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luvly-writer · 2 years ago

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"But oh..Cara mia”

Ch. 5: We needed the context

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Dick Grayson x Latina! Reader

Status: Ongoing

Warnings: Toxic Relationships

Author's note: Originally, chapter 4 and 5 were supposed to be one, but it was too long so I have to cut it into two. Enjoy!

Taglist: @lorosette @prettyacademia00 @nanas-teatime

Series Masterlist:

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Babs paused to drink water and take a deep breath. Everyone else stayed in silence, processing what was going on.

They all knew Dick and Yn's relationship was rocky at best. They had their peaceful moments but it was still terrible. Yet with all the context Barbara had provided, the only thought in their heads was "What in the actual fuck?" Stephanie spoke up, "Honestly, I don't know how everyone around them could handle all of this. I'm getting a headache just listening." Duke and Cass nodded numbly. Damian was baffled, how could these two people that were known to be anything but hateful, be nothing but destructive to one another. Jason was just staring into the abyss. He had talked about this before with Barbara and Yn. He knew what was coming next and he knew that what Barbara would tell now, would be the main reason for the present-day issues. Tim was eating everything up. His mind was going a mile a minute. This had been the one question he had never been able to answer and he was anxious to finally understand what went wrong. Finally, Barbara continued. "Like I said, the arguments they had at the moment, allowed me to see details I had missed before. I would see how Yn's distance hurt Dick, how he would constantly search for her everywhere, how his words were the only ones that could bring her to tears. Oh, it was truly catastrophic. You never knew what was going to happen, whether it was Bruce and Dick or Yn and Dick. Finally, Dick moved to Bludhaven at 19 and Yn was allowed space to breathe. One day, however, my curiosity got the best of me and I cornered her and asked her what truly was wrong. I used all the evidence I had gathered and presented it to her. She had no fight left to give me.

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Barbara had invited Yn for a sleepover at her house. They had this a million times, yet this one felt different. Yn was a junior now and was working her ass off for a summer scholarship at MIT before her senior year. They finally had a break to sit down and relax. The day had gone great so far, both went to see a movie, did some shopping, and enjoyed some of their time together. Soon it was nightfall and in normal sleepover tradition, they decide to stay out late. Bruce had given them the night off, wanting the girls to enjoy some me time because they deserved it. Barbara was laying on her bed and Yn sat on the mattress she usually slept on whenever she stayed over. They were both scrolling through their phones. Barbara was working up the courage to ask Yn about all the things she had doubts regarding Dick. Finally, she sat up, took a deep breath, and called out her name. "Yn", The girl looked up from her phone and once she saw Barbara's anxious expression, she climbed up and sat in front of her, "Barbie, what's wrong? Are you okay?"Yn asked worried about her friend, and so Barbara began, "We are best friends, right?"Yn nods, "and you'd tell me everything, right?" Yn nodded again, "Even if it is about a boy you deemed to hate but started to have feelings for and said boy is my ex?" Barbara laid it out there. She knew she should have had a softer approach, but that would have given Yn, time to evade the question and topic like she had so expertly done many times before. Yn tensed up and her eyes widened. She then asked, "What do you mean, Barbara?" and Barbara deadpanned at her, "Yn, you can't possibly believe that me, YOUR best friend in the entire world, wouldn't notice it. You avoid any conversation with him, you avoid him as a whole, you care about him, you care what he thinks of you, you care for him, YN, don't lie to me anymore. Don't carry such a big burden yourself, we are best friends, almost sisters, I'm here for you." Having said that, Yn burst into tears, "I hate him, Barbara, I hate him so much! But I hate even more, that I can't completely hate him because it's him!" Barbara pulled her friend into a hug. "and I tried so hard to get rid of these feelings, I tried Barbara, but they won't go away!" the young girl wailed. Barbara held her friend and allowed her to calm down so that she could explain everything. Once she did, she began her explanation, "It began when he came back from the Teen Titans, he was different, not just physically, but emotionally too, he felt different. I thought of it as just a silly crush because he had grown up and he looked soo good and he had matured. I said to myself that it was all looks and just like the time we met, once he opened his mouth, all the charm would go away. But oh Barbara, it didn't, the feelings didn't go away! We still kept on fighting but he made it nearly impossible to not like him. Do you know how many times we had to be tied together, with me smelling his cologne and just having him near me. And he had gotten smarter too, I never wanted to admit it, but his tactics were amazing. Then one night, I went down to drink water and I heard whimpers coming from his room. He was having a nightmare. I tried to wake him up, and help him. At first, he was disoriented and called me Slade, which I was confused by. I helped him breathe and relax his mind. After he had calmed down, I gave him the water I had taken and stood up to leave but he asked me to stay. He looked so vulnerable and broken so I did stay. I asked him if he wanted to talk about it and told him that most times when you talk about nightmares, they don't repeat themselves. And so he started telling me. He told me about Slade, how he was manipulated by him and taken as his apprentice, he told me of how he put the Titans at risk, and how even after he was defeated he was still hunted by him for some time after and it was killing him from the inside. Thankfully, the Titans were able to find a cure. After he told me everything, we decided to stay there and talk.

We had never really actually had a civil conversation before. I asked him about his life at the circus and if he missed it. He told me about his parents and about everything there and how he did miss it sometimes. I told him about my parents. He asked about Puertp Rico and I told him about every summer when I spend half of it in Puerto Rico and the other half on Themyscira and how Diana always tried to help me maintain both of my heritages alive. He taught me a few words in Romani and I taught him a few in Spanish. It was a great moment. Then The day after, it felt as if something had changed. Whenever he had a nightmare, he would text me or call me and he would tell me about it and we would talk for hours on the phone. Those hours of vulnerability were the highlight of my days. Then both of you became a thing and I didn't want to lose you, Babs. I knew that from his side, there were no feelings aside from a partner in the hour of sadness, but I knew there were feelings on my side and I wanted to end them. So I distanced myself. You must believe me, Babs, I wanted to get rid of those feelings. If I had to choose between you and him, I would choose to stay by your side before anything. Yn said panicked and Barbara reassured her with a smile, "Im not mad, Yn. You never acted on them, On the other hand, you distanced yourself. I know you would never try to hurt me. I'm not mad at that. I'm not angry at you. Well a little, but not because you feel that, but because you felt as if you needed to suffer alone. I'm always here." said Babs and a fresh round of tears overtook Yn, she continued her story, "Then you guys broke up, but I still didn't want anything to do with him, I felt disgusting, liking my friend's ex. By then I still hadn't identified that what I felt was..." YN didn't want to say it, because saying it confirmed it, "Love?" finished Barbara and Yn did a face. Barbara couldn't help but laugh at her friend. "It's not bad! You can say you love him Yn!" Yn looked at her exasperated and said, "No Barbara, we will not confirm this by saying it, there is no it to confirm, it is a meaningless crush, and infatuation at best, IT WILL LEAVE" It made Barbara laugh again and say, "You are so deep in denial, but continue" Yn glared at her, making Barbara laugh once again and continued. "Then, my kidnapping happened and Slade took me and tortured me, Barbara I was so scared cause I knew what had happened to Dick and it was going to happen to me. Slade thought that the only person whomst he was causing damage to was Bruce and I didn't want him to know, Dick was close to me too cause then it would be worse. Yet he still found out, and Barbara that was terrifying. He truly is a monster. When I was rescued, Dick slept by my bedside the majority of the time. He would visit and those moments of vulnerability came back again, this time it wasn't me providing the support. One time, I even expressed that I would sometimes feel used and that he only saw me as a therapist but he reassured me that what was between the two of us was different. He didn't put a name to it, and neither did I but I just viewed it as two people finding solidarity over the same traumas. It was all fine while I was in recovery, but once was done, I distanced myself again. Barbara, I hate these feelings so so so much. Then, he began to fight with Bruce and he took it out on me. I thought we would be past that but we weren't. Even if I knew he wasn't in the right headspace, I was not going to allow him to step over me and treat me like shit, and even if I knew he never meant the majority of the things he said to me, they still cut worse than a knife! Oh, Babs! GOD FUCK NOOOOOO! I SHOULDN'T FEEL THIS WAY!" she said, her final words being muffed by her friend's shoulder as she tried to comfort her. The two girls stayed a while, Yn calming down from the intensity of the moment and Barbara processing all the information given to her.

Finally, Yn whispers, "How'd you know" and Barbara answered, "The change was visible to everyone. We all knew something happened. What exactly? No one knew what to say, but we knew. We could tell you guys had changed." They stayed in silence for a while, but Barbara wasn't going to let these sleepover be ruined by feelings and sadness, so in true best-friend nature, she turned to Yn and said, "Taking out ALL of the trauma and shit, YOU like Dick Grayson! YOU!" she teased. Sensing the teasing tone in her best friend's voice, Yn took a pillow and smacked her, "Shut up, no I don't" and Barbara laughed out, "Oh yes you do! You so do. You don't just like him, yn, you fell IN LOVE with him." Yn, who had opted to stare at the ceiling, widened her eyes in alarm. "oh no...OH GOD NO! I'M IN LOVE WITH DICK GRAYSON! DICK FUCKING GRAYSON!" she said horrified and Barbara laughed so hard that tears came out of her eyes. "Oh my, you love Dick Grayson!" and Yn sat up even more horrified, "This is disgusting!" to which Barbara wheezed out another round of laughter. What a night...

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Barbara recalls the memory fondly, she looks around, to see everyone waiting for her to finish, this is the quietest they have ever been. She continues, "Thankfully, Dicks departure to Bludhaven gave the girl time and space to breathe. Time passed and Jason arrived, stealing everyone's heart with him. Yn adopted Jason as the younger brother she never had. She graduated from high school, high honors the bitch, and entered Gotham University. Most days, she would take Jason with her to the library to study, for ice cream, or just anything. She truly adored Jason, " Jason smiled softly, recalling all the moments he shared with his older sister before his death. "Then, Dick came back and he would fight with Bruce, feeling replaced by Jason and Yn would come to both of their rescues. "

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"Yn, Bruce fucking replaced me! WHAT THE FUCK?! WHY ARE YOU DEFENDING HIM?!" Dick screamed at the young girl, who was looking at him angrily. "Richard, you CHOSE to leave! Jason earned the mantle fair and square. YOU DON'T GET TO WHINE ABOUT SOMETHING YOU ABANDONED" she responded frustrated

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"Yn always stood up for both of them. Bruce, being the only father figure she had, even though it was sometimes dysfunctional, they both care for one another, and seeing as she never left Bruce for long lapses of time, they had formed a bond. And Jason, well that was her little brother, he had no fault in any of this. Finally, Dick came around and started treating Jason and Bruce better. Finally giving in to the brother figure. Dick and Yn went back to civil terms, even to the point that Bruce's PR decided to pull a move and have Dick and Yn play the two happy young lovers at a gala. Each was set to take waltz classes growing up and had been taught by Bruce and Diana how to behave at galas, so this small mission wasn't too bad for them," Jason's eyes lit up in recognition, he then said, "I remember that, Alfred told both of them to teach me how to waltz!" and Barbara laugh, "OMG! Yes! I remember that

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They were standing in one of the living rooms, Jason and Barbara on the sofas and Yn and Dick, standing in front of them. Yn began explaining, "It is said, that when the perfect waltz is danced, both people can have a candle in their hands and it won't blow away because of how smooth the dance is." she explained, lighting a candle and getting into position with Dick. Barbara whispered to Jason, "The real phrase is when you dance the waltz with the perfect partner, but neither of them would ever EVER admit that they are each other's perfect waltz partner" making Jason giggle. Finally, Yn and Dick began counting the steps, "Ok, pay attention, Jason, Babs, stop distracting him. And one, two, three, one, two, three..." said Yn, and at some point, Dick, whispered at her, "Stop looking at your feet, you have to look at me. We need to sell it, plus, looking at you feet makes you not dance with fluidness" making the girl look up and glare at him, "I'm making sure that I am teaching the correct way, Richard." This made the boy laugh and retort, "how will you teach him if you aren't being natural. Relax, we'll do great" Truth be told, Yn didn't want to look at him for fear that she would get lost in them, those baby blues had a hold on her. Finally, she did end up looking, and just as she had thought she got lost in them. She stopped counting and just kept dancing. Both too busy and lost with the other person failed to see, a. Barbara looking at Jason and telling him that she told him so, causing the boy to laugh, and b. the candle that never blew away.

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"Unfortunately, good things can't last forever. Yn and Dick would return to their bickering yet this time it was a whole different reason than the other times. Yn would always tell me that this whole relationship of solitude never ended. On the contrary, anytime Dick or her needed comfort, they would always turn to each other. Late-night calls became a constant, and that created another problem. You see, every time Dick left Gotham he reunited with someone. Kory. They dated when they were back on the Titans but by then Yn wasn't an issue since they still despised each other. Then, the second time he left, Kory felt something had changed but having assumed that Yn was still an annoying kid to him, she directly assumed it had something to do with me. Then The third time he went back, her attentions were on YN. After the publicity stunt, many arguments between Kory and Dick had Yn as a topic. She would scream and fight that he was falling for her and he would defend that they weren't even friends, to begin with so how was that possible. Then she would ask him to cut ties with her and he would explain that he technically couldn't because they worked together every time he was in Gotham. Then, frustrated with his relationship falling apart, Dick and Yn would argue again.

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"We can't have contact anymore," said Dick looking at the girl. Yn didn't understand the problem, she didn't want to cut ties with him. "Richard, we literally have never had a romantic sentiment between us, what the hell?" A lie. She knew it was a lie on her behalf, but he didn't need to know that. "We are coworkers, only that. Tell her that," she said and Dick brushed his hand through his hair. "I did, YN! Don't you think I haven't fucking tried!". He was frustrated as fuck, "Then try harder, Richard, because I'm not compromising a team dynamic just because some girl wants you to quit with someone who has NOTHING TO DO WITH THE RELATIONSHIP!" From there, the fight escalated and it could be heard by both Jason and Barbara who looked at each other and shrugged.

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"Time passed and they grew distant again, much to Yn's dismay, who still had feelings for him. Like all the other times, she still believed that this time apart would help her get rid of her feeling, yet it didn't. Then well...Jason died....and it absolutely destroyed both Dick and Yn. Yn was torn to pieces. That girl was devastated. Dick, Yn, and Bruce constantly blamed themselves for Jason's death. It was horrible," Jason, cleared his throat, trying to hide the tingling feeling he had in his throat, "Each of them did things in the midst of their grief. Bruce almost killed the Joker, but was held back by Superman, who heard his cries all the way from Metropolis, Dick hunted Joker down and tortured the Joker to the point where he would have killed him if Bruce hadn't pulled him away, and Yn? She gave up her mantle. Yn didn't want to live in a world where she was a vigilante yet she couldn't save Jason. Even more, fights began between the three of them. Dick blaming Bruce, Bruce lashing out and blaming himself, and Yn blaming both of them. It took a while before they all calmed down and per Yn's request, sat down and talked about it. It helped them heal. Their relationships mended, but Yn never took the mantle again, she focused on science. By that time, Tim had arrived. Yn was no longer a vigilante, but she still helped around. That's when she began what she does today. Her one motivation being that as long as she made sure you all were in optimal condition, she wouldn't lose someone like she lost Jason. She made sure our weapons and suits were the best and that our health was at its peak. Exactly what she does today. Then Joker kidnaped Tim and created Joker Junior. Yn worked her ass off in order to save Tim and bring him back to health. Reverse all the trauma Joker had inflicted. Thankfully, she succeeded, " At that, Jason looked at Tim who smiled fondly at the thought of the girl. They both adored their older sister. " Just like she did with Jason after the pit and with me after my Joker attack. Yn threw herself to her work and she thought that everything with Dick had left, yet every time he came back? It was everything all over again. The bickering, the longing looks from both of them, the soft words, the caring for each other, and inevitably a fight that would make them go back to square one. It was all the same every. single. Time! And you all know that cause you see it every time. No matter how many times either of them leaves, they always come back for the other. It's a cycle with no end." finished Barbara as she leaned back.

They all stayed in silence, processing the information. Yn loved Dick and he loved her back, so what the fuck were they waiting for? Soon, they all began to stand up and to their rooms in order to get change for patrol. They had all agreed to not speak of this with anyone aside from this group. Damian had a lot to think about. He had one last question, a curiosity that sparked there, and asked Barbara before she left, "Gordon, you said Yn worked on getting rid of your trauma because of Joker. I knew he helped with Drake's and Todd's, but those were psychological. What did she do to you?" Barbara in return smiled at him and answered, "She reconstructed my spine. After Joker's torture, I was left in a wheelchair. Because of that, she was motivated to help me, and a lot of time after, she helped reconstruct my spine. I have my ability to walk, run and fight, thanks to her." Finally, having cleared everything up. Damian went to his room. It was a lot of information to process. They hated each other because of how much they loved each other? How was Gordon so sure Grayson loved Yn? I mean, she obviously had confirmation that Yn loved Grayson, but did he love her back, or what he just fond of her? Too many questions surrounded Damian. It was a lot to process and because of so, Damian told his father he would tune in for the night. His investigation had gotten 10 times more interesting.

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damianbugs · 2 years ago

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hi <3 since ive already obsessively reread your works i dont know how many times i think it's time for me to branch out and find some other batfam stuff too (im still a loyal reader tho dw bestie) i was wondering if you had any batfam authors you personally love and / or are inspired by! or maybe your top 5 batfam fics? if you don't mind sharing it ofc! thank u have a swag day and thank u for putting out such amazing amazing work into the world that offers me (personally) so much comfort :)

hello !! thank you so much for reading my works and i hope you will continue to enjoy them <3 i am so glad they bring you as much comfort reading as they do for me when writing !! and YES OF COURSE there is simply nothing i love more than recommending batfam fics that have me going absolutely crazy insane.

i previously did a top 5 batfam fic recs, and so here are my, uh, other top 5 batfam fics? everything is at the top of my list at this point.

