#yeah here you go teen dad bruce au

[mrsstruggle]

The Beast of War - Prologue // Teen Wolf x Marvel AU

This is the second part of the Shadow Wolf Series. Read The Lost Child First if you haven't!

Series Summary: In the aftermath of discovering her true identity and reuniting with her long-lost family, Y/N Stilinski finds herself adjusting to a new chapter of her life in Beacon Hills. With her brother and his friends in their senior year at High School, the town faces a fresh new threat. Y/N must navigate the complexities of her new life while confronting the looming threat that threatens to hurt her and the people she loves.

Warnings: Language, Mentions of Death/Injury/Grief/Torture, Possible Grammar Mistakes (please let me know if there is anything else)

Series Pairings: Derek Hale x Reader, Stiles Stilinski x Malia Tate (for now), Steve Rodgers x Bucky Barnes, Bruce Banner x Natasha Romanoff, Vision x Wanda Maximoff

Words: 2.6k (This is short but the chapters will be longer)

Note: This is Part 2 of the Shadow Wolf series! This happens in the time span before the epilogue in The Lost Child. This will loosely follow season 5 (and possibly the beginning of 6) of Teen Wolf.

Additional Note: While this is a Teen Wolf x Marvel AU, not everything is true to the shows/movies/comics. I had to change things for the story.

One Last Note: Y/N was adopted by Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. I did this so more people can see themselves in this story.

***I do not own Teen Wolf or Marvel or any related characters. This is a work of fanfiction and is meant for entertainment purposes only.***

Masterlist

The Beast of War Masterlist

The Lost Child Masterlist

Next Chapter

---

Y/N hums to herself as she mixes the ingredients for Stiles’ favorite pancakes in a glass bowl on the kitchen counter. He slept over at her and Derek’s loft since their dad had to work an overnight shift at the station. She hasn’t seen much of Stiles since everything that went down with Hydra, the hunters, and the Avengers. With getting kidnapped and outed as the dead Stark child to the world, she had a lot of shifts to make up for at the hospital. Today is the first morning she doesn’t have to be in at 5 AM, so she plans to make the best of it and catch up with her little brother.

Letting go of the whisk and bowl, she grabs the tongs next to the stove and flips over the bacon she has sizzling in a pan. Y/N is so engrossed in what she’s doing that she doesn’t hear Derek sneak up behind.

“Holy shit,” Y/N jumps as Derek wraps his arms around her from behind.

Derek lets out a low chuckle, “For a werewolf, you have terrible hearing.”

Y/N rolls her eyes at him, “I was clearly distracted.”

“I’d be happy to distract you some more.”

“Or you could set the table?”

“I can do that too.” Derek presses a kiss into her hair before letting go of her. He notices that she has three different pans on the stove cooking bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns. “What’s with the big breakfast?”

“It’s Stiles’ first day of senior year, and I feel bad that I haven’t seen him that much since everything that’s happened this summer,” Y/N says, pouring some of the pancake batter onto the griddle she has set up on the counter.

“He slept here for almost two weeks.”

“Yeah, but that’s because he was scared that he was going to lose me. Not that he’d ever admit that.” She says the last part under her breath, but Derek is still able to hear it. “We haven’t had time to catch up lately.” Y/N turns to look at Derek and loses her train of thought when she sees him. He’s shirtless and his blue plaid pajama pants are hanging dangerously low on his hips.

Derek pauses setting out the silverware as he feels her eyes on him. Looking up, he smirks at her eyeing him up and down. He’s about to tease her when she hisses in pain and jumps away from the stove.

Y/N rubs at her arm where she accidentally touched it to the hot pan on the front burner of the stove. She was so distracted by Derek that she wasn’t paying attention to what she was doing.

“I blame you for that,” Y/N mumbles, pouting at Derek as he walks over to her.

“I’m sorry,” Derek presses a quick kiss to her lips before grabbing her arm and pressing a kiss to where her arm touched the pan. There was luckily no burn on her. She either didn’t touch the pan long enough, or it had already healed by the time he got to her.

Y/N thanks him and kisses him on the cheek before turning back to the food before it burns. She continues to hum the tune to the song stuck in her head as she finishes cooking breakfast. She hears Stiles come down the loft’s stairs as she scoops the scrambled eggs into a bowl for the table.

“It’s too early,” Stiles whines, plopping down in a chair at the kitchen table.

“It wouldn’t be too early if you didn’t stay up almost all night last night.” Derek rolls his eyes at Stiles.

“How do you know that I stayed up last night?”

“Because thanks to werewolf hearing, we can hear you typing and scribbling all night,” Y/N replies, setting down the eggs and bacon in the middle of the table. “What were you doing anyways?”

“Research.”

“For what?”

“Another werewolf showed up at the school at Senior Scribe. Well, technically two werewolves showed up, but I’m only talking about one of them. He claims to be Theo.” Stiles says with disdain in his voice as he shovels food onto his plate.

“Should I know who that is?” Y/N asks, setting down a plate of pancakes and sitting down in the chair between Stiles and Derek.

“He used to go to school with me and Scott. His sister, Tara, was found dead in a creek before him and his family moved.”

“Oh yeah,” Y/N says in realization, “I know who you’re talking about. Why was he at the school? And what do you mean two werewolves showed up?”

“Some guy showed up and tried to kill Scott a—”

“What?” Derek stops cutting up the pancake on his plate and looks up at Stiles with a slightly angry look on his face.

“He was talking about taking his power and shit. His claws, which were glowing by the way, were in Scott when Scott broke his arm and some of his claws and told him to leave, or he’d break more of his bones. The guy left after that.” Stiles shrugs before shoveling some food into his mouth.

“He just left?” Y/N questions doubtfully.

“Yeah,” Stiles says with his mouth full of food.

Y/N turns her head to look at Derek. She can see he’s thinking the same thing she is. There’s no way a guy tried to kill Scott and then just left when he was unsuccessful. He’s probably hiding out somewhere in Beacon Hills until he heals and then will strike again later. She doesn’t love it, but she sometimes wishes they would stop being so gracious with people’s lives. It seems to cause more trouble than killing them. As seen as what happened with Gerard and Kate.

“How does Theo fit into this story?” Y/N asks.

“He tried to stop the guy that tried to kill Scott.”

“And that’s why you’re researching him?” Derek questions, unsure how that warrants Stiles doing a deep dive on him.

“No,” Stiles huffs in frustration, “It’s because he’s different.”

“Wasn’t the last time you saw him in fourth grade or something like that? People tend to change as they get older.” Y/N says, confused about what Stiles is trying to say.

“There’s just something off about him. Scott doesn’t believe me, but I can feel it in my gut that something is not right about him.” Stiles looks at Y/N with a pleading look, begging her to believe him. Scott thinks he’s paranoid and that he needs to give Theo the benefit of the doubt, but Stiles knows he’s right. Malia also doesn’t understand why he’s suspicious of him.

“If you say there’s something off about him, then I believe you.” She almost asks if she should ask Tony or Bruce to look into Theo, but she thinks that would make Stiles more upset. It’s not that he doesn’t like them, but she doesn’t want it to come off as she thinks he won’t do a good enough job.

It’s been almost three months since she found out she is a Stark. Stiles was insecure about it in the beginning, as was their dad, but they slowly got over their fears as Y/N not only tells them but shows them that she isn’t going anywhere, and they will always be her family. Even though it’s not as prominent anymore, those insecurities are still there.

“Other than this Theo guy, what else is new? How are you and Malia?” Y/N asks, changing the subject.

“We’re good. She got her email that she doesn’t have to repeat junior year. We’re still looking for the Desert Wolf.” Stiles says.

“That’s good.”

“What about you two? What have you been up to?”

“Well, there’s still people pretending to be sick or hurt to meet the long-lost Stark, so not much has changed.” Y/N rolls her eyes thinking about the number of people who show up and disrupt her from helping actual patients just so they can meet her. A few reporters even try to interview her while pretending they need help. Luckily no one has purposefully injured themselves to try and meet her. This has been going on since she went back to work the day after her big press conference.

She’s just happy that nothing about her, Scott, or the others has been exposed. She tries not to think what would happen if the truth about Beacon Hills got out. She can handle people at the grocery store staring at her for being a Stark, but she’s not sure she can handle them looking at her in fear for being a monster.

“Still?”

“People are still showing up at the garage too. There’s not as many as there used to be, but several still love to show up.” Derek says. He wants to complain about it, but all the extra money he’s making is going toward remodeling the Hale house. He will complain about them taking pictures of him though. They think he can’t see when they do it, but he notices when they secretly take pictures of him. He assumes they post them on the internet, but he stays as far away from that as possible.

“Oh, tell him about what happened with those bikes someone left in front of the garage,” Y/N beams at him, proud of what he did with the four motorcycles that were abandoned at the garage. He spent several weeks fixing them up in his free time and even customized them to make them a bit cooler. She will never forget the massive grin on his face when he showed her the first one he finished.

Derek shrugs his shoulders, “I fixed them up and sold them.”

Y/N rolls her eyes at his modesty, “He sold them at some show in San Francisco, and they sold for over $25,000 each. He’s already gotten a few emails from people asking him to customize their rides.”

“Really?” Stiles asks with a shocked look on his face.

Derek tries not to blush at Y/N’s praise, “I probably could’ve sold them for more, but I didn’t think anyone would buy one. I’m currently interviewing for a new mechanic to take some of my work because we’ve got some more bikes coming in from people who have emailed me.”

“Speaking of the garage, when are finally going to bring Roscoe in?” Y/N asks Stiles.

“The jeep is fine and doesn’t need to be brought in.” Stiles crosses his arms in defiance.

“It has more duct tape than I did when I was making duct tape wallets in sixth grade—and I had a bucket full of duct tape.”

Stiles rolls his eyes at her, “What else has been going on? You know it’s not going to hurt me if you talk about the others.” ‘The others’ being her other family.

“Um, well, they are currently back at their compound and will be back tomorrow. I’ve been told they’ve each found places they are going to rent until the new Avengers compound is built.” After a few conversations among themselves, the Avengers decided to move closer to Y/N. She made it clear that she has no intention of moving out of Beacon Hills anytime soon.

The new Avengers compound started building two weeks after the fight against the hunters. Even though they still have the lake house, they decided it would be best to get their own separate places until it was finished. Y/N even went with each of them to look at places to rent. She also made Derek promise to lie to them and tell them there were no available units in their apartment building. She likes them, and she enjoys getting to know them, but living in the same building with any of them would be too much for her.

“Tony and Peter still bring me lunch at least once a week.” Y/N continues, shrugging her shoulders in nonchalance. “Steve and Bucky have even brought me food on some of the days I’ve worked for almost twenty-four hours.” She hasn’t had much time to spend with them with how much she’s been working. She feels like she’s barely seen Derek with how much she’s been working.

“What do you talk about with them?” Stiles asks.

“I mostly just talk about work or Derek, or we laugh at the wildly inaccurate articles people write about me. If they ask, I explain more of the supernatural to them, but even I don’t know everything. We mostly just avoid talking about Pepper, Hydra, the hunters, or anything that happened after Hydra kidnapped me and Peter.”

Conversations with any of the Avengers revolve around telling each other about their days with awkward silences in between. She thinks it’s because they see her as family while she sees them as strangers. She can see this look in their eyes like they expect something from her, but she can’t give them what they’re looking for.

“You talk about Derek but not about me?”

“I talk about you too, but I have a hot boyfriend, and I like to brag about him.” Y/N sends Derek a flirty wink while Stiles groans in disgust.

Stiles stands up and brings his dirty plate to the sink, “I should go. I promised to pick Malia up to take her to school.”

“Okay, are you still coming over for dinner tonight?” Y/N scheduled a little family dinner and invited Stiles, their dad, Tony, and Peter. She knows them all separately, but she wants them to all get to know each other as well.

“Yeah, I’ll be there!” Stiles yells out, running up the stairs to grab his stuff.

“Okay, well have fun on your first day of school!” Y/N yells back, watching as Stiles stumbles back down the stairs. “Wait!” She shoots up from her chair and grabs her phone from the kitchen counter, running to catch Stiles before he leaves.

“What?” Stiles groans, his hand resting on the loft’s door handle.

“Smile,” Y/N grins, snapping a few pictures of him. “Don’t roll your eyes at me. You know this is tradition, and I need to send one to Dad—so smile.”

Derek leans against the pillar in their living room, a small smile on his face as he watches Stiles force a smile on his face as Y/N continues to take pictures. “Do you want me to take a picture of both of you?”

Stiles glares at him as Y/N happily hands him her phone. She walks up the few steps up to Stiles and wraps her arms around him in a crushing hug. Derek smiles at Stiles’ embarrassment and takes a few pictures of them.

“I hate you both.” Stiles pushes Y/N off him, pulls open to door, and walks out of the loft.

“Love you too!” Y/N calls after him.

“Should we be worried about this Theo guy?” Derek asks as Y/N shuts the loft door.

“If Stiles says there’s something off about him, then I’m going to believe him unless proven otherwise.” Y/N walks down to Derek and wraps her arms around his waist. He moves his arms around her and pulls her into his chest. “What if we just stayed like this forever?”

“I have no complaints, but I think your job would.”

“I’ll quit.”

“If you say so,” Derek presses a kiss to the side of her head.

“I hope this year they’ll be able to get through school without almost dying several times. Hell, I hope we get through the rest of the year without almost dying several times.” Y/N says after a long moment of silence. She doesn’t need to say who she’s talking about because Derek knows she’s talking about Stiles and his friends.

“Me too. Maybe this year will be different.” They both know that’s a long shot, but they still love to hope.

---

@xxemmarldxx @esposadomd @ladyjenjay @ts1mp0ne @misshale21

@n1ght5h4d3-24 @xoxoloverb

[aziraphales-library]

Hello amazing people! I wonder if you have any recs for human aus where the boys are like teen or uni aged? Like cute young love story. Maybe spicy. Thank you! <3

Hi! Tags you'll want to take a look at are: #childhood friends, #high school au, #college au, and #university au. Here are some more to add...

Vignettes of a Life Together by Busy24_7 (E)

Crowley, botany student and professional worrier, is harboring a massive, secret crush on his new roommate. Aziraphale, on the other hand, is more clueless than he is given credit for. Will these two ever figure it out, or is Crowley doomed to a life of pining? A 5+1-style fic with a whole lot of fluff and intentionally minimal angst. Rated M for the first few chapters, but will be upgraded to E if Crowley ever gets his way…

The End is Where We Start From by Optimistic Starlight (E)

“Aziraphale, hello. It’s er, been a long time.” “Yes, dreadfully long. You look different.” He immediately coloured in evident embarrassment. “I mean, of course you look different, as do I of course, I didn’t mean bad different, that is to say…” Something inside of Crowley, something that had been in a deep freeze for several eons, was starting to thaw. It was letting little bits and pieces of familiarity break loose to float back into their rightful places in his soul. One of those pieces, those round, blue eyes, suddenly snapped into place, and he felt a corresponding wave of long-forgotten feeling wash through him. Aziraphale is anxious. Make Aziraphale happy. “Yeah,” he interrupted. “D’you wanna… get a coffee or something?” *** Crowley and Aziraphale meet by chance on the street. They've met before, in their youth, in a different life. Some difficult things have happened since then. Will they be able to find their way back to each other and to themselves?

Down to the River by CemeteryAngel725 (E)

Twenty-five years ago, Tony Crowley walked out of Azi’s life and broke both of their hearts. Since then, Azi has been living in suspended animation, working in the army/navy surplus booth he inherited from his dad and writing horror novels. Now Tony is back from the city, flush with success and wanting to catch up with Azi. Should Azi risk his heart and try to reclaim what they’ve lost? Or is it too late to start over? A Good Omens human AU inspired by Bruce Springsteen.

Against All Odds by GroovyNightStrawberry (E)

How can you just walk away from me? When all I can do is watch you leave 'Cos we've shared the laughter and the pain and even shared the tears You're the only one who really knew me at all Az is eleven, and his world is falling apart. His best friend is walking away from him, and Az can't find a way to make him stay. Thirty-five years later, there's a familiar face at Aziraphale's new job, and it threatens to break his heart all over again. Can they do it better this time?

Opposites Attract by Pal456 (M)

The Eastgate family hated the Crowley family. Hated them so much, that their children were not to spend any time together. That never stopped Aziraphale and Crowley being drawn to one another time and time again even though their families would pull them apart. As years go by, Aziraphale tries to do right by his parents in order to take over the family business one day, but it seems like the Almighty might have a different, ineffable, plan that brings the two together every chance they get.

One and the Same Fall by ElliottRook (E)

Aziraphale Fell is a UK student attending an American Catholic school on exchange, an escape from a strict, conservative family. Anthony Crowley is a juvenile delinquent on his last chance, sent to live with his uncle and attend a school that promises to shape him up. When they cross paths at St. Bernadette's, they nearly instantly become friends, and nobody likes it--not the teachers, not the old-money students, not Aziraphale's family--but it's the best thing that's ever happened to either of them. Hanging over their heads, though, is Crowley's plan to flee the moment he comes of age, and what will happen after they're no longer trapped in the same gilded cage.

- Mod D

[reginalusus]

Hey girl, can we have some Duela (aka the "Joker's" daughter) and Jason's bond in ur au pretty please? (Harvey would totally be like: "my daughter Duela and her brother Jason (Bruce don't let me adopt him.)")

