#kon kicks the back of the chair while tim works

[lemonlimestar]

anything can be yuri if u read enough random 90s elseworlds comics

bonus doodle

[fcthots]

I'm literally tearing up this morning at the idea of Tim sitting in the cave, trying to get some important work done like usual when suddenly a wave of darkness ascends upon the cave. Like something out of a horror movie, dread washes over Tim as he fearfully creaks his head around to see Gus sitting on the chair, looking over Tim's shoulder—MENACINGLY.

I had so much fun writing this.

It was 5 am and everyone else had gone to bed. There was a fear gas attack and while no one had been unable to put on their rebreather, the manor was still on lockdown, though, just to monitor in case of any delayed effects. Tim wasn't supposed to be on the batcomputer but it was important! He was doing research on the new chemicals Scarecrow had added to his toxin and if their addition changed the effects of the formula as compared to the original. As it turns out, he was right. It seemed that now prolonged exposure could cause delayed effects. Fuck, Tim loves being right! He starts recording any other new effects the toxin may have.

A chill hits him. The hairs on the back of his neck raise. He can feel eyes with malicious intent watching him. After being robin for so long, he knows what the stare of a real threat feels like as it watches its prey. Fuck. Someone must have gotten into the cave. He thinks of yelling for Kon, but Kryptonians can't hear into the cave. His family is all asleep in their respective bedrooms, and there's no one that can get to him in time. He hasn't acknowledged their presence yet, so he could pick up his phone and pretend to send a funny text to a friend but actually text the other bats, but that could also backfire if his intruder swooped in while he was vulnerable.

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Maybe his rebreather was cracked. Maybe this is all just delayed fear gas effects. Maybe one of his siblings hadn't handed all of their gear off to be washed and he's just getting a mini whiff of the gas, and that's why he feels the eyes of a predator on his back.

He hears something rustle.

Ok, so not a hallucination, probably. Auditory hallucinations usually take exposure to copious amounts of gas, but maybe this was all part of the new strand.

He could feel them getting closer. He slowly wraps his hand round a battarang that was left on the desk. He can't see anything in the reflection of the screen. On the count of three he has to turn around and face his opponent.

Three. Fuck, he's exhausted.

Two. He's too tired to be doing this.

One. Bruce is gonna kill him if he dies.

Go.

He turns around and stands all in one motion, staying as low to the ground as possible. He doesn't have long to take in all of his surroundings, so he does it quick. This would be so much easier if he had his mask, which can track the heat of body signatures, but he took it off so Alfred could clean it. He really hopes Alfred isn't the one to find his body.

He doesn’t see anything in his immediate line of sight. He keeps his body moving, so he's a harder target. He looks everywhere else. Nothing. Maybe it's an LOA assassin. Ra's needs to get off his dick already.

But he looks even in the spots where a ninja would be trained to hide, and... nothing. Nothing at all. An alarming amount of nothing. By his calculations there was an 85% chance that it wasn't a hallucination. He drops his fighting stance. He did forget to factor in his sleep deprivation...

As soon as his guard is down, he is immediately attacked from behind. He whirls around and drops back into a fighting stance. His training kicks in. Don’t look at the affected area first, look at your attacker first. He ignores the pain in his leg and looks to where they would have to be standing and...nothing. He looks down to his leg.

Fucking Gus.

"Get off of me, asshole!! Why are you even here? Can Jason seriously not sleep without his cat fucking night?" Tim tries to peel Gus's claws out of him where Gus's limbs are wrapped around his leg. "Ow! Fuck! Don't bite me! This is why I don’t pet you. Get. The. Fuck. Off. Of. Me."

He finally tosses Gus off his leg and Gus runs away impressively fast for a cat if his size.

Tim yells out across the batcave, "I never thought I could hate a cat until I met you!"

[elowenp]

“What do you want?” Barbara asks, voice crackling with static.

It’s a silly question. Tim wants crime rates to go down. Tim wants Gotham to be a safer city. Tim wants to be a part of making that happen.

“A code name that isn’t stupid.” he says instead.

Barbara sighs. It doesn’t sound like a sigh though. It just sounds like the static’s getting louder.

~

“Bernard Dowd, scholar of the ages.” Tim laughs, arm slung round Bernard's shoulder. “I thought you were meant to be the fun one?”

“I am.” Bernard groans, “as soon as these exams are done I’ll be back to the usual student life. Getting drunk, going on dates, Gotham won’t know what’s hit it.”

“Going on dates?” Tim asks jokingly, even as a well hidden part of him turns slightly panicked. “Any successes an old friend should be hearing about?”

“Not really.” Bernard shrugs, jostling Tim’s arm. “Just a couple of girls I was better off friends with.” He pauses, thinking, before continuing with his voice involuntarily going a little higher. “Couple of guys too.”

“Huh.” Tim suddenly becomes very aware of all the places where his arm is touching Bernard. He doesn’t move it. “Better luck next time.”

Huh.

~

Tim’s been avoiding Dick. He’s been awkward around him lately, Tim thinks that Barbara must have said something. He’s not stupid enough to have done something to send Dick spiralling without noticing it.

“What do you want?” Dick asks, curious, without warning.

Tim wants to ask if Barbara put him up to this but he knows it’s a genuine question. Dick isn’t manipulative like that, not with family.

What does Tim want? Isn’t it a little late for Dick go be asking that question? All the things that happened after Bruce’s death put a canyon of distance between them. It’s slowly been growing smaller but it hasn’t disappeared. Neither of them have had time enough to spend together for that to happen.

An awful, bitter part of Tim that hasn’t stopped screaming since Robin wasn’t his any more wonders if Dick would even be asking if Damian wasn’t out of town right now.

“For us to go train surfing.” Tim says. Petty. Just so Dick will say no and his anger can feel righteous instead of ill-deserved.

“Okay.” Dick says instead. Easy and confident. Himself.

“Oh.” Tim’s anger fizzles into non-existence. “Okay.”

The canyon grows a little smaller.

~

“We should go to a skatepark.” Bernard says, a little giggly from the beer in his hand.

There’s a matching beer in Tim’s hand although it’s still practically full. If there’s an emergency he’ll be of no use drunk. “What? Why?”

“Why not? You were so good in high school! And you had fun doing it.” Bernard’s tone turns a little less giggly. “You should do more things you find fun.”

Tim is surprised enough that the “Okay.” slips out of his lips unbidden.

So maybe the beer bottle is a little less full than he’d like to admit.

They borrow a board from one of Bernard's flatmates and catch a bus to a skate park Tim remembers using when he was younger. As they go Tim tries to remember why he stopped. He tries to remember when he stopped. He can’t recall the answer to either question and annoyance rises in his chest over it.

Then Bernard is saying something and it has Tim snorting with laughter and he forgets his irritation.

Once they arrive Bernard settles himself at the top of one of the ramps like it’s a throne. “Entertain me!” he calls, “Impress me with your wheel-board magic.

Tim manages a kick-flip on his first attempt and Bernard makes a loud noise of approval.

A lot of stuff comes back to Tim fairly quickly. Most of skateboarding had been muscle memory for him and that’s something that being a vigilante hadn’t exactly hindered. As things return to him he regains some faint memories of why he’d stopped. Nothing specific, just that feeling of not having enough time. Of thinking that going to the skatepark wasn’t a particularly useful way to spend his hours while there was still real work to be done.

Tim’s always been a vigilante first, but he thinks there must have been a point when that wasn’t the only thing he was. Well, when it wasn’t the only thing he was that mattered.

“Come on!” Bernard shouts, teeth flashing white against Gotham’s grey-black sky. “I was promised entertainment!”

Tim laughs. He seems to do that a lot around Bernard these days.

He starts moving on the skateboard, deciding to leave the existentialism for another day.

~

First Dick and now Bruce. Tim’s family has really been making a habit of being weird around him lately.

He would normally think that the Bruce was worried about him, that Dick had passed along some bullshit about his mental health and Bruce was practicing some silent vigil. The problem with that theory is that Tim’s been getting better recently, so there wouldn’t be much point. At least he thinks he’s been getting better. It’s difficult to tell sometimes.

Bruce has definitely been acting weird around him though, so maybe he isn’t getting better. Maybe Bruce spotted something Tim didn’t and he’s on the road to insanity.

“What do you want?” Bruce asks one day as they’re both working in the cave. Not Batman. Bruce.

It’s a far stupider question than it was when Barbara or Dick asked it. Bruce is the person who made Tim’s desires what they are. He’s the one who took Tim’s obsession and carved it into a goal.

“What?” Tim asks, loud and confused and maybe a little angry. “What do you mean ‘what do I want’? I want the mission! What else am I supposed to want?”

Bruce stays silent for a moment and Tim imagines him turning the words over in his head. “Nothing else?” Bruce asks. He sounds sad and it makes the anger drain from Tim’s body. “Just the mission?”

“I don’t need anything else.” Tim says hollowly.

Bruce just nods, thinking. It makes Tim want to scream even as satisfaction rises in his chest.

It’s always been a point of pride that he can to lie to Batman. He’s hardly going to change his mind about that now.

~

“People keep asking me what I want.” Tim says, sat on Bernard's bed. “I don’t like it.”

Bernard's turns away from the laptop on his desk so he can look at Tim. “You ever tell them the truth?”

Tim shrugs. He isn’t sure what else to do. “Ish?”

Bernard smiles. “Anyone ever tell you you’re impossible, Tim Drake?”

“Only everyone I’ve ever met.”

Bernard barks out a laugh before sobering up and looking at Tim with ill-disguised curiosity. “Do you want to tell me the truth about it? Or did you just want to say the thing out loud?”

“I’m not sure.” Tim admits, and he has to stop himself from acting taken aback by the fact he actually said that. Tim never says when he’s uncertain. There isn’t room for it. Bernard must know that too because he looks at Tim in surprise, then scoots his chair closer to the bed so that he and Tim are almost touching.

Bernard looks very cautious. “You know that’s okay, right?”

“I-“ Tim starts, because is it? Is uncertainty the kind of luxury he can afford? “I want to want things. But it feels like I’ve forgotten how.”

“You’ve had a rough couple of years.”

“How do you-“

Bernard smiles knowingly. “You’re not as hard to read as you think, Tim. Well you are. But it’s not difficult to tell that some bad things must have happened since I last saw you.”

“Yeah.” Tim says hoarsely, thinking back to the burn of his muscles as he dug up Kon’s grave, the stinging of desert sand in his eyes, the moment of confusion when he woke up in a league of assassins base unsure if he’d had to die to get there. “Yeah. Bad things happened.” He shakes himself a little, because those aren’t the thoughts he wants lingering. He focuses back on Bernard who’s closer than Tim had realised, worry creased between his eyes. “What about you?” Tim asks, trying to exert some measure of control over the conversation. “What do you want?”

“Thought we were talking about you?” Tim might have let it go with that if not for the note of nervousness in Bernard's voice and the red creeping up the back of his neck.

“We can talk about both of us.”

“It’s not important right now.”

Tim reaches out then. He takes Bernard's hand in his because Bernard makes him laugh and he looks so nervous and Tim wants to. Bernard looks down at their hands in surprise and Tim doesn’t actually feel worried. Just expectant that Bernard is going to squeeze their fingers together more securely. He does. “You sure?” Tim asks.

Bernard just looks at him. Mouth parted with shock. He seems to come back to himself though and his expression of surprise turns into something more confident. More familiar. “What if I wanted you?” he asks, hesitancy and confidence rolled into one voice.

“Give me some time to remember how to want things, and I think I’ll want that too.” Tim replies, just as unsure and utterly certain.

Bernard tangles their fingers together a little more firmly in response and Tim feels more hopeful than he has in a long time.

[fan-written]

I couldn't get this bio dad Riddler au by @maribat-writing-and-prompts out of my head, so my brain came up with this! You can find the original post here:

Puzzler! Marinette

Superboy landed silently next to Red Robin, smirking at the slight skip he heard in his heart beat. It had been a year since they started dating and the smaller boy still had the same reaction that originally caught his notice. But that wasn't why he returned to his side as quickly and quietly as possible.

They had split up when Red noticed online activity in a nearby, supposedly empty, corporate building and SB had heard a mugging in progress a few blocks over. The thieves had been easy to take down and Red didn't seem too concerned when he found the cause of the activity. No, Superboy wasn't in a rush until he heard Red Robin sigh the name Puzzler.

For the last two years he'd listened to Tim rant and rage about the Riddler's tiny assistant. He couldn't seem to get her out of his head since the moment she verbally tore apart his costume as Robin. Sometimes Kon wondered if Tim was just having Bi panic with how often he talked about her.

The problem was, as much as he'd learned from Tim about her, they'd never met.

She was only in Gotham during the summers and never seemed to be working the same cases he did. Puzzler wasn't a vigilante so she didn't follow crime the same way, but he had hoped they would have crossed paths by now. So when Red Robin identified her he booked it over.

Red Robin barely glanced up at his boyfriend before returning to glower at the small girl sitting in the giant office chair. And she was small. Tim said she was their age, a few months younger at most, but looking down at the top of her head he wondered how accurate that was.

He also might be starting to understand why Tim was such a Bi disaster whenever she came up. Puzzler was cute. The pastel pink domino mask matched the overall skirt she wore and Kon tried very hard not to stare at the pale green harnesses on her thighs than matched her sleeveless shirt. He was a little confused why she had a yo-yo attached to one and a bag with cookies on the other, but who knows. Maybe PI assistants got bored and hungry while on the job. To top it off she had plum purple fingerless gloves, elbow and knee pads, combat boots, and question mark buttons. For an assistant she looked every bit ready to kick ass and Kon was beginning to think he'd let her.

"Puzzler," Red Robin said again, rubbing his forehead, exhaustion bleeding into the tone. "Please tell me why you broke into a building just to use a computer. I know you have access to a better one at your father's office."

She grinned at the screen but didn't look up or stop her typing as she answered him. "Because," Kon absently noticed she had the cutest accent,  "Piège Mortel, I needed direct access to this terminal." 

Red groaned under his breath about how it was one of those days. "And what do you need from this terminal?"

Her smile grew and Superboy felt a vague sense of deja vu. "What force and strength cannot get through, I with a gentle touch can do. And many in the street would stand, were I not a friend at hand. What am I?" Ah, that would explain it. That was the look Riddler always had before doling out his riddles.

"A key," Red Robin said after a few minutes of silence. Puzzler nodded but continued tapping away at the keyboard. 

"And what exactly is this key for?"

"Your heart!" 

Superboy couldn't help but snort as he watched adrenaline rush through Tim's body, making his heart beat faster and his cheeks flush. It had the added bonus of making Puzzler's gaze jerk from screen to himself.

Everything froze, from Red Robin blushing, Superboy smirking, and Puzzler looking between the two heroes in front of her. Then Puzzler let out the quietest whine.

"Piège Mortel! You could have warned me your boyfriend was here." She blushed darker than her mask and Kon's lips spread wider. Puzzler whimpered and quickly turned back to the computer to avoid looking at them.

Superboy chuckled and leaned closer to Red Robin as if to whisper in his ear. "I knew she had to be cute with how often you talked about her, but I didn't think she'd be this adorable."

Red Robin stuttered, trying to get out a denial, until he looked back at Puzzler. It was as if her brain had flatlined at the compliment and she couldn't reboot fast enough. It was also the first time he'd seen it happen to her. Usually she was the one being flirty to throw him off, but oh how the tables had turned. Red knew he flustered her occasionally, but never enough to stall her. 

He wondered if it was because of Kon, even if his gut twisted with the idea. His boyfriend was attractive so he wouldn't be too surprised. But she'd reacted to him before. Maybe it was the two of them? Together? That would be very interesting.

Superboy watched as Red Robin schemed and Puzzler finally restarted. She must have forgotten that he had super hearing because she started mumbling under her breath and it was frankly adorable.

"Stop looking. Stop looking. Come on, stop looking at me. Of course they both have to be here. I mean avoiding Superboy could only last so long. Oh Kwami, they are way too hot to be in the same building, let alone dating each other." She whined almost inaudibly again. "Two minutes. I just have to last two minutes and then I can go."

Superboy chuckled and she squeaked. "Oh crap. Superboy, clone of Superman with matching abilities including super hearing. Kwami, how could I forget! Because he's hot and so is Robin and he can still hear me and I need to shut up now." His chuckle grew into a short laugh until he could control it enough to whisper everything she said into Red Robin's ear. Kon felt his own rush of adrenaline as he watched Tim's grin become slightly feral. It was one he wore when he had a plan that usually had a dose of revenge added.

Tim took a step forward and Puzzler tensed but tried to ignore them. This was long overdue if everything Tim told him was true. Kon happily followed a half step behind, content to watch his boyfriend play with the little mouse of a PI. Tim tilted his head to one side of the chair as he went to the other and leaned closer to Puzzler.

"You wouldn't be trying to steal this key would you?" Red Robin said lowly, one hand against the back of the chair, the other on the desk, blocking her in on that side. "If you were, Superboy and I would have to take you in, and we wouldn't want that, would we."

She shuddered and Superboy grinned at the way her heartbeat matched her stutter as she tried to answer. "N-n-no. No stealing. Just, just making a copy." She leaned further away from Red Robin, but bumped against his leg on the other side.

"A copy. Really." He said as he leaned over too. He glanced up at Red Robin to see him smirking at the two of them and Kon felt the need to wipe it off his face. "The thing is, I'm the only one with a key to Red's heart and I haven't heard you ask for it yet." Red's smirk shifted into a frown, but SB continued to watch the small girl between them. "And I doubt you could do that when you've been avoiding me."

"W-w-what! Avoi-avoiding you? Who, who said th-"

"Or is that not the key you're looking for."

She was so flustered and Kon desperately wanted to know what she looked like under the mask. Another glance at Tim told him he felt the same.

A sudden chime from the computer startled them out of the bubble they'd created. Puzzler leaned forward and tapped at the keys quickly. A few seconds later she shut it down and pushed the chair back. The two boys moved with it, but didn't step out of her way.

"Well! That's it. No stealing happening here." She grinned wildly at them and stood up to try and leave. "Now if you boys would excuse me, I'm sure my dad is waiting up on me."

