#one of the few times cass and jason get along is when they’re judging tim over his food choices

[undertheredhood]

tim drake is the one person nobody is going to steal food from because the only type of meals that tim knows how to make are those five minute depression meals that looks like it could kill you if it touched your tongue.

(the rest of the batfam aren’t picky eaters and will probably eat anything but they’d rather drink paint thinner straight out of the container than ever consume anything that tim makes)

[mochegato]

Hope on Board

Chapter 30 – Written in the Stars

Chapter 1     Chapter 29

“Congratulations Officer Grayson!” Bruce boomed, raising his glass along with the rest of the room of friends and family.  A loud cheer rose up in agreement with his comment.

Dick smiled at them graciously and clinked his champagne glass with Marinette’s juice glass, pulling her closer into his side with his other hand.  Marinette squeezed him back and looked up at him with a proud smile.

“Finally, someone who can fix my tickets,” Jason cheered.

“Not going to happen. In fact, I might write more up for you. Did you know parking your motorcycle in an alleyway is a moving violation?” Dick answered with a smirk.

Jason gaped at him, every inch of him conveying the betrayal he felt until he finally looked down to Lucy in his arms with a sour look.  “Man, fuck the police.  Can you say that?  Fuck. The.  Police.” He enunciated each word slowly for her.

“Language Master Jason,” Alfred chided.

“Jason, do not teach my children to badmouth their father,” Marinette warned with an accompanying glare.

Jason huffed and returned his attention to Lucy.  “Fine whatever.  But the cursing’s okay, right, Pixie?”

“No,” Dick answered quickly before Marinette could respond.  He really wasn’t confident what her answer would be considering the language she used when she and Jason were hanging out.

“Wasn’t asking you, Dickhead,” Jason singsonged while making faces for Lucy.

“Don’t badmouth their father while they can hear you, Jason,” Marinette repeated with a sharper edge to her voice this time.  “And I’m fine with you teaching them to curse as long as you’re willing to deal with the repercussions of Alfred and my Mother finding out exactly where they learned it from.”  She shrugged casually as she said it but the smirk on her face when she looked up at Dick made it clear she knew exactly how much of a threat that was.

Jason pouted and focused on Lucy.  “Your Grandmother and Grandfather are both deceptive bad asses.  Never cross either of them.” The room broke in laughter as Alfred grinned smugly and nodded in approval.

“So what are you going to do now, Officer Grayson?” Stephanie asked as she bounced Rob to quiet his fussing.

Dick rubbed the back of his neck.  “I don’t really know.  Hang out with the family, I guess.”

“I have a celebratory dinner planned unless you have other plans, Master Dick,” Alfred stated, looking at Marinette questioningly.

Dick looked back and forth between the two of them for a moment before answering cautiously.  “I don’t think I do.  Do I?”

“It’s up to you.  I was thinking maybe we could go out for a celebratory dinner.  Together. Just the two of us,” Marinette offered quietly.

“Like on a date?” His face brightened considerably.

“If you want it to be,” she answered shyly, suddenly not able to look in his eyes.  Suddenly, it felt dangerous to offer.  Her heart was pounding.  What if he changed his mind, which was ridiculous because he still acted the same as he had when they first started dating.  But some part of Marinette, the anxiety controlled part, insisted there was still a chance, and as always happened when anxiety entered the arena, it took over, regardless of rationality.

Dick wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer to him, adoration shining in his eyes. “I do.”

Marinette let out a relieved sigh and an exhilarated smile spread across her face.  “Great!  I know just the place.”  A devious glint appearing in her eye.  The same look she got whenever she had come up with a brilliant plan.  She looked him up and down, taking in the dress blues he was still wearing from his Academy graduation.  “You should change before we go though.” She looked down at her dress. “I should too if we’re taking the bike.”

“I’ll watch the rug rats while you’re gone,” Jason offered as he wiggled Lucy’s hand that was wrapped around his finger.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll watch over the infants to ensure they are safe and adequately mentally stimulated while they are awake,” Damian offered loudly, a confident look on his face.

Dick raised his eyebrows in surprise at Damian and looked down to Marinette to see if he was really hearing what he thought he was.  That was by far the strangest outcome of the situation, Damian taking his position as the twins’ uncle with deathly seriousness.  He watched over them like one of his pets, until they started crying. Then the twins were their parent’s or someone else’s problem.

Marinette smiled knowingly at him and nodded almost imperceptibly to assure him that Damian was in fact offering to babysit.  Dick subtly glanced to the more responsible people in the room to see if they would be there as well.  Barbara, Alfred, and Bruce all nodded at him to assure him they would stay as well.

“I’d help too, but… I have plans,” Adrien shrugged, deftly changing the topic of conversation before another fight over who the best uncle was could break out between Jason and Damian. Which was absolutely ridiculous anyway. Clearly, he was, precisely because he did things like taking this hit.

“With Wally?” Marinette asked innocently.

“Yeah,” Adrien answered a little too breathlessly.

“Ooooooohhhhh,” Marinette teased with a knowing smirk.   Dick grinned.  He had introduced Adrien to the Titans when they stopped by to meet the twins and take a second shot at meeting Marinette, this time without them having to hide anything and with Plagg sequestered in Dick’s bedroom, nowhere near Garth.  As expected, Wally and Adrien hit it off extremely well, the enthusiastic, bubbly, romantics, that they were.

“Shut up.  It’s not like that,” he grumbled looking away from them. He wasn’t about to give them the satisfaction of seeing his lovesick expression.

“Yes, it is,” Marinette, Dick, and Stephanie all chimed at the same time.

Adrien’s cheeks blushed a deep rose color and he growled halfheartedly at them as he left.  “Good luck,” Marinette called to him.  He waved and stuck his tongue out at her as he closed the door.  Marinette giggled and turned back to Dick.  “I’m going to feed the twins while you’re changing.”

“Okay.  I’ll take a quick shower too then.” He gave her a kiss on the cheek before making his way to his bedroom.

Marinette nodded and took Lucy from Jason, who only gave her up grudgingly.  “And we’re going to get you ready, too,” Stephanie informed her as she slung her free arm over Marinette’s shoulder.

Marinette laughed and shook her head.  “We’re going to have about two hours between when they eat and when I have to be back to feed them again.  I’m not wasting any of that time on appearances.  If Dick is still willing to go on a date with me after sharing a room with me when I hadn’t showered in I don’t know how many days, he will be fine with me not having a ton of makeup on.”

“Okay fine,” Stephanie groaned before immediately brightening again.  “I’ll do stuff while you’re nursing then,” Stephanie insisted, completely ignoring Marinette’s objections.

Marinette sighed and shook her head.  This was not worth the effort.  She was not willing to put what little energy she had into debating personal boundaries and priorities with Stephanie, and apparently Cass, judging by the excited glint in her eye.  “Fine. Just don’t get any makeup or hairspray on Lucy or Rob while they’re eating.”

Stephanie squealed and handed Rob off to Barbara as she and Cass raced to her room to get everything ready. They only had about ten to fifteen minutes to treat Marinette like their own personal doll and they weren’t about to waste any of it.  Marinette looked over to Barbara and Tim with a questioning glance.  “Either of you two want to get in on this?”

Tim waved his hands in front of him.  “Hell no. I’ve seen them in this mode.  I’m not getting in the middle of that.  Good luck.”

Barbara laughed and rolled over to her.  “I’ll come to help.  At the very least I can hold one baby while you feed the other one… and laugh at you while they work their magic”

Marinette giggled at her as she rolled her eyes.  “So very magnanimous of you.”

<><><><><> 

Dick’s entire body relaxed as he sped through Gotham’s streets.  He had missed driving through the streets of Gotham with Marinette’s arms wrapped around him.  They hadn’t done it since she was only a few weeks into the pregnancy then quickly had to switch to a car when it became too dangerous and awkward for her to ride with him. He loved feeling the rush of the wind against him and the warmth of Marinette’s arms and body pulled tight against him.  The way their bodies moved in sync with one another as he turned or changed lanes.

“Make a left here,” Marinette yelled.  He nodded his acknowledgement and made the turn.  They were in a very familiar neighborhood.  “Right,” she yelled again.  He nodded again and made the turn.  They drove straight for a few blocks until Marinette yelled the final time. “We’re here.”

Dick chuckled and shook his head as he pulled off his helmet.  “Batburger?” He raised his eyebrow at her.

Marinette shrugged and pulled her helmet off as well, giving him a sweet smile.  “Thought we could try it again when I’m not pregnant.  See if it really was just the pregnancy that made it taste so good.”

“Want to eat in the park again?” he asked as he secured their helmets.  He took her hand, entwining their fingers as they walked into the restaurant.  

“Yeah, if you don’t mind,” she nodded at him.

“I think that sounds brilliant,” he assured her, pulling her against him and circling his arms around her waist.

“You ready to order or what?” the cashier asked in an annoyed voice.

Marinette giggled into Dick’s chest.  “Not a fan of romance,” she whispered.

“Two batburger deluxe meals, please,” he looked over to Marinette to get her approval.  When she nodded in agreement he returned his focus to the cashier to pay.

Their order was done in just a few minutes and a few minutes after that they were looking out over the same park and sitting on the same bench they had sat at during their first date. Marinette took her first bite and quirked her lips to the side before continuing to chew.

Dick laughed and swallowed his bite.  “So, what do you think?”

“It was definitely the pregnancy.  But it’ll do. It was more about the nostalgia.” She grinned up at him and took another bite.

“How about you?  What do you think?  Are you excited for your first day as a Gotham Police Officer?” She grinned up at him, the proud look gleaming in her eyes again.

He smiled at the look, his chest puffing out ever so slightly at the way she was looking at him.  “I am.  I’m really hoping I will be able to make a difference, within the police department more than anything else.  I think if I can make a difference there, weed out as much corruption as I can, then that will feed out into the community, more than anything I could do as a single police officer.”

Marinette nodded in agreement.  “I think you’re right.  I’m worried about you though.”

Dick grimaced and considered not telling her the next part, but he’d promised her and, more importantly, himself, that he wasn’t going to keep things from her just because it might worry her.  He took a deep breath before continuing.  “I’ve already been approached by one of the families to work for them.  Saw him talking to a few other cadets as well.”

“Dick!” Marinette gasped, eyes wide with concern.

“It’s okay,” he assured her with more calm than he felt.  “Commissioner Gordon and I expected it.  It would actually be more concerning if I didn’t get approached by anyone.”

“I know.  It just makes me nervous.” She looked down at her burger and took another bite so he wouldn’t see her concerned frown.  “Your fellow officers are supposed to have your back, not stick a knife in it.”

“I can handle myself. I’ve been trained since I was nine to take on more than a few rampant officers.”  He puffed out his chest in an exaggerated motion to distract her.  “I’m like Captain America in the elevator.  I can take on all of them with nothing more than a stick and win.”

Marinette giggled and buried her face in his shoulder trying very hard not to laugh at him.  She finally pulled her face out of his shoulder to look up at him in adoration.  “You’re better than Captain America,” she assured him.  “Just as skilled, better moves, smarter plans, better leadership, and all without the need of a super serum.”  She brushed his hair away from his forehead and traced along the side of his face down to his jaw.  “And much handsomer.”

She guided his face to hers and pressed her forehead to his.  She let out a deep breath before continuing.  “Just… make sure you come home to me, to us, every night.”  She looked back up at him with concern etched deep in her features.  “Please.”

“Every night?  Forever?” Dick asked hopefully.

Marinette paused to think about it.  That was what she had meant.  Without overthinking it, without letting anxiety dictate her thoughts, that was what she had wanted.  That was what she was asking him for.  They had been waiting so they could figure out some issues they had between them and within themselves.  Dick acted to protect without sharing.  She hid away entire parts of her life.  They both had needed to learn to open up more.  

She was ready.  She was ready to break down the last bastion of secrecy hidden in the depths of a magical fortification.  If Dick wanted, she was ready to let him in.  The question was whether he was ready.

She nodded slowly, her forehead still pressed against his, her breath fanning across his face.  “I’m ready.  I’m ready to move forward, but I don’t want to rush you.  I don’t want to rush us if we aren’t both ready.  I want to make sure we last.”

Dick grinned and ran his knuckles along her cheek.  “We’ll last.  It was written in the stars.  The universe brought us together.  And we’ll take on the universe if it tries to tear us apart.”

“And win,” Marinette giggled affectionately, the smile on her face brilliant and hopeful.

Dick grinned against her lips.  “And win,” he agreed solemnly.  “That’s a very important part.”  She grinned at him and gently brushed her lips against his.  She started to pull away but he followed her, pressing his lips against hers more urgently.  She pushed back against him, bunching her fists into his shirt, pulling him closer with it.  He wound his arms around her waist, pulling her into his lap.

She whimpered against his mouth as his hand moved up her back until it wound into her hair.  The sound made his heart race.  God, he had missed this feeling, the feeling of her lips against his, of her body against his, the exhilaration her sounds produced in him. He missed knowing she was his to touch, that she wanted him to do it.  He missed the way they fit, like a perfectly engineered puzzle box, each piece fitting into the other so precisely, anything else felt wrong.  

She moved her arms around his neck, working her fingers into his hair to pull him closer.  She needed to be closer.  She had missed his warmth and the way he touched her and now she couldn’t get enough. She needed more.  She tilted her head to deepen the kiss, opening her mouth to grant him access.  She moaned as his hands traced her face and worked down her sides and back up her back.

She finally pulled away breathless after a few minutes and smirked at him.  “Definitely more enjoyable without the nausea.”  She rested her head against his neck as she fought to recover her breathing.

“Glad to hear it,” he laughed.  He hugged her closer to him, keeping his arms tight around her.  “I missed kissing you,” he whispered as if afraid to break a spell.

Marinette grinned and kissed his neck.  “Me too. I missed kissing you, hugging you, being held by you,” she looked pointedly at their situation, “sitting in your lap, calling you my boyfriend.”

He hummed in agreement and nuzzled his head against hers.  “I’d prefer fiancé or husband, but I’ll take boyfriend for now.”  He smiled thinking of the ring he already had stuffed away in his drawer.  

“You’re ready for that move?” she pulled away in surprise.

“I’ve been ready for months.  Even after our fight, I’ve never changed my mind.  I love you Marinette.  I am completely, utterly, ridiculously, unapologetically in love with you.”  He leaned down to kiss her, slowly, sweetly, passionately.  “I know what I want my future to be.  I’m just waiting for you to decide if it’s what you want too.”

Marinette stared at him in awe.  She shook her head and buried it in his neck again as tears began to fall.  “Marinette?” he asked carefully, trying to pull away far enough to look her in the eye.  He wasn’t expecting tears.  That was… a concerning reaction.  He didn’t think suggesting they eventually marry would make her cry.  Damn it, way to kill the mood just as they were getting back to a great place.

She took a breath to steady herself, a breath that very much smelled like Dick. She pulled away enough to look up at him, love shining in her eyes.  “I don’t know exactly what I want for my future, but every time I picture it, you’re there with me.  Every iteration of it you’re there with me.  Sometimes with just Lucy and Rob, sometimes with more kids.  Sometimes in the manor, sometimes in our own place.  Sometimes in Gotham, sometimes somewhere else.  Sometimes I’m running a major fashion label, sometimes I’ve become a WE employee.  Sometimes you’re still an officer, sometimes you’re a detective.  But every version, every iteration, you’re there with me.  I know that much.  That’s all I know.  I love you and I want my future to be with you.”

He examined her eyes to look for any indication of uncertainty in her words, but her eyes were confident and adoring.  He surged forward to capture her lips in another searing, breathtaking kiss. The moan she let out into his mouth made his body react viscerally.  They needed to get somewhere more private before they continued.  “Maybe we should take this home and away from prying eyes,” he gasped out when he was finally able to force himself to break away.  She nodded wordlessly, still trying to catch her breath.

<><><><><> 

“Perfect timing,” Barbara smiled at them.  Lucy was rooting into her chest searching for something to latch onto. “They just started fussing and searching for milk in places they won’t find it.”

Marinette laughed and took her from Barbara.  “Sorry about that.”

“No problem.  I feel worse for her.  She’s never going to find what she’s looking for here.  Hate to be a disappointment.”

“If it makes you feel better, they find me to be just as much of a disappointment,” Dick offered.  “No milk, no value.”  He shrugged.

“Come here, sweetie.  Don’t let them shame you for knowing what you want.”  She stuck her tongue out at them and left the room with a smile.  

Dick picked up Rob from Duke with a smile and a nod of thanks.  “Anytime,” he shrugged as he handed Rob off.  “So… how did it go?”

“Hm?” Dick responded absentmindedly, checking Rob to see if his clothes needed to be changed too or just his diaper.

“How did it go?  How did the date go?” Stephanie elaborated annoyed by his lack of attention.

“Oh,” Dick’s eyes brightened and he grinned excitedly.  “It went brilliantly.  We’re back together and we know where we want to go with our future.”

“So… proposing within the year or within a few months?” Tim asked with a smirk.

“Pft. Knowing Dickieboy, within a few hours,” Jason scoffed popping a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

Dick ticked his head to the side.  “Considered it, but I want to make it romantic.”  He turned to Tim with a wink.  “Give me a few days.  Come on, Rob. Let’s get you changed and ready for Mommy.  Night guys.” He smiled at them as he carried Rob to the family bedroom.

“Have fun tonight,” Stephanie called after him with a laugh.

“No more babies tonight,” Jason called immediately after.  “Turn the movie up.  I don’t want to hear them ignoring me,” he grumbled to Duke.