+ these are in no particular order !!

MY TOP 5 BATFAM FICS (AGAIN) ON AO3 !

Cold Hard Want by AudreyCritter

“Are you happy?”

“I...I’m getting there.”

A follow-up to DC Rebirth Batman #35, in which Bruce recovers from being stabbed in the back and Damian considers the elusive nature of happiness.

MY NOTES: i might have read this fic a dozen times and everytime i do i am always so amazed by it. i have a soft spot for fics that move alongside actual comic canon, and so this was a lovely follow up to that original story (though you do not need to be familiar with it to enjoy this fic). damian is such a complicated character but at the end of the day, he is a child — and i think this handled his tumultuous relationship with bruce, dick and selina(!!) really well.

White Christmas by LemonadeGarden

Jason's been in the manor for a few months now. Bruce is a pretty cool guy, sure, but he's not exactly sure what to expect from him.

And then they go to Siberia in the winter on a case. It goes horribly wrong, and then pretty well.

MY NOTES: personally i think it is always the perfect time of year for a christmas fic that isn't actually about christmas. now, not only do all the best tropes meet in this fic (cuddling for warmth, sick fic, comfort after nightmares - to name a few) BUT this is also about robin jason todd. the little boy of all time. wonderful fic.

all the other rooms are a party tonight (and you never got an invitation) by irnan

(You will need an ao3 account to access this fic)!

The major difference between Gotham before Bruce left to set up Batman, Inc and Gotham after he comes back is that his children are grown-ups. Well, except for Damian.

Still, four out of five's an overwhelming majority.

MY NOTES: there is something so healing about this fic. bruce is rather pathetic (said fondly) in the way troubled middle aged men become when they finally realise their life is only in consequence of the people who exist around them. the dynamic between cass and bruce and dick and bruce in this is one of my favourites. the latter is very carefully weaved into the entire story, even when pertaining the other characters. a great take on bruce!

Have I Told You About Minnie? by Hinn_Raven

After you’ve known Matches Malone long enough, you get used to him telling you about his kids. Not that his kids know about it.

MY NOTES: oh this is such a fun one!! stephanie and bruce is such a wonderful dynamic and something about bruce creating an entirely new persona as a subconscious excuse to gloat about his children is just too funny. really sweet!

i want you to remember me by zxrysky

Bruce really needs to get rid of his saviour complex. Not all of them are the same as that poor boy who had to watch his parents get murdered in a dark alleyway; not all of them need to be saved.

Jason is perfectly fine where he is. Some capital would be great, but otherwise, he’s fine. He’s fine.

He doesn’t need to be saved again.

“No thanks,” Jason mutters, and pushes the papers away.

MY NOTES: this one hits you when you least expect it. it is so funny, so sweet and it hurts. jason todd you are so ridiculously complicated and tragic. also my favourite kind of time travel, kind-of-time-travel! little jason receives all of older jason's memories and his meeting with bruce and journey to robin is different, but some things are just destiny i suppose. so lovely.

as for inspirations or favourite authors, i have to say it might just be everyone i have ever read a fic from so i can not pick out anyone right now. the writers featured on this list are also phenomenal and some have written other amazing and loved batfam fics you should definitely check out!

hope you enjoy these anon and thank you again <3

#bruce wayne #jason todd #stephanie brown #robin jason todd #time travel #damian wayne #dick grayson #batman and robin #batfamily fic recs #saki batfam fic recs #hey guys unrelated news #but i think i have finally figured out how to format on tumblr #hope this is not horrendous to look at

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elvesandlanterns · 2 years ago

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DC verse Theater 4

“So what there’s just a universe out there where Tim and Jason are best friends or something?”

It was confusing and Konner wasn’t sure how Tim could ever forgive Jason what he’d done in Titans Tower but ….

“Pppfftt. Best friends? This is the multiverse we are talking about! Here I’ll show you some funny ones to lighten the mood!”

Dick felt relieved, two videos in and he wanted to shake his family members. It was nice that Jason and Tim were friends tho, he wanted his brothers to be brothers to each other! He did! But it also left his mouth with a bitter feeling. What is wrong with him?

The scene started with Jason, this one was wearing a suit! No white in his hair to be seen.

Bruce felt something in his chest loosen at the sight.

Jason wrinkled his nose in disgust.

[“- cost Lexcorp hundreds of thousands of dollars in-“] some lawyer aspoused before being cut off.

[“You know what I don’t care if Tim murdered his entire family. Tim is like a son to me.”]

Cass dropped her popcorn, wow just wow.

Konner wrapped his arms around the shorter boy, he was crying.

…

[“Did you really mean that Jason?”]

Tim’s mind was screaming, of course he didn’t mean it. He couldn’t he hates you. Your real dad didn’t want you, Bruce didn’t want you, why would you Robin want you?

[“Of course Tim. Your parents were assholes anyway.” ]

The pit in Jason burned, “So what if I hadn’t died I would have adopted the brat? If I hadn’t died I would be working at Wayne tech and everything would have been all better?” What fucking bullshit.

And what did his counter part mean about Tim’s parents being assholes? Tim was some rich kid who had parent that gave him everything and he still became Robin.

Roy gave him a nudge, “Whatever.”

The next clip played.

Xxxx

[“Tim your parents were extremely neglectful.”]

Jason froze.

[ “No they weren’t.”]

Konner pursed his lips, even after all these years Tim was still in denial.

[“Tim they left you alone for 11 months out of the year.”]

“Well at least they didn’t do that in our dimension!” Dick tried to break the ice, they couldn’t have done that. Not to Timmy, Bruce would have known. He would have known and he wouldn’t have let Tim go back to them.

“Tim?”

“What it’s not a big deal?”

Bruce felt like he had been slapped. No no no no. Jack and Janet weren’t the best people he knew that but they wouldn’t have…Tim had told him it was okay that they called and visited and that he had a nanny and and Tim was a liar. Bruce knew he knew and there was no more telling himself Tim hadn’t lied to him. There was no more space left to say he had actually believed him ethier. Bruce knew.

Xxx Next clip

[“No body is shooting my brother! Imma say this one time you make a move at him and you’ll be dead before you hit the ground you understand!”]

“Tt what mess did Drake get himself into know?” Damian was a tad affronted about this. So it would seem that in these worlds Drake and Todd were close. Tt, well it made sense. Todd hated anyone who hurt kids and it would seem Drake didn’t have the sparkling childhood he had thought he did.

[ I’m feeling untouchable, untouchable]

Roy couldn’t help but chuckle, “Look at how smug he is that you have his back.” Jason rolled his eyes, he did that here too. Sure he didn’t say anything about it but … it’s not like he still had a hit out on him anymore.

#batman #justice league #dc-verse theater #tim drake

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whalehouse1 · 9 months ago

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Oh I’m actually slightly disgusted with the results. But to be fair, this poll started because I saw a Jason having Shiva as mom post and since I’m tired of ppl not realizing Cass and Jason are the same age so there’s no way. I know the argument is he thought, not that she was but that along with the Tim fan hcs of him being a minority just always have annoyed me, unless it’s based on Batman ‘89 but that’s an outlier. So I made the poll and as I’m writing out the answers my brain realized both Damian and Cass were on this quiz. I said screw it, I’m curious to see what happens now, I’m going to get called racist (me getting called anti-Timber was not something I was expecting since it’s the only Tim ship I can enjoy since he doesn’t treat Bernard like crap), so let’s see what happens. I figured Tim would get some votes because of ppl thinking it was a joke and voting for that. I did not know that Tim was mixed Chinese and Black in the HBO Titans (I tried the show and it was not for me at all) and I know some ppl might only know him from that and not know things from the comics. I actually thought Dick would do better than he did. I’m trying to figure out how to word this, I don’t hate the Romani descent headcanons, but I have just such a disgust towards that writer that everything tied to her run just reminds me she caused it and it makes my blood boil. So it’s more of a I can’t enjoy it rather than I hate it. It’s not one I care if I see by chance cause I know it’s well liked. There’s also the matter of how is descent here being discussed, since he always read as an American kid so I just always assumed he had mixed heritage and that was just part of it as well, but I am a mutt as is most of my family so it could very be that I just can’t fathom being in the States and aside from being Native American or a new immigrant being just one thing.

As for the big two in this, I honestly was hoping that there would be some effort to try and at least 50/50 them. And from the notes I got that you could figure out who they most likely voted for, even when defending Damian’s Asian heritage voted for Cass, which another person said there’s a prejudice on Eastern Asian being seen as Asian but Indian and Middle Eastern Asian aren’t seen as Asian. I think this poll sadly backs that up, so if anyone wants to use it for a set of (not well vetted) data, have at it. There was also an interesting one that pointed out that Damian is 1/8 Chinese (god I hate his Robin solo) and another about Damian being more tied to his Asian culture than Cass, but that last one made me wonder, Talia and Ra’s are Asian, but is any of their country’s culture (last I know is they are in their own independent country, if this is wrong I apologize) based on Asian culture in that area or from the Chinese nomads that Ra’s came from or is it more just “oriental” culture that was put on them from their white writers? Neither is more Asian than the other, so there was no winner and I expected Cass to win, but I honestly was hoping closer to a 60-40 split for Damian, and I honestly should have known better. But yeah I’m glad one of the actual two Asian bat kids won, but it left a gross feeling in my mouth seeing two over 1% with over 1,000 votes. But Duke getting any votes did make me chuckle, not sure why, but bright spot at least.

Please reblog for a larger sample size. I actually forgot something I really hate about one of the Batkids here, so I'm extra curious to see what the Tumblr fanbase does with this one.

Propaganda is HIGHLY encouraged for this one, mainly due to my curiosity of what will happen.

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andieperrie18 · 3 years ago

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fine line of bs (bruce and batfamily x sister! reader)

warning: angst

prompt: the gotham princess is done acting like a prima donna

ring! ring! ring!

"Wayne Residence, whom am I speaking to?"

"School principal? Is there anything wrong with Miss Y/n?"

"What?! My goodness, she wouldn't do that?!"

"I'll tell someone to come by there as soon as possible. thank you so much,"

Bruce eyed the mute girl seated beside him on his peripheral. His faced had already morphed a frowning yet worried expression as the two of them sat across the school principal's table. His eyes didn't miss the red stains on her blouse and mostly on her hands. A part of his daughter he knew to himself that will never be marked by any cruelty done to another.

Half listening to the principal's discussion bullying, Bruce can't shake of the acidic feeling in his stomach as he continued to look at Y/n beside him with an expression that angers him but somehow scares him.

There was somehow no light on her eyes like they always do. Her lips were sealed with a line and there was no mark of shame curving her eyebrows. A smudge if red tint still present on the skin of her cheek.

"She'll be suspended until further notice Mr. Wayne, her intense behavior has been witnessed by too many," the principal trailed and wiped sweat covered forehead despite the cold temperature of the office that confused the male across the old woman. His attention caught the stealing gazes that the principal directed to his daughter.

Y/n who had blank but somehow piercing gaze to the disturbed woman. The gesture that further confused and worried him.

This was the first time she was called to the office in Y/n's school. She always displayed good behavior in and out of their home. He has scene her inclining grades when Alfred gives him her report card. She was known to never lift a finger on person or even a fly. So you could say that this sudden event he is in have greatly shocked him and when he received Alfred's alarming phone call about her.

"We'll be leaving now ma'am. I'm really sorry for what happened," the man said as he held Y/n's shoulder as they head out of the principal's office. After the short farewell, they made their way to the slightly crowded hallway. Bruce watched every student within the corridor flinch as they walked boy, a reaction he would never get but he knows who they were for.

Despite his grip on her shoulder, Y/n continued to walk on unaffected and unfazed. Chin tilted up, showing no remorse to what her peers had seen of her. The edge of her lips has been twitching after the brawl. She hadn't even bothered to put on the jacket to covered her bloodied shirt. Her aura looked menacing as she walked on. Bruce's grip was annoying for a while, when they got to the school doors, Y/n forcibly shrugged her shoulder, removing his grip on her. A small gasped escaped the male as he had short stare down with the girl.

He frowned at her only to be greeted with a threatening smile as if she was taunting him.

Y/n stood at the center of the living room, with Bruce glaring at her.

"Y/n how could you do that?!" he asked.

She didn't answer.

He eyed her in disbelief. At this time, Dick, Tim, Damian, Barbara, Stephanie, and Cass were all witnessing the man's ticking anger as he continuously received no words from his daughter. The eldest could even try to enter the room as the radiating tension was too much even for him. It confused him how his sister wasn't even flinching on her fuming father.

"Y/n. do you know you could land in jail? They could get you arrested for that! They could file--"

"They won't do that," she answered.

Finally a reply, yet only fueled the man. "What do you mean by that?" he said in a low growl that had the bystanders gulp their own saliva. But no reaction to the main suspect question.

"I said if she doesn't want her parents to be thrown out to the pacific, they better not press charges on me," she said, a small smile creeping on her lips as she met his glare. The maniacal glint on her eyes exploded Bruce and had him bounding towards her.

"B-Bruce no! Wait!" Dick finally called out as he ran forward to try and stop the fuming man but Bruce was already to close to Y/n. His hand raised as it braced for its impact Y/n's cheek.

But instead a of slap, a collective noise of crashing was heard as Dick and the others watched Bruce fly off and land on the glass coffee table that shattered upon the massive force the landed on it. The eldest stared in surprise to the female who had quickly gained a steady footing after delivering a powerful high kick, her soles colliding on Bruce's chin.

"Y/n, what did you--" before Dick could continue, Y/n rushed to Bruce's collapse form. She grabbed the front of his shirt and with her hand forming a tight fist, they collided to the man's cheeks over and over.

This time, Tim and Stephanie rushed forward to try and stop their sister. The eldest was far to startled from his place and took him a while to help the other two on removing Y/n away from the barely conscious man. When they did got to remove her, Dick earned a elbow to the face, a roundhouse to the gut to Tim and punch to the face Stephanie.

As Cass and Damian try to rush forward, they didn't get any further as Y/n's hand carried a pistol on one hand pointed to Bruce's figure and loud click alerted everyone.

"Do you know how much hated being the so-called 'Gotham's sweet heart'?"

"Do you even know how much loathed you?!" she muttered hoarsely to the barely conscious Bruce who despite being his state, can clearly hear the girl's words.

Her thumbs fiddled the safety as it went up with a click, she moved away from the man as she placed the gun back to the holster hidden underneath the skirt of her school uniform.

"You've never been fatherly to me so don't act like one now, and P.s. I didn't regret what I did with that bitch. She's been riling me up for me to that since day one."

#bruce wayne x daughter!reader #batfamily x reader #batfamily x y/n #angst #batsis x batfam #batsis! reader

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thisiswhereikeepdcthings · 3 years ago

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The Second Bi-Weekly Meeting of

Jason: You’re missing a bit there.

Dick: Oh, I have a plan.

*everyone gathers*

Dick: Okay, first order of business. Cass? You’re in charge of naming this meeting and no one is going to raise a single objection or make any opinions known. Agreed? Good.

Second Bi-Weekly Meeting of the Batkids

Dick: No objections. Alright, second order of business. Roy? Why are you here again?

Jason: Package deal, Dickface, deal with it.

Dick: You know what? We can unpack all of that later. Now. Anyone have anything they would like to discuss?

Damian: Father needs a significant other.

Everyone:

Damian: What? You want to tell me I’m wrong?

Steph: Just give us a second to wrap our brains around that.

Dick: So, uh, any ideas?

Damian: It has to be a hero, obviously.

Duke: Anyone in the Justice League available?

Steph: Wonder Woman?

Jason: Is WAY too good for Bruce.

Damian: Black Canary.

Dick: Is MARRIED, thank you very much.

Jason: And is also way too good for Bruce.

Roy: She’s too good for Ollie too, so that’s not really the strongest argument.

Dick: Again, already married.

Dick: As is Clark.

Everyone:

Dick: Just thought I should mention that.

Tim: Hal Jordan?

Everyone:

Tim: I know. I felt it as I said it.

Jason: Cass? Any suggestions?

Cass: Steph’s idea was pretty good.

Steph: And this is why you’re my favorite.

Jason, whining: Oh come on, you can’t set B up with Diana, she’s cool.

Roy: Would that make this some sort of weird parent trap situation?

Jason: If it means I get to run away and live with Mom then absolutely.

Damian: What does Mother have to do with this?

Jason: Oh no, we’re not talking about Talia.

Duke: Just how many people do you call mom anyway?

Jason: Like five, depending on the day.

[prev]

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luxaofhesperides · 1 year ago

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time for a those who serve preview!! this is for the next chapter which will mostly focus on Damian, Cass, and Bruce. this fic is absolutely going to need more chapters haha (<- crying, head in hands)

anyways!!! heres a look at chapter 6 :)

Damian is sitting at the table, eating, when he reenters the kitchen. Danny freezes for a moment and just looks at Damian, takes in how young he is, how small, and is horrified that anyone lets him out so late at night to fight crime.

“Good morning,” Damian says, setting down his fork, “As you now are aware of our secret identities, let it be known that if you endanger any of us, I will remove your limbs for your body. Slowly.”

“Sure,” Danny replies, distracted as he tries to get all the vegetables onto the counter without dropping any of them. “Sounds fair. Quick question: aren’t you too young to be fighting crime? Shouldn’t there be an age requirement or something?”

Damian scoffs. “I have trained since I could walk. I am made to be the heir to the Bat and the Demon’s head. I am more than capable of defeating the criminals of Gotham.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better about this whole situation.”

“It’s none of your business anyways. As long as you stay out of it, none of this will be a problem for you.”

“As long as I’m here, I won’t be able to stay out of it,” Danny says. “I just don’t have that kind of luck. The world always finds some way to screw me over.”