Even standing she was tiny and SB could easily look over her head at Red. Red Robin barely shook his head and Superboy knew he wasn't done playing. So instead of stepping out of the way, he crossed his arms and leaned back.

"I don't know Red. Should we excuse her?" Puzzler gaped at him and then at Red Robin when he spoke.

"Probably not SB. We still don't know what that key is for. It is the middle of the night and we both know it's the best time to steal things." Red leaned in even more to force her closer to Superboy.

"If you keep this up you two will be the ones stealing..." She murmured, moaning in frustration when Superboy chuckled. She turned around and pointed a finger at his chest. "You, you are so lucky you're practically indestructible. I still have half a mind to shove one of those stupidly attractive shoulder spikes in your ear because you keep laughing and it's distracting." This time Red Robin choked on a laugh and she whirled around to him.

"And you! You keep showing up with the hair and now the belts. Seriously, you two need to stop with the belts. I can't think when you're around. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go."

Instead of trying to move either of them she simply jumped over the back of the chair and ran towards the open window at full speed. With his enhanced vision Kon could tell her face was cherry red and he could hear her heart race. He took a step to follow but stopped at the hand on his arm. Tim was blushing, but had a shit eating grin. He just got the best leverage against Puzzler, and he didn't even have to search for it.

The two boys watched as she grabbed her yo-yo and tossed it out the window. They both ran to it as they watched her fall out, only to see her swing away.

Kon listened to the familiar zip of wire for a moment more before turning to his boyfriend.

"So, have we ever talked about a third?" Tim shook his head. "We should talk about a third."

Tim nodded this time. "Agreed."

[writer-room]

Siblings: Chapter Four

AO3

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Summary: The Bats reflect on how their thoughts about siblings have changed over the years. Some opinions stayed, others didn't.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tim didn’t know how to feel about being an only child.

He didn’t think about it all that often, there weren’t many kids he talked to at school who mentioned their siblings all that frequently. And, in some parts, he didn’t mind it so much.

The kids who did talk about siblings complained, whether their siblings were older or younger. There were those who said their sibling took up more of their parents attention, which was something Tim was already lacking in. Some said that they never had any time to themselves, something that Tim had an overabundance in, but still cherished. Others said that the accomplishments, and failures, of their siblings reflected onto them, making their parents expect more or less of them. Tim couldn’t afford that either. His parents already didn’t think much of him, he didn’t need it to be any less. And if they wanted more, he worried he wouldn’t be able to meet their expectations.

And yet…

Sometimes he liked the idea of someone else in that empty mansion. Someone to talk to when the rooms felt too large, when the loneliness was suffocating him. He liked the thought of sharing his recent theories, photos, and the like with someone. Wondered if he could go on for as long as he wanted without being interrupted.

Maybe they’d be someone who didn’t call him by a name that wasn’t his, then feign forgetting. Who didn’t treat his binders like they were assaulting their eyes. Who didn’t scrutinize his every movement for faking.

That’d be nice, he thinks. 

But there were pros and cons, he reasons. And for all he knows, if he had a sibling, they could’ve been just like his parents. Or they could’ve been kinder. Not like he’d ever know.

He had more important things to worry about than hypotheticals and wishes.

“Before you scold me, know that I took a five hour nap earlier today and I’m only getting a snack.”

Steph and Duke blinked at him from the doorway to the kitchen, their expressions a sharp contrast between exasperated and concerned, respectively.

“Wow, five hours?” Steph snarked. “That’s a new record. Are you dying?”

“Not yet,” Tim said, opening the fridge. “Give it a few weeks and I’m sure you’ll see rumors of my tragic defeat at the hands of, I dunno, Flamingo.”

“There’s a supervillain named Flamingo?” Duke exclaimed, staring at Steph incredulously.

“Oh, yeah, it’s a whole thing.” She nodded. “He had a scuffle with Jay and his kid a while back.”

“Jason has a kid?”

“Why are you up, anyway?” Tim talked right over him. “Duke I understand, he’s the disgraced child of the sun. But you patrol at the same time as every other nocturnal person in this house.”

“Hey-”

“I actually had to pretend to have a normal sleep schedule, my mom was getting worried and I didn’t want her finding me sneaking in with my full Spoiler getup on.” Steph explained tiredly. “I’m still trying to recover.”

“Tragic,” Tim hummed, pulling out a container holding a ham sandwich. 

“The only thing that's tragic is your outfit.” Steph snorted, looking him up and down.

Tim blinked, looking down at himself. His outfit consisted of a pair of knockoff Batman shorts, knee-high pastel dinosaur socks, and a long red robe that absolutely did not belong to him hanging loosely off him, exposing countless scars littering his body.

“I look awesome,” Tim said, popping the lid off the container. 

“Damian’s gonna start asking what battles you got your scars from again,” Steph tutted, striding further into the kitchen with a confused Duke following her. “Know that I will not be on your side when Dick notices and gets worried.”

“I’m more worried about Dami seeing this one,” He said, brushing the robe back slightly to reveal a poorly stitched surgical scar on his upper abdomen. “Because then he’s going to ask what happened, and then I’m gonna have to tell him that's where my spleen used to be, and then he's going to be reminded that oh, yeah, his brother has a missing spleen, and then he’s going to be treating everything like its diseased-”

“Does...he keep forgetting you lost your spleen?” Duke blinked, concerned. “I feel like that’d be something you were kinda always aware of…”

“Eh, everyone's worried about a different scar whenever they see ‘em.” He shrugged, glancing down as he traced over one of the surgery scars along his chest. “Which is frankly a little rude. I earned this right to be shirt free.”

“Hell yeah you did,” Steph grinned before her eyes dropped to the sandwich Tim was attempting to eat. “Isn’t that Cullen’s?”

“He didn’t label it, therefore it’s mine.” Tim said simply.

“Harper’s gonna kill you,” Duke warned warily. 

“Only if she catches me,” He said, taking a bite of the sandwich. “Why’re you guys here, anyway? Grabbing a snack?”

“Lookin’ for Babs,” Steph said, hands in her pockets. “Someone on Twitter started a war about which Batgirl was better, and Babs will probably get a kick out of being remembered as the ‘missing Batgirl.’”

“Oh she’ll be pissed about being remembered that way.” Tim agreed, shoving the rest of the sandwich in his mouth. “Babs will see it in five minutes or less, though. Swear she has a sixth sense for whenever someone mildly associated with the Bats is mentioned.” He mumbled.

“You wanna hijack the thread before she finds it?” He suggested.

“Hijack it?” Duke echoed.

“We’re gonna yell about random stuff that doesn’t contribute to the conversation until all hell breaks loose.” Steph explained, already pulling out her phone. “Tim?”

“How do you feel about discussing why the sun lightens hair, but darkens skin?” Tim suggested, leaving the container on the counter as he brushed by Steph.

“You just want to piss off someone from Metropolis.”

“It’s law as a Bat that I have to torment Superman whenever I possibly can.” Tim shrugged.

“Does that include me?” Duke blinked. “Because I personally think tormenting Superman is a bad idea.”

“Clark wouldn’t hurt a fly,”

“Yeah, but he’ll give me the face of disappointment and I don’t think I can live with that.” Duke protested.

“He can barely even manage--where are you going?” Steph looked up, only now realizing Tim was leaving the kitchen.

“I’m starting the mayhem on the big screens.” Tim grinned, looking back over his shoulder.

“Please don’t tell me he’s going to use Twitter on the bat computer,” Duke sighed.

“He’s totally going to use the bat computer,” Steph smiled, following after him. “C’mon! It’s initiation time.”

“Do you guys just call every weird thing you do initiation?” Duke called, hurrying behind them. “Because I’ve been told I’m part of an initiation five times in the last week.”

“You’re stuck in initiation until this becomes the norm,” Steph said cheerfully. 

“Of course,” Duke muttered.

Tim’s robe billowed behind him like an amateur cape as he wandered towards the door leading towards the steps into the Batcave. He threw open the door, the sound of it slamming echoing and startling the bats on the ceiling.

“Jesus!”

Harper jumped from the swivel chair in front of the computer, wide-eyed as she blinked up at the trio at the top of the stairs.

“Hey, Harps,” Steph greeted, hopping onto the stairs railing and sliding down. “We’re here to cause problems on Twitter.”

“Oh, well, in that case, by all means.” Harper snarked, getting up and grandly gesturing to the countless screens. “Not like I was using it for actual work.”

“Were you using it?” Tim asked, pointedly glaring at Steph to keep his recent adventure to the kitchen quiet.

“...looking for tasers to modify count as work, right?” She said after a moment.

“Technically,” Tim nodded,  ignoring Steph’s smug look that absolutely signified she was going to blackmail him later. “But you can just use Dick’s old escrima sticks. He goes through a pair every two or three weeks, but most still work pretty well, he’s just too lazy to fix them.”

“Sweet,” Harper grinned. She then paused, taking in Tim’s appearance as he slid into the seat she was previously occupying. 

“Why do you look like you’re auditioning to be the pretty girl who dies in a low-budget slasher?”

“First of all, how dare you assume I wouldn’t be the first one to die for representation points,” Tim said, pointing an accusatory finger at her. “Second of all, it’s called having fashion, and also being allowed to do whatever I want.”

“You have terrible fashion sense,” Harper snorted, crossing her arms as Steph and Duke came up beside her. “But fair, I can respect that.”

“See?” Tim said, looking at Steph. “Some people can afford to not be rude.”

“Keep talking and I’ll lose more blackmail material,” Steph calmly threatened.

Harper glanced between the two, to which Tim quietly, and quickly, turned back to the screen and ignored the both of them. Harper raised a brow but didn’t comment. Tim made a mental note to sneak into one of Jason’s unused safe houses after this was over. Steph couldn’t keep quiet for the life of her.

“What are you starting, anyway?” Harper asked, crossing her arms and leaning on the back of Tim’s chair. “A sob story about the Opportunity rover?”

“Another day,” Tim promised, opening up Twitter on the countless screens. He opened another one on the other half of the computer, which Steph quickly stood at and got her own Twitter set up. “Right now, we’re questioning how the sun makes hair lighter, but skin darker. And we’re dragging Clark into it.”

“If anyone asks, I had no part in this.” Duke said, watching the two typing with a frown. “Initiation doesn't include learning how to taunt Superman, right?”

“Eh, we can settle for you becoming close with a Kryptonian,” Steph shrugged. “Dick and Bruce share Clark, Jay’s got Bizarro, Cass and I got Kara, Babs I think counts with her, too, Damian’s got Jon, and Tim has Kon.” She listed off.  “Harper and Cullen took the ‘bully Superman’ route without befriending any of his family, which is a coward's way out, so you can take, I dunno, does Chris still exist in this timeline?”

“I can call in a favor from Bart to reset the timeline again so he exists.” Tim said with a casual shrug, pulling up the thread arguing about the Batgirls. 

“I’m sorry, what--”

“Finding Kryptonians who aren’t already taken is hard!” Harper protested, talking over Duke. “And Clark likes you guys being friends with his family. The only issue he has is Damian getting testy and Tim making heart eyes at Kon every five minutes.”

“I do not!” Tim squawked, whirling around in the chair to glare at the traitors he dared call family. In his head. Family in his head.

“You do,” Steph and Harper chorused.

“I’ve met Kon for less than twenty minutes and even I know.” Harper added. “I’m sure Duke knew.”

“I...yeah…” Duke coughed into his fist and turned away. “But in my defense, the gossip around here is practically shouted down the halls twice a week.”

“You were subjected to Dick having another crisis about Jay dating Kory for two months, weren’t you?” Steph said, trying to hide a snicker.

“There were so many things I didn’t want to know,” Duke whispered, face horror-stricken. 

“Eh, at least Jay hasn’t brought up Talia around Dami yet.” Tim shrugged. “At that point, it’s better to just vacate the premises.” 

“Wait--”

“Point is, you either befriend the Kryptonian or you torment them. That’s the rules.” Tim talked over him again, scrolling down the thread and boredly looking over the arguments. “You ready, Steph?”

“As I’ll ever be,” She grinned, giving a thumbs up. “How long till Babs notices and takes this whole thing down?”

“Few more minutes, tops.” Tim shrugged, already typing. “You two wanna give any input?” He asked, glancing behind him to Harper and Duke.

“Ask if Kryptonian skin can be used as extreme sunscreen,” Harper suggested. “That’ll rile him up.”

“Now I’m just curious if it can,” Tim said, but obediently began making his comment.

“You could just...ask?” Duke tried, clearly not taking in any of what was happening.

“Nah, Kon’s half human, I don’t think it works the exact same.” Tim shook his head, not looking back. “Kara would destroy me if I tried, Bizarro has the same problem, Jon wouldn’t know, and Clark would start telling Bruce he’s worried I’m deranged again.”

“Aren’t you?” Duke raised a brow.

“Only if I feel like it,”

“And when he forgets to sleep for ninety-eight hours.” Steph spoke up.

Tim rolled his eyes, tuning out his siblings as they continued to talk. He posted his comment before sparing a peek back at them, currently throwing off ideas to their hijacking plan like it was an everyday occurrence. Well, to Steph and Harper at least. But, to Duke’s credit, he appeared to be getting more used to it on prodding from his...sisters? Hard to tell, Steph was her own classification of family member. They were some weird choices for family, at least.

Tim watched them for a moment before turning back to making another comment on the logistics of sunscreen, a smile on his face.

He couldn’t find it in him to complain. Too much, at least.

[sweet-sammy-kisses]

Stars In Your Eyes Chapter 1

For the @jaytimweek  Day 1: Space Pairing: JayTim Rating: Mature Notes: I had hoped to have this done completely but health and my muse wanting to make it longer derailed those plans but I love JayTim in space to much to quit. Warnings: One scene of suicide and talk of victim blaming. Summary: Tim along with his friends take to the stars for a "short" break and mission only to decide to stay. When the Outlaws begin looking for them it becomes a chase among the stars as Jason and Tim take on an interesting and unique way of flirting. You can also read it on AO3

After a fallout between him, Dick, Bruce and the others Tim had set out to prove that he could fly on his own only there were those who wouldn't let him, his true family vowed to be with him every step he took.

Staring out the window there were days that Tim could hardly believe that this was his life now. To see the stars and planets up close. To see nebulas colours twisting and twirling around one another creating sights to behold.

"These are the voyages of Young Justice, seeking out those who would harm the innocent and basically just be jerks. To kick some ass and save the day while looking awesome as we do it."

A long-drawn-out sigh escaped Tim as he heard Bart start to narrate their day again, "I should have never let you watch Star Trek." Tim muttered into his hand.

Conner let out a laugh at Tim's comment, "Dude, you made us sit through and watch Star Trek and Star Wars so we could see how epic they were and get our opinions on which franchise is better." Tim's so-called best friend reminded him.

And okay Conner was right about that once Tim learned that neither Bart nor Conner had seen either Star Wars or Star Trek he had made it his mission to change that and now he was regretting it so much.

Tim had hoped when he found Bruce that things would change, that Dick would take apologize for his actions, would want him back as his little brother. Would stand beside him and speak to the Justice League that he was wrong as were they for turning their backs on a teenager who had lost everyone he loved.

But none of that happened.

Tim knew that Dick had a lot on his plate, stepping up to be Batman as well as raise the demon brat but he thought that Dick had missed him as much as he had missed his big brother but he had hardly spoken to him.

That added salt to the open wounds Tim was still carrying. So when a Raven suggested that Tim take a much-needed break one that would do Kon and Bart good as well, coming back from the dead could mess a person up and it was best that they take some time to heal.

Plus no one was brave enough to say no to Raven, if she wanted you to take a break you would even if that break ended up being in a demon demission.

Bart still had his hidden space ship and Tim had seen how much Jason enjoyed being out here and it had truly helped him to control his pit madness.

It was supposed to be a two-week trip then they ended up helping stop kidnapping and then they saved a planet from being enslaved and then something else came up and now they had been in space for six months and none of them were in a hurry to head home.  

Somehow they had managed to become Space Vigilantes.

And as Tim glanced around looking at Bart, Conner, Cassie, Cass and Helena looking at home on the ship and then done to Dex-Starr that was purring away on his lap Tim realized that it had been years since he felt this at peace.

Jason had always thought that he was going to remain the black sheep of the Wayne family he never thought that his perfect replacement would tell Bruce and Dick to go screw themselves, give up his claim to the Wayne name and take off with his best friends into parts unknown.

Of course, that didn't mean that just because Tim was done with them it didn't mean they were done with Tim of course it had taken three months Tim returning to take Cass and Helena with him before it sunk in their "family" thick heads that Tim was serious he wasn't coming back. So when Oracle failed in hiding them they turned to their last resort.

A loud laugh escaped Jason as he stared at the face of his so-called brother, "You want me to help you find the kid that you tossed aside for the demon child who tried to kill him more than I did? Who from the moment he arrived used Timmy as his verbal, emotional and physical punching bag and to this day still does. You have got to be kidding me Dickface. Tim did the smart thing and the healthy thing to get away from that toxic and I ain't dragging the kid back to it."

Jason couldn't understand Dick when it had been him riding the pit madness and Talia's poisons whispers in his ear trying to kill Tim Dick had been protective and willing to go one on one with Jason but when it was Damian he was basically victim-shaming Tim into not being okay with Damian's treatment of him.

A sigh escaped a tired-looking Dick and Jason would have felt sorry for him if this wasn't of his own making. And if he hadn't seen the damage Damian's treatment and Dick, Bruce and even Alfred's lack of setting boundaries first hand.

Jason had been searching for Tim for a while. He wanted to make amends with the younger man. He had heard about the fallout between Replacement and the rest of the Bats but the last thing he expected was to see Tim standing on top of Wayne Enterprise's arms spread out wide as he took a step off of the ledge and let himself fall.

Jason could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he forced himself to go faster, he couldn't be late he had to catch Tim. Too much blood had been spilt and he wouldn't let another Robin die.

Once he had Tim in his arms did Jason remember how to breathe. Landing on the nearby roof Jason ripped off his helmet, "What the hell was that replacement?"

Haunted blue eyes looked up at him, "Why did you save me, Jason?"

