#while damian just learned it all from his father

[ponyosfrogg]

Blood and Silk

Pairing: Older!Damian Wayne x Assassin! Reader

Summary: Once he was your everything, now he's just a reminder of what they did to you. Can both of you move on from your past to form an alliance?

AN: Hello! (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠) Here's the first chapter of my new series. The next two chapters are gonna be longer (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧ Lmk what you think abt it! 💘 Btw i didn't proofread this whole thing like at all!! 🥹🙏🏻

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The night was dark and the sound of footsteps echoing across Gotham's skyscraper rooftops was nothing out of the ordinary. At this point it can even be said that it was calming and reassuring for those civilians.

It couldn't be said that it was an open night. Damian couldn't even see the stars because of the dark clouds gathering around. Gloomy Gotham weather was the only thing that didn't change since the beginning of the time, besides the vigilantes who are fighting to correct some of the corrupted justice system. So like we said it was an ordinary night.

But it wasn't for Damian, not entirely.

His grip on his batarang got tighter while he was standing on top of a gorgoyle statue, watching over his city. It all started a few days back, he felt like he was being followed by someone, something. At first he thought it was because of his paranoia after all he was trained to be an assassin long time ago. The first thing they had taught him was to be careful. He could still hear his mentor's words in his mind. 'Never let your guard down. If you think something is happening that means it is happening.' So he, now, had a reason to believe someone was following him.

It wasn't just happening during the patrol, he could feel the same familiar eyes watching over him in everything he does. When he's at the manor, when he's at the wayne enterprises even when he is out with his friends. He couldn't see someone which meant that they were too skilled to be seen yet too persistent to go unnoticed. He was getting tired of this cat and mouse game. After all he was always the cat never the mouse.

He turned around and jumped over to the rooftop while he grabbed his other batarang as well. He looked around once again and started to yell in annoyance. "Enough with the hiding." His voice was quite steady despite his irritation and annoyance. "Show yourself."

Silence.

There was only the sound of the busy city that was filling his ears, then—

A dagger sliced through the air. Damian barely had time to dodge it even though he moved quickly. He could sense the warm liquid on top of his ear.

Fuck. That dagger had slightly cut him.

He could feel his anger building up. He threw his batarang over the direction that dagger came out but he lost his precious moments already when he stopped for his ear, his hunter was already gone. It was quick.

He sensed a movement behind him and turned around just to see someone coming out of the darkness. That figure was lean yet strong. If he hadn't sense that figure he wouldn't hear them coming by because that figure was silent, precise and deadly. League-trained.

"You made a mistake!" He almost growled, lunging forward. But they were faster, much faster.

If he hadn't met with 'The Flash' he could've thought that this person might be him. It seemed like they have been training since birth because none of the assassins he had a chance to meet were this fast. He knew that if he used what he learned in the league of assassins he might lose because it had been such a long time and he was out of practice. He also knew that what his father thought him might be not useful at all too, since they were completely opposites. But he didn't have time to reconsider his method of attack, he had to be fast.

The first touch was brutal. Their hand came near to his face almost cutting his face. He dodged that as well but got kicked on his stomach while doing so.

Their movements were calculated, effortless; it was almost like they had been studying him for years. Every attack Damian threw was countered with such an elegant and easy way. It almost seemed like they were playing, not fighting. They weren't attacking him, no. They were just easily defending. It was not a physical fight, it was a mental one. to make him doubt himself, showing him that there are enemies who can kill him without even trying. Every strike met with a dodge at the last possible second. When he realized he lost both of his batarangs, he immediately fell off to the ground. That second cost him his balance because they threw a strong kick on his stomach, again.

He felt some heaviness on his stomach and when he raised his head he saw the dagger that was pressed against his neck.

That was the first time in years he saw his reflection on someone else's steel. He wondered why he wasn't dead already but a sudden realization struck him like lightning. This wasn't an assassination, this was personal.

"Take off the mask" He demanded even though he knew he wasn't in a position to make demands. His voice was low and sharp. He needed to see.

You grabbed the red silk scarf that was covering your face and took it out effortlessly while your other hand took off your hoodie, releasing the hair it has been holding.

Damian's blood ran cold, he could feel the lump on his stomach. His eyes darkened with anger once again.

"You..." The words caught on his throat.

He didn't expect this even a little bit. You were the girl that filled every childhood memory of his with happiness, you were the girl that he had to marry after he took over the league, you were the girl that he had a crush on for a fucking lifetime, you were the girl that stole his heart, his body, his mind and his soul. After moving in with his father he thought about you every fucking day then when he goes to the sleep he would have dreams about you. He  wrote you many letters, about his new life here, about how you would love the taste of the milkshake and fries, how you would love his older brother Jason who was a total psycho, how you would make fun of him when he attends one of the galas that Bruce was holding, with a suit and a tie. He wrote them just to never send them to you. He had buried this memory, your memory somewhere inside of a vault that was locked down forever in his mind after some time. At some point since you didn't come after him he was sure that you died but deep in his heart, he knew when he was all alone in that big bedroom of his, he abandoned you.

"You..." You repeated, voice sharp as the dagger you were holding close to his neck.  Your eyes seemed colder, brutal and unforgiving. Looking at him with a despise and disgust.

But what cut deepest was not the hate that you hold for him in your eyes, no. It was what you chose to call him.

It wasn't Damian, it wasn't Wayne. Hell it wasn't even stupid nicknames that his brothers were giving him although he mentioned multiple times he hated nicknames.

"Did you miss me heir of the Al Ghul?"

His jaw tightened. The weight of his past slammed into him all at once. He should have known it was coming, you were coming.

Damian grunted as you pressed your weight a little bit more on him. Pinning him onto the ground. He felt like he couldn't move, even though he could easily switch your positions by putting his legs around your body. He knew that you didn't secure your position on him just for him to try it. He knew that you were toying with him. The cold, sharp steel of your dagger was still pressing on his throat but that wasn't what made his heart race—it was the familiarity of your presence, your touch and your smell. You being this close to him made him remember when two of you were sparring together. When both of you were just kids who fell in love. He quickly tried to send that thought away and was able to do that because you just gave him something different to think about when you leaned over more, almost laying on top of him. Without breaking the eye contact, you slowly reached over for the weapons that he hid around his body. One of them was near his knee, the other one was on his belt and the third one was on his back. One by one you unarmed him without even looking at the placements. It almost felt like you were the one who put those weapons around his body, not him.

You could sense the power you have over him but you knew that he was like this because he was in shock. Once he pulled himself back together and realized he's the one that holds power over you he would probably turn your life into hell, yet that was what you were hoping for deep in your heart.

You threw away every weapon of his on the other side of the roof while you pulled your other hand from his neck and put your dagger into its leather placement around your upper thigh.

Damian's chest rose with every movement you've made. He knew that if you stayed in this position a little bit his body might do something to make his attraction towards you obvious by betraying him. He took a breath.

"You done?" He muttered while he rolled his eyes. "Because I've got better things to do than lie on the ground while you rearrange every weapon on your and my body."

God, he didn't even lose a little bit of his snarky sense of speech. He was still as cocky as ever. You rolled your eyes as you got up from his body and crossed your arms on your chest.

"You're in no position to tell me what to do dickhead, you're no longer my heir nor my prince." He gritted his teeth. You've insulted him three times just within a sentence. It was refreshing for him to see someone, beside his family, insulting him and that made him feel in discomfort. He shifted his position and crossed his arms like you did.

"What do you want then Kitten. I'm sure you're not here to say hi to your old lover." And there he was, he somehow managed to deal with his shock and now he was making you angry. You've lost your upper hand and you knew that. Actually you knew you'd lost it when you first fell in love with him back then.

"Don't get so cocky now dear, I don't think the term lover fits for someone who abandoned the other person don't you think?" You smirked like you felt nothing while saying those words but it cut you deeper than it cut him, accepting the fact for once out loud. "I think what you call those people is a traitor." Damian's eyes got darkened as he clenched his teeth. He hated this attitude of yours. He didn't let his guilt arise instead he just scoffed like you've said the funniest thing ever. "Why are you really here?"

You hated that you had to open up this dickhead so stress and panic took over your body as you paced towards the edge of the rooftop. You jumped over the protective wall and sat while you stared at the city lights. Gotham was beautiful, you could understand why he never came back for you. You needed to gather your thoughts for a bit. He was Damian, you knew that even he had broken his promise before you could trust him yet something inside of you more like some part of you was leaving you hesitated. You didn't even realize he sat right beside you.

"I've left the league, almost a year ago." You said to him almost whispering. You knew that he heard you because his eyes turned over to look at you. He was shocked and caught off guard. "You already know that I was trained to rule beside you even after you've left they kept training me. First I thought they were preparing me for another heir but I knew that beside you there wasn't anyone in line."  You could feel your eyes tear up but you quickly hold them. You didn't want to cry again over this. You've promised yourself.

"For some time it was good, really good. I liked the power and all that. But later I realized there were corruptions within the league and I tried to fix it. That was my first mistake, being too naive." You didn't even think when you were talking. "Of course I was just a puppet and when they realized they could no longer have a power over me they killed everyone I've loved. They wanted to torment me by killing them first but of course I ran away." You remembered that day like it was just today. Every detail, every sound, every footsteps.

"I've fled to another country. I've built a life there you know. I was working in a florist shop, I had a lot of friends, I even started to speak their language for a bit. I've always thought this would be the life I would have if I wasn't an assassin. I was happy." You smiled to yourself. "You know I even had a boyfriend. First I dated him to adapt that life quicker but he was so nice, so naive and full of goodness... I've found myself liking him."

Your words made Damian feel something. He couldn't help the flicker of emotion that danced across his eyes. Jealousy. But it couldn't be right? It has been decades since he was even with you, and you were kids to begin with. Yet the thought of you being with someone else lit some fires within his heart. And he couldn't stop himself from imagining things. Did he cuddle you after a long day at work? Did he introduce you to his family? Did he wanted a life with you? Maybe imagined he would be your husband and all that. These thoughts made his stomach twist in pain. Yet he was too afraid to acknowledge all that.

"For six months it was all good, I've truly believed that they have left me be. But one day I had work overtime in the shop and when I got back. There was blood-"

you stopped talking to gather your thoughts together before speaking again.

"-There was blood everywhere. They tortured him and they killed him afterwards. I didn't even have enough time to mourn over him, so I ran away again."

The tension in the air was thick. Damian absorbed your words one by one. His eyes closed with the sorrow. He felt bad not for you or for the situation, he felt bad because he left you all alone to deal with it.  He wanted to say something. Like he regretted that he has left you everyday since he came here, like even though he had everything he wanted without you it was always something missing. Like he tried to date girls similar to you, that lookalike you, that speaks like you. With all these emotions, all these feelings he might actually throw himself off of this rooftop.

"But I'm done running away I'll fight back. So, now back to your question, I'm not here for your pity or to fix things with you. I want an alliance, I want revenge and I want blood."

He turned over your side to look at you and realized you were looking at him with a determination in your eyes, pain was dancing behind your vengeance speech he could see that. "What do you say Damian, let's take this fucking league down. It's already been a long time coming."

[too-much-tma-stuff]

Years Later

Previous | Masterpost

It had been almost three years since Danny and his twin brother Damian had come to live with their father and Danny thought that they had both done pretty well for themselves. Damian had settled in, bonded with the family, stopped trying to kill their siblings, and made friends with Superman’s youngest son. He still had a very hard time relating to civilians, but everyone had their issues, right?

