#someone let the joker die and stay dead

[enigmaris]

Danny Kills the Joker AU

Danny is on the run in gotham, as you do in dpxdc fics. His parents are dead and he is trying to stay out of Vlad's custody. Gotham has plenty of ectoplasm to hide his ecto signature. It also has a high enough population of homeless people that no one would even notice Danny just showing up.

He's been living rough in gotham, mostly sticking to Crime Alley and The Narrows, sleeping in abandoned buildings or in relatively clean parts of the sewer system. He eats what he can find and does his best never to be seen.

Not good enough since he along with like 30 other street kids get picked up by joker goons and tied up. Joker is planning an explosive party for the city to watch and he needed guests. Joker literally set up bombs of joker gas around the city that will go off and send the entire city into pandemonium, killing millions. The only way to stop the bombs is to kill his guests (homeless kids from Crime Alley) which the city can vote on. Kill themselves or kill kids.

Danny is sitting at the edge of the group, listening as Joker televises his new plan to the entire city.

He really, really hates clowns.

He is also not gonna let this guy kill all of these kids. He may not be a hero anymore but those protection instincts didnt die with his parents.

And also fuck that clown.

He phases through his bonds, and then starts asking the various kids to borrow their hat, gloves, and scarf. Gotham street kids take one look at this out of town kid and mentally wish him luck while planning out his funeral. They keep on acting terrified because as stupid as this kid is being, they're not snitches either.

Danny puts on the borrowed clothes to hide his face and hair. He can't be identified, or Vlad is gonna be on his ass tomorrow. Once fully covered he gets up and into view of the camera. The Joker notices him, turns around to laugh and jeer at him. Probably shoot him for being impolite and interrupting him. Danny doesnt even pause just walks right up to the clown and coldcocks him.

Based on the sound of bones snapping Danny admits he might have punched a little too hard. Danny checks the Jokers pulse and immediately panics. Danny has Batman levels of fear around killing and he is panicking about becoming Dan.

"Holy Shit I killed him!" He says, to the entire city because the camera is still rolling.

Cue:

Danny running for his life, trying to hide away from his fear and guilt.

Red Hood becoming like his dad and drawing up mental adoption papers

Harley Quinn also drawing up adoption papers, paper ones, while Poison Ivy changes their home's 'no boys allowed' banner to 'son boy allowed'

Jokers goons trying to find Danny to kill him for killing their boss

City wide pandemonium as the jokers death is confirmed and people are partying in the streets, the mayor is planning on giving the street kid who did it the key to the fucking city

The batfam trying to find Danny to protect him from Jokers Goons (Bruce is third in line for custody not that he knows he is gonna have to fight both Harley and Jason for the honor)

The crime alley kids are still not snitching on the kid who saved them. Anyone who asks them about Danny only respond with 'what are you a cop? Fuck off pig'

Vlad Masters, as someone who has been punched by Danny, immediately recognizes the punch and flies to Gotham to find his wayward 'son'.

Vlad even meets with Brucie Wayne to ask for help in finding Danny. Bruce gets bad vibes from Vlad and is even more invested in finding Danny. The boy has dark hair, blue eyes, and a tragic orphan backstory. Its fate!

Danny meanwhile is hiding in some sewer somewhere breathing into a paper bag as he panics about becoming a world ending threat.

[unknownplane]

The Court Jester Part 4

Yandere Batfam x GN Reader

Pt. 1, Pt. 2, Pt. 3

Waking up (Y/N)'s head felt fuzzy. Somehow, they felt constricted even though they could move. Looking around, they found themselves in a large room. The bed felt as if it was encasing them. They felt themselves looking for their weapon. Not being able to find it, they get up and start looking around the room.

The room was blank, as if it was a canvas waiting to be painted. It irritated them. 'Where the fuck am I? The last thing I can remember was... oh fuck. Dads gonna be soo pissed! I never got him his drink!'. (Y/N) frantically began looking for a way out realizing they were asked to get something for there dad. They went to the door and found it locked.

Just as they were going to open the other door in the room, the locked door burst open. Bruce Wayne flung himself into the room. "My baby! You're awake! God, what did that monster do to you?" Bruce questioned as he got closer to (Y/N). As soon as he got close enough (Y/N) tripped him and forced him into the ground. "Where am I?! The fuck have you done with my dad?!" (Y/N) yelled. "No need to be hostile kid. We just saved your ass." Jason stated walking into the room. Amused that Bruce had been caught off guard by your violence. Bruce suddenly got out of the hold as (Y/N)s attention shifted to Jason and held their hands behind their back. "You bitch! The fuck are you doing! Let me go!" (Y/N) screamed with struggling in his hold. "No (Y/N), we just got you back, and we are going to help you get better." Bruce stated in a firm tone. "I don't need fixing you limp dick son of a bitch! My dad molded me in his image and I'm perfect because of that!" (Y/N) howled. "I think my dear sibling needs some alone time." Jason said. Bruce nodded his head and let go of (Y/N) and left the room. "Just so you know (Y/N) because, even though you are fucked, and I still love you the Joker is dead." Jason professed before he left the room and locked the door.

"No, he's lying. He can't die. He always comes back." (Y/N) whispered and unknowingly started crying. They began to throw themselves around the room, trying to find a way out, and ultimately broke an arm. It took an hour before it eventually healed. Their mental state making it more difficult to heal.

About an hour later, Damian entered the room with a change of clothes. He fought with his sibling for this opportunity to talk with (Y/N) and was going to take advantage of the situation. "Hello, sibling. I have brought you a change of clothes as the ones you are currently wearing are covering in blood and dirt. I hope we can get on better terms during your stay here." Damian spoke calmly, as if he was talking to a terrified animal. "Ah, if it isn't the other basterd child of Bruce Wayne. Tell me how does it feels to know that if your nepotism wasn't taken into account, you would be just another pawn in Al Ghuls game. Stupid and replacable." (Y/N) spoke in a knowing tone. No anger in sight, only a smirk on their face.

They have watched the bat family for years. They knew all the ways to get under their skin and prod where it hurt most.

Damian's face fell into a look of shock. (Y/N)'s words hurt in a way he had not felt since he first came to the manor. He felt the fear of being useless and replaceable. He dropped the clothes and left the room with a mortified face as (Y/N) started to laugh manically.

After Damian left the room, the Joker seemed to appear before them. As if a god. "My dear child, I am dead now, but soon I will find someone to take over. And when that is over, I will find you, and we will make the bat regret taking you away from me. My darling child." The Joker claimed. (Y/N) find with joy began shaking their head rapidly in agreement. "Of course, dad! They'll never know what hit em!" (Y/N) said and started laughing.

-----------------‐-----------------------------

In the batcave

"Their mental capacity seems to be dwindling. They've begun hallucinating. The best course of action would be to start over. I would recommend you get in contact with Martain Manhunter." Tim told Bruce after watching you on the screen. Tim had been watching you since the moment you were brought home. There was something comforting about knowing exactly where you were at all times, no matter what. "Let's wait another day. We don't know what repercussions there might be for doing this to them. If it would even work. You saw what happened with their arm. Their healing ability could stop it from even working!" Stephanie argued, not wanting to lose anymore of you. A broken you was still a masterpiece in her eyes. It showed everyone your hardships and would be used as a reminder to them about how they affected you and your life. No matter how rough you were, you and she didn't want to lose you again. "We'll wait one more day. If they continue to break down like this, we will have no other choice." Bruce stated. "But for now, we will just have to wait and see"

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

Hey guys, sorry for the wait. College has been kicking my ass and Comp has been making me not want to write anything. Hope you enjoy it! Remember, I am always looking for ways to improve.

@cooki3dough @asillysimp @kitty-from-daaaa-voidddd @redkarmakai @horror-lover-69 @bat1212 @wisefuncherryblossom @chericia @vannessa-boo @resident-cryptid @staarflower @sirenetheblogger @definitely-not-sammie @lovebug-apple

[alisonwritesimagines]

Death Won't Do Part ~Batmom Imagine~

Summary: You die but the family cannot let that happen to you.

Author's Note: This is another AU. Not canon to the main Batmom storyline!

Batfamily Masterlist

Do not repost this!!

Bruce Wayne died the moment you did. Bruce did everything in his power to keep you safe and protected. However, he slipped somehow and you had died in his arms from the Joker.

You were at the wrong place at the wrong time. Bruce regretted in letting you go to a meeting at a restaurant by yourself where it was soon attacked by Joker.

Bruce was no longer himself. He was a much more darker version of himself which scared everyone. Including his children. So there was one thing Damien could think of to make things right.

“Mother. You need to let us use the Lazarus Pit,” Damien begs Talia after summoning her.

“Damien, if you use it, she may not become who she was before,” Talia warned him.

“Father cannot live without her and neither can any of us. Please. It’s worth a try,” Damien begs once more.

“She will not come back as the same person,” Talia warned once more.

“Then I will accept the responsibility,” Damien tells her.

"Alright then. Get her over to the pit."

Damien rushed to the mortuary where he and some of Talia's soldiers got you.

"Damien? What are you doing?" Dick asked in his Nightwing suit. He was on patrol and stayed near the area you were in to make sure nothing would happen to you until you were laid to rest. But he noticed Damien and Talia al Ghul's soldiers go into the moratory.

"Grayson please let us through. We need to bring ummi back. She needs to come back," Damien said.

"Damien-"

"Dick please. We need her," Damien begged. Dick stared at Damien for a moment before nodding in agreement.

"We can't let Bruce know then," Dick says as he helped carry you out.

When Damien and Dick got to the Lazarus Pit, they set you onto the crate so it can lower you down to the mysterious green liquid. They watched as you got lowered down slowly until they heard a bang.

"Damien! Dick! Stop!" Bruce as Batman yelled out. Jason and Cassandra followed behind but it was too late.

You were lowered into the pit and everyone froze. They watched as you screamed as you woke up from the magical powers that brought you back to life.

"Y/n!" Bruce yelled as he rushed down to get you.

You continued to panic and scream when you got out of the pit. You ran thrashed around the crate until Bruce was able to get you out. Bruce quickly sedated you to calm you down. You knocked out in his arms, making Bruce check on you. Physically, you were still the same beautiful wife he married years ago. But even he knew that everything came with a price.

"What did you two do?" Bruce asked, looking over at Damien and Dick.

"We need her in our lives father," Damien tells him.

“Did you even think about the consequences?” Bruce asked angrily.

You felt different. And it wasn’t a good different. When you woke up, you were in your bedroom with Bruce sitting on a chair next to you.

“How are you feeling?” Bruce asked you.

“How am I alive?” You asked him. He could see the confusion and fear in your eyes.

“The Lazarus Pit. Same way Ra Al Ghul brought back Jason.”

“This can’t be. I should be dead,” you say as you stood up and began to pace around.

“Y/n, sweetie. You’re okay. You’re alive now.”

“What’s going to happen to me? This is wrong,” you tell him as you began to hyperventilate.

“Y/n. Please. Stop. I’m here for you. I won’t leave you alone. Let me help you,” Bruce said.

You began to panic more as you rushed out of your bedroom.

"Y/n!"

"Mom!" You felt someone grab you making you scream in fear.

"Let me go! I can't be here!" You screamed.

You felt a stab on your neck before the sedation overcame you. You fell limp into Dick's arms who picked you up quickly.

"I got her," Dick said.

"Give her to me," Bruce said. Dick handed you over to Bruce before he headed back upstairs.

Dick quickly pulled out his phone and texted everyone for an emergency meeting in the Batcave.