Damian doesn’t speak again, so Danny takes that as his cue to focus on putting all the vegetables away. There’s nothing more they can add to that conversation anyways, so Danny is more than happy to put it behind him and pretend at normalcy again.

He wonders where Alfred went, wondering if it would be rude to just leave while Damian is still around to search for him. He’s still pondering it when Damian asks, quietly, “Do you really want nothing to do with our… night lives?”

The thing is, just two years ago, Danny would be jumping at the chance to be a hero. A proper one, working alongside other heroes to save people. But a lot has changed since then. The Danny who existed back then was always moving, always trying out some new trick with his powers, always trying to juggle heroics and normal life. He was innocent.

Or, at least, as innocent as anyone so familiar with death could be.

As he is now, Danny is just tired. He doesn’t want people to get hurt, and he’ll protect them if he can, but he’s so tired of being scared and hated and hunted down.

He’s a kid too. He was even more of a kid back when he was fourteen.

Why did no one protect him?

That’s not a fair question to ask, really, because he did have his friends and his sister and a few ghosts who would do their best, but it wasn’t enough.

“No,” Danny answers, voice hard. “I’m done with all of that. I’ve learned my lesson.”

“Were you a vigilante too? Before you arrived here.”

Danny turns to face Damian and leans back against the counter. He doesn’t look at the kid, really, just at the floor in his general direction. “I don’t know.”

“How could you possibly not know? Either you are, or you aren’t.”

“It was complicated,” Danny snaps. “I was trying to protect everyone. But a lot of them didn’t see it that way. Just saw me as a threat, or am monster, or something. God, the government was out to get me.”

“Vigilantes are not usually well liked,” Damian says.

“Yeah, well, most vigilantes still get human rights. I got nothing. Everyone like me got classified as non-sentient, so we had no protections. If they wanted to experiment on us and cut us open, there was nothing stopping them.”

“And where was this taking place?” The clear rage in his voice startles Danny, makes him look up and warily eye the way Damian is gripping his fork, looking as if he wants nothing more than to bury into someone who’s wronged him.

“...It doesn’t matter,” Danny says slowly. “There’s nothing any of you can do. And it’s too far away to matter. Does that answer your question?”

Damian lets out a slow breath, forcing himself to call down. Danny can almost hear Jazz’s voice in his ear, counting slowly and saying Good! Now again, deep breath in and—

He shakes his head, trying to force her imagined voice away, and focuses on Damian’s controlled breathing; in, out, in, out, slowly each time.

“Every answer we get,” Damian says at last, “Brings up more questions. We will find where you came from. You can make things easier for us by just telling us your history.”

“Not a chance in hell, dude.”

Damian clicks his tongue and stands, holding his empty plate. “Very well. We’ll just investigate as we usually do. You won’t be able to keep your secrets from us forever.”

“I can do my best, though.”

“You will not be joining us as a vigilante,” Damian says again, putting his plate in the sink.

Didn’t they just cover this? Was Danny not clear enough?

“Right,” he confirms, “No heroics for me.”

“I will ensure you have proper protections befitting an associate of the Wayne family, then.”

Danny blinks. “What. Hey, wait, hang on. Didn’t we just talk about me not being involved in any of that?”

“Trackers,” Damian says, thoughtfully, steamrolling right on ahead, “A taser, of course. We’ll find a way to hide a few panic buttons on your person. Those will also have trackers, so if you should ever need help, we will be able to find you.”

“I really do not need any of that.”

“I will talk to father about it,” Damian nods.

“Don’t,” Danny starts to say, but somehow Damian is already out of the kitchen, leaving Danny behind absolutely bewildered by all directions their conversation went.

Seriously, what was all that?

for ones u dont recognize, heres a brief description of all these wips:

1. dcxdp butler danny au

2. dcxdp duke/danny getting together fic

3. dc tim and damian time travel shenanigans

4. dcxdp the kents take on danny as a farmhand ft young clark

5. dcxdp young justice summoning gone... right?

6. literally any of my original story wips including the most bizarre "married a fan" story, local aro dodging romance plot lines, and one angry girl ready to fist fight evil spirits

#those who serve #dpxdc #dcxdp #dc x dp #mine #check the rbs for the other poll results!! theres only one other rn but i am excited abt the lost in translation fic :)))

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mochegato · 3 years ago

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Calling Dibs

This day was going to be boring, Jason knew that before he agreed to the trip in the first place. ‘Agreed’ is a generous term. ‘Relented’ might be a better term. Regardless, he was in Paris for the next week. He was looking forward to the Louvre and seeing Notre Dame, but he was expected to spend time with his family for a large part of the trip and end with a branch opening party, because those are always so much fun.

He had barely plopped onto the hotel couch when something went flying past the building, crashing into the building down the street in a cacophony of shattered glass and warped metal. “Holy shit!” Jason yelled, jumping up and running to the window to assess the situation. The family looked to each other to see if anyone had a better grasp of the situation. Everyone shared the same confounded expression, before running out on the balcony to check out the situation.

Bruce sighed. This was most definitely not part of the plans. This was supposed to be a relaxing week with the family looking at art for Damian, going up in the Eiffel Tower (and preventing him from jumping off) for Duke, sampling French foods and checking out French fashion for Steph, exploring the catacombs for Tim, attending the ballet for Cass, visiting Notre Dame for Jason, and time together as a family for Dick, with just a side of meetings for him. Superheroing was not one of the scheduled activities.

Bruce opened his mouth to state a plan, but before the words made it past his lips, blurs of red and black swung past them toward the creature that had destroyed the building. It took more than a few minutes for him to finally close his mouth in a resolute line as they watched the two heroes fight. Jason’s mouth stayed open in awe as he watched the red figure expertly dodge and strike the creature. It stayed open until the creature backhanded the red hero into a wall of the building across the street.

The group flinched in sympathy at the sight, all too familiar with the feeling of getting smashed into a building. She fell to the ground in a crouch. Instead of fear, she looked back up with a glare. She jumped away and landed next to her partner in black and seemed to have a conversation before separating. The black hero distracted the creature while she swung further away. It almost seemed like she had run away until they saw her charge at the creature from the side, hitting circles that decorated its body, shattering them like mirrors as she went. With each hit the creature seemed to deflate more, until she hit the last one, a black butterfly emerging from it.

She captured it in her yoyo and released it almost instantly as a white butterfly. She called something out and threw her yoyo up into the air. As soon as she did, a pinkish red wave rushed across the city and suddenly all the damage they had watched with their own eyes, was reset to its previous condition.

They stared, mouths agape again, trying to take in everything they saw. Finally the silence was broken by Jason. “I call dibs!”

“What!” Dick exclaimed. “You can’t just call dibs on someone.”

“I just did,” Jason scoffed. “I call dibs on the red badass. You can have the cat one. Follow B’s footsteps, protégé.”

“You don’t even know if she’s straight. What if she’s into girls?” Stephanie objected. “Maybe they both are.”

Jason stared at her for a second before his eyes narrowed. “Fine. But if she’s anything other than a lesbian or ace, I have dibs. And the cat one is up for grabs.”

“Oh, I’ll grab,” Steph smirked.

“Fine, whatever,” Dick groused, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away. “Wasn’t looking for romance this trip anyway.”

“Your libido is not the priority right now. Father, did you bring us here for this?” Damian demanded.

Bruce kept his eyes on the spot where the creature had been a few seconds earlier before turning into a distraught woman. “No, I had no idea. But now that we know, let’s investigate. We’ll find out as much as we can from outside sources and try to meet up with the heroes when we can. If they have a regular patrol, we can try to meet them somewhere. If they don’t, we might have to try to show up discretely at the next attack.” He observed the people below already returning to their normal jobs. “It doesn’t seem like this is too out of the ordinary for everyone, so I don’t think we’ll have to wait long.”

He wasn’t wrong. In fact, they only had to wait until the next night for another akuma to strike. As soon as the akuma was dealt with, they caught up with the Parisian heroes, though in hindsight, they perhaps should have announced their presence a bit more clearly, judging by the way Red Hood was hanging upside down off the side of the building they were on.

“Sorry again,” Ladybug grimaced as she helped pull him back onto the roof.

“No, we shouldn’t have snuck up on you,” Red Hood assured her. “I was just struck too speechless by you to give you a better warning.”

Ladybug blinked at him a few times before turning to the rest of the group and motioning toward Red Hood helplessly. Chat gave her an amused smile. “She tends to have that effect even on the best of us.”

“As Red Hood said, we should have announced our presence more plainly. We likely would have reacted the same if you had snuck up on one of us,” Batman said, taking a step forward.

“We just wouldn’t have looked as kick ass doing it,” Red Hood added, leaning toward Ladybug.

Ladybug raised an eyebrow at him, but allowed him to move closer to her. “Well, you certainly didn’t look ‘kick ass’ falling like that,” she smirked at him.

“I’ll work on how I look when falling, then. I have a feeling I’m going to be falling a lot for you.”

Ladybug narrowed her eyes at him and puckered her lips in an unsuccessful effort to keep them from quirking up. Red Hood’s chest puffed up almost imperceptibly at the sight. Ladybug’s eyes darted over to Batman and back to him. “First, I don’t think you came all the way to Paris just to hit on me. I believe we have other things to talk about. Second, if you’re going to hit on someone, take off the helmet. It’s rude. I can’t read your expressions at all. It puts me at a disadvantage.”

Red Hood quirked his head to the side. “Can’t take the helmet off. Secret identity, you know? B would kill me. If he didn’t the squirt there,” he motioned toward Robin, “would try. But trust me, if you saw my face, you’d swoon. And I assure you, I would have come all the way to Paris if I’d known you were here waiting.”

“But we didn’t know you were here,” Batman cut in harshly. He placed a hand on Red Hood’s shoulder and pulled him back with the others. “We were unaware there was a supervillain in Paris. We’d like to offer assistance, ours and the Justice League’s, but first we should introduce ourselves. I’m Batman. That’s Spoiler, Black Bat, Signal, Robin, Red Robin, Nightwing,” he motioned to each of them in turn as he said their name. “And you’ve met Red Hood.”

Ladybug and Chat nodded to each of them as Batman said their names. “It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I’m Ladybug. This is my partner Chat Noir.”

“Sorry, we didn’t bring our full team. We would have if we’d known there was going to be a party,” Chat smiled disarmingly.

“We’ll be sure to let you know next time,” Spoiler grinned back at him.

“Can we sit down with you sometime to discuss the situation?” Red Robin interrupted whatever Chat was about to respond with. “It doesn’t have to be tonight, but we weren’t planning on staying in town too much longer. Not that we haven’t been enjoying our time here. And we’ve definitely enjoyed watching you work. You have got some really good moves.”

“Oi,” Jason interrupted, smacking him in the shoulder. “I called dibs.”

“Dibs?” Ladybug quirked her head to the side and scrunched up her nose in such an adorable way Jason let out an almost inaudible choke. Quiet enough that only Red Robin, letting out an almost as silent scoff, and Chat Noir, with his enhanced hearing, heard him. Chat zeroed in on him with a knowing smirk. He rested his arm on his baton and got into a comfortable position leaning against it, waiting for the entertainment. “What is ‘dibs’?” Ladybug continued, oblivious to the dynamic between the three.

Chat’s smirk grew. “Dibs, M’lady, is when you claim first rights to do something.”

Ladybug stared at him for a few seconds as she put together what he was implying. Her head whipped around to Red Hood. Her face was furrowed in an offended scowl. She pointed to herself. “Am I the thing you’re going to do first?”

Jason jerked back at the suggestion as Chat Noir and the rest of his family, sans Batman and Robin, started laughing. “No! No, no, no. No. Not… No.” He waved his arms desperately. “Not that. I…” He took a breath and glared at his family to get them to shut up, expecting them to know he was glaring harshly under his helmet. “I just get to be the first to try to impress you.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes. “You want to impress me? Do something impressive. And I don’t date as a superhero, so you’re going to have to impress civilian me. Good luck with that.”

Chat gave Red Hood a patronizing grin. “You’re going to need it,” he singsonged. He looked back and forth between Ladybug and Red Hood a few times, his eyes sparkling with mischief. He swung his baton over his shoulders and rested his arms over it. “But then again, she is the embodiment of luck so, maybe she just gave it to you.”

Ladybug’s head whipped back to him and she narrowed her eyes at him in warning. He smiled innocently back at her as if he hadn’t just been meddling in her love life… again. He needed to meddle in his own instead. Although, with the way Spoiler kept eying him, maybe it was already taken care of. “Anyway,” she said loudly, bringing the focus back to the topic at hand. “Tonight isn’t good. We both have early mornings tomorrow. But tomorrow night should work. How about meeting here tomorrow at 22h?”

“Okay, now that that is settled, I have a very important question,” Spoiler spoke up. Signal groaned next to her, preparing for whatever her question was going to be. “Where is the best place to get some French treats?” Batman let out a deep sigh. “What! I came to France to eat amazing French food and shop French fashion. They live here. They should know the good places to go.”

Chat straightened up immediately and sent Ladybug a feral grin. “You don’t say…”

“Chat,” Ladybug hissed warningly.

“They’re just asking for advice,” he answered in his most exaggeratedly innocent voice he could muster. “You wouldn’t want to deprive them of the best food in Paris. Would you, M’lady?” The devilish grin in his eyes was a complete contrast to the innocent voice. He turned back to the bats, the picture of politeness. “The absolute best place to get pastries in Paris is Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie on Rue Gotlib. It’s amazing. I recommend trying… everything. And it just so happens their daughter is one of the most amazing designers in… anywhere.”

Spoiler grinned at him. “A man after my own heart. Thanks, Kitty Cat. I’ll take that under advisement. And do you also frequent there?”

Chat blushed slightly and looked away quickly, but not before Ladybug saw the reaction and smirked at him. “Yes, he does,” she assured Spoiler. “He frequently frequents there.”

“And what about you?” Red Hood interjected, leaning toward Ladybug again, much to Batman’s chagrin.

“Are you kidding? She’s the reason I found it in the first place. I swear she’s there daily,” Chat grinned.

“Ooh, Kitty Cat, you sure know the way to a girl’s heart,” Spoiler purred at him. Chat’s cheeks burned red, but didn’t look away from her this time.

Ladybug pursed her lips in annoyance at his romantic interference but quickly smoothed out at the sight of his blush. A smile was back on her face when she turned back to the Bats, eyes lingering a bit longer on Red Hood before moving to Batman. “Anyway, we will see you again tomorrow. But Chat, maybe you should get an idea of what Spoiler likes so you can bring treats for her to the meeting tomorrow. I have to go though.” She waved at the bats before turning to Chat with a wink. “Have a good night.”

Red Hood stepped forward before she jumped away. “You don’t want to know what I like for tomorrow?” he asked huskily.

She looked up at him with a sultry smirk. “Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea of what you like. Sweet dreams.”

Red Hood watched her jump away. “Oh they will be,” he whispered to himself.

<><><><><>

Marinette had been apprehensive all morning. Every time the bell above the door rung, she braced for the bats. She let out a relieved breath as a man walked in by himself. She wasn’t positive, but she was pretty sure the group would come in together. She wasn’t sure why she knew that, but somehow she was confident of it. The man blinked a few times at her before smiling charmingly at her.

And damn if that smile couldn’t melt ice. She let out another breath, this one to calm her cheeks. She smiled at him, warmer than her regular customer service smile. “Can I help you, monsieur?”

“Do you, by any chance, have a bowl or something I can put some water in?” he asked awkwardly in barely accented French. The cocked head and curious look Marinette gave him prompted him to continue. “I wanted to… there’s this stray dog outside and he looks like he needs some water.”

American, she noted… with dimensions roughly matching Red Hood’s. And oh God, those muscles weren’t just the suit. Well fuck. Guess she did give him some luck after all. “Of course he’s fucking Adonis hot,” she muttered under her breath, but apparently not quietly enough. He smirked at her and chuckled.

Marinette’s eyes snapped up to him and she blushed furiously at having gotten caught. She took a deep breath and smiled back at him. “Blonde with a dark stripe down his back?” He nodded at her, a surprised look on his face. “That’s Éclair. He’s a local stray. An absolute sweetheart. Here, let me get the bowl I usually use for him.” She rushed to the back and came back with a filled dog bowl and some pancetta. “Can you give him this too, please? I usually do, but I’ve been stuck inside most of the morning.”

He gave her another ice meltingly brilliant smile and nodded in thanks.

She tensed at the next man who walked in, not really knowing why she was apprehensive. Red Hood was already there. She gave him her customer service smile even as her eyes darted out the window to watch Red Hood feeding Éclair. She could imagine the hearty laugh he let out when Éclair leaped up to lick his face. She smiled at the sight.

“Excuse me,” the man stepped into her line of sight.

She immediately turned to focus on him, regretfully tearing her eyes away from Red Hood and Éclair. “Yes, monsieur. Sorry about that. How can I help you?”

The man looked her up and down and leaned toward her. “I was looking for something sweet. Maybe you could help me.”

She cringed internally, but gave him a strained smile as she leaned away. “Of course, sir. We have a lot of sweet treats. Maybe you can look over the petit fours, éclairs, macarons, and tartlets. Let me know if you have any questions.”

“I have a question already,” the man gave her a leering smile. “Are any of the treats as sweet as you?”

She gave him a flat look and took a step back. She almost missed the door chime ringing. “I assure you, monsieur, you would find me far from sweet. Let me know when you’re ready to order.” She turned away and started wiping the counter instead.

Red Hood took the opportunity to step up to her and pass the bowl back to her. “Thank you. He looked very happy after the treats.”

Marinette blinked at him a few times and looked down at the bowl unmoving for a few seconds before the reason clicked for her. “Right,” she answered, louder than she meant to, as she took the bowl. “Can I get you anything?”

“What do you recommend?” he asked as he moved to block the other man’s line of sight to her.

