#so this is set when dick was pretending to work for slade
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fightwing · 9 months ago
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❛  where are you taking me?  ❜ / @webgreat
" out. " maybe in another scenario --- ANY other scenario he could've made a joke out of that. added a wink and the promise of 'taking him out' once they showered, got into civvies and became normal people again. dick can almost see it, even. the way peter would playfully roll his eyes at dick's blatant flirting, the colombian place they loved that stayed open late enough for post-patrol snacks. BUT THAT'S NOT TODAY. maybe not be for a while, because dick knew the risk when he accepted this mission, and knew he was going to have to make some impossible sacrifices to truly go undercover. working with slade meant his every last move was catalogued and scrutinized. this too, would be but dick couldn't let spider-man stay there when he knew the whole place was going down. especially with the version of dick he was playing that wouldn't be able to help him. so he panicked. under no circumstances did dick want peter on slade's radar, and pete wouldn't leave without dick. so, here he was --- having swung out on his grapple, and knowing the familiar thwick echoing behind him meant his friend was following. in his dreams, dick was able to execute this plan without anyone caught in the crossfires. in his nightmares, he was here. nightwing doesn't speak again until they land on a rooftop entirely shadowed by it's taller neighbor. slade could hack into cameras, but even he couldn't see this. dick takes a second to rub at where his new mask was pulling at his skin, knowing peter needed an explanation and knowing the acrobat couldn't give him the one he wanted. " i need you to leave. " but just because he was out of sight, didn't mean he was out of mind. and he knew that the new suit slade gave him was more than just decorative. whatever he said now, had to be strategic. good enough to get peter out of the line of fire, and bad enough to satisfy slade. for an acrobat, dick was having trouble walking this thin of a wire. " now. "
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superawesome40 · 7 months ago
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Wayne Children Timeline Update
Okay, so I’ve hit a standstill on the timeline. I’ve got (most) significant not-hero-related details worked out (I think???) and I’m working on education/jobs right now, but there is SO MUCH from canon that I could pick from, and I’m honestly a bit overwhelmed. Anyone want to help me out?
Enjoy me spiraling into madness as I attempt to introduce the events that I’m probably going to include:
Dick
The Slade/Deathstroke story line, probably heavily warped to fit the storyline.
Talon/The Court of Owls. I love those funky dudes, but I admit I only really know them ‘cause of the rhyme.
Spyral? Maybe? Honestly I have NO IDEA what Spyral is at all, and I’ll need to investigate more.
I’m on the fence about including the whole Catalina Flores storyline. I’ve heard about it in passing, but I haven’t actually done any research into it yet. It’s a VERY sensitive topic, and I don’t want to mishandle anything, especially if I ever get around to writing stories set within this universe.
I think Dick being a cop at some point is really, really funny, so I might have him join the Bludhaven (Blüdhaven?) PD for a bit? So he can take them down from the inside or something. He quits after like. Two years.
Jason
The Catherine Todd/Sheila Haywood/Willis Todd… situation.
Whacking the scary man with a tire iron (was that one ever even a question? Of course I’m including it)
League bodyguard for baby Damian (I’m pretty sure this one is fanon, but it’s my AU, I do what I want!!!)
Heads in a duffle bag
Titans Tower attack.
I’ve heard something about magic fire swords maybe, but I’m not sure.
This is making me realize I know… very little about what Jason got up to after his revival.
Cass
Huh. I don’t really have anything to put here? I know next to nothing about Cass outside of her involvement in the Batfam. Send help.
No like actually. What does she do? I love her character, but this post is making me realize that I don’t actually KNOW them.
Tim
Stalker baby stalker baby stalker baby stalker baby
Joker Jr.! I dunno, I really like the idea of JJ being like a completely different entity who lies dormant in Tim’s head and pops up from time to time? It inspired a story where Tim has several versions of himself living up in his head. I invented an entire disorder for it: Fragmented Personality Disorder. Probably won’t be a thing in this AU, but either way. JJ is DEFINITELY happening.
Young Justice is morally gray at best and they try very hard to pretend like they aren’t. (Young Justice is actually the only comics I’ve read, and I’ve only read up to like. Issue # 6 so far. I love my little dudes so much.)
Off topic, but will someone explain coffee Tim vs. energy drink Tim? Can’t he just combine the two with an ass load of sugar and call it a day?
Spleen.
Highest kill count. Don’t care if it’s canon. He has the highest kill count, he’s not sorry, and he WILL do it again.
I don’t know why the idea of Conner, Cassie, Tim, and Bart running around space completely unsupervised is so funny to me, but it is. Is it canon? Don’t ask me, I have no idea. Is it in this AU? Absolutely.
Again. What does he get up to? Robin era, Red Robin era, anywhere? Anything significant happen? At all???
Duke
Uhhhhhhhh.
I know about his parents. That’s definitely happening.
We Are Robin? What is We Are Robin? Is it pre-Batfam? Post-Batfam?
Wait was he Signal before or after he was a Bat?
Is he a Bat?
I COULD do my research. Or I could do the lazy thing and make you all do it for me :)
Damian
This is the little bastard that dragged me kicking and screaming into the DCU. This is all his fault.
Fun fact! I hated anything and everything to do with DC purely because I was introduced to Marvel first. I thought it was dumb, and poorly written, and a cheap knock off of Marvel. This was back when I only knew about like, Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman. I didn’t even know that the Flash was DC at this point. Then I found out about Damian and… well, it all spiraled from there.
So anyways, let’s see.
Killed by the Heretic? Yup.
Metal spine? Absolutely.
Dick Grayson’s Robin? Without a doubt.
Hmmm what else…
What happened in Super Sons?
Uh
What did he get up to with the Titans (?) That was a thing, right?
Wasn’t there a murder island story arc? Maybe? And he died for like, a minute but then he came back?
Also Damian and Tim attempt to murder each other as a ✨bonding activity✨
Bruce
Don’t even get me started on freaking Bruce. I dread the day I finally get up the courage to start looking into Bruce.
So yeah. Send help? Suggest your favorite fight/monster/comic for me to research? Please, I’m begging you. Doesn’t matter the universe, or the era, or whether it’s pre-Crisis or Earth 1 or whatever other million ways there are to break them down (I still have to look into those, too.), anything you think should be on the timeline, let me know and I’ll look into it.
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jellyfitzjelly · 3 years ago
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Any chance you have any headcanons for a sladedick date night?
hallo!!! yes i do sir!!!!!!! OKAY so i think the datenight would vastly depends on which stage they are in their relationship!!!
Pre-relationship, when they are still pretending they don't have feelings for each other, a typical datenight would be work-related. Slade would take a small contract in Blüdhaven (like guarding a drug shipment, being a bodyguard, something "casual" lmao that doesn't involve murder), and Dick would naturally show up. At this point, it's play-fighting since there are no lives on the line. The rituals are intricate ect ect ect. Would involve a great deal of questionable puns from Dick that never fails to make Slade chuckle, flirting, eye-fucking, and of course a tender moment where they're not fighting anymore.
When they get together, they initially live separated so Slade would usually take a low-stake contract in Blüdhaven, fighting foreplay ensues and then a round at Dick's apartment. Then Slade would usually order something at one of those restaurants opened all night, and they would go eat together there. Slade typically doesn't spend the night at Dick's.
When they start living together, datenights become more varied. Usually they have one when Wintergreen is absent for a night or a few days (I always headcanon he lives with them, because Slade and Wintergreen basically come in a set lmao). It usually depends on Dick's state, on whether he's tired and injured or not.
If he is, then it's a movie night. Slade isn't picky so Dick usually gets to choose. They cuddle on the couch, and they watch while eating popcorn. More often than not, Dick ends up falling asleep in Slade's arms, so Slade carries him to bed once the film's over.
If Dick is well enough, they go out. Around the end of the year, Gotham's river gets frozen solid so a lot of people go ice-skating. Since Gotham is an hour away from Blüdhaven, they've gone ice-skating together a few times for Christmas, but it is quite rare since Dick is at odds with Bruce and doesn't want to run into him while he is with Slade.
Usually, they go to a restaurant. Slade likes fancy restaurants while Dick prefers budget-friendly ones, though on this matter Slade usually wins.
When the fair or the circus is in town, this is an obligatory date night.
Neither particularly likes museum but they sometimes go see temporary exhibitions.
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fantastic-nonsense · 3 years ago
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DID I SEE AN APPRENTICE AU IN YOUR WIP LIST?!? For the ask meme, SPILL ABOUT THAT ONE.
Lol yes, yes you did:
Summary: “Slade has decided that he is in the market for an apprentice, and what Slade Wilson wants, Slade Wilson gets.” An exploration of the Teen Titans Apprentice arc as it might have occurred in the Young Justice universe.
This is a fic I've had on the backburner for years that's set in the YJ cartoon universe, but ultimately pulls from about six different places (including post-Crisis canon, post-Flashpoint canon, the DCAU, and the Teen Titans cartoon). It's set between S1 and S2, when Dick is ~16 and just transitioning to Nightwing, and also has Jason in it in addition to The Team :)
Because look: in the comics, Dick was never Slade's apprentice. Ever. As Renegade, he worked with Slade as part of an attempt to infiltrate the Society of Supervillains, but he was never Slade's subordinate or student (and was in fact training his daughter Rose at the time). HOWEVER, please consider that it was very sexy of TT03 to create the Apprentice arc because it makes for some very excellent plot bunnies about how to recreate certain aspects of that plot in a completely different universe that actually self-invites the opportunity for Batman and the Justice League to get involved.
Anyway....Dick gets lowkey recruited by Deathstroke on a mission and turns him down only to get kidnapped/forced into an apprenticeship about two weeks later. The League is off-planet negotiating some massive peace treaty the GLs couldn't deal with by themselves, so it's up to The Team, Jason, and the remaining JL members to find him (don't worry, Bruce gets involved later on).
Meanwhile, Dick is absolutely not impressed with literally anything happening to him, but thinks he can manage to get out and get home if he pretends to go along with it (Slade sees right through him, lmao). Slade is, of course, working for The Light (as he does in YJ S2), and so there's this overarching Big Plot about the Light beginning to build up all of the plans that they execute in Invasion that's happening in the background while this massive psychological struggle and tug-of-war over Dick's loyalties is happening in the foreground. And...well...that's the fic. *jazz hands* Maybe one day it will actually get written.
Ask me about one of my WIPs!
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why-this-kolaveri-machi · 4 years ago
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we are our family, even if we don’t want to be.
Titans 3.07
a bit over halfway through the season, and we still don’t have all of our main characters on the board! i love this show.
as always, typing this up as i watch. live reaction, baby! *shadowboxes*
SPOILERS AHEAD
1. i don’t think i’ve mentioned this before, but i kinda miss the old ‘dc universe’ intro. it was cool! the whole idea of it was wild and waaaaay over-ambitious, but also very very on-brand because of it.
2. this is... the third time we’ve seen dick sleeping this season? that’s a record! checking another thing off my s3 wishlist...
2.5. i guess i rag on titans all the time for its wafer-thin plotting and bad pacing, but i have to admit that this season has been a step-up from the last one in this regard. titans has very reactive rather than proactive protagonists, and a lot of the last season seemed to be: x happened, the team reacted badly, then y happened, they reacted badly, etc. this time around, it’s not a huge leap up by any means, but at least they’re doing something about it. 
i do appreciate the focus on character arcs over everything else. and when i say everything else, i mean it: arcs that started two seasons ago with no big cathartic moments, intermittent payoff and multiple relapses. big bads have ranged from interdimensional demons to superpowered assassins to whatever in the world scarecrow is, but trigon’s big weapon against the titans was to... use their worst fears against them. slade’s was to... use their fears to break them up. crane’s is to... use red hood to use their fears to break them up. even the threat of gotham’s citizens being in danger doesn’t feel real: gotham is mythologised into an entity of its own, infecting our heroes like a parasite. like. this is not to say that most other superhero media aren’t big character arcs intertwined with the main plot, but titans doesn’t even make pretend that it’s anything but.
anyway. that’s my entry #2345 to ‘give a grand unifying theory for titans’. thanks. i’ll be back with more.
3. “anger is just fear in a little black dress.” god I HATE HIM
(what’s he doing with barbara’s likeness? oh... oh god. a terrible thought just occurred to me. what if they introduce hush at the very last minute for plastic surgery shenanigans? would you put it past this show?)
3.5. jason, nooooooooo
3.75. i mean, they’re making it very clear here that scarecrow is the one in control--the one who’s always been in control--and is manipulating jason and literally poisoning him, but i hope it doesn’t end up erasing nuance or jason’s autonomy. if jason’s to reckon with the issues that brought him here, then the lines of responsibility will need to be set somewhere. 
(this applies to dick as well but more on that later, i guess.)
4. just--the phrase “40% loss of income” is so funny to me. like, gotham is full of these larger-than-life characters who are idiosyncratic beyond belief, colourful and dramatic and creating chaos just for the sake of chaos, and then there’s the regular criminals and their henchmen who just want to make a quick buck sitting down with pie charts and graphs, griping about the joker reducing their returns or debating high risk investments in, i don’t know, two-face’s next scheme.
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“yyyyeeeeeaaah, my financial advisor is telling me that going all-in with a guy who literally makes decisions on the flip of a coin is probably not the greatest idea.”
4.5. god i hate smug!smarmy!scarecrow so much
4.85. as big plans to “control” gotham go, it’s pretty bog-standard. clearly scarecrow has some bigger plan in mind but it really feels like we’ve got no clear insight into him and he’s this generic creepy mystery-man who knows more than he lets on and springs a twist/cliffhanger every now and then. i liked the scenes with him and dick in 3.04 where it seemed like he was genuinely on the backfoot and things weren’t going as he predicted. for all of his faults, dick is at least familiar with scarecrow’s bullshit and knows not to give what he wants.
5. i mean... i see where dick is coming from with the “he’s not jason anymore; he’s red hood” because his immediate glaring concern is scarecrow’s drug and the damage it could potentially cause gotham? i do not doubt that it’s something batman drilled into him, too, but when you’re expected to take point on a situation where the lives of an entire city weigh down on your shoulders, it’s better to simplify things and prioritise. i’m not saying it’s great or healthy! gar is absolutely right to consider this facet of the situation. it’s just dick can’t.
6. hmmmmmmm. HMMMMMMMMMMM. 
i don’t know that i’m super fond of this iteration of oracle???? it looks like a cross between cerebro from x-men and jarvis from iron man. it’s giving me second-hand embarrassment. somebody help me.
(at least they remembered dick’s middle name is actually “john”. i like to think bruce printed D in that contract because for a while he genuinely thought richard “dick” grayson was his full name. duck duck goose, dick dick grayson, i don’t know alfred, the kid was in a circus, maybe they thought it was funny. or maybe it was a test in anger control, who knows.)
6.5 “maybe you two would like some time alone?” even AI can’t help hitting on dick grayson in this universe.
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“oh mr grayson, if i only had another eye to see you better...”
6.8. on one hand, it’s a bit disconcerting that the title of ‘oracle’ has gone from barbara herself to this gigantic machine; from my impression of the comics-verse, barbara had an extensive computing and surveillance system, true, but she was very clearly the brains behind the operation. on the other hand, i’m kind of glad that the ethical boundaries that this kind of surveillance violates is a sticking point for barbara. (tho let’s be real, the nsa would kill to have this in their arsenal).
6.9. also it’s now obvious that scarecrow’s big plan is to take control of oracle itself. it’s why he had lady vic take that picture of her eyes, or why he’s meddling around with it on his computer.
6.95. if only i could ‘command sleep’ anybody overstepping their boundaries re: personal information...
7. “you can just sit back and watch as the titans destroy themselves.” i mean... he’s not wrong
8. “dick’s parents were killed by a criminal mob; he won’t work with them.” it’s wonderful that you have this insight into dick, kory, i just wish we could’ve watched some of these conversations actually happen on-screen.
8.5. i’m glad that kom’s being treated with such nuance and understanding, though it’s obvious that she definitely has a Plan of her own. (and did i entirely imagine her ability to mimic other people flawlessly at the end of s2? or is that going to come into play at some point?) i think her story has the potential to be genuinely poignant, and in a universe where being Different, either because of mental health or physical differences or whatever else, leads a straight line to Evil, it’s important to acknowledge and then emphasise that the mere fact of your existence as a Different Person doesn’t predispose you to evil. maybe your act of destroying a system that has destroyed you and not scrambling to “fit in” is only evil as defined by that system. 
8.8. “you’re trespassing, i should call the authorities, i feel unsafe.” now this is a villain lady who’s definitely aware of her privilege.
8.85. kom smirking knowingly at her sister is everything.
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“oooh that’s the kory i remember”
9. conner and dick working together woo!
9.25. god i hate a villain who’s always just a step ahead, no matter what. so crane anticipated dick using oracle to track his personal communications and set him up? how did he know when exactly dick would get to do this? how long did he have that poor man tied up in that van?
(the “save me, grayson” is a nice touch, tho. send dick spiralling even further! because if there’s one thing dick will do, it’s take responsibility for every goddamn thing that goes wrong.)
9.5. ahem. i’m going to need a million gifs of conner yeeting dick across that yard, fandom, thankyouverymuch.
(i understand conner is invulnerable to explosions, but how do his clothes survive??)
9.8. oooh crane is already in oracle! i’m just sitting here laughing helplessly because they’re overpowering this goddamned guy so much. he can build a lab in arkham’s basement! he has access to lazarus puddles! he has minions working across gotham, including a fully functional chemical laboratory staffed by chemists who only answer to him! he has the crime families of gotham quailing in his very presence! he has assassins at his beck and call! he’s enough of a manipulative bastard to have red hood under his thumb! and now he has enough of a tech know-how to not only be aware of oracle, but know how to hack into it! i’m sick of exclamation marks! i’ll shut up now!
9.95. dick leaving behind that smouldering grave for a person he failed to save without taking a second to process how he feels about it and running towards his next plan to corner scarecrow: a microcosm of where his head’s at right now.
10. really hammering in the themes of this season, aren’t we. 
10.25. the interesting thing is the titans repeatedly call themselves a family this season (none more so than dick) and while that found family has helped encapsulate and put away their traumatic experiences with their ‘original’ families, it’s meant that they’ve not really dealt with those issues. and dick and gar and jason come from ‘found families’ of their own: they are twice removed, traumatised two times over. they still cling to this identity however, and because of it they’re losing each other. a family isn’t static. it’s an ever-evolving dynamic and you have to put in work constantly to keep it healthy.
10.5. anyway, that’s entry #2346. i’m here aaaalll night.
11. lookit gar the detective! half-transforming and using his powers to deduce things! what a hero! i’ve said this for a long time, but gar is the bedrock of this team, and an unsung one at that.
11.25. i’m confused about him calling this room jason’s though. it seems to me that this is dick’s room that jason later used, and one that dick’s using now. so the unmade bed isn’t really jason’s fault; dick was woken by barbara that morning, and in his hurry, he left without making his bed.
(it still confounds me that bruce didn’t find jason another bedroom in that gigantic mansion of his. you really didn’t give this kid a chance, did you?)
12. oh well. so much for the oracle.
13. ... sorry, wait. you didn’t think i wasn’t going to address the bit with dick right now, did you?
12.5. i honestly don’t think it’s very complicated: dick’s been reeling from one traumatic thing to the next, and just when it seemed like at the beginning of the season, he felt happy and secure with his team and his place in the world, bruce ups and leaves gotham to him, specifically naming him a successor and calling him a ‘better batman’. he’s lost garth and jericho and donna and jason and now hank and dawn. he’s not even sure where rachel is or what she’s doing. after being told that batman was a psychopath for moulding him into a weapon, he’s also been told that his failure to be a ‘better batman’ lead to further disaster. of course he’s going to get batman-goggles. of course he’s going to be a prick. 
12.8. i don’t know what to say. i feel his frustration acutely. i don’t think he should’ve said what he said to barbara (can people stop pushing her around this season????) but that pressure to step in where your parent fails? to clean up their messes and try to think like them? to fall into habits drilled into you when you developed them as coping mechanisms growing up? I FEEL THAT. 
every step he’s taking he’s putting 110% of himself in it and scarecrow’s still playing mindgames with all of them: i absolutely feel his desperation to take control of that game and turn it on scarecrow, no matter what it takes.
and he did apologise almost immediately, and finally--finally--actually works with barbara. 
12.9. again, not excusing him! but i get it. and i think that’s a sign of great character writing.
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“did you know i just reminded emmram of all of her daddy issues? what the fuck????”
12.95. i love that dick&barbara, kory&kom, and gar are all approaching solving this mystery from different angles, each as valid as the other. also, conner is there as... emergency bomb defuser man?
13. it’s like all fancy rich people in fancy rich houses do is pour fancy rich alcohol into fancy rich glasses on pristine, untouched tabletops. i wonder what it’s like to live like that.
13.25. I KNEW IT! poor michael. it was nice knowing you.
13.5. man, kory is contending with a lot of issues that she’s successfully bottled up and compartmentalised until now. the cold reality that a child can seek out their parents as refuge and they can view the child as a piece to be moved in a greater game (never out of cruelty, though, never, and somehow that makes it worse), that truth of blackfire’s treatment on tamaran because she’s different, and her own culpability in what happened. she exchanged one family for another, after all, and left that family to die and her sister to suffer. like dick, like gar, kory’s being forced to reckon with what the titans are meant to be, the larger implications of creating their found family in their own space.
14. it’s probably because it’s one in the morning and i’ve had two glasses of wine but i did not follow that bit of exposition at all and victor freeze??? what? 
anyway. look at them solving things! together! go team!
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“you made a deal with the mob?” oh the sense of betrayal on his face! fuck off, dick, your issues aren’t kory’s. 
15. conner is really sweet and a bit of an awestruck crush on kom is to be expected. especially after that power rangers-esque transformation (i say this as a former huge power rangers fangirl. i’ve seen every series until 2007 including the original japanese versions and written fanfic for all of them. so i love a cool costume transformation, is what i’m saying.)
also?
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FUCK YEAH
16. i love the gotham crime families just chillin’ around eating ice cream. I LOVE THEM
16.5. that was a fun fight sequence, if marred slightly by that bit of awkward flirting between conner and kom. i wonder if she’s really planning to use him in a larger scheme to get kory back to tamaran, or maybe something else. 
16.75. so i’m assuming that scarecrow has jason either so paralysed by fear that he can barely move, or jason’s withdrawing from the drug that he’s been sucking in every few minutes. 
17. it’s nice to see them chill after a successful mission! and it can be awkward, but conner’s crush on kom and him striving to impress her is also, well, uh... cute.
17.5. i guess the dick/barbara scene was inevitable, especially given the... unresolved nature of their relationship in the flashbacks? and they’ve been through a rollercoaster together this episode, discovering and then destroying an incredible tool within a matter of hours, re-discovering just how well they work together as a team. dick’s swimming in the nostalgia. i don’t expect it to last as a long-term relationship, but i totally get why this is happening now. and hey, they’re cute!
i have a weeeirrrrd feeling that kory is going to leave to tamaran at the end of the season and that dick and kory will rekindle--or rather realise--their relationship just before that. it’s going to be devastating and beautiful and painful and i will be writing essays about it which would be me just wailing into the screen.
18. gar found molly!!!!!!! MOLLY’S BACK! \o/ gar is the BEST
19. that was a fun episode! i love this silly show, even if it does destroy me sometimes <3
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elareine · 5 years ago
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JayTimSpooktober - Ghosts
Revenant: “One that returns after death or a long absence.”
In folklore, a revenant is an animated corpse that is believed to have revived from death to haunt the living, sustained by feelings of anger or the need for revenge. The word revenant is derived from the Old French word, revenant, the “returning” (see also the related French verb revenir, meaning “to come back”).
Everyone accepts that Jason came back to life because of something that happens in another universe, including Jason. It’s a glitch, never meant to happen until it did, and he digs himself out of the grave with his bare hands and doesn’t think twice about it.
There are other things to focus on. His anger when he returns and finds out that the Joker is still alive—has been allowed to harm others—burns hot and bright enough to tear the city down. So that’s what he does.  
It’s weird how his body changed. He’s as tall as Bruce, now, and almost as beefy. They can go head-to-head in terms of strength and speed. With the amount of malnutrition he experienced as a kid, Jason never expected this. The Lazarus Pit really is amazing.
He’s ready to kill anyone he needs to. Later, he’ll look back at the choices he makes—attacking a kid, really?—and he will be ashamed of some of them, but not all.
Even when he leaves Gotham, the anger never stays behind. He loves hanging out with his new friends—loves them, even if he’d never say it—but it doesn’t fill the void.
Eventually, he returns to her, the city that birthed him, the one that he loves despite her protector. He delivers justice, not revenge, and pretends that’s enough.
Slowly, almost without him noticing, one person comes into focus: Tim Drake. It’s like… wherever he turns, Tim is there, offering him a hand, steady and patient as the sea.
One day, Jason grasps it.
Tim doesn’t flinch when things get ugly. He just rolls up his sleeves and gets to fixing it. And gradually, almost reluctantly, Jason starts putting in the work, too.
It’s easy to be with Tim. Not that the guy is uncomplicated, by any means���we’re talking abandonment issues a mile wide here. Jason could deal with that, though. His is the kind of presence that makes itself felt; doubly so when he intentionally dials it up. Even Tim finds it hard to imagine Jason leaving him after the guy sleeps wrapped around him every night for over a year. They share an apartment long before either of them consciously makes the decision to do so.
Tim’s brilliant and kind and necessary to Jason. It’s easy to tell him that. In turn, Jason listens when Tim whispers that he’s loved, and he’s starting to believe it.
At first, his reconciliation—well, his truce—with Bruce is solely for Tim. It’s not that the other man expects it of him, but Jason sees how stressed their fights make Tim. Honestly, he’s getting a bit tired of the constant anger himself.
So they work on it. Bruce visibly bites his tongue when Jason does his thing, and Jason stops demanding for him to compromise his morals, and somehow, someway, they actually reconcile. Now he’s invited to family dinners every Thursday. Imagine that.
In fact, he needs to get ready for that soon. Alfred wouldn’t appreciate him showing up in his sweatpants. Then again… Tim will be home in half an hour, and he likes watching Jason change. Jason stays where he is.
Today’s a Jane Austen kind of day. His phone is on silent and out of reach on the table. It’s his day off, and recently, that has started to mean something.
“I have no notion of loving people by halves; it is not my nature,” Jason reads and smiles. That’s Tim to a T. Loyal to a fault.