“How is she?” Tim asked as he walked into the Batcave. All but Bruce was gathered inside.

“Think she’s getting worse,” Dick said with a frown.

“Have you tried talking to her Jason?” Cassandra asked.

“I’ve tried. It’s not like she wants to listen. It feels like she can’t,” Jason explains.

“What are we going to?” Damien asked.

“Don’t know. Maybe we can see if moving her to a new place would help calm her mind,” Cassandra suggested.

“We’ll try.”

"This is my fault. I came with the idea of her being brought back to life," Damien shamefully says, looking down in disappointment.

"It's not your fault kid. We would've done the same for her," Dick tells him.

Bruce had sedated you many times to save you from yourself. He felt guilty but it was for the best for you. Your mind was never in the right state to realize or comprehend anyway. When you woke up once more, you found yourself in a new room and the smell of the ocean.

You sat up to see Bruce sitting outside in the balcony. You walked out and looked out to see the ocean glistening under the sun.

“Where are we?” You asked.

“California. Kids came up with the idea of getting you away from Gotham.”

“So now what?” I asked. Bruce stood up and wrapped his arm around your waist.

“I've asked for Ivy and Harley to join us so they can help you. Harley does have a PhD in Psychology and Ivy is a botanist. They’re gonna help you with your recovery,” Bruce says.

“What about you?” You asked.

“I am going to stay here with you until you recover.”

“But-“

“Batman can wait for now. I have it under control. I just need you to get better,” Bruce said, kissing your head.

“But they won’t know what I’m going through. Neither do you Bruce,” you say, beginning to panic once more.

“But I do,” you looked over to see Jason walking over to you.

“I’m here for you mom. I can help you as well,” Jason said as he held your hands in his.

“Does this feeling of panic end?” You asked.

“It will. Just let us help you okay?” Jason asked. You nodded before sitting on a chair.

"Aren't there side effects from being resurrected?" You asked.

"Yes. But we're gonna get through it together. I'll help you ma. Just like you helped us all. Let us take care of you," Jason assured you. Your eyes began to water. You nodded before hugging your son.

"Thank you," you say.

“Ivy knows some plants to help with calming you down. I know you always told us that drugs were bad growing up but you are gonna have to do some weed to help calm your mind,” Jason mentions. You chuckle a little as you let go of him. You looked back at Bruce who stood near you with a look of disbelief. You were alive and you were in front of him.

“Are you sure I’m safe?” You asked.

“I will never let you get into danger ever again,” Bruce says, kissing your head. He pulled you back into his arms so he could hold you again.

"What about the other kids?" You asked.

"They said they're gonna wait until you get better. We want you to get better first before worrying about us," Jason tells you.

"Jason, let Harley and Ivy know that your mom is awake but we will start her therapy tomorrow," Bruce tells Jason.

"Okay. I'll see you soon mom," Jason said, kissing your cheek quickly.

"See you soon," you say.

You looked up at Bruce who held you closer to him.

"I thought I lost you," Bruce says.

"I'm back here. But I'm worried. What if I do something that I'll regret?" You asked.

"That's why I'm going to get you the help you need. I love you. You're my wife no matter what," Bruce says.

"You know. They say till death do us part. And death has done us part. Should we get remarried again?" You asked.

"Darling, I'll do anything for you if it means your mine once again," Bruce says, kissing you.

"Don't let me go," you asked him.

"Never again," Bruce says, kissing you once more.

[glitter-stained]

Another day another ask mysteriously disappearing from my inbox when i'm about to hit post on the reply

Anyway the question was basically "what do you think of the "Jason isn't able to get over his death while bruce is capable of forgiving joe chill and sitting by him as he dies" take and doesn't it sound a little like the "everybody died he ain't special " take?"

Why yes. Yes it does sound like that. My thoughts on that idea, in no particular order:

- it's almost 2025 are we still placing moral judgement on characters based on the comparison between how they're enduring their trauma what happened to the universal singularity of human suffering what happened to not comparing apples and bananas weren't we taught not to do that in elementary school

-Is this about the Three Joker comics? It sounds like it is, anyway uh that comics is not mainline (and has pretty shitty writing imo), in mainline even in his least flattering runs (ie Battle for the Cowl) Jason hasn't gone postal because of his death in a while (in BTFC it was Bruce's death and the mention of the "unresolved dark horrors of his childhood" triggering a bad parody of some sort of psychotic break) so like i guess criticizing Jason for something he isn't doing is kinda strange

-if anything Bruce is the one "not over" Jason's death considering the flashback he had right at the beginning of Failsafe arc (though of course demanding he just gets over the trauma of holding his dead son's corpse is just as absurd as demanding Jason gets over the trauma of having died)

-honestly staying by Chill's side as he died was pretty cool and heroic on Bruce's part, totally agreed, that was badass of him to not let him die alone despite his trauma. That being said can we please stop tying morality to the concept of forgiveness? Implying there's a goodness of heart to forgiving/getting over your trauma is weird, it way too puch pressure on the victim, we should stop with the "good victim/bad victim" narrative, martyrdom culture is harmful. If forgiving Chill helped Bruce, cool for him, Jason is in no obligation to forgive Joker, and also Bruce forgiving Chill =/= staying by his side as he died, those are two separate things

-if we're comparing coping we have to compare resources, what does Jason's support system at that time compared to Bruce? Should we make a tally to see who has more friends especially close ones? We both know who will win but also that it's a completely stupid and pointless arrangement, how many apples and oranges must we compare before we conceptualize that it's not the same fruit?

-in terms of personal taste, I find placing moral judgement on characters is about the least interesting analysis angle I can imagine, like, congrats, you've established Angel McPerfect is a better person than Asshole McInteresting! Now multiply me by one and subtract zero.

-kinda hilarious to criticise Jason for not getting over his death and compare that to the coping of a man who dresses as a bat to cope with something that happened thirty years ago. Like if he's so over his trauma why is he wearing pointy ears

-also, obviously, the idea that characters should just "get over their trauma" is insanely dumb. Trauma is like a wound. It can scar, if treated properly, and then the scar will always be there. Imagine telling someone they should get cosmetic surgery because "we get it, you got stabbed, you don't have to shove it in my face every time I look at you." Or telling someone whose wound got infected "why can't you be more like this guy? Look, his stab wound is all healed nice and clean by now. It's like you're not even trying !"

Anyway I hope that answers your question and you have a good day anon, I agree with you that that take is weird, I truly don't understand the reasoning beside "i don't like jason". Idk maybe these people just need to...chill.

[celaenaeiln]

do you ever think about how canonically in the batman v superman movie/universe, dick grayson is the dead robin and bruce never picked up another kid which eventually led to him killing superman?

YES?! YES! YESS!!!!

If Dick were to die, Bruce would completely break. He wouldn't just stop at killing villains - hell no - he would start killing heroes too.

All that's going through his head is that no one deserves to exist if Dick is gone.

And knowing me, I will always gladly provide the evidence.

In the comics when Dick got shot, Bruce's world imploded.

He felt such a strong rage, he kinda lost it. He flew to another country, defeated assassins, and trucked through the freezing blizzard in Russia to get to KG Beast.

Batman (2016) Issue #56

The utter, undiluted rage on his face.

Batman (2016) Issue #56

He lost communication with Alfred. He's completely on his own but nothing will stop him in his crusade to avenge Dick.

He finds the assassin and they have a massive fight. KG Beast is actually one of the highest paid killers in the world. Him, Lady Shiva, Deathstroke, Deadshot, and someone else are the top 5 of the villain world and Batman almost loses until-

Batman (2016) Issue #57

He shoots a grapple gun into KG Beast's face! He breaks him. He leaves him paralyzed.

His horror at what the Joker has done to Barbara is gone in the face of his hatred for what happened to Dick.

Batman (2016) Issue #57

Batman willingly and knowingly paralyzed someone despite knowing the cost. That's how much he hated him. But you think it stops here? This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Batman (2016) Issue #57

And this is where it all goes to hell.

Batman, the vigilante who beat his own son for killing criminals, leaves this criminal for the dead.

The Gotham commissioners talk about it

Batman (2016) Issue #60

Forget Batman. JTTF stands for Joint Terrorism Task Force. They actually considered a hit on Nightwing an act of terrorism.

That's how much the world loves Nightwing.

The moment KG Beast shot Nightwing, he became the Nation's Public Enemy Number One.

Commissioner Grogan hates KG Beast so much for what he did, he can't even bring himself to say the man's name, too revolted by his existence. Gotham hates the guy more than they hate the Joker.

Batman (2016) Issue #60

Commissioner Gordon offers some hope that maybe Batman knew but Commissioner Grogan - he just says maybe. I don't know, it's possible but - to which Gordon just stays silent. They both know what happened and what Batman did but confirming it out loud? Batman's not supposed to kill.

So Batman left KG Beast to die but Bane? The one who ordered the hit? He-

Batman (2016) Issue #59

And when Gordon tries to stop him-

Batman (2016) Issue #59

He. Punches. Gordon.

He hurts his friend and ally. The man who helped him the night his parents were murdered. He punched for his pain over Dick.

This is where it all connects to the Superman vs Batman movie. If Dick were to die, Bruce would kill his own allies in the end. He would raze the world to the ground.

In the comics, Dick's death is the turning point for Batman (2016). After this he enters a series of nightmares where his brain turns a nightmare of Selina dying to be exactly reminiscent of what happened to Dick, and even though Dick lived, Bruce can't let that go. Then the fight with Bane who targeted Dick solely because of his importance to Dick, and then the Joker War where the Joker tried to use Dick because of his importance to Bruce, and the Gotham War where Dick thrashing him was Bruce's breaking point from his toxic self and finally self-realization.

Damian once said Dick leaving to become Nightwing caused Bruce to lose his moral compass, and that's even more true now. He's breaking enemies and allies left and right just because Dick almost died.

Imagine what would happen if Dick really did.

[thiawen]

DC Fic Idea -

So I’ve seen a few fics where the real reason Bruce doesn’t kill the Joker after Jason’s death is because he knows it wouldn’t stick. The Joker has died before and he just comes back. He can’t die permanently so there’s no point. And often Jason is horrified and/or heartbroken that he’ll never get proper vengeance and that Joker will haunt them forever etc.

Respectfully, I would like to offer an alternative.

Jason finds out that the Joker doesn’t stay dead and instead of being terrified by this news like the rest of Gotham he is absolutely delighted.

…

Batman: You can’t kill the Joker.

Jason: The hell I can’t.

Batman: No. I mean it’s not possible. Not permanently. He just comes back.

Jason: And? That just means I get to kill him again. And again and again and again. This is the best thing ever.

…

Jason had a whole damn journal full of revenge ideas and trying to pick just one was honestly the hardest decision in his life. He’d ended up having to number them all and then drew the winning number out of a hat. Now? He get’s to do them all. Hell, he gets to come up with even more ideas! All his previous ones were mostly painful or poetic. He starts a whole new journal. 1001 ways for Joker to die a stupid death.

Jason has never been so happy and well adjusted. Who needs therapy when you can just go blow Joker the fuck up? And he starts recording them all to share because he figures it would be therapeutic for the rest of the city too. Gothamites are delighted. Someone makes a compilation of their favorites that looks like something straight out of Loony Tunes.

One time Jason decides to raise money for charity by letting people pay for votes on how he next kills Joker. Whichever method raises the most money wins. It’s the most successful event in Gotham’s history.

…

Batman: What are you doing?!

