#to dami talia is more a of a teacher

[ghostbsuter]

Damian was 10 when he was shipped off to his father.

He was 10 when he finally decided enough was enough, packed his stuff, called Mara, and the ball went rolling.

The moment Talia left the mansion, the DNA test confirmed, and Bruce emotionally compromised, did he finally move.

He'd stared his father down, felt nothing when he stood up and mild annoyance bloomed when his father asked– demanded– where he was going.

"You're a fool if you believe I will stay here." He spat, eyening the man in disdain.

It became very apparent that Damian wasn't what Bruce thought he'd be, what Talia thought he was.

"Your mother entrusted me with your safety–"

"I don't need protection. Mother wouldn't care if I stayed or not." He blinks. "Where is the cave? I wish to use the computer, I have people to contact."

Reluctantly, Bruce shows him the way, questions of who and why, and the plans he apparently had were asked.

Damian answers with vague wordings and enough open spaces for interpretation. Words greatest detective, he can figure it out himself without damian spelling it out for him.

When they do arrive in the batcave, Tim Drake— Robin— was sitting at the computer.

Huffing, Damian shoved the entire chair away from the table, taking its place and started typing.

"W— hey! What—? Who?" Tim looked between Bruce and Damian, despite being sleep deprived his eyes caught on the similarities, mouth dry and mind calculating.

"Does Dick know?" Is all he asks, leaning back and watching the younger boy work.

"Not yet."

A heavy sigh.

"Silence," the boy huffs, annoyed. "I'll have to make a call."

Glaring daggers, he pulls out a old burner phone, pressing the single number saved inside and waits.

"Damian."

"Hello, brother."

('Oh. Did he have another?' Tim wonders, watching Batman's face, blank like a paper sheet. Nothing. It feels like all his efforts of bringing the man back were just flushed.)

—

Or in simpler words:

Danyal al Ghul, the first successor of the demons head, born with his twin Athanasia al Ghul, to be the future of the league.

They were reborn with their former memories, stuck in place, constantly watched and trained. Manipulated. Weaponized.

All for a man playing immortal.

They'd only started planning when two more children came into the picture, Damian and Mara Al Ghul.

Danyal now Daniel "Danny" and Athanasia now Eleanor "Ellie" Nightingale took matters into their own hands and separated to take the kids in and end this.

End the league. End the cycle of whatever this, this cult is, and take over.

In many universes, Ra's al Ghul does not die, always returns, wielding his people like mere weapons.

In this universe, Danyal al Ghul is acknowledged as a traitor, killer of the Demons head and Older Brother, borderline father even, to his tiny brother Damian al Ghul.

In this universe, he raises Damian instead of Talia, shows him the cracks of this careful manipulated picture and listens when Ellie tells of her travels to this tiny child with a sad sad fate.

In this universe, Ellie takes in their tiny cousin, shielding her from the cruel eyes of a man not worthy. She trains her, shows her the ropes and takes her along when she leaves.

In this universe, Damian al Ghul and Mara al Ghul live a good live, protected by the twins of old souls and have a somewhat normal if not very complicated childhood.

[i-yap]

Can I get your thoughts on a gn reader who’s dating Grayson and is like a parent figure or older sibling to Damien, so they have a soft spot for him ( so does Damien ) ?

Dick grayson x gn!y/n x platonic!Damian

this is my first time writing a gn reader so like I'm sorry if I write something stupid or offensive, just comment it and ill fix it.

if you are dating dick then damian will stalk you extensively at first. Dick is his favorite sibling ( in most comics) and if dick is serious about you, stalking is just how the batfam shows love.

He will be rude , he will be mean and sarcastic but dick warned you and you understand where dami's coming from. So you kindly and patiently deal with him and dick obviously doesn't let Dami cross the line when it comes to you.

One night dick had to rush out for a really scary mission and told you to stay at the manor because its the safest place to be.

Damian was the only other person that was left behind since the mission required everyone else on the team and bruce did not think damian was ready for such a high risk mission just yet.

so damian was really frustrated and also worried for the rest of the family. you walk past Dami's room to see him staring off in the distance while fidgeting or biting his nails. You ask alfred for a chess set ( or any other board/card game) and bring it to dami's room. While playing , he opens up about his frustrations and you patiently listen . Not a lot of people in his family are as warm and caring as you are ( maybe dick but even he is really busy)

After that night the roles are reversed. Now damian thinks dick is undeserving of you and his snarky comments are directed to him. You just find it funny while dick is left confused. "I thought he liked me more man, why the sudden switch?" " he got enlightened dickie boy muhahah" " you are mind controlling him arent you"

One-on-one time in the manor- haha dick wishes. So he tries only calling you when dami is at school or training or patrol. ofc you and dami catch on soon which means you and dami chasing him with katanas.

talking about katanas, dami loves showing you his art and his pets and if you share an interest in either of them he gets even more excited.

you and dick become dami's honorary parents. might as well adopt him since bruce and talia are obviously not doing a very good job ( in most comics) .

whenever dami is mad at bruce or simply upset or bored he comes to you and dick's apartment. You and dick are the fun warm loving couple that spend the night playing board games and watching stupid movies . you introduce him to all the major pop culture shows and movies and dick teaches him how to just dance randomly. your apartment is so different from the gloomy , filled with blood stains, fights and training manor. its filled with music and love and warm lights cooking together in funny pjs and dancing badly to pop songs.

it is watching you and dick that dami realizes what love is supposed to look like. and what a normal household looks like( sort of normal) and it affects the way he grows up. I wont be surprised if he comes to you for parents teacher meeting days or to sign his field trips or for advice on normal things

and the canon where dami is being bullied in school, while you go full on protective mode ,dick tries teaching him how to be better in social situations.

overall dami is just counting down days dick marries you and you'all unofficially adopt him.

[gothamite-rambler]

Talia's surprise visit

Carrie: Damian, there's... There's a woman at the window holding a sign with your name on it.

Damian (turning to face the window): Hm? Oh not today!

He caught sight of his mother, Talia, her nose nearly glued to the glass. The moment she noticed him, she lifted a small cloth lunch bag and waved enthusiastically with her other hand.

Damian groaned and buried his face in his hands. Carrie chuckled, patting his shoulder as Talia began knocking at the window.

Carrie: Is she a crazy person? We can notify the principal.

Damian: She’s not crazy—just a little... unhinged. But no, that’s just my mother.

Carrie: Oh... from Canada?

Damian: Yep, she’s visiting and freaking promised she wouldn’t do any more ‘surprise’ visits.

Carrie: She’s done this before?

Damian: This wasn’t the first school I attended since moving to Gotham.

Carrie giggled as Talia knocked on the window and gestured for it to be opened. Thankfully, they were on the first floor this time, but Damian was still not in the mood for this today. A kid wandered over and slid the window open.

Talia (loudly): Dami! Damian! Over here, baby!

Talia waved enthusiastically while Damian kept his face hidden in his hands. Some kids snickered at the spectacle, but Carrie shot them a glare, shushing a few of them.

Carrie: Um, Dami, she’s calling you.

Damian (muffled): I’m not here.

Carrie: He says he’s not here!

Talia tilted her head, laughing, clearly unfazed by her son’s embarrassment.

Talia: Just tell him I brought a snack! Also, where's your teacher? She left you kids alone?

An art student with paint splotches on his cheeks chimed in from nearby.

Kid: Bathroom break.

Talia (shaking her head): Unprofessional. I’ll have a word with her.

Talia smoothly stepped through the window, making her entrance into the classroom.

Damian: She’s coming in through the window?

Carrie: Yep.

A few seconds passed, and the familiar scent of Talia's perfume reached Damian.

Damian: She’s next to me?

Carrie (snickering): Yep... Sorry, I tried to stop her.

Carrie waved at Talia.

Carrie: Hi, Dami’s mom, I’m his friend, Carrie.

Talia clapped her hands excitedly, then scooped up Damian, spinning him around in a tight hug.

Talia: Look at you, making friends!

Damian: Mother—

Talia: Don’t tell your father I dropped by! I dare the school to try to drag me out of here though!

Damian: Mother!

Talia: I came for a surprise visit to bring you a healthy lunch. I don’t trust these cheap meals.

Damian: Mother!!

Talia rubbed Damian's cheek affectionately.

Talia: Have you been taking his vitamins?

Damian (trying to scramble away): Mother, you’re embarrassing me!

Talia: Oh... sorry.

Talia dropped Damian to the ground where he landed with a loud thud, grunting in surprise as a group of kids erupted into giggles. Rubbing his sore backside he sat there, his face burning with embarrassment as he groaned, while Talia looked on with an awkward grin.

Talia: Dami, do you need me to handle these kids' parents?

Damian: No, please! Remember, you’re trying to be less... you.

Talia: Aww, you remembered! You’re one of the reasons I keep my alignment chaotic neutral!

Damian (crossing his arms): Thanks for using the term I suggested. I actually appreciate that.

Talia ruffled his hair affectionately again. While he didn’t mind it, embarrassment washed over him, and he wished to slip out of the spotlight. Just then, the absent teacher walked back into the room, saw Talia, and frowned disapprovingly.

Teacher: Lady, I told you to stop entering my classroom through the window!

Talia shrugged, unconcerned, and set Damian’s bento box lunch on his desk before heading toward the doorway, where the teacher pointed.

Talia (playfully threatening): Don’t get cocky, lady. You’re messing with the wrong woman.

Teacher: I was raised in the worse parts of Staten Island and have been stabbed with scissors by an irate middle schooler. You don’t scare me, get to stepping.

Talia rolled her eyes and exited, frustration palpable.

Carrie: Your mom is...

Damian (sitting back down): Don’t finish that sentence.

Carrie (shrugging with a playful grin): My parents embarrass me too—trust me, I get it.

[introspectivememories]

could i hear more about your timbern raises damian au 👀👀

OKAY

so like bruce is out of the picture for some reason,

it's always been a modern au in my head, no superpowers

dick is busy being dick in bludhaven

jason is an english teacher at the local high school in gotham

he's actually the most well-adjusted out of all of them

tim and bernard meet in high school

spend like 4 years pining over each other while darla slowly loses her mind

senior year comes and they're both too shy to ask each other to the dance but they sneak out during the slow dance and shyly slow dance in the parking lot

they're like stepping on each other's toes and saying sorry every other minute and darla is hiding behind some kid's car and silently screaming while videotaping it (what? someone's gotta play home videos at their wedding)

tim still has shitty parents and abandonment issues and bernard still has major insecurity issues and there's a lot of screaming matches but they refuse to go to bed angry at each other

which does lead to a lot of *angrily* "love you." and the other going *angrily* "yeah, love you too"

anyway they both decide to go to gotham community college. bernard is broke and tim is rebelling against his parents

bernard is studying to become an emt/paramedic and tim is studying to become.... he doesn't know yet

they decide to get an apartment together and damian is the baby - like literal baby, 3 at most - who shows up at their door one day saying "mother said i would be safe here."

tim and bear are like ???? who is this random kid????? but they're not gonna let a kid just stay out in gotham at night.

so they let him sleep on their bed as they sleep on the pull out bed in the living room

the next day talia sends them a letter. in it she has given over legal custody to them, and that she's a.... top secret spy? an assassin? whatever you wanna make it... and that it's too dangerous for her to keep damian any longer

tim and bear are obviously freaking out, like full blown panicking, like whisper screaming in the bathroom like "HWTA THE FUCK???? HOW ARE WE GONNA RAISE A BABY????????"

tim is like "i mean i always wanted kids but like later! when i was more... adultier"

and bernard never one to miss an opening is like "aww darling, you wanted kids with me?"