Maybe the quote can be about Jason, too. He likes that thought more than he’s willing to admit. For so long, his life has been nothing but anger, of a need to get his revenge… but looking around, thinking of where he is—in the apartment he shares with his boyfriend, waiting for him to come home so they can attend family dinner and then patrol Gotham’s darkness together… he’s come a long way, doesn’t he?
For the first time since he died, Jason Todd is truly content.
And then he’s feeling weird. His hands are shaking—no, they’re blurring, fizzling out at the edges.
He’s so tired. Maybe he just needs to lie down. Close his eyes. Sleep…
Jason jolts. This isn’t good. The last time he thought like that, he—
He scrabbles for his phone. Tim. He needs to call Tim. If he’s been poisoned, if this is a panic attack, if he’s sick, if he’s dying—no matter what, Tim can help. Tim always makes everything better.
Tim…
Tim can’t find his boyfriend. Which is weird, considering they live together and are supposed to head out for a family dinner in, like, ten minutes. Jason can be flaky, but he’d never let Alfred down like that.
Still, they get caught up sometimes. Even if it’s supposed to be a day off for Jason.
Tim texts him. No reply.
He calls, and the sound comes from the living room. What the fuck?
Worried now, Tim checks the surveillance footage.
It looks like a typical day off for Jason—lounging around, making food, reading on the couch��until he gets up and all of a sudden, alarm visible on his face, hand going for his phone on the table next to him… and then the footage goes staticky. When it resumes service three minutes later, Jason is gone.
Tim tries to restore the lost footage to no avail. Each time he looks at the static, he feels like throwing up.
Their living room is now a crime scene, but one reluctant to give up its secrets. There’s no sign of a fight. Jason wouldn’t go without a fight. If he’d been taken, Tim would expect blood, a broken table leg, bullets in the walls, gunshot residue—something, anything to tell him what happened.
All there is, is a pristine room and Jason’s cell phone on the table.  
Tim calls Kon. “Can you hear Jason anywhere?”
And his best friend tries, he does, but he comes up empty. That’s when the panic really starts to set in.
Tim goes searching. At first, the others assume that Jason just left. He’s done it before.
They’re wrong. Tim knows Jason. He keeps looking, trying not to feel bitter because that’s pointless and small feeling next to the overwhelming worry.
His first visit is to Arkham. Then it’s Black Mask’s and his cronies turn. None of them feel like talking, of course, but Tim can be persuasive if he wants to be.
No one knows anything.
Dick joins in his search not even a week later, tracking down Slade and Deadshot. Three days later, Tim enters an old lair of the Joker and stumbles over Damian collecting DNA samples from old splatter. Months pass and Bruce starts to worry, too. Roy and Kori are with Tim from the start, checking their old hideouts, visiting old enemies outside Gotham. Hell, the Green Lanterns are checking other planets.  
Jason’s family is looking for him, and they can’t find him.
Eventually, all the avenues are exhausted. It’s not that they stop looking, precisely, it’s that there’s nowhere left to look.
Tim looks, anyway. No matter where he goes, what he does, Jason is always there, just out of reach. They all think he’s deluding himself, pushing back his grief. They’re wrong. Tim knows that Jason is gone. His absence is everywhere, and Tim misses him like he didn’t know it’s possible to miss someone.
But if Jason is dead, then he will not go unavenged this time, Tim vows. Not again.  
And yes, maybe Jason left. Maybe he just had enough of Tim, of the life they were building together, of their relationship. Perhaps Tim was too much too fast or not enough. He’ll never know.
If that’s not grief, then he doesn’t know what is.
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scandalsavagefanfic · 5 years ago
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DC Kink Meme Prompts List
Since the kink meme is getting a lot of attention and growing daily, I thought I’d post a convenient place where I can keep track of the prompts that I’d like to see filled again. I figure you’re all here because we share similar interests and this way, if you’re a writer with looking for a prompt, you don’t have to scroll through the almost 400 prompts that are currently posted. 
So here we go. Beware, this is a kink meme. These are nsfw and some may be triggering. 
JayDick Watersports -  Filled HERE
sub!Jason & Dom!Dick are in a consensual D/s relationship that has a heavy Master/slave dynamic (whether 24/7 or primarily during sex is up to you!). They're on a stakeout one night, and it's really cold, and, aw, fuck, Dick needs to piss, but he doesn't want his dick to freeze. Good thing he's got his bitch there with him, right? Dick pissing in Jay's ass preferred just to show the level of not caring about Jay's comfort [it's still cold!], but totally not gonna complain about piss drinking, either, if Dick's feeling a little more charitable. Is Jay surprised because it's the first time Dick has done this? Is this a normal, expected duty that he performs regularly? That's up to you!
Tim/Jason A/B/O - Filled
In an A/B/O world where omegas are in charge and alphas are treated like animals, or kept as pets, CEO Tim decides to treat himself to a new toy and buys Jason. Feel free to go as wild as you like with the kinks, I'm pretty unsquickable
Tim/Jason Stalker!Tim - Filled on the Meme by anon and HERE (by me)
Older Tim, younger Jason, where Tim's stalking gets a little obsessive once Jason takes over as Robin, and he starts stalking Jason out of costume as well as at night. A little judicious hacking later and he's able to keep an eye on Jason's internet activity too. Once he finds Jason looking at gay porn he knows he's got an in. And he starts blackmailing Jason, online at first, but escalating every time he gets Jason to go a little further, until he gets him to submit in person.
Slade/Dick/Jason - Filled amazingly HERE
Dick's been with Slade for a while, and now that he's stopped fighting and given into his training, Slade thinks he deserves a reward. Every good boy deserves a puppy, and Batman's new Robin looks like he could fit the role perfectly.
Jason Todd - Object Insertion - Filled on the meme (art)
Honestly, that's all I've got for you. I just want someone making Jason take things up his ass that have no business being there. Consensual or not are both fine! Any ship, though definitely a strong preference for Roy, Slade, Tim, Kyle, Dick, Roman or Ra's. Preferably not underage, but I'm not entirely opposed.
Ra's/Jason - Filled HERE
Ra's test drives an undunked Jason. The boy must be useful for something, after all, and he looks so pretty in chains. ABO welcome. 
Prompt- Pegging (Jason) - Filled HERE
Jason gets pegged by one (or more ;)) of the lovely ladies of the DC universe. And enjoys it thoroughly Pairing is dealer's choice. <3
Bruce/Jason 
Bruce takes in Jason off the streets, but more for use as a personal whore than to be Robin. Bonuses for Bruce still adopting Jason and getting off on fucking his son. EXTRA bonus points for Alfred's unfazed acceptance/support of it and perhaps even his participation.
Jason Todd Intercrural Sex - Filled on meme
This man deserves more thigh fucking and so do we! All ships welcome!
No Title - Bruce/Jason, Dick finds out Bruce has been sexually abusing Jason
One of the other prompts made me realize that while there are a lot of fics where Jason discovers Bruce has been abusing Dick, there are none the other way around and suddenly I have a craving. So I would like for Dick to find out (maybe right after Jason returns, Dick catches them and overhears Bruce say something to indicate it used to happen regularly) that Bruce had been sexually abusing Jason since the moment he found him and try to save him. And like, because of his background as a child prostitute, Jason kind of thinks it's normal or that it's the only way he could earn love? Maybe Bruce implies that Jason is useless otherwise and he'd end up back on the streets if he's not useful. Maybe Bruce is even happy to point out that the reason he never even considered touching the others is because they were too good for it, pure and wholesome, while Jason was ruined goods.
Dick/Jason fuck-or-die bottom!Jay 
I would absolutely kill to see a fic where Dick is forced to fuck Jason (for whatever reason but preferably not due to sex pollen/aphrodisiacs/drugs - I would prefer if they were both in their right minds please) Preferably they wouldn't be in a relationship or have secret feelings for each other and this would be mutual noncon/rape with a focus on how horrified they are that they're having to do this to each other. I would really, really like if it was bottom!Jason for this, but that there is acknowledgement that Dick is being raped here too!
Skeezy Ric Grayson
One specific fic I read has completely coloured my perception of Ric, and now I'm just desperate to see him being a total creep. Perving on his siblings and former friends. Would love to see him not take no for an answer, especially with someone who doesn't want to fight back because "it's still Dick in there somewhere, I can't hurt him" or something like that. Preference for Wally (HiC who?) or Jason, but Tim, Roy, Babs or Donna would be okay, too! A/B/O with Alpha!Ric would be a bonus but isn't necessary.
Cassie/Rose bondage spanking and D/s, semi-dubious consent
Cassie has had enough of Rose mouthing off and causing trouble, so she ties her up with her lasso and lectures her. Rose mockingly asks her if she’s going to spank her for being a bad girl, and much to her surprise, Cassie does. They both enjoy it much more than expected
Nyssa/Talia
Nyssa/Talia, set post-Death and the Maidens, Talia restrained while Nyssa gets her off, begging to be allowed to reciprocate. Bonus points for twisty fucked up Nyssa POV with all kinds of big global megalomaniacal justifications for what she's doing and how important it is to the greater good. (Reposted from old DC kinkmeme)
Jason Todd/Dick Grayson/Roy Harper/Koriand’r
Kori loves watching her subs play with each other and rewards them well for good behavior
JayTim hatesex
Jason and Tim having incestuous-sibling-rivalry-hate-sex against the memorial
Any Bats/???, Alfred has to clean up
Poor Alfred often gets stuck cleaning up the mess when any of the family bring partners over. The crackier the circumstances the better!
Slade/Jason identity porn
Slade and Jason fuck while in costume as and pretending to be Batman and Nightwing respectively
Kyle Rayner/any
Kyle winds up working as a stripper somehow. Some other heroes find out and pay him a visit
Batfam/Jason; non con or resigned-to-his-fate cumdumpster!Jason
Could also be Earth-3 Owlfam/Jason. A/B/O welcome but it doesn't have to be. Would appreciate any one or combination of the following: dehumanization/objectification, humiliation, public sex, breeding kink, restraints, fucking machines, cum enemas, lots of cum in general, size kink... I just want something unapologetically filthy. I'm pretty much good with everything but scat.
Dick/Tim non/dub-con, universe hopping
Dark Dick from a dark universe ends up in the main universe, where he is delighted to find a brand new Timmy to play with, who unconditionally trusts his brother and doesn't know he's been replaced. Cue Dick slowly luring him in so he can have his fun. Tim doesn't realize until it's too late, or doesn't realize at all and has no idea how his beloved older brother could do this to him. Main universe has fully platonic, familial relationships within in the batfam. Feel free to imply/state anything you like about the dark universe. Grooming/slowly warming Tim up to more and more touches, crying, overstimulation, bondage, or any combination thereof are all bonuses
Young Justice S3 Dick/Jason omegaverse
Alpha!Dick Grayson is stuck on a mission and somehow has to help the mysterious Red-Hooded omega through his heat. But they have to stay quiet in order to not wake the pup Damian sleeping right next to them. Preferably there's an identity reveal in there where Dick finds out the omega is Jason Todd under the mask.
Addict!Roy Harper Noncon
Noncon (or possibly dubcon, if the manipulation is clear enough to readers) with Snowbirds Don't Fly era!Roy Harper as the victim. Could be an OC, another Titan, a Leaguer, a canon villain... Dealer's choice! Looking for something that really focuses on how he's being taken advantage of, rather than just "can't technically consent because he's high, but is totally into it."
Woder Woman/Batman, Rough Sex
Bruce loves it when Diana is rough with him
Bane/Bruce, violent noncon
Something set during Knightfall, where Bane decides to take “breaking the Bat” even further by raping Bruce and possibly also his precious little Robin
Jay/Tim bdsm AU, sub Jay
What it says on the tin. Was thinking maybe also an arranged marriage of sub Jason to dom Tim Drake, to cement a business union but also because subs aren’t full citizens.
Robin!Jason/Bruce Somnophilia
Bruce drugs his new little Robin and slips into his room. He takes his time with him, enjoying Jason before carefully opening and fucking him. Would be great if Jason wakes up towards the end but can't do anything but take it- maybe because of the drugs, maybe because of the way Bruce is holding him down, or even because he likes it.
Sidekicks/Villains noncon glory wall
Any sidekicks you want—Speedy, the Robins and Batgirls, Kid Flash and Impulse, the Wonder girls, etc.—being displayed in a glory wall, leaving their holes open for fucking. Interested villains can pay to fuck any hole they desire, and they enjoy wrecking the sidekicks and filling them with come
Robin!Jason/Villains & Henchmen?
Robin Jason gets captured and tied up by the villain of the week, who decides to take advantage of the situation. Robin is blindfolded and groped/fucked by the villain and maybe some henchmen while waiting for Batman to rescue him. Batman finding a bound and blind Jay too tempting to resist is a bonus.
Dickjay daddy kink
Older! Dick and bottom! Jason. Jason came back years later and Dick is around 40.
OmegaJason/Batfam first heat, lactation
It's Jason's first heat and the alphas of the pack know that his milk is on its way soon. All it needs is a little encouragement. A few knots and some nipple play should do it. His milk tastes perfect as it starts to flow.
Jason/Dick, Jason/RomanSionis, Hooker!Jason & Officer Grayson
So this is based off a discussion from AGES ago in the jayroman discord server that I still think about to this day XD A no capes au in which Jason never gets picked up by Bruce and ends up a crime alley prostitute who somehow along the way caught the eye of Black Mask and winds up working for him. And Black Mask has basically the whole city in his pocket, including the police force, which is why it’s so annoying when this little upstart, Officer Dick Grayson, starts to try to challenge his hold on the city, the little goody two-shoes denying any and all bribes and refusing to back down in the face of threats. And it should be easy to squash one annoying little bug, but somehow all attempts have failed and he can’t openly go after him without risking his reputation as a clean, law-abiding businessman, a reputation that’s slowly starting to unravel thanks to the dogged efforts of Officer Grayson, because the little shit is annoyingly not as stupid as his attempts to go after Roman would make him seem and despite all of Roman’s power and having basically the entire police force and the various other government officials Roman has in his pocket against him, he has made far too much headway in his endeavors So Roman gives Jason the job of seducing Dick, because if bribery and threats don’t work, video evidence of an officer fucking an underage hooker makes excellent blackmail material, and should be enough to take him down for good if he ever steps a toe out of line again Except no matter how Jason tries to seduce him, Dick is just too decent a guy to take advantage (Ex: Jason: *shows up wearing even more revealing clothes than the night before.* Dick: “You must be cold, here, take my jacket.” etc.) And before he knows it, Jason finds himself growing weirdly fond of the infuriating idiot with his stupid puns and painful sincerity
Roman Sionis/Jason Todd, AOB noncon impregnation gang rape
Intersex AOB verse. Roman wants to punish and claim the upstart omega, so he plugs Jason’s cunt and lets his men anally rape Jason until the omega begs Roman to breed his pussy
TimKon, a/b/o, alpha!Tim, bottom Conner
Humans have a/b/o. Kryptonians do not. Alpha!Tim thinks that he shouldn't bother Kon about Tim's rut. Kon thinks otherwise. Whether Kon can keep up with Tim (superpowers got to be good for something, right?) or is overwhelmed is up to anon :) I am absolutely unsquickable so whatever extra kinks are fine with me. Just please top!Tim only. Please, my crops are dying.
past romanjay now mobJay, gangbang
After getting tired with his new toy, Roman decided to just give his subordinates a chance to have fun with it. But mostly he just want to see the red hood to get more humiliated after destroying his empire.
Damian Wayne/Jason Todd, bestiality
It's time for Damian to introduce his new acquired pet to the pack, Titus and Ace.
Tim gags and spanks Damian
Red Robin has to take Robin out on patrol because Batman is away, Damian is reckless and keeps disobeying orders so Tim punishes him while having him gagged for being mouthy. can progress to something more sexual but doesn't have to be. Damian secretly enjoying it is a bonus.
Deathstroke/All the Robins
Slade really has a thing for fighting and chasing after Batbrats…
Rose/Jason mommy kink edging and pegging
Jason wants to be a good boy for mommy, Rose rewards his good behavior
Jason Todd/Kyle Rayner hatesex - Filled
I’d love some rough, angry, violent hatesex between these two. Bonus points for snarky asshole bottom!jason and kyle using his ring to make restraints/other kinky constructs ;)
Flashpoint!Father Todd/Incubus!Dick
Incubus!Dick seduces Father Todd. Jason holds out longer than most but Dick prides himself on being irresistible. He’s never failed before and he doesn’t plan to start now. But maybe, instead of his usual dine-and-ditch MO, Dick think’s he might like to savor this meal for long. Jason falls so beautifully. (bottom Jason please) Catholic aesthetics, blasphemy as kink, church sex (altar, confessional, pews, etc)
Flashpoint Thomas Wayne/Father Todd
Thomas Wayne as Batman bends Father Todd over the altar. In uniform. (At least for Thomas. It would be super hot if he strips Father Todd out of his robes first. Maybe everything except his rosary?)
Jason/Tim rape
Tim ties down Jason and rides(rapes) him. Pls let Tim use Jason as nothing but a mere meat dildo.
Titans/Dick, Titans/Jason, Titans/Tim consensual gangbang - Filled
The not-so-secret tradition of team bonding by fucking the current Bat on the Teen Titans is well-adhered to, especially given the enthusiastic consent of all participants Feel free to include any or all: garden sex, pool sex, power use, DP, riding, pegging, toy use, CBT, nipple play, cockwarming, CFNM/CMNM, and consensual somno All other kinks welcome excluding scat, watersports, emeto, ageplay, vore, and anything else bloody
Thomas Elliot/Bruce Wayne (Rape/Non-con)
Bruce doesn't realise how obsessed Thomas really is with him. Leads to Hush raping Bruce. Can be when Bruce knows who Hush is or when he still doesn't know.
Evil!Dick and Jason, noncon or dubcon
Jason comes back to his safehouse and is surprised to find Dick already there. After the initial surprise, Jason is quick to find out that there's something... off, about this Dick. He's not acting like his usual self. It turns out this isn't the usual Dick that Jason is familiar with, instead, he is a darker version of him (drugged? Talon from Earth-3 that somehow ends up in the main universe? other possibilities? all welcome options!), and this Dark!Dick is obsessed with Jason and wants to fuck him... and he doesn't take no for an answer. So there's a setup for a non-con or dub-con(in case Jason also has a crush on main Dick) for you. Restraints (gags, ropes, tapes etc.) are also welcome but doesn't have to be present.
Kon-El/Lex Luthor Daddy Kink DubCon
Lex genetically programmed Kon to need his daddy to fill him up when he created him. Lex made Kon to check all his boxes (ie Superman, something he made, a gifted teenager). Kon can’t actually consent because of programming, and he doesn’t want it until he’s getting it. Can be simple daddy kink or full of abdl. Bonus points for trans!Kon
Guy Gardner/Bunch of Aliens possible Dubcon/Noncon
Macho, hotheaded, shit-talking Guy is the embodiment of hyper-masculinity, and that arrogance of his gets him into a lot more than just a bar fight. All of Guy's enemies seem to be of the huge, muscular variety, so let's see the most stocky lantern get put in his place. Does he secretly love it? Does he outright hate it? Maybe all that shit-talking was just a ploy to finally get someone to "punish" him right. The choice is up to you. Maybe it's a bunch of random aliens Guy's ticked off in a bar. Maybe all that showboating's pissed off Kilowog or Arkillo. Maybe Lobo's still put out after being tricked one too many times by Guy. Perhaps, Atrocitus's still kinda harboring a grudge for Guy kicking him out of the Red Lanterns. Then there's always the way too touchy Dementor with his Vuldarian kin. I'm all for any other kinks or situations, I just would prefer no bathroom stuff. Go absolutely wild.
Black Mask/anyone, bathroom control, omorashi - Filled on meme
I'm a simple person with simple needs: Roman controlling whether or not someone's allowed to piss. can be consensual or noncon torture, the victim can end up pissing themselves or make it to the bathroom safely. just as long as Roman's in total control of the situation, and smug about it. bonus points: tears, begging, banter, degradation, embarrassment, additional torture, anything else along those lines. watersports only, please, no scat!
Roy Clones/Dick gangbang omegaverse
YJ season 3 episode 4 has excellent gangbang material just so you know Add omegaverse to it and its perfect Noncon/dubcon is accepted also
Titans/Jason Gangbang
Prefer comics based more than the show but either is fine. Dick and his friends welcome the new Robin the Titans way, by breaking in that hole. New kid is always the team toy, and it's even more fun now that it's Nightwing's bratty kid brother. Consensual or non con, dealer's choice. Double (or triple) penetration, dirty talk, and powers used for sex are favorite kinks but I'm good with pretty much anything.
Willis Todd/Jason Todd, Mob/Jason; Incest and forced underage prostitution
Willis pimps out his kid for cash and drugs. Catherine either pretends she doesn't know or knows and helps/doesn't care. And like any good salesman, he makes sure to test out his product to make sure it's up to snuff. 
Make it cruel and awful and hopeless. Dehumanizing and degrading. Jason is just a hole to sell and use. belting in sensitive areas, beatings, violent sex, cum play, blood play... I just want something dark and nasty. 
____________________________________________________
Woo! Ok. I’ll try to keep this up the best I can. I’ll link/mark when prompts are filled so that you guys can check it out if you want (all filled prompts can be reached by the link in the title, but some have ao3 links that I put on the “Filled” note). 
I’ll also reblog this with any new prompts that come up or if I find I’ve forgotten one. 
99 notes · View notes
thepoppypress · 4 years ago
Text
The Battleline Between Good and Evil (Runs Through the Heart of Every Man)
Chapter 2: 
Dick raised a suspicious eyebrow at the two women in front of him.
“So,” he started slowly, “you want to kill this man,” he pointed to the man chained to a pole, squirming with fear, “because he slapped someone? Like slapped in the face?” Barbara rolled her eyes.
“Yes, Boy Wonder. Do keep up.” Dick’s eye twitched imperceptibly. Despite her being one of the only people who could sass a Wayne and get away with it, that didn’t mean it didn’t piss him off sometimes.
“Okay, fine. Why don’t I ask a better question. Why is my bastard of an ex here?” Three pairs of eyes slid over to where Deathstroke, in full uniform, lounged on a lone wooden crate. The man’s white eyebrow raised, his eyes full of amusement.
“That hurts, little bird. Here I thought we would be able to let by gones be by gones.” Dick grit his teeth.
“Keep that up, Slade and I’ll send Damian after you,” the dark haired man snarled, a sneer twisting his handsome features, “he’d be happy to get rid of you after last time.” This only made Slade laugh.
“The baby Wayne can try all he wants. He won’t be able to do anything.”
“He’s not so much of a baby anymore. He’s almost as tall as you with much more on his body count than you’ve ever had.” Dick looked up at the larger male’s 6’5 form, knowing that Damian was only, at most, an inch shorter. Of the many traits he had taken after his father, Damian Al Ghul Wayne, Ibn al Xu’ffasch, at the age of 19, far surpassed Bruce in height, now towering over his father at his full height of 6 '4, and matched him in the bulk department. Slade scoffed at the man.
“That doesn’t matter. Nothing is going to take me away from this.” At this, Dick glanced at the man with renewed interest and back at Slade with suspicion.
“Why the hell are you so interested in this, Slade? Working with people isn’t exactly your style and Barbara tells me you’re even doing this pro bono,” a bloodthirsty grin overtook Dick’s face, “whoever this is must be real special.” A threat resided in Dick’s voice, something that stiffened the other three people in the room. Before Slade could speak, Barbara cut in.
“Dick,” she started, and while he didn’t turn towards her, she knew he was listening. “It’s not just him. It’s us too.” She gestured to Stephanie and herself, Stephanie nodding to convince Dick it was really what they all wanted. Because, it genuinely was what they had wanted. The fact that both his unofficial sisters wanted this too made him falter a bit. Dick stared at the blonde and the redhead before turning back to glare at the man chained to the pole. He visibly paled and scrambled backwards, despite his back resting against the cool metal. A slight smile at the man’s obvious fear slipped over Dick’s face before it disappeared and he sighed.
“Fine,” he said, and his eyes darkened. Everyone else in the room straightened.
While he would deny it fervently, Slade felt a small shiver make its way down his back as he eyed his ex in arousal. He particularly loved it when he used to do that. Dick grinned again, teeth showing; a pretty smile. Dangerous. “But only if I get to watch.”
-----
“I wonder what’s happened to Mr. Stanley.” Peter didn’t have to see Stephanie stiffen. He heard her. Pretending as if he didn’t, he continued, “I hope he’s okay.” Stephanie coughed into her sleeve and he looked over at her in concern. How much of it was an act and how much of it was genuine worry, he didn’t know. Peter handed the blonde a napkin, who took it with a nod of thanks.
“Why would you want to know if he’s okay? He slapped you just last week!” Peter shrugged, uncaring of the odd look his now friend was sending him. Barbara apparently had some business to take care of so Stephanie came in alone. Harley was busy as well, running after her boyfriend. Peter’s lips twitched into a frown at the thought of Harley being hurt. Again.
Stephanie, who noticed his slight frown, concluded the wrong thing.
“Pete, you’re too good for this world.” Peter averted his eyes away from her, a sad look crossing his face. He remembers all the people he couldn’t save in his own world. The people he killed because he wasn’t old enough, experienced enough, prepared enough, good enough. Of all the things he was, good was not one of them.
“I’m really not, Steph. I’m really not.” Ignoring the imploring look his blonde friend sent his way, he said nothing and looked away. There was nothing to say anyway.
Steph left not long after that, saying that she had somewhere she needed to be. It had been a week and he had still not seen Mr. Stanley since he had slapped him. There wasn’t any doubt in Peter’s brain that Slade, Steph and possibly Barbara had been responsible for his disappearance. They must’ve been meticulous too, since no news report of a missing man has shown up at all. A shiver of both fear and warmth crept up Peter’s back at length they went to. He oddly felt scared yet safe at the same time, even though he still had his powers.
‘And the suit,’ his mind supplied. Peter glanced down at his wrist where the watch Mr. Stark had gifted him lay, wrapped around his wrist. He had come up with the idea not long after his nanobot suit came to fruition.
While it looked like a regular touch screen watch, it held all the nanobots needed to pull together his suit inside, even becoming a set of web slingers itself once the suit was deployed. There were two buttons side by side on the side of the watch, one being to turn the watch on and off and the other to activate the suit. Mr. Stark had instructed him to pull the second button out, listen for the clicking sound and watch for the screen of the watch to pop upwards before pushing down on the screen, which would deploy the suit. Peter had not taken out the suit since his arrival into this world. It was nice to know he had it in case of emergencies, however.