Jason: An experiment. How many tick bites does it take for a person to die from blood loss?

Batman: We don’t kill!

Jason: Does he look dead to you?

Batman:…

Jason: If it’s not permanent, it doesn’t count.

Batman: This is murder.

Jason: I’m recording the results. So, actually, it’s science. I’ve already got a publishing deal with Gotham University.

[akechi-stole-my-heart]

no more what ifs - a goro akechi meta

Inspired by a meta I reblogged a bit ago. It was really good and you should read it, as it serves as a good companion piece to this analysis, but it didn't analyze the song through the specific lens I personally believe it's meant to be seen through--that is, the Third Semester/Maruki's reality. Don't get me wrong, I think the song can be applied to Akechi in general, just that we can't truly understand the depths of its meaning unless we view it through the lens of what Akechi is feeling in the Third Semester. Needless to say, that's what I'll be doing here.

People come and they go Some people may stay with you though I am all alone tonight and I kept on Asking myself questions

Akechi has lived most of his life alone. People have come and gone temporarily, but no one has really stuck until Joker entered his life. (I don't think I need to make the case that it's Joker he's talking about when he says some people stay with you, I think it's pretty obvious it has to be him.) Joker, someone he can't comprehend, the only person he's let in. Akechi can't understand Joker, so naturally, he's constantly thinking of him, and why he's stuck with him when so many others haven't.

Conceited I was at time I never really doubted myself But tonight got me thinking about it all If I am the fool or what not

All Akechi can do in the Third Semester is think about his choices and his mistakes and wonder if he did the right thing and what led him here. He's been forced to live (for now) after everything he'd worked and lived for fell apart under him. He's reflecting on his past arrogance and how that blinded him.

"If I am the fool or what not" holds a double meaning. Akechi is doubting if he was a fool in the general sense, if he was made a fool for his plan of revenge. But he's also wondering if he was the Fool in the Persona sense of the word (something that will have a payoff at the end of the song).

I do not Regret with my choices I'm rather proud Ooh I know I won't change Anything Because I can only be me so

Akechi can't afford regret. To regret would be to admit that Maruki's ideal reality, where his choices were erased, has any hold on him. To regret would be to let go of the person he is and the person he has become.

Who Akechi really is is another topic that can be elaborated on ad nauseum, so I won't do that here. Maybe I'll do that another time when I finally write the meta about Akechi and agency that's been living in my head for a long while.

Suffice to say, Akechi believes his choices, his actions, his revenge, all define him. He refuses to let Maruki erase them just because they don't fit with his ideal reality. Akechi is fundamentally incompatible with everything Maruki stands for, and he knows it.

How can I be so sure? At a crossroads I'm afraid too But I can't let fear get the best of me Someone once said burn my dread babe

"Burn my dread" is a reference to a song from Persona 3. I haven't played the entire game as of yet, but Persona 3 is a game all about facing and accepting death. "Burn my dread" is a lyric that points to this theme, and the theme of facing one's fears head-on.

Akechi is dead. He knows this perhaps from the very moment he comes back to life. He certainly knows it for most of the Third Semester. He is dead, and to reject Maruki's reality, to embrace himself, is to face that death for the second time, and accept it. But Akechi can't let his fear of death stop him from making his choice. He will die on his own terms and "burn his dread."

Who knows what tomorrow holds? Just wanna live my life the way I want What fills up my soul is passionate Music that makes me want to sing

This is, yet again, Akechi asserting that he will be himself, that he will find meaning in life on his own terms, and that he will not let anyone other than himself define who he is or what he wants. Music is dynamic and complex, something that can express deep truths of one's soul. The Jazz Jin, a place of music, is Akechi's in a way very little else is. It's not Shido's puppet's, not the Detective Prince's, but Akechi's place of solitude and self reflection. It is the place he decides to share with Joker--in a way, he is baring his very soul to Joker. Letting him into his heart.

My story will be starring me just like yours ooh ooh Who knows when will it end What matters most is how you bring joy to life so

This is paying off the beginning of the song. Akechi is asserting that the world doesn't revolve around Joker. Goro is the Fool, he is the main character, he is not defined by anyone but himself and himself alone.

And the last two lines simply restate themes running throughout the song. Akechi is himself. He will accept his death when it comes, and he will not live by anyone's rules but his own.

No More What Ifs shows us the doubt that Akechi rarely expresses that runs deep to his core. Wondering if he made a mistake in isolating himself, wondering if Joker was right all along, wondering if and how things might have gone wrong.

But Akechi can't let himself doubt for long. He always comes back to that certainty that he can't be anyone but himself. He can't let anyone change him. He can't let go of who he is, not for anything. The song is full of him reassuring himself of his path--that no matter what, he will not regret. He can't afford it. He will not waver from his path.

Now, more than ever, after being faced with the consequences of his mistakes and being offered an out, Akechi has to assert his free will and defy Maruki. And that's what this song expresses.

[klbwriting]

Broken Prism

Chapter 15

Fandom: Red Hood

Pairing: Jason Toddxfemale!Reader

Warnings: none

Summary: Jason and Bruce finally talk and YN and Jason finally take another step

Jason stayed two days at Wayne manor before finally leaving his old room. He knew he needed to talk to Bruce, but he hated the idea. He didn’t want a lecture from his ‘dad’ but he kept repeating the part of his poison induced dream in his head. The video Bruce was watching. He remembered being 12, just starting his tenure as Robin, that was even before Dick had shown back up to work things out with Bruce. Jason had wanted to be normal, play sports at school, but he never knew how so Bruce took him out to the basketball court on the grounds to show him.

Jason had been nervous; Bruce was a pretty demanding taskmaster in training so he thought he would have to suffer the same learning basketball. He was surprised when instead of having to run a mile or do dozens of pushups before starting Bruce just showed him how to dribble correctly. For the next two hours they played and for the first time since Bruce took him in, he felt like a kid, not a vigilante. He had no worries that day, it was the best day of his life. That was the video in his dream that Bruce watched, the video where he really felt like he was Bruce Wayne’s son and not just his ward or his charity project. He hoped that Bruce remembered that day, that he really thought Jason was his son still.

“Jason, are you feeling better?” Bruce asked as Jason entered his office. He motioned for Jason to sit, and he did, stretching out, trying to seem casual. He saw the trace of a smile on Bruce’s face and frowned. Bruce knew, he always knew. Jason was putting on a show, pretending this whole thing didn’t terrify him but it did. The guy could face down Poison Ivy, Two-Face, Penguin, any of them without an ounce of concern but in his dad’s office about to have a heart to heart and he was ready to hide in a closet. He shifted in his seat, trying to think of a good answer. “Be honest.”

“I feel physically better, but mentally, I’m fucked,” he said. Bruce looked like he wanted to comment on his language but thought better of it. Jason appreciated that.

“What’s on your mind?”

“I had a dream while I was under and I killed you,” he said honestly. Bruce’s eyebrows went up, but he nodded.

“Common theme in dreams is killing of those around you. I understand your inner self wanting truly wanting to get rid of the Batman legacy…”

“I didn’t kill Batman. I killed Bruce Wayne,” Jason said. This surprised Bruce. “And I think its because I didn’t want held down by the memory of you being a shitty father.” This struck Bruce. He knew he hadn’t been a great father to his sons. He tried his best, he was too strict with Dick, too loose with Jason, yet unable to separate Jason from Dick in his mind, and he hoped with Tim he was doing better. He tried to let Tim be his own person while guiding him, not forcing him into a box like he did with Dick or Jason. “Do you remember when you taught me how to play basketball?” Jason felt his heart warm as Bruce’s eyes lit up with remembrance.

“Yes, you were good after you stopped trying to throw the ball as hard you could at the hoop,” Bruce said. “I don’t think I saw you smile so much after that.”

“I…I want to rejoin the family,” Jason said, almost whispering as the words hurt to say out loud. “But I have conditions.” Bruce sat back. “You can’t tell me not to kill.”

“Jason…that is fundamental to how the Bats operate. You cannot go killing anyone you get mad at…” Bruce began but stopped himself when he saw Jason gripping the arms of the chair, ready to bolt. He took a breath.

“I didn’t say I was going to kill anyone and everyone. I don’t even do that now. I shoot to injure mostly. But if I ever see Joker and have a shot, I’m taking it. I’m doing what your cowardly ass couldn’t. And if someone threatens YN they are dead, I don’t care if its someone like Ivy or you even. Someone hurts her they die. You have to live with that if you want me around,” Jason said. He was sitting up straighter, ready to flee if Bruce didn’t agree. Bruce stared at him long and hard, trying to reconcile who this Jason was with who Bruce wanted him to be. The thought of losing Jason again, especially when he could actually save him this time was too much.

“Fine,” he said. “But I have conditions also.” Jason sat back a little again, listening. “You need to see someone, talk to someone. I have a doctor that we all speak to when in Gotham, Dr. Thompkins, she is great. Or, if you’d rather I can find someone else that doesn’t know our history.”

“Ya, YN told me I should get therapy and she’s probably right. Don’t know who is really qualified to treat a zombie’s mental illness but sure I can talk to this Dr Thompkins,” he said. He looked down. “I’m not giving up my territory, I won’t try to take more, that’ll cause some problems, but I’m not letting crime get how it was in North Gotham.” Bruce had to take a moment again to think. Being a crime lord wasn’t what he hoped for any of his boys, but he had to admit Jason was doing a good job there and maybe he could eventually convince him to relinquish power and instead of being a crime lord he could be a protector again. What Bruce didn’t understand was Jason already was the protector, just not in a way that Bruce could understand.

“Fine, but maybe someday we can revisit that conversation?” Bruce said. Jason nodded. “And I would like to offer you to live here again. And, if she would agree YN is of course welcomed to live here also. I have a room for her any time, and you can have your room if you want it.”

“I don’t know if she would want to move in, but I’m willing, would be nice to have a proper bed again,” he said. He couldn’t wait to find Pride and Prejudice and read it in the tub. The silence that fell between the two was awkward, and Jason wanted to bolt.

“I’m sorry Jason,” Bruce said softly. He looked to his father surprised. “I failed you, more than once.” Jason sighed.

“I failed you too,” he said. Bruce shook his head.

“No, you were the child, you are supposed to fail and I, as the parent am supposed to support you after that, but many times I didn’t. I let my anger and my judgements dictate how I treated you. I failed you long before Joker got to you,” he said. Jason sniffed, feeling some tears coming to his eyes. Maybe it wasn’t him, maybe he wasn’t always the failure.

“Um, ya, no worries. I forgive you,” Jason said. Bruce nodded. “I’m going to go get some things from around town. I’ll be back.”

“You can put your gear in the cave when you get back, we will get a stand for you,” Bruce said. Jason nodded and headed out the door. He needed to get his gear, collect from his guys, and then he was going to see YN.

You had left Wayne manor that morning, needing to get some work done. You had spent the day catching up on contacts, reporting to Jim, and just trying to keep your mind off Jason. You didn’t want to bother him too much with all the shit he was going through at the moment. He needed space, not you. At least, you told yourself that. He was a hard read even for you sometimes and the last two days that he spent at Wayne manot he had been keeping his thoughts to himself. When you were there, he was quiet, sometimes you guys watched TV, or read together, but there wasn’t a lot of talking. You wanted to know what was going through his head, was he going to stay with Bruce? Would he disappear again? Did he want you to even be in his life anymore? Something had happened while he had been sleeping and you weren’t sure what, but you worried he looked at you differently now and you weren’t sure you liked that. Now that you were home, in your room, you weren’t sure how to distract yourself until you heard a knock at your window. Red Hood stood there, geared up like he was on patrol.