"shut up bastard"

they spend the next two days frantically baby-proofing their apartment

"hey dami~. what's that you got in your hand sweetheart?"

"a knife!"

tim: NO

the amt of baby books they buy is truly astonishing

so many child-raising books. so. many.

it's the closest tim gets to hitting his credit card limit

[exghul]

GRATUIOUSLY DETAILED DISLIKES.

muse name.   damian al ghūl wayne.

least favorite nickname.   anything that is a shortening of his name such as dami or ian. especially ian. no one likes ian, dami doesn't like ian. dami is more tolerated than ian. dami is accepted only by siblings.

least favorite season.   the winter. damian spent a great amount of his early childhood in the heat. given his small frame, he's not super fond of being cold in general: gotham winter is particularly cold.

least favorite  –––  hot or cold?   cold, for all reasons above + these.

least favorite holiday.   western holidays, the louder the less he likes them. if the holiday is shorter than a full week, damian probably won't be there for it.

least favorite food.   fast foods. despite eating a lot of it now that he lives in gotham, anything prepared directly from a freezer will get a nose turned up at it (but depending on how hungry he is, dami will eventually eat it).

least favorite flavor.   anything considered unsavory or bland. foods without a specific flavor will be the quickest to be tossed in the trash.

least favorite drink.   coffee, actually. dami is a tea extremist to the point of drinking leaf water more than plain water.

least favorite scent.   any smell that resembles an office space. cheap air fresheners, strong perfumes, paper reams, cheap coffee, any of it.

least favorite sound.   crunching sounds. anything from the snap of a twig or a cracker to actual bone snapping. unexpected crunching sounds specifically: if he knows it is coming, he'll just look away. if he doesn't, he might cringe physically a bit. if he creates the sounds himself, the most he might do is grimace. any of those sounds remind him of the absolute worst moments for him: his spine snapping and his actual death.

least favorite tv shows.   dami isn't a tv watcher overall. at any point where he must be in front of a tv, he tolerates action shows the absolute least and will loudly complain about the lack of realism.

least favorite area of school.   dami is very vocal about how school is unnecessary for him as talia flew in the best tutors throughout his childhood to teach him about the world and how it works. any class with a focus on a stem subject, dami will quickly grow frustrated as he believes that his education and knowledge is wider than any middle-school to high-school teacher can offer.

least favorite aspect of their job.   as a minor with the only ' job ' of vigilante, his least favorite part is finishing the night and having to introduce a balance of a ' personal life ' as again, he deems it unnecessary. justice doesn't have a social life, you know.

least favorite trait in others.   liars. white lies that seem harmless especially get under his skin. lying about minor details for no real benefit is annoying and frustrating, he will get angry.

least favorite place.   anything to do with batman inc. (i havent re-written that part of his canon yet, its in a no-fly zone rn - we'll talk abt it eventually lmao)

least favorite thing to talk about.   his own failures.

least favorite thing about themselves.   failure lol. after his revival for a short period of time, dami was bulletproof and could fly. after the chaos shards short term effects wore off, these faded. he has been chasing that power high ever since: he would not fail today if he were still bulletproof, obviously.

least favorite daily chore.   batcave cleanup duty. it gets messy. alfred isn't a roomba. the kids have to be able to clean up after themselves. hosing down the batmobile sucks. dami sticks to that.

least favorite type of clothing.   loosely fitted clothes. sleeves that cling tight against his arms, compression socks, anything that really holds on is where he feels the most comfortable. if a breeze can move his innermost layer of clothes, it makes him uncomfortable.

least favorite superpower.   a tossup between super-strength and tactile telekinesis. anything a superboy can do that he can't: he hates.

least favorite thing about falling in love.   the act itself. dami feels barely a sliver of romantic feeling toward anyone at all (currently the headcount is: mar'i grayson, ..., .... verse dependent: flatline, jonathan kent) so it's not one that he cares to linger on or delve into.

least favorite thing about death.   that no matter what he does, it never stops. no matter how good he tries to be, death is always in step with him and waits for any chance to take and never give back.

tagged by @banschivs ♥ tagging @starignite, @thirt13n, @qynzel, @yrghostie, @dcmonshcad, @batcowmaster + anyone who hasn't done it yet! ♥

[j3ssisam3ss]

Childhood Friends - Fluff

For @animebookworm16

It got kind of long and I’m not really sure it still counts as fluff, but here’s my piece for @maribat-angst-fluff-april, prompt 25, Childhood Friends.

Damian Al Ghul-Wayne was five years old the first time he met a girl his age. And in typical League of Assassins style, he went for efficiency by meeting ten at once.

“These are your betrothed,” Talia told him. “All but one will be dead by your twelfth birthday. You will marry the sole survivor on your eighteenth birthday and produce an Heir to carry on the great legacy of the League of Assassins.”

Nine of the girls heard the words without so much as a flinch. The last stared in shock at Talia, then broke into tears.

“Quiet, Marinette,” Talia hissed.

“No,” she yelled defiantly, tears streaming down her cheeks. “I want my mama!”

Talia backhanded her and she fell to the floor with a yelp.

Damian surveyed the girl – Marinette – with distaste.

“Mother, surely you don’t consider this sniveling coward worthy to compete for my hand?”

“Her mother, Sabine Cheng, was our best assassin for years before she turned traitor. I suppose she’s lost her touch if she raised such a weak daughter.” Talia shrugged elegantly. “No matter, if she turns out to be useless, we’ll ship her mutilated corpse back to Sabine as a reminder of what happens when you cross the League.”

She waved the girls away. “To your training now.”

Damian watched as Marinette sniffled and followed the other girls out the door.

She won’t last a week.

He had no idea how wrong he was.

.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng was five years old the first time she won a fight. And in typical Dupain-Cheng fashion, she did so in the most unpredictable way possible.

“You’re going down, pigtails,” shouted a pretty brunette, charging at Marinette with a sword that was as tall as she was.

With a startled shriek, Marinette darted away. She hated how behind she was here. Back home, she was good at everything – reading circle, art class, tussles when the teacher’s back was turned. Here, it felt like she was constantly playing catch-up.

Not to mention, the constant threat of death was not fun.

Skidding around a corner of the labyrinth arena, she tripped over a protruding stone and fell to the ground. The brunette grinned viciously, advancing towards her.

Marinette smiled nervously. “Can’t we talk this out?”

“Not a chance, shortie,” said the brunette.

Marinette glanced around frantically.

I don’t want to die!

She reached for a rock, a stick, anything that could help her fight, but came up with only a handful of sand. With a pleading glance heavenward, she flung it into the brunette’s face and lurched to her feet, grinning when the girl had to stop to get the grit out of her eyes.

Taking off into the labyrinth of passages, she nearly stumbled again, this time over a nearly buried metal object.

She shifted away the dirt surrounding it and smirked. “Finally, a weapon I know how to use.”

Ten minutes later, the watching League members straightened in surprise as the smallest and weakest of Damian’s betrotheds utterly decimated her opponent.

With a frying pan.

.

“What are you doing here?”

The two children spoke in unison, glaring daggers at one another.

“I always come here,” Marinette said. “It’s my drawing spot.”

“The vents are my domain, Dupain-Cheng,” Damian said. “Get out.”

Two years’ worth of resentment and anger simmered beneath Marinette’s skin.

 Drawing is the last thing I have of home. I won’t let him take it from me.

“No.”

Damian looked thunderstruck and Marinette couldn’t keep the smirk off her face.

“I am Heir to the Demon! You will obey me!”

“You may be Heir to the Demon, but right now you’re also a kid skipping classes,” Marinette argued. “And if you make me leave, I’ll tell Talia exactly where you go when you’re not in class.”

Ha, take that, you tyrant!

Damian froze. Marinette watched as emotions overtook his face – anger, resentment, then acceptance.

“Fine,” he grumbled.

Marinette smiled and returned to her sketchbook – which wasn’t really a sketchbook, just some loose papers she’d tucked into her history book.

A few minutes later, Damian peered over her shoulder. “What are you doing?”

“Drawing,” she said, holding out a few of her older sketches, the ones she wouldn’t mind losing if Damian decided to rip them. “There’s your mother fighting, cook making soup, the sunset from this other spot in the vents – actually, that one’s pretty bad because I didn’t have any colors.”

Damian stared at the drawing of his mother.

“I’m keeping this,” he announced.

Well, at least he didn’t tear it up.

The next week, when Marinette arrived at her drawing spot, Damian was already there. With an annoyed grunt, he shoved a sketchbook and colored pencils into her hands.

Marinette looked between him and the supplies in confusion. “What’s this for?”

“Teach me how to draw.”

Marinette bit her lip, looking longingly at the colored pencils. Then, she pushed them back towards Damian.

“I want you to give me weapons training. As often as I teach you drawing.”

I may be naturally talented at combat, but the other girls have been training their entire lives. I need to catch up.

Damian eyed her suspiciously. “That’s against the rules.”

“So? Are you scared?”

“Never.”

“Then it’s a deal?”

“It’s a deal.”

.

Damian lunged, making a displeased noise when his quarry danced out of his reach.

“You’re slow today, Dami,” Marinette teased. “Losing your touch?”

Marinette was no longer the scared little girl she’d been at five, or even at seven. She’d thrown herself into her training with single-minded determination and two years of training with Talia by day and Damian by night had made her a formidable – and snarky – combatant.

“Never,” Damian replied. His next attack nearly threw her off-balance.

With a grunt, Marinette recovered her footing and countered with a flurry of blows that would have left a lesser opponent dizzy.

Damian smirked, parrying each attack easily. “Completely mediocre. Should I tell my mother that her protégé is slipping?”

Although he’d never admit it, Damian was proud of her. She’d gone from being the worst of the League’s trainees to the only one able to keep up with him in a fight.

“Me? Slipping? Not a chance.” Marinette flipped backwards, knocking his weapon away. “Hey, Damian?”

“Yes, Marinette?” He scooped up his katana, readying himself for her next move.

“The floor is lava.”

With a startled intake of air, he leaped onto the nearest table.

“Really?” he asked, half annoyed, half amused.

Marinette giggled, peering down at him from her spot in the ceiling rafters. “I thought we could use an extra challenge.”

Damian glanced up at her. “You just like having the high ground.”

“Technically speaking, it’s the high rafter,” she pointed out.

“Either way, it won’t prevent me from defeating you,” Damian said, pulling himself into the rafters.

At that moment, the door opened and they both immediately went still.

“Damian? Are you here?”

Marinette raised an eyebrow at him. “Skipping again?” she mouthed.

Damian shrugged in response.

Rolling her eyes, Marinette gestured to the vents behind him. “I’ll meet you in the lower training rooms to finish our bout.”

“Marinette!” The teacher startled as she caught a glimpse of the pigtailed girl. “What are you doing up there?”

