#this comes from a mental image I have of Dick being really bothered by Jason’s various insulting nicknames

[msfcatlover]

Personal headcanon: Only Dick’s siblings & very closest friends can make jokes about his name without it bothering him. Oh, he’ll smile, he’ll laugh, he’ll take it in stride, but it does bother him. The difference is those people he’s okay with have all laid someone out flat with a single punch & zero hesitation for doing the same.

Their teasing is loving. They’ve all called eachother much worse affectionately, and he knows they associate his name more with exasperating affection than actual insults. Nobody else gets to say that.

[gay-dorito-dust]

Hii sweetie, how are you? Are requests open rn? I'm soooo sorry if they arent and i'm botherig you, but can i make a sugestion please? How would batboys (including bruce if possible) would "react" to missing you while on a mission? And maybe in the end the reenconter? Just an idea❤️

I’m sorry that it’s taken me this long to write this and I hope that it’s everything you want and more.

Dick; sits and sulks as he stares at his phone.

I’m joking…or am I?

He’d be mentally counting away the hours before he came back home to you once more. He tries to act professional and keep a level head seeing as how leaders aren’t meant to have room for errors, he’s learnt that the hard way many times. But he can’t help but yearn to be in your arms and fall into the deepest sleep ever knowing that you were close by and above all safe.

He would use this as motivation to get through the long, long night of patrol in hopes of making time take pity on him and go just that little bit faster, just for his selfish convenience. He just so desperately wants to see you and Hayley cuddled up together on your shared bed, or watching a movie together if you were still awake this late at night. You held a piece of his heart without even knowing it.

So when he feels the patrol come to an end, he’s gleefully beating the piss out of the goons he’s come across with a smile across his face. It’s borderline terrifying image that will forever remain burnt into the deepest parts of his teammates memory for a good long while.

The minute Dick came home and you so happened to be waiting for him, he was already scooping you into his arms and holding you close to his chest as he buried his head into your neck.

‘I missed you.’ He murmurs.

‘I’m pretty sure that’s my line you’ve just stolen.’ You joked as you ran your hand through his dark hair, relived in seeing him home safe and unharmed.

‘Well it’s my line now because I really did miss you,’ Dick said, tightening his hold on you, ‘you we’re all I thought about tonight and how much I wanted to come home and be where I want to be most, in your arms.’ He adds tired and you couldn’t help but coo softly at him.

‘Aww Dickie bird.’ You began. ‘You sound about ready for some much needed sleep.’

Dick lets out a deep sigh as he practically slumps against you. ‘That sounds like a good idea. Is Hayley in bed?’

‘Yes.’ You answered, rubbing his back soothingly.

‘Her bed or ours?’ Dick asks.

‘Do you even need to ask?’ You reply with a chuckle and from that alone did Dick get his answer.

Jason; he’s a little impatient with having to wait to come back home to you, so much so that it tends to end with him brutalising his adversaries more then usual.

Whoops.

He doesn’t apologise at all.

He was so use to coming home to a empty apartment after patrol that long nights like these never use to bother Jason, as it often meant he had something else to do other then stare up at his ceiling, waiting for sleep to catch up to him. Now that he had you however, all Jason wants to do was come home as soon as possible just to catch a glimpse of your sleeping figure on his -now your- bed.

He’s grown addicted to being at your side no matter what that being apart from you for prolonged periods of time made Jason feel hollow, as though he was missing a vital part of himself somewhere and that vital part was you.

So when he gets home he’s already dropped his helmet off somewhere and kneeling before you as you held his face in your hands and groaning as he presses his face further into your hands.

‘I’ve missed you so much tonight chipmunk.’ He admits.

‘I’ve missed you too jay bird.’ You replied, pressing a kiss to his nose, squealing when he stole a quick peck from your lips as you smacked his bicep shortly after. ‘Someone’s feeling particularly loving tonight.’ You add.

Jason groans as he looks up at you with his pretty, pretty eyes that never fail to take your breath away. The mere image alone of this six foot something man kneeling before you was enough to make you feel like the most powerful being in existence. ‘Is it blasphemy for a man to show his partner how much he’s missed them now?’ He asks and you couldn’t help but laugh as you pressed another kiss to his nose, pulling away enough to see him smile dopily at your kiss.

‘No, but it would be great to be warmed ahead of time before you try to steal another kiss.’ You said and Jason smirks. ‘So you’re telling me there is going to be a next time?’ He says teasingly.

‘Don’t let it go to your head hotshot.’ You reply, grabbing one of his hands and pulling him towards the bedroom.

‘I think I already have sweetheart.’ Jason says with a smile, happy to be home.

Bruce: keeps tabs on you during patrol whilst also remaining vigilant and dedicated to the task at hand.

Bruce was a master at multitasking.

He would always make sure you were safe and decried whenever he got a couple minutes to breathe on his own. He even has a special alert made for you in the instance where you were in danger walking home.

He even finds himself looking at shops you’ve told him about going to, but never doing so due to scheduling conflicts and making a mental note to take you there as a treat to spoil you rotten.

Bruce had more experience in neglecting his own wants and needs for the betterment of Gotham and everyone living in it. So while he may miss you dearly, he knew that his dedication to bettering Gotham’s crime rate one villain, underground drug syndicate, crime lord at a time outweighed that greatly.

So the moment he comes home to you he smiles softly as he allows you to remove the cowl from his head, gently place it down elsewhere, before moving on to wiping the black makeup clean from his eyes.

Bruce knows he could easily done it himself but much rather prefers it if you were the one to do it instead, as it often allows him to have a moment alone with you. No interruptions nor distractions could make him break his gaze away from yours.

‘You’re doing Gotham a whole lot of good Bruce.’ You tell him as you finished wiping off the last of his eye makeup that he puts on under the cowl. ‘ Not many people would be willing to try to keep a dying city alive. Im so proud of you for doing the unthinkable.’ You add as you press a kiss to his cheek.

‘Someone’s got to shoulder the responsibility of this town and I’m more than willing to shoulder that responsibility everyone else who can’t.’ Bruce replies as he takes your hands in his own, kissing the backs of them as his thumbs caressed each of your knuckles. ‘But coming home to you reminds me I’m not alone in this endeavour and I don’t know how to thank you enough for standing by me.’

You smile. ‘You don’t need to thank me at all, just take care of yourself alright? We don’t want the Dark Knight running on fumes now when he’s just getting started.’

Damian: naturally goes by his father’s example and remains focused on the task at hand.

He was trained for long nights like these but you’ve become somewhat of a problem during them.

Damian had often found himself sat on a rooftop somewhere, looking down at two people enjoying the other’s company, and immeditly starts to imagine that it was him and you instead.

He hates how easily his mind drifted towards you during patrol with his father or his other siblings but he just can’t help it but crave for your presence. It makes him feel weak and vulnerable but ironically he doesn’t hate it as much as he probably should’ve. He’s even found himself wanting to count stars with you at one point during patrol until he got him act together to take down a few goons.

He doesn’t admit this to anyone as he’s already felt embarrassed enough that he didn’t needed to be embarrassed even further by the miscreants he’s made to called his family. For he knew they’d never let him live it down for being so caught up on you, they’d called him everything their small minds can come up with for the sake of teasing their younger brother.

So when he comes back to you, he doesn’t say anything other than hugging you uncharacteristically tight against his chest.

‘Someone’s missed me.’ You joked but when Damian didn’t say anything but tighten his grip on you and huff did you change your tune. ‘Oh you did. If it’s any consolation I missed you too.’ You add as you both stayed there in each others arms.

‘Just…hold me will you…please.’ He said softly as he sunk further into your embraced and he closed his eyes, secretly happy to be back home with you.

‘I’m fine with that.’ You replied as you concede to his wishes, just happy to see him home in one piece.

[impyssadobsessions]

Resemblance pls 👀

AH! one of my fave wips >w< kekekekke I'm working out the problems with ages and locations... or if its time travel with it. BUT BASICALLY!!

If Danny 10 Dick be 30 Bruce 46 Jason 25 Tim/steph 23 cass 25 babs 33 Damian 16 Unless time travel which danny could be 14 (Rough calculations.. =w= and it being in bludheaven is the issue kind of) Dick is Danny's bio dad. And mom was actually Catlina Forge (Tarantula) from the rooftop scene. >> the not consensual one. Neither Danny and Dick know this yet though. Dick meets Danny on the streets and after sometime convinces him to come back with him. So Danny and Dick build up this relationship, finding out they like similar things and know each other's secret identity. Danny hell bent on helping Dick because he been doing this vigilante stuff alone. Dick does have Babs searching up Danny, to see what he can do for the kid. Only for them come across the fact he was adopted. Biologically is Dick's.. Bruce is the one to call and tell Dick. (Explaining this first half poorly Imma sorry~) Dick tries to mentally figure out who it could be, almost believing maybe someone stole his dna and made a kid. Supes had that happen- only for a possibility to be stuck in his head. Making him shut down for a few days. AND Now I'll show an excerpt because I wrote some parts of this scene >w<. All can change when I write it but I did write out a few scenes.

“You just puked your guts out, I really don't think-” “I'll be fine, Danny. I can't let a little stomach trouble keep me from protecting people.” Dick kept his back facing Danny. He knew the kid could tell something's bothering him. He just.. couldn't tell him. How could he? Not yet. “Then let me-” “No!” Dick visibly flinched at his own voice, taking a deep breath so he could face Danny. He forced a smile, looking an empty spot beside Danny's head. “Look, Its fine. You patrolled last night. Just stay here, okay? I'll be back at the usual time.” Danny stayed silent, glancing him over, before turning his head to the side in defeat. Dick felt so guilty, but it was pouring.. and he just.. couldn't. Not tonight. He needed to be alone. “Don't get sicker.” the boy muttered. Dick gave a nod, then turned to leave out the window into the dark and rainy night. Praying Danny just stays put as he asked. He didn't want Danny to leave, but it was difficult to be around him right now. If he really was.. Dick felt bile wanting to come up his throat. Shame washing over him, as he grappled to another rooftop, keeping pace. He needed to watch out for crime.. he'll simmer over things later.

Dick perched himself on one of the rooftops, rain pouring down hard around him. It was almost impossible to see. Yet, he watched as his hair stuck to his face, soaked with rain. He should head home. Its been a quiet night, but his mind kept replaying images of that night in his head. His throat swallowed thickly. He felt a figure swoop in beside him. The rain no longer was beating into his back as he noticed familiar cape through the corner of his eye. “What'chu doing all the way out here, B?” “You haven't responded in days.” “Days? That's how long, huh.” Dick knew he should have at least texted them but he didn't want to. Couldn't pull himself to. “Hope you didn't scare Danny or did you use the tracker?” “...Apartment was empty.” Dick's eyes widened as he stood up, returning back into his place in the rain. He searched behind them, furrowing his brows. “Danny. I know you're there.” There was nothing but the rain for a few minutes. “You're not in trouble.” Dick knew the kid was just watching out for him. Still sent a chill up his spine to know he was being watched without knowing it. They heard an audible sigh as Danny revealed himself in his phantom form. He was rubbing his arms and looking at his feet out of guilt of being caught. He floated there a moment, then looked up glancing between Batman and Dick. “Sorry. I know you said.. I just.. I..-i'll just get going.” Before Dick could say anything, Danny flew off back towards the apartment. The word 'wait' uncomfortably stay stuck in his swelling throat as he watched Danny disappear into the dense rain. Dick sighed running his fingers through his hair. He didn't know what to do. Tears pricking his eyes. “Have you told him?” Bruce asked. Dick weakly chuckled, blinking back his tears. His voice breaking as he talked not looking back at the man who raised him. “No.. I ..I couldn't .. I can't If its true then it has to be.. that night..”

“Son.. What did ___ do?” “Oh god, so it is her, Huh?”

Bruce only nodded with a grunt, eyes soft. “Its nothing-” “Dick, you've been shutting yourself in.” “Rich coming from you-” “Please. You don't have to tell me, but at least let us help you. You're not alone, you will never be alone.” “..B.. Dad.. I “ Dick fell face first into Bruce's shoulder and started crying. Bruce embraced his son with his arms, allowing Dick to do the same. Dick gripped tightly at Bruce's cape as he cried. It took him a few minutes before he could gather his voice again. He peaked back at his Father with a sniffle, before finally telling Bruce what had happened all those years ago. --- Stupid. He should have known he overstayed his welcome! Danny knew whatever was bothering Dick... it was about him. He had to leave, tonight. He didn't want to cause Dick anymore distress, besides he probably be better off than to have Danny leeching off of him.

Danny flew straight into the apartment. He didn't have time to change. Just grab his bag and-Danny walked out of the bedroom into the living room, realizing he wasn't the only one there. “So this is Dickie's little side bird?” A guy leaning casually back on the couch with black hair and white stripe. He had a red bat on his chest and a brown jacket. Something was off with him, the white hair didn't seem bleached. At least not by normal method. Danny was sure of it. “You look like you were about to fly the coop.” Said another, black hair boy, he wore a red and black outfit too, but it was more red than black. Danny stood their frozen, as the group stared at him. There was three others who hadn't spoke yet. A girl in black and yellow eyeing him down. A dark skin boy in a yellow suit, and a boy in a red, green, with a black and yellow cape. He looked the closest to his age. They mentioned Dick.. why were they all here in their costumes? I guess it be harder to realize their family. The silence dragged on too long as he heard a cough coming from the dark skinned hero. “I.. I wasn't...” Danny tossed his bag through the door, as he allowed himself to plop his feet onto the ground. “Why are..Who are..” “Big bird doesn't even talk about us!” The black and white haired man mocked as he placed a hand over his heart. “We're Dick's siblings.” “Any reason you all are here.. dressed as...?” “Father thought something terrible had happened to both you and Richard, so we came to investigate. That's when Father found out Richard was on patrol.” The younger of the group spoke, though he sounded quite older. “Oh.. no. We're...” fine wouldn't really be the right word. Danny rubbed his arm awkwardly, “So.. you guys already.. know.. right?” “Yeah, kid. We do.” The man spoke softly. Danny stared at the black and white haired man. His words were sincere as he stared at him. He had died too, that must have been Jason. Danny sighed and decided his escape was post-pone, he might as well get comfy. White rings appeared at his waist then split into two as it washed up and down his form, revealing his human form. “What a costume change, wish my suit was that easy.” Duke whistled, rubbing his eyes. Danny rubbed his arm awkwardly, shuffling in one spot. “This is your home, don't be a stranger. Tim call pizza.” Jason patting empty space between him and Tim. “A game.” The girl spoke with a smile. “Duke, look under the cabinet, I'm sure Dickie got them some where.” “Ac-actually they're in the coffee table.” Danny pointed out as he shuffled to take a sit, feeling uncomfortable being in the middle. He had to play along, maybe they'll lighten up enough and he can go. Before they realize how much pain he's causing their brother.