“What are you doing?” you asked, opening the window and letting him in. He looked at your door, so you went and locked it before he took off his helmet. You stared at him again, enjoying the color in his cheeks, the almost red tint to his lips, the brown of his eyes. They could be green in a moment, or maybe even blue, depending on the mood he was in.

“I wanted to tell you that I talked to Bruce, we um, I think we worked some things out,” he said. You smiled wide and sat on your bed, patting for him to sit. He sat next to you, and you saw him look at The Outsiders gathering dust on your nightstand, his post it still attached. “Thanks, I want to finish it this time.”

“So what did Bruce say?” you asked. He took a breath, seeming to be gearing up to something.

“He offered me a doctor, to talk to. I said yes. He offered to let me move back in, I said yes. He offered for you to move in…” Jason trailed off and you looked at him, wondering what he thought about that. “I told him I wasn’t sure; I don’t want to force you to deal with all my shit all the time.”

“I’d have to let my roommates know and probably help them pay for this place until someone else can move in,” you said. You didn’t tell Jason that Bruce had offered again for you to move in and you had agreed this time. It would be a good move not only to make sure that Jason didn’t vanish, but also in terms of your job. That Batcomputer had so much information on it you could use and there was built in protection there. Plus, you could go to fancy parties and listen in on the goings-on of the rich and morally corrupt of Gotham. It was a win-win.

“Are you sure you want to get that involved?” Jason asked. He looked worried and it warmed your heart to think about him being concerned for you, caring about you so much.

“Jason, I already told you I am in this, I am your soulmate, and I don’t want that to change. I’m not going to run from you, I’m not going to leave you,” you said, and you felt him sag in relief, moving to hug you close. You held him to you, fingers tangling into his hair.

“Thank you,” he whispered against your neck, and you shivered a little at his breath on you. He pulled back and looked at you and you saw his eyes flick to your lips. You took the chance, leaning in and catching his lips with yours. You felt an explosion in your mind, fireworks going off in every shade as he kissed you back, gripping your back and pulling you closer to him. You wanted the kiss to keep going, to see where it would stop, or if it would stop, but an alarm went off in his helmet. He looked towards it and then back at you. “Duty calls.” He smiled at you, pressed another quick kiss to your lips and put on the helmet, waving as he darted out the window and grappled into the night.

[msfcatlover]

Y’know what? Jason deserves one non-traumatic win in my Reverse!Robins AU. I’m tying saving Eddie into the immediate follow-up to the Red Robin/”Bruce is ‘dead’” arc, and I’m using it to fully cement Jay’s relationship with Steph.

(Somehow this ended up a full overview of that relationship. Oops. Anyway, CW for allusions to the Tower fight, the Joker, & the Red Robin arc, and all the traumas one can expect to accompany those.)

After the fight at the Tower, Jason was a mess and trying to hide it. He could admit to Cass (can’t lie to Cass anyway) that Steph scared him, could admit to Damian that Jason wanted more training to ensure his own safety, could even admit (haltingly) to Duke that Steph wasn’t what Jason thought she’d be. But… Jason’s never been good at handling vulnerability, and on top of everything else there’s this irrational sense of betrayal, that the other batkids kept telling Jason how much he & Steph would’ve gotten along, how proud Steph would be of Jason, and it turns out that actually she hates him. Jason’s hero doesn’t care if he lives or dies, even if it’s by her hand. All of Jason’s siblings are fucking liars.  (Also, Jason doesn’t know what it’ll do to him if he opens up about his hurt, his conflicting feelings, his trauma, and gets brushed off. Everyone’s missed Steph so much, and it’s easy for Jason to imagine his pain being brushed off or downplayed as being at most a barrier to Steph’s return. It’s easier to just put on a brave face than find out the exact limits of his family’s love for him.)

Even after Gotham settles back into an uneasy peace, Steph the new power player & sometimes-villain reigning over Crime Alley, Jason avoids her. It takes Jason a few weeks to realize nobody seems to trust Steph around Jason; he hardly ever patrols alone anymore, and those patrols never go near her turf, someone always meets up with him if a chase takes Jason within spitting distance of the Alley, he’s not allowed on the few team-ups they have with her… and Steph is avoiding Jason too.

They do become more civil over a few accidental meetings. A few unexpected run-ins on patrol, where she basically ignores him. A few more where they have to work together, at least to win the fight. Jason decides to crash at a safehouse, Steph is already there (and a complete mess from a fight that went very, very wrong earlier in the evening), and Steph groans that she’s too tired to do this right now and can they please just ignore eachother and then never mention this again? A handful of times she rescued Jason from kidnappers, seemingly by accident, with slightly less plausible deniability each time. Once or twice Jason’s case found Steph in a rough spot and he jumped in to rescue her. The ear infection incident.  They can just about pass for friendly work acquaintances who’ve never beaten eachother so badly one of them threw up and then required emergency medical care.

(Steph does try to apologize at one point, when they were both getting a midnight snack from the same food vendor, getting as far as, “I refuse to let Batman & Nightwing set the standard for emotional honesty in my life, so I’m—” then a shootout started up a few streets over. She swore, shoved her burrito into Jason’s hands, and took off. Jay had to get Tim to tell him Steph didn’t fucking die, because she never even checked back in.) (Too busy doing emergency surgery on her own leg, and cursing that she absolutely is taking her emotional cues from Damian, because the idea of having that conversation when she can’t just disappear the second it’s awkward is more than she can deal with right now.)

Then the Joker happens. Steph stays at Jason’s side until he can walk on his own again. They have several tough conversations during that time, and there are moments when they both need space from eachother, but Steph rescuing Jason has basically turned her into a mental safety blanket for him, and Jason’s situation was close enough to Steph’s death that she needs to make sure he doesn’t die the same miserable way she did. She does go back to avoiding Jason for a while once he’s off his crutches, but only for a couple weeks (during which everyone guilts her for it,) before Jason tracks her down and shows up in civvies like, “Look, you can never see me again if you want, I just wanted to make sure we’re good. I mean, we’re cool now, right?”  (They both definitely still have hang ups & issues in their relationship, but yeah, they’re cool now. Or maybe it’d be more accurate to say they’ve been cool for a while, they’re just on the same page about it now.)

Bruce “dies.” The Red Robin arc happens. Jason gets stabbed, takes a dip in the Pit, calls Steph to ask her how to manage Pit Madness, which is why she was already on her way and in time to save him from… y’know, the other big traumatic thing that arc is known for.  I am going to cut Jason some slack and end the arc there. He already has his proof, Steph takes him back to Gotham, he crashes at her place while the Justice League tracks down Bruce. They have a Disney marathon and don’t talk about it over the most ridiculous ice cream sundaes they can make from supermarket supplies.  (Damian does find out, because he walked in on them talking around it when he stopped by to make sure they were both okay. Dami & Steph also end up having a heart to heart when he puts the pieces together and she runs after him to remind him not to take his anger out on the local criminals when he’s worked up like this. It’s only then, in the hall of a run-down apartment building at 4am, reassuring Damian that both Steph & Jason are going to be okay, that Steph realizes for the first time how small her big brother looks from her new perspective.) (Tank!Damian supporters DNI, that boy’s a beanpole, and Steph is already like 6ft tall without a Lazarus upgrade, she’s like 6′6 or something here.)

Jason reaches out to the Titans after Bruce comes home, and finds out that thanks to all Eddie’s dimension-hopping (and probably some weird timeloop/travel story arcs at some point, if we’re being real, it is comics after all,) even though Eddie & Jason were the same age when they met and Jason’s only just celebrated his 18th birthday, Eddie had apparently passed 20yrs of life at some point while Jason was gone and got dragged to Hell.

Jason will absolutely not stand for this. He calls Steph up and asks if she wants to help him bully the fucking Devil Himself.

13hrs later, Jason has his best friend back.  (Eddie’s just like, “Jay??? When’d you turn into a fucking giant? How long was I gone?!”)

[theshadyrodian]

Okay, so I’m playing Mass Effect for the first time, right? Just finished ME1 and immediately went onto ME2 (legendary edition), and I’m about 4 hours in.

Can we TALKKK about how TRAGIC of a character Shepard can be? In the first game my fshep was a colonist + war hero, ending the game with a full paragon bar. Walking into missions, she did the absolute MOST to make sure everyone, every civilian, stayed alive. There’s a line she has (ME1, fairly sure it was after sacrificing Ashley on Virmire + was talking to Kaiden about grief) where she comments that she couldn’t save everyone on Elysium, that she carries the regret with her but has promised to save as many people as possible since.

Then she’s racing against Saren, completely aware of the fact that she is the last hope to stop the reapers. She’s absolutely panicking, trying to keep her cool, protecting Garrus and Wrex fighting alongside her but knowing that she cannot die otherwise the galaxy follows her.

A horrible, distressing decision is placed on her shoulders. Saving the council or providing more support destroying the reaper. A few people who signify the galaxy’s primary races vs every single civilian, soldier, politician, criminal. She chooses the people, sacrificing the lives of a few, something she promised never to do.

But she had to, she had to, she had no other choice. Except she did.

Nights following this torn apart with screams or tossing and turning or martial practice. Anything. Anything to get that decision out of her head. To get Garrus’ cold warning circling her mind out of it for just a second: I hope you know what you’re doing, human. As if they weren’t friends anymore, as if he hadn’t progressed to being her most trusted companion in a fight.

Then it happens. Suffocating in her suit, drifting in space. She’d yelled at Alenko, at Kaidan, to leave. She’d screamed at him, no trace of their intimacy or closeness in her order. She didn’t want him to die, she didn’t want Joker to die. It was half a relief when she was ripped from the burning remnants of the Normandy, choking in her own beloved armour. She was going to die alongside those she’d murdered, practically with her own hands. Ashley, Ashley, Ashley. She couldn’t send any of her friends into death, now. Okay. Okay.

Clinical, blinding. Dark hair, interesting accent. Air. Air. Breathing.

No. No. She remembered dying. She was dead.

Then, just like that, she’s alive again. In active duty. Loading a pistol like no time had passed. Unfamiliar and weighty in her hand, fumbling like a toddler as if she hadn’t destroyed Saren herself.

Finding out she was revived by Cerberus, the corporation that ruined countless innocent lives, that experimented on people like they deserved it, like they were scum. She was one of them.

She’s thrown into everything again. You’re the only one who can. Only one only one only one. Everything is the same but leaning to the left. Everything is the same but mirrored in her vision. Something is wrong something is wrong something is wrong.

Joker. Oh gods, Joker. Normandy. Squad. Team. Family? No. No Garrus, no Kaidan, no Wrex. Tali gone again. Everything the same but different.

Her mission to recruit Archangel ends in damp skin. Sweat, so much, following the defeat of those who’d come after Garrus. Her friend. Her friend. Tears shed, away from everyone, the captain’s quarters nothing but a phantom of her room on the Normandy.

The SR-2 is merely a shell of itself. Burning, suffocating. Dead dead dead. Alive again. Like her.

Anger claws inside of her, something unreachable, uncontrollable. Was she always this angry? Her reactions so violent, impatient?

Zaeed demands sacrifice for his vengeance. She lets him, blocks out the screams of the civilians she would have once saved. Garrus watching.

At least someone who used to know her is with her, waiting for her next move. In the vast, empty space of the galaxy before her, it’s the one thing she could hope for.