Barely two hours later, Peter was exhausted and just wanting to get back to the shelter so he could sleep. After three fights (which was three fights too many to break up) and demanding customers, even in broad daylight, he only wanted to be alone. Well, as alone as he could get. He threw the towel over his shoulder down onto the wood of the bar and stretching his arms upwards, his back cracking deliciously as he moaned in relief.
‘Thank God, my back was killing me,’ he thought as he continued to stretch his stiff muscles. Quiet footsteps lumbered towards his side of the bar, their heaviness and sound familiar enough to Peter for him to not open his eyes and realize who it was. Another little crack came from his spine and Peter moaned quietly. A huff of laughter sounded in front of him.
“Careful, sweetheart. People might get the wrong idea.” Peter cracked one eye open at Slade, letting his arms fall back down to his sides and levelling the mercenary with a deadpan stare, silently noting the quick and quiet steps that were approaching the two.
“The wrong idea about what, Slade? Stretching?” Slade’s one eye roved over Peter’s small frame hungrily, and while Peter did feel a bit endangered, he also felt fond. After a few days of conversation with Deathstroke, his Spidey Sense had calmed down significantly and Peter knew that Slade would never do whatever Peter didn’t want him to do. Slade shrugged.
“You never know, sweetheart.” A voice spoke behind Slade, lilting and teasing.
“Aww Slade. You’ve replaced me already?” Both men looked at the intruder, a very handsome man with tanner skin than Peter’s (though that’s not saying much. Peter was pretty pale), striking blue eyes and a wide, pretty smile. Peter supposes he should be falling for him or at least be flustered, but he can’t bring himself to be with his Spidey Sense starting to sound like a banging drum at the arrival of this man.
The smile seems to melt the people around them, mostly women and even some men, but Peter’s seen it a hundred times before. It was similar to Mr. Stark’s fake smiles at press events. The first he had been to was his inauguration into the Avengers and while he was convinced at first, Peter started seeing the smile’s ingenuousness more and more as he attended other press conferences and parties. Looking at this man’s smile was like a mirror image, leaving Peter more than convinced of some sort of ulterior motive.
“Little bird,” Slade murmured, eyes suspiciously downcast. Peter watched as the man’s smile became sharp for a fraction of a second before it was gone. If Peter hadn’t seen it with his senses, he would’ve thought it to be a trick of the light or something. The man’s striking eyes swiveled over to Peter and the curly brown haired boy had to stop himself from tensing up at the intensity of the gaze. He couldn’t help but feel like he was now a sort of lab rat to this man. His gaze held interest but it was the same kind of interest that one would give an ant on the street.
“Hello,” he greeted politely, “can I get you started with something?” The sharpness was there again and gone again before Peter could even blink.
“Why, yes you can,” he purred, dark hair falling into his face attractively as he sat down next to Slade. Out of the corner of his eye, Peter noticed that Slade tensed the tiniest bit. The man spoke again, getting Peter to focus on him again, “you can start by telling me your name, gorgeous.” Peter was a bit flustered at the nickname, though he tried not to give any outward indication that he was affected.
‘Seriously, what is up with people and giving me nicknames!’ Peter pointed at the name tag pinned to his shirt and watched as the man raised an eyebrow. “I meant tell me, gorgeous. Verbally.” Peter stared at him.
“Sir, I don’t mean to insult your intelligence, but you can read right?” A quiet snort came from Slade but both Peter and the man ignored him.
“Of course I can read, but I want you to tell me your name.” Peter searched this man’s face, his intentions unclear. It was obvious he had ulterior motives but what were they? Finally, he answered.
“Peter. Peter Parker.” He grinned like the cat who got the cream. He held his hand out which Peter took hesitantly, letting the man’s much larger hand engulf his own, noticing that despite the strength he obviously carried, he kept his grip surprisingly gentle.
‘Manipulative,’ his mind whispered, ‘careful.’
“Richard Grayson. But you can call me Dick.” Peter’s eyebrows raised in surprise and a light giggle left his lips, shocking not only himself but Slade as well. It was interesting but he latched onto the name.
“Okay, Dick,” he put emphasis on the name, watching for any reaction that would accompany his subtle insult. There was none. “What can I get you?”
“Virgin mojito with ice. Thanks.” As Peter worked on making the drink for Dick, he kept a super sense ear towards their conversation.
“What are you doing here, little bird?” He heard Slade whisper.
“Seeing what all the fuss was about.” When he was done, Peter gave the glass to Dick who turned his attention towards the superhero-turned-bartender.
“So,” Dick started as Peter wiped down some wet glasses, “where do you live?” Peter glanced up and saw that Dick was leaning closer towards him, eyes sparking in interest.
“Why?”
“So I can take you on a date.” Peter barely stopped himself from scoffing.
“I just met you.” Dick nodded, his face portraying the question, ‘so?’ “So, I’m not going to tell you where I live.” The dark haired man shifted to one side, Peter’s eyes following him.
“You’re saying you don’t trust me?” The sharp grin was back, only this time it was on full display. ‘People obviously can’t tell the difference between pretty and danger,’ Peter thought as he watched more and more people start paying attention to the ridiculously attractive man sitting at the bar.
“Of course not,” he answered simply, his eyes straying to Slade for a quick moment. Dick’s eyes were analyzing and somehow, Peter felt like he knew more about Peter than Peter did himself. Even then, Peter refused to be daunted. ‘It’s not how Mr. Stark would be.’ Dick, noticing that Peter looked at Slade, suddenly looked like Christmas had come early.
“You know,” he purred, “Slade here isn’t exactly someone you should trust either.”
“How do you know I trust him?”
“You call him by his first name. Although common, he doesn’t enjoy just anyone calling him that.” Peter recalled the moment when Dick had slid into their conversation unannounced.
“If that’s the case, then you must be close to him too.” Surprisingly, Dick was startled for a quick second before he started rolling with the punches. It made Peter proud in a way. He gets the vibe that this man doesn’t get surprised easily.
“Maybe once upon a time. But still.” Peter sighed.
“Why shouldn't I trust him?” Dick leaned forward, his hand beckoning Peter to as well, which he did reluctantly. Slade tensed a bit more next to Dick.
“He’s a mercenary for hire.” It was whispered as if it was a great secret. Peter didn’t react. At all.
“Yeah, I know.” A moment passed as Slade’s shoulders slumped and Dick tilted his head in curiosity. “Besides, he’s never been anything but transparent about his job, even if he didn’t tell me. If there’s anyone I shouldn’t trust, Mr. Grayson,” Dick’s eyebrows raised to his hairline at the formality, “it would be you. You may be able to charm everyone else here but I’m not fooled. Your pretty smile and flowery words are fake enough for me to see through.” Dick was about to reply but a sharp rap on the door to the interior of the bar caught their attention.
“You’re off, Parker,” his manager rasped, clearly still hungover. He turned back to the two men sitting in front of him.
“Well, I’ll see you later Slade.” The older man nodded.
“See you, sweetheart.” Peter flashed a blinding smile towards him, making sure to leave Dick out of it. Said man was aware and huffed a laugh at Peter’s antics.
“What about me?” He pointed to himself. Peter shot him a deadpan look.
“I hope to never see you again.” With that, he walked off and out of the bar, hearing quiet chuckling but not quite noticing the interested looks from the man that would soon become one of the many thorns in his side. Fucking Parker Luck.
-----
Peter’s eye twitched as Dick sat down beside him, for once not alone. Babs followed behind him. It seemed that today it was Steph who was missing. It was barely even a week after their first meeting at the bar and he already couldn’t stand the sight of the other man. The fact that he kept appearing at all ofPeter’s shifts didn’t help. Dick smiled that pretty smile that Peter was sure tricked so many other people into selling their soul.
“Peter! What a coincidence!” A discreet glance at the red head behind Dick told Peter that this meeting was anything but a coincidence. The brown eyed boy didn’t answer, causing the darker haired man to pout. Instead, Peter met Barbara’s eyes and waved.
“How’re you, Babs?” Barbara’s soft smile lessened his irritation slightly. “I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“I’m good, Peter. Thanks for asking.” Peter nodded and went back to checking his phone, his break almost over. He’d be damned if he let Dick Grayson take up all his time. Ignoring the heat that dominated the side of his face, he sent a text to Harley.
To Harley: Are you going to be meeting me at the club today?
It wasn’t even a minute later that Harley texted back.
To Puppy: I can’t today, puppy. Mr. J has a job and wants me to help! Wish me luck! <3
Peter sighed, causing Dick to not-so-subtly turn to him in curiosity.
To Harley: Okay. Good luck. Stay safe.
Peter logged out of the app and checked his bank account, deflating at the meager number. ‘Only $329.53. How am I ever going to get out of the shelter?’ He needed so much food on a daily basis that he barely had much money left over. Momentarily distracted, Peter left his phone screen open for anyone to see, even the annoying man sitting next to him. Dick whistled.
“That’s a low number.” Peter shot him an irritated glance.
“Don’t you have anything else to do, other than stalking me?” Dick pretended to think about it for a moment, before shaking his head, his blue eyes filled with mirth.
“Nope. Looks like you’re stuck with me for the rest of the night.” The brown haired boy clenched his hand, balling it into a fist. His eye twitched again. Taking a visible breath, Peter walked behind the bar, avoiding looking at the handsome man.
‘Just another hour, Parker,’ he thinks, though his rising annoyance made him want to flee, ‘just another hour, and you’ll be fine.’
-----
After an hour of Dick blatantly staring at him (and no one, not even the security guards, questioned it. He thought it was odd), Peter was finally free to go. Babs had left within the first fifteen minutes, saying she had some late night errands to run. He practically flew into the back room to change into the clothes he wore before getting into uniform, and made it outside the club in record time, avoiding Dick when he surged up from his seat as Peter briskly walked past.
The cool air hit him, causing him to shiver and clutched his hoodie. He scolded himself for not believing the forecast this morning. Gritting his teeth, he started walking in the direction of the shelter, purposefully starting on a light jog as he heard heavier set footsteps behind him.
“Hey! Peter!” Dick called, following closely behind. Too close in Peter’s personal opinion, but before he could speed up, a strong hand grabbed his upper arm, and insane strength (at least, by normal human standards, but Peter was far from normal) halted his path. Because he had been running, physics decided to be a bitch (like it always was), and he crashed into Dick’s chest, the side of his head bouncing off the other man’s sternum.
Using it to his advantage, Peter rammed his shoulder back into his chest, managing to hit Dick’s solar plexus. It should’ve been enough to get the taller man to let go, but instead, his grip tightened on Peter’s upper arm and before Peter knew it, he was being hoisted up, an arm cinching around his waist as he was bodily carried into a nearby alleyway.
Now, Peter knew he was short and incredibly skinny, even after his transformation, but to hear it from someone else was a bit embarrassing in his books. Especially someone who had at least five inches on him, if not more.
“Jesus, do you eat? You’re tiny.” Dick hissed as Peter’s free arm came down on his shoulder blades and arms, anywhere he could reach. Funnily enough, Peter was barely putting any of his real strength into the hits, but he knew it was enough to bruise Dick for the next couple weeks. “Hey- ow! Peter!” He yelled but Peter continued to hit him. “Peter! Stop!”
“Let me go, Dick!” It seemed that Dick had had enough because next thing he knew, he was being pushed against a brick wall, the expanse of his chest pushed uncomfortably against the bricks by one if Dick’s long forearms and his upper arm had been let go in favor of capturing both of his wrists in one hand. Peter was about to stomp his foot onto Dick’s, probably breaking it, but Dick’s shout stopped him before he could.
“Peter! Wait! I just wanted to take you home!” That caused Peter to pause, looking up at Dick. None of his senses told him that Dick was lying, so instead of attacking him, Peter asked through clenched teeth.
“Why?” Peter glared up at Dick, and while he knew that his expression was about as threatening as a kitten and that he probably faced worse faces than Peter’s, he still watched in satisfaction as the taller actually seemed nervous now. His heartbeat also conveyed his anxiety.
“Gotham’s dangerous at night. And I think I’ve known you long enough to be at least a little worried,” Dick’s demeanor suddenly shifted, a smirk lighting up his face, “Besides, I don’t want my new favorite friend to get killed. Then who will glare at me with such a cute face?”
Now that Peter was closer to him, he could see why people seemed to fall for him wherever he went. Dick was very handsome, with a cheerful, if not cocky attitude. But Peter refused to be one of those people.
“I don’t need an escort. I can take care of myself.”
“You look like a breeze could knock you over.” Peter bristled.
“Are you saying that I need your help? ‘Cause I really don’t.”
“You couldn’t get me to let you go. Do you think that anyone else on the street, who are mostly larger than you and me, wouldn’t be able to take you down?” Peter scoffed, and using some more of his super strength, he shoved Dick back, the other man stumbling all the way to the other side of the alleyway. Dick braced himself on the wall, looking at Peter with wide eyes.
“Look, I appreciate your concern, Dick, but I can take care of myself. Whether or not you see it.” With that, he walked out of the alleyway and back towards the shelter. He heard no footsteps following him this time.
-----
Dick massaged his chest, still leaning against the wall that Peter had shoved him against. It was almost out of nowhere that his strength came and managed to successfully get Dick to let him go. He didn’t run after Peter, but he was resolved to escort Peter home safely. Afterall, if Steph and Babs liked him so much, Dick would probably like him too.
‘Yeah, he did not disappoint.’
His first time meeting Peter was rather weird for Dick. His first impression was ‘cute.’ The guy had one of the largest sets of honey brown eyes he’d ever seen. His hair was curly and fluffy, and Dick was tempted to card a hand through the light brown locks to prove their softness. He was small, too, with a short stature and skinny arms. Basically, he looked defenseless and naive, if not adorably so.
However, nearly everyone he met that wasn’t an assassin, mafioso, terrorist, whathaveyou, had fallen for his charms. Sometimes, even the assassin, mafioso, terrorist (etc.) had fallen for him. But Peter was different. The instant Peter spotted him next to Slade, his guard was put up quickly and he wasn’t fooled by charming smiles and pretty words. If that wasn’t enough to prove his oddity, the fact that he had said it straight to Dick’s face, even when Slade was right next to him, just made him more interesting to Dick.
So sue him if he was slightly concerned about someone so defenseless looking roaming around at night. He was a son of the Wayne Mafioso branch, largest crime family on the East Coast, and Gotham and her inhabitants were his to help, protect, and punish if he so pleased.
Pushing off the wall, Dick decided that this particular inhabitant was also his to help and protect, even if it was against his will.
Dick suddenly realized that Peter must’ve been new to Gotham, seeing as he didn’t recognize him as Bruce Wayne’s first, adopted son, which only served to make Dick want to protect him from the streets even more.
“Okay, it’s only been a couple minutes since he left. He can’t be that fast,” Dick muttered as he started on the path that Peter took to go home. A couple blocks up, Dick could see the heel of Peter’s shoe as he turned the street. Following quickly, he ran the couple blocks and turned the corner, as well, seeing Peter crossing a crosswalk to the other side of the street. He followed as well and all the way to a place that looked unfamiliar to him. It wasn’t an apartment building. Peter entered through the doors.
‘A homeless shelter?’
-----
A couple days passed since the little scuffle with Dick and Peter was thankful that the man had at least some common sense to know when he wasn’t welcome. Peter hasn’t seen him at all the past few days and he couldn’t be happier. Harley noticed.
“Whatcha so happy about, Pup?” She asked when they were hanging out at her apartment. Peter smiled beamingly at Harley who covered her eyes like she was looking into the sun. Both of them giggled.
“Just happy. Hey, Harley?”
“Hmm?” Harley played with the stick of the lollipop in her mouth, absently listening.
“Do you know Slade personally?” The platinum blonde shook her head.
“Nope. Why? You finally admitting yer’ feelin’s for him?” Peter huffed, giving his friend a knowing look.
“No, I’m not into him. Like I said, too old. Not exactly my type.” Harley hummed but looked skeptical. “Anyway, even if you don’t know him personally, do you know who he works with?” His friend thought about it for a minute, swinging her legs back and forth in her seat at her kitchen table.
“Some. Why?”
“Just wondering if you knew someone named Dick Grayson?” Harley froze, a terrified look dawning on her face. Peter frowned and was about to ask her if she was alright but Harley suddenly surged forward and grabbed Peter by the arms, her grip tight.
“Where did you hear that name?!” Peter, now more concerned, drew his eyebrows tight.
“I met him the other day, when you weren’t at the bar. He came in alone and talked with Slade. He came in another day too, with Babs.” Harley’s eyes searched his own wildly, as if trying to see whether or not he was telling the truth.
Her blue eyes widened when she saw that he was completely serious. Slowly, she let go of Peter’s arms and sat back down in her seat. She put her head into her hands, leaning over the counter for a minute, so silent that Peter started to become even more worried. Silence was uncharacteristic of Harley Quinn.
“Okay,” she spoke up after a couple minutes, “I want you to promise me something, okay, Peter?” Honey brown eyes widened a bit. She used his real name. This was serious.
“Anything, Harls.”
“I want you to stay away from Dick Grayson and anyone he associates with.” Peter blinked.
“What about Slade?”
“Yup.”
“And Babs? And Steph?” If Barbara Gordon knew Dick Grayson, then it was likely that Stephanie Brown knew him too.
“Them too. We’re going to move. Mista J won’t mind. We’ll move closer to the border, nearer Canada and-” she continued muttering, more to herself than Peter, but Peter had enough.
“Harley, we can’t move. I can’t move. I have two jobs and other commitments. I can’t just drop everything and move.” Harley gave him a desperate look.
“But-” He cut her off.
“But nothing, Harls. I know you’re worried. I knew he was dangerous the minute I met him. I can take care of myself. I’m much stronger than you think I am.” His friend didn’t move for a few moments, staring into his completely serious face and then deflated.
“I just worry,” she murmured, apology evident in her tone. Peter walked around the kitchen counter to hug his friend, who embraced him just as tightly.
“I know you do.” The hug lasted for a few more minutes, both basking in the comfort of the other before it was time for Peter to leave. He grabbed his coat off one of the small chairs at a round dinner table and said his goodbyes.
“Be safe!” Harley called after him as he left her apartment. He waved back with assurances he would be careful. He chose to walk, despite the cold and damp weather, seeing as his bank account couldn’t suffer anymore in terms of small spendings. ‘Besides,’ he reasoned with himself, ‘I need some more exercise.’
It was about 30 minutes later that he finally reached the shelter, his coat somewhat damp. Entering the door, and feeling some warmth descend upon him made him want to groan in relief. However, after that feeling had passed, another, colder feeling lay itself upon him like a blanket. Something was wrong. Peter looked around, trying to see any potential dangers but there were none he could see or hear.
Walking swiftly, Peter reached his cot, still eyeing his environment in suspicion. When he still found nothing out of the ordinary, he finally looked down on his cot to see a single white rose and an envelope sitting across his now neatly made cot. Someone had been there and messed with it. The thought made him shiver and with shaking hands he picked up the rose in one hand and the envelope in the other. He peeled the flap and opened it to see the contents. Two small, folded slips of paper sat inside.
‘Sort of anticlimactic,’ Peter thought, his face filled with confusion. He pulled out the larger of the two slips of paper, and unfolded it. And then proceeded to drop everything in his hands. The rose, the envelope and the check for $100,000 fell quietly onto his cot. His wide eyes stared down at the pale piece of paper.
‘What the fuck,’ he thought with shock. Then he remembered that there was another piece of paper in the envelope. Taking the envelope in hand, he tucked the check inside and pulled out the other slip. Unfolding it, he saw that it was a note.
‘The first of many. -D.G.’
The envelope once again fell from his hands, and Peter felt another wave of emotion crash over him. However, this time, it wasn’t shock or fear. No, it was rage.
‘Motherfucker.’
Previous: Part 1 
Next: Part 3 
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itzagothamcitysiren · 5 years ago
Text
Welcome to the Family
So I wanted to give a quick thank you to everyone whose supported this :) I really didn’t expect it, since I’ve been posting on other sites for a couple of years now with barely any response. So it’s very motivating and refreshing to see an active community! 
If anyone is interested I do have an account on fanfiction.net and AO3 but I haven’t been super active on there as of late. But if there are any Guardian of the Galaxy fans out there I do have two completed books posted and than a work in progress for that fandom :) Link to my fanfiction.net page and my AO3 page!
Also sorry for updating so late in the day. I’m still working during all the covid craziness and work was hella busy and stressful today. As soon as I got home I crashed for like four hours lol. Hopefully tomorrow will be better and I won’t be so tired. 
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Never Wanted to be Here Now pt. 3
           Clothes had never been that important in Halley’s life; or better yet she should say that fashion had never played an important role in the ex-assassin’s life. Her father was many things but he always made sure she had what she needed. Her clothes had never been worn out or old due to their career they could afford to look nice.  And because of that Halley never really cared about appearances since her lack of impute in the clothing her father picked out for her.
           Outside of work, Slade wanted them to look professional, classy, as he put it. Her closet mostly consisted of black shirts and cardigans with the occasional simple black dress. Her pants and shoes were always comfortable as they were always on the move. Never was something flashy or over the top, unless the job called for a little undercover work of course. But practicality was something her father drilled into her from a young age.
           It wasn’t until moving into the tower did she really start to see that clothing could be used as a way to express oneself. Kori was more than eager to brighten up the girl’s bleak wardrobe and instantly began filling the girl’s new closet with hand-me-downs that the Tamaranean Princess simply grew out of. It wasn’t particularly what Halley could now recognize as her own taste but at the time she was just appreciative of putting anything on that wasn’t just black.
           When Kori insisted on taking her shopping before she was set to move in with Dick’s father, Halley was so used to having just what she needed that she didn’t see the need. But now, she was grateful and somewhat annoyed that she couldn’t wear the clothes she had bought at this exact moment. During her time with the Titans she actually began to get a personality; she actually liked things and knew a decent amount about pop culture; like she actually understood what Star Wars about now.  
           Wally and Victor had a field day because it was like Starfire all over again. You think storm troopers are the good guys? She remembered Wally’s voice cracking as he could hide his horrified reaction to the revelation that she had never seen the series of films that nearly everyone in the modern world held close to their hearts. She couldn’t count the amount of movie nights they had with her, feeding it to her like it was imperative information that was at the upmost importance for her to learn.
           She let her eyes wander to her closet, thinking of the Star Wars t-shirt she picked out during her shopping trip. She remembered running up to the guys eager to show them what she had picked out. She sighed as she remembered the proud look they shot down at her. Her smile from the fond memory faded as she turned back to face the mirror in front of her. Her eyes looked at her appearance, her lips slanted in displeasure. Halley was never one for dramatics’ but maybe Dick was rubbing off on her after all?
           Pulling at the tight collar of the white dress shirt, she reached onto her dresser to grab the next item of clothing that would surely make her body itch. Slipping the vest over her head and shoulders, she smoothed the thick navy blue fabric out while looking at the crest of Gotham Academy that was place over her heart. She would rather wear the uniform her father made for her than this. Stop being overdramatic, she cursed herself.
           It wasn’t that bad she supposed as she titled her head as if that would change how she looked. It wasn’t that she looked bad, technically she looked fine. The vest surprisingly didn’t make her look frumpy and the plaid, pleated skirt wasn’t too short but also wasn’t awkwardly long, just resting a few inches above her knees. And at least her footwear was comfortable much to her original thoughts. Alfred had called them saddle shoes and the name itself had made her feet already hurt.
           Halley just figured that this was the confirmation that this was her life now. Dick had called her the night before, wishing her good luck on her first day of school. Even Kori and Wally cut in, wishing her the same. She could tell they were trying to ease her worries about them, refusing to give her a straight answer when she asked where they were and what they were doing. Frowning again, she let out a sigh, pushing her hair back and off her shoulders.
           Should she wear it down? Or up? Braids?
           Rolling her eyes, she reached down for her backpack, deciding that her hair looked fine as it was.  It was just school, she told herself. She’d never been to one before but she had some short of idea what it was like.  The guys showed her at least a dozen movies that took place in High Schools. Granted she knew that there’d be no singing, or magic, or burn books, she knew kids her age were mean and terrible. Just look at Jason for example, surely not all of them were that way? But she told herself she’d ignore it all.  She was just there to learn and make Dick happy and that was it.
           “You done checking yourself out yet because we’re going to be late for school.” Speaking of the devil, there he was. Halley really hated herself for letting him sneak up on her yet again. Narrowing her eyes at him, she moved away from her mirror and reached towards her backpack. “Oh right, I’m supposed to knock,” Jason pretended to recall, fully remembering the long and stern conversation Bruce gave him about boundaries. He knocked on the doorframe, with a roll of his own eyes.
           Halley huffed, slinging the backpack over her shoulders before moving past him, making sure she bumped shoulders with him as she did. Jason turned to follow about to call her out but stopped when he saw her backpack. Sniggering he followed, picking his own up from the floor and putting it on. “You aren’t seriously going to use that thing, are you?”
           “Why wouldn’t I?” She questioned, squinting up at him as he matched her pace. They walked side by side down the long hallway until they reached the grand stairway. “Dick gave it to me; it’s a perfectly fine backpack.”
           “You can’t wear that! In Gotham? Are you crazy?” Jason laughed again, poking his finger at it and then into her side. “People aren’t too big on Supes over here.”
           She jerked her body away from him, bounding down the stairs to get a few steps in front of him. “I’m not that big of a fan either but it’s all I have, so it’ll make due.”
           “Alright, you’re funeral.” Jason shrugged, raising his hands in mock surrender. Halley rolled her eyes at him. He was just trying to wind her up before her first day. No one in their right mind would stab someone over a backpack; no one was that stupid.
           The pair reached the kitchen, Alfred laying out scrambled eggs and bacon for them. He informed them to eat quickly, as he didn’t want Halley to be late on her first day. Being her first day, she had to get there a little bit earlier to meet her student counselor and receive her schedule, as well as meet the student she was supposed to shadow.
           Just as it did on her first morning her, breakfast ended all too quickly and she soon found herself in the back of the car, sitting to the right of Jason this time. Even the drive, which took about thirty minutes, since the Manor was on the outskirts of the city, felt as if it only took a handful of minutes. She was sat in the backseat as Alfred parked the car to let them out. Halley’s eyes widened at the large, imposing building with teenagers scattered about, chattering and laughing. It wasn’t the first time she saw the building, attending the rides with Alfred all of last week but saying that Halley was suddenly feeling dazed would be an understatement.