Dick made it up to the family bedroom just in time to change Rob’s diaper, reswaddle him, and switch Lucy for Rob so Marinette could nurse him.  She took him with a smile.  “Did I hear Jason yelling?”

“Yeah, he was just saying how happy he was that we’re back together,” Dick assured her with a laugh.

Marinette chuckled then immediately quieted when the movement startled Rob. “Sorry Rob,” she cooed at him.

Dick swaddled Lucy quickly and laid her down in her crib.  “How about I set up a movie in the other room?” he whispered into her ear as he gently ran his hand over Rob’s head.

Marinette hummed in appreciation and pressed her head against his.  “That sounds wonderful,” she whispered back.

He kissed her temple and quickly made his way to his bedroom.  He pulled out a few fuzzy blankets and navigated to a movie he thought she would like.  He ran down to the living room where the rest of the family was and grabbed one of their bowls of popcorn and a few drinks.  “Thanks,” he called out to them as he ran away before anyone could stop him. He set up the popcorn and drinks on the side table and propped up a few more pillows for them to lean against while they watched the movie, if they did in fact watch the movie, though he really hoped they would be too busy doing something else.

He kicked off his shoes and double checked that everything looked perfect. Assured that it was, he made his way back to the family bedroom.  He had expected Marinette to be done already and come find him.  He silently opened the door to check on them and smiled at the scene in front of him.  That was why Marinette hadn’t come to find him.  She had fallen asleep nursing Rob.  Rob was lazily sucking at her breast in his sleep.  Dick shook his head at her.

Dick picked up Rob and put him back in his crib.  He fussed sleepily for a few seconds, trying to get back to the nipple, but quickly fell back asleep.  Marinette opened her eyes at the movement, arms reaching out to keep Robert from falling. She looked up at Dick with a hazily confused look.  “What’s going on?”

Dick smiled at her and made his way back to her, picking her up in a princess hold and carrying her to her bed.  “We have the rest of our lives to watch a movie or do anything else.  Tonight, I think you need sleep,” he told her quietly as he gently laid her down, pulling a blanket over her.

She hummed in response and pulled the blanket closer around her.  He kissed her cheek and ran his fingers over her face lovingly before pulling away to get ready for bed.  Before he could move away from her, she caught his hand and pulled him down next to her.  She looked up at him with soft, affection filled eyes.  “Please stay?”

Dick’s heart stuttered at the request, so open and vulnerable and filled with love. He smiled at her and climbed into bed next to her as she lifted the blanket for him.  “Always,” he whispered into her hair.  He settled in behind her and gently pulled her against him, feeling her warmth against him as she curled into him and he curled around her in a perfect harmony.

The End

Tags:

@dickinette-february @demonicbusiness @ichigorose @iloontjeboontje @ladybug-182 @toodaloo-kangaroo @dast218 @golden-promises @trippingovermyfeet @emimar7 @laurcad123 @lady-bee-fechin @thewitchwhowaited @redscarlet95 @jayjayspixiepop @alessialeone6997

[anjuschiffer]

It’s finally the New Year! What other way to celebrate than to write for Day 1 of @timari-month-event New Years Day? :D

Day 1 : New Years Day

—

Tag: @theatreandcomicfreak @damianette-is-life @toodaloo-kangaroo @elijahcrevan @vixen-uchiha @nathleigh

—

AO3

Cass poked her head through the common room’s doorway, surprised to see that Dick had managed to have everyone over at his apartment.

To be honest, Cass thought he wouldn’t be able to get everyone under one roof. Then again, this was Dick, everyone’s favorite person...well, almost everyone’s.

“Cass, so that's where you’ve been.” Kate said from behind her, Cass turning to see her ‘aunt.’ “This is your first time, isn’t it? Celebrating New Years, that is.” Cass nodded at that.

She honestly didn’t know what to think about this “New Years” celebration Dick wanted everyone to be a part of, how excited he was to be able to greet the new year as a family.

It was just another event that only marked the end of a year and the beginning of another. Why celebrate it?

Cass snapped from her thoughts when Kate chuckled, placing a hand on her shoulder. “It’s alright Cass. Don’t think too hard about it. Just enjoy yourself. Perhaps you’ll understand then.”

Cass nodded, watching as Kate walked away to join the others.

She watched as she sat diagonally from Bruce, Selina and Alfred, the quartet of adults observing the other “supposed” adults and children.

“Grapes? Why would you wish using grapes? They don’t hold any magical power.” Damian asked as Dick handed him a bowl with 12 grapes in jt.

“Good question. Why grapes?” Duke asked no one, proceeding to just eat them. “Why not star fruit?”

“I-I actually don’t know.” Dick shyly confesses, deciding to just leave the grapes at the center of the coffee table for people to just grab.

“It actually started as an advertising tactic for farmers to sell their grape harvests in the 19 century in Spain.” Jason said, eyeing his own bowl of 12 grapes. “Later on in the early 20th century, the grapes symbolize good luck, so the people started to eat them after the start of a New Year in hopes of having good luck.”

“In other words, wishful thinking and superstition?” Stephanie asked.

“Yup.” Jason munched on a few grapes. “ there are a few people who additionally do it to ward off evil.”

“So just superstition.” Duke clarifies. “What a waste of good grapes.”

“-can believe it! There’s only five minutes left until the new year!” The woman on the television screen squealed, capturing everyone's attention. The screen then switched cameras to show the packed street of Times Square, hundreds -if not thousands- of people waving at the camera as it panned around them.

“Does everyone have their glass of champagne?” Dick asked, watching as everyone lifted their glass. “Babs, I thought you didn’t drink?”

“And neither does Tim, Damian, Duke and Steph and yet you still gave them one.” Dick started to panic at that.

After all, they’re still minors, even if by a few months away from being either 21 or 18.

“Damian, Duke, Steph, Tim! I need those- wait. Where is Tim?” Dick asked.

“Wait, he was invited?” Jason asked.

“Of course I did! He’s part of the-“

“Three minutes left!”

“Well, too late to ask him to join us. Well just have to greet the new year without him.” Steph said.

“His lost.” Damian added, keeping a grin to himself.

“One minute!”

“FaceTime?” Dick asked, the family ignoring him as they intently watched the woman on the screen beginning to count down.

Cass watched Dick panic around while the rest of the family continued to watch the television.

She noticed Bruce and Selina signal her to come closer, which she did, the two of them pulling her to sit in between them.

Cass fidgeted a bit, adjusting to the affection.

“Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!”

“Are we really-“

“Five! Four! Three!

Two!

One!

Happy New Year!” The lady announced, hugging her news partner.

“Happy New Year.” The family said in unison, lifting their glasses in sync before everyone took a sip. Of course, a few idiots chugged it down.

Or at least attempted to.

As soon as Jason had chugged half of his champagne, he sputtered about, Babs chuckling in the back while Duke and Steph tried to help him.

“Todd. How dare you waste-“

“Replacement.” He wheezed out, pointing to the screen. “He’s-“ he then began to cough.

Everyone turned to look at the screen wondering what he meant because there on the screen were just couples kissing. Tim wasn’t-

“Well you look at that.” Selina said with a grin.

“Is he serious?” Duke asked, burying his face into his hands.

“Apparently so.” Steph grinned.

There, the farthest corner of the screen was Tim, or rather, Red Robin kissing a girl who wore a hoodie that resembled Red Robin’s. Midnight hair peeled from out of the hood and she wore a red domino mask.

“Did anyone know he was going to do this?” Kate asked. Everyone turned to Alfred.

“Master Tim only told me he was visiting his girlfriend. He never told me he was going to pull this stunt.” Alfred took a sip of his tea. “But we should congratulate the chap. He may not be celebrating with us, but at least he’s celebrating the New Year with someone he loves.”

-How it happened-

Tim was double checking his list, making sure he had everything before heading downstairs.

Despite Dick wanting everyone over at his apartment to spend New Years Eve together, Tim already had plans, plans he had arranged weeks prior.

“Master Tim. Are you heading out?” Alfred asked him, Tim taken aback by Alfred’s...lack of a suit. “Master Tim?”

“Sorry Alfred. It’s just...I’ve never seen you out of a suit so...it suits you.” Was all Tim was able to say. Instead of his tidy and fitted butler suit, Alfred was wearing a very...grandfatherly outfit.

White shirt, gray cardigan, brown jacket and a dark gray pair of slacks. A pair of loafers and a flat cap sealed the deal.

“Well, Miss Marinette gifted me this jacket this Christmas. I thought I would wear it for this occasion. The inner pocket is my favorite detail.”

Alfred showed Tim the inner pocket, the pocket having different swirl embroidery. But upon a closer inspection, each different colored thread was a different family member’s name. Tim’s name was embroidered in a steel blue.

“What a very Marinette thing for her to do.” Tim said with a smile, beaming at her talent. That’s when he remembered about where he was heading. He took out his phone and fought a scowl when he realized he was running behind schedule.

“Judging by your scowl, I’m guessing you’re late to where you’re heading to.”

“I am a bit behind schedule. But I’ll manage.” Tim said, shifting the bag on his shoulder. He didn’t know why, but something told him to say it. “I’m going to New York to meet up with Marinette. We've been planning this for a few months and thought we should meet up for New Year’s Eve. We’ve got a few places in mind and we’re hoping everything-“

“It’s going to be fine.” Alfred assures Tim, not once mentioning his rambling. “Now go. You wouldn’t want to make Miss Marinette wait any longer, now would you?”

Tim nodded, saying goodbye to Alfred and running to catch the nearest cab to get to the nearest bus to take him to New York.

After a two hour trip, Tim stood by an odd mechanism trapped inside an acrylic case.

He wanted to make sure where he was headed before leaving the 42 St Port Authority. After all, he had only been to Times Square a few times in his life.

“Tim!” Marinette called out, Tim looking up from his phone to see Marinette running up to him.

A grin grew on his face as he caught Marinette, twirling her.

“Hey. Aren’t you half an hour early?”

“Maybe you're just late.” Marinette grinned.

Tim sighed at the Into the Spiderverse reference until he noticed her outfit.

She was wearing a red dress, the most obvious piece, but it was her wrap cape that caught his attention. The front piece was red in color while the rest of the cape was black. But it was the hidden accents of gold and the single golden robin crest at the center that intrigued him the most.

“Is that-“

“A Red Robin inspired outfit?” Marinette grinned. “Yes, yes it is. After all,” Marinette leaned over Tim’s ear. “He’s my favorite.” She purred, fighting off a giggle when she saw Tim’s face red from ear to ear.

“We should be on our way.” Tim managed to say, leading Marinette out the building and onto Edge Tower.

—

The duo went on their mini date at Edge Tower, Marinette not surprised when she found out that Tim rented out the entire place for the hour.

Marinette ran up to the edge of the balcony, not believing how high up they were. While Ladybug was able to get up on high places like this with ease, it was a whole different experience as Marinette.

She leaned into the cold air, a smile across her face as the wind blew.

“You’d think you’d get used to things like this.” Tim said, as if reading her mind, leaning against the rail right next to her.

“But no matter how many times you see the same view, it’s always breathtaking.” Marinette replied, turning to face him.

“Just like you are.” Tim enjoyed the way Marinette flushed red, causing him to chuckle. He tucked a loose hair strand behind her ear. “How about we take a picture to remember this?”

And so they did.

—

The thing with it being New Years Eve, all the places were packed, even otherwise empty food courts and the edge of the Hudson River.

After a while, the two ended up heading back to Times Square, a decision they soon regretted.

They ended up being caught in the swarm of people who had been camping in the area for a day...or two...or three…

One of them thought they had already been there and allowed them to slip through and by the time the duo realized that they were being pushed further deeper into the area, it was too late for them to get out. More people started to gather around them, the area packed to the brim with New Yorkers and tourists alike.

Seeing as they were stuck there, Marinette and Tim decided to make the best of it and went along with the crowd, waiting for hours until a few minutes were left before the start of the new year.

“Hey Tim.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m...I’m kinda glad we decided to meet here today.”

“So do I. Although, I do feel guilty for not telling Dick that I wasn’t going to be able accept his invitation to spend the eve with him and the rest of the family.” Tim confessed, Marinette giving his hand a squeeze.

They remained like that for a while before Tim turned to her.

“Marinette, there’s something I have to say.”

“What is it?”

“I just wanted to say, thank you. Thank you for being by my side this year.” He heard someone say that there were three minutes left. He cupped her face between his hands. “Thank you for being part of my life.”

As Tim leaned forward, Marinette stopped him, Tim wondering if he did something wrong. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-“

“Tim. I think you’re forgetting something.” Marinette said, placing a domino mask over his eyes and one on herself. “There. Now the press won’t be bothering you tomorrow.”

“The press? Why-“

“Tim. How did you forget that you're the CEO of Wayne Enterprise? Seriously, how can you forget that?” Marinette huffed.

It was then that the two realized that the crowd had begun to count down.

“Ten! Nine! Eight!”

“Should we pick up where we left off?” Marinette asked, letting out a yelp when Tim brought her closer to him.

“Six! Five ! Four!”

“Let’s.” Tim’s said, leaning forward towards Marinette.

“Two!

One!”

Their lips met.

“HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

[fishfingersandjellybabies]

In Your Father’s Eyes - fic

Characters: Damian Wayne, Jon Kent, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Lois Lane, Alfred Pennyworth, little bit of Clark Kent and Tim Drake and literally everyone Pairing: jondami Summary: Of all the things and all the experiences they thought Jon and Damian would have, it certainly wasn’t this. But they’re all better for it anyway.  A/N: A commission for the lovely @heraldofsong! I hope you enjoy it. :) They asked for a bittersweety fluffy story about the Batfam’s reactions/reminiscing to Jon and Damian having a baby. I chose the middle name ‘Charlotte’ because according to the internet it meant ‘freedom’ or ‘free’ and I felt that described an adult Jon and Damian very well. Barry went with Lois downstairs in case Jon and Damian emerged while she was gone, he could rush her back up. Also, it goes without saying, the Flashes brought Steph, Cass and Kara back from the gift shop the same way. Jon is petrified of holding or even touching the baby sometimes. He eventually gets over that. Some vibes for this fic are ‘Mango Dream’ by Afternoon Bike Ride. 

~~

It was a quiet afternoon at the manor. The warm sun peeking through the curtains. Birds chirping outside. The contented crackle of flame in the fireplace as he and Alfred each sat in a recliner reading a book.

Then Tim called.

“Conner and I are on our way to the hospital. Just about there, actually.” He said urgently. “Damian and Jon were taken there by a group of Green Lanterns.”

“What happened?” Bruce demanded, jumping from his chair as quickly as his old bones would allow him. Alfred glanced up from his novel, closing it immediately.

“That’s the thing…I…I’m not sure.” Tim offered. “I’ve already talked to Damian. He said neither of them were really hurt at all. Just that he needs us there. All of us.”

That was enough for Bruce.

Tim said he’d already called the others, and was in the process of sending Bruce the hospital coordinates. As Bruce and Alfred gathered their coats and head to the car, Bruce’s phone pinged again with a text.

I think you might want to bring your credit card.

Bruce rolled his eyes at Tim’s instruction, but checked his wallet anyway.

The hospital wasn’t in Gotham, or Metropolis, but a smaller city in between. A medium-sized research hospital that the League used often. Out of the way, but staffed with the most skilled in the world, and able to keep a secret or two.

Bruce could already see the gaggle of Green Lanterns on the roof as they pulled in to the parking lot. But judging by their relaxed body language, just like Tim had said, there was no emergency.

So what…?

Lois and Barry were in the lobby waiting for them. She smirked when she saw them, crossing her arms.

“What’s happening?” Bruce demanded. “Are the boys alright?”

“Perfect.” Lois let her smirk become a wide grin. There was a giddy shriek from nearby, and Bruce glanced over. It came from the gift shop, where he could see Stephanie holding something up, showing a confused Cass and judgmental Kara. “We were just waiting here for you to take you to the right ward.”

“Well, I must say, judging by everyone’s attitude, I can’t imagine it’s the ICU.” Alfred quipped. Barry laughed and clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“Nope.” Lois spun away, all but skipping as she led the way. “Barry, you ready to catch him?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “We’re heading to the maternity ward.”

Bruce froze.

“…What?”

Barry was instantly at his shoulder, an arm hovering against his back.

“Ms. Lane…” Alfred said slowly. Laughter from the gift shop again, and now Bruce could see what Stephanie was showing the others – baby clothes.

“Wild, right?” She nodded, urging them both to follow. “But it’s true.”

“Apparently the boys were on a mission with a few of the Lanterns, on some planet.” Barry explained as he gently pushed them along. “This planet has way more advanced in vitro fertilization technology than on Earth. Than in the whole damn Milky Way. But apparently a major part of the fight was in a science lab. And I don’t know if it was from blood from injuries or sweat from exertion or what, but somehow both their DNA got into one of the machines, and literally hours later, a baby was being born.”

“An…alien child?” Alfred asked.

“You’d think that, but no. One-hundred percent Damian and Jon. So, only twenty-five percent alien, Kryptonian, from Jon’s side.” Barry hummed. “It wasn’t like their DNA was being added to an already incubating organism. Its creation came about because their DNA got combined.”

“At least,” Lois interrupted. “As far as we know. That’s why we’re here. They’re getting the baby checked out.”

Suddenly, Tim’s text made sense. “We have…nothing for a baby at the manor. Do…you and Clark have anything from when Jon was born?”

Lois’s grin softened. “Not enough to have everything they’ll need. But enough for the first day or so. Clothes-wise, anyway.”

“They’ll…they’ll have to come stay at the manor.” Bruce turned to Alfred, mind already in hyper drive. “Their…their apartment isn’t big enough. Right?”