TLDR; i love the way you can rp shepard through the games. i feel like paragon in ME1 to half/half renegade, but using the renegade reactions in ME2 is sooo interesting. because holy fuck imagine dying and then being brought back to life as a tool for an evil company, literally being objectified + dehumanised to the MAX, then just being expected to pick up your shit and save the galaxy again. i never really do ‘bad guy’ paths in video games (yes yes call me boring), however exploring the darker side to shepard in mass effect is SOOO INTERESTING because their morality is so closely tied to their mental state imo and just…. RAAAHHHH. can you tell i did a kaidan romance in ME1 and am progressing into a garrus romance for my shep btw?🤗

[xaphrin]

Anymore upcoming Raven × Jason works?👀I absolutely adore how you write them

Here is the beginning of my March Year of OTP piece. I chose "fairy tale" and made a weird amalgamation of Beauty and the Beast, and Eros and Psyche. So... ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

- - -

This should have been expected. It didn't make it any less frustrating, but it should have been expected. 

Jason halfheartedly pulled at the rope that bound him to the wrought iron gate, frowning. This was his punishment then? Leaving him here for the demon to consume. He had been hoping to be hanged, but this must have been Bruce’s doing - pulling at strings, trying to control Jason’s fate, and morals. Jason didn’t want to have special treatment though. He knew what he had done was wrong, even if it was for the better good of the city, and he was prepared to take his punishment.  

The world was better for not having the Joker in it, and hanging would have been preferable to being a sacrifice for a demon.  

“I want one month where I don’t walk outside my home and find someone tied to my gate.”

The voice was soft and low, and Jason turned to see a figure step out into the dying light. It was as if smoke and shadows followed the hooded figure across the overgrown, wandering path. He watched the creature slink forward, their hands encased in thick, long gloves. 

It stopped in front of him, and stared at Jason through the bars. The head was covered with a hood, and a dark veil obscured their face. Whatever was behind the cloak was intent on keeping themselves hidden. 

“I don’t know why the town thinks that I want sacrifices. Never have I asked for sacrifices in my long existence.” The voice had a pleasing lilt to it, and Jason was almost certain it was a woman. She continued to stare at him from behind the veil, and he had the distinct impression that she was frowning. “Well… tell me your name and how you’re innocent so I can get on with the process of figuring out what to do with you.”

Jason’s eyebrows knitted together. “I’m not innocent.” 

The figure straightened as if surprised by his answer. “Oh? And what is your crime?”

“I killed a man.” 

“In self defense?”

“In cold blood.” 

The figure paused, their head tilting to the side as if they were surprised. “And you have no remorse.” It was more of a statement than anything else. 

“If I had allowed them to continue to live, they would have senselessly destroyed half the city and killed recklessly.” He twisted his shoulders, displaying the jagged scar that curled along his throat and down his chest. “He nearly killed me, and left my someone close to me permanently paralyzed.” 

Jason got the feeling the figure was staring at him, unsure what their next step would be. “If you’re going to eat me, can you get on with it? I was hoping to die by hanging - you know, a nice short death.”

“I don’t eat people. I don’t even know why the town continues to tie sacrifices to my gates like I want you.” She sighed, and Jason felt the ropes around his wrists melt away. “It started nearly a century ago that Gotham began leaving people tied to my gate every full moon. I never asked for it, I don’t know what idiot got it in their head that I want you, or anything to do with you.”

“What did you do with the sacrifices then?” He rubbed at his wrists and stared at her. “They’ve never returned to Gotham.”

“Depends on their crime. Stealing bread to feed their families? That gets them transported somewhere they can be safe and warm, their family too.” Her veiled face turned to him. “Senseless murder? Defilement of a person's body? Sent somewhere… decidedly different.”

“And me? Is that where I’ll go?”

“Murder for the greater good is a gray area, especially when you have no remorse for your crime. I could send you back to the prison cells in Gotham. Let you meet your fate there.”

Jason considered it, but there wasn’t a reason to go back. For all intents and purposes, his family considered him dead. He gave a low, humorless laugh. “I don’t suppose I could stay here with you?”

The figure jerked back as if surprised. “Here? Why?”

“I’d rather not go back to Gotham. But… I don’t feel as though I deserved to go anywhere else.” He blinked, watching her through the bars of the gate. “I’m in limbo, waiting for something to happen - a choice to be made. And… I don’t want to be the one to make it.”

“Hm.”

[charlieeenby]

my partner, my soldier, my fault

jason only ever wanted one thing from bruce after he came back. bruce said he'd never give it to him.

in which bruce does the one thing jason asked for.

warnings and tags: murder, fix it of sorts, blood, gore, violence, gun violence, angst, hopeful ending

"I was a child, not a soldier!" Jason yelled. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Bruce stayed quiet, letting Jason yell.

"Nothin' to say, huh? You know what you did was fucked up! And then you turned around and put my suit in a case? And it's still covered in my blood! You couldn't even clean it!"

"Jay-"

"No, shut the fuck up! Shut up!" Jason turned and stormed away, shoving his helmet on, swinging his leg over his bike and taking off, the revving engine echoing in the cave, and when it stopped, Bruce collapsed.

His knees hit the ground, tears flowing down his cheeks, sobs racking his form. his baby was gone again and he hadn't been able to force himself to say something.

Bruce knew he'd made mistakes, but to hear how angry and heartbroken Jason had been, it broke him inside a little.

Not only had he been unable to bring his son's killer to justice, but he'd created a shrine that only served to create more pain for all of them.

"Master Bruce, are you alright?" Alfred was kneeling next to Bruce, concern ever present in the old butler's body language and tone.

"I have to..." Bruce inhaled, breath shaking. "I have to get rid of it." he muttered, pulling himself up and standing.

"Get rid of what?"

Staggering forward, Bruce moved over to the case. When he stopped in front of it, he stared at it for a moment. Then he opened the case, ripping the suit out.

Clutching it to his chest, he stumbled over to the edge of the platform. For a moment, Bruce didn't move, didn't do anything.

Extending his arm, fingers still gripping tightly, he whispered, "I'm so sorry." Then he let go of the suit and watched it flutter down into the darkness.

Turning around, he headed to the computer and found the Joker. He was still in Arkham, which would make getting to him easy.

"Alfred."

"Yes, Master Bruce?"

"I need a gun."

Alfred stared at his son for a moment. Then he nodded. "What kind?"

Bruce hesitated. "I don't know. I - something small, that I can conceal."

"And what are you planning to use it for?" Alfred was rather confident he knew the answer, but he wanted to be certain.

"I'm going to kill the Joker."

"Right then. I'll go get one. You best put your suit on, sir."

"Yes. Thank you, Alfred."

"Of course, dear boy."

The Joker cackled as Bruce dragged him into the warehouse. Throwing him to the ground, Bruce slammed his fist into the monster's face.

"What are we doing, Batsy?" Joker asked, blood streaming from his nose.

"What I should have done a long time ago." Bruce snarled, and pulled out Alfred's gun.

Joker laughed as Bruce pressed it to his forehead. "You don't kill, Batman. You won't kill me, you and I both -" the Joker was cut off when Bruce pulled the trigger, a bullet blowing through his brain and out the other side.

Blood and bone and flesh splattered.

Bruce let out a sigh of relief.

Holstering the gun, he stepped back. There was blood on his face, cowl, and chest. Turning around, he walked out, leaving the Joker's body there to be found by someone else.

Maybe this wouldn't fix things with Jason, but he should have done this a long time ago. The Joker had killed and ruined the lives of far too many people, including Bruce's family.

Barbra was in a wheelchair, Jason had been killed, and while Tim had recovered, he still had nightmares and any mention of the Joker triggered panic attacks.

But no more.

No more people would die because of the Joker, Harley would be able to heal from his abuse. And maybe so could Tim, just a little. Jason would no longer live in fear of the Joker finding him, though he hid that fear well.

Jason stared at his TV. The Joker had been found dead in a warehouse, a single gunshot wound to the head.

Joker had been in Arkham and there were no reports of him breaking out.

"Look, I'm not condoning killing, but the bastard needed to be put down. We'll investigate, but I wouldn't be surprised if the killer doesn't serve time." Commissioner Gordan said.

Jason wanted it to be Bruce who killed the Joker, but Bruce didn't kill and he certainly didn't use guns.

Right?

Jason heard his phone chime so he got up and walked over to it. He had a text from Bruce. Preparing to defend himself, he unlocked his phone and opened his texts.

I'm sorry. I know it may never be enough, but I did what you wanted.

Jason stared at it for a moment, trying to process what he was reading. Has Bruce really killed the Joker.

He supposed the only way to figure it out was to go talk to Bruce. He likely wouldn't confess over text or even a phone call.

Leaving his apartment, he hopped on his bike and sped to the manor.

When he arrived, he went in the front door.

"Alfred?" he called out, and a moment later, the butler appeared.

"Master Jason, it's good to see you." he said, smiling warmly.

"Yeah. I need to talk to Bruce. Is he around?"

Alfred nodded. "He's in his study."

"Okay. Thanks, Alfie."

"Not a problem. And when you're done, come down to the kitchen, will you?"

Jason smiled. "Sure." he turned and headed to the staircase, thoughts racing as he did.

Heading upstairs, Jason tried to figure out what to say to Bruce. He could get straight to the point, but maybe he would just wait and see if Bruce would admit it on his own.

If he'd even been the one to kill the Joker.

Knocking lightly on the door to Bruce's study Jason waited until he heard Bruce tell him to come in before opening the door and slipping inside.

When Bruce looked up and saw him, he was clearly surprised. "Jason?"

"That's me, old man." Jason hesitated, but kept going. "Got your text."

Bruce nodded.

"Wasn't sure what you meant."

Sighing, Bruce sat back in his chair. Jason wasn't sure what was going to happen next.

"Have you seen the news yet, this morning?"

Jason nodded, but said nothing.

"I did it."

"What?"

"I killed the Joker." Bruce didn't speak loudly, but it was enough. Jason heard him.

"Why? You said-" Jason stopped. He had no idea what to say.

"Because you were right. Because I should have done that a long time ago. He never should have killed you. He never should have hurt Tim. He never should have put Barbra in that wheelchair. I failed all of you and I failed Gotham.

"I'm sorry it took me this long."

"You did it... for us?"

"I did it because you... you needed it. And you are my son. I love you no matter what. And yes, I thought of Tim and Barbra and Gotham, but it was for you. It was because of you."

Jason stared at Bruce, not sure how he felt.

"Look, Jay, I know i messed up, and I understand if you want nothing to do with me, but," Bruce paused and looked at his hands. "If you want to be here, if you want to try to fix our relationship, I'm here. And even if you don't want to talk to me, you're still welcome here. Okay?"

Jason nodded, a little shocked. Then he said, "Thank you."

Bruce looked at him and smiled a little. "It's good to see you, Jaylad."

"Yeah." Jason looked down, tears in his eyes. "I wanna come home, Dad." he whispered, tears escaping.

Bruce stood and walked over to him. "Can I hug you?" he asked softly.

Jason nodded and Bruce wrapped him in a hug, tucking Jason's head under his chin. "Come home, sweetheart. Come home."

Jason sobbed and hugged Bruce back, fingers twisting in Bruce's shirt.

"I love you, Jason Todd. And I'm so, so sorry,"

[spookytragedyshark]

Danny finding jason as soon as he comes to Gotham but before redhood arch. Jason being too occupied with this kid who floated through his wall and threw several thousand dollars at him.

