream school, you knew he would fall in love with someone else, so you decided to break up with him. You’d never heard if he really did find another girl. You just assumed. He was a hot 5’5, blond hair, blues eyes, and skinny but strong kid. He’d be what? 16, no 17! He’s turned 17 in May. You both met each other during your first day of middle school when he had a locker right next to yours. It was fate, at least for a while. But now you had Damian! You felt as though he was the only one you truly needed in your life right now.

Soon after you had finished your make out session, you both headed up towards Damian’s dorm. Luckily, he stopped at your locker making sure you put the note with ‘ Hector’ on it and into your locker. Tomorrow would be day 6. If you were wrong today, you’d have only two guesses left. Two days, you might be dead. But as long as Damian was here, you knew everything would be okay.

Written: Tuesday, September 12 (May the victims of 9/11 22 years ago, rest in peace), 2023. On

[agent-sushi-fbi]

“I still can’t believe that he’s gone,” Barbara commented offhandedly one night, manning patrols as usual. She wasn’t expecting anyone to answer, didn’t even realize she spoke herself.

“Trust me, I don’t like thinking about it,” Dick told her, sighing heavily. She heard the crunch of gravel that indicated he sat down on the roof he was using for a stakeout, settling in for a long night. “He always just seemed so…not invincible, that’s Clark’s thing. But he was like this immovable force nothing could knock down when I was growing up.”

He sounded so sad and Barbara frowned because that wasn’t normal for her old friend. “Despite how often he would actually get knocked down?” She asked, smiling a little when she heard Dick give her a weak chuckle. “Nightwing, that’s what a father IS to his kids. This huge wall that they can hide behind, secure in the belief that it’ll always shield them and never disappear.”

“Too bad we aren’t little kids anymore,” Dick muttered, weariness clear in his tone.

Barbara understood better than the others what Dick was going through, even if it wasn’t the same. She had been working with Bruce almost as long as the former Robin had. She had felt like she could do anything with her mentor having her back in her teen years. To learn Bruce was gone…she couldn’t even imagine how the other kids felt at the news.

Jason was angry, that much was obvious to everyone. He was falling into bad habits to release his feelings because he refused to admit to any of them that he was actually upset. Cass had retreated into herself more than usual, not relying on anybody to help sort her emotions. (Barbara had already found a plane ticket for Hong Kong in the girl’s history).

Damian…she hadn’t officially met the boy yet, but from what she understood he was already volatile when he arrived at the manor. But now that Bruce was gone? With her understanding from Dick’s rants the kid was trying to leave and return to the League, thinking there was no purpose for him here now that Bruce wasn’t around. Poor Dick was at his wits end trying to be brother and parent and Batman while grieving a father.

“Have you heard from Tim in the last few days?” Barbara was concerned about the teenager. He had been acting erratic since the news and she was afraid of him snapping. It took a long time for the effects of “Joker Jr” to wear off and Tim…that trigger point would always be there.

Dick sighed again, “No and I’m worried about him O…he thinks B is still alive and just won’t accept what happened.”

Barbara pursed her lips. “He’s still a kid Nightwing, he’s grieving and one of the steps is denial. That’s a perfectly healthy response right?”

“Not when he’s giving me a PowerPoint every day explaining his theories on what actually happened to B,” Dick groaned. Static filled the comma for a moment and she figured he was rubbing his face in exhaustion. “Agent A is still grieving himself, so I can’t expect him to help me parent my younger siblings. But I just..don’t know what to do anymore.”

They were silent for a moment and Barbara felt her chest tighten, wishing she could run across the roofs of Gotham herself to find Dick and hug him. Instead, she wheeled herself away from her set up in the Clocktower and gazed at the full moon in thought. After a few minutes of quiet, nothing else passed between them besides ragged breaths or sniffling from the cold air, she sat up straight.

Whispering almost to herself, Barbara asked: “What about Danny?”

Bruce and Danny being old friends (possibly more but settled back into friends) and Danny being the Batkid's godfather. Like Bruce some how names Danny each kid's Godfather and asked him to take care of them if anything happens to Bruce.