“They live in a penthouse, sir, not an apartment.” Alfred smiled. “But I’m sure if you asked they wouldn’t mind coming home for a while. Especially with all the foot traffic of new aunts and uncles that they can surely expect.”

“You already know which room Clark and I are staying in, right, Alfred?” Lois teased.

“Of course, Ms. Lane.” Alfred chuckled. Barry suddenly dashed forward, holding the door open for the three of them. “I’m already devising the floor plans for everyone in my head as we speak.”

And even with the three women in the gift shop, the maternity ward was a madhouse of Supers, Bats and Leaguers alike. Tim was talking with Dinah and Ollie, showing them cribs and mobiles on his phone. Conner was talking with Diana, Donna and the two Wally Wests. Lois was already rejoining Clark, who was speaking with J’onn. Jason had already grabbed Alfred and was gently pulling him towards Koriand’r and Roy.

Barry was stepping up behind him. “Has Dick been…?”

Barry pointed, but it was useless, since Bruce had just spotted him. He was away from the crowds, further down the hall, staring into one of the closed doors, his arms folded across his chest.

Bruce nodded and gave Barry a short grin. Barry gently squeezed his shoulder before disappearing into their friends. Bruce inhaled and slowly walked forward. Everyone immediately gave him passing congratulations, and he smiled softly to each of them in return.

Dick didn’t look at him as he approached, kept just staring into the door. Bruce silently stood next to him, and glanced inside himself.

Damian and Jon stood there, next to a plastic crib. They were in matching teal scrubs that barely hid the few bandages they each had across their bodies. Nothing serious, like everyone had told him so far, but still enough that made his heart beat a little faster.

Jon’s wrist hung over the crib, and Bruce could see tiny fingers clinging to his middle one. His other hand was around Damian’s waist, rubbing calming circles against his hip. His head was up, nodding at whatever the doctor standing across from them and the crib was saying.

Damian, surprisingly, was opposite. His head was down, watching the child. His hand was cupping the baby’s head, stroking gently across its tuft of dark hair.

Bruce couldn’t see any other features on the baby. Its face was blocked by its fat belly and gleefully kicking feet. The hand not latched on to Jon’s waved every so often, where he could see a tube connected.

God, he couldn’t even see it and he adored this child already.

“Can you believe it?” Dick suddenly whispered. Bruce turned his head towards him, but kept his eyes on the door. He heard the baby give a loud squeal. Watched as Jon glanced down and grinned, shaking his captured finger. “Damian’s a dad.”

“So it appears.” Bruce smiled.

“He wasn’t one yesterday. There was no plan for him to be one, yesterday.” Dick continued, practically in awe. “This is…incredible.”

“The universe is an incredible place.” Bruce agreed. “…How long have you been here?”

“About an hour.” Dick admitted. “Damian called me when they hit Earth’s stratosphere.”

“Did you get to see the baby at all?” Bruce asked. In his periphery he saw Dick shake his head.

“They were already in there by the time I got here. Jon came out for a hot second to ask me to bring Lois to the ward when she arrived. But otherwise I haven’t talked to them.” Dick sighed. He shifted nervously from foot to foot. “…It’s almost laughable.”

“What is?”

���Damian’s the first of us to be a dad.” Dick smiled wistfully. “Mr. ‘I-Don’t-Need-Anybody’, Mr. ‘I’m-Not-A-Family-Person’, Mr. ‘Jonathan-and-I-Are-Too-Busy-To-Raise-Children’…and he’s the first of us to have a kid. A biological kid.”

“A biological child conceived and born in hours, from what I was told.” Bruce murmured. He chuckled. “Quite a…peculiar birth. Just like him.”

They lapsed into a silence then, as they continued to watch through the door. They could see both Damian and Jon conversing with the doctor, and suddenly, said doctor was lifting the baby from the crib, taking it out of view. The baby clung to Jon’s finger for as long as it could, even pulling a little as it was pulled away.

Almost immediately, Jon turned to Damian, and the two began to speak softly to each other. Damian’s face looked tired, nervous. Jon’s looked similar, but he smiled anyway, cupping Damian’s face in his hands. Damian clung to his wrists, closing his eyes as he leaned into one of the hands.

“…Do you remember when he was little?” Dick asked softly. “So tough and angry. I’d ruffle his hair and he’d try to cut my arm off.”

“He was a little…prickly.” Bruce smiled warmly. “Focused on nothing but Batman’s mission, and being the best. But you freed him from that viciousness.”

“I had help.” Dick laughed, watching as Jon leaned down and kissed Damian, before the two engulfed each other in an embrace. “Don’t sell yourself so short, old man.”

“Don’t sell yourself short either, Dick.” Bruce bumped his elbow into Dick’s side. “For as much as I loved him at the time anyway, much of his growth was because of you.”

“…Look at him, B.” Dick whispered after a moment. Bruce actually glanced at him now, and saw tears in his eyes. “Look how much he’s grown.”

Bruce put a hand on Dick’s shoulder, gave a squeeze as he glanced back towards the door. Damian was twenty-seven now, Jon twenty-four. Both tall and muscular, though Jon slightly more so, and both perfect mixtures of their parents. Each with their own lives, their own identities, creating their own legacies, their own destinies.

But right now all Bruce could see was the children they were. The friends forced together by their fathers, but almost instantly inseparable. The kids who were stronger than any man, and whose favorite game was to climb a life-sized replica of a tyrannosaurs rex that was nestled in a cave, and eat lunch in its mouth.

Damian said something and Jon laughed. Damian’s eyes lit up and his cheeks turned red as Jon kissed his forehead.

Bruce smiled too.

Friends from childhood. Lovers in adulthood.

And now, fathers.

Clark’s baby was a father. His baby was a father.

“I’m so proud of him.” Dick murmured, voice trembling in joy. “He’s just so happy, Bruce.”

Dick turned away, embarrassingly wiping at his eyes.

“God, don’t let him see me like this.” Dick laughed weakly. “It’ll ruin my chances of being the baby’s godfather.”

“It’s endearing.” Bruce promised, turning to look at him. “If nothing else, it’ll heighten your chances. Besides, you’ll still be its uncle no matter what.” A smirk. “And grandpa, depending on who you ask.”

“Oh god, Bruce no.” Dick laughed, wiping faster at his eyes. “I’m too young to be a grandpa.”

“How do you think I feel?” Bruce asked incredulously. “I just got told by Superman’s wife twenty minutes ago that I’m a grandfather!”

Dick looked over at him, eyes soft, the crinkles around his eyes more noticeable with his smile. “You’ll be a great one, Bruce. The very bes-”

There was the sound of a doorknob turning, a latch unhooking. Dick and Bruce both spun back around towards the door to the exam room to find it opening.

Suddenly, the whole hallway was silent, save for a light whooshing, electric noise. Clark was there instantly, Lois in his arms. Conner appeared with Tim, Jason was just finishing pushing his and Alfred’s way through the Justice Leaguers, and the Flashes were each dutifully helping Stephanie, Cassandra and Kara to their feet.

They all waited with baited breath.

It was Jon who was opening the door, and held it open for Damian to walk through. Damian, who had a swaddled bundle tight in his arms, stepped tentatively into the hallway. As soon as he was through the threshold, Jon was at his side, a protective arm around his back.

When Damian glanced up with his wide, shocked eyes – he looked at Bruce first. Then Clark, then Lois, then finally landed on Dick.

“I…” He croaked. Closed his mouth, cleared his throat. Let himself smile slightly as he returned his gaze to Bruce. “We…we have a daughter.”

He turned the baby outwards slightly. Her eyes were closed, but skin was the perfect mixture of Damian’s tan tones, and Jon’s pale colors. She had Jon’s wild curls, but very clearly Damian’s nose and eyebrows. There were immediately a few gasps and coos among the nearby Leaguers.

“Healthy?” Clark asked. “She checked out okay?”

“Completely perfect.” Jon exhaled in excitement. “Doc said she looks like every other baby he’s ever seen, all the way down to the DNA.”

“Anything about…powers?” Clark pushed.

“Dad.” Jon rolled his eyes. “She’s only a few hours old.”

“The doctor told us to monitor her as she grows, and go over your, Jon’s, Kara’s and even Conner’s personal histories.” Damian explained instead. “And if she does at any point present powers, it will likely follow the same timeline as the rest of you.”

Lois stepped forward, gently pressing her hand to the baby’s head. Like always, she asked the question everyone else was too nervous to.

“What’s her name?”

Jon and Damian glanced at each other, and Jon let out a light laugh.

“Martha.” Damian whispered, looking straight at Bruce, with a quick glance to Clark. “Martha Charlotte.”

“Hello Miss Martha Charlotte.” Lois cooed, leaning down to kiss the baby’s head. Martha just yawned, and curled back into Damian’s chest.

“Whose last name?” Dick asked gently, taking his turn to step forward. “Martha Charlotte Kent? Martha Charlotte Wayne? Hell, Martha Charlotte al Ghul?”

Damian smirked and Jon looked heavenward as he mumbled, “To be determined.”

Dick laughed as he looked between the two men. He let his laughter die out and asked, “You two nervous?”

“Is it that obvious?” Jon countered incredulously. “I mean…jeez, I’m still afraid to hold her!” He leaned into Damian’s back. “What if I…I don’t know, squish her, or something?”

“You won’t, Beloved. I promise.” Damian teased, leaning back to kiss at Jon’s cheek.

Dick smiled, and couldn’t help himself. He leaned forward and pressed his temple against Damian’s, looking down at Martha. She gave a contented sigh.

“I am so, so, so proud of you, Damian.” Dick whispered, squeezing Damian’s arm. Lois nodded in agreement as she ran a hand through Jon’s hair, before returning her attention to the baby. “”I am so proud of you both.”

Damian let himself smile, let himself exhale in what almost sounded like relief as he leaned into Dick. He stood there a moment, let Dick and Lois fawn over the baby, before glancing up again. Clark was watching with a bright smile, one almost too big for his face. Waiting excitedly for his own turn, but clearly quickly losing his patience.

Then he looked to Bruce. Bruce who had just been staring silently since they stepped into the hallway, eyes wide, lips parted. A faint, awed smile was etched gently into his face, and it made Damian’s own smile widen. He slowly stepped away from Jon, Lois and Dick and towards his father, angling towards Clark in the process to include him too. “…Father?”

Bruce looked up at his face, the adoration clear in his old blue eyes.

“…I have a daughter, Father.” Damian breathed, looking towards Martha. She smacked her lips sleepily, and Damian’s smile, impossibly, grew. Let himself smile wider than Bruce had ever seen. “And I just…she is already my whole world. I…I’ve never loved someone so quickly.”

“That’s what having a child does to you, son.” Clark smiled.

Damian’s grin faltered, just slightly. “I’m sure it was not this way when I arrived in your life.”

It was a self-depreciating joke, made to downplay Damian’s importance to every single person in this hallway. But Bruce didn’t take it. Bruce didn’t dare play into the darkness that still plagued his youngest’s mind.

“On the contrary.” Bruce hummed, taking hold of his elbow. “I might have loved you even quicker.”

Damian snorted and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he just kept looking at Martha, shifting his hand to run across her tiny cheek. His voice was barely a breath. “…I have a daughter.”

“And she looks like you.” Bruce noted, poking at Martha’s nose. She scrunched it up and shook her head. Damian laughed, and held her even closer. “…I’m so happy for you.”

Damian looked up then, almost in surprise.

“You’re going to be a great father.” Bruce whispered, squeezing Damian’s elbow. “The best of any of us.”

Damian turned back towards his husband just in time to see Dick grab Jon and wrap him in the biggest hug he could. As Dick released him, Jon glanced over at him. “…And he will be an even greater one.”

Jon, who of course heard the whole conversation with his powers, grinned sheepishly.

Damian giggled as Jon stepped towards him, and kissed his forehead, then leaned down to do the same to Martha. A moment later, he allowed himself a deep breath. “Well. You ready?”

Jon glanced over his shoulder, towards their waiting brothers and sisters, to the entirety of the Justice League waiting behind them. He exhaled sharply. “As I’ll ever be, today.”

Dick laughed as he and Lois helped pushed the new parents forward. As Clark stepped closer to Bruce and hugged him in quiet glee.

“Welcome to the family, Martha.” Dick grinned, gesturing out to everyone, before looking down at the sleeping newborn in Damian’s arms. Damian and Jon looked happily at each other. “We’re so happy you’re here.”

[elareine]

Deaged Jaybird anyone?

Well, judging from ao3 and tumblr, I think the answer to that question is ‘everyone and amazingly so,’ but I might as well throw my hat into the ring, thank you <3

I thought this was gonna be sweet and funny. It didn’t exactly turn out that way.

rewind, fast forward, stop Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply - Childhood Trauma, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Underage Prostitution, Temporary Character Death, Angst Relationships: Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Duke Thomas, Cassandra Cain, Alfred Pennyworth Additional Tags: Age Regression/De-Aging, De-Aged Jason Todd, Family Issues, Family Feels, Loss of Trust, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Hurt with Temporary Comfort, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, The Batfamily Needs Therapy, Bittersweet, Unreliable Narrator

“If he says the words unstable molecules one more time, I’m going to hit something,” Dick muttered.

“Jason’s been gone for two hours, and you’re already trying to replace him?” Tim asked. It was a weak joke, and Dick didn’t laugh.

Nygma and Crane were still arguing at metaphorical gunpoint (i.e., genuine sword end), bent over the makeshift crib.

“I didn’t expect this to happen, either! What’s the point of posing riddles if he’s a baby?”

“Well you still fucked up and now we’re here, basically hostages—”

Bruce held up a hand. Everyone fell silent.

“So. His age will change several times?”

“Yes.”

“You cannot predict the intervals.”

“No.”

“What does he remember?”

“I don’t know. We should ask him…”

“…when he reaches an age where he can speak, yes. Will this stop once he reaches the age he’s supposed to be?”

“I don’t—”

“Then we will find out. Nygma, you have 24 hours to fix this.” He turned and looked at Dick. “Call reinforcements and start the lab work.”

Dick nodded, but whatever he was going to ask wasn’t going to be heard because Jason chose that moment to start wailing.

Everyone froze. Despite all the arguing, the fact that they know had to care for a baby hadn’t seemed real until that moment.

Bruce, though, just lifted Jason up and to his chest with the same natural competence with which he handled explosives and batarangs. “There, there, Jaylad. You’re hungry, hmm? I bet Alfred has already prepared a bottle. Let’s go find him, shall we?”

——

Dick volunteered to stay home and watch the baby that evening. Except when he returned to the crib with a freshly prepared bottle, it was a toddler staring back at him.

“Hey there, little man,” Dick greeted him.

Silence.

Dick tried again. “Jason, are you in there?”

The kid stared back at him, clearly wondering what the strange man was talking about. His eyes were so blue. “Me.”

“Yes, you’re Jason,” Dick agreed. “Do you remember me?”

Jason’s brow furrowed as if he was concentrating really hard. “No?”

“That’s okay. I’m Dick. I’m—” your brother. But how did you explain that to a toddler who didn’t remember any siblings? “A friend.”

After a minute of stern evaluation, Jason’s expression melted into a smile, and he held up his short chubby arms. “Up?”

“Of course.” Dick bent down and scooped Jason up with one swift motion, bouncing him up and down for a few seconds, to Jason’s great delight and giggles. Then he settled him onto his hip. “How about some food, buddy?”

“Hungry!” Jason declared. It sounded like ‘angry.’ Dick wanted to record that and use it as Jason’s ringtone forever.

He couldn’t very well give him the baby formula now, so: “Let’s go to the kitchen, then, huh? I like midnight snacks, too.”

“Snack,” Jason repeated. He seemed to like that word. “Snack, snack, snack!”

“Yes, snack. Hey B,” he called softly through the non-emergency line as they walked through the corridor, “listen to who woke up.”

“Baba?” Jason asked. Dick had no idea whether he meant Bruce or was asking for his own father. Either way, it was devastating.

“Jaylad,” Bruce murmured back. Dick didn’t call him out on the use of real names. “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“No.”

Dick tried not to laugh at the sleepy pout. “To be fair, I don’t know how ‘slept like a baby for hours,’ literally, affects his sleep schedule.”

“How old is he?”

“About… two? Maybe?” Dick was not an expert in estimating the age of children, so sue him. “Maybe younger. He’s real small, and he doesn’t remember me.”

Silence. “N, we’re coming home.”

The bats had barely been out for an hour. “Sure. See you soon.”

——

It was Tim who discovered the next transformation. He’d taken over the early morning shift by virtue of not sleeping anyway. Jason’s room had been quiet; Tim had just wanted to make sure he was doing okay when he was greeted with a much larger shape in the bed than he’d expected.

Which, fuck, that couldn’t be good, right? Last time Jason had only skipped a couple of years, but now he was at least six.

The figure was also too still to be asleep. Tim switched on the nightlight they’d installed by the door and looked at Jason. Yeah, his eyes were definitely open. It was eerie, the way he held himself still as if he was trying to disappear into the darkness. Don’t notice me, his position screamed. I’m not here, go away.

It was so familiar. Tim couldn’t breathe for a second for the way it was a perfect reversal of the way he himself had spent his childhood. Notice me, look at me, don’t leave.

“Hey,” Tim called out softly, unconsciously imitating Dick’s voice. “Can’t sleep?”

“Who are you.” His voice was clear and hard, a far cry from the sweet toddler who had played with Tim’s cape when they’d come home from patrol at midnight.

That had been four hours ago. It was going to be a long day, wasn’t it?

“I’m Tim,” he said. “You don’t remember me right now because you’re… sick, but we know each other.”