"Pretend to be my older brother so the weird rich people who want to adopt me don't find out about my ummmmm concerning but loving family situation."

So just Jason be like accepting the job because wtf is this kid in danger at home or from the weird rich people.

"OH warning I look like one of the rich people's dead son and him and all his adopted kids are terrified ill die a second time soooooo you have about five minutes to decide before they find us." Danny promptly changes forms and "pretends" to be asleep oh his lap. Jason really hopes he's pretending.

Jason blue screens as Nightwing enters his apartment "Danny are you okay? Were are- oh oh were you electric- wait we aren't supposed to ask that. Sorry. Ummm we are working on a lab for Danny but we weren't aware he had family *looks around* visiting? So I'm not sure if we have enough for both of you. It might take a few days."

Jason blue screens "yeah I just got here and I'm legally dead so this is the best I could get. Hopefully I can get it fixed up for my little bro" yeah Danny is his now.

Nightwing makes a face. "I'm glad he has family at least now we know he's not sleeping in a dumpster anymore"

Jason international screaming "he did what?!?"

"He memorized the garbage schedule and slept in empty dumpsters for a while."

"He told me he was staying with a friend. Ugh I'll talk with him when he wake up" Jason says face-palming.

"What should we call you? Do you have two names like Danny" Nightwing asks.

"Jay and hood" jason stays because clearly this kid is a vigilante too and he couldn't come up with anything better at the moment.

"Okay okay so warning if any of the vigilantes start histarically sobbing opon seeing you its perfectly normal you look even more like him than your brother. And get as far away as possible if you see a clown while I'm sure you can handle it the thing keeps coming back to life more twisted each time so it's best to capture it and pray." Nightwing is shaking and jason wonders if the mask has been redesigned to keep it from showing if he's crying.

"Got it creepy clown no go even before" Jason nods. He'll look into the keeps coming back to life thing later.

"Yeah Danny flips out over normal clowns too doesn't he? There's a Gotham wide ban on clowns. I'm gonna head out and let the others know Danny is crashing with his brother now. Will you be joining us on potral with Danny?"

"Yeah gotta get me a new suit first tho." Well it's a good way to collect information at least.

With that Nightwing is gone.

"Kid what did you do?" Jason pauses there's no green in his vision. Normal in the dark it's at least tented.

When he wakes up the next day he finds a note on his table and no kid in his lap.

Dear Jay

Sorry about yesterday will explain better tonight. Had to go deal the Fruitloop villain that's trying to adopt me.

At least he'll be able to askthe kid question later. For now he'll look into some of the stuff Nightwing said last night.

The Joker really did get killed multiple times.

Every member of his adopted family had killed him at some point.

This didn't make any sense. Plus his new brother was a Ghost? But clearly not? And there's a new Robin but why didn't that feel right either. He looked so familiar. Did he know the new Robin?

As he stood outside his safe house door he heard two voices.

"Dick you can't break into people's homes regardless-" a familiar voice

"They had two cans of beans and mtd. The kid can't survive on that becides it's better us than Bruce or Alfred" Okay so it's Dick and someone else. And apparently they are judging his eating habits.

"I understand buying food but shouldn't you at least ask them before " He must have made a jester to something. Did Dick buy him and his baybrother food?

"That would give them the chance to say no. Tim. It's our second chance however odd it is and I'm going to pamper them." Dick says.

Tim? Timmy? Timmers? No none of them sounded right.

"Dick. . . we should get them a Hulu or Netflix subscription" Tim says. Dick snorts.

Jason decides to open the door then.

Oh it's baby stalker. Not so baby any more. Both men look over. The entire apartment has been cleaned and there's new furniture.

Tim tears up.

"You cleaned my apartment?" Jason asks.

"Bruce wanted to move you to a penthouse." Dick shrugs.

"He insisted we give you a card incase you need anything" Tim states handing him a Honorary Wayne Credit Card. Jason briefly wonders how they got that made into a real thing.

"Also there's two stealth suits in your room just in case" Tim states.

The two get back to work putting up groceries. Jason would be mad but the king size bed is really comfy and for some reason he's absolutely exhausted.

Sorry took a while to tag did not have computer and had to do some work.

@meira-3919 @apointlessbox @mnemovoid @krzys2000 @emergentpanda-blog @overtherose @im-totally-not-an-alien @vythika96 @olivethetreebitch @slapphapp1 @56thingsinaname @leftmiraclechaos @sjrose1216 @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit @mimilikey

Danny gets fangs but he is still growing into them so when the league summons him, he kinda has a lisp

So dick, who has a kid in his gymnastics class with a similar problem, offers help with that in exchange of Danny dealing with whatever threat

Danny agrees immediately

Dick regrets it when he has to keep Bruce AND himself from adopting the kid once he shows up in his human form because oh my god that is a tiny Jason- dad don't look-

[aspenmissing]

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙼𝚊𝚐𝚗𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚂𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 (𝙿𝚝 𝟸)

Y/N, Dean, Sam, Bobby, and Tamara are all standing in front of Envy, who is tied to a chair.

"So you know who I am, huh?" Envy says, chuckling.

"We do. We're not impressed." There's no response.

"Why are you here? What are you after?" Sam asks. Envy doesn't reply.

"He asked you a question. What do you want?" Dean says. Envy chuckles condescendingly; Y/N opens a flask of holy water and splashes him.

"Ya! Ahh! Ungh... We already have..." Envy pants, "what we want."

"What's that?"

"We're out. We're free. Thanks to you, my kind are everywhere. I am legion, for we are many." Envy chuckles. "So me, I'm just celebrating. Having a little fun."

"Fun?" Sam asks.

"Yeah. Fun. See, some people crochet. Others golf. Me? I like to see people's insides... on their outside."

"I'm gonna put you down like a dog," Tamara says.

"Please," Envy laughs. "You really think you're better than me?" He laughs again. "Which one of you can cast the first stone, huh? What about you, Dean? You're practically a, a walking billboard of gluttony and lust." Dean nods in acknowledgment. "Y/N? Oh~ I see, envious of the life you dream to have, the family you wish to bear." Y/N glares at him. "And Tamara. All that wrath. Oohh," Envy clicks his tongue. "It's the reason you and Issac became hunters in the first place, isn't it? It's so much easier to... drink in the rage than to face what really happened all those years ago." Face twisted in anger, Tamara smacks him, hard, twice, until Dean and Bobby pull her back. "Aah! Whew!" Envy laughs. "My point exactly. And you call us sins. We're not sins, man. We are natural human instinct. And you can repress and deny us all you want, but the truth is, you are just animals. Horny... greedy... hungry... violent animals. And you know what? You'll be slaughtered like animals, too." Envy pauses. "The others—they're coming for me."

"Maybe. But they're not gonna find you... 'cause you'll be in hell," Y/N says. Envy looks taken aback. "Someone send this clown packing."

"My pleasure." Tamara begins to read, "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica..." As she continues, the others leave and Envy screams. Dean stops Y/N.

"What?" she says. He looks her in the eyes.

"What he said, about you dreaming of a life you can't have and wanting to have children. I-Is it true or was he just messing?"

"Dea—"

"No, just was it or was it not true?" Y/N sighs.

"It's true. But like he said, I dream about it. I won't bring children into this line of work. Believe me, I want to have children of my own, but I don't want them to be scared of going to sleep."

"I wouldn't mind little Y/N's running around. Although, they may annoy me to death." Dean laughs. Y/N follows. "Who knows, maybe your dream might come true one day."

"Well, it won't really since I'll be dead." Dean frowns.

"We won't let you die, I promise." The two then walk into the room where Sam and Bobby are.

"I don't think we're gonna have to worry about hunting them?" Bobby says.

"What does that mean?" Sam asks.

"I think maybe this joker's right. They're gonna be hunting us. And they're not gonna quit easy."

"You guys, why don't you take Tamara and head for the hills? I'll stay back, slow them down, buy you a little time," Y/N says.

"You're insane, Y/N. Just forget about it, okay?" Dean says.

"Dean's right," Bobby says.

"There's six of them, guys. We're outmanned, we're outgunned. We'll be dead by dawn," she says.

"Maybe, but... there's no place to run that they won't find us."

"Look, if we're going down, we're going down together, all right?" Sam says.

"Well, let's not make it easy for them." From the other room, Envy gives a final scream; the house shakes and a gust blows out the candles. Tamara slams the book shut and comes into the other room.

"Demon's out of the guy."

"And the guy?" Sam asks.

"He didn't make it," Tamara says coldly.

==

Later, Y/N is seated on the floor with a row of candles behind her, loading a shotgun. Sam and Dean are across the room filling flasks with holy water. They look over at Y/N, who is looking back at them. They watch each other silently for a moment until the lights begin to flicker. They look around. An old radio sparks to life, playing the beginnings of a scratchy recording of ‘We Shall Not Be Moved’.

"Here we go," Y/N says, cocking the shotgun and standing.

"I shall be, I shall not be moved. I shall be, I shall not be moved. Like a tree that's planted by the water, I shall not be moved. I shall be, I shall not be moved. Like a tree that's planted by the water, I shall not be moved." The music plays faintly until...

"Tamara! Tamara! Tamara! Tamara! Help me! Pleeeeeeeease!" Anguished, she looks back at Bobby and out the window again. "Tamara! I got away, but I'm hurt bad! I need help!"

"It's not him. It's one of those demons. It's possessing his corpse." The demon pounds on the door.

"Baby! Why won't you let me in? You left me behind back there. How could you do that? We swore... at that lake in Michigan. Remember? We swore we would never leave each other!" Tamara sobs, turning to the others.

"Steady, Tamara. Steady, Tamara, steady, steady..."

"You just gonna leave me out here? You just gonna let me die?! I guess that's what you do, dear! Like that night those things came to our house... came... for our daughter! You just let her die, too."

"You son of a bitch!" Tamara screams.

"Tamara, no!" She pushes the door open, breaking the salt line, and tackles Isaac down the steps. She lands on top of him and raises the Palo Santo stake. "You're not Issac!" She plunges the wood deep in his chest; it sizzles, and he screams.

The other six demons cross the broken salt line and enter the house. One, an overweight balding guy, corners Bobby, who backs up slowly. He stalks Bobby confidently, smiling, until he stops as if he's run into an invisible wall. He looks around, confused. He is under another ceiling devil's trap. He looks at Bobby, pleading. Bobby smiles.

"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

==

In another hallway, Y/N is slowly walking down, another woman follows. Y/N turns around quickly, her gun aimed.

"You know, I opted to kill you all myself, but the others decided to have it a team effort," the demon says.

"Greed, I'm assuming," Y/N says.

"Mmm. And you're the Y/N Winchester. The one he wants and the one he'll soon get." Greed looks Y/N up and down. "Might I add the stories of the great Y/N Winchester don't disappoint me. Your looks are exactly like they said, only sexier."

"I'm glad you see me that way." Y/N is about to shoot, but Greed uses her powers and throws her shotgun towards the wall, making it fall to the ground.

"I would have never thought I'd get to meet you, especially in this position," Greed says, getting close to Y/N.

"If you know me so well, then you'll know that I like my personal space."

"Your personal space is my personal space," Greed says, getting closer, their noses almost touching. Y/N smirks before using her head to smack against Greed's, who recoils back. Y/N punches her in the face twice, kicking her back towards a bucket filled with holy water. Y/N pushes Greed's head under, making her skin burn, sizzle, and smoke, causing Greed to scream. She comes up for air, breathing heavily. Y/N moves away and squats down in front of her, coming eye to eye with Greed.

