#maybe she thinks that damian can be useful to whatever she’s trying to achieve

[cutebat]

You know what, fuck it. I'm going to write my own neglectful yandere batfamily cause everyone else is doing it, but I'm going to do it in a different way.

Yandere Batfam x Neglected, but Defiant Reader

Prologue (Diary Entry)

Warning(s): Mentions of yandere themes, neglect, emotional abuse, mentions of physical abuse, forcing to drop out, attempted guilt tripping, reader is just venting out her feelings

(I made this in the reader's POV to make the whole 'diary entry' thing more sense.)

~~~~~

July 22, 2024

It's funny when someone tells their story.

Only to be told back that it's unrealistic.

Almost as if they're afraid to believe it's real...

Oh, God, that sounded dark.

~~~~~

For everyone who doesn't know,

Bruce is a billionaire who's also a shitty dad

Dick is a dick, like actually

Jason uses his trauma to let all his frustrations on me

Tim is a delusional bitch

Cass was okay until she knocked me to the ground

Damian is just a thing who you want to burn to ashes

Alfred... I guess is just Alfred

~~~~~

I was basically raised as what people would call a 'black sheep'. Kind of like... actually, I don't need to explain all that.

Basically, I was adopted by the infamous Bruce Wayne when I was ten for whatever reason. After the first day of living with him and the family and giving me the new role of Batgirl, everyone just pretended as if I didn't exist.

I tried to interact with every one of them and all I got were "sorry, can't talk right now" and "can you shut up".

Like, WHAT THE FUCK DID I DO TO THEM?!

Is it because I'm prettier than all of them and had barely any trauma in my past? Seriously, why are people so jealous about these kinds of things?

Bruce really signed all that paperwork for nothing.

Of course, my little ten year old brain would think that if I tried to impress all of them with what I could do, maybe I could gain their attention.

So by the time I was twelve with my ten year old mindset goal in my head, I did nine different after school activities, won over fifteen awards for my achievements, and went out to patrol at least six nights a week.

And none of that worked! Those fuckers wouldn't even spare me a glance!

~~~~~

After a while, you don't see a point in trying your best.

I dropped out of most of the clubs I regret joining, I just laid back in my classes, and most of all...

I quit being Batgirl.

I didn't want to, but like I said, where's the point in that?

So with that, I just gave up on everything and just... stopped trying.

~~~~~

But then one year all of that almost changed?

For the first time ever, I found myself suddenly really pretty, and after a month I entered eighth grade, I was suddenly asked out by one guy, then two, and all the way up to ten!

It was like really cool!

The popular girls became my best friends, more guys would ask me out, and the teachers started pointing out that I was their favorite student, even the ones who weren't my teachers.

It felt like I was on top of everything. That I was special. The world is revolving around me.

Finally, I was in a place to build a great reputation.

And then life was like FUCK THAT!

~~~~~

After the first semester of eighth grade, Bruce was weirdly in my room and he said wanted to have a 'talk' with me.

So, during this talk, he was basically talking about the last three years of me being neglected by him and his family. To be honest, I forgot everything he told me, but honestly, I don't really care.

He also told the others about all this and now they suddenly feel bad which I don't give a shit about. But, I knew he was doing all this to guilt trip me, which was honestly so stupid.

Now, after he dropped that bomb, he told me that I had to drop out of school to do some "bonding time" with the others along with him and the people who actually cared about me didn't really matter at all!

I JUST GOT SETTLED IN!