She smiled appreciatively at him. Maybe he was impressive after all. “You looking for something sweet or savory? We have great bread, but if you’re looking for a treat, I would recommend an assortment of eclairs. It just seems apropos. Honestly, I think it’s all good, but I’m a bit biased.” She leaned in as if confiding a secret and winked at him.

He chuckled and nodded. “That is definitely something to consider.” He side eyed the other man in the store. “I’ll take a look around I think. Figure out what it is I want.”

Marinette nodded and gave him an understanding smile. She turned to the other man. “Have you decided, monsieur?”

The man made a show of looking around. “Are you on the menu? Because I definitely know what I’m interested in,” the man answered, leering at her again.

Marinette gave the man a flat look. It was not the first time she’d heard the line. She didn’t get it as much as waitresses, but still, it was a tired line… from a married man… that she had already turned down. “No, sir. I’m not on the menu,” she answered curtly, “because we are not a brothel, which are illegal in Paris, I might add. However, a quick internet search will direct you to the areas of the city where you can find that kind of menu items. If you would like one of the pastries, please let me know which ones you would like, otherwise, please leave.”

“I’m not good enough for you, but you’ll flirt with him,” he motioned toward civilian Red Hood.

“First, I get to choose who I’m interested in and that isn’t you. Second, he,” she motioned toward civilian Red Hood, “called dibs on flirting with me. Now either order or leave.”

The man huffed and left, trying to slam the door on the way out. The door closed with a gentle thud. Marinette rolled her eyes. “Sorry about that, monsieur. Are you ready to order?” She sent him an apologetic smile.

Jason stared at her for a few beats trying to figure out if her previous words meant anything. She could have just said that because the guy was an asshole. It could be a coincidence. And her partner could have sent him here purely because they had really good food. “Oh, um… what do you recommend I take?” he asked again absentmindedly, his mind still on how likely it was that it was all a coincidence.

Marinette smiled innocently at him. “Me out.”

Jason looked at her wide eyed. “What?”

“You asked what I recommended you take. I recommend you take me out,” she shrugged nonchalantly, but the grin was devilish.

Jason opened his mouth and closed it again. “Any other day, beautiful. Any other day I’d say yes, but I’m kind of working on someone else and I’m a one woman man.”

Marinette looked at him for a few seconds, a brilliant smile beaming at his response.

“Thanks for helping out, Sweetie,” her mom called coming from the back room. “I think we have it covered now. Oh,” she looked up at Jason, then at Marinette’s smile, and back to Jason. She smirked at the two. “I think you should be able to take off now, get to your real job.”

Marinette nodded and took her apron off, stowing it under the counter. “Thanks, Maman.” She leaned up and kissed her cheek before making her way around the counter. Jason turned to her as she walked out, watching her as she moved. She paused a few feet in front of him. “I have to admit, you impressed me after all.”

She smiled sweetly at him before moving to the door. She turned back at the last second, twirling to face him. “But you flirted much better with the helmet.” She winked at him and disappeared through the door.

Her mom chuckled before clearing her throat. “Anything I can help you with, dear?”

Jason turned to her blankly, still processing what Marinette had said, after a second he smiled and rushed to the door. “No, thank you ma’am. I have some dibs to collect on.”

Tags:

@jasonette-july-event @maribatserver

#maribat #jasonette #Jasonette July #Jasonette July 2021 #prompt - design

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liquid-luck-00 · 3 years ago

Text

Where There Is Change

Overprotection

@maribat-bdbwm

First *** Previous *** Next

~~~~~~~~~~

One week.

One week without her brother is all it took to break her patience.

No, she didn’t break away from her story with the press release that happened literally two days after she started school.

No, what finally broke her was what the students did to her brother, specifically this group of five that were intentionally seeking out places she was that in order to talk about her family.

Sure, she understood why they talked about Damian, he is Gotham's Ice Prince, the person you do not want to get on the bad side of.

But moments that she wasn’t with him, people spoke awfully about him. And mostly about how he was born as a bastard child.

She pretty much assumes that when she’s not around they speak the same about her.

Both of them were conceived without his knowledge, until years later. Sure, it hurts to hear them talk about her dad like that.

But she also understands it to an extent.

Brucie Wayne, is an act he puts up. Brucie Wayne is a playboy the longer someone plays the playboy people, will come to the conclusion of him having several unknown children.

However, she also knows Brucie Wayne is a cover for her father, in the past twenty years or so since the time he pretty much became Batman, Brucie Wayne has been a cover. So much so that even the media plays into.

But what she can’t stand are the remarks her 'peers' make about her little brother, about all her siblings.

The remarks that, she is technically the older biological child. But that she still deserves a chair in the company. She is so mad that they are dismissing all of Tim's work he's put into the company. That they are dismissing her brothers just because she is the first-born biological child, that she should be the next C.E.O. People talk over him as if he isn’t there.

They talk about Jason, how he is the troubled child. That he ruins their father's name.

That Dick is just a novelty for Bruce. The first child he decide to adopt. That he’s no more than that, Bruce Wayne’s first ward.

She hates that they call Cassandra a basket case because she won’t talk.

Or how Duke is yet another charity case, simply because of his skin color.

They forget about her because she looks so American, so white, so European.

They forget that she is part Chinese, because she has such big blue eyes, fair skin, and dark black hair just like her father.

---

So back to school.

Damian was on assignment with the Teen Titans, so she was going to school alone. They said something about Damian getting an awful constant 103 fever, they didn’t want to risk anyone else to catch what he had.

So, she did what she usually did, she went outside like usual during lunch. When all of a sudden, the group of five kids in her year 'seemed' to be strolling past.

She thinks it’s still hasn’t sunk in that there’s a new Wayne. Or that they know but want to haze her. Because they are openly bashing her little brother.

"I’m sorry, but what did you just say." She stood up and looked at them.

"Well not that it’s any of your business, but Damian is such a menace, he is practically a terrorist." One of the boys started.

"Have you seen how angry he gets, I swear he could blow up the school, and he’ll still get let back in." A girl butt in.

"He’s already been expelled twice, but they keep letting him back in because he’s Bruce Wayne’s son." The final boy spoke rolling his eyes and she lost it.

She grabbed him, pulled him towards her, gave him a quick punch in the nose. Forcing him to reel back stumbling away from her.

"Let’s get one thing straight." She spoke, hands clenched in fists. "My baby brother isn’t a terrorist. He may be a menace, but he’s not a terrorist. Can any of you actually tell me the reasons why he got expelled."

Silence, pure silence was heard from the entire group.

"No, you can’t. Because like you said it’s none of your goddamn fucking business." At this point her French accent was slipping into her words, because she was getting really mad. She had to physically dig her nails into her palms to stop her magic from exploding.

"So why don’t you all just mind your own fucking business and maybe pay attention who you’re talking about, around who."

The entire group turned and ran, their tails between their legs and they scrambled to get away from her. She may have been known as the approachable Wayne between the two twins, but they messed with her brother. And they really didn’t know what they were talking about.

As soon as, the bell rang to end lunch her name came across the intercom. She grabbed her things and walked to the office knowing full well what was about to happen.

What she didn’t expect that out of all the people that would have been called the person who showed up was Jason.

If she had to cover the ever-growing grin on her face, or else the adults may have figured out that this was the wrong brother to call.

"We are so sorry to have called you today Mr. Todd-Wayne, but we have to discuss your sister’s behavior." The principal spoke as both of them sat down.

"Ok I'll hear you out, but after you explain what happened she will. And neither of you guys can interrupt the other got it. So, go." He pointed at the principle.

"Your sister has been accused of physical assault of another student."

"Is this true?" He turned to her.

"Yes." She answered.

"Why?" Jason asked as he rubbed his hands down his face.

She knows he has a shit eating grin that was slowly going to be spreading across his face, because his aura was almost giddy.

"You see they’ve not only been talking shit about Damian but Tim, Duke, Cass, Dick, and even you. If you want, I have several forms of video tape and audio proof if you’d like to see those."

"But let’s get back on point. We believe that you may have broken his nose."

"Okay, but I am not going to apologize, seeing as I was protecting my little brother, who is not here to defend himself."

She looked over to her brother and the ass had a shit eating grin plastered across his face.

"Why don’t I sign my sister out for the rest of the day, you know what, what about the whole

week, because I'm assuming suspension is an option?"

The principal however didn’t know how to react to Jason, so he absentmindedly pushed a stack of papers towards Jason and pointing to where he was to sign and initial. And then allowed them to leave.

"We’re not telling Bruce, are we?" She asked quietly.

"Not unless you want to deal with that right now?"

"No."

"Then let’s see how far we can get from Gotham."

"Yes please." She enthusiastically nodded her head, as they left the city.

~~~~~~~~~~

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stxleslyds · 3 years ago

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you know how dc keeps forcing this sudden "we're a family" narrative out of nowhere? I'd love batfam content but years of hurt among them make the recent content seem unearned.

bc you know more about dick and jason than the others, how do you think they would realistically become family to each other, or would it even be in character for them to be the "bros" they're written as now?

Oh anon, this question is amazing, I love it! I saw it when I woke up and since then my brain has been brewing this answer, I was thinking about it as I brushed my teeth and as I was making breakfast, and now I am ready to give you the answer, I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed thinking/writing about it!

DC keeps forcing the wrong relationships, and they keep forcing the wrong centre of this supposed family, they make it out to be the Bat-Family when in reality the Bat (Bruce) should have never been invited to this party.

This is why I give you the… Dick-Family!

Oh yeah baby, I am going there. Dick is the centre of this “family”, he is the guy who is actually connected with everyone, he has been around for so long and he has been present when almost all of the remaining characters were introduced! Bruce might have come first but that guy has nothing on Dick Grayson.

Dick has cared and loved for everyone in this family in a true and beautiful way, no matter how much fanon and DC try to tell us otherwise. This man was an amazing son to Bruce and Alfred (my love for Alfred and Dick is brought to you by @hood-ex), a fantastic brother to Jason, Tim and Cass as well as a phenomenal father/older brother to Damian.

Dick Grayson is the centre of this whole thing, and thanks to DC now being an Omniverse I will be able to explain my line of thoughts. But first let me clear some ideas up.

The way I see it Jason would only get along good enough with Dick. I am not here for Jason and Tim having brunch together (honestly, Lobdell, what were you thinking), Jason never cared for Tim, and then writers that didn’t know how the Red Hood worked made him try to kill Tim so, to me, that relationship is non-existent, Jason doesn’t really perceive Tim (yet).

Jason and Damian, listen, I know that there is this fanon theory that Jason knew and cared for Damian while he was in the League, but that is just fanon talk and it doesn’t really fit in canon either. Jason wasn’t really capable of doing much other than fight, and after he was put in the Lazarus Pit he either had to leave because Ra’s wanted to kill him or Talia took him to the All-Castle. So, Jason’s only real interactions with Damian would be when Jason was written as a crazy, blood thirsty dude that actually tried to harm a child. So, him and Damian wouldn’t really have a good relationship (yet).

Jason and Cass… that’s just a no. Jason and Barbara, I mean Barbara was older than Dick when she first met Jason, so they wouldn’t have much of a relationship.

Now, lets move on to how I will make the Dick-Family work.

Dick (bless him) actually talks and listens to people, unlike Bruce, so the change would start there. Let’s set the timeline, I will stand right after the events of Under the Red Hood. Bruce just chose saving Joker over letting Jason kill the Joker and the building they were in exploded.

Batman keeps on being himself (trash) and Jason, having survived the explosion, moves on to keep on building his empire. He really wants to control the drug trade in Gotham, so he works on that, he slowly but surely takes his place as a drug lord again and is a constant pain in Black Mask’s ass.

While Jason is doing that, Dick is trying to put together his life after Bludhaven was attacked with Chemo. Let’s say that Bludhaven isn’t completely erased from the map but he does have to leave so the city can be re-built. He goes to Gotham, where the Red Hood works.

Let’s say that Alfred told Dick who was under the Red Hood, so Dick being a good brother goes looking for Jason. Their first interaction out of the mask wouldn’t be nice, Jason barely remembers his life before the pit and he really is convinced that Dick is the absolute worst.

But then Jason being a nosy man would make an appearance, for some reason, let’s say that he hacks into the Batcave and when he does that he finds some footage… The footage in question would be the one which shows Bruce punching Dick and sort of blaming him for Jason’s death. (Oh yeah, I am going there). The footage will make a memory come to mind, Dick taking Jason on a skying trip.

So, the next time that Dick and Jason see each other is because Jason went looking for Dick and here is where these two actually talk. The way I see it, Dick is more flexible with the no killing rule, he has worked many times with people that are villains or that just have different ways of doing things. So, I think that he would understand where Jason’s coming from with his ideas. As they begin to understand one another Jason begins to recover more and more memories from before the Pit.

They get together once a week and they chat about life as well as vigilante stuff. They become friends.

At the same time Dick is also very good friends with Tim and also acts like the amazing big brother he is with him. They chat, they sometimes work together and one day they come across a very complicated situation involving a new drug being introduced in Gotham.

Dick would call Jason and now both of them and Tim are reunited in a safe house working together so this new drug doesn’t fall in the wrong hands. Jason and Tim wouldn’t really like each other. Both of them are there for Dick and because they have to get the job done.

That’s how I see Dick forming the Dick-Family unconsciously. Hell, I will introduce Barbara now. Do you guys remember that in UtRH Barbara was mad with Bruce and didn’t want to work with him but she was still in contact with Dick? Well, I am using that so it can fit my narrative.

Dick, Jason and Tim need more intel so Dick calls Oracle (real Oracle) and because Barbara trusts Dick she works with them.

Here is where it gets interesting, through Barbara, Dick meets Cass, through Tim he meets Stephanie. You see that Dick’s connections are leading him to form a group of people. Cass and Stephanie are trained by Babs and Dick and they become the new Batgirls.

As all of that keeps developing Jason and Dick become “partners in crime” they help each other, they start building a brotherly relationship again. Although Jason refuses to say that out loud.

Then comes in Damian, a difficult child if there has ever been one but he has Bruce so Dick doesn’t have to jump in that fast… right?

Oh brother! Bruce is dead (omg what would we do? Battle for the cowl maybe? No!). with Bruce gone there is only one person who can take his place and everyone knows it has to be Dick.

Dick would feel a lot of things as he is taking Bruce’s place as Batman but he has a group of people ready to back him up (Alfred, Jason, Tim, Babs, Cass, Steph), and he also has to take care of Damian, he is a child and with his father gone then maybe his mother would want to take him back to the League of Assassins, Dick obviously doesn’t want that so he talks to Tim and tells him that he sees him as his equal and that he has a plan to make Damian stay and it involves making Damian his new Robin.

Tim would obviously be sad and a little hurt, but he understands Dick’s decision because they talked about it and Dick actually took the time to explain why he was doing what he was doing (really DC half of the problems you guys come up could be fixed in seconds if people would only take some time to just TALK!).

Dick and Damian work as Batman and Robin and Dick starts assuming the position of his father. They would live with Alfred in the penthouse and maybe Tim will join them from time to time (when he wasn’t busy with Young Justice/Teen Titans stuff). Slowly Dick and Damian will become the Dynamic Duo that we love today.

So, Dick would have his own Robin, Oracle (who is also managing her own team with Black Canary and (why not) the Batgirls), Red Robin and Red Hood working with him if he needs them. They are always a call away. Jason is the most difficult to reach and he will only involve himself in that kind of drama if its about controlling the drug trade or scaring the living shit out of some very shady people.

So, Red Hood wouldn’t be working with the new (and improved) Batman but Jason would hang out with Dick sometimes.

From there they build up. Dick renovates Arkham Asylum and makes it work they way that it is supposed to work. He might also recruit Catwoman when he needs someone really sneaky, they have known each other for so long, I bet Selina loves Dick, she would certainly help him out.

But as all things do, this happy and well-connected Dick-Family is disrupted when Bruce comes back, he inserts himself slowly back into his role as Batman and as he does that Dick starts to move away from it.

But Dick’s connections are strong and well cared for, so, even when he goes back to Bludhaven and starts fresh (again) as Nightwing those connections remain. Oracle still gives him intel, Robin and Red Robin come over to Bludhaven to patrol, maybe they even have their own rooms at Dick’s place.

With Bludhaven functioning again, all of the terrible people that were working there also come back, maybe some of them never left and they have been corrupting the city from its very core. So, when Jason tells Dick that he would like to expand his operations to Bludhaven, Dick says yes, as long as Jason keeps him updated on his work and also lets him know what is going on.

I think it works! What do you guys think so far?

From then on with the whole Dick-Family being connected and strong I think they can actually act and solve their problems as a family. All those arcs that didn’t work very well because Bruce was in the middle of it being a jerk, I think they will work if Dick is at the centre of it. Let’s say that Bruce hid the fact that Joker knows their identities and all that, with such a strong family the second that the Joker tries to manipulate Jason into believing that he created him, Dick will come out of the shadows and shut that bullshit down. If Joker tries to do something to the Circus, then the Birds of Prey and the Robins will be there in seconds helping Dick.

The Court of Owls, those little shits wouldn’t stand a chance against this team, this force of nature! Jason would be the one working from afar because you know my boy wouldn’t be subjected to the “no-killing” rule but if he does it, he has to do it away from the children (Damian) and away from Cass, if he doesn’t want to know real trouble. (He probably arranged those things with Dick a long time ago and he is happy with it).

Now, please forgive me but for angst reasons I will actually let the events of, Batman Incorporated #8, Forever Evil, Nightwing #30 and Spyral run its course.

Let me explain, after Damian’s death Dick holds the Dick-Family together, as well as Bruce because he is amazing like that, but then after Dick supposedly dies, things change just a little bit. Jason would retreat back to his own corner because the only thing attaching him to the Dick-Family was Dick but he would also keep his eyes open and he might also have a direct line with Oracle if things go south.