Effortlessly, the girl swung down from the ceiling, drawing the teacher’s attention away from Damian’s hiding place.

“Just improving my arm strength, Mistress Eva.” As she distracted his teacher with false information about his whereabouts, Damian climbed into the vents.

Marinette makes a surprisingly tolerable ally.

.

It didn’t seem to matter how many people Marinette killed; it never got easier. Surrounded by the bodies of Deathstroke’s traitors, she retched.

She was alone. Somehow, in the midst of the fight, she’d gotten separated from the rest of the League’s loyalists.

I need to get moving. I’m an easy target right now.

With a shuddering breath, she climbed to her feet and made her way out of the compound and into the shadows. It was there, staring at the ruins of the League’s strongest base, that the realization hit her.

“I’m free,” Marinette whispered, tears trickling down her face.

The Head of the Demon was dead, his followers scattered.

“I can finally go home.”

She ignored the voice in her mind that said her home was here, with the League, with Damian. She ignored the tightness in her chest at the thought of never seeing Damian again. She ignored the fear that he might already be dead.

The League kidnapped me. Talia abused me. Even if I managed to be happy here, I owe the Al Ghuls nothing. A vow of loyalty made under duress is no vow at all.

Her hands curled into fists.

And if they come for me again, I’ll be ready.

.

Damian scowled as their plane descended into Gotham.

“This is imbecilic. I should be assisting you in decimating our enemies, not hiding like a frightened child.”

“Damian,” his mother’s voice was cold. “This is not up for negotiation. You will stay here and train with your father.”

“Yes, Mother,” he replied bitterly. A moment passed, then he tilted his head in thought. “But what of my betrothed? If she is to be my equal, should she not train with me?”

Talia studied him carefully. “You use the singular of betrothed,” she noted. “Despite the fact that three remain alive. I don’t suppose you’d care to tell me which one you consider your wife-to-be?”

“Tt. Your protégé, the Cheng girl, is the only one that even approaches competent. You know this.”

“I also know that you trained her separately – against my orders,” Talia said.

Damian nearly flinched. “And yet you didn’t stop me.”

“I wonder if that was a mistake,” his mother said. “You feel more for her than you should.”

“She is an effective ally. That is all.”

“Then you won’t mind being separated from her for a while.”

“Not at all, Mother,” Damian lied.

.

“Marinette? Is that you?” Her mother looked as if she’d seen a ghost.

Marinette smiled. “Hello, Mama.”

Sabine reached out a shaking hand to cup her face. “How are you here? We saw you die.”

“Sabine, do you know where – ” Tom dropped the pan of croissants. “Marinette?”

He jumped over the counter and raced to her. Marinette took a step back before her mind caught up with her body.

This is Papa, you idiot. He’s not a threat.

She threw herself into his arms, shoving away her fears.

Twisting to face her mother, she said, “I don’t know how my death was faked, but I never died. The League kidnapped me.”

Tom’s arms tightened around her.

“The League?” Sabine’s face went pale. “What did they want with you?”

“The usual,” Marinette said with a shrug. “Revenge on you for leaving and a capable assassin and potential wife for Damian if I turned out to be any good.”

“Who’s Damian?” Tom asked with a frown.

Marinette grinned. “Oh, Damian’s great! He’s the Heir to the League, but he’s actually pretty okay for an assassin. He helped me get good enough to survive. You know, after I blackmailed and bribed him.”

“What?”

.

Meeting his father did not go the way Damian had imagined.

Talia always spoke of Bruce Wayne’s great intellect, his strength in combat, his determination in all things. She never mentioned his brainless playboy act, his absurd prohibition of killing, or his habit of taking in strays. Damian wasn’t sure which one was most offensive, but he was incredibly disappointed in his father regardless.

He had to reassess after he saw Batman at work. When not purposely acting like a buffoon, Bruce Wayne was everything his mother had described and more, entirely deserving of Damian’s respect.

He set out to prove himself in his father’s eyes. It didn’t go well. Whatever he did, it was the wrong thing. In any fight with the imposter sons, Damian was punished – even if he won. Assisting his father with Wayne Enterprises was met with an eye-roll and a request to stay away from Bruce’s office.

It should have made Damian angry but instead it hurt and Damian did not understand why.

And then his father was gone. Richard Grayson became Batman.

Damian became Robin. Finally.

And yet the triumph felt hollow.

Not to mention, it came with strings attached: ‘Murder is bad.’ ‘Justice, not vengeance.’ ‘Robin doesn’t kill.’ ‘Protect rather than avenge.’

Grayson’s teachings were imbecilic. And yet he had to follow them. His mother had yet to finish with the traitors.

He wondered where Marinette was, if she was undergoing similar training, if she fought the way he did to reign in the bloodlust. Considering how she had to hide her dislike of killing, how she helped heal her competitors, he thought probably not.

Slowly, things got easier. Grayson became tolerable. Damian learned to suppress the instinct, the muscle memory that said ‘kill or be killed.’ He found an adoration for animals and learned to deal with his classmates. He finally began to understand why Grayson and his father valued life so highly. His father came back and he chose to deny the League. Wayne Manor became home.

On days when he struggled, he retreated to his room and the comfort of his sketchbook. And if a certain blue-eyed girl made an appearance every few pages, well, who would know but him?

.

Returning home did not go the way Marinette had imagined.

She knew it wouldn’t be sunshine and roses, of course. But she hadn’t expected the magnitude of the changes in her home, or in herself.

School was laughably easy. Marinette had the equivalent of several college degrees. Finding x and learning how to spell ‘earthquake’ was a waste of her time. Instead, she spent class drawing and coming up with increasingly complex plans for fighting off the League should they try to kidnap her again.

She kept herself closed off from her classmates – she didn’t know how she’d ever called them friends. They were neutral parties at best – not one ever stood up for her against Chloe. Her parents encouraged them to give her classmates a chance, but the League had trained her well. Misplaced trust could kill. And Marinette had fought long enough for survival to know that dropping your guard was a death knell.

She hated hurting her parents though.

Though they tried to hide it, she saw the pain cross their faces when she flinched away from hugs. When she moved like an assassin rather than a child. When she gave away her stuffed animals. When she skipped family game night and spent her time training.

She hated hurting her parents. So she changed.

Marinette locked away her lethal grace, faking clumsiness and turning it into an art form. She hid her weapons, training only when her parents were asleep. She returned to family game nights; she initiated hugs. At school, she became bubbly and friendly again, though she trusted no one.

More than anything, she tried to atone. She sought out those in need and tried to help – whether by providing food, babysitting, or making them warm clothing. She discovered an interest in fashion design, but mostly stuck to making the essentials for those in need. She met a tiny floating bug named Tikki and became a superhero.

On days when she struggled, she retreated to her room and the comfort of her sketchbook. And if green eyes and a cocky smirk featured prominently in the book, well, who would know but her?

.

Damian frowned as he followed his brother into Wayne Enterprises.

"I don't understand why it's so important for me to be here."

"C'mon, Baby Bird!" Dick said. "You said you wanted to be more involved in the company!"

"I meant the business side of things," Damian said. "I have no interest in showing around a gaggle of unruly teenagers."

"You're a teenager too," Dick pointed out. "It'll be fun!"

Damian sniffed. "I'm an adult. And fun, really? Surely you don't truly believe that?"

Dick sighed. "Just give it a chance, okay? They seem like really great kids."

They walked into the lobby and Damian stopped short, eyes catching on long black hair and brilliant blue eyes.

"Marinette?"

.

In truth, Marinette wasn't all that excited about the Wayne Enterprises tour. The architecture was interesting, sure, but her class had a habit of making themselves a target and Bruce Wayne's patronage was not helping.

She gave it three days, at most, before they got in trouble with Gotham's Rouges.

Which meant she was on 'keep the class from dying' duty. Joy.

She kept her eyes and ears peeled, which meant that she heard the faint whisper of her name from an unfamiliar voice.

"Marinette?"

Forest-green eyes filled with far too much emotion had her breath catching in her throat.

"Damian?"

With obvious effort, the League's Heir pulled himself together. "Fancy meeting you here, Dupain-Cheng."

His voice. Oh, kwami, it should be illegal to look AND sound that good. Nope. Nope. Not doing this. He's an assassin, get your act together, Marinette.

"Al-Ghul." She was proud that her voice betrayed nothing. "I have to admit, I'm surprised to see you here. This doesn't seem like your scene."

She reached out for a handshake and was taken off guard when Damian kissed her hand instead. She blushed.

"It's Wayne now," Damian said. "I'm... no longer associated with the Al-Ghuls. Or their business."

He's not an assassin anymore? Yes! I knew you were a good person deep, deep down, Dami!

"Really? I broke ties with them several years ago myself."

See that, Damian? We're both good people. Good people that would be great toget - no! Bad Marinette!

Damian grinned. "In that case, I look forward to reconnecting. Perhaps after the tour?"

Oh, kwami, I'm doomed.

"I'd like that."

.

"What was that?" Dick asked in a low voice. "I've never seen you open up to someone so quickly."

With difficulty, Damian tore his gaze from Marinette.

Stars, she grew up gorgeous.

Damian smirked. "Don't be ridiculous, Grayson. I met Marinette over a decade ago."

I wonder, does she still consider our betrothal valid?

"Wait, so she's an assassin?" Grayson blanched. "Who is she here to kill? Who do I have to protect? Ugh! Why can't you ever have normal friends?"

"Relax," Damian chided. "She's an ex-assassin. Like me."

"That does not make me feel better. Who is she to you?"

Damian hummed in thought, running through years of teasing, fighting, and spending time together. "She was my first friend."

And maybe now something more.

[hollyharper]

I think DC neds to do a five year time skip. Take their entire continuity and more it forward five years. Give us fans something new.

Maybe Bruce and Selina finally tied the knot, maybe they even have a little Helena Wayne. Their starting to train her to follow in their footsteps. Just have a bunch of sevens of the little three year old doing splits with her mom, learning how to analyze samples with her dad. Damien teaching her to fight. And of course, all the older siblings spoiling her rotten. Bruce is simply happy to spend time with his wife and kids. Selina still loves her cats. The house is over run with them, domestic and wild.

Dick and Babs should definitely be married. They have a two year old boy, James, after Barbara’s brother. Maybe even start with Barbara’s second pregnancy. This time a girl named Mary, after Dick’s mom. They have a large apartment in Blùdhavan. Dick is still Nightwing. Barbara struggles juggling her roles as his partner and wife, Batman, and The Bird’s Oracle, and being a mom. The Alfred Pennyworth foundation is thriving, and Babs resented reclaimed Gotham Clean Energy. Being the genius she is is Barbara refuses to send her kids to public school. Dick worries that adds to much extra stress to her life. She loves it. To thank her for all of her hard work, Dick brings home little gifts for her at least once a week. These presents range from chocolate bars to new computer equipment. As much as he loves when Babs cooks, Dick usually prepares their meals.