           She jumped as she heard a car door slam and then saw Jason walking around the car. He stopped a foot away from her door, looking impatiently. He was waiting for her. She quickly picked up her backpack, suddenly not wanting him to leave her if he got tired of waiting. He was better than nothing. As she shrugged her bag on, she opened the door but not before quickly thanking Alfred for the ride.
           “It was not a problem at all, Miss. Good luck on your first day.” He nodded to her as she closed the door.
           She watched as he began to drive away, before turning back to Jason. Her hands instantly pulled down her skirt as they began to walk. She suddenly felt exposed. Was her underwear showing? Why were people staring at her? It only took mere seconds for her to notice it, but the crowds of teens seemed to go silent as she walked back them with Jason. Were those whispered she was hearing. It was the backpack; Jason was right about the-,
           “Chill, damn girl, your face is so red right now.” Jason hissed out, tauntingly. He looked her up and down; this girl had issues. “It’s just cause you’re with me. People around here heard Bruce Wayne took in another kid.”
           “Oh, so it’s not the backpack?” she said quietly, pushing her hair behind her ears, trying to cool herself off.
           The chuckle Jason let out wasn’t like his usual. It seemed genuine and somewhat playful. She looked up at him confused. Jason looked back down, opening the door for them once they reached it. She looked somewhat adorable fretting over everything and shook his head, putting a hand on the said backpack. Gently, he pushed her through the doors.
           “I was just messing with you.” He grasped the bag for emphasis before letting it go. They began to walk at an even pace with each other again, Jason clearly leading the way with Halley following like a lost puppy. “I mean it’s a pretty lame backpack, and people are most likely going to call you a giant dork but you won’t get murdered over it.”
           Halley glared up at him, before realizing that she reached out and lightly slapped him upside the head. She didn’t know what came over her, it wasn’t like she did it maliciously. It wasn’t done out of rage like when she had slapped him her first day here. She felt this weird playful anger inside her and that’s how her consciousness expressed that sudden feeling. The pair stopped walking, earning looks of annoyance as the people walking behind them nearly walked into them.
           Jason’s hand rested on his head where she’d slapped him. Halley opened her mouth to apologize; she’d seen Dick and Kori do that to one another jokingly but that was different. They were a couple, they were close. She and Jason had barely spoke, let alone civilly with each other during her first week with them. But before she could apologize, he just laughed, using his hand that was holding his head to lightly push her shoulder.  “You really are a dork.”
           Halley’s face turned red, unsure of how she felt during this situation. Seeing this Jason just shrugged, putting his hands in his pant pockets. Nodded forward, he motioned her to get moving again. He began leading her to the guidance counselor like Bruce told him to make sure he did.  
           The rest of the walk was silent between them. The halls were loud enough as it were and Halley was just trying to take it all in. She thought since this was supposed to be filled with a bunch of rich kids it’d be a little tamer? She grimaced when she saw a couple practically sucking each other’s faces off against some lockers. Looking away quickly, to not wanting to get caught staring, she kept her eyes facing forward.
           Jason did his job and quickly left her, mumbling something about seeing her out front after school. Sighing but not surprised that Jason ditched her as soon as his obligation was up, Halley opened the oak door, entering the room. Looking around, she was greeted by a lady sitting at a desk and a couple of students looking less than thrilled sitting on seats up against a wall. Halley walked up to the desk, clearing her throat to get the lady to look up.
           “Hi, I was told to come here. It’s my first day.” She said awkwardly, fidgeting with her backpack strap.
           “Name?” the woman sighed, sounding how the kids looked.
           “Halley Wil- Wayne.” Halley cursed to herself, quickly correcting her mistake. Putting a smile on her face, which was of course fake, she repeated herself this time with some sort of confidence. “Halley Wayne.”
           The woman perked up at that, looking up from her desk and work; Bruce Wayne was a large donor to the school. “Oh yes! Welcome to Gotham Academy, Mrs. Patterson can see you right now, right through those doors.”
           Halley raised an eye at the woman’s sudden attitude change but nevertheless thanked her before turning to the doors she pointed too. Inside the woman, her counselor, Mrs. Patterson was just the same. It wasn’t until she spoke her new name did she start to treat her like a human being or well more than one actually. These people were so fake it made her want to escape back to her tower and be locked away from the world again. It didn’t get much better throughout the day and she was beginning to understand why Jason was always in such a bad mood on the car ride home.
           She’d been paired up with a tall, black haired girl who seemed nice at first glance but Halley quickly learned that like many of the people here, she was what Dick called a snoot. When the girl finally looked away from her phone, she introduced herself as Sam, but then went back to her phone. The two girl’s shared their homeroom together, Halley still unsure of the concept. They only set in the room for about fifteen minutes as the teacher checked them in and then they left for their first class with a ring of a bell. Did they not trust the students to show up?
           Sam showed her to her first class, which they shared together again. Halley half expected for the girl to sit with her but couldn’t say she was shocked to find herself sitting alone in the back of the room the entire class. She could barely follow what was happening; she was halfway through the term and never read the Iliad before, or anything like such before. She obviously she knew how too but she didn’t have much time for reading growing up and ancient Greek epics weren’t something Slade Wilson considered an important part of her education.
           As the bell rang, Sam waited impatiently for Halley too collect her things, shoving them into her backpack. When she caught up to her, Sam just looked at her bag and raised an eyebrow, “So you’re into superheroes?”
           Halley could sense the distaste laced in her tone and just shrugged, remembering Jason’s warning. “There, um, okay, I guess. I mean if it weren’t for them, who’d save us you know?” She laughed lamely, wanting to slap herself for sounding so, so civilian.
           “I guess,” Sam shrugged leading her to her next class.
           “It’s really my older brother’s backpack, he let me have it.” She added, abruptly, causing Sam to eye her strangely. Halley awkwardly smiled, turning her face quickly away from the taller girl. Calling Dick her older brother felt weird, never really having a title for him but to the world they were technically siblings and she didn’t know, was trying to sound cool? Gross.
           “Ohhhh,” Sam said, looking away from her phone. She suddenly had a look of sudden interest. “You mean Dick Grayson? He’s hot; my sister was in the same grade as him. He came over sometimes for parties and stuff. You’re so lucky you get to live with him, he has like the greatest ass-,”
           Halley grimaced as Sam spent the entirety of their walk gushing over her brother. She’d never saw Dick as the way Sam was describing him and it made her slightly uncomfortable. She was glad when Sam dropped her off in front of an open doorway. Sam didn’t share this next class with her, instead stating how she had a slip that allowed her to leave class early to meet her back here so she could show her to her next one.
           The rest of the day played out all the same. She’d sit through a tortuous forty-five minutes, learning things she either already knew, or things she knew were useless in the real world. Then in between each class she’d be pestered by Sam. The girl bombarded the new student with questions about Dick Grayson. Eventually, the girl moved on to other topics. Asking if Bruce Wayne really did bring different woman home every night and of course the big how much money does he actually have, question. Even during lunch Sam insisted she sit with her friends and Halley felt as if she stepped right that scene from the Mean Girl’s movie Wally showed her. She knew how this was going to go down and quickly excused herself to use the restroom and never went back, instead opting to ask some nice boy for directions to her next class.  She was restless and agitated.
           Her free period was when she found herself finally deciding this whole school thing wasn’t for her. At least in her classes, the time slightly went by quicker. She tried to start her homework, another concept she didn’t understand, but quickly gave up, slamming the textbooks closed.  She blushed when the surrounding students looked at her from the sound and started whispering. Frowning, she quickly picked up her books and left the library, wandering the halls for the rest of the thirty minutes, masterfully avoiding the teachers who she would surely get in trouble with for being in the halls during class; which was another stupid concept.
           But despite how her day really went, she still put on a good face when the day was over. She wouldn’t want to come off as ungrateful if she spoke truthfully. Her day was great, and she met a lot of nice people. She didn’t spend her lunch alone in a bathroom stall and she most definitely was looking forward to going back tomorrow.  
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dottie-wan-kenobi · 5 years ago
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Hello!!! I've never done this before so I hope I'm doing it right lol. I was wondering if I could request forced out of the closet + titans!dick grayson?
You’re doing just fine!! Thank you so much for this prompt, I was really excited to do it and I hope I’ve done it justice. Also I hope you don’t mind I added some past Dick/Joey and kind of maybe bash Donna, Hank, and Dawn a little itty bitty bit. kdfhjdhjakshkj. just to be clear, there is no cheating in this fic, but Dawn uses that stereotype to her advantage :x
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written for the @badthingshappenbingo square “forced out of the closet”. x’s are finished, asterisks are requested, and the last two are free! many thanks to @whateverrrrwhatever for betaing even tho she isn’t even in this fandom
—-
“How fucking long have you been lying to us, exactly?” Hank demands, fury emanating off him in waves.
I wasn’t! He wants to shout back, I wasn’t lying! But in order to do that, Dick would have to lift his head out of his hands, stand up from where he’s sitting on the second level, and meet Hank’s eyes. Or anyone’s eyes, really. They’re all here, the old Titans and the new ones and Rose fucking Wilson. The only way this could possibly be any worse is if Bruce were here, too, but thank god, Dick isn’t that unlucky.
“It can’t be true,” Donna says, but she sounds unsure. She’s doubting him and not even trying to hide it. That’s never happened before. “Dick, tell us what he said wasn’t true.”
“So what if it was?” And that’s Rachel, defensive on his behalf. “I don’t understand why you’re all so upset if Dick’s bi—”
He doesn’t hear the rest of what she says, his heart pounding in his ears. They all know now, and he wasn’t the one to tell them, didn’t get to decide who or when or how. Slade just broadcast it out for all of them to hear and make with what they will, and of course, it’s nothing good. There’s a reason, he thinks, that he’s never told any of them. Not Kory, who he thinks he could trust with anything, or the kids, who so desperately want to know and connect with the real him. Not even Donna, who’s always been his best friend.
“He’s been lying to us, Rach,” Dawn says, and her voice is so soft and so steely, the way it always gets when she’s angry. And she has reason to be, he knows that, but it still hurts. “He lied to us about what happened with Jericho, and that’s—that’s not just something we can walk away from.”
“No,” Hank agrees, worked up. “No, it’s not.”
“He was just lying about a relationship! What’s so wrong with that?” Gar asks. His arms are probably crossed, but Dick doesn’t want to look up to see.
“Nothing,” Kory says, but her voice gets overpowered by Dawn’s.
“How about the fact that he was in relationship with me already?” Dawn shoots back. Dick thinks about how they broke up days before Garth’s death, and were just playing at being together until after his birthday, to avoid ruining it for him. Afterward, they never spoke about it, drifting away from each other, grief and revenge more important than anything else. It wasn’t until after Joey died that they finally, officially ended. “If he could lie about that, then he could be lying about anything. About everything .”
“Dick…,” Donna says, and she’s closer now, but not close enough not close enough to touch him, which is the last thing he wants. “Tell us it’s not true.”
Everyone is staring at him, he can tell. He can feel it: the weight of their gazes and confusion and anger. Dick lifts his head finally, and his eyes feel heavy and hot. No tears fall. He has to be strong here, can’t let it show any more than he already is how much this situation fucking sucks.
“It is,” he rasps, clearing his throat once the words are out.
Donna jerks back like she’s been slapped.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this, he thinks. Coming out is supposed to be private. Personal. Safe. It’s supposed to be him sitting these people down and saying he loves people no matter what gender they are, and these people loving and supporting him no matter what. Instead, Slade hacked their speaker system and gladly outed him.
There’s no love and support in the room right now.
He has to pull himself together, needs them to understand. Stronger, he says, “It is true. Joey and I were together.”
Jason’s gaze is bouncing between everyone in the room, and Dick wonders how much the kid is going to hate him now. And Rose, she’s tense and ready to fight him, and he can see that it won’t take much to set her off. The others are still staring at him, the older Titans coiling with hurt, the newer ones just confused.
“Was it worth it?” Hank asks, breaking the silence. “Was he that good of a lay that you had to betray us?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Dick stands, trying to ignore how tight his chest feels. He’s finding it more difficult than usual to pretend he’s perfectly fine. Convincing himself means he can convince the others. Right now, no one is fooled. “I didn’t betray you.”
“Really? ‘Cause it sounds like you were cheating on Dawn, fucking the enemy, and lying about it for five years!” Donna explodes. “Sounds like fucking betrayal to me!”
“Joey wasn’t our enemy—!”
“How do we know you weren’t feeding him information the whole time?” Dawn interrupts, and Dick freezes, shocked by the accusation. “Were you telling him our secrets so he could go and tell Slade everything, and help him get under our skin, in our heads?”
“No! How could you even think that?”
Ignoring his words, Donna asks, “How long were you and Joey even together?”
“Not that long,” he admits, fists clenching by his sides. “It only started once he came to live here.”
“Live-in double agent,” Hank says wryly. “How convenient.”
“It wasn’t like that,” Dick protests.
“Then how was it?” Rose demands, stomping forward. “How exactly was it? You were using and manipulating my brother for information and for sex? What a stand up guy you are.” For all her tone is bone-dry, he can see tears threatening to spill from her eye.
Dick thinks about Joey’s smile. His eyelashes. How he pulled away from every kiss grinning, like it was a dream come true. The meals they ate together, and how Joey spent whole afternoons trying to teach him a few phrases in ASL, and only laughed a little, kindly, when Dick messed up. How he’d told Dick he was fine keeping their relationship on the down low, that he understood Dick wasn’t out yet and wouldn’t push. What he looked like, lying dead on the ground, killed trying to protect Dick, who’d fucked up every step of the way.
It was real, he wants to say. I had nightmares for months afterward, and even now it hurts to think about him. There’s a reason I never told any of you, and it’s not just because I wasn’t sure how you’d react.
But it wasn’t real. Not fully, anyway. For every sincere moment, there were two more where Dick was doing what the others wanted him to do—becoming Batman, using Joey to their advantage. For every time he thought it was wrong to treat Joey that way, he never put a stop to it. It was easy to get lost in Joey, in exploring feelings Dick had never—and has never, ever since—let himself know. Their relationship had felt safe, in a way. Even with all the subterfuge, Joey knew about Robin, and he’d never worried about it. Dick had felt free for the short time they had been together.
It was real, but it wasn’t.
“It’s complicated,” he says finally. Rose won’t like it, but how can he explain it all? How can he explain that he hadn’t wanted things with Joey to get serious, hadn’t wanted him to die, hadn’t been able to even think about telling anyone about his sexuality without an avalanche of grief and guilt burying him? “I—I wasn’t trying to hurt him.”
Joey’s smile, his eyelashes, his kindness. He was like the sun peeking over the horizon. He deserved better than Dick.
Dawn and Donna both scoff. Hank says, “You’re fucking pathetic. Not trying to hurt him got him killed. Great fucking job, asshole.”
Kory steps up beside Dick, a hand coming up to rest on his shoulder. It’s like an anchor, stabilizing, and something he desperately needs right now. Her thumb makes a slow, calming circle as she turns on the others. “Yelling at him isn’t going to help shit. Why don’t you all go do your jobs and figure out if this Slade guy hacked us remotely, or if he’s here and we need to suit up?”
“Oh, he’s probably here,” Rose says through gritted teeth. “And I’m going to fucking kill him.”
She heads towards the elevators, and Donna follows, fists clenched. At Kory’s raised eyebrow, Hank and Dawn leave too. The kids move toward them, like they’re closing ranks. Gar’s biting his lip nervously. Rachel has her arms crossed over her stomach and Jason looks lost in thought.
Without the older Titans, the mood of the room feels lighter, but Dick finds that isn’t a good thing. Like he’s a puppet with his strings cut, he falls back onto the step, his skin crawling.
Kory sits next to him, her hand going down to rest on his back. Softly, she asks, “Are you okay?”
He wonders if Jason’s going to tell Bruce. Wonders if Donna, Hank, and Dawn will ever forgive him. Hopes Rachel and Gar don’t hate him now. Hates how much her kindness right now only reminds him of Joey.
With a deep sigh, he says, “I’ll be fine.”
----
If you enjoyed this, please reblog! Leave a comment in the tags maybe? 
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wellthatjusthappend · 5 years ago
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Hi! May I request a sequel to A Love So Soft? Dick has run out of ideas to break Slade and Jason up, so he recruits Alfred. Alfred's master plan is to invite the happy couple to diner at the manor. Thank you!
Cute! I switched around Dick recruites Alfred to Alfred recruits himself, but it still works. Enjoy!
Man, Tumblr has decided to stop alerting me to anything, I totally didn’t see this come in. 
****
Dick had officially run out of ideas.
Or well, he’d run out of ideas that wouldn’t end in absolute disaster. Every time he told himself that Jason’s safety was the most important part of all of this, he would imagine how badly Jason would react to him interfering. How angry and hurt he would be. How much he would hate Dick, even if Dick was doing it out of love. 
Worse, Jason would probably be more determined to stick with Salde just to spite him. 
So he did the only thing he could at this point and stalked Slade.
Which ended up being stalking both Slade and Jason, far more often than not. There were no words for how angry that made him. They were so sweet and gentle with each other, and every time Dick thought about what a cruel lie it all was, he wanted to strangle Slade. 
Dick learned Jason was easy to fluster, and quick to blush, especially over romantic gestures.
He wished he couldn’t have found that out first hand. He wished that those looks could be because of anyone but Slade bloody Wilson. 
Slade himself was almost never alone, but one day he broke his routine and headed out to the richer side of town. 
Heart beating quickly, Dick followed him discreetly as he could. He was sure that Slade was finally showing his true colors. He’d finally be able to catch Salde red handed with his employer and have proof that Jason would have to believe. 
To his surprise, Slade pulled up to the back of the lessor known Wayne properties and walked inside like he owned the place. Dick quietly parked behind him and snuck quietly to the door. 
Maybe Slade was really using Jason to get at his connections to the Waynes? Unfortunately, this residence had almost no bugs because it was a private property Bruce had gifted to-
“Master Dick, stop skulking at the door like a criminal and come inside.”
“...Alfred?” Dick said in disbelief. 
“Indeed. Now that you’ve demonstrated your staggering deductive skills, come inside and sit down. Tea is almost ready,” Alfred said, not even letting Dick get a word in before he was ushered in the kitchen where Slade was already lounging at the table with another man. 
It looked like a small feast was being prepared and it smelled wonderful. 
“I do wish you had informed me that you were bringing Master Dick along tonight, and early at that,” Alfred said bussing himself once more, “I will have to make some adjustments to the menu.”
“Got tired of the kid acting like my shadow,” Slade said, sipping his tea cooly. 
“You- you’re here for dinner?” Dick spluttered in disbelief. 
“Of course he is,” Alfred said briskly, “He’s Master Jason’s first serious relationship in a while, and I demand at least a monthly dinner from such prospects. You know that, Master Dick.”
Dick tried not to gape at him. From the way that Slade was smirking, he didn’t think he did a good job.
“How can you be ok with this?” he finally demanded, “he’s clearly using Jason.”
“Like he’s not totally whipped for the kid,” grumbled the man Dick recognized as Slade’s associate Wintergreen. 
Slade sent him a withering look. 
“Don’t give me that, the boy is much too good for an old man like you,” Wintergreen said bluntly. 
“And you’ll be first in line to give me hell if I do wrong by him, yes, yes,” Slade huffed. 
“Perhaps not the first,” Alfred said blandly. 
It was probably a coincidence that he was sharpening knives. 
“Duly noted,” Slade grumbled. 
“We’re not doing this here,” Dick grumbled, grabbing Slade’s arm and towing him out of the room. 
“And what, exactly are we ‘doing’, Grayson?” Slade drawled. 
“You’re up to something,” Dick said, rounding on him. 
“You’ve made it clear that you think so, yes,” Slade rolled his eye. 
“Don’t forget I know you. I know you are with young people,” Dick snarled, jabbing his finger at his chest, “You’ll say all the nice things and string him along until you’ve gotten what you wanted and then you’ll screw him over. I’m not going to let that happen on my watch.”
Not again. Not to his- not to Jason. 
“I can see why you’d come to that conclusion, but you’re dead wrong this time, kid,” Slade huffed, “believe it or not, I’m playing for keeps with this one.” 
How dare he-
“Whatever your employer is paying, I’ll triple it,” Dick snapped. 
“There is no job,” Slade growled, the slightest hint of real anger showing through.
“I don’t believe you,” Dick hissed. 
“At least I care enough about him to actually be there for him when it matters. When’s the last time you bothered to check in on him for something not related to your so called ‘Mission’?” Slade said, using his height to loom over him fully. 
“Don’t pretend you know a thing about us,” Dick snapped. 
“Yeah? When’s the last time you asked him how he was? What are his hobbies? We’ve been together for almost a year and you’re just now figuring it out- and don’t even pretend you’re someone he could tell something like that when the first thing you did when found out was try and pay his partner into leaving him,” Slade said. 
No one ever accused Slade of pulling his punches. 
“You’re trying to use him to get at the family,” Dick accused. 
“You know what I think? I think you’re jealous,” Slade said.
“You-”
“Jealous I get to have your sweet Little Wing while you get nothing but scraps,” Slade taunted, “Jealous that you were too much of a coward to risk making daddy Bats mad and I wasn’t. Jealous that you can’t make him happy like I can.”
“I- I’m not- you-” 
“Or maybe you’re just jealous that you don’t get all my attention anymore,” he said thoughtfully. 
Slade ran a thumb over Dick’s lower lip, and Dick was ashamed to say his thought process stuttered to a complete halt. 
“You had your chance to be mine. That’s past, now. What hasn’t is your chance to be there for your dearest Little Wing. Are you going to fuck that up again?” 
“Fuck you,” Dick choked. 
“Tempting, but Jason has asked me to be exclusive. In the end, his opinion matters more to me than you.”
Ouch. Fuck- that really wasn’t something that should hurt like that. Dick knew it was all over his face, that Slade was seeing too much-
“Sorry I’m late, some fucker decided the I-90 would be a great place to-” Jason cut himself off, jacket hanging part way off his arms as he stared at Dick and Slade standing in the entryway, his face paling before turning closed and guarded. 
Dick hated that. 
“You haven’t missed anything,” Slade said abandoning his place next to Dick help take Jason’s jacket from him, “Those layabouts give you any trouble today?”
“Wh- no, they were- Slade.” Jason put a hand firmly on Slade’s chest as the older man tried to pull him close, sparring a quick alarmed look in Dick’s direction. 
“He knows,” Slade said dismissively, not waiting any longer to draw Jason into a kiss. 
Dick couldn’t watch that so he turned on his heel and left the room. 
He couldn’t process any of it. He couldn’t. It was all a trick Slade had cooked up. Maybe to turn the family against each other. It had to be a trick. 
He headed towards the back door where his bike was parked and was stopped by Alfred on the way out. 
“Master Dick… I want you to think carefully about the bridge you are about to burn by leaving this way,” Alfred said quietly, “Even if he denies it, your opinion matters to Master Jason. If you reject him now, I fear you may never get another chance.”
“Alfred- I can’t,” Dick pleaded. He couldn’t pretend to be okay with any of this. Couldn’t watch the softest between the couple in the other room and just- just-
“Is that so?” Dick could hear the disappointment in alfred’s voice and that hurt in a whole different way, “Well then, I shall go finish preparing dinner for our guests.”
He left him there alone in the hallway, and Dick wanted to scream about how unfair this all was. He stared blankly at the doorway for another several moments.
So goddamned unfair. 
Dick turned around and walked back to the dinning room. Alfred had already set out a place for him, probably knowing he would come back. Wintergreen was keeping his thoughts to himself. Slade raised an eyebrow, but thankfully didn’t comment because Dick didn’t know what nasty thing he would have said to him if he did. 
Jason was looking at him with a deeply wary look that hurt somewhere deep in Dick’s chest. But there was also some horribly vulnerable hints of hope around his edges that made Dick know he had made the right decision by staying. 
“If you ever hurt him-” Dick gritted out, glaring at Slade. 
“Then you’ll help Jason maim me in some horribly creative way, yes. Overprotective threat duly noted,” Slade said boredly.
“Jesus fuck, you two are so-” Jason growled under his breath, but his ears were pink and Dick could tell he was gripping Slade’s hand under the table. 
Dick sat down.
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amazingflyingdick · 5 years ago
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big wing.
WHO: Dick Grayson @amazingflyingdick & Jason Todd @thatsjasonfkntodd WHERE: The hospital WHEN: Backdated to July 4th, 2020 WHAT: Jason goes to see Dick once he’s awake
Jason: Slade had said he intended to stay with Dick until he woke up, and Jason had taken him at his word that he meant that. Besides, it was complicated for him to go in and out. Dick wasn’t a cop anymore but he had been for a long while, and even if nobody was there on official duty he didn’t want to deal with crossing paths with Jim Gordon or anyone else if they were visiting. Moreover, he just didn’t want to sit there and stare silently while Dick ‘slept,’ with only the monitors to listen to or the occasional voice in the hall. So he hadn’t gone back in the space of time between the night it all went down and the day he woke from the coma. Those had been long days.
Even after Bruce told him Dick was awake, he didn’t know what to expect from that. He hadn’t asked for any details, but had labored over the idea of going back to the hospital for a few hours before actually doing it. He didn’t want to have to navigate other people being there, but figured it was inevitable. It was with some measure of surprise, then, that he didn’t see anyone else through the sliver of window in the door when he moved to open it. Maybe Slade hadn’t stayed after all, or no one else had had the chance to arrive yet. Either way, he pushed his hand back through his hair and opened the door.
“You up?” Dick: The first day Dick spent in and out of consciousness. It wasn't until later that he was having longer conversations - first with Slade, then with Bruce and the neurologist, who'd asked him a lot of questions. He always had someone right there next to him. Eventually as he managed to stay awake for longer stretches, he tried to assure them both that he could be left on his own long enough for them to eat, or for Bruce to answer a phone call. It was a rare moment of silence when Slade left to see about more blankets and Bruce was called out by another doctor. How many were there? Dick had a hard time keeping track. He'd been introduced to three so far.
Jason's voice made his eyes open and his focus lock on the door. He hadn't asked Bruce about his brothers. There was no reason they should have to be here, standing around him and worrying about whether or not he'd wake up, even though he wanted to see them badly. Just seeing Jason made him instantly remember everything from that night, even though he only managed to recall bits and pieces of that conversation when the doctors asked after it. He'd been confused about where and when they were.
"Yup. About to run a couple laps around the nurse's station," he replied in a hoarse voice, smirking faintly. Jason: Joking was a good sign. The serious moments were the worst ones. They felt final, like a say-it-before-you-can’t thing. He didn’t want another one for a long, long time. “That’ll be pretty with your ass hanging out of the hospital gown.” Was there anything worse than those damn things?