At that moment Jason felt like he was back in his coffin.

The look in Tim's eyes and the lack of emotions still haunted Jason to this day and he might not be able to do much but he can keep Tim safe.

"Look Jason, I get that things haven't been easy for Tim but it is time that he got past his tantrum and returned home." Dick couldn't understand why Tim was acting like this and to make matter worse Raven and Gar were refusing to talk to him about Tim and about allowing Damian onto the team.

Frustrated that they were just going around in circles Jason ran a hand through his hair, "Look Dickie I  know firsthand what training with the league was right and I know the demon brat had it rough but until you set boundaries for him, ones that include not trying to kill his brother, or using him as an emotional and physical punching bag I ain't helping you find Timbit."

Dick fell to his automatic defence, "Damian has changed and Tim is older." He winced at the look not only Jason gave him but also Roy and Kory. "Look I know Damian can be a little much but he has changed so much."

"No one is denying that you haven't worked wonders with the brat but you are still blind to how he treats Tim and that isn't healthy." Jason countered.

"Also have you gotten around to fixing Tim's standing in the hero community or is he still called the insane Robin?" Roy spoke up he had experienced firsthand what it was like to be the black sheep of the hero community, to hear the whispers and judgemental eyes watching your every move waiting for you to screw up and he refused to let Tim go through that as well.

The wince that crossed Dick's face was answer enough.

A soft sigh escaped Kory as she looked at her one-time love, "Dick, there is no denying that you had much to handle when we thought Bruce was lost from wearing the cowl to raising an abused boy that you let Tim slip through the cracks. Tim had lost so many in his life in a short time that losing Robin, his place in the community and his big brother all at once has left deep scars that have yet to heal."

Jason and Roy saw the effect that Kory's words had on Dick as he looked ashamed, "He had me." Dick whispered.

"Did he?" Jason demanded. "Because I remember he had a big brother that told him a neglected and abused teen that he needed to take the kill attempts, the verbal and emotional abuse from Damian because he was older. Because Damian's horrible upbringing somehow made Tim invalid. That he as the victim should just take it because how dare he wants to feel safe in a place he once thought of as home with the people he thought of as family. Only to be tossed aside and ignored as he was repeatedly attacked. Until you can look me in the eye and tell me that you have talked to Damian and the rest of the heroes I won't be helping you find Tim." With that, Jason cut the communication with Dick.

Letting out a sigh Jason relaxed back into his chair.

"So what are we doing?" Roy asked.

They had heard rumours of a bunch of teens, teens that happened to match the description of a certain team of young heroes who had taken off for a mission only once it was completed they sent back a message that they were staying in space helping out others and they weren't that far away.

Opening his eyes Jason's lips curved up into a smile as he purred out, "We have a bird and his flock to hunt."

[queerbutstillhere-writes]

Day 7 - Roommates/there was only one bed/creators choice

"Okay! This is the last box from the truck!"

"What is it?"

"I dunno, it's Bart's, and I can't read their handwriting."

Tim walked over, looking at the cardboard box in Kon's hands, tilting his head to read the label.

"Oh, it's like clothes and blankets," he said, pointing towards the stairs.

"Okay, where is Bart anyway?"

"They went to get dinner," Cassie responded, looking over from where she was rearranging the living room, with occasional input from Tim, who was setting up the wifi router, because that was the most important thing.

"Of course they did."

Kon carried the box into the bedroom, setting it down against the wall and then walking back out, over to Tim.

"What do you need, babe?"

"Uh, I don't know. Ask Cassie," Tim responded, barely looking up.

"How about you go start assembling the table, lord knows we'll need that first."

"Yes ma'am."

Kon followed orders and walked into the kitchen, finding the kitchen table that had been disassembled when it was delivered. He found the toolbag and sat down, starting to piece it together.

The four of them, Tim, Kon, Bart, and Cassie had all decided to move in together, and after much debating, they ended up settling in San Francisco, because they were close to base, and Kon and Tim were both going to a college there. The apartment they got, mostly thanks to Tim, was huge, two floors, three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Now you may be thinking, three bedrooms isn't really enough for four people! And you're correct, however, three of those four were hopelessly in love and were all snuggle bugs, so all they needed was a big bed and they were set. Cassie was not involved in this relationship, but still loved her dumb best friends, and was more then happy to move in with them when the invitation was offered.

"Hey! I'm back with food!"

A burst of red light zipped through the kitchen and take and bake pizza boxes were left on the counter in its wake.

"Bart!" An alarmed shout echoed from Tim, followed by a dull thud.

"Bart!" Cassie's was more of an amused complaint.

Then the red streak was back, plopping itself down in Kon's lap.

"Hi!"

"Hello angel," Conner replied, amusedly, he set down his tools and wrapped his arms around Bart, hugging them tightly.

"Watcha working on?"

"The table. Cassie wanted to be able to actually eat like civilized people."

"Does she even know us?"

Conner laughed, kissing Bart's cheek.

"Why don't you start unpacking the dishes?"

"Okay!"

Bart jumped off, and ran away to snag a box. They started unpacking them at what seemed like a hazardous speed, but Kon knew they were being careful. He just returned to attaching the base of the table, making sure it was tight before standing and setting it up, placing the chairs around it and then gathering his tools.

"Aww, hey, guys come here!" Cassie called.

When Kon and Bart entered the living room, she was in one of Tim's boxes, pulling out pictures and other decorations.

"Look at how tiny we were!" She exclaimed, holding up a couple pictures.

The first few were of them when they had just started Young Justice, just the four of them. Bart, still absolutely tiny, was even smaller, they looked like an actual child next to Kon in all the photos.

"And look at this one!"

She held up a photo of Tim and Bruce, both in formal wear, Tim with his hair recently cut short for the first time, and properly fitted in his first suit.

"Oh my God."

Kon snatched it, staring at tiny Tim. "Babe! Look at you!"

"Kon," Tim whined, grabbing at it.

Bart snatched it and zipped across the room.

"Look at the tiny closeted baby," Bart cooed, grinning with glee.

"Oh like you were any better!"

"And besides, he had literally just came out?" Kon said with a laugh, walking towards the box to look at more photos.

"Yeah as trans! Not as gay though."

Tim lunged and snatched it. "If you two are done in the kitchen, why don't you go start unpacking your clothes and stuff."

"Okay!" Bart zipped over and jumped up on Kon's back. "Let's go!"

Kon laughed, carrying Bart upstairs. They got through all of one box of Kon's clothes before Bart kept pulling them on and causing Kon to simultaneously get annoyed and laugh. About the time Bart had four or five of his shirts and hoodies on, Kon grabbed them and pinned them to the bare mattress, kissing them and then pulling off a shirt, kissing them again, and then pulling off one more, doing this until he reached Bart's original shirt.

"You're forgetting one," Bart said with an impish grin.

"No."

They both looked up to Tim who was standing in the doorway, shaking his head.

"I knew you guys wouldn't get any actual work done."

"I think he's jealous," Bart whispered, grinning still.

"I'm not- no. Can we just actually unpack?" Tim asked, sentences a little clipped, less amused then he usually was by their shenanigans.

"Baby, are you stressed?" Kon asked, not moving from his position, holding Bart down.

"A little okay?"

"Okay."

So they obeyed orders and started nicely unpacking, hanging up clothes or putting them in the dresser, while Tim went about making the bed, getting the sheets all smooth and nice and arranging the obscene amount of pillows. By the time they had gotten mostly done with Bart's stuff, they had gotten bored and zipped downstairs to annoy Cassie.

"You guys have too many clothes," Tim said with a huff, looking at the mostly full dressers.

"You say as if my clothing is not going to be stolen by both of you. Besides, most your clothes hang up."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Come here, Tim, take a breather."

Kon reached out, grabbing Tim and pulling him with his TTK, until he could physically grab his wrist and pull him down onto his lap.

"It'll be okay. We don't have to unpack everything now, yeah? All your books and stuff can stay in their boxes for the day, we can do those tomorrow."

"I just don't like things feeling incomplete," Tim sighed out, glancing away.

"It'll be fine. It'll give you something to do when you're struggling with insomnia," Kon promised, kissing him, a hand sliding up under his shirt, fingers brushing over layers of scars hidden there, two particular scars far more important than others.

Tim sighed and pulled away, plopping his head down on Kon's shoulder.

"I'm tired."

"I know."

Conner gently rubbed his back, resting their heads together.

"What else absolutely needs done?" Conner asked.

"The bathroom, and I need to get my clothes out so they don't wrinkle even more."

"Okay. I'll go do the bathroom, you do your clothes and then we should eat."

Tim nodded in agreement. He pulled away, kissed Conner lightly and then sliding off his lap, turning and starting to pull clothes out of boxes, and hanging or folding them as appropriate. Kon made his way into their bathroom, finding the one box of supplies for it and starting to unpack it, putting all the appropriate supplies in their places. They all had their various bathroom routine type things that were in little travel type bags, that he just set on the counter and left alone for now.

He got done before Tim, so he went to the kitchen and turned on the oven.

"Watcha doing?"

Kon jumped and looked over at Bart who appeared next to him.

"Starting dinner."

"Oh! Good I'm hungry."

"Bart, you're always hungry," Cassie said, walking in.

"I knowwwww," they whined, dramatically throwing themself at Kon, who laughed and easily caught them.

"I vote after dinner we go get some groceries," she said, looking at their barren fridge.

"Why don't you take Tim with you?" Kon suggested. "He's getting pretty stressed. Bart and me will stay here and finish unpacking the kitchen."

"Is he okay?"

"I think so, I dunno, I didn't press him too much."

Cassie nodded. "I'm gonna go unpack my things, don't destroy anything while I'm gone."

"Okay."

"We won't!"

Bart squirmed until they could slide out of Kon's arms. "I'm gonna go set up the PlayStation."

So Kon was left alone in the kitchen. He waited for the oven to heat up and then put the pizza's in. Tim came down at some point, unsurprisingly wearing Kon's previously discarded hoodie. He went and curled up with Bart on their huge sofa, Kon smiled at them softly, standing in the doorway and watching as Bart played The Outer World's, their head against Tim's chest, whose arms were wrapped around them.

"Watch your left," Tim murmured softly, nose pressed into Bart's hair.

"I see it," came the equally soft response.

Bart only ever seemed to slow down like this when Tim needed them like this. Kon knew bursts of energy would be coming later, but for now he'd enjoy this sweet moment.

Dinner was eaten with an episode of Queer Eye playing, and then Cassie managed to convince Tim to go shopping with her. As promised, Bart and Kon cleaned up from dinner and then finished putting away all the kitchen supplies. They then took the enormous amount of cardboard moving boxes to the nearest recycling station. When they got back to the apartment, they curled up on the sofa to wait for the other two to get back, turning on some evening crime show just for kicks.

Later that evening, after groceries got put away, and everyone had taken showers and gotten ready for bed, Kon found himself with the task of catching Bart, who had in fact, as predicted, gone spastic. Tim was already in bed, granted he was just working, but at least he was in bed. Kon tried to catch Bart, who kept phasing past him, for almost five minutes before he finally just immobilized them with his TTK and then scooped the limp speedster up, carrying them upstairs to their room. Cassie was in there, talking to Tim. Or more of talking at Tim.

"Konnnn," Bart whined, yet wasn't trying to struggle, Kon knew this because he was no longer having to restrain his datefriend.

"It's time to go to bed," Kon told them, gently laying them next to Tim.

"Only if Timmy comes to bed with us," Bart whined, flopping over against Tim.

"Bart, you know that's not fair to him," Kon said softly.

Bart just pouted up at Tim, getting in the way of his work until he had to look at the ginger. He just chuckled.

"I'll try."

"Yay!"

Cassie gently shoulder bumped Kon as she passed.

"Night guys! Don't get too wild!" She called with a giggle, waving over her shoulder.

"Night Cassie!" They all called together, watching her leave and shut the door.

Tim closed his laptop as Bart snuggled under the covers next to him, and Kon pulled off his hoodie, waiting for them both to be ready before flicking off the lights and getting in next to Bart. There was no hesitation to squish Bart in the middle of their cuddling.

"Night, Bart, night Tim," Kon murmured softly, giving them each a kiss.

"Night Kon," they both murmured back, more tired then either realized.

Kon just chuckled, throwing an arm across Bart until his hand was resting on Tim's waist. He heard Bart's breathing soften as they drifted off to sleep, but Tim stayed tightly curled around Bart for a while, indicating that he was still awake. Kon didn't try talking to him, knowing that this happened a lot and eventually he'd drift off or get up and go find work to do in another room. Kon did eventually drift off to sleep, but his dreams were full of nightmares and he kept waking up.

Unsurprisingly, one of the times when he woke up, he found Tim missing, but he didn't go searching, just moved to pull Bart closer to him again. The speedster immediately snuggled back into him, not disturbed at all by the shift in position. And Kon just slipped back into sleep as easily as he had woken from it.

The next morning he found that Tim had replaced Bart, snuggled up against him, face on Kon's bare chest. One arm was over his stomach, his leg over Kon's. It didn't seem very comfortable but Tim was sleeping peacefully, his cheek squished up by Kon's pec.

Kon chuckled to himself and carefully, using his TTK, moved Tim so he was laying on the mattress instead of his own body. He slipped out of the bed, leaving Tim with a kiss on the head, and then he headed out after grabbing his phone.

Downstairs, Cassie was already making breakfast. She glanced up at him and rolled her eyes.

"Kon, am I going to have to deal with you coming down shirtless every morning?"

"Maybe?" Kon grinned at her. "Where's Bart?"

"Out for a run, I think."

Kon hummed, pouring himself some coffee, then walking past Cassie and stealing a piece of bacon.

"Hey! Asshole!"

Conner just laughed and stuck his tongue out at her. She shook her head.

"How was the first night in the new bed?"

"Oh it was fine, I guess? Nightmares."

She hummed sympathetically and glanced over at him. 

"Did they others-?"

"I think Bart was out of it, but Tim was gone a lot."

"Checks out, I woke up at one point and saw some lights on out here, so he was probably working."

"Was anything else put up? He might have been unpacking," Kon asked with a chuckle.

"Didn't notice, just came right in here."

Kon and Cassie chatted for a bit while she made breakfast, just about random things while Kon checked all his phone notifications.

After a bit, Bart returned from their run, hot and sweaty and carrying fresh donuts. They just kissed Kon on the cheek, hip bumped Cassie and disappeared upstairs to take a shower. And when they returned, Tim was stumbling after them, rubbing his eyes tiredly. 

"Hey! Good morning, handsome," Kon called, reaching out to tug Tim to him, pulling him close and pressing his head against Tim's chest.

Tim just rubbed his eyes and leaned into him, reaching a free hand up to run it through Kon's hair. He mumbled something that vaguely sounded like good morning, and Kon just chuckled.

"Bart, baby?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you get him some coffee?"

Bart quickly fetched Tim his lightly sweetened coffee in his favorite Nightwing mug, and Tim kissed the top of Kon's head before moving to sit at the table by himself, rubbing his eyes. Bart and Cassie quickly plated breakfast for everyone and they all started eating together for maybe the last time in a while. Cassie would be starting working here soon, Kon and Tim's college started in the next three weeks, and Bart was still trying to decide what they'd be doing. But eventually, adult life would catch up with them, and they'd be no better then their mentors.

So they took it nice and slow and enjoyed their breakfast together.

The rest of their day was slow and easy and was mostly just more unpacking. They met the other Teen Titans at the base for dinner, and spent all evening with them.

And the next morning, when Kon woke up to the sound of sirens, Bart and Tim were on the other side the bed, tangled together, peacefully sleeping through the wailing. Kon just smiled and got up, quietly changing and then slipping out so he could jump off their balcony, going to save the day, as Superboy always would.

@core-disaster-week-2020 originally written for @hyperactive-lectiophile

[fearfulkittenwrites]

Damian needs help - Super Sons

"After pacing in his room for a while, Damian came to the painful conclusion that he’d need help. Unfortunately, the only people who could offer him said help were... For lack of a better term, irritating. Still, he swallowed his pride and went hunting for the three men he lovingly calls brothers."

Or: Damian asks his brothers how were they able to turn their friendships into romances, because he wants to do the same.

Word count: 1971

Link for it on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25812319

Or read it below the cut!

After pacing in his room for a while, Damian came to the painful conclusion that he’d need help. Unfortunately, the only people who could offer him said help were... For lack of a better term, irritating. Still, he swallowed his pride and went hunting for the three men he lovingly calls brothers, finding all of them in the cave. Dick was exercising his acrobat skills, Tim was mindlessly kicking the crap out of a punching bag, looking bored, and Jason cleaned his guns while humming “Highway to Hell”.

“I need your help.” He exclaimed, from the top of the stairs. All of them immediately stopped what they were doing. Jason seemed amused, Dick seemed worried and Tim seemed... incredulous.

“You... What?” He asked, stilling the bag.

“I need your help.” He repeated, frowning.

“Something bad happened Dames?” Dick inquired, carefully.

“What? No.” Damian shook his head and climbed down. Dick picked up a towel to remove the sweat from his hair and face, then hanged it around his neck. Jason reassembled his weapons, watching from a safe distance while the rest of them got closer to the boy “I need your help because... I...” His voice became an inaudible mumbe.

“Because what?” Tim inquired.

“Because I want to ask...” Once again, his words became mushed up, hurried and quiet. Dick raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“What?” The teen insisted.

“It’s about Jon, isn’t it?” Dick stated. Damian scowled and nodded.

“What? How did you know that?” Tim stepped in.

“That’s not the point, Drake.” Damian interrupted “I need to ask him out.”

“And what do you need us to do?” Dick asked, reaching for the water bottle on his table.

“I need advice. You have been in situations very similar to mine, and you had a good outcome. How can I achieve that with Jon?”

“I don’t know man, just ask him out.” Tim said, headed back to his punching bag “It’s not like Jon would ever be mean to anyone. Even if you yourself are the incarnation of mean.”

“-tt-.” Damian rolled his eyes “Grayson, what did you do to get West?” He inquired.

“Well, I guess that at first we had like, a bromance, right?”

“Yes. And then what?”