While their father had been missing for a while they’re all had to step up, and their eldest brother Dick had become Batman and finally made Damian the new Robin. It wasn’t how they had expected that to happen, but even through the grief of losing their father both Damian and Danyal had been happy he got the roll. Dick being Batman had been temporary because both Tim and Danny had been sure Bruce was still alive, and with both of them they’d managed to convince others and free Bruce from the time stream.

When Bruce had recovered and was ready to become Batman again Damian had remained Robin and Tim had gone on to be his own hero, Dick returning to being Nightwing. Damian was happy to work with their father again, training and bonding as heroes. He was good at it too, even if his methods were a bit more violent then Batman would have liked, they were working on that.

As for Danny, he had never joined the night life properly. His siblings teased him about it a little, but Bruce had nearly cried for joy when Danny had been firm in that regard even if he couldn’t escape it entirely, being surround by it as he was, he could refuse to put on a mask. He still wanted to help keep his family safe, so he worked with Tim and Bruce on manufacturing the bat’s gear, and learned how to hack and program with Babs. He ended up an engineer and a ‘guy in the chair’ for his family while they went out to fight crime.

It was calmer, and more fun for him, not to mention less exhausting which allowed him to focus on being as much of a ‘normal kid’ as he could be. He joined more clubs then Damian, and made some civilian friends! Including Sam Manson, who had rich parents who were uncomfortable happy with their daughter hanging out with a Wayne, and Tucker who was at the private school on a scholarship because of his engineering prowess. They were good friends, and Danny was happy to have them despite Sam’s weird family, who he tried to avoid.

It was all going pretty well, except for one thing, the experiments on the Lazarus water. He had started working on it with Tim and Bruce, but been right that Bruce would hold them back, and it meant that the experiments were going nowhere. He thought that he probably could have talked Tim into doing some of the more out there things he wanted but then Tim left, and Bruce was still keeping track of what Danny was doing leaving him unable to work without fighting against his father every step of the way. His brother too, because he had been right that Damian would be loyal to Bruce once their father earned it.

Danny had theories, and charts, and things he wanted to try. But they all came from hunches and dreams which just weren’t enough proof for The Batman even though this was at least half magic and that was half instinct. Danny was nowhere near where he wanted to be at this point, and could not even manufacture his own substitute.

It hadn’t been an imminent problem until the League of Shadows finally realized neither Danny nor Damian had any plans of returning and started trying to claw them back. Talia still sent Danny bottles of Lazarus water sometimes, but it seemed like she was having to smuggle it out which meant he was getting significantly less. There were the clones too. The lack of Lazarus water seemed to be how they were trying to flush Danny out and force him to return, and the clones were being sent to drag Damian back as well.

So far there hadn’t been any clones of Danny, but he was keeping an eye out just in case. The lack of water wasn’t an immediate threat since he had some stockpiled but he was very worried, and if he didn’t figure it out soon it would turn into a problem. He wouldn’t be able to run tests anymore if he was having to save all of it, and if he couldn’t run he wouldn’t find out how to manufacture it. It would end the same way, with him having to return to the League of Shadows or try and steal more water himself which would just end in the same dilemma when he ran out again.

He could try to convince Bruce again in light of this, but they’d had multiple talks about this over the years and though the dependence on the league was becoming a bigger issue Danny wasn’t sure that would matter. Bruce’s world view was uncomfortably black and white. Besides he had bigger long-term plans.

It wasn’t just to recreate it, yes that was the initial goal but that wasn’t going to be where his experimentation ended and he knew it. He knew in his bones that once purified the waters could be used for so much more then just healing the sickly and killing the healthy. The raw energy in them was meant to be so much more! And then there were the dreams, which had never stopped and had only been getting more vivid and insistent as time went on.

More then just a voice calling him now, they showed him things. They showed him an ancient war that had torn holes in reality, an ancient king of blood and magic who had done much harm. And again and again the glowing green portal that he knew he had to build! He had never cared much for destiny, but he couldn’t just ignore this, especially when he could feel the pain of the ancient being who called to him. Just another secret to keep from his family because he didn’t want them to interfere.

It would be easier to do what he needed to do without adult supervision, and he had some ideas about how to go about it. He needed space first, and equipment. Money could get all of that, but how much could he steal without father noticing? He had already started of course, skimming a bit here and a bit there off the top and stashing it away, but the way that was going it would be far to long before he had enough money for everything he needed.

There was another thing that worried Danny too, that he’d seen during his time as ‘the guy in the chair’. The new player in Crime Alley, that Bruce was… worried about, but not hugely yet, he was just getting established after all. The problem was, he was incredibly violent, and his techniques reeked of the league, and of something more. Danny had the uncomfortable feeling he knew exactly who it was beneath the red hood, another secret that he’d kept coming back to bite him. But everything in him still rejected the idea of just coming out and telling all his secrets. Knowledge was power after all, and maybe he could still use this as well.

In fact, he was sure that he could use it. He just had to play the game right, and this might turn out to be exactly what he needed.

 It had been easy to steal some of the other bat’s gear, just a mask, and a few weapons just in case. Easier still to sneak out on a night when they were already out on patrol and head to crime alley with put being spotted. They rarely patrolled there anyway, not that there wasn’t crime there, but because all of it was so integrated in gangs and organized crime there wasn’t time for the little fish and trying usually just lead to more trouble. He would have heard if there was a planned strike because it would have been all hands on deck.

So he put on the mask, and the symbol of the bat, and simply wandered into the territory of the Red Hood. He grappled to an inaccessible roof where he wouldn’t be easy prey for petty thugs and simply waited knowing that Red Hood would find him. It wasn’t long before he heard the thump of someone much heavier landing on the roof behind him and turned to see a familiar hulking man. Danny felt his breath catch in his throat with the chill and he breathed carefully through the odd sense of Pit being nearby that he hadn’t felt since leaving the league confirming his suspicions.

“Well well, you’re a long way from the roost aren’t you birdy? And all on your own?” Red Hood asked, a modulator disguised the sound of his voice, but not really his patterns, Danny smiled and rocked back on his heels.

“All by my lonesome. Because I wanted to talk to you, I recognize league training when I see it. Did they send you?” He asked cocking his head to the side. He refused to tense up or act like he was intimidated or afraid, that would only make him seem like prey and wouldn’t do any good. He was here now, and wasn’t sure he could beat Jason so if the other did attack… well Danny would just have to lay in the grave he’d dug for himself.

“No,” Jason snarled, his fingers twitching around the gun in his hand as he stepped forward. “I don’t work for those fuckers. But they told me, they told me what Bruce did, and how quickly he replaced the last robin with another blue eyes black haired boy. Are you the next one in the chain? He needs to pay for the way he treats those kids.”

“Ah so they cocked you like a gun and pointed you in our direction,” Danny said with a sigh. “No, I’m not the next robin, and that’s not why I’m here. I’m here because I have a deal to offer you, Jason.”

Jason snarled and moved quickly, before Danny could blink the gun was pointed straight at his head. “What sort of deal Brat? Because if you’re planning on blackmailing me what’s stopping me from just shooting you? You won’t be able to tell anyone then.”

“I don’t think you’d shoot a child Jason,” Danny said softly. “But no, I mean, not telling Bruce is part of the deal but I have more to offer then that. There are experiments I want to do, things I want to find out that father will not let me. I need a space and equipment for a lab. In return, I won’t tell anyone your secret identity and I can get you access to Bat tech, and build some new things for you. I’ve been building and adding to bat tech for years, without the Batman’s strict morals holding me back I bet I can build you some… interesting weapons.”

There was a long moment of silence between the two of them before Jason threw his head back and laughed, lowering his weapon. “Well I want to get back at Bruce, and I think enabling another one of his kids to turn against him is an excellent start.”

Danny relaxed and grinned as well, he wasn’t actually planning on turning against his father or siblings but he didn’t feel like arguing about it. Especially when they probably would see this as a betrayal. As if they hadn’t all kept secrets. As if Tim still hadn’t told Damian or Bruce about the Legue of Shadows bases he had blown up and all the people he’d killed while searching for Bruce. Not that Danny was going to out his brother of course.

“I’ve been clearing out any gangs that use kids from the Lanes,” Jason said, his posture relaxed now. “They left plenty of empty warehouses, you can have one of those for your lab. I can get you a decent amount of equipment taken from mad scientist and drug rings I’ve busted but I’m not getting you a fucking grocery list. Anything you want that’s missing you’ll have to get yourself,” Jason said, pointing at Danny.

“I wasn’t expecting you to play nursemaid. Anything you can’t get I can get a hold of myself. I still have access to Bruce’s bank account and he’s used to me regularly making orders of mechanical parts and scientific instruments for the work I do for him. I can get what I need.”

“Good, I know you’re a kid, but I’m not holding your hand,” Jason sneered.

Danny laughed and shook his head; “You should know that none of us Batman take in are kidsin any way that matters. Dick had already been out fighting crime for four years by the time he was my age. I’m no different, I was raised in the league even before moving in with dad. If you tried to hold my hand, I’d cut it off.”

“Feisty,” Jason said in a tone of approval. “Meet me at the docks same time next week. I’ll have gotten what I can for you by then, you can set it up on your own.”

“I can handle it. I’ll build you something to start, but after that I won’t be keeping a schedule. You can make requests if there are things you need but I have a lot of work to do,” He said before he rolled off the roof backwards and slowed his fall enough to get the grapple out and swing away.

To his disappointment his powers hadn’t really grown as he did, so slowing himself was still the best he could do. Just lessen gravity’s effects on him a bit, density shift his limbs for a few seconds but not longer, and not his whole body, blend into shadows but not disappear. He was stronger, faster, and a little more sensitive then the average person, but that was all which was both annoying, and confusing because the voice in his dreams promised him he could be so much more.

He was home that night before his brother and father, and he had a proper fucking plan! He was going to have a lab, a secret place that he could do what he needed to do free of restrictions. He would need a secret identity of his own, a suit that would hide him fully so not even Damian would be able to recognize. A full helmet and a vocal distorter like Jason had, maybe one that sort of matched though he’d have to run that by Jason. So much for not putting on a mask he supposed, though he wasn’t exactly planning to be a hero.

 He couldn’t wait!

---------

It was easy to ask Sam to act as a cover for if Danny was caught out of the house. He would get in trouble for sneaking out to stay the night with a girl of course, but that was much better than his lab being found. She was happy to enable his rebellion though he hadn’t told her the entire truth about what he would be doing, just asked that is his family called she would say he was with her.

He spent his down time in that week using scrap from the cave to build his helmet and since he was always tinkering with one thing or another no one really noticed. He left cosmetic details for later so he could ask about making it match with Red Hood’s a little bit. For now, he kept it black for the most part. He’d need a suit too. Black, white, and red sounded good, he could easily get the black and red material since it was used in Batman’s and Robin’s suits, the white would be something he’d have to make himself.

With that in mind he started working on his suit as well. He was going to be essentially a villain for now, he might as well lean into the aesthetics of it and have some fun right? He wasn’t planning on hurting anyone or being ‘evil’ but he was going against Batman and teaming up with Red Hood so he knew how that would look. He didn’t know fully what he wanted it to look like, but he knew that he wanted claws so he started with that and after a few sketches he had a design.

All of the vital areas of his body were clothed in black, a vest tunic that went down to mid thigh with a red wrap belt to keep it from flapping around too much. The long sleeved shirt underneath was white, going down over his hands in tight gloves tipped with red claws like they were stained with old blood. Each arm was wrapped elbow to wrist, and around the palm with black bandages of thick material that made them nearly gauntlets. The pants underneath were loose and white, stuffed and secured into black boots with thick durable tread and laces in red.