Aside from Jason, I do see the others working on keeping their connections intact. When Damian eventually returns the land of the living, I can see all of them coming together even more because that’s what Dick would have wanted.

And then Dick will come back from Spyral and here is where the Dick-Family will show the “Bat-Family” why its superior to it in every aspect possible.

The Dick-Family will notice that something must have happened, Dick would never play dead and leave them like that, but Dick loves Bruce and he doesn’t want to tell them the truth, Bruce has no memories now and his family doesn’t deserve that kind of drama BUT Jason and Tim are suspicious, they know Dick at this point and they trust him so they firmly believe that he is hiding something to protect someone. And here is where life repeats itself. Let’s review the Batcave’s footage, yes, I did it again, I just love the fact that Bruce has footage of himself being the absolute worst to his kids, how does DC not use it! Anyway, Tim and Jason find the footage from the events of Nightwing #30 and suddenly the Dick-Family have their “Dick defence squad” jackets on and they are ready to party.

After all that Bruce eventually gets his memories back and he is held accountable for his actions. Also, around this time the events of Robin War would have already happened so Duke is also introduced. Dick lets him join and all that, and then Duke and Cass become besties and they work together.

And yeah, as Rebirth comes closer the Dick-Family would be more united than ever.

The end.

That is how I would have done it. But this way is slow, and DC wouldn’t be able to monetize it as much as they would want.

Jason wouldn’t be giving hugs and calling everyone their brother or sister, he will only get along with Dick and he would be professional with everyone else.

Tim and Damian would get along but they wouldn’t go for ice cream together on a sunny day. Steph and Damian would and so would Cass and Tim or Cass and Duke.

Oracle would work with Dick and the others as a side thing because her main thing would be the Birds of Prey, this time with Helena too.

Alfred would spend his time with Bruce but he would also be very aware of Dick and his influence on everyone around them. Bruce eventually would be integrated to the Dick-Family because Dick is a sweetheart but Dick would also make Bruce follow his rules, Dick is a little bean but he is also the most badass person in the room (whichever room) so you better listen to what he has to say.

The Dick-Family would be something that grows silently and doesn’t need a “Joker War” in order for them to be there for each other, they would try their best each step of the way and they will talk things out when mistakes are made.

This is the way that I see this family dynamic working.

I would even go as far as to say that Talia can be part of the Dick-Family because she is connected to three people, Dick, Damian and Jason.

Dick is the person with most connections in the DC Universe, the Titans, the Justice League, Deathstroke, they all have connections to this treasure of a man. If he needs help in Gotham or Bludhaven then he can call people from the “first circle”, if things are beyond a “street level” threat them he can call the Titans and if shit really hits the fan, Clark and the others are a call away.

Anyway, this was unnecessarily long, I am sorry about it but I am also not because I really don’t know how to answer your question without going on a long rant.

In conclusion the Bat-Family doesn’t work and sadly it wouldn’t work no matter how much they force it. These people don’t have connections, Bruce is not able to make connections between people. And DC has erased entire relationships that Dick used to have. I mean, they got rid of Dick and Tim being close brothers just so they could give us a shitty brunch between Tim and Jason? Only yesterday we saw a true and beautiful interaction between Dick and Damian.

DC is handling the “Bat-Family” in all the worst possible ways. It just doesn’t work.

They should have used Dick all those years ago and they shouldn’t have destroyed Jason’s characterization with Lobdell’s ideas.

So, sadly, my dear anon, I don’t see the Bat-Family as a in character thing for any of these people as they are written currently, but I hope that you enjoyed my version of it. May the Dick-Family bring everyone who reads about it a little joy!

#Dick-Family #Jason Nation #dick grayson #nightwing #red hood #tim drake #damian wayne #red robin #robin #batfamily #alfred pennyworth #bruce wayne #dc comics #jason todd #asksss

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miraculous-trinity-leo · 4 years ago

Text

Whacky Gotham, Goofy New York, and Chaotic Paris.

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8)

Chapter 6: Evade The Bats, and Beat The Crows

•—–—–·†·–—–—•

The girls are in the old living room setting up clues (that are absolutely... useless) around Gotham. One being a picture Harley and Multimouse took earlier that day.

"They might think to look here after they realize the clues are fake." - Steph

"Then where else would they not think to look?" - Maria

"W.E, I can get you and Harley in without them knowing easily." - Barbara said with a confident smile.

"But they'll have to go incognito... especially you Harley, no offense, but your outfit stands out just a tad." - Steph

"Ehhh, none taken, I'm sure I can tink of somthin' else tuh wear." - Harley

"I can help with that, but I'll need some clothes and some sewing supplies." - Maria said already thinking of what she could make.

Cass gave a nod and headed out of the room, after a few minutes she came back with t-shirts, jackets, sweaters, shorts, jeans, etc. and droped the pile of clothes infront of the group. She then handed Maria a sewing set she got from Alfred.

"Thanks Cass. I'll get to work on making our costumes." - Maria

"Let me help yuh wit' dat hun." - Harley said as she picked up most of the clothes for Maria

"Thanks." Maria

•—–·Let's see the Chaos shall we·–—•

"You never told us she could use magic!" - Red Hood looking under the table

"I wonder if she can infuse magic with coffee..." - Red Robin said looking in the cabinets for the third time.

"Stop looking for coffee!" - Red Hood

"She could've hidden in here." - Red Robin said while crabbing a mug

"I haven't had enough sleep to deal with this." - Selina then walked over and flopped herself on the couch and proceeded to fall asleep on impact.

"Maria get your tiny self back here right now or else!" - Tony

"Or else what? She Knows MAGIC! What else does she know that you haven't told us?!" - Red Hood

"... I never told you becuase it's meant to be a secret!" - Tony

"Oh, so now you agree with keeping things a secret?" - Red Robin grabbing the coffee

"What else can she do Tony." - Batman

"Well... she's great with tech, can kick butt in a LOT of different ways, has magic, and if she wants to, she can find and know where everyone or anyone is, but I think she gets massive headaches from a wide search like that." - Tony

"Anything else?" - Batman

(Tony thinkng of all the tiny gods she has in jewelery, and that she keeps Paris/friends and family safe on a daily basis, and that she is the well known designer MDC...)"No..." - Tony

As ivy was listening to them talk, she continued to search her garden, until one of her plants had a message fo her.

"Hello Ms. Ivy, please don't help Batman and Iron Man find us, we promise we'll be careful." - Maria

"Where are you?" - Ivy asked whispering into the plant.

After a few minutes Ivy got a detailed plan that Maria, Harley and the girls came up with to evade The IronBat group (Maria thought that would be better than ManMan group 'But it's Bat MAN and Iron MAN, so it has tuh be The ManMan group.' was Harleys defence, but Maria won that one.) and Ivy agreed to help as best she could.

•—–· Over to the Miraculous gang ·–—•

Plagg is cackling like there's no tomorrow.

"Guys something must be wrong, Plagg won't stop cackling, he won't even touch the cheese I gave him!!!" - Adrien

"There's no time for that, we need to find out where the hell Maria is!!" - Chloé

"Hahahaha, Ti- heheh Tikk- pffhaaaaaaahaha!!!" - Plagg

"He's trying to form words!" Adrien cradling Plagg in his hands "What is it my friend? Don't do this, you're to young...*sniff * you're to beautiful!"

"Hehehehe Shhhh- hahaha, she- she- haha...heheh- I'm so p-hehe-Proud wahahaha " - Plagg

"Proud?! She?! Where?! Who, is it Maria?!" - Chloé

"Hhhhhhhhahhaaaaaaaaaa" - Plagg

"Oh God he's wheezing!" - Adrien

"Hey guys, Peter and I got the snacks, found out where Maria might- oh kwami." - Alix walking into the room to a zombie looking Chloé, a panicked Adrien and the Kwami of death/bad luck/chaos laughing himself to death.

"Has he finally lost it?" - Peter

"She has become a true cat! hahahahahaaaaa heheheheeeeeee." - Plagg

Everyone in the room but Plagg "Oh fu-"

•—–· Over to the Batfam ·–—•

So everyone is panicking because for the past hour none of them could find Multimouse. Robin is sitting on the couch next to a now fully awake Selina, Red Hood and Nightwing are once again feeding each other the worst possible situation she could be in, Tony may or may not be hyperventilating, Red Robin is drinking coffee, and Batman is as stoic as ever... well on the outside anyway, on the inside, it's a warzone. Ivy is drinking her tea, slightly worried, but also hiding a small smile.

"What if we ask Oracle to try and help us find her?" - Red Robin

"... Right... Yes, ok let's do that... Bats you do it, I need to sit down." - Tony

•—–· Back to the girls ·–—•

The girls moved everything to the Bat-cave so they could set the route they would take, then the Bat-Computer started ringing.

"Hide!" - Steph

"Where, dere's nuttin' tuh hide behind!" - Harley

"Quick under the Bat-Computer." - Barbara

As soon as Harley and Maria hid under the Bat-Computer, Batman and the rest of the Batfam was on video call.

"Hey guys, what do you need?" - Barbara acting like nothing happened

"We need you to search for Maria, she's in a dark gray suit with pink accents, and she's with Harley." - Batman

"Ok, no prob, I'll contact you when I've found something." - and with that Barbara exited the call.

"Should we start heading out?" - Maria

"Yup, and here are your ID badges, don't lose them. I'll give our Batfam fake sightings, and lead them far away, then once you reach W.E I'll slowly start leading them closer to you." - Barbara

"Thanks, keep in touch if they decide to split up." - Maria

"Roger that." - Steph said giving a solute

•—–·–—•

Soon Multimouse and Harley are running over roof tops again, doing tricks, and stopping petty crimes, Barbara is leading the Batfam all over Gotham, and then they got to W.E, after Maria transformed back, they entered the building. Thanks to Babs, they entered without any problems and had free roam for the entire building, with some exceptions like new weapons designs, or the roof. They were hiding in the building for about an hour on the 7th floor when Barbara called in.

"Hey girls, you might want to be careful, I spotted some of Scarecrows goons a few blocks away, they seem to be heading in your direction, I'd say about 6mins tops until they reach W.E. Best to find a good room to stay in, or get out of there." - Barbara

"Thanks fawh de heads up Babs." - Harley

"Ok, we'll try to get out, let us know if we should turn back or not." - Maria

"Got it, and be careful." - Barbara

Maria and Harley then made their way back down, they were taking the stairs, because they figured it would be quicker, once they were on the second floor, they started to calmly make their way through the doors of the stairwell. That's when Scarecrows goons busted in, shouting for everyone to get down, Harley made sure to stay as close to Maria as possible as the goons gathered everyone to a wall. They were told to not move, talk, or do anything to anger them, once everyone was up against the wall, that's when Scarecrow came in. As he entered the room some of the employees started to look very scared, when Maria looked over to Harley, she saw her mouth 'it's ok', afterwards the goons had them all tied up and on the floor sitting down. Scarecrow scanned them before speaking.

"One of you will be testing my newest and most potent fear toxin as of yet. We can do this one out of two ways." He said lifting up two of his needle syringed fingers. "1. You can be a hero, and let yourself be my newest test subject, aka the boring way or 2. I pick whoever I want, aka the slightly less boring way. Now, who wants to go first?"

•—–· Over to Batman ·–—•

The Batfam was running around the other side of Gotham, now without Tony, because someone ( ehem Thor, ehem) was making a giant mess at Avengers Tower, and was fighting Loki... again. It was when they decided to call Oracle that things took another turn.

"Oracle have you foun- " - Batman

"They're at W.E. and Scarecrows there, I can't get in contact with them, and I can't get into the cameras at the moment, I need you to get your butts over there now!" - Oracle

"Wait you were in contact with them?!" - Red Hood

"Not the time! Just get over there before someone gets hurt!" - Oracle

"We're on our way." - Batman

They all then kicked it into high gear and were running to W.E, and out of everyone, Damian seemed to be the most visibly panicked, if him running twice as fast as everyone was any indication. At the speed they were going, they would be there in 20mins or less... hopefully.

•—–· Back to Maria and Harley ·–—•

So while Scarecrow was giving his little speech, Maria whispered into a plant to let Ivy know their situation, she wasn't able to get an answer before she and Harley were pulled away from the crowd.

"And what do we have here? Harley Quinn and a child. How interesting, well then, which one of you would like to test my new fear toxin?" - Scarecrow

"Eh, do me, I bet I got a lot o' trauma and fears from my time wit' Mistuh J. dat yuh would just love tuh see." - Harley

"... As tempting as that sounds I think I'll test it on your little friend here, after all, I know better than to mess with one of the Sirens." - As Scarecrow said that, one of the goons dragged Maria over to him. She didn't panic, she was actually really calm, which worried Harley even more because, remember all that emotional trauma she saw Maria had? Yeah, not the best match for the fear toxin.

As Scarecrow grabbed Maria, she locked eyes with Harley, and gave a brief smile before she felt a sharp jabbing pain in the side of her neck. Her vision went hazy, and from Harleys' point of view, she went a little limp from it.

As Maria started to see again she could hear screams, car alarms going off, and explosion in the distance, when she looked up, she saw them, her friends, her team... her family, they were all there lying infront of her... none of them moving, all of them were lifeless, looking as though turned into a gray husk of what they once were, and beside them were all the Kwamis, and their respective Jewelery, broken and shattered. She felt the tears fall as she looked around. Paris, the once beautiful city of lights, was now a wasteland, everything had a gray tone to it, people, animals, everything that had life... was dead.

And then she heard laughing, a sick disturbing laugh that was all to familiar... Lila. When she turned and saw Vulpina, she felt sick just looking at her.

"You have failed Maria, everyone you knew and loved is gone, all because you weren't here." - Lila

All she felt in that moment... was pure anger, she began to struggle, but somthing was holding her. She kept hearing that stupid laugh, and kept struggling harder and harder.

"You were never good enough, you were meant to always be our everyday Ladybug, but you never were, you never cared for us, and that's why, they're all gone, because you weren't good enough." - Lila

The last four words kept playing over and over in her head, until something clicked, she wasn't in Paris, so how did she get there? The last place she was at... was with Harley, she was in the W.E. building, and had fear toxin injected into her. As she came to that realization, she could hear the laughing fade just a bit, she closed her eyes and focused on finding everyone's souls, when she did, she saw that Scarecrow was right infront of her, a goon next to Harley, and a goon behind her, the other goons had left and were on the first floor. She snapped back when she heard Lilas' voice again.

"You always were stubborn and never accepted the real truth, as class president aren't you supposed to just roll over and do as you're told." - Lila

Maria was done listening to her, and decided to kick Lila in the face (since someone didn't think to tie up her ankles.)

"Just go rott in hell already you lieing fox!" - Maria

Maria didn't get any answer, all she knew was that she hit whatever was really infront of her hard. Maria then heard Lilas' voice morph into a heavier, more distorted voice.

"That's a first, guess I'll have to increase the dosage." - Scarecrow

She then felt another jabbing pain in her neck, all she could do was scream from the pain, her head was spinning, and all she could hear was laughing, sickening laughter that came from both Lila, and now Hawkmoth. One thing Scarecrow didn't account for, was the deep hatred Maria held for both individuals he made her see. Because soon after he gave her more fear toxin she got her footing, pushing back into the goon behind her before using the goons' grib on her to do a half backflip into kicking the guys face in, quickly knocking the goon out, when she stood back up she only saw Hawkmoth, surrounded by her lifeless team and family, she only saw red, and charge right at him. She kept punching and roundhouse kicking him, giving one final charge, ramming into Hawkmoth before she felt weightless. She never heard the panicked scream Harley let out, she never heard the shouts that came from the Batfam just reaching the second floor, before she hit something... something rapped around her holding her from falling any further, causing her to start thrashing around thinking it was Hawkmoth, before seeing he was also grabbed by something. She struggled ignoring the slight pain that went through her harms and legs. She slowly calmed down as she felt her feet touch the ground again, she then saw another Hawkmoth that was now mixed with Lila hug her, she tried to break free, but realized that it wasn't Lila or Hawkmoth... It was calming, and her voice was gentle, it was Ivy. She only heard a few words, that's when she felt something blow on her face, and after a few seconds, she lost conscientiousness.

Harley came sprinting down and was by Ivys' side in less than a minute. Ivy could tell Harley was worried and joined her in hugging a now sleeping Maria.

"I'm sawhry Ives, It all just happened so fast, and she was so awesome at kickin' Cranes @ss, I din't get her out of dere quick enough." - Harley said as she looked Ivy in the eyes, with tears threatening to escape.

"It's alright Harley, none of this is your fault." - Ivy replied comfortingly to Harley

As the two hugged Maria Batman came over.

"We'll take it from here." - Batman

"Hell no. We ain't leavin' her side." - Harley

Batman just let out a sigh, after he dealt with Scarecrow and his goons, Batman, along with his sons, Ivy and Harley, all headed back to the Bat-cave where the other girls and Alfred were waiting.

If anyone noticed Robin looking over to Maria with a concerned look, they just ignored it, and continued their way back home.

•—–·†·–—•

Chapter 6 complete! Hope you'll liked it, and are havin' a fantabulous day, stay safe and rock all those positive vibes. !BUG-OUT! 🐞💮🐞

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ellana-ravenwood · 4 years ago

Text

The day he understood what Death means - Batfam x Fem!Reader

Synopsis : The youngest Wayne makes a shocking discovery...And will need his parents, siblings, and the one and only Alfred, to recover from it. /Drabble.

I don’t know. I was thinking about this. How when you’re a kid, realizing that one day you’ll die, but worst, that the people you love will die, is sort of traumatic...And wanted to write about it. So. Here we are, with little Thomas eh. I hope you will like it :) :

My masterlists blog : @ella-ravenwood-archives

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If you have no idea who Thomas is, he appears in those stories (long story short he’s the youngest kiddo, biological of Batmom and Bruce) : The Great Mall adventure, Master of Diaper Shaky steps and bad teaching, Polichinelle, “Go away, you’re confusing my baby”, Wild Child 2, “We want them back”, How do you make babies ?“ and Mom got lost again”

******

Realizing your loved ones are not immortal for the first time can be traumatic.