--- So he hangs out with them for a little while til he just wants to be alone. So he finally took Dick's offer and tells the others he's stealing Dick's bed for the night. He ends up falling asleep in clothes Dick gave him for pjs, with a picture of the Fenton family by his head because he's really missing home.. not feeling like he belongs anywhere despite how warm everyone was.. he just misses being with his family (even if parents shot him lol) plus just feels lonely.

Dick gets back and the batfam informs him that Danny might fly away so Cass n Duke stays after a debate, they stay in the living room.. and so Dick makes his way to bedroom to change. (Dick having given Bruce permission to let the others know since they both figured they would dig until they found out anyways the woes of a detective family) mix feelings still there. Notices the photo by Danny's head and tries to take a peak, only for danny to wake up. Then an awkward talk, Danny offering to move back to the couch but dick telling him to stay there, duke and cass sleeping in the living room. Danny offering the floor but Dick saying he's not going to make danny sleep in the floor. though it is awkward for him to. Talk about Danny's family a bit before Danny goes to get water while dick changes. Only to break a glass because Cass scares him (she noticed that he seemed prepared to just up and fly again. )-- basically its a night of talking and sharing a bed. cass and duke staying til both dick and danny are up to let them talk seriously =w= though they procrastinate on it longer. But their last night talk did make danny not feel like he has to fly away.. =w= b though dick wakes up from a nightmare danny over heard Duke and Cass had breakfast ordered (bruce's gift lol ) but dick woke up from trauma nightmare and so he isn't feeling it. Saying Danny can have his. Danny argues.. but dick's right, Danny can eat both (probably should) So asks if he wants him to get the cereal. )

[heyitsani]

I Keep My Eyes Wide Open All the Time Chapter 9

Word Count: 5634

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Major character death, Mentions of past rape/non-con (eventually)

Pairing: Jason Todd/Dick Grayson, Damian Wayne/Jon Kent

Notes: This is the end of our journey for this particular life.  I have more lives planned and a bit to go with the present time on this story, but this past life itself has run it’s course.  Thank you so much for reading this monster of a fic.

If you have not read When You Move I Move, this one won’t really make much sense.  So you can read that here: WYMIM

You can also read this chapter on AO3 here

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Damian woke slowly, consciousness coming back to him bit by bit as the memories faded to background noise as most memories did.  He laid there, staring at the ceiling as they shifted into place as though they had always been there.  His mind felt…complete in a way he hadn’t known it wasn’t before.  And though he knew it was only one lifetime that he had been made aware of, it still felt right.  Things made so much more sense now that he knew.  

And he understood what Richard had been worried about, even if Damian happened to be one of the few who would ever be able to compartmentalize the emotion of then and the emotion of now.  His years being raised by the LoA had its uses every and again.  But Richard had been the father Damian had always wanted his actual father to be in this life.  And even without these memories, Damian had always known Richard to be more of a father than his own.  It had not been intentional, but he wondered now if it had been instinctual.

Glancing over at the clock, he saw it was still considered early and the sun was just barely starting to rise into the sky outside.  But he sat up and knew he had something he had to do despite the early hour. Quickly, he got himself showered and dressed after calling down to the front desk and requesting a car to pick him up. With his wallet and room key in his back pocket, Damian slipped on his coat and tucked his phone into the inner breast pocket beside the small metal ice scoop he had found before heading out of his room.

“Your car is waiting out front, Sir,” the front desk employee told him with a nod.  “The driver will take you wherever you please.”

“Is the Castle grounds open to visitors?”  He didn’t comment on the surprised look on the clerk’s face but smiled when they nodded. “Thank you.”  He made his way outside and greeted the driver before slipping into the backseat.  “I need to get to the castle grounds on the East side of the forest.”  The driver gave nothing away as he nodded and headed out. Damian sent off a quick text to both Richard and Todd Jason, telling them he had gone into the town for an errand and would be back in time for breakfast should they want to partake in it together.

He wasn’t surprised when Richard immediately responded with an ‘everything okay?’ text.  It made him smile, but also worried him that the man had not bothered to get any sleep.  He replied that everything was just fine and that he would explain later.

“Mr. Wayne,” the driver called as the car pulled onto gravel.  “This is as close as I am able to get you to where you requested.” Damian glanced out the window as the car stopped and mentally took in where they were in relation to where he needed to be.  

Nodded his head, he smiled at the driver.  “This will do just fine,” he assured the man.  “I shall be back shortly, please wait here.”  The driver gave him a nod before Damian slipped out of the car and started walking.  The grounds were familiar, but different at the same time.  He was curious if Richard or Jason had made their way over here since coming back.  He made a mental note to ask them later.  But for now, he was focused on one particular spot.  

There was little movement as he entered the tree line and walked a path that had been long overgrown but remained familiar.  The image of Jon in his wedding robes walking beside him on this same path came to the forefront of his mind and it made him smile.  He wondered what the other man would say when Damian revealed that to him. Perhaps he would bring him here to show him all the places that had meant something to them.  Much in the same way he assumed Jason and Richard had done.

As he stepped into the glade he had promised his heart to Jon so many lifetimes ago, Damian felt the hush that fell over the creatures scurrying about.  It was as if he had stepped back through that spell in Madame Xanadu’s shop and he could no longer hear the outside world.

It was almost unnerving.

But he had a task to focus on and didn’t want to consider what it meant right then.  He made his way to the spot that looked like where he and Jon had been married and dropped to the cool earth.  Carefully, he tugged away the moss that covered the dirt and set it aside to return it once he had refilled the hole.  Once he was sure the space was big enough, he pulled out the ice scoop and used it as an impromptu shovel.  It had been the only thing he could find on such short notice, but as he dug up the dirt he knew it was doing the job well enough.

It took a few minutes before he was able to really break past the hardened upper dirt and into the softer, warmer lower soil.  Soil that was older than the object he was in search of.  Soil that had protected something for him for centuries.

He found himself thankful for that fact as the ice scoop hit something that wouldn’t give the same way the soil had been.  Carefully he worked his way around the box and widened the hole so he could reverently lift the box from the hole and brushed as much of the dirt off it as he could before setting aside.  With just as much care, he replaced all the dirt and the moss before putting the ice scoop back into his pocket and picking the box up again.

Without opening it, he stood and headed back the way he came.  He didn’t need to see it to know the item he had placed inside was still there. He trusted Madame Xanadu and the spell she had weaved for him.

Once he was out of the glade the sounds of the forest came back to him and he sighed, wondering yet again if there had been some sort of enchantment on the area.  When he reached the tree-line again, he pulled his cell phone out to send a text to Richard and Jason to see if they wished to have breakfast.

“Hello Richard,” he answered, amused that his brother had decided to call instead of just texting back. He could hear Jason apologizing for him in the background, but Damian was used to this particular trait of his brother’s by now.

“You were up early this morning.  Did you sleep?”

Damian hummed and smiled at the driver as he slipped back into the car, the box sitting carefully in his lap.  “Back to the hotel, please,” he told the driver before turning his attention back to his brother.  “I did sleep, quite well actually.”

There was a moment of silence and Damian knew Richard was trying to think of how to ask.  

“I took it before bed,” he decided to spare his brother the pain of having to figure it out.  “I remember the first but I have gotten flashes of some others since being awake.”

“Yeah, that’s how it was for us too,” Richard said quietly before there was some muffled talking between him and Jason.  “You’re on your way back?  Where did you go?”

Damian looked at the box and considered what to say.  “I had to retrieve something.  I will explain when I show you, but shall we get breakfast together?”

“Jay thinks we should just order room service.”  Damian thought about it and wondered if that would honestly be best.  He knew returning the ring to Jason would be a bit of an emotional moment.  “Dames?”

“Whatever you wish to do, Richard.  I do not have an opinion either way.”

“Okay, I’ll just have him order a spread to be sent here.”

“Very well, we are pulling up now.  I shall go back to my room for a moment and then come back to yours.”  His brother agreed and Damian slipped his phone back into his pocket before pulling his wallet out.  “Thank you for your assistance,” he said as he handed a sizeable tip to the driver.  And with the box in hand again, he slipped out of the car and headed back to his room.

Once inside he quickly placed the ice scoop into his bathroom sink to clean later and hug his jacket back up before tucking his phone into his pant pocket and heading back out.  He made the quick walk to the room where Richard and Jason were staying easily, knocking firmly on the door.  He wasn’t surprised when it swung open almost immediately and revealed Richard looking slightly uneasy.

“Jesus Dickie let the kid come in,” Jason called out from somewhere beyond Damian’s sight range. Richard rolled his eyes before stepping aside and Damian walked past him.  He spotted Jason sitting on the edge of the unmade bed, pulling on a pair of shoes.  Damian did his best to hold back the look of disgust at the bed, knowing there was no chance something untoward didn’t happened the night before.  “You keep those fucking judgement eyes to yourself, Gremlin.”  

“I do not have judgement eyes,” Damian huffed, looking back to Richard who was now leaning against the stand holding their television looking amused.  And for all the emotions that had been unearthed with the memories, Damian found he had absolutely no idea what to say to the man.  He wasn’t sure if saying thank you was enough or if he should have prepared some sort of speech.

“What do you have there, Dames?”  Jason asked, saving him from undoubtedly making a fool of himself.  Glancing down at the box he still held in hand, he ran his thumb over the lid before turning back to Jason.  

Holding it out, he waited as Jason’s face contorted in confusion before he reached out and took the object.  “It is something of yours,” he told the older man.  “From…I buried it after Jon passed away, in the days before my own death. With the help of Madame Xanadu and my daughter.”  A soft gasp from Richard pulled Damian’s attention to the man.

“Daughter?”  And Damian was reminded that he had never gotten to know his grandchildren.  He hadn’t been a part of so many life changing events in Damian’s life.  There would be much to share.

“Yes,” he nodded.  “There is much to tell you,” he told Richard before looking back to Jason.  “Much to tell both of you.  But first.” He gestured to the box and Jason’s eyes moved from Damian to Richard and then back down to the box.  Carefully, more carefully than Damian had ever seen him handle anything, the man opened the lid.

And though Damian expected an immediate reaction, there was none.  He seemed to have frozen in the very spot and Damian would have said something if Richard hadn’t moved forward to place a hand on Jason’s shoulder.  

“Is this real?”  Jason whispered, voice sounding strained.  When he looked up, Damian was unnerved to see the tears brimming his eyes.  Nodding, Damian remained quiet and let the man see the truth in his own eyes.  And even though he hadn’t said it, Damian could practically hear the thank you just by looking at the man.  He didn’t fight it when Jason stood to his feet, handed Richard the box, and wrapped Damian up in a hug.  “Thank you, Little Prince,” he whispered, tightening his arms for a moment before releasing him.

They separated to see Richard holding the box in one hand and the ring between his thumb and pointer finger of the other hand.  “I can’t believe this is real,” he whispered.  And Damian could see the tears in his brother’s eyes just as they were in Jason’s.  But he had known this would be an emotional moment all those centuries ago when he had buried the ring.  He had known it still when he woke with the memory fresh in his mind.

“I gave it to Jon like you told me to,” he told Richard, who turned to look at him.  “He never took it off.  But when he asked if I wanted to give it to any of our children, I told him no. I wanted to be sure that when this day came, that you could have it back.  Even if I didn’t know how it would happen at the time.”  He glanced over at Jason.  “It was an honor to have him wear something that belonged to one of my fathers.” That pulled Jason’s attention over to him, eyes wide and lips parting in surprise.  “I didn’t get to tell you then, but I hope you at least felt it.”

He watched Jason swallow and nod.  “I knew, Dames.  It was the same for me.”  And that was a relief.  Because he might not have known to worry about it in the many lifetimes between then and now, he had certainly worried he hadn’t made it clear when Jason had been alive.

“Well, now I am extra glad I had Jason order the champagne with breakfast.  We have lots to celebrate and even more after this afternoon.”

“So, you found a location for the ceremony?”  Damian questioned and watched as Richard beamed and nodded, looking over at Jason. “Then we certainly do have much to celebrate.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stepping out of the small chapel, Damian clicked accept on his phone and walked a few feet away from the building.  “Jon,” he greeted, glancing back to make sure Jason and Richard hadn’t followed him out of the building.  

“Dad just got home from a League meeting and told me the strangest thing.”  Damian made a questioning noise but said nothing.  “He told me that Batman said Robin was not available for any missions for an undisclosed amount of time.”

“Hmm, yes,” Damian confirmed.  “I am out of the country.  Is something happening?”  He felt his body go on alert and knew that if Jon asked him to come help, he would do just that.

“No, but I found it odd that I wasn’t even aware of the fact that my boyfriend was AWOL.”

Rolling his eyes, Damian huffed out a laugh.  “Don’t be dramatic.  I am not AWOL.  I am with Richard and Todd.  They called and requested I join them on their trip.”

“I thought you said this was some sort of soul-searching trip for them?”  

“It is.  Or was,” he said, not sure which was actually true. Since they had found the castle did that mean they would head home after their wedding and possible honeymoon? “I’m not certain how much I’m allowed to tell you just yet.  But I will explain things when I get back.”

There were a few beats of silence before he heard Jon take a deep breath.  “Does this have anything to do with whatever it was that had you worried a few months ago?”