The helmet was black as well, with red eyes and white detailing along the seems and forming a sort of mouth. It would do for now, he could always change it later but he wanted to have this done by the time he started working on his lab so there was a pretty tight deadline. He was still putting the finishing touches on it the day before he went to see Red Hood again, on a weekend night of course, the bats would be busy and everyone could sleep in in the morning.

He fully suited up with tools tucked into his belt and his weapons strapped to his back and snuck out the window not long after the bats flew the roost, making his way quickly to the Alley and down to the docks. Landing on one of the taller roofs he pulled out a pair of small binoculars equipped with night vision and thermo sensors and scanned the area, quickly spotting Jason and a few, what looked like workmen, bringing boxes into the warehouse. Just in case it was a trap Danny waited for them to leave, and once Jason was alone dropped down and slid into the warehouse.

There were tables set up around and boxes on the floor, the lights were on which was good, he’d need electricity. And there was Red Hood, standing in the middle of the warehouse with his arms crossed, his posture tense and impatient. He turned and looked Danny up and down, letting out a distorted chuckle. “You really committed to the bit huh?” He asked, amusement coming through the distortion.

“Well I’m going to be doing this, I might as well. The last thing I want it to be recognized coming in and out, or caught by any of the bats or birds,” He hummed, reaching up to turn off his own vocal distortion which made his voice sound like ghostly whispers. “By the way, I am trained to fight and I practice daily. If you need backup call me. I won’t hurt father or our siblings, but if anything is compromising our deal or my lab I’ll defend it.” He started to open boxes, seeing what equipment Jason had found for him.

“They’re not my siblings,” Jason snarled, his fingers twitching on his crossed arms.

“As you say,” Danny said blandly, rolling his eyes under his mask. “I should warn you as well that I’m going to be working with Lazarus water here.”

“What?!” Jason practically roared. “You’re going to be bringing Lazarus water HERE?!”

Danny dodged on instinct, and was almost surprised when he found Jason hadn’t tried to shoot him. “Yes. I know what the league uses it for, but it clearly has a lot of untapped potential. I think if I can purify it and harness it right I can use it for something Good. I know you’ve had a bad experience with it, I have too,” Danny said, turning back towards Jason with his hands on his hips.

“I died too, when I was eight and they dunked me in the stuff as well. I saw what you were like after they pulled you out, I know why you’re afraid of it. But I know what it’s like and I swear that is Not what I will be using it for. And I’m not doing it for the league either, I don’t want any of this research getting back to them. I have my own motivations, and that includes healing the lasting effects the Pit had on me, hopefully I can heal you as well. I’m not making any promises since I haven’t even started yet, but I might.”

Jason took deep, slow breaths and even through the eyeholes of the mask Danny could see Jason’s eyes were glowing green with familiar maddening rage. “Fine,” Jason growled and stocked out of the building.

Danny let him go. Jason clearly needed time to cool off, but Danny hoped he would come back before he had to leave so that they could talk more about check ins and how to contact each other. If he didn’t it wasn’t the end of the world. Danny would be coming back regularly and didn’t need permission to do so. Jason would know where to find Danny when he was ready to talk about whatever.

Danny pulled a trip wire and a few bombs and batteries out of his pouches and set up a first perimeter with alerts and a second one with traps. Once he felt more secure in his space Danny started to empty the boxes and set up the burners, beakers, distillers and the other equipment Jason had managed to get for him. Danny was surprised and pleased to find a generator as well! This way if he needed extra power he had a way to get it without raising any flags.

It took him a few hours to get everything set up and make a list of the things he still needed, which was mostly more advanced and sensitive. He muttered to himself as he checked over the building knowing the rudimentary security he’d set up was Barely enough for a regular lab, he’d need much more substantial protections for this. Probably a fail safe to destroy the research if someone unauthorized gets in as well. Despite wanting to rush there was no way he could start working with the Lazarus water for at least a month, till then he could tinker with weapons between deliveries of equipment and other things to do.

He didn’t see Jason again before he headed home, but he wanted to be there a bit before he knew dad and Damian would to avoid running into them. He stripped off his costume leaving him in the white pants and a tank top before carefully climbed back through the window to his bedroom. He knew the placements of the cameras like the back of his hand and was sure he could sneak in and out without being seen but just in case he’d rather be spotted in civilian clothes. He wasn’t a known yet and he wanted to stay off his family’s radar as long as possible. Especially because despite having a costume he hadn’t thought of a name yet!

He could always just wait and see what his family started calling him when they eventually became aware of his… rogue persona, and go with that but they didn’t always have the best taste. With his assassin training and his abilities, he thought that it would make sense to have some sort of name referencing a ghost. He didn’t want one that was too obvious though so it was probably time to do a little bit of research to find a ghost that would suit him. Maybe on a school computer so it couldn’t be easily traced back to him.

He should ask Sam too, she was really into this spooky stuff so she’d enjoy helping him pick a name. He wouldn’t be fully honest about what he was looking for, just that he was researching different ghosts, she’d be happy with that. She might put two and two together once his ‘rogue persona’ became known, but as long as he didn’t hurt anyone he thought she’d be on board. He just didn’t plan to tell them till he had to, one less potential avenue for exposure.

There were a lot of things he hadn’t told her or Tucker, that was the problem with having a family like his, whether he was involved or not any relationship had to be built on lies. He couldn’t tell them about being raised in a cult of assassins, about being heir the Demon Head and the Batman, he couldn’t tell them about his family’s hero work. What was one more secret on top of all the ones he and the family were already keeping?

[haveihitanerve]

Ok so, idea. Damian says ‘i love you’ as a sort of goodbye/thank you. Like for example “This evidence will prove very useful on this case, I love you Todd.” or “this photo of Titus is most adequate Drake, I shall have enough to start drawing. I love you.” or “The meal was most delicious Pennyworth, I love you.” And everyone coos and is like “aww.” even jason and they look at dick because like obviously dick taught damian that, hes the golden child, the one damian looks up to the most, the most affectionate one…

But the truth is, Damian learned it from Bruce. Damian is there when Bruce calls his other kids, he hears Bruce go “I love you.” As a goodbye the second after the child at the other end hangs up. He hears Bruce say ‘i love you’ to alfred, quietly, when hes patching him up after a mission, hears the frantic ‘i love you’s’ after someone gets hurt on patrol, and he thinks thats how its done. But Bruce seems to think the same as everyone else, that he got it from Dick, and Dick looks so pleased, Damian decided not to correct them. Besides, who do they think Dick got it from?

[raeofgayshine]

Wish there was a way to begin to explain what happened tonight during stream because there’s some kind of gold in Jim thinking that Riddler is fairy (like tinkerbell) but everyone else just thinks he’s calling Ed a slur and the pipeline it leads down, connecting to Bruce thinking babies come from kissing, all the way to Jim asking Ed and Oswald if Tim was “their fairy baby and Tim telling Steph “I think Jim just called me a fairy.” Steph: “sorry you had to find out this way, but we all kind of knew.”

[somnoir]

Damian's future husband

Got inspired by this specific line in a Tumblr thread and my brain went to work

Phantom was a strange hero—a vigilante that often worked with Justice League Dark. Constantine was always so antsy around the man, while Phantom himself often muttered about taxes and blasted fragments whenever said trech coat man was in the vicinity.

The Bats were, of course, initially apprehensive of the death defying being that could rip a man skeleton out of their body, manipulate space itself to rip open portals to different dimensions, and vanish better than they did. They were wary, mildly hostile after realising that Phantom had now issue killing.

But then time passed and Phantom was proven to not be a serial killer but only used killing as a last resort. Though Batman wasn't too pleased, he was—begrudgingly—tolerant of that. Because, yes, Phantom was a nice guy, a very likeable person in general. He made sure that the environmental damage during battles were kept to a minimum, he chose civilians over the enemy whenever it came to hostage situations, he was tactile and kind, and he cared so much for the innocent that he was willing to lose his innocence to keep theirs.

Of course Batman was fond of the young man, especially when he found out that Jason of all people had some sort of crush on him. A very big and almost pathetic one that he and Alfred would watch while sipping tea.

Seriously, Jason was his son! Has he not learned anything from his Brucie persona? The poor thing was like a Victorian maiden and would be scandalised at the mere thought of showing an ankle.

It was embarrassing how he'd practically start blue screening the moment Phantom was in the vicinity. As a father, Bruce was gracious enough not to bully his poor son whenever it came to Phantom. His siblings, on the other hand, held no such qualms and mercilessly dug into Jason.

In all honesty, he pitied Jason after hearing that Phantom assumed that Jason just didn't like him.

He really had to talk to him.

"You fucking hypocrite."

And that was a failure because Bruce forgot that he was just as constipated as his son.

"I'm not taking advice from the man who couldn't even try to be softer in his secret crush!"

With that, Jason slammed the door and left.

Okay... Plan B?

But what the hell was plan B?

Right.

Dick Grayson.

Bruce: About your brother...

Bird child #1: OH MY GOD

Bird child #1: THANK FUCK YOU FINALLY MENTIONED IT

Bruce: it's become an issue

Bruce: Alfred has commented that it's pathetic now.

Bird child #1: Wait wait

Bird child #1: I'll add you to the group chat!

And this Bruce Wayne found himself in a GC named 'Phantom of the Watchtower'. Along with all the complaints expressed by both family and friends when it came to Jason's bullshit.

Ah well... At least he wasn't alone in the suffering.

(Jason did not need to know that there was a video of him grappling through Gotham, Phantom passing by and waving at him, and Jason proceeding to hit a wall mid flight.)

Dick knows that his little wing has had trouble in relationships for a long time. His resurrection changed him, changed how he perceived his relationships. Dick didn't have the heart to be mad about it.

Phantom's arrival was a breath of fresh air for them.

But he suspects that Jason's attraction began with the fact that Phantom had died young as well. Fourteen from what was said. He had died much younger than Jason and had came back a hero, willing to protect the innocent and do what was best for those around him. Sometimes Dick suspects that Jason not only wanted to be with Phantom, but also to be similar to him.

Now he's watching Jason fumble with his words again, immediately going quiet once he realized that nothing coherent was coming out of his mouth. The helmet most likely hid how red his face was.

"Are you alright?" Phantom asked, frowning up at Jason. "You don't feel too good. Is the corrupted ecto acting up again? Oh, I knew I should have sped up the process of removing it but then it'd be very painful if I did it at once. And Frostbite recommended that we went slowly so we could monitor the side effect... And, and—"

"I'm okay." Red Hood immediately assured, his hand practically flying to Phantom's cheek then he shoved it down before he could even touch Phantom. "It's been a long day."

"Is the Joker out again?" Phantom's frown deepened.

Another thing Dick has learned about the dead and the undead! The fact that their murderer was still active unsettled then greatly and affected their entire mentality and behaviour.

"No. No. He hasn't tried escaping."

Phantom hummed, "I see. So what's bothering you."

"It's nothing." Jason grunted, sounding a little too much like Bruce for Dick's liking.

Okay, nope, he wasn't going to let this continue if his baby brother was going to continue making Phantom assumed he didn't like him. Nightwing to the rescue!

"Phantom! Hi!" Nightwing quite literally dropped into the alley, running his fingers through his hair and smoothly directing Jason away from whatever catastrophic misunderstanding he was walking into.