“Then we slept together.” He shrugged. However, as soon as the words came out of his mouth he regretted them, straightening his posture “But, uhm, maybe that’s not the best advice for you to follow.”

“I figured that out on my own.” He scowled in disgust. Damian turned to Tim. He was also with a super, so he’d probably be of use to Damian now “What about you, Drake? How did you get the clone?”

“Actually,” He gave a high kick to the bag “Kon was the one who asked me out.”

“And why did you say yes?” He twisted his nose.

“Uh, because I wanted to?” Tim responded, an implied ‘obviously’ in his tone “Anyways, I don’t think I can help you so much in that department. Hey, Jason,” He said “You should be able to help. What did you do to be with Roy?”

“What?” The man answered “Me and Roy aren’t together.”

“Really?” Tim laughed “Then why do you always cuddle when you’re watching a movie together?”

“And why is he always lingering around in the manor?” Damian asked, crossed arms.

“And didn’t you two went out together the other night?” Dick chimed in, biting the end of his bottle.

“We went to a bar, that’s normal.”

“Yeah, except for the fact that I accidentally caught you two in the middle of a heavy makeout session when you came back.” Dick shot back.

“Consider yourself lucky.” Tim said “I caught them doing worse.”

“It’s not like we’re exclusive or anything.” Jason explained.

“Have you been with anyone else lately?” Dick smirked as the other glared at him “Well, he hasn’t either.”

“He...? Wait.” Jason stopped for a second “Shit. Shit. I need to call Roy.” He rushed out of the cave, picking up his cellphone.

Tim chuckled.

“Ugh, clearly, the three of you are useless. As usual.” Damian scowled.

“Oh, c’mon Little D.” Dick said, ruffling his hair “We’re not useless. You’re the one expecting something that doesn’t exist.”

“And what would that be?” He groaned, setting his hair back in order.

“A formula. There’s no such thing as a recipe when it comes to romance. You just have to try whatever feels right.”

“Nothing feels right.” He complained, throwing his small body in a chair.

“That’s because you’re nervous.” Dick pointed out “Just... Ask him if he’d want to go out and have some ice cream this weekend. Then see what happens.”

“This seems like an awfully unprepared date.”

“It doesn’t have to be elaborate Damian.” Dick rolled his eyes.

“Yeah,” Tim chimed in, still torturing the poor bag “I mean, Jon’s a farm boy and he’s the literal personification of sunshine. You could probably take him to a convenience store on a first date and he’d be excited about it.” Damian groaned.

“Fine, I’ll consider it.” Damian said.

Jason ran into the cave in an euphoric state, practically falling down the stairs.

“Guys!” He yelled “Guys you were right! We’re together now! He really is my boyfriend!”

Damian scowled in disgust while Tim and Dick laughed. The boy pushed his brother out of the way as he went back up into the manor, knowing what he had to do, as unpleasant as it might be. He made his way into the ballroom, where Alfred coordinated the cleaning for the incoming gala. Getting the room ready always took at least three days; the butler was a perfectionist.

“Alfred.” He called “I require some assistance.” The man seemed surprise. He nodded, turning his attention to a blushing Damian “Say I intended to ask someone on a date.” His face got redder with each word “What... Where should I take said person?”

“Well, master Damian,” Alfred started “That depends. Who is this girl we’re talking about?”

“Not a girl.” He couldn’t keep eye contact.

“Oh. Then who is this boy we’re thinking of?” Damian couldn’t answer “Is it safe to assume we’re talking about young master Jon?” He shoved his face in his hands and nodded “Very well then.” Alfred had the faintest of smiles on his face “Might I suggest a picnic sir?” Damian peeked through his fingers “I can arrange a meal to be eaten in the garden.” He removed his hands from his face, placing them on his chin.

“Maybe. But I have a better idea.”

...

Damian paced on the roof when he saw a blue blur coming in his direction. He smiled. Jon landed next to him, Superboy outfit on.

“Hey D.” He greeted, smiling “Why aren’t you wearing your costume?”

“They’re not...” He bit his tongue “Wait. What did the clone tell you?”

“Kon told me that Tim told him that you asked him to tell Kon to tell me that you’d be waiting in the roof for me tonight.” Jon tilted his head a little “Why?”

“Did that idiot tell you why I’d be waiting in the roof?” Damian was fuming. He wished he had simply asked Jon himself.

“No? I assumed it was hero stuff.” He looked past him. There was a picnic basket and a checkered red tablecloth set on the ground “Oh.” He blushed.

“Yeah. Oh.” Damian said, huffing “Stupid clone. You should leave. I won’t force you to...”

“No! No, it’s a good kind of ‘oh’.” Jon extended his hands, stopping Damian “I... Liked it. I just wish I had a better outfit on.”

“Well,” Damian shifted his weight from one leg to the other “In that case, maybe we should sit.”

“Yeah. Sure.” Jon swallowed, unsure on how to act. Damian pulled out the food Alfred had prepared for them.

“I, uhm, I asked Alfred to make these.” He placed two sandwiches in front of them “They’re chickpeas ‘tuna’ sandwiches. If you don’t like them, I’m certain Alfred would be happy to make you something else.”

“I’ve never had those before,” Jon said, examining it “They seem good.”

“They are.” Damian watched as Jon bit into his sandwich, hopeful.

“Hum.” He exclaimed, mouth full “I like it.” Damian let out a breath. He pulled out two glass bottles.

“Orange juice?”

“Yes, please.” Jon took one from his hands.

They ate quietly. Damian noticed how Jon’s blue eyes looked beautiful under the moonlight, how his hair framed his face perfectly when it was ruffled up by the wind, how his smile still knocked the breath out of his lungs, no matter how many times he’s seen it before. Jon stared at the stars.

“This is so nice.” He said “It’s been so long since I last saw them this bright. The lights in metropolis get in the way.” Damian looked up “I thought they’d get in the way here too, but I guess that the manor is far enough from the city that it doesn’t.” He sighed “It makes me miss Hamilton.”

Damnit. Damian planned this so carefully. How could he have missed something so obvious? Now Jon was sad, and it was his fault. He should’ve just taken him for stupid ice cream.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.” He said, head low.

“Upset me?” Jon asked “You didn’t upset me. This is perfect, D.”

“But you just said...?”

“That it makes me miss Hamilton? That’s not a bad thing.” Jon smiled, biting his sandwich again “It means that you gave me back something I thought I had lost for good after I moved.” He inched a hand closer to Damian’s. He retributed the movement, fingers touching slightly. None of them wanted to pull away.

Once they were done eating, Damian reached into the basket again, pulling out...

“Cookies!” Jon excitedly pointed out. Damian smirked.

“I knew you’d like them.” Jon fished one out of the bag.

“Oh, they’re still warm!” He nearly moaned as he bit into one of them “These are so good.”

“I’ll let Alfred know you appreciated them.” Damian watched his satisfied munching.

“Mmm, please do!” He licked his lips, getting the crumbs away from them and into his mouth. Damian swallowed.

Jon ate the cookies at record speed, and now they were both laying on the roof in silence, looking up at the sky. It was a warm night and the full moon was as bright as it could be, lighting up the distant Gotham streets.

“Now what?” Jon nearly whispered.

“You have your suit. I could put on my suit and we could patrol in Gotham tonight.” Damian said, eyes fixed on the sky “Or we could stay here.”

“I like the second option better.” He answered, pushing himself up. He floated over Damian, blue eyes piercing through his soul. Damian reached up, setting a hand behind Jon’s neck, playing with the hair growing there, slowly bringing him down into a kiss. They closed their eyes for a second, lips pressed together until Damian pulled away.

“Was it... Good?” He whispered.

“Yeah.” Jon answered “Can I land on top of you?” Damian nodded. Jon laid down again, tangling their legs together, supporting his head on the other’s chest “This feels like a dream.” His voice was almost inaudible.

“Tell me about it.” Damian’s hand moved to comb through his hair gently, voice nothing but a whisper. Jon made an approving hum and he smiled.

“I’ve wanted this for so long.”

“Me too.”

“I guess we’re both idiots then, huh?” Jon looked up at him “Waisting our time bickering when we could’ve just... Said it.”

Damian swallowed.

“This is the only time you’re ever allowed to call me an idiot.” He wanted to scowl, but he grinned instead. Jon chuckled.

“Okay. Please don’t stop playing with my hair.”

“I won’t.”

[iphoenixrising]

hey we haven’t heard anything from you in a while. everything good? How’s life treating you? All my love for one of my favorite batfam writers!💗💗💗

Hi babe.

Ah sorry, I’ve been super busy at work and with kiddo :( I mean, I’m still writing when I can, but it’s just time and motivation. My project has really taken off (reads as: expanded) and most nights I’m chipping away at the massive amount of documentation for not only a Java-based framework, but an entire Platform *sob* So, it’s just such a huge amount of old articles and brainstorming sessions and meeting minutes and just ugh. I mean, it’s kind of interesting to try tracking all these things down and figuring out how they’re going to work together since the developers (from 12 to 50-ish, my God and now they want me to read markdown and do pull requests for comments and shit because this is my fucking life) are still working on the platform services, the development environment, and all these fucking tools I’ve never heard of (Kubernetes, wtf is this thing??) so I’m learning a foreign language almost tbh.

Did I mention *sigh*?

ANYWAY, also some of the things I’m working on that are like Batfam are a little more...I dunno, just things that a bit harder for me I guess, but even if I write just a sentence or two, I still count it as a win.

But like...I said something about a Sentinel / Guide Au, and even though I’m at what would be a good stopping point, I’m not very happy with it :/ So, if you’d like to see kind of what I’ve been doing, I’m going to throw down what I’ve got below the cut. 

Warnings: 

DickTim, Angst

Sentinel/Guide Au

**

After he brings B back from time, send the Dark Knight back to Gotham, he gives in to things long overdue, and trains with Shiva–

–to be an effective Guide.

Years of suppressants made it literally hell without them, trying to keep his shields up, trying to push out the telepathic traffic suffocating him the second he opens up just a crack.

Shiva, of course, had been her cheerfully murderous self, plying him with the full onslaught of a powerful Sentinel.

"You will be drawn to us from now on, Little Bird. You will want to protect us, bring us back from the abyss. If you choose to allow your powers as a Guide rein free, then you must learn to fight against the urges."

The fucked-up part is–

–she's right.

If he wants to stay in the life, wear the cape and cowl under the new name, go back to the Titans (since they've been looking for him again, fly-bys and searches for his tech), then he needs to learn how to deal with what he can do and how to deal with the instincts that come along for the ride.

It's not enough that Shiva is in the middle of hunting down a few former students ("They have made...the wrong choices." 

"That's rich coming from you, you know."

"We all have a code, Little Bird, and I am no different.")

but they managed to run into a few other Sentinels along the way.

He'd like to say he'd taken his ass beating like a pro at this juncture in the vigilante game, but the reality is, they'd had to take shelter in a shitty lean-to, so he could be tragically, metaphysically hung-over.

He gives up the cowl and suit, utility belt and sundries. He goes as a wrecked teenage American boy, changing it up from the last time he trekked behind Lady Shiva and took on her adversaries. He tries not to think about Dick or Jason, Dami or Alfred, tries not to think about the confused look on B's face in his safe house, drying his hair after a long shower, trying to readjust to the current timeline.

("You aren't going back to Gotham?"

"I still have things to do."

"...there's something you aren't telling me."

"There's a lot I'm not telling you."

"Come to me when you're ready, Tim. No matter what, you're always going to be one of my Robins.")

Instead, he learns how to keep himself, and the Sentinels around him, safe and sane while trying to stay two steps ahead of the next fight, the next clue, the next "training."

In Shanghai a few months later, he knows it's time to move on when people part ways for the brightly clad superheroes coming en-masse down the packed street for him.

Well, moving on it is.

Going back to the Tower, away from the Bats and Gotham and the Rogue Gallery (thinking about facing the Joker this raw and open is fucking terrifying), was the best he was going to get considering the circumstances.

Those circumstances being the pointed twitch over Kon's eye and Bart's very intense gaze.

"You were supposed to call, asshole. The OG Batman has been back in Gotham for like months and you've just been, you know, chilling with Lady Shiva?"

Tim, who is so out of bullshit at this juncture, feels better after a hot shower and some old sweats with a Superboy t-shirt, throws up his fucking hands.

"All right, fine. I never told anyone. I...I've been on suppressants since I was a kid, just like my mom. Guides..."

"It's not that bad anymore!" Cassie tries helplessly, the first to actually reach across the table for his hand.

The instant connection makes them both gasp. It’s a shallow one, just a dip under her natural shield (he knows it’s Cissy, the Guide that’s been helping her until now, bringing her back whenever she hits a Zone, recognizes the touch of their Arrowette), just a skim over her immediate emotions  this thing now untried and how utterly calm he makes her just by hands lightly placed. 

"O-ooh," is soft while his fingers tighten, his eyes sharpen, his shields constructing around her, his instinct to protect.

"Not necessary," Gar chimes in, still leaning against the door between the kitchen and communal entertainment room, "we're all good in the Tower, T."

Is what shakes him out of it, hastily pulling away from Cassie's hand.

"Wow." Wonder Girl breathes out, eyes soft and half-mast, looking at him dreamily.

"Nope." Because he can already feel the headache coming on, how her hand tries to grab back at his.

“We could fight better together, Tim!”

“Do you even know how strong a Guide has to be to take care of four Sentinels?”

In one terribly creepy singular move, Bart, Kon, Gar, and Cassie give him that look.

You know, aimed at his face.

"No one," Bart cuts in, eyes wide at the exchange, of Tim's aura warm and inviting suddenly stronger, reaching out... "Tim, T. No one has to know."

The flash of fear, a residual from the tunic, makes him hedge back a subtle step back.

Kon pointedly grips him by the bicep, over his shirt while Bart moves enough that his shoulder bumps into Tim’s ribs, halting the possible escape attempt.

“Okay, okay, backing off. New powers are about a bitch, not like we all haven’t been there once or twice.” Kon soothes over, taking small steps and tugging until Tim is moving with him closer to the communal kitchen where his seat is empty at the island, and they can possibly get proof the guy actually eats.

“Amen,” Cassie throws up a hand and is already digging through the fridge until she finds–

–the last grape Zesti.

Tim’s eyes narrow dangerously on that singular can, his body moving before his brain can take over because he’s sliding on his old chair, the can cold against his fingers, too thirsty for caffeine that he can’t even.

Sure, it’s a trap, but with these guys, at least he knows it.

“I’m very not ready to do anything remotely Guide-like in the field,” the soft ca-saaaa as the can opens. “You want me to sleuth, fight, and strategize, then I’m all for it.”

Bart is just suddenly in Kon’s usual seat beside him, spinning around in tight, fast circles, “you mean you’re thinking about coming back? To the life?” 

“Dude, that would be stellar.”

Tim side-eyes his besties, “it was never in the plan to-to stop.”

“Can’t blame us for assuming, you know,” Gar grins toothily, “no Red Robin for a while, my dude.”

Tim goes quiet, staring down at the can between his hands, shoulders hunched over.

“At least,” Raven’s voice is smooth and soft, comforting, “tell us why now, Tim?”

“Why now?”

“Why begin training as a Guide now?” She clarifies, sliding into the seat across from her, and the coolness of her aura, not a Sentinel, but something purely Raven puts his frayed nerves at ease, makes it easier for him to find the words.

“I turned 18,” and he can’t look at them while he admits to it, “and...and I figured out who my Sentinel is after Ra’s kicked me out the window.” (I was fine going out that way. It was fine. I was saving Wayne Enterprises from the League of Assassins, I was fighting the good fight. It shouldn’t have happened that way...why did it have to happen that way?)

“Oh,” and Cassie’s eyes get huge.

“Ra’s al Ghul is your Sentinel?!” Bart fairly screams.

“No dude,” Tim rolls his eyes and finds his can suddenly fascinating. “It’s...Dick. He’s...yeah. It’s him.”

“I didn’t hear that,” Kon hurries, standing shock-still, “I didn’t hear any of that.”

“Not him,” Bart is gritting his teeth because dammit, why couldn’t Tim have been his Guide? The universe was totally, wholly unfair.

A muscle in Tim’s jaw flexes, his nose pinkening along his upper cheekbones. He blinks watery eyes, takes a deep, deep breath to try and keep himself under control. 

“Yeah,” and Tim sighs a little, the ache in his chest more acutely painful when he thinks about that moment waking up in the Cave, Dick in the Batsuit without the cape/cowl combo smiling down at him, still painfully unaware of the connection drawn tight between them.

(He doesn’t need me. He’s got Babs and Dami. His Guide and his Robin.)

Getting the absolute fuck out of the Manor had been his first order of business once he’d come to, just sprouting whatever placating bullshit Dick needed to hear to let him go without much of a fight (this time).

Finding Bruce and staying the hell out of Gotham hadn’t helped the pull he inexplicably felt, or the pressure of minds around him that had sent him to Shiva in the first damn place. His Guide abilities were overcoming the suppressants, so he was out of time...and out of options. 

Still, even with the training, he occasionally has the dreams at night. Not the usual array of awful nightmares from his real life, Jason shooting him in the chest at point-blank to make sure the job gets done this time, Bruce dying right before his eyes, turning into that skeleton husk Superman brought to them thinking it was the real thing, Damian sneering at him with the katana held high, spitting out how it’s time the real Robin took his rightful place just before bringing the blade down–

No, no, it’s even worse than those.

It’s shadowy hands touching him, the warm wet of a mouth over his skin and scars, gentle voice in his ear telling him how beautiful he is, how much he’s needed, wanted, how it’s not just because of what he is or what tunic he used to wear, it’s all because he’s Tim. He doesn’t wake up when his dream self realizes it’s Dick over him, those blue eyes taking him in, pinning his wrists down to look over every inch of his naked body. He doesn’t wake up when Dick starts preparing him. He doesn’t wake up when Dick kisses him hard and desperate. He doesn’t wake up when the tears dry on his face and their bodies line up.

“Mine,” his dream Sentinel doesn’t even hesitate, “Don’t ever run from me again. Do you understand me, Tim?”

Just before Dick pushes, he wakes up, panting and hard, his instincts going crazy enough that he has to meditate to calm down.