And of course Jon would remember that.  Of course he would remember Damian calling him in the middle of the night to sit with him on Wayne Tower while he worried whether or not Richard had been telling him the truth about him having done nothing wrong.

“It does.  I was given some answers, and more are coming forth every day.”  It was Jon’s turn to make a questioning noise and Damian closed his eyes to picture the look on his boyfriend’s face.  “I promise, Beloved, I will tell you when I return home.”

“Dami?”  Turning, he saw Richard standing at the top of the stairs that led to the entrance of the building.  “You good?  We’re about to get this started.”  Giving one nod, Damian signaled he’d be right there.  

“Jon, I need to go.  I will call you later with more of an idea of how long until I return home.”  He could hear Jon sigh over the line and knew what was coming.

“You’re killing my curiosity here, Dames.  Seriously.”

Damian chuckled and headed up the steps with the phone still pressed to his ear.  “Well, you’ll have to suffer a bit longer.  I do need to go, Beloved.  I’ll call you later.”

“Okay, okay.  Stay safe.  Love you.”

“And I you.”  He hung up the call, silenced his phone, and slipped it back into his pocket as he reentered the chapel.  He found Richard and Jason at the doors that would lead to where the ceremony would.  The two of them looked at him when he approached, smiling in their own way when he reached them.  “Where would you like me?”  He questioned, glancing past them to the aisle that led to the waiting minister.

“We thought we could all walk down there together.  And the minister agreed to allow you to stand up there with him and do the handfasting.” A brief flash of his own handfasting with Jon came to mind as Damian nodded, agreeing to the plan.  “It’s not the traditional route where we would braid the chord, but we can do that back home, with the family.”

“That would be fitting. Are we ready then?”  He glanced from Richard to Jason and then back again, receiving a nod from both men before he walked just slightly behind them, yet in the space between their bodies.  He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but now that they were at this point he found himself nervous.  Not because he thought he might mess up, but because he was about to witness something that everything had fought to prevent for so long.  But finally, finally it was about to happen, and he was being allowed to witness it.

The minister gave a nod when the three of them reached him, gesturing to the spot beside him for Damian to stand and the younger man followed the direction easily.  Turning, he clasped his hands behind his back and watched the two men as they turned their attention onto the minister.  

As far as ceremonies went, it was simple and precise.  Richard had mentioned they were only after the legally binding contract and that the show could come once they were home and planning a wedding for those in attendance. Damian knew his father wouldn’t allow the event to pass without all the bells and whistles, even if he was still hesitant on the relationship between the two men.  

Today though?  This was just about binding themselves to one another in a way that they had not been allowed to before.  And the joy at being able to do just that was thick in the air between them.  To the point that Damian could probably choke on it.  But he also reveled in it.  He basked in their happiness and allowed his own lips to lift in a smile, though more conservative, but happy all the same.  

And that smile grew as the minister turned to him and offered him the chorded ribbon so he could fast their hands together.

Silently, he took the chord and stepped in front of the two men and began wrapping the braid around their hands in the same manner that had he remembered having been done to him and Jon. He glanced at Richard and found his eyes locked on Jason’s as they said the vows and promised their lives to the other. It made him swallow hard against a sudden onslaught of tears that threatened to spill over.  He looked so much like the man he remembered from before in that moment.  So much love, hope, shinning in his eyes.  And this was all Damian had ever wanted back then.  He had wanted so desperately to see his father happy again after Jason had died, and now he was being afforded that chance.

Once the chord was tied off, he smiled at both men before stepping to the side again so the ceremony could finish.  And that smile remained as they were instructed to kiss each other for the first time as a married couple, the sight causing his heart to clench.

“Thank you,” he said to the minister as he took his leave before turning back to the two men.  “I suppose this is the where one might say ‘it’s about time’, is it not?”  He teased, laughing lightly when Richard pulled him in for a tight hug.  One Damian returned with just as much strength. One he gave to Jason the moment Richard finally released him, as well.  

When they had separated, Damian looked at the two of them and blinked back tears.  “Thank you for allowing me to be here for this.”

“Couldn’t have been anyone else, kid,” Jason told him, tugging Richard into his side with an arm over his shoulder.  “Now, how about we go grab some food and just enjoy a little bit of peace?  For once in our fucking lives.”

“Yeah…that sounds nice,” Richard said, smiling up at the man.  Damian watched his brother push up onto his toes to give Jason a kiss and he felt his smile soften to something genuine and usually reserved for Richard or Jon.  He supposed now Jason would be included in that small group.  “Come on, Dames,” Richard hooked his arm into Damian’s and tugged him along as they began heading for the exit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With practiced ease, Damian dropped silently on the Bludhaven rooftop Jason had sent him coordinates to earlier in the evening.  Give the near dawn, he figured that Richard was unaware of the meeting and that he should keep it quiet from his father as well.  So, he had mentioned some vague plans with Jon before heading out on his motorcycle to meet his brother where he had requested.

“Robin,” the mechanical voice of Red Hood greeted him as he walked over to where the man was seated on the ledge of the rooftop.

Stopping just a few feet to his right, toes touching the raised edge Jason sat on, Damian looked down at the alley that Hood seemed to be watching.  “Hood, what’s this about?”

Damian watched him out of the corner of his eye as Jason hit the release on his helmet and removed it, setting it down next to him on the edge.  He waited as for him to speak, knowing how to communicate with the man after years of trying.

“Wing mentioned you asked about Catalina yesterday and that he told you to just let it go because it wasn’t worth digging up those memories.”  Turning his head, Damian regarded him closely as he recalled the conversation that had been shut down faster than he had ever thought possible. Especially with Richard.  Damian couldn’t recall a time where his bother didn’t give him answer.  Even more so now that Damian had been given the potion for his memories and had managed to accumulate most of them in the past two weeks since his impromptu trip at Richard’s request.  “He’s right, he deserves the right to not have to relive that particular period of his life.”

“But you are not him,” Damian countered, guessing where this was going.  Carefully he sat down on the ledge and let his legs drape over the side.

“I am not him.”

Looking out at the skyline, Damian considered the situation before looking back to Jason.  “What did she do?  All I could find was that she was in Blackgate for killing Blockbuster and that Nightwing had attempted to turn himself in for the same murder but…”  He made an abortive gesture and watched Jason huff out a laugh.

“Yeah, B’s records are not going to have the full story on this one.  I don’t know that anyone outside of Donna and myself actually know what happened.”  That meant it was bad.  But not bad as in something Richard himself had done.  Bad that he felt Batman would either turn his back on him or blame him for whatever it was.  “I’ll tell you the story if you promise that it dies here.  He can’t know I told you or that you know.  It would devastate him.  And the events are a little too close to what happened the last time she had been in his life.”

Frowning, Damian tried to think of what he could mean by that.  He recalled moments that were not good between his parents, but he couldn’t figure out what Jason could be referencing.  The memories might be freshly implanted in his mind, but they still had the slightly fuzzy quality that memories tended to have the older you got. This was no different.

“I will speak of it to no one,” Damian promised, even if it might be a lie.  If he needed to, he would probably talk to Jon about it.  But he would certainly not say anything to Richard about it.  Of that, he was certain.

Damian met Jason’s gaze head on, as much as possible with their whited-out lenses on their dominos and waited for the man to start talking.  It took a few moments but eventually the hesitance fell from Jason’s shoulders in an almost visible way and the man started talking.  “When he met Catalina, she…”  And Damian sat there, listening to a tale he would have said couldn’t possibly be accurate if he hadn’t read the files his father had amassed in the computer back in the Cave.  He wouldn’t think it possible for Richard to somehow let someone figure out his identity and then actively use it against him in such a way.  But while Damian might have blamed his older brother for the problem when he was much younger, he knew now there was probably little the man could have done to prevent it.  Especially not with Catalina playing both sides.

And when Jason finally revealed how Catalina killed Blockbuster and then what transpired on the rooftop after, Damian gripped the edge of the rooftop tightly and cursed whoever had killed her in Blackgate because he would have enjoyed handling that on his own.  His father’s golden rule be damned.

“I don’t need to see your eyes to know exactly what you’re thinking,” Jason stated, leaning toward Damian. “I would have done it too.  I wanted to dig her up and toss her in the pit just so I could.  Your mother owes me so I could have, but I also know it’s the absolute last thing he would want.  No matter how cathartic it would be.”

Damian let out a sharp breath through his nose and turned to look out at the disgusting waste of a city Richard was so fond of.  “You said it was similar to what happened back then…how could she have…?”  He didn’t understand the comparison.  Was that how he had been conceived?

“Stop it,” Jason’s voice was firm, and Damian looked over at him, startled at the tone.  “You are not a product of that situation.  He was an active participant in those events.  But after…some of the council had gotten under her thumb and convinced the others that Dick had to perform his “husbandly duty” at least once a year.  He was very much against it, as he had gotten his heir, but they overruled him, and he had no choice.  It was…” The older man frowned and looked away, shoulders hunching slightly.

“Hood?”

“Sorry, bad memories.  That last hunt I went on was because she had cornered me and told me she was pregnant and if I didn’t go then she would drink a potion that would abort the baby.”  Damian knew his eyes would be saucers if they were visible.  He remembered the Ah Ghul soldier his mother had met in the alleyway and knew the events were connected.  The man had given her something, he wondered if it was what she had used against Jason.  “But I don’t think she was ever actually pregnant.  I just couldn’t risk it.  She said that I wouldn’t be returning, but I thought it was a bluff.”

But Jason had come back, just not in the manner they had expected.

And while most of his memories were fuzzy, the ones of comforting his father after Jason’s death were clear in almost a fragile sort of way.  Like if he were to reach out, he could break the glass they were projected on. It fell in line with how painful the memories were, still.

“He never got over that,” Damian admitted, not able to look at Jason.  “It killed him.  Your death…he was still my father, but he started to fade.  And I tried so hard to comfort him, but-” he cut himself off with a sigh.  He hadn’t understood when he was younger.  He hadn’t realized he loved Jon then and once he had, it was too late to really understand what exactly his father had been feeling.  Especially since he never lost Jon in a sudden matter. The older man had passed in his sleep a few days before Damian himself had followed.  It was peaceful.

Startling when the feel of a hand covering his own pulled him out of his thoughts, Damian glanced down at the gloved hand before looking back to Jason who was much closer now.  “It fucking sucks.  What she did has brought a lot of pain to our lives, but it’s not going to happen again.  The damage has been done and we control our fate from here on out, okay?”

“Do we though?”

“What do you mean?” Damian looked over at Jason and huffed out a breath through his nose.

“I love Jon.  I have loved him for a few years now, I don’t question that.  But…” he paused, trying to think of the best way to put his thoughts into words.  He wasn’t sure how exactly the state what he was worried about.

But apparently he didn’t need to.  “You’re worried if ‘Wing and I love each other because of what was and not because of what is?”  He could only shrug in response.  “Look, I get it.  I do. It seems like what happened between us suddenly happened once we had our encounter with Fate.  Truth is, we had already been building toward something long before that.”  That was surprising.  His eyebrows pulled down in the middle and he knew that his confusion was clear when Jason chuckled.  “We had even been on a date.  Though neither of us would have admitted to that.  But that’s definitely what it was.”

“So you did not just begin your relationship because you were shown how fated you two were?” Jason shook his head and Damian sighed.

“You don’t have to worry about our hearts, Baby Bat, it’s real.  We wouldn’t have gotten married if it weren’t.”  He supposed that was true.  But it was also nice not to have to worry that Richard would get himself hurt again.  Especially not by someone so close to the family.  

Curiously, he watched Jason reach up to his ear and tap it before staring off into the distance, listening to whoever had tapped into his comm line.  “I will be on my way home in a few.”  Richard then.  “How about that Thai place?  I want to try something new.  I’ll text it to you.”  He listened to the conversation go on a little longer as he watched the city before Jason said a gentle ‘I love you’ and tapped his ear again.  

“Thank you for telling me what I needed to know,” Damian said, hoping it sounded as sincere as he felt.

“Superboy,” Jason greeted when a soft shuffle of feet touching down on the roof hit their ears. Damian perked up and glanced behind him to find Jon standing there looking a bit confused.  Looking back to Jason, he tilted his head in question and the older man just laughed as he stood and picked up his helmet.  “I texted ‘Wing to call for him to come meet you.  I need to go pick up our food and then get home to my husband, but you could probably use a shoulder at the moment.”

Damian moved to stand on the rooftop and watched Jason pull the red helmet back on, leaving the faceplate up.  “It is all right…?”  Jason gave a firm nod before stepping forward to give him a hug and Damian easily sank into it.  “Thank you.”

“Come by tomorrow.  I’ll make veggie pizza and Dick can torture us with Disney movies.”  Damian let out a laugh and nodded as he stepped back.  “Only Jon, okay?  I wouldn’t ask you to keep a secret from him, but no one else.”  And Damian was thankful.  Especially since this was such a big one.  Having the permission to share the burden was nice.  “Stay safe, kid.”

“You too.”  

Backing up, Damian came to a stop next to where Jon stood in his Superboy costume, watching the events curiously.  But Damian didn’t say anything until Jason had dropped off the building and shot off his grapple in the general direction of the apartment he and Richard shared in the city.

“Hey,” Jon greeted him with a smirk, looking over at Damian when he turned to glance at his boyfriend. “I know a place that’s real secluded and has some of the best apple pie known to man…”

And though Robin usually had fun throwing biting retorts back at Superboy, Damian was glad to have Jon there right then.  “That sounds like just the thing I need.”

[dolansmith]

Thoughts on the “Trisha Drama”

I’m going to preface this with my previous thoughts of both sides. I didn’t know who Trisha was until after I found out about the vlog squad about a year ago. I didn’t mind her, i thought she brought out an interesting perspective to the group. Then I thought she was literally off her rocker. 

I loved the vlog squad bc I found them in a really difficult time in my life and they kept me from getting too deep into a depression. While I saw some of their mistakes, I saw the best in them all and hoped for change or at least some kind of accountability. 