Especially if they’re amazing, if they’re your heroes, if you admire them beyond all measure, if they love you unconditionally just like you love them so damn much, and if you can’t even imagine your life without seeing them every day.

If you can’t even fathom the fact that maybe, one day, they won’t be there when you wake up and go look for them. And that they will never be there again.

And so it was particularly quite the shocking discovery for little Thomas Clark Wayne, 5 and a half years old, to find out about that certain thing called...”Death”.

It happened on a moody, rainy Summer day. The weather outside was awful, even for Gotham City. And it meant that Thomas was calmly playing inside, rather than getting up to some shenanigans in the garden.

His parents were home, it was one of those rare day they both had off.

Which always filled little Tommy with joy. It wasn’t often he could get them both with him !! In the end, the fact it was rainy outside was good. It meant they’d probably all snuggle up later in the day, and watch a film, a mug of hot cocoa in their hands.

You would probably throw a blanket over him, and keep him close, sandwiched between you and his dad. His father would fall asleep half-way through the film, which would annoy you and Damian.

Damian would join for sure. Sitting next to you. Yes. He would. Maybe Tim too, if he wasn’t too busy with college ? Oh he would surely make the time to come. And Cass ? Yes. Yes Cass would be there, sitting in her usual spot, on the floor right in front of you (or maybe Tommy). Because she knew you’d gently run your hand through her hair, and your youngest son slowly took the habit to do the same. Which was so soothing to Cass...Duke would certainly be there, he never said no to a good movie.

Maybe, because it was a rainy day, Dick and Jason would come too ? Unlikely, but Thomas could hope. He loved having his entire family in one spot.

They’d ask him to do his “puppy eyes” and convince Alfred to join them too, and not work.

Alfred had an armchair reserved just for him. Right next to the couch where Bruce would sit, leaving enough space for Ace to lay down (Damian’s dog, Titus, always preferred to be near his master, who would more often than not be sitting next to you, laying his head on your shoulder, even as he was not a child anymore...Yes, Titus sat next to Cass, at Damian’s feet, letting his head fall down in Cass’ laps).

Ace...Ace didn’t feel well yesterday, and this morning, the “dog doctor” came.

Thomas heard him say they needed to give him a...an “indection” or something ? (An injection, really) So he’d probably get better. Shots were supposed to get you better or to avoid you getting sick, that’s what you told him.

His dad looked upset, but it didn’t alarm Thomas much. Because his dad was always upset when him or his siblings would get a shot, he hated going, so it was probably the same thing.

Come to think of it, Thomas hadn’t seen Ace since the “vekerinarianan” (or whatever it was pronounced) came earlier in the day.

He suddenly wanted some “doggle” (dog cuddles), and so he put down the toys he was playing with, and went to look for him.

Maybe, he could also round up the rest of his family so they’d start movie time earlier ?

Hyped to have some family time, as he considered his dogs family for sure, he went on the hunt to find Ace, and gather everyone else.

If only. If only he had known...

************

“Aaaace !! Aaace ? Ace boy, where are you ?”

This was odd. Usually, Ace would come running if he heard the little one’s voice. That dog loved children, and he made it his mission to protect all of them (bonus point if he had some snuggle, and a few treats, while doing it).

Bruce told him long ago to protect his kids...So Ace was always there.

Maybe he wanted to play hide and seek ? Thomas would play that game with Titus and Damian, Ace never seemed very interested, but maybe he changed his mind ?

“Ace ? Aaaacceeee ?”

The boy roamed the manor, but every room Ace would usually hang in were empty.

Finally, he decided he’d ask his parents, who would usually hang out in...oh, they weren’t in their usual spot either. In their bedroom, maybe ?

Thomas ran as fast as his little legs could carry him, sure that he would find Ace, and his parents, asleep in the master’s bedroom. When they had their day off, his mama and daddy would often take long naps together.

Thomas immediately knew something was wrong when the door to the room was wide open. Slowly, he approached the place and...surely his parents were there.

But something was off.

His dad was laying in the bed, back to the door, his head laid in your lap. One of your hand was caressing his head soothingly, while the other was drawing calming circles on his back.

Definitely something was not normal. You’d do that to your kids when they were sad, or sick...Was daddy sick ?! This gave Thomas a little fright.

You whisper something into Bruce’s ears, and he doesn’t answer, just shaking his head to say “yes”. And so you stand up, after giving him a kiss on the cheek, and...You spot your youngest son.

You smiled at him reassuringly, and go to him.

“Hey little buddy. You should give a big hug to Daddy, he’s very sad today.”

You say, walking past him and ruffling his hair.

From the direction you were taking, you were going to the kitchen, and Thomas just instantly assumed you were going to brew some tea for his dad. When Bruce was sad, you’d always brew some tea for him, from his mother’s garden (which was kept up nice and clean by you and Alfred, now).

Worried about his dad, Thomas slowly walked to him and climbed on the big bed. Bruce turned around to see what this new weight was, as he knew you had just left and...He smiled.

Of this wide pure genuine smile he gave his family only.

But there was a hint of sadness behind his eyes, and Thomas didn’t like that one bit. So the little boy crawled to his dad, and nestled next to him, wrapping his little arms around his dad’s neck and holding tightly.

Bruce engulfed his son in his own arms, holding onto the little one, burrying his face in his hair. There was always something comforting, in the smell his kiddo had. It was a mix of your smell, which was always soothing to him, but also something more...Something soft and sweet.

Just like his son.

Little Thomas was the epitome of a sweet child. It was a miracle, a man like him made a child this cute and happy. Ah, but he wasn’t raising him alone of course. There was you, and his siblings, and Alfred...

After a pause of the little boy holding his dad, he whispered slowly :

“Daddy, why are you sad Daddy ? Please don’t be sad, it makes me sad too.”

Thomas unwrapped his arms from around his dad’s neck, and squished his little hands on Bruce’s cheeks. Which made Bruce sigh fondly, chuckling a little as he said, honestly (he shouldn’t hide this sort of things) :

“Because Ace is gone.”

There’s another silence, during which Thomas tries to understand why is the fact Ace went somewhere so sad. He cannot figure it out, so he asks :

“But, he’ll come back daddy. Like always. Yes ? Ace is a good boy.”

“Was.”

Bruce is clumsy in his grief. He always been. He’s not sure how to broach the subject to his son, how to explain to him their dog was just too old and sick to make it...He doesn’t know how to explain death to him.

“Was ?”

“Ace is gone for good.”

“What do you mean Daddy ? Where did he go ? Why couldn’t we see him again ? Did he move out, like Dick ?”

Oh. Oh the sweet innocence of a child that is maybe a little too sheltered by his family (he’s the youngest, the one they’re trying to keep away from the horror they see every day as much as they can...Although he’s still trained, all of them hope he will never become a Robin, or worst, a Batman).

“Did he move out, like Dick ?”

Sweet, sweet Thomas. Not able to even fathom that Ace is never coming back...and why would he ? How could he know what his father meant ?

“No, no he didn't move out. He left us, to a place we can’t follow him to.”

Another short pause. And you could see the gears in little Thomas’ head turning. After a little bit, he asks :

“...The toilets ?”

This makes his father chuckle, even in this sad times. But he continues :

“No. Not the toilets. He...He went really far away, where we can’t ever see him again.”

This idea is so foreign to your son, that he raises himself on one of his elbow and exclaims :

“Why would he do that ? Does he not love us anymore ?”

Obviously, the thought is distressing to the little bird. So Bruce says :

“No no no, of course he still loves us...loved, us. But he had to go.”

“But why ?”

“Because he was getting very old, and sick.”

“But we don't mind daddy, right ? We don’t mind ? He doesn't have to go away for that, I don’t care if he doesn’t play like he used to, I want him to stay ! Tell him daddy, call him on the phone to tell him to come back.”

Bruce is lost. How ? How can he explains what death means ? He thought about this moment coming many times, but never told him anything as he thought that he had time to know what it meant. He had time...

How do you tell a child that one of his favorite “person” in the world is dead ?

“Unfortunately buddy, we have some sad news.”

His savior. You, as usual. With two cups of tea, and a cup of hot cocoa on a tray. As you went downstairs to get some “pick me up” for Bruce, you knew your son was gonna need it too.

“What news mama ?”

“Ace. He died today.”

You actually thought about it as you were preparing everything for them. How to talk about this ? You decided to go with “honesty”. Not brutal honesty though. You weren’t about to traumatize your son.

But you thought it was important he knew what happened to Ace. As a child, you hated how your brothers tried to make you think your ferret ran away to Las Vegas or something of the like.

You understood this sentiment, of course. But you also remembered how betrayed you felt when you finally understood “death” and realized your beloved Mister Will Ferret was NOT in Sin City having fun, but just died...

The truth was important.

Especially about such subjects.

Children weren’t dumb. And they had every right to know certain truth.

Did you wish your son could stay innocent for longer ? Of course. But he still had a right to know what happened to his dog. To be treated like a person and be explained things.

People, too often, treats children as some kind of idiots who wouldn’t comprehend complex things anyway, and who have to be protected at all cost from anything...

Kids were clever. You had a bunch of them to prove it so. But above that, although you agreed kids had to be protected...You weren't one of those person who thought you should lie to your children in order to do so.

Because one day, he’ll know what death is. He’ll know what happened to Ace. And what if the fact you lied that day, settles a slight distrust in him towards anything you’ll ever tell him ? Just like it did with you and your brothers ?

No. You thought at first it was a good idea to delay such a conversation. But why ? Because it would make you more comfortable ? That didn’t sound very fair in regard of your boy.

Everyone always talked about “the birds and the bees” talk, but never about something that was even more inescapable than that...

Death.

You give him a few seconds to take in your words. “Ace died today.” You wait for his reaction. He seems to think about it, having vaguely heard of “death” before...finally he asks :

“What does it mean ?”

He’s sitting up in the bed now. Bruce did the same, encircling his arms around his boy protectively (old habits die hard). But he’s determined to explain things to him too. You and Bruce were always rather in sync, about how you should raise your children.

“It means he will no longer be with us. He passed away to something else.”

“To what ?”

“No one really knows.”

“Will we see him again ?”

“No.”

“Why ?”

“Because he’s dead.”

“And being dead means you can’t see anyone anymore ?”

“Being dead means you are not living on this Earth anymore, so yes, you cannot see them anymore.”

“It means we can’t see him ? And what do you mean not on Earth ? Is he in Space ? Can we see him if we go to the watchtower ?”

“I mean in our life, we will not see Ace again. He won’t be with us ever again. He’s not in space, he’s just gone.”

“Because he’s dead ?”

“Because he’s dead.”

“So, being dead means we don’t get to see someone ever again ?”

“Yes.”

“Ever ever ?”

You decide to leave any conversations about a possible after-life aside, as it’s clear this, he’s not quite old enough to comprehend. So you keep on talking about the truth, with the support of Bruce.

“Yes. Ever ever.”

It takes Thomas a few minutes to take in all those new informations. Bruce is sitting on the bed, legs crossed, behind the boy. And your son is clearly lost in deep thoughts...Up until finally, finally tears are starting to well up in his eyes.

“But I didn’t even say goodbye !”

“Unfortunately, we don’t always get to say goodbye...”

“But mama, how will he know I loved him so much if I didn’t even say goodbye before he left ? How could you let him go before I did ?”

“I’m sorry, if I could chose I would’ve-...He knew you loved him and-”

“Are you going to die too ?!”

The dreaded question. Dreadest of them all, really. But you can’t lie to him. Not now that you started to explain things.

“Yes. Everyone dies one day.”

“But but but...but I don’t want you to die ! And Daddy ?”

Bruce nods, and...and that’s when it finally happens.

The awful moments your sweet innocent boy realizes what death sort-of means. That one day, none of his parents will be in his life anymore. Than one day, he’ll lose his siblings, and Alfred.

Just like he lost Ace. Because he was “old and sick”. But...Thomas knew a lot of sick people ! And a lot of old people ! Were they going to die too, without him being able to say goodbye ?!

And so the tears started to fall. And oh, oh did they fall.

Bruce held his son against his heart, drawing soothing circles on his back, just like you usually do. And you came to sit next to them, encircling them in your arms as well.

Thomas was trying to talk, but nothing came out very clearly as he cried, cried, cried and cried some more.

When he finally calmed down, he was slowly falling asleep, crying drained him of all his energy. That night, there was no “movie time”, but comforting snuggles with his parents...

Thomas had finally discover what “Death” meant.

************

“Oh my God Thomas !”

Bruce’s heart drops.

The entire scene goes in slow motion, and the fearless Batman can see his entire life flash in front of his eyes, as his tiny son is running towards him, while a few thugs were about to shoot automatic weapons at him...

“There’s a kid ! There’s a kid !”

“Who cares, we have the bat right at our mercy, just shoot !”

“I can’t shoot a kid...”

“Should we shoot ?”

The few seconds of surprise after Thomas bursted in allow Damian to swoop down, and to get rid of everyone. Slowly, a serious face on, your son walks to his dad and, solemnly, he says :

“This was too close, father. And...Thomas...”

“I know Damian, I know.”

Your little boy was inconsolable, clinging to his dad.

They didn’t even have to ask him how he got there. It was obvious he somehow snuck into the Batmobile (which wasn’t that much of a surprise, although it was already quite a feat...Thomas was small, but also very stealthy, as he was taught to be).

He was only five, and it wasn’t really clear to him yet his dad was that “Batman” everyone talked about, that his siblings were also vigilantes...But he knew that when they went out at night, they were often in danger.

And that night. That night right after the one Thomas learned what Death was...He snuck in the car, so he would make sure “she” would not take her dad away ! Or her brothers and sister !

Only Damian and Bruce were in the car, on patrol together. The rest of the kids were scattered across the city, and you were taking care of the bat computer (nowadays you were the one doing so to give some relief to Alfred).

Thomas took the habit to fall asleep in the cave, in a bed there just for him...and he must’ve snuck into the car.

It was nobody’s fault. It was very unlike the boy, to do such a thing.

He got into the car. When Damian and his father got out of it to apprehend a few of Two-Face’s thug, he stayed behind, looking at what they did...but when he saw those men about to shoot his dad (a proper ambush), he jumped out, punching every buttons (which was quite dangerous itself) to find which one opened the door, and then he ran to his dad...

The surprised probably saved Bruce. But it also almost killed him with a heart attack.

What if those men didn’t hesitate long enough for Damian to take care of them ? What if they shot anyway, ignoring the surprising appearance of a small child ? What if they had recognize who that kid was, too ? (Unlikely, this was a time where Thomas was still quite sheltered from media, as you tried to give him a childhood as normal as you all possibly could).

What if they shot anyway...

Bruce doesn’t think he would’ve survived the death of his youngest son. He was sure, actually, that he would’ve killed those men.

That is, if Damian didn’t do it first.

But it didn’t happen. It didn’t happen, but it was so close. So close.

Later, when everything calmed down, Thomas would explain he jumped in the car to “keep death away”, to protect his daddy and brother. To make sure Death wouldn’t take them.

And that's when you all understood Ace’s death, and the discovery that everyone dies one day, one way or another, truly was “traumatic” for your baby.

From that point on, you made sure that Thomas would be in the cave...but this event. This event really unfolded a problem you knew you’d have to tackle truly one day.

You just had no idea yet how to help your son.

************

Damian had told Jason the debacle that was yesterday. About his parents explaining to their little brother what it meant to be dead. And about how it lead to Thomas sneaking into the Batmobile and running in front of danger to “protect” his dad.

Because of where he grew up, Damian always knew what death meant. And he never cared much (or convinced himself he never cared much). He understood from a very young age what all this shenanigans was...

Jason did too. He found his mother, dead, when he was three years old. He grew up surrounded by death, in the gutter of Gotham. He knew. He did.

But Thomas.

Thomas was a “normal” 5 years old boy, as normal you can be in such a family. He trained a little, and sort of knew about his dad being “Batman” (but it seemed he didn’t understand he was ACTUALLY the Batman people talked about in the city).

He spend most of his nights in a little area made just for him, with a bed and such, in the batcave (he hated sleeping upstairs alone, so he would sleep in the batcave and you’d pick him up to bring him in his bed once you’d go to bed, and/or once the rest of your family would get home).

So for a little one like Thomas, who was pure and sweet and nice...It was a shock, to know one day he’d lose the people he loved.

He was inconsolable, at Ace’s funerals (thrown at the back of the Manor).

He couldn’t get over the fact he didn’t get to say goodbye, and that he would never play with his dog anymore.

It made it worst, that Ace’s death made everyone else sad. That dog truly was a member of the family...

“I know you're feeling very sad. I'm sad, too. We all loved Ace so much, and he oved us, too.”

You told him a few times, tryin to put words on his emotions and helping him understand...God, to Damian, you truly were the most amazing mother. Always knew what to say, how to say it, when to say it.

But Thomas was still blue, and it was so unlike his usual bubbly personality.

And so, both Damian and Jason made it their mission to distract their little brother, and...it worked. For the most part. It really worked.

Amongst all his siblings, Damian and Jason were the ones that loved having a little brother the most. Not that the others didn’t, of course ! They just were a little less willing to play for hours on end with a little kid.

They were rather busy. Jason and Damian always found ways...They were an unlikely pairs at first glance. Most people would think Damian was the closest to Dick, and Jason too. But no. They were equally as close to all their siblings, in different ways.

But Damian and Jason, they had an extra connection. Jason was there, when Damian was a baby. He didn’t remember his own name, and was used by the Al’Ghuls after they resurrected him...But he was still one of the only person in Damian’s life that truly valued him.