The distrust did not wane. “Where am I?”

“At my father’s house. Wayne Manor.” Tim smiled. “Maybe you’ve heard of it?”

“Who else is here?”

“Your family.”

That did not have the expected effect, at all. Jason shrank back, hands gripping the blanket tight even as his expression remained blank.

Tim’s hand moved to his bracelet and pressed a button. He’d promised Bruce to wake him up if there was a development. Besides, he was in over his head here, and he knew it.

“I’m going to call them, okay?” There was no answer.

It took less than two minutes for the doorway to be filled with people. Bruce was first, of course, closely followed by Dick, with Damian, Duke, and Cass lingering just behind them in the hallway.

“You’re going to crowd him,” Tim pointed out. “We’re all strangers.”

“Tim is right.” Bruce stepped forward. “Stay back.”

They watched as he crouched down in front of the bed. “Hi, Jason. You don’t remember me, and I know that’s scary.”

“I’m not scared.”

Tim couldn’t see his face, but he would bet good money that Bruce smiled at that. “No, you aren’t because you’re brave, aren’t you.”

“Hmm. Where’s mom?” Jason asked.

“She’s not here. I’m sorry. You’re staying with our family and me for now.”

“Where’s dad?”

“He’s not here, either, but—”

Jason’s shoulders deflated.

Oh. Oh.

Tim could feel the tension rack up in the room as every single family member was simultaneously filled with rage.

Bruce, however, looked calm. “As long as we are here,” he said, quietly but with the kind of conviction that could move mountains, “no one is going to hurt you. Your mother is fine, and so are you.”

And Jason looked up and believed him. Tim could see it in the way he relaxed, how he slumped down against Bruce’s bulk as if it was the only thing holding him up. He didn’t say anything.

Tim felt a gentle tug on his elbow. He followed the others outside, quietly, leaving Bruce to keep vigil. It was touching, but something about the scene bothered Tim.

“Do you think,” he quietly asked Dick as the group dispersed, “that we should call someone else? His friends? You have Roy’s number.”

“It will help, being here, when he reaches Robin age. They’re strangers until he’s an adult.”

That wasn’t the point. Tim frowned. “I know you think he should be with family when he’s like this. But Dick—we haven’t been his family for a long time. We shouldn’t see this stuff.”

Dick swallowed, but he didn’t argue with that. “B already knows.”

“Not all of it. Not what will happen when—”

“Yeah.” Dick’s shoulders slumped. “But do you think you can convince B of that?”

“No.” Tim sighed. “No, I don’t.”

——

“Master Jason, what are you doing in the kitchen?”

It was eight a.m., and even Master Tim was asleep by now. Alfred had kept an ear out for the sound of a preschooler waking up, but Master Jason must’ve aged again. He looked to be about nine now.

The kid frowned. “I don’t know who you are, but I need to make breakfast, or mom won’t eat.”

Alfred took a moment to fix his apron, blinking discreetly. “Of course, Master Jason. Your mother, however, isn’t here at the moment. Would you like to help me prepare some pancakes?”

——

There was a sound like something heavy falling, then a curse. “Where the fuck am I?”

Dick and Tim exchanged a glance. They’d installed Jason in front of the tv, at first, but he’d been more interested in the few children’s books Bruce kept around for guests.

Tim had tagged along—at this point, he had somehow wound up one of Jason’s primary caretakers, and wasn’t that a sentence he hadn’t expected himself to ever think? Looked like the time for children’s books had run out.

When they walked over to the armchair Jason had buried himself in, they found a pile of limbs in front of it, scrambling to get up and look at them. The family had taken to dressing Jason in the largest clothes they could get him in without them falling off, just to spare his modesty at the next change. Not that Jason had really grown much over the last few episodes…

At least he was dressed as he woke up in an unfamiliar living room because he couldn’t remember the previous episode or his adult life, Tim thought. Honestly, this curse/science mishap/whatever seemed hellbent on making their lives as miserable as possible.

Dick advanced cautiously. “Jason—”

“And you would be?” the boy asked, his voice suddenly much lighter.

“My name’s Dick Grayson, and you’re safe here.”

“Hmm, am I?” There was something wrong with the way Jason looked at Dick. His weight was shifted to the side, pushing his hip to the front, his long lashes almost fluttering, and there was something challenging in his gaze as if he was daring Dick—as if he was—

The idea was so incongruous—so impossible—that it took Tim too long to connect the dots. It was the exact pose he saw the working girls and boys adopt, night after night when they approached a car.

The thing with Tim was: He could be thrown off a building, and his brain would still keep on working all the way down. (No, seriously, that happened several times.) It was just how it was. So he could be shocked at what was happening, at what he’d just learned about Jason, and still notice that Dick wasn’t.

Perhaps he was making a mountain of a molehill, then. Perhaps Jason had just seen too much on the streets and was trying to play along, to give Dick what Jason thought he wanted, and then he’d punch him when he got too close and get out of here.

Perhaps.

“Let’s just—wait it out, okay?” Dick sighed. “You got temporary amnesia. It’ll all be clear tomorrow.”

“Sure.” Jason looked like he didn’t believe him, but was willing to run with it. “You got some food?”

——

“Oh, hey Dick! You look different!”

Dick thought he was about to cry with relief. Finally, a Jason that knew them, that wouldn’t have to be reassured about their intentions every few hours. “Hey, Jason.”

“Is it for a case?”

“Something like that,” he said. “You’re in the future, sort of. We have to wait a few hours before you can go back.”

Jason’s eyes went wide. “Really? That’s so cool! Can I talk to myself? Where am I? What year is it? What am I doing?”

“We can’t tell you that,” Tim said suddenly. “You know. Time travel code. Gotta follow the rules.”

“Ah.” Jason nodded as if that made any sense. “But you can tell me about other things, right? What about the cave? Can I see how it changed?”

“No, not the cave—” not while that damn memorial was still there, “—but Alfred has a collection of photos in one room if you want to see.”

That would be fine. Jason wasn’t in any of those, anyway.

“Whoa,” Jason commented when he saw how many pictures there were. “This family sure has grown. Wait, who is that?”

“That’s me,” Tim said.

Jason frowned. “That’s a Robin outfit. Are you Robin after me?”

And Dick—he could see how Tim tensed up. Understandably so, they had all heard what Jason called him. “Yeah, I—I didn’t mean to repl—you were—”

“It’s okay,” Jason shrugged. “Robin is more than one person, right? Dickie here said that. You don’t stop being Robin. You just share it.”

Tim blinked once. Then again.

Dick watched in some concern, because—surely that’s what he said to him back when he gave Robin to Damian, too? Right? It was all such a blur, but he must have.

Jason was already moving on to the next picture. “Wow, are these your wings?!”

“Yeah.”

“Did you make them? That’s so cool, I wanna fly too!”

Dick watched in amusement as a blush spread across Tim’s face. “I could show you the plans?”

“That would be fun! It could be a project.” Then he whirled around. “Do you go to school?”

“Uh, not really.”

Jason frowned. “You should. Grades are important. You can’t go superheroing forever if you don’t have money.”

“That’s true.” Tim looked suitably chastised. Dick bit down on a laugh as he watched Jason walk along Alfred’s little gallery, commenting on everything he saw and pulling Tim along.

God, thinking about the kid they saw yesterday, this Jason was a miracle. Dick knew what it meant to pull yourself up after darkness crashed down on you, how to find a way to smile after you lost everything.

And he knew, too, what a single person who cared for you—who believed in you could do.

(Maybe Dick should’ve remembered that when Jason became a miracle for the second time.)

Bruce had been that for both of them. Even now, Dick could see him at the doorway, watching Jason with such pride and unbearable longing on his face. Then a shadow fell over his expression, and he turned away.

“Dick!” Jason called over. “Tim has never heard the train story! C’mon, you’re the best at telling it.”

“He hasn’t heard it because it’s embarrassing,” Dick whined, but he walked over and joined them. Might as well make the most of this, right?”

——

“I’m sorry, Bruce,” Zatanna said. “There’s nothing I can do.”

She was magic, Cass knew, and Bruce didn’t like magic. So if he was asking her for help… Duke, next to her, looked worried, as well.

They weren’t letting the two of them see Jason, and that was okay. Neither of them had ever been close to Jason. Not that Dick or Tim had been, exactly, but they cared in a way Cass and Duke admittedly didn’t.

“Is there anything that could slow down his aging process, at least?”

“Nothing but putting him into stasis, and he would not thank you for that, Bruce.”

Duke dared to ask: “But Nygma said the effect of the gas should stop once he’s reached his proper age, right? So that should be… alright?”

“And what,” Bruce ground out, “if the next time he phases forward, he’s dead?”

“Bruce.” Zatanna put a hand on his shoulder, empathy in every line of her body.

Bruce shook her off as if he couldn’t bear the touch. “We don’t know if he’ll wake up this time.”

For a second, Cass wanted to hurt everyone who made Bruce sound like that. But she knew there was nothing she could do. Love, she knew, cut like that sometimes.

——

Damian was well aware that they would prefer to keep him far away from Todd. To a certain extent, he understood. He would not wish more people than necessary to watch him relive his own childhood, either.

However, no one in this family was prepared for what was coming next. Damian knew.

The minute the screaming began, Damian walked into the room.

Jason was convulsing on the bed. Dick was frantically checking him for injuries, and Damian clicked his tongue. “That won’t help. He is not bleeding.”

Bruce turned to him. “Damian, what—”

“He’s in pain. His body is half-alive, half-dead,” Damian told them calmly. His voice wasn’t shaking. It wasn’t. “It won’t stop until he swims in a Lazarus Pit.”

His father should not look like this. Helpless. Pitiful. Damian resented him for it, just a little bit. Father had not been there the first time. This would only last for hours, and all he had to do was wait. The crushing weight of how to fix this was not on him as it had been on Mother.

“I’m going to get a tranquilizer,” Dick murmured.

——

Duke wondered what they would do if Jason woke up in full rage mode. He had seen the files, had read everything he could the minute this started happening. Cass had told him the rest, pieced together from hints her brothers had dropped over the years. There was no way they could deal with that if they were unprepared and Jason was in their home. No way.

So he was… nervous. Just a bit. Enough so that he was camping out in front of the bedroom that they were keeping Jason for now. Sure, Jason had been medicated, but Duke had seen Bruce trying that on Red Hood before. Red Hood had barely slowed down. Whatever the Lazarus Pits were, exactly, they sure did a number on a person’s metabolism.

Duke got his answer when Bruce sent everyone out of the room. Batman would wait alone, then. Dick and Tim obeyed, albeit reluctantly.

Tim, however, returned a minute later with Bruce’s utility belt, shock full of batarangs and other weapons. The older man, however, hesitated to take it.

“Bruce,” Tim said, and he very gently touched a scar on his neck.

Bruce took the belt.

——

The next morning, Jason left.

Minutes before, Bruce watched him as he woke up.

He had known as soon as he had seen Jason as a toddler that his son would not forgive him for this. The others, maybe. They had only tried to help. Bruce was the one too selfish to let Jason keep his secrets, bring him to people he trusted.

Because that sure as hell wasn’t him anymore. Deservedly so or not, Bruce had had to face that reality a long time ago.

Still, when Jason opened his eyes and there was only a tinge of green in them, nothing like the rage of the pit, just like they had been the last time Bruce had seen him without the mask—for that one moment, Bruce allowed himself to hope.

Maybe, just maybe, Jason wouldn’t remember. Then he could use the whole thing as a learning experience—see it as bonding, even—something that would allow them to finally move on; that would help Bruce to find the right trigger to get Jason to give up his mad crusade and come home.

Then Jason blinked, and his eyes were empty even of hate.

“My phone?” was all he asked.

“In the cave.” Bruce kept his voice even because what else could he do?

Jason nodded. Then he left, and he did not come back.

[sellyoursoulforagoodfic]

You Deserve a Love...Chapter 9

Damian Wayne x reader

Tag: @slowlydrowningme @hhhellish

Link to Inspo Post: Post

Summary: Questions, questions, only one could shock you quite like this

Word Count: 1626

You woke slowly, something that’d become more and more common in the several last several months since your relationship with Damian became more serious. Your personal favorite mornings were exactly like this: slow morning, waking naturally, snuggled up in the arms of the man you loved, in a bed that felt like it was the size of your entire bedroom back at your apartment. The gentle hand running through your hair told you that Damian was awake and also enjoying the lazy atmosphere.

“G’morning,” you muttered, palm running up the length of his back as you hugged him close.

“Good morning, habibati.”

Oh, the things that sleep-rough voice of his did to you.

“Sleep well?”

“I always do when I’m with you.”

There was a pause. “Then why don’t we make it permanent?”

You could feel your eyebrows scrunch up as you leaned back enough to look at him. “Care to run that by me again?”

He moved to press a kiss to the underside of your jaw. “We hate being apart, I love you more than anything, and you have never backed down when I’ve told you the truth about me. Even Father’s other wards cannot say the same about their paramours. Be with me forever.”

He looked a little startled when you jerked forward to press a hard kiss to his lips before answering. “Yes,” you breathed. “A bazillion times yes.”

A rare, broad grin spread across his face. “So how do you want to do this?”

“How have we done everything else? Act then tell. Though I suppose they’re gonna freak if we just do it.”

“Do you really care?”

“Not really.”

“Exactly as I thought.” A sweet kiss was graced to your forehead. “Then we will spend the day making preparations. What do you need to accomplish?”

“Assuming we’re going on a trip, I’ll need to pack and get my cat to someone who can watch him.

“We are. We can take him at the same time we take Pennyworth and Titus.”

“Pet bonding,” you laughed. “Here's hoping they get along.”

“Moving into a new apartment shouldn’t be too difficult,” Damian mused. “A moving company should be able to get everything packed and here by tonight.”

“Fair point. I love you, but I’d rather not live with your dad, and Titus won’t fit at my place. Wow, they really are gonna throw a fit when they catch wind of this . . .”

“You like seeing them squirm.”

A sadistic grin made itself present on your face. “Yep! But we should probably get up. Apparently we’ve got a lot to do today.”

Eight hours later, flights and lodging were booked, a (shockingly large) penthouse was bought, everything was at least in your new home, and the pets were getting along surprisingly well. Exhausted, you flopped onto the bed (the only piece of furniture that was actually setup) face-first. You only enjoyed the peace for a few brief moments before a heavy weight settled on your back.

“What--” a look over your shoulder answered that question before it fully left your mouth. Titus had dubbed you as his bed, and was now pressing you into the mattress. “Comfy there?” you chuckled. The presence of the man-sized dog did bring to light an issue that you hadn’t considered before. “Hey, D?”

“Yes?” he called from across the apartment. Just how muffled the sound was really drove home the scale of your new home.

“We’re gonna need a bigger bed! Mine isn’t big enough for the big baby!”

“We can look into that when we get back.” Now his voice was much closer. And there he was, smiling from the doorway at the sight of the two of you lounging. “Jason agreed to take care of them while we’re gone. He will be setting up and staying in the guest room.”

“He ask where we’re going?”

“I told him the truth; he will run interference for us. Keep Grayson and Olivia from getting too nosey. Drake and Gordon will likely respect our wishes for privacy on our trip.”

“We’ll be lucky if they don’t realize we moved.”

“I would expect nothing less--”

“From the family of Batman, I know,” you rolled your eyes. There was a certain tightness in the set of your fiance’s shoulders that made you frown. “What’s wrong?”

“My father knows. He called after I talked to Todd.”

Referring to Jason by his last name, not a great sign considering how much closer they’d gotten in the last few months. “What did he say?”

“He has . . . differing opinions about romantic attachments than the rest of us. He views them as an--”

“Unnecessary risk. I remember.”

That opinion had proven to be quite the issue in the early days of your relationship. Bruce’s unwavering view about how dangerous it could be to have such attachments nearly drove Damian to cut his ties with you altogether. One of the only ways you’d gotten his (in the loosest definition of the term) was to have Damian start teaching you self-defense, and even then he only admitted that you helped temper Damian’s ego. Nothing more. Alfred was the one that made you welcome at the manor when you crashed there with Damian.

“He was surprisingly in favor of it,” only his green eyes showed his shock.

You blinked in surprise. “What?”

“He said his gift would be to help make any changes to this place we wanted.”

Your eyes narrowed. “Why do I feel like Alfred talked down his initial reaction?”

“Because I wouldn’t love you if you were an idiot.”

“Gotta be smart to keep up with a family of detectives, I guess,” you smiled. “Love you too, baby.” You blew a kiss in his direction. “So now that we’ve got your dad’s approval, is there anything else we need to worry about before we leave?”

“Jason will be by in the morning to stay, we’re all packed, people think you are busy this week, making you unavailable, we will pick out rings when we get there . . .” Gently, he pulled on Titus’s collar to guide his off of you. “I can only think of one more thing.”

“Hmm?” you hummed at the question as he pulled you into a seated position.

From his pocket, he pulled out a small velvet box. 

Your heart skipped a few beats. “Damian, you didn’t . . .” Your eyes flicked up to his face to see that he once again had that smile that only aided in the newfound arrhythmia in your chest.

“Technically, it was Pennyworth--the man, not the cat--that helped me decide. Well, him and Jason.”

“When did you have the time? I was with you all day!”

“Two weeks ago.”

You blinked blankly, once again stunned.

“Habibati, you know I’m not one to make rash decisions--Are you crying?”  He laughed a little. “You haven’t even seen it yet!”

“Shut up! It’s your fault for being so sweet!” The gesture was rough as you moved to wipe your tears.