I hope another writing drabble is ok because I'm kind of arted out at the moment. </3 (Might be working on a larger drawing and I don't wanna doodle myself out before I get to it). But anyway!

---

Jason stood, arms tight against himself, as Duela trailed on about her rather enthralling time with some group of people. She wasn't name-dropping anything anytime soon. A lot of words, but no names. At least she was jovial about it, Jason thought.

He just wished Harvey wasn't being so plucky about the Subway order. It didn't need to be a in a fucking perfect half, and he was holding up the rather terrified queue.

So here he was, standing in the corner of the place with Duela jabbering in his ear about whatever it was she was talking about. He didn't mind jabberers, people who talked a lot. Maybe she was nervous. Jason was certainly nervous; he knew tidbits of her past. He knew of a certain alias she had. He analysed her face, looking for any familiarity. Thankfully, he didn't see any. Yet. Duela looked like any other girl embracing a phase. Piercings too. A nice touch.

"Where do you get your piercings done?" Jason interjected.

Duela smiled. "Oh. Claire's."

Jason glared at her, blank. Duela glared at him, blank. The queue was not getting any smaller. Oh, God, get smaller.

"I was joking by the way," Duela said, leaning over to view Jason's thinned lips and averted eyes.

Ah, yes. Because Jason liked jokes. She seemed to feel bad though; her bright smile faded and she shouldered the wall, gazing at her phone now. It felt strange not having her gossip pierce the air, as had been for the past ten minutes or so. It was better than listening to Harvey try and guide the sandwich artist's knife placement like a claw-machine.

"He's a case, isn't he?" Duela asked, watching Harvey.

Jason scoffed. "Yeah, a fucking nutcase."

"He tries though."

"That he does."

"Hey, dad?" Duela called to Harvey, prompting him to look over. "We need to go soon because I'm pretty sure someone's called the cops."

"No, they haven't," Harvey growled as the cashier wiped sweat from their brow. "I didn't hear none of these morons talkin'."

"I saw them. They held the phone up and the police instantly know your voice. Also," - Duela pointed to a wanted poster directly beside her - "So yeah, dad!"

"Can't have shit in Gotham."

Dad. It was weird hearing Harvey be called that. But Duela said it so casually, just like any other normal teen talking to their normal dad in their normal life. Jason hadn't quite got there - he probably never would.

Harvey shoved through the crowd, looming over most of them, his Subway bags in tow. He exited the shop, almost breaking the door off its hinges from his barging shoulder, and that was the signal to chase after him.

"You really know how to get him to, like... listen," Jason mumbled as he left with Duela.

Duela smirked. "Dad is the keyword. I didn't use to call him that often. You know... father-daughter arguments and all that. But it softens him up a little."

"I see."

Jason still wasn't calling him that, however. He could barely call Bruce that. It was nice that Duela could though.

They caught up with Harvey as they made trek to the car. Jason was used to the wide eyes of passers whenever he and Harvey would pit-stop at a 7-11 or a McDonald's drive-thru when coming back from a job. Yes, they all looked odd. Duela was, somehow, perhaps the most normal looking out them all, despite her loud hair and copious piercings and brightly polished nails.

"Dad, can we stop at Claire's to get Jason new piercings?" Duela asked with a grin as she sat in passenger.

"Fine," Harvey sighed.

Jason clambered into the back. "Dent, can we stop at Walmart so I can get new slipper socks?"

"No."

"What?" Jason spat, his voice higher than usual. "Why not?"

"We're tired."

"We'Re TIreD."

Duela eyed Jason in the car door mirror. She raised her brow and nodded her head to the side, gesturing him to try the Word. Jason folded his arms. He wasn't trying the damn Word. The Word was caught in his throat like a lump of cement, and it only hardened more and more over time.

"Fine," Duela sighed. "I'll teach different ways to soften him up when we get back. But only if you let me borrow your Green Day CD."

Jason frowned at her in the mirror. "Deal. Just don't fucking drop it or I'll drop you."

They shared a chuckle, even more so at a bemused Harvey who questioned what the hell they were talking about. Jason wasn't fond of sharing that CD of his, not yet, but sharing a laugh together was fine enough.

[msfcatlover]

Any Robin steph AUs?

Not specifically built around that concept, though I fully admit my Reverse!Robins AU is very, very Steph-centric (Red Hood!Steph, my beloved…)

For a full Robin!Steph AU, though, I certainly know what I’d want to see, and that tends to be how most of my AUs begin. Let’s see…

I want Steph to have her own chance to lead the Teen Titans, but I’ve very little idea who I would put on her team. 

— My only thought is Argent, because I vaguely remember seeing a page somewhere where Argent was like, “All this hero stuff, I’m just realizing it’s like, real,” and Steph was standing there like, “No shit, Sherlock.”

— Maybe Halo, because I’m reading the original Batman & the Outsiders right now, and Halo’s fun; I think Halo’s flightiness & amnesia-turned-dark-backstory could bounce really well off having Steph for a mentor, since (despite being an agent of chaos,) Steph is actually pretty grounded & realistic in her worldview, and would be a great mentor for the “your past/roots/origin doesn’t have to define you” thing Halo really struggles with. Plus, you could have a running joke of people assuming Halo is the team leader because she’s older & has powers, while Steph is like, “I’M RIGHT! HERE!”

Steph has the right to face off against an evil doppelgänger who isn’t just a shapeshifter mimicking her for a brief time. Clone, alternate self, some sort of VR thing gone wild, I don’t care, I want that “dark reflection” episode, okay?

Steph has the right to foil at least one alien invasion.

Steph has the right to see the ~dark~future~ where she becomes Batman (Steph would make an awesome Batman, in my opinion, but it would require a great tragedy to get her there; she never would if Dick, Tim, Cass, or any of the extended family I don’t know so well were capable of taking up the mantle.) (I believe I have already made my opinions on Batman!Jason & Batman!Damian clear.)

You know that story all the boy Robins get, where they sacrifice themselves for their team, only to actually survive and have everyone reaffirm how loved, valued, & relied upon they are? Yeah, Steph deserves that too.

I think there’s a great running gag in a true Robin!Steph AU where she keeps turning up at Tim’s house to “bail him out,” or ask for advice, and Tim’s dad never realizes Steph is the new Robin, so he’s completely okay with it. He thinks this is Tim having a normal social life.

— I also think there should be an episode where some major event requires all hands on deck while Steph is out with Tim, and Tim has a small crisis over what to do, only for Steph to throw her old Spoiler costume right in his face. “What are you waiting for, dumbass? Suit up!”/“I promised my dad no bat stuff…”/“SPOILER IS NOT A BAT!” Then you get Robin!Steph & Spoiler!Tim fighting back-to-back. 

— Could be a great chance for Tim to formally give his blessing for Steph being Robin at the end when she drops him off at home, as he holds out the folded Spoiler suit to return it (“You kicked a lot of ass out there. You know, for an amateur.”) Steph presses it back into his hands with a smile. (“Keep it. In case of emergency, and all that. Can’t have some civilian risking my rep.”)

Y’know what? I want an episode where Nightwing was supposed to babysit Steph & her team, but he gets de-aged back to like 14 during the mission. Steph’s Titans desperately scramble to find a cure and hide this fact from the adults, while Dick & Steph at first clash over their differences as Robin before bonding over being absolute chaos gremlins (much to the horror of everyone around them.)

— Include a running joke once Dick finds out Steph is technically younger than he is, where he keeps stubbornly calling her his little sister no matter how much Steph protests that she is A) currently older than him, & B) not one of Bruce’s kids.

— Once again, this plot should end with Robin!Dick pausing before taking the cure, and telling Steph he doesn’t know how much of this he’s going to remember when he goes back to normal, but he thinks she makes a pretty awesome Robin. (Then he takes the cure, turns back into Nightwing, and immediately hugs Steph hard enough to lift her off her feet, laughing over her protests and saying he’s just showing his appreciation for his little sister. Steph continues to yell about not being Batman’s kid.)

…That’s all I’ve got off the top of my head. 

[batarangsoundsdumb]

i genuinely can't get over teen! dad bruce wayne so please consider the following:

18 year old bruce wayne deciding to foster 2 year old dick grayson after seeing the fateful circus incident.

(according to new jersey law people from the age of 18 and up can be foster parents with no further age restrictions)

he does most of his training carrying dick around and dick spends the entire time just monologuing about dora the explorer while bruce is like "that's nice"

(after a few months he gets totally into it he's like: "oh jeesh, i can't believe swiper did that, how horrible of him, you did tell him no swiping right?")

alfred initially is like "ah master bruce, decided to sign up for teen mom season 4 have we?" but two weeks in he's dressing dick up in 'i love my butler grandpa' t-shirts and is already favouring him over bruce.

bruce at first just tells dick "i'm going to try and be a big brother to you, etc etc" but dick understands like 60% of what he just said and is calling him "dad" within 3 months.

he still goes to train with the league and has to justify to ra's al ghul why every 10 minutes he has to use the satellite phone to talk to a toddler about the plot developments of blue's clues.

him becoming batman is just increasingly harder because he has to spend an hour trying to convince dick that "no the guy in the weird suit is also me- i'm the guy in the weird suit"

by the time dick is like 3, bruce has found him hanging from a chandelier at least four times and he still doesn't know how dick managed to get up there.

bruce just hanging out with dick and being like "yeah this little dude is my best friend and what about it?"

when dick eventually gets older and is like "i wanna be a superhero and fight crime" bruce is like "you don't wanna be associated with those dweebs, go be a ballerina or something"

(clarks first reaction upon meeting dick and realising that oh wait isn't bruce like, 24? and this kid is like 8? is "that must've been quite a shock for your parents" and he immediately flings himself into the sun.)

[minnesota-fats]

Also its okay that the DP x JL x MLB isn't your cup of tea, so whenever I ask about what I'll call the Halfa-Siblings au ( heh ) it'll just be in the JL x DP world.

With that out of the way, I was reading reading family reunions but at the worst time au, and I wondered about how that must had went down in the Dark Dan timeline 😬.

Because despite being willing to kill his own family and friends again to ensure his existence, I'm sure when Dan found out that his bio dad was Bruce Wayne, he was stunned because to him, Jack is his dad, full stop. And Maddie isn't the type to cheat, how how did this happen?

Also, if he found out as a late teen, then he might jump to the wrong conclusions and because of bad experiences with Vlad, thinks that Bruce could have taken advantage of Maddie, since he is a powerful rich man and then gave his family hush money, and if they complained, who will believe them?

*The part that got Vlad's intelligence thought that maybe he could be a baby from an open relationship but that thought never took root because despite being evil, there are things not even Supervillians want to think about what goes on in their parents bedroom, thank you very much*

And the JL would have tried to stop Dan at one point since he's causing so much damage and getting more powerful, so a fight had to happen( and they probably either lost horribly or even died, ) Dan finds out about Bruce being Batman because that tech is expensive and he'll need money and connected the dots, and blows up at him, revealing that he is his long lost son that he never even cared about and how he treated his mother like a used toy.

If Dan did kill Bruce with the League, the Batfam, including Damian would tried to get revenge. Dan sees they he has a younger half-brother and goes ballistic and yeah I don't see that ending well for them either.

Maybe Damian did get away and he was leading some resistance out there, and he and Dan despite knowing their blood bond, hate each others guts.

What do you think went down during that Father-Son confrontation? And what did the Dark Dan timeline Bruce think about Dan, and then finding out that's his son?

—I made a short bit of how i would write that interaction cuz I couldn’t help myself cuz I LOVE angst at the best of times!—

Dan held the man by the throat and glared up at him, teeth bared, “what do you have to say for yourself?” Bruce—even while being held like this—looked down at Dan with sad eyes. He was confused and in pain and this young man who was going to kill him was another son he knew nothing about. “I asked you a question, old man!” Dan growled, tightening his grip ever so slightly.

Bruce gargled before finding his voice, “I’m. Sorry.” He says softly, “I didn’t know about you. If I did I would have done everything in my power to have met you…” Bruce’s vision began to blur, “I failed you, son….”

Dan stares up at Bruce, eyes wide and full of dangerous human emotions. But it didn’t last long, Dan throws Bruce onto the ground and puts his foot on his head. Dan looks up at Bruce’s family and smiles wickedly before putting pressure on the man’s skull and crushing it beneath his foot. The screams of anguish that came from his so-called siblings was music to his ears.

How dare they live here and be happy while I had to suffer, how dare they call him a monster when the world made him this way! Dan stalked forward like a wild animal walking up to its corner mes prey. “Now what to do with you brats?” He asked, looking at all of them bound by his ecto energy.

Unknown to Dan however, Jason managed to free himself and was working on freeing Damien. But in typically Damien fashion, the kid jumps up and tries to attack Dan. Dan sidesteps the kid and smirks when he hears the other bat kids gasp and shout for Damien to just run away. Dan picks the kid up by the scruff of his robin suit and growls when he can’t see the kid's eyes. He rips off the kids domino mask, expecting fear. But he froze when he saw looking up at him with big green emerald eyes so much hatred. even with tears falling like waterfalls Damien glared at him. Frozen in that moment, Dan could only look at this kid. So similar to him—his human half— lost so much in a single day and it was only going to get worse from here on out.

Jason took the opportunity to rush forward and deck Dan in the face, causing him to drop Damien. In one fluid motion Jason houists Damien onto his shoulder and runs out of there. The whole time Damien cursed and demanded to go back, calling Jason a coward and screaming at how he was going to kill Dan. Dan smiled and watched them go, Dan had made a decision and he was excited to see how this would play out. But for now he turned to look at the remainder of the bat clan and smiled a fanged grin before he began ripping into them like a wild animal.

—

This whole scenario gives me JLD: Apokolips War vibes! If you haven’t seen it I recommend it! Its about the JL fighting Darkside and losing and the whole movie takes place after a two year timeskip where Constantine and the remaining JL band together to fight Darkside.

But if you dont like gore dont watch it! Its SUPER dark and there are many on screen deaths, such as: Nightwing getting impaled protecting Damien, Koriand’r getting ripped in half and so on!

(It also has Dami throwing Dick into the Lazarus Pit and it not working like it did for Jason and Dick comes back wrong and insane!)

Anyway, moving on!

—

Damien resents Jason and will call him a coward for the rest of his life.

Jason couldn’t care less, he was just glad he was able to save one of his siblings.

Damien will try and run off on his own but Jason isn’t far behind.

After the fall of humanity they are left in the wreckage until they find Amity Park the last city still standing, protected by a tall shield that northern Jason or Damien could get through.(because of the Lazarus pit)

Valerie and Damien bond over losing people they care about (he doesn’t tell her that mother he nor his brother can’t go through the shield after she explained that Dan couldn’t get in because he was a ghost)

Damien and Jason decide that they will go around the world to see if they can find any survivors and bring them back to Amity Park.

Jason becomes a better big brother and takes care of Damien (similar to how Jazz took care of Danny)

They meet Vlad who almost has a heart attack cuz Damien and Danny look so similar.

Dan appears and asks how his toys are doing (because he is creepy like that!)

Damien tries to kill him again but is yeeted into a wall and Dan leaves cackling.

Vlad tells his story

Damien nearly beats the shit out of him before Jason can stop him

Vlad believes he deserves it and moves on

Vlad offers them some weapons that work against ghosts

They take them cuz yay weapons!

Vlad helps supe up their suits with ghost tech like Valerie’s suit and makes an ecto dampener so they can go into Amity through the portal.

—10 years later—

Amity Park falls and Damien, Valerie, and Jason are all that’s really left.

Past Danny comes to the future to stop Dan and he meets Damien (who almost kills him but is stopped by Valerie when she finds out phantom is danny)

Damien explains that they are half brothers which throws Danny for a loop.

Meets Vlad again who nearly cries when he sees Danny. (Danny clocks him in the face and Jason is like, “I like this kid”)

Damien and Danny bond over fighting ghosts. Damien actually starts to like Danny as a brother

Danny finds out that he is technically the older brother and is like “I’m an older brober!” And Damien tells him to shut up and Jason and Valerie laugh! Cuz holy shit Dami is a baby!!!

When Danny is about to go back in time and Damien pulls him aside and is like “it was nice knowing you kid! But if you fail I’m gonna go back in time myself and kick your ass!”

Danny hugs him and Jason, and promises that he wouldn’t.

Then some happy bittersweet sibling banter and Damien warning Danny that if he ever meets Damien like, “bother be warned, if you ever meet me in the past, he will most likely try and kill you.”

Danny laughs thinking it’s a joke and Jason is like, “no seriously! He was raised by assassins for the first 10 years of his life.”

And Danny gets sent back to the past with SO MANY QUESTIONS! Like what the hell

Danny will have a heart to heart with his mom, calming that he just had a feeling and she will then explain everything to him (including his parents open relationship)

And Danny wanting to meet Damien and Jason again goes to meet his bio dad because he wants to be a good big brother!

(This is just a random thought but what if future Damien and Jason are brought back in time too and are tasked by clockwork to look after Dan in the GZ as the more human than ghost protector’s, just a fun thought!)

[babyjakes]

forever and a day | 20. captain's mess.