All I said was "FUCK YOU" and just stormed out of my room with the only thing that I took was my diary that I had for quite a while that I never used before.

~~~~~

So, yeah. I'm currently in the attic, venting my feelings all out on this stupid glitter diary with a random pen that I found on the ground.

But whatever.

It doesn't matter.

Nothing matters...

My life is just a game.

A sick, hopeless game.

[corkinavoid]

DPxDC Fae!Danny But Make It Fantasy

I've already made a whole Changeling AU with fae!Danny, but guess what, I have decided not to achieve any level of chill with fae ideas.

We all know Danny is Ghost Kind. Now, what if he is a Fae Prince? A Prince of Winter, to be exact. Imagine all the ice castles (Elsa, I'm looking at you), the snowy lands, northern lights in his crown, a cape made of tiny ornate snowflakes. Crystalline ice swords, skin so white he doesn't even look alive, eyes clear and blue like a frozen lake. Formal gowns, ballrooms, duels and carriages pulled by horses made of snowstorms.

He used to be a changeling, put in place of Dan. Grew up in a village with his parents being witch hunters, or maybe just hunters in general. Meanwhile Dan, a human child whose place he took, grew up in a fae realm, surrounded by magic creatures and miracles.

But Danny couldn't hide he was a fae his whole life. He used to look human when he was a baby, but as the time went by, he started to look more and more fae-like. Jazz was the first to notice it, of course, but this was Danny, a child she practically raised, so she dealt with it. Their parents, though, did not.

Sam and Tucker are in the know, for sure. Sam used this opportunity to learn witchcraft - who is better to learn from than an actual fae? Tucker is a blacksmith, as is his family. The first thing he asked Danny when he discovered he is a fae, was "how in the seven kingdoms are you a fae, and you decided a blacksmith is your best friend?" because, honestly, not even Fentons have so much iron around them as Tucker does.

Now, you may be thinking of where the DC part comes in here.

Well, the Waynes are actually the royal family. Bruce is the King of Gotham, and his children are princes, princesses, and heirs. They are also protecting the country not only by the word of the law, but also from the other, more shady side. I think they should go by Shadows, not Bats, though, since I doubt a name like 'Batman' would fly in the fantasy world.

Constantine is a mage, the strongest one alive, and yet he couldn't care less for his uniqueness if he tried for a week. Diana is the Queen of Themyskira, of course. I think Krypton should be its own country or a continent, ruled by the family of El. Although Jon is the first heir to a throne, due to Kon being, well, a bastard in terms of medieval customs.

After Danny's race is found out by his parents, he leaves for the fae realm, and he offers his friends and his sister to join him. Tucker refuses, Sam and Jazz take him up on that, but Sam leaves shortly after - she mostly used it to get away from her overbearing parents. She is now a witch who lives in the woods all alone, and no one can find her. She keeps contact with Danny, though. Jazz is traveling both the fae and the human realms, just having fun with it.

Jason is part-fae. After he died, a cult has abducted his body - the cult leader being Ra's, of course - and used it for an experiment. They used some fae magic to bring him back, or, maybe, they have tried to merge a fae and a human, creating a chimera. This was the first option of Ra's trying to get closer to Bruce in order to take power. It was not a very successful option since both Jason and whatever was left of the fae inside him decided not to obey the madman.

Damian was... slightly more successful. He was not merged with anything, but his development was magically enhanced.

And now, while Danny is back in the fae realm and he is a crowned Prince of Winter, Clockwork has a problem. He knows humans are afraid of fae, but this is not a very productive way to go. And there is a timeline somewhere there that can fix it.

Of course, Danny is right in the middle of that timeline. Now, Clockwork just needs to find a way to help Danny make an alliance with humans.

[wizardprime]

the batfamily play minecraft

alfred: i don’t believe he can physically interact with computers

barbara: there’s always one person in the group who can do redstone and here it’s her. builds all the farms everyone loves having at the beginning of the game like the ender ender and a villager trading hall. as usual everyone would fucking die without her. servers she doesn’t join never really get off the ground for the most part because everyone is so used to having her farms on hand and gets lazy to play without them. would probably really enjoy elaborate progression mods like feed the beast

bruce: doesn’t get it. “what are you supposed to do?” “just whatever i want? that sounds silly.” if he gave it a chance i think it could be great for his mental health. i mean mining is basically meditation let’s be real. but let’s also be real he would try it for 5 minutes 30 if his kids really did the puppy eyes and then he would wander away and get killed by a zombie

cass: hard to say, honestly. depends on from what angle the game would be presented to her. she would probably enjoy the hanging out and the cozy atmosphere but she doesn’t strike me as the type to enjoy very grindy games beyond mindless resource gathering. she’d like hopping on the batfam server while everyone else is online and dicking around but alone i think she would just wander the landscapes aimlessly without progressing the game much.

damian: he’s collecting all the animals. 2.000 dogs and no sign of stopping. at least just as many cats. has wrangled half the passive mobs into his house, which is a wooden cube with a roof. it should be ugly but mostly it’s just really charming. i think he would enjoy the foxes

dick: also doesn’t get it. i think he’d prefer story based games or just straight up board games. he would enjoy the communal aspect and if someone introduced him to hypixel or something he would like that but i can’t see him enjoying casual minecraft unless it was a story based adventure map of some kind. he might like blightfall

duke: stacked. plays the game and plays it well. he has netherite armour while everyone else is just getting iron. he just strikes me as a minecraft kid. only other person who’s halfway decent at redstone, but only uses it to make cursed contraptions that give everyone else a headache.

jason: not the most impressive builds or the best with pvp but he likes to explore and creates really elaborate beautiful storylines into all his builds and the environments he cultivates that end up dragging half of the others into the plot. the kid who built fences around villages to protect the citizens from monsters. would enjoy mods that expand the minecraft world like better end.

stephanie: would play with incredibly silly mods that are all only working together with glue and hope. finding incredibly niche categories of speedrunning to complete just for fun; she actually gets briefly famous for setting a decent world record in something and would probably have many twitch followers if she didn’t already have med school and vigilante work to manage. maybe in another life

tim: doesn’t understand the term sandbox game and refuses to learn. he logs on and starts playing achievement hunter. not necessarily in a speedrunning way, but he does play the game like it has a tasklist. perpetual dirt hut tenant. either that or his unsupervised internet access as a child has lead to minecraft youtuber trauma

[sociopath-analysis]

Sociopath Profile: MCU Thanos

Appearances: The Avengers (2012, cameo), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2014, cameo), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019) Played by: Josh Brolin, Sean Gunn (motion capture), Damian Poirtier (2012)

While he isn’t exactly the perfect example of sociopathy with his genuinely good intentions and sympathetic characterization, there is no doubt made that what he is doing is absolutely ruthless. The Russo brothers described him as a “benevolent sociopath” and I can see that interpretation quite well while looking over his character once more.

[SPOILERS BELOW]

While he does have some empathy in the fact that he’s trying to help save the universe from itself, his methods come across as absolutely callous in nature. He plans mass genocide on a universal scale simply to help with the dwindling resources. He spent years searching for the Infinity Stones to finally achieve this and spent years slaughtering and conquesting to do it. All because he thought it would be helpful. He claims that it must be indifferent slaughter to be equal and balanced, but that also shows more of his callousness.

As you might imagine, anyone with a more sound mind might have thought of just maybe making more resources with the snap. However, this reflects another issue of his: his pride. He’s so convinced that he’s right about his plan after what happened on Titan that he cannot be swayed. He says that when he succeeds, he will watch the sun rise over a grateful universe. Even when his 2014 self comes to the present in Endgame and sees that people are still trying to fight, he deduces that the issue is that nobody is grateful as long as they know what is lost, so he decides to wipe out all life instead and restart from the ground up. It may seem that he just wanted to give an “I told you so” to the people of Titan for not listening to him and proving himself right.

This moves to another one of Thanos’ symptoms, his inability to accept blame. He does have some regrets for all the slaughter, but he believes it was all necessary to help the universe. This is his way of rationalizing his terrible actions. Convincing himself that he is doing the right thing. When people inevitably have a problem with what he does, he thinks that they’re ungrateful and not that he’s a borderline lunatic for thinking of such an idea.

It is exactly why he is able to do whatever it takes to achieve that goal. He has no limits as to what he will do to ensure that his plan gets accomplished. While it is clear that the morality issue still has him plagued, he believes he is the only one with the will to see it through. What he fails to realize is that he’s the only one with the warped mindset to think of it in the first place.

He does have superficial charm and manipulative talents considering that he has so many followers working for him. Then again, the fact that many of them have tried to kill him or stab him in the back in some way might show that he’s not as good at it as he thinks he is. Nonetheless, he still doesn’t come off like the lunatic that everyone paints him as. The Mad Titan surely is mad in his beliefs and behavior, but not in his tone. He speaks calmly and rationally, but this may also be a sign of how warped his mindset is. He speaks calmly because he sees very little issue with what he does.

Above all, even after we see him taking a peaceful retirement, even destroying the stones to ensure he doesn’t use them again, he is still fully convinced that he did the right thing. Thanos does not waver in his convictions even a little bit. He does show some remorse for treating Nebula too harshly just before Thor lobs his head off, but that only comes after she commends his honesty, something that might just be feeding his ego. And his 2014 counterpart in Endgame shows that he never saw his years of mass-murder as personal, but said to Cap that he’d enjoy destroying his “stubborn, annoying little planet” for trying to undo his so-called good work.

While his heart may be in the right place, his mind definitely is not.

MCU Sociopath List

[ma-lemons]

*Spy x Family Ch 66 Spoilers below*

Melinda Desmond is so interesting.

When she said “I do hope they can stay friends” to Yor concerning Anya and Damian, I couldn’t read her expression at all. She’s muttering, blushing, but her eyes look overly amused. Her lips are held together like she’s trying to suppress laughter. I don’t know if she’s being sarcastic about their potential friendship, or not.

What does that even mean?

Is she amused by Damian and Anya’s potential friendship? Does she scoff at it as in “My son, friends with your daughter? Unlikely.”

or does Melinda know/suspect about Yor and the Garden and instead she’s like “How can our children be friends? I know who you are, and I know that your marriage and family are fake and I find it funny that you think I’m offering friendship when I’m just trying to get close to you to expose you/bring about your downfall.”

or does she know about Anya and Project Apple? Does she know about it’s origins and what their latest projects were? Is she like “Damian and Anya won’t ever be friends, I’m just using you to find out more about your daughter and the laboratory she came from”. Or implying that she knows they won’t stay friends because the scientists from the lab are going to take Anya away?

I don’t know. The Lady Patriots and Melinda kept hinting that Melinda has a close inner circle and doesn’t really trust many people. But for her to just immediately accept Yor into her circle and admit that she pretended to forget to introduce who she was… it all seems very calculated. Is she working with her husband? Or is she the one behind curtain, holding all the strings? Does she go against her husband’s values and politics? Does she know the Garden, and is she an ally or an enemy to them?

edit: does it look like she’s nervous since she’s sweating? like either way, whether she has good intentions or not, she’s hiding something

[jinx-jade]

When A mother’s & A father’s world’s collide Chapter 2: Meeting Damian, Marinette’s pov

Marinette is unsure how she came to take care of and raise Damian.

When she had first met him, he was no more than a few months old.

Marinette had been doing her routine, destroying the League of Assassins’ world domination plans when she heard a baby cry. Moving quickly through the shadows, Marinette arrived at the room that seemed to be the source of the crying.

Slowly, Marinette entered the room, cautious of any possible attackers. Once she saw that the only person in the room besides herself was the baby she made her way to the decorative crib. This was too nice of a room for a common assassin’s child, most likely this was a high-ranking member of the league’s heir. She was unsure as to who this child was but figured that was a problem for another time.

 Marinette picked the fussing infant up from their bed, cradling them close to her chest in hopes of calming the baby. It took the child a full thirty minutes to calm down, having finally run out of tears. Despite the little one’s cries no one came to check on them, but then again, this was the League of Assassins, teaching a child that crying won’t get them anywhere isn’t even in the basics due to them believing good assassins will already know this as a natural response to how they are raised. 

Once the baby seemed to have calmed down they looked around a bit before making eye contact with her. Marinette is aware that she has always liked taking care of small children. That’s why she used to babysit when she was a normal civilian. For some reason, this felt different for her. The little one isn’t just some random small infant.

For whatever reason, fate has decided this baby will be someone important to her, the same way she felt Dick was when she met him in a random alleyway.

When the baby caught sight of her eyes they simply stared at them in what she could only describe as awe. At that moment she couldn’t help the soft smile that fell onto her features, her guard falling ever so slightly.

Marinette knows that her eyes are unusual, they’ve been so ever since she was twelve and had taken the mantle of Grand Guardian. The blue of her eyes is too bright and colorful to ever appear normal. Her pupils can shift from large and round like an innocent doe to narrow and sharp like a predator stalking its prey.

When her eyes had first changed to this unnatural form, she couldn’t help but hate them. To her, she looked inhuman, and with her abilities, she might as well be. The only reason Marinette can think of that she’s not classified as inhuman is her mortality. Being able to die like everyone else was the only thing keeping her human.

Marinette couldn’t seem to feel the effects of knowing what she is and hating herself for not having a normal life while she held this little one in her arms. The feeling once again of something she could only compare to her little bluebird.

She looked into the infant’s emerald green eyes, at this exact moment in time, she felt fully human, just like how she feels every time Dick comes to visit her in the temple in the middle of nowhere.

She could only imagine that her eyes must be soft and round, her shades of blue swirling around in a calming effect. Both she and the child stayed like this, silently staring at each other in wonder.

This small moment distracted her till she heard two sets of practically silent steps. If it weren’t for her animal-like hearing she might have been caught.

Marinette continued to hold the baby till they fell asleep, then gently placing them back into their crib before leaving the league’s hideout, fading back into the shadows just before the door of the baby’s room opened. 

Marinette appeared from the shadows in the kitchen of her temple.

“What… How? … you… shadows?” Dick asks, confused by her appearance, making Marinette giggle.

“You have a little bluebird that can send you halfway across the world on a whim, but chose to question Shadow walking?” Marinette asks through her laughter.

“Magic is weird,” Dick claims while shrugging his shoulders, taking a seat on the kitchen counter while snacking on some cookies.

“You know, I was starting to think you never left the temple.”He states.

“Ehh. I mainly leave the temple when underground organizations try to achieve world domination, so I have to interrupt their planning.” Marinette informs him casually.

“What!” Dick stares at her as if she said something strange.

“Happens more than you think.” Marinette states with a shrug.

“Aren’t you a vigilante? I pretty much do the same thing you do but with lesser-known and more dangerous people and groups.” Marinette explains.

“I didn’t know that!” Dick claimed worriedly, making Marinette giggle once again.