Fate, right ? A funny thing. After all, how small did the world have to be for two of Bruce’s sons to meet in such a way ? A hidden son, and one he thought dead, at that ?!

In any case. They were closer than most would think. And they also were linked not only by the Al’Ghuls, but by how they were both ripped off of an actual childhood, and therefor wanted to make sure their little brother had one too (Cass was the same, but more subtle, and discreet).

And so...

They played, made art pieces, jigsaw puzzles, watched his favorite movies, cooked...Anything to take his mind off of “Death”.

That little boy would overthink too much, for such a young age.

But overall, Damian and Jason did a good job distracting him from the pain.

They did an amazing job.

You were so proud of how they took care of their baby brother (and it would give yourself more time to go cheer up the “Oldest Wayne”, your dear husband, who definitely had a hard time getting over his dog’s death...).

Only, there was one problem...And that problem was that neither Damian nor Jason, just like everyone else, were immortal.

And this, this, Thomas would realize very soon.

************

“More compresses, Master Tim !”

“On it Al !”

The loud noises woke Thomas up. You knew. You knew you should’ve gone up to bed earlier. Tuck him in, and wait for your family to come back.

Ah. But when they all arrived in the cave, ALL of them, including Dick who did not live at the manor anymore...You knew there was a problem.

And indeed. Jason had been badly hurt. Not something that couldn’t be fixed, but ah, once again, too damn close.

Everyone was on the tail of a high profile serial killer, the newcomer called “Dr Pyg”, and...Collateral damage. It happened, in this line of work.

It wasn’t easy. Especially when it was one of your baby. But you had to keep a leveled head, as you helped Alfred fix your boy.

You had taken medical trainings early in in your relationship with Bruce. For obvious reasons. And there was rarely a day it didn’t come in handy.

In any case, all the noises around woke Thomas up.

Before. Before he knew what death truly meant, he would’ve been worried. He would've cried. He would’ve been distressed. Of course.

And one of his siblings would’ve taken care of him, reassure him, soothe and console him, and little Thomas would be ok again.

Before he knew what death truly meant.

He was so small anyway, most of the time he’d forget things, or just not understand them...but he was five now. Close to the age of reason. And definitely aware of his surroundings enough now to pay attention, and remember things.

And he knew what death truly meant.

He clung to Jason for dear life, even as everyone reassured him he was actually ok. Jason himself was conscious, he had been badly hurt but nothing he hadn’t seen before.

He needed some rest for sure, but it was fine, really.

It wasn’t fine for Thomas. He yelled, threw the biggest tantrum he ever threw, yelled some more that they should stop. That he didn’t want them to die. That whatever they were doing...He begged them to stop.

Never before in your life, had any of you witness Thomas being in such a state. He was inconsolable. You couldn’t calm him down, no matter what...

And once more, it’s only because of exhaustion that he finally relaxed. But yet, still in his sleep, he clung to Jason’s sleeve, as if afraid his brother would be gone when he’d wake up.

It tore yours and Bruce’s heart apart, to see your baby like this. But to be honest...neither of you knew what to do...

************

“Where’s Damian mama ? Where is he ?”

Thomas was truly panicked.

The first day, he thought maybe his brother was busy with school and such. The second day, he started to worry. But now ? Three days in a row with Damian not at the dinner table ? Or in his room ? Or in the batcave ?!

It made Thomas anxious. What happened to his brother ? Was he...was he...DID DEATH TAKE HIM AWAY ?

“Where’s Dami mama ? Where is he ?!” Thomas kept asking, crying. And it took you moment to finally realize what your son must’ve thought. When you did, you picked him up and calmed him down, explaining Damian was simply over at Jon’s for a few days...

And from that day on, you’d make sure to tell him why anyone would be gone for any amount of time.

That night, Bruce and you talked about what you could do to help Thomas get over his consuming fear of losing one of you.

But nothing really came to your minds.

And it was awful, to feel like a failure like that.

Later on, your Damian would tell you you were NOT failing at parents because you were a little lost about this. After all, none of your other kids got into quite a crisis like this one. He said maybe considering a therapist could do ? But oh, oh Thomas was so little.

And if words were out that Thomas Wayne, barely five years old, was seeing a therapist ? The scandals would be unending, and would it really help your son ?

Damian joined in in the search for a way to soothe his baby brother. He never said “no” to cuddles from him, but lately...Lately, Thomas almost became overbearing, as he made sure he’d always sort of have his eyes on everyone.

And it wasn’t healthy, for such a little boy to worry so much.

Damian missed his carefree baby brother. He knew he had to eventually grow up, of course, and that he’d have some hardships but...he was just five and a half ! He wasn’t suppose to be so scared of death !

And so he thought, nights and days, of a way to soothe him. But just like you and Bruce, this matter was quite delicate...

************

It seemed like Cass was the only one able to truly console him, and make him relax. She would sing him songs, just like you did to her when she felt sad.

She would tell him tales of Death as a good thing, inspiring herself from many legends from around the world.

She would try to put perspective on everything, in a way you truly admired.

She never spoke too much, your Cass...But when she did, every words were carefully chosen and crafted into truly beautiful things.

And it would soothe your boy.

But only as long as he was with Cass. And he couldn’t always be with her.

You didn’t have her talent to tell those tales, and your singing was working only for a few moments to put him to sleep but...you couldn’t always have him sleep. You had to think of more viable options.

Nonetheless, when Thomas was really too anxious, Cass would be there.

Relieving everyone of their worry, as she could calm her baby brother in matter of seconds. In those moments, you wished time could stop. You truly did...

************

Thomas would cling to you and his dad the most. His siblings were often out and about, but you two ? Well you took some time off to be with your youngest son, to be there for him in this odd times...

And you weren’t sure it was such a good idea, in the end.

He would often just snuggle up to you or Bruce, listening to your heartbeats, which would calm him...You’d normally never say no to hugs from your children. But this was all starting to become so unhealthy for the little one.

What could you do ? What could you do ?!

************

Duke was panicking.

Thomas was doing fine today, and Duke felt like he royally fucked up.

Thomas was worried about Duke, telling him to be careful and that his heart would break if Duke ever died...Which melted Duke’s heart.

It made him feel so loved and accepted. And he wanted to help little Thomas so much...

That’s when he made a rookie mistake.

After all, he was still quite new at this “big brother” thing.

“There are things worst than death.”

Is what he told him. What was he thinking ? Reflecting on things, Duke realized he didn't think it through. To him, it was a soothing way to say death wasn’t that bad. But...Ah, ah it made Thomas cry.

“What ? What is worst than not seeing you guys ever again ?!”

At that moment, Duke hadn’t realized quite yet how much he fucked up. So he said : “Well, my parents can't remember me, can’t remember who they are...They’re not dead, but they’re not here anymore. They’re physically here, but they don’t know me, they don’t know how to hug me, they can’t be my parents anymore...Yet they’re still alive.”

The horrified look on Thomas’ face is what gave him a hint that this really wasn’t a good thing to say...

“No no no wait Thomas, don’t cry please, I was trying to tell you...Wait Thomas, please, no. Oooh buddy, buddy I’m so sorry.”

It almost made Duke cry too, to witness the one he considered his little brother in such distress. He wasn’t trained for this ! He wasn’t trained for this !!!

This was the first time Duke truly felt like an older brother, truly felt like he understood this important role. He had to think before saying something. He had to protect his baby brother. He had to find ways to soothe him...

“Ok here we are, here we are everything is a-okay, you’re ok, things will be ok...”

Duke picked Thomas up, and started to rock him back and forth slowly, just like his own mom did to him...He mixed the way his mom used to put him to sleep, with your soothing singing. With words he borrowed from you.

“I’m here, I’m here. Don’t worry I’m here, I won’t go anywhere. Things will be ok baby boy, things will be ok. You’re gonna be ok. I’m not going anywhere. I didn’t mean any of it...”

Duke had been living with you for a while now. He came to see all of you as his second family, even as his parents were still alive, and a constant chain holding him back at times...a chain that broke right at this moment.

Thomas was his little brother. He truly was.

And Duke was determined to be there for him. Especially after he made him cry.

“It’s ok Tommy, cry all you want. It’s ok to cry. It’s ok to cry.”

You always told him that. It was ok to cry. To be angry. To want to break everything. To want his mom...

But you were his mom too now. You were. And you had such a way with words. Such a soothing touch. Even as he was grown up now, you always knew what to say. You always did.

“You’re ok, right ? Yeaaaah you’re ok. See, things are fine, we chill, we chill.”

Duke was slowly swaying from left to right, Thomas in his arm, slowly lulling him to sleep, calming him down. His voice seemed to have the same effect than yours...Because he was calm. And because he meant it.

The love.

The love he had for this little boy.

It poured out of him, easily, naturally.

He loved that kid so much. And he wanted him to be ok. And it seemed like Thomas ? Thomas felt it. He felt the love. Just like Duke felt the love of all of you...

That little bean put himself in such a state at the mere thought of Duke dying, of one of his brother leaving...And Duke. Duke realized he felt the same.

Couldn’t imagine any of them dying.

And so he poured love in his every word, and swayed from side to side, calming Thomas, and making sure he knew...He knew that, he was right there.

Right there.

************

“You’re getting old, Alfred.”

You said jokingly, as you beat him at chess. And oh. Oh what a mistake you just did.

“Old ? I don’t want you to die Alfred, I don’t !”

Thomas was playing next to you. You hadn’t thought about his “trauma” for a little while as he seemed to feel a little better lately...But oh, he plunged right back into it there.

Because of you. You felt absolutely awful...

“I’ll fight Death for you Alfred ! I will ! I won’t let her take you !!”

It took a while, as it became usual now, to calm him down. He was ready to throw hands with Death. Fierce that no one would take his “grandpa”. But he was still very scared and sad...

“I’m a terrible mother...”

You told Bruce that night. And he held you against him, consoling you, saying it wasn’t your fault and that it was just friendly banter with Alfred as usual...

“You are the literal opposite of a terrible mother, my love.”

“But Broosh, I made him- I-”

You sniff, unable to control your sobs as you remember your poor little boy holding Alfred and yelling at Death she can’t take him. The poor butler himself didn’t even know how he could do anything to calm him down...

“We’ll find a solution my love, we’ll find a solution...”

This entire night, Bruce stayed up although he was exhausted, so he could soothe you and take care of you. Skipping patrol (knowing though the city was safe with his children out).

At some point during the night, Thomas came to your room.

It was often, lately, that after a nightmare he’d come running to you. His nightmares would often be about losing you...

You had finally fallen asleep, in your husband’s arms, and Bruce gestured to your boy to not make too much noice.

Sweet little Thomas acquiesced, and slowly came to the bed, taking the hand his father gave him.

Bruce was about to fall asleep too, knowing you had finally found sleep...But now, he wasn’t going to. Not until he made sure his son was asleep as well.

All he could do for now, was being there for you two. Try to soothe you as best her could. As best he could...

Sleep was restless and full of nightmares.

************

Dick would try to often visit his parents and siblings. As much as he could, which wasn’t always easy, with his work in Bludhäven. But nothing is more sacred than family...He realized that over the years.

During those moments, it would be rather normal for Thomas to go settle in his oldest brother’s laps. He would make the most of seeing him.

So today, as Dick was in the kitchen trying to make himself a cup of coffee, it was no surprise when little Tommy came to see him.

You had bought a new espresso machine, and Dick had no idea how it worked...Slowly, his littlest brother came in, dragged a chair next to him, and used it to climb on the counter.

He then started to make Dick’s cup of coffee, without much of a word being exchanged. Dick smiled widely, his little bro was so cute and clever. In no time, he had make a great cup of coffee for him.

But...Something seemed to bother him. Tommy was an exuberant child when around his family, but he had been quiet right there. He didn’t jump in his brother’s arms like he usually does, and he wasn’t telling him all about what he missed since last time he came in !

Was it still this all thing about being worried about death ?

“Are you ok little wing ?”

Ever since Jason, “Little Wing” or “Bird” became the common denomination for his younger siblings. A term of endearment that they all (secretly or not) loved.

Tommy seemed to think a little, while raising his arms, signifying he wanted Dick to pick him up.

Dick did, of course, and they went to sit at the kitchen counter, and as usual, Tommy settled down on Dick’s laps. He turned around and, after another short pause (Dick always knew when to stay silent, and wait for the other person to speak first) said :

“Dickie, are mom and dad not your mom and dad ?”

“Mm ?”

“Your real mom and dad, they died ? You can’t see them no more now ?”

There was a lump in Dick’s throat. Not because he thought about his parents no. He actually came to peace with their death long ago now. And though he missed them every day, it didn’t hurt as much as it used to.

He was lucky to find another loving family...From which that little worried kiddo in front of him was an important part of.

“Yes, I can’t see them anymore.”

“It hurts ?”

“It used to. Now less. I miss them, but I wasn’t alone.”

“Because you have our mom and dad ?”

“Yes.”

Dick ruffles his hair fondly.

“Do you wish you’d still have your real mom and dad ?”

“Mom and dad ARE my real parents too. I was lucky enough to find new ones. Not everyone is as lucky, like dad. He was alone for a long time”

“What about Alfred ?”

“It took dad a while to realize that Alfred was a second father to him”

“So...Will you be my second dad if dad goes ?”

Dick feels another lump in his throat. Bigger this time.

He couldn’t even imagine the day he’ll lose this “second dad”, this one he had now called “dad” for longer even than his own biological father...Dick was 8, when he came into yours and Bruce’s life.

He spend more years with you two than with his “real” parents. You never replaced them, no. You just..became his parents too.

He would never forget his biological parents. But he would never diminish the impact his adoptive one had. The love you and Bruce gave him.

Would he be good enough to be Thomas “second dad” ? After all, he currently had about the age Bruce had when he adopted him...

But Dick couldn’t imagine losing Bruce too. Losing another father. No. He couldn’t. He couldn’t.

Thomas was already moving on, asking more questions :

“Will I find another mom and dad too if mom and dad die ? Or will I be alone like dad ? Will I have Alfred forever ?”

“I-I don’t know buddy.”

“What if I lose all of you at the same time ? I will be all alone then.”

“You won’t.”

“But what if I do ?”

“I’ll always be there.”

“You can’t know that, can you ?”

“Maybe, but this will never happen. You will never be alone.”

“You really think so ?”

“I Do. And I promise little wing, I promise...You won’t lose all of us. You won’t.”

Dick held his brother even tighter against him, and missed the unconvinced expression on Thomas’ face.

************

Your youngest son was still utterly terrified of losing any of you. But his terrible fit would pass now, he would calm down more easily, and wouldn’t cry until exhaustion...But it didn’t mean he wasn't afraid anymore.

Unfortunately.

“Death” was still a constant on his mind. One of the biggest question. Without much answers.

His mother and father said no one knew what happened after “death”, but Thomas wasn’t convinced. So he went to the only one he knew would tell him the truth, and was most likely to know...Tim.

His older brother was currently in the garden, studying for his finals. But oh he’d take a break for his little brother, of course.

Especially lately, as said little brother was overly worried and needed constant reassurance.

“Hi Timmy.”

“Hey little one.”

“Bothering you ?”

“You are not bothering me, never.”

“Can I ask you a question then ?”

“Of course.”

“What happens when we die ?”

Oof.

OOOOF.

Not something Tim could say he expected to be asked. Even as he knew Thomas was sort of obsessed with this lately. And ah...Ah he started to get lost into physiological effects of death, into science, into things Thomas could definitely not understand...

And into things he didn’t care about.

Thomas had no interest in knowing what happens to the corporeal side of things. To our bodies. He wanted to know where “we” went. Where the being went. The conscience.

Of course he wouldn’t word it that way, but it was easy to understand that it was what he meant when he said : “where do we go when we die ?”.

After a long time of Tim getting lost in many complex explanations about decomposition (what the Hell Tim ?), he finally stopped as he saw that Thomas was most definitely lost.

“Where do we go after we die ?”

“Yes. What happens ? You must know, you know everything !”

The faith his littlest brother put in him made him feel warm inside but...unfortunately on this subject he had to disappoint him.

“I..I don’t know about this, actually.”

Thomas looked crestfallen. Was nothing sacred anymore ?? Death existed, and the one he thought would always have a solution to everything didn’t know something that important !!

“There’s many theories.”

“What’s a theories ?”

“One theory, multiple theories. A theory is...an idea of how things might work.”

“What are the theory ?”

“Theories, plural.”

“What are the theories ?”

“Well. Some people think that you go into some kind of afterlife. It depends the culture, and the religion, and...many other factors. But there’s usually a few places we can end up.”

“And we’ll see the people who died there ? We’ll see them again ?”

“Supposedly so.”

“Is it sure ?”

“No, it’s just a theory.”

“You said a theory is an idea of how things might work.”

“An idea that might not be proven.”

“What’s the point then ?”

“Theorizing.”

“I don’t understand...”

Of course he didn’t, he was a smart little boy...But still just five. Tim sat down to his level, and looked at him in the eyes :

“Well. You have to understand that um...No one knows what happens after death. So we have to make theories, things that might or might not be. You understand ?”

“No.”

“Well, since we don’t know, we make things up. But maybe those things are right. Maybe they aren’t.”

“So the answer is we don't know ?”

“Yes. But there are theories ?”

“Ok. So aside from the place we see others again, what are the theories ?”

“Well (...)”

Tim was a patient boy. For hours and hours, he tried to explain every single “theory” people might’ve had about what happens after Death. And Thomas listened carefully.

Finally, Tim was done, and his brother said :

“So...No one really knows, and there’s a lot of theory...ies. Theories.”

“Basically.”

Thomas looked so discouraged. Tim was very well aware that none of what he told him really helped his brother, or reassured him...But ah. Tim was known to not lie. Which was a good thing. And he couldn’t possibly have a free conscience if he had told his brother just one theory of the after life, the nicest one, just to reassure him.