Cassie gently wraps her hand around his shoulder, making sure they don’t have skin-to-skin contact this time. “I’m sorry,” she smiles gently at his frown, “I know you and Dick have had some...issues in the past few years.” But he can read the guilt in her face. Back when everyone thought Bruce was dead and his cape had been yanked out from under him, Dick had sent Cassie to try talking some “sense” into him. She still feels awful for jumping on the same train everyone else had been riding, the ‘that guy is suffering from depression’ instead of believing he might actually be right. 

(It still stings though, doesn’t it?)

He doesn’t say anything back, just looks out one of the big windows and pulls out of her hold to take a drink of his Zesti.

“But,” Gar quickly jumps in, “you’ll stay in the Tower and fight on the team again, right? Like, no more trips with World’s Deadliest Assassins?”

Tim visibly hesitates, pausing with the can up to his mouth. 

Slowly, he lowers it, his eyes taking on a cold calculation that is and isn’t like their old Rob. “Like I said, I can’t be a Guide for anyone, and I mean that. Second, I told you the truth in confidence, so I expect everyone to keep my secret. Third, I’m not anywhere near ready to go to Gotham or face the Bats, so for now, I’m fighting under the radar. If those aren’t acceptable stipulations, I’ll grab some of my clothes from storage and be out of your Tower.”

“Storage?” Kon glances around at the team, “Tim, buddy, why do you think we’d have your stuff in storage?”

“I assumed Dick would already approach you about making Damian part of the team,” his tone is absolutely empty, emotionless. “And there’s no way both of us could be here at the same time, so...” he lets them put it together from there.

The look of utter devastation on Kon’s face makes him feel slightly better.

**

Coming back when Cassie, Bart, and Kon have his back, just like they were closer to the end of their YJ run, makes the transition easier than it realistically should have been.

And it really might just be how low the dose of suppressants are now, or that he feels comfortable stepping into Robin’s role on the team, just with a different name, a different mask. It might just be how Bart has a tendency to hover with that hummingbird energy coming off him even when he’s seemingly standing still, maybe it’s Kon’s TTK pressing at his back even if the guy is across the room, maybe it’s how he and Cassie have leadership meetings where they just binge watch reruns of Gossip Girl and eat ice cream to bemoan their woes. 

But maybe, it’s how he can feel them pulling at his shields unconsciously. Maybe it’s how he can sometimes push back enough, can skim just the edges to get impressions of angry, sad, depressed and gently erect a mental shield without delving deep without permission, can give them the space they need from their intense senses and powers. 

Just another way he can be the regular guy on the team, working under the radar. So much a part of his role in the first damn place. 

He doesn’t realize it becomes something normal until they take the good fight a little too close to Gotham for his liking, but the choices were few and Luthor is such an incredible ass hat that Tim actually plays it down, dresses up as CEO Tim Drake to divert their baddie while the team takes apart his latest weapon of mass destruction on the down-low.

What he absolutely doesn’t expect is to leave the lobby of one of the most posh restaurants in Metropolis–

And walk face-first into Dick Gryson’s chest.

(Technically, it’s Nightwing, but really, this doesn’t make the sitch any better.)

A hand, black with blue fingerstripes, covers his mouth, and the sound of a grapple retracting is a pending oh no that he doesn’t fight the vigilante pretty much kidnapping him off the street in broad daylight. 

He can only thank God it isn’t skin-to-skin contact because his inner senses are flaring this close to the Sentinel, his Sentinel, that he has to grind his back teeth to keep himself in check. He pulls away the second they land it on solid rooftop, shoving his sleeve back to check the team’s status on his hidden wrist computer. 

Mission success! 

“Imagine my surprise,” Nightwing growls, hand on his shoulder to spin him around, “when I find you having lunch with someone like Lex Luthor instead of taking my damn calls, Timmy.”

Stepping out of that hold is subtle because Tim is looking over the side of the roof, adjusting his tie to try putting some distance between them. “I’m undercover. Those are the things people like us do when we’re running an Op, Nightwing.”

Those whiteouts narrow on him, a trick only Dick can really pull off effectively. “None of that tells me where the hell you’ve been for the last year since you left to find Bruce, found him, and didn’t come back.”

His back straightens, eyes looking away when the irritation and heat of anger hits him harder without the nice little cocktail of suppressants and stabilizers, makes his own shields tremble at the burning sear along the edges of his consciousness. 

Instead of saying something he might come to regret, Tim sucks in a breath through his nose and works through the bolt of pain, gathers his shields around himself to keep the Sentinel from unerringly lashing out at him again.

“What the hell are you even doing here? Recon on Luthor? For which nefarious plot?”

A black and blue hand slashes the space between them, “not even important, Tim. So, how about you call your team and tell them you’ve got some Bat business because we? Need to talk.”

“I’m sorry, what now?”

“You heard me. I’ve been trying to get in contact with you for weeks.”

“I sent back your case files, asshole–”

“Not about cape and cowl shit, Tim!”

“I don’t even know what you’re talking about right now,” even though he does, he really does. He just doesn’t know why it has to happen now.

Nightwing, however, has had enough of the talk and with a whip of his arm has a bolo out and thrown, his natural speed as a Sentinel might be slower than someone like the Flash, but it still has Tim wrapped up tight faster than he can realistically dodge.

The sight of the vigilante Nightwing swinging through Metropolis with the CEO of Wayne Enterprises over one shoulder would be big news in the city if anyone had been bothered to really look up.

**

The hotel is nice Tim thinks while wiggling around on the bed where Dick pretty much dumped him. His fingers are already getting the bolo loose from around his upper body by the time Dick has the mask off and the Nightwing suit unzipped to flop around his waist.

The Gotham Knights t-shirt underneath is a new one since the old faded one got blown up in that little explosion in the ‘Haven a few years back.

Dick lifts and sets a chair down with a pointed clack, sitting down to watch Tim squirm his way up. He’s got the bolo loose enough to brace his palms.

“What part of I’m in the middle of an OP–”

“Don’t care,” Dick cuts him off ruthlessly, those blue eyes hard and jaw tense. “I honestly don’t give a crap about the Titans right now.”

“Well I sure as hell do thank-you very much,” Tim pulls the bolo off, tosses it across the room with an angry flick, facing his former mentor, former partner, former friend with those old feelings creeping up his throat to make the taste in his mouth coppery and bitter.

“The only thing I care about right now is that I finally caught up to you. The last time I even saw you was that swan dive–”

“I’m aware. Being kicked out of a window is pretty memorable, even for people like us,” he keeps it deadpan, keeps the anger and irritation, the feelings of shit like betrayal and it must have been so easy to throw me the fuck away.

“The point is, smart ass, you left the Cave and haven’t been back. You only answer my emails about cases and bad guys. But when I ask you to come back home, which I have, Tim, I don’t even know how many times, and I get nothing! We need you–”

“Why would I come back to Gotham for you?” Is what spills out of his mouth, something bitter and foul. “You’ve already got a fucking Robin to be your little brother, remember?”

Welp, there goes playing it cool.

But watching Dick jerk back like Tim had landed a physical blow was more satisfying than he wanted to admit.  

“Are you kidding me right now? You’re still angry about that? I’ve explained to you exactly why–”

The irritation in Dick’s tone, obvious disgust when he leans back and crosses his arms over his chest is just about enough.

“You explained it just fine. You made your choice, so everyone just has to deal with it, right? Yeah, that’s really being my equal.” 

Tim makes himself stay deadly calm and cold, moves his legs away from Dick’s to stand and take a few steps away from the seething Sentinel to adjust his tie and try to get his hands to quit trembling. 

“I can’t believe you’re acting this childish, Tim. I’m really disappointed with you right now.”

“Glad we’re on the same page, Dick, disappointed in each other,” but it strikes him anyway in the small, sad place where he held on to the hope they could still work everything out somehow and at least go back to being friends. A small part that’s been slowly dying in degrees, and that last hit is enough to make it so absurdly painful.

(All those years in the R, fighting the good fight, being brothers, having each other’s backs, and it all ends here, doesn’t it?)

“What? I did everything I could do for you! I–”

“If that’s what you want to believe, then that’s fine. I don’t have any reasons to argue with you,” staring at his own reflection in the mirror, seeing the red start to creep over his cheeks, his eyes get overly shiny, Tim Drake straightens his spine and flexes his own shields. 

He keeps himself together enough to turn on a heel and walk calmly to the door.

“Tim, just...okay, just wait. Let’s talk this out–”

He doesn’t even turn, hand already on the knob, just pulls open the door and takes a hasty step through. It’s only the first step, but Dick is still just suddenly there, trying to snatch at Tim’s wrist with a bare hand, managing the brush of fingertips over a pulse.

“Don’t leave like this,” Is the last thing Dick says before the electric shock slides up his spine, the pull to all his senses almost has him on his knees.

The touch has Tim lurching away, jerking his wrist up to cradle against his chest, the red burn of Dick’s emotions beating at his shields harder with just a simple graze.

It ends with Dick still in the doorway, braced against the frame, gaping, and Tim leaning heavily into the wall across the hall, a wince on his face.

Stupid metaphysical connections and shit.

The touch hadn’t been enough to, you know, like bond them or anything, but it’s widely believed True Pairs didn’t even have to touch to get impressions from one another.

“You asshole,” he seethes at that shocked expression. 

“You feel like I betrayed you,” is low and thick, Dick’s eyes a little dazed with what he picked up through the momentary connection, “it hurt you so much when I made Dami my Robin because I didn’t even talk to you, I didn’t trust you. You think I just threw you out of my life. How could I ever do that to you...?”

If Tim was a better Guide, on a higher dose of suppressants, he would have been able to keep himself closed off enough that if they did manage to touch, he could have kept Dick out of his shields, wouldn’t have given him the ability to skim over shitty emotions.

If Tim was a better Guide, he wouldn’t have the urgent need to run.

But welp, here they are.

As the thought takes shape in his brain pan, that he’s in his civilian day-ware and can run down the hall while Dick –still half in Nightwing– is trapped in the doorway, his knees firm and his eyes dart wildly to the side, giving himself away.

And since Dick was Batman, is Nightwing, is a Sentinel, he sees the writing on the wall and absolutely refuses to let it happen. Dick shoves with his arms, darts out into the hallway, makes his suddenly weak knees work enough to shake up Tim’s plan, seizes the apparent Guide, his Guide, in a princess hold and get back before the door even starts to close.

“Put me–!”

But Dick folds his legs to sit with his back against the door, and wraps both arms around the struggling third Robin. He can hold onto Tim better than a bolo anyway. 

The push at Tim’s shields is a pressure he isn’t used to dealing with, and it’s painful to fight against it rather than just let the tentative connection open. His hands curl into fists in his lap, trying to strain against the arms pinning him while concentrating on strengthening his shields. 

He doesn’t realize he’s whispering, “no, no, no,” under his breath. 

“Please,” Dick lays his forehead down on top of Timmy’s head, “please don’t go. Not now. I’m finally...Tim, I get it now. I swear, I get it.”

“...doesn’t matter. Too late.”

“That isn’t fair,” the smallest shift and Dick is breathing against his throat, making him shiver, “I just found out you’re...a Guide. My Guide. We haven’t even started yet. It can’t be too late if we haven’t had a beginning.” It gets worse when Dick breathes in his scent deeply, a noise coming out of his chest.

“We have had a beginning,” he bites out, fists tight, concentrating on keeping his shields strong but flexible, “we’ve had years–”

“And I’m not ready to throw all of that away.”

The pressure against his mental shields finally eases up as Dick raises his head, gives him a little shake to make him look up. 

“You already did, remember?”

“I didn’t... I never threw you away. That’s not what I meant or wanted. Yes, I should have handled things better. I know that now, and I’m sorry I hurt you. I was sorry before, I just didn’t know how to tell you, how to make it better between us.”

Tim’s eyes narrow, and he doesn’t let up in case this is one of those diversionary tactics to put him in a false sense of security. 

(They fight bad guys. Sometimes, they have to cheat, and he wouldn’t put it past Dick to do just that.)

“I don’t know what you think is going to happen here,” he finally tries, staring up into those blue, blue eyes (I trusted you once, and fuck if I’m going to let you do this to me again). “But whatever it is, you’re wrong. I’m not going to come back to Gotham and be your Guide. I’m not going to bond with you because the universe says I’m meant to be some kind of magical counterbalance.”

Dick’s expression crumples, his arms go a little slack. 

“Tim, we’re...we’re a True–”

“I don’t give a fuck about True Pairs, Dick, not anymore. Babs has been your Guide since you both presented. She wants the job, she can damn well have it.”

It’s not a fight to push against Dick’s arms the second time and stand up out of his lap.

“You’ve loved me since the moment you put on the cape, Tim. I know you have.” When what he means is I know now.

“I loved you before that, you asshole, and you betrayed me. You don’t get that chance again.”

Turning away shouldn’t be this easy now that Dick knows the truth, but it is, and the very last parts of him still hoping, still craving, are just as easily–

–wiped out.

Dick’s eyes are watery when the door hisses and creaks upon opening, and it’s an automatic thing, reaching a hand up just expecting Tim to take it.

“Tim. Timmy, please.”

“Good-bye, Dick,” is already fading with rapidly retreating footsteps. At least he can keep some of his dignity because Dick will never know he falls the fuck apart as the elevator goes down.

**

Author’s notes:Here’s why I don’t like this: 1. I want to talk more about why Tim chose Shiva as the Sentinel to teach him how to be a good Guide. Like, I want to explore that dynamic more because I’ve never really had the time or space to write Shiva as we see her in Tim’s Robin run.2. I wanted to go more into the expanded senses of Sentinels and how to - hell, I dunno, make it seem to be a little closer to cannon maybe? Like point out some of Dick’s greatest escapes and be like part of that is due to his Sentinel power. 3. Dick says some shitty things, and I don’t give him any context. Like, at that point, he legit believes he did the right thing at the time, and look! Tim’s Red Robin so everyone wins! But yeah, once he got under those shields, the truth shakes him up. 4. I dunno, this au might not be for me. It doesn’t feel very different from some of my other angsty things I guess but meh. Who knows, I might fix it someday :D 

[kaplanwrites]

02.6 Michael

Part5.Kon’s POV.

So maybe I put a little bit from Kon’s POV

maybe ‘Michael’ should be Kon’s POV actually

and post this whole part with Meyers’ Together, because let’s face it, Kon would be kinda sad during this one, maybe a little bit angry

maybe a lot

and yeah Mauling’s Terror tots would be his pov

Or probably I should make this theme song as Cleopatrick's depths? Instead of Tim's

***

Kon watched Tim, trying to figure out what changed, squinting his eyes and tilting head as if it would make the picture clearer. It wasn’t that Tim was more nervous about his work or more unforgiving in his _real_ work, he wasn’t impatient with EJ (more impatient than usual, at least) - if anything, he seemed kinda relaxed these last couple of months.

That was good, wasn’t it?

Except - at it was bugging him - he couldn’t understand what made Tim relaxed, there were no changes: they hadn’t begun to hang out, Tim still expertly managed to  turn off kid’s attempts to do something together, all three of them, still tried to balance between work at Wayne tech, favors for bats, oh so important PTA meetings, and to insert in this cocktail as much bonding with kid as possible.

Kon gets it, really, he himself had Titans and that huge-ass canvas that needed to be grounded, and a portrait order that hangs for at least two weeks now and going to deadline any minute now, and he had to get kid to park because little devil will never sleep if he won’t burn down at least tiny part of energy from him. And really, he never could comprehend Tim’s astonishing ability to bring the Kryptonian kid in two hours flat to the state in which he refused to move a muscle.

So he diverted his attention from the obvious to details, and yep, here it was, subtle stuff bats were so fond of: Tim returned cleanly shaved from work, or disappeared from office for hours (that he discovered kinda accidentally, when panicking assistant called Kon in search for Mr. Wayne who supposed to hold presentation in 40 minutes, but still didn't came back from lunch), or popped up at night only in time to patrol, smelling funny under the armor, like it was different person with different shampoo and different cologne under the very same-smelling cape.

And then, one day, about a half a year later, he left EJ with Dick, who was visiting for some huge exhibition to represent WE at it and went for patrol earlier than usually. A couple of circles around the city and one reluctant scolding of a group of street artists, he decided that day probably would be slow here and almost turned his metaphorical steps to ‘Slum, when he spotted a very familiar car, turning out from underground WayneTech parking. Figuring, that Tim probably would be home first, he dialed his number and waited. When the call was redirected to voicemail, he scanned the office underneath him for phone, wondering if Tim has forgotten it there. Redialing again, he averted eyes to Tim’s car in time to see how the phone was set on mute and dropped to back seat, and wow, that was. New? What if it wasn’t?

Peaked curiosity mixed with a bit of anxiety - was it some kind of undercover mission? - he followed the car until it disappeared in different parking - now Hotel’s.

Kon’s eyes followed Tim as he made his climb in elevator cabin to one of the upper floors, then to further end of the hall to knock on the door, which was promptly opened by a young dark-haired man. Kon took in this new guy’s look - wide shoulders, really tall, a would-be jock, if not for heavy-rimmed glasses - contemplating if he could be one of Met criminals, while Tim promptly went inside the room - fancy and modern-looking; king-sized bed, little guest area with sofa and a couple of chairs, desk in corner. Tim made his way to the desk chair and began to undress, jacket first, then tie, when he began undoing the cufflinks, the guy edging towards him with a positively sinister grin, brought hands to Tim’s throat. Kon’s TTK thrummed anticipating a fight, ready to interfere if needed, but the thing that happened next turned him flabbergasted: Tim leaned into un-jock’s arms, relaxed against his chest. Offending hands slid down Tim’s front and started to undo his slacks, while Tim worked on the button-down.

Kon watched, knocked on the head by the simple fact, that those very slacks he picked up on Friday from dry cleaning. The goddamn slacks that were abandoned for three weeks there along with Kon’s only good costume because neither of them managed to find enough time to finally pick ‘em… And now some random dude was groping his kid’s dad through those very slacks.