“Honestly some of the times I visit organizations are just weird interactions and no actual world or universe threatening thing,” Marinette informs Dick in an attempt to calm him.

“Ok. Then what did you do today.” Dick asked curiously.

“A little bit of both? I stopped an assassination plot to off some world powers. I also calmed down a crying baby.” Marinette says grabbing a cookie for herself.

“You ruined an assassination plot then calmed down a baby?” Dick looked at her strangely once again.

“Yeah. Don’t question it. There was just a baby, maybe a few months old so I picked them up and held them till they stopped crying. I could probably bring the kid here from time to time so they can get some actual attention that’s needed for social bonds to form.” Marinette thought out loud.

“Uhm… I’m pretty sure that’s called kidnapping.” Dick claims.

“And I’m pretty sure that I kidnap you from your guardians,” Marinette argues.

“... That… is a valid point,” Dick shrugs. “Can we go on a walk through the village?” he asks, jumping off the counter excitedly.

tag list: @eggadoodle @rosalineandrosemary

[stressedoutcanary]

Hold On - Jason Todd x Batgirl!Reader [PART 2]

WORD COUNT :- 2.3k

Warnings ⚠️: I don't even know if there are any...Swearing maybe?, mentions of kidnappings, actual kidnapping oh and also violence and angst :)

A/N 😋: I got lost while writing this so judge accordingly people. Also forgive me for any mistakes. I TRIED.

Part 1 , Part 3

•°•°•°•°

“JASON STOP!!!!!”, your voice echoed in the silent warehouse.

Jason stopped in his tracks as soon as he heard your voice, his mind was brimming with thoughts, questions and worst of all, emotions.

“Well, well, well, look who crawled out of her little cave”, He said smugly as he finally turned around to face you. The voice was his, you’d recognize that voice anywhere but it felt cold, devoid of emotions, hearing him like that sent a shiver up your spine. You could feel your determination slipping.

Even though you had your cowl on, Jason could still see how much his rampage was hurting you but he couldn’t stop now, not when all he had left to do was to capture Joker, beat the living shit out of that asshole and show Bruce how much of a failure Batman’s moral compass really is.

“Well? Got nothing to say now?... Why am I not surprised?”, Jason scoffed.

You took a deep breath, you were breaking down inside but you sure as hell weren’t going to let that stop you. You spoke, voice barely above a whisper,  “Jason...Jay...Stop all this...Please, come home, come back to the--”

“Manor? Home? Did you hit your head (Y/N)? Why in the hell would I ever go back to a place where NOBODY GAVE A DAMN ABOUT ME, WHERE HE REPLACED ME AS IF I MEANT NOTHING?!”, Jason didn’t want to lose control of himself, not in front of you. So with visible effort he calmed himself down, took a step forward and gave you a deadpan look.

“You all left me”

Your blood boiled at that statement.

“How dare you?! We lost you! We mourned for you! I mourned for you!”

Tears welled up in your eyes, listening to him you wondered whether he truly believed the words actually coming out of his own mouth.

“The Jason I knew was a roughed up street boy who still cared when many didn't, who called Bruce out every step of the way, who had this ridiculous favoritism for bread, who had the guts to take out a tire from the fricking Batmobile”, despite the dreadful situation you smiled remembering those sweet memories.

You looked him in the eye, pleading in a way, and you spoke softly, “The Jason I knew was The Robin to my Batgirl. This-this is just not who you are Jay, not really...So can you just stop?”

He looked unfazed by your words and cocked his head to the side.

“Princess, the only way you can stop me is if you fight me, knock me down real hard, make sure that I won't get back up again. Tell me Batgirl, can you do it? Do you actually have what it takes?”, he waited for an answer he knew wasn’t coming. As expected, all he was met with was silence.

Long, Painful Silence.

With that Jason knew what he had to do, he put on his red helmet and swung out of the nearest window, you couldn't stop him, for all your big talk, you just couldn't. He was right you failed him.

•°•°

You jumped awake with a start, bolting upright and immediately regretting your subconscious decision, the throbbing pain made you clutch the back of your head with your palm and you closed your eyes again to achieve some semblance of reality as a way of grounding yourself.

‘It was just a dream (Y/N)…just...a...dream’

You tried to lie to yourself knowing deep down that it was a memory, something you have already lived through, something you regret everyday. You swallowed the lump in your throat. It felt dry and your whole body was sore. You really should've called in early and then maybe Dick would've been the one stuck in this crapy situation and not you.

Pushing past your perplexed state you got up and took in your surroundings, there were vines hanging from the open roof, a LOT of flowers and some Venus flytraps by the corner. It wouldn’t even take being a detective to figure out where you were; The Botanical Gardens.

“How the hell did I end up here”, you muttered under your breath. This was getting out of hands.

“See Pammy I told ya Girl-Bat would rise and shine by now”

“I can see that Harls”

‘Poison Ivy and Harley Quinn, just great, is nobody in Arkham these days’

The duo descended down from the open roof through one of the vines and stood in front of you. Harley looked as happy as a 10 year old about to get their favorite toy and Ivy seemed to be interested in anything and everything that did not concern you. Classic.

“Why the hell did you both kidnap me?”

You jumped forward and grabbed Harley by the collar of her dress, in retrospect it wasn't the best move but it's not like you were thinking straight at the time anyway.

A vine wrapped itself around your waist and you were tugged back by such force that you were sure there was gonna be a big bruise there tomorrow. You skidded across the floor and finally stopped when your back connected with a bench. You were just too drained to fight back so instead you just crawled up and sat on the bench with a grunt.

‘Not fighting my way out of this one so for once let’s try talking’

“Whoa, should ya really be this obnoxious when ya got a concussion?”, Harley burst your thought bubble as she looked you over.

“Wait, Did you just call me obnoxious?!”

“But don'tcha worry I am a doctor and I got a PhD”

“In psychology!”

“I will fix ya in no time”

“Are you even listening to me?”

Just like that you saw Harley leave the room to go get some medical supplies, or well at least you thought that that's what she was going to do, you turned your face towards Ivy hoping that she can fill in the blanks.

“So you both finally done babbling? And here I thought it was never going to end.”, She looked at you from where she was petting her plant, and made her way over to you, something about her seemed genuine. You got the feeling that whatever she had to say, it won't be a lie.

“Try and not mind what Harley does, she's just happy to make new friends for girls night.” She sighed before continuing, “As for your question, last night we were near the Gotham Central Park when we saw a masked man dragging your unconscious body out of a building and into a van parked in the alley, so we kil-- we took care of him and brought you here”, She shrugged as if that explains why the Poison Ivy just saved your life.

"Wait that means Red isn't here", you whispered more to yourself than to others.

“Pam is Red!”, Harley said cheerfully as she came back out nowhere with a bunch of boxes which would've made you very uneasy if your mind wasn't already preoccupied.

“What Harley means to say is that if you are trying to ask about that gun loving leather jacket vigilante who wears a red helmet, then no we don't know where he is”

Her words sunk in and yesterday's memories flashed in your mind, your eyes widened under your mask as the realization hit you like a bus.

The missing people, the creepy mannequins, the medical journals regarding surgeries, the weirdo in the white mask instead of a face, the poster of some Pretty Dolls parlor; Now it all makes sense!

“Pyg!”

"Huh?", the women in front of you almost jumped at your sudden revelation.

“Lazlo Valentin aka Professor Pyg that's the son of a bitch who is behind all this mess, he's the one who has got Red Hood And it's all my fault! Now, He might be dead already! I should've known, I-I should've figured it out quicker, I should've done something, DAMN IT!!”, you buried you face in your hands due to the building frustration within you.

“Don't be like that”, you heard Harley's voice as a hand was placed on your shoulder, she sat down on the bench next to you, you turned your head and eyed her warily, seeing nothing but concern.

“Don't give up. Clearly this Hoodie person means a lot to ya so you get off your ass and go get him, don't you Bat People always find a way”, you looked at her for a moment, then jumped up on your feet.

“Can't believe I am saying this but you are right Harley, I need go and I will find a way to save him, but before leaving I wanna know something”, you looked Ivy in the eyes as you worded your next sentence, “Why save me?”

“It was just my way of replaying you for saving Harls from that clown once”, instead of elaborating Ivy just crossed her hands over her chest waiting for you to leave. You gave her a warm smile, something they are not used to seeing, from a bat of all people.

“Thank you Pamela”

With that you were out of that detour and onto finding the path leading up to Jason.

•°•°

Somehow you reached the safe house without running into some kind of trouble, with how your day has been going, you were completely expecting something else to go wrong. Thankfully it didn't. You took out a spare comms unit, keys for your bike and some aspirin to dull the headache.

Soon you were whizzing past vehicles at full speed triying to contact anyone available at the moment.

“Come on pick up, pick up, pick up! What's the meaning of giving us an emergency button when no one picks the damn thing up”, you spoke into a dead line, wishing you could just bang your head against a wall, on second thought not a good idea.

Two minutes later the call was finally picked up and a screen appeared on the dash of your bike, it was from the batcave and you could see Dick, Damian and Bruce in sitting in front of the computer, Tim was connected from what you assumed to be the titans tower. However Dick was the first one to pop the question.

“(Y/N) what's the emergency? Are you okay? We haven't heard from you since last night”

“Look no time to explain. Jason's been taken by Pyg and I need you guys to give me a location. Now”, you said gritting your teeth as you narrowly missed a truck for the second time this evening.

“Todd's captured? *tt* his incompetence precedes that of Drake”, Damian's snarky remark made Tim snap his head up.

“Hey!”

“Boys”, Bruce's stern voice made them quiet enough for the time being, “Batgirl you are injured and your emotions can compromise the whole rescue, go back to the safe house and let us handle this”, Bruce ended the transmission and it made you angry.

'He said that they are going to handle it, that means they know where he is, so now all I have to do is to get Dick to spill it out'

You dialed Dick back, hoping he would understand what you are trying to do.

“I know why you specifically choose to call me back and No I am not letting you go head first into danger without any of us with you especially when you are compromised”, Dick's tone was stern but laced with concern.

“Dick the last time Bruce said he will handle it, Jason died, look I know what he is trying to say, I get him, I can't blame him for wanting to look after me but you have to understand I have to be the one to get him back”

“Why?!”

“Because I can't lose him again! The last thing that I said to him was that I might never forgive him! Never forgive him for something that's not even his fault! You are my only hope at getting him back, please don't take that away from me, please”, you pleaded with him as you slowed down the bike to a stop.

The line was silent for a while, the thought about saying more to him crossed your mind; what you are feeling about Jason, how much he matters to you, how you've failed him more than once, but ultimately decided against it and instead you just waited for his reply.

You deflated as soon as you realized that the line was cut but the ping of a notification caught your attention; The map to the possible location of Jason.

“Dick Grayson, you big softie”, you smirked, your bike roared as you made your way on to the free way heading fast towards the Gotham outskirts.

Meanwhile at Professor Pyg's 'supervillain headquarters' :

Jason slowly woke up, assessing the situation he quickly came to the conclusion that he messed up and now he is tied up to what seems like dentist's chair.

“Great, there has got to be a new record I've set in this family for messing up and getting kidnapped”, Jason muttered under his breath, he tried to tug at his restraints to get free but it turned out to be fruitless. A blinding light was switch on above him and he grunted due to the intensity.

“Man, what is up with you people and light?! Turn it off already!”, Jason said as he tried to adjust his eyes accordingly, when he came to, he was met with his captor himself.

Jason just stared at the man in front, moving towards him, wearing a pig mask and holding a butcher knife. He has seen enough crazy but this guy might just rival the Joker himself.

“Pyg know you broken. Pyg make you perfect”

“WHAT THE F--”

°•°•°•°•

(I like to think I am funny)

Cute little extra note: Yes it is the second time I'm leaving you guys hanging and NOPE I do not regret my decision.

Tagging: @ladyperceval

[dork-empress]

Singing in the Dead of Night Pt 3

Lucy and Damian visit Metropolis.

Past chapters are under my tag 'lucy quinzel' and the whole fic is on my AO3 (url in my description). Please reblog and leave comments.

Flock of Robins

Timtiminey:Guys. Guys. Guess what???

Jason: I thought I deleted this chat.

Timtiminey: Ha funny you think I’d allow you to do that

Timtiminey: And you didn’t guess.

Dickbutt: Tim I’m on a mission.

Dickbutt:.....

Dickbutt: TIM CHANGE MY NAME

Timtiminey: You’re still not guessing.

Dick Grayson’s name was changed to DickiestButtiest

Stephaluffagus: Whatever Is It, Tim?

Jason: Why is Stephanie even on here?

Stephaluffagus: I was a Robin!

Timtiminey: And she asks the questions. Well, you SEE

Timtiminey: DAMIAN GOT A GIRLFRIEND

Stephaluffagus: WHAAAA?!:?HSLHFADSKLJFKL?????

Dick Grayson’s name was changed to DatAssTho

DatAssTho: Awwwww, that’s so cute!!!

DatAssTho: Our little hellion is growing up

DatAssTho: It’s like it was just yesterday he was threatening to stab us all

Jason: That was last week at dinner.

Jason: Who the hell said yes to go out with him?

Timtiminey: That’s the best part! The old man set them up.

Stephaluffagus: ALKSDAN LFKSNDAFLKNDASKLF

DatAssTho: Well thats just not fair. He never set up me on a date.

Jason: He put you on the Titans.

DatAssTho: Watch it, Todd

DatAssTho: Also, you type like an old man

Jason: With proper punctuation?

Stephaluffagus: Guys, we’re straying from the topic: Who is it??

Timtiminey: Harley’s niece, she’s got some like, clown ballerina thing going

Jason: QUINN?!?!?!

Jason: LIKE JOKER��S GIRLFRIEND????

DatAssTho: Dude, they broke up ages ago

Stephaluffagus: Yeah, she’s basically more hero than you are

Jason: You really want to go down THAT route Brown?

Timtiminey: OOOOHKAYYY

Timtiminey: Rest assured, the old man vetted the girl. She’s…..unique? I’ve only seen her file, or part of it anyway

DatAssTho: Bruce has secret files doesn’t he

Timtiminey: I think I made it through the first encryption, but I’m working on the next between other cases.

Timtiminey: After all, we have to make sure she’s alright for our little Dami-kins

Stephaluffagus: Isn’t he on this chat?

Timtiminey: He’s had this muted for ages

Jason: YOU CAN DO THAT?!

Timtiminey: I mean, YOU can’t. I will turn it off for you

Jason: …….

Jason: Well you know it’d be a shame if I

Jason: @DamianWayne

Timtiminey: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!

Damian: You’re dead Drake

DatAssTho: RIP

Stephaluffagus: He will be remembered

Jason: Prick.

“Get on already,” Damian said, exuding as much disinterested and grumpy energy as his body could manage.

Lucy skipped over to him, and looked at the seating arrangement on the Robin Cycle. “Hmm”, she said, “I don’t know if I’ll fit.” She climbed up to the back of the cycle only for her tutu to spring her backwards.

“What the hell is in that thing?” Damian asked, scowling. whatever had hit him was way more solid than fabric.

“Oh all sorts of things!” she said, “It’s my utilitutu!”

Damian really should have been used to this by now. “Your what.”

“Utility Tutu. I’ve got my balloon animals, my gas bouquet, my tamborine…”

“Well get rid of it or something,” Damian said, and was somehow surprised she did as was asked. Left in just a leotard, she hooked the tutu around her arm and jumped up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Luckily, he was wearing his helmet, so no one could see him blush.

He revved up the motorcycle to try and drown out his thoughts. They’d been particularly loud ever since Tim said what he said...and, maybe since Lucy said what she said.

Were they dating? Is that what was happening? Lucy had called it a date, but Lucy was weird. It wasn’t like Damian understood how these things were supposed to work. This was super not in the training regime for the League of Assassins.

Did he...want it to be a date? He was even less sure. Lucy was...odd, but she had grown on him. She was the exact opposite of him, cheery where he was brooding, she was peaceful, he was violent. She was...kind and funny and playful. He was super not. they were both smart, but that seemed to be where the similarities ended.

And yet, it kinda worked. She was pretty, in a girly way, or at least thats what he could tell from under her makeup. He’d never been...really interested in girls or anyone. He didn’t know what it was supposed to feel like. If this was how it was supposed to feel like.

Well, he wasn’t going to be forced to be in a relationship with anyone. If she tried anything, he would tell her no, in no uncertain terms. Then he could get Tim and the others to shut up.