This is gonna be really long and idk if anyone is even gonna read this/care lol but Im just so frustrated with a lot of the people that are into the vs. Like after really looking into everything that happened, I felt kind of ashamed to be backing the vs bc they’re doing some fucked up stuff tbh. 

So lets do a basic rundown of mistakes made. 

Mistakes in their public relationship:    -Trisha: made sexual jokes about jason’s friends, started arguments about her insecurities instead of starting a conversation.     -Jason: made sexual jokes about girl’s a decade younger than trisha (and 2 and a half decades younger than him), would complain about having to go do things trisha liked doing and would pout the whole time  (i.e. disneyland and a couple of the hamilton viewings), would egg on trishas insecurities, literally dumped her on a daily basis and call her crazy when she voiced said insecurities and then would basically get back together within an hour and practically give everyone whiplash, also talked about her weight and eating habits CONSTANTLY (fucking dick)    -David: inputted himself in their relationship, recorded their fights and encouraged their toxic behavior to both his friends and his audience

Mistakes in the “official” breakup:    -Trisha: talking about jason’s ex and kids, comparing david to ted bundy (a lil wild but tbh not that big of a deal bc no one actually believed thats what she meant but anyway), the brandon thing (we’ll come back to this)    -Jason: continuing to make jokes about fucking a 19/20 year old despite his gf saying she didn’t like it, not putting an end to David “pressuring him” to making said jokes, the brandon thing    -David: ignoring his “friend” when she said not to put something in his vlog, putting his image and career first

Mistakes after:    -Trisha: constantly going on rants about david and Jason.    -Jason: staying in contact with trisha secretly. (ill get back to this too)    -David: putting his image above all else. 

Now we’re going to get into some uncomfortable hot takes. I’m gonna get a whole lotta hate from stans but tbh idc anymore

The Brandon Thing (I’ve done some digging since her video exploding at Jeff): 

   -Brandon began a relationship with a high schooler. She was underage the first time they had sex. There’s receipts and timelines set up. I’d recommend Petty Paige’s Youtube video on it for specifics.     -Lot’s of vs fans say she only brought it up when her and Jason ended so that meant she didn’t really care, but I’d like to point out that she has stated (on more than one occasion) that she voiced her thoughts on this multiple times to the group in Private and no one cared. Y’all are always going on about how she should say whatever she has to say in private but when she does and is ignored, what then? Just a thought.     -Let’s also bring the rest of the vs up in this. How come none of them ever said anything? They’re the ones still out here tolerating him. Pretty hypocritical. I’m not gonna aim anything at the girls bc none of them have Brandon in their videos but the guys? Jeff, Jason, David, Todd and I think Scott too, have all had Brandon in at least one video. They’re out here talking shit about Trisha amongst each other but are friends with a predator? Lmao Okay, cool. 

Jason Keeping in Contact for months: 

   -This was dumb.     -As someone who has suffered from mental health issues and has been in a mental hospital and suffered from attachment AND abandonment issues, Trisha would’ve been better off had Jason ended things and kept them that way. Instead, he ended their public relationship and friendship. He kept her a secret from even his “friends” and then dragged on their “friendship” for months. For what? He should’ve just given her her things and closure and kept it pushing.     -On that, why did he keep her belongings for so long and refuse to give it back until she said something public about it? He ignored her calls and texts about her very expensive things for weeks. Then she made a video calling him out on it, and she got her stuff back.    -I’m seeing a pattern here, aren’t you?

The Jeff Thing (did some digging on him too...by digging i mean google):

   -This one makes my blood boil for several reasons. ESPECIALLY AFTER TODAYS VIDEO. It rlly put everything into perspective omg.     -The starbucks story that Trisha told was the same everywhere: ‘I saw Jeff at Starbucks and said hey. He ignored me and was such a pussy he left his order at the counter after having paid.’ His masculinity is SO FRAGILE that he twisted it into ‘I’m not gonna be fake with someone who fucked over my friend. Can’t fuck them up either tho lol’ and ‘i’m not gonna make shit easy on you, i’m gonna make them feel weird’. What a baby lmfao    -His assault joke rubbed me the wrong way. I know Jeff’s schtick is the whole “I was in jail for a few months and I was a drug dealer I’m big and scary” blah blah blah. Listen, I’ve met men that have been in jail longer (he was in for only 4 months he once said I think) and had worse upbringings than he did and HAD to do some of the shit Jeff was doing (which lemme remind yall, was on his own accord). The men that I know that have lived similar and worse lifestyles than Jeff, would never and I REPEAT NEVER, make a joke about assaulting a Woman over “fucking my friend over”, when the situation was what it was. Which was: an exposé, basically. That’s some petty shit, it’s for the birds. (Also, Todd and Jay’s jokes about the assault joke? Ain’t it. They were just as bad as Jeff’s original joke.)    -Do y’all know what Jeff’s been to jail for? He tried to assault someone that worked at a 7-Eleven after he and his dumbass friends were fucking around in the store and got yelled at and ended up assaulting a woman walking by.     -He also talked about her mental health issues. Maybe he wasn’t talking about her specifically, but it was REAL specific. He said that it was crazy that a “psychopath” that’s been in a mental hospital still had a platform on youtube. That they shouldn’t have one. Trisha made a really good point of, “some could say the same about your time in jail.” Because they could. And mental health can be managed. So can your outrageous anger issues, Jeff. This was really ignorant on his part.     -I also want to remind everyone about the time he said he didn’t understand how men could be sexually harassed. That all you had to do was say no.    -He says he likes to “make things awkward” and make everything a joke when really he’s just being ignorant and doesn’t want to get real hate when he gets inevitably called out

Trisha’s “Dirt”:

   -Trisha doesn’t know anything that the rest of us don’t. We’re just all IGNORING it. Why? Bc David’s charming and Todd and Jeff are pretty? Ridiculous. This is the last vlog squad post i’m going to make because I’m done. So the following is going to be a rundown on the “dirt” on them that made me come to the decision that I wouldn’t be supporting them anymore. I’ll also put my own thoughts and comments underneath in case y’all are curious. Staying silent about these situations is the same as complacency.     -Brandon Calvillo: Covered this but to reiterate, he dated a high schooler and slept with her/dated her knowing her age. He then lied about it in a video to cover his tracks.           *I am well aware that she was months from being 18. This doesn’t make it okay. What does a 26 year old have in common with a 17 year old? And just because this is the first girl we know about, doesn’t mean she’s the first at all or even the last.     -Durte Dom: He was accused of assault at vidcon.            *This hasn’t been confirmed. But it also hasn’t even been discussed. This girl is getting hate from vs stans and the vs have stayed silent. I can understand not wanting to show attention to people who make accusations for clout, but assault is serious and should at the Very Least be acknowledged privately or legally bc it could be considered slander. Don’t let your fans (or your friend’s fans) do your dirty work.      -Jeff Wittek: He has major anger issues. Makes jokes about assaulting women after actually having assaulted one in the past (accidentally but doesnt take away from what he did) and has made jokes about sexual harassment against men not being viable             *tbh he has a “pretty white boy complex”. Meaning he knows that he can say and do what he wants and most people will let it slide bc he’s a pretty white boy. No education needed.     -Jason Nash: Is friend’s with a predator, is quite possibly setting an awful example to his kids, namely his daughter.          *Listen. I’m a feminist, a woman should be able to decide what to do with her body after she turns 18. But being groomed and hit on by grown ass men when you’re barely legal, ain’t it. If you want to and feel ready, there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it BUT 9.9 times out of 10, that fucks a woman up in the future. One day, she is going to see her dad hitting on a 19/20 year old Tana and see that her dad’s  26 year old best friend dated a 17/18 year old and lied about specifics and might think that’s normal and how men should treat her. I won’t support that shit.

And as for all the other member’s of the vs, they either don’t care enough about what their friends or friends’ friends are doing, or they’re not bothering to even consider it’s happening and that isn’t cool either. 

Be better. 

As for Trisha, she’s had her own faults and fuckups, no doubt about it. I’m not a big fan of her content but i FELT for her. Her name has been dragged through the mud because of this more than anything else and it doesn’t sit right with me when her only real fuckup in THIS situation was bringing the ex and kids into it the way she did. Everything else either could have been avoided or she had a right to say to the public since they put everything about the relationship out in the open as much as she did. If Jason and David had reached out and admitted their own mistakes and asked her to stop talking about them online the way she was, she probably would’ve chilled out. What happened, what they and their fans (us) have done has been nothing short of traumatizing, no doubt. The way these 30 year old boys (Jeff, Todd, Scott and Jay) are reacting to her? They’re the real joke if we’re being honest.

Note: I’d also like to say that if you do still support them and have differing views than I do, I’ll respect you and your views no matter what. Everyones entitled to their opinion and thoughts. These are just mine. 

[violetsmoak]

maybe this is how it starts [2/?]

Cover & Disclaimer 

Author’s Note: Sorry it took so long since the last update. I ended up deciding not to pants this thing and just do whatever with the chapters, but I went and found an honest-to-goodness plot. Go me! So, to further said plot, have some Jason and Roy Bromance. Because as far as I’m concerned, the best jaytim fics I’ve read always have Roy and Jason doing their girl-talk thing.

The Red Hood’s base of operations is in a bomb shelter beneath the One Police Plaza in Gotham. It’s chilly inside, which doesn’t bother Jason under normal circumstances, but then everything is pissing him off today.

There are a lot of things Jason has learned to endure over the years—torture, death, total mental and physical exhaustion, unending moral dilemmas…

All of them are just more of what life has to throw at him and what he responds to with a smirk and the middle finger. Physical limitations are something for lesser men—men who were never trained by Batman or the League of Assassins.

And yet…

If there’s anything that might drive him almost to the point of Lazarus-Pit-crazy, it’s itching.

“It’s decided. I’m going to kill Ivy,” he growls, slopping another handful of aloe vera over the expanse of his arm, leaning back so as not to drip the green gel onto his keyboard.

Whatever was in the venom from the vampire-plant hybrids, the rash has lingered for the whole week without a sign of improving. He has a peevish hope that Tim is having a worse time of it, since it’s his fault Jason is even in this situation to begin with.

Can’t even fucking go on patrol without wanting to tear my skin off every goddamn minute.

He’s been trying to fill the time doing the whole research schtick for a few of his ongoing cases but has barely even been able to focus on that. It’s irritating and leaves him alone with his thoughts much more than he’s comfortable with.

It’s been three months of pushing down any acknowledgement of what happened. That for the first time in his life, Dick Grayson is dead. Not somewhere being Nightwing or filling in as Batman, but dead. His predecessor-mentor-not-brother-but-yeah-sorta-brother got himself unmasked and killed.

Jason is not entirely sure how to deal with the new reality, and it’s possible he’s been more adrift than he would ever admit. But the cure to that is denial and distraction, which is why when the giant screen in front of him fills up with a picture of Roy making finger guns, he accepts the vid call.

“I swear to God, Roy, if you’re calling to tell me you’ve been evicted again and need money,” he trails off, feigning annoyance despite being glad for the interruption.

“Hello to you too, sweetheart,” his best friend replies dryly, fiddling with something metallic and sprouting wires. He squints at Jason. “Dude, what’s with your arm? That rash is fugly.”

“Compliments of a soon-to-be-dead Poison Ivy and an idiot in a cape.”

“Heh. Which idiot?”

“The one who’s supposed to be the smart one.”

Roy raises an eyebrow, but doesn’t ask for clarification, either because he knows who Jason is talking about or because he knows he won’t get an answer. “That’s more polite than you’d usually put it. You feelin’ okay?”

“No, I’m not feeling okay, I’ve spent the last week scratching my nuts off!”

“Man, come on! TMI!”

“You know what I mean.” Jason rubs his back against his chair, seeking relief from a spot he can’t reach to scratch. “Fuck Ivy…”

“I thought you liked Ivy.”

“Respect. I respect Ivy. I don’t like her.”

“How did you even end up running into her? I mean, greenspaces aren’t exactly your thing.”

“I told you already, I was saving the moron in the cape. Who’s damn lucky I did, because I wasn’t even going to take that route last night.”

All because he’d (not that he’d admit it) been thinking about Dick. Which he had been for months now, a fact which he’s pretty sure influenced him to help Bruce and the rest of them go on that suicide mission to get back Damian Wayne’s body. He’s still a little in shock that the whole thing ended in the kid’s resurrection and not a second explosive and painful death. But then, he’s living proof that it’s possible, so maybe he shouldn’t be.

Roy must sense the direction of his thoughts, because he changes the subject. “So, have you given anymore thought to that idea I had?”

Jason gives himself a mental shake.

“No. Because going after Kori reeks of desperation, and you’re better than that.”

“Am I? Am I really?” Jason exchanges looks with Roy, who then sighs. “Fine. So how long are you hanging around Gotham? Because, by my count, this is the longest consecutive amount of time you’ve spent there since before you died. Family hasn’t grounded you, have they?”

Jason scowls. “They’re not my family.”

“Right, okay, sure. That’s why whenever there’s a fart jammed out that way, you go running—shit!” One of the devices he’s working on emits a minor explosion.

“I go back because it’s my city and I have stuff to take care of.”

Rapists and human traffickers won’t break their own kneecaps.

“And because the Bats are your family.”

“I’m going to shoot you.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time.”

“That was an accident, and you know it. This time it would be on purpose,” Jason grunts, using the heel of his hand against his arm. He winces when the action brings on equal parts of relief and pain, since his skin’s already been clawed almost raw.

Roy snorts in disbelief.

Jason pauses for another moment, considering his best friend, and then decides what the hell, they aren’t the type to keep secrets from each other.

“Demon brat’s alive,” he says at last.

Roy startles, dropping his soldering iron. “Whoa. No shit?”

He was the one who showed up to drag Jason out of the bars he’d practically destroyed in the days directly following the kid’s death. He knows the exact depths to which Jason was or wasn’t affected.