"Hello Nightwing! It's nice to see you again? How's Kori? Oooh! I wanted to invite her to a space date again—" He rambled on and on, eyes practically starry. Wait, nevermind. His eyes really were starry.

(Meanwhile, Jason was cursing his older brother for taking the attention from but also very thankful that Phantom didn't have to witness his stupidity again.)

Tim had noticed that the Joker hasn't attempted to break out in a long... Long time.

It's not a bad thing, no. It was great, in all honesty. But of course, Tim was paranoid, almost batshir crazy (pun intended, in the words of his damn boyfriends). The surveillance feed on Arkham was updated a long time ago, watching it very closely until static overtook the screen.

"Replacement," Tim startled, blinking before he saw Jason peering at him with a questioning look. Practically interrogating him on the spot. "The hell is that?"

"I don't know." Tim clicked his tongue, "This hasn't happened after Babs and I updated those damn cameras. Fuck, give me a second..."

"Did the Joker get out?" Jason practically growled.

"No, no. I'm sure he didn't. He would have been causing trouble by now." Tim reassured, clicking his tongue again before the feed went back to normal. Joker's cell seemed perfectly fine, with the Joker fast asleep on his little cot. "See, just some static. Maybe Phantom passed by."

The mere mention of Phantom has Jason blue screening, instincts kicking in as his older brother shoved his helmet over his head again. Then the idiot gets on his bike and speeds out of the cave.

Coward.

Tim whipped his head around, quickly surveying the area.

The static wasn't random. Phantom always had to be in front of the camera to directly affect the feed. So thank fuck when he made friends with Phantom's teammate—Pharaoh—and figured out how to fix any distorted imagery.

He sees Phantom standing over the Joker's unconscious body, plunging his hand into the maniac's chest and pulled out a glowing green orb. A core, from what he remembered. Holy shit, was the Joker a ghost too?

But he saw how Phantom seemed to put restraints around it, literal chains before shoving it back inside.

Slowly, Phantom turned to the camera, his entire figure still distorted, but he could see that fanged grin that his brother seemed to swoon over.

(The Joker was still alive, very much, but no one could understand how he was stuck in an almost permanent coma. Tim wasn't going to give Jason even more reason to start giggling over Phantom, unless he wanted to ruin the entire Dead on Main operation.)

Damian did not quite understand the insanity that was multiple individuals (including those that were not of their brood) attempting to matchmake Todd with Phantom. He didn't understand what was so great about Phantom, in all honesty.

He was heroic, powerful, and quite intelligent. Many people held similar traits. Perhaps it was the fact that he was a deathly being that attracted Todd in the first place.

"Hello, Robin!" Phantom greeted one day, eyes shimmering like the stars in his cape. "Superboy said you had something to tell me?"

Damian shifted slightly, "Yes. Are you aware of the Lazarus Pits?"

"Ah... Yes, of course. My court and I have been trying to destroy all of them. The Lazarus is corrupted ectoplasm that has been mixed with filth of all kinds." Phantom hummed.

"Filth of all kinds... Disgusting." Damian frowned, nose scrunching up at the memory that he's bathed in those pits before. "But I digress. I would like to assist in the destruction of the pits. Father and the rest of the family has fretted over my grandfather's pits for many years and we have barely grazed the surface on what the Lazarus truly was."

"I see! I was planning on asking Batman to help out on that. But since you've already asked, would you like to come to the Realms? I'm sure you can interrogate some of the ghosts your grandfather has wronged." Phantom grinned, already offering Damian a hand. He was floating, while Damian stood in the roof and stared at the hand.

It reminded him of the kryptonians. But Phantom's hand was cold and he didn't yank Damian the same way Jon often did.

No, Phantom took Damian's hand and then proceeded to hook an arm around Damian's waist, pulling him of the roof and into the air. And then they were flying into a glowing green portal that reminded Damian of the pits.

The moment they were in the infinite realms, Damian felt the overwhelming pressure of the dead. He swallowed the bile that rose from his throat as Phantom set him down on solid ground. The entire place felt eerie and strange, of course it was. This was the afterlife.

"Right, I forgot." Phantom cursed, "You're not as liminal as my family. Give me a second, baby bat." He murmured, his hand glowing green before it's gently pushed into Damian's chest. A sudden wave of warmth overtook his entire body and Damian stared at the ghost.

"I'm giving you a bit of Ecto to reduce any discomfort here in the realms. It'll flush itself out in 24 hours so don't worry about becoming overly liminal." Phantom smiled softly, before he offered his hand to Damian again. "Let's go? I have to stop by my keep to check the records of Al Ghuls victims."

"Of course."

And instead of being carried like a cat, Phantom picked him up bridal style and flew past what seemed to be floating islands and towards a large red and purple castle.

Is this was Todd feels? Damian asked himself, oddly enjoying this experience.

The moment they landed—

"Your majesty!" A floating eyeball yelled, rushing towards them. "You've brought an outsider—"

"Away with you." Phantom snapped, a crown and cape of stars suddenly appearing on him. "This is Robin. Ra's Al Ghul's grandchild."

"The Demon's head..."

"Yes, now shoo." Phantom snapped, before leading Damian away from the eyeball. "I'm sorry for my Observants. They're a conservative bunch."

"You are a king?"

"Mhm... Though I don't like to advertise it. The last king was a tyrant and I defeated him a little while after my death. I never intended to be king, in all honesty. But here I am." He gestured to the crown of fire and ice and the cape of stars. His grin was strained and quite troubled but he didn't mind leading Damian towards a large room filled with bigger files.

"Now, would you like to search yourself or do you want me to have someone else do it?"

Damian grimaced at the sight. "I'd prefer for someone else to suffer."

And that's how Damian found himself touring the realms, with Phantom happily bringing Damian to the arena where a ghost named Skulker awaited them. The man was a hunter, respectful towards Phantom yet troublesome as he challenged him. Phantom looked utterly annoyed, before he turned to Damian with sparkling eyes.

"What about you, Robin?"

And then Damian was fighting everyone and everything in the realms at the behest and amusement of Phantom. The ghost king provided him with different weapons each time an enemy switched.

It's only when they returned to the land of the living that he's informed that any weapon he's used is now his.

And he has a cat with him! The ghost of a small yet ferocious kitten that had his under Phantom's cape whilst Damian and other ghosts fought to glorious battle. Phantom kindly offered her to him, naming her Astra with the star shaped pupils in her eyes.

Damian is quite sure he has fallen in love.

Damian returns to the manor, utterly awestruck and infatuated. Thankfully (unfortunately), Todd is in attendance when Phantom carries him out of the portal, still held in a bridal carry with Damian actively clinging to Phantom like he had hung the stars (maybe he did).

"Sorry if we worried you! Robin wanted to help with our Lazarus problems since it's also your problem too." Phantom quickly explains once he saw Batman's troubled expression. "Don't worry about your gifts. I'll figure out a way to make you a dimensional bag."

Damian stared, "May I visit the realms again? If you would be amendable to it."

"Of course! You're my favorite, so why wouldn't I?"

Hah! Hear that? Take that, Todd!

Phantom vanishes into his portal seconds later, leaving Damian with the most beautiful and intricated sword in his hands. Blinking quietly, he whirled around and pointed the sword at Jason, who instinctively went into a battle stance.

"You may be my brother, Todd, but if you have not married Phantom once I am of age, I shall fight for his hand in marriage himself."

(Jason knows very well that Damian isn't joking and proceeds to practically plan the most novel-esque confession to date. Jane Austen might just be proud.)

Masterpost

[yumeka-sxf]

Well, seems like something that was just a theory before has come very close to truth...

Because of this major revelation, I wanted to take a deep dive into what we know about Donovan so far and how hints throughout past chapters could indeed indicate that he can read minds. While we still don't have concrete proof for this other than Melinda's word, I don't believe there's anything that discredits this idea, either. In fact, many things throughout the series support it.

First we have Loid's encounter with Donovan way back in chapter 38. I always found it strange that we never got insight into Donovan's thoughts throughout that whole exchange. We always get to know what characters are thinking, even without Anya's mind-reading support. It's not an uncommon storytelling mechanic in general after all, especially for manga. Yet, Endo chose not to give us any insight into what Donovan was thinking. I figured this was simply to avoid spoiling anything about what his exact plans and motives are for future stories (also why Anya was absent for this). But now it seems like this could have also been to hide the fact that he can read minds. If he can read minds, certain things he said during that exchange take on a more ominous meaning. For example, what he said below about how people can never truly understand each other.

It's been a headcanon of mine that the reason why Anya, and perhaps Donovan, were given mind-reading powers, stemmed from the desire for world peace...the idea being that if people could read each other's minds - in other words, always know what others are thinking and feeling, sympathy and understanding would abound.

We learn later on that Donovan had ideas like this even as a kid when he made a similar comment during his debate competition speech. He said that it's impossible to know the true intentions of others so people will forever doubt each other, thus war is inevitable.

We also have the little detail in today's chapter that Donovan did not have the scars on his head during Melinda's flashback (of course, he didn't have them as a kid in chapter 99 either).

Now this is totally my theory, but if we take Melinda's words as the truth, without any misunderstanding, then sometime in Donovan's adult life after he married and had a child, he was experimented on and was given mind-reading powers, perhaps by force but most likely by choice. Now that he has these powers, his laments about people not being able to understand each other are no longer true, at least not for him. Perhaps the experiments done on Anya were preliminary tests that he put together to perfect the mind-reading implementation science before actually doing it to himself. Again, totally just speculation, but not out of the question.

Then we have Demetrius...we learned in chapter 93 that Anya has trouble reading his mind.

If we put that together with Melinda's comment in today's new chapter, that Demetris also took note of Donovan being able to read minds...

...then perhaps Demetrius conditioned himself to think in ways that would make it difficult for his mind to be read, specifically to thwart the "alien" that's impersonating his father. I mentioned last time that I don't think Donovan is actually an alien, and that this description is the only explanation Melinda could come up with to explain his mind-reading powers. If this is true though, it really does make the Desmond dinner scene all the more telling...that throughout all those panels without dialogue, Donovan was absorbing the deepest inner thoughts of his family members (and again, no insight into his own thoughts, just like in chapter 38).

But if the "Donovan can read minds" theory holds true, then the most disturbing idea of all is that Donovan knows that Twilight is a spy. He knows that he's the target of Twilight's mission, and that Twilight seeks to thwart him. Not only that, but depending on what he's read of Damian and Melinda's minds, he knows that they're fond of Anya and Yor, respectively - people who are close to Twilight. Mind-reading powers in the hands of a child are one thing, but in the hands of a shrewd and power political figure...I'm both excited and anxious to find out what Donovan's next move will be!

[bluerosefox]

Assassin Heir? Crime Fighting Furry? NOPE NO THANK YOU!

"Danyal, its time to end this game and return with me."

Danny should had known Clockwork had something in mind when he sent him on this mission. He knew he should had been suspicious of the time keeper when he noticed the little 'this is going to be fun' smile on his face when he sent Danny off into the portal.

"Get back here you demon spawn 2.0!"

But how was he supposed to know that he'd wake up in this world version of himself in a pit full of corrupted (AND NASTY) ectoplasim at the tender age of five or that when he swam up to the surface he'd be meeting face to face with what was apparently a cult.

"-O just spotted him a block away! I'll try to cut itty bitty bridie off!"