The doctors hadn’t really been able to give them any idea of what to expect when Dick woke up. He’d sort of braced for some kind of memory loss, a shift of some kind, and maybe that was still a possibility. Dick recognized him, though, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. There were a handful of worse case scenarios they’d already avoided. “How’s the hole in your head?”
He didn’t get too close to the bed. Aside from the first time he’d gone into the room after they took Dick there, he’d sort of avoided it. Now that he was awake, Jason sort of had it in his head that Bruce would hopefully get him moved to the manor. If the life saving part was done, the recovery didn’t have to happen at the real hospital, did it? Dick: "Hey, I've been told that's one of my best features." Dick saw how much weight it seemed to take from Slade and Bruce's shoulders when he'd managed a joke. It showed he still had some grip on his facilities if he could demonstrate even a fraction of the quick wit he had before. It didn't come as easily as before, but he tried not to over-analyze why.
Even though Jason wasn't too close to the bed, he had no trouble making him out. His vision was better than it was earlier. That was a good sign, at least. "Which one?" He smiled slightly, his eyes falling closed as he took a deep breath. "Better." They'd given him something for the pain, which made it hard to stay awake. "If I fall asleep on you, it's a total accident. I swear."
He wanted to ask Jason to come closer, wanted to say other things, too, but he resisted the urge to make the moment too serious. "They said I was out for a couple days. How's Roy? Did he go back to work?" Jason: “I’d say it’s pretty overrated.” Jason knew better than most people what a head injury could do to a person. Even after he’d got better from being dead and buried, he definitely hadn’t been himself. He’d been a shell of a person, really, just running on survival instinct with odds and ends of confusing memories floating around that he couldn’t make sense of. The Lazarus Pit had fixed it, but sometimes he still wondered whether or not fixed wasn’t really the right word. In any case, he didn’t expect Dick to just bounce back. He wasn’t optimistic enough for that, anyway.
He dismissed the comment about sleep with a shake of his head. “That’s a convenient excuse. Maybe I’ll use it sometime. If I fall asleep on you it was an accident.” But if he did, Jason would take that as his cue to go. He knew that it was unlikely to just be the two of them for long.
“He was going to, but he took some extra time after...” Jason made a vague gesture toward Dick, “all this. He’s alright. We’re getting there.” Roy had made it through the worst of it, physically, without caving. Dick: "You would say that." The doctors seemed surprised that he was able to respond to questions clearly and without much confusion. It was the questions asking after detail that could get him tripped up. That made Dick feel unnerved and he would get frustrated with his own inability to recall specifics. His memory was never as good as Barbara's, but he'd learned how to retain a lot of information after so many years of practice. It scared him that he could lose that overnight. The doctor reassured him that it was a minor setback that could get better over time, brains made new pathways and all of that, but most of the assurances fell on deaf ears.
Snorting softly, his hand moved against the cool railing. When he'd first woken up his wrists had been restrained. The doctors explained that he kept trying to yank out his IVs. "Now you can't use it on me, because I'll remember you said it." Or would he? Dick didn't let himself linger on it.
Already he'd had the fear that Roy's recovery was put in jeopardy because of this. He winced. "But this didn't... this didn't set him back, did it?" There was no telling how long Jason had been away from the apartment. Roy was so freshly recovered that a relapse was very possible. Jason: “Weirder if I agreed with you.” He didn’t want to spend any amount of time thinking about Dick’s ass. Plenty of other people did that, probably, so he’d leave it to them. If he did manage to make it to the Nurse’s Station eventually, they might appreciate it too.
Jason had to wonder how much of their conversation in the alley that Dick actually remembered. For purely selfish reasons, he hoped that some of it was lost. He’d got a little desperate, a little more sentimental than he would have otherwise, and since Dick had survived...he was fine letting all of that go.
“I don’t think so.” He couldn’t guarantee it. He’d not been as attentive in the days after Dick was shot, but he’d still been there. He’d still spent that time with Roy. He had to believe he would have noticed if he’d backslid. Dick: "Point taken." It was an easy back and forth that took minimal effort on his part. Dick enjoyed the ease in conversation, because it made it easy to forget how desperate Jason had been the night he found him. He hadn't ever heard him sound like that before and he never wanted to hear it again.
But he didn't want to act like it never happened. He didn't want to shelve it, like Bruce would, and bring it out only when it was once again a possibility that they might not ever see each other again.
The news made him relax, but only a little. He wouldn't feel convinced until he saw Roy himself, but he didn't even know when that would be. Jason was the first person to show up outside of Bruce and Slade. He was glad they were here, but he wouldn't pretend there wasn't tension. "Hey," he finally said, his eyes still closed. "You promised you'd go to the circus with me. Don't think I forgot about that." Jason: So much for not remembering those parts. He’d really hoped he forgot the circus part. Jason had been sitting on the story forever. Once in awhile he thought about it, but he’d never told Dick and never really planned to. It was just the only thing that had popped into his head in that moment, and keeping him awake had been more important than protecting some dumb moment with his dad. Still, he felt...the whole thing felt raw. Everything they’d said. That he’d said.
“Must have been a hallucination. Coma dream?” He didn’t even try to sound that convincing about it. The odds of them ever getting enough of a break from the city’s bullshit to go anywhere or do anything seemed pretty small right then, and Dick had a long road ahead of him either way. Dick: Dick sighed faintly, but he didn't argue. Despite the distance between them, his vision was clear enough to take note of Jason's expression and anything else he could read on his face. Not that Jason was easy to read. He wasn't like Tim or Damian, both of them predictable in their insecurities and doubts, and he'd never been particularly receptive to Dick's offers of support.
That wasn't what this was about. Not really. His fingers dug into the bar and he tried to keep his voice light. He had the feeling that if it got too heavy Jason would dash out of the room so fast that he'd be a blur. "Come here, s'not like I'm contagious." Jason: He was right, of course. Dick wasn’t sick. There was no reason for the distance he kept putting between him and the bed. He’d had surgery, his head was properly dealt with. Still, he’d not totally managed to shake the image of what it had been like before. The sight of the gauze immediately running red with blood, Dick’s hair slick and stuck to his head, was something that that kept lingering in his mind. While Roy was in withdrawal, he hadn’t been sleeping for long stretches even when he was in his own bed. The trend continued, and he couldn’t remember the last time that he’d been plagued by such frequent fucked up dreams. So, he’d just avoided looking at very much behind the wires and the monitors.
“Stupid might be contagious,” he offered, but he did take a few steps forward just to avoid having to explain why he hadn’t been. “Hope you enjoyed your big nap.” Dick: Even though Dick had been on the other side of it, it didn't take a lot of imagining for him to think about what it was like for Jason. It wasn't something he should have been left to deal with alone. The fact that Dick had relied on him so heavily to keep it together during that time, even though he'd hardly had another choice, brought a wave of guilt. He knew it couldn't be easy for Jason to be here. Not just because it meant leaving Roy on his own during a time that was still tenuous, but because it kept everything fresh and maybe a little too real.
He had to close his eyes, but he wasn't going to let himself fall back asleep. "Hey..." Dick's throat was thick, but he pushed past the feeling. "I'm sorry." Jason: “The fuck are you sorry for? Getting shot in the head?” It was true that Jason was prone to blaming people things maybe a little unfairly. Rather than lean in to the random chaos of the universe, it was easier to find something or someone to pin it on. He preferred assigning fault and giving his anger some kind of direction. In this case, that assignment went to NOVA. It wasn’t Dick’s to apologize for.
Jason frowned as Dick closed his eyes, but the expression was only there briefly before he’d wiped it away. “It’s over and done.” Dick: Dick didn't know how to explain what he was sorry for, not without risking the possibility that Jason would feel patronized, so he said nothing. Instead he opened his eyes, watching him quietly, and tried not to give away that his vision still blurred around the edges.
There was a sinking feeling in his chest. It left him with an odd heaviness, something he tried to keep out of his voice. "Yeah," he said quietly. "I'll be out of here in no time." Jason: “No you won’t,” Jason said flatly. “I don’t know if you’re saying that for my sake, but I’m not five. You got shot in the head.” And Jason had been shot before. He knew how long it took to recover from even when the wound was somewhere much less alarming. He didn’t have much  use for forced optimism. As far as he was concerned, it was a fucking miracle that he’d survived in the first place.
He finally stepped close enough to put his hand on the bar that ran alongside the bed. At least Dick wasn’t restrained anymore. He’d wanted to argue with them about it, but it wasn’t like he was a damn doctor. “You’ll be out when you’re out. But you’re not dead.” Dick: "I'm saying it for my own sake. I hate these places." Dick didn't want to think about being stuck in the hospital. He was already feeling like he wanted to crawl out of his skin. It was a bit of wishful thinking, maybe, but he had to be hopeful. The doctors were suggesting it could be weeks. There was absolutely no way he could keep Slade and Bruce from killing each other for weeks.
No, he wasn't dead, but not even he could brush aside how close he'd been. If the bullet had been a little more to the left, or the right, things could be a lot bleaker than they were right now. "I decided against it. It's like you said, no new members." Jason: “Me too. Always have.” Even though it had still sucked to need it, he’d always been grateful that Bruce had ways of dealing with most injuries at the manor. Alfred could do as much as any nurse, and he had other people on retainer for the rest. Usually. Getting shot like Dick had been...there hadn’t been another option.
“It’s a really exclusive club and we don’t want you so,” he managed a shrug and chewed at the inside of one cheek. “They said you might have some memory loss. Do you?” He wanted real answers, not projections. Dick: Dick didn't like being immobile. Waking up restrained felt like a nightmare. He was afraid to fall back asleep just in case they found it necessary to do it again. The wraps were still fastened to the side of the railings.
"I don't know. Don't think so." Then again, how was he supposed to know if he couldn't remember? "Test me." The thought made the feeling in his chest heavier and tighter all at once. He didn't really want to know the answer, but he knew he had to face it sooner or later. If there were things he'd forgotten, the only thing he could do was try to regain those memories again. Jason: What could he ask him? Dick had remembered the circus comment, so all the short term memory wasn’t gone. “What’s your dumbass nickname for me that I hate?” Of course he said that to Roy about Jaybird too, then ended up missing it when he’d broken things off. Dumb. ‘Little Wing’ was just as bad, probably worse. It had been around for years, though. “When is Alfred’s birthday?” Trick question.
He hesitated for a second, but eventually dragged one of the chairs over toward the bed so he could sit down. He was tired. No, he was past tired. He wanted to take Roy’s suggestion and let someone knock him out with a sledgehammer for awhile. Dick: "Little Wing." Dick didn't miss a beat on that one. There was a vague memory of him saying it in the alley. He'd said it once or twice before then, too, for the first time since Jason's return. The nickname slipped out before he'd thought twice about it. There was no way to take it back later. "None of us know Alfred's birthday," he began hesitantly, but then his brow furrowed. "He won't tell us. So we have to pick we want to celebrate." Oh, no. "...Right? Or did I forget it?"
He took in Jason's face and his obvious exhaustion, frowning. "You look awful." Jason: Jason rolled his eyes at both responses. “Well, the annoying parts are still in tact. And no, you didn’t forget. It’s an eternally unsolved mystery. Alfred is an ancient and immortal being with no birthday.” So he got all the birthdays instead and cake on whatever one of them they picked,
He sat up a little straighter and shrugged. “Says the guy with with a sieve for a head.” What he wasn’t going to do was listen to some lecture about self care from the dude laying in the hospital. Dick: "I passed?" Dick gave him a crooked looking grin, trying to hide the very real relief that flooded him at the realization that he hadn't forgotten half of his life and just didn't realize. "Alfred was here earlier." Alfred had acted completely unperturbed by the situation and had chided Dick for watching TV when he should be resting.
It bothered him that Jason wasn't getting enough sleep, but he knew he'd be doing the same thing if he were in Jason's shoes. Dick always had the habit of overextending himself. Calling Jason out for doing the same thing felt too hypocritical. "You're more like me than you realize. Horrible, I know." Jason: “Sure, you passed a two question test. I’ll send your diploma over tomorrow.” He could’ve come up with some other questions, but if he was being honest he was okay with just accepting the decent outcome from a couple. If Dick had memory issues, he’d find that out on his own. Jason could roll with it not being blind optimism since he’d made effort to prove otherwise.
“Gross. Take it back or I’m leaving right now.” There were worse things in the world, but he wasn’t going to tell him that. He’d done enough admitting, enough vulnerability. It felt like all he’d done was feel raw for two damn months between Dick and Roy and all the rest. Dick: "I guess we could round it up to five, if you have more," Dick offered with a smirk. In all honesty, he was wary of whether or not he'd get more questions right. Avoidance wasn't something he should let himself give into, it was a hollow victory in the end, but it was a hard habit to shake. He didn't like to admit when things might not be just fine. This was already a situation he hadn't been able to handle on his own.
That made him laugh, even though the sound was hoarse. "Where do you think I got the nickname?" Little Wing had come from his own moniker, not Bruce's, because from the beginning he'd seen a lot of himself in Jason. No one knew how it was for Dick in the early years, before he found a place to put his anger. Jason: “Maybe later.” Something might crop up, but he was alright giving him a participation award in the mean time. He hadn’t really gone to the hospital to play a game of trivia about their lives. The motivation for it was morbid even for Jason, and for once he didn’t completely have the stomach for it.
He’d never really asked. The first time Dick had called him that he’d almost liked it, though maybe he’d brushed it off at the time. Later, it had seemed patronizing. Now, it was little more than a joke. “Pulled it out of your ass, I guess. Maybe you should call me Big Wing now.” Dick: Dick nodded. Maybe that was better. Diving into the past with Jason was always risky. Sometimes it was best to leave it alone, even though there were plenty of things he actively remembered from that time. Some of them were good things, but he didn't know if Jason looked at them the same way now.
"You'd need at least another two inches on me." Jason was taller than him and calling him little anything didn't really make sense anymore, but the nickname tended to slip without him even realizing it. He'd never expected to use it again. It sneaked up on him. Jason: "I think I've got the two inches on you elsewhere," he said with a grin, unable to resist the perfect set-up that Dick had given him for the joke. "Not that I'll be asking around." He already knew way too much about private Dick than he'd ever, ever wanted to.
He leaned back a little in the seat. By the looks of him, he wouldn't be awake for long. Jason figured he'd take off when he passed out. Besides, the likelihood of him being alone in that room with him for any real length of time was small. He didn't want to deal with Bruce, and he sure as fuck didn't want to deal with Slade, even if all they had between them was silence like most of the days they'd both been in cells. Dick: "I'd say prove it, but I think I'd rather take you at your word." After the whole discovery in his file, the entire family knew way more about Dick's life than he ever wanted them to. Tim had questions and he didn't mind giving him answers, but he'd always been private about things like that. Jason living at his apartment while Slade dropped in and out had been awkward, even though Dick thought he'd been pretty discreet about it.
The television was off. He felt around for the remote and offered it to Jason. "Find something funny." The last time he woke up it had been playing some documentary on how cotton picking machines worked, which had just made him go right back to sleep. Jason: "That's what I thought." Would he have argued about it if Dick insisted otherwise? Probably. It might have been nice to be a dumbass for a little while, considering where they were and why.
If Jason kept on the TV it was usually just for noise or someone else's sake. He'd spent a lot of mindless hours watching it with Roy as they were wading through the withdrawal symptoms, and when he'd stayed with Dick they'd watched some movies that he did not altogether hate. He'd even enjoyed some. Still, left to his own devices he didn't watch much of it and it took some clicking around before he found something that he caught at the right time to hear a laugh. Some cop show set in Brooklyn. It'd work.
As he sat there, half paying attention and half just letting his mind drift, he felt a buzz in his pocket. Text from Roy. He almost put off answering it until he was ready to leave, but if something was wrong he couldn't ignore it.
hey what about dick's friend. the gold guy? Dick: The cop show reminded him of something he wasn't sure he'd told Jason about yet. "I quit the SCPD," he said quietly, his eyes half open. It was something he'd been considering for some time even before the events of the breakout. After that, he really had little choice but to go through with it. Gordon had shown up to speak to him about the events of the shooting, but he hadn't been able to tell him much, and he avoided the subject of Jason altogether. It was better to pretend that he'd been unconscious from the second the bullet entered his skull.
Jason's phone going off made his eyes open more and he glanced aside at him. "Do you know what happened to my phone?" He asked, even though he hadn't given it much thought until then. "Do you have it? Or Bruce?" Jason: “Yeah...” he wasn’t sure who had found out first, though it was probably, but they’d made the connection between the timing of Dick leaving the force and NOVA sending someone after him. It couldn’t just be a coincidence. “About time. You’ve gotta stop acting like you can be ten different people.” Jason wasn’t one to lecture, but it didn’t take a genius to know that Dick stretched himself far, far too thin.
The message distracted him and he only gave a grunt of “Bruce” in response as Roy answered again. Jason felt his heart skip as he realized who Roy was talking about. As soon as he did, he got to his feet. “Is your friend Josh still in town?”
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ambelle · 5 years ago
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Accountability and Intention
Ya know... thank god for Kory and Gar.
One thing I’ve learned in life is that when you are at your lowest the people who are still there, those are your friends. Not the ones who will get a drink with you the ones you would call at 3am to talk to.
People make mistakes no matter what and hindsight is 20/20. No matter how much you dwell on something you cannot undo it. It’s not possible. So your options are to try and learn from it. Make amends and try to be better, different.
I rewatched a bunch of season one scenes today with the context of Jericho and it makes this fallout worse. He took Rachel to the birds in season 1 and brought a ton of money for them to be able to retire with her. Because he said he’s no good with family and doesn’t want to drag her down. So he brought Rachel to people he thinks are good and that he can trust. After he saves the birds from being shot to death they come home to Rachel who found out he planned on leaving. Hank says he tried to pay them off and calls him a psychopath and Rachel is disappointed. So he’s a psychopath but they also want him taking in Rachel BUT also they agree he’s terrible with kids because of Jericho. Dawn even says the line that he knows kids are complicated to care for.
This just continues throughout season 1. Dick caring about Rachel but thinking he’s bad for her. Rachel misunderstanding what the issue is. And we don’t find out until now what the issue is and why he distrusted himself.
Now my point about intention. Dick didn’t intend to hurt Rachel by leaving her with adults he thought were better than himself. Who weren’t monsters like he sees himself. But she still got hurt. He apologizes and tries his best to make it up to her. Here Dick didn’t intend to hurt Joey by telling him the truth. But he still got killed. He apologized and is now trying to find a way to make ammends . He’s never claimed these things were no fault of his own. With the latter all he does is explain there were multiple parties involved. He takes accountability for his part.
The triangle of doom and the Wilsons don’t. Hank doesn’t even recognize his role in asking Dick to hunt Slade down. Nor shooting the shit with Joey over a campfire. He says he was against it but he was right there. Donna didn’t care about Joey at all and even suggests they continue to use him. Dawn changes her mind just as Hank did but was also right there and when Dicks brings him to the tower instead of breaking it off two things happen. 1. Donna starts talking about how useful his power can be in a rather predatory way. 2. Dick and Dawn decide he can join them if they are 100% honest. None of these three own up to any of this the way Dick owns up to following Joey. And Slade doesn’t own up to his job endangering Joey twice, killing an excessive amount of people the Titans know, nor playing on Dicks emotions by attacking Donna.
This episode finally had the narrative address The triangle of dooms hypocrisy but the Wilsons still need to own up to what they did. I have a feeling Joey himself is the only one who can make them do it. Dick refusing to let Slade bully him into saying he was the only reason Joey is dead meant everything to me.
Slade was the one who intentionally attacked hurt and killed people. He set out to hurt and his drive backfired. His entire disgusting plan resulted in his sons death. His plan also wouldn’t work if Dick really was a self obsessed liar. If Dick didn’t care he wouldn’t feel guilty at all so that in and of itself is a contradiction. It’s Slade who doesn’t care- he kept going when joey got his throat slashed- he kept going after the grenade he threw blasted Joey across the floor. He keeps going and keeps killing and never stops. But yes...Dicks the bad guy.
Side note: If Joey is really trapped inside Slade trying to break out,and Addie knows he’s been signing “help me”, is the fandom still gonna pretend she’s just some poor innocent woman?
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dcubang · 6 years ago
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DCU Bang 2nd Story Claims
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Hello! Second claims are now open and artists are free to claim as many stories as they are reasonably sure they can finish! Second claims are optional. Don’t want to claim a second story, or don’t feel like you’ll be able to create something for two stories? You don’t need to claim! I would much rather an artist focuses and creates something awesome for one story, than for an artist to be stressed out trying to create something for two stories. Know your limits and don’t overburden yourself! Each story can be claimed an additional two times. That means there is a potential total of 3 artists per story, and a minimum of 1 artist per story. While unlikely, it would be pretty hectic and stressful for an author to have to coordinate with 16 artists on their story! That’s why there is a limit, and to encourage people to spread the art around to other stories. =D Stories are guaranteed only one artist each. I cannot guarantee that every single story will get a second artist. Please be understanding of this! Second claims will close Saturday, July 13th 23:59 MDT, when all fanworker sign-ups will be closed. How to Make Multiple Claims:
Stories are claimed on a first come, first served basis.
Fill out this Google Form right here
A matching email will go out to both the artist and the author containing each other’s contact information after a claim is successful. I plan to start sending these emails out Sunday morning. You should receive this email no later than 72 hours after I have confirmed the claim. If you don't get this match up email, please get in contact with me ASAP so that artists and authors can get to work quickly! Every story is listed here is not guaranteed a second or third artist! I can only guarantee one artist per story.
  If you have any questions or concerns, you can email me at [email protected], or contact me on the DCU Bang Discord!
1 Title: Fly With Me Word Count: About 14k Genre: Fantasy-Adventure Fandom/Universe: Green Lantern, Flash (comics) Characters/Pairings: Barry Allen/Hal Jordan/Guy Gardner/John Stewart/Alan Scott Warnings: Mild/implied body dysphoria Rating: PG-ish Summary: When Watchman Barry Allen arrives to a grisly murder scene, the last thing he expects is the enigmatic dragonlords of the realm to arrive and ask for him specifically. They are handsome and charming, but the existence of enormous fire-breathing flying lizards that seem to exert some kind of... Strange emotional aura is more than a little terrifying. He is introduced to the prince of these dragonlords, Hal, and steps up to be taken back to the towering natural fortress of Oa, a massive hollowed out mountain that sits on the edge of the continent. Called the 'weyr', Oa is home to the dragons and their riders, and Barry soon finds himself welcomed inside with all the honours that a prince might receive. In the morning after a restless night's sleep he is bathed and anointed, and taken down deep beneath the mountain to a holy underground sea, where he must confront the mysterious Lord of Oa and receive the prize for which he had been chosen: A dragon egg, rare and precious. The last third of the story will be hatching the dragon, and a montage of sorts with Barry further bonding with the dragon riders and forming a... Tentative proto-romantic relationship with them. He trains in arms with Guy, learns the histories and concepts of the weyr with John, is taught about the running and logistics of Oa from Alan, and finally Hal tutors him on bonding with his dragon, and eventually flying with it. The broad aesthetic of the fic is very much generic medieval fantasy, set mostly in the mountainous fortress/castle of Oa. Characters vary a little bit from canon appearances, mostly in regards to hairstyles and the like, but a few characters are trans, which is mostly going to be a background detail. There are no warnings except for a crime scene early on (which will be edited down) and brief discussions of trans characters being trans, so there's a bit of mild dysphoria but no explicit details or transphobia/homophobia. There is implied polyamory and age difference, but everyone is consenting adults and nothing is properly established in this fic.
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2 Title: The Case of the Missing Son Word Count: 6,031 of 10k-ish Genre: Mystery, Romance Fandom/Universe: Batman (comics) Characters/Pairings: Bruce Wayne/Dick Grayson, Talia al Ghul, Damian Wayne Warnings: Minor violence Rating: NC-17 Summary: Bruce Wayne has come to PI Dick Grayson with a problem. His ex-wife, Talia al Ghul, has been sending him letters claiming they have a son. Bruce wants Dick to find the boy and bring him home. Dick gathers information from various sources before running into Talia herself, which only results in him getting beat up. He goes back to Bruce to convince him to confront Talia. Eventually, the son goes to Bruce, and Bruce and Dick get some private time together. The story takes place solely in Gotham, from Dick's office, to Wayne Manor, with one trip down into the caves of Gotham for the showdown.
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3 Title: Forth My Mimic Comes Word Count: 19k Genre: Mystery, Supernatural Fandom/Universe: Batman (mostly comics) Characters/Pairings: Gen; Jason Todd, Barbara Gordon, Tim Drake Warnings: past canon character death, non-consensual bodyswap, thoughts that could be construed as non-specific suicidal tendencies (i.e., "I was already dead, if I die again it's no big deal," etc.) Rating: PG/T Summary: Robin saves a boy from being hit by a car, only to discover that the victim is none other than a very alive (if comatose) Jason Todd. An already unusual situation turns even more bizarre when an unfortunate turn of phrase and an errant bit of magic cause Jason and the current Robin to end up in each other's bodies. Knowing it's only a matter of time before Bruce learns of the switch and locks him up in a fit of paranoia, Jason must seek the help of the enigmatic (and familiar) Oracle to fix the problem, all the while learning far more than he ever wanted to know about the boy who replaced him. Takes place immediately following Jason's resurrection in a slightly canon-divergent timeline, primary locations being the clock tower, manor, and cave (and all of Gotham, because patrol).
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4 Title: Pussycat, Pussycat, Where Have You Been? Word Count: 4,579 of 5k Genre: Mystery Fandom/Universe: Batman (comics) Characters/Pairings: Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle, Tommy Elliot Warnings: Nonconsensual body modification, some torture Rating: PG-13 Summary: Selina Kyle is missing. Bruce finds mannequins and dummies of her around Gotham, each with a modified nursery rhyme about cats. Bruce follows these clues all across Gotham, growing more desperate to find her. Finally, he confronts the villains of Gotham and finds Selina, only to find Hush there as well. They battle and Bruce rescues Selina and takes her back to the Batcave. This takes place solely in Gotham, from the streets and graveyards of Gotham, to beneath Arkham Asylum, to the Batcave.