Jason snickered when he saw the post you just made on your Instagram. It was sure to send the rest of the group into a tizzy, and it was his job to fend off their questions. He was looking forward to that part. He jumped at every opportunity to mess with his makeshift little family. They may have made up for the most part, but he had to get his kicks somehow.

It was a picture that could have been posted at literally any time because it was such a normal image. It showed a pair of hands holding each other; anyone could guess that it was you and Damian. Jason was amused to note that your hand was carefully turned to hide the ring he knew to be there. His littlest brother was driving (his Mercedes judging by the emblem on the steering wheel.) And that’s all there was. There was a vague sense of normalcy to it that made it such a precious picture.

The caption was what made it a bit strange: [@therealwayne and I are unplugging for a spell. We’ll see you all on the flipside]

Already, there was a comment from Cass, [What?! You guys just got back from the LAST trip!!]

Then Jason’s phone went off. That was fast.

Of course it was Dick in the massive group chat they had made a while ago. [Where are you guys going?!]

Steph: [Yeah, I didn’t even get to see you!]

Huffing a sigh, Jason typed, [They’re not going to answer, guys. They said they were going radio silent ‘til they get back, and their plane took off ten minutes ago]

[Wait, you KNEW they were leaving?!], Tim.

[No fair!], that would be Olivia.

[They needed someone to watch the children, and I’ve got the space] They didn’t need to know that he was staying at their place.

[And you’re their favorite] Jason could practically see Dick’s pouting face.

[Maybe that’s because I don’t constantly give them shit, Dickiebird]

[Mean.]

[They just want some space, guys] Jason was serious now. [Just let them be alone for a bit. They haven’t really had that since we met her.]

Barbara: [I hadn’t thought of it like that . . .]

[Exactly. Now, I’ve got a gigantic mutt to walk. All of you, leave them alone.]

That was a bit of a lie since Titus was perfectly content to lay on top of Jason as he lay on the couch, but Jason did want to lavish the Dane with attention. He’d spent the first thirty minutes after their departure sitting by the front door waiting for Damian to come back, and Jason’s heart just couldn’t handle seeing him stay that sad.

“They’ll be back before you know it, buddy,” he promised with a few head scritches.

[dottie-wan-kenobi]

A @batfam-christmas-stocking written for @sqoiler!! Happy holidays <3

----

“I’m stealing you,” a voice announces over his shoulder. It’s a voice he recognizes, one that belongs to Stephanie. Bruce turns around, totally unconcerned about the people he’d just been talking to. Sure enough, Steph is standing there, dressed up more than he’d ever seen before. Her dress is purple, a more subdued shade than her old costume. There aren’t any shoulders, but long sleeves cover her arms, and a built-in belt sits high on her waist, just under where the neckline dips. There’s a slit for her leg in the flowing fabric, which brushes the ground.

He recalls that when the children were discussing what they’d be wearing to this event, Damian mentioned how low the temperature can get in an effort to not overheat everyone. She and Dick had commiserated about fashion and how sometimes looking fabulous is worth freezing to death.

Hmm. He’ll have to watch out and make sure she doesn’t get too cold.

Stephanie looks behind him for a moment, eyes falsely wide. She plays the naive debutante role very well. “This isn’t important, right?”

“No, not really,” Bruce says, even though it kind of is. One of the people he’d been speaking with scoffs, but he ignores them and steps towards her. She usually doesn’t interact with him unless she wants or needs something—clearly his attention needs to be aimed at her right now. These society people and their business can wait. “What’s up?”

“Let’s dance.” She doesn’t wait for a response, just grabs Bruce’s wrist and tugs him out onto the dance floor. It’s been set up between the tables, but there are less people dancing than ones standing around the edges of it, talking and sipping at champagne. There’s a band on a small stage playing classical songs that are always played at these stupid galas, and luckily, they’re beginning a new song just as Bruce and Stephanie reach the floor.

It’s like dancing with Cass—they assume the position for a waltz, a few inches of space between their bodies. She’s taller than his daughter, and while it doesn’t quite put him on the wrong foot, it does make their dance feel unfamiliar. Thankfully, her presence in his life has been increasing over the past year, enough that it’s not uncomfortable. Thankfully, he thinks with what can only be described as fond exasperation. When did that happen?

“So,” Steph says once they’re moving around the dance floor. People are staring. Everyone wants to know who the new kid with the Waynes is. He’ll have to have Damian make a post on social media about her to clear up her relationship to the family. “This is a gala.”

But what is her relationship? he wonders. She’s not quite just a family friend anymore. But he’s not her dad. Not really. Her mom is alive and well, occasionally contacting him with concerns and questions. Boundaries with Steph and her mom and himself are very firmly set—boundaries with Steph and the kids are not. Dick is already big-brothering her. “Yes.”

“My first.”

“I’m aware.” She must be feeling nervous, he surmises. Her eyes are flitting every which way. Though, why she’s coming to him and not Cass, he’s unsure.

“It’s…not like what I expected it to be. I’ve always heard Tim complain about them, but I don’t know, it’s not as terrible as he made them out to be? But on the other hand, I haven’t talked to many people yet. They’re probably all judging me, aren’t they. Ugh.” She rolls her eyes. “Hey, what rich person insult will piss them off the most?”

“You’d be better off asking Duke that,” Bruce says. Or Jason. But Steph and Jason haven’t, as far as he knows, bonded much. Met a few times, yes. Talked shit about him for several hours one night, yes. But bonded over anything but that? No. He isn’t sure they’ll get along if the conversation is about something else, even with their similar backgrounds.

“I just figured since you’re, ya know, a rich asshole, you’d know which one is best. If I heavily imply I think they’re overcompensating with their big houses and cars and shit, will someone actually turn red with rage? Because seriously, I would love to see that.”

Bruce takes a moment to consider it, eyes sweeping over the other people in the room. He skips over his children, focusing more on the insecure men and women that Steph could easily take down a notch. Not wanting to be overheard by the others on the dance floor, he tells her in an undertone which ones are the best targets.

She listens attentively, a grin widening on her face with every new name. When he’s done, she says, “Thanks! I’m gonna need those in writing, though. Don’t wanna forget.”

Unsure if she’s joking or not, he leads them into a turn. “Just remind me after we’re done here and I’ll get you a more complete list.”

“Cool.” They dance for a few more moments in silence, both of them noticing how close some of the other dancers are getting. Rather loudly, Steph clears her throat. “They really think they’re being subtle, huh?”

Amused, Bruce glances at the faces around them. Everyone hears her words, and while a few seem undeterred, most pale at being caught, moving away in a very obvious manner. “Curiosity makes the cat brave,” he quips, repeating a sentiment Cass shared with him recently. When she doesn’t respond, he looks down to her face, finding her staring in the direction of the doors they came in through. “Something on your mind?”

He’s really asking, why did you come and get me? If it’s just nerves, she would’ve been better off with one of the others. No, it must be something else.

Steph blinks, turning her gaze upwards. Never one to back down, she meets his eyes long enough for him to see she’s not in any distress, at least. “Just thinking.”

“About?”

“I don’t know,” she mumbles. “Everything. Nothing.”

“Hrn,” he replies, a gentle reminder that he’s listening and she can keep going.

“It’s just—why did you even bring me here, B? I stick out like a sore thumb. It’s so obvious everyone here is judging me and probably think I’m with Tim or something,” she makes a face to show just how unappealing that sounds. And honestly, Bruce has to agree, knowing that the two work much better as friends than partners. “And I don’t even know why I asked if they’re judging me, because I know they are! I heard someone ask if I was another one of your charity cases! They know I don’t belong here. And I know it too, so—”

“Stephanie.”

“—so why ?”

“Because,” he says, lowering his voice as the music stops. He doesn’t want anyone overhearing this. “Because you are a family friend, at the very least. You’ve helped save my children’s lives as well as my own. You deserve to be here with the rest of us. If you want to go home, I’ll happily call Alfred to come and get you, but can I tell you what I think?”

“What?” She asks, sniffling quietly. Her eyes are wet but she’s not crying. To anyone else, her eyes would just look a little shiny, probably from all the twinkling lights.

“I think you’ll have more if you stick around and help me subtly insult all of these assholes.”

A surprised laugh bubbles out of her, and she leans forward, her forehead resting on his chest. He pats her back, letting her calm down without having to worry about people seeing.

Spotting Duke sitting by himself at a nearby table and hoping that’s all that needs to be said, Bruce taps her shoulder and asks, “Why don’t we go sit down and eat, hm?”

Pulling away, Steph exhales loudly and says, “Yeah, okay. As long as I get to actually eat something, I mean. Tim always said the portions are way too small.”

Together, they walk to where Duke is sitting. When he sees them, he grins and stands, meeting them both with hugs. Hugs from Duke are a more common occurrence than from any of the other kids except Dick and Cass.

Bruce makes sure to hold on until Duke is ready to let go, having heard the sentiment from Alfred once and internalizing it. It’s made it easier to handle hugs—though still a little uncomfortable, they’re nice. Really nice.  

“Hey kid,” Steph says, slinging her arm over Duke’s shoulders.

Duke leans obnoxiously into her side. “I’m only like 3 years younger than you, you know.”

“Eh, details,” Steph replies. “Anyway, we were gonna eat. You hungry? Wanna join us?”

“Hell yeah,” he says, grinning. “I wasn’t sure how to get something to eat, so I was like, just sitting around hoping someone would come and help me.”

“Your pouting was very potent,” Steph tells him. “I think Bruce saw it and almost combusted with a need to be fatherly and stuff.”

“Here, I’ll show you both,” Bruce says, steering them towards the bar where orders are taken. Duke has been with them for a year now, but they haven’t exactly discussed the father stuff. Other than a few times where Duke has accidentally called him dad—and good god, did that always make Bruce flush with happiness and pride—the only thing Bruce knows for sure is that Duke misses his real parents and still occasionally looks for them.

Standing between them, he can’t help but notice the looks people are giving all three of them. This event was supposed to be a more casual one, hence the bar, but the people Bruce is forced to invite are some of the worst and most judgmental assholes he’s ever met. They’re used to Duke by now, but Duke plus Steph is clearly too much for them. He glares back, trying to seem stoic and protective rather than pissed off.

They look away. Good.

The kids chat as they walk, and chat some more once they have their meals and are seated at a table near where Cass and Dick are dancing. Damian spots them and immediately makes a beeline to the empty chair, stopping long enough to set down his drink before going to get something to eat for himself.

Bruce takes a sip of his drink, eyeing Stephanie. She seems calmer now that she’s not alone, but he’ll have to keep checking on her. The night is going to wear long, he can already tell, and he doesn’t want her to keep feeling so out of place, so judged.

He joins in on the conversation, which has somehow turned to Pokemon, and for a while, he and three of his kids—or whatever Steph is to him—just talk and eat. It’s surprisingly relaxing, considering where they are.

Eventually, though, it comes to an end. Dick and Cass come by, Dick only sticking around long enough to steal something off Bruce’s plate before he goes to find Tim. Cass, however, holds out her hand to Steph, who gleefully takes it. Before leaving, she turns to Bruce and sticks out a closed fist. “You’re cool sometimes, I guess.”

Pretending to be exasperated, he fist bumps her. “Thank you. Now go have fun, hm?”

She hesitates for a moment. Then, “Hell yeah,” and his girls are gone, grinning happily and dancing.

[violetsmoak]

Pieces of April [11/?]

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21099044/chapters/50202530

Summary: On the anniversary of his death, Jason’s second life takes an abrupt new turn and he’s faced with a challenge that neither Batman nor the All-Caste prepared him for.

Rating: PG-13 (rating may change later)

Warning(s): Past Jason/Isabel, kidfic, minor canon character death (pretty sure you can guess who), I’ll add more warnings/tags as I think of them.

Canon-Compliance: Takes place in between the two RHATO series, so after Roy and Kori and before Artemis and Bizarro. Jason and Isabel Ardila

First Chapter

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As expected, Jason doesn’t sleep that night.

His eyes remain trained on the ceiling of the guestroom while his subconscious drags him along a tilt-a-whirl of anxious and circular thoughts. He can barely process what they are with how fast they manifest and vanish again to be replaced with new ones. And before he’s really aware of it, the sun is streaming through the window that he forgot to pull the shades over, and he hears movement outside the room.

Figuring he might as well get up, he heaves himself out of bed and ambles down the stairs, skirting the piles of baby supplies he somehow forgot about while drowning in his night of circular thinking.

Tim is standing in his kitchen doing up his tie, nodding and humming with a frown on his face. Jason’s about to ask until he notices the hands-free earpiece in one ear. That could be either for work or to cover the Bat-issue comm; he probably has the latter plugged in permanently the same way Bruce does.

Tim notices him, and his mouth quirks upward in a not-quite smile of greeting.

“I’ll be in shortly, Lucius,” he says distantly. “We can discuss it before the meeting.” He taps the earpiece, hanging up, and then addresses Jason. “Good morning. You look like shit.”

“It’s the ‘I-didn't-sleep’ chic, which you should recognize since you invented it.”

“You’re just jealous you can’t make it look as good as I can,” Tim quips, and maybe if Jason were well-rested, he’d have a better retort for that. Instead, he narrows his eyes to study the younger man.

Tim Drake is polished and put-together, the epitome of perfect Wayne heir. Damian might throw around the words ‘blood son’ at every opportunity, and Dickie might be the first and favorite son, but Tim’s the one actually carrying on the Wayne legacy. From what Jason’s heard, he does it better than Bruce ever did.

Goddamn workaholic. And that suit probably costs more than rent for one of my legal apartments.

“I’m heading out,” Tim announces needlessly, taking a sip of what must be coffee from a travel mug. “I’ll try to get home before four o’clock, but it really depends on how much work Lucius decides to pile on while I’m still in town.”

“Because it sure as hell won’t get done if B is the only one around,” Jason agrees, earning a sharp grin in reply.

“Exactly.”

And there’s the cocky little bastard Jason’s been waiting to re-emerge after a day of being hidden by the scarily competent functioning adult façade.

“Feel free to stick around here and play the game system or raid the fridge or whatever. It’s up to you. The security system’s biometric, but I can give you an override code—” Noticing Jason’s disgusted and somewhat insulted look, he huffs, “Or not. Whatever. You’ll figure it out.”

He leaves without saying anything else, and suddenly Jason is well and truly alone for the first time since waking up on the anniversary of his death with his only thought being to get black-out drunk.

Funny how much twenty-four hours can change.

Except it’s really not.

Jason doesn’t want to spend another day thinking over all of his problems and the infinite possibilities of how the situation can become even more screwed up or confusing, so he busies himself with breaking into Tim’s hideout.

That occupies him for a little while, figuring out the security codes to the false wall and then to the locks on his computer system. He spends the morning wandering around, getting to know the frankly sweet set-up of the place, testing out the training room and looking under the hood of the cars in the garage.

Wonder if Timbers would help me outfit my bunker.

He’s been squatting in an old subbasement beneath GCPD headquarters for a few weeks now; the place was cut off from the main building during the Cataclysm a few years back and for whatever reason, everyone seems to believe it was caved in beyond repair.

Jason’s cleaned the place out and set up his own operation, but it doesn’t have the tech or necessities of an actual Cave. Which, frankly, isn’t fair, since everyone else has their own Batman-free getaway to hide in when the old man gets in one of his moods. Hell, even the new kid has a place beneath the Fox center.

As soon as the thought enters his mind, Jason scowls.

What the hell am I thinking?

None of this is even going to matter for a while anyway, now that he’s about to be benched. Might as well say goodbye to the state-of-the-art vigilante tech now and spare himself the disappointment.

He leaves the Nest (was Drake born without the ability to be original or something?) and returns to the living area, examining the place with a more critical eye this time around.

He still ignores looking at the pile of baby supplies.

Jason’s first impression the day before was of a barely lived in space, meant to show any would-be-intruders how a normal local celebrity might live. He learns he was only half-right when he spies smaller, more personal touches in the décor as he wanders through the house. There are photographs arranged along most of the walls, which on first glance he assumed were the kind you picked up at Ikea to make a place look classy, but he realizes as he studies the black-and-white images that they are shots of various locations in Gotham.

Locations a normal person can’t actually get to.

Which means Tim must have taken them himself; it’s just innocuous enough that a regular visitor would only admire the clarity of the shot. To someone like Jason, it’s impressive for completely different reasons; not least of all the danger inherent in achieving just that right angle. Two pictures he knows could only have been taken by hanging one-handed off a Gotham Trade Centre gargoyle.

The whole thing says more about Tim’s personality than any human detritus or strewn personal belongings could.

Though he does have those, too.

The shelf beside the television has a copy of what might be every video game known to man, across three different platforms. The study is filled with vintage board games and robot figurines and piles of tech magazines. Everything is scary neat—the professional, unnatural Stepford kind of neat that speaks of someone paid to clean it—with the exception of Tim’s bedroom. Jason pokes his head in there for like a second before shuddering and walking away from it.

How has Alfred not murdered you yet, kid?

Back downstairs, he studies the faux mantle above the electric fireplace where he sees artfully placed personal pictures of other recognizable personages. Tim with his Kryptonian and speedster friends, then him along with his generation of Titans. There’s one of him as a child with two people Jason assumes are his parents at a high society event of some sort, as well as a wedding photo of him much older; the man beside him is the same, but the woman in the veil is different. Stepmother, probably.

Jason pauses to smirk at the one of Tim and Dick on a beach somewhere, both ridiculously sunburned; it’s in the same folding frame as one with them both sitting beside Bruce on a beach chair. The older man is asleep, or at least pretending very well, and they’ve used sunscreen to write ‘I hate this place’ on his chest. Alfred obviously took that one.