An Assassins Cult his, new to him, loving yet a little insane mother was in charge of (though during the few months he stayed in the compound he heard rumors and gossip from maids and others alike that if his grandfather returned from the dead he'll take over once again, no doubt punish Talia for creating another heir after the failure of the last one, most likely was going to kill Danny and that... that was can of worms Danny didn't wanna deal with yet)

"Ten bucks says they try to stab RR when we get the feral thing home"

"...Losers bet...."

Danny had lived with his mother for a while after being brought back from the 'dead' for apparently the first time, it turned out training a five year old with an actual sword and a dumbass hidden revenge seeking teacher was a terrible idea.

"I swear if this one tries to murder me like the others I'm asking Zatanna if there is a curse on me."

He dealt with her high demands of perfection, the endless training, and the constant comparisons to his apparent older brother Damain... Who didn't know Danny, or rather Danyal existed.

Nor did his father (when Danny, using his powers he's kept hidden since 'waking' up in this Realm, he sneaked his way around the base and discovered how he came into the world. And tbh he couldn't blame his mom how she made him, she was an assassin first and foremost, being naturally pregnant would had painted a target on her for to long... but he also felt it was unfair and an asshole move on his unsuspecting father as well)

"As your elder brother I demand you to stop running!"

Now don't get him wrong, he did like his new mother (total badass assassin lady and all that) and he knew she loved him in her own... deadly way. But yeah, she really shouldn't be taking care of kids. He could tell she struggled with wanting to be a normal mother but her first instinct after so many years was to be an assassin first.

Something she was trying to engrave into Danny with as well.

"Ah, hello Beloved. I see you've learned of our Danyal."

"Talia. Back away from him and leave Gotham now."

"I can not do that. The League needs an heir and since Damian refuses to return... I have decided to create a new one and I shall not be leaving until he returns with me."

"Talia."

Hence why when Danny, or rather Danyal al Ghul had gotten decent control over his powers he decided to leave the League. Again nothing wrong with the life his mom leads, to each their own, but he... really, really didnt want to be an assassin. Or an assassin heir.

So here he was, after almost a year on the run, using his powers and training to out smart and out maneuver his mother and her many band of Assassins, in Gotham. One of the last places he ever wanted to run to cause he knew his father and brother lived here.

It was just his luck that his mother had managed to intercept his train ride that passed into Gotham for a few hours and forced him to run into the city...

Add her assassins into the mix and running into Robin, who heard from Oracle his mother had been spotted chasing a young boy across the city, that same night.

After that it became a full on "catch me if you can" chase for not only his mother but for the batclan as well.

And after two whole days of chase, it seemed like the final showdown was about to begin because everyone was on top of this rooftop, his mother and her assassins on one side, his father and the batclan on the other and Danny well... he was right in the middle of all of it.

He just had to hope no one would notice him once the fighting started...

[timmydraker]

CW: use of R word

Tim who, as much as he doesn’t want it to be true, is a poster boy for typical Neurodivergence. He’s more logically thinking that emotionally and needs obvious signs of someone’s emotional state that he can put together to understand how he should respond to help them.

But that’s not what bothers him because that doesn’t bother his parents.

Instead it’s his passion, though not in technology and detective work as they quickly found use for that in their business, but for bugs.

Ever since he was a kid Tim has been enamoured by insects and arachnids and even fungi. He would only read books that talked about bugs or had one on the cover, but since it helped him learn to read at a steady pace his parents didn’t mind.

At least, not at first.

When Tim got into coding just so he could make his own little web-journal for all his bug finds, they were happy he was learning how to organise and structure at just six years old, but when he only did those things regarding bugs…

Tim had his first panic attack when he watched his father pick up his terrarium filled with Diapheromera Femorata (Stick bugs) and chucked it into the bin. The glass shattered as the corner his something hard and he was forced to watch his bugs struggle to navigate the glass and rubbish, most of them injured.

His mother had gagged when she saw them and demanded the whole bin be burnt with the bugs still inside.

Tim had been so heart broken, but mostly confused. His parents traveled the world to dig up dirt and old items that were mostly the same yet they didn’t like bugs?

When he asked one his Nanny’s she gave him an answer that he would never forget, “Well, you see… only those people like bugs, y’know? The… special ones, like re-“

Tim never even let himself think of the last word she spoke and from then only forced himself to only focus on his computer work. He still loved photography but now he took photos of skylines and trees, not the beautiful beehive a few yards behind his house or the spider webs that sat between branches like art works. He took photos of Batman and Robin and for a long time that was enough to make his longing bearable.

If he still followed several pages and articles about bugs either a secret email account, that didn’t matter.

His parents were happy with him even if they still made remarks about his ‘stupid little fixation’.

It’s when they are going over the paper work for Bruce to be Tim’s legal guardian while they weren’t home with Tim’s older brothers hanging around as moral support (bodyguards) that his parents mock him.

Janet is signing some paper with a stupidly expensive pen and chatting to no one in particular when she says, “You’re all lucky we killed this nasty little bugs of his so you don’t have to deal with them.”

Everyone else in the room freezes, beside Jack who huffs a laugh and adds, “Good thing we did, he’d probably be more of a retard otherwise- talking about ‘habitats’ and bloody spiders.”

All of the members of the Wayne family are dead quiet as Tim sits there with a clear look of disassociation coming into his eyes. Alfred has a calm look on his face that tells all who know him that he’s furious and Bruce is strikingly similar.

Jason looks ready to attack and Dick isn’t even moving to stop his brother or calm anyone down.

Damian is holding onto Titus’s collar like a lifeline but seems to give the hound some kind of silent order as the usually calm dog begins to growl low and dangerous.

Jack and Janet tense and stare at both dog and master, Jack ordering him to control his dog.

Bruce stands, letting Titus growl and taking the half signed papers and throwing them in the bin, “I changed my mind, I will be taking you to court for full custody of my son. Leave my house now so I may obtain a restraining order.”

Janet genuinely flounders for a moment and begins to shout about outrage and audacity but when Dick sees that Tim is starting to cry he stands up and reminds them that he is a cop before moving to pick up his second youngest brother and leaving the room.

Tim doesn’t hear much else, only muffled shouting and the sound of a door slamming.

He distantly realises he’s in the family room, not the one they use to have guest but the real one with beanbags and a snack draw, and is being cradled by his brothers. Even Damian is beside him, holding onto his hand tightly as they wait for Bruce and Alfred.

Tim sobs into Dicks chest for Alamos a whole hour before settling more, Bruce coming into the room and Jason and Dick reluctantly hand him over to he can be held by their father.

“Tim, chum, it’s alright. We’ve got you.”

The boy in question shakes his head, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I won’t talk about the bugs I promise-“

Bruce squeezes him tighter and kisses his head, “I don’t want that. What I want is to hear about your bugs.”

Stunned, Tim looks up at him with confusion and barely gets his mouth to move enough to ask what he means.

Dick coos from beside him on the next couch and runs a hand through his hair lovingly, “My sweet baby brother we love you, and you love bugs! So of course we want to hear about it. I’m so sorry we didn’t know how they had been treating you but it was wrong. There’s nothing wrong with you, I swear it.”

Tim sniffled, nodding absentmindedly. They gave him a moment for their words to sink in before Damian spoke up, “Timothy, I demand you tell me about your bugs.”

Jason makes a noise and elbows Damian as if to tell him to shut up, probably thinking the other was being rude, but Tim knows his brother well and just smiles. “I can do that, Dami. I… I don’t think you’ll be very interested though.”

Damian scoffs, “I will ignore that statement as it implies I would waste my time with something I don’t care for.”

Bruce smiles at his youngest and holds Tim’s hand, “I agree. Could you maybe tell us about why you like them? Or your favourites?”

It takes him a moment to respond, but when he looks at all their open expressions and gets an encouraging nod from Alfred, he stutters out a response before gradually gaining confidence as they ask genuine questions to his facts and descriptions.

They each make an effort to ask him about bugs, Jason asking a few times if he wants to check out some books that he knows use bugs as symbolism’s and Dick asking if he can tell him the difference between insects and arachnids several times. Damian and Bruce are both a bit more subtle with their support at first, but after a month Tim enters his room to find a giant terrarium with several different sections so he can have multiple bugs that might not get along with each other.

Bruce and Alfred don’t even make any comments or give disapproving looks when Dick and Jason reveal they each got a tattoo of the bug that Tim said he associates with them.

[lionwitch]

Ok, hear me out. An AU where Janet Drake is best friends with Lex Luthor, Bruce Wayne and Oliver Queen.

They met in school, and she's a high society girl, not expected or allowed to be much more than a pretty face, but there's this trio of smart idiots (they did all sorts of stupid stuff at school, but they are overall very, very smart), and they're in all sorts of cool classes and extracurriculars, and she wants to learn

So, she snakes her way into the group with well-timed looks and blushes. They eventually include her in all their activities, and so she learns all sort of stuff that she usually wouldn't be allowed to learn, because they help her keep it in the down low. No, she's not taking classes with them, she's being a proper lady and cheering her smart friends on through the oh-so-hard classes.

At some point or another, they all develop a crush on her, fleeting as it may be (they're hormonal teens and they're required to flirt, it was bound to happen)

They flirt publicly, as it keeps the media from pressuring them into relationships— or so they thought. It backfires when they're adults, the media is demanding Janet settle down and stops leading all three of them on. But there would be a scandal if she picked any of them, so she picks Jack, someone who doesn't love her or she loves, but someone desperate enough to climb the social ladder to care if he loves his wife.

When he's not allowed to flirt anymore, that's where Bruce realizes that he actually liked her.

When Tim comes along, and Janet has to go on trips, she leaves him with her trusted friends. So, Tim learns a lot from his Uncle Lex, learns to shoot a bow from his Uncle Ollie, and loves staying with his Uncle Bruce and his children. He figures him out far too easily and does become Robin when Jason figures he's ready to pass on the mantle to his little brother (because they're brothers. Tim spends a lot of time in their house)

Bruce adores Tim, he really does. It just kinda hurts, that he's Janet's kid, but not his.

Eventually, Janet divorces Jack, and she gets to spend a lot more time in Gotham. But by now Tim is as much Bruce's as he is Janet's, so they co-parent the gremlin that is her son, which leads to a lot of time with Bruce.

Bruce treats her better than Jack ever did, and she trusts him far more. They have the memories of years together. Eventually, Bruce tells her the truth— that he never truly moved on from his best friend.

When they marry, sure it's a media circus, but also not a surprise.

She's also a good mom, to Tim as much as to Dick or Jason.

When Jason finds out Catherine is not his mom, sure he gets curious, but he has a mom already, he's happy. He does want to meet his bio mom, but he agrees to do so safely, not go alone. Fine, B, you can come with.

Joker never happens. Jason is disappointed when he finds his mom is not at all what he expected, and he has a much better one at home.

Eventually, when Damian comes into the picture, he's snappy with Janet. "you will never be my mother, you harlot!" but Janet simply puts a hand on his shoulder and speaks calmly, yet sharp as the blade he threatens her with

"You will not speak to me like that, boy. No, I am not your mother. But I am married to your father, and I hold the authority as such, so you will go up to your room, you will cool down, and you will never threaten or insult me again, or you will be grounded."

"You can't do that!"

"She can. She has my full permission to discipline my kids, Damian. In this house, she holds as much authority as I do." Bruce interjects

Damian, begrudgingly, learns to respect Janet, and eventually he does see her as a second mom

The amount of times Oliver or Lex visit the Wayne-Drake household is absurd, but sue them, they like their friends. This leads to a lot of chaos, because every time Oliver visits so does Roy, and Roy hangs out with Dick and Jason, while Damian sticks to glaring at everyone.