Is that how wronged wives feel? Kon barked a laugh, not noticing that his superhearing zeroed on the two men’s voices until Tim’s long guttural moan kicked him from stupor to discover sharp burning behind his eyes. He shut his eyes, feeling betrayed, and so angry, and started upwards, but even almost instant boom of the sound barrier around him didn’t vanish Tim’s voice from his ears.

***

...and then Kon loses it and is fucking molesting Tim, like ‘you like them dark tall and beefy, why the fuck would you look for it away from home’, and actually forcing himself to stop, but it turns out that Tim doesn’t mind really  (after discovered super boner) so if Kon’s going to deliver, he won’t stray

because they’re functional adults like that

***

And after that Kon rationalizes his anger with “you having side-dude would be bad for the kid”, and Tim laughs at his face and also at his hypocrisy.

And then they angry-fucks some more.

***

[demiwonder-a]

you were high in the atmosphere: i disappear below. // koncassie

WHO: Cassie Sandsmark & Conner Kent. @kxnel​. With plenty of mentions of Erik Lehnsherr. 

WORD COUNT: 2580 words. (A short one, I’m proud of us!)

LOCATION: Wayne Manor.

GENERAL NOTES: At the Thanksgiving dinner hosted by the Waynes Kon’s lying finally comes to a head and Cassie is unsure how to proceed after finding out what exactly he was lying about. 

WARNINGS: Gaslighting, unhealthy/toxic relationship behavior. 

CASSIE: It had been building and building for awhile now. This gut feeling that was consistently twisting inside of Cassie as she watched Kon not make full eye contact with her. He was disappearing to hang out with Tim apparently, but she hated the fact that she didn't believe him. She never wanted to feel like this, especially when it came to Kon. He was her best friend before being her boyfriend and the fact she felt like he was lying to her was a gut punch. Especially when it made her mind wander and wander to what he could possibly be hiding. 

Thanksgiving was spent without him by her side and she tried to bite her tongue, but she felt embarrassed. Like she was somehow left out of the loop and in turn, looking like an idiot. (Not that she had any proof for it whatsoever, but her insecurity getting the best of her.) All of that came to a boiling point once she was headed out to her car to go home and that's when he finally showed up.

"Nice of you to make it." Cassie bit out before she could really stop herself. Her temper always burned bright and fast. "So how was your holiday with whoever the fuck you were spending it with? Or are you just going to lie to me again?"

KON: Thanksgiving had been... nice. More than nice, if he was being honest with himself. Erik had greeted him with a smile, one that grew during dinner as Kon shot off into a passionate ramble that would have been embarrassingly open at game night, disregarded at his own apartment, shunned at work and ended in an economics lecture at the manor. For once Kon felt like more than just a string arm for people who thought they were smarter than him or more capable of seeing the world how it truly was. Kon was past that now, past thinking that anyone was anything less than biased, that reality was anything less than a sea of grays. 

Erik understood that, had sent him off with a pat on the back and an obviously well loved book whose dog eared corners piqued his curiosity even more than the twinkle Kon swore he caught in Erik's eyes. 

He flew to the manor in a high, happy and content, even if he hadn't gotten any real answers about Cassie's condition from Erik. He was researching, and Kon understood that research could take time. He was just glad the man had agreed to help at all. 

He didn't have to do that. But he was, for Kon. A favor for a friend. 

He made his way through the manor after picking Alfred up in a bear hug, ready to put aside his nagging feelings of disappointment at its inhabitants and just enjoy being with family. His family.

"What?" He sputtered, his face contorting into a confused grimace as he pulled back from his attempt at a kiss, his words a jumble of a choked laugh and a rushed whisper, "When have I ever lied to you?" 

He shook his head, the arm slung over the back of Cassie's chair dropping back to hang limply at his side. "Why are you so mad at me? Did Tim tell you something?"

CASSIE: Cassie pulled back from the attempt at a kiss with her face screwed up into an angry look. "Are you serious? Are you asking me if Tim told me anything? Do you realize how guilty that makes you look? Does he have something to tell me, Conner?" Her voice raised in volume despite herself, having shoved all these feelings down violently in favor of ignoring everything. She was torn between this gut feeling and dark cloud that plagued her to try to give him the benefit of the doubt of the situation. It's what he deserved after all, but she snapped without thinking, letting her anger win out. She was angry about a lot of things, but most of all scared what was happening to her. 

Cassie felt like her life was spiraling out of control in front of her and there was nothing that she could do to stop it.

Even underneath the eyes of the people at Wayne Manor Cassie let the words spill out of her at a quick pace. 

"You keep disappearing and you keep telling me you're out with Tim or you're doing all this other stuff, I just..." Cassie bit her tongue hard enough she tasted blood. She got up, belatedly realizing the eyes that were on them. "Let's go outside. And talk."

KON: Kon fought a roll of his eyes, his jaw tightening enough that his teeth ground together with a sick, brittle clatter. His eyes narrowed as he glanced at Tim, who's concerned expression only served to stoke the fire in the pit of his stomach. He didn't want to do this here, didn't want to do this ever but with the way Cassie's voice was rising, he didn't think he had much of a choice.

For a moment he wanted nothing more than to turn around and fly back out the door, maybe make his way back to Genosha. Have a glass of wine with Erik.

But he slumped further in his seat instead, his breath coming in a harsh huff. "Well you're freaking the fuck out on me for no reason." he seethed, "so I figured someone had to have at least given you a reason to start attacking me as soon as I walk through the door."

She would never do this to Bart or Tim. Anything they said was taken as fact, sacrosanct truth but for him? Well he was untrustworthy, open to scrutiny much harsher than what was warranted. He was always a threat, a problem.

"Oh yeah, of course. I have a life outside of just being pointed in the direction of the biggest threat and being told to punch and so I must be fucking up right? I have to be doing something wrong because I can't do anything right?"

He let out a sour, breathless, bark of a laugh, his head shaking as he pushed away from the table, the arms of his chair crumbling in his hands before he wiped them over his eyes.

"Yeah, be a good little puppy and come, Kon. Right? Fuck that. I'm a fucking adult, Cassie. If you want to talk, ask."

CASSIE: "It's not for no reason!" Cassie snapped. The absent mention from Kitty about Kon joining the dinner at Genosha had been ringing in her head. Why didn't he tell her? Did he feel compelled to not tell her? The reminder of the text conversation they had what felt like ages ago with Clark, Kara, and Jon and it coming up that Kon had been talking to him hit her like a swift kick to the gut. Maybe he wasn't unfounded in the wariness of her reaction. 

She knew he wasn't. Especially when her temper that had faltered was stoked once more, flaring up like an angry forest fire. "Don't put words in my mouth. I never once said or thought that of you." There was a blossom of hurt that stabbed right into her chest, twisting one, two, three times. Did she really make him feel like that? 

Was Kon that miserable with her? What did that say about her?

The words were lodged in Cassie's throat and she let out a harsh breath, looking up at the arching ceilings of Wayne Manor to try to will back the tears that were starting to sting at her eyes. 

"Conner, can we please go talk outside?" Cassie asked quietly, rubbing at her eyes tiredly and avoiding looking at him now. The room was all too quiet now without Cassie's yelling and the members of the Wayne family not speaking amidst the argument.

KON: Sometimes he felt like Cassie could see right through him and while most of the time it felt like being seen, like being known, right now it felt suffocating and even looking at her felt heavy in the center of his chest. Her eyes were piercing now, steel against steel as they met his. This had always been their problem, even before they got together. He was dry and brittle tinder and she was a match. 

He could almost taste the phosphorus in the air. 

His teeth clacked together inelegantly as he leaned against a pillar in the manor's expansive garden. He used to love coming here with Tim... before. Everything felt so long ago now that it was hard to believe he had walked the same paths for the flowers' first bloom of the season no more than eight months earlier. But he guessed that it was the way of both him and the roses to wither in the cold. 

Truths and untruths, white lies that darkened with each repetition. He should have known that they would catch up to him. He had known that they would catch up to him, had choked on his confessions night after night for weeks now but talking to Cassie lately had been a lesson in futility. 

"It's not about you, Cass," he said brokenly, "What have you done? You, you, you, that's all that matters, right?" He shook his head. "Erik invited me to Thanksgiving. I'm not sorry I went, and I'm not sorry that I'm friends with him. He's, Cassie if you talked to him you would understand."

CASSIE: "I didn't mean—" Cassie swallowed hard and felt herself shrink back in on herself. She hadn't meant to make Conner feel like this, feel like she was the forefront of everything. She had been so fixated on losing her powers and how lost she felt that she hadn't even bothered to look outside herself to see what was happening with Kon. 

"I'm sorry," Cassie whispered, not being able to make her voice much louder with how choked up she felt. "I didn't mean it like that—to make it be about me. I'm sorry. It's not all that matters. You matter—you've always mattered. I'm sorry if I haven't been good about showing that." It didn't feel like enough. She wasn't exactly sure what would.

She'd understand if she talked to him. The mere thought made the girl grimace. There was something about Erik that reminded her of Ares. The promises and the good intentions. The way to hell was always paved in good intentions. Promises of something good but something sinister lingered in the air. The catch would come then he wouldn't be the one to pay the price. She didn't trust him—didn't want to trust him. 

"I don't think I can do that. I don't—I don't want to do that." Cassie admitted quietly. "I don't trust him, Conner. I trust you, you know I do—" And yet there they were, the bot bubbling over due to lies and mistrust, "—but there's something about him that—" that scares me, but she didn't say that.

KON: "You never mean-' he cut himself off, his lips tightening into a thin line as he turned away from her. It was impossible for him to make her see, if only for the complete lack of words she always reduced him to. She made it so hard to think sometimes, something that he both loved and hated desperately about her. He felt like an idiot, and more so, sometimes, he felt like she thought he was an idiot and had just decided to love him anyway. 

Couldn't she see that he had worn himself thin supporting her, loving her? That he just needed her support too? 

"I don't- I don't want a sorry, Cassie. I just want you to listen." He steped back toward her, his hand landing on her shoulder and running down her arm to catch her hand as he kneeled in front of her. "I really hate when we fight," he admitted, his forehead knocking into hers as he grinned sadly. 

They could be okay, they would be. She would hear him out, he could explain how he didn't feel like a ticking time bomb when he spoke to Erik, how he was actually going to help, had agreed to it readily without any strings attached, how much he had learned, how wrong they had been going about things. Add then she continued talking and he pulled back, a disbelieving laugh passing his lips as he stood suddenly, all of the rage that had been bubbling up throughout their fight boiling over. 

"You don't trust me! You don't trust me and you don't respect me or my opinions. You can't, you can't or you would at least hear me out, Cassie. My god!" 

He tore his hand away, his head shaking as he retreated. "He's a good man. He's made mistakes but, but, We've all made mistakes! We've, we-,' he felt manic, his heart thumping wildly as he stumbled over his words. "It's supposed to be you and me against the world, Cass. Why can't you just be with me on this?"

CASSIE: "I am listening!" Cassie insisted, feeling frazzled and worn down to the bone after this conversation snapped her from one extreme to another. It felt like she couldn't catch a breath. That she should be the one apologizing for being angry he was lying to her despite her having every right to. She didn't mean to make him feel like he couldn't talk to her, but he wasn't making it easy to try to approach. He was pulling away and pulling away hard. "I really, really hate when we fight too." She echoed, hating the way her heart wouldn't stop aching. 

As soon as the waves seemed to settle, things went quiet for just a moment, they exploded once more. Kon pulled away and snapped wildly. Cassie watched with wide eyes, any and all words dying promptly on her tongue. When did she say that? When did she ever give off that impression? She felt like she was going crazy. 

Cassie stood up abruptly, fingers curled into a tight fist, feeling that fizzle of lightning seem to come alive if for but a moment. Her eyes burned with tears that started to drip down her cheeks once more. "I don't recognize you. I don't recognize my best friend, and that fucking scares me, Kon-El. I have always trusted you. You're putting words in my mouth and you're making me feel—" She let out an angry noise and dug the heels of her hands against her shut eyes, seeing stars burst in front of her eyelids. There was an undeniable urge to simply scream. 

The fight drained out of her as soon as it arrived. (It was always a fight.) Cassie let her arms drop and hang limply by her side, eyes opening and giving Kon a tired look. "I don't...I don't care what you do, Conner. Go to Genosha. Do what you want. I can't stop you. I'm going h—" a moment of hesitation, "—I'm going to the apartment. I'm sorry you feel that way. It's always been you and me."

Turning, Cassie left her boyfriend standing in the garden to get in her car. She wasn't sure if it would be her and him against the world much longer and that left her with an aching loss and sadness that rivaled the first time she lost him. She was losing him once again and was unsure how to fix it.

[queerbutstillhere]

Prompt: core disaster attempting to unpack as they move into their new apartment but keep getting distracted and sidetracked.

(We discussed this! And i finally wrote it! Another TimKonBart, and their emotional support best friend who has the only brain cell most the time!)

"Okay! This is the last box from the truck!"

"What is it?"

"I dunno, it's Bart's, and I can't read his handwriting."

Tim walked over, looking at the cardboard box in Kon's hands, tilting his head to read the label.

"Oh, it's like clothes and blankets," he said, pointing towards the stairs.

"Okay, where is Bart anyway?"

"He went to get dinner," Cassie responded, looking over from where she was rearranging the living room, with occasional input from Tim, who was setting up the wifi router, because that was the most important thing.

"Of course he did."

Kon carried the box into the bedroom, setting it down against the wall and then walking back out, over to Tim.

"What do you need, babe?"

"Uh, I don't know. Ask Cassie," Tim responded, barely looking up.

"How about you go start assembling the table, lord knows we'll need that first."

"Yes ma'am."

Kon followed orders and walked into the kitchen, finding the kitchen table that had been disassembled when it was delivered. He found the toolbag and sat down, starting to piece it together.

The four of them, Tim, Kon, Bart, and Cassie had all decided to move in together, and after much debating, they ended up settling in San Francisco, because they were close to base, and Kon and Tim were both going to a college there. The apartment they got, mostly thanks to Tim, was huge, two floors, three bedrooms and three bathrooms. Now you may be thinking, three bedrooms isn't really enough for four people! And you're correct, however, three of those four were hopelessly in love and were all snuggle bugs, so all they needed was a big bed and they were set. Cassie was not involved in this relationship, but still loved her dumb best friends, and was more then happy to move in with them when the invitation was offered.

"Hey! I'm back with food!"

A burst of red light zipped through the kitchen and take and bake pizza boxes were left on the counter in its wake.

"Bart!" An alarmed shout echoed from Tim, followed by a dull thud.

"Bart!" Cassie's was more of an amused complaint.

Then the red streak was back, plopping itself down in Kon's lap.

"Hi!"

"Hello angel," Conner replied, amusedly, he set down his tools and wrapped his arms around Bart, hugging him tightly.

"Watcha working on?"

"The table. Cassie wanted to be able to actually eat liked civilized people."

"Does she even know us?"

Conner laughed, kissing Bart's cheek.

"Why don't you start unpacking the dishes?"

"Okay!"

Bart jumped off, and ran away to snag a box. He started unpacking them at what seemed like a hazardous speed, but Kon knew he was being careful. He just returned to attaching the base of the table, making sure it was tight before standing and setting it up, placing the chairs around it and then gathering his tools.

"Aww, hey, guys come here!" Cassie called.

When Kon and Bart entered the living room, she was in one of Tim's boxes, pulling out pictures and other decorations.

"Look at how tiny we were!" She exclaimed, holding up a couple pictures.

The first few were of them when they had just started Young Justice, just the four of them. Bart, still absolutely tiny, was even smaller, he looked like an actual child next to Kon in all the photos.

"And look at this one!"

She held up a photo of Tim and Bruce.

"Oh my God."

Kon snatched it, staring at tiny Tim. "Babe! Look at you!"

"Kon," Tim whined, grabbing at it.

Bart snatched it and zipped across the room.

"Look at the tiny closeted baby," Bart cooed, grinning with glee.

"Oh like you were any better!"

Tim lunged and snatched it. "If you two are done in the kitchen, why don't you go start unpacking your clothes and stuff."

"Okay!" Bart zipped over and jumped up on Kon's back. "Let's go!"

Kon laughed, carrying Bart upstairs. They got through all of one box of Kon's clothes before Bart kept pulling them on and causing Kon to simultaneously get annoyed and laugh. About the time Bart had four or five of his shirts and hoodies on, Kon grabbed him and pinned him to the bare mattress, kissing him and then pulling off a shirt, kissing him again, and then pulling off one more, doing this until he reached Bart's shirt.

"You're forgetting one," Bart said with an impish grin.

"No."

They both looked up to Tim who was standing in the doorway, shaking his head.

"I knew you guys wouldn't get any actual work done."

"I think he's jealous," Bart whispered, grinning still.

"I'm not- no. Can we just actually unpack?"

"Baby, are you stressed?" Kon asked, not moving from his position, holding Bart down.

"A little okay?"

"Okay."

So they obeyed orders and started nicely unpacking, hanging up clothes or putting them in the dresser, while Tim went about making the bed, getting the sheets all smooth and nice and arranging the obsence amount of pillows. By the time they had gotten mostly done with Bart's stuff, he got bored and zipped downstairs to annoy Cassie.

"You guys have too many clothes," Tim said with a huff, looking at the mostly full dressers.

"You say as if my clothing is not going to be stolen by both of you. Besides, most your clothes hang up."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Come here, Tim, take a breather."

Kon reached out, grabbing Tim and pulling him with his TTK, until he could physically grab his wrist and pull him down onto his lap.

"It'll be okay. We don't have to unpack everything now, yeah? All your books and stuff can stay in their boxes for the day, we can do those tomorrow."

"I just don't like things feeling incomplete."

"It'll be fine. It'll give you something to do when you're struggling with insomnia."

Tim sighed, plopping his head down on Kon's shoulder.

"I'm tired."

"I know."

Conner gently rubbed his back, resting their heads together.

"What else absolutely needs done?" Conner asked.

"The bathroom, and I need to get my clothes out so they don't wrinkle."

"Okay. I'll go do the bathroom, you do your clothes and then we should eat."