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5 Title: Daily Gab Word Count: 5776 Genre: Coming Out Fic Fandom/Universe: Batfam Characters/Pairings: Jon/Damian, Damian & Dick Warnings: Bullying Rating: PG-ish Summary: Damian finds a tabloid taped to his locker at school. The headline? "Wayne Kid... Gay?" He endures a day at school listening to the gossip from all the other kids. Dick does the brotherly thing and helps Damian sort through all he's feeling. Damian admits to Jon what the tabloid said and why he's been running scared all day, they talk about the reality of what they want together and Bruce manages to be a real father for once. Summary I'm posting when I post the fic: Damian swallowed against the bile in his throat and carefully took in his next breath, walking himself through the steps of emotional calm. Pretend this was only torture. Pretend it was only a gunshot wound. Pretend it was only his body in pain and not his heart and his mind. Remove himself from the situation and take a few steps backwards from the reality of it.
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6 Title: Stay My Tragedy Word Count: 16k Genre: Drama, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Romance Fandom/Universe: Batman, Deathstroke, Red Hood Characters/Pairings: Slade/Jason Warnings: explicit sex, angst, descriptions of violence, references to self harm, slight dubcon, problematic relationship Rating: NC-17 Summary:
Soul marks can appear at anytime in one’s life -- a mark of karmic destiny that most people take to mean they’ve met the person they’re meant to fall in love with. Jason knows that’s not true. He knows because his soul mark appeared in the very last moments before he died -- marking his destiny to be murdered by the hands of a madman.
  It is a world in which fate is unbelievably cruel, when Jason’s soul mark is of none other than the man who murdered him. Slade has other ideas however, and he might just be the one man who can change Jason's tragic fate into something else.
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7 Title: New Horizons Word Count: 6091 Genre: Action/Adventure Fandom/Universe: Canon Divergence/AU Characters/Pairings: Jason Todd, Stephanie Brown, Tim Drake Warnings: Major Character Death, Abusive Parents, Child Trafficking Ring, Drugs Rating: PG Summary: Jason, Tim, and Stephanie meet while Jason still holds the Robin mantle. They band together to take down a child trafficking ring, all while each one is fighting their own personal battles. Stephanie's dad is a small-time crook who is major-times ruining her chances at a better life. Tim's parents are never home--he doubts they could pick him out of a lineup. Jason is suddenly thrust into life with a billionaire (and vigilante), but not everyone might want him there. Story is mostly set in Gotham and Wayne Manor, with a few scenes in Titans Tower. The Major Character Death is Jason, but it happens off screen and in the epilogue. The Abusive Parents is Tim's parents neglecting him. Drugs are a passing mention. The Child Trafficking Ring is a major plot point.
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8 Title: You’re saving Blüdhaven but who saves you? Word Count: 3457 Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Humor Fandom/Universe: Batman/Nightwing comics, Under the Red Hood Characters/Pairings: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd/JayDick – Jason Todd/Dick Grayson Warnings: child’s death, mentions of rape, canon typical violence, non consensual drug use, incest (pseudo-incest? Jason and Dick were adopted), self esteem issues Rating: T/Teen And Up Audiences /PG14+ Summary: After a kid got killed Dick, already in a bad place, decides that his only option to make a difference is to fight crime in a different way. He decides to partner up with a carefully chosen criminal and Red Hood caught his attention even if some of their morals are on the opposite sides of the scale. This somehow leads to Dick having an elusive roommate he developed an attraction to. It’s a shame no one told him Red Hood is in fact Jason. This story is canon divergence or alternate universe and takes place after the events with Blockbuster and Tarantula in Nightwing comics and intertwines with some happenings from Under the Red Hood. The action is placed mainly in Blüdhaven, but there are trips to Gotham and Wayne Manor. The story has a romantic relationship between adopted brothers. The rape is mentioned several times and one of the character is forcibly drugged. It also contains description of child’s death and violence.
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9 Title: A Bit(e) Wild Word Count: 5-6k total, 4k written Genre: mostly Angst/Fluff but some Action/Adventure Fandom/Universe: Losers/Batfamily, no particular series Characters/Pairings: established Jensen/Cougar, will be Jensen/Cougar/Jason Todd later in series. Background canonical Pooch/Jolene, mention of Clay/Aisha. Warnings: Graphic violence, swearing, maybe sex in the flashback Rating: Explicit. Even if no sex happens yet, it will later, and there's also the violence to consider. Summary: The Losers have just barely taken down Max and cleared their names; Jensen's still cleaning up post-mission but they're all back home. Jason Todd's preparing to move back to Gotham and butt heads with Batman when a bit of pest control ends with him bitten by a wolf shifter. He didn't think the Pit's aftereffects would allow him to be changed, or that he'd call the Losers for backup again, but of all the people Talia had him learning from, Cougar's the only shifter he knows he can trust if this IS the dreaded change coming on. Cue frantic phone call. The Losers load up and head out immediately, but Pooch brings his family just in case, Clay rides up with Roque, and Jensen and Cougar lead the charge because they've already got the shifter genes and being bitten again isn't going to do anything to them (Jake is a recent change; Cougar was born a shifter). By the time the others arrive, they've got Jason settled and all three are in their animal forms. Jensen is a wolf, Cougs is a cougar, Jason is a snow leopard. After the first few lessons, Jason gets impatient--maybe the Pit, maybe new instincts, partly the knowledge that the Losers aren't going to just let him leave until he's got enough control over his shifter side to satisfy Cougar. He tries to slip out in the night, half hoping they won't follow him, subconsciously aware this will be much easier with trusted backup. Every Loser was expecting this, though, and when Jason slinks off to Gotham, they're still mostly packed and ready to head out. It doesn't take them long to follow.
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10 Title: where monsters lie (in dead men's dreams) Word Count: ~75k total, 47.7k written (including unfinished draft) Genre: Drama, Horror, Angst Fandom/Universe: Batman Arkham Games, and a lot of creative liberty taken with comic canon and the traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega AU Characters/Pairings: Jason Todd/Dick Grayson, Jason Todd/Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne/Dick Grayson Warnings: Non-con, Dub-con, Drugging, Non-traditional ABO Dynamics, Bondage, Descriptions of Torture, Pseudo Incest, Kinky/Rough Sex, Intersexed Characters, Background Polyamory, Angst, Murder Rating: R Summary: Oracle enlists Red Hood's reluctant help to find Batman and Nightwing, who have disappeared during an arms bust deal orchestrated by the Penguin. They've been captured and dosed with a perverted form of the Scarecrow's latest toxin, and the effects of the toxin force the three of them to face their feelings for each other. All Jason wants to do is run away, except Dick won't let him leave. Things grow more complicated when the Penguin re-emerges with a threat none of them had expected, and Jason takes it upon himself to teach the Penguin a permanent lesson. Meanwhile, Dick has been experiencing random bouts of mania and murderous intent, ever since getting dosed with the toxin. By the time he confronts Jason about the Penguin's vicious murder, Jason sees more of the Joker in Dick than he does in his nightmares. Fortunately for them both, there's no mystery in Gotham that Batman can't solve in time. The story is set in Gotham City, 1.5-2 years post the game Batman: Arkham Knight, but also features several flashbacks of bastardized canon scenes from the comics. If you're a stickler for canon, this will probably kill you dead so please bear that in mind. Besides that, there is a single instance of non-con and another instance of molestation. There are also two implied sex scenes which can be considered dub-con. There is pseudo-incest between Jason, Dick and Bruce. The Penguin gets tortured to death but the torture occurs off-screen and only the results are described in graphic detail. The polyamory is mentioned throughout but does not occur on-screen.
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11 Title: The Sacredness of Tears Word Count: 13k Genre: Romance, character study, elements of fantasy and drama/angst Fandom/Universe: Batman comics, set in the future and using events from New Earth and the current continuity Characters/Pairings: Tim Drake/Jason Todd, Tim Drake-centric Warnings: temporary character death, pseudo-incest, canon-typical violence, discussions of mental illness, parental abuse through neglect, swearing Rating: PG-13 (maybe R for swearing?) Summary: Tim Drake Wayne isn’t weak. He can’t be. And now that he can travel through time, he has the perfect tool to make sure he’ll never be vulnerable again. Gradually, Tim’s family, friends, and his slowly blossoming relationship to Jason teach him otherwise. The story is set in Gotham with scenes in Tim’s apartment, the Batcave, a diner and various rooftops. There are scenes with multiple members of the batfamily and Tim’s team. The romantic scenes are focused on cuddling and size difference. The plot spans several years. Tim is eighteen at its beginning and twenty-five at its end. There is one detailed description of a meltdown or anxiety/panic attack. There are discussions of mental illness; some symptoms of depression are shown, especially withdrawing from the world and diminished self-worth, but nothing too bad and absolutely no hint of self-harm or suicide. Jason dies in one scene (not the canonical temporary death), but that is quickly reversed. There are descriptions of injuries. The parental abuse refers to Tim’s and Jason’s canonical backstories, not Bruce (who tries to be a good parent in this).
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12 Title: The Nightingale Word Count: ~14k total, 8.5k written Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Universe, Drama, Healing Fic (kinda) Fandom/Universe: Batman - All Media Types, Red Hood and the Outlaws Characters/Pairings: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd Warnings: No Warnings Apply Rating: NC-17 Summary: Crushed by the guilt of Jason's death, Dick quits the vigilante life, gives up Nightwing, begs Bruce for a clean slate, and runs away to New York City. He takes shelter at the Nightingale, a nightclub where Dick works as an exotic dancer, a stripper named Richie. Dick uses the blinding stage lights, Bloody Marys, and a mysterious man named Jay to hide his past. However, Dick's rather painful former life is slowly uncovered by Jay through a series of one night stands. Meanwhile, Dick also has some unconventional run-ins with the Red Hood, a supposed antihero working in the tri-state area and associated with the family Dick has not had any relations with for over five years. Old wounds reappear, and Dick's new life slowly falls apart around him as the truth comes to light. Set primarily in NYC, in the Nightingale nightclub and at the different hotel rooms Jay books. Towards the end, Dick and Jason will eventually move back into Gotham City and Wayne Manor. Story takes place five years after Jason's death. Dick's "new" life is an emotional roller coaster of hurt/comfort, a path of healing, a life built on lies, and identity porn woven all throughout it, until it is all untangled in the end.
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13 Title: Between Flight Word Count: ~15k, 10.8k written Genre: Romance, Drama, Humor, Alternate Universe Fandom/Universe: Batman - All Media Types Characters/Pairings: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd Warnings: No Warnings Apply Rating: PG-13 Summary: Jason is a 15-year-old orphan, living at a crappy orphanage, going to school because it is the only fun in life, and dreaming of the day he becomes eighteen. After a little altercation with a pickpocket, Jason meets Robin, and from that night on, Jason could not get rid of the Boy Wonder. Coincidentally, Dick Grayson starts at Jason's school as well, and decides to befriend him of all people. Jason finds himself being tugged in two directions - towards a charming and talkative circus boy with a past similar to his, and towards Gotham's own hero in scaly panties. Over the course of a couple weeks, Jason is dumped at a school dance, kissed on rooftops, taken on dates a couple times a week, and even glared at by the Batman himself. Needless to say, Jason finds that his life is a lot more interesting after he met both Dick and Robin. But of course things smell fishy to Jason. Especially when Robin knows tricks that only Mr. Circus Boy can do. Or when Dick uses the same girly shampoo as the teen hero. Or when their identical disarming smiles send bursts of happiness straight through Jason's heart. Batman might be the World's Greatest Detective, but Jason Todd is not so shabby either. Set primarily at Jason and Dick's high school, the orphanage, the rooftops of Gotham City, the luxurious halls of Wayne Manor, with special appearances of "date" locations around the city. Jason is 15, while Dick is 17.
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14 Title: Moon Dust On Your Lips Word Count: ~6100 Genre: Romance, First Time, Mutual Pining Fandom/Universe: Batman and Green Lantern, no specific canon Characters/Pairings: Bruce Wayne/Hal Jordan Warnings: Mild sub/Dom, explicit sex, biting and bruising, praise kink Rating: NC-17 Summary: The Justice League is trying to expand their potential pool of allies in the known universe, and with the help of their Green Lanterns, they set off to personally negotiate with as many people as they can. Everyone is involved, but it mostly falls to Bruce/Batman and Hal Jordan. The longer Bruce and Hal work together, the more Bruce let's Hal see under the cowl, and the more Hal starts to like what he sees. Bruce even accepts advice from Hal on an issue dealing with his children. Then Hal, returning exhausted from a mission to Oa, loses his temper at the tail end of a League meeting. He says something stupid within Batman's hearing, and then goes off to get decidedly drunk with Barry. Hal confesses that he has a crush on Bruce, but there isn't anyway that he can see it ever happening, so he decides to just ignore it and move on with his life. Bruce doesn't exactly get the memo right away, but as soon as Hal starts physically distancing himself from Bruce as much as possible, their tentative friendship falls to the wayside. Soon, Bruce and Hal are back to being uneasy coworkers. It culminates with Bruce and Hal on the return trip of another successful negotiation, when their escorts decide to up and leave them in the Middle of Nowhere, Spaceville in a small, cramped, one man space pod. There's an argument, confessions, and then sex, before being rescued. The story takes place in a variety of locations, including Wayne Manor, the Watchtower, Barry's apartment, and the space pod. The sex will include Bruce manhandling a very willing Hal, with some rougher edges (biting and bruising, praise kink).
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15 Title: Happy Middles Word Count: ~4600 Genre: PWP Fandom/Universe: Batman and Green Lantern, no specific canon Characters/Pairings: Bruce Wayne/Hal Jordan Warnings: Somnophilia, Dirty Talk, Praise Kink, Noise Kink Rating: NC-17 Summary: Basically a slice of life PWP about the time Hal and Bruce make for each other, specifically how Bruce's ends his nights and how Hal starts his days. Bruce comes home early from a shortened patrol and joins Hal in bed a few hours before Hal has to go to work. Hal falls back asleep, and then wakes Bruce up when he starts exhibiting signs of a wet dream. Bruce pleasures Hal until he wakes up, and then gets Hal off. Hal turns the tide on Bruce, teasing him until Hal decides he's ready to ride Bruce to their mutual completion. This takes place solely in Bruce's and Hal's bedroom in the Manor, described as having a darker color scheme with blues, blacks, and grays. All kinks are negotiated prior to the story, as this is a well established, husbands!fic. No noncon here.
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16 Title: Hold Me Tight (or Don't) Word Count: 6055 Genre: Mystery, Angst, possible supernatural elements Fandom/Universe: Batman, no specific universe Characters/Pairings: Bruce Wayne, Talia al Ghul, Conner Kent, Jason Todd Warnings: Medical experiments, but non-graphic Rating: Teen Summary: Sometimes, a Family is you, your Beloved's dead kid in a coma, and your Beloved's best friend's "clone" who's other gene donor is sort-of kind-of your boss off to play at politics Or There’s been a rash of robberies in Gotham, leaving Batman puzzled as to what the villains are up to, all the while seeing Jason appear to him, even though he’s been dead for a few weeks. Meanwhile. Talia takes care of a comatose Jason, while discovering Lex’s secret project taking a form no one expected. On the other side of bay/river, Clark is investigating a mysterious Cadmus fire, under a building Lex Luthor (who is now the president) owns. Not to mention the mysterious new villain who may be more connected to the robberies in Gotham that it seems.
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17 Title: untitled as of yet! Word Count: 3039 Genre: 5+1 things, fluff, probably eventual smut Fandom/Universe: dc extended universe, films 2013-present Characters/Pairings: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne Warnings: none Rating: T at the moment, will likely slide into M/E Summary: After a few months of working together side-by-side as a team while not actively trying to kill each other (even in their spare time), Clark realizes he’s developed Feelings for Bruce. He knows Bruce is stubborn and self-isolating, so he decides the best plan is to figure out a way to make things a little (incidentally) romantic without scaring off Bruce: little notes on rooftops, a dubiously agreed upon makeover by Lois, advice from Barry and Victor and Diana—even Alfred ends up in on the game. Unfortunately for Clark, Bruce is even more slippery (or oblivious) than he ever imagined. Maybe what Clark really needs is a little help from a Higher Authority… or, the five times Clark Kent tried (and failed) to seduce Bruce Wayne, and the one time Bruce Wayne allowed himself to be epically seduced.
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18 Title: the weight of eventuality Word Count: 24,000 Genre: Romance, /Action, Drama Fandom/Universe: CWTV Flash (2014) Characters/Pairings: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart, Team Flash Warnings: canon typical violence, graphic sex Rating: NC-17 Summary: Life was pretty great for Barry Allen, honestly. Team Flash successfully pulled him out of the Speed Force, he still had his job, and all of his friends and family where there to support him. Eddie and Iris were expecting their first child, and even with everything that happened between Caitlin and Julian, the team worked as well as ever together. Barry didn't want to tell them that he was still slipping backward and forward in time, or that every night the Speed Force made him witness the death of Leonard Snart. Rescuing Leonard was easy. Falling in love with him? not really part of the plan. With Captain Cold back in Central City, it was hard to remember that there were other people out there who wanted to do more than flirt and steal pretty jewelry. It was just a matter of time until they made their move. This story takes place mostly in Central City, with a detour into the Speed Force. There isn't really anything to warn for, I think. There's an explicit consensual sex scene near the end of the story, and canon typical violence and injury. There's some mention of minor medical procedures. There's technically some torture, but that happens off screen and Barry is in the speed force of the entirety of it, so there's no graphic detail.
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19 Title: your continental divides Word Count: 9k Genre: Hurt/Comfort Fandom/Universe: DCU. not set in a specific universe, borrows from several continuities. Characters/Pairings: Dick Grayson centric, Batfam and company, Gen Warnings: non-con Rating: PG-13 Summary: After Catalina Flores, Dick is dealing the way Bruce taught him: push it down and carry on. It's not working out very well, and people are starting to catch on. The story is set mostly in Gotham, and guests a few characters besides the batfam (mostly Wally and Roy). It's essentially just an exercise in letting Dick be comforted by the people who love him. This focuses on dealing with the sexual assault from Nightwing #93. The assault is not graphically depicted but is referenced and discussed, in addition to self-destructive behaviors and a variety of coping mechanisms.
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20 Title: Broken Wings and Notched Arrows. Word Count: Around 6-6.5k total. 4,280 written Genre: Action, Romance, Drama. Fandom/Universe: Young Justice, Batman. Characters/Pairings: Will Harper (Roy Harper's clone)/ Jason Todd Warnings: Temporary Character death, mild language, mild violence, small age gape, Rating: NC-17 Summary: The only thing Will Harper wanted to be doing that fine winter morning was to play dress up with his beautiful daughter Lian. What he got however was a surprise visit from the legendary Bruce "Batman" Wayne. And if that wasn't a big enough shock being hired by said legend was icing on the cake. So now instead of spending Christmas with Lian Will is kind of, maybe being held against his will on Infinity Island. Bright side he did find Jason Todd like he was hired to. This story takes place in multiple locations. The main set is in the Caribbeans, mostly Infinity Island and the League of Assassins HQ. It also show cases Will's home in Star City and a major fight screen in Gotham. There is no major warnings. Temporary Character death as Jason Todd doesn't stay dead for long. Some violence but nothing more then a few short details of fight scenes. No gore just a little blood.
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21 Title: Masks Word Count: 7,783 Genre: Action/Adventure and Romance Fandom/Universe: Batman Comics, post-Infinite Crisis Characters/Pairings: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Alfred Pennyworth Warnings: Incest, canon typical violence, explicit sex Rating: NC-17 Summary: Continuation of pre-new 52 canon. Jason's back in Gotham. All he wants to do is figure out how he can successfully help fix his city, without falling foul of the rest of the Bats and the GCPD again. He's even hung up his red hood in an attempt to stay under the radar. When he discovers that Alfred is in danger from the gang he's investigating, he infiltrates a costume ball at Wayne Manor in disguise as a supervillain. He ends up flirting with Dick to stop him interfering with the rescue plan. Dick doesn't realise who he is and flirts back until they end up making out furiously in a closet. Afterwards neither of them can get the encounter out of their heads, and they start to get to know each other again. Featuring conversations with Alfred, Dick attending a party in a Superman costume, Jason spray painting his red hood grey, everyone rescuing each other and lots and lots of pining. Warning for pseudo-incest between the adopted brothers, Dick and Jason when they reach adulthood.
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22 Title: Sleeping Beauty Syndrome Word Count: 9k written. Genre: Romance, Angst, Fairytale Rewrite Fandom/Universe: Nightwing, Red Hood and the Outlaws Characters/Pairings: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd Warnings: Horror, gore Rating: PG-13 Summary: Dick Grayson and Jason Todd have been living the perfect life. Happily married for more than five years with two perfect sons, they have everything they could possibly need. Unfortunately, good things don't last forever. Struck by a spell during a mission, Jason's mind has been scattered, putting him into a deep sleep and the only way to wake him up is for Dick to put his pieces back together. The task won't be as easy because each part of Jason has been hidden within a fairy tale, a world tempting Dick to make one wrong move and doom his husband and himself forever. The story will take place over multiple locations, including rewrites of fairy tales like Snow White, Alice in Wonderland, Little Red Riding Hood, The Princess and the Pauper, Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty.
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23 Title: we just now got the feeling that we're meeting (for the first time) Word Count: Around 36K (34K written) Genre: Drama, Romance, Fluff, Angst Fandom/Universe: Superman and Batman, DCEU canon/movie canon Characters/Pairings: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne; Lex Luthor, Diana Prince, Barry Allen, Arthur Curry, Victor Stone Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Rating: Teen Summary: While fighting Lex Luthor for his latest weapon, a time weapon, Bruce Wayne gets hit and sent back twenty years into the past. Meeting Clark Kent on some snowy mountain side in Alaska was not exactly what Bruce thought would happen, but he’s here now and there’s nothing for him to do except wait for his team to pull him back to the future. Unfortunately, he doesn’t quite know when that will be, so sticking with Clark is his best option. Of course, it would be much easier if Bruce wasn’t already pining for Clark in the future. How long until Bruce is pulled back into the future, and will he be able to stop himself from falling in love with Clark Kent in the past and potentially creating a time paradox? This story is set in a couple of locations. Most of it is set in the past in Alaska during the beginning of Clark’s pilgrimage, specifically in the Denali National Park. Other locations include the Wayne-Turned-League Manor, Bruce’s Lake-House in Gotham city, and the lake itself! Primarily it involves young versions of Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne, although the very beginning section and at the last few parts of the end is focused on the present/older versions of them. There are no Archive Warnings that apply to this story. It is mainly an excuse to just write cute scenes of Bruce and Clark falling in love in the snow with the added bit of dealing with time travel, with a lot of focus on Bruce Wayne's character! The most rated this story goes is the occasional swear word.
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24 Title: Scarlet Tears Word Count: 12,914 Genre: Action Fandom/Universe: AU Characters/Pairings: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart Warnings: mention mpreg Rating: M+ Summary: Leonard and Mick take a mini vacation from the Legends and head back to Central City. It is there they find out things aren't as them left it. A certain speedster has the attention of Captain Cold when an accident happen will he be able to resist staying away from this particular speedster?
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25 Title: Absent Shadows Word Count: 3487 Genre: Action/Adventure, Hurt/Comfort Fandom/Universe: Justice League Animated/Teen Titans Characters/Pairings: Robstar & Superbat Warnings: None Rating: NC-17 Summary: Starfire can’t believe her eyes when Robin sends her his resignation from the team, in fact she doesn’t believe it all. As she investigates Robin’s disappearance, she considers his similarities with his father and in the chaos, she meets a fellow traveller to this strange planet she calls home. Whilst they learn about each other, she seeks his experience when falling in love with both Earth and more specifically men from a certain family.
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26 Title: Make an Ass of U and Me Word Count: probably 10k-12k (6k written) Genre: Romance, Comedy Fandom/Universe: DCEU Characters/Pairings: Clark/Bruce, Dick&Bruce Warnings: sort of assumed incest, but no actual incest Rating: Teen Summary: Bruce neglects to tell the newly formed Justice League that he has a son, because he and Dick aren't talking to each other . Until they suddenly are. Unfortunately, he doesn't clarify who exactly Dick is to him, so Clark gets the wrong impression. Or: Five times Clark thought Dick was Bruce's boyfriend, and the one time he found out the truth. Contains lots of unfounded jealousy, misunderstandings, Dick being delightful, and Clark being a mess. Lots of domestic settings, mostly around the lake house and the batcave, with the exception of one battle scene.
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27 Title: Honey Trap Word Count: 7.7k Genre: Porn-with-plot, crime/modern AU Fandom/Universe: DCU (Comics) Characters/Pairings: Slade Wilson/Jason Todd, Dick Grayson Warnings: Consent issues (consent is there on both sides, but dubious on one side due to situation), manipulation, some BDSM-style kink Rating: NC17 Summary: Slade's used to dealing with informants. Most get caught in the screening process before they ever get a hold of anything useful, but this one, 'Jason Todd,' gets as far as working in the lower ranks of his organization before Billy drops the file on his desk. Another attempt at an undercover CI from Detective Grayson, this time just some random arrested civilian, instead of a fellow officer. Billy would prefer that he throw him out now, but Todd's not bad looking, and Slade likes the idea of ruining this plant just like he ruined the last one. Modern AU, no-capes. Aside from sex scenes, one character is primarily in part/all of a suit throughout scenes. As Slade is aware from the start that Jason's a plant, the sex has some consent issues. Jason is doing it partly to ingratiate himself, and Slade absolutely manipulates him into it. However, Jason enjoys/consents to everything that happens, it's only the situation that's sketchy.
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28 Title: Don't Let Your Yearnings Get Ahead of Your Earnings Word Count: 7.2k Genre: Western, technically Romance Fandom/Universe: DCU (Comics) Characters/Pairings: Slade Wilson/Jason Todd Warnings: Some non-consensual touching, non-sexual Rating: PG-13 Summary: Slade Wilson is a bounty hunter, one of the best in the business. The contracts that specify 'alive and unharmed' are rarer, but usually worth the extra bonus that comes with. This one is definitely not. Jason Todd was supposed to be just another young outlaw with more balls than brains, not a slippery sharpshooter who Slade would have to chase halfway to the next town. And just to add to everything, he still has to get the damned boy all the way back. That's going to be fun. Western AU with bounty-hunter Slade and an outlaw-ish Jason. Most of the story is traveling, but there will be an inside-mansion scene near the end with Roman Sionis. No real warnings for this. There's some brief non-consensual touching of intimate bits, but it's entirely non-sexual.