Meanwhile, they dote on Tim, because they sure as hell have a favourite nephew, and it's the one they watched grow inside the belly of one of their best friends, the one they all changed the diapers of, the one they've taught a lot of skills to, the one they helped raise in a way they never helped raise any of the other Wayne boys. They don't even try to hide their preference. Now, of course they like all their nephews, but it's always hilarious because when Tim is around his uncle Lex, he's ten times the evil mastermind he generally is, and Oliver encourages it, simply for the chaos, and so does Janet, while Bruce is downright terrified of the idea of Tim as a villain (everyone is)

[witherby]

i need more damian x mer!reader plssss😞😞😞 im literally OBSESSED with it

YOU'RE ALL SUCH SWEETIES!!! Ok gang, just for you 🩷

⚠️ HEADS UP: this part features conflict. There's blood, some unintentional self harm, language barriers, and general chaos! ⚠️

Human!Damian x Mer!Reader Part 4

Click to read parts 1, 2, and 3 here!

There's another rock sitting on the lip of the tank — one of the painted, water-safe ones they let you have — when Damian and Bruce arrive for dinner.

It's the weekend, meaning the aquarium is closed, and it takes a little more smacking on the surface of the water than usual for you to pop up. You shoot Bruce a disinterested glance, his presence vaguely familiar, then chirp sleepily at Damian, evidently having been awoken from a nap.

"Hey, Pr—" Damian catches himself and fakes a cough, then addresses you by your actual name. You furrow your brow, irritated, but still reach forward to take the offered bucket.

Holding it carefully in one arm, your other, webbed hand nudges the rock into Damian's lap. Damian pockets it with an easy nod, signing Thank You. Delighted, you offer him some crab after splitting the shell open with your teeth. He declines. Oh well; more for you!

Eating in front of Damian is little issue, but having Bruce stare at you so intently makes you turn away, hugging the food to your chest and rumbling quietly. Conversation floats in the air behind you.

" — might already be bonded. How often...swim together?"

"At least twice a....insisted it wasn't harming...wouldn't if I realized...promise."

Hmm. Your mate-to-be sounds upset. You dislike that greatly. You spit a half-chewed carp back into the bucket.

"Damian, I know...not mad at you for...unprecedented, you understand that, right? This...to a wild animal...vastly unintelligent..."

You growled and spun back around, tail swishing around fast enough to make the surface of the tank slightly choppy. Unintelligent?! Who was unintelligent? You learned every stupid spin, squeak, and trick you'd been taught! And your Damian was the brightest, kindest, most special caretaker in this whole place!

Bruce looks at you in confusion. Damian looks at you with awe, because he knows you're smart enough to pick up on the gist of most things, like the conversation they're having with each other. English is not your mother tongue, but you are learning, slowly and steadily. Because you are not unintelligent!

You bare your teeth, snapping them twice at Bruce, and firmly push the half-empty bucket over the lip of the tank. It clatters to the floor, the metal twang echoing around the room loud enough to make your head-fins flatten. Both land creatures jump back to avoid getting fish guts all over their legs (a word you learned recently, because you're very smart!), but Damian comes back to the edge of the tank to soothe you quickly.

"Easy, Princess," he mutters, the nickname slipping out this time. You preen and rest your chin on his extended palm, blinking up at his beautiful, green eyes. Your tail stops swishing as hard, and he seems to ease up at the same time you do. Reading your physical cues and responding accordingly is one of the reasons Damian quickly became your favorite, and this demonstration only hits that nail on the head. "Everything is just fine. Father and I are simply talking." He gestures to your discarded dinner. "Do you want any more?"

You huff and turn your face away. Damian takes your dismissal for what it really is and looks at Bruce next.

"You should apologize."

His father's eyes widen. "For what? I didn't throw a bucket on the ground."

"For the slight regarding their cognitive ability. You hurt their feelings." Damian sounds offended on your behalf. It makes something in your chest thrum pleasantly. "I'll fetch a broom for the mess while you say you're sorry."

"I can grab the broom —" one sharp look from his son quiets Bruce down immediately. You and he both watch Damian leave the room, then the human regards you warily while you regard him with a scowl.

Bruce tries to approach the tank. You bare your teeth and he stops. Good human. Good, rude human. Do not approach. You are very scary and fearsome. You might just use your teeth for something more than food if sufficiently provoked.

"You really can understand me, can't you?" He asks, almost rhetorically. The flat look you give him makes his cheeks flush with color. "You can. That's...fascinating. I've skimmed your file of course — I co-run the aquarium, I have to be knowledgeable of all the animals — but I obviously don't know you like my son does."

Ugh. This land creature uses small words. Damian uses big words, which helps you learn faster even if it's more difficult to latch onto what he's talking about.

Bruce calls your name again, and your eyes snap to his. He looks less embarrassed and more curious. More like he's recognizing you as a being capable of proper thought and not some dumb, prey animal in a big play pen. Something in you becomes less tense.

"I'm sorry," he finally says. "Really. I'm coming from a place of concern, is all. I never intended to hurt your feelings. You mean a lot to my son, and the feeling seems to be mutual. My concern is just...the extent of the feeling. Damian doesn't have many human friends, and hiring him on to help manage the aquarium hasn't encouraged him in that regard. I just don't...I just want him to..."

He trails off and sighs. This time, when Bruce tries to take a step closer, you keep your teeth hidden behind your lips. He perches on the lip of the tank to look at you, blue eyes taking in all your aquatic features. They're pretty, reminding you of the water, but not as pretty as Damian's.

Just for fun, you puff up and flare out all of your fins just to see him flinch back. Your chirping laughter makes Bruce crack his own smile, and he shakes his head.

"I understand why he adores you," he mutters, something fond in his tone. You sway back and forth in the water with a prideful trill. Obviously you adore him back. That's why you gave him your scales, to prove your devotion. As soon as Damian gives you something valuable back, you'll be life-mates! You're so excited!

"I think... I think that's the biggest reason why I have to separate you two."

You freeze when your brain processes what he just said. Damian reenters the room at that moment, carrying a broom and dust pan to sweep up your abandoned meal.

"Those imbecilic interns moved the cleaning supplies again," he scowls, taking care of the food with a shake of his head. "I swear, father, no one knows how to put anything back in this facility. Some days it feels like Tim and I are the only competent people here."

"And your old man, right?" Says Bruce, rising to his feet. Damian doesn't answer that. "Oh, ouch." His teasing tone shifts, becomes earnest and quiet. "You know I only want what's best for you, right, Tadpole?"

"I know," the boy sighs, dumping the food into a nearby garbage can. He turns to face you, smiling, until he sees the fear on your face. "Something wrong?"

You click your tongue and whistle imploringly, lifting a hand out of the water to beckon him closer. Damian moves to comply, but Bruce's hand curling around his arm impedes his progress. You immediately whistle again, more insistent. More distressed.

"Father, let go, they're upset by something. Let me —"

"I can't do that, kiddo," Bruce frowns, firmly but not unkindly. "I'm reassigning them a new primary caretaker. The emotional attachment to you is too detrimental to their life here."

Damian's eyes widen. "You're not serious."

He tries to yank his arm out of Bruce's grip, but the man is taller and stronger than his son. He wraps his other arm around Damian's waist, guiding him towards the doors.

"Father, let go of me! This is not — everything is fine! I-I won't swim in the tank anymore, I won't physically touch them anymore, I promise! Don't do this!"

Your trilling becomes sharper as you note the distress in your beloved's voice. You throw your arms up to the edge of the tank and try to hoist yourself over, but you've never done it without the help of a caretaker, and you slip back into the water with a rough splash. Undeterred, you flick your tail to give you more momentum, scrabbling against the smooth, concrete edge and crooning for Damian.

You see his vibrant, green eyes, focused on you and glittering like your scales. They've never looked so shiny. Instinctively, you know this isn't a positive trait for a land creature to have.

"Stop, please stop! Look at them, they'll get hurt if you take me away," Damian insists, thrashing against his dad. Bruce hangs on tighter, almost dragging him at this point. "Don't — don't, Baba, please, I'm not hurting them at all, I'll figure out how to break off the engagement, I'll do whatever you want!"

"Calm down, Damian," Bruce murmurs, "please, we're gonna talk about this, I promise, but right now you need to —"

Both of them startle when you finally jump out of the tank, hitting the floor with a heavy thud. The hard surface scrapes against your skin and scales in a distinctly uncomfortable way, but you ignore it and start dragging your body towards Damian. Your arms buckle under the strain of maneuvering yourself out of the water, and the flopping of your long, heavy tail isn't helping as much as you'd hoped.

Bruce yanks Damian behind him protectively and pulls a radio off his hip. You hiss and snarl, offended that he would dare think you'd hurt him. Damian tries to duck out from under him, calling to you with obvious concern.

You croon back, the sound low and warbly in your anger, and lunge for him. Scales get scraped painfully off of your tail, leaving a trail of red that you pay no mind. Bruce dodges your clumsy attempts and hoists Damian up by the waist so he doesn't break away either. More of your caretakers burst through the doors, one of them holding a funny, shiny contraption, and there's lots more yelling. They all look as panicked and distressed as you feel.

Good. They should know how much pain they're causing by taking away your precious Damian.

One of the caretakers — named Clark, you think; he comes around mostly to do your health checkups — crouches low and flashes his palms in a show of no ill intent. You reach out with your own palm and lurch forward again, shoving him out of your way. He will not impede you. None of them will.

More scales litter the concrete, stained red with blood. The shiny contraption held in another person's hands — Dick, the loud one you remember — makes a sharp popping noise, and you feel something stab your shoulder.

You flinch back momentarily, palming at it. Damian's distressed yelling reaches a crescendo, and you feel compelled to meet it.

Your jaw clicks from stretching your mouth open so wide. Instinct and rage guide you to draw breath, deeper than you ever have, and bellow.

The resulting sound is a haunting wail, piercing the air around you and making the water in the tank ripple, making the land creatures cry and cover their ears, making the windows rattle and warp. You wail and cry and scream at the injustice, at the audacity of these people to take from you what is yours. You want it back. You want him back. You want Damian!

You see Clark buckle and clutch at his head. You see Dick drop the shiny device that hurt you. You see Bruce grit his teeth and cover one ear, the other busy holding onto Damian.

You see Damian pressing his hands to his ears. You see water running down his face. You see him looking at you with a mixture of fear and upset.

Your mouth falls closed with a snap of your teeth, startled and ashamed. You had hurt Damian. You hurt him and he was scared of you now.

That was not supposed to happen. You didn't mean it.

What have you done?

There's movement in your periphery you pay no mind to. Your back lights up with pain in two more places, and the world slowly starts to spin and lose focus. You stop resisting and slump to the floor, eyes drooping as you continue to look forlornly at Damian.

Damian, who looks back as more tears run down his face. Damian, who is screaming again. Damian, who vanishes through the doors that Bruce finally drags him off to.

You warble miserably and close your eyes, letting the sedatives take you away into a fitful slumber.

[mischieveousmayhem]

Ummi, come back

Pairing: Damian Wayne x Batmom! Reader

Genre: Angst

Warnings: Mention of death

Synopsis: All he wants is his mom, without her he is falling apart.

a/n: pretty short, my requests are open.

THE MASTERLIST

—

Damian Wayne, a tough kid.

He gets it from his father of course.

But lately he feels like he hasn't been so tough. Which is okay right? Even the toughest people have weaknesses. But this felt worse then any weakness.