“No shit. It was this whole…thing. Ninjas and boom tubes and a Chaos Shard.” He doesn’t mention the overly-sentimental team-up with the Bats, or the surreal “birthday” dinner afterward. Damian and Tim had been almost pleasant to each other, and Jason had caught Bruce watching him with such overwhelming gratitude in his eyes he’d had to duck out early.

It’s still weird to him when he sees anything other than judgement in the older man’s eyes.

Roy whistles. “Damn. He okay?”

“I didn’t really stick around for the group therapy session. I’d say so—the little shit got superpowers when he woke up. I figured I should make myself scarce before he took it into his head to throw me like a javelin.”

“Didn’t we do that once with Kori?”

“Kori’s end goal wouldn’t be for me to go splat.” 

“Not unless you left the toilet seat up again.” 

“That was you.” 

“Can’t prove it.” 

“Of the two of us, who was practically raised by a British butler that wields guilt and disapproval like the Lasso of Truth? You think I will ever in my life dare to leave a toilet seat up?”

Roy sniggers and Jason smirks, and the tension hanging in the wake of their conversation fades somewhat. Humor is how they have always dealt with this kind of stuff.

“Still, that’s pretty heavy,” Roy says after a beat, reaching for a pair of wire strippers and electric tape. “I get why you’ve been hanging around there. I mean, what is this, three out of four now? Four out of five?”

“Huh?”

“Dead Robins. You should start a club.”

“Who says we haven’t?” Jason grumbles. “I’m the goddamn president.”

“I’m just saying, I see why you’re staying. Going by the balance of probability, the moron in the cape is probably next. It’s, like, his turn or something. So I get it—you want to keep an eye out.”

Jason narrows his eyes. “Drake’s not going to die if I have anything to say about it. No one gets to kill my replacement except me. When I feel like it.”

If I feel like it.

He and Tim have sort of come to an understanding of sorts in the past few years, if only in a professional sort of way. Exchanging information or giving the heads-up on a rogue showing up in each other’s territory. Occasionally sharing a bite to eat.

And saving each other’s lives, apparently.

The idea that a grisly death awaits Tim just because he had the misfortune of being a Robin bothers Jason more than he likes.

“When you feel like it?” Roy prompts. “You’re just trying to sound tough to cover up the other thing.”

“What other thing?”

“The thing where you feel like you have to step into big brother’s shoes now,” Roy informs him. “With Dick gone, that’s you, man.”

Jason physically jerks away from the screen, staring at Roy. “Fuck no. That’s not my deal.”

“If you say so.”

And just…no.

He jokes about it, sure. Calls them ‘bro’ or makes pointed remarks related to family or siblings, but it’s always tongue-in-cheek and more mocking than serious. It’s just to get a rise out of them, to remind them how he really doesn’t fit in with Bruce’s messed up idea of a ‘family’.

Besides, he’s pretty sure even if he wanted it, he’d be a shit older brother—he doesn’t have any of Dick’s likeability or sense of responsibility or general concern for everyone’s welfare. And Bruce’s kids all have their own level of fucked-up that, coupled with his own many and varied list of issues, could very well land them all in Arkham.

No way he’s going back there.

“Sorry, you’re breaking up,” Jason says flatly, and terminates the call before Roy can get too smug or think he’s actually on to something. He glares at the blank screen for a few minutes, and then queues up all the overseas cases he’s been flagging the past week.

Time to get the hell out of dodge. Before I get called to babysit or something…

֍

Tim is not keeping tabs on anyone.

At least, no more than usual.

The myriad of windows open on his workplace computer screen, showing several different sources of surveillance footage, is simply his method for remaining prepared for whatever crisis is inevitably coming.

(There’s always a crisis coming.)

And he’s definitely not watching out for Jason, even if his eyes keep drifting toward the grainy image of the Red Hood followed by traffic cams in Montreal, where he’s infiltrated a human-trafficking operation.

Tim justifies it as pre-emptive damage control, in case he needs to send someone to save Jason from himself.

(Never mind that Tim never did this before three months ago, never mind that Jason’s mellowed out a lot in the past two years and has developed something almost in the realm of good judgement, never mind that—)

As if to make the point to himself, Tim focusses his attention on the other windows. Damian at Wayne Manor, singlehandedly lifting the roof onto what appears to be a new pet enclosure while Alfred watches, bemused. The kid still has superpowers, which is another mark against the existence of a higher power—what kind of benevolent force would give the brat heat vision?

Bruce isn’t in Gotham; last Tim heard, he’s gone to the Hall of Justice, probably to figure out how to drain off Damian’s powers. There are no camera there (and if there were, Bruce would probably have disabled them by now), but the tracer Tim slipped into the cowl the last time they met is still going strong.

Tim pretends he doesn’t know that Bruce knows he put it there; he hates feeling like he’s being humored.

Steph is in class, Cass is out of the country, Barbara is at a information management conference in Metropolis.

They’re all fine.

And he’s not keeping tabs.

He just has to be ready. In case he needs to shut down the power for a city block or remotely cut camera feed, if it looks like someone is about to die or be unmasked.

Not again. Never again. Not like Dick, won’t let it happen—

The speaker on his office phone trills. “Mr. Wayne? Your eight o’clock is here.”

Tim shakes off his disjointed thoughts and reaches for the intercom button. “Send him in.”

Warrick Powers has a face Tim would very much like to punch.

Maybe if he was in uniform, he would find an excuse, but at the moment, he is fully immersed in his Timothy Drake-Wayne persona. Any attack on the CEO of Powers Technology would not only bring a few dozen lawyers down on him and Wayne Enterprises, but it would also wreak havoc on Tim’s image as a feeble, recovering cripple.

Which would be a waste, since he’s been cultivating that image for over two years.

His crutches are long gone, but he still carries a cane with him everywhere for ‘bad days’. It’s not even really a lie, since there are mornings after he hasn’t slept in thirty-six hours where he needs something to fidget with. Some kind of prop to offer a believable reason for his pauses. It’s better if people think he’s reliving the shooting that supposedly injured him, rather than pay attention to the obvious sleep deprivation or concealed injuries. 

“Tim! Great to see you again,” Powers declares in a false voice that would do even Brucie Wayne proud. “Glad you could fit me in this morning.”

“It just so happened I needed to speak to you about something,” Tim replies with an insubstantial smile.

“Excellent, excellent,” Powers says vaguely, by-passing the usual polite handshake and sprawling in one of the chairs across from Tim. He hasn’t said so out loud, but it clearly bothers him having to do business with a teenager. “I just wanted to come by and tell you that our little project is right on schedule. Ahead of it, in fact…”

Out of the corner of his eye he watches the footage of Jason outside a restaurant in Chinatown and he suppresses the urge to swear.

The idiot had better not be messing with the Ghost Dragons, because I cannot deal with that right now.

Though, the older man is in civvies, so it’s entirely possible he’s just grabbing lunch.

And…nope. Wishful thinking. Damn it, Jason.

If his suspicions about what’s about to happen onscreen are correct, Tim’s going to have to put an end to this meeting faster than he expected.

Powers is still rambling.

 “…we could move up the launch by a month or two without sacrificing quality. Maybe even release it as a limited-edition prototype. For a higher price, of course, but people have been waiting on this model for five years now, they’d pay for it.”

The older man chuckles; it doesn’t reach his eyes, which remain cold and calculating as a snake’s. The overall effect makes Tim’s skin crawl, in a different way from the lingering phantom itch of Ivy’s toxin.

(Stupid mistake. Shouldn’t have been anywhere near Robinson Park without backup, even if it was recon. Another stupid mistake—)

“Thank you for the progress report, Mr. Powers,” Tim says, cutting his thoughts off before they can become too rambling, “but that was not the reason I agreed to see you today.”

“Oh?” Powers looks politely interested.

“I received a tip two weeks ago from a concerned individual that Powers Tech has been dumping toxic waste,” Tim tells him, careful to keep his inflection mild. The term ‘concerned individual’ is loose, but it was Ivy that mentioned it to him and told him to fix it or she would. He doesn’t remember if that was before or after she let her plants have their fun, though. “We take that kind of accusation very seriously. The entire reason Wayne Enterprises agreed to collaborate with your company was because you’ve boasted about your eco-friendly containment practices.”

Powers expression doesn’t betray anything; in fact, the way his eyebrows raise, and his mouth turns downward in confusion, anyone else might consider him legitimately affronted.

“And you believed it? Come on, Tim, I’m sure WE gets half a dozen similar accusations a week. It’s just the granola movement trying to shut down our operations. They’d be happy if we still did things the Amish way.”

“Maybe. But those accusations don’t usually come with evidence to back them up.” Tim slides several folders across the desk. “Only a percentage of your industrial waste is being disposed of responsibly, I imagine for publicity’s sake; the rest, you’re burying in the sublevels of your main facility.”

Powers lips thin ever so slightly. “Hearsay.”

“We do our due diligence in these matters. Some of your employees were willing to confirm the report—anonymous now, but willing to come forward in the event of a formal investigation,” Tim says. “There was also an undercover investigation commissioned by…outside parties.”

No need to admit he was the outside party.

“The results indicate that not only are your containment measures insufficient, but the run-off from that waste is close to entering the groundwater, which could jeopardize Gotham’s entire water supply. Possibly even on a global scale if it gets to the ocean and reacts with the salt water.” He holds his hands in front of him. “I’ve held back on having this released to the public as a curtesy to you to get your affairs in order today.”

“What?” Powers growls and there’s not even an attempt to keep his charming mask on.

“I’ve asked you here so that we can finalize the dissolution of Wayne Enterprises partnership with Powers Tech,” Tim continues. “It’s a fairly cut and dried situation, so there was no need to call in the board.”

“That isn’t going to happen—”

“In exchange for an uncontested dissolution of our agreement and a clear plan to fix the problem, I continue to keep this information from going public—along with several other discrepancies I’ve discovered in your company, many of which are such blatant health-code violations that if they’re made public, you’ll be declaring bankruptcy by nine o’clock tonight. Personally, that isn’t the path I’d choose; your recent indiscretions aside, Powers Tech has the potential to do great things—if it’s being run by someone with half a conscience.”

Which you clearly don’t possess.

“You’d do well to watch your tone, boy,” Powers growls. “Does your father know the career suicide you’re committing right now?”

“He trusts my judgement or I wouldn’t be sitting at this desk,” Tim shrugs, unconcerned, and slides two more folders across. “These are to dissolve our partnership. Feel free to have your lawyers look it over, but I am serious about the nine o’clock deadline. If you intend to keep your company operating for the foreseeable future, you will sign it and send it over before then. You’ll also make an announcement that you intend to step down from your position as CEO, since you are taking full blame for your company’s blatant disrespect for environmental laws.”

“I will do no such thing! That’s tantamount to an admission of guilt—and I have no intention of going to jail over these…these fabricated accusations.”

“The choice is yours, of course. And you are pretty well-off, so even though this is an open-shut case, I’m sure you’ll land in a white-collar institution that’s nicer than most of Gotham’s criminals enjoy. But make no mistake—either you come forward on your own, which will be helpful in negotiating a lesser sentence, or you wait for the evening edition of the Gotham Gazette, which I know won’t paint you in a very favorable light.”

“This is blackmail.”

“Actually, it’s extortion,” Tim corrects him, reaching for his half-filled coffee cup. As Powers eyes gleam at him, a small smirk forming, Tim continues, “Oh, and just so you know, anything we’ve said in this meeting is completely confidential. I took the liberty of installing a scrambler in this office, which knocks out all mechanical devices. Your phone and the recorder in your pocket won’t have caught any of our conversation. To ensure neither of us chooses to play any unfortunate quotes out of context, of course.”

“Of course,” Power grunts tightly.

“I would go with the first option,” Tim says, switching back to the previous conversation with ease. “This way your company’s stocks won’t fall too badly. And this way your son has a chance of being a better man and better CEO than you. I look forward to discussing the changes with Derek at the Green Energy Expo in Hong Kong next week.”

Powers looks as if he’s about to jump across the table and throttle Tim, who casually reaches for his intercom, “Mr. Powers will be leaving early, please ensure someone can escort him down to the lobby.”

“I can find my own way,” Powers snaps, shoving his chair back and grabbing the folders Tim gave him. “And this isn’t over, you jumped-up little brat. You’re going to regret this.”

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that before,” Tim replies, adopting the cold, distant smile of Janet Drake. “Have a nice day, Mr. Powers.”

As soon as the older man has stormed from the office, Tim lets out a breath he hadn’t even noticed he was holding. It only occurs to him when the tight feeling in his chest dissipates. He leans back heavily in his chair, feeling like he’s run a marathon, which makes no sense. It’s not the first time he’s had to strongarm a partner or competitor.

He notices he has been bouncing his knee up and down under the desk, and scowls. Good thing Powers didn’t notice that, or he might have taken it as a weakness.

He’s hungry, but the effort involved in procuring food is too much. The stupid cane is not worth it, and despite his stomach complaining, he has no appetite. Not worth it.

On screen, Jason flips a table through the restaurant window. 

Damage control, Tim decides, relegating his hunger to the back of his mind and preparing to scrub any footage of Jason’s activities. It’s not keeping tabs.

So, yeah, Tim’s in denial and Jason doesn’t do warm and fuzzy family feelings. And Roy is way more observant than he would like heehee.

Sorry there was a lack of direct jaytim interaction this chapter, but I’d kind of like this fic to be more than boy-broods-about-other-boy-every-chapter. I find it makes for a more authentic slow-build relationship if they also have other stuff going on in their lives. But next chapter, we shall have dialogue once more!

TBC

NEXT CHAPTER ( in progress)

[thepoppypress]

The Battleline Between Good and Evil (Runs Through the Heart of Every Man)

Chapter 5: 

Dick crouched to the ground of the newly destroyed building, bodies scattered around him, large smiles painted on their faces as the last remnants of their life before it ended. Tim looked up from his phone, a furrow between his brows.

“Jim says that he can get us another ten minutes before cruisers show up.” Jason sat atop a table, a seemingly bored expression on his face but his brothers knew better. A sharp eye roved over the scene, and it was increasingly obvious who had attacked the shop.