"How are you so strong?" Greed asks.

"I'm a Winchester, bitch." Greed moves her hand quickly to punch Y/N, her fist only centimeters away from Y/N's face.

"What the—" Greed looks up to see a Devil's Trap. She looks to Y/N with slight fear.

"You see, you may not like working with others, but I do." As on cue, Bobby walks in. "Now you're nothing." Y/N stands up and looks to Bobby; she nods. Bobby begins to chant.

"Regna terrae, cantate deo, pasallite domino." Greed starts screaming as Bobby continues, "Tribuite virtutem deo. Exorcizamus te, omnis, immundes spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica. Ergi perdituinos venenum propinare." Greed screams one last time, looking up as the demon smoke fills out of her mouth and towards the ceiling. It disappears. The girl falls to the ground; Bobby and Y/N look at each other, nodding.

==

The next morning, Sam, Dean, and Y/N pile the corpses of the demons that didn't survive into a shallow pit and begin pouring salt and fuel over them. Several yards away, Tamara is standing in front of a funeral pyre: Isaac's.

"Think she's gonna be all right?" Sam asks.

"No. Definitely not," Y/N says. Bobby comes out of the house, looking exhausted.

"Well, you look like hell warmed over," Dean says.

"You try exorcising all night and see how you feel."

"Any survivors, Bobby?" Sam asks.

"Well, the two pretty girls and the heavy guy, they'll make it. Lifetime of therapy bills ahead, but, still..."

"That's more than you can say for these poor bastards," Y/N says.

"Bobby, that knife - what kind of blade can kill a demon?" Sam asks.

"Yesterday, I would have said there was no such thing."

"I'm just gonna ask it again - who was that masked chick? Actually, the more troubling question would be, how come a girl can fight better than you?" Sam chuckles.

"Three demons, Dean. At once."

"At least you tried, Sammy," Y/N says. Dean slaps Sam on his shoulder.

"Hey, whatever it takes to get you through the night, pal."

"Yeah, well, if you want a troubling question, I got one for you."

"What's that?" Dean asks.

"If we let out the seven deadly sins, what else did we let out?" There's a pause. "You're right. That is troubling," Y/N says. Y/N lights a matchbook and tosses it onto the pyre. Later, the bonfires have settled down, and they prepare to leave.

"See you lady and gents around."

"Tamara?" She stops to hear him. "The world just got a lot scarier. Be careful."

"You too." Tamara gets into her car and takes off.

"Keep your eyes peeled for omens. I'll do the same."

"You got it."

"Yes sir."

"Wait, Bobby. We can win this war. Right?" Sam asks. After a pause, not answering the question, during which they all look uncomfortable and worried.

"Catch you on the next one." Bobby walks away. "Oh, and Y/N." He turns to face her. "Next time you want to drive my car into a bar again, let me know so I won't let you drive." Y/N laughs, and Bobby gets into his car and drives away.

"So, where to?" Y/N asks.

"Uh, I don't know. I was thinking Louisiana maybe," Dean says.

"Little early for Mardi Gras, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Listen, me and Dean were talking to Tamara, and she mentioned this hoodoo priestess outside of Shreveport that might be able to help us out. You know, with your - with your demon deal," Sam says.

"Nah."

"'Nah'? What does that mean, 'nah'?" Dean says.

"Guys, no hoodoo spell's gonna break this deal, all right? It's a goose chase."

"Yeah, but we don't know that, Y/N-" Sam is cut off by Y/N.

"Yes, we do. Forget it. She can't help," she says.

"Look, it's worth-" Sam says, trying to cut in.

"We're not going, and that's that. What about Reno, huh?" Y/N says, speaking over Sam. She smacks Sam on the arm lightly and turns to walk away. Sam grabs her sleeve and turns Y/N back to face them.

"You know what? I've had it. We've been bending over backwards trying to be nice to you, and..." Sam shrugs "...I don't care anymore."

"That didn't last long," Y/N says.

"He's right, Y/N. We’ve been busting our asses trying to keep you alive, Y/N, and you act like you couldn't care less. What, you got some kind of death wish or something? I thought you wanted to have a family, but yet you want to die!"

"No, it's not like that."

"Then what's it like, Y/N?" Sam asks.

"Guys-"

"Please, tell us."

"We trap the crossroads demon, trick it, try to welch our way out of the deal in any way?" Sam and Dean look stunned. "You both die. Okay? You die. Those are the terms. There's no way out of it. If you two try to find a way, so help me God, I'm gonna stop you two." Sam sighs.

"How could you make that deal, Y/N?" Sam says.

"'Cause I couldn't live with you dead; I couldn't live with Dean falling apart. I just couldn't do it."

"And you think we can live without you?" Dean says. There's a short pause.

"So, what, now I live and you die?"

"That's the general idea, yeah."

"How did you feel when Dad sold his soul for you? 'Cause me and Dean was there. I remember, hell even Dean was in the same position and he remember how you were. You were twisted, and broken. And now you go and do the same thing. To me," Sam pauses.

"I did this for Dean, okay? You weren't there when he was talking to your dead body, Sam. I was. It broke my heart to see my twin brother almost lifeless."

"You didn't just do this for me, Y/N," Dean says. "You did this so we could be a family for once more year."

"We've lost so many people, Guys... Ash, Dad, Mom and many, many more. So, I just shortened the list for the time being. Until the end of the year anyway. I'm okay."

"We're not."

"Tough. After everything I've done for this family, I think I'm entitled," Y/N pauses. "Truth is, I'm tired, Sam. I don't know, it's like there's a, a light at the end of the tunnel."

"It's hellfire, Y/N," Dean says.

"Whatever. You're both alive, I feel good - for the first time in a long time. I got a year to live, Guys. I'd like to make the most of it. So, what do you say we kill some evil sons of bitches and we raise a little hell, huh?" Y/N smiles and nods to Sam and Dean and walks on to the car.

"You're unbelievable," Y/N pauses, smiling.

"Very true." Y/N opens the driver side door and rock music starts to play. She starts the car as Dean and Sam walk, frustratingly, to the car. Dean gets into the passenger side, and Sam gets into the back.

[aliassinvestigations]

Faith

Jessica kept herself busy on her latest case. After killing That Bastard once and for good, she wanted to b alone. She and her large bottle of Jack were the only thing she wanted.

Kate's call went unanswered. She filtered out who she spoke to by listening to their messages. After Kate's message ended, Jessica got to her feet and grabbed her scarf and coat.

That's when she got Frank Castle's message. Son of a bitch. She takes one week off and the whole city was going to hell. Faith was torn where to go first. Jessica downed her bottle of Jack as she weighed the options. Frank, Luke and Matt were doing some Super-meeting, but her friend could die. Shit.

Jessica pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed her choice.

Kate's voice clicked on, panicked and cursing. "Where are you?"

"No time, EMT's are 3 minutes out. Meet us at Rosemarie Hospital." Kate said. Jessica hung up and grabbed her wallet. She would check out Avengers tower once she knew what happened to Faith.

She took a cab to the hospital and asked the clerk if she'd arrived yet. No sign of Faith or Kate. She called them again, nothing. After a moment, she fired off a text to Frank Castle.

"I'll look into it. Busy." She didn't bother with pleasantries in her texts, just quick and to the point. The news footage was all over the TV screens in the waiting room. The gears in Jessica's mind turned as she watched.

Jessica grabbed her phone again and dialed an old contact from the FBI.

"This is Special Agent Roth?" Rachel Roth's voice clicked on.

Jessica hesitated, "It's Jessica Jones. I'm sure you've heard about Batman at Avengers Tower?" Just as she thought. the FBI were already on the crime scene. Nobody was getting in or out until they left.

"I need a favor," Jessica and Rachel went back years. Long before Raven left the Teen Titans and went into the FBI. They weren't close, but professionally they helped each other out regularly. "Can you forward me anything you have on Batman?"

"I can't. Our team is getting heat from the brass." Rachel paused and let out a breath. "I can probably get you on the crime scene if you hurry and get here now." Preferably before all the other vigilantes started swarming and contaminated evidence.

Jessica thought about it, part of her wanting to stay behind and wait for Kate and Faith, but this would be her best chance to investigate and see the crime scene unhindered by the others. "I'm on my way."

She got up and left. Hurrying to Avengers Tower.

Jessica, Rachel and the FBI were the first ones at the scene. She was no profiler or forensics expert but she'd seen enough death to recognize patterns. She walked the crime scene with Rachel, who'd looked at the explosives.

Rachel's nose scrunched and looked back at the bodies. "This doesn't add up. We're looking at a group and one of the members planted these bombs after the Avengers were killed. Whoever lead this operation didn't intend for there to be this much damage."

"The Batman doesn't need spectacle, whoever staged the bombs went off script." Jessica said in agreement. Now they needed to figure out why Batman killed the Avengers. Jessica's stomach knotted in a way she only felt when Killgrave was involved, but that was not possible. She killed him herself, she made sure he was dead and unable to return.

Rachel Roth looked at each victim, starting with Natasha. "Clean, fast and no hesitation." Batman wasn't the type to hesitate in combat, except when it came to killing. He wouldn't even kill the Joker and that said a great deal about his fortitude.

"I'm meeting up with the other 'Supes' to discuss this. Why don't you take off the badge and come. We could use a real expert." Aside from Matt, Jessica Jones didn't have much faith for the other "super heroes." Her trust in them was dashed when Killgrave first came into the picture. How they all seemed to not notice her behavior change and how she was being used.

If they couldn't tell something was wrong with someone they called "friend," how the fuck were they going to figure out what was going on with Batman? The man was the most secretive of any of them.

Rachel finished collecting some evidence off of Black Widow and shook her head. "I can't. My team is going to need me if we're going to solve this." Looking to Jessica she tilted her head and bit the inside of her cheek. "I might be able to get the Brass to let you in on what we find. But it would have to stay between us and the Brass. The Supers won't be able to get clearance." She was already pulling a lot of legal strings as it was.

Jessica shrugged, "fine." She could keep them on a need to know basis for now. At least until she knew what was going on. "She grabbed a pair of gloves and helped Rachel gather and photograph evidence alongside the CSI team. They didn't have much time, no doubt the Super Squad was going to be swarming this place.

Knowing Raven, neither of them had the patience for explaining why letting forensics do their job was more important than their over-inflated egos and amateur profiling. Even the best trained profiler was only as good as the forensic evidence collected.

She was a far cry from a profiler or forensic scientist but even with her self-righteous attitude-- and she knew she could be a real cunt at times, she knew when to shut up and let the experts do their job.

With all the evidence collected and the coroners collecting the bodies for autopsies, Jessica took one last look around and said. "Something isn't right." She shoved her hands in her pockets and watched the bodies be hauled off in black bags. "This isn't Batman. Nothing about this reads Batman." She huffed a sigh and checked her phone for any sign of Kate, nothing.

"It's not." Raven stated confidently. "The bombs weren't planned, someone deviated from the original M.O. but the signature of these unsubs is about power. Who has it and who dies for it. The Avengers were a message to us that whoever is behind this has power." Whether Batman was truly involved or not was just one of many questions. We need to start by finding out who Batman is."

"That's the million dollar question." Jessica said. "I have a hunch."

Rachel looked at her watch, then, in the shadows made out the figure of the Winter Soldier. Nobody else saw him, she only did due to being able to see how shadows moved even in pitch blackness. "Time to go. We're going to go back to district and debrief. Want a ride?"