Once the decision was made, of course, he was left to ruminate for the remainder of the ride. He might have welcomed some of Lucy’s chatter, just to get his mind off things. Damn Bruce, not letting him use the batmobile…

Finally, a blur appeared beside him. “Need a lift?” Jon asked, rushing along beside him. Damian couldn’t help a smirk as he followed him through the city.

They came to a stop in an alleyway, though it didn’t hide much. “Whoa,” Jon said, eyebrows raised, “Hello, who’s this?”

Lucy stood on the top of the motorcycle, slipping her tutu back on and giving a deep curtsy, “Greetings! I am Commedia, The Dancing Delight, Columbina of Gotham and--”

“She’s Harley Quinn’s niece,” Damian said, cutting her off, “Lucy, Superboy, Superboy, Lucy.”

Lucy jumped down, eyebrow raised, “Now, come on. Surely you boys know how hard it is being defined by those who came before you.”

“Yeah, Robin,” Superboy said, holding out his hand for her to shake, “Honestly, no manners. Nice to meet you, Comme...Colum..um.”

“Lucy’s fine,” she said, “Aunt Harley said it’d be good for me to go and see some of Metropolis, maybe get some shopping done.”

Jon smiled, “Well, there’s plenty to do around here, and you picked the perfect tour guide! Come on, Mom and Dad are working today. I’ll show you around.”

Damian followed the pair of them around at a pace where you could just barely tell he was part of the same group. He was in his black outfit again, with sunglasses so that Lucy couldn’t tell who he was, and all of Metropolis wouldn’t know Robin wasn’t in Gotham.

Jon took them on the full tourist tour, going to see the many wonders of Metropolis. Though, a few stops Damian was pretty sure weren’t on the main route, like when they went to the top of the Daily Planet building. Other than that, though, it was a lot of pretty buildings, old buildings, the Superman memorial/dedication (they just left it up when Superman came back) and other sites that were considered important.

Damian sulked, having seen all these before and not finding them any more impressive than the first time or any time after that. What did surprise him was that Lucy didn’t seem any more impressed than him. He would have thought she’d go Gaga over the tourist trappings, considering she react to abandoned (allegedly) mines like a family at Disney World.

But she looked at each one, nodded in appreciation, and went onto the next thing.

Jon was kinda weirded out by it too, Damian could tell, not that Jon was ever subtle. He kept looking to Damian as if to try and explain her behavior, not that he was ever going to be doing that.

“Ok,” Jon said, as they sat outside the capitol, “Is there anything you WANT to see?”

Lucy shrugged, “To be honest, buildings don’t really interest me that much. But I’m glad to have gone with you, of course.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Damian said, “What’s the point of going around like this if you don’t even like it? We went around all damn day for YOU!”

Lucy tilted her head, “We went so that Superboy could show us things and we could get to know him.” She smiled at him, “You clearly admire Superman a lot, and you’re clearly like him. I’m glad you get along with your dad so well.”

Jon smiled, confused, but appreciative, “Thanks?” Damian grumbled. “But, I’d like to get to know YOU better as well. So if there’s something you like, the city has everything.”

Lucy hummed, “I honestly mostly just like to people watch in my free time.”

Jon beamed, “Oh man, I have the perfect place then.”

With a hop, skip, and a kryptonian-powered jump, the three of them were in the rafters of the Metropolis Subway station, looking down at everything and everyone as they went by. Damian was just glad they were inside, and being underground had him feeling a bit more at home.

Lucy practically sparkled, leaning way too far over to look at everyone. “What are they saying? Can you hear them?”

“Uh, which ones?” Jon said. She pointed aggressively. “Well, that one’s a family on vacation, the dad there is going over the itinerary, he’s got it printed out. The daughter there is trying to get him to skip the museums so they can get to the aquarium faster.”

“Ohh, what’s at the aquarium?” Lucy asked, kicking her feet like a child.

“Some fish, jelly fish are cool...Oh, they got a new shark there, I think.”

Damian groaned again, “Ugh, who CARES? If you wanted to go to the aquarium, then lets go to the aquarium! Instead of just watching someone TALK about it! These are all just normal people!”

“Robin, dude,” Jon said, “If it’s what she wants, why not? We are here for HER after all.”

That in of itself would have been enough to shame Damian, but Lucy was staring at him. She stared unblinking, and unsmiling. It was actually creepy. Like she was staring through him.

“Nobody’s normal.” She said, very seriously, her voice no longer taking on the cheery affectation. “Not a single one that I’ve ever met. Many of them TRY to be normal, but it is an illusion. A moving target, an ideal that doesn’t exist and people are shamed for not attempting to achieve.”

Damian could feel himself resist leaning away from her. “Uh, Lucy?” Jon said, “Something you want to talk about?”

Lucy blinked like she was remembering she was supposed to. “I suppose it is personal to me,” she said, “My…mother was always a little scared of Aunt Harley. First scared of her success, then scared of her villainous career. She always wanted to be normal. She wanted…me to be normal. She was scared of what I’d be. Who I’d be like.” She smiled, an echo of her previous smile, “It’s not quite the same as being a disciple for a great hero like Superman or Batman.”

Jon was suddenly looking very awkward. “Well,” He said, “I mean, having Harley Quinn as your aunt isn’t that bad. And you’re good anyway! So, no need to worry.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lucy said, “It doesn’t matter if I was good or bad. It just matters that I was strange.” She tilts her head, looking down at the mass of people rushing back and forth. “Ever since I was little, people didn’t feel…real. They’re just. Stories. I couldn’t relate to my peers, as my teachers would say. I don’t know how to explain it. The only time I tried, my mom was so scared she sent me to a camp. One of those meant for bad kids to help them behave.” She tilted her head, “But they weren’t bad. They all had different stories. I realized there were no normal people. Just people with stories.”

Damian couldn’t have spoken if it was to yell for help. He stared at Lucy, trying to decide if he should be concerned or sympathetic.

Jon cleared his throat. “Well, I think you’re nice. And that’s what’s important. No problem with learning more about people and helping them.”

Lucy smiled, “Thank you.”

Jon’s head whipped to the side. “Ah, shoot, Dad’s calling me. I’ll be right back.” Lucy’s cheery attitude was back and she nodded, as Jon took off.

Lucy looked over at Damian for a moment. Damian felt he should say something. Apologize, maybe? He wasn’t sure what would be appropriate, and if it was appropriate, would Lucy want it. She worked on a whole other level, that was clear.

Lucy went back to watching people below her.

“My mom,” Damian started, not sure where he was going to end his sentence. Rule one of being in his family was to not reveal details about himself. But it was Lucy and she…she was his friend. “She was a…she’s a villain. I was supposed to be too. Maybe would have been if I didn’t go to live with Batman.”

Lucy nodded, “That sounds like a very interesting story,” Lucy said, “Thank you for telling me.” She tilted her head towards him. “Hey Robin, there’s this comedy place here in Metropolis I looked up. I was hoping maybe we could go tonight? I’m kind of a comedy nerd, and it’s always good to support people at an open mic. Maybe you’d even laugh once.”

Damian braced himself. This was a date. She was asking him on a date. He had prepared himself for this. “I can’t,” Damian said, the words practiced, “I don’t think of you that way. We can hang out and…be friends, but no.” There. No question about it.

Lucy looked at him, and tilted her head, thinking. “Ok,” She said, simply. Didn’t seem too heartbroken. It was a relief. “Hey Superboy,” She said, voice raise just slightly on the sounds of trains, “Do you want to go on a date to a comedy club tonight with me?”

There was a brief pause, then with a burst of wind, Jon jumped up back to the rafters. “Yeah, that sounds good,” and they shared smiles, “Robin, I can get her back to Gotham if you want to head home.”

Damian blinked, trying to process what exactly was happening. “I–,” technically, he wasn’t supposed to leave Lucy, for reasons Batman hadn’t been overly clear about. But if something was going to happen, she’d be plenty safe with Jon. Still, he wanted to argue this, even though he had nothing, and he knew he had nothing. “Sure, that sounds fine.”

Jon held out his hand to help him down, but he could easily get out by himself. And so, alone, he went home. And he didn’t understand the strange feeling in his gut.

Bruce stretched his neck coming down to the batcave, seeing Tim on the computer. “Commissioner Gordon has kindly invited Batman and Robin to the Wayne charity Christmas Party on my behalf,” he said, “I’ve got Dick coming down to wear the Batsuit for me. I’m going to work to have Damian as Robin, but would you and Steph take on patrols that night? At least some of us should actually be doing work.”

Tim didn’t answer. He stared blankly into the computer. Bruce sighed, most likely he didn’t hear him. “How long have you been down here? You’re going to ruin your–”

“Are you planning on telling Damian?” Tim asked.

Bruce paused and looked at what Tim was staring at. It was medical records of Delia Quinzel, specifically of her pregnancy.

Specifically the fake pregnancy records that Bruce had made. “What are you talking about?” Bruce asked.

��Please don’t insult me,” Tim said, face stoic, “You really think I can’t recognize your digital fingerprint all over these files?”

Bruce took a few deep breaths. “Have you told anyone?”

“Hell no,” Tim said, finally looking up, “And I cleaned up your mess. But I don’t know if anyone else has looked into this before now.” Tim glared at Bruce, “So I ask again, are you planning on telling Damian that you’ve put him in charge of protecting Joker’s biological daughter from her own father?”

Bruce came over and looked at the corrected records. They were, in fact, cleaner. Bruce’s were too normal. Tim added in complications that could have happened, just enough to make people think they’d already found what was wrong. “We don’t know what Joker knows.”

“Oh, and he just happened to escape Arkham and disappear at around the same time a teen starts hanging around his ex-girlfriend.” Tim said, dryly.

“If he does know,” Bruce said, “Then its our job to stop him. If he doesn’t, then we still stop him. But Lucy has a target on her back one way or another.”

“Which is why you put Damian in front of it?” Tim said.

“I trust Damien,” Bruce said, “To protect her. But I don’t want him to be biased against her because of her parents.”

“So, you’re putting him at risk, so that he can make friends?” Tim demanded, arms crossed.

Bruce took a deep sigh. “One day,” he said, “Lucy is going to have to confront where she’s come from. And the rest of us are too. I’m trying to give us all the best chance.” Bruce said, “Besides, Damian needs more friends other than Jon.”

Tim screwed up his face, then snorted. “Alright, old man,” he said, “I’ll go with your plan for now. But if something goes belly up, I reserve the right to at least one ‘I told you so.’”

“A fair compromise,” Bruce said, “What have you found about Joker’s movements?”

“He’s going quiet right now, which isn’t much like him,” Tim said, “But I think I’ve tied him to this fancy surgical robot that’s gone missing from Gotham Hospital.”

“Well, I’m sure there’s nothing mind-breakingly awful he can do with that,” Bruce said, sarcastically. “Let’s take it to the streets.”

Tim jumped up and followed him to the batmobile.

[verymuchimmortalcat]

Maribat March Day 13: Reverse Robins

ao3

@maribatmarch-2k21 

Their Ages:

Damian: 25

Tim: 19

Steph: 18

Cass: 17

Jason:17

Dick: 11

Marinette: 8

Jason had a plan to bring Tim home for the holidays. Tim hadn’t responded to the invitation that Bruce had sent him. It didn’t necessarily shock anyone but Marinette had been really upset. She adored her second eldest brother and on the rare occasion Tim was in the Manor or the cave, he was always accompanied by the eight-year-old who followed behind him chattering on about whatever she had found interesting.

Tim was probably given the same place as Dick had. Though everyone had accepted that if Marinette had a favourite it would be Cass. Which was understandable.

It was funny how Dick had latched onto Damian and Marinette with Tim. The two of them had somehow managed to get attached to the two brothers, whose rare interactions usually ended in arguments.

His plan was simple. Take Marinette with him on patrol and go to one of Tim’s safe houses. Let her use her puppy eyes on him and if that doesn’t work, Jason can probably bribe him with Alfred’s food. Jason’s sure they won’t have to resort to bribery. He’s seen the Damian Wayne give in to her puppy eyes. (Cass had managed to take a video and had sent it to Jon, who sent it to the rest of Damian’s friends. Damian had taken to threatening to stab anyone who brought it up but none of them took him seriously.)

All he had to figure out now, was how to sneak her out on patrol with him. Dick had started his training but Marinette had decided she was going to help Steph and Alfred with comms and whatever little help she could provide around the med bay. It was adorable. But none of that helped with getting her out of the house, even if he picks a day where he’s on solo patrol, Alfred would notice that Marinette was missing.

In the end he tells Alfred he’s taking Marinette to talk to Tim. Alfred agrees, probably because its weird to see the most cheerful person in their house being gloomy. Even Bruce had tried to distract her to help her feel better. Not that it had helped.

He tells Marinette about his plan and she agrees. Tim doesn’t show up in the cave in the days after he tells Marinette of his plan. He seems to be avoiding the family completely in fact. He’s sure Marinette’s noticed too. Marinette gets more and more excited before his next solo patrol. The day he tells her they’re going; she’s practically bouncing in excitement. The whole family notices but doesn’t say anything, glad to have their ray of sunshine back. Jason thinks Cass knows and isn’t saying anything but he isn’t in a hurry to find out. For all he knows Marinette might’ve just told her.

He stays behind in the changing rooms for a while. And once he’s sure everyone’s left and he comes to grab Marinette, he realises Dick is still there. Dick will definitely notice his sister’s disappearance but he might tell Damian if they tell him where they’re going. And if Damian shows up, Marinette’s pleading or not, they weren’t going to achieve anything. Thankfully, Dick heads back up a while later, he must have been tired out by his training.

Jason hands Marinette a domino mask and takes his bike. He knows better than to grapple around Gotham City with a child. Steph just smiles at them as they scurry across the cave. He’s not shocked, if Cass knows than Steph definitely knows. At this point he’s just glad Marinette didn’t tell Dick.

They head to the safehouse Tim had been in the last time. Hopefully, Tim’s there. Jason doubts he’s gone on patrol, since he’s been trying to avoid the rest of them, he’s probably just working on case files.

Tim is there. Jason parks his bike in an alleyway and hands Marinette the mask solvent. She removes the mask soon enough and they go to find Tim. Marinette knocks on the door. Jason behind her, hidden in the shadows. The door opens to reveal Tim with a scowl on his face looking straight ahead, and before he can make out Jason in the shadows, Marinette hugs him, joyfully squealing, “Timtam!”

Tim looks down, bewildered, at the tiny kid that has currently wrapped herself around Tim.

“Marinette? What are you doing here?”

Still clinging on, she continues to speak happily, “Jayjay brought me.”

Looking up Tim spots him immediately, stepping forward, Jason offers him a sheepish grin.

Tim narrows his eyes at him, “why are the two of you here?”

Jason ignores his question and says, “we should head inside, don’t wanna bring attention to ourselves,” gesturing to his costume. And Jason walks into the apartment, steadily ignoring Tim glaring daggers behind him. Marinette has stopped clinging onto Tim and is skipping into the house dragging Tim behind her once he shuts the door.

Marinette goes back to hanging off of Tim like a monkey once he comes to a standstill.

“Mind telling me why the two of you are here?”

“Don’t look at me, Pixie was the one who wanted to talk to you.”

He looks at Marinette, who offers him a blinding grin. Tim melts a little and sits down, Marinette now having settled on his shoulders. He can’t wait to check out the footage from his mask later. This is going to hilarious. Gotham’s scary anti-hero caving under grins from his littlest sibling.

Marinette cuts to the chase, clambering of his shoulders, she sits cross legged on his lap, eyes wide and pouting. Jason stifles his urge to giggle. She looks up at him, and says sounding so sad that Jason wants to wrap her up in blankets and eat chocolate until Alfred scolds them, “Bruce said you’re not coming to the Manor next week.”

“I- what?”

She sniffles, and damn is Jason impressed, “for the holidays, Damian came home yesterday, Jon will be there next week. Cass and Steph are both there, B’s taken the week off from work. You’re the only one not coming.”

He’s still staring at Marinette with wide eyes, and a confused face. But he sounds perfectly collected when he says, “And do the others want me there?”

She gives him an indignant look, “Of course they do, why would they send an invitation if they didn’t want you there?”

“I don’t know,” he says, phrasing it as a question.

“Great, then you’re coming,” she says happily.

“I am?”

Jason almost feels bad for Tim. Almost. He’s not physically hurt, the worst thing from this encounter would be when Jason sends his mask footage to Tim’s friends as revenge for the whole trying to kill him thing. Marinette’s going to develop a reputation of getting grown heroes (or anti-heroes in this case) to cave under smiles before she meets any of them.