What would truly be a bomb, would be to put Jason in serious relationship. Personally, I would go with Helena Bertenilli. They started working together as partners. As they spent more time together, it became clear that they both were looking for a more intimate relationship. Their shared understanding of loss brought them closer together, until their relationship turned into lovers. Helen’s exceptional skill as a history teacher, earned her a place at Gotham High. Seeing Jason’s talent with kids, her confided him to get a teaching job as well. He mostly teaches P.E. at Gotham Academy, but also has a black smith class. He makes knives and sword son the weekend, and sells them to make money on the side. On the Battlefield, Huntress and Red Hood are inseparable, and on of the best teams Batman has. They both deeply love each other, but are afraid to talk about commitment.

Tim and Stephine are currently have issues. They’ve had an on and off relationship for the last year. Tim has entirely taken over running Wayne Enterprises. He works all day, and is out as Red Robin most of the night. His exhaustion puts a massive strain on their relationship. He feels bad about having so little time for Steph, and to show her how much he loves, her is planning to propose. Stephine feels neglected. As much as she loves Tim, his constant stress weighs on her. After talking with her mentors, she has decided that time apart would be good for both her and Tim, but she doesn’t know how to tell him. Steph has been job bouncing for awhile, another reason she’s cautious about leaving.

Cass is still Bruce’s angel child. She has little interest in dating. Her main focus is always the mission. Barbara believes she needs to get a job and stop relying on Bruce for funding. The only idea she even considered, was Helena’s suggestion to become a federal agent. Bruce strongly opposes the idea. After her father died, Cass has been trying to patch things up with her mom, who unsurprisingly wants Cass to join the League of Shadows.

At first, Damien was reluctant to accept Selina, though he would never admit, he was still hoping for his parents to work things out. When Bruce married Selina, it became clear Talia wasn’t coming back. Over time, she grew on him. Selina was the one to figure out that Damien missed his mother. After some negotiations, she convinced Bruce to invite Talia over for the holidays. It became an eagerly anticipated tradition for Damien. Talia as brings food and gifts for him. It’s the one time of year when Damian’s almost always smiles. Dami adores his little sister, and has even sworn to protect her at all costs. His relationship with Flatline died out very quickly after their meeting. Mostly, because of how immature they both were. Four years, and a sweet ex later, they meet once again on the field of battle. Again sparks flew, leading to a passionate reunion, and another hero and villain love story.

Jade and Lian were recently reunited. Their relationship is still on rocky ground, but Jade is determined to make up for the time she missed with her daughter. She makes every effort to connect with Lian, even while fighting shadows from her past. Every night, to two will sit on the roof outside of Lian’s window. Their shared interest in astronomy is a safe topic, one they touch on often. Lian wants a relationship with her mother, but is afraid Jade will leave again. Jade’s proud that her daughter took the name Cheshire Cat, and love watching her daughter in action, even though it’s usually from a distance.

Dinah and Oliver have been married for a few years. They found out pretty soon that they can’t have kids. After the news, Dinah went into depression. Their friends and family stepped up to help. Bruce tried to convince them to adopt. Neither want to, until they meet a feisty young girl named Kayleigh. Kayleigh is closed off, with deep wounds. She’s trying to become a vigilant in Star City. Her methods are overly violent. Oliver sees his younger self in her and brings her under his wing. Dinah takes a little to warm up to her. Kayleigh gives them both quite a bit of trouble, but their determined to read her. But Kayleigh’s secrets are something that could shatter their belief in her. She knows the day the find out, will be the last time she has anything close to a family.

[catboybatman]

Horsegirl Dami post by an actual horsegirl

Dont come for me im just a wee country lass

Everytime someone says that horseriding is not a sport Dami will break their kneecaps (everyone who says horseriding is not a sport has obviously never ridden a horse besides maybe a birthday party or something)

He has 1 horse because horses are hard to take care off especially if you're still in school and more then 1 is just too much

Bruce also has a horse, a black Friesian named Tornado (if you know you know if you dont you dont)

Dami's horse is a black Arab bc they are fucking majestic and look very royal, exactly what Damian likes

Her name is Avalon and she is a delight

They stand in the land behind the manor, there is also a riding ring and a stable

There is 1 more horse, a pony to specific, Bruce bought her for Dick when he was 13

Her name is Silvia, Sil as a nickname

She is now used for first time riding (i.e Jason, Cass, Duke) other than that she's just there, vibing, living her old horse life

(Rip to Sil, the oldest and second fastest horse at the stable thanks for being my first favourite horse, you are missed)

Talia tought Dami how to ride so now everytime he rides, even for fun and relaxing, he still sits up straight, shoulders back and chest forward (the way my teacher drilled this in me when i was fucking 7 lmaoo)

Bruce and Dami go for forest rides in the woods around the manor every week as a bonding moment

Dami is mad tiny so everytime he wants to ride he has to use a stepstool just to reach the stirrup with his foot (pray for me y'all i look like a toddler everytime)

He hates riding saddle-less (?) Bc the HAIR GETS STUCK IN THE PANTS AND THAT SHIT ITCHES LIKE A MOTHERFUCKER also if the horse has high withers that hurts your loin man no joke that shit is painfull

I'll never understand why that is so romanticised like that shit aint pleasent

If y'all want more just say so lmao

[nevermore-the-kitsune]

Pokemon Teams for Fictional Characters pt. 2

Damian Wayne

(Also, I'm not including move sets because in my headcannon Pokemon do remember all their old moves. But humans choose to only use four)

For this AU I'm having the Wayne's own the Gotham City Gym, which specializes in Dark types. Most of the cannon events still happened. Just with a few tweaks here and there. (Dick's 20, Jason's 16, Cass is 15 Tim's 15 but younger than Cass and Damian's 13 because I love AUs where there closer in age).

Anyway here we go!

First things first in the Pokemon Universe his alias wouldn't be Robin since they don't exist. Instead I think it would be Rookidee, since thats the closest Pokemon to a Robin.

His Partner Pokemon and ace would be a Gligar

Name: Goliath

Gender: Male

Why: Gligar screams Goliath (his Batdragon) plus the coloring of his evolutions matches with Dami's Robin and Batman outfits

Story: He found Goliath while climbing a mountain for his training. At the time he was four and Goliath was a hatching. Damian ended up giving him some food, seeing that the hatching was hungry.

Grateful, the Gligar followed him hoping to return the favor.

When Damian's hand got broken on that same trip, Goliath was the one to help him finish his mission and get home safely.

Talia was impressed that Damian could tame a wild Pokemon without catching it, so she allowed him to keep him as his first Pokemon.

-----

Next he would have a Meowth

Name: Alfred

Gender: Female

Why: This one has to do with its evolution. Persian are said to only be loyal to trainers it likes and that it takes a lot to get them to like you. Their also said to be prissy and uptight. This reminded me of Damian. How it took forever for him to trust his brothers and his own snobby attitude. Thus I think it fits.

Story: After coming to live with his father Damian didn't know how to act. He saw his "brothers" and father treating their Pokemon so different than how the League did. They all trained hard. But, there was something eles: warm praise for a job well done, asking for insight on a case (they had taught their bipedal pokemon sighn language) and comfort on a bad day. His father and brothers treated their Pokemon like... people

In the League Pokemon where the lowest soldier, lower than the slaves or concubines. They trained, ate then they had to and got in their ball.

He had been a little more lenient in his training with Goliath. When asked he said that he was still a baby and he had to take things slow in this stage or he might develop too much muscle mass and be unable to fly.

He had kept him out of his ball with the excuse of developing muscle mass at a proper pace.

He liked Goliath's company. The Gligar was a good companion. But on the same level as another person?

He had expressed these thoughts to Pennyworth, the only person in the house to give him a straight answer when he needed it.

Pennyworth had explained to him that some people love to hold power over others and that Pokemon where an easy target, since they couldn't communicate their emotions as clearly as people could.

"Think of Mistress Cain. She sometimes cannot communicate with words, but we know that she's intelligent. But some people see her as less than intelligent and treat her as such because of the power it gives them."

Two weeks later Damian would come across a group of teenagers attempting to shave a Meowth. The Pokemon was little more than skin and bone and crying out on pain. So, Damian broke their fingers and shaved part of their heads for good measure.

He kept the Meowth and named her after the man who taught him about the abuse of power.

---

Next, a Poochyena

Name: Titus

Gender: Male

Why: These Pokemon and their evolution are ruthless with their pray, and only obey trainers with external skill.

Story: Raven gave Damian Titus as a gift. She said that she rescued him from an underground fighting ring (where the battles are to the death). He was still to young to battle so he didn't need much rehabilitation. The other Pokemon there though...

---

Now we have a Type Null

Name: Heretic

Gender: ???

Why: This Pokemon was created in lab, and artificial designed for the purpose of fighting, just like Damian. True I could have given him Mewtwo, but that cat seems to fit Kon more.

Story: Damian's mother had spent years creating Type: Null with the purpose of being able to kill any target. As a last test she wanted to see which of her creations was suppirrior. So she sent the Type Null out to (try and) kill her son.

Damian, with the rest of his team, beat the Pokemon but couldn't kill it. He had long since vowed to wash the blood from his hands. Instead he offered his hand to it and asked it to join him.

---

Here we have the hardest to explain... Mimikyu

Name: Habibi (I hope I spelled that right)

Gender: Female

Why: Damian is complex, he wants to be accepted and loved just like Mimikyu but dosent know how. Both try to mimic others in order to get that love, Damian his father and Mimikyu Pikachu. So I see this as Damian's spirit Pokemon in a way.

Story: He didn't know why it was so hard to fit in. Gods know he tried. But... little things confused him. Like how eveyone could understand each other without words or singhing. He had no problems with that on a battlefield, but in day to day life; it felt like he was on a separate server.

Like how Todd knew at breakfast with just a look that Drake was in a bad mood and how to help. Or how Grayson could audomadicly tell what kind of day at school the rest of them had withen a few minutes. Hell even Drake could tell what grunts ment what from father! Which ment good job, Which ment I'm glade your okay, or frustration either at them or at a case (Cass didn't surprise him, she had to learn how to communicate without words and watch body language and micro expressions).

School was no better; sometimes it was to load or bright othertimes, when everyone was doing a test, it felt to quiet. But, to much or to little, Damian was always aware of every movement, every sound. It was like the very instincts that saved his life every night where turned against him.

He turned to his nearly forgotten childhood habits to distract himself from everything around him. That only led to more whisper shouting and what even he could tell where displeased glares with a grunt of "fucking tapping" or a snap of "stop!" He knew it was disrupting but it was all be could do to drown out the noise or silence.

On one particularly bad day at school; apparently during one of their tests one of his classmates had had enough of Damian's tapping and decided to make a scene.

There was some yelling from the kid. A few cries in agreement. Before the teacher had gotten hem to settle down. He had demanded that Damian look him in the eye and when he finally did told him to stop with the tapping or else he would be sent to the office, Gym Leaders son or not.

He was the last to finish that test where he normally finished first. The silence had been to load!!

After that clusterfuck Damian finally headed home. He had texted Grayson saying that he was meeting a friend somewhere to work on a project and to not pick him up. In truth he didn't want his brother reading what kind of day he had had. He needed some time to himself.

That was how he found himself in a nearby park. It was filled with plenty of sounds that didn't suffocate him and the fall leaves where soothing to his eyes. Damian had Titus out of his ball as company, knowing that the pup loved park walks.