Tim nodded in agreement. He pulled away, kissed Conner lightly and then sliding off his lap, turning and starting to pull clothes out of boxes, and hanging or folding them as appropriate. Kon made his way into their bathroom, finding the one box of supplies for it and starting to unpack it, putting all the appropriate supplied in their places. They all had their various bathroom routine type things that were in little travel type bags, that he just set on the counter and left alone for now.

He got done before Tim, so he went to the kitchen and turned on the oven.

"Watcha doing?"

Kon jumped and looked over at Bart who appeared next to him.

"Starting dinner."

"Oh! Good I'm hungry."

"Bart, you're always hungry," Cassie said, walking in.

"I knowwwww," he whined, dramatically throwing himself at Kon, who laughed and easily caught him.

"I vote after dinner we go get some groceries," she said, looking at their barren fridge.

"Why don't you take Tim with you?" Kon suggested. "He's getting pretty stressed. Bart and me will stay here and finish unpacking the kitchen."

"Is he okay?"

"I think so, I dunno, I didn't press him too much."

Cassie nodded. "I'm gonna go unpack my things, don't destroy anything while I'm gone."

"Okay."

"We won't!"

Bart squirmed until he could slide out of Kon's arms. "I'm gonna go set up the PlayStation."

So Kon was left alone in the kitchen. He waited for the oven to heat up and then put the pizza's in. Tim came down at some point, unsurprisingly wearing Kon's previously discarded hoodie. He went and curled up with Bart on their huge sofa, Kon smiled at them softly, standing in the doorway and watching as Bart played The Outer World's, his head against Tim's chest, who's arms were wrapped around him.

"Watch your left," Tim murmured softly, nose pressed into Bart's hair.

"I see it," came the equally soft response.

Bart only ever seemed to slow down like this when Tim needed him. Kon new bursts of energy would be coming later, but for now he'd enjoy this sweet moment.

Dinner was eaten with an episode of Queer Eye playing, and then Cassie managed to convince Tim to go shopping with her. As promised, Bart and Kon cleaned up from dinner and then finished putting away all the kitchen supplies. They then took the enormous amount of cardboard moving boxes to the nearest recycling station. When they got back to the apartment, they curled up on the sofa to wait for the other two to get back, turning on some evening crime show just for kicks.

Later that evening, after groceries got put away, and everyone taken showers and gotten ready for bed, Kon found himself with the task of catching Bart, who had in fact, as predicted, gone spastic. Tim was already in bed, granted he was just working, but at least he was in bed. Kon tried to catch Bart, who kept phasing past him, for almost five minutes before he finally just immobilized him with his TTK and then scooped the limp speedster up, carrying him upstairs to their room. Cassie was in there, talking to Tim. Or more of talking at Tim.

"Konnnn," Bart whined, yet wasn't trying to struggle, Kon knew this because he was no longer trying to restrain his boyfriend.

"It's time to go to bed," Kon told him, gently laying him next to Tim.

"Only if Timmy comes to bed with us," Bart whined, flopping over against Tim.

"Bart, you know that's not fair to him," Kon said softly.

Bart just pouted up at Tim, getting in the way of his work until he had to look at the ginger. He just chuckled.

"I'll try."

"Yay!"

Cassie gently shoulder bumped Kon as she passed.

"Night guys! Don't get too wild!" She called with a giggle, waving over her shoulder.

"Night Cassie!" They all called together, watching her leave and shut the door.

Tim closed his laptop as Bart snuggled under the covers next to him, and Kon pulled off his hoodie, waiting for them both to be ready before flicking off the lights and getting in next to Bart. There was no hesitation to squish Bart in the middle of their cuddling.

"Night, Bart, night Tim," Kon murmured softly, giving them each a kiss.

"Night Kon," they both murmured back, more tired then either realized.

Kon just chuckled, throwing an arm across Bart until his hand was resting on Tim's waist. And that's how they fell asleep, and would fall asleep nearly every night.

[awhitehead17]

30 Days of Domestic Fluff: Day Twenty Six - Doctor Visits

Summary: Tim and Kon visit Leslie for a routine check up. While there, it becomes clear that they’ve both got a long way to go before they actually grow up.

Enjoy! :D

Tim wouldn’t stop fidgeting and it was actually starting to grate on Kon’s nerves. From the corner of his eye he could see Tim’s leg bouncing up and down repeatedly, this has been happening non stop for the last seven minutes.

In the end he sighs and chucks the magazine he had been flicking through on to the table in front of him before turning to Tim and giving him a look. “Why are you nervous?”

“I'm not nervous.” Came the instant reply. Tim wasn’t looking at him as he scanned the waiting room and was biting his nails.

“Yes you are. You’re fidgeting, you have been since we sat down over 5 minutes ago.” Kon comments watching his boyfriend do all of his little ticks that tells Kon exactly how he was feeling without ever saying anything. 

“I'm not nervous.”

Kon snorts, “Sure whatever you say dude.”

He heaves a sigh and slumps in his chair as they wait for Tim’s name to be called. Tim had a routine check-up with Dr Tompkins that day, but because she couldn’t get to the cave because of how busy she was they decided to do it at her clinic.

They sat down not too long ago and ever since Tim’s been fidgeting for some strange reason that Kon couldn’t work out. It was only a routine check-up, all the Bats have them because of what they do, Tim’s was usually quite focused around his splenectomy. The only thing that Kon could think of was that Tim was maybe hiding something from him.

Which wouldn’t be too far fetched but at the same time very highly unlikely.

“You’re not hiding anything from me right?” He asks. Well you can never be too sure, especially with Tim.

That actually gets Tim to stop fidgeting, his boyfriend snaps his head in Kon’s direction and gives him a shocked look. “What? No! I’m not hiding anything!”

“You sure? Because you’re awfully nervous.”

Tim narrows his eyes at him, “Kon, I am not hiding anything!”

“Right…” He lets it go for a moment until something pops up in his brain. “I didn’t knock you up or anything have I?”

“Conner!”

Kon chuckles as Tim whacks him on the chest for that question. “Well you never know! It could be a possibility. I don’t fully know how my genetics work.”

That gets him the death glare for a full minute before Tim turns away and stares that the almost empty room. Kon’s chuckles die out and they sit together in silence for a while as they wait.

Tim’s the one to break the silence this time with a comment. “You know, I'm pretty sure this is my first time being here without actually being injured in some sort of way.”

Kon shoots him a concerned look, “You know that’s not a good thing right?”

His boyfriend shrugs, not seeing the importance of it, “It makes a change to be fully conscious and to see it properly for once.”

Kon has no idea on how to respond to that so he stays silent. He hates it when Tim comes out with stuff like that, it reminds him how very human he is. Despite everything he and his family can do, they are not superhumans.

It’s only another couple minutes wait until Tim’s called in. They go through and find the right room where Leslie was waiting for them.

“Tim, Conner, nice to see you again.” She says politely smiling. “Tim sit on the bed, Conner help yourself to a seat.”

Tim hops up onto the bed while Kon plonks himself down in one of the hard chairs in the corner of the room.

Leslie goes about getting her equipment ready to do Tim’s check-up as she does she makes conversation, “So how have you been Tim?”

Tim shrugs, watching her as she collects everything, “Eh, alright as I can be I guess.”

Kon raises an eyebrow, “He’s been nervous since we’ve arrived. Wouldn’t stop fidgeting in the waiting room just now.”

“Conner!”

“Oh?” Leslie turns to him before looking at Tim, “Why you nervous Tim? This isn’t anything you haven’t done before.”

Tim was glaring at him as he answers her, “I’m not nervous. Kon’s just being ridiculous.”

Leslie moves and places a stethoscope over Tim’s heart and gets him to do some breathing exercises while she listens, the entire time Tim’s death stare stayed on him. Leslie pulls away, ��Well your breathing is fine. I’m going to get your blood pressure now.”

She places a band over Tim’s arm and a minute goes by before it’s beeping at them. “Well your pressure is higher than normal but it seems to be all okay.”

“Gee, I wonder why that is.” He says venomously in the Kon’s direction. Kon simply grins at him acting innocent.

Tim was glaring at him again and didn’t stop until Leslie forces him to look away. She grabs his chin tightly and turns his face back to her, “If you can’t stop glaring at your boyfriend then I’m going to ask him to leave.” She says sternly as she lifts up a pen light and shines it into one of his eyes.

As his boyfriend pouts Kon snickers, however that seems to get Leslie’s attention because she turns around and gives him a stern look, one of which seems to be very similar to Ma’s. “If you can’t behave either I’ll kick you out. You aren’t helping matters.”

Kon looks away from her embarrassed but nods. Right, behaving. He can behave. That was until he hears Tim snort, he turns a sharp gaze at Tim who was smiling clearly finding it funny.

Leslie sighs, “Here I was thinking you were one of the mature ones Tim.”

Tim looks offended, “I am mature!”

The response he gets is only a disbelieving eyebrow raise.

[mayleebaby28]

Some Days I’m Headed in the Right Direction, and Some Days I Ain’t Even Close

@fishfingersandjellybabies wanted Superbat and I’ve wanted to write this for months now so thanks for the inspiration

Note: In this AU, Bruce adopted Dick and Jason as toddlers, while he and Clark were dating. After they got married, they did a surrogacy thing and surprise, got twins Conner and Tim (Tim obviously takes after the mother for height, also they’re super attached to each other), adopted Cass, had Damian and Jon via surrogates, and recently adopted Duke. Ages are Dick-18, Jason-17, Tim and Conner-14, Cass-13, Duke-12, Damian-8, Jon-6. 

Bruce wasn’t sure what his children were doing, but he was pretty fed up with whatever it was.

First he had gone to talk to Dick about something that morning, only to find his son in the process of sneaking back in after a night out, bruises all over his neck and not the crime fighting type bruises. That lead to two important conversations because he was only 18 and the last thing Bruce wanted was to be a grandfather at 33.

Then he went downstairs while Dick took a shower and got some sleep, since he was grounded as much as Bruce could ground him, and saw Jason arguing with Tim, and Kon arguing with Jon, and Damian feeding the dogs from the table, and Duke was trying to pull Tim and Jason apart, and Cass was sitting at the kitchen island quietly scrolling through her phone.

And Clark wasn’t going to be back until dinner time.

Bruce sighed.

“What is going on here?” He asked, his voice booming through the kitchen and effectively silencing his children, all of them pausing to stare at him. All except Cass, who hopped off of her chair, walked by Bruce, stood on her toes to kiss him on the cheek, and continued down the hall.

“Alright, you two, what’s the problem?” Bruce asked, pointing to Jason and Tim where they were standing by the pantry. Duke stayed between them, the new addition wary of the two, who were regularly fighting.

The two angrily glared at each other, neither saying anything. Whatever it was, Bruce would get to the bottom of it later.

“And you two?” He asked, nodding to Kon and Jon sitting at the table.

“Daddy, Kon took the last of the lucky charms,” Jon said, the smallest’s face scrunched up in anger.

“There’s so many other cereals,” Kon said, motioning back towards the pantry. “I was up first.”

Bruce sighed. Kon and Jon struggled with their relationship sometimes too.

“You two, go to your room,” He said, motioning to Tim and Kon. The shorter scowled, leading the way as his twin followed. Bruce could hear them mumbling to each other on their way up. “And you, go find Alfred and help with the chores,” He pointed to Jason, who sighed dramatically before heading towards the dining room.

“They were fighting when I got up, Bruce,” Duke said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Don’t worry about them, they fight a lot,” Bruce said. “Go ahead and take your breakfast into the dining room, I’ll take care of things in here.”

Duke nodded and grabbed his plate, scrambled eggs, before heading in Jason’s direction.

“Damian, don’t feed the dogs from the table,” Bruce said, and the eight year old huffed, picking up a piece of toast for himself. “Jon, Honey, why don’t I get you something else for breakfast? What do you want?”

Bruce scooped his youngest up, resting him on his hip so he could see everything in the pantry.

“Cheerios,” Jon said, pointing. Bruce grabbed the box and handed it to him as he set him down. “Thank you, Daddy.”

“You’re welcome,” Bruce sighed, glad the little one still thanked him. “You two, go.” He waved the dogs off, and they bounded out of the room, running into the rest of the manor.

He made sure his two youngest were settled and eating peacefully before going to find his twins. They both seemed the most upset, it was probably best to handle them first.

Bruce knocked on their door, and opened it when he heard a quiet ‘yeah?’

Kon was lounging on his bed, folding what looked like homework into a paper airplane but one thing at a time. Tim was at their shared desk, scribbling something down with a pen.

“What’s going on with you two this morning?” Bruce asked, going to sit on Tim’s bed.

“Jason kept taking my stuff and holding it up high where I couldn’t reach it,” Tim said, setting his pen down and closing his eyes. “He wouldn’t give me back my phone, he keeps sending stupid texts to Stephanie.”

“I’ll talk to him about that,” Bruce nodded, not looking forward to that. Since Jason was 13 he seemed to just like tormenting his little brothers. It wasn’t until Conner hit his growth spurt that he focused his efforts solely on Tim. “And I understand breakfast wasn’t your fault, but please try to be gentler with Jon. He’s still little.”

Kon grunted, tossing his airplane so it would land on the desk in front of Tim. The shorter of the two opened it, saw ‘I’m Bored’ scribbled on the back of a worksheet.

“Okay, but you can’t just copy my homework,” Tim said, flipping it over to reveal a blank sheet. “So do it.”

“Ugh,” Kon groaned, getting up to grab the paper and go back to his bed.

“You boys finish that before you go out today,” Bruce said, saw Kon pulling his phone out. “And I’m sure Cassie doesn’t mind waiting until you homework is done to talk to you.”

Kon rolled his eyes, but still put his phone away.

Bruce smiled and got up to leave his twins to their homework. He headed down the hall until he heard music coming from Cass’s room. The door was opened, so he leaned his head in to see what she was up to.

She looked up from her phone and smiled, giving him a wave.

“Doing alright, Angel?”

“Okay,” She said, giving him a thumbs up.

Bruce smiled at her as he closed the door and started down the stairs again, intending to find Jason. When he did, he was back in the kitchen, drying the dishes Alfred was washing.

“Can I have Tim’s phone, please?” Bruce asked, holding a hand out. Jason sighed, reaching into his front pocket and pulling out the phone to hand him. Bruce checked the back to check that it was Tim’s, and that was confirmed by the superboy logo sticker on the back. “Must you bother him all the time?”

“I was just teasing him a little,” Jason rolled his eyes. Difficult boy, he was.

“Well, Tim doesn’t like to be teased, Jason,” Bruce said, stuffing the phone in his own pocket. He’d give it back later when Tim was done with his homework. “He’s sensitive.”

“He needs to grow a pair,” Jason scoffed, and Bruce held his tongue. Telling Jason to keep it PG would only make him more difficult.

“Just apologize, please? I don’t want to hear that you’re teasing him anymore,” Bruce instructed, and Jason heaved a dramatic sigh as he put a plate away. “Don’t you huff at me, young man.”

“Bruce, come on, he’s my brother, I’m just giving him a hard time,” Jason said, and Alfred shoved a plate at his chest with some anger. Obviously Alfred agreed with Bruce.

“Well if you have to give someone a hard time, maybe pick your battles,” Bruce said. “I’m sure you can find better targets. Or, better yet, go for a drive and work off whatever is bothering you that makes you want to torment him.”

“Whatever,” Jason said, putting another plate in the cabinet.

“When you’re done here, I want you to apologize,” Bruce said, firm as he left the room. Alfred would talk to him, they always seemed to work out problems together better than Jason and Bruce.

He was just getting back out into the hall when the dogs came bounding past him to the foyer, barking up a storm as the front door opened.

Clark came in, smiling at the dogs and letting Krypto jump on him even though he wasn’t supposed to. He set his bag down and kicked off his shoes, getting down to their level to pet them so they would stop barking.

“Clark,” Bruce breathed, feeling the tension leave his shoulders. Eight children on his own was too much no matter how old they got. It was hard enough when it was just the two before he and Clark even got married. He wished he could go back and tell his younger self that it was good practice because he’d get more than a handful more children.

“Hey, handsome,” Clark said, standing up straight and grabbing the back of Bruce’s neck to pull him in for a kiss. “What’s the matter?”

“The kids are driving me nuts, Clark,” Bruce sighed, stepping into his husband’s embrace and resting a head on his shoulder. “Jason is teasing Tim and Dick snuck out and Conner ate all the lucky charms.”

“Okay, one of those things is not like the other,” Clark furrowed his brows, trying to see Bruce’s face. He didn’t get the chance to though, since he heard small feet bounding through the manor and he only had a few moments to brace himself before.

“Papa!”

Jon came running down the stairs, right into Clark’s outstretched arms. He lifted his son up so he was between the two of them, and Bruce gave the boy a tired smile and a kiss on the temple.

“I missed you, Papa,” Jon said, and Clark beamed.

“I missed you too, Sweetheart,” He held his youngest son close, rocking him gently like he used to when Jon was a baby. “Were you good for Daddy while I was gone?”

“Uh huh,” Jon nodded, and Bruce nodded behind his back.

“That’s my little guy,” Clark ruffled his hair, and moved to set him down. “Do me a favor, okay? Go let everyone know I’m home.”

“Okay!” Jon yelled as he ran back for the stairs, stumbling as he tried to go faster than his legs allowed.

“That’ll buy us at least a few minutes,” Clark said, rolling his eyes. “Let’s go sneak out before they get back.”

Bruce led the way up the stairs to the master bedroom, avoiding any children they almost encountered along the way. Jon was bouncing into everyone’s rooms, telling them that Papa was home. Bruce heard a pillow being thrown and someone groaning, but chose to ignore it in favor of five minutes alone with his husband.

“So how are Ma and Pa?” Bruce asked as he shut the door to their room.

“They’re perfectly fine,” Clark smiled as he started undoing his flannel shirt, revealing a plain white t-shirt underneath. “Miss you and the kids.”

“I’m sure the kids miss them too,” Bruce nodded. “I know Conner really wanted to go with you.”

“He can come with me and miss school when his grades are up,” Clark tossed his shirt towards the hamper.

“I think they’re working on that now,” Bruce explained. “But they can tell you all about that later.” He headed over to their bed and flopped face-down onto the mattress, still unmade and comfy from when he had woken that morning. He felt Clark on top of him, straddling his hips and sitting on his ass.