Marinette continues cheerfully, “yup. It’ll be so much fun. Alfred promised he’s gonna make everyone’s favourites. Yours included. And then the gifts. Don’t forget to get gifts, by the way.”

“Uh…sure.”

They’ve been out for at least two hours, if they don’t leave now, they might not make it back to the cave before the others do. Before Marinette can start on another tirade, he interrupts her, “We’ve gotta go now, if we don’t wanna be grounded.”

Marinette pouts but she gets up. She hugs Tim one more time and makes him promise that he’ll be there the next week. She skips out of the apartment happier than Jason had seen her all week.

They reach the cave before the others. Marinette informs Alfred and Steph that Tim agreed to come and Alfred ensures her that he’d take care of the necessary arrangements and that he’s glad that she convinced Tim to join them. She casually says, “he thought we didn’t actually want him here, that’s silly. Of course, we want him here.” She misses the sudden pain in Alfred and Stephanie’s expressions

Steph puts a hand on the bouncing Marinette’s shoulder, “maybe you should keep reminding him.”

Marinette looks at her and nods gravely, “ok.” She yawns then and Alfred sends her up to bed. Telling her she’s had a long night. Marinette wishes them all good night and rushes up the stairs.

The next morning Marinette informs the others, that ‘Timtam’ will be joining them and they have to get him a gift. No one provides Bruce with an answer when he asks how she knows, even though Jason’s sure all his siblings know by now.

True to his word Tim shows up the next week. He leaves at the end of the week. But Marinette and Jason now have an established system. It takes Tim, three more times of the same process before he catches on. He’s not immune to it though. So, every time Tim turns away from their “family bonding” Jason takes Marinette to whatever safe house he’s in and Marinette talks him into coming. Eventually they don’t need to do that and Tim just agrees the first time.

Being Dick's sister, she's been performing most of her life, she'd be able to pull off the whole fake tears thing..

[akimmito]

Heroes are made by the path they choose

Previous | AO3 | Next

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

Chapter 8

Marinette is sitting on a bench, phone in hand, dark glasses and a black coat; she remembers several years ago when she was in this same place meeting with Marianne. Now she's back, but not to recall memories of her embarrassing adolescence. No, she's in that place for business, the place is solitary enough for a meeting without attracting too much attention, especially if it's information that she doesn't want anyone to hear.

"What's so important?" She speaks when a person sits next to her, she doesn't need to see him to know who he's, after all, there is only someone who should be there at that moment and in that place. She made sure that it was, a little magic to persuade people not to pass.

"I heard that a demon wants to get one of your jewels in Turkey, I'm not sure of his motives, but an angel was bothering me to do something. You should talk more to them. "

"Yeah, because it's very normal to befriend angels. The casual Friday of every human. "

"You would be surprised, they're a lot of fun… until they harass you relentlessly, they can be very annoying when they want. "

"That's my point." She smiles and takes off her dark glasses at the same time as he does. "What else do you know? You wouldn't ask for a meeting just to tell me that, knowing how much you run away from relationships and human interaction in general. "

"Well, darling, it's always a pleasure to see you. Any gathering is worth enjoying your figure. ”Marinette laughs and prepares for whatever she will say next. "The Shadow League searches for their heir. They called hell and found out that the boy was not there, Ra’s was willing to make a deal to retrieve his body and bring him back to the Lazarus Pits. It's only a matter of time for they to locate him, you must be careful. "

"Ra’s doesn't like to be betrayed." she murmurs. "How did you get the information?"

"A lovely encounter with a demon and one of those assassins, the poor man I was trying to protect, all wanted him very dead. The demon didn't kill him, but there was nothing I could do against a murderer like that, I barely made it out alive and now I have a new beautiful scar on my leg. "

"One day like any other, you're a lucky man."

"Since that night it only increased, I must thank you." He leans toward her with a smile.

"Do you want to go for a drink? To thanks for the information. ”She smiles back. The two get up immediately and begin to walk the streets of Paris, Marinette makes sure that a glamor covers them both to avoid being bothered. She grabs his left arm and he leans into her to whisper in her ear, tickling her skin where his breath hits.She laughs "Now, what has become of your life, John Constantine?"

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

Cooper @ KCoopL98

It is a wonderful day, nothing can ruin it. Not even you, damn butterfly!

Alix @LostHeroBunnix

The more mysterious you are @MariLenoir, the more curiosity you generate in us.

Chloe B. @BourgeoisQueen

@LostHeroBunnix, right?!

Adrien A. @AdrienAgreste

@LostHeroBunnix @BourgeoisQueen I saw her walking to the Sena, wearing a black coat and putting on sunglasses. Very suspicious.

Epic Kim @Epic_OrginalChampions

@LostHeroBunnix @BourgeoisQueen @AdrienAgtreste What if she has a secret lover? With the demon boy she has for a son, I would sneak out too.

Damian @DamianLenoir

@LostHeroBunnix @BourgeoisQueen @AdrienAgreste @Epic_OriginalChampions Mother has no secret boyfriend or lover. Imagination must be a nice place, but get out of there.

Epic Kim @Epic_OriginalChampions

@LostHeroBunnix @BourgeoisQueen @AdrienAgreste @DamianLenoir Look at him, poor baby, he's in denial.

Damian @DamianLenoir

@LostHeroBunnix @BourgeoisQueen @AdrienAgreste @Epic_OriginalChampions Denial is what you'll feel when they tell you that you'll not be able to swim in a year.

Alix @LostHeroBunnix

@BourgeoisQueen @AdrienAgreste @Epic_OriginalChampions @DamianLenoir How much violence, please, I want to be present when it happens

Felix @GarahamV_Felix

@LostHeroBunnix @BourgeoisQueen @AdrienAgreste @Epic_OriginalChampions Why do we need tabloid newspapers? You do a great job, guys. If you're going to speculate nonsense, do it via text message. Uselesses.

----------

Marinette returns to the country house when dinner is over, only to be greeted by Damian as soon as she opens the door. The boy looks incredibly threatening with his arms crossed and a suspicious look, she has returned too late.

"Where did you go, mother? I can smell the smell of alcohol and it's barely 9 pm, you must have left Paris two hours ago, too early to be drinking. ”He frowns more, looking her up and down, noting the differences in her outfit since he saw her leave, realizing that the black stockings are missing.

"I just went for a walk and stopped at a bar." All right, she shouldn't be so intimidated by her son, but Damian does it very successfully. In her defense, he was trained to be a killing machine, he knows very well how to stand and look to achieve that effect.

"Alone?"

"Uh, well..."Marinette is just a little drunk, so that helps the questioning go so well for the boy.

"Because you don't bring your stockings, I can also smell a cigar aroma and I know that you don't like nicotine, you are disheveled and you have a mark on your neck. "Damian is hurt to list everything he can notice, he didn't even try to further hide the evidence. He really hates Kim, especially because he was right.

"He's a... friend..." She doubts, actually, she doesn't have the slightest idea of her relationship with him. Adventure of one... two, no, three... yes, three nights, maybe?

Is he so bad that his mother must hide her partner from him? He's not going to bite him, just a subtle threat with a knife, nothing too so bad.

"Mother, you don't have to while. If he hurts you, I will mutilate it, but if you agree… ”The rest is not understood because he's said in grunts and, for less understanding, in Arabic.

"He's a friend, Damian. I met him four years ago while investigating a series of murders that ended up being the victims of sacrifice for a cult that spread to various regions of Europe. "The boy heeds his words, he did not think she was going to tell him about his friend, like if I really believed it was just that. When she passes him, the smell of cigarettes is much stronger, reinforcing the idea that it was not quality time for friends. "We started investigating it and he took us to Liverpool, where I met him. I was investigating the case with Felix, but seeing the circles and rituals performed, I diverted it in another direction while I followed the correct leads, I had the feeling that I would end up facing something darker than just a cult."

"And you met him." He sits down on the couch across from her, Marinette takes off her slippers and sets them aside. She thinks for a moment before continuing.

"Yeah, he was also investigating. These people seemed to want to carry out a demonic summoning ritual, I didn't know their real motives for this, but I wasn't going to wait for them to succeed… unfortunately they were successful the night we faced them, Azrael, nice meeting. "Damian barely flinches at his sarcasm. "You can't imagine the problems we had in sending him back to hell, all while Plagg was laughing at us. "

"In my defense, I knew you would win." The little god comes out of Marinette's coat. "And next time you meet the alcoholic guy, don't take me. Unless you want to face another demon or angel, you are fun when you do. "

Marinette sighs, of course the Kwami of Destruction would love the amount of chaos those beings generate.

"Whatever, we met several times later. He seemed intrigued by Plagg and the fact of my magic is very different from anything he had seen."

"Tell him when a possessed woman attacked you in a bar! It was fun. ”Plagg laughs as he remembers it, all the chaos it caused in the few minutes she was there. He loved it, it was a great day.

"I didn't know you were involved in that kind of thing." He admits, it's something he never thought would be related to his mother, as kind as she's, no one would ever imagine.

"Sometimes, but they are only favors for him. I prefer not to get into such situations, they are always prone to end in a real disaster. "She sighs looking at his hands.

"It's so much fun." Plagg laughs as Marinette shakes her head.

"Yeah, we know chaos amuses you." She smiles wearily and gets up. "I'll go to sleep... Damian, I love you so much."

Damian just watches her go after saying those words to him, he didn't expect her to say that to him. He knows that she loves him and he wants her back, that's why he tries so hard to always look presentable when they go out and not cause any problems, he doesn't want his reputation to be ruined because of him and for that reason she'll no longer wants him by his side. It would be terrible.

And that's why he doesn't like the people who approach her, what if they don't like him? What if they demand that his mother get rid of him? What if she gets a partner who doesn't want him around? He will couldn't accept it.

Seeing Talia three nights ago still haunts him, even though it was just an illusion created by the Akuma. When he thinks about the League he only feels two things, fear that he will be taken away from his mother and fury at what they did to him.

If he ever returns to the League of Assassins, it will be to exterminate them all.

-----------

Tim Drake @TimDrakeW_

The only good thing about going to Paris is that I already have an appointment with Marie Lenoir for a suit. Thanks @OliverQueen!

Roy @RoyHarperQ

@TimDrakeW_ You failed to thank me? I was the one who felt sorry for you because Dick is dragging you to Paris with him.

Jason @IAmYisus_XD

@TimDrakeW_ @RoyHarperQ He turns off notifications for his posts, he won't tell you anything.

Dick Grayson @TheFlyingGrayson

Tomorrow we arrived in Paris, the last time I visited the city I was six years old and still in the Circus. I have a whole tourist route to follow!

[ethelphantom]

and once the truth’s revealed

Heya! It’s Daminette December and Ethel’s back at it again with trying (and probably failing) her hand at doing month long challenges. Oh well. I will be doing some of the prompts as art and some of them I’m just going to skip, but let’s see. Here’s day 1, “Just a friend”. You can find all of my prompt fills under #Daminette December on my blog, so yeah. 

On Ao3  

This fic is MariBat, so if you don’t like it, do not read it.

_____

“But Marinette, just the way you look at him—”

“But what? Luka, I love you  and you’re my best friend and all but you’re gravely mistaken here”, Marinette said, interrupting her friend. She sighed and crossed her arms on her chest, frustrated out of her mind at Luka.

Why would he say she liked Damian? He was a good friend and Marinette loved spending time with him, but she didn’t think of him as more than that, surely. It wasn't like she wanted to know what it would be like to walk hand in hand whenever they were out on town without it being an awkward ordeal, or what his lips tasted like or felt like against her own, or what it would be like to show him off to her parents and then proceed get embarrassed by both of them because especially her papa always asked weird questions from anyone he thought might start dating her.

“Look, Mari, I know you don’t want to admit to your feelings after how it went with Adrien, and after finding out I liked you and you had to reject me, but he could make you really happy. All I want is your happiness, and if you find it with him, I support you. Besides, I accepted you don’t like me ages ago, you don’t need to be so careful about it. It’s fine”, Luka said sighing and put his hand on Marinette’s shoulder, squeezing it lightly. “Seriously, ask anyone and they’ll tell you that you look at Damian like he hung the stars and the moon. Even Kagami has seen it, and you know how she is with this. Chloé kept complaining about you being so oblivious for like an hour to us without taking a single breath, I swear.”

Marinette shook her head. No, she really did not like him, she was sure. Damian was amazing and always took her feelings into account, even if he didn’t always express it very well. And unlike her classmates, he actually defended her and stayed on her side even after Lila tried to interfere with things. No — he had, three seconds flat after Lila tried to get him wrapped in her web of lies as well, shot her down, told her to leave him and Marinette alone, said he couldn't have cared less about her obvious lies and then led her away to talk somewhere more quiet.

The only one in the class that she knew was on her side was Chloé, and since even that was a rather recent development, she wasn’t sure what to think of it always.

(She did scoff at Lie-la, Alya and the rest of the class the week before and told them to pull their heads out from where the sun doesn’t shine so there was that joy, Marinette had to admit. If someone had told her a few years back she’d actually be friends with Chloé fucking Bourgeouis, or that she would have appreciated her in any sense without being sarcastic, she would have laughed at their face. Now she was actually happy about it and wouldn’t change it for the world.)

And sure, she loved hearing Damian laugh. It was rare, it was really, really rare, but even so it happened sometimes, and she loved it. It wasn’t even the “You’re an imbecile and I’m superior to you” kind of laughter he apparently had according to Jason, but the “I’m laughing because I genuinely enjoy being with you and that was funny” kind of laughter.

“No, it’s not like that”, she then said, only to earn a frustrated groan from Luka who ran a hand down his face.

“Mari I swear—”, Luka began before he buried his head in his hands. “Okay, let’s put it this way. By what nickname does he call you again?”

“...Angel.”

“Now, how does it make you feel like?”

“Happy and warm. It’s nice when he does it.”

“Alright. Then, if I were to call you that regularly, how would you feel about it?”

“It would be kind of weird since you never do it but I wouldn’t tell you to stop.”

“And how about Tim? You two are close friends, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, we are. I think he’s done it a few times, too. He did it when we met for the first time anyway.”

“So, how was it? Was it the same as with Damian?”

“Well, it was nice, I suppose, but no, it wasn’t… Why?”

“Damian called you that when you met for the first time, right?”

“Yeah? Then he stopped until he did it again after we’d known each other for some time and Jason tried to steal the nickname.”

“So, did it feel the same as it did when you met Tim — or Jason, apparently, why wasn’t I aware of this — for the first time?”

“No, but like— Luka, stop that. Seriously, you questioning me about nicknames they have for me won’t get you anything. He’s just a friend!”

Luka stopped where he was massaging his forehead and, lowering his hand enough for her to see his eyes, he raised his eyebrow. “Did you— Did you just say Damian is just a friend? Did I get that right? Please tell me I didn’t hear that right.”

The doubtful, disbelieving look in Luka’s eyes made Marinette want to back away slowly and then flee. It was concerning since Luka wasn’t like this often. Only when one of their friend group was being more dense and stupid than usually. “Yes…?”

“Marinette Jiaying Dupain-Cheng I swear—”

“Not my second name.”

“I’ll use whatever I want as your second name when I need to young lady— Marinette Jiaying Dupain-Cheng I swear to god if you say that god forbidden sentence one more time, I’m going to hand you over to Chloé and Kagami without hesitation.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Fucking test me.”

“Gasp I’m going to tell Dick you swore in front of me.”

Luka sighed and shook his head before looking Marinette in the eyes again. “Mari, you know how Adrien finally got a clue and figured out he did, in fact, have a crush on you after you’d already decided you no longer liked him?”

Marinette looked at Luka with confusion. What was he talking about, she really didn’t understand. “Uhh… yes?”

“Well, the reason he never realised it in time was because he kept telling himself you were just a friend.”