The family butler is in the next image, standing beside the entry stairway of the manor with a thoughtful expression on his face. It’s so clearly staged to seem as distinguished as possible.

Guess Alf never did get over his dislike of having candid pictures of him taken.

Moving on, there’s a four-strip photo of Tim and Blondie stuck in the frame of a larger one with all three Batgirls past and present in what he supposes is Barbie’s apartment, with them trying to show Cass how to make a duck face. Beside it, one of Tim and the Thomas kid arguing over what looks to be a disemboweled computer; judging by the thumb shape in the corner it was taken sneakily and probably by Dick. Hell, there’s even one of the demon brat there, conked out on a couch in Bruce’s study with a black and white cat curled up on his chest.

Family’s all here, he thinks with a grim sort of humor. All except yours truly.

He’s not sure if he would have expected different, given his and Tim’s relationship. They might partner on occasion, and he works better with Tim than any of the other Bats he sometimes teams up with, but it’s not like they’re actually close. He doesn’t go out of his way to spend time with him outside of the mask, and then there’s a chasm of tense history between them.

He’d actually be surprised if—

Something catches his eye as he turns away from the fireplace, if only because next to all the gleaming frames its’ ordinariness makes it stick out. There’s a faded paper propped up against the wall behind a decorative clock, and when Jason reaches to pick it up and examine it, he finds himself staring down at his own grinning face.

Sort of.

It’s him from years ago.

The Jason Todd before Bruce stopped trusting him; before finding out his entire life had been a lie and before the Joker destroyed him. And it’s not so much a picture as a clipping from a newspaper.

Little Jason grins up at the photographer, missing his right canine and the same side of his face slightly puffy. Jason vaguely remembers the fight with Two-Face the night before, faster than he recalls sitting for this photo. He’s wearing a school uniform, can now recall the harried little man asking if he was sure he didn’t want to wait for picture retakes so they could get a picture when his face wasn’t bruised (“Bruce tried to teach me to ride a horse. They need to make those things closer to the ground!”) and him refusing because he earned these colors, thanks very much—

Jason can’t figure out how this photo ended up in a newspaper, though; the only pictures of him still extant in public are the ones they drag up on television every few years when Bruce does some bit of charity for orphans. Reminders of the poor dead orphan.

But this one—no, now he remembers.

This was the photo the press used during the custody case when Bruce was publicly battling Natalia Knight for guardianship of Jason. It’s not a copy, printed off the internet or digitally finished as a photograph. There’s yellowing around the edges and the paper quality is thin and grainy the way an actual newspaper is when it ages.

But why the hell does Tim have this?

He’s been back from the dead for years now, and with the Bat propensity for stalking and surveillance footage, if Tim wanted a photo of him, he could certainly have gotten all manner of material. Why this one? And why include it here at all, if it’s hidden away behind the others like a dirty secret?

The whole thing is vastly unsettling, and as he remembers Tim’s words from yesterday—

“We’re too complicated to be family. But we are Robins. And in a lot of ways, I think that’s stronger than us being part of the Family.”

—his chest starts to experience that vicelike pressure he’s been having on and off since learning about Isabel and the baby.

He’s struck by the very pressing need to get out of here.

Fleeing the apartment for the hidden Nest once more, Jason finds the exit protocols and manual overrides for Tim’s system, then borrows one of the bikes in the garage area. Tim did say he was free to do ‘whatever’ and though Jason doubts that includes absconding with his wheels, he doesn’t entirely care. He doesn’t even bother looking for the tracking beacons he knows are hidden on them.

He’s not running away, he’s just…clearing his head.

Or clearing it as well as anyone can while navigating the construction and traffic-infested roads of Gotham.

An open highway would be the most ideal way for him to lose himself and avoid his complicated feelings, but he supposes that option has its own dangers. Like just driving straight to California and pretending the past day has been nothing but a bad dream.

Instead, the constant roadblocks and detours Jason’s forced to take through the corners of the city jog his brain back into thinking. Back into reasoning and solving problems and improvising like he usually does.

First of all, he needs to stop letting Tim do everything for him.

Jason is capable—has survived on his own his whole life; it’s time to get his shit together. And to do that, he has to find someone who can take care of the baby.

His daughter.

He needs to get used to saying it, whether he stays in her life or not.

Jason isn’t entirely sure what he’s looking for in terms of the plans Tim suggested to him the night before. There’s merit to all the ideas, but he’s stuck between getting her out of Gotham or finding someone here who knew Isabel.

Or at least someone who knew she was expecting a kid. Any kind of connection to her mother would be better than nothing.

In theory.

Jason’s pretty sure that it’s a rare kid—himself included—who would have been better off without knowing anything about their birth mother. But Isabel is not Sheila, and the situation isn’t anything like that one.

He’s not even sure where to start looking for potential guardians.

Though Isabel’s friend Safiya said she would be looking into it, it’s once again putting Jason in the position of letting others deal with the consequences of his own actions. If only he knew more about what frame of mind Isabel was in before all this started…

Jason didn’t live with the world’s greatest detective for three years of his life without learning how to build a profile on someone. And the best starting point for that is where she spent most of her time.

He pulls over in the parking lot of a Bat Burger to unlock the fancy computer hidden within the bike’s dash (obviously one of Tim’s own design) and linking to the Bat-network’s backdoor to Gotham General’s patient records. Then it’s a simple search to bring up Isabel’s personal information, including her latest address.

Turns out she moved a lot closer to Gotham General than she was before; as he revs the motor and takes off again, Jason wonders if that was pre-emptive.

Isabel’s place is on the edge of Midtown, where the business district turns residential. The condominium itself seems well taken care of, especially in contrast to the fixer-uppers Jason’s used to in his own neighborhood, but in Gotham, that means next to nothing.

Though clearly Isabel’s been doing well if she’s able to afford a place here.

He’s not entirely sure what the average flight attendant’s salary is, but maybe she was just good with money.

Her apartment is on the highest floor of the apartment building, reachable by the fire escape. He scowls a bit at the idea that just anyone could get in here if they so choose, and if she thinks that’s a good enough deterrent than—

Jason has to stop and shake his head and remind himself that Isabel is gone. She’ll never have to worry about break-ins again.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he jimmy’s open the window and slips through.

⁂⁂⁂

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Next Chapter

[ohmygoodnessgraciouss]

Christmas (Batboys x Reader)

Christmas at Wayne Manor is absolute chaos.  As soon as it's November 1st, Bruce has a huge tree placed in the center of the entrance and inside the Grand Hall.  Later, it's decorated by two dozen maids with glass ornaments that look like they could break by a simple touch.  The lights on the tree turn on only when Thanksgiving Day has arrived, and the trees are so bright that it's almost hard to look at them.

Later, Alfred is organizing servants to decorate the railings of all the stairs with pinecones and poinsettias galore.  Silver tinsel and bells go by the doors and around the frames of any archways.  Everything outside is covered in Christmas lights that give the grounds an elegant look for Christmas.  During galas and parties, ice sculpture ornaments hang from the trees by the gates that have lost their leaves.  

In all, Wayne Manor looks gorgeous for the holidays, but there is one problem.  Everyone is always busy and it seems like you can't escape the bright lights and fake Christmas presents for even a second.  The worst part is the constant Christmas music you swear Jason is playing just to annoy everyone.  It's usually just a bunch of Carpenters and Amy Grant songs.  Occasionally there's an Elvis Presley or Nat King Cole song in the bunch.  

Damian is constantly chasing Titus to rip off some sort of Christmas headband that Tim sticks on him.  Sometimes it's reindeer antlers, and other times, it's an Elf hat.  Either way, it's hilarious to watch him chase the dog for a while.  

Dick is about as excited for Christmas as you can get.  He loves the holiday and tries to wear an ugly Christmas sweater every day until Christmas.  On the 25th he forces everyone to be up by 5 AM and in pajamas.  Bruce tries to get into everyday clothes, but Dick drags him out before he can try it.  Even Alfred comes in in semi-casual clothes.  Of course, he doesn't want to do it, but it is his master's wishes as Dick tells him this every year.  

Let's start with the week before Christmas when the Wayne Foundation holds its annual Christmas ball.  Hundreds of businessmen and women arrive to talk about their profits over the year and how they're hoping to get out of the red before the next fiscal year.  Dozens of reporters come in, eager to talk to the Wayne children.  In reality, every single one of you is bored the entire night.  

"I can't believe he won't let us drink," Jason grumbled while the two of you sat in a dark corner of the room.  Green, red, silver, and gold decorations filled the ballroom.

"Because he knows you'll drink the night away and make an embarrassment of yourself," You replied.

"Dick's always making an embarrassment of himself but he's allowed to do whatever he wants, right?"

"Dick has no shame.  Bruce has given up on trying to make Dick look like he's an heir to the fortune someday."

"The last time he was at a ball, he drank so much that he started telling everyone to call him Ric."

"Maybe he has some shame.  Definitely going to be in the family photo album Babs is making," You laughed.

After a man asked to dance with you, you decided it might not have been the best idea to wear heels.  You went through several dances before you could finally escape, where you stumbled upon Tim.

"Hey Tim," You greeted him.  He looked up from a stack of papers that he was currently holding to flash you a smile.  The papers looked like they were blank.  "What are you doing?"

"Escaping news reporters and women.  If I make it look like I had unexpected work to do, no one approaches me except you and Bruce."

"Let me guess, you got the idea from Barbara?"

"She was the one who gave me all these papers."  

"Well, at least she gave you something to do.  I just had to dance with a half a dozen men who looked the same."

"Just because they're all in a tux doesn't mean they look exactly the same appearance-wise."

"Yeah, well, you dance with these heels on and tell me if you stop worrying about how you'll burn the shoes later and start worrying about what everyone looks like.  I could've danced with Damian for all I know."

"Speaking of Damian, where did he go?  Don't tell me he somehow escaped this."

"He better not.  I'll personally kill him if he did."

"You know Bruce's rule, (Y/N)."

"Right.  I'll just break all two hundred and six bones in his body."

"There you go.  Wait, is that him?"  Tim asks and points to someone across the room.  

Sure enough, there was Damian standing and talking to a bunch of people.  He looked bored and like he wanted to get out of there.  You've definitely felt that way before and you felt bad for him now, so you decided to help him out.

You quickly made your way over to the crowd and pushed past to Damian.  "Damian, Tim told me that he needed your help with some paperwork he forgot to file this afternoon.  If he doesn't get your signature tonight he's going to be in a world of trouble with Bruce."

"It's his own fault, isn't it?  Well, if I must.  Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen," He flashed them a very faint smile, one that Bruce has been trying to teach him for the past week.  

He quickly walked off with you and you could see by the look in Damian's eyes that he was thankful.  "I have no idea why I have to be here.  I don't even celebrate this idiotic holiday," He complained.

"You have to make a good impression for Bruce by looking like the perfect blood son to all of his shareholders.  It's only a few nights a year that you have to do this, so suck it up."

Damian rolled his eyes and you continued your way through the party.  The rest of it almost seemed like fun until Jason finally grew tired of it all.  Thus, your night at the party ended with you dragging him out as he stuck any kind of food he could find into the cheese fountain.  Yes, that included strawberries and even blocks of cheese.

~

Later that week, everyone went up to the local mall to see Santa Claus for pictures.  Why?  Because nearly everyone was a child and wanted to go see Santa except Damian.  He was dragged along with you because he needed to see Christmas.

Santa seemed to be shocked at a huge group of adults wanting to get a picture with him, more specifically, people who either knew the Wayne family or was a part of it.  He still continued to be jolly and take the picture with them.

"And what would you like for Christmas?" He asked Damian.

"The souls of the damned."

The Santa stopped for a moment, unsure of what to say.  Before Damian could say anything else, Santa laughed.  "Well, I'll see what I can do about it since you've been a very good boy."

Both you and Tim couldn't stop laughing at him.  Everyone else was buying the pictures so Tim walked up and grabbed Damian's hand.  "Don't bother getting him anything, he'll be on the naughty list for a while once you hear about everything he's done."

~

Christmas Eve almost seems like a typical day until about 5:00 PM.  Bruce finally gets home from Wayne Enterprises and goes into his office to wrap presents.  You'd think he wouldn't be into doing that, but he seems to really enjoy wrapping everyone's gifts.  

You, Dick, Jason, and Tim spend the time watching all sorts of Christmas movies.  Your list varies greatly.  It'd start out with A Christmas Story, and merge onto It's a Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street.  As time progressed, you'd start watching Edward Scissorhands or The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Damian would join the four of you once it reached Die Hard or stupid Syfy movies like Santa Slays and Santa Jaws.

Alfred would spend all of Christmas Eve making sure that everything was perfect for tomorrow.  Even though the maids cleaned the room that had your tree in it about a dozen times, he would vacuum the floor and dust the shelves all over again.  Sometimes he would reposition some of the ornaments and tilt the star into a perfect balance.  He enjoyed doing it, and he would sometimes peek into the other room to see everyone watching movies.  

By the time it reached 10 P.M, you would load up the NORAD Santa Tracker to see where Santa is currently.  Dick loved getting to watch as the virtual sleigh moved across the map, and later started a game.  Everyone had to guess the country by only the name of the town that Santa was heading to.

"He's heading to Moscow."

"Russia, duh," Damian would answer quickly.

"Athens."

"Greece," Tim chimed in.

"Izmir."

"Don't know, don't care," Jason would say as he got the eggnog out.

~

By 11:00 P.M, Bruce would tell you it's time to go to bed.  No one would say a word because you all knew what that meant.  He was coming down with all the presents, and that meant even the ones from Santa.  Apparently, Santa was too scared to come to Wayne Manor every year because he knew who everyone was.  Santa wasn't stupid.  Coming into a house full of vigilantes in the middle of the night might not be the best idea.

Once it was about 4:30 A.M, everyone could hear Dick slowly come out of his room to check out the tree.  It was no secret, and it was like clockwork for him.  Everyone could get a maximum of six hours of sleep during Christmas before they wake up to Dick's face in front of them, eager to open presents.  Sometimes you wondered if he was just a child in an adult body, but who were you to judge?

He'd usually wake you up first because you'd take the longest to trudge out of your bed.  Because of this, you would be able to sneak into the kitchen to start heating up water for hot chocolate.  You had done this every year so far, and sometimes you'd see Alfred come into the kitchen, pulling the mugs out.  

You'd make enough for everybody and Alfred would help stick the marshmallows in.  You placed mugs of it on all the tables as one by one everyone came down.  Tim first, then Jason, then Bruce, and Damian would come down, with Dick following shortly with a bloody nose.  

The entire morning consisted of everyone unwrapping presents and thanking each other.  The fireplace would have a couple of logs burning inside as everyone cheered and laughed.  Of course, everyone had to save a couple presents for each other because Barbara, Cassandra, and Stephanie couldn't come over until later in the day.  

It almost seemed like you were just the average family and not a big group of superheroes that go out every night.  

~

When it was the afternoon and the girls walked into the Manor holding dozens of gifts, it was like Christmas morning all over again.  More hot chocolate was made, everyone laughed and played games, it was perfect.  Except until you were done unwrapping presents.

Tonight's Christmas dinner was turkey, stuffing, and an assortment of sides to choose from.  You, Jason, and Alfred cooked the dinner, and it was a long an stressful few hours.  You fought with Jason for ten minutes on whether or not the "tent" of tinfoil is removed from the turkey in the final hour.

The sides were carefully prepared by Alfred as he listened to the two of you fight.  Since it never got hostile, he didn't bother with breaking it up until the turkey was about to burn.  Bruce and the others could hear it from across the Manor, as they watched a new movie Barbara got.  

In the end, Christmas dinner was perfect as everyone ate around the table.  The only problem was when Stephanie was bringing out the desert, a lovely chocolate pie that Alfred made yesterday, and she slipped.  The pie went flying and splattered all over the ground.  Most of it fell onto everyone's shoes, but for poor Tim, some of the whipped cream that was on top flew right into his face.  Everyone felt bad, but they couldn't help it when Damian started laughing.  That's right, Damian Wayne laughed.

~

To finish off the night, everyone told the funniest stories they had for the year.  Whether if it was on patrol, or when Dick fell down the stairs and quickly brushed it off as being his new invention to go down the stairs faster.  You, Bruce, Alfred, Tim, Dick, Jason, Damian, Barbara, Cassandra, and Stephanie had fun all Christmas day.  

Even Titus had a little bit of fun for the ten seconds he was able to snag some of the chocolate pie off the ground.  

If this was how they would wrap up their year, they were happy with it.  For once, a Christmas in Gotham City seemed peaceful, silent, and right.  

Merry Christmas to all.

May your December 25th be spent with the ones you love, and may you find happiness for even just this one day.  

If you don't celebrate Christmas, happy Tuesday.  I hope your day is great, something good happens, and remember, stay fabulous.  <3

[camsthisky]

Masterlist of Cam’s DC fics

aka the only fics of mine that really matter to me rn

One Shots

Here lies Jason Todd Words: 607 Summary: From a prompt meme on tumblr #17: "Oh, just digging myself a nice grave, you?” with Dick and Jason.

Irrational Words: 1,035 Summary: Tim’s too curious for his own good, because he’s behind Dick now, reading the text over Dick’s shoulder while he sips his coffee. Dick watches as Tim’s eyebrows shoot up.

“Wow,” Tim says when he finishes. “That sounds like loads of fun. Good luck.” Dick groans. “This is the worst.”