They had been walking for an hour when they came across a box set off just on the edge of the trail. "Free to Good Homes" was written on the side in black sharpie.

No sound was coming from inside, so he assumed that the had all been taken. Until Titus went closer sniffing at the seemingly empty box.

"Pooch Pooch"

"Hmmm... what is is it boy?" He asked as he walked closer to his Pokemon and the Box. Damian hoped he was wrong. It was cruel to leave a baby Pokemon all alone, especially since the weather was getting colder by the day.

Inside the box was in fact a lone Pokemon. At first glance it looked like a Pikachu. But something was off. It looked more like a doll than a living creature. If it wasn't for the small chirps it let out and slight way that it was shivering from the cold Damian would have written it off as a toy. No wonder it got left behind...

Damian reached down and picked up the mystery Pokemon as gently as he could.

"Come on beloved, lets go home."

He tucked the Pokemon in his jacket to warm it up before reaching for his phone to call Grayson for a ride home.

That night Damian locked himself away, even skipped patrol, and spent a sleepless night learning everything he could about his newest Pokemon.

---

That was inspired by this comic

---

Finaly, for his last spot Eevee!!

Name: Omni

Gender: Female

Why: I'm going to have all the Batfam members have an Eeveelution. This branch and the Batfam are both growing consistently. We all have our favorites but we love them all the same. So I think it fits.

Story: Everyone in the family had an Eevee or one of its evolutions. Damian's Father said that Eevee was the Wayne family symbol, it was potential, the ability to become whatever you wanted.

Though it surprised Damian that the Wayne symbol wasn't a Noibat or Noivern (Batman's ace) at first he eventually understood the logic in choosing such a Pokemon to represent the family name. That only made things harder for him being the only one not having one. Did they not truly see him as family?

On the one year anniversary of Damian arriving at The Mannor, his family through a small party. Pennyworth made his favorite foods, The Mannor was decorated in tacky streamers (Graysons' idea) and they watched some of Damian's favorite fims, their Pokemon curled up with them. His father had offered to take the day off from the gym. Until Todd suggested that Damian take on the challengers.

The Gotham gym was part of his heritage. Damian had been training for the day that he could finally help weed out the weak challengers just like his siblings sometimes did (think the battles you do before challenging a gym leader in the games).

On that day, if the challengers agreed to it, their final battle wasn't with Bruce Wayne the Dark Knight but instead his son. Most accepted thinking that it would be an easy win, that they had lucked out in not having to battle one of the stongest Gym Leaders in the League and could still get the Shadow Badge.

Those poor fools.

Damian was only allowed to use Alfred, Titus and Habibi since he used Goliath and Heretic primarily as Rookidee.

Damian fought seven trainers that day in 3v3 fights. Only two of them got the badge.

With the day overwith and the night rising, so did Gothams' protecters.

The night ended with exhausted body's and adrenaline crashes. Damian was ready to slip into a mini coma from the day he had but before he could head upstairs to The Mannor...

"Not so fast baby bat." Graysons' voice called out to him. "We got one more surprise for you."

Damian raised his eyebrow at that. What else could they do? His father came back from the locker rooms where he had been desuiting, it always took him the longest because of his "old man bones" as Todd said.

"Son," his father said "its Wayne tradition to get your first Pokemon when you turn ten years old. I missed that with you." He paused, eyes briefly shifting to the floor before they snapped back on Damian's face. "Luckily there's one tradition we didn't miss. When you've lived at The Mannor for a year or the adoption papers get finalized, I give my children this..."

He pulled a Poke'ball out of his poket and handed to Damian. "Go on son, let them out."

He did

Staring at him was his own Eevee.

---

AN: All of Damian's Pokemon (sans maybe Omni, I'm thinking of leaving her as an Eevee) will eventually evolve. Eventually.

[downfall-muse]

#2: Cherry Soda

Prompts: Steph and Dami bonding and Racial discrimination

Despite the music in his headphones blocking out most of the noise, Damian distantly wondered if coming to such a crowded place was the right idea. People roamed in all directions around him, twisting and turning and gathering together like a maze of snakes.

But coming here had a purpose, because it was the last place anyone who even remotely knew him would come to look.

The squeaking of worn sneakers alerted him to the hoards of loud, noisy children jumping from place to place, the balloon floor of the play castle rippling in tiny waves with each bounce. Stephanie had taken him here, once before to celebrate a successful mission. He doubted if she still remembered it. Technically, he hadn’t.

He’d run into the amusement park by mistake, having taken the scenic route through the grassy woodlands surrounding the area, hoping the greenery would clear his head. It had, somewhat, and once he’d calmed, hiding in the bouncy castle seemed as good a place as any to take a minute to think.

How would he even begin to explain this to Father? There was no way for him to word things without letting on that he’d gone too far. He’d been the one to throw the first punch, and he’d landed the last one as well out of spite before making his getaway from the dingy alley where he’d been attacked.

He’d suspected it would’ve happened at some point. Most of the suffocatingly blonde and blue-eyed population of the school Father had enrolled him in despised him. Whether it be the teachers, what with him often correcting them on their own source material yet skipping through class every other day out of sheer boredom, or, more noticeably, the students. Spoiled and oozing superiority like a pile of waste gathering flies, with bothersome jabs and constant questions. Damian could count on one hand the few who didn’t irritate him, most of them the school janitors.

There was one group in particular, that the likes of Drake perhaps would have likened to a Mean Girls posse, that infuriated him to no end. There were the stereotypical schoolyard bullies you saw in romcoms, and Damian regretted having dismissed them at first glance on screen, because they were far more annoying in real life.

They were everything Damian wasn’t. Social, impulsive, pop-culture savvy, and ridiculously, overwhelmingly: white. It seemed every well-to-do household of blondes in the country had all flocked to his school with the sole purpose of tormenting him.

He was above them, that much he’d never doubted, and contrary to popular belief, no, he wasn’t being arrogant this time around. There was no need to be. The blatant, overly luxurious displays of face value wealth and face value class were no less fake than pyrite. He didn’t even bother with the notion of trying to be like them.

Yet in a city such as Gotham, he had to admit he was outnumbered. For every speck of melanin in the crowd was a blizzard of blue eyes, and no amount of wealth could make the darkness of his skin evaporate into thin air.

Of the admittedly often times he thought of his mother, in situations like these were when he missed her the most. Talia was an intensely proud woman, standing with her spine as straight as a pencil, chin raised defiantly, looking down at the world that quivered in its attempts to put her down. Imitating that look was what had gotten him through most of the school year.

He’d even enjoyed how angry it made most of his classmates, all their attempts to wipe the pride off his face in vain. Yet however thoroughly he’d enjoyed it, he should’ve known there would eventually be consequences. There was only so much that happened in the actual schoolyard. Once lessons ended there was no one to stop them from ganging up on Damian outside.

Sighing into the artificially flavored sugary drink he’d bought to pass the time, he had to admit that for all his classmates' pink-faced pigheadedness, they’d been meticulous. Damian had made it out the other end unscathed out of his own merit, and he could never prove he’d been provoked.

...He’d promised Father he would try this time, his third school change in two years wearing down on how much Father could defend him from. He’d actually tried this time. Trying hadn’t been enough, his bruised knuckles and the imprints they’d left on his classmates' faces on the other hand- they were enough.

“Are you finished staring at me Brown, or are you having a seizure?” He didn’t look up from his still full cup of soda.

Stephanie stepped out from behind the cake-pop stand, only mildly sheepish.

“When did you notice?”

“When you first arrived twenty minutes ago.”

Stephanie took a seat next to him.

“And how long have you been here?”

“Two hours.”

Neither of them said anything for a long moment afterward. Stephanie eyed his cup.

“You gonna finish that or...”

He silently handed his cup over.

Still, for several minutes they didn’t say anything. Realizing he wasn’t going to talk first, Stephanie’s patience wore out.

“You aren’t going to ask?”

“And receive what? I know why you’re here.”

“Enlighten me then. Why am I here?”

Damian rolled his eyes. Brown may be as close to family as was possible without being biologically related, but how exactly was he going to explain to her blonde-haired, blue-eyed self why he’d been hiding?

“You’re here because Michalson’s parents didn’t waste time in getting the news out to every goddamn person they know that I beat up their poor son.”

Stephanie looked at him, her normally overly expressive face strangely soft, yet unreadable.

“No, I’m not.”

If Damian could make a question mark emoji appear next to his head, he would. Nevertheless, Stephanie got the hint.

“Michalson, and whoever his parents are, have nothing to do with me being here. I’m here cause you were supposed to be home 4 hours ago.”

Lovely, meaning now there was his own verbal confession to hold against him. He’d gone and opened his stupid mouth and put himself into even more trouble.

“And? I’m late 6/7 days of the week.”

“Not on Thursdays.”

Oh. Right. Today was the day Alfred tended to the greenhouses. Damian was supposed to come home on time today.

Picking up on his train of thought, Stephanie offered him a faint smile. “Made Alfred worry his head off, he won’t admit he worries so much, but the 6 new wrinkles on his face say otherwise.”

“Careful,” Damian muttered, “If he hears you he might think you’re calling him old.”

“And if he doesn’t? Alf isn’t here bud.”

“So? It’s common knowledge that Pennyworth was the real-life inspiration behind Mary Poppins.”

The air almost visibly lightened, with Stephanie snorting ungracefully into her drink.

“Tell Pennyworth I’m sorry for keeping him waiting.”

Stephanie ran a critical eye over him, only stopping once at his purpled knuckles.

“You’re not coming home?”

“Not right now.”

He wasn’t ready to face Father yet, even the crowd at the castle was slowly dying down, leaving him with enough room to listen to himself think. Not a good idea, he kind of missed the noise now.

Stephanie leaned back against a balloon pillar, watching the sky grow dusky.

“Mind if I stay here?”

Damian eyed her warily, “Not going to ask?”

“Nope,” she popped the ‘p’ at the end.

“Michalson’s got a couple older siblings just like him. I remember Tim’s academy days enough to know not to ask.”

Damian stared at the scuff marks on his shoes, gathered from the dirt and sidewalk gravel during the fight.

He didn’t know why, but he decided to tell her.

“I’m going to get expelled again.”

“Again?”

“The first time was my fault,” Damian admitted, “I cursed out the principal after he tried to imply that I was cheating.”

Stephanie wrinkled her nose, “So snooty adults eh? Any other time?”

Damian eyed her dryly, his second expulsion was his most famous.

“Taking the blame for setting the chemistry lab on fire to cover for Thomas’s powers malfunctioning after a day fight with Hatter.”

“Hey,” Stephanie joked, “at least this one wasn’t your fault.”

“That’s not what's going on record.”

She frowned, “Isn’t Bruce taking care of that?”

“No, I asked him not to.”

“...Why?”

Damian looked away, watching a pair of siblings playing hopscotch in the sandpit. One of them fell over head-first, the other rushing to pull them back up and wipe away their tears.

“Regardless of the actual reason behind it, if Father had it wiped off the record, that doesn’t make me any better than Michalson, assuming everything I do wrong will be absolved with money.”

“If anybody asked, I wanted to deal with it myself.”