“I don’t get it,” Dick muttered, an intense look on his face. “Joker’s been underground for the better part of this year, after what happened with Jay.” Jason grinned ferally at the remembrance of what had happened last year.

‘Fun,’ the eviller part of his mind muttered and he wholeheartedly agreed.

“Anything to note, Timmers?” Jason drawled as he leaned back on his arms, his shortest brother glancing at him irritatingly.

“We already know who did it. The question is why? Why would the Joker attack a seemingly random store?” Tim sighed and snapped photos of relevant scenes, pocketing his phone when he was done. “Whatever. We can deal with this later. Dick, we have a meeting with Zee later about the drug and arms trades with the Russians in about an hour and our ten minutes here is almost up. Let’s go.”

The brother’s nodded and headed out together, and as Jason started to go a separate way, not at all interested in the dealing side of his family’s mob, the words out of Dick’s mouth caused him to pause.

“Wait, I know this place,” Dick noted, blue eyes darting around with a grin slowly building on his face. “This is where Peter lives.” Jason turned around, his expression matching Dick’s: predatory.

“He lives here?” Tim raised an eyebrow at the dinginess of the place around them. “I can’t decide whether or not it’s apropos of him.”

“I know. I tried to give him some money and he just gave it back.” Tim hummed.

“What did Slade say? ‘Looks like my sweetheart doesn’t accept charity very well?’”

“Also, isn’t that kinda irresponsible of the Golden Son of Gotham?” Jason mocked, causing Dick to smirk. The handsome man crossed his arms and observed his surroundings.

“Like it really puts a dent in our plans. It was barely anything.” Tim looked up at his older brother, blue eyes curious as he ruffled his long hair, scowling when it got snagged in a knot. He needed a shower when he got home.

“How much was it exactly?”

“100,000 US dollars.” Neither of his younger brothers blinked.

“I know. That’s what I said.”

-----

“You sure this is where that chick lives, Timbo?” Jason asked with trepidation as they dodged another seedy person, eyeing them underneath a ballcap as they slinked past. Tim didn’t even look at the person, squinting at his phone, texting Jim about what he had on Harley Quinn.

“About 99.9 percent sure that this is where she lives. Considering that she’s the only friend Peter Parker has right now that isn’t associated with us, he’s sure to be living with her. And she has thorough ties to the Joker, and even though she said that she broke up with him when we met her last, she’s pretty well known by a lot of our other associates without even being related to Jokes.”

“Where did Jim say she lived?”

“Apartment 206,” Tim answered as they climbed the stairs. The elevator was broken so there was no other alternative. The three Wayne boys eyed the walls and surrounding scenes as they walked through the apartment building, where the security was so lax that the guard at the door didn’t even look up as they went through the front door. There was no electronic security to Tim’s knowledge and Jason’s quick look at the guard said the man did nothing but look at pornographic magazines all day.

By the time they had made it all the way to the apartment, they were less than impressed with the place. In fact, it made them want to get Peter out of there as soon as possible. Even if that meant housing Harley Quinn along with him.

“I’m calling Kara once I get home. I need her to speed things up.” Tim stared at his brother, blue eyes curious and questioning.

“Kara? Is she gonna do something here?” Dick looked up and down the hallway, just in case somebody heard.

“I’m having her, uh, redecorate the building. Meanwhile, I already have a nice apartment lined up for Petey and his friend, near the Manor. Penthouse suite and everything and only we’ll have access outside of Peter and Harley.” Jason and Tim grinned together, already liking the plan. The building was already a fire hazard (and let’s be honest, a bunch of other hazards) just waiting to happen. All they needed was an explanation for the apartment. It was perfect.

“Alright,” Tim announced as he slowed to a stop in front of Apartment 206, “we’re here.”

They knocked on the door.

-----

Tony was panicking. After FRIDAY had alerted him of Peter’s disappearance, he accessed the footage that was always rolling in the lab. What he saw shocked him.

Peter sat in the lab, minding his own business and tinkering around when out of nowhere, a rip, right in the air above Peter’s head opened, light spilling from it. How the spiderling didn’t notice was beyond him. Then, as if he was liquid, the image of Peter distorted, almost like something sucking in water, and within a second, he was gone, the rip disappearing with him.

Tony gaped at the footage while Stephen frowned at it. There was definitely some sort of magic going on with this. Through his own magic, he could see deep purple lining the edges of the rip as his husband rewatched the video again and again. Something was fishy. He would have to do his own research later. He glanced down at the smaller man.

But his husband would have to come first. Knowing him, he’d start blaming himself and spiral. It was something Stephen wouldn’t have, especially if he could prevent it before it could happen. Grabbing Tony by the arm, he tugged him towards his chest and embraced him while his husband started sobbing into his chest.

“Where could he be?! I thought you were the only one who could travel between dimensions?! Who could’ve done this? I-” he continued to babble and sob, losing his mind. Peter was one of the best things that ever happened to Tony. What the hell happened?

Stephen shushed him, knowing it wasn’t the best time to mention anything yet. He needed Tony to calm down before they continued with any plan. Resting his chin on the top of his husband’s head, Stephen narrowed his eyes.

There was something suspicious going on. It went beyond even him, Sorcerer Supreme. He sighed mentally.

‘Time to bring in the big guns.’

-----

“So, your name is Damian?” Peter tilted his head, doe brown eyes adorably large. The man sitting across from him, Damian, his mind supplied, was stiff and slightly haughty looking.

“Yes,” he answered shortly, looking at Peter as if he was a particularly slow pedestrian, like he was obliging him but Peter was a hindrance in him getting on with his day. Peter rolled his eyes mentally.

‘Just like Happy,’ he thought fondly before his heart clenched, an ache appearing in his chest. He missed his world so much.

Damian noticed the little frown on the (much) smaller man’s face and it just looked so much like a puppy that he almost wanted to do anything to bring a smile on his face, wanted to save him for some reason and that made Damian grit his teeth. Just last week, he had literally split a man in half using only his katana. Why the fuck would a little twink like the one in front of him make him feel such things now, of all times?

‘How inconvenient,’ he thinks with a scowl. Despite what every enemy of his family thinks, he did have feelings. It was just that he could think without them. Usually. When a slight flinch appeared on the twi- Peter’s face, he did his best to try to smooth out his expression. Internally, he was roaring.

‘Dammit!’

“So, uh,” Peter started awkwardly, “have you been here long?” Damian gave a light scoff.

‘If he doesn’t know who I am, he hasn’t been here long.’ Across from him, Peter’s lips twitched downward.

‘He probably thinks I don’t know who he is. I know, you prick, I just don’t care.’ However, Peter got the vibe that this man was more physically dangerous than his brothers so he refrained from saying anything. He wasn’t one to keep pushing his luck.

“I’ve lived here long enough.” Peter stared at him expectantly and Damian, looking at Peter like he was that pedestrian again, answered in more detail. “I lived with my mother until I was ten and then she let me go live with my father. I’m nineteen now, so I’ve been living with him for nine years.”

‘So, he didn’t know his father until he was ten.’ The slight twitch in his brow and the darkening of his green eyes caught Peter’s attention. Being the observant person he was, something dawned on him. It was bitterness. ‘He didn’t even know who his father was until he met him.’

“Cool.” Damian snorted sardonically.

“If you say so.” A small silence stretched between them with Damian sipping on his drink (‘a black coffee,’ Peter thought with a small twist of his face. ‘Disgusting.’) and Peter glancing out the window. His eyes caught the movement of something large and black with something yellow-ish blonde wiggling all over it. It was Titus, he realized, being infinitely patient with Piper curiously sniffing and jumping all over him. He giggled lightly.

Damian heard a giggle and turned to see Peter gazing out the window at their respective pets. The insolent puppy was bothering Titus while the Great Dane, trained and loyal as he is, stayed still and indulged the puppy, more patient than his master could ever be.

“Where did you get Titus? He’s so nice and quiet. I can never get Piper to be quiet. She’s always yowling and barking, waking up the neighbors and what not. I wasn’t sure if the apartment building I lived in allowed pets but I’ve had her for a few days now and no one’s said anything yet. Except our neighbors. They’re so mad about her, I think they’re gonna tell our landlord soon. You got any tips for making her stay quiet?”

‘Threaten them. Torture them within an inch of their life. Kill them,’ his mind immediately supplied before he shook off the thought. He couldn’t tell Peter that.

“I can’t say,” he started slowly, “Titus was always a very quiet dog. He never needed much training.” Peter started to look put out, and Damian was quick to try and rectify that. He took a page out of his father’s book when dealing with those they needed to keep quiet but couldn’t use the amount of force they wanted. “I’d try giving them a treat when they stop barking and consistently let them know that they’re being good when they don’t bark at random things and people.”

Peter nodded in understanding. That was surprisingly good advice.

“Also, I got Titus from a friend.” Peter analyzed the pain behind his eyes despite the blankness of his face.

“A close friend?” Green eyes narrowed slightly. It seemed that this person was more observant than he thought. It immediately raised his awareness of him.

“Yes,” Damian answered after a short beat, “she was a close friend of mine.” With barely a glance, he could already tell this was a touchy subject area so he went on doing what he did best: ramble.

“Well, I had a few close friends too when I still lived in New York. I’m 21, by the way. Did I mention that? Well, I just did. Anyway-” and he continued.

Damian, knowing that the man across from him refrained from prying about Raven, let him continue babbling with an indulgence that was much like his pet’s. It was quite a while later that he even realized he was kind of enjoying this. With a stranger no less. Eventually, an alarm on Peter’s phone went off. He cursed after he checked.

“Shoot, I have to get to work.” He stood up and grabbed his drink, waiting for Damian to straighten and they both walked out of the cafe, towards their dogs. Once they were actually outside, they both noticed that both dogs were asleep, Titus’ huge body curled protectively around Piper’s. Peter cooed. “It was nice meeting you Damian. Maybe we can do this again sometime? Have Titus and Piper get together for a playdate?”

Horrified at the terminology, Damian could only nod. Peter shot a blinding grin at him.

“Awesome! I guess we’ll see you next time!” Peter crept forward and woke both dogs up, Piper’s head shooting up with an adorable yawn. She stepped out from Titus’ legs and stumbled into Peter’s awaiting arms. He giggled that annoy(ingly cute) giggle and was on his way with a wave. Damian waved back hesitantly. Titus joined him by his side and sat down, staring up at his master, who was staring after that strange boy. Titus huffed, snapping Damian out of his daze. Instantly, he became angry at himself.

‘How can I let myself be lured by a pretty visage? I am the heir to the Demon Head, Ra’s Al Ghul’s grandson, son of the Batman! What disgrace!’ A sneer ripped across his face, so severe it startled passerbys. Then, he realized something.

‘How can I see him again if he doesn’t know how to contact me?’ The frown deepened. ‘Wait, why do I care?’ Damian groaned.

“Come Titus. We’re heading home.” Like the loyal dog he was, Titus trailed after his master, never needing a leash.

Mentally, Titus, ever the intelligent dog, snorted at his master.

'Strange,’ was all he thought.

-----

Harley heard a knock come upon the door. She froze in terror in front of the fridge. Her immediate thought was,

‘What if it’s him?’ She had heard about the incident across the street this morning. Large smiles on the faces of the victims. There could only be one person who committed that kind of atrocity. As if on autopilot, Harley straightened and opened the freezer door, going for the .9 mm and it’s loaded magazine hidden at the back. As quietly as possible, she strapped the magazine in and loaded it. She approached her door and laid the muzzle of the gun against the back of the wood and opened the door with her right hand.

Three pairs of different shaded blue eyes stared back at her. Harley let out a huge sigh of relief before realizing something.

“Wait, how’d you know where I live?!” She pointed an accusing finger at two faces of exasperation and one face of sheepishness.

“We may or may not have asked Jim?” Harley rolled her eyes, muttering something along the lines of ‘police’ and ‘untrustable.’ Tim sighed and got back on track. His brothers could really be a nuisance sometimes.

“Is Peter here?” The alabaster haired girl paused and shook her head no.

“He went out with Piper.” Dick, already knowing who Piper was, smiled a bit. On the other hand, Jason and Tim, who did not know who Piper was, stiffened. Jason’s face showed outrage and Tim’s face went suspiciously blank.

“Who’s Piper?” Tim asked at the same time as the second eldest Wayne shouted,

“He has a girlfriend?!” Harley gave a confused face before she pouted.

“If he has a girlfriend, he’s in such big trouble for not telling me.” Three confused faces of the eldest Wayne boys told her everything.

“Piper is our support puppy. He took her on a walk and should be home any minute now. He’s gonna be late for work if he isn’t.” As if on cue, loud, high pitched barking and the sound of footsteps rounded the corner and the four came face to face with a running Peter with Piper clutched in his arms, not even out of breath. Harley and the Three Stooges watched as Peter barely even glanced in their direction, throwing out a noncommittal,

“Hey Harls,” and ran into the apartment to put on his work clothes after depositing Piper on the couch. Piper, tired after such an eventful morning, curled up instantly and went off to sleep. Harley cooed at the sight. Not even three minutes passed as Peter stumbled out, buttoning the top button of his work shirt and grabbed his bag and keys. He was out the door with a,

“Bye Harley! I’ll see you later tonight!” shouted behind him, running with rushed momentum. The Three Stooges started after him, also calling thank yous to Harley as she watched them run down the stairs with a confused but amused look on her face.

“Boys,” she muttered with exasperation.

Peter glanced at the three men who kept up with him easily with thinly veiled annoyance.

“What do you guys want?” They ran out the front of the apartment building, the guard barely even glancing their way. Jason and Tim exchanged furious looks.

“To take you to work!” Dick answered cheerfully. Peter skidded to halt with a horrified look on his face. Instantly, he started shaking his head.

“No,” he stated with his eyes wide, “no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Definitely not.” With that, he started to run again, this time pushing his legs with some of the super strength the bite gave him, easily leaving the brothers in his dust. Nearly at the bus stop, he heard Jason shout,

“Give up, princess! We know where you work! We’ll just go there!”