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summary | a story in which america’s favorite captain gives a new life and family to a five-year-old girl who has suffered well beyond her years at the hands of hydra.

characters | dad!steve rogers, girl/willa rogers (original character)

warnings | AU similar enough to OU to include spoilers to many Marvel movies (Age of Ultron and beyond). action and fight scenes with violence and killing. mature themes related to and semi-graphic depictions of the aftermath of child abuse/neglect (emaciation, wounds, scarring, etc). mentions/descriptions of past CSA and CSM. medical abuse and experimentation. ptsd/trauma symptoms in a child (developmental discrepancies, de-humanized behavior, detachment, extreme fears). medical treatment of CSM and other aftermath of abuse.somewhat evil!Tony Stark (eventually).

[Clint]

When the elevator doors open up to the fiftieth floor, Peter is already pacing back and forth in the lounge, waiting for us. As he lifts his head at the sound of our arrival, his expression drops from hopeful to saddened as he sees Girl crumpled up in my arms. Sam and I step into the room, the doors sliding shut behind us. “Oh Girl…” Peter sighs, walking up to meet us. The child lifts her head weakly, whimpering at the sight of her friend.

“Can I set you down, kiddo?” I ask as I begin to lean towards the floor, but Girl quickly grabs onto my vest with one hand, so I stop. “No? That’s okay. I can keep holding ya. Here, should we get you on the couch?” Peter follows me as I make my way over to the large sofa, setting Girl down gently in my lap. The teen crouches down in front of us, appearing to be at a loss for words.

Sam trails in behind us, finding a seat on one of the armchairs beside us. For several moments, it’s silent. “Where’s Tony at?” Sam asks eventually, breaking the silence.

Peter stumbles for a minute, still preoccupied with looking at Girl. “He- downstairs. Thor and- and Bruce… taking care of- of Huber.”

“That crazy doctor guy?” Sam asks. Peter nods. “I heard he had a whole team with him. Is everyone on our side okay?”

“Yeah, we’re all good,” I let him know. The encounter was intense, but luckily, we were ready when they arrived. The last thing I heard before Nat and I left to check on Steve, Wanda, and Girl was that Huber was going to be transferred to a different confinement unit - one with much higher security.

“Man, I kinda thought Hydra might be finished after your last big raid in Korea. Guess I was wrong. Those bastards always have something new,” Sam shakes his head.

Just as he finishes, Peter reaches out his hand slowly, carefully placing it on top of Girl’s shoulder through the blanket. She shrinks back from his touch, and his lips curl into a frown. “Hey, Girl. It’s just me; it’s Peter. I-I’m here now. You’re safe. Can you come out from hiding?” The child raises her head slightly, her hair covering most of her face as she looks up warily. Peter gently tucks it behind her ear, revealing her rosy cheeks and teary eyes. “Hey, best friend,” the teen whispers, trying to give her a smile. “I missed you. Are you okay? Did you get hurt at all?”

“She’s okay,” I assure Peter. “She was well hidden from the agents; I don’t think they even saw her or knew where she was hiding.” Gazing down at the frightened girl, I run a hand of my own over her soft brown hair, causing her to duck away slightly. “Are you hungry, thirsty? Do you want a different blanket?” I ask. Girl quickly shakes her head, grabbing onto the one she’s already wrapped up in. “Okay, that’s okay,” I reassure her quickly, not wanting to upset her further. “You can stay in this one. Pretty soft, huh? I’m sure nobody’ll mind if you keep it.”

“Girl… c-can I- do you want me to hold you?” Peter asks quietly. With a tremor running through her breath, Girl shakes her head again. Heartbreak spreads across Peter’s face in an instant, but he only nods understandingly. “Where are the others?” he asks, turning his head to look up at me. “Are they okay?”

“They’re okay,” I tell him. “They’re doing a little clean-up at the safe-house. I’m sure they’ll be back soon.” At this, Girl begins to cry.

“P-please, no,” the poor kid begs, letting out her first words since her return. Shaking as weak hiccups wrack through her body, Girl looks up pleadingly at Peter and I. The teen’s eyes grow wide at her pleas, and he quickly shakes his head.

“Hey, no, it’s okay, Girl,” he tries, “it’s just Wanda and Nat and Steve-” but as soon as the captain’s name is said, Girl’s whole body lurches, stiffening up in terror, and her tears turn to sobs. “C'mon, Girl, Steve’s not scary,” Peter reminds her, but she’ll have none of it, shaking her head in distress.

“Please, Peter, p-please…” The boy’s face sinks as the little girl pleads to his name, clearly torn up at what’s happened to his friend.

“He’s your friend, too, remember? He takes care of you,” Peter tries to reason. “He would never do anything to hurt you. I promise, hey-” as he’s speaking Girl takes one arm and unveils it from the blanket, her hand curled up in a fist. Weakly, she begins punching it into the air, obviously trying to demonstrate what she saw, trying to prove why her mind has changed. “No, Girl, stop,” Peter begs, tears building in his own eyes as he reaches out and takes the little hand in both of his, looking up into the child’s eyes.

“Loud. Y-yelling. B-blood, blood ev'ywhere,” she whimpers. Glacing over, I see Sam’s watching the whole thing unfold, shaking his head in clear heartbreak.

Peter simply looks at Girl, unable to find anything that could comfort her or ease her fears. I sigh, wishing I knew how to help as well, but I know that this is something Cap is going to have to handle; there’s nothing we could say to fix this. At this point, that responsibility belongs to Steve alone.

“Kiddo, is there anything we can get you?” Sam speaks up from behind Peter. “Anything we can do to help you feel better?”

Girl’s voice is quiet, broken. “Alone, please,” she replies. “Let Girl b-be alone.”

[Steve]

The silence in the car on the drive back to the tower is thick, almost tangible. Sitting restlessly in the passenger seat, I glance down at my hands, my stomach twisting at the sight of them. I washed them for ten minutes in the safe-house’s bathroom sink, found a scrubber in one of the cabinets and went to town. In between my fingers, under my nails. Soap. Burning water. As much pressure as I could apply. But in the end, it still feels like they’re covered in blood.

“Steve,” Nat begins, not looking over at me from her spot in the driver’s seat. She keeps her eyes on the road, though they’re filled with pity. “I know youthink you messed up everything. But maybe you didn’t; maybe she was just upset from all the commotion. You can’t beat yourself up before you even-”

“She saw it,” I cut her off coldly. “Did you see the way she looked at me? Like I was some kind of monster? She watched me pound that guy’s face in. She heard his bones cracking. She saw the blood splatter up onto my face. It’s too late, Nat. I know it is.”

“You were only doing your job,” Wanda says quietly from the seat behind me. I shake my head. They just don’t get it.

“No. My job was to protect her. You neutralized the other two without making a scene. But I- I just got so angry. I looked into that man’s eyes and saw all of Hydra, saw the very that tortured Girl for years. And I- I lost it. I wanted to make him pay for what he did. I didn’t just want to kill him. I wanted to make him hurt. So I did. And she saw. I never wanted her to see me hurt anyone. I never wanted her to know that I was capable of things like that.” Neither of them respond for a moment, probably because I’m right; there’s nothing to say. I went too far. I got lost in the moment. And now, I’ve ruined everything I built up with Girl because of it.

“Then what are you going to do now?” Nat asks. In front of us on the road, more and more buildings begin to appear, and I realize that we’re entering the edge of the city.

“I don’t know,” I reply lamely. “I don’t know if there’s anything I can do.”

“No, you don’t get to say that,” Wanda shoots back, a hint of anger in her voice. “If what you’re saying is true, if you really messed everything up between you and her by losing your cool, then it’s your mess to clean up.” I sigh. The last thing I want is for Wanda to be upset with me; I already feel terrible as it is.

“I can’t think of a way to do that,” I try, but the girl in the back seat’s not having any of it.

“Then find one,” Wanda demands. I open my mouth to respond, but stop myself. Ultimately, I know she’s right. I broke this. It’s mine to fix. It’s not going to be easy, or pleasant, but I don’t have a choice. I committed to raising Girl, to claiming her as my own. There’s no giving up on something like that.

Before long, we’ve reached the tower. Nat pulls into the parking garage, and we all get out of the car, making our way towards the elevators.

“Hey,” Wanda adds, her voice much softer now as she reaches out and touches my hand as we walk side by side. “I believe in you, by the way.” I sigh, smiling weakly at her with a nod. “The more upset she is now, the more attached she was to you before. She may feel like she has to push you away, but she probably doesn’t want to. You’re so good to her, Steve.”

“Thank you, Wanda,” I say, taking her words to heart. All I can do is hope that she’s right; at least I can find a bit of comfort in the fact that she usually is.

The elevator ride up is completely quiet; no one says a word. Before long, the cab reaches floor fifty, and the doors slide open.

Walking in behind the two girls, I see that Peter, Clint, and Sam are all waiting for us in the lounge. Clint and Peter are sitting on the couch, while Sam is in an armchair nearby. They all look sullen, worn out. It didn’t seem like they were having any sort of discussion before we arrived.

“Hey fellas,” Nat greets. Sam gives her a wave. Clint nods at her, while Peter doesn’t say anything.

“Where’s Girl?” I ask, looking around the room to find her nowhere in sight.

“She wanted to be alone; I brought her to her room,” Clint replies. Wanda takes a seat beside Peter, rubbing his back gently and saying something to him too quiet for me to hear. Nat walks to the kitchen, grabbing a glass from a cabinet.

Setting my shield down on the coffee table, I stand before my friends.

“So you guys just call her ‘Girl?’” Sam asks hesitantly after a few moments of silence. I sigh.

“That’s what she’s always been called. It’s the only thing she responds to,” I reason. “She was an experiment back in Seoul, an asset. Hydra didn’t feel like giving her a name.”

“Yeah, I get that, but I don’t know why you guys couldn’t have given her a name when you rescued her,” Sam argues.

“We could have,” Nat interjects quickly. “We just… well, I guess we haven’t gotten there yet.”

“Haven’t gotten there yet?” the man questions incredulously. “Aw, come on guys. She’s a kid, a little kid. You don’t think it makes her feel like shit to be called 'Girl,’ like she’s some sort of- of animal?” I frown. Maybe he’s got a point.

“That’s something we’ll have to discuss,” I concede. “You’re right; she deserves to have a name like the rest of us.”

“F-for now, Cap, you should probably go see her,” Peter whimpers, finally looking up to meet my gaze. “Y-you really scared her back at the safe-house. I don’t know if you know this, but she kinda saw you kill that guy when you-”

“I know, Pete. I know,” I say gently, not wanting to make him finish his sentence. The boy nods, his shoulders slumping. “I’ll go see her. Are you guys all alright?” The group nods, and I offer a nod back. “Okay, then. I’m going to go see what I can do.”

Making my way down the long hallway, my feet drag slightly beneath me as I near the end. Girl’s door is closed, prompting me to knock.

Once, no response. Twice, still nothing.

“I’m coming in,” I call softly, my hand shakily twisting the doorknob, pushing the door open.

The room is empty. I step in, scanning the area. The child’s nowhere to be found, and as I search the space, my gaze falls on the bathroom door, which sits slightly ajar. The light is on.

Making my way over to the doorway, I push the door open, stepping inside. When I turn to look, what I’m met with stops my heart right in my chest.

Girl is propped up against the far wall on top of her blanket, her shirt lifted up over one shoulder. Shaking hands shove a wad of crimson tissue into her side. She’s surrounded by a pool of blood.

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[maanae]

Holidays

I would like to thank you all because by the gods, I didn't have that much notifications since way too long, love you all ♥

(and warn you because I don't have a rythm. At all. It's 2 OC in 10 days, it'll probably be wayy much before the next one :'))

I didn't find any real fanfic on Daminette x Teen Titans and I really think it can have a lot of potential (and I like the Titans) so here a little thing. It's more of a "throw all ideas before I forget them" so it's not really organised but I think it's sweet, so enjoy! (like last time, make what you want of it, if you want to write it just @/me I want to see!)

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Aged-Up Characters! Marinette 17 years old more or less and Damian 18 I suppose. I'm not really up to date on the ages of all the characters but they're close to be or are adults.

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.

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Marinette is tired. Really really tired. She needs holidays. Far away from Paris, from Hawkmoth, from Malizia, from Lila Rossi and her court of lies, from her Order and her responsabilities and just... holidays. And her friends know that. Even the new members of the Order who don't know her very well know that. So they scheme. (Because she needs it but she won't take holidays obviously. Self -sacrifiyng and way too hard-working demoiselle.)

She'll keep the Coccinelle because she's one of the two persons who can wield it and the Chat isn't a good idea for holidays (like yeah okay he's fun but he's also chaos and Marinette needs rest. So Ladybug it is). She also has the Cheval, in case of akuma or amok or mirage or idk what they want to throw at her. All of her Gardians duties will go to Adrien and Nino, her fellow gardians-in-training (because there is no way she can be a full-fledged Gardian without much guidance, even X years after, don't fight me). And yeah, it's not perfect but it's something and it's way better than what she has now.

That's good, all good. They just need a location now.

It was an idea from Alix, with her weird smile they learn to not ask about. But it's Adrien and Chloe who talk to Jon and Damian. And it's Kor'i who concretises it by inviting Marinette at Jump City, in the Titans Tower.

And she accepts, because she knows she needs holidays and she wants to see Damian and to meet his friends (just coworkers dixit himself and she doesn't believe him at all).

So she goes.

.

Of course, Damian haven't let the Titans know who their guest would be and Kor'i wanted it to be a surprise (and a little mischief, maybe, it'll be fun). So when the car parks in front of the tower, they wait for an hero, or a celebrity, or someone they know, or or... anyone really. Not an asian girl with dark rings under her eyes, half-asleep and clinging to Damian. Nor the ease of Damian when he takes her bags with his arm around her waist.

... Damian has a girlfriend !?

(Kor'i was right, it's fun.)

Damian has indeed a girlfriend but she just says hello and then go crash on the bed. Damian's bed in fact. In his room. Where he takes her bags. The Damian. Who doesn't like anyone in his venicity or in the venicity of his things (and okay, he's more... less... than in the beginning but still it's a huge thing for him!). The following hours are eventful for the Titans who doesn't get what the fuck is happening, Kor'i who just wants popcorns and Damian who hides in his room. With his girlfriend. (The Titan have a hard time swallowing that).

Marinette wakes up in the middle of the night and finds Rachel in the kitchen, in front of a cup of black coffee. She smiles, a little shy and a lot eager and buzzes with energy. Her dark circles are a little less pronunced but she takes a double coffee with enough sugar and creme to wake the dead. Heh. The girls bond across coffee, late nights, Damian and art. It's cool. And when the sun rises and the boys and Kor'i wake up one by one, they're friends. And Marinette makes divine coffee and all the boys are enamored in a minute.

(Damian is Not jealous. But he keeps close to Marinette. Just in case.)

Marinette is all smiles and flowers, adorable in this not-naive way of helping others like it's a second nature and asking if she oversteps, always cautious of the boundaries. She has the look of heroes, mature and wary, but her eyes shine when she talks and she's sunshine, lighting up all that she sees. Damian is at ease when she's at his side, hands fluttering around to explain her last idea, he rolls his eyes when she hits walls and furnitures and apologizes and smiles when she lits up in joy and passion. He looks like his dad when Bruce gets out of his multiple costumes, serene in a way they never know him to be.

Sometimes she disappears and she explains she's a hero at home and they can't know her alter-ego without being banned from her city. They look at the thundering look on Damian at that and understand that he hates that truth. When she reappears, she looks dead on her feet and the first time they couldn't do a thing - too surprised to see Damian fuss over someone. After, they learn that she needs distractions so Garfield and Victor organized video game contests and they discover someone who can, in fact, stand up to Cybord. Sometimes the enemy is too much and Rachel comes to meditate with her, her calm a great help for the buzy mind of Marinette. Other times she just sleeps on Damian and they keep quiet (with pictures because they're cute and it's Robin).

Another time, it's their turn to go on mission and Marinette waves them with a smile and hopes of good fortune. And, okay it's a little weird but hey she's nice, let her have that. (And she's French so maybe she had a case of weird translation of a French saying even if she's bilingue). They're weary when they return and Marinette regards them with something grave in her eyes, like she can see more, like she knows somehow. They advert their eyes first, except for Damian who goes to her and she stands on her toes to kiss him on the forehead and there is a weird shimmer. When Kor'i goes to her after him and receives the same treatment, Garfield asks if it's a cult thing of something and Marinette smiles but her eyes are still too deep, too obscure and explains that she can heal them a little, if they want. Raven is the first to accept and the weight on her shoulders is lift a little when Marinette delivers. At the very moment her lips touch her forehead - just beneath her cristal - she knows the healing is not only physical even if it's not really psychological either.

Damian's girlfriend is adorable and hero but she's also magical in a way so very different of what she saw before.

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When Marinette's holidays come to an end, she has new friends, knows new people she can trust to have her back, and her smile is much more genuine than two weeks ago. And Damian is teased relentlessly (but also a little enviously, she really is too good for him! Even Raven said it).

.

.

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(or the AU where the kwamis doesn't exist so Marinette is Magic. I love Tikki and Plagg and all the others but I really love a good kwamiless AU, it's so much magic. So here it is.) (btw it's the DCMAU version of Teen Titans, sometimes in the future, it's the only one I know enough to write about. and I don't even recall how the Judas Contract end so.)