“They too much for you?” Clark asked, running a his hands over Bruce’s back.

“No,” Bruce said, and they never were. They might be difficult and make him crazy, but never too much. “Not sure what got into them today.”

“Forget all about them,” Clark said, massaging near the base of Bruce’s spine. Bruce smirked into the bedding before bucking his hips back a little so Clark would rise enough that he could roll over. He smiled up at his husband as he settled for sitting on his pelvis. “Let me help.”

Clark leaned over to give him a small peck on the lips, which became two pecks, then three.

“Door’s not locked, Clark,” Bruce whispered, smirking.

“Don’t care,” Clark whispered back, leaning in for another kiss.

But then the door opened and eight children and a butler were spilling into the room.

“Oh, gross,” Jason grimaced, standing in the doorway with Dick.

“Come on, guys,” Dick said, and Clark chuckled as he got off of Bruce to greet his kids.

“Relax, you two,” Clark rolled his eyes, helping Jon up onto the bed and into his lap. Damian scrambled up as well, snuggling under one of Clark’s arms without a word. “What’s this I hear about everyone fighting this morning?”

Four kids started talking at once, silenced only by Bruce holding up a hand.

“Can’t you all get along without me here?” Clark asked, raising a brow.

“Not the same without you here, Pop,” Conner said, taking the lead and sitting at the end of the bed. Tim flopped down beside him, the two still attached at the hip.

“Missed you boys too,” Clark handed off the youngest to Bruce and leaned forward to pull them both into a hug, one under each arm. Cass came forward next, giving Clark a kiss on the cheek and signing ‘I love you’ to him, which he returned. Duke also stepped forward, giving Clark a small smile, still not totally comfortable with his Kansas affection yet. “And you two?”

Clark raised a brow at the oldest still in the doorway. He got up to meet Dick halfway in a hug, taking note of the lose scarf Dick had on.

“What’s this I hear about you sneaking out?” Clark whispered, and Dick puffed out a breath. “We’ll talk later, okay?”

“Okay,” Dick nodded, stepping back so Jason could have a turn.

“Welcome back, old man,” Jason said, letting Clark embrace him.

“I do suggest we let your father get unpacked,” Alfred said, and Clark stopped himself from breathing a sigh of relief. He did miss his kids a ton, but sleeping alone was never great and he could use some time with his husband.

Before they could leave however, the dogs came bounding in and jumped onto the bed. Jon let out a laugh, Damian squealed, Tim and Conner sputtered as the dogs stepped on them. Even Bruce, who normally had a strict no dogs on the bed rule, just sighed and gave Clark a tired smile.

It was good to be home with his family again.

[redrobin-detective]

Love at First Snort

 I have an hour before I need to head back to the hospital but uh here you go.

Superboy didn’t see much of a future in this Young Justice team. First off, the name itself was offense. He didn’t want to be part of some Kids Klub Junior Justice League; he wanted to be out there making his own name, making the big bucks and getting all the honies. Instead he’s found himself saddled with the most hyperactive, inattentive speedster and a powerless boy who thinks he can boss around two metas despite the fact that the kid’s almost a foot shorter than him. 

Kinda lame entourage for someone who’s gonna be the next Superman but even the greats need to start somewhere. Might as well get some enjoyment out of it while he can. Rob’s doing something on the big computer and Imp’s flipping back and forth between the Xbox and his handheld gamer. Robin can be counted on to be a big sourpuss but Impulse should get a kick out of this. Man, the things the League just left lying around here are incredible.

“Robin, we’re needed back in Gotham. We haven’t met our bad guy punching quota for the day.” Rob’s face twists in a funny way but Impulse bursts out into wheezy little giggles. Superboy grins beneath the Batman cape and cowl and throws out one leg from beneath the cape revealing an old pair of Canary’s thigh high heels. “The Batmobile is broken so we’re hitchhiking back. Lose the tights and we might be able to get a ride. Don’t worry, Justice will keep you warm.” He hovers over Robin who’s face is all scrunched up like he’s trying not to sneeze. Superboy opens the cape revealing one of Wonder Woman’s bustiers filled with paper towels. 

“If that’s not enough, you can snuggle up to my manly pecs. It’s alright little bird, you can feel them if you want. Go on, I only let my favorite sidekicks touch.” Rob ducks his head and his shoulders shake a little bit. Superboy braces for the lecture about being respectful to the other heroes even though it’s totally their fault for leaving their costumes here. Instead, Robin lets out a very adorable little snort. Superboy’s eyes go wide beneath the cowl as suddenly Rob throws his head back and begins laughing hysterically.

“oh my god what the hell are you wearing where did you even find that?? Oh wow I can’t even look at you right now, stop, I can’t breathe.” Rob wheezes out, hunched over his stomach as he laughs loudly, occasionally interrupted by a little snort. He’s got a big smile as all the stress lines smooth out into laugh lines, it makes him seem so much younger. A few locks of hair bounce tantalizingly in front of his mask and Superboy finds he can’t look away. It’s like the entire Earth drifted off it’s axis and righted itself on the sound of Robin’s laughter. 

He feels a tingle start in his toes and light all the way up his spine, at the sight of Rob holding up a glove to his face to try, and fail, to contain his giggles. ‘Oh boy’, Superboy thought as he tried to shake himself out of whatever dumbass thing his heart was doing right now. He’d been attracted to all kinds of people, guys, gals, aliens, the feeling was nothing new but he’d never felt anything this strong and for Robin of all people.

After a minute, Rob’s laughs slow down to breathy little chortles as he leans back in his chair with a wry grin. Superboy finds his eyes darting between Rob’s ruffled hair and gangling, relaxed posture before he makes himself look over at Imp. The speedster was grinning widely, looking back and forth between the two of them with obvious glee. Well, whatever, so Rob was kind of cute and had like, the most adorable laugh. It’s not like he was in love or anything. 

“I haven’t laughed like that in weeks,” Rob moans, still catching his breath. “I can’t believe you, you’re either crazy or fearless.” Superboy puffs out his chest and the bustier slips a little bit making Rob laugh a little more. At that moment, he feels like he could take on the whole world and then some.

“For you Boy Wonder, I’d be both,” he explains, the light flirtation coming out easily. 

“Yeah, whatever clone boy,” Rob muttered but Superboy didn’t miss the light blush on his face before he turns and goes back to his computer work. Imp jumps up and demands to know where he’d found all the costumes, breaking whatever weird mood had descended over. Still, he turns to give Robin a quick glance as they leave and he thinks that there might be some merit in sticking out this Young Justice thing. He thinks he should try and make Rob laugh a little more.

(Years and years later, when he and Tim are asked how they fell in love. Tim will give a long winded explanation about their slow growing bond of friendship and how it blossomed into more. Kon talks about that cute little snort and how, even now, it’s one of things he loves most about the love of his life.)

[crypterion-moon]

Red Prince Eternal/4

Tim’s nightmares haunt him constantly, the words that bit him to the bone and stripped him of his dignity and he was kicked to the ground. The despair still haunt him. But the longer he spends with Kon, the more he begins to realize how much the superhero means to him.

His new companion is wary of such attachment.

He was aware that Batman was not the most welcoming of men or heroes but it didn’t make the words any softer in Tim’s mind.

“Back off, kid, this isn’t a game you can get into and out of.”

“I know Bruce,” there’s no one around, no one would hear the whisper of his name but Batman heard it loud and clear and it made him stiffen. Natural, a little boy knows who he is and little boys can say anything.

“I’ve always known, the lines were there, I just connected them and what evidence I had, I know Dick is with you and so was Jason. I’m only here because I want to help.”

“Don’t talk about them.”

“What-”

Suddenly Batman lost it, and he sent the table flying, “Don’t talk like you know, Tim, they suffered and still fought like soldiers. They know what it’s like to be stuck in the filth this world can offer, what do you know about that?”

“I know, Batman, I’m no street urchin or orphan, but pain is everywhere,” Tim stopped, remembered Jason, “I’m sorry about Robin.”

Bruce glared at him for the longest time before he turned, “Don’t ever speak to me again.”

Of all the people, he would’ve thought Dick would understand, but even the more cheerful counterpart to Batman was...less than pleased. Especially when Tim showed up on his front door with an apology. Dick spent the next hour denying he was Nightwing.

“Dick, I’m not dumb. I still remember the day at the carnival,” Tim fished the photo from his jacket, “The day we took this picture together.”

It was Tim and Dick years younger on the night Dick’s parents died, their performance sabotaged by Zucco. Dick was holding Tim while their parents stood happily behind them. Tim wearing a big baby faced smile. Seeing his parents’ faces made Dick grimace. Tim quickly put the photo away.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

It was a bad move to mention the man’s parents, an old scar that he’d opened up unwittingly. Dick held face and his eyes became stern.

“What do you want, Tim, this is beyond you.”

“What I want is to help, Bruce is taking things harder and he’s trying to do it alone. He doesn’t believe me, no one does, I came to you because I hoped-”

“No,” Dick said, finality in his tone, “No way in hell.”

“But-”

The sudden bang as Dick brought his cup down hard on the table made Tim nearly jump right off his chair.

“No! You have no idea what it’s like. It’s not fun and games, people get hurt if you make a mistake,” you won’t last a week so just stop, forget it.”

Dick had enough of the discussion, glancing at the clock. Get out. The unspoken words rang out, striking Tim in his heart. He thought-, he’d hoped, it might work out this time but there was little chance if not even Dick believed in him. Tim nodded and left promptly.

He may not be able to join their fight in person but at least he could drop important information disguised as someone else. Tim was a computer genius at a young age and he was nothing if not persistent. Informer became a vital addition to their missions, his information drops invaluable. All the while they’d assumed it was a mysterious person who had established himself elsewhere, never Tim.

When Jason returned, Tim felt the thread in his network tremble. Red Hood, notorious avenger and unabashed killer of criminals. He was so different from the Robin he’d met one night it was frightening but Tim hoped still that there was a way to redeem the former Robin. So he pulled some strings, dropped notes until they all found out thanks to Oracle and her superior tracing, they managed to trace the trail all the way back to the little ten year old. No, they definitely weren’t pleased, especially when they realized that Tim had taken advantage of a loophole. It was as if, he had a feeling, that they were angry or disturbed that he was far more crafty for a little boy his age should be. True.

What truly scared Tim though, was that Jason had said nothing while Dick and Bruce lay into him with all the reprimanding, but his body was tense. Wound tighter than a spring and ready to break. A storm was brewing.

Tim startled awake and realized where he was, back in the present and in his bedroom lit only by the glow of his computer. He sighed and kneaded gently at the knots in his neck and between his eyes. His memories haunted him even in sleep or what little there was of it. He wished he could boast that he’d gotten over those years, the hurt, but it still weighed on his conscious and subconscious. Perhaps, in time, but certainly not for the time being.

He can hear the rustling behind him as he worked on the latest client, well, victim actually, but they didn’t need to know that. The noise is intentional. Tim knows because Tiamat, as beautiful as he is, is frightening all the same. Too much shadow and of enough human on the outside. He’s used to it by now or else he’d have jumped up a few feet off his chair like the first time he slithered up behind him. It’s been a while since Tim first brought him home but already they fit, it’s...weird though, he’s...

“Happy Birthday,” a soft voice hummed by his ear. A body slithered up behind him. He could almost feel the grin.

“It’s still a few days off,” Tim chuckled.

“Hmm,” Tiamat let out a soft breath, a chuckle, “I wanted to say it first.”

“Congratulations, you got to say it first before all the other goofballs get here.”

Tiamat’s expression dropped a bit, “I won’t be able to when they do.”

He always disappeared when they arrived, slinking off into the shadows in Tim’s room and avoiding them all together. Usually, he’d still be there, watching from the shadows. If Raven was there, he’d be gone completely. He’d rather not, Tim quite enjoyed the feeling of Tiamat’s presence in the room, though the others unaware of his new roommate did not, for some strange reason. Beast Boy would always note a certain uneasiness. Tim would shrug it off. He was certain it would be a bad idea to tell them judging by their reactions alone. They might even end up fighting.

Tiamat was still recovering from the wounds he’d gotten when Tim found him on the banks of a nearby river, severely weakened and shivering like an injured animal. He brought the stranger back and tended to him as much as he could. He couldn’t eat anything for some reason, nothing Tim brought him helped They were tentative at first, Tim didn’t know how to deal with this strange creature that had literally fallen outside his doorstep and Tiamat,  a shadowy figure who looked strangely familiar was shiftier than a cat, he spent a lot of the time staring straight at Tim and didn’t speak, not until he’d seemed to have acquired all he needed to know about the boy.

“I never told you my Birthday,” Tim remarked, a question disguised as a statement but he knows the answer.

“Our birth dates are similar across worlds, Tim,” not one but many, many more Tim Drake’s out there, this one was his shadowy mirror. Honestly, he’d never imagined meeting another him, less likely imagine himself in a form like this. Tiamat has mostly abandoned his former life.

“Is it strange?...” to call me by your name? Our names. We’re supposed to be the same but we’re so different. Tim doesn’t say it out loud but Tiamat smiles a smile of many answers and more questions. He stops and jerks to look at the window.

“They’re here,” Tiamat hissed, drifting off into smoke. Just as the knocking on his window drew Tim’s attention. He padded over and pushed it open to greet two teenagers and a green bird.

“Hey there, Tim,” Kon said with his lopsided smile, “Can we come in?”

“Sure,” Tim stepped back and allowed them to float closer and climb through, Beast Boy flew in and settled on the carpet as he transformed back into a boy. Without acknowledging his guests further, Tim went over to turn his computer off. Thankfully, nothing unscrupulous was open, but just to be safe. Kon looked around, his ears perking.

“Guess they’re not home again?” he said rather disappointed for Tim.

“Three month trip this time, they won’t be for a good while.”

“That’s no way to live,” Cassie said.

“You’d be surprised how a people can live once they get used to it, so,” Tim sat down casually at his desk, twirling around to face them, “How can I help you?”

Con shifted uneasily from foot to foot as if unsure of how he was going to form his next words. Cass elbowed him rather harshly as Tim waited patiently for the response.

“Well uh, we’ve hung out a lot at your place and the Titans haven’t really thought of going anywhere else, and uh, we found a pretty cool spot recently while we were busting some alien asses last time, that was so cool you should’ve seen- OW!” Kon yelled as Cass elbowed him again, this time a bit harder, “Geez, you’re gonna bruise me. So I was saying, since we found a pretty cool spot I thought all of us could-”

“Oh for goodness sake,” an irritated bratty voice growled as another figure hopped onto the window sill, “Can’t your small half-kryptonian brain at least form one simple request?”

Damian was Robin now, congratulations, and part of the Teen Titans. Something Tim would have dreamed of in another lifetime. From the looks of it, and the silence that still graced Tim, Robin hadn’t disclosed anything about his mentor to the Bats, just as he’d asked. But now, there was awkward tension between them, Tim could guess that somewhere in Damian’s mind, he was still confused as to why Tim wouldn’t want his father and now brothers to know about him. That he was required to treat him as a stranger and whenever they met.

However, Robin respected his decision and even covered for him whenever Kon or anyone was close to revealing Tim’s role in their lives. Tim owed him an explanation, he really wished he could, but some things are better left unknown. Tim glanced at Robin briefly before turning back to the three amigos.

“So, where is this place we’re going?”

Later, when the whole group had left, settled back in his chair, exhausted mostly by the strain of having to talk more than usual. Normally, he wouldn’t be so exhausted, Tim wouldn’t exert himself so, but having to deal with so many people, with Kon and his endearing idiocy sometimes and have all the patience of a sage pushed Tim a little further than usual. His health hasn't been right, since the fall, and the depression that followed. He’s never been a fittest but he’s sure things would’ve been slightly different if he’d had any reason to train his body. But no, what’s the point, so what if he had a failing defective, body. It wasn’t as if anybody would care.

“Why do you push yourself for them?” A whispering voice reached around, seemingly to wrap around Tim and comfort him. He nestled in his chair not even caring that the lights had gone out.

“I don't usually, but it's been getting worse,” Tim let his fall back on the headrest, “I don't know, I don't know why I….That's not true, is it?”

A face in the darkness, reflecting his own, Older and beautiful, they both have the same eyes. This dark soul that bound himself to Tim. He could feel his own stained heart whenever he looked at the shadow, like a cancer spreading over him. Maybe that's why he does it. To cling on to the light he found even if he'd convinced himself the opposite. So irritating and yet, the times when Kon made him laugh, when he and Raven formed a powerful pair of sarcasm and dry wit, when he genuinely admired Cyborg's good taste in technology and pizza, those moments were when he felt most human. Not an object useless or otherwise, made to be on display, discarded and pushed away. Moments when Kon held or brushed against him, when his eyes held a certain unnamed emotion for Tim, was when Tim felt more like a person, enough to start loving again.

“You love them don't you?” it wasn’t a question and Tiamat did not wait for an answer, “And him, far more deeply.”

“What? No, no I...he’s a friend too, he-, he was the first person who treated me like another person and not something with a name on it,” the first person to call Tim by name, “But I don’t...there’s nothing between us.”

He was lying to his own reflection, or he might as well been because those eyes were looking straight through him. Into his heart.

“I can’t...”

“Because you are weak, and broken?”

Thou art weak, a poor broken child

“I can’t...”

“That you can be thrown away?”

Easily thrown aside, thy heart’s love

“Please,” Tim felt himself collapsing without even realizing he was no longer seated, that he’d gotten up only a few seconds later. It was so dark, he couldn’t eve see what he was doing. He felt hands on his face, covering it, his hands, he wanted to cry but they’d dried up long ago.

“I don’t want to go back, I was an idiot, I don’t want to go back to being an idiot, I don’t care what I have to become.”

Hands not his but his likeness, smooth as silk yet cold and solid as marble until they conjured fire from their palms gently slid his own down from his eyes, sapphire eyes glowing in the shadow stared deeply and tenderly into his, capturing his soul as Tiamat spoke, “You have time, when your decision is made, ask me again.”

Time still remains, when thy decision is made, call upon me once more