“Not a chance!” He threw back. The bus, ever faster than even cars in Gotham, sped past him and came to a screeching halt in front of the bus stop.

‘Come on!’ He urged himself with gritted teeth and finally made it on with a large sigh. The bus driver grunted.

“Hurry up kid. I got other stops too.” He nodded sheepishly and went to sit down, the bus leaving after a few seconds, before any of those stalkers could board. He grinned in triumph before remembering that they, in fact, did know where he worked and would definitely come to bother him. He groaned loudly, throwing his head on the back of the disgusting seat before blushing at the amount of shushes he got.

‘Fuck,’ he swore in his head, tugging on his curls in agitation. ‘Fuck, fuck, fuuuck!’

-----

He walked through the door of the Captain’s Bar with apprehension. The instant he entered, his eyes went to the bar where three large backs leaned over the counter in different poses. He rolled his eyes and muttered curses.

‘Of course, with my luck, Slade is here too.’ Then, another large and muscular back crossed the other three, settling into a seat next to Tim (he squinted at the smallest back) with no drink in his hand. Sighing, he passed them and went into the back, wrapping an apron around his waist and taking a deep breath before walking out into the bar. Four grinning faces greeted him and he ignored the stupid ones and smiling only at Slade.

“Hey sweetheart,” he murmured with fondness, deep voice sounding suspiciously raspy (almost like a bedroom voice). Peter blushed slightly and his smile became a tad sweeter.

“Slade,” he greeted, “how’re you?”

“Better now that I’ve seen you.” Peter fought down another blush and in an effort to brush off the comment, looked up at Slade through his eyelashes, a sultry look on his face. Making his voice as teasing as possible, he replied,

“Careful there, Slade. With all that flirting, someone’s gonna think you’re trying to seduce me.” Not expecting the sudden confidence, Slade’s one eye widened before he chuckled a bit and leaned forward a bit more.

“Well, is it working?” Peter, not one to really back down, especially when it comes to his pride, also pushed closer and only stopped when there was barely an inch between their faces. Thanking his past self for putting some gum in his mouth before going to work, he let a small gust of minty fresh breath go towards Slade’s lips and leaned just a bit closer, he whispered,

“Nope.” Slade laughed out loud at that and Peter retreated, a small smile on his face.

“You sure know how to mess with a man, sweetheart.” Peter shrugged, not acknowledging the looks of outrage on the Three Stooges’ faces.

“You’re not exactly my first rodeo, Slade. I’m a grown man. I know how to flirt.” The feelings of outrage on Dick’s face became verbal.

“I will not let you steal him from me!” Dick shouted from the other end of the bar. Jason snorted, though a bit bitter and he was pretty sure it was because of the small man in front of them. Tim was feeling similarly, like he wanted to steal Peter away from the mercenary and hide him away forever, like precious treasure never to be shared.

He was not, however, entirely sure why he felt this for a person he’s barely even met.

“At least let me teach him how to fight before you two rail the poor kid out of his fuckin’ mind.” At that, Peter blushed tomato red and sputtered.

“What?” He nearly screeched. “No one is railing anyone here!” Jason rolled his eyes.

“Sure, whatever, angel. Just remember that you owe me a fight.”

“I owe you nothing!” Then Jason grinned and Peter squeaked a bit, not liking the predatory nature of that look.

“Maybe, if I teach you to fight, you can do some kinky shit with it. Like a chase through the woods at night and whoever catches him can fuck him senseless while the other watches.” Peter became even redder than before and he pointed a finger towards the door with a vehemence that the four men had never seen before.

“OUT! GET OUT!” Jason belly laughed and even then, he sounded like a prowling predator, a hunter ready for the kill. Even Dick blushed a bit but by the looks on both his and Slade’s face, they were really thinking about it. Peter’s eye twitched. “Dick Grayson. Slade Wilson,” he grit out and he enjoyed the slight freeze when he uttered their names with red hot rage. “If you even entertain the idea, then I will never. Never speak to you again. Understood?”

Not wanting to test the irate cutie, they merely nodded. Tim, sitting right next to them, watched with glowing amusement and amazement at how well trained Peter had gotten the two. One of the greatest mercenaries in the world and his ex-boyfriend who happened to be a part of one of the most dangerous mobs in the world. And this small man, this little, cute, and defenseless looking man in front of them had them both wrapped around his little finger.

“See ya,” Jason gave a two fingered salute and he was out the door before Peter could give him another glare (to be honest though, it was like being glared at by a kitten).

“Now that the nuisance is gone,” Tim snorted at that. He liked this kid. He had proven to be smart too. Tim wondered what else he was good at. “What can I get you gentlemen?”

-----

Peter groaned as he flopped onto belly on his makeshift bed next to Harley’s, who was holding Piper in her arms on her own bed.

“What’s wrong, Pup?” He groaned again in response. Harley laughed and nudged him with her bare foot. Peter hissed at the coldness of her toes.

“Harls, you’re freezing.” She rolled her eyes.

“As if you’re not always cold too.” Peter tilted his head at that.

“Touché. I guess we were both freeze babies.”

“Yup,” Harley said with a popped ‘p,’ “now stop avoiding. What’s wrong.” Peter rolled over and blew some brown curls out of his face.

“Men are stupid, Harley. Never ever get with a man.” Harley snorted, her pretty face becoming pained.

“Oh trust me, Pup. I learned my lesson this time around.” Peter’s eyebrows scrunched up and he became concerned for his best friend. He sat up and joined Harley on her perch, Piper instantly climbing onto his lap and wiggling her little butt all over the place. Harley smiled a bit and continued petting the golden retriever puppy.

“Hey,” he whispered and pulled her into a side hug. Peter melted when he felt her snuggling in. “You’ll find someone new who’s even better than a guy who names himself the Joker. I mean, seriously, who names himself that?” Harley, now on the verge of crying, let out a wet laugh before sniffling a bit. “There’s no need to cry over someone so worthless, Harls. You’ll find someone. And even if you don’t, you always have me. I’ll always be here.” Harley leaned outwards a bit and looked at him with fat tears in her eyes, nearly rolling down her cheek.

“Always?” The small voice broke his heart and the look of pure hopelessness completely shattered it.

“Always,” he agreed. She buried her head into his shoulder, trying to keep the tears in. Then, out of nowhere, his Spidey Sense started blaring like it never did before. To be honest, his Spidey Sense was always on alert in Gotham (hell, even in his own New York City, it was alert), but this brought it to another level. Acting without thinking, Peter hoisted Harley and Piper into his arms and ran into the bathroom connecting to the room.

He laid a confused Harley and a barking Piper into the bathtub before rushing to close the door with a slam. He quickly went to his best friend and their pet and climbed in as well, using himself as a shield between them and the door. Bracing one hand above Harley’s head, he used his other arm to pull close the shower curtains and braced for impact. Before Peter could say anything to explain, a large explosion sounded through the thin walls of their apartment. It was directly in the bedroom and had the door shattering and splintering across Peter’s back through the plastic shower curtain. Peter cringed at the loudness of the explosion, his ears protesting.

A maniacal laugh pierced through his ringing ears. Harley and him froze, immediately knowing who this was.

“Oh Harley~” a singsong voice came through and Peter turned around, furiously opening the shower curtains to look at the Joker through their now decimated bedroom wall. “You shouldn’t have left me, darlin’. Now you’re going to regret it~” He said with a loud giggle that sounded all kinds of wrong.

The Joker’s green hair was slick back and a few oily strands fell into his red rimmed eyes, a stark contrast to his paper white skin and the tattoos that littered his face and neck. Yellow teeth clenched together in an angry, sick smile that would probably haunt Peter through his nightmares. “Don’t worry though. It won’t hurt.” Another wider grin stretched across his pale face. “Much.” More laughter.

“You stay away from her!” Peter shouted and in an instant, the smile was gone from Joker’s face. Instead, a sneer, condescending and threatening, replaced it.

“You!” He hissed with conviction. “You’re the one who lured my dear away from me!”

“She’s not yours! She’s not anyone’s! You were abusing her!” He snarled from the bedroom’s hole.

“SHE’S MINE! NO ONE WILL TAKE HER FROM ME! LEAST OF ALL YOU,” he growled, “YOU LITTLE WHORE.” Before he could continue, however, the sound of sirens reached all of their ears. The Joker cursed, more oily strands of hair falling into his face. Using a gloved hand, he pushed the strands out of the way and cursed.

‘If Jimbo’s here, Batsy isn’t too far behind.’ And he didn’t want to get into a fight with such a man when he was so underprepared. ‘Fine,’ he thought petulantly, ‘this will have to wait.’

“Don’t think you’ve seen the last of me! Until next time, my dear!” He grinned that sick grin and wiggled his fingers in goodbye to Harley who had peeked from behind Peter to stare at her ex with horror. “This isn’t over~” He shouted as the helicopter finally left.

Peter stayed in place for a few minutes, even with Harley crying and Piper barking, to make sure he was really gone. Finally, Peter moved carefully and pushed himself away from the wall of the bathtub, helping Harley up who had Piper clenched tightly (not tight enough to hurt her) in her arms. She linked her arms with his and clung to him like a limpet.

Not that he really minded.

She needed him right now. Slowly, they moved towards the hole of their bedroom wall and peeked over to see multiple police cruisers and onlookers gawking at the side of the building. Peter glanced at the other sides of the building and was relieved when he saw that no other holes were blown into it. He then realized that this meant neither him nor Harley had anywhere to stay.

“Fuck,” he cursed, aware of Harley sobbing into his shoulder and getting his hoodie wet. Then he took a closer look at the people down below. “Well, would you look at that? Commissioner Gordon is here.”

-----

Peter and Harley, after assuring Jim (“Just call me Jim, Peter. It makes me feel so stiff when you call me Commissioner.”) that they didn’t need to go to the hospital, their shallow (really his shallow) wounds were treated in the back of an ambulance. He only had a couple of splinters and a few minor cuts where plaster and ceramic from the walls had hit him through the shower curtain.

A few minutes after the last of his wounds were treated (and he had no doubt that they would heal by tomorrow), sound low rumble of cars (if Peter could identify them properly) were alerted to his ears and both him and his friend turned their heads to see two expensive cars rolling up beside the cruisers.

Bruce Wayne and two of his four sons as well as Alfred came out of the car. Bruce, waving on his sons to go ahead, approached Jim with Alfred trailing behind him. Both Dick and Jason rushed up to Peter and Harley, though only having eyes for the smaller man.

“Are you alright?!” Dick practically screamed, taking Peter’s face into his hands and looking him all over, Jason hanging out in the background with his teeth bared. Dick's blue eyes were wide with concern.

“Dick, I’m fine. Let go.” He said but was more than touched at their care. “It’s just a few scratches. Everything’s okay. No one was hurt.” Dick let out a sigh, his shoulders slumping. Peter let out a little giggle that had him snapping his head up to look at his smiling face.

“Why are you smiling?” He asked, exasperated thought a bit fond. He was too cute for his own good sometimes.

“It’s just nice to know that someone cares.” Dick, as tough and unfeeling as he could be, softened at that and he laid a hand on Peter’s bare cheek, marveling at the softness.

“Of course I care.” Peter’s smile widened before it turned to concern when he felt Harley snuggle into his side a little more. Dick chuckled a bit. “Looks like she crashed. Must’ve been a rough day.”

“More than rough,” Peter murmured, not wanting to wake his best friend up. He then heard someone step up to them and looked up to see one of the people he hadn’t seen before. The man was in an EMT outfit but wasn’t one of the people that treated him or anyone else so Peter assumed he was the driver. He wore a bored expression on his face that raised Peter’s hackles a bit. So, as politely as he could, he asked,

“Yes?”

“Hi,” his tone was monotonous, “I’m here to collect your information so we can process you for billing and stuff like that. So, name?”

“Fuck,” Peter muttered, doe brown eyes narrowing in worry. How were they going to pay off an ambulance and medical care? This was America and he was sure that in nearly every version of America out there, it always had expensive health care. “Uh, yeah sure. My name’s-”

Before he could finish, Dick cut in with an obvious fake smile. At least, it was obvious to Peter. And while it was used to disarm people, it only served to frustrate the EMT, if the annoyed look he was giving Dick was anything to go by. In the background, Jason straightened.

“Excuse me but my friend and I were in the middle of a conversation. Could you perhaps ask that man over there? I’m sure he has the information that you’re looking for.” He pointed towards his adoptive father. The EMT looked up at Dick through beady eyes and shook his head.

“Look buddy. This is the dude we need to bill. He’s the one who needed it the most. So if you’ll excuse me-” Jason hauled him off by the back of shirt without a sound, the EMT letting out a strangled gasp as he felt his body being dragged backwards. Dick continued smiling and Jason ignored Peter’s startled shout of his name.

“Wait, Dick. You can’t do that. That’s my responsibility. I-”

“Will let us take care of it. There’s no way that you’ll be able to foot this bill, gorgeous and we’re not able to let you.” Peter hissed, his nose scrunching up adorably.

“Well, it’s not exactly like I can pay you back, can I?” A mischievous smile lit up Dick’s face at that.

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that.” Another voice cut in, deeper and holding more authority that made Peter immediately bow his head a bit.

“The way you can repay us, Peter,” Bruce Wayne looked at him, eyes soft and body relaxed, “is to let us take care of you. You’ve had a stressful day and so has your friend. We’ll take it from here, so don’t worry.” Jason lumbered over and towered over both his and Harley’s sitting forms as if to intimidate them into agreeing.

“But, sir,”

“Bruce,” the head of the Wayne household immediately corrected, causing Peter to pause.

“Bruce,” he resumed, a bit slowly, as if trying out the name on his tongue, “I couldn’t possibly do that. I was raised better,” he deadpanned, causing Bruce’s lips to twitch a bit. “Harley and I can just go to a motel or something for the night and figure everything out in the morning. Harley, wake up." Peter started to shake Harley, who groaned a bit. "C'mon Harls. We need to go-” He was interrupted again.