“You don’t want to hide behind money,” Stephanie shook her head, “even in the situations when you should.”

She looked him over for a moment, something warm and fond tingling in her eyes. The slowly fading sunlight coloring them almost white, unearthly, and almost angelic against Damian’s muddy olive irises.

“Y’know what I like about you bud? That.”

Damian was genuinely confused. “...What?”

Stephanie shook her head, “You’re brutally honest Dames. You don’t like lying, and avoid it even when you could get away with it. Kay’ so you got into a fight, against who I already know is a stupid rich white kid that looks like me. You don’t wanna lie to Bruce that you didn’t throw the first punch, so you’re avoiding him.

You don’t wanna admit you see Michalson in me, so you’re avoiding me.”

“...”

“But I’m not avoiding you.”

Stephanie looked at him, and Damian turned to face her fully for the first time.

“..It felt like you were, a little?”

Damian shrugged, “I was avoiding you at first.”

He looked back down at his feet. “I’m not doing it anymore,” he added.

“Oh.”

Stephanie looked down at her almost empty cup.

“Okay. Thanks.”

Not knowing what else to say, or there even was anything to say, Damian grabbed his backpack off the ground. He’d have to wash it after the amount of time it had spent in the wet grass.

Walking towards the entrance to the amusement park, Stephanie looked at her drink again, “By the way, why’d you order cherry soda? I thought you hated artificial stuff.”

Damian watched a portly man pack up the cotton candy stand, stray cones of pink and blue cotton fluff being handed out to a group of toddlers.

“I do. But it was the thing I saw, and I wasn’t actually planning on drinking anything.”

“Really? Try it, there’s some left.”

Damian eyed what was left of the red-pink liquid.

“You didn’t spit in this did you?”

“I’m not Cass, Dames.”

Eyeing the drink one more time, Damian drowned the final sip in one gulp.

...

He promptly found the nearest water fountain and spat it back out.

Behind him, he could hear Stephanie dying with laughter.

“It’s not funny!”

Steph cackled even harder.

“Yes it was kiddo, yes it was.”

[lowin]

You know what would be an amazing idea?

A Lost Days cartoon series, like Harley Quinn's, where we see smol Jason going from one murder teacher to another, always with the idea of the main goal being going back to Gotham and make Bruce kill the Joker and then killing Bruce himself, but always straying from his goal in order to stop his teachers from his criminal activities, of course eventually killing them as well.

He'd also get calls from Talia in the middle of trainings or his own missions asking him if he's taking his vitamins, if he's sticking to his strick diet, if he's comfortable at the home she choose for him or if he just need anything in general, like more weapons, venom antidotes or anything. Then Dami would interrupt her, take the phone and talk for hours to his big brother about how he chopped his teacher's hand off at training or how real his newest drawing of a cat looks.

And just like in Lost Days he starts very small, and it's even a running joke that makes him mad, but instead of lashing out and threating them to a painful death, he actually attempts to kill the people that mocks at his height, or at least, tries to hurt them physichally.

There would also be the times when Jason remembers a time with Bruce, maybe a situation brings back a memory, and he starts to retell angrilly only for the flashback to end up being a fluffy moment between father and son.

Of course there'd also be a lot of death jokes, Joker jokes, book quotes, Jason acting on Alfred's teachings on manners and mixing them with Talia's, Jason being a master chef and always criticizing others' cooking, Jason hating his combat stlye being compared to Batman's or worse, Nightwing's. Maybe even Jason running into some League of Justice member and accidentally hearing about how dark Batman's become since losing his Robin, thus making Jay cry like a baby for hours.

Anyway, we all know DC sucks most of the time, so it's unlikely that they ever do something like this, but it'd be cool if they ever did.

[rue-king]

Black Bird

(AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33056038)

Summary: Damian Wayne has a bad day and he has no one to comfort him but a little black bird.

Warnings: mild cursing, and slight descriptions of violence, mentions of Damian's trauma

It stinks in Gotham. No one has ever tried to say otherwise. It stinks, it's cold, and it's dangerous.

The air bites and snaps against warm skin. It swooshes through the light poofs of hair that rises from little Damian Wayne’s head.

He’s doing what Wayne’s do best- brooding.

He’s having one of those days. The type where he can’t keep his temper. The type where he snaps at his father and his brothers. The type where he feels just so angry and doesn’t know why.

He’s not even a whole teen, a real teen. He’s a kid who feels emotions way too large for his little body.

He can take a man apart no problem, but god forbid he try to properly express his feelings. You won’t ever hear him say a bad thing about the league of assassins, but they ruined him. They destroyed him before he even had a chance to develop into a whole person.

There’s nights where every time he closes his eyes all he sees is endless waves of warriors  and teachers beating him down. Each one striking with more and more vigor, burying him under the weight of their blood lust.

Last night was especially terrible. After patrolling with his father Damian retired to his room to get some sleep. It started off okay. He laid in his king sized bed and sank into its sheets.

His peaceful dreams warped into the burning green goo that is the lazarus pit. There he watched his grandfather and mother burn. They died by his hand and he couldn’t stop himself. He watched himself twist his own katanas into their hearts over and over and over again.

He could hear a scream reverberate around him. It wasn’t until he stabbed Talia for the 232nd time before he realized it was him screaming.

He killed his own family until the liquid of the pit stained red. And could no longer bring them back. He turned away from the pit, finally his screams faded away. Finally he is given his relief.

His brain hates him, he swears it. He found no relief, no peace. Only more pain and anguish. He dropped his sword, staring at his bloodied hands. Echoes of footsteps reach his ears.

Oh he knows this cadence, the stable stepping of his father. The heavy gait of the great, the grand, the hero Batman. Dread. Heavy, unforgiving dread fills him. He’s worked so hard to change. He doesn’t kill anymore. He doesn’t. It wasn’t his fault. He couldn’t stop it.

Oh god. He didn’t mean to.

Frantically he looks up, begging to be wrong for once in his life.

Please, please don’t be him.

It’s too late. Bruce Wayne’s eyes pour into Damian’s.

Anger. Disappointment. Disgust. Rage.

A pain fills his chest before he can register the wetness of his eyes. His shaking hands reach to comfort the burning in his center.

His katana protrudes from the place where his heart sits and the hand on the hilt is his fathers.

He’s crying ugly, angry tears.

Damian coughed, a dribble of blood pours out of his mouth.

“Father, I’m so sor-“

His vision goes black and he wakes up covered in a cold sweat. Gasping for breath.

Oh god. He can’t breathe. He's gasping and clutching his chest as if the katana was still there.

It’s not, obviously, but his heart is racing as if it is.  He couldn’t go back to sleep. Everytime his eyes drooped closed he could hear the echo of his screams in his ears. Everytime the manor settles and groans his heart jumps as if he can still hear his father’s cadence.

He can’t stand the way the down feather pillows drown his head or how his soft silk sheets stick against his sweating, trembling body. He abandoned his bed all together. He retreats to his on-suite bathroom and fills the lifted tub with a single pillow and the least soft sheet he owns.

Here he is protected on all sides. The cage of ceramic and space between him and the main door makes him feel slightly more at ease.

It doesn’t do much though, because that morning he is snappy and irritable. He jumps at every noise and lashes out at a moment’s notice. He cursed at Alfred for asking him if he slept well. He called Tim “the charity case that no one asked for.”

He didn’t even bother with his father. He couldn’t look him in the eye. He felt that if he did he would see the eyes of the man that stabbed him in the heart last night. Besides it’s not like his father can bear to initiate conversation with him anyway.

This mix of fear and frustration built up into a big ball of anger throughout the day. Normally he would just lash out and burn all that energy with his anger, but today he couldn’t summon the energy. Instead he’s opted for being broody.

He yearns for peace, for what it may feel like. He needs space to sort out what he’s thinking, what he’s feeling. He needs to process and breathe on his own because he doesn’t know how to ask for help or seek others.

So he’s sitting on the ledge of a medium-sized building in the middle of gotham. It's an office building that sits at the perfect height to not be seen from below but has the protection of taller buildings around it.  The air is cool and sharp against the skin of his cheeks. A harsh yellow and white light crawls up the sides of the buildings and flashes against the cars and neons signs below.

He lets his legs dangle and his hair become undone with the wind. Breathing in and out hard with thought out concentration. His hands wander to the folds of his uniform and he pinches the fabric absent mindedly.

He shuts his eyes for a second, to ground himself, but before he can see a katana out of his chest he feels a sharp pain come from his hand.

He snatches his hand away from where it sat in his lap. He looks down to see a smaller than average crow looking at him.

“You pecked me, you little bastard. Shoo!”

The crow continues to stare undisturbed by Damian’s mean words.

He takes a tiny hop closer, just reaching the cape that drapes over Dami’s shoulders. Damian leans away instinctively, his lips beginning to form more harsh words.

The little crow beats him to it and chirps. The little thing leans forward and pokes Damian’s thigh with his round beak. Not enough to hurt.

“What do you want, pest”

The crow looks Dami in the eyes with a look that suggests an odd amount of intelligence. Freaky.

The crow sticks out a leg, like he was reaching out for Damian. The bird does it with such determination that he is nearly tipping over.

Damian is thoroughly confused, there’s no reason for this bird to be behaving this way.

The bird flaps his wings in obvious frustration.

Then Damian sees it. His wing is crooked, bent in an unnatural angle. He spots a bit of fresh blood on the dark black feathers now too.

“Well what do you expect me to do about that”

The crow croaks loudly in indignation. They enter a sort of staring contest.

Damian's intentions for the night was to brood and be left alone with no distractions. This bird is ruining his plans.

That little crow is determined. It shouldn’t be possible for a bird to give him puppy eyes.

“Alright I’ll assist you, you bastard”

The crow chirps again, throwing himself deeper into Damian’s lap.

Oh how Damian is weak for animals. He strokes the little guy's head. His anger dissipates as his thoughts are replaced with the little bastard's treatment plan. I mean you can’t think about your tortuous nightmares and absent father when you have much greater things to worry about.

Damian ends up using his emergency bandages to secure the injured wing and create a sort of pouch to hold him in. He doesn’t even realize his breathing evened out ages ago.

He feeds the little man bits of bread from the sandwich Alfred smuggled into his super cool and tough Robin pack. (Definitely NOT a glorified lunchbox). He doesn’t even know that his hands aren’t trembling anymore.

He thinks of names for the crow on his way home. No longer feeling dread at the reminder of another night to sleep through.

Maybe he can name him bat crow. Or maybe he needs to invest in an imagination. Well whatever the case, for the moment he is settling with an affectionate bastard for the little man's name.

He always did think that he got along with animals better than people anyway.

[kimberly-spirits13]

Right Hand Man (Loyal to the End) Pt. 2

Pairing: Damian Wayne x reader

Synopsis: You were like Talia’s daughter. The only thing was that you weren’t and instead, you had grown up in the foster care system and at a young age were taken by and personally trained by Talia. Along the way, you meet Damian and the two of you start to work side by side and eventually, after some time become closer and closer. However, when disaster in the league strikes, you face balancing an old, forgotten life as a normal child and the burden of right hand to the demon heir.

Also, I didn’t want to have Damian so young in this so just go with it. I’m thinking maybe early 15 or almost 16 at the most. Idk I just don’t like writing for young Dami.