Of course, he wanted to reassure him. To distract him. But he would do so another way. Lying to him was not it.

Still, it was so disheartening to see this sweet little boy so crestfallen.

“Um, Well...I guess some people know.”

Thomas looked up at his brother, hopeful, waiting for him to continue.

“Like Constantine. But um, he’s sort of crazy. And dad doesn't want him around the house for...reasons you’ll understand when you’ll grow up. And-”

Ah but Thomas wasn’t listening to Tim anymore, and his monologue as to why maybe John Constantine wasn’t such a reliable source.

“Constantine” huh ? Interesting. Ah. Sometimes, Tim forgot how smart his little brother truly was...for a five years old. And how he took after his father, when it came to memory and attention to details.

************

This constant worry went on for quite just a few days. A few very eventful days, that were so...exhausting. Thomas was constantly scared for your lives, and would cry if anyone got hurt too much.

He would follow you around, and be way too stressed for such a little bean.

Everyone came to hide their injuries from him, tried to distract him from what they were doing when out as the Bats...But it was becoming a real problem.

How ? How could they make a little five years old understand that he couldn’t forever be afraid of death ? It was impossible. None of you, not even you, had the right words. There were no right words anyway.

You could tell him whatever you wanted, it’d never make him stop thinking about Death taking one of you with her, taking one of you far away from him.

“A place he cannot follow you to.”

How ? How could you help ?!

But the change had to come from within him, you would soon realize.

About a week after Ace’s death, and a truly painful few days of everyone being lost and unable to help the baby of the family... he suddenly spoke up, at dinner time :

“Mama, mama, if one day you die, I will bring you back. I promise. Same for daddy, and Dick, and Jason, and Cass, and Tim, and Duke, and Damian, and Alfred. I don’t know if we can bring dogs back, but humans yes ? And worst case scenario, I’ll conjure your spirit so I can say goodbye, and then I’ll know we’ll see each others again !”

“Wh-What ?”

“Stunned” doesn’t quite cover how you felt at your son’s sudden tirade, at dinner that night. Everyone was here, a rare occasion. Your one dinner a months that was mandatory for all your kids ! To make sure you’d all have moments together.

And boom. Came this monologue out of nowhere, from your small little five and a half years old son.

Stunned. Not a strong word enough to describe you, or your other children.

But Bruce. Oh Bruce. Bruce was frowning. Narrowing his eyes in a way you knew perfectly well...It meant he was angry at someone.

“Who told you all this, son ?”

“Mister Constantine.”

A growl. A scary growl. From deep within your husband’s throat. You would NOT want to be John next time he’d see

“How did you talk to him ?”

“I used your phone.”

“I don’t have his number on my...Wait, the bat phone ?!”

“Yes. The one you call uncle Clark on !”

“What the-...how did you-ugh ?!”

There were so many questions. So many.

“I copied what you do, on the phone. And I asked it if it could call the Constantine.”

“The Constantine”, this better not be a stupid way he called himself in front of his son, Bruce thought. Ah, and curse the fact he kept having kids that were too damn smart for their own good !

Kids this days. Growing up with technology. Able to work a batphobe at age 5 and a half !!

“Hope I helped little man - John Constantine”, said the note that came to the manor a few days later. Which made Bruce fume with rage, but Thomas beam happily.

Bruce was already planning to go after John, and force him to say what he told his son. But...But...

To be honest. Whatever he said. You didn’t care. You knew, more than anyone else, that “Death” wasn’t as definitive as it sounded at times. And you knew for certain there was something after you died. What ? You couldn’t be sure. But something. Another place. Or maybe reincarnation ? Who knew.

Deep in your heart though, you knew that no matter what, if you ever were to die...You’d see your family again. You weren’t sure how or where. It was just a certainty in your heart. A gut feeling.

Yes. You didn’t care what John told your son. If it could help him accept that everyone will die one day. Didn’t mean he wasn’t afraid of losing you anymore. Oh no. But at least...At least he knew worrying about it lead nowhere. And to truly enjoy the moments of the present.

Whatever John said, it helped your son. That’s all that mattered. And as Thomas would grow up, you knew he’d understand things more and more.

He already knew he was luckier than many people. He had a loving family. They were all there with him for now (minus Ace, whom he missed every day). A lot of people couldn’t say the same thing.

Death was an odd thing. Especially in the World you lived in.

It wasn’t as definitive as some would say.

Your family knew that more than anyone else.

Death was an odd thing, that wasn’t always the ultimate end...

This, one day, Thomas would truly understand.

The end

__________________________________________________

And here we are :). Just a quick thing again, my bigger story (fake boyfriend trope with Bruce hehe) is coming soon. But in the mean time, felt compelled to write about this. I hope you enjoyed reading it, and liked it ? Not my best work :/, another quick drabble written very late at night eh. But nonetheless, fun to write ? Hope it’s not a disappointment, it’s just a thing to make ya wait for a more elaborate thing that I took a lot of care writing. Anyway it’s 4 am, time for bed :).

If you did, don’t hesitate to leave a little feedback or/and to reblog :). If you didn’t as well really, it’s always good to know what’s not good so I can improve (just stay civil please).

PS : Bonus point if you get where I’m trying to arrive at with those last few words about how definitive death is :p.

1K notes · View notes

jinmukangwrites · 3 years ago

Text

Whumptober 2021 - October 14th - Beaten

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types

AO3

Warnings: Dami whump and Jason angst. hostage situations.

Gift fic for @trashcollectshere

---

This couldn’t have gone more wrong. Jason should have known better than to assume a mission would go by with flying colors for once in his life. It was supposed to be a simple intel mission, sneak in and sneak out with whatever useful information he could get his grubby hands on.

He just didn’t expect Damian to want to tag along, that’s all. And really, Jason’s constant teasing of the small-fry is more just… weird brotherly bonding. In reality, Jason knows Damian is very smart and very capable--and the more months that go by, the easier it is for Jason to work one-on-one with the squirt. Jason hates to admit it now, but truly he does see Damian as his little brother, so why would he turn the kid down from a simple intel mission partner-up? Kid was frustrated with his dad for whatever reason Jason’s sure Bruce deserves, and it’s not like Dick or Tim are in town to take him out to let him work out his pent up frustrations.

Sure, Cass and Duke are in town, but… well… it kinda felt good that Damian went to him first to ask to partner together for a patrol. No matter what people say, Jason’s sure he’s never been the top choice for something like this. Kid wants to spend time with him first compared to any of his available options and it strokes his fragile-ego, okay?

How could he say no to that?

He should have said no. Because the mission went wrong because of gosh-diddly-darn course it did. And it wasn’t even Damian’s fault they got caught. It was all on Jason. He thought the warehouse he was checking out would be more empty than it was, and when he and Damian barged in they were met with dozens of goons with more guns than what Jason could confidently protect himself and Damian from. He was forced to raise his hands in surrender, as did Damian who looked livid as hell, while goons began to disarm them and then zip-tie their hands in front of them so they could be seen.

That’s another thing that Jason didn’t expect to happen tonight. These goons are smart, and smart goons are about as dangerous on their own as they are with whatever boss they’re working with. In this case, it’s Penguin. Which makes this whole thing one million times worse.

At least he knows they won't die here. Penguin doesn’t like it when his associates do big things like kill a bat without his permission, and if he did give permission he’d like to watch the execution himself. Which he can't do because Penguin is in Europe for whatever reason… which is also why Jason chose to gather intel here tonight in the first place.

“What do we do with them?” Asks a goon, and the one besides him shrugs.

Another, one who carries more authority in his stance compared to the others, steps up to Jason and regards them with a glare over his neck gaiter. Damian meets the glare. “We can’t kill them… but we also can’t bring them with us,” the leader says, confirming Jason’s suspicions that as long as Penguin isn’t in Gotham, his goons won’t use lethal force. The leader turns towards his associates and puts his hands on his hips. “Tell me, what’s something the sidekicks of a bat care more about than a mission?”

Silence, and the leader grins under that mask. Jason can tell by the rise of his cheekbones.

“Each other.”

Before Jason can try and guess what they mean by that, the leader spins around and grabs Damian by the bicep and jerks him away from Jason; sending him stumbling into the arms of a big and dimwitted looking man with arms rivaling tree-trunks.

“Hey!” Jason shouts, making to stand up from where he’s been forced to kneel, but the leader turns towards him and grins.

“You choose, Hood. Either we shoot the kid in the legs, or we beat the hell out of him with a pair of fists.”

Jason feels his blood go cold.

“Wh-”

“Choose quickly, Hood, or I’ll choose for you.”

The leader starts counting down from ten, and Jason suddenly cannot think. He tries to. Does his damnedest to. But he can’t come up with anything. His wrists are restrained in front of him so he can’t try to escape without twenty or so armed goons noticing him do so. The big goon also has Damian in his grasp, two giant hands wrapping around both of Damian’s arms. Damian has a twisted look to his face like he’s already preparing himself to take bullets to the legs.

“Three…” The leader says, looking entirely too smug. His hand is too close to the gun on his belt. “Two-”

“Fine,” Jason snaps, causing the leader to pause with a smirk. Jason wishes his helmet was off just so this bastard can see just how hard Jason’s glaring at him. “I’ll choose, under one condition.”

Thankfully, the leader looks more intrigued at the question and anything. He raises an eyebrow, inviting Jason to continue. Bitch-ass. Jason hates him already.

“Obviously I don’t want the kid to be shot,” Jason starts slowly, taking note of the way Damian’s shoulders relax just a bit in the restraining hold the big guy has on him. “But if I choose the second option, I get to choose who does the job.”

Some of the group of goons shift angrily, like they all want a go at a literal fourteen year old, but the main reason Jason needs this is that Jason can’t trust any one of these assholes to not accidentally kill Damian. Especially the big guy who’s holding Damian standing in place.

The leader must notice the metal in Jason’s voice, as he turns towards the big goon and throws his head back in a handful of short, amused chortles.

“Okay!” He says, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “But choose quickly, because I don’t have all day.”

“Don’t worry, I already have someone in mind.”

The leader tilts his head curiously, and Jason silently prays to whatever gods that don’t hate him that this will work out.

“Me.”

The whole warehouse seems to go quiet enough for a pin to drop. For a second, Jason thinks his grand loop-hole will be denied, but the leaders cheekbones rise and a few of the other goons chuckle softly like Harley’s hyenas.

Clearly, the idea of a bat beating up one of their own is more amusing to these assholes than doing the job themselves.

“Okay, Hood,” the leader says, bending down and taking a switch-knife to Jason’s zip-tied hands. “But if you pull your punches too much, I'll shoot your legs and pull you out for our big guy to finish the job.”

Jason slowly stands up and rubs his wrists. “Save it.”

Jason will do anything to make sure his baby brother isn’t permanently harmed by heartless bastards working for a Gotham Rogue. He’s beat up his siblings before… he can do this. He just needs to turn off his feelings a little bit… pretend that Damian is still the spoiled, full-of-himself demon-brat that he was when he first came into the family's lives.

They don’t untie Damian’s hands to give him a chance to defend himself. They just push him forward and soon enough Jason finds himself standing in the center of a circular barrier made by armed men. Damian stands before him, wrists tied in front of him, but his face relaxed. Prepared. Jason can’t see what he’s thinking. The only thing he can be sure of is that Damian prefers a good-ol’ beat-down compared to shot legs. He just has no idea what the kid thinks about Jason doing the unfortunate job himself.

He can’t worry about it too much now. He can’t back out of this.

Jason takes a deep breath and steals his nerves. He knows exactly how to take down an opponent without giving them permanent damage. He knows how to prolong those take downs as well, which judging by the way these goons hover like vultures, they want this prolonged. They don’t want to see Jason purely knock Damian out and call it a day. They want it brutal, and they want it to last. They want bruises, some cuts, the victim eventually curling up on the ground doing everything just to cover their head.

As sick as it’s beginning to make Jason feel… he can do that.

“Sorry, kid,” he says quietly, and Damian’s lips purse.

“Get it over with, Hood.”

If that’s any kind of permission or acceptance at the shitty situation… then Jason will accept it.

The first blow Jason deals is the one that hurts the most. It’s a simple slug against Damian’s jaw, causing the bound boy to stumble—his head snapping to the side. Jason turns on autopilot then, forcing himself to not think about the progress he’s made with the kid… about how pissed everyone will be at him again after this. If he doesn’t force himself to not think, then he’d worry himself sick over what-ifs… going over every little impossible thing he could have done instead to get himself and Damian out of this with as little damage as possible.

Dick and Bruce are going to kill him after this.

He digs his knee into Damian’s stomach after a few calculated and well placed punches, causing Damian to gasp as the force of the blow lifts his boots off the ground for a solid few moments. The goons cheer, and Jason allows himself to wish that he was doing this to one of them instead.

He steps back after winding Damian. His jaw is red and he’s leaning forward slightly; he’s gasping. Then, he spits on the ground and glares at Jason.

“That all you got, Hood? I would almost prefer they switch you out with someone who actually can throw a punch.”

Jason’s sure there’s fire in his eyes under his mask.

He takes that as his final sign to let go. He doesn’t give Damian any more time to recover. He just goes. He can feel bad later. He can hate himself later. For now?

He has to do what must be done.

He’s good at that.

He can’t even keep track of what he’s doing now, all he’s aware of is his knuckles hitting another body, green tinting the edges of his vision. He knows he’s not being lethal… he knows he’s not going to permanently injure the kid, and that’s all that matters to him.

Eventually, he finds that it’s no longer his knuckles hitting Damian, but it’s now his boots. He kicks hard enough to send Damian rolling a few feet, causing the circle of vultures to scramble back with jaunting jeers. Damian doesn’t get back up, just curls up and covers his neck and head the best he can with his restrained hands.

A few more kicks are placed in Damian’s exposed stomach and Jason’s about to straddle the kid and start punching again, but a hand falls on his shoulder… bringing his world to a halt.

“Didn’t think you had it in you, Hood,” the leader says, not sounding honest at all. He sounds like he just watched a good show that ended exactly how he expected it. Red Hood has already been known to get into physical fights with the bats here and there. Jason would be a fool to expect anyone to think he’s changed for the better since then. “But if you go more, you might just kill him. Not that I mind, as long as it’s not connected to us.”

“Go,” Jason growls, staring down at the still curled up Damian with his stomach churning. “Or I’ll kill you.”

The leader laughs. Pats his shoulder, then calls to his lackeys to get going. Only a few of them make disappointed sounds. Most sound satisfied. Pleased.

He kneels down next to Damian, afraid to touch him again. He ignores the sounds of tires screeching away, taking the goons and all the evidence they’ve been here with them. Leaving Jason alone.

“Kid?” Jason asks when Damian doesn’t move. Why does his chest hurt so much? He’s breathing. Jason’s positive he hasn’t drawn any blood or hit anywhere he shouldn’t have. “Robin? I need to get you home. You hear me?”

Damian finally responds, slowly bringing his hands away from his face and uncurling. He turns onto his back and lets out a massive groan. “Couldn’t have made that quicker?” Damian smiles tiredly, and Jason’s heart aches.

“I’m sorry,” he says, reaching forward quickly to take Damian’s restraints off.

Damian shakes his head, hissing as it pulls at his bruising skin. The skin Jason bruised. “You did what you had to… to gain the best outcome. I don’t blame you. It could have been worse.”

Jason hates how mature the brat is. He looks right at Jason, and there’s no hatred on his face like Jason almost expects.

There’s irritated skin all over the kid, red and already beginning to bruise. One of his newly freed hands goes down to his ribs, pressing near the bottom left of the cage. Jason desperately hopes he didn’t break anything.

“Jason,” Damian says when Jason stays quiet for too long. His voice is tired and tight. “We need to go home.”

Jason snaps out the incoming self-loathing and shakes his head, hoping to clear his head long enough to just get him home.

“Yeah,” he says smartly.

He sits there stupidly though, unsure of what to do next. After a second too long passes, Damian makes that tch sound he always makes and pushes himself up, using his elbows and hissing against the pain the entire way. “You going to help me or just watch?” He asks through grinding teeth. That spurs Jason into motion, carefully lifting Damian bridal-style into his arms. The kid feels so much smaller than he remembers. He almost wants to throw up.

Damian relaxes against his chest with a too trusting sigh as Jason carries him out of the warehouse and towards Jason’s bike.

“My suit footage was corrupted,” Damian says, suddenly. “I must have turned it off accidentally…”

Jason swallows, the information on the “accident” like a large cow-pill to take down. “Kid…”

“I guess B is gonna have to take our words when we tell him the villains beat me up.”

Jason thins his lips under his helmet and places down on the back of his bike.

He wants to demand why Damian isn’t angry with him. Usually the kid is a spit-fire of raw emotions, never caring to hide his disappointment or anger. Why is he doing this now? Why is he trying to protect Jason from blame? Why isn’t he blaming him or cursing him? Calling him names and shouting at him that he’ll never be a good guy and he’ll never be trusted again?

He drives back to the manor with these thoughts racing through his brain, only half-listening to Damian chat about their cover story… mostly focusing on the thin arms so comfortably wrapped around his chest.

After getting the kid to Alfred and lying to Bruce about the source of the injuries, Jason almost fears Damian’s going to laugh and throw Jason under the bus. But he never does.

Jason’s forced to accept that Damian isn’t angry with him for a handful of bruises and some jostled ribs. As crazy as that is. He’s even gone out of his way to make sure Bruce doesn’t suspect Jason of the attack at the slightest. Bruce even congratulates him on getting Damian out of there safely.

He swears then to be better. A better brother, person, and protector. He wants to feel like he deserves this kindness from Damian… this forgiveness.

He will work towards that.

No matter what.

#damian wayne #jason todd #robin #red hood #dc comics #whumptober2021 #whump #injury tw #hostage situation #jin writes #fanfiction

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