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29 Title: [insert song lyric here] Word Count: 8084 Genre: It's a slowburn at its core, with action and drama mixed in Fandom/Universe: DCAU's Justice League/Unlimited Characters/Pairings: Bruce Wayne/Wally West, Shayera Hol, J'onn J'onzz, John Stewart, Diana, Clark Kent Warnings: human trafficking, threat of dub/non-con, language, sexual themes Rating: R Summary: Ever since their run in with the Justice Lords, Flash and Batman reached a new stage in their teammates-but-not-quite-friendship. The only problem is Flash is the only one who seems to think that, so he decides to see how far he can push at Batman's annoyance level before the Bat snaps at him. Unfortunately for Flash, their job keeps getting in the way, including but not limited to stumbling upon a human trafficking ring and a worldwide invasion. When the dust settles, Flash finds himself wanting more from the man under the cowl, and the harder Batman pulls away, the harder Flash is drawn to the man and his elusiveness. The Fastest Man Alive needs to rely on his patience if he wants to get anywhere in his quest. This story takes place throughout the entirety of DCAU's Justice League as well as the first two seasons of Justice League Unlimited, with the main locations being the Watchtower and Wayne Manor. The human trafficking and threat of dub/non-con are contained to two scenes in which a main character falls into trouble, but nothing too graphic occurs. Still, the subject matter isn't everyone's cup of tea. The R rating is just to be extra safe.
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30 Title: Anachronistic Crises Crossover Word Count: 8k Genre: Gen, Crossover, Fluff Fandom/Universe: Red Robin, Batman- All Media Types, DC Comics Characters/Pairings: Jason Todd (Post Crisis),Tim Drake, Jason "Jay" Todd (Pre-Crisis)/Rena(Pre- crisis), Jason "Jay" Todd (Pre-Crisis), Rena(Pre- crisis) Warnings: Period Typical homophobia, possible inclusions of bad mental health care later Rating: T (just to be safe) Summary: Coming off of the Search for Ray Palmer, Jason Todd reconciled with his family. Just in time for Batman's apparent death. After an international adventure that led them to finding the batman, said batman in his Hyper-Adapter crazed state seemingly vaporized them with Omega Energy. Jason and Tim wake up to find themselves stranded in Gotham, New Jersey where its somehow the April of 1986. Tim takes the lead and stalks a young person also named Jason Todd- who is very unlike the one he knows. The Alfred Pennyworth with him seems similar enough though. In there efforts to observe this world's Bat-family Tim ends up having to go to high school again- where the shear amount of brightly colored clothes that are either skin tight or falling off makes him want to claw his eyes out. Jason is comparatively having a much better time as a librarian in the Gotham Public Library to fund their tiny studio apartment with money that doesn't look fake for the time period. Night work continues as well, with Red Hood and the vigilante named by the media as "Shrike". Their quick and calculated moves on the Gotham drug trade lead them to colliding first with this world's Robin. Jason alone is confronted by the Batman, and nearly has a panic attack though Tim will never be privy to that information. Gotham is a not as insane back drop of retro-not-so-chic. Jason enjoys the small pleasures of being legally alive and having a job. Tim doesn't cope well without all his compact gadgetry and hates school- but likes the closeted lesbian couple he meets. A budding bat-detective trying to figure out who these new and weird people are, and who these new sci-fi like vigilantes are. Will the people back home in Tim and Jason's Gotham ever succeed in getting them home? The entire fic takes place in either version of Gotham, with the exception of the Watchtower being there for like 5 minutes. Post-Crisis Gotham features locations like Oracle's clock-tower Jason is wearing his Under the Red Hood costume, Tim cosplays as knock off Midnighter (red robin), Bruce has blue accents and trunks, and Robin-Jay makes Jason re-live cold nights in hot-pants and pixie boots.
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31 Title: Batsons Be Crazy Word Count: 11,169 words Genre: Fluff With Plot Fandom/Universe: Batfam + Shazam basically DCU leaning towards the comics Characters/Pairings: Damian Wayne/Billy Batson Warnings: None Apply Rating: Teen Summary: The story takes place over a year, a year of Billy and Damian teaming up, falling in love, and meeting family. Damian has never liked anyone before, while Billy sees the best in everyone and will fall in love at the drop of a hat. Their romance isn't a crazy one, it's one built off of trust, comfort, and most importantly, a love of animals. Their romance brings them to many places, including Canada, Dick Grayson's apartment, and the dinner table in the manor. No warning apply except maybe underage because Damian is 17 when he begins to peruse Billy as a romantic interest, but doesn't start seeing him until he's 18.
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32 Title: The Past Still Ties You Down Word Count: 7k Genre: Angst, Romance Fandom/Universe: The Flash (TV) Characters/Pairings: Barry Allen/Leonard Snart Warnings: implied/referenced violence and abuse, alcohol abuse Rating: NC-17 Summary: On another earth, Barry falls in love with the most hated man in Central City - mob boss Leonard Snart. Only, Central doesn’t know Len like he does. They didn’t grow up with him like Barry did, sleeping in the bed above him, patching up his wounds and crawling under the covers with him when his bullies had been especially cruel. Even as the years go by - where Len is no longer a teenage boy forced into a life he didn't choose and Barry is no longer the child still grieving his mother while hating the father who killed her - they can't seem to let go of each other. Set in multiple locations in Central City, including a foster home, hospital, and the West house. The violence and abuse are not actually shown, but the aftermath is (ie. patching up wounds, some blood, some discussion of specific actions after the fact).
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33 Title: Unfortunate Souls Word Count: around 8-9k total, 4958 written Genre: Dark Fairy Tale Fandom/Universe: Batman, Batfamily Characters/Pairings: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd, Jason Todd/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Slade Wilson, Dick Grayson/Jason Todd/Slade Wilson Warnings: dub con (may have a bad ending that pushes it into non con) Rating: Explicit, NC-17 Summary: Based off of The Little Mermaid (Disney film mixed with aspects of the original fairy tale) as well as fandom-type Mer AU’s. With red-headed Jason taking the part of Ariel, Dick as Prince Eric, and Slade as Ursula. Jason, adopted prince of King Bruce’s underwater kingdom, is fascinated by all things human. One night, while stargazing on the surface, he decides to follow a ship out of curiosity. On the ship is a handsome human prince who steals his heart. After an accident, Jason risks his life to save the human, which puts him at odds with Bruce. After inadvertently challenging Bruce during an argument about his ‘hobby’, Jason flees the realm and accepts the offer of octo-mer Deathstroke, a one-time rival of Bruce’s, to turn him human. But Slade’s intentions are murky and hidden. He wants Bruce’s throne, his son, and if he gets a human pet out of the deal, that’s just one more trophy to show that he is the stronger Mer. The story is set in the underwater mer kingdom ruled by Bruce; Slade’s underwater lair; and the idyllic land kingdom of Bludhaven, ruled by Price Richard. I haven’t decided whether I want a happy ending, like the film, where Jason and Dick ride off into the sunset or a bad ending where Slade gets everything he wants. If happy, there will be some dub con between Jason and Slade when they make the agreement and later when Slade is using magic to enthrall Dick. If I go with the bad ending, there will likely be some non con.
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34 Title: You Will See Me Word Count: 6,146 Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Character Analysis, Canon-divergent Fandom/Universe: Young Justice Characters/Pairings: Arsenal (Roy Harper), Artemis Crock, Roy Harper (Will Harper), Oliver Queen, Dinah Lance, Lian Harper || Oliver/Dinah, Arsenal & Artemis Warnings: Trauma, PTSD, Realistic depictions of injury, Physical Disability, Recovery Rating: PG-13 Note: Arsenal, and thus Roy, are trans men in this fic. Summary: After being rescued from the clutches of Lexcorp, a cryochamber, and no future, Arsenal struggles to find his grip on life. Between the vast amounts of anger, fear, and loss, he fights to cling to autonomy. A mentor he feels betrayed him, a clone he isn't sure how to relate to, and a couple of badass women who may not have known him, but are here for him, Arsenal is just learning to live again. A heavy introspection fic on the nature of the trauma Arsenal has been through, and his road to healing. Exploring the relationships he has with Oliver, Dinah, Roy, and Artemis especially, but others as well. The two weeks between his rescue, and his first mission with the team are rife with trouble and struggle, but he has a fire and a determination in him that will get him through. The hell of the War World and the true recovery afterwards. Learning to forgive Oliver, learning to accept Roy for himself, a separate entity than himself, getting to know Artemis and the real and true bond they form. Forgiveness, healing, and his fair share of slips and bumps, Arsenal finds closure, acceptance, and comfort in his life.
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35 Title: Build Me A Place (we'll call it home) Word Count: 6,800 story (+outline of ending) Genre: Fluff, Minor Angst Fandom/Universe: Batman, Superman, Justice League Characters/Pairings: Bruce Wayne/Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Louis Lane, Kara Danvers Warnings: None Rating: PG-13 Summary: Kryptonians are not human. It’s easy to forget, even for Clark. That being an alien means more than his powers. There are traits rooted into the DNA, coming out in the subconscious, until not even Clark notices. Kryptonians, among other things, build Bowers for their mates, beautiful homes to settle into. It’s more than a tradition, it’s a way of life. When Clark begins to redecorate, he doesn't know why it matters so much to him. And why it hurts so badly when Bruce doesn’t even care.
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36 Title: Little Scab Word Count: 6,246 words Genre: gen, family, found family, community Fandom/Universe: DCU, Batfam, Red Hood Characters/Pairings: Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, OFC, Bruce Wayne, Batfam Warnings: violence, descriptions of abuse, non-graphic allusions to sex acts Rating: M for violence, adult themes Summary: Red Hood is not a hero to most. Outlaw, yes. Killer... yes. He and his estranged family all serve some role as self-described protectors, but only Jason Todd delivers his justice in blood. However, following one good deed and the start of a fledgling friendship, Jason finds the Red Hood tasked with leading a self defense class for some of Gotham's most vulnerable—homeless, prostitutes, and runaways. When the Batfamily members start catching on, will they approve? First appears Robin. Then Black Bat. Who next? What will Batman ultimately do about his wayward ward stirring up Crime Alley? Can Jason be trusted to keep Gotham safe? The story is set in Gotham, featuring set pieces like Crime Alley, warehouses, tall buildings, the Bat cave, and more. It features many Batfam characters as well as several OCs all taking part in self defense instruction, with a few action scenes thrown in. The story does contain graphic violence, including allusions to or descriptions of past physical, sexual, and/or psychological abuse. It deals with mature themes but is ultimately about forging friendships, building community, and becoming better stewards of Gotham.
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Second claims will close Saturday, July 13th 23:59 MDT, when all fanworker sign-ups will be closed.
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frogmanwritings · 6 years ago
Link
Chapters: 4/?
Fandom: Teen Titans (Comics), Teen Titans (Animated Series), Teen Titans - All Media Types
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Relationships: Beast Boy/Starfire, Garfield Logan/Koriand'r
Characters: Garfield Logan, Beast Boy, Starfire, Koriand'r (DCU), Slade, Slade Wilson, Deathstroke, Robin, Robin (DCU), Dick Grayson, Cyborg (Character), Victor Stone, Raven (DCU), Rachel Roth
Additional Tags: Angst, Romance, Villains to Heroes, Fluff, Smut, Violence, Alternate Universe - Teen Titans (Animated Series) Setting, AU, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Evil
Summary: Garfield Wilson has lived with his adoptive father, Slade, since his parents died. Finally, after 5 years, Slade is sending him out to try and take down his rivals, the Teen Titans. How will a dark and mistreated Garfield react to them upon meeting them? How will he deal with their bright alien bringing a shine of positivity and joy to his life that he had hidden from him behind angst and abuse? Explicit Rating for Violence and Sexual Themes later on.
Links:
Ao3
Fanfiction
Wattpad
Starfire wasn't about to pretend that she hadn't seen some horrible stuff from her time on Tamaran. The war on her people led to many brutal battles, and she often saw the aftermath of such conflict. Tamaraneans were much more durable than humans and had a much stronger resistant to pain, so when a Tamaranean went down with an injury, you better believe it was something bad.
So while Robin had tried to shelter her from what they were about to witness, the alien thought she could handle it just fine. But... maybe her time on Earth had made her soft. Death in battle was a rarity, most criminals usually being restrained before anything escalated to that level, and her friends hardly ever had serious injuries. So when she laid her protected gaze onto the mauled face of one of the victims' in a far out warehouse, almost unrecognizable from a normal human's face with it so covered in dried blood, a gasp escaped from her mouth and she quickly looked away.
The Teen Titans had received a call about some seemed to be a deal of goods gone wrong, with two dead and one wounded. It was rather confusing as to why they were being notified with this, seeing as how just normal criminals were usually left to the local police force to handle, but then they were told that one of the victims was one of the Titans' long time enemies, Professor Chang. He was supposedly selling a crate-load of Xenothium to an unknown buyer, and, obviously, things didn't go according to his plan and he ended up with a bullet in his head.
Starfire was still suffering side effects from the flashbang that rattled both her sight and her hearing, but she found it to be manageable enough to be outside if she wore some sunglasses, or as she put it, 'Glasses of the Sun'. And the ringing in her ears was still present, so she still had to wear earplugs, but they were small enough so that she could still hear others, but reduced normal talk down to mere whispers, though the sound of cars driving and other loud noises were quite the bother for her. Robin was with her, refusing to show any sort of weakness despite the fact that he was still nursing his twisted knee. He didn't even have to tell her that he was in pain, she had been with him so long, she could read his face and body language almost without fault. He refused to limp, but each time he put weight on his left leg, his upper lip would raise just a tiny bit before falling back into place and his mask would scrunch up a small amount.
Of course, the Boy Wonder insisted that he was fine, but Starfire knew that to not be true and she just wished he didn't feel the need to be so tough and 'macho', as Cyborg once described it, all the time.
Speaking of Vic, he and Raven were both currently back at the Tower, still nursing their injuries, as while Robin had told the news that they were fine and could protect the city if need be, Cyborg still suffered from outages and was currently charging up after he dropped his battery and he almost lost all power. Raven meanwhile was meditating, trying her best to focus all of her energy on healing, and going to a crime scene with two victims wasn't really relaxing.
So it was just her and Robin, who was currently looking down at the body of Professor Chang. He had fallen awkwardly, on his stomach, right leg atop of his left with his arms each pointing outward like a starfish. And, of course, the gaping bullet wound that easily pierced his white helmet. There wasn't any need for them, as it was clear how both of the men died, but the bodies were soon to be hauled off for an autopsy report to see if they could find any evidence without possibly contaminating the corpses.
A heavy sigh escaped the Boy Wonder's mouth, and Starfire levitated over to place a hand on the shoulder of the black-haired leader. With Robin's previous work of being the apprentice of Batman, he had a clear no-kill policy, and death was something he could hardly stomach. As much as he hated the likes of Slade, he never wished death upon him, only that he be stopped and put in jail. And while Professor Chang had previously blindsided Robin and nearly destroyed the city, Starfire could feel that he felt no real hatred for the man.
And neither did she. He was a coward at heart and certainly a villain, but... he wasn't awful. She could certainly come up with villains that she disliked more. "Who would Professor Chang be selling Xenothium to?" Robin said to no one in particular, his brow furrowed and a pair of latex-covered fingers stroked his chin, glancing up at Kori who also entered thought. Professor Chang had made a few enemies in his work besides just the Titans thanks to his devious ways of going about business, but why would Chang set up a meeting with any of those people?
No, it had to be someone Chang was cool with, or at least was on speaking terms with. And that made the list so much longer. Doctor Light, Psimon, Killer Moth, Adonis, The HIVE Five, there were many villains that were at least partial to Professor Chang, enough to set up a meeting at least. But none of them wielded a gun. They all opted for less conventional weapons, and had no problems getting their own power sources, so why would they need to buy such an unstable compound?
"Perhaps the Brother Blood has escaped from jail?" Starfire suggested, but was quickly rebuffed with a firm shake of Robin's head. "No, I checked in with the Steel City police force before grabbing you. No recent escapes, let alone from someone as high level as Blood." He dismissed the notion, a heavy sigh escaping his lips afterwards. "Red X hasn't been seen in a while, and he has.. had beef with the Professor." The Boy Wonder went back to thinking out-loud and Kori continued to float around the warehouse, her eyes narrowing as she tried to see anything that would help, any unmarked evidence, but her sunglasses, while great for protecting her eyes, made it difficult to make out any details.
So, once she was in a relatively dark spot in the warehouse, Starfire shed her sunglasses, blinking at the newfound light and all the new colors that assaulted her sensitive eyes without her mahogany-colored senses, before eventually, her vision was clear enough for her to look around and see if there was anything she could find. Besides the two corpses and the guard who was hauled off to the hospital, there wasn't much to determine just who was in the warehouse at the time. Was it a single person who carried out the double murder, or maybe a gang?
Her eyes trailed until she had to shield her eyes from the glaring sun as a big hole in the wall allowed the light to seep in. Shading her eyes, Kori once again attempted to look at the gap, only to notice something... interesting as she began to look up. It was a glimmer, but it was all the Tamaranean needed as she floated over, using her hand to protect her eyes as the beaming sun stared at her. Any other time and such a bright day would bring joy to her, but right now? It was just an annoyance. She never thought she could hate the sun, and she still didn't, but now she was beginning to understand what it was like for Raven, to have the light burning into your eyes in the mornings after spending all day and night in a dim-light room.
But that was at the back of her mind as Starfire kneeled down beside the hole, her gaze, while dampened, still had a knack for little details that humans had troubles picking up, and what she saw was a few strands of hair. Not just any normal hair... or was it even hair? It was green. The same green that filled her sight just a few nights ago, dressed in black and bronze. Garfield. Her delicate fingers pinched the hairs, lifting them up for closer examination and she silently confirmed it to herself. Small bits of red gloop stuck on the ends of them, and the alien had to tug one of her fingers free after giving it a small touch. The same adhesive that Professor Chang was known for.
Her mind trailed back to Garfield, remembering the haunting sight of the green-skinned criminal standing over her, sweat-soaked and furious with that metallic staff in hand, recently stolen... Her vision was still very blurry from the flashbang, but.. her sight had become clearer faster than she let on...
"Robin!" Starfire screeched as a large ball of smoke enveloped the Boy Wonder and 'Garfield', but before she could react, to try and save her friend, a cylinder-shaped bomb had been tossed at her feet and exploded. But instead of shrapnel piercing her, her vision became white, and it seemed the bomb had more 'oomf' than it looked, as her ears were screaming in agony at just how... loud it was. Her hands came up to try and protect her eardrums, to shut off the screeching ringing through her mind, but she couldn't hear or see anything, her eyes shut tight and ears ringing, which left her an easy target...
Next thing Star knew, she was driven to the ground, crushing pain slamming down onto her chest, followed by her body crashing into the road, feeling the asphalt crumble and flatten beneath her. Seconds passed afterwards, the screaming pain still a constant in her head, but she could, only faintly, hear the sound of footsteps. Angry footsteps. She had to fight back, to get up and take down this criminal... no matter how much it hurt.
Her eyes burned as she opened them, a blurred vision of green, black and bronze above her, along with bright red a foot away from the tip of her nose. Slowly, her vision began to clear, and... there he was. Garfield Logan, as he called himself. The supposed son and apprentice of Slade, who had succeeded in not only stealing the top-secret staff of a local laboratory, but having bested the Teen Titans in combat and was about to... drive that explosive staff into the face of hers..
She tried to react, but her muscles felt lifeless after the smash down onto the road, and the ringing in her head prevented her from focusing on her emotions to summon her starbolts. She was helpless and fear enveloped her gaze. She couldn't go out like this!
But... he didn't finish her off. Starfire watched as Garfield seemed to have an inner struggle with the concept, body shaking and doubt crossing his eyes, that sickening frown on his face that was fuming with rage turned into a silent gasp drenched in despair. His irises widened, as if he was in a trance and just broke out of it, realizing just what he was doing. It.. confused the Tamaranean, to see this once ruthless villain seem so... hesitant. And slowly, he sheathed his weapon, muttering swear words under his breath and seemingly in a rush to get out of there.
It was... intriguing. Just who was this Garfield? Her eyes followed him as best as they could, but in her weakened state, where her muscles felt almost glued to the street, she could only give a last curious gaze in the direction of the changeling.
Starfire had thought that maybe he wasn't a killer, that his mission from Slade was to kill her and he refused, but... she later found out about the police officer who he had killed just minutes before the Teen Titans showed up. And that was something that was going to haunt the Tamaranean for the rest of her days. She and the rest of the Titans hadn't thought anyone was in danger, it was a laboratory closed at night far away from most common nightspots. If she had known that the police officer was just a block away, oh how she would've rushed her way there. Instead, they wasted precious minutes back at the Tower for Cyborg to start up the T-Car, of course bragging about it to Robin as he got in, even showing off his new upgrades which made her giggle.
Everyone felt guilty for the death, especially Cyborg, who took his frustration out on the very T-Car that he had previously bragged about, uninstalling and destroying the very upgrades that he had shown off to the others.
Starfire's heart squeezed at the memory of a sobbing Victor practically tearing apart his 'Baby', as he described it, hating both himself and it for costing the life of a brave and respected officer of the force. But... another part of her heart felt tight as she thought of the murder itself. Garfield was a killer. And that made her... sad. Murder isn't really common in Jump City, so each time the Titans had gotten involved with one, it was particularly hard on Starfire. But this one hurt even more. Why? Was it because she felt that Garfield was better than that? Was it because of the officer's status? Emotions were something she always had trouble with. Well, HER emotions.
Kori could read the emotions of others pretty well, like how she picked up on Robin's affection for her rather quickly. How Raven was always jealous of the three when they laughed and told jokes while she sat away from the others. How Cyborg felt grief when a mechanical part of him malfunctioned and didn't work properly, like the time his right hand couldn't grip down for a week. He tried to hide it with jokes, but she could see just how sad he was whenever he would drop something because of his malfunctioning hand, just wishing things were simpler for him.
Oh how she wished to be able to read herself as well as others, so that she could tell just what was going on in her heart and mind about this Garfield.
"What's that, Star?" Robin's voice interrupted her thoughts, who seemed to ignore her lack of sunglasses in favor of his interest towards what she held in her hand. And seemingly without noticing, Starfire had gripped down onto the green hairs while in thought. "Robin... I think that Garfield may have something to do with this." She responded, opening her palm and holding up the hairs up to the Boy Wonder, who took and held them with his thumb and index finger, mask narrowing and a small grimace crossing his face.
But before he could comment, the orbs on Starfire's gauntlets began to glow red, as well as the center of Robin's belt. Trouble. The alien thought somberly as this made the third day in a row someone was causing trouble, and it didn't take the world's smartest detective to figure just who was causing the ruckus. "Star, you should get back-" "No." Kori cut off any attempt of the Boy Wonder's to shield her from danger, hiding her sad look in place of a determined one and it seemed that the leader got the message, giving his leg a quick shake before running over to his R-Cycle, throwing on his helmet and zooming off towards their destination, the Tamaranean flying right beside him after putting back on her sunglasses. If she was going to get answers for her feelings, then hiding from the cause of them wasn't going to do anything. This Garfield guy, whoever he is and whatever his motivations are... she needed to find them out.
Garfield was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Just a day after the Xenothium deal gone right, with the death of the wicked Professor being all apart of his father's plan, along with securing a great amount of Xenothium. More than enough to power the entire city, not even the changeling knew just what his mentor was going to do with all of it, but he did have a clear idea in mind. First the staff, then the Xenothium, and now he was going into another laboratory, seeking out a special chemical that he's been told to enhance the physical traits of humans.
A bit like 'VENOM' that Bane used to power up his already superhuman body, it seemed that Hughman's scientists were trying to replicate the addictive drug, keyword being 'trying'. It was still very addictive, but their goal was to eliminate that, and to make it sustainable to strengthen the human body, increasing muscle mass and blood flow, as well as increasing brain activity and enhancing the seven senses.
Basically, it was suppose to be a 'miracle' drug. And Slade didn't want to wait until it was released to the public. As well, early versions of these sort of drugs tend to be far more... unpredictable and much more like its 'Venom' counterpart rather than a life-extender and body regenerator it was hyped up to be. And unlike Venom, this one was being guarded by weak scientists rather than a monstrous, smooth-talking Brit with the strength to break backs like no one else.
He was dressed in his standard black and bronze jumpsuit, armored gauntlets and boots still in tow, but again, without his utility belt. Or at least, without the utility in his utility belt, given how all of his tools and weapons were missing and only the belt remained The Titans were weakened, so Slade decided to test him once more. No tools and no weapons, just his powers, his body and his mind. And while Garfield knew his physical traits and mind were much better than the average human's, he felt... weak. While he did have enhanced healing, the skin on his arm still hadn't grown back from when he had to tear off the red glue that stuck to him, and holy hell did it sting.
.The pain of actually ripping the adhesive from his arm was painful enough, having lost lot of blood in the process and even exposing the flesh beneath his mutated skin, but it just didn't go away. It burned so bad, the constant feeling of his unprotected flesh rubbing against his bandages was like torture. Not to mention he felt mentally drained, having to kill two people in two days, as well as having to deal with his emotions being toyed with by his father, his newfound feelings for Starfire, be them real or not.. it was tough. But this was what he wanted. To be his father's apprentice. To do whatever he said and grow into a mirror image of the man who saved his life. And this was by far better than living in a eight foot wide room, tied to a pole like a dog.
Eyeing up the door to the laboratory, he took a deep breath, cracked his neck and thrust his boot forward to snap the door off of its hinges. "Everyone down!"
A room filled with average humans dressed in white coats and pants froze at the command, some not even bothering to look up to see who was giving the demand before crouching down underneath her desks. And it seemed that others got the message once they got a look at the mutated man stepping through their facility, ducking down to avoid the wrath of the stranger.
Garfield let out a snarl as the room began to glow red, a loud blaring alarm doing little more than piss off the changeling, his sensitive eardrums in pain over the obnoxious sound. Of course, he knew that would happen, but that didn't mean it still wasn't highly annoying to deal with. Trudging forward, he knew that the test samples of the green chemical would be in the higher levels, and with the outer-design of the laboratory being near identical to the past facility, it shouldn't be difficult to navigate.
Things were going relatively smooth, with him reaching the staircase leading up to the second floor, that was, until he ran into some pale-skinned blonde girl who seemed to be frozen in place once her brown eyes got sight of him. What she was doing, he didn't know, since she was looking like she was coming DOWN the stairs, even with the blaring alarm and flashing lights. Was she trying to stop him? She certainly didn't look like she could handle a kitten, let alone a strong muscled guy who could just so happen to turn into a kitten if he wanted to.