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2273

Pt. 1

        You walked around the squad that you were assigned to watch over this morning. It was an easy viewing as you picked out each mistake that was made by the fighters. The objective of this time was to make improvements in skills where needed in the time that you were waiting for Damian to arrive for sparing. Now that you were older, the two of you trained outside almost to set an example for the rest of the members in lower ranks. It was almost a shaming method as well. Look at these two teenagers, they are years ahead of you in skill and training.

        A few minutes of this routine had passed. You were getting tired of no action yourself. Damian must have been attending to some private matters since he was never late. Talia made sure of that for one part. Eventually, the mood shifted into something even more serious and focused and you knew that he had entered the training grounds.

        “How kind of you to finally show up.” You said drawing your sword.

        “I had previous arrangements to attend to.” Damian returned taking his own sword in hand.

        “An eventful morning for the demon.”

        “Indeed, it was General.”

        You could tell that there were eyes on you the entire time that the two of you were training. It wasn’t uncommon but for the longest time, it took a while to get used to in the start of this newer training environment. Eventually you did get very accustomed to it and started playing harder. It was important to look like you really had the best training and grasp of what you were doing. Otherwise you were a bigger target. That was something you didn’t want under any circumstances. Damian didn’t mind. Instead, he seemed to like the challenge you presented. It wasn’t often in the field he ever got any sort of action like this. It was pretty typical for take downs to be easy, child’s play really. At least, that’s what he liked to think of it.

        For what started feeling like hours, you and Damian trained along with the rest of the recruits. It was sweltering hot outside. The sun’s heat beat down on everyone there without any sign of stopping. The cloudless sky offered no shelter from the rays either. You finally defeated Damian for the last time. Your fights would go until the other slipped up and then they’d start over until you both new that it was time to leave.

        “You haven’t heard anything about strange happenings or something of concern of late have you?” You asked entering the building.

        “No, I didn’t. Today was a common briefing of training and education. I anticipate you will have a meeting with mother at a later time over the same subjects.” Damian replied as the two of you turned into a different hallway heading to the cafeteria, “Mother was acting strange this morning however. I do not know if it has to do with our shared concerns.”

        You didn’t say anything, instead you just nodded before the two of you entered the giant room that everyone sat and ate in. There were different rooms situated inside for different ranks but mostly everyone sat together. It was difficult to escape the people which was something that was meant to be established but for the top players. They stuck together. That’s another reason why you and Damian were so close.

        “I want you to sit with me today instead of with the other group.” Damian said as the two of you took what you wanted for lunch and walked to where he and his mother always sat and ate. Talia was to be late today because of matters she was handling by herself. You two sat in silence for some time.

        “The recruits seemed ... mostly normal for the decent part of today.” You said, “In other words, there have been no red flags of anything internal. I walked around the entirety of the grounds to check.”

        “Maybe Mother and Grandfather are planning something that will just be sudden.” Damian pondered out loud, “We most likely won’t have to worry about it.”

        “It will probably affect me more than you.” You commented, “I’m pretty certain that you’d be safer when it came to some mass elimination scheme.”

        “You should be confident in your place among the League.”

        “I am, I just know that things can change at the random.” “That’s what makes it exciting around here.” “You know, other than the constant threat of being killed.”

        Damian spared you a smirk at the comment but nothing else. You saw it and knew he understood for some part.

        “Where is your next mission?” He asked.

        “It’s to Italy.” “I should only be gone for two, maybe three days at most.” “It’s basic kill a diplomat here, a politician there kind of mission before you ask.”

        Damian cocked a brow, “How did you know I’d ask?”         “You always do al Ghul.”

        “That is the one part of your training and job that I envy.”

        “And that is?” You asked.

        “You get to go and actually do things outside of the League’s headquarters and fight.” He answered simply.

        “Don’t let your mother hear that.” You chuckled only a bit to yourself.

        It was only in times like these or even just only on the roof tops that you’d ever let yourself crack a smile or make anything close to a joke. It was the only time you’d actually be even a sliver of yourself around someone. That is, whatever of yourself was left from all of these years spent here. You thought that what you did was important. It kept your branch of the League together even. Assigned to watch over Damian and be his right hand, that is what you defined yourself by. It was always position to you. Whether you liked it or not, this wasn’t the place to be friendly or all that different from the rest besides in skill and ruthlessness.

        “We’d better get to our class.” You said breaking the silence that came between you two.

        Damian stood up followed by you and the two of you headed to your tutoring session. It wasn’t long before this was over, in fact today was probably the last you’d see your teacher alive.

_______________________________________________________________________

        The tutor seemed to know just as well as you and Damian that this was their last day probably seeing the light of day. The room that the two of you were seated in was a well- lit room with only a table and large chalk board. You could practically feel the nervous energy that your tutor was radiating today. It got worse and worse every day leading up to it. You almost wanted to feel bad for him but you didn’t. That’s where you sometimes come to question the League. It was always taught in some lessons that it was human nature to be compassionate and not disassociate from others. People were supposed to need and feel for each other. You didn’t though. The League made sure of that very quickly.

        The lesson was quick, you didn’t really care much about what the tutor was saying. It was mainly just an overview of what you and Damian had learned. You two exchanged looks at the end of the session before walking out of the room. Talia was there with another recruit. You knew what the other was there to do when he walked into the room you were just in, you didn’t know however why Talia was there.

        “Y/N, I need to speak with you about your upcoming mission.” She said.

        You nodded goodbye to Damian before leaving with Talia.

        “I trust that your lessons were more than suitable?” She asked.

        “Correct, they were of desirable level.” You replied walking by her side.

        “Good. Now about this mission.” Talia turned a corner and into a room before shutting the door behind you, “This isn’t just another simple mission.” “The diplomats that you’re targeting will have highly trained security teams. You must choose the right moment to strike which I’d like to think you might be able to do from your training. Make sure there is as little of security as possible. After you accomplish stage one, move your squad onto stage two of killing the others and then return as soon as possible.” “Any questions? This should be standard by now.”

        “Understood.” You nodded.

        “In addition, with the success of your past few missions, it has been decided that you will be elevated into a newer status of High General. Still by the same title, you have more tasks and control over your own squads. I do expect that you will handle this well. You start after your mission with the same schedule. However, you will be training more in the middle ranks.”

        “Thank you, I am honored.” You said sincerely before cocking a brow, “However, I must ask since it has been troubling me for the past few days. Is there anything that I should be expecting that will happen? Are there any sweeping of the ranks that I should know about?”

        “I see that you must have picked up on something.” Talia said, “This is confidential information. I am only sharing this with you because of your status and position. There have been concerns raised of an attack from outer forces. We have not figured out which ones yet, you should not concern yourself with that yet. However, the only thing besides your mission and daily tasks you should be concerned with, is the safety of my son, the heir to the League. There is no true telling information on what will happen so keep on your highest guard.”

        “Yes Talia.”

        There was a pause that filled the room. You knew that there was something else.

        “General. That is the position you have been given. That is not however your only job.” Talia started, “Your main, most important job is to be my son’s second hand. If something were to ever happen to myself or The Demon Head, I fully expect you to stay with Damian over everything. Do not make me regret my decision in picking you off the ground of that orphanage.”

        “My loyalties are well placed Talia. I stay with him until death just as I was assigned from the start of this all. As High General, as the Demon’s second, you have my word.”

         Eventually, you left. The rest of the day was ahead of you and tomorrow, you’d be suiting up for Italy. Ready to leave the League even for a mission, you were antsy the rest of the day. Not enough for notice as usual though. Damian knew however. He could tell that your game was a bit off since this morning. He could tell that you were either anticipating more than what you gave off, or you were preparing yourself for this next mission a bit too much.

_______________________________________________________________________

        That night he confronted you as the two of you sat on the rooftop.

        “You were off of your game today Y/N.” Damian said almost catching you off guard.

        “So, I was.”

        “What caused this rarity?”

        “I am just ready to start my mission. I have a brewing feeling that it should go over very well.” You answered, “That is what Talia wanted to discuss with me earlier today.”

        “It was just this and nothing else?” Damian cocked his brow suspiciously.

        “Correct.” You reassured, “There was nothing else besides talk of schooling. She did inform me that I will be taking the High General position which was gratifying.”

        “You have my congratulations Y/N.” He commended.

        “And you have my appreciation Damian.”

        “The only thing that I did pick up from the conversation wasn’t... much. Just keep on your highest guard.”

        You didn’t bother saying anything else. Watching the stars and then the clouds float by every now and again was enough. It was easy to just stay up there and do nothing. There was no schedule besides having to get at least some sleep that night. There were no recruits training out in the heat. And best of all, it was silent and cool outside. This was the best time and always would be a place of your favorite memories from life.

        “So, do you have any plans of changing your squad?” Damian asked.

        “In what way? My squad is perfectly formed. There shouldn’t be any issues within it. Not unless you’re insinuating that you want to join al Ghul.” You smirked.    

        “No, not at all. I’d rather not be taking orders from my right hand.” He shot back.

        “And I’d rather not be giving orders to one of the most stubborn people I know.”

        “Very funny L/N.”

        “Oh, so we’re on last name status. I must have said something to upset the young Demon.” You poked fun at him as you typically did.

        “You’d like to think you could.”

        “Anyways, regarding your question. I will not be adding or eliminating anyone from my squad unless I find someone in the lower ranks more suitable that can and will advance faster. Nevertheless, I am not actively looking for any new blood as some might call it.”

        “I understand.” Damian stood up to leave, “Will I see you before your mission tomorrow?”

        “Most definitely during breakfast. My team and I are leaving for Italy right after that though.” You answered jumping down from the roof top and onto the pavement below before walking inside, and down a hall until you eventually split from Damian to go to your room.

I hope you guys are enjoying this series. I have the series lined up in my schedule to post this time so hopefully it doesn’t just ... die lol. Anyways I hope you’re all having a wonderful day and week and are staying safe and healthy!

Tag List:

@idkmanicantenglish

[melwritesstufff]

Damian crush headcanon

Absolutely nobody asked for this but headcanons and stuff like this help me get a better Understanding of characters. I’ve never written for Dami before and it’s been a bit since i’ve written so this might be a bit bad. Please leave any advice or criticism for me!

You and Dami first met through him being forced to attend school by Bruce. (Bruce wants him to have somewhat of a normal childhood, even if it’s barely a sliver of normality) 

He doesn’t even notice you until you are paired up to do a school project together

He absolutely hates it, and you, at first. He tries to bribe the teacher to let him work alone, but it’s a project that requires a partner. And apparently, you were the only one willing to work with him

So now he’s stuck with you. He decides to just get things over with as fast as he can, telling you he’ll do all the work and you can just piggy-back off of his work and take credit for half of the project

You have some dignity, though, and you weren’t about to let some snobby rich boy push you around like that. Especially after you offered to work with him when nobody else would

So you yell at him persuade Damian to let you work on at least some of the project, despite his whole “I work alone” speech that he seems to give everyone, including teachers.