[bigskydreaming]

Okay, long time followers will probably remember having read this, but I can’t find the original post and I’m trying to like.....force-reboot/jumpstart me working on my ‘Kings of the Sky’ AU again because I haven’t touched it in awhile and I have like literally eight different installments in various stages of completion and that’s ridiculous even for me. So here’s a repost of the first part of “Teachable Moments” the canon-divergence point of that AU series, where Jason calls Dick for advice after the Garzonas case and everything changes from there.

******

The way Jason Todd warily eyed the device in his hand, one might think it was an instrument of great and terrible destructive power, rather than just…his own personal cell-phone.

To be fair, he was Robin, and pretty used to the idea that even the most unlikely of things could be used for evil in Gotham. It could’ve been stolen and replaced at some point by a henchperson of Mr. Freeze, and using it could unleash some kind of cryogenic freeze ray that would turn him into a Robinsicle. Mad Hatter could be up to shit again, and dialing the phone at this very minute might mean syncing it up with a remote radio signal that would override his natural brainwaves and turn him into Tetch’s mindless minion of like…doom and stuff. Or…or…

Or sometimes, even in Gotham a phone is just a phone, and Freud is still a dumbass. And neither of the above possibilities had anything to do with why Jason was being a giant freaking pansy about entering the last digit of the phone number he would never ever admit to having had memorized for months now.

Nightwing had said to call if he ever needed to talk. He wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t actually want Jason to call, right? Like, its not as if Jason had remotely been expecting him to do that, so its not the sort of thing someone did just because it was ‘expected’ or shit. He was pretty sure. Rich people manners were weird though. Had to factor that in.

But Nightwing had also even made a point to say not talking to people about stuff was Bruce’s problem and that Jason shouldn’t let it be his problem too, and even though months ago Jason had been a starry-eyed dumbass who was totally drunk on the Bruce is the Bestest Kool-Aid or whatever, ‘Wing had definitely known what he was talking about there. So maybe he’d get it, and having this conversation with him wouldn’t be. Like. The actual worst idea in the history of ever.

Deductive logic said that Jason was getting worked up over nothing and there was no rational reason for him to be this nervous about dialing a fucking phone number. And he’d gotten pretty good at the whole deduction shit, given all the work he and Bruce had put into training his mind to view the world through entirely new paradigms, so Jason was pretty sure his math on that checked out. But on the other hand, Bruce was a hypocritical asshat that Jason was currently not speaking to, so what the fuck did he know about anything?

Aaaaand he was back to square one. Well damn. This was excellent. Very productive. Good hustle out there, Jay.

Sighing gustily, Jason flopped back on his bed, staring up at the ceiling and trying to pretend he hadn’t gotten used to how luxurious and cushion-y his ridiculously expensive mattress was. He’d gotten soft, he told himself. Then he scoffed at the idea that the past year and a half of rigorous Robin training and patrols had made him less tough than the pipsqueak he’d been back when living on the street, getting his ass kicked by bigger and badder on the regular. That hadn’t been hardness, that had been bravado.

But it had gotten him this far in life, so maybe there was something to be said for it after all?

Ugh. Decisions were hard. He objected on principle. He also really wanted to understand why he was this nervous…if he could literally fill the guy’s shoes and kick supervillain ass as Robin, what freaking sense did it make that he couldn’t even call him up on the phone?

Maybe you just know better than to ask him questions you don’t really want to hear his answer to, a smug voice said in the back of his mind. It sounded suspiciously like Willis Todd, which was all kinds of weird and fucked up, cuz Jason was damn sure his abusive a-hole of a deadbeat dad had never said anything that insightful in his life.

Which meant it was his own screwed up subconscious - presenting in the voice of his not so dearly departed douchebag dad, no less - that had Jason reacting out of spite, entering the last number and hitting Talk, all while totally on autopilot. Because apparently we’re all making healthy life choices in this Chili’s tonight, Jason snickered somewhat hysterically while his phone rang once, twice, three times.

Ugh. Was he always this fucked up in the head and he just never noticed, or was it a side effect of running around rooftops in a cape. Inquiring minds wanted to know.

“Hello?” Someone said then, answering on the fourth ring. Jason sat bolt upright, his nervous humor vanishing as quickly and unexpectedly as it’d hijacked him in the first place. For all that he’d only actually interacted with the older man a few times, his voice was instantly recognizable. As was his slight confusion.

Right. Because why would Nightwing have the untraceable number of the latest burner phone Bruce had given Jason, when the ever paranoid Bat had him swapping out phones every freaking week? Duh, Jay.

“Uh, its me,” Jason said hastily, as if he could somehow catch up to and overtake the epically long ten second silence he let lapse before his mouth started making words again. “Jason?”

“Jaybird! Hey! What’s going on?” The older vigilante’s tone instantly morphed into one of surprised delight, so apparent even across the phone that Jason actually pulled it away from his ear and stared at it, as if that could explain Nightwing’s inexplicable giddiness. He’d literally only met the dude three times. Give or take a concussion he was forgetting about maybe? Weird.

Then again, the older man was a circus performer from birth. Might just be good at faking being super excited to hear from people? Whatever. Still weird.

“Uh, you said to call if I was ever having, I dunno, issues with Bruce I guess? So I kinda had a question? I mean, if you’re not busy or anything.”

Just one question? Willis’ voice asked snidely, echoing in time with the rapid tripartite beat of Jason’s heart. Since apparently everything Jason said was trying to come out with a question mark attached to the end of it at the moment. Ugh, fuck you, subconscious, Jason thought forcefully, even as he ransacked the recesses of his mind for that bravado he was thinking about earlier. It had to be in here somewhere…

“No worries dude, I’ve got time. Hit me!” Nightwing said cheerfully. His lighthearted cadences were so at odds with the sweat suddenly breaking out on Jason’s forehead, the younger teen couldn’t help but wince in anticipation of its inevitable change once he got his actual question out. This was a bad idea, he decided, way too fucking late for it to make a difference. He had a hunch Nightwing wouldn’t be content to ‘just forget it’ or whatever even if Jason chickened out now.

So he took a deep breath, shrugged and did what Jason Todd did best. Said fuck it, put pedal to the metal, and drove at full speed for the metaphorical police barricade that was his way of picturing all the things telling him He Should Definitely Just Not.

“Do you think I’m someone who could kill somebody in like, cold blood?”

Aaaaand there went the lightheartedness. Well, he’d definitely stone cold killed that, Jason thought grimly into the silence that followed.

“Huh,” Nightwing said at last. “You’re gonna have to give me a second to switch gears here, Jay. I was kinda expecting something along the lines of ‘how do I avoid Bruce giving me the safe sex talk.’”

Jason flushed and nodded jerkily, not that the older man could see it. Still, it’d been enough of a workout just getting to this point. He didn’t trust what might come out of his mouth next if he kept trying to force it. Thankfully Nightwing didn’t make him wait too long before continuing.

“I think anyone’s capable of killing somebody in the right circumstances,” Jason’s predecessor began carefully. Except that was not remotely what he wanted to hear. Or helpful.

“I’m not looking for platitudes,” Jason grit out, not angry at the other vigilante so much as the whole fucked up mess and his inability to think about anything else at this point. “It’s just a simple fucking question. You’ve met me, do you think like, I’d be capable of just killing somebody or not.”

“I’m not offering platitudes,” Nightwing continued calmly, as if he wasn’t phased by the younger boy’s interruption or sudden aggression at all. “And its not a simple question at all. Speaking from experience, most people wouldn’t think of an eight year old as a cold-blooded killer, but that’s what I could have been if Bruce hadn’t stopped me from killing my parents’ murderer when I first tracked him down. And yet that’s still totally different from when I held a gun on Two-Face barely a couple years later, about to shoot him because somebody else told me to, and because I wanted to hurt him like he’d hurt me. Wouldn’t you agree those are two different situations and two different ‘kinds’ of cold-blooded killer? Context is kinda a big deal here.”

Huh. First off…what the fuck? Jason stared blankly up at the ceiling, trying to hurry up the processing functions of his brain because, again, what the fuck? He was like ninety nine percent positive none of that had been in the Dick Grayson Is The Greatest and Here Are All The Reasons Why brochure he’d had read to him every time someone new found out he was Wayne’s newest stray, and like. Uh. Yeah, that part would have definitely stood out. Because once more, with feeling:

“What the fuck?”

Oops. That hadn’t been supposed to be out loud. Bad mouth. Bad.

Nightwing just did a weird kinda half laugh half sigh combo. Rueful, Jason would describe it, if he were describing it to someone else, which it kind of felt like he was, relaying the conversation to himself now that it’d taken a hard right turn into the surreal.

“Blindsided you with that, huh? Sorry, should’ve figured neither of those are the kinda stories Bruce would want to share with you. Then again, I don’t really have any idea what Bruce has told you about me.”

“Not much,” Jason admitted. Which was a major source of irritation, if he was being honest. The much sung praises of Dick Grayson came from literally everyone he met except for Bruce. Who usually just got a pinched expression whenever Jason brought him up, and a rapid subject change that was not nearly as subtle as Bruce seemed to think it was.

“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Nightwing sighed. “I hope you haven’t put too much stock in anything else you’ve heard about me then. I’ll admit to a bad habit of enjoying my mystique, so secondhand hearsay tends to lose my best nuances.”

Despite himself, Jason’s lips curved up and he let out a rueful huff of his own. “I mean, this definitely isn’t where I saw this conversation going.”

The older man chuckled. “Thought I was going to just assume the worst and chuck the book at you?”

“Well. Yeah.” Jason shrugged, even though he knew it wouldn’t come across. “Bruce did.”

Nightwing heaved an exasperated breath. “Yeah, that’s kinda the thing about B. Sometimes, he’s great. Other times, he’s an ass. Its kinda an either or thing. He’s never really mastered the art of finding a midpoint between two extremes. Mostly because he’s never seen the point of aiming for middle ground.”

“Well its not like he’s ever really had to,” Jason griped. It just slipped out before he could stop it, leaving him feeling guilty for bad-mouthing B when he wasn’t around to defend himself. Especially since he knew Nightwing wasn’t the guy’s biggest fan these days. But he couldn’t deny it also felt good, in a way.

To his surprise, Nightwing just laughed. And not even in a malicious, spiteful kind of way, but almost relieved.

“God, thank you. You’d think that ‘hey, so my billionaire guardian kinda has entitlement issues’ would be a water is wet kind of revelation, but try saying something like that to pretty much anyone else…”

“And they look at you like you’re an ungrateful asshole?” Jason finished for him. Not that he’d ever actually tried saying that to anyone before, though he’d definitely thought it a time or two. But he could all too easily imagine the reactions he’d get, which was pretty much why he’d never gone so far as to speak the words.

“Yup,” Nightwing drawled, dragging out the p and popping it with emphasis. “And its not about being grateful or not, its just…there are some parts of everyone that just aren’t up for grabs, for other people to weigh in on or take charge of, you know? And a lot of people just don’t get that…because nobody’s ever tried it with them, or had to deal with expectations that…overstep, let’s call it?”

“Is that why you left?”

Jason winced the second it left his mouth. Too far. Definitely way too far, but he’d just gotten unexpectedly comfortable with the back and forth, and now he’d done the overstepping thing himself and was left with just dead air.

But ten seconds of heavy silence stretched into twenty, and went no further, as Nightwing sighed into his side of the phone again.

“The spiteful part of me wants to say it was more of a push than me just up and leaving,” he laughed again, but this time with unmistakable bitterness. “But even while that’s true, its not really the right answer to your question, because no matter how much of a clusterfuck that was at the time, its not…I mean, I knew at the time how to fix it. Where and how I needed to cave in order to make up with him and let things get back not quite to normal, but at least close enough.”

The pause wasn’t as heavy or tense this time, as Jason could almost sense the older man gathering his thoughts, trying to put them into words. He bit his lip rather than risk any more unexpected utterances escaping. This might not have been where he’d thought his phone call would lead, but now that he was here, hearing the answers to questions he’d wanted to ask for over a year and finding them almost comfortably familiar, he wasn’t going to risk distracting Nightwing or shutting him up for well. Anything.

“But it would have meant me caving. Settling in ways that I just…couldn’t. So in a way, yeah, I did leave, it was still my choice. And all of that was definitely a big part of it. I love Bruce, I do. I just couldn’t live with him anymore. Not without feeling like I had to give up my own autonomy and just be what he wanted. Or what he’d expected me to grow up to be, back when he first took me in. And as grateful as I am to him for that, I can’t honestly say I would have stuck around back then if I knew that was the price tag attached. I’m not…I don’t do well with people trying to force me to stick to one place, one thing. I was born on the road, you know? When I was a kid, I expected to spend the rest of my life living like that. Home was people. Not places. And so Gotham…its never fit me quite right, the way it does him, or even Barbara. Its not like I was miserable there, its just.”

“It wouldn’t have been your first choice,” Jason finished again, quietly. There was silence again for awhile.

“No. No, it wouldn’t have been. Not then.”

[sohotthateveryonedied]

Fic Writer Interview

thanks @allthebooksandcrannies for tagging me!!

How many works do you have on AO3: 160!! yes i have a problem

Total AO3 word count: 844,446 oh god

How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?: 5 i think? dc comics, young justice, voltron, the teen titans cartoon once, and that one tiny fic i did for the lunar chronicles which is the only time i ever strayed from my fic-writing comfort zone lmao

Top 5 Fics (by number of kudos): the #1 fic is "obedience" with 3395 kudos, #2 is "don't touch me," #3 is "no pain, all gain," #4 is "hi bi, i'm dad," and #5 is "the same mistake twice" with 1353 kudos

Do I respond to comments, why or why not: i tried to respond to all of my comments at one point, but it was a lot of work to keep up and eventually i just gave up after a month of that. nowadays i try to respond to the longer comments that people put actual effort into or if they have a question or something

Do I write crossovers (and if so, what is the craziest?): nope nope nope. it's just not my thing (unless you count the ones where i give characters plots or traits from other forms of media like my "tim sees ghosts" au but that's about as crossover-y as it gets) (also julie and i come up with crossover ideas all the time but for my real, public writing, it's a hard no)

Have I ever received hate on a fic?: oh gosh so so SO many times. it's never fun

Do you write smut?: nah, it's not my thing. i've thought about it sure, just to branch out my writing style and to see if i'd be any good at it, but it doesn't match my audience so it's a no for now

Have you ever had i fic stolen: i hope not? i actually don't know what that means but it doesn't sound fun

Have you ever had a fic translated: yep! a couple have been translated into different languages and a few awesome people have done podfics for my stuff :)

Have you ever co-written a fic before: sort of? sometimes julie or i will write stuff together, but it's usually in a way where one of us will write a fic based on headcanons we've come up with together and then we'll credit the other when it's posted. there have been a few times when we've written actual fics together in the same document and everything, but i tend to step back and let julie do most of the work because i'm inherently bad at working with others and my instinct when partnered with other people is to shut down and let them take over everything 🤷‍♀️

What’s your all-time favorite ship: i don't know actually?? i'm sure i have one, but as far as writing goes, i tend to mostly lean on ships like jayroy, timsteph, spitfire, and birdflash occasionally. there are plenty of other ships that i care about way more than those four, but most of them i just haven't written for yet so yeah. for someone who's obsessed with love and romance, i'm pretty lukewarm on most ships

What's a WIP that you want to finish but probably never will: oh gosh. oh man. foster dad bruce au, my beloved. i love that fic with all my heart but like icarus, i forgot my sunglasses and rocketed straight into the ball of burning gas. this fic gives the phrase "bit off more than you can chew" a physical form. the fourth chapter has been sitting in its document half-written for months now and i know i vowed to never ever ever ever EVER post a fic and never finish it because i always hate when people quit on fics i like,,,,, there's a 50% chance that i will get back to that fic. it's just too long. i've only finished 3 out of 7 chapters and already it's at almost 59,000 words, i'm TIRED okay i'm sorry guys maybe one day i'll reclaim my braincells and finish that fucking thing

What are your writing strengths: i'm good with the mechanics and stuff, like the way my sentences are arranged and thought-out, but this is also my biggest weakness, which sucks. it's like in monsters university when mike spends so much time studying the technical aspect of scaring but he can't do it naturally like the other monsters can? yeah. i'm so focused on the mechanics of my writing that it's hard for me to let loose and actually let myself think and go loose with it. the only times i can really WRITE without one hand tied behind my back is when i'm overly tired or caffeinated. i have a feeling i'll be one of those writers who can't write anything of value without a bottle of wine lmao

What are your writing weaknesses: see above

What’s your thoughts on dialogue being written in other languages in fics: i don't know what this means?? is this asking whether i approve of dialogue being written in other languages?? or is it asking how i want it formatted?? what does this mean?? sometimes a story requires dialogue in another language, idk what to tell you man

First fandom you wrote for: oh god. don't make me think about my fanfiction.net days. i'm not strong enough (it was batfamily btw because what else do i write)

What’s your favorite fanfic you’ve written: my young justice gsa au <3 my pride and joy <3 that au was when i truly peaked as a human and it's only downhill from here <3

tagging uhhhhhh @damthosefandoms @haljordangreenjedi @catboykonel and @magebirdi because i have very few friends

[dottie-wan-kenobi]

omg okay 9 and 56 for dickroy por favor (it's all the so you think you can dance i watched as a child that gets me imagining superheroes dancing bc they have sm control over their bodies!!! theyd do great ok) also also taking this opportunity to send HUGS I LOVE YOU 💙💙💙💙

First of all I love YOU!!!! Thank you for this 🥺🥺🥺 (your mind!!!! they would be so good at dancing! they would just blow every competition out of the water I am convinced now) also my god I did not expect this to get so long ksdjfahj

9. Dance AU and 56. Awful First Meeting (prompts found here!)

OH BOY. If I were to write this fic, Roy would be a dancer because it's fun. I don't have a particular dance style in mind for this AU (other than ballet tbh) but no matter what it is, he does it because he enjoys it, because it's stress relief, maybe it was something he and Dinah bonded over. Oliver is supportive in that, You can take this however far you want to go and I'll be there the whole way, sort of way -- if Roy decided he wanted to stop, cool, no big, we can find something else for you to do

Dick, on the other hand, does it because he's good at it. He enjoys dancing, sure, but he's competitive about it. He wants to go to the competitions and win, he wants the awards, he wants to be the best at it that he could possibly be. And Bruce matches this energy, fuels it, he wants to be the dad to the best dancer this side of the Mississippi and he will do whatever it takes to get Dick there

So with this background in mind. I want Roy to beat Dick in a dance competition.

more under the cut

I want them to be like... late teens, probably, and Dick comes in all ready for his win. He's nice to the other competitors who are all just as involved and determined as he is, but then he sees Roy. Roy is immediately intriguing to him, bc he's cute and he's got muscles for days, and Dick thrives on it like,, actually having to work towards winning. He knows he's going to of course, but it's more fun when other ppl don't make it easy for him

But then Roy is kind of like, "shrug yeah I'm excited to be here but I'm okay getting second place. Or lower. Whatever." Dick is HORRIFIED. Dick is DISGUSTED. Apathy?? In a competition with HIM in it??? THIS GUY IS GOING DOWN.