He was right, that’s what she remembered hearing from Adrien a few too many times, but this wasn’t the same thing at all. She’d gone out of her way for him so many times, tried to make him happy by sacrificing her own happiness, listened to him every time he wanted to tell her something, supported him with everything, and he still hadn’t realised she liked him — or that at some point, he started liking her. It wasn’t nearly the same thing with her and Damian… right?

Except that it kind of was.

Now that she thought about it, it was exactly what Damian was doing. He went out of his way for her when she asked for help, sometimes even when she didn’t ask for it and rather told him not to do it because she felt like she didn’t deserve it. She had just thought it was a trait born from being the son of the richest man on earth, nothing more. She felt kind of like a jerk for thinking that now. No better than Adrien and his endless obliviousness, at least.

He supported her and her dreams and even tried to help her find ways to achieve said dreams. He listened to her endless ramblings until it got too late and he either had to leave or he told her to go to sleep. It was another thing if she actually went to sleep after it, but Marinette appreciated the concern anyway.

Oh.

What was happening now was definitely a lot like it was back then, though she wasn’t sure if he liked her that way. The possibility he didn’t was a little painful and she felt a stab in her heart. Besides, what kind of a friend actually thought about and wanted to know how it would be like to kiss another friend if they were nothing more than that?

“Oh.”

Luka shook his head and smiled at her as she proceeded to lose her mind over it. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

“But Luka, what do I do now? What if I lose my ability to talk in front of him? Or what if I ruin our friendship? Or—”

“Mari, calm down. You’re gonna be fine. He’s still the same Damian. Maybe you could just tell him how you feel, and then when he knows, you’ll either start dating and he’ll make you happy, or he’ll reject you, you’ll stay friends and you can start moving on. He won't hate you for liking him, nor would he be so shallow that he ended your friendship over it. You’re gonna be just fine.”

Marinette bit her lip before returning the smile. “Thank you, Luka. You’re amazing, I couldn’t ask for a better friend.”

With one swift pull, Luka had her in a tight hug. He squeezed her and replied with an amused snicker, “I try my best.”

[wordsfromthesol]

Aren't You the Bad Guy? (1/3)

Author: @wordsfromthesol Pairing: Dick Grayson x Reader Summary: You are Lex Luthor’s secret daughter. Why does he keep you so hidden? Warnings: Language, suicidal thoughts, violence, blood Word Count:  1.8k A/N: I was inspired by events that happened in Titans and their approach to Jericho. I don’t think there are really spoilers, just a similar origin story. Enjoy!

Part Two   Part Three

Growing up was no picnic, especially having Lex Luthor for a father. His public image was just that, an image, his true self was only shown to a choice few. You, unfortunately, were one of those few. Your mother had left you with the receptionist at LCORP twenty-four years ago and Lex had made sure that no one knew he had a daughter…after all he didn’t want all his enemies to use you against him.

You still weren’t sure that was the only reason, but there wasn’t much you could do about it. You were his number one test subject, in fact you had lost count of the number of experiments you had been a part of. Not that you ever really remembered what he was trying to achieve…only the pain. You only ever remembered the pain. You quickly learned how to file that information away, push it far back into the recesses of your memory. Sometimes you just wanted it to be all over, you wanted one of his experiments to go too far so you could be done, but you were pretty sure your father would find some way to bring you back to life. In fact, you weren’t entirely sure that he hadn’t already done so.

At least he let you live somewhat a normal life, in-between the experimentation. You worked at a local bakery and lived in a modest apartment just outside of Metropolis…after all he needed you close-by.

***

“I’m tired of this bullshit!” Dick punched the wall of the batcave. “We still have no idea what Luthor’s plans are with this drug! Hell, we aren’t even sure what the fuck it does!”

Tim let out a long sigh and finally broke the silence, “I may have something that could help.” He typed into the batcomputer and pulled up your file, “This is Lex Luthor’s hidden daughter. Y/N.”

“Dick…we can’t.” It was unusual for Jason to be the voice of reason, but this was taking it too far. “She may not even know anything.”

“But what if she does?! We have to know…this is the only way.”

***

A familiar face walks in the front door of the bakery. Familiar in that your father made you memorize all the civilian identities of known vigilantes. Dick Grayson, what could the boy wonder be here for. More like what nonsense has my father done now.

“Hey,” Dick flashed that signature flirty smile your way, “I’m interested in a cake. For my youngest brother’s birthday.”

Well at least he’s not drilling you right away, let’s see where this goes. “Alright, what flavor were you thinking?”

“Well, I’m not sure. He can be a bit difficult.”

“Okay…well we can make cakes in all the flavors you see here.” You pointed to a row of cupcakes in the display case. “You can always get the cupcakes now, and see what kind he likes best?” This was often your go-to suggestion for those tricky customers.

“Hmm…good idea. I’ll take one of everything then.”

You nodded and prepared the box, just as you felt a headache come on. Ignoring it, you ran the customer up, and – to your surprise – he actually turned to leave. Maybe it actually was a coincidence he came into your shop. Dick had just opened the door when he heard you scream. Quickly, he turned around – dropping the box of cupcakes – and raced to your side, catching your collapsing body before it reached the ground.

“Guys, I may need your help in here.” Within seconds Jason, Tim, and Damian enter the shop.

“What the fuck Dick –” Jason began as he watched your body writhe in pain.

“She just collapsed! I didn’t do anything, I was leaving, I swear!” Dick tried to recall the events in his head, just as two very large men entered the shop.

“We will be taking that one.” One of them scoffed and pointed towards you.

“Yeah, I don’t think so” Tim called out as he charged the men, Jason and Damian following in his lead.

“We got this Grayson.” Damian called back, as Dick picked you up and raced to the batmobile, placing you inside and giving you a sedative for good measure. Even in the supercharged car, it would take over an hour to get you back to the Manor.

Dick had just got you situated in the med-bay when his brothers entered the cave.

“Want to enlighten us on today’s events Grayson?” Damian questioned his older brother.

Dick just shook his head, unsure of what actually happened himself.

***

It took days for you to awake. This is not the bakery…but also not Lex’s lab. At least, it wasn’t one you were familiar with. Carefully you pulled the tubes from your arm and face, and swung your legs over the edge of the bed. You tested your legs before fully standing, but soon you heard footsteps. Quickly, you laid back down and shut your eyes, focusing in on the voices.

“Maybe we should call M’gann. Seems like a mental issue” Tim reasoned, as physically, you seemed fine.

“How are we going to explain the fact that we have Lex’s daughter? Think before you speak, replacement.” Jason scoffed at his younger brother.

“Well, we don’t have many options. It’s been nearly 72 hours since she’s been awake.”

Suddenly their voices stopped, and you heard the door to your room open. Finally, you heard Dick break the silence.

“Y/N, we know you’re awake.”

You sighed and opened your eyes, realizing the tubes lying on the floor had given you away.

“So, this M’gann person. She’s the Martian right?”

The boys exchanged confused looks, there was no way you should have been able to hear them, nonetheless know who M’gann was, but Tim spoke up anyways.

“Yeah…we think she can help, uhm, see into your mind.”

“As much fun as that doesn’t sound.  I agree with Tim here. Don’t worry, Jason, you don’t need to give her the full story on my…familial ties.”

Jason scoffed, “Yeah, she can get into your mind, so I don’t think there’s any hiding that.”

You just smiled and shrugged at him.

M’gann was at the cave mere minutes after Tim contacted her. No words were said, but you knew a conversation was happening. She walked into your room, and you just nodded, not wanting to reveal any information the batboys had left out.

You felt her invading presence in your mind and quickly closed off sections unrelated to your current predicament before joining her consciousness.

“You must be M’gann…so I think this is the issue.” You pointed towards your memories of Dick Grayson.

“Yes, it seems someone has tampered with…” you could tell she began to feel all the people who had previously raided your mind, “your memories. It seems a pain response is initiated when in contact with certain people.”

“Can you get rid of it?”

“I can try, but I’m afraid that I can only dull the pain,” she closed her eyes, seeming to find the source. “The implanted pain response goes back much too far. How long have people been manipulating –”

“Look,” you cut her off, not wanting to provide any answers, “just do what you can. I’m sure I can handle whatever pain is left.”

Both you and M’gann resurfaced from your mind. M’gann started to immediately inform her friends of the failures, “I was able –” However, you immediately cut her off, they didn’t need to know.

“Thanks, M’gann. I already feel so much better.” You then warned her using your thoughts, if they know anymore, they could be in danger. Let me handle this. She simply nodded and left through the same Zeta-tube she arrived in hours before.

You took a few days to gather some of your strength back before you decided it was time to leave. You couldn’t give your father more ammo to hurt you, that’s why you had avoided any kind of relationship in the past. Gathering your things, you made your way to the front. You watched as Dick spotted you and proceeded to run towards you. All you could do was sigh before you opened the door, however you quickly shut it. Shit. No. They found me. You raced past Dick to the back of the house and into the backyard. You jumped and pulled yourself just above the fence when you spotted even more of Lex’s goons. You collapsed to the ground just as Dick approached. You held your finger to your lips and took him by the wrist, leading him inside.

“Where’s the rest of you?”

“Uhm, they are in the cave…Y/N what’s wrong? Why are you trying to leave?”

Ignoring his questions you continued on to the cave, the three boys looked up at you as you entered. “Alright, whose got something to locate a tracker? Like one embedded in you?”

Once again, the boys exchanged confused looks. You were getting real tired of those faces, it was Lex Luthor, you didn’t understand why anything surprised them when it came to your father.

Jason stalked over and pulled out a device. “This will find it, but we will have to come up with a way of getting it out.”

You snatched the device from his hand and found the tracker just below your collarbone on the left side of your chest. You scoffed, of course he would put it near the heart.

“That’s going to be a difficult place –” Dick’s face contorted into confusion, then shock as you grabbed the knife you stowed away in your boot and cut deep into your chest. You dug your fingers into the gash and felt the tracker, but your fingers were too big.

“Tweezers, anyone?” You called out, but everyone seemed frozen in shock, until Damian made a move to the nearby med-bay and walked out tweezers in hand. “Thank you, Damian.” You chimed, as you took them in hand and pulled the tracker out. Fuck you dad. You walked over to the sink and threw the tracker down the drain.

“Alright, guess I have to wait for those idiots to follow the new signal.” You directed your comment to the boys, but you really said it out loud for your own reassurance. It did seem to snap them out their fog.

“Y/N, what the hell.” Dick grabbed the medical kit and approached you, forcing you to sit on the edge of the hospital bed.

“What? You guys would’ve talked about the easiest way to get the damn thing out for hours. It needed to be done, so I did it.”

Dick glared at you as he disinfected and sewed up the fresh wound.

[ten-ten31]

Dear Yuletide Writer

Dear Yuletide Writer,

Thank you so much for writing for me! :) I can't tell you just how excited I am. This is my first Yuletide and I guess I'm super nervous, but also looking forward to it. :)

Please feel free to browse my ao3 (KitKaos) and/or tumblr to get an idea of what I stan, like, read or write. I hope I can give you some broad ideas and inspirations in this letter to help you plan. Do feel free to fall back on my general likes if the prompts don't do anything for you. Or just use the prompts, whatever works best for you. Oh, and should you, dear Yuletide Santa, want to write in German and not in English, then I'm definitely okay with that. I'm fluent in both, so whichever you feel more comfortable with. If there's something missing or if you have a question, you can reach out to me via the mods.

General likes: I'm a sucker for the old friends-to-lovers or even enemies-to-lovers (with all the drama of grudginly admitting that the other party maybe isn't all that terrible and all). Things I'll never get tired of include coffeeshop AUs, spy AUs, musical AUs, found families, fake dating, pining, crossdressing, drunken shenanigans, fish-out-of-water situations, pop culture references, etc. Just about any kind of scene you can sneak in there about cooking or eating food (also characters being picky about certains foods and other characters going to some lengths to accommodate that) will make me happy, too. I do have a thing for descriptions of food and expecially impressions of taste - and if you want to make it kinky: food play. ;) I also have a bit of a hand fetish - so descriptions of hands are always welcome. If you want to do it, I probably also won't say no to someone breaking the Fourth Wall, any kind of alternate history AU, crossovers of my fandoms, or even some lovely steampunk aesthetics.

Do Not Want: rape/dubcon/noncon, watersports, scat, humiliation, A/B/O, soulmates AU, vampire/werewolf AU, second-person pov, character bashing of any kind.

*

Fandoms

Just two more thing before I go into detail: 1. The prompts below are nothing more than ideas - feel free to ignore them if you have a better one. :) 2. Not all of the characters need to be used in every prompt; pick and choose as desired.

*

Dial H for Hero (DC Comics)

- Summer Pickens, Miguel Montez

The 2019 12-issue run is just pure love! There is worldbuilding galore, relatable characters, a wonderful coming-of-age and initiation plot, interdimensional shenanigans, the question how Joe Average could get addicted to sudden superpowers, and so much fun with the concept of Superhero Secret Origins. Summer is a wonderfully strong and caring female lead and Miguel is a self-conscious little oddball.

As for prompts: Seeing more of their Metropolis adventures or Red/Yellow/Blue/Black Dial transformations would definitely be a lot of fun. Also, there's this cute boy Miguel asks out in the comics and I would love to see that first date. And what about Summer? She definitely won't be reduced to sidekick!

Feel free to include any other ((teenage) superhero) cameos you feel like. Please do not pair up Summer and Miguel romantically - although I don't have any problems with a fake relationship fic for them. ;)

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Masks: A New Generation (Roleplaying Game)

- any / worldbuilding

I only just disovered Masks as an RPG, and ever since I started playing, it's probably the most fun rping I've had in a long time. I love that playbooks are not by the type of power but the type of problem each teenager faces personally. Like, how do you juggle school, first love, being different in a way no one should know about, being different maybe in a way people will immediately see, adults telling you who to be, chores, and being part of a young superhero team that wants to make a name for themselves? It's hard. And the best sessions alternate between deep emotional connections, hilarious teenage drama and great action scenes.

As for prompts: I would love me some good worldbuilding - so maybe there is a reason the Scarlet Songbird is still around? What was Halcyon City like back in the days of the Golden-Age heroes? What has changed since then? How do especially the older generations view the naming conventions going around for new heroes? Is there a code to follow? Who in Halcyon City pays for all the damage to buildings and infrastructure caused by superhero-supervillain fights? What was it like back in the olden days for the Golden Age heroes as opposed to now?  Are there cultural exchange programs with any of the alien races visiting from time to time? Give me a day in the life of an average Halcyon City citizen - they don't even have to be all that close to an epic fight or something. Just their way of coping with the daily madness of a huge city housing most of the world's superheroes. If you like something a little more character-specific: The one actual-play podcast that does it best in my opinion are the Theatre of the Mind Players with their "Future Shock" and "Past Tense" seasons of Masks. And I would love to read more about these characters. Have Sparrow and Figment finally get together. Give me a glimpse of how Horizon assembled his ersatz mom. What will Helix and Remix get up to?

Where to find it: The core rulebook is available from Magpie Games. The Theatre of the Mind Players’ Masks sessions can be found on Youtube.

Super Sons (Comics)

- Jonathan Samuel Kent, Damian Wayne

Super Sons is how I finally came to like and care for Damian Wayne - which, if you know me, is a major achievement! He is still a huge brat, don't get me wrong, but Jon's influence on him and the way he is confronted with certain issues he has... it's magical! It's wholesome! It's healing! They are both so fiercely protective of each other, and they both grow as characters from their experiences with each other.