Jessica thought about it, looking back to her phone once more she shook her head. "I'll meet up with you later. I have to check on something." Rather someone. After a beat, she asked. Rachel's skeptical gaze made Jessica roll her eyes, "discretion is my job, okay?" Really, she didn't need to be told twice not to share FBI intelligence with the Supes.

When Rachel left, there was a breath of silence. A moment of reprieve from the chaos.

The crime scene was cleaned up and any evidence that was there had been thoroughly collected. Raven was a damn good Fed, maybe better than she was a super hero.

A crunch of rubble snapped Jessica from her thoughts. She spun and threw a punch in the sound's direction. Her fist connected with Bucky's steal arm. The two of them stared each other down before slowly lowering their hands. Jessica's hand lingered in Bucky's for a split second longer. "You're slow." She said dryly. Not a jab at his reaction time, rather a nudge at how long it took him to get there.

"The feds already cleaned house." Raven was damn thorough. "You and the other Supers aren't going to find much."

"I'm not one of them." Bucky said simply. He didn't consider himself an Avenger or a hero, just a guy who was trying to make amends. He walked the crime scene, looking for his own set of clues. She was right though, the FBI collected everything. He was going to have to dig deep into his espionage training to piece together what he could.

He checked everything, under heavy rubble and any surviving tech from Avengers tower. It was leveled. With his generations of Hydra training, he'd seen it all and he knew exactly where to look for information-- better than most-- given his years of active missions. He wasn't going to get any answers here. Instead of leaving the scene right away, he stuck around as Jessica waited for the others. "How are you?" His voice hesitating.

Jessica raised a brow at him, "aside from the throbbing migraine and exhaustion, just peachy." She said sarcastically. "You?"

"Just fucking peachy." Bucky said.

[silverwhittlingknife]

Dick's struggle with anger (with bonus Tim and Jason)

Dick: But as the truth sank in, I felt a rage growing so great inside me that it felt like I was just a part of the anger, instead of it being part of me. - Secret Origins 13 (kudos to this post)

I love this quote because it's so characteristic: introspective, self-aware, and struggling with being overwhelmed by anger? Dick Grayson all over.

Dick's struggle with anger - and more broadly, his struggle with the strength of his own emotions - is a huge part of his character in the post-Crisis era, especially the early 90s. AFAIK this trait mostly disappeared in the new 52, and I miss it!

So this is a meandering post to spotlight 1) some of post-Crisis Dick's analyses of his own anger, and 2) why I feel like his struggle with his temper was sympathetic and compelling and added depth to his character.

Below the cut, panels from New Titans, Nightwing, BftC, and Batman and Robin and the things that I like about them (with bonus thoughts on how Dick's attitude toward anger compares to Tim's and Jason's):

Dick's anger in New Titans & Nightwing

Okay, so first, I think it's important to remember whenever you're talking about with a character with a temper - Dick doesn't randomly get angry. There's always a reason.

For Dick, anger is part of a powerful emotional response, not a state of being. He lashes out when his loved ones are in danger, or when his feelings are hurt, or when he's feeling guilty and pushing people away, etc. He doesn't just, I dunno, sit around in front of the TV being angry.

Dick's conflicted relationship with his own anger is developed most extensively in New Titans. Here's Dick losing his temper when the Wildebeest Society threatens the lives of the other Titans, paired with his retrospective narration analyzing the moment:

Dick: "You lousy sons - of - bi - I'LL KILL YOU!" I snapped. I tried to be calm, I tried to stay focused - but I couldn't. All I wanted was to rip off his stinking helmet and his head with it. (New Titans 75)

When Dick's mad at himself, he often contrasts himself to Batman. For Dick, Bruce is the calm, dispassionate one, while Dick's driven by strong emotion:

Dick: I...I'm sorry...I'm sorry. I know this isn't your fault. Here I'm attacking you - and you're probably just as scared as I am. I just feel so frustrated. Batman could always remain calm in a crisis. I guess that's just another difference between us. Maybe I'd be better off if I just cut myself off from all feeling like he does. (New Titans 77)

Dick contrasts himself with Batman again here:

Dick: I - I - ahh, dammit. How the hell do people like you and Bruce keep it bottled up inside you? Don't you ever have to cut loose? To let go? If I didn't...I think I'd explode. (New Titans 86)

Dick's "I can't bottle things up the way Bruce does" self-image isn't just in New Titans. It also carries over to his first starring role - in Prodigal as Batman to Tim's Robin.

Here, Dick's struggling not with anger but with agonizing self-blame and guilt - he and Tim have this exchange when he's blaming himself for Two-Face's murders and Tim's trying to reassure him:

Dick: Nearly a dozen dead already and it's just starting. What if I can't stay a step ahead of Dent? How many more are going to die because of me? Tim: You can't think of it like that. Dick: What other way is there to look at it? Two-Face makes the rules. If you don't understand what they are and you make a wrong guess then someone dies. No second chances. No time-outs. Tim: But if you put that kind of pressure on yourself you'll choke. We have to distance ourselves. Dick: The cold light of reason, huh? Distance. Maybe that's what made the real Batman what he is. I never got the hang of that.

Here's a similar, later conversation with Tim when Dick's mad at himself for losing control and trying to beat the Joker to death in Last Laugh. As in Prodigal, Tim's trying to reassure him:

Dick: I thought I was more in control than that. But I lost it. Tim: It was made right, Dick. The Joker is alive and not well in a maximum security cell. Dick: It's not right with me. I never thought I could be a killer. I'm wrong. There's a part of me I never saw before. The rage. I never felt anger like that. I feel like it clawed me up inside. Tim: It's a mistake to pull away like this. You should be with your family this time of year. (Post-Last Laugh: Nightwing 64)

I think it's worth remembering that the reason why this keeps coming up for Dick is because he values control. A character like, say, Lobo doesn't spend his time second-guessing his own anger or comparing himself to more reserved characters - Lobo just gleefully punches things!

By contrast, Dick's big dilemma is that he feels things really intensely - anger, love, guilt - but he thinks it's important to stay detached and controlled ... even though he usually feels like he can't do it or like he's failing at it.

Dick & Tim & anger (Prodigal, Nightwing)

One thing you'll notice about Dick and Tim's conversations above is that they have similar assumptions about "good" behavior: like Dick, Tim values control and distance.

Another similarity is their tendency toward introspection: Tim, too, lives in his head a lot and spends a ton of time analyzing his own behavior. Tim's self-castigating narration is less likely to be about anger - it's more often about his own distance from other people / holding back / keeping secrets / being too much like Bruce - but the inner-monologue-self-analysis is the same.

It's a subtle difference because they're pretty similar, but I also think Tim's a bit more likely to be analyzing himself even as he's doing whatever the problematic thing is, while Dick's more likely to analyze himself after the fact. Tim will sometimes do this sort of split-screen analysis where he's getting emotional but also overthinking his emotions and still obsessing about observing other people at the same time, like here:

Tim: Maybe this will do the trick. Some adrenaline to wash this sick feeling away. Dick’s watching me. Gauging my reactions. He’s not as judgmental as Bruce would be. But he’s keeping an eye on me.

The above is from Prodigal: Tim's frustrated because he had to give in to bullies to preserve his secret identity, Dick wonders if he’s hoping to work out his anger on patrol and Tim admits “I guess I am,” and then Tim spends patrol… kinda trying to work out his frustrations, but also simultaneously watching himself react and analyzing Dick watching him react.

OTOH, Dick's a bit more likely to get swept up in overpowering emotion, and then later calm down and start unsparingly analyzing his own behavior.

So for example, here's Dick upset with Bruce, losing his temper, impulsively punching something...and then immediately afterward cooling down, analyzing the rage and castigating himself for it:

Bruce is playing martyr. Keeping us at a distance. [...] Why does it have to be this way with us? WHY? Uncontrollable rage. The same rage I felt when I killed the Joker. Thought I had it under control. (Bruce Wayne: Murderer? : Nightwing 65)

(Dick and Tim also sometimes get uncomplicatedly mad when their friends are annoying them or when Bruce is being difficult, but this post is probably long enough. Anyway, though there are exceptions, in general, they're both people who prioritize control.)

Dick & Jason & anger (BftC, B&R)

By contrast, you won't see post-Crisis Jason having critical inner monologues about his own anger because Jason doesn't see righteous anger as bad. In UtRH, he thinks that Bruce can't have really cared about him because he didn't go after the Joker (tragically, unbeknownst to Jason, Bruce did lash out a lot after Jason's death - but Jason doesn't know this). For Jason, giving in to your emotions is a good thing.

This is IMO a factor in Jason's fights with Dick as well as with Bruce - Jason's constantly taunting Dick, trying to get him to lose control (and show what Jason sees as his more admirable/genuine angry side), while Dick's trying to stay controlled.

For example, here's Dick's inner monologue in their Battle for the Cowl fight:

Dick: Nothing Jason says can be taken for truth. He says Tim is dead. I'll need more proof than his word and an empty cowl. Because right now, I need to keep that hope alive. If for nothing else, then to keep me from losing control...and I won't let that happen. Can't let that happen. Can't.

And here's Jason's take on Dick from Batman and Robin 25:

Jason: Dick is different from Bruce. In the way he fights. In the way he thinks. And the way he feels. And he gets angry. Really angry. That anger, it'd make him a great Batman, if he'd let it. But he won't. He's trying too much to be like him. The good son. Man, I hate him.

I have some complaints about this arc, but I really love this voiceover because of the cool multiple-perspectives aspect. Here, Jason's describing Dick-and-his-anger (and Dick's attempts to be more controlled, like Bruce) in terms similar to how Dick thinks of himself. But where Dick sees his anger as a flaw to overcome, Jason sees it as a good quality that he resents Dick for repressing.

Something else I like: because Jason values righteous anger and thinks Dick should too, he assumes that Dick's only repressing his anger out of an attempt to impress Bruce - to be "the good son" - not realizing that Dick might value control on his own behalf. After all, Robin!Jason and Bruce argued about control, and Jason resented Bruce's restraint as being callous and uncaring in the face of injustice. So Jason's (understandably!) projecting his own relationship with Bruce onto Dick's relationship with Bruce.

But contra Jason's assumptions, even though Dick sometimes waxes in admiration of Bruce's calm... in practice, Dick's more likely to be the one insisting Bruce control himself, not the other way round. In Lonely Place of Dying (and the comics immediately prior to it), for example, the whole point of Dick and Tim's intervention is that Bruce is too emotional and needs to get himself under control.

So Jason isn't reading Dick quite correctly, but his analysis makes sense given his own experience and values.

Final thoughts on Dick

Let's pause to admire the consistency of Dick's characterization here, because the panels I've grabbed span two decades of post-Crisis comics!

1991-92: New Titans 75-86 1994-95: Prodigal 2001-02: Last Laugh (Nightwing 64) 2009: Battle for the Cowl 2011: Batman and Robin 25

A final note - for me, Dick's attitude toward his anger is as important a part of his characterization as the anger itself. It's true that you can find plenty of panels, especially in the early 90s days, where Dick's just unselfconsciously snappish - he's only human, and when he's under stress, sometimes he gets grumpy.

But there are also lots of panels like these ones where you can see that Dick's self-aware and actively fighting his anger - even when he's got every reason to be angry. And that struggle is all wrapped up in Dick's uneasy relationship with his own emotions. Dick cares a lot about control, which is why he's so hyperaware of the times when he loses it.

Look, I just think he's neat <3