(I can't decide if Roy can tell what's going on in Dick's head or not.... I think probably at least a little? He also thinks Dick is cute and he's enjoying the intensity of Dick's attention a lot. A Lot.)

Dick gives this dance his all. He does amazingly. He probably gets like one or two points off from a perfect score (idk how scores work... or what would've happened to knock points off but that doesn't matter now lmao)

Roy goes out and everything just clicks. He's an awesome dancer on a bad day anyway, but this night, it all just comes together. He gets a perfect score. He WINS THE COMPETITION. Dick gets second place. Crushing loss!!! It's so much worse that he lost to someone so cute!

Thus begins a one-sided rivalry where Dick is BOUND AND DETERMINED to win against Roy. Roy honestly doesn't care if he wins or loses against Dick... except that when he wins, it's like pulling Dick's pigtails. They're flirting and fighting and Roy pretends to be above it all, and they're both having so much fun with it.

Every time they're both in a competition together, it's almost like Dick is a good luck charm for Roy. He always wins. And Dick is still killing it, still doing wonderful, still winning when Roy isn't also there (and I imagine living so far apart and only meeting at competitions doesn't help ksdjhfakhj)

I think I would end it with like... Roy accidentally getting hurt and having to forfeit his spot because he can't finish. Dick wins this competition, but as soon as his dance is over, he rushes to Roy, has to reassure himself he's okay. Somewhere along the line, losing to Roy has stopped feeling like a loss to himself (the PRESSURE this boy puts on himself to be perfect, holy shit). IT'S AN INTRICATE RITUAL!!! Dick can feel okay losing a competition if it's against Roy only. It didn't feel good this time. He just wanted to be with Roy, who cared about winning?

Anyway they kiss in the medical room or wherever they are and then they probably become dancing partners and win all the awards, the end

[mrsstruggle]

The Lost Child - Chapter 24 // Teen Wolf x Marvel AU

Summary: Y/N Stark was taken from her family when she was three years old. It's fifteen years later and her family believes she is dead. Then how is she living in Beacon Hills?

Warnings: Language, Mentions of Death/Torture/Violence/Injury, Possible Grammar Mistakes (please let me know if there is anything else)

Pairings: Derek Hale x Reader, Steve Rogers x Bucky Barnes, Bruce Banner x Natasha Romanoff, Vision x Wanda Maximoff, & More To Come.

Previous Pairings: Tony Stark x Pepper Potts, Scott McCall x Allison Argent

Words: 2.9k

Note: I am posting every 3-4 days! I know this is late and I am terribly sorry for that!

Additional Note: While this is a Teen Wolf x Marvel AU, not everything is true to the shows/movies/comics. I had to change things for the story. This also loosely follows Teen Wolf Season 4.

One Last Note: Y/N was adopted by Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. I did this so more people can see themselves in this story.

***I do not own Teen Wolf or Marvel or any related characters. This is a work of fanfiction and is meant for entertainment only.***

Masterlist

The Lost Child Masterlist

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

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"Mom? It was mom?" Stiles questions. He's making sure he keeps his eyes on the road as he drives but he's desperately wishing he could look Y/N in the eyes as she answers him, so he knows she's not lying.

Y/N smiles a little thinking about their mom, "Yeah it was mom. She was friends with Talia, and she was the one to block my memories. She also made sure my mind was blocked from being tampered with."

"How did you end up at their front door?" Scott asks her.

"She wanted to keep dad away from the supernatural and stuff. She never even told him who she was. Talia dropped me off at the house and mom pretended that she had no idea who I was." Y/N explains, looking sadly out the window next to her as she remembers her late mother.

"Did you know mom was a witch? I know she used to bring you to Deaton all the time to help you learn to control your powers and stuff and neither of you ever told me or dad about that until later, but did you really not know she was a witch?" Stiles doesn't understand how their mom was able to hide this from them.

"I had no idea," Y/N mumbles. "She brought me to Deaton once a week and not once did she ever tell me she had powers. Not even when I broke down sobbing about how much of a freak I was because I didn't know anyone who could do the things I did. I guess it makes sense though. I don't ever remember telling her about what I could do but she brought me to Deaton anyways. Maybe I did and I just don't remember it."

Derek squeezes Y/N's hand to let her know that he's there for her. He also can't stop thinking about his mom. Ever since he started dating Y/N, he's always wondered what his mom would think of her. He's even had dreams of him introducing Y/N to her, but they've already met. His mom is the reason Y/N is here today. She saved her.

"This doesn't make any sense," Stiles can't seem to wrap his head around everything. "If mom was so powerful, why is she dead?"

"I don't know," Y/N looks down at her and Derek's intertwined hands, "She was powerful, but she wasn't invincible. Bad things can happen to anybody."

"Are you going to tell your dad?" Scott asks her.

"Not right now but I'll tell him eventually."

"He's waiting with Lydia and Deaton at your place," Stiles informs her.

"You told him?" Y/N whines in frustration. She didn't want her dad to worry about her. He already worries about her enough without her getting kidnapped.

"I kinda had to. We showed up to a random facility in the middle of Oregon to rescue you and you weren't there. We didn't know how long it would take us to find you, so we had to tell him. Plus, Melissa probably would've asked him why you weren't at work." Stiles explains.

"Shit, I forgot about work," Y/N groans thinking about work. She loves her job but after all the emotional turmoil she's been through in the last day or so, she just wants to shower, eat, and not leave her bed for about a week.

"My mom has already covered for you. You have a lot of time off apparently so you can use them if you want. I'm sure she'll make you take some time off even if you don't want to." Scott states.

Stiles pulls into the parking garage of Derek's and Y/N's apartment building. As he parks the jeep, he can see the others park their cars close to his. Everyone silently exits their cars and slowly walks to the elevators.

"We definitely all can't fit," Stiles states, looking around at everyone gathered around the elevator.

"We can wait," Peter Stark looks back at his family behind him and gives them a look to let them know that they can wait.

"Remember, we're on the top floor. I'll leave the door open for you," Y/N informs him as she steps onto the elevator.

The elevator doors close and leave the Avengers standing in the parking garage alone in silence. None of them know what to say. No one even said anything on the ride over to the apartment. Everyone's minds are racing with a million different thoughts. How are you supposed to react to a situation like this?

They came to Beacon Hills for a family vacation for the first time since Y/N was taken. Then they found out that the girl they believed to be dead turned out to be alive and living in Beacon Hills, but she and Peter ended up being taken by Hydra. When they finally came face-to-face with her for the first time in fifteen years, they thought she wanted to kill them. Luckily, she didn't want to kill them, but then they watched as her boyfriend killed a man, and then she sent a man to die into a dark abyss.

They know they should feel something about her doing that, but they are too relieved that she's okay to care that she just sent a man to his death. It's not like any of them have any room to judge because they've all done worse things to people. At least she did it to someone who deserved it.

Now, here they are standing outside of an elevator waiting to go up to the apartment that she shares with her boyfriend. She's barely eighteen and she's living with a boyfriend. They know she thinks she's older than that but even if she was, it's still not something they're thrilled about. They know their biggest concern should be about whether she's being manipulated by Derek, but it's clear from the time they've spent with Derek and the one interaction they've watched them have that they love each other. They hate that their biggest concern is that she has too many ties here in Beacon Hills and she won't go back home with them.

Logically, they know how messed up they are for wanting to disregard the family she has here, but they were her family first. She's Tony's daughter and she always will be. She's had her time here in Beacon Hills and it's time for her to go home. It's the moment they've all been dreaming of since the moment she was taken. They never thought it would happen. Some of them even still held onto hope after her body was "identified" and she was "confirmed" to be dead.

The elevator dings as it opens back up. The Avengers slowly enter the now empty elevator and watch as Peter hits the button for the top floor. The elevator creaks as it starts to move. Many of them are still in their suits and gear they changed into before going to the distillery. Tony and Peter are the only ones in their regular clothes.

The elevator jerks to a stop and slowly opens to the top floor. As the Avengers step off the elevator, they notice the open loft door waiting for them.

"Are they the only ones on this floor?" Bruce breaks the silence noticing there is only one apartment on the floor.

"Um, yeah, her boyfriend owns the building," Peter answers him as they walk towards the apartment.

They slowly walk into the apartment to see everyone except for Y/N sitting around a small living area in the middle of the large loft apartment. They notice the several boxes of pizza sitting on a coffee table in the middle of everyone. There's a man they haven't met before sitting next to the sheriff. He must be the Deaton Scott told Lydia to pick up earlier.

"Y/N decided to go shower before eating. We don't have a lot of room for everyone so you might have to sit on the floor." Derek explains to them when he notices them standing hesitantly by the door. He knows why they agreed to come over but he's hoping they won't stay for long and not say anything to Y/N. He knows she'll deny knowing anything, but this isn't a conversation that anyone is ready to have.

The Avengers silently nod in understanding and slowly move toward the others. They spread out and sit around on the floor near the others. The sheriff, Deaton, Malia, Derek's uncle, and Stiles are all sitting on the couch while Lydia and Kira are sitting on the two accent chairs. Scott, Liam, and Mason are sitting on the floor as Derek passes out drinks to everyone.

"I'm going to go wash up as well," Derek quietly states before exiting the living room and walking up the stairs toward his bedroom. He listens to see if the shower is running but Y/N must not have started it yet. He opens the bedroom door to find it unlocked. The room was empty which meant Y/N was in the bathroom. He closes the door behind him before locking it.

Derek slowly approaches the bathroom door before knocking quietly on it, "You okay?"

"I'm okay!" Y/N exclaims loud enough for him to hear her.

"Can I come in?" Derek doesn't get a response, but he hears the lock click as Y/N unlocks the door. He waits a moment before slowly opening the door and entering their bathroom. He shuts the door behind him before looking up to see Y/N naked and rummaging through the cabinets below her sink. "What are you looking for?"

"I can't find a better scrubber. I don't know if my loofah is good enough to scrub off the stench of Gerard and Hydra." Y/N states as she moves to look in the cabinets under Derek's sink.

"I'm pretty sure you threw away the last thing you had because it was too dirty, or it broke or something. You can shower now, and I can send someone in a bit to go get you a new one. If you want to shower again later, you can do that." Derek states, looking at her with a worried look in his eyes.

Y/N takes a deep breath and closes the cabinets before standing up and looking at Derek, "I guess you're right. I'm just ready for this day to be over." She walks into their large walk-in shower and turns on the hot water. She takes a quick step back before the initial cold water could hit her. Derek snorts a little at her antics. She turns to look at him with a smile on her face, "Are you going to join me?"

Derek smiles back at her before pulling his shirt over his head. He quickly sheds the rest of his clothes while silently thanking the voice in his head for making him wash the blood off his hands the second he stepped into the apartment.

Y/N moves to stand under the hot water as she watches Derek throw his clothes in the hamper in the corner of the bathroom. He makes his way over to Y/N and slowly walks into the shower behind her. Y/N laughs as he jumps back the second the water hits his skin.

"I still don't get how you haven't melted your skin in the shower yet," Derek grumbles at her.

Y/N laughs before turning down the heat a little, "Is that better? You should've known by now that I prefer my showers hot."

Derek rolls his eyes before slowly stepping back under the water. He smiles at her before wrapping his arm around her waist and pulling her against his wet body. He studies her face before looking deeply into her eyes, "I'm sorry I couldn't find you sooner."

"I'm sorry I got taken in the first place. If I wouldn't have gotten taken, we wouldn't be in the mess we're in right now." She turns around and closes her eyes and revels in the feeling of the warm water.

"I mean you didn't have to invite them back here," Derek states with a small smirk on his face.

Y/N sighs, "I don't know why I did. I felt bad because Peter only got taken because he was with me."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"I'm pretty sure it is. Why else would they take him?"

"If that was true, why didn't they take Stiles?" Derek questions.

Y/N scoffs at him, "Stop trying to show me that my reasoning doesn't make sense. It's not a very nice thing to do to your girlfriend who was just held captive by raging lunatics."

Derek chuckles a little before hugging her back against him and pressing small kisses along her neck and shoulder. They stand there quietly under the warm water as they just enjoy each other's presence.

Y/N opens her eyes to look for her shampoo when she freezes when she looks at her hands. It's like everything she had forced herself not to think about came rushing back to her. She killed innocent people. It wasn't those boys' fault for being under whatever Hydra or Gerard or whoever had done to them, and she killed them. The back of her mind is telling her that it wasn't her fault either. They made her kill them to save Peter.

Derek pulls back from her and watches as she grabs her loofah and lathers it in body wash. She immediately starts to scrub at her body as if their blood was still on her. Derek slowly grabs her hand from behind to stop her harsh scrubbing. He can hear her sniffling and knows that she's seconds away from a breakdown.

"I-I didn't mean to. I swear I didn't want to do it. Th-They made me. They made me do it." She rambles in between her oncoming sobs.

Derek quietly shushes her as she turns her around to face him, "I know. I know. You have nothing to apologize for."

She wraps her arms around him and sobs into him as he holds her tightly against him, "One of them looked like Stiles. And now...and now I a-apparently have another family. Also, I now remember all the horrible things Hydra did to me an-and to other people. I-I don't want this."

"Everything will be okay. I know at the moment it doesn't seem like it will, but I promise you it will be. You helped me with my shit and it's my turn to help you with yours. We will figure this all out together. I promise." Derek comforts her.

They stay wrapped in each other's arms as she continues to cry. He knows this is what she needs and he's always willing to be her shoulder to cry on. She is the person who everyone goes to with their problems and he's happy to be the person that gets to be there for her.

Her cries slowly come to an end, and she starts to feel a lot better. "I love you," She mumbles quietly.

"I love you," Derek presses a kiss into the side of her head before she steps back from him and wipes the remaining tears on her face.

They slowly go through their shower routines before stepping out of the shower. They grab a towel and dry off before going through their after-shower routines and changing into sweats. Right as they are about to exit their room, they hear a small knock on it. Derek opens the door to find Scott, Stiles, and Lydia standing outside their room.

"We need to talk," Scott states and pushes his way into the room.

Stiles covers his eyes with his hands and follows Scott into the room, "Please tell me you are both dressed?"

"You could've asked before you bargained into our room," Derek grumbles, shutting the door behind him.

"What's going on?" Y/N questions.

Scott gives Stiles a look before Stiles sighs, "While you were gone, we were able to crack the third Deadpool key." Judging by the look on Y/N's face, Stiles can tell she completely forgot about the Deadpool. "The password was your name."

"Okay?" Y/N doesn't understand what that means.

"All of the passwords were only people who are dead except for you. We thought that meant you were dead at first until we found out you were alive. Your name was even removed from the first list." Scott explains.

"And?" Y/N doesn't understand why any of this matters.

"Your name is back on the list," Stiles hesitantly tells her. "It used to be fifty million. It's now been bumped up to one hundred million."

"But that's not the only thing..." Lydia hands Y/N her phone that's open to the first Deadpool list.

"Shit," Y/N curses.

"What?" Derek questions her.

"I'm no longer on it as Y/N Stilinski. It now says Y/N Stark, which now means everyone who has this list knows who I am."