It's been a week since he saw the suffering of his dearest mother. He just needed some of her soothing words, or to break down in her warm, comforting embrace. Although if she was here, he wouldn't need that. If she was here, they would probably be on the couch watching some of her favorite movies, or baking cookies with his fellow brothers.

Y/N wasn't his real mom though. Talia was.

But that didn't matter to you or him. That reason being because you treated him better than Talia ever would.

Even though he didn't like you at first, he learned to love you. You had the sweetest heart ever and you cared for him and his fellow brothers like they were your own kids. Scratch that. They were your real kids even if it wasn't biologically. Blood wasn't what made them your children, it was the memories and love.

Secretly Damian was a mama's boy and whenever you two were alone he would show that. Without his mother he is so lost. Of course he has his father, Bruce. But nothing can replace a mother's tender, delicate love.

So alone he sat, in the garden, watching the sunset. In his hands was a picture of your family. You, Bruce, and the boys. The photo was taken at the first dinner after you and Bruce got married. It was so chaotic, but none of you would have changed it for the world because it was one of the families happiest moments. But lately there has been no happiness. You were their ray of sunshine, you gave the boys everything they could ask for to make them happy.

The sunset, the thing that reminds him of his mother. It was beautiful, just like you. But the thing that really made him get reminded of you was the fact you used to sit on this bench together and watch the sunset.

His eyes are red and puffy. Not to mention he is still crying while watching it, missing you so much.

"Oh Ummi," He spoke, "Come back."

[zhelin-thames]

How it all started

Masterpost

The Gotham City Gala was in full swing, a glittering affair where Gotham’s elite rubbed shoulders and made idle conversation under the watchful eyes of the Bat-family. Bruce Wayne was, as usual, playing his role of charming billionaire, while his children spread out across the venue to keep an eye on the crowd.

Damian Wayne, now fifteen, stood near a table of refreshments, his arms crossed as he scanned the room. He hated these events, but his father insisted it was part of his training to learn how to navigate social and political circles.

Jason, standing beside him, nudged his shoulder. “Lighten up, Demon Spawn. Try smiling for once.”

Damian scowled. “I see no reason to.”

Before Jason could retort, Bruce approached, his expression carefully neutral. “Heads up. Vlad Masters just arrived.”

“Who’s that?” Tim asked, joining the group.

“Billionaire from Wisconsin,” Bruce replied. “Big on alternative energy and... other ventures. He’s brought his heir with him tonight.”

“Great,” Jason muttered. “Another spoiled rich kid.”

Bruce shot him a warning look but didn’t respond. Instead, the group turned their attention to the entrance as Vlad Masters entered the room, his presence commanding. Beside him stood a boy about Damian’s age, with raven-black hair and piercing blue eyes.

Damian’s breath caught in his throat.

The boy looked exactly like him.

As Vlad and his ward approached, Bruce stepped forward to greet them. “Vlad Masters. Welcome to Gotham.”

“Bruce Wayne,” Vlad said smoothly, shaking his hand. “It’s an honor. Allow me to introduce my heir, Daniel Fenton.”

Danny offered a polite smile, but his eyes flicked toward the group of teens behind Bruce. His gaze landed on Damian, and he froze.

“Damian?” he whispered, his voice barely audible.

Damian’s heart pounded. There was only one name that surfaced in his mind as he stared at the boy before him.

“Danyal,” he murmured, his voice trembling.

The room seemed to fade around them as they stared at each other.

“Akhi...” Danny whispered, the term slipping out instinctively.

Damian took a shaky step forward, his usually composed demeanor cracking. “You’re alive.”

The rest of the Bat-family exchanged confused glances, but neither Danny nor Damian noticed.

“I thought you were dead,” Damian said, his voice unsteady. “They told me you died. That I failed to protect you.”

Danny shook his head, his eyes glistening. “I thought the same about you. When they took me... I thought I’d never see you again.”

“Wait a second,” Jason cut in, looking between them. “What’s going on here? Demon Spawn, you know this kid?”

Damian shot him a glare. “This is my brother. My twin. Danyal Al Ghul.”

Tim’s jaw dropped. “What?! You have a twin?”

Danny flinched slightly at the name. “Not anymore,” he said quietly. “I don’t use that name. I’m Danny Fenton now.”

Bruce stepped forward, his voice low. “Masters, what is the meaning of this?”

Vlad, who had been watching the reunion with an expression of mild amusement, smiled thinly. “Ah, yes. I suspected this might happen. You see, young Daniel was abandoned as a child. I took him in and raised him as my own.”

“Abandoned?” Bruce asked, his tone icy.

“Yes,” Vlad said smoothly. “I found him injured, near death. He had no memory of his past, so I gave him a new life.”

“That’s a lie,” Damian spat, his fists clenching. “He was taken. Stolen.”

Danny placed a hand on Damian’s shoulder, his touch calming. “I don’t remember much from back then. Just bits and pieces. But I remember you, Akhi.”

Damian’s eyes softened. “I never stopped thinking about you.”

The reunion left the Bat-family reeling. Later, back at the Manor, Damian and Danny sat together, talking quietly. Danny explained how he’d grown up as “Daniel Fenton,” raised by Vlad but always feeling like something was missing.

“I always felt out of place,” Danny admitted. “Like I didn’t belong. But now I understand why.”

“You belong here,” Damian said firmly. “With me. With us.”

Danny hesitated. “I don’t know, Damian. Vlad’s the only father I’ve ever known. And... there’s something I need to tell you.” (danny did get adopted by the fantons. The reason hes with vlad is because Jack and Maddie died b/c the nasty burger exploded with them inside. Jazz is alive tho and she went to collage)

Damian frowned. “What is it?”

Danny hesitated, then took a deep breath. “I’m not entirely... human anymore.”

Damian blinked. “What do you mean?”

“I had an accident,” Danny said quietly. “It changed me. I’m... part ghost.”

When Danny demonstrated his ghost powers, the reactions were mixed.

Jason whistled. “Okay, that’s badass.”

Tim leaned closer, fascinated. “How does it work? Do you have full intangibility? Flight? Invisibility?”

“Mostly,” Danny said, looking sheepish.

Bruce, meanwhile, studied him with a calculating gaze. “We’ll need to run some tests.”

“Bruce,” Diana’s voice cut in as she entered the room. She had just returned from Themyscira. “Let the boy breathe.”

Danny froze, staring at her. “Wait... Wonder Woman?”

Diana smiled gently. “Yes. And you must be Damian’s twin.” She stepped closer, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You’re family now, Danny. Welcome home.”

Danny’s eyes glistened, and he nodded. “Thanks.”

As Danny settled into life with the Waynes, he found himself adjusting to a world that was equal parts chaotic and comforting.

Damian, for his part, was fiercely protective of his twin, vowing never to let him out of his sight again.

Danny smiled as he watched his brother argue with Jason over training methods. For the first time in a long while, he felt like he truly belonged.

And though the shadows of their pasts still lingered, they faced the future together—two brothers, reunited against all odds.

[frownyalfred]

Clark: Kon's not my child! I'm not his father! I had nothing to do with the choice to bring him to the world- my DNA was STOLEN.

Bruce: ...Clark, that... doesn't change anything. I would know.

_

Seriously speaking, how do you feel about that specific aspect of Clark's characterization?

I think he and Bruce have more in common than he realizes, yeah. Both of them had to reckon with a child they didn’t know about. And for both of them, that child wasn’t a baby — Kon and Damian were both older! Already well on their way to being full adults.

But where they diverge is how they step up. I think it was easier for Bruce in many ways, in that he already had raised kids, already had that infrastructure in place both physically and mentally. And while learning so late about Damian was a betrayal by Talia in many ways, they coparent well from a distance — Damian isn’t caught between them often. They are civil. They both want what’s best for him.

Kon is a slightly different story. He was older, his other dad is Lex Luthor and that relationship is absolutely antagonistic. It’s not a betrayal simply because Clark at no point trusted Lex at all. And despite having the ability to do so…he does not react well, in most canon instances, to Kon’s initial appearance. He panics, he rejects him, and he cannot move past the fact that it happened at all. (Again, depends on the canon). Sometimes he recovers, sometimes it takes a while.

But yeah your point about Bruce above is absolutely spot on — it doesn’t matter how it happened, Clark. It just matters that it did. There’s now a kid depending on you. Like it or not. They’re blameless, too — they had no say in the matter either!

I’ve always wanted to write a fic where Bruce talks Clark through that — validates his hurt and still doesn’t allow his best friend to reject an innocent child. But he also lets Clark be human (heh), be vulnerable, be emotional in a space far away from Kon, because that’s important too. He needs to process in order to step up. Bruce had Alfred, and Dick, and other people to help him when Damian popped up. So Clark needs someone too. Expecting him to suck it up and be 100% perfect and accepting about Kon with 0 hesitation isn’t healthy either.

[dcxdpdabbles]

Holiday request: the audit

"What time is your bedtime?" Uncle demands just as Damian is about to go to Batcave to suit up. For a moment, he fights the urge to proclaim he doesn't have a bedtime because he is not a child. Then he remembers that Uncle had been the one to install the anti-child soldier rule in the League of Assassins.

He allowed them to be trained to defend themselves and the organization but not to be sent on missions or be trained to the point he claimed as "abusive." Uncle believed that the young of Infinity Island should be treated like children and that doing so was not a means of offense.

Instead, Uncle thought providing a peaceful and gentle childhood was a gift. Mother claimed it created weaklings, which is why Damian had pushed himself to this point of skill, but even she had known that her brother's wrath would fall upon her if her more intense training techniques were introduced to him too early.

Damian would like to believe he was one of the best in the League of Assassins, but he knew he wasn't. Uncle Daniel's rule made it hard for him to advance against larger opponents.

He could best everyone in his age group in controlled duels and sparring, and he stood a great chance against the idiots in Gotham streets, but only because none of them had any official training.

In the beginning of his life in Gotham, Damian consistently lingers in the background in battles against enemies such as Bane, Killer Croc, or Scarecrow. He was skilled enough to know he would be a liability if he attempted to take a point, but Father had quickly adjusted his training, and Damian was slowly but surely advancing in his skill set.

Mother would be pleased to learn he was better than the assassin's two age groups above him and that his pain tolerance hide rose. Uncle Daniel had likely noticed as well.

He knew it was due to all those hours out in the field of Gotham's darkest streets.

It had been one of the first things he had been displeased with Father over, and if he wanted his plan to work, he needed to make the sacrifice.

"Nine o'clock," he grumbles, crossing his arms. "Nine thirty if it's not a school day."

Uncle Daniel smiles proudly, leaning back into the doorframe of Father's office. The rest of Father's brood stands around looking confused as Uncle shoots Father a smug look, only to frown at Father's glee. Even someone as great as his uncle had thought Father wanted them on the field.

Not that they had all forced his hand. Damian should show him all the security his father had installed to keep him in the manor and the surveillance hours during which he broke through said security to fight crime.

In fact, Damian should asked Drake if he still had the video where Father had shouted at the top of his lungs, "For the last time, just STAY HOME and let me handle the EXTREMELY dangerous hostage situation, kids!"

Only to slap a hand over his face when Brown had taunted him through the coms. "You can't tell us what to do!"

"Yeah, B, you must learn to control your children." Todd's mockery was nearly drowned out by the sound of gunfire. "We're out of control."

"Damian can not stay home alone," Father says, snapping him from his thoughts. He's glancing at the other idiots in the room, who are all making faces, but this is just the opportunity Damian has been waiting for.