As for prompts: So, dear Yuletide Santa, give me character growth and banter and friendship galore. I can see slumber parties at Wayne Manor or at the Kent farm. I can see them getting lost in space and time. I can see more adventures once they're at the same school. I can see a canon-divergence AU where Jon is finally admitted into the the Teen Titans at age 13 - how would that go? Or how about an Interrail Buddies AU?

If you want to write slashfic for them, I will not say no but would probably prefer to age them up a bit. I also most definitely don't mind any background appearances of any of their families.

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Superman Returns (2006)

- any (Clark Kent, Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen, Richard White)

I still love this movie a lot - not because it's particularly spectacular, but it treats the characters with love, it treats the legacy of the Reeve movies with love and it leaves SO MANY questions for fanfiction authors to answer. ;) I mean, I've been a Superman fan for a long time and I've discovered that I'm most comfortable with a Clark who wears a mask both as Clark Kent and as Superman, who isn't either of those two (and who is fallible). And whenever someone learns of his secret identity, they will see that he's so much more than either Clark or Superman. I know Lois is a fairly underdeveloped character in this movie, so I would love for her to be treated not just as a prize, especially since there were those years of her having to put her life back together after Supes just up and left.

As for prompts, I've always wondered about the different coping mechanisms (Lois turning bitter, Jimmy starting up daydrinking - WTF?!) and just how their day-to-day business changed without Clark and Supes there. Give me the Planet staff banding together to rescue Lois when she remembers just that second too late that there will be no superhero to save them (I also wouldn't mind any of the Bats helping out secretly, if that's up your alley). Give me Jimmy trying not to think too much and instead getting on Lois' nerves until he's rescued by Richard intervening. I am also an absolute sucker for continuation fics, so how do things settle down after what happens in the movie? I would love for some real Clark and Jimmy bonding moments, maybe even Jimmy finding out or having known all along and covered for Clark. I would love for some truce and real friendship blossoming between Clark and Richard, as they are both intelligent, compassionate, insightful men. If you want to include Jason anywhere, feel free to do that, as he makes for such a wonderful catalyst for disaster. Feel free to write gen or any canon pairings - I'm also okay with non-canon het/slash pairs (or threesomes) as long as they make sense in-universe. ;)

Where to find it: Sadly, the movie doesn’t seem to be streaming anywhere, but since it’s 14 years old now, you can buy it relatively cheap.

Young Justice (Comics)

- Tim Drake (but do feel free to have any of the other characters in the story, too)

No matter if you're into the old 1990s YJ comics, the companion comics to the cartoon show, or the new 2019/20 version of the comics - I love all of them! So much I don't even know where to begin... The snark! The lovable teenage stupidity! The friendship that goes above and beyond! My definite favourite is Tim, because he is such a bright, snarky, secretive, repressed little bird (the moment he takes off his domino mask to reveal a second one underneath? priceless)! I also love his deep friendship with the others because that's his found family. Yes, Batman is his mentor (even though Tim might understand B better than the other way round sometimes) and Dick is his older brother and idol (hero worship, anyone?), but Young Justice is where he wants to be himself and all of it.

As for prompts: Even though I did not put either Cassie or Cissie in my request as I want something Tim-centric, the dynamic with those two strong-willed girls is definitely something I would love to see explored more. Also how the dynamic with the bats is so very different than the Young Just Us dynamic. What's it like being the one without powers in a group of hormonal teenage superheroes? I also just realized that I would love to see more of Mister Sarcastic trolling the rest of the gang. Or how about: What if Tim had powers for one day? If you're into the 2019 comics, how about a 5+1 of Why Drake May Or May Not Be A Good Superhero Alias. If you want to include the rest of the gang, you're definitely more than welcome to. Tim and Kon's bickering and outright arguments in the beginning turning into such a solid friendship (or more) is something I can read about time and time again. Pretty much the same goes for Tim and Bart. Or how about some Wendy the Werewolf Stalker shenanigans? Why is having girls in your group a bad/good idea? How did Cassie's becoming the team's leader affect Tim's sense of self? Heck, if you feel like it, open up the love triangle Tim-Cassie-Kon since there's like a ton of history there. Oh, and anyway, why is Stephanie Brown never part of any of Tim's teams? Dear Yuletide Santa, do also feel free to include any of the other teens (I have a soft spot for Li'l Lobo/Slobo).

Where to find it: Your trusted comicbook supplier.

Overall, I’m sure I’ll love what you have for me, and I'm looking forward to reading it! <3

[codenamed-queenie]

Who do you think has the best voice in batfam? How do they all sound like? Who has the best soprano voice and who has the jazzy baritone? Who has the customer service voice nailed? Spare voice headcanons please?

Alrighty, now this is my kinda ask!

(I’ll just apologize now for the length...)

I love the idea of a singing batfam, so here are my (long rambly) headcanons:

Bruce: As Batman, he sounds like a chain smoking grizzly bear gargling nails. But as Bruce Wayne, his voice actually isn’t bad. Singing-wise, he was one of those ‘prodigy’ children, growing up. Martha Wayne was best friends with a famous opera singer, so she insisted on teaching Bruce everything she knew about vocal performance. As a result, he has a beautifully rich baritone voice, and a pretty freaking incredible range. And as far as any member of the League or general public are concerned, Bruce/Batman doesn’t sing at all, so don’t ask. But with his family? Bruce has been known to crack a smile and sing a few lines on occasion. When he’s on his own? He lets loose. Sounds like Hugh Freaking Jackman.

Kate: Her voice is very clipped and to-the-point, which kind of fits with her personality. Could not carry a tune in a bucket, but that’s fine by her.

Dick: Dick sings second tenor. He didn’t sing much as a kid, coming from an acrobat family and all. But after Bruce took him in, Alfred took it upon himself to change that. He’s got a pretty great range, all things considered, and once Alfred got him hooked on singing, the boy does it nonstop. He’ll sing on patrols, he’ll sing as he fixes himself breakfast…basically anytime, anywhere. Songs off the radio, songs his friends introduce him to, that annoying jingle for a car commercial that’s this close to driving Tim insane? All fair game. Bruce once walked in on him while he was doing a dramatic rendition of Sia’s Chandelier–while literally swinging from the manor’s crystal chandelier. (Musicals are probably his favorites to do, though, btw.)

Jason: This boy has a deep voice. Definitely a bass. When he talks, it’s a little raspy, but not in a bad way, and he’s also got a bit of a Bowery accent. It especially comes through when he’s tired or ticked off. When he sings, though, he can go higher, all the way up to baritone if he wants. But while he’s been known to sing soulful, heartfelt pieces when he thinks no one’s watching, his true passion is for rap music. On Gotham’s streets, it’s pretty common for street kids to have impromptu rap battles, and you’d best believe Jay could hold his own.

Tim: Let’s face it. His parents were the kind of folks who signed their kid up for every activity under the sun. Soccer, Lacrosse, Underwater Basket Weaving, you name it. Why not vocal lessons? And Tim, ever the perfectionist, worked at his voice until he was satisfied with his own ability. His voice is higher than his brothers’; he sings first tenor, and can go up to second alto if he warms up enough. (I feel like he’d sound like Sam Tsui–check him out on Youtube!)  A few years back on patrol, he was a little too close to an explosion, and suffered a bit of hearing damage. So when he talks, Timmy’s just a little louder than everyone else, unless he works really hard to bring his volume down.

Barbara: As far as anyone else can tell, she’s never taken a voice lesson in her life, yet for whatever reason, this girl is just naturally gifted. (It frustrates the heck out of the others.) Her voice is a smooth alto. She almost never sings, though.

But being both the Oracle and a librarian in her off-time, she deals with dozens upon dozens of frustrated heroes and bookworms on the regular. Her customer-service voice is eerily on-point. So she either sounds pleasantly ‘eager to help’–or vaguely threatening. If she uses it on any of the Bats, they’re 110% more likely to do anything she asks. Especially Dick and Jason.

Stephanie: Huge musical theater kid growing up. When someone’s singing through the comms on patrols, if it’s not Dick, it’s definitely Steph. She’s a soprano, but has the best range out of anyone (aside from Bruce). Because of this, she’s always trying to imitate the others. To their surprise (and chagrin) she’s getting pretty good at it. So far, Steph has Tim, Damian, Cass, and Dick down to a T. She’s still working on the others, and someday hopes to achieve Bruce’s Bat Voice.

When she sings, she loves to initiate duets with her siblings. Tim and Jason will indulge her, more often than not. Sometimes Cass and Barbara will join in. Bruce has only caved once (and if asked, he will deny it). But Dick? He’s her go-to choice, since he’s DTS (down to sing) all day, every day. Once these two get going, they don’t stop until one of them loses their voice or the entire family shouts them down.

Cassandra: Cass has a very clear, soprano tone. It’s absolutely gorgeous, but she’s very shy and sensitive about her voice, and rarely sings. Whenever one of her siblings is injured and/or laid up in bed, though, she’ll softly sing them lullabies while they recover.

When she chooses to speak, Cass is very soft spoken, but has ways of making herself heard if need be.

Harper: She has a thick Jersey accent, and a no-nonsense tone of voice. No one has ever heard her sing, though. (She would not sing if someone put a gun against her head, tbh.)

Duke: Everyone figured he’d be into rap like Jason, since they came from roughly the same part of Gotham, but Duke’s true passion is jazz. His dad was in a jazz group, and Duke inherited his father’s smooth jazzy baritone. Low-key, he has the best voice out of all of them, and he’s super passionate, since music was a huge deal to his biological family. He loves singing during quiet nights in the cave, or on patrol. He’s gotten the most standing ovations from random cops and citizens, and even the mayor asked him to perform for a charity event once. (An offer Duke respectfully declined.) Out of all the others, he was voted ‘Most Likely to Burst Into Brooding Song On A Rooftop Somewhere’. Bruce is so proud.

Damian: Everyone hoped he’d inherit his father’s golden vocal chords, but for now, he seems to have taken after his Aunt Kate. This frustrates Damian to no end, and for a long time, he hated listening to any of his siblings sing, knowing full well that he couldn’t join them. After months of watching the kid shrink away from anything musical, Jason had enough. He sat the youngest Robin down and taught him an art form he’d picked up from the streets of the Gotham City Narrows: beatboxing. At first, Damian thought it was crass and inelegant, but he eventually got into it. Now? He’s very good at it. The kid has mad skills, and more often than not, his siblings’ll ask him to back them up during rap battles or musical numbers. Maybe he’ll grow into his voice someday, but for now, he’s totally fine with just ‘dropping a beat’ for the others.

Alfred: Has a very thick cockney accent, but can mimic just about any other British accent whenever the fancy strikes him. Like every other aspect of the butler’s life, his singing career is an enigma. The others have heard him sing before, and he’s actually pretty good. But sometimes, random people will come up to him on the street, gushing and screaming his name while they beg for an autograph. There’s a running bet amongst the batkids as to what that’s all about, but so far? It’s anyone’s guess.

Headcanons are my favs, guys, so feel free to ask!

[unavenged-robin]

There have to be rules to this, Damian had said with the utmost seriousness the night he’d made this particular offer to him for the first time, and Bruce had nodded with the same solemnity, barely holding back a smile.

He’d been so relieved, though. This is something he used to do with Jason and Cassandra - way, way back - but he never dared to suggest it to Dick or Tim, out of fear of crossing a painful line they both had drawn for him. And Damian… well, things with Damian have always been harder, more painful and complicated than they needed to be, so Bruce really had no clue how his youngest son would react to his proposal.

Still, it had felt so natural to ask. Not like a duty or a responsibility, but like a pleasant necessity. The bittersweet memories of his own childhood may have played a heavier part in this than Bruce is willing to admit to himself, but this isn’t about him, although there’s a selfish pleasure to it. He’d missed this.

The first rule is that I must be able to see it too, Damian had announced that first night.

Seems reasonable to me, Bruce had answered in all sincerity, since he already knew the explanation for that request. He knew that it was the boy’s way of saying I don't need you to do this for me, I can do it perfectly well on my own. I don't want you to think that I'm not capable of doing it.

He understood. But it hurt anyway.

The second rule is that it must be confined to its appropriate time and space, Damian had continued, counting on his fingers.

And what do you want them to be?, Bruce had asked even if there wasn’t a real question there. But Damian needed to feel in control, and Bruce wanted to give that to him. He was ready to accept whatever request his son would demand, and he was fairly convinced that Damian would come up with something absurd and unreasonable just to challenge him: Bruce would pass the test anyway.

But Damian hadn’t push him. Hadn’t made it difficult for them to find an agreement. In hindsight, that alone said something.

The third rule is that this is not an obligation, so there must be no expectations of when or if it will ever happen again, Damian had resumed then, and there had been something different in his voice, something that suggested to Bruce that those weren’t his own words, that he was just repeating something he'd heard. He felt like he had to pause.

Did Talia ever do this?, he had been compelled to ask.

Of course she did, Damian had answered with a puzzled expression. She was my mother.

Bruce hadn’t missed the past tense. He had actually played it in his mind for a long minute before archiving it for a future conversation.

I would like to do it as many times as you want, he’d concluded and Damian had smiled in his own unique not-really-smiling way. But Bruce was better now at catching the little things, the tiny cracks in Damian’s armor that Dick had seen first, and had enlarged enough for him to take care of the wound under it.

Then we are in agreement, Damian had beamed, extending his hand for Bruce to shake. He had done so with his best business face, then he’d rested the other hand on Damian's shoulder, squeezing gently. Damian had allowed him to.

Thinking about it now, it had been one of the weirdest discussion he’d ever had with one of his children, but it had led to tonight, to this.

This is the library, huge and silent in the winter night, illuminated only by the dancing light from the fireplace and the solitary beam of the lamp behind Bruce’s back, aimed directly at the pages of the book that he’s holding in his hands.

This is the ledge under the library’s larger window, where Bruce is sitting with his legs stretched out, Damian curled up next to him, his head resting on his father’s shoulder, sleepy gaze focussed on the story they are reading together.

This is the snow falling slowly on the other side of the glass, creating dancing figures that fade away as soon as they lay their eyes on them, short-lived daydreams piling up on the external sill in small white heaps that begin to melt against the warmth of the window.

This is Bruce reading in a soft voice, Damian dozing quietly against him but still trying to listen to the words, an old blanket draped over them, Titus and Ace resting at their feet, the paintings of the rest of their family looking down at them almost with kindness.

There had been other discussions about it. Which books to read, which ones to avoid, which genres they both liked and which ones they disliked. Even this spot under the large window is a new thing: at first they agreed to read together in an armchair or on one of the sofas, so that it would be easier to find a position where they both could read the book together. But Damian liked to watch the snowfall whiten their garden, and Bruce was fond of this particular niche since he was Damian’s age, so they’d spent the afternoon here, reading and watching the snow in a quiet bliss.

It wouldn't have happened if they both hadn’t been benched by Alfred after a long string of exhausting patrols, and Bruce feels a pinch of guilt for that.

Damian yawns and rubs his eyes with the back of his hand. He’s been nodding off for a while now, lulled by his father's voice and the warmth of the fireplace.

“Do you want to go to bed?”, Bruce asks softly, putting aside the book for a moment.

He feels Damian shake his head and turn a little to his side to borrow his face into Bruce’s neck.

“Want t’ know h’w it ends”, he mumbles, eyes already closing. “Keep reading to me?”

Bruce suspects it wasn’t intended to be a question, yet the uncertainty is tangible in his son's voice. But he’s surprised too: this is never happened before. Damian’s always insisted they should read together, and he’s never allowed Bruce to read to him.