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

@llamaproblem @emily-roberts @me-unintentionally @inyourmomsworld @depressedsleepysloth @allthingsavenger-y @missnyxsblog @saahmi @vicmc624 @mrspetxrs @freyathehuntress @fheresm @stefans-wife @taketimeandappreciate @youralphawolf72 @ornella0910 @shedsblood @ts1mp0ne @beautifulgrungekid @danielle-leah1997 @itmejado @ivettt @james-bucky-barnes-bitch @learning-howto-be-myselfx3 @darkenwolfie @lokiandbuckywife @xx-narcissa @elite4cekalyma @thecrazytealady @misshale21 @cevans-winchester @fayhay14 @wtfcas @spencerreidsbookclub @hinata7346 @randomhoex @mirakeul @n1ght5h4d3-24 @belovacc @speedy-object-dream @pepelachanel @dark-night-sky-99 @xoxoloverb @ilearnedthatfromethepizzaman @kingshitonly @isnt-itstrange @twsssmlmaa @navs-bhat @zealouspostwitch

[irondadfics]

Do you have any long irondad fics you'd recommend? I really want to settle down with a good muti-chapter fic, I'd love to know your favourites!

LONG FIC REC LIST PART 2

I know some of you are stuck inside due to be quarantined right now, and I really hope each and every one of you are doing alright. Please stay inside if you can and be safe! 

To help pass the time, here’s a continuation of one of our older lists (be sure to also check out part 1 for more recs). During hard times such as this, we often turn to different forms of art for entertainment and to help us cope. BE SURE TO LET THESE WONDERFUL AUTHORS KNOW THEY ARE APPRECIATED! 

This list is organized by word count. Most of the fics listed below are complete but some are not. For example if the word count is encompassed by two asterisks it means the fic is not complete and is subject to change, but the word count is correct as of the day this list was posted. 

ENJOY LOVELIES!!

The Guardian by Emily_F6 @justme–emily (234k+)

Guardian: a person who guards, protects, or preserves. When a terrible accident claims the life of May Parker, Tony Stark steps up as Peter’s guaridan. But it’s not just a traumatized super-teen he’ll have to worry about when he recieves a transmission from Thor.

If They Knew All About You by MsHermia (*224k+*)

Tony Stark had lost his son when he was only 2 years old, stolen away in broad daylight with nobody the wiser of what exactly happened. Years later, Tony has just made it through the disaster with Ultron. He is trying to keep himself and the team together but relationships are strained and tempers are running high.Then a random turn of events leads to his path crossing with that of a particular vigilante. They are strangers to each other, or so they think.Peter Parker is on top of the world. After a few shitty years, losing his parents and then losing his Uncle, things are finally looking up. Sure he lives in a crappy little apartment with his Aunt but he might have just found his mission in life.——This is an AU story obvious by some of the tags. I’m starting out a few weeks after Age of Ultron took place. Civil War will be a thing. Other than that I’m not too concerned about sticking to every canon detail and storyline.

The Third Option by Uncertainty_Principle (220k+)

Homecoming A/U. Ben and May divorced before Peter’s parents died, so when Ben is murdered Peter goes into foster care. It takes just a tiny taste of superpowers for Peter to decide he doesn’t want to put up with his horrible foster father anymore—the streets are infinitely more appealing. All he wants is to be Spider-Man anyway.So he leaves.Simple.Simple, that is, until Iron Man needs Spider-Man’s help. Peter isn’t about to turn down an opportunity to fight alongside Tony Freaking Stark, but he also isn’t going to let his hero know that his recruit is a fifteen-year-old homeless dropout. So they strike a deal. Peter will help Tony. In return, the mask stays on.And that’s when things get complicated.

 Lights To Guide You Home (series) by JolinarJackson @jolinarjackson  (185k+)

Tony becomes Peter’s guardian after May dies unexpectedly and over the course of a year, they learn to become a family.

 hydra’s not a home (series) by tempestaurora @tempestaurora (139k+)

At 6 years old, the son of Tony and Pepper Stark, Peter, is kidnapped, never to be seen again. Or, so they thought. Ten years later, while raiding a HYDRA base, the Avengers come across a new, enhanced individual, working for the enemy: in black spandex, with a tendency to stick to walls and shoot webs from his wrists, the Black Spider is a pain in the ass in more ways than one.

 built from scraps by peterstank @peter-stank (138k+)

“Everybody needs someone. That’s what you said, right?” Pepper meets his eyes and he’s struck by the way she’s almost pleading. “We both lost. We can help each other.”Her hand, palm up and open, stretches into the space between them.Peter hesitates.Then he takes it.or: the one where tony was dusted instead of peter, so he and pepper try to figure out the whole ‘family’ thing together.(oh, and it turns out that the man who died in peter’s arms on an alien planet is his biological father. who knew, right?)

rescue me from the waves (series) by homebuilding @marveal (*125k+*)

“Richard Parker was studying Cross-Species Genetics, but struggled with the ethics of it, because it required he use human DNA, which no ethics board would agree with. So he used his own. His work was successful based off of his own DNA, and every human has a unique DNA,” Bruce explains. “So, naturally, when HYDRA wanted his research, they knew they would never get his support, so they took the next best thing they could to his own DNA. His son.“Or, Tony finds a tortured and experimented-on Peter Parker in a HYDRA base and decides to help him because who else will?

more peril in thine eye by iron_spider @iron–spider (119k+)

Tony sits in relative darkness, the TV on mute, Friday running searches like she has been every day for the past month. A month, since Quentin Beck’s grand plan crumpled underneath him on that bridge. A month, since a flash of light was able to distract Peter just as he was about to bring Beck down. A month, since Beck snatched him, since both of them disappeared. An entire. Month.I’ll keep you updated. I promise.I love you, kid. Rhodey’s on his way, alright? He’s coming. He’s gonna go as fast as he can.I love you too. I’ll be okay. I promise. I can do this.The last thing Tony heard Peter say. Rhodey, Happy and Fury traversed the London landscape immediately afterwards. They found the glasses, but not Spider-Man. There was footage enough to incriminate Beck for what he was, but somehow, nobody was able to get a shot of when he grabbed Peter. Peter was knocking him around, looked like he was getting the upper hand, and then that flash of light. Gone. Gone.

 I Never Knew I Was Broken by GotMyInkPen @gotmyinkpen (*111k+*)

Peter Parker has been living in HYDRA ever since his parents died at age four. All he can remember are the lesson’s HYDRA taught him and a series of words that strike fear into his heart. The only thing driving him forward are the memories of meeting his hero The Winter Soldier when he was seven and the goal to one day be as great an assassin as him.At age sixteen Peter finds himself tangled in the lives of the Avengers and can’t help but wonder if there’s more to life than what he’s been told.Tony wants to help him, no matter what.

 Reviving Peter Parker by YellowDistress @yellowdistress (100k+)

Spider-Man was murdered five years ago, on a beach, at the hands of Adrian Toomes. Peter Parker never came home.Spider-Man was murdered five years ago. Today Peter Parker took his first breath.

 It’s a Secret to Everybody by StarPrince_Punk @starprincepunk (97k+)

“I have kids,“ Clint said. “I know dad behavior when I see it.”Tony blinked multiple consecutive times, processing the statement. “Excuse me?”“Tony,” Steve said now, “how long have you had a son? And how come we’ve never known about him?”“Yeah,” Clint spoke again, “I thought I was the only one with a secret family. Turns out you’ve had one longer than me!”——-Peter gets to spend all summer living in Avengers Tower with Tony. When the Rogue Avengers get pardoned and come back to live at the Tower too, they’re confused as to who Peter is. However, once they see how Tony acts around Peter, that confusion goes away, as they know for certain who Peter must be - Tony’s secret son.Tony and Peter decide to make the most of the situation, and play along. They hope they can keep up the act all summer. But they soon learn that they barely have to act at all.

 Peter and the Jailbirds by beautifullights @beautifullights1 (86k+)

NOW COMPLETE “If you did play chess,” Ross said, “you’d remember that a pawn can become a queen. The most powerful piece on the board, Parker, remember that? But—” Ross smiled— “only if it obeys.”He adjusted his tie, stood, and looked down at Peter. “I’ll ask you again,” he said. “Eventually. You may feel differently after you’ve been living in a six-by-six cube without sunlight or fresh air for a few years.” “What pawns do,” Peter said, voice shaking slightly, “is sacrifice themselves for the greater good. I have no regrets.”He had a lot of regrets.Like, a lot. A crapton. A shitload. An overloaded dumpsterful.“When I visit you on the Raft,” Ross said, “you’ll be old enough to grow a beard.” The cell door clicked shut behind him. [Rated mature for graphic violence.]

 Hardest Lessons (Softest Results) (series) by mainstreamelectricalparade @riseuplikeglitterandgold (*76k+*)

The MCU if Peter was Tony’s biological child.

 In the Home by aloneintherain (68k+)

The Avengers have been infected, turned violent and aggressive against their will. And Peter, the only one unaffected, is trapped inside the Tower with six feral teammates.“Natasha,” Peter says cautiously, “what happened here? Steve attacked me, and if there was ever a sign that something was wrong, it’s having the embodiment of Truth, Justice, and the American Way throw you across the room—”Natasha comes closer, her stride controlled. Nothing necessarily out of the ordinary, but there’s something in her face, in her eyes—Natasha lunges across the space, and slams into Peter, hard.

 From Fraud to Father by TonyStarkissist @tonystarkissist (67k+)

“Tony,” she placated, “all you have to do is read a couple children’s books to them and answer a few of their questions. You’ll be fine.” “Will you come with me? You’re so good with kids,” he pleaded as she finished up with his collar and awkwardly patted the lapels of his suit down, forcing a smile onto her face when she looked up at him.“No. I’ve got a lot of work to do. Phil’s going with you, though, and so is Happy. You shouldn’t have a problem. They’ll make sure you don’t do anything stupid.”Theres a long pause before Tony finally voices his true concern.“But what if one of them sneezes on me?”

Archetype by Bean_reads_fanfic @the-reverse-mermaid (57k+)

Tony knows something is up when the research of ex-Hydra agents gets recycled in an underground Oscorp lab… what he doesn’t expect is the boy in a hospital gown sticking to the ceiling; or, how said boy proceeds to imprint on him like a baby duckling (a poor decision on his part, really). Did he mention he wasn’t intending on bringing home a kid that day?

 Taking Leaps (and the falls that come with them) by Kamomile_Tea (*45k+*)

All across New York City the boroughs are crying out with one voice, asking a question everyone wants the answer to.Where is Spiderman?But no one is asking about Peter Parker.So, he sits alone. Contemplating how his life could have gone so downhill. Grief and nausea well up in his chest and the boy quickly shoves it back down. A shiver courses through him as the cold November air seeps into the building and through his thin clothing. And on the back of his navy blue overshirt, in blocky, white letters, reads the words:CROSSROADS JUVENILE CENTERBROOKLYN NYINMATE 3042 ========== The world seems content with ignoring this young teen. That is, until Tony Stark shows up and asks him if he wants to go to Germany.

Runaway by Spectra @iridescent-spectra  (42k+)

Tony and his adopted son Peter get into a huge spat over his late night spiderman escapades, in which case Peter takes the term ‘Not while you’re under my roof’ way too seriously. After all, how hard could it be to run away from a multi billion dollar genius?Chaos ensues as the whole city becomes a metaphorical chessboard for the two equally stubborn masterminds.

[tea-with-cinnamontoast]

family.

[A/N: E. this is the nhs family day au thing,, i actually like it wow-]

"Ugh, family day. Stupid 'Family Bonding' day," the puple-haired teen mumbled, cleaning up his room. The same thing every year, Norrisville High had a 'Family Bonding' day where the students are supposed to bring at least one person from their family to school and apparently, bond. Howard said there was a bazaar, lots of games, and many yummy food. Randy didn't know, because he never participated. His dad divorced with his mom, and his mom is too busy working, that he never joined.

He always wanted to, he admitted. Randy wanted a time with his family, but he drifted apart from his mom and lost contact with his dad. The teen imagined laughing with his parents, playing ring-toss and winning prizes. He imagined himself eating cotton candy and making funny faces with his parents in the photo booth. He wanted to have fun and 'bond', as the school said it, and have the brucest day of the year. But, no. Randy was the only child of two adults, adults that Randy barely even talk to these days.

"Never once have I even joined, because of some stupid business mom always does," the boy grumbled to himself, taking his books away for tomorrow is Saturday. In worse cases, Randy would think that his mom was just avoiding him. He hated Family Bonding Day. He hated not being there. He hated not having fun. He hated not having a proper, fun and close family. To be honest, Randy didn't know if it was illegal to come in without a family, yet he was too embarrassed to try. He didn't want to be known as 'the shoob with no parents' cause that's how sad being a freshman is. Once you got a name, there is no coming back.

Done cleaning up with his bits and bobs, he grabbed the Nomicon and put it by his table, having a kind of feeling that the book was listening, but Randy shrugged the thought off and sighed. "Welp, another Family day, another full-day of playing Grave Puncher in my underwear, I guess," the teen begrudgingly went up to the top bunk and rested his eyes.

-- + --

"Wake up, ninja," a stern, yet soothing, voice called onto Randy. "We are going to be late." It took a while for the newly woken up boy to register the sound. Then it occurred to him, the source of the voice was from his own mentor, Nomi. The teen groaned and sat up, rubbing his eyes. He yawned and saw Nomi with her gorgeous red hair in a, surprisingly, modern attire. Her hair was tied in a pony tail, yet some of her hair is still loose. She used a black shirt, with the nomicon pattern in it, and black pants. She also wore red shoes.

The boy looked over her shoulder and saw Satoru sitting on his sofa, resting his head and closed his eyes. He used a ponytail for his hair, red shirt with a Norisu Nine symbol and black pants. The First Ninja peeked his eyes opened for a bit and saw Randy awake, stretching his arm and walked over to the boy. "Come on, get ready. We are going to walk there soon," he urged, the boy nodding in response and quickly got ready.

Up in his normal clothes, the three went outside Randy's house and walked. The siblings talked and laughed as the boy silently listening, excited, yet curious, of where they were going. "Hey guyss, it'll be bruce if you tell me where we're going. Ooh! Training maybe? What am I going to learn today?" the teen asked the adults. "You will know when we will get there," Nomi answered smiling, which triggered Randy's curiosity even more. The boy fake-pouted as Satoru chuckled by his side. This'll be interesting.

All Randy knew was that they were heading uptown, where the malls, McFist Industry, Norrisville High, and other McStores lie. Maybe they were heading to the park? Oh! Maybe they're gonna shop together? The boy thought hard, wanting to know where they were going. It was rare for the two to spring out of the Nomicon, so maybe this is an emergency of some sort, where they have to train and teach Randy new stuff. It was exciting.

But when the teen got there it wasn't what he was expecting.

-- + --

To say he was surprised was an understatement, Randy was filled with a few feelings. Shock, curiosity, confusion, and posibly... happiness? It was mixed up and the boy didn't know what to expect. He was in front of the school. On Family Day. Without a family. Well, the last one was debatable, the two adults beside him we're like family to him, closer than his bond with his own mom. Which isn't supposed to be a good thing, Randy guessed.

"Why... are we here?" the boy asked, looking at the blue and yellow banners all over the place. The ribbon on the school were put up high, with the writings "HELLO PARENTS, WELCOME TO FAMILY BONDING DAY!!" written messily by one of the students using yellow paint. The outside was full of people, from adults to their children, from the teachers to the other staff. The place looked fun and cheerful, like there isn't a prison of an ancient evil sorcerer under it ('Which would be great if it wasn't literal,' Randy thought).

"Nomi overheard your predicament, so we thought it would be... bruce if you could come here," Satoru answered, the red head nodded. "But my parents aren't here and..." Randy said, not yet catching on the wind. The two raised their eye brows. 'Oh,' the boy realized. "You two are..." he tried to say.

Tears started swelling up in his eyes, but the others didn't notice. They were too busy looking at the well-decorated school, and Randy could appreciate that. Despite feeling the nerve to break down and say thank you in front of everyone, he decided that the best way to cherish the day is by giving the not-from-the-present sibling the best time of their 800 year-old life. But he couldn't stop the urge to hug the two, and so he did.

It took a while for Satoru and Nomi to register what the juice happened, but returned the hug and embrace the boy. Excitedly, Randy dragged the two past-ninjas inside, past the crowded place. The boy looked overjoyed and is jumping everywhere like an excited puppy, pointing everywhere and listing the things he wanted to do. For the two siblings though, it was a new sight.

They never saw most events that happened in the school from a book, mind you, so they were fascinated, but the two kept cool. "Not like the last time we visited eh, brother?" Nomi smiled and Satoru nodded. To be honest, Nomi was as interesting as her brother. Hidden well, she was amused at how far humanity came from her time.

"Randy! You're here?" a voice, the purple-haired teen recognize everywhere, called from wherever, running and panting towards him. "But I thought you... you know." Randy understood the silent phrase. 'Don't want to be seen without a parent'. The lanky teen just shrugged and answered with a simple "Yeah."

"Ah, Wienerman, such a wonderful time to meet again," Satoru greeted from behind, with Nomi came with a bit of resentment. The girl do not like Howard. He was selfish, mean, and overall not a good friend, but Randy needed his bro, and Nomi could understand that. But still, that doesn't mean she liked him and the feeling was mutual.

Satoru, on the other hand, liked (liked, mind you) that Wienerman kid. His friendship with Randy reminded him of his own with Plop Plop, and that was nice to see. Nomi didn't know what her brother saw on the orange-haired boy, but decided not to ask. Howard saw the two and gasped for a while, and Randy sheepishly smiled. "Yeah, they're posing as family," the tall teen confirmed.