Now the kid's vaguely know that Bruce has a long time friend who isn't Clark, having heard various Phone calls between Bruce ad the constantly traveling Danny and Bruce has told them about Danny. But some how they never met him.

This all comes to a head when Bruce "dies" (gets lost in the time stream) and they learn of his contingency plan for if he died. For Danny to take care of them and for him to take over the mantel of Batman as Bruce knew none of his kids wanted it. (Or that it didn't suit them despite them trying to deny the fact *Damian*)

[fenrir-wolf-of-gotham]

1, 2, and 3 of the Proship Mutual ask game!

Thanks for the ask!

1. Ok so, for me, proshipping was an inevitability. I first started shipping characters before I even knew what shipping was. My first ship was when I was 7 and watching Ben 10.

I distinctly remember watching the episode where Ben gets a crush on Kai, Kai treats him like shit, and Gwen says, “you can’t talk to my cousin like that! Only I can talk to my cousin like that!” and little young me just thought, that’s not how cousins talk about each other. This is not a platonic familial relationship that I’m watching. But I didn’t know that I shipped them, I just knew that their interactions felt like two characters who definitely liked each other pretending not to because they didn’t want to admit it to themselves (now I’m a massive Bwen shipper). Then I was completely anti-shipping (not an anti shipper mind you, I was against the practice of shipping) but then I got a Tumblr account and watched Invader Zim and saw Zim and Gaz.

I then made this meme:

Which I think speaks for itself.

I was never really an anti. I think I just found the proship community immediately after I started shipping because I was into all these niche "problematic" ships, see: Barbara Gordon x Bruce Wayne, Ahsoka Tano x Anakin Skywalker, Azula x Zuko, etc (it also didn't hurt that I actually came to like the cringe I felt from seeing a squicky ship I didn't like. That's how I started shipping Anisoka).

2. I'm actually not sure what exactly got me into Selfshipping. My memories on that are much foggier than my memories on my inevitable ascension into proshipping. I think from what I can remember that I saw Cass in Wayne Family Adventures and immediately thought, "oh she is the cutest most handsome woman I have ever seen," then I started shipping Jason and Cass because I didn't know that much about Cass and felt like Jason Todd was the character I most related to. At some point that fell by the wayside and I started hating Cass because "the Batfamily is getting too big. I wish they had kept it with just Bruce, Barbara, Dick, Jason, and Tim!" but then I grew out of that as I started to learn more about Cass. I think by this point I was aware that people shipped themselves with characters instead of using canon proxies (you were one of the people who made me realize this was a thing btw so thanks for that) which, I mean, I knew people did that but I wasn't aware of all the terminology and substance behind it beyond just the stereotype of young writers making self insert fanfiction to kiss their favorite character. So I started selfshipping with Cassandra Cain privately but not as intensely as I do now. Then I started seeing StephCass stuff all the time in her tag and got upset about that but I came up with the solution of making Cass, Steph, and myself a polycule. Then I made this blog and, as I learned about Steph, I fell in love with her too.

So that's my selfshipping biography. Never been happier with my F/Os.

3. Cass is my oldest F/O but if you want to get technical, she's not the first character I ever considered myself to have a connection with.

Ok so now we have to talk about the longest writing project I never wrote down.

It was this massive story that featured all my favorite stuff that I wrote in my head from when I was 7 to when I was 17. It was a decade of stories I never wrote down and I had a self insert which I shipped other characters with.

The first character I shipped him with was Sunset Shimmer from MLP: Equestria High (her human form for the record). Then I shipped him with Abigail from Stardew Valley, there was a Gardevoir in there at one point, and I think there was 1 more but I don't think anyone would recognize her as a character.

Then it got a bit sad. Ironically this was during the happiest time of my life but the character himself had evolved to the point he was no longer a self insert.

If anyone wants me to, I will gladly go into depth on this story. @andreamland already knows what's up with this overly long word vomit of moderately embarrassing cringe that will take approximately 7 paragraphs minimum but, to quote Brennan Lee Mulligan, "there is no corner of my heart that i won't turn over for 5 points," with the 5 points in this case being friendship points with mutuals.