That would be childish, he’d said once, with blatant disgust, and Bruce never insisted. He was already happy about their arrangement as it was, he didn’t want to push.

But there’s something that pulls at his heartstrings in this small concession on Damian’s part: he’s giving him the permission to treat him like a child, like his child. And, as weird as it sounds like, it’s probably one of the best achievement of his life that his children allow him to be their father.

He feels like a sentimental old fool, but he has to swallow a lump in his throat and clear his voice several time before he’s able to start reading again. Thankfully Damian doesn’t comment, maybe because he’s too sleepy to even mock him.

So Bruce reads, and he listens to Damian's regular breath, and he feels happy in a way that is both very new and very old at the same time.

“Damian?”, he says after a while, almost like a second thought, but before his son gives in for good to sleep.

“Mh?”, Damian hums back.

“I love you.”

It’s something he shouldn’t have to say and, at the same time, something he knows he doesn’t say enough.

Damian sighs happily then he makes the great effort to lift his head just enough to kiss him on the cheek, briefly, but without shame.

“Next time I could read to you in your bed”, Bruce proposes tentatively.

The little nod he gets back feels like the biggest win.

[violetsmoak]

Appetence [2/?]

AO3 Link:https://archiveofourown.org/works/20251420/chapters/47997634

Blanket Disclaimer

Summary: Red Robin is investigating the disappearance of a friend and stumbles into a spot of supernatural trouble. He doesn’t expect to be saved by Jason Todd, miraculously alive five years after his death and now with the inexplicable ability to commune with the dead. Meanwhile, when Jason returned to Gotham he meant to maintain a low profile and not get involved with Bat business. That was before he found out how hot his Replacement is.

Rating: PG-13 (rating may change later)

JayTimBingo Prompts This Chapter: N/A

First Chapter

Canon-Compliance: Alternate Universe; Jason still died but was not found by Talia when he was resurrected. All other events mostly follow the same chronology as New Earth continuity, with mentions made to events in New 52

Author’s Note(s): Enter Tim. And Tim's investigation. And Tim's tendency to make bad decisions.

Beta Reader: I’ll get back to you on that.

________________________________________________________________

Red Robin crouches on a rooftop in the Bowery, watching the thief he was just interrogating scramble from the alley. He was a bit harsher than usual tonight—the full ‘hang ‘em by the feet’ routine that’s more Batman’s thing than his, but he’s getting frustrated now.

Dante’s been missing for a week now, and in this town, that’s never a good sign. And if no one’s seen him…

His gut and five years of stalking the night as a vigilante are telling him he shouldn’t get his hopes up about finding his friend, but he can’t work up the courage to stop. To just, pack up and head back to California.

Things between him and the Family are…tense.

Bruce hasn’t quite been able to look at him without suspicion since the whole incident with Captain Boomerang and Freeze. Dick’s as focussed on Damian as ever, and whatever attention he has left over has been going to mentoring Duke. Steph and Tim are in another extended “off” period of their on-and-off-again relationship, Damian’s…Damian. And Cass isn’t around often enough to mitigate any of that.

As much as Alfred assures him it’s not the case, Tim’s been feeling more and more like Gotham doesn’t have anything for him any longer.

He never thought he’d ever feel like that.

Gotham is dank and dark and terrifying, but it’s home. It’s flying through the air and running across rooftops and diving into trouble at the last second to save the day. It’s everything he wanted when he was a kid, secretly following Batman and Robin around with a camera almost as big as he was.

But every year now, it feels like the city is a little danker, a little darker, a little more terrifying. A lot more hopeless.

Part of him thinks that hopelessness started growing following Jason Todd’s murder. Tim did his best to be there for him, but it’s been an uphill battle. And every year, the fight for Gotham’s soul becomes an even bloodier war of attrition, consuming more and more innocents.

Reminded of his goal tonight, Tim decides to involve himself more directly.  

He rappels down to the alley floor and resigns himself to several hours of canvassing a hostile neighborhood. Though fear is an excellent motivator for some, for others a different approach is needed.

People are unlikely to tell a stranger—even a rich stranger—anything worthwhile. Especially here in the Alley, where throwing money at problems get people’s backs up. There’s a sense of pride down here, and an us-versus-them mentality that even the most destitute ascribe to.

And vigilantes are pretty firmly in the ‘them’ column.

Tim has better luck than most here; Red Robin has been frequenting this place a lot over the years, almost from the moment he put on the cape and tights. The other capes never bothered much with it—except for Jason, who when he was Robin made a point of ending his patrols with a quick check of his former home. Tim sometimes thinks that maybe his tendency to come here is an homage to that, a way of keeping his predecessor’s legacy alive.

Of course, he’s never said anything like that to anyone in the family. Even years later, the grief is still too raw. If he’s asked, Tim maintains that he’s cultivated a careful network of informants and contacts in the Alley, and nothing more.

I mean, it’s not like I can go wandering around Crime Alley in the middle of the day.

Tim Drake-Wayne’s face is too recognizable, causes too much trouble. People are desperate here, might try to grab him and use him to extort money from Bruce—and he’d have to let him because he’s not supposed to be able to handle himself. Bruce would come, of course, or whoever’s nearest that Oracle can get on the comms, but it would mean interrupting actual crimes in progress, with actual people who are in danger.

A worse alternative would be if whoever has Dante—and Tim’s sure someone has him because the kid wouldn’t just vanish on his own—they might harm him. Because Tim is the adopted son of the man funding Batman, and if they think he might cause them trouble, most people willing to kidnap are also willing to murder.

All of which assumes that they haven’t murdered him yet.

Tim’s plan of approached hinges on the locals actually being in a helpful mood tonight, but he soon discovers that’s not the case. No one’s feeling talkative tonight, even when he ramps up the intimidation a little.

Either there’s someone out there they’re more afraid of, or they really don’t know.

It’s only in the early hours of the morning when he’s considering returning to his Park Row apartment in defeat, that one of the working girls finally takes pity on him.

“Watchin’ you go back and forth is makin’ me dizzy,” Rhonda says. She’s been working the corner of Park Row and Fifth since before Tim’s time, and though she rarely goes out of her way to get involved with the capes, she does tend to be bluntly honest if the situation is right. “Who you lookin’ for?”

“This kid. Or anyone who’s seen him,” he says, pitching his voice into his approximation of Bruce’s Batman growl. He holds out the glossy picture he’s been flashing around all night; he took it off a security camera and increased the size of. “He was working at the bodega on the corner of Parker and Main just outside the Alley.”

“A bit weird for a cape to give a shit about some kid from ‘round here. Don’t you freaks normally deal with the bigger freaks?”

“Have you seen him or not?” Tim insists, ignoring the jab.

“Who’s he to you, sugar?” she asks, glancing at the picture Tim brandishes. “And don’t give me no bullshit.”

Tim sighs, knowing better than to test her; she’s got Alfred levels of talent when it comes to lies.

“He’s a friend of sorts,” he explains. “Sort of…a protégé. I’ve been looking out for him the past few months.”

Which is sort of true, though not in the way he’s implying.

During WE’s years board meeting to examine the various applications for the Scholarship Program, Tim took note of an applicant whose overall qualifications were outstanding and whose even on paper looked like a major boon to the company.

But the Board of Directors took one look at Dante Garcia’s prior assault conviction at age twelve and decided to toss his application. Without even reading the excellent essay the kid wrote to explain the reasons he had been fighting (to defend a friend from a police officer with a grudge). Or how the experience made him want to become an advocate for those who couldn’t afford it.

It was a brave move, being upfront about the criminal record, but likely Dante knew it wasn’t exactly something he could hide. His record wouldn’t be sealed until he was eighteen.

Tim tried to argue that one mistake made for good reasons shouldn’t deny a bright kid the opportunity and that Dante was clearly of the same caliber as Tim, just without the last name to help him.

(He hadn’t mentioned that Dante reminded him of another boy from long ago, given a second chance and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.)

He was still outvoted.

From the way the old bastards were looking at him, Tim felt sure it was more because of who he was than who Dante was.

The petty bastards never did get over the fact they have a teenager for a boss.

In spite of the Board not agreeing with his vote, Tim already decided he intended to help Dante. He tracked him down to speak to him in person and get a better measure of him.

He was immediately impressed upon their first meeting, especially when he discovered how easy it was to converse with him. He has an intelligence that reminds him of Duke, but his attitude put him in mind of everything he knew about the second Robin.

“I’m going to figure out a way to get you a scholarship,” he told him two weeks into their acquaintanceship. “Even if it’s not from the Foundation, we’ll figure it out. I’d be willing to hire you on at the Neon Knights if you’re interested. Criminal records aren’t exactly a deal-breaker there.”

(Especially since most of the people working there were once part of or are in the process of escaping gangs.)

“That sort of thing will look good on a resume and open doors for you, including getting you into events and putting your name out there,” Tim continued. “The Knights also sponsors educational initiatives, so you can get your general credits out of the way and eventually transfer into a college program of your choice.”

Dante stared at him, suspicious. “Why you doing this, man? You don’t know me from Adam.”

“Because I was taken in by a man who didn’t think someone’s last name or financial background should be an obstacle to greatness,” Tim replied honestly. “My brothers and sister came from harsh backgrounds, but he didn’t let that stop him from taking them in and trying to help them achieve their potential. They’re all good kids that could have gone a very different way if he didn’t get involved. Because he had the ability to do so. Having influence means nothing if you don’t use it to do good.”

“So what’s the price of this?”

“That you’ll be expected to pay it forward. And you’re already going to be doing that when you get your degree and start helping people. You’llhave the influence. Just keep your nose clean and away from the gangs, and you have a real shot, kid.”

“Excuse you, white boy, you’re my age. None of that ‘kid’ shit with me.”

Tim laughed.

It had still taken time after that to convince Dante that Tim’s offer was legit, but once he decided he was trustworthy, they’d started hanging out more. What started with Tim sponsoring a kid with huge potential turned into an actual friendship—and he didn’t have many of those with people who weren’t in the caped community. There was something about that he wanted to protect.

When Dante’s mother called him one day in tears, explaining that Dante had never come home from work and the police wouldn’t let her file a missing person’s report until 48 hours had passed, Tim didn’t hesitate to get involved.

At first, he’d worried that Dante’s disappearance was related to Tim—had someone discovered his identity and then decided to use his friend as leverage? The likelihood of that was low, however; anyone who did know his identity would come at him more directly, or at least have contacted him with some kind of threat.

Which meant what happened to Dante wasn’t vigilante related, but simply bad luck.

That doesn’t make Tim any less intent on figuring out what happened.

His thoughts must be projecting through his body language somehow because Rhonda’s usually sharp eyes soften a bit and she sighs. Looking around, she ensures there’s no one nearby, and then says, “You need to talk to Salvatore.”

“Who?”

“He’s a pimp, hangs out down the corner. He hooks, too, which is fucking weird. Does it because he likes it,” she says, making a disgusted face. “He tends to be the guy that’s always the last person to see someone before they go missin’, if you know what I mean?”

“You think he’s involved?”

“Nah, he’s too paranoid to do that. Likes to keep his hands clean, or pretend to. But he’s right near where your friend disappeared. And…” She hesitates here, sizing Tim up, and then nods to herself, “He’s got a rep. Lures new boys on the street into the business. He’s got a scary success rate at it, too.” She shivers. “Makes sense, he’s a scary motherfucker. Lots of his kids go missin’, but he always had some excuse. Letters and texts and shit provin’ they left the city or somethin’. No one knows how he does it, so you get him to talk, you’ll find out what you want to know. But I don’t see it happenin’.”

“Still. Thanks for the information,” Tim says and digs into his belt for a wad of cash. To his surprise, Rhonda shakes her head.

“Anyone sees me takin’ that from you right before you go after Salvatore, they’ll know I talked. No one’ll think I’d be stupid enough to give anything up for free. You come back a few days after you deal with that bastard, I’ll take it then.”

“That’s oddly trusting for someone like you.”

“Honey, you’ve been watchin’ these streets long enough I know you’re good for it. And catch me or anyone else ever telling you jack shit ever again if you stiff me.”

Tim snorts. “Fair enough. What’s this guy look like so I can find him?”

“Trust me, you’ll know him when you see him. Just don’t tell that creep anything ‘bout me sendin’ you in his direction.”

She doesn’t wait for his answer before sashaying away, returning to her activities for the night.

Tim keeps to the shadows as he heads to the corner Rhonda indicated, thinking he might have to wait around for a few hours—or even return the next night—if he’s going to find his next suspect.

It turns out he doesn’t need to.

A man who can only be Salvatore is leaning against the wall at the mouth of an alley, fiddling with his very expensive looking phone.

He is a tall, muscular, almost impossibly good-looking man with high cheekbones, intense blue eyes, and a full, cruel mouth. There’s something in a way that mouth lifts at the corners that makes Tim’s stomach thud, memories of a similar grin and devil-may-care laugh he only ever got to see through the lens of a camera or across a crowded ballroom.

But this isn’t him. This guy looks more like a crocodile than a robin.

“Well, hello there, handsome,” the man purrs when Tim materializes beside him, eyes flicking up and down Tim’s form with a look that does nothing to dispel the predatory image. “Looking for a pick-me-up after a hard night’s work?”

Tim ignores the innuendo dripping in the man’s voice.

“I’ve been given the impression you’ve seen this boy,” Tim says coolly, holding up his photo. “That you were the last one to see him. I need to know what you know.”

“I’m sure you do, baby, but I don’t come cheap, and neither does anything that comes out of my mouth,” Salvatore drawls.

Tim shrugs; if it’s money he wants, that’s not a problem. “I’m sure we could come to an arrangement.”

“Oh, I know we can,” Salvatore chuckles. “But not here.” His eyes flick around like he’s scoping out someone watching; his irises flicker strangely in the dim streetlight. “Not where someone might see us talking. I could lose customers for talking to a mask—and I’m all about discretion.”  

“They’re already seeing us talking.”

“And as far as they know, you’re just asking about the price of the goods,” Salvatore purrs, moving so slowly as to telegraph his moves and stroking his fingers across Tim’s chest plate, and down. “Can’t imagine seeking justice satisfies all your urges, does it, little bird?”

Tim’s hand snaps upward, clamping around Salvatore’s wrist and exerting just enough pressure to earn and choked gasp of pain. “I am here for information. Nothing more, nothing less. Either you tell me what I want to know, and I compensate you, or you tell me what I want to know and leave here with a bunch of bruises that will definitely affect your bottom line. Assuming I don’t drag you to the nearest precinct in handcuffs.”

“Baby, I’m almost tempted to take you up on that,” Salvatore says, licking his lips. “But I also know there’s worse on the streets than me. Who knowswhat your friend might have stumbled into?”

Tim’s jaw clenches. “Meaning?”

“Meaning we’re doing this little info exchange my way, and that involves not being out in the open. This is private business, after all.”

This time Tim’s nose curls, sensing an implication there. Either this guy’s not too bright, practically broadcasting his intentions to a vigilante, or he knows something important enough he thinks Tim will do anything for it.

Tim considers him, trying to evaluate how he wants to play this. Obviously, he doesn’t trust Salvatore, but he needs information even if it’s the vaguest of statements.

Salvatore’s clearly unarmed—no weapon’s hiding anywhere with that little clothing. And Tim was trained by Batman and Lady Shiva.

Buddy, aren’t you in for a surprise.

“Fine,” Tim says. “Lead the way.”

Salvatore’s pupils dilate, once again catching the dim light in a manner that makes them seem like they reflect.

Then he jerks his head toward the dark, shadowy alley behind him.

Against every instinct of self-preservation that managed to survive the brilliant idea of a twelve-year-old becoming a vigilante, Tim follows.

⁂

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