"Well, bruce to see you again, First Ninj," Howard greeted back, grinning. He always liked the First Ninja and Plop Plop, they were cool, especially when the two teen went back in time. "Please, call me Satoru. Satoru Norisawa," the ninja replied. Nomi joined them, Randy winced a bit. He knew their resentment and that they would never get along. Howard addressed the redhead with a simple "You."

Nomi didn't answer nor greeted the boy, they just stared at each other, and Randy wondered which one hated the other more. It was a bit too intense for the teen's comfort, and Satoru catched his discomfort. "Nomi..." her brother started. "Howie! There you are!" someone called from behind, stopping Howard from his glaring contest.

"Randy! Great to see you here!" Howard's dad, Mort Wienerman, came. He later acknowledged the two adults and smiled, though he looked sort of confused. "And you must be Randy's..." he reached his hand for a shake, but he couldnt finish the statement. "Family," the teen answered simply. And he wasn't lying. "Nomi Norisawa, and my brother, Satoru," Nomi introduced, shaking the other's hand. "Mort Wienerman, family from Japan?" Howard's dad asked. Randy took this one, "Yeah, you could say that."

Nomi inspected the man in front of her, and concluded that this is Howard's father. Behind him, a girl with the same fantastic orange shade of hair walked towards them. "Nice to see that Randall can make it, for once," the female said, not looking up from her phone ("It's Randy! It's always been Randy!"). "I'm going to get some food, see you later," the man informed them. "Dad, can I stay with Cunningham?" Howard asked, and Mort nodded.

"So what do we start with first? I'm leaning to food, but I'm also thinking about games," Randy started, walking with the group. He wanted the two ninjas to have a time of their life, and he needed to be good. "I vote food," Howard said. "Of course you do. How about you two?" the lanky teen asked. "We have never been here, do you not remember?" Satoru answered, his hands crossed behind him, looking at the long food stands and games.

"Right. We're going to the game section!" Randy announced like a pirate captain and pointed, walking towards the games.

-- + --

"Haha! You are going to lose, dear brother!" Nomi exclaimed to his brother, the two playing skeeball. Randy laughed and watched with fascination. "Not if I beat you first, dearest Nomi," Satoru shot back, focusing on the game. The purple-haired teen didn't know if it was the "800 year old ninja knowledge" thing or that they practiced (which is unlikely...) but the two we're super skilled and evenly matched, both of them hitting the bullseye with every ball they had.

The game keeper watched with wide eyes, and others started coming, too. They watched the two spar it out in the game, as the two focused on the hole. The siblings finally stopped when they have no more balls, and deemed themselves the winner. There was a competitive glare between the Norisawas for a while, but it boiled down into laughter and enjoyment. Randy loved every second of it.

Randy loved they way they were just... here. Wow, even his mortal, easier-to-be-here mom couldn't be in this spot right now, yet two from-the-past siblings managed to be there. For him. The teen loved the way they would laugh together and take care of him, occasionally being an 'actual' parent just for him to be safe. He love the way they were open and fun, and would do anything to make Randy happy. He just loved them. They were like his own parent figure. Like a family.

Nomi's giggles and Satoru's chuckling filled Randy's heart with joy, and they decided to buy some food. The two never tried 'modern' food before, and for that reason, the teen wanted to pick the best food for them. "So Howard, name the best food here," he whispered to his biffer, who was munching on some chips. "Well, Cunningham. I think I would choose corndogs, then top it off with some cotton candy," the short boy answered, cheese from the chips smeared his mouth.

And so he did. The freshman bought some corndogs and shared them with his best friend and, admittedly, his family. They were peacefully laughing, when a giant explosion can be heard. "Seriously? We we're having fun and a monster comes?" Randy mumbled under his breath. "Go, Ninja. We will be here if you need help," Satoru assured. The teen nodded and ran to the restroom, leaving his teachers and biffer alone.

The boy used his mask, flashing lights and black ribbons covered him. After all the lightshow was done, he ran out of the stall and smoke-bombed his way in. "Smoke bomb! Hey, monster! Seriously!? On Family Day?! Who would even-" before he could finished his sentence, the stanked one attacked. The 'corrupted' one looked different, it was too robotic for a human, but too emotional for a robot. The Ninja remembered fighting a staked Viceroy creation, but this wasn't the same.

It's eyes stared into Randy, causing uneasiness. The teen didn't know how or why this one got stanked, but the fight sure wasn't easy. And yet, something about its... shape is recognizable. The creature had a bull's head and a human body, not a very good look on anyone, to be honest. The boy racked up his name, thinking about his classes. It was hard, since he zoned out most of his scholar studies. Then he realized.

"You're a, um, Minator? How do you say it's shoob name... Oh yeah, uh, Minotaur!" the Ninja shouted it's name. 'Names have power,' he recalled from a movie. Randy heard about this nasty piece of work, actually, he heard of the actual one not a half robotic one. Apparently, some lady from Ancient Greece decided it was a great idea to make a child with a bull. A honkin' bull. The boy remembered a few parts of the story, when explained in his history class (talking about Greece and its lush mythology), and remembered the hero Theseus.

But he wasn't fighting just any Minatour shaped robot. He was fighting a stanked one, and those are bad news.

Not looking at the Minotaur coming towards him full speed after a fun, and totally not destructive, rampage around the school, all Randy can remember was flying. It would've been great if it wasn't a dream, yet it wasn't, and the Ninja is plunging in super speed into his death. But he didn't feel the ground. Which is weird, maybe he died? "Got you, Ninja," Satoru's voice called from behind the mask.

The teen opened his eyes and stood up, watching the scenes. There were quick movements here and there, the robot getting slashed slowly and steadily, but the creature wouldn't go down that easily. Gradually, it rose up, dodging Nomi's (now in a mask) attacks and charging on the girl. She was growing restless and retreated, then united with the male ninjas.

"This creature... cannot be fought alone," the girl summarized. They planned an ambush and charged, grabbing their katanas and other weapons. Skilled in hand-in-hand combat, Satoru grabbed a katana. More skilled in ranged attacks, Nomi pulled out a bow and arrow (which isn't very ninja-y you might think but holy cheese she's good). Skilled in a more street fighting type of combat, Randy grabbed a stick (or a pole? The teen called it the "Ninja Smacking Stick!").

They fought and fought, slashed and slashed, stabbed and stabbed. Randy kept calling the bull names (his mouth can be as demonic as the Tengu, I swear to the Norisu Nine-). But nothing seems to work. Until, Satoru stabbed it's heart. "When a great warrior strikes you down, it would be best to stay down," Satoru quipped.

Maybe he already figured out where the stanking was or he just accidentally did it, green smoke left the robotic body and went underground, back to the Sorcerer. The three smoke-bombed away and appeared in the field with their normal clothes. Some witnesses said that they saw three warriors. Howard caught up with them and said, "Oh Cunningham! You should've seen the bull-thingy's face when you called him names!" Nomi thought it would be more suitable if he asked if Randy was okay, but then again, this is Howard we're talking about.

Howard needed to go, and Nomi hid her relief. She couldn't stand any more seconds with the short boy and would've already strangled him if he wasn't Randy's friend. The purple-haired teen decided to go to the photobooth and take some pictures together. Free of any worry, they made funny faces and shit-eating grins, ended up laughing together. It was getting dark, and the bazaar/carnival sort of thing is destroyed anyway, so they decided to go home. Watching the sunset, Randy appreciated the moment, though there was a feeling of guilt.

"Hey, guys? Thank you for bringing me here and sorry for not being able to kill the robot alone. I shoobed this day for you all didn't I?" the boy hung his head low. He didn't see the head shakes and the smiles. "When a Ninja needs help, he can always ask for help," Nomi said softly. "It was, with no doubt, one of the best things that happened in the 800 years. It was very... bruce," Satoru smiled. The teen couldn't help but to grin.

Randy loved today. He smelled the fragrance of the flowers blooming as they walked home, calmly talking to his two mentors. Mentors that became family, not since today, but the teen felt they were family from the first. What did he learn today, Randy didn't know. But one thing's for sure: he has a family. He has a great best friend. He has an amazing job. What else can he ask for?

[batarangsoundsdumb]

yet another ask dump yeehaw!

do you ever think that jay's mother was one of those bitch who believes in horoscope and tarots and things like that and so he believes in these things too, or it is just me projecting?

sheila haywood took one look at jason's birthchart said 'nah this won't do' and left.

Wait, but what happens when the justice league does find out that Bruce and John fucked? Lmao it sounds like it would be hilarious, really, I don’t want a justice league that doesn’t make fun of Bruce for like his entire life.

barry runs out of the meeting immediately and comes back with an entire sti testing kit. diana fully seriously wants bruce to get tested while bruce is sitting there like 'come on guys, you're being ridiculous, i already checked twice'

john is standing in the corner clearly offended while bruce is just like 'don't even say anything, constantine, you fucked a shark'

tim was like "i'm drake now" and everyone was like ahh so your fursona is a dragon and tim was like pffffft no. ducks.

on the one hand, good for him, on the other hand, bro, how do you still have a secret identity when your superhero name is just your last name,,,,

Your fic on ao3 was GOLD PLEASE CONTINUE I loved Dinah's cameo btw ( @purple-vixen

thanks so much! i already continued but this ask is like 10 years old because i'm a notorious procrastinator (also yes! i love dinah so much aahhhhhhhhhhhh)

I've FINALLY been watching the Batman animated series and I gotta say, after watching "the gray ghost" I am CONVINCED that Batman is a closeted super hero geek who was 100% freaking out the first time he met Superman and is just REALLY good at hiding it.

bruce internally: holy fuck holy shit holy fuck holy shit holy fuck holy shit holy fuck holy shit holy fuck holy shit bruce externally: get out of my city, alien

AHHH ur multimedia fic is the only thing that brings me happiness anymore continue it forever pls

uhh thanks, but can't continue it forever because my attention span is that of a toddler on crack on a good day and i can't function without at least 10 things going on at the same time and music in the background

Oi, so I'm getting into dc and watching batman the animated series, and they use fruitcake a lot. Which I thought was very funny and wanted to share w you - Denilla

wait like fruitcake (food) or fruitcake (derogatory) ?

young justice 🤝 teen titans slut shaming batman

tim drake and dick grayson to their respective teams 'you guys stop it, that's my dad'

Happyhoganon: If an eighty year old Batman had fought crime in Gotham City for decades and the only threats to him and the city lately are a wheel chair bounded Penguin, your usual purse snatchers and a few con artists popping up every now and then, how well could the Dark Knight do in maintaining the peace in Gotham despite him being just somewhat fit to do that as an elderly man (which says A LOT given how old he is)

uhh he'll probably do what my grandpa does and that is ruthlessly prank them until they die of shame.

in the death in the family interactive movie there's an ending where Jason is tasked with raising Damian and he decides he's gonna raise Damian to take down the waynes and al ghuls which uh maybe isn't great BUT the idea of Jason raising Damian... PRICELESS. CHAOTIC. I just need more people to know about this :)

yes i saw that wow holy shit but jason would accidentally drop damian on his head one (1) hour in and jason just yeets him into the lazarus pit.

Headcanon: The Penguin has a really hard time fighting any of the Robins because of his avian obsession means there's always a small part of his mind that's like "Birb. Child. Protect" ( @subspacecadet )

as soon as dick becomes nightwing the penguin is like 'you know what, fuck this dude' and shoots at him.

Y'all talking about King Shark dating Constantine, let's not forget about John literally hooking up with Satan

listen there's a clear difference between monsterfucker and satanfucker in that king shark is literally a shark and satan still looks like a normal dude

Does everyone in Gotham think Batman is a teen dad?

everyone in gotham thinks batman has been around since gotham was founded, but they do think that bruce wayne is actually a teen father and dick grayson's biological dad.

why. why would you do that fancast when you know it will only hurt people

what? i loved my fancast it was really well done. i did it with good representation in mind and i really managed that with alfred pennyworth being ✨italian✨

Seeing james charles a jason gave me psychic damage how dare you i need to wash my eyes

well that's a you problem isn't it?

do you think dick grayson thirst tweets about nightwing just to annoy his family/cause problems on purpose in general?

he thinks nightwing is hot, next question.

holy jiminy cricket batman, its as cold as the good lords ass crack in here!!

i- what? this is why i don't fuck with english expressions it's way too goddamn weird

Brooooooo, your teen dad!Bruce au is soooo good. I've got brainrot.

Honestly if you ever write anymore, I'd read that shit twice. Sign me the fuck up. Good stuff, Good Stuff.

uh yeah i'm thinking about writing a fic, but i have exams coming up and i don't wanna fail because that would suck. but after i'll certainly be writing more tho

your teen dad AU is so great! bruce acting like a big brother for all of like a week before he's telling everyone about his son. what if in the AU dick meets the JL because they need to rescue him? maybe he's in trouble/kidnapped at a gala and bruce starts calling for JL. clark finds him and has to fly with dick to bring him home - that's how dick and clark meet and superman becomes dick's fave hero. he goes around the manor thinking he can fly with a red blanket draped around him like a cape.

actually- if you want a young dad! bruce fic with like that kinda stuff(just with damian) go check uhh- in for a penny by cdelphiki. it's really good and bruce is like 24/25-ish. (and dick's there!!!)

This account has solely convinced me that Tim is a trash goblin ( @hamilcat-and-magic-turtle )

because he is. that boy has slept in dumpsters on multiple occasions even if he is the son of a billionaire.

Okay but when you said victory dance I did think of the whole justice league defeating the big bad and then they all start flossing

well that's exactly what hal jordan does and that's why batman uses a gun now. no but the victory dance in my opinion is like the 'we're all in this together' dance from high school musical.

The horrors in Invincible s1 was nothing compared to the comics, I cant wait for s2

oh well okay, i mean i personally react to horror and violence by laughing awkwardly so i can't wait to be called a monster for accidentally laughing at a mass murder.

I'm currently watching Batman: The Brave and The Bold and- Bruce is just talking about Oliver like he's an old love (@nightwings-kid)

okay im going to watch that lmao that's totally and completely in character for him tho.

The invincible comic is like super gratuitous with its violence so much so I'm shocked the show was able to adapt it in a faithful way! Anyway had the show been live action it absolutely wouldn't have the same impact as it does as an animated show and I'm so glad so many people agree with me on that

also because a live action casting would've been like uhh amanda stenberg for amber, the dude- the guy from the supernatural but with a mustache for omni-man, and scarlet johanssen for debbie grayson

Debbie grayson is a milf, yes. You're welcome for the invincible propoganda, now you can questions your life. Bruce def seems like the perfect father next to Omni-man. Like they really took a rip off justice league and I was like well, now I'm attached even tho I was like hah I know who they're supposed to be. And then bam- death gore death gore gore gore sad Mark grayson just had to have daddy issues. Why does every character have daddy issues. I'm sick of the attacks

because daddy issues make a person arguably funnier, that's why i'm not even remotely funny (haha good dad flex). i liked that it was dark contextually, but not in the colouring, bc i hate when it's like 'uh yeah graphic murder and now a shot so dark you have to sit in a dark room and squint at the screen to faintly see the characters. (like dcau ugh)

About the Wayne insurance, for a moment I thought you would put the video with moans over the waves.

i mean- i could've done that, but rick rolling seemed more family friendly.

Its the first time in forever that im surpise rickrolled, i usually expect it. Congratulations (i really should know better this is tumblr)

i get rickrolled so often but i actually like the song so i dont really give a fuck

Actually, my information about Damian and John's kids is outdated because it was revealed that the old men telling the kids stories about the Supersons were actually Jon and Damian the whole time. I was blinded by my thirst for Grandpa!Bruce Wayne but I was wrong... I liked my version better, tbh (@artemisa97)

fair enough. but i'd honestly like to see damian and jon getting together, just because it's a really fun dynamic and their friendship was really cute when they were kids. (also idk maybe it would be nice to have one (1) main batfam/superfam character that's not cishet)

How am i JUST finding your blog skdskfkd you're so fucking funny and ur takes are hot

i thought u were calling me hot :( but youre not :( crime detected (but lmao thanks)

So I have depression and I swear that your memes are one of the few things that have made me laugh so thank you 💛🥺 (@katekanebadass)

aw you're welcome, and i hope you're doing okay!

The metropolis memes are so funny, I love them 💀😌

i think metropolis is also so fucking funny it deserves more attention imagine having your entire police force being upstaged by an alien from kansas and his kids

as an american i feel your complete lack of knowledge of us geography is just so sexy (platonic) ❤️

thanks so much (i also don't know any other geography, i'm not kidding, like you can tell me you're from hungary and it will just blank, there will be nothing that comes to mind)

In the DC universe they don't say "Can't have shit in Detroit" they say "Can't have shit in Gotham"

this just reminds me of that guy whose porch got stolen like the steps to his door, and i'm thinking of people living in gotham and waking up without a front door and going "can't have shit in gotham"

honestly all i know about chicago is the bean, so. what would gotham's famous sculpture be?

gigantic gargoyle statue in front of one of the police precincts because a villain thought it was a smart way to keep the police inside, but it's too heavy to move.

why tf do people go on about how batman "works alone" or how he's the "lone wolf" when he like 38290202 members in his family

bc people think it's cool that a grown man in his 30s has no friends or family instead of calling it what it is (sad)

Bruce is gotham's sugar daddy

why would say something so controversial yet so brave.

my favorite batfamily fanfictions are the ones where they use their shitty codenames, unironically, in any context

dick: gerard way are you in position, gerard way are you in position

tim: for the last fucking time, my codename is 'totally not count olaf' this week, abbafan 3000

dick: shut up my codename isn't 'abbafan 3000'

dick: it's 'abbafan number 1' and you know it

I have a feeling Tim drake is ur favourite batfamily member but okay u don't have favs if u say so ok

i mean he is, i won't deny it. but i love each and every one of the batfam just the same, i just have a weak spot for short dumbass nerds, because i'm a short dumbass nerd.