He's not about to let them ruin it with their stupid demand to join Father in the field.

He raises his chin, blurting out his demand. "If we all stay behind, Uncle Daniel shall go with you, Father. To keep you safe."

Both men look butler disgusted, which is what prompts Drake to speak up. "You know Bruce? I actually feel a little under the weather today. Maybe I can stay with Damian, and Mr. Fetnon can go for me."

"That won't be necessary when Steph-"

"Oh shoot B! I have this really big essay due tomorrow, and I was going to stay on coms tonight while I worked on it. I can't go with you. Sorry"

Father appears desperate when he flings his eyes to Richard, who only shrugs. "Sorry, Cass and I are going undercover tonight at the new club. I can't watch your back while trying to get party college kids to tell me where the new drugs are."

"Jason-"

"No."

"I guess I have no choice." Uncle Daniel sighed as if this was all a big chore that Damian had thrown at him. "I'll make sure your incompetence doesn't get you killed. Let's go."

Father's teeth are gritting, but when the visitor steps closer to whisper in his ear, all the protest drains from his body, and he, too, sighs wearily. Damian wished he knew what was said between them, but his uncle had covered his mouth, so he could not lip read.

"Fine. But no killing." Father bites, and Uncle scowls

"I don't kill. I know how precious any life can be." He seers, getting into Father's face. He stabs his pointer finger in the middle of Bruce's chest, pressing down roughly on every syllable.

Damian is about to step in, recognizing the rising anger in his mother's brother, only to watch, in real-time, as Father seems surprised by the comment. Much to his hopeful glee a slight blush rises on the man's cheekbones, even as he turns around to moved the clock.

Uncle rolls his eyes before sinking into the ground as Father vanishes from sight. The office has a long silence before Brown breaks it with a nasty snort.

Utterly mannerless, that one.

"Oh, the sexual tension! They will definitely be fuc-" She cackles, only to pause when her eyes land on Damian as if she had forgotten he was there. Brown reached up to pet down her hair, clearing her throat. "They seem like good friends."

"What? I don't believe you understand. Father and Uncle can barely stand each other."

Drake snickers. "Barely stand"

"Enough," Richard speaks up, popping open the top two buttons on his shirt. It's part of his disguise to look as alluring as possible, though Damian doubts someone would give an idiot who can't correctly dress himself the time of day. "Let's leave Bruce and our house guest alone. We all have jobs, so Steph, get on coms, Tim, get some chicken soap, and Damian, get to bed."

"Wait, I'm not actually sick-" Drake protests, but Richard walks right through his protest. He pushes the idiot out of the office and marches him down the hall toward the kitchen.

Damian watches them go before glancing over his shoulder to where Brown vanishes from sight down the pole to the Batcave in a flash of yellow hair. He nearly joins her, but Uncle would have his head when- and it would be when, not if- he found out he wasn't sleeping.

He still has a year to get them together. He must make sacrifices that wound his pride, such as these. Damian pouts to his room but changes into his sleepwear and brushes his teeth anyway.

His bedtime is only ten minutes away.

[nosyrobin]

Tiny request for twin reader with damian mabye they were seperated at birth aka talia gave bruce twin reader and kept damian but win reader has some kind of disability like walking with crutches and as soon as damian moves in he goes into protective brother mode and always tries to help twin reader

“I’m your protector.”

Damian Al ghul-Wayne x Disabled! Twinreader

Summary: separated from birth, Damian finds out you are disabled from walking. Knowing that you are his blood sibling, he can’t help but be protective over you

After Talia revealed to Damian he had a twin (brother/sister) that she gave away to his father all because you were disabled. He felt anger towards his mother and a little bit of betrayal.

How could she keep such a secret from him and the fact she just gave you away made him feel…protective.

He wants to know you are okay. He wants to make sure you are okay. So when he moved into his new room, he got a knock on his door. He opens it to see, you. You had crutches, smiling as your hand grip the crutches handle. “Brother! Oh my, we do look the same!” You were excited, happy. Damian immediately observed you, he sees you are pure of light. He was right to feel protective when you don’t know much of the words he is saying with his high vocabulary.

He draws and colors on your crutches, he likes to see the light in your eyes when he draws what you like on your crutches.

You both may be different, but his brotherly love is not. He’s always sitting by you, dinner, breakfast, lunch out of the manor, events, galas. He’s always there. Sure Bruce would try and tell Damian that you can protect yourself, maybe even that you can do things without his help. But you’re ten, just like him. So what did he do? Not listen to his father like he always do.

He’s happy to know you never wanted or tried to be Robin. His heart would break knowing that his precious half would try and fight. But that also meant you never learned how to protect yourself and fight mostly, making it worse for Damian to grasp.

Damian tried not to baby you much, but he couldn’t help but feel anxious at those random thoughts in the back of his head. “They’re gonna fall one day, what if no one is there to pick him up.” He would sometimes just sleep on a chair in your room incase you fall off your bed.

Damian would train Titus for whenever you fall and you can’t reach your crutches. He would have Titus use his body and guide you somewhere so you can get up.

“I’m your protector.” He would say when he sees you trying to get up and grab your crutches. But titus and him are already up and helping you. You laugh thinking he’s joking, but he’s not.

If you’re sick? Protectiveness levels are off the charts when he sees you cough and shake. Yeah he’s not going to school until you’re better. No way he’s leaving his sibling at home!

Would call pennyworth off his phone if you are homeschooled. Always checking up on you no matter what, it doesn’t matter if Alfred says you are okay. He wants to hear you say it.

If someone dared to make fun of you, he’s after them like the devil himself. If they dared to try and take your crutches, it’s gonna get wicked. Even god himself won’t be able to take Damian off the assailant.

Say you were also on the artistic route, he would absolutely treasure your art work. “It’s bad..” you said once, and Damian straight up lectured you about how art takes time and how beautiful your art work is to him no matter what.

I can see Jason saying it’s true the artwork looked terrible, and Damian just straight up chased him around angrily while you try to tell Damian it’s okay.

Titus adores you, and you adore Titus which makes Damian feel even better that Titus likes you. I mean who wouldn’t when literally you are the sunshine of the family.

Damian definitely have written letters to you when he was on “punishment” is what he called it when he had to go work with the titans. So when you visit him at the titans tower, he made sure most things were safe proof for you. Kory already knew you because of Dick. Kory tries to reason to Damian as he literally rips something apart because he deemed it as “unsafe.” But did he listen? No.

When beast boy playfully was play fighting with you, Damian was ready to cut Garfield’s head off. Only for you to wipe the floor of the green shapeshifter by using your crutch as a bat. Damian hid his sword with a smirk, maybe he doesn’t need to protect you much.

[moonisreading]

Meeting Again;

“Why does everything change when someone suddenly barge in your life?“

Neglected Reader with Batfam | The way of Healing

It’s just a simple mission.

Kill the person threatening your position of becoming a heir, a competitor, an obstacle - a nobody.

It just simple procedure that Damian did for a thousand times on his life, but why?

Why and how the hell he get capture easily!?

He was trained blood, sweat and tears just to became a powerful heir - a standard that his grandfather and his mother expecting him to be, But it seems he failed. He was captured so easily to a person he is related by blood, from his mother the person is the older or maybe the oldest to his biological father family.

But the person is much better than he expected - just like a gun, his sibling is much faster like they done it all before.

There’s a lot of things to learn from [Name].

Yet Damian didn’t expect the killer instinct he saw that day when they first met, its menacing, that makes him first ever be feel unsettle at someone. He’s expecting to be killed on the spot when the person hold him by his collar with a glint of red can be seen in his siblings eyes - but it didn’t happened.

Instead he was put down and just ruffle his head heaving a tired sigh, and that day onwards his “punishment” is to help the farm of potatoes and multiple cat and dogs in the mountain side in their little cottage. Damian swear in his life he will gain honor and revenge toward his sibling one day - but it never came when there’s a pregnant cat sitting on his lap and dogs barking for his attention.

Theres is one thing that are gnawing in his mind while in the cottage, when did his sibling has such a monstrous instinct?

Theres first meeting is one of them, but there’s a certain moment that he won’t forget, he remember the time that he’s watching two mother of cat nursing each other kittens, Damian saw [Name] react faster when a bird house about to fall off the launch, the latter watch the oldest bolt from their porch into other side of the property catching it both hands.

Or the time some people playing nearby their place, throwing their axe on a target (Damian and his sibling just strolling around the area) a sudden slip of momentum tumble them forward, the axe are thrown in their direction. Damian with instinct of danger saw the incoming force of the axe without him moving [Name] just outstretched their hand and caught it by the handle, they toss it back hitting a tree with the stranger standing beside it.

The most thing he treasure his time with the oldest are the time he went back trying to assassinate [Name] but it always ended up catching his sword, dagger, avoided traps and so forth. It embarrassed him greatly and he goes back to his mother in shame when the woman came for him.

It ended up having punishment and lecture from his mother and his grandfather.

But when he finally defeat his mother he gain another mentor which his mother promised to meet.

His Biological Father “Batman”.

He was accepted immediately and be train under him, its a honor a great successor for the robin mantle, he fought tooth and nail in the family of detective to wear the mask of Robin. Damian succeeded, he fought and train with his other siblings he gain a sister and a brothers, yet a gnawing feeling in chest reminded him of someone when they pass by a chipped painted door at the Corner of the manor.

Damian remember someone when he saw a familiar photo where Pennyworth holding the photo frame with guilt invincible to the naked eyes but Damian manage to took notice it, no matter whoever is the half blood carrying in their vein, [Name] is his sibling. He could learn from them and meet them once again, talk about his pets he adopted while residing in the manor.

He wanted to meet them again, and what’s better way to go there is by using Grayson offer when he promised to take him somewhere he want when he finally made friends in his school. Which he succeeded by the way and off he go to the familiar mountain.

He remember the time that [Name] making him promise, that “Don’t let our family know my identity.” Damian didn’t know what they ment that way, he remembered he just scoff and forgot the whole promise in his mind. Yet it resurface when Jason suddenly has an episode.

It came a surprise for him, unfamiliar even so he decided for the two of them to watch cat videos on his phone, which Damian remember that [Name] and him use that a lot when one of them can’t sleep that night a way of comfort. That’s the time when he remembered the promise when he heard from Jason some parts of his past, an older sibling before Dick arrives in the manor a person welcome him when Bruce took him in under his wing, and someone who look for him.

A promise is a promise, so Damian keep quiet.

Arriving the familiar cottage he ran where he assumed the sibling of his doing at this day and time, Damian pass by the familiar fence with lush of green of potatoes. Cats and dogs lounge everywhere watching and guarding, some dogs bark and wag their tails when they see him, a ghost smile crept into his face seeing the reaction.

”This place didn’t change a bit.”

It only earn him a questioning look from Dick with a confuse smile adorning in his face, Damian just ignore him when he climbs over the fence between him and the farm lush of green, that’s where he saw them. A person wearing a button up shirt that are tuck in the high waisted baggy pants, wearing a straw hat on their head holding a basket. They turn to look at him.

Damian saw their face slowly morph into joy, eyes brighter when their eyes landed into him, he saw their shoulder shake as they slowly walk toward them.

It soon ended up him being push by their chest holding him up when they jump through the fence and give Damian a bear hug, he didn’t struggle to be put down, accepting his fate to be buried by familiar smell he miss a lot.

one shot. Drabble. Platonic. Writing practice.

Might not write again.