"Move." Was his simple demand, upper lip curling up into a snarl, revealing one of his sharp fangs to the girl. Whoever she was, she didn't seem important, looking very generic for the humans that Garfield had seen in his time on his work. Bright white coat covering most of her frame, her features were bland and her eyes... were boring. Certainly didn't invoke any emotion in the changeling staring into them, besides annoyance. Though he supposed that her competition wasn't exactly fair in regards to the women that he found attractive. "Pl..Please don't touch me.." Even her voice was unremarkable as she pleaded with the green-skinned man. "You... don't want what's up there, it's really... really unstable. It's not even worth anything!"
Sighing, Garfield stepped up the next few steps until the blonde was only a step up from him. "I said to move, lady." He firmly told her, brows furrowing in frustration. While he had no issue harming people, Slade had told him to try and not create any more victims after killing two people in two days, a third would only bring him more attention and his father preferred to keep things... relatively subtle. Grand theft brought less attention than murder, and while the thin woman would be easy to kill, that wasn't his mission. She wasn't a threat by any stretch, and thus when she silently pleaded with him with her almost yawn-inducing gaze, he grabbed her by the collar of her coat and lifted her up the rest of the stairs, before tossing her to the side of the white floor, letting her scramble and crawl away.
Several white-coats were in the room, playing around with tools that Garfield didn't bother to try and understand, only knowing he needed a few vials to complete his mission. One by one, the scientists turned in the direction of the green invader, most of them getting out of the way of the changeling. News spread quick of a shapeshifting villain who wasn't afraid to kill people and had a deadly disease inside of him, and thus most didn't want to bother with trying to fend off the health threat. But there were a few who looked to stop him, the burliest of the bunch who looked to protect their research.
Courage was admirable, but stupidity was repulsive, and the handful were much more the latter. Since Garfield had little trouble safely knocking out the adversaries, or at least making them rethink facing down a superpowered villain, he went right to a table that so happened to have half a dozen vials filled with the lime-green liquid. Slade said that while VENOM required a straight shot into the bloodstream to have its effects, this drug just needed to get into contact with the skin before it soaked into the muscles and blood cells beneath. Thus, the vials were tightly contained, no cork to close them, instead hard, clear metal with a tight switch that required the mightiest of thumbs to push upward to open. Tucking them into the designated containers on his belt, strapped down tight, he was a bit surprised to just be able to walk back out of the place, the ringing of the alarm the only annoyance he encountered exiting the building.
Of course, he was being just a bit too optimistic when he thought he could get out of sight before the Titans showed up, only this time, only half of them were there for him. A blazing red and black motorcycle was parked a few yards away, and an all too familiar Boy Wonder stood on the road, waiting for him. And above him... god he wasn't ready to look at the Tamaranean again. Was he a coward for doing all he could to avoid Starfire's gaze and instead focus entirely on Robin? Perhaps, but he was willing to be a coward if it meant appeasing Slade, and getting captured because he was too busy having a staring contest with the pretty alien didn't seem like the most optimal way into his father's heart.
He wasn't exactly surprised that the Teen Titans weren't fully together, he gave Cyborg a good frying and that Raven chick a few broken bones to remember him by, and even then, it seemed that the two in front of him weren't at 100%. Robin had a bit of a limp and Starfire was wearing sunglasses, and unless that was a fashion choice he hadn't been clued in on, it seemed the flashbang still gave her some troubles. Then again, he wasn't exactly fully healthy either, what with his wounded arm and fatigued brain.
"Garfield, I'm only going to warn you once. Stand down!" Robin spoke first, pointing a green latex finger at the changeling, who simply growled in response. Expecting some sort of add-on from his companion, he took a mental note of Starfire's silence, because he wasn't about to look up at her face to see just what her facial expression was. And instead of answering, Garfield knew he had to strike early and strike quick, so.. he did. One step forward and he transformed into a tiger, leaping at the Boy Wonder who was ready for the assault, ducking underneath the claws of the big cat.
"Star, check in with the workers and see if they need medical attention!" The Titan ordered his flying friend, who nodded her head and zoomed into the laboratory. Robin then turned in the direction of Garfield, who had shifted back into his human form, shaking his head. Exhaustion had always made his transformations more difficult, but now, in the heat of battle, it was more evident than ever. The simple shift into the tiger took a lot of energy out of him, and he wasn't sure how many more he could do to keep up with the leader. "I didn't kill anyone, just roughed a few up a bit." Logan huffed, getting into battle stance. He had hand-to-hand skills, might as well use them to converse energy.
"Well when dealing with a murderer of three, forgive me if I don't exactly trust you." Dick responded, matching the fighting stance of his green adversary, before eventually, things came to blows. Robin was the first to strike, a chop aimed at the nose of the changeling who blocked it rather easily with a forearm. However the Boy Wonder was quick, both on his feet and in his mind, and before Garfield knew it, a metal boot caught him in the gut, causing a heave and a momentary step-back. And it seemed that he wasn't getting any time to breath, as this time a metal boot was flying towards his chest.
This time, Logan had to duck out of the way of the foot aimed at his ribs, letting the walking traffic light land behind him after the whiff before pouncing onto his back, arms hooking around his head. A grunt escaped Robin's mouth as Garfield wrapped a bicep around his throat and claws replaced his fingernails to scratch at the face of the Boy Wonder. However, before the changeling could make a taunting comment about the situation, blunt pain ran through his forehead that forced him to let go and back off, reaching a hand up to feel at his face, only to see his own blood leaking down his nose. And in front of him was his adversary, holding his signature bo staff while he checked his own face for wounds.
"If you want to play dirty, then let's play!" Robin said in a grizzled tone once drawing his glove away to expose scarlet dribbling from scratches on his cheek. A scowl crossed his mouth and his face wrinkled in determination, and his hand suddenly drew his grapple gun, aimed at the hip of Garfield and fired. The changeling twisted his waist to the side, letting the hook fly past him and returning his gaze to the Boy Wonder, who had a cocky smirk to his face. Awaiting a next projectile or a charge forward, what he wasn't expecting was the raven-haired leader to suddenly blaze forward, drawn in by his grapple.
Logan let out a gasp of shock and pain as he once again felt the cold metal slam into him, unable to react in time as the blunt aching extended over to his gut. His body was propelled back by sudden momentum, until eventually he felt an explosion of sleek white wall behind him and the two crashed through into the inners of another lab, though it did seem to be closed.
Unsure of just what happened, Garfield coughed and held a hand over his screaming stomach, hoping to ease some of the pain as his vision returned to him, only to see the yellow, red and black grapple hook attached to a colorless chunk of the wall they just crashed through. He had used his grapple to propel him forward and catch the changeling by surprise. Clever. He begrudgingly and silently complimented his opponent, only to feel a boot press against his chest and his green gaze looked up to meet the domino-masked Titan that had taken him down. "Last warning. Surrender now or I'll drag your body over to the station."
Every part of Garfield hurt, his muscles felt weak and he thought that perhaps he could escape once surrendering, but he knew his father would be greatly disappointed if his son even entertained the thought of giving up. At the very least, he should escape, wait until his wounds were healed and he could properly beat up the Boy Wonder who aggravated him so, but... there was nothing more that the changeling wanted than to pound the boy who had captured his father's attention, to make him pay for taking up much of Slade's thoughts and plans, who was under the wing of the assassin before HIM.
So despite how much his body hated it and screamed against it, Logan transformed.
An anaconda to be specific, wrapping his thick body around the foot and ankle of Robin, who grunted as his muscles and bones were squeezed down upon. Garfield hid his face from the jabbing bo staff that attempted to blind him, only connecting with the durable flesh of the reptile, trying his best to snap every bone in the bird-boy's leg and cripple him, and the continued attempts to pull him off were in vain. The changeling saw his opponent's other leg wobble, threatening to give out on him, and itching to see that happen, his extended jaws chomping down onto his thigh.
And just as victory seemed to be in his grasp and he felt a bone snap beneath his coil, Garfield felt a stabbing pain in his side that forced him to open his mouth and let out a hiss of agony, looking over to see one of Robin's signature birdarangs stuck in his snakeskin, blood oozing out of the wound. And the pain forced him to return back to his human form, crawling away from the leg of the Boy Wonder and reaching for the weapon that was stabbed into his side. It was lodged in deep, and each pull only let more scarlet red gush out of the wound, but the apprentice bit his tongue and ripped, letting out a shriek in agony and clutching at the large gaping hole in his stomach now.
Glancing over at Robin, his vision was blurred but he could still make out the eyesore of his red, green and yellow outfit laid on the ground, gloves clutching at his ankle and forehead pressing against the white tile of the lab. A growl escaped Garfield's mouth, and as much as he did want to obey his father's orders of no deaths, the rage of being stabbed by Robin... that each time he saw him, he saw someone his father chose before him, to leave him rotting in his cellar... perhaps the son that Slade wanted over him...
Gripping down tight on the Bird-a-rang, he flung it as hard as he possibly could right towards the head of the dazed Boy Wonder, hoping to see the image of his own weapon lodged into his brain, his body limp and gray, presented to his father to show him that HE was the superior apprentice, that all of his attention should've been directed at HIM. But a bright, green flash interrupted the projectile, causing it to break into several pieces and bounce a safe distance away from Robin.
No.. Garfield thought somberly as his chance to kill the source of his jealousy shattered, and only fitting it was by the one Titan that mystified him. "Robin!" Her voice echoed in his ears, he didn't need to see her, he didn't WANT to see her. And he certainly wasn't ready to fight her. He was aching everywhere, his previous transformations had exhausted him, not to mention the last time he looked into her eyes, he felt emotions that he hadn't felt in years. That he felt ever even. Thankfully, it seemed that her relationship with Robin won out over her sense of justice, as he could hear her asking of his condition.
Clutching his wound, he chose this moment to try his escape, panting as he practically crawled through the hole his body crashed into. But he was struggling, his arm started to bleed again, and he was losing blood quicker than he could run. And to just add onto his misery, the last thing he heard Robin say was "Go after him!". All he could hope to do was hide out and hope that he could regain his energy before they found him, unlikely as it may be.
So, he cut into an alley, unable to hold his breath to fight off the stench of the junk that rotted there. It seemed that despite the ever clean interior of the labs, it was because they dumped all their trash into the dumpsters and stuffed them into the alleys. Soon, Garfield finally collapsed behind one of the dumpsters, trying to fight off his vision blurring, to hold in as much blood as possible, but his clothes were torn and his hands could only cover so much.
"Garfield..?"
That soft voice.. she was there. His glassy eyes glanced upward, but his vision was giving way, black creeping in on the corner of his eyes and everything was a fog. But he could still see her. That bright autumn hair, shining orange skin, purple attire, and of course... those twinkling eyes. The closer she got, the darker his sight went, and just before a hovering hand could touch him, his body gave out and darkness enveloped him, leaving him with a mixture of relief and disappointment that confused him, just like her. Just like Starfire.
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itzagothamcitysiren · 5 years ago
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Welcome to the Family
so has everyone seen the new Justice League animated movie yet cause like- 
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No spoilers here just in cause but like I enjoyed it but Holy ‘R’ Rated Avengers Endgame Batman it was brutal lol. 
Anyways, thanks again to everyone showing their support with this story :) I do have a special mother’s day special coming out this weekend set in this story. It’ll be set more towards the future were all the robin’s are in the family. I’m really excited to post it. It was the first thing I wrote for this series and I think it’s adorable :) 
But anywho on with chapter four! Things will defiantly start picking up in this one. 
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Never Wanted to be Here Now pt. 4
Jason Todd didn’t know how long he could listen to the lies everyday on his car ride home from school and then again at dinner as they were repeated again but for another set of ears. He knew the truth, he wasn’t stupid, and they did have three classes together after all. Sure he skipped a lot but when he did start showing up to his first period English class, he saw the look on her face; Halley looked absolutely miserable.
           It was almost comically, as the girl told Dick over the phone about the nice girl who showed her around on her first day, and how she thought they were becoming friends. Sam had no interested in becoming friends with Halley in the slightest once she realized how awkward and dorky the girl was. But for the new ward of Bruce Wayne’s first week she was forced to be a student shadow because she was constantly in trouble for being on her phone and that was the guidance counselor’s way of trying to get her to want to become a better student. Like that would ever happen, Sam Bennet was just another stuck up twit.
           Jason couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the girl as she continued to lie through her teeth. Why was she pretending she was making all these new friends? Jason never felt the need to lie. Kids his age didn’t tend to like him. He had a couple of kids he’d talk to in passing or in between classes but he wouldn’t consider them friends; he couldn’t see him going home and telling Bruce that they were.
           And it wasn’t like the girl was completely friendless. She had started talking to this one kid in their journalism class, a class Jason hated that he got slammed into by the way.  Due to his low attendance and lack thereof grades, he was unable to pick the elective of his choosing and was thrown into the class. Halley was thrown in as well since it was the only class with a spot open for whatever reason the school’s paper and journalism classes weren’t popular. I have no idea why, he rolled his eyes sarcastically.
           But all jokes aside, Jason couldn’t take it anymore. He didn’t know why he cared so much about it. He had problems of his own that were on his mind. Maybe it was a good distraction? You know, worrying about someone else’s problems and temporarily forgetting about your own? His face scrunched up, thinking about how Bruce benched him for a week; he was grounded. He felt his chest burn up in anger thinking about the fight they had a couple of nights ago. The school finally caught on about him skipping class and called Bruce, who was less than enthused. Dick never skipped, he said to Jason. When was Bruce going to learn that he was like his perfect boy wonder?
           Slamming his tray down onto the lunch table, he took a seat roughly, letting his backpack fall to the ground next to the chair. His face was blank as he came face to face with the girl who’d been on his mind all morning. Wide eyed and confused as to why she was suddenly joined by someone, especially him, Halley stopped mid chew to stare at him.
           “You’re a shit liar, you know?” Jason said before digging into his lunch. He didn’t care that he came off as aggressive, this girl was pissing him off.
           “Excuse me?” Halley gaped, muffled due to her mouth being full.
           Dork, he thought to himself. Smirking at her he continued, “You going to tell Bruce again that you had lunch with Bennet again?”
           Halley frowned, sighing as she placed her slice of pizza down. She’d grown to love the bread covered with cheese over the years, having never really eaten it before. It wasn’t part of the healthy diet Slade made her follow. She just gave him a look of annoyance, not bothering to answer him. She was already depressed and wasn’t in the mood for him. They had shared merely a moment of decency on her first day but that had already been two weeks ago and since then he’d been nothing but a brat to her.
           “I’ve also noticed how you’ve been skipping free period.” He added, taking another bite of food. Free periods were meant to be held in the library so students could study and work on projects. And since Jason now had to sign in and out with each and every teacher for each and every class, he finally had to sit down in the boring-ass library for the full period. He noticed her in the period for the first couple of days of him having to attend but the last few he noticed her nowhere in sight. “Wouldn’t want Bruce to find out; he might send you back to Grayson.”
           “Look if you’re going to be an ass, can you pick a place to be one? I can’t deal with you being one at home and here.” She grunted, rubbing her temples after dropping her pizza slice down onto her plate.
           Before he could say anything else she moved to get up, not trusting herself in not decking him across the face, even here. She didn’t bother picking up her tray, just her backpack and made her way away from the table. She heard shuffling but elected to ignore it as she knew Jason was following her. He called after her multiple times. Having enough and not caring who heard she whipped around, her hair flowing around her.
           “Just leave me the fuck alone, Todd. Seriously, just don’t talk to me.”
           Jason watched her storm off, trying to play it cool as passerby’s watched the scene play out. He pulled on his collar, suddenly feeling hot. Her eyes had been the fiercest eyes he’d ever seen and he felt a lump in his throat. He felt like she would’ve killed him if people weren’t watching him make an ass out of himself.  He couldn’t tell you why he acted the way he did. He just liked to project how he felt on others to make himself feel better. Except, it really didn’t make him feel any better at all. Right now he felt like shit.
           He wasn’t one to apologize, maybe only ever apologizing once or twice his entire life. He didn’t even apologize to Bruce when he tried stealing the wheels of the Batmobile. But unlike Bruce, Halley never really gave him any reason to be an ass to her. He had to at least try to apologize or say he was just joking? Making sure to walk a good distance away and using his Robin skills, he managed to follow her down the hallways undetected and wondering where she was going. He saw her look around, pushing herself closer to the walls as they neared one of the back entrances of the school. She looked around, making sure the coast was clear before darting for the doors. The alarm went off but that didn’t stop her; she took off into the parking lot. He should follow her, right? Groaning, he knew he’d get in trouble for this but maybe Bruce would understand, right?
           In a mad dash, hearing a teacher’s footsteps approaching from up the hall, Jason jetted after her, pushing the doors open. He was outside and in the back lot where the teachers parked their cars. He could see Halley had some distance away from him, jumping up into the air off of a car to get up and over the tall fence. Groaning again, Jason braced himself to follow, vaulting over the fence with a harder force than she had; he managed to set off the car’s alarm.
           Halley knew he was following her from the start and hissed that he actually followed her this far. She just wanted to be alone and knew she had to lose him. She didn’t know where to go where she could lose him. This was Gotham; this was his city. She just raced across the street, sliding over car’s hoods as they desperately tried stopping in order to not hit the random teen. It was easy for her and she found herself across the busy street in a matter of seconds. The path was now clear for Jason, as the cars were stopped, windows down and the drivers yelling at her. The people on the sidewalk stared at her oddly, some in concern but kept walking. But this was Gotham, weird things happened every day.
           Halley took off into a run as Jason kept running towards her before the cars started driving again. Swearing, she took a deep breath, turning to a nearby alley and running in. She ran a few blocks using the alley ways as passage ways until she knew she needed the high ground. Jason wasn’t behind her, finally losing him a couple of turns back. Using all the strength in her legs she hoped on top of a dumpster that sat near a fire escape. Climbing up, she began her ascent up.
           “Nice underwear!” Jason’s smug voice met her ears moments later.
           “Hmm,” She growled, gripping the railing of the steps until her knuckles turned white. She curtly looked down, eyes turning into slits as she quickly pushed her tights together.
           Looking down, she saw Jason now jumping onto the fire escape. How did he catch up to her so quick? She swore she lost him a little while back. Pissed off, she opened her backpack and took out her math textbook, throwing the heavy and thick book down at him. It narrowly missed him, and he cried out in outrage. “That would’ve hurt!”
           She started at the stairs again as he cried out at her, now sounding as if he was begging her to stop. She wouldn’t though. Once she reached the top she jumped onto the roof of the building, looking around for her next move. There was a building close by that was just a little shorter than the one she was on. She could totally make that jump. As she heard another set of footsteps thumb onto the roof; she had to jump now.
           As she sprinted to get momentum, she lost her breath as a force stopped her. It felt like it happened in slow motion as  Jason moved quicker than he ever had, reaching his hand out, grasping the backpack tightly. Jerking his arm backward he forcefully pulled the girl backwards, prevented her from jumping. He crudely slammed her to the ground with a tug of his wrist. He was pissed and out of breath.
           He stared down as the girl tried catching her breath. The impact of her back onto the surface and her book filled backpack knock the wind out of her. Having not zipped it back up, her books and papers and pens looked like they exploded out of her bag from the force of her landing on her back. She was positive she’d have a nice big solid bruise after this. Blinking and trying to breathe in, she looked up at him, dazed at what he just did.
           “Are you out of your mind?” He shouted at her, the sound of the city below in the background. “If you jumped that you would’ve broken your legs or at least sprained them in those shoes.” He shouted again. Sure he could’ve made that jump with his suit on but that was because of all his padding that enforced his body, she was in stupid saddle shoes and a mini skirt.
           “I told you to leave me alone.” Was all she huffed out.
           Jason rolled his eyes at her, running a hand through his now sweaty black hair. “You’re crazy, you know? That was ridiculous, I can’t believe you just had me chase after you like that.”
           “I didn’t ask you to follow me through the streets of Gotham.” Halley retorted, pushing herself up to sit, shrugging her backpack of to try and relieve the pain in her back. “That really fuckin’ hurt, you know.” She mimicked him.
           Jason glared at her lost for words. He was going to be in so much trouble when Bruce found out what happened. Fuck, he’d never let him put the suit on again. His days as Robin were over. He rubbed his face with his hands in frustration. If he went back to school, they’d both get in trouble and if they just stood here they’d still both get in trouble. He should’ve just let her take the heat for running off. Why did he have to go and make this his problem?
           Halley, rubbed her lower back as she watched the boy openly show his inner turmoil. She found it almost laughable, but she knew it was better not to laugh. They were on a roof together in the middle of Gotham, and would surely get in trouble soon after leaving said roof. Closing her eyes for a second, she let out a deep sigh, finally feeling able to breathe. Opening her eyes again though, it felt like the air was sucked out of her again. Her eyes nearly bugged out of their sockets.
           Hovering over Jason’s chest was a little red dot. It was shaky, but Halley knew what it was. It was all too familiar.  Crying out his name, Halley jumped up and pushed Jason down to the ground, just as hard as he had once the red dot settled. Jason swore at her as they landed with him on his back and her on top of him. He glared up at her, for a second before nearly jumped out of his skin. A loud bang rang out and a bullet whizzed past them, imbedding itself into the cement of the roof a few inches away.  
           He was now the one with wide eyes and Halley quickly got up off of him, turning around towards the direction the shot came from. She felt her heart stop when she saw him. He laid there, from a good vantage point, one building away from them. She didn’t even notice the red dot that now rest on her chest as she was frozen in her place.
           Another bullet missed as Jason ripped her away, grasping her hand tightly as he led her in a sprint towards the edge of the roof. He yelled at her to jump but he knew she was in shock and his warming did no good. They fell down towards the building Halley had tried jumping to moments before. Jason dive rolled onto the roof, the shock being absorbed for the most part. He landed into a crouching position, trying to ignore the pain surging into his shoulder and neck now. He looked up and saw Halley wincing as she tried to stand.
           She could feel the tingling feeling begin in her legs the moment she came to a halt and shouldn’t have tried standing but her father would be quick to follow them. He was probably already shooting a zip line towards them. They had to get out of here quick.
           “We need to get out of here.” She said, gritting through her obvious pain.
           “Where’s your phone?”  Jason nodded in agreement, rushing over to help her stand. He looked around, trying to see if he could get a look at Deathstroke. They had to call Bruce.
           “In my backpack.” She winced, as he slung her arm over his shoulder and began to walk them towards the edge of the building, trying to find a fire escape or something. She frowned, she’d taken her bag off and it was currently left on the other building. “Where’s yours?”
           “I had to turn it in to the principal to keep during school hours.” He growled, cursing this entire day. “Fuck, this is bad. Okay, think.” Jason muttered, racking his brain for any clue as to what to do, seeing as there was no fire escape in sight. “How good are you at scaling buildings? Rock climbing? You ever rock climb?”
           Halley eyed him before looking between them. Did he not see her needing his help to stand? She couldn’t help the attitude that escaped her lips but she was a little stressed at the moment, “Oh I don’t know Todd, I’m pretty good.”  
           “Okay jeesh,” He muttered, moving them towards the edge, looking down. It wasn’t a terribly long way down. Only five or so stories. He could easily climb it. Shaking his head, he looked at her, realizing how close their faces were, “Don’t take this the wrong way but how much do you weight?”
           Halley glared at him for the questioned but soon found herself holding onto him tightly, as he carried her on his back, piggyback style as he shimmied them down the side of the building, using a drain pipe and windowsills.  He grunted with each movement. This was a terrible idea but he had no other options. A hundred and thirty five pounds my ass, he hissed to himself as he felt her weight working with gravity and waiting for any slip up to send them down flying into the alleyway below. They wouldn’t die from a fall at this height but they most definitely wouldn’t be getting up anytime soon if they did.
           Halley tried to hold on as tight as she could without choking the boy in the process, but her legs where hurting and couldn’t keep them wrapped around his waist for much longer. She was pretty sure she fractured something down there for it was starting to go numb. Wincing, she held on tighter, only to cringe when she felt Jason’s body shake. The strain of trying to carefully climb down was quickly wearing him out. They still had a little ways to go.
           Eventually Jason was at a distance where he could hop down, only tumbling down a little bit before finding his footing. He didn’t hesitate, running them out into the streets, hoping that Deathstroke wouldn’t risk exposing himself in the open like this. He still had Halley resting on his back, ignoring his shoulder’s screaming at him to drop her. She was useless on her feet anyways. He moved through the street and crowds, trying to find anywhere that had a phone he could use, also ignoring the strange looks people gave the pair. He let his hand shift backwards to hold the brunette’s thighs feeling her legs start to slip.
           Huffing, he decided it’d be better to just call a cab. There were plenty of them on the street and he could just take one back to the manor. Standing close to the street, he released one hand so he could wave one down. After a few minutes Jason got a cab to stop, immediately dropping Halley smoothly to her feet, and ripping the car door open. Just as he was helping her into the backseat he felt someone standing next to him, the shadow of a tall figure overcasting him.
           Looking up, Halley and Jason saw who they were trying to avoid. Slade Wilson stood next to them, hand on the front passenger side door. He wasn’t in his costume, instead in a casual leather jacket and slacks, a duffel bag resting at his side. His eyepatch covered one eye as his one good eye gazed down at them. He opened the door, seeing how Jason started to back away. Slade could sense the taxi driver beginning to get frustrated at how long they were taking to get in, snapping at them to hurry up. Slade chuckled, eyeing his daughter up and down.
           “I would get into the taxi if I were you.” He nodded at them, motioning to his pocket. The clear outline of gun inside. “You wouldn’t want to cause a scene out here like this would you? I don’t think that Bruce Wayne would want that kind of media attention brought on him because of his two kids, yeah?”
           Halley gulped, getting into the car without another hesitation. Slade eyed the boy, the new Robin he’d yet to meet until today, urging the boy with a look to test his patience. Jason glared up at him one last time before getting into the car silently, only slamming the door. Slade joined them, sitting in the front seat.
           “Took you long enough, come on I don’t get paid until the meter starts running,” the taxi driver complained, “Now where are we going?”
           Slade smirked at the driver, pulling out his gun while using the other hand to lock the doors. The cab driver gasped, raising his hands up in surrender, keeping his mouth shut. Halley looked at Jason, seeing his stern face, hoping that he wouldn’t try anything rash. Their eyes met and he saw her silently begging him to not do anything. Growling, he sat back, listening as Slade gave the driver an address, keeping his gun pointed at him as he hastily drove off into the busy streets of Gotham. He definitely shouldn’t have followed her.  
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