“Look, angel. This can either go one of two ways. One is that you accept our help and thank us because we like you and so we’re helping you because of that. Second is that you can refuse, which is totally up to you. But we’ll force our help on you, whether you like it or not, in front of all these people out here. And after the day you’ve had, I’m not so sure you want that. But that’s your problem, not ours. I’m not sure about Dick, but Brucie and I are pretty good with force.” The grin on Jason’s face was sharp and Peter shivered a bit, his Spidey Sense activating to full alarm again. “It’s totally up to you though. So," Dick joined Jason in front of Peter and Harley, face more firm than Peter's ever seen it, "what’s it gonna be?”

Peter was silent for a few moments, staring into the faces of the three Wayne family members and gaging their seriousness. What he saw scared him. The set lines in their faces, the resoluteness of their eyes and the slight tilts of their bodies told Peter they were dead serious; that they were ready to force him to comply if he didn’t do it willingly. Shivering and going against every nerve in his body, he finally agreed.

“Fine,” he said through clenched teeth, glaring up at the rugged and handsome face grinning down at him.

“Knew you’d see it my way, angel.”

-----

He had greeted Alfred on his way in the car, carried in Jason’s arms, while Harley was in Dick’s. Dick had kicked up a fuss about not being able to carry Peter but everyone ignored him. It was kind of funny. The drive back to the Wayne’s house was silent and long and the every bump the car had jostled his small injuries, causing him to wince.

Noticing the flinch, Jason tightened his grip on the smaller man, coincidentally bringing him closer to his chest in an effort to stop his hurt. By the time they had gotten to their residence, Peter was sure some of his smaller wounds had already healed. Stepping out of the car (after refusing Jason’s attempts to carry him again), he marveled at the sight. This wasn’t a house, this was a mansion. It was as large and gothic as the rest of Gotham, with shadows in every crevice and an ancient presence.

“Woah,” he breathed out in awe. Dick sidled up next to him, Harley in his arms (surprisingly, she was still asleep).

“Pretty cool, huh? Wait till you see the inside.” He moved forward, Peter trailing behind with Jason walking next to him and Bruce and Alfred in front. They moved through the front door, Jason closing it behind them without so much as a creak.

“I will go and get your rooms ready. Master Bruce, I assume you will treat our guests with the respect they deserve and make sure to warm them up while I do that?” Bruce, surprisingly, only nodded at the butler’s words and the older man silently left through a hallway, disappearing through the darkness.

“Come on, Peter. I’ll show you to one of the family rooms. Jason, can you get some tea ready?” As silent as a shadow, Jason left Peter’s side through a door opposite to the hallway Alfred left through, presumably to boil some tea.

As he moved through the mansion with Bruce, Dick and Harley (she was still asleep), he couldn’t help but look all around him in awe. It was so cool to him how someone could live in a place like this. It was similar to the Avenger’s Tower but different in that he could tell this place had a lot of history behind it.

They finally arrived through a hallway that led them into a room with a roaring fireplace and a TV above, with bookshelves lining on either side of it. A couple couches and armchairs were situated in front of the fireplace and on one couch sat a large figure, hunched over and elbows on the tops of their knees.

The figure scoffed.

“What was such an emergency that father had to be pulled away but I had to stay, Grayson?” His head turned and his body promptly froze. Green eyes met doe brown and the man couldn’t help yelling out,

“You?!” Peter, not at all surprised, smiled and waved.

“Hey Damian!” Their loud voices woke Harley up, who startled in Dick’s arms and without opening her eyes, pushed her fist upwards, catching the handsome man in the jaw.

“Where’s the fire?!” She slurred, obviously still tired.

“Fuck!” Dick groaned. “I think I chipped a tooth!” Harley started struggling in his arms, causing Dick to nearly drop her. “Damnit Harley, stop wiggling around!” He grappled with her for a moment, while Harley grabbed the nearest object, which happened to be Bruce’s suit sleeve, and pulled, dropping her full weight suddenly. This caused both men to stumble over each other and onto the floor, both grunting the whole way as Harley continued squealing.

Meanwhile, Peter and Damian were locked into a sort of horror/happy staring contest.

Tim stared at the scene in the doorway, cup of coffee (Alfred would scold him for that later. It was worth it.) raised halfway to his lips.

“Well, this is chaotic.”

Previous: Part 4

Next: Part 6

[bluboothalassophile]

A Weekend We'll Never Remember!

No Cover Up for the Cover Up

Kori hesitantly peeked out of the closet and sighed when she saw she was alone as she peeled off the shirt and dropped it to make her way to her things. She found a nice tank top which had her walking to the bathroom and groaning at the sight.

Only Dick Grayson left hickeys liked this, sighing she walked back to her back, picked up her cover up, her image inducer, and a dress with a jacket, she braved the sight of her body again. Cursing in her native tongue she started applying the cover up as she tried to remember just what the hell had happened this weekend. She couldn’t remember, she couldn’t even recall anything after Dick had started them in on the drinks. Groaning she turned away from her reflection as she buried her face in her hands.

Disaster!

Dick had broken her heart when they were younger, and unlike her two other (now ex) husbands, he was the only one to break her heart. Yes, Kori could think that, she did not think another man had ever had that power over her. But Dick did, and he’d shattered her heart so badly that there were times being around friend Jason or friend Raven hurt because they reminded her of Dick. Kori didn’t like hurting, after all the pain she’d already felt in her life she didn’t like experiencing more pain. However, she was also used to it.

She could not fault Jason for sometimes reminding her of Dick, they were brothers, and Raven… Raven was like a sister to Dick. Still, Jason and Raven were also hers’. Roy was hers’. There was no disputing that. straightening up she picked up her brush and furiously attacked her mane of hair as the sparks lit the end with her fury as she fought against every wretched, gleeful emotion at the mere thought of being married to Dick Grayson.

This marriage would not last! He would ask for a divorce no doubt! She was not going to be here for him to break! Perhaps Jason and Roy would not mind a trip with her to some foreign planet.

She dropped her brush once her hair was tumbling loosely to her waist and resumed applying the cover up before she examined herself again in the mirror. She pulled on the white sundress, a particular favorite of hers’ from the earth styles. Slipped on the tights to cover her bruises, and then slipped on her flats (she had grown to dislike heels as she was already tall by earth standards but freakishly tall in heels), then she paused to examine herself.

It still didn’t cover everything. Grumbling she stalked back out to the room as she picked up the necklace of her gem from home and dropped it over her head to nestle between her breasts, and she found a hoodie, Jason’s if the scent of cigarettes was anything to go by, and bright red. Tugging it on she rolled up the sleeves and picked up her phone again as she dialed a memorized number and walked out of the room.

~~~*~*~*~~~

60 Hours Earlier…

It was after the fabulous dinner that Kori found herself a lone at the bar, Raven had called it a night, and Jason was tailing Sonia’s men, and since Kori ‘stood out’ she was alone at the bar with a martini Jason had ordered for her. Dick slid up to her then. Her heart still stuttered when he was near and all her stomachs were all in a flutter.

“So… not going with Jay?” Dick asked her casually.

“I am not good at the blending in,” Kori mused.

“I could believe that, even like this you’re fucking gorgeous,” he smiled.

“Flattery will get you nowhere with me, Dick,” she chuckled.

“I’m in a committed relationship now, I’m not being flirty, just honest,” he clarified.

“You really love Shawn, don’t you?” she mused weakly. She tried to hide the hurt of him being with another woman, but she couldn’t always do it. Especially with earth alcohol in her system.

“I don’t know…” Dick said thoughtfully which had her tilting her head towards her old lover. “I… I want to, there’s something there, but, I don’t know, sometimes it’s like it’s not there at all. I have more with you, or Barbara at times than her.”

“Then perhaps she is not the one you love,” Kori said calmly as she viciously stamped down on the hope she felt blooming. She did not hope for Dick Grayson anymore! She was not so pathetic as to still be hung up on him.

“I don’t know,” Dick said thoughtfully. “Either way, I’m not cheating on her, and you’re my friend.”

“That I am,” she agreed. She was his friend for life, no matter how much it hurt.

“How about we hit up the black jack tables, I’ll teach you how to play!” he smiled.

“I would like that very much!” she smiled as she gestured for another martini.

“What are you drinking?” Dick asked as he pulled out his wallet.

“Whatever Jason ordered, he said it was a dirty martini, shaken not stirred,” she smiled as she accepted another drink and Dick chuckled.

“He’d order you that,” he mused.

“It is quite delicious, would you like some?” she asked.

“Yeah, it’s my drink Kori,” he mused.

“Oh, Jason said it was James Bond’s,” Kori shrugged.

“It is, but as a former spy, it’s my drink,” he winked at her and she smiled as she sipped her drink and he held out his elbow for her. she slipped her arm in his as she walked with him, not caring about her height. With Dick it was hard to care about her height when he never seemed bothered by it. Jason was the same way, as was Roy, however with Dick she didn’t feel as self-conscious about it.

“Kay, you know how to play?”

“Not at all,” she said as he sat her down.

“Oh this is going to be fun!” he smiled as he sat with her.

~~~*~*~*~~~

“Hello!?” Raven’s monotone filled her ear with the wind and a roaring engine.

“Friend Raven! Can we talk!?” Kori asked, even if she knew her timing was horrible.

“Yeah,” Raven said calmly.

“Little bird, who the hell are you talking too!?” Jason’s shout filled her ear.

“Star!”

“Oh, could use a lift first, then you can girl talk!” Jason said.

“One second Star,” Raven said evenly and Kori found herself riding down in the elevator listening to bullets, the wind, and a roaring engine. It was when the ground floor dinged and she walked off that Raven answered.

“Hello?”

“Hello, I need to talk to you, in person,” Kori said.

“Yeah, I’ll be there in five,” Raven said.

“Can you leave Jay?”

“Red’s fine, we’re heading for parking now,” Raven said.

“Oh, good, thank you, I will meet you at the fountain,” Kori decided and hung up as she dropped her phone in Jason’s pocket and walked out of the hotel to stand at the fountain. She waited a beat before Raven walked out of some shadows, pulling up her dark hair in a Mets t-shirt and jeans.

“What’s up?” Raven asked monotonously.

“I would like a reason for this,” Kori said as she held out her left hand where a glittering emerald was resting on it. It was a lovely rock, but still, it did not belong on her.

“Oh… so you and Dick…” Raven started.

“Yes, why did you not stop me?” Kori snapped as she and Raven started walking the strip.

“Jason had dragged me off with him when we couldn’t find you or Dick!” Raven countered.

“What?”

“at three in the morning Jason showed up banging on my door demanding if I knew where you or Dick were, the Zuccos had a contract on Dick out, and he then dragged me off to find you and Dick and things spiraled from there on my end,” Raven defended.

“You and Jason actually worked together?” Kori asked in disbelief knowing how willing to team up Jason was.

“If you count dangling a man over the shark tank working together,” Raven shrugged. Kori laughed then. “So, you and Dick, really hitched?”

“Apparently, but… I don’t know what to do!” Kori groaned as she dragged her hands into her hair. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do! He broke my heart and that… it's…”

“Complicated,” Raven surmised.

“What do I do?” Kori sighed as she collapsed on a bench, Raven pulled reached over and pulled her hair around her neck before joining her.

“Sorry, you had a hickey showing,” Raven said.

“Damn it!” Kori shouted.

“He likes to mark his territory,” Raven mused.

“No, not one word,” Kori warned her friend. Raven softened a bit.

“Kori, talk to Dick, before this gets really out of hand,” Raven offered.

“I am not certain I wish to speak to Dick at all as of right now,” Kori muttered.

~~~*~*~*~~~

59 Hours Earlier…

“Oh!” she shouted in glee as she again one and she smiled a bit as she clapped. “Dick! Look!”

“Damn, how are you doing that!? You only learned like an hour ago!” Dick exclaimed. Kori smiled at her growing pile of chips and bit her lip. It was just like old times.

“Again!” she declared.

“Kay, one sec, it’s Shawn,” Dick said as he stood. Kori felt her heart sink a bit as she watched him leave, but she smiled as she folded her legs and watched the dealer deal again, she was getting good at this. Looking her cards over she started doing the mental calculations and probability odds as she played the game. Suddenly Dick was by her, he was trembling, he was red, and he looked hurt.

“Dick?” she reached out and touched his shoulder. He turned around and snatched a drink off a passing waitress. Kori motioned the end of her game as she asked where to cash in her chips as she stood.

“Fuck!” Dick hissed as she accepted her winnings and was tucking the money in her purse.

“What is it?” she asked her friend.

He shoved his phone at her, she fumbled to keep it in her hands before she finally had it and looked at the screen shot of Dick with a Asian looing blue haired woman.

“Yes?” she asked.

��Just 2-9-0-6 Kori,” he snapped, she could see his fury and she typed in the numbers and saw the image which had her gaping in horror.

“Dick!” she gasped.

“I can’t fucking believe it!” he snapped.

“We will go, and get smashed to paint the town red until you feel better, or I will track her down and blast her to the moons of Tamaran!” Kori growled as she shoved the phone at Dick.

“Come on, I need that drink!” Dick growled. She looped her arm with his.

“Shall we proceed with the shots first or do we start with the beer?” she asked remembering Jason’s comforting of Roy after Roy and Jade fell apart.

“I’m thinking tequila shots and move from there,” he grounded out.

“The woman is an idiot,” Kori decided as she moved with Dick through the crowd.

“Not now, Kori,” he sighed tiredly.

“She is,” Kori persisted. “You are the kindest, gentlest, most loving man I have ever met, and that is not easy to do as Roy and Jason are my best friends and the best men I know. You are good, Dick Grayson, and creative in bed, also she is an idiot for thinking another man could ever compete with you.”

“Kori… thanks,” he softened.

“Of course, we are friends, are we not?” she asked. Though there was a stab in her gut at thinking of them as friends, and a fury in her heart at the idiot Shawn woman for thinking to cheat on a man as pure as Dick.

“What did I ever do to get you?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she stated flatly. “Come on, there’s a bar in New York, New York Jason said I must try!”