Tim gives him an incredulous look. “Right. Because getting asked to babysit as a last resort is definitely worse than everything we’ve been through in the past year.”

the unshakable mountains we blew to pieces Words: 3,284 Summary: "What had happened tonight had shaken them all to the core. It was a blow straight to the heart. It worked so well. They hadn’t seen it coming. Even Dick hadn’t seen it coming, and Tim knew from experience that Dick prepared for the worst."Missing scenes from S2 ep 9: Darkest

I’m Here for a Pick Up Words: 2,948 Summary: Tim has the unfortunate task of picking Dick Grayson up from the police station while Damian tags along when Bruce is out of town. It doesn't turn out exactly as he thought it would, and honestly, he might just be okay with that.

Not My Fault You Didn’t Check the Calendar Words: 896 Summary: It's Mandatory Family Day and Dick just wants everyone to pick something to do. It'd be nice if Jason didn't try to run away, too. Day 1 of batfam week

Jason-Level Ridiculous Words: 694 Summary: 27. “The washing machine broke, I almost lost my keys, the car got dented, and a wasp got into the house and hijacked the bedroom for four day! Four. Days.” With Jason and Tim

Good Siblings are Hard to Come by Words: 1,146 Summary: In which Cass and Damian are good siblings, even when they're wasting valuable time that could be spent saving Bruce's life. Day 3 of batfam week

I Want Us to be Batman and Robin Forever Words: 1,511 Summary: While cleaning the attic, Bruce finds a letter written by a ten-year-old Dick, and Dick ends up thinking about the consequences of becoming Robin all those years ago. Day 5 of batfam week

Bad Nights Words: 3,169 Summary: When a rough night gets to be too much, and he doesn't want to go home, Dick decides to crash at the nearest safe house in order to treat his injuries and get his head on straight. Of course it's just his luck that there's already a little brother there. And it looks like his bad night is about to get worse. Day 4 of batfam week

There is No One Stronger Words: 825 Summary: 58. “I’ve been in love with you my entire life. Ever since the day I first met you.” Dick and Babs!! Takes place the morning after Bad Nights.

Dare to Jump Words: 1,990 Summary: "Tim and Dick had gotten caught unawares (drugged) in that alleyway three hours ago, and it was only about two in the morning now. As they were brought in from a few underground tunnels, Bruce wouldn’t be looking for them anytime soon, and since Oracle wasn’t on comms tonight, he probably wouldn’t know they were gone until someone else reported them missing. Just make it to the roof, Dick thought to himself. Make it to the roof and Bruce would know that they were there." or "Do you think I can make that jump?" with Dick and Tim

Aliens Words: 502 Summary: From a prompt on tumblr. "Do you think somewhere out there, there are aliens?" with Tim and Conner

Splash of Pink Words: 674 Summary: Dick wakes up to chaos, which is normal. What isn't normal is that Damian is sleeping in his bed and his other siblings are Up To Something.

Break Me Down and Build Me Up Words: 7,104 Summary: What if Robin: Year One took place in the Young Justice world? A story how Robin and Kid Flash first meet.

A Couple of Bullets Won’t Get Me Down Words: 1,414 Summary: While answering Tim's distress call, Dick gets hurt, and Damian freaks out a little.

(But You Just Might) Words: 826 Summary: Damian's POV of A Couple of Bullets Won't Get Me Down

Step Out of the Dark Words: 1,020 Summary: “Sometimes I talk to him, and it’s like I’m talking to a wall,” Dick admits. “I don’t know what happened. I used to be good at understanding him, but now it’s like he’s pushing me away. He barely even looks at me.” In which Dick Grayson isn't Robin anymore and Wally West is a good friend.

To Be Better Words: 1,201 Summary: In which Damian has to choose between Dick and Talia and finds that it really isn't a choice.

Looking for a Laugh Words: 959 Summary: Dick was laughing so hard he was crying. Literal tears were streaming down his face. “I think this is the best day of my life,” he choked.

Tim shook his head and moaned, “Just make it stop.”

“Never,” Steph said. “I want to savor every single second.”

In which Tim was an awkward teenager who made video diaries and the batfamily gets a laugh.

Home to You Words: 922 Summary: “He almost doesn’t make it in time.

Or maybe he doesn’t make it in time. Because when he drops through the skylight and takes out the two thugs standing over his son, Dick doesn’t move. And when Bruce finishes with the men, he’s crashing down on his knees next to Dick, praying, wishing, hoping that everything’s okay. That Dick’s not—

He’s not. He’s not. Dick’s chest is expanding and deflating, if only ever so slightly, and when Bruce checks, there’s a pulse. The odd thing, though, is that Dick’s eyes are wide open, staring sightlessly into the middle-distance, and Bruce realizes that wherever Dick is right now, it isn’t here."

Or: Bruce just wants Dick to come back to him.

Judge and Juror Words: 6,617 Summary: Anonymous asked: I was just wondering if you would like to write a story set during bvs and how Nightwing could be involved there?

Without a Mask Words: 2,376 Summary: In which Dick is kidnapped for the very first time and Bruce swears he’s going to have a heart attack.

Maybe This Time Will Be Different Words: 1,722 (2/2) Summary: Dick has his hands planted against the tiles in front of him, his head hanging low as th water runs over him. The Nightwing suit is unzipped down to his waist, and Dick’s panting for breath, his chest heaving. Bruce is at his side in an instant.

Where’s Grayson? Words: 638 Summary: isi7140 asked “Where’s Grayson?” (after Damian’s resurrection) or Damian comes back to life only to find that Richard Grayson has died.

I’ve Already Come Undone Words: 7,118 Summary: He doesn’t notice it at first. He’s too happy. He’s back. For good, now. Damian’s alive, and talking to him. Jason and Tim are mad at him for a little while, but they both start talking to him soon enough, too. Cass gives him smiles and hugs, and she lets him kiss her cheek occasionally. So, yeah. He’s too caught up in his family to notice what’s happening at first. In which Dick's trauma catches up to him before he's ready.

Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep Words: 1,367 Summary: Dick's just had brain surgery and Bruce is alive. It’s everything that Dick had hoped for.

Up High Words: 641 Summary: “Grayson, what are you doing up here?”

Dick shrugs, a sad smile pulling at his lips. He’d stopped asking that when his feet first started to take him up here years ago. “I like the view.”

Damian hesitates, obviously uncertain how to continue. “Father’s looking for you,” Damian says after a quiet minute or two. “He sent me to find you.”

We Were Built to Fall Apart Words: 1,213 (2/2) Summary: Dick is hurt, tired, and ready to let go. Bruce doesn't seem to be ready to let him.

Not Too Late Words: 438 Summary: AU where Bruce actually makes it on time to save Jason

Ice Packs and Big Brothers Words: 1,355 Summary: In which Jason is actually a good big brother, even if he doesn't care for his siblings in the most conventional way.

A War Inside My Head Words: 4,642 Summary: Dick is tired and sick and his family takes care of him.

Survival Words: 548 Summary: Where Bruce and Dick don't physically fight about Dick faking his death, but Bruce still makes Dick go undercover anyways.

There is No Trust Words: 649 Summary: “It's been a long time since Dick's had a reaction to fear toxin like this. Where his hands shake and his breaths come in pants, and he just can't seem to focus. Bruce had administered the antidote on patrol, Dick thinks. At least, he remembers Bruce giving it to him, but he's not sure how much he can trust those memories right now.

The main thing, the thing Dick knows for sure, is that this is fear toxin that's coursing through his veins, and it's making him see things straight from his nightmares.”

Hope Rises Like a Phoenix Words: 1,939 Summary: “Bruce doesn’t say anything when the tears prick at his eyes and he has to bury his face into his father figure’s chest. The day his parents fell. The day that had changed everything. Even so many years later, he can’t figure out why it still hurts so much. And why it’s always really only today that’s the worst?”

Everything and Nothing Words: 922 Summary: Damian has a hard time dealing with Dick's death. Luckily, Tim's there to help him through it.

No Response Words: 1,765 Summary: Dick won't answer the door, so Jason improvises.

It Only Takes Two Fingers if We Lift Together Words: 3,338 Summary: Tim wishes that he'd realized Dick was so stressed out sooner. Maybe he could have helped more.

Displaced Words: 2,051 Summary: “Bruce’s vision wavers, and only once he steadies himself does he look up to find—Dick. But not Dick. Because Dick is eleven years old, and this man is clearly only a few years younger than Bruce himself is. If that. But no. Bruce would know those bright blue eyes anywhere. This is Dick. This is his son.” or Bruce accidentally time travels

Elephants Words: 1,401 Summary: "He remembered coming here with Bruce when he was a kid. He’d ached for the circus, for Zitka, and the zoo elephants had been the closest he could get. It had been nice, something he and Bruce liked doing together, and they’d made it a tradition to go once a month. At least, up until they’d starting majorly fighting. Then he and Bruce had gone their separate ways, and Dick had ached for months."

Grip, Strength, and Focus Words: 661 Summary: Dick is the only one in the way between Bruce living or falling to his death. He's not going to let someone he loves fall. Not again.

How Happy the Home Words: 927 Summary: "When Jason climbs in through the window to his apartment, the one thing he does not expect to see is Dick lying on his couch." or Dick is a mess and Jason helps his brother out.

Man Dies of Cold, Not Darkness Words: 1,411 Summary: "Dick’s been coming home from school to an almost empty manor for four days and they’ve been leaving later and later for patrol because Bruce has been absorbed in some case he won’t let Dick take a look at. Dick’s been eating alone while Alfred watches him with sad eyes, and Dick hates it."

What Have We Become? Words: 879 Summary: "He feels cursed. At moments like this, when he’s at his lowest, when he’s mourning the people that keep falling around him again and again, Dick feels like maybe the world should just leave him alone. Leave him to suffer alone and away from people he can hurt.And who can hurt him."

Of Quiet Birds in Circled Flight Words: 1,093 Summary: Richard Grayson may have just been shot in the back of the head, but Damian refuses to believe that Batman will die. He doesn't care what his father thinks. Richard will make it. 

Keep the Lights On Words: 752 Summary: Missing Scene mentioned in Nightwing #29 that was not written. I was disappointed and emotional so I wrote it instead.

Glitter Words: 503 Summary: In which Dick does Barbara's makeup for the school dance

The Sun is Warm (and Bruce is Happy) Words: 328 Summary: In which my followers don't believe I can write fluff and dare me to write at least three sentences

Involve Me and I Learn Words: 1,160 Summary: Damian finds an abandoned litter of kittens and Dick hates that he can't tell Damian yes.

Breathe Disaster Words: 1,561 Summary: Dick's been shot, Wally feels guilty, and Cassandra sheds some insight on why Dick fights.

Never, Forever Words: 898 Summary: Tim finds Damian in front of the Nightwing memorial, crying. He does what he thinks Dick would do: be a brother.

An Old and Faded Wish Words: 507 Summary: “Dick?” Bruce groans, and Tim lifts his head to look at him.

“No,” Tim says, his voice soft. “No, it’s Tim, remember?”

Bruce stares up at him blankly from the cot. “Where’s Dick?”

Tim swallows. This is not what he’d been expecting when Clark had called for someone to pick Bruce up from the watchtower. “He’s not here.”

From Far Across a Yellow Field Words: 2,028 Summary: “You wanna talk about it?”

“Not really,” Dick says, and Wally notices that he hasn’t quite met Wally’s gaze this entire time. Not a good sign, all things considering. “I just don’t want to go home tonight.”

“Well,” Wally says, a small grin pulling his own lips up, “how about we grab that ice cream and then we hit that field. You know, the one we camped in that one time?”

“Yeah.” Dick lets out a soft sigh. “Yeah, let’s do that.”

That’s How This Works Words: 1,119 Summary: Damian's made a mistake. A fatal mistake. or Damian's hit by fear toxin, and Cass and Dick are there for him.

Let Us Be Brave Words: 399 Summary: Dick feels the weight of the world on his shoulders with Bruce gone.

Beat the Impossible Words: 771 Summary: Dick and Tim talk after Dick comes home from Spyral.

Fair and Square Words: 1,674 Summary: In which Wally is bored, Artemis is savage, Clark is exasperated, and Dick just wants to kick some ass.

Maximum Fun Words: 954 Summary: Dick teaches Bruce the finer points of leaf jumping.

Let Us Be Brave Words: 399 Summary: Dick feels the weight of the world on his shoulders with Bruce gone.

Beat the Impossible Words: 771 Summary: Dick and Tim talk after Dick comes home from Spyral.

Fair and Square Words: 1,674 Summary: In which Wally is bored, Artemis is savage, Clark is exasperated, and Dick just wants to kick some ass.

Life’s But a Walking Shadow Words: 1,902 Summary: The puzzle pieces aren’t fitting. Dick doesn’t know what’s happening. But one thing that he does know is that he has to get to Bruce. He has to.

Never Completely At Home Again Words: 895 Summary: The shower’s been running for thirty minutes, and the longer it stays on, the more Bruce thinks that maybe something’s wrong.

Shuddering Darkness Words: 7,586 Summary: Jason hadn't meant to let any of this happen. It happened anyways.

Big Brothering the Big Brother Words: 1,899 Summary: In which Jason and Damian both have feelings and Dick is a bigger idiot than Jason thought.

Shoes Far Too Big Words: 547 Summary: Damian has a panic attack and Dick doesn't really know what he's doing.

A Patch Job Words: 459 Summary: Things between Tim and Dick are never going to be the same, Tim thinks.

Visions of Sugarplums Words: 3,751 Summary: See, it happens like this. Everything’s normal for them all—or, well. As normal as a family full of vigilantes can get. But things are running smoothly. He keeps his head up and his ears open, though, because he may be able to move forward, but he isn’t stupid enough to think that he’s not going to hit a bump in the road. He always hits a bump in the road. He just hadn’t expected this.

A Constant State Words: 520 Summary: Tim talks to Dick's grave.

Break Your Fall Words: 1,095 Summary: Dick's drunk and Wally takes care of him.

The Good Life Words: 1,062 Summary: Turns out, Dick has a surprise up his sleeve. A surprise that can get even Tim to let loose and have fun, apparently.

give me a ghost of a smile Words: 2,188 Summary: Dick meets with a photographer for a photo shoot, Tim has a bad feeling, and Bruce is overprotective.

The Pain of Today Words: 1,560 Summary: Dick wants to hit something. Or scream. Or cry. Or a million other things that are impossible in this moment, because he’s barely holding himself together enough to exist right now, even though all he wants to do is to just. Not. 

Breakfast in Bed Words: 1,529 Summary: Dick gets woken up very early in the morning, but if it's to help his little brother, then he doesn't think he minds at all.

Too Many Walls and Not Enough Bridges Words: 3,727 Summary: There's something bothering Damian. Dick's determined to help Damian feel comfortable enough to share it.

i want to wake up (i hate this dream) Words: 2,366 Summary: Sometimes, Dick feels like a zombie. Like he’s the walking dead. Like nothing will ever be good again. Sometimes, he takes too much weight onto his shoulders, and he never puts it down. There’s a point where he crumbles to dust underneath all that weight, and there’s nothing for him to do but ride the breakdown and wait until he can bear the weight and start the whole process over again.

lost in the inbetween Words: 2,521 Summary: Dick is mind controlled. Jason tries to his best to snap him out of it. 

i’m half asleep (we’re incomplete) Words: 1,141 Summary: Dick can't find his hoodie.

Multi-Chapter Fics (kind of)

Lighting Up a Roomful of Possibilities Words: 16,041 (8/25) Summary: A series of missing scenes in Young Justice between Bruce and Dick.

Life is a Journey (I have not finished this challenge yet, whoops) Words: 6,263 (16/?) Summary: A 30 Day Writing Challenge for the month of July, using only DC characters (mostly batfam). Every day will be a new prompt.

Teach Me to Dream Words: 27,778 (8/?) Summary: Dick’s eleven. Not thirteen and eager to prove himself. Not seventeen and mourning a brother. Not nineteen and wishing his best friend wasn’t dead and Bruce would look him in the eyes. He’s only eleven. So why does he remember all of that?

Let Them In Before They Go Words: 11,932 (34/34) Summary: A collection of prompts from my sleepover saturday on tumblr

Theory of Relativity Words: 2,293 (1/?) Summary: In which Dick Grayson gets de-aged and everybody freaks out

And We Watched You Unravel Words: 740 (1/?) Summary: An alternate POV fic for I've Already Come Undone

Determined Ghosts Words: 7,388 (3/?) Summary: A gala, supposed to be spent by eating cakes and wearing a pretty dress, goes wrong. But honestly? What doesn't in Steph's life? Still, they better figure this out before it's more than just Dick that's hurt.

The Ache for Home Words: 5,761 (1/2) Summary: Dick goes missing, and Jason looks for him. He wonders, though, why he's the only one looking.

The Gravity of Tempered Grace Words: 10,004 (8/?) Summary: He’s sick, he finally catches on, and at that moment, a cough builds up in his chest, and he barely has enough energy to sit up enough to let his lungs work properly. A coughing fit later, and Dick’s breaths are making a horrible wheezing sound that makes him sound like one of Titus’ chew toys.That’s bad. He’s pretty sure that’s bad.

A Place We Don’t Have to Feel Unknown Words: 32,083 (33/?) Summary: Collection of batfam prompts from tumblr

Five Times Dick Danced With His Family Words: 1,467 (2/?) Summary: ...and one time they all dance with him.

There in the Sudden Blackness Words: 1,783 (2/2) Summary: Tim and Dick argue, and at the end, Tim's not actually sure if either of them actually won.

paper crowns of silver and gold Words: 2,521 (2/7) Summary: collection for batfamweek 2018

YJ Series

The Tact Series – A series that follows Dick Grayson trying his best to be okay again after trying to shoulder the weight of the world and his best friend’s death. It’s a good thing Tim’s there to help him through it

Why is Tim the Only One With Any Tact? Words: 4,819 Summary: "Hiding? Tim wasn’t hiding anything. It was more like not telling. Best not to get anyone else involved in Dick’s business if it wasn’t going to help, and telling Wally, with whatever problems he and Dick were having, was probably the definition of not helping.