Finally, he gives in and tells you he’ll work with you

Long story short, after the project, Damian learns that you’re actually a very driven, smart and good person. And for some reason, he finds himself drawn to you

So he ends up hanging around you and inviting you to the manor quite often, although he would never admit that he actually enjoys your presence. Only that you’re “the only person in this whole academy that I can tolerate” - his exact words, btw

While you visit the manor, Dami introduces you to his abundance of pets, and is quite surprised when they all seem to like you. Even Alfred the cat; and he doesn’t like anybody. I mean he’s a cat. But when Alfred rubs on your leg and purrs instantly upon meeting you? Dami can’t help but feel impressed. And he didn’t know it yet, but this was the exact moment he fell for you. And believe me when I say he fell hard.

It takes him quite a while for him to realize his feelings, and even longer to admit it out loud.

His upbringing was not an easy one, and he was taught that such feelings were bad, a sign of weakness. So that’s what he took it as. A weakness. He started pushing you away and only when Dick noticed this and gave him a huge scolding did he stop.

Dick sat him down and forced Dami to talk to him. After doing so, Dick told him that having feelings and emotions wasn’t a weakness, and is often seen as a strength. Bruce, Talia and them may be emotionally stunted, but that doesn’t mean their children have to be stuck in the same loop. Dick hopes you’ll be the one to bring Dami out of that loop.

So Dami starts hanging out with you again, after finally caving in to three straight days of Dicks advice and scoldings

It’s nice, and for a while, he can ignore his feelings. He can ignore how when you look at him his heart races. Or how you’re the most beautiful person he’s ever met. Or how when you talk about the things you're interested in, your eyes light up and your voice gets a bit higher. Or how you’re one of the few people who actually make him feel something. That last one is a big one for him, and it gets pretty hard to ignore sometimes.

So Damian finally admits he has a crush on you, not to you, but to himself. The only problem is he refuses to admit it to you. No matter how many lectures he gets from Dick.

That is, until you see him as Robin.

You had met Robin on a few other occasions, and every time he seemed weirdly familiar. The reason was one you could never put a finger on. Until you saw it.

One time, you had forgotten your backpack in his room. When you went to get it back, you walked into his room to find Damian in full Robin suit. All except for the iconic domino mask.

He completely froze when he saw you. Weren’t you supposed to be gone? On your way back home? Why are you still here? How did he not hear you? He was an ex assassin trained by the best how did he not notice you?

“Uh, I just forgot my backpack.” You broke the awkward silence, grabbed your stuff, then left.

The incident wasn’t brought up again until a few days later when the weekend was over and you were both back at school.

Damian almost bailed, scared on what you would say, what you would do. But, like he always does, Dick butted in and forced Dami to go. So he did, reluctantly though.

Throughout the entire school day, you and Damian ignored each other. Everyone hated it. You hated it because you just learned your best friend was out every night fighting crime and putting himself in danger. Damian hated it because he could lose you, both as a friend and a romantic interest, though he feared losing you as a friend more. He could deal with being rejected romantically but losing you as a friend might just push him over the edge of emotional instability. The rest of your classmates hated it because Damian was acting especially cold to everyone. The energy in every room the two of you were in was suffocating and quite awful. Nobody liked it.

You decide to put a stop to it though, and pull him aside during lunch. Finally deciding on something to say.

Damian thinks you’re going to stop being friends with him, or blackmail him, or something awfully similar. He hated himself for making such an easy slip up. For being so weak as to open up to you. For letting you into his heart.

Those worries and thoughts are put on pause though as, as soon as the two of you are in the privacy of the rich school's huge courtyard, you hug him. You throw your arms around his neck and almost knock him over.

His heart almost breaks as he hears your soft sniffles while you cry into his shoulder.

“Y/n I-“

You cut him off before he could say anything

“Thank god you’re safe! God, Dami, you have no idea how much I’ve worried about you the past few days. Knowing who you are, what you’re doing every night? It was terrifying. It is terrifying. I was so scared something was going to happen to you. I-i just, i..oh god Dami I’m just so glad you even showed up today.” you just burst into tears and this time his heart does break. He felt so guilty for what he did, or really for what he didn’t do. For what he didn’t tell you.

“I… I’m sorry, Habibti. I should have told you I know. I was, I’m just trying to keep you safe. If you knew, it would put you in danger. I just want you to be safe.”

This is the first time you’ve ever heard Damian apologize, and he was surprisingly good at it.

“Don’t you think i worry for your safety too? It’s just, Dami, I’m your best friend. Don’t you trust me?” You broke the hug to look into his eyes, almost trying to look for the truth.

“Of course i trust you, i just-“ you cut him off

“What else have you been hiding from me? Please, just tell me. I need to know, especially if it puts you in danger”

At that moment, Damian knew exactly what he wanted to tell you. He wanted to tell you everything. From his terrible upbringing to his nightly adventures as Robin. So he did. He explained everything, and hearing all those terrible things he was forced to endure was incredibly saddening and it was difficult for you not to just tackle him in a hug. To tell him you were sorry he had to go through all that. To tell him you love him and you’re never going to let anyone else hurt him like that. But you didn’t. You just sat across from him and let him talk. Let him explain everything.

At the end of it all, you were both crying softly. There was a long silence after Damian finished explaining everything. But there was one more thing he needed to say. He already told you everything else, so he might as well tell you this as well.

“There’s one last thing, y/n.”

“I… I’m in love with you. At least, I think I am. I’m still not quite sure what love is but i think i feel it for you. I understand if you don't feel the same. I can just-”

You cut him off with a soft kiss on his lips

It was short, but you could still taste the salty tears that ran down to his lips

“You idiot, of course I feel the same way.”

“Really? But, being with me would put you through so much danger. It’s not safe to be around me, I’m not safe to be around. I’m an assassin, Habibti. You have to understand,”

“I do understand, Dami. And I don't care. You’re worth being in danger for. And I know you would never hurt me or let me get hurt. Assassin or not, you’d never let it happen.”

Then the bell rings and you two have to go back to class, but you make an agreement to meet up after school and go to the mansion.

When you two arrive, Dick is happy to see you both getting along again. And seeing that the two of you are holding hands as you walk in just makes him even more ecstatic.

When Bruce sees the two of you, he smiles. Like an actual genuine smile. He’s proud of his son for breaking the cycle and opening up to someone.

It’s like 4am rn and I’m too tired to wrap this up so i hope y'all enjoyed this. I’ve never written for Damian before so idk if i did him right. Please leave any criticism or advice for me y’all’s have. Thanks so much! Bye bye :)

[lerdm]

Jason as an Alternate Collector of Children Part One

So I’m dabbling with writing an AU where Jason also raises a family of ass-kickers but does it very differently to Bruce. Here are some snapshots. (I cannot stress enough that this is an AU)

Jason takes Damian away from Talia when the kid is about 5 years old. He doesn’t like the way Talia and Ra’s are raising him, and he knows he can do better, so he takes the kid to his best teacher, Lady Shiva. Shiva likes Jason because he was an excellent student and lets him and Damian stay there while she continues to train Jason. However, Jason soon realizes that she’s pregnant with David Cain’s baby.

He’s there when Shiva gives birth to Cassandra and he helps Shiva take care of her for the first few weeks of her life before David Cain arrives at the cabin. Jason overhears David monologuing about how he’ll turn her into the perfect assassin and blah blah blah. He does not like that, not at all, so he intervenes. This Jason has done a lot more training and is perhaps less affected by the Pit than canon Jason, I imagine, so he’s like one of the best fighters out there at that moment. He takes on Cain and miraculously, he wins. Shiva, who wasn’t really interested in having a baby, entrusts Cassandra’s care to Jason.

Jason, now with 6-year-old Damian and infant Cassandra returns to Gotham. It is, after all, where he grew up and he sort of wants to prove that he can raise ninja children in Gotham without turning them into child soldiers. He also starts a company, using Talia’s money, to help the Gotham PD. They research body armour, non-lethal weapons, communications equipment and secure internet solutions. He briefly makes an appearance in the news as the city’s latest big CEO, which has him paranoid for days, but when no bats come knocking, he starts to feel a bit more confident.

One day, Jason’s smoking a cigarette on the fire escape of his apartment while Damian and Cass are napping when he hears an argument going on in the apartment below his. He sneaks down and tries to see if everyone is okay, and as it turns out, everyone is not okay. There’s this little girl, a toddler, blonde hair, bright blue eyes, that’s wailing and bleeding from a small cut on her forehead.

Jason quickly calls the police, who take forever to get there. When they do arrive, Jason goes down to talk to them and see what’s going to happen with the kid. They tell him that she’ll probably be going into the foster system and then they leave. Jason stays up all night thinking about how shitty the system is and worrying about the kid, that the next day he goes to Gotham’s social services office and requests to take her in himself. Her name is Maia.

His request is approved, and all of a sudden Jason has three children. Damian starts school, Jason enrolls him at Gotham Academy, which turns out to be his first mistake. Because Tim Drake is in his final year of high school there, and the moment he sees Damian for the first time, he knows that he’s Bruce’s son. So Tim starts looking into his family and is shocked when he pulls up a picture of Damian’s so-called father. He goes to Bruce with this information right away and Bruce begins to do his own investigation.

This man, who looks shockingly like his dead son, runs a successful business, so Bruce sets up a meeting with him. Jason worries all week about this, but he goes through with it. After all, his company is actually helping the police significantly, and Bruce’s funding could help even more. When Bruce sees the man, it’s clear he’s wearing a fake nose piece and has taken lengths to disguise what he really looks like. But what strikes Bruce as odder is that Jason walks into his own office, half an hour late and with three children.

“Sorry, Mr. Wayne, had some problems at daycare,” Jason said in a terrible mimicry of Tom Cruise’s voice.

“No troubles, I understand that. I have three children of my own,” Bruce said while making direct eye contact with Jason.

Jason knew the jig was up and removed his nose, which Maia found hilarious. Damian is appalled that Jason gave up so easily and Cass remains asleep in a baby carrier strapped to Jason’s chest.

“Jay...” Bruce starts.

“Baba, do you want me to eviscerate him for you?” Damian asks.

Jason blinks, “No, Dami, what have I said about using violence? It’s the last resort.”

“Tt. Fine.”

“Jason... who are all these kids?” Bruce asked.

Damian once again took it upon himself to speak on Jason’s behalf. “I am Damian, this is my baba-” he pointed to Jason “-this is my little sister, Maia-” he pointed to the three-year-old girl holding Jason’s hand “-and this is my baby sister Cassandra.”

Jason felt a proud smile tug at his mouth. Damian loved his little sisters very much.

Jason could tell Bruce was confused, upset, angry, sad, happy, all of the above, so he decided to help the man out a bit.

“We can talk later, over dinner,” Jason suggested.

Bruce nodded, “Yes I’d... I’d like that.” Before everyone parted ways, Bruce put a hand on Jason’s shoulder and looked him in the eyes so Jason knew he meant it. “I don’t know how you’re standing in front of me right now, but I’ve missed you so much.”

[whumpbby]

Talia makes/made Jason Train Damian in the things that he learned but ended up killing the teacher and sometimes even if the teacher is still alive just because he owes her and she trusts him more.

Well, she didn’t want anyone to know about Damian’s existence, so it was a good plan to send out Jay to learn all he could and then bring that knowledge back home for Dami;]