“Nothing,” Tim said in the most convincing voice he had. Which, if this was Dick, wouldn’t have worked even a little bit. But this was Wally, and while Wally may have been Dick’s best friend once upon a time, he didn’t know anything about Tim.

“It’s just been a rough couple of nights in Gotham.”

In which Tim tries to mediate an argument between Dick and Wally. Things don't go so well.

I Know You’re Not Okay Words: 3,043 Summary: Bruce is home, Tim is panicking, and Dick is missing. That is, until Bruce finds Dick crying his eyes out in the cave. Sequel to "Why is Tim the Only One With Any Tact?"

Holding the Universe Together Words: 3,844 Summary: After months of the cape and cowl wearing Dick down, Bruce is finally back, relieving Dick of Batman. He finally feels like himself again. Maybe even enough to visit the Watchtower and catch up with an old friend.

Finally Coming Home Words: 3,678 Summary: "It was all coming out now. Everything that he’d kept tucked deep into his very being, his insecurities, his nightmares, he was laying them all down for Wally to see, and he felt so bare. Like he was being stripped and stared at, and he hated it. But he couldn’t make himself stop." Dick and Wally finally talk, but only after Dick almost gets himself killed.

You Are My Home Words: 1,565 Summary: Wally's POV of Finally Coming Home

No Amount of Time or Space Words: 4,378 (3/9) Summary: So Dick isn't okay as he'd like people to think, but what's new? Well, communication, apparently or Tim reminds Dick that communication is an important aspect of friendship, so Dick talks to and tries to reconnect with the friends he'd lost in the face of the Reach's invasion. Unsurprisingly, it's hard.

[coffee-n-some-cream]

The Space I Filled - Chapter 6: Take Your Antibiotics and Make a Wish

Tim came to consciousness slowly, his vision black and his head fuzzy and throbbing. What had happened? Last he remembered, he had been in his room doing… what had he been doing? Laundry, wasn’t is? Yes. He had been doing laundry, but he had felt… oh. This again.

He pried his eyes open, blinking several times, and registered the blurry view of his nightstand from his bedroom floor. He placed one hand on the floor, took a few deep breaths, and tried to push himself up from the floor. The effort sent a wave of lightheadedness through him, his vision going white momentarily, and he collapsed back onto the floor, panting heavily.

He felt like he had just gone through his full workout with just that small exertion, his forehead suddenly covered in sweat, but in contrast his whole body was shaking with a chill. He pushed his forehead against the floor and huffed out a frustrated breath.

“Gabe? You here?”

Shit. He hadn’t heard her come through the door, or even knock. He didn’t want her to find him like this. He didn’t want to scare or worry her. And he didn’t want her to see him this weak. But he couldn’t really help it, could he?

“Gabe, where are you? You left all the lights on, I know you’re here. Gabe?”

Still. He refused to call to her. If she found him like this, fine, but he wasn’t going to help her. He lay in resigned yet stubborn silence on his bedroom floor and listened to her wander about his apartment looking for him.

“Gabe?” she called again, and this time she sounded like she was right outside the bedroom door. “I hope you’re not naked in there or anything, ‘cause I’m coming in!”

He couldn’t see the door as he was rolled away from it, but he heard it open and Adriana walk in.

“Oh my GOD! Gabe!” She was suddenly at his side, hands hovering over him. “Are you okay? What happened?”

Tim sighed. “I’m f-fine, Adriana, j-just…” he trailed off with frustration when he couldn’t make his teeth stop chattering as he spoke.

To his surprise, Adriana’s face went from panicked to a focus that almost seemed professional. She scanned him with her eyes and checked his pulse, pupils, and temperature, taking in all his symptoms - shivering, pale, sweating, feverish, weak, semi-conscious, pupils dilated, heavy breathing, and judging from all the swallowing, a sore throat.

“Your body is trying it’s damnedest to fight an infection, Gabe,” she said as she began helping him off the ground and into his bed, which was thankfully right next to where he had passed out.

“I kn-know,” he said, “This h-happens every n-now and again.”

Adriana shot him an incredulous look as she adjusted the sheets around him. “What happens?”

“I c-catch something and it hits me like a ton of bricks,” he deadpanned, slowly gaining control of his chattering teeth as being under his covers warmed him.

“Are you sure?” Adriana said as she wandered into the adjoining bathroom to search through his medicine cabinet for something to give him. “This is pretty serious, Gabe, I find it hard to believe you get sick like this very often.”

Tim shrugged. “Well, I don’t have a spleen, so.”

Adriana stopped rifling through the cabinet and poked her head out to stare at him. “You don’t have a spleen?” she asked with horror.

Tim smiled at her despite how absolutely shitty he felt. “It’s not that uncommon. I had to have it removed.”

Adriana rolled her eyes at him. “I know it’s not uncommon, Gabe, my mom’s a nurse, remember?” She turned her attention back to the medicine cabinet, pulling out a bottle and reading its label. “It’s just that if you don’t have a spleen, and the spleen, yanno, helps fight infection, you need to have antibiotics or vaccines fairly often to fight off the massive amount of infections you could get.”

“Yes, Adriana, I know. I had my spleen removed, remember?” he said patiently, before closing his eyes. He was exhausted.

“Well, smart guy, I don’t see any,” she responded.

“Any what?” he mumbled.

“Any antibiotics.”

“Oh, yeah, I don’t have any.”

Adriana closed the cabinet and he heard her walk over to stand next to the bed. “You don’t have any?”

“That’s what I said,” he said, not even opening his eyes to look at her. Too tired. “You’re such a good pupil, you listen so well.”

“Gabe, I’m taking you to the hospital.”

His eyes shot open at that and he reached out to grab her wrist. She jumped back and stared at him, startled.

“No hospital.”

Her brow knit. “Gabe, you-”

“No. Hospital.”

Hospitals held records, hospitals asked for ID, hospitals tried to identify you. It wasn’t that he didn’t have a fake ID, but being in a hospital was a permanent stamp on any area he was in, like a footprint left for anyone who knew where to look. They would register him, have a description of him, note that he doesn’t have a spleen. If anyone were looking for him, that would be one of the first places they checked. Hospitals were for emergencies only. This was not an emergency.

Adriana watched him carefully, then looked down at his grip on her wrist. He quickly let go of her and curled his hand against his stomach.

“Alright. No hospital,” she agreed, albeit grudgingly. “But I’m going down to the drugstore and I’m picking up some antibiotics for you, and hopefully your body will sort this out on its own.”

Tim nodded in agreement. “Good plan. Mentor approves.”

Adriana shook her head at him and walked out of the room, muttering, “You’re weird when you’re sick.”

By the time she got back with a bag of antibiotics, pain meds, and a few cans of chicken noodle soup, Gabe had descended into a feverish, delirious mess. He was mumbling to himself incoherently and, upon seeing her walk through the bedroom door, attempted to order her out of the room.

“Excuse me?” she asked, incredulous.

“Out!” he demanded, pointing a finger imperiously at the door. “The sickness can’t spread!”

Adriana stared at him for a moment, mouth hanging open, before she said, “Uh, no.”

Gabe produced what can only be called a growl and buried himself further into his sheets. Then he started mumbling again. “Insubordinate… I’m the leader of the Titans now, you do what I say, little miss ‘I do what I want,’ just ‘cause you’re Superman’s kid, well…”

Adriana elected to ignore his nonsensical mutterings and set about administering the antibiotics, which he was thankfully cooperative about.

“Okay, Gabe, there’s pain meds here if you want them,” she said, jiggling the container before setting it on the dresser next to his bed along with a glass of water.

Gabe turned to look at her, eyes wide and searching. “Who is Gabe?”

Adriana looked at him and reconsidered taking him to the hospital for a moment, but instead just turned to leave. “You’re delirious. I’m going to make you some chicken soup. Be back in a bit.”

Gabe hummed and mumbled something. Adriana stopped and turned back to him, expecting more nonsense.

“What was that?” she called, leaning forward.

“What a shit way to spend my birthday,” he muttered, slightly louder.

She stared at him. “It’s your birthday?”

“Ugh. Yeah. Twenty-five years old as of today,” he grumped, suddenly sounding much more coherent as he waved his hand in the air dismissively. “Don’t tell them though, they’ll try to make something of it.”

Adriana looked around the room as if the people Gabe was referring to were somehow hiding there. “Don’t tell… who?”

“ Them. Oh, nevermind, Steph.”

Adriana raised an eyebrow. “I’m Adriana…?”

“Uh-huh.” Gabe rolled over onto his side, turning his back to her, and almost immediately began to snore.

Adriana stared at him for a few more moments before shaking her head with a smile and heading toward the kitchen to make the soup. She was never going to let him live this down.

*

Nightwing looked out over Gotham city as he dangled his legs off the side of an apartment building and sipped on the ice coffee he had purchased at the cafe a little ways down the block. He kicked his legs back and forth and sighed. He remembered on this day, years ago,  he’d make an impromptu visit to his little brother’s place and drag him out to have some fun, or maybe he’d just stay in and hang with him. Whichever. He’d be with him. Nowadays, that wasn’t really an option. Didn’t mean he couldn’t celebrate the kid’s birthday at all, though.

“How are you, Tim?” he began, as he always did. “Things are alright here, in case you want to know. Damian hit a growth spurt. Again. He’s gonna be taller than you soon and he’s only fifteen. Jason’s good, he’s talking to me more. Still stubborn though. He actually misses you, I think. Babs still has that program looking for you, you know. She checks it every weekend, but… I think she gave up on it a while ago.” He frowned a bit, then took another sip of his coffee.

“You know, Bruce doesn’t like to talk about you when this day comes around, but I know he’s thinking about you. Trying not to, of course, but he is. Alfred is too. He gets a little more sullen this day every year. And Cass… let’s see. She’s doing beautifully in her ballet lessons, Tim, you’d be proud. She’s doing good. Don’t see her much though. Steph is good too. She took it hard when you disappeared but she bounced back. She’s like that. Which you already knew.”

He took a long sip of the ice coffee and furrowed his brow. “Who am I forgetting…? Oh!” He chuckled. “Me! I’m doing great, as always, I’m just. I don’t know. A little tired. Tonight’s been rough. Talking to you has made me feel better though. I wish the others would join me for this little tradition, but… Yeah, they say it feels like they’re mourning you. The only person I can ever celebrate today with is- Oh, there he is.”

Dick looked up to the sky and watched as Superboy descended toward the roof, small smile on his face and coffee in hand.

“Hey, Kon!” Dick called.

“Hey,” Superboy responded, perching beside him on the edge of the roof. “Got my coffee.”

“Actual coffee this time?” Dick asked.

“Nah, you know I hate the stuff. I got a hot chocolate.”

Dick nodded. “Wise choice.”

Kon held up his styrofoam cup and Dick responded in kind, both their drinks bought from Tim’s favorite coffee shop in Gotham.

“To being twenty-five years old. Happy Birthday, Tim,” Kon said, his voice heavy but steady.

“Happy Birthday, Tim,” Dick repeated, and tapped the edge of his cup against Kon’s.

They both took a sip, then sat side by side and watched the bustle of Gotham city.

AO3

[sweettsubaki]

When I read what Geoff Johns said about how they were going through the planning for rebirth,New 52 Green Arrow was specifically not supposed to have a goatee or black canary, so then he ask for goatee and black canary this time- I think superficial traits really is what they're working from. They want the characters to /visually/ resemble their old selves but they don't really care about anything more deeply analytical than a level 2 reading learner book. So for Tim: Steph, Staff, done.

About This

That’s true but….

Ollie in Rebirth actually DOES feel more like an AU version of his old self in that they didn’t just add symbols of his “old self” simply as a “Nostalgia Factor” but rather as actual symbols, reminders of how he could be and Then actually writes him getting into that but still following his own development. The current writer actually did manage to reconciliate his N52 self (If I remember correctly he started working on it in N52) to his preboot self and while it’s not perfect, it’s not amazing, it’s also far from bad. (Though I stopped a few issues ago I think it was issue #10 or #11). Not having the goatee at the time was because he was young again and in a different time and they wanted to use it as an excuse for a new image...My main issue is with how fast his and Black Canary’s relationship went…Other than that, they (even Emiko and Shado) still have a better development in those 10 issues than Tim, Steph and Cass have in Batman & Robin Eternal and ‘Tec Rebirth (Batman Eternal too but I stopped at issue #19 so I don’t feel comfortable judging it since it’s over now).

As for Tim… It’s long so read it under the cut

It’s sad because they actually HAD a way out. Lobdell, despite all his misgivings as a writer, literally wrote in Teen Titans #0 that Tim Drake was not his real name, without specifying what it was, gave him circumstances that made sure it could not be the same character (in addition to a vastly different Behavior/Personality). I’ve said it before and I will say it again, but I actually like the TT#0 Origin story (I mean this Tim’s an idiot but there was actual potential to develop him as a character which was lost in trying to give him Tim Drake props). While I still think that him becoming Bruce Wayne’s ward when under Witness Protection Program is kinda stupid, the ‘hiding in plain sight’ factor can still slightly work if he makes sure to not appear much.This was their way out and, while it’s not that good, it was still coherent (much more than whatever they’re trying right now, seriously Nozaki’s ideas are better options than what they’re giving us now in terms of Tim Drake) and Tynion deliberately chose to ignore it.Really, if they go with their “connections” thing, Tim had so many connections that he was kinda reconstructing, he had a pretty special place in the DC Universe (and I’m not just saying that as a fan, he was literally an oddball who got along with pretty much everyone EVEN when they thought he was crazy), it would have totally made sense for Oz to prevent Tim from jeopardizing anything by making sure he couldn’t form or help others form those bonds and have him captured or misplaced somewhere BEFORE N52. (Also I’m sorry, but out of all ‘Tec Rebirth characters, if they really wanted a symbolic relationship for Tim CASS IS THE ONE THEY SHOULD HAVE CHOSEN DAMMIT, not Steph)But then they retconned his Origin Story so that it’d “make him more like preboot!Tim” except that,as you said, they only changed a few details on a very superficial level. But, to be fair I partly blame the fans for that, because the fans mostly complained about the superficial parts. I remember it was always, “but Tim’s the Detective, not the Tec Support” or “Tim Drake has to be his real name”. But, while those can be valid points, those are details, and changing them didn’t make N52/Rebirth Tim more like preboot!Tim, on the contrary, it actually got N52/R further away from Pre-N52.For one simple thing, why did Tim become Robin ? There are 3 reasons that have to come together for it to happen, you take one away and then Tim has literally no reason to become a vigilante. 1. He has to be neglected by his parents : it gives him the time, but more than that it gives him the need, the want for a family and projecting this on Batman and Robin, making him care about them. 2. He has to have met Dick, be hugged by him and then see Dick’s parents die in front of him : While only seeing his parents die would still traumatize him for years, it’s having been hugged by Dick before hand that made it so personal for Tim (which I kinda tie to his emotional neglect), it’s what started his ‘obsession’, that’s how he recognized Dick as Robin, that’s how he started projecting on Batman & Robin.3. Jason Todd has to die (well really , Batman has to become reckless and Violent) : Because Bruce being violent is what coerced him into seeking Dick, but not only, it’s because he cared for them, they’re the people he projected his “family feels” on.And they’re all linked. You take one away, you take Tim’s reason to be a vigilante away. “Strangely” two of them, the ones that directly concern Tim (both things that gave him a “trauma”) are the ones that Lobdell took away. I don’t know if it was really done on purpose to show it’s a different character but it was there.And in the retconning those thing stayed the same. They just changed the few superficial details (and even then, because even if they made Tim do some detective work, it was still mostly as ‘the tech guy’). So now Tim Drake’s his real name only Drake was his mother’s name (seriously how stupid can they get for their WPP….Also how dumb is the Penguin ? That’s not hiding in palin sight anymore).

But this symbol thing is…They didn’t even chose the best symbol to represent him, because :1. it’s not his relationship with Steph that stands out, it’s his relationship with EVERYONE, Tim’s the one who was on good terms with most non-Batman approved vigilantes (and even some rogues). Because Tim was the Heart of the Batfam & Friends. Steph and Tim only got along for 2 years at most (and in a relationship for 1 year counting only their ‘on’ times)in his 5 years of knowing Bruce until the end of the preboot. They spent as much time not talking to each other since she first appeared than they did getting along.Anyway, Steph was kind of an example of all those relationships Tim made with the “non approved” AND the “approved”. But just having him date Steph ? Without the rest of the background ? It makes no sense as a characteristic other than “Bad TimSteph AU Fanfiction”.(Also there was no build up, when Tim was alive it was mostly a prop to sho how great he is and now it’s only for “feels”, there’s no substance and it’s so obvious I just can’t care about it, like Tim & Cassie in the Young Justice Cartoon have a better build up and their build up is just to stand next to each other for the few episodes they’re in)2. As for the weapon characteristic….Wouldn’t the redbird make more sense ? Tim fanboying over cars and bikes ?, Because those were pretty much the love of his life in the preboot, AND you don’t actually need a history for that choice (it probably still wouldn’t be well written because Tynion’s as bad of a writer as Lobdell to me…in a way even worse) which is not the case for the Staff which only make sense in a certain context but has no place with N52/Rebirth Tim’s history.

And I just….Even in their “superficial” character traits they’re so far from the character….