Omg i fuckin love boy meets world too fam shsjkfk

bro boy meets world was the shit!!! it was just fire and awesome and so fucking great like bro. it was so good im not even going to be accepting criticism

you know I find the whole "joker completes batman" thing a bit disgusting considering the horrendous stuff the batfamily went through because of the joker and let's not get started on the "joker has a point" thing like yeah he's this cool complex villain but he's absolutely batshit crazy

like yes! i get what you mean the joker just fucking sucks man he doesn't do shit for batman's character or the batfam he's literally just annoying as fuck. like the joker has a point' shit is so stupid. i will accept 'magneto was right' because he fucking was and i think he didn't do anything wrong, but joker? he's just like that. he's not even cool and complex he's just a weirdo with a bleach kink at this point.

ALSO YOUR RACISM POST- SO TRUE BESTIE

thanks bestie, i'm glad you agree.

in today's essay of why I think cass should become batman- I was thinking Tim would probably be the most efficient batman in many ways but I also think he wouldn't want to be batman tbh none of the batfamily members would want to be batman because they're trying to outgrow him but cass is the one who wants to represent the symbol that is batman

absofuckinglutely i will say it again and again that cass represents the batsymbol more than anyone in the batfam, in batgirl (2000) she literally didn't care about anything else than bruce's oath to not kill, she thought the batsymbol was more important than anything in gotham. she's just an excellent character because her motivation to not kill is not 'i'm scared i can't come back from it' or 'well my dad says no murder so i'll go along with it' but that she's killed somebody as a young child and she never wants to kill a human ever again and that's so fucking beautiful for a new batman like yes.

need more cass, duke and tim inclusion in gothamite memes

yes yes, a tall order of cass, duke and tim coming up in 1-14 business days

oldest to youngest batfam members cus I'm confused as shit

okay order of being taken in: dick, jason, tim, cass, damian, duke order of age: alfred, bruce, dick, cass, jason, tim, duke, damian (though cass and jason are around the same age general consensus is that cass is a little older)

I'm so confused Steph is a redhead?? like how was it that hard to get this right? the source material is literally right there and free

cw is jared, 19

do you receive anon hate? if so, how do you deal with it

uh no, i'm not remotely popular enough to get anon hate and i also don't say a lot of things that would attract anon hate, but i do send anon hate to @the-real-peter-parker because he forgot about the specialists from winx club

Wait how many languages do you speak??

uhh- 5 if you include latin, but that's a dead language and i'm really bad at it. but english, my native language, german, and french also, tho german and french not fluently.

You can mix aguaepanela with aguardiente 😈 and is tasty

okay but now i'm curious if the liquor deserves the 😈 emoji or if that's a you problem. but i googled it and it looks like something you'd take one sip of and then not remember the rest of your evening.

[heyitsani]

We Might Fall (But We Won’t Break)

Keep on Truckin’ AU Pt 4

Word Count: 7203

Rating: Teen and up

Warnings: Talks about Dick’s time at the juvenile center but nothing more than a mention of racism, mentions of dead parents, mentions of missing parents.

Pairing: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd

Summary: Officer Grayson is asked to take a teen into his home until CPS is able to find him a place to stay.

Notes: Part 4 of my Food Truck owner!Jason au.  This is where we add Duke into the mix.  I have a couple coda pieces to follow this one that won’t be full installments because they aren’t moving the plot forward, just embellishing it.

I was also asked by an anon to establish ages for reference

Bruce: 42 (Yes, he was 23 when he began fostering Dick. Money talks.) Dick: 27 (Fostered at 8, adopted at 12) Jason: 24 Tim: 21 (Fostered at 10, adopted at 11) Duke: 17 (He is brought in permanently this installment) Damian: 16 (Arrived at 10)

You can also read this on AO3 here and find the entire series here

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

“Hello, Officer Grayson,” the kind voice of the front receptionist greeted Dick as he walked into the precinct on his day off.  

“Gracie, how are you doing this lovely day?”  He stopped at her desk to lean against it for a moment.  He smiled down at her, watching her shrug a shoulder.

“It’s been a weird day so far.  Lots of odd visitors and calls.”  Dick hummed and glanced at the lock door behind her that would lead him into the main room of offices.  “What brings you by today?  I know it’s your day off.”

“Sure is.  Got big plans.  But Commissioner called me to come in to ask me something.  He in his office?”  The smile on Gracie’s face fell into a frown and that piqued his curiosity. Gordon hadn’t sounded particularly happy on the phone, but he rarely did when calling on official business.  Even if he and Dick had known each other since Dick was just a boy being adopted by Bruce Wayne.

“He’s in his office. He’s got a kid in there with him.” A kid?  That was certainly curious.  “I’ll call and let him know you’re here.  Did he say to just go on back?”

“Yeah, said to just walk in because he knew I had plans for the day and didn’t want me to have to wait around.”  She nodded and flicked the lock on the door, causing Dick to push off her desk and grab the handle to tug it open.  “I’ll see you on my way out.  Thanks Gracie!”  

He tried not to think about the frown that remained on her face despite the wave she sent his way. He would ask her about it on his way out.  Right now he just wanted to get in and out of Gordon’s office so he could meet Jason for lunch.

“Jim?”  Dick called out as he knocked and pushed open the door to Commissioner Gordon’s office.  The older man looked over his shoulder from where he sat in the chairs usually reserved for the visitors of his office, his bad to the entrance. Dick could see the top of a bowed head of dark hair over his shoulder but focused on his boss.

“Great, Dick.  Come on in.  Close the door.”  Gordon stood and revealed a teenager who sat slouched forward, face buried in his hands. Sending Jim a questioning look, Dick shut the door behind him before walking further into the office and slipping his hands into the pockets of his black slacks.  “Duke, this is the man I was telling you about.”  The teen seemed to take a shuddering breath before lifting his head and turning red rimmed eyes onto Dick.  “Dick this is Duke Thomas and I have a bit of a situation on my hands that I think you’re the best to help with.”

“I’ll help however I can, sir,” Dick replied before he moved closer to Duke.  Crouching down, Dick got eye level with Duke and looked into his golden brown eyes while giving him a small smile.  “It’s nice to meet you Duke.”  The teen said nothing, but nodded before dropping his gaze down to his hands that now rested in his lap.  Frowning, Dick looked up at Gordon and waited for some kind of reason for this meeting.

“Duke’s parents were declared missing last night and we’ve run into a bit of a housing situation.”  Rising to stand again, Dick remained silent while his boss explained how there were no openings at any of the orphanages and that the juvenile center was the only place who could take him.  Unless someone could be deemed an emergency foster home. And that explained why Dick was there.

It also made him aware that he was most likely going to be canceling on Jason.

He had taken the time two years ago to file as an emergency option for kids who were temporarily homeless and had no other place to go.  As of that exact moment, he had housed three kids for one night each as Child Services worked to find a more permanent solution.  And since Gordon was an officer when Dick had lost his parents and ended up in the juvenile center because all of the orphanages wouldn’t take someone like him, his boss was well aware he wouldn’t want any kid to go there if he had an opening in his home.

“I see,” Dick responded to Gordon before he took the chair one space away from Duke, giving the teen space so he didn’t feel pressured.  “Duke, I have had three other kids stay with me in the past.  Each one only stayed a single night; just enough time to let CPS do their thing.  Jim calls me in these situations because as a kid, I was placed into the juvenile center and I will never stand by and allow another kid go there when I can help.”

Duke looked up at Dick and the older man smiled at him, trying to seem open and welcoming.

“How old are you, Duke?”

“Seventeen.”  A year older than Damian.  And about to age out of a system he’s about to go into.  That was problematic.

“Do you want to come stay with me until we can find you a more permanent place to live?”

“I won’t have to go to the center?”

“No.  You are welcome to stay with me for as long as you need to.” Dick watched him look over at Gordon before he looked back to Dick and gave a small, but thankful smile.  

“Duke, I need to chat with Dick about a couple of things and have him sign some papers before you leave. You can stay here and we’ll be just next door in the spare office.”  Dick rose to his feet and nodded at Duke, who was still watching him, before following Gordon out of the office.

“You could have told me over the phone,” Dick commented as soon as the door was shut.  “I would have canceled by plans before coming here.  Or at least given him a heads up.”

“I know, but the kid has been with me since we picked him up late last night.  I took him everywhere trying to find someplace for him.” Sighing, Dick pulled out his cell phone and looked at the time.  He might catch Jason before he leaves.  “Go ahead and make the call while I grab the paperwork.”  

Dick didn’t bother responding as he pulled up Jason’s contact and let the phone dial.

“I’m leaving in like two minutes, please don’t tell me I’m late.”  He couldn’t help but laugh at the other man, knowing full well that Jason was aware of the time.

“About that…”

“You got called into work again?!”  Jason groaned and Dick winced.  They had rescheduled too many dates recently because the precinct was understaffed, and Dick could never say no when Gordon called.  “You need a day off Dick.  You’re working yourself into the ground.  You fell asleep during sex two nights ago!”

“I was called into work, but not to actually work.”

“Okay?  What the hell does that mean?”

Sitting on the edge of the empty desk in the office next to Gordon’s, Dick looked out the wall of windows. “Remember how I told you I’m one of the few emergency foster parents available in the city?”  Jason grunted in response.  “There’s a seventeen-year-old kid and his parents are missing.  All of the homes are full, and the only other place is the juvenile center.”

“Ah.”

“Yeah.”  Sighing, Dick dropped his chin to his chest and closed his eyes.  “I can’t say no, Jay.  I know I haven’t told you much about the space of time between my parents and Bruce, but it’s ugly.  And I can’t let another kid go through that.  The same racist piece of shit is still running it and I won’t subject this kid to that.”  There was silence on the other end for a moment before Jason’s voice came back, softer.

“What can I do?  Do you have food?  Want me to go set up the spare room?”  And damn if these questions didn’t just cement the fact that Dick was well on his way to being in love with this man.

“I don’t deserve you. But if you could do a food shop? I’m going to ask the kid what he likes to eat and I can send you a list?”

“You are such an idiot, Dickie.  You don’t even see the amazing person the rest of us do.”  Dick scoffed and rolled his eyes, but was glad Jason couldn’t see the blush that was spreading over his cheeks.  “But yeah, send me the list and I’ll get on it.”

“Thanks, Jay.”

“Anything for you.  You let me know if I can do anything else.” Dick confirmed and said a soft goodbye just as Gordon walked back into the office with a stack of papers in hand.

By the time everything was squared away with the paperwork and Dick was given a chance to look over the case file, Dick was more than ready to eat his own hand.  He had taken a small break to give Duke a paper and pen to write a list of his favorite foods and snacks so he could send it off to Jason, but had spent the majority of the two hours signing his name on the all too familiar paperwork.

“Thanks again for doing this, Dick.  I know I ruined your day off, but I knew this wasn’t one you would want to let slip.” Dick shook Gordon’s hand as he and Duke stood at the front door of the building.  He said a goodbye to Gracie before guiding Duke out of the building and onto the street.

“I live a few blocks away and actually walked here because I was supposed to meet my boyfriend for lunch at the café down the street.  But I sent a message to my dad and he sent us a car,” Dick explained as he guided Duke toward the waiting towncar where Alfred stood waiting.

“Master Richard,” the man greeted with a nod, eyes flicking to Duke.

“Hey Alf,” Dick smiled. “This is Duke Thomas.  He’s going to be staying with me for a bit.  Thanks for giving us a ride.”

Alfred considered the teenager and Dick knew he was sizing him up in a way only Alfred ever could. “It is a pleasure to meet you Master Duke.  And it is certainly no problem.  I am happy to help when I can.”

“Just Duke, please. I’m no one’s master.”  Dick could see the teen cringing and Alfred was silent for a beat before he nodded.

“Very well.”  The older man pulled open the back-passenger door for the pair and waited for the pair to slip in before shutting the door and heading for the driver’s seat.

“I forgot that you’re a Wayne,” Duke muttered, looking uncomfortable in the situation.

Dick nodded, “This is not a normal occurrence for me.  I don’t live a lavish lifestyle.”  Though Dick did wonder if he should let the kid know he lived in a penthouse that Bruce had bought for him.  But it wasn’t like he was riding around in the Bentley and drinking out of crystal. “When we get to the apartment, you can settle in and make yourself at home.  If there’s anything from your house that you want but were unable to get, we can go by tomorrow and grab it.  You’ve been excused from school for the week, but if you want to go then I’d be happy to call and let them know you’ll be in.”

“Can I decide tomorrow?”

“That works for me,” Dick agreed.  If he were honest, he was a little surprised there was any kind of consideration. Most kids were happy to get out of school.  He was actually surprised at how collected Duke was about the whole situation.  The other kids Dick had taken in had been much younger and that could be why they were a lot more emotional, but Duke seemed to be locking everything up.  Dick considered that perhaps he was waiting until he was alone to let go.  Gordon had mentioned he had been with the teen since they had picked him up.

The car came to a stop in front of Dick’s building and the older man glanced at Duke to watch his reaction.  “Of course you live here.  Let me guess, top floor?”  Dick winced and shrugged, almost unapologetic.  Almost.

“Here we are, sirs,” Alfred said as he pulled open the door so they could climb out.  “Master Richard, shall I inform your father of the situation?  Or would you like to wait until the situation has resolved?”

“Give me a couple of days. The others were only with me for a day before CPS found homes.  Let me see how the cards fall.  I’ll call B in a few days.”

“And the young Master?”

“I’ll call Dames tonight and ask him to keep his distance.”  That caught Duke’s attention as he stood next to Dick and adjusted his bag. “My youngest brother can be a bit…prickly with strangers when it comes to me.”

“I know Damian.  I go to Gotham Academy.  He’s chill.”  That caught Dick by surprise, and he looked at Alfred who seemed just as surprised.

Shaking his head, Dick smiled at Alfred.  “Thanks for the ride, Alfred.  I promise I’ll call B in a few days.”  The older man nodded and said his goodbyes before rounding the car to drive off. “All right, let’s head in.  Jason, my boyfriend, will be here soon with the food. Is that good with you?”

“That you’re gay?”

“Bi, but no.  I more meant meeting another new person.”  Duke just shrugged his shoulders and followed Dick as he led them into the building.  “I know that being thrown into this situation can be hard, but I don’t want you to think you can’t voice an opinion just because it’s my home.  If you are uncomfortable with another person coming over then I’ll let Jay know to just ring the doorbell and drop the stuff off.”

Dick smiled down at the teen as warmly as he could, holding a hand to the elevator so that the door would stay open while they got on.  Duke just watched, looking as though he was processing what he had been told.  When he looked away as the doors slid shut as Dick hit the penthouse button, he let out a sigh.

“I don’t mind if he comes in, but I might just lay down for a bit.”

Dick nodded and slipped his hands into his pockets.  “Okay,” was all Dick offered up in my response.  He was getting the feeling that Duke wasn’t that chatty of a person and Dick would definitely have to consider that for however long he stayed here.

The remainder of the ride was done in silence and Dick made a mental checklist of all the things he was going to need to handle.  The first and foremost would be to call the agent at CPS that he usually worked with. He had a feeling he knew exactly what she would end up telling him and he had a feeling that Alfred knew too, considering he mentioned Bruce.  But until Dick knew for sure, he didn’t want to mention anything to Duke.  He didn’t want to raise expectations and foster assumptions without any base.

When the elevator doors slid open with a ding, Dick smiled at Duke and led the way to one of the only two doors on the floor.  “This is us. I’ll give you a key if you end up staying here for more than a day or two, so you can come and go as you please. Within reason, of course.”  Duke just shrugged a shoulder and waited for Dick to unlock the door and step aside for the teen to head inside.  Dick watched him take in the wide open space and the modern, clean style.  Dick had taken a bit of pride in how he had ended up decorating the place, but he knew it was a little too clinical for most people.  But Dick was a minimalist, had been since he had been born.  Living on the road with the circus had taught him to keep only what he could carry and only what was necessary.

“Help yourself to whatever in the kitchen, except the booze.  I’m a cop,” Dick joked, counting a small victory when Duke huffed a laugh. “TV is usually always on and if it’s not, the music is.  I don’t like silence.  Growing up in the circus doesn’t foster quiet in someone.  But feel free to use both.  There’s a tv in the room you’ll stay in, so you can hang out in there too. Here,” Dick gestured to the door that led to the spare room, “is your room.  There’s an attached bathroom.  But this door is also a bathroom,” he pointed to the door separating the spare room and Dick’s.  “That’s my room.  Door is pretty much always open so if you need me just go in.  Knock if the door is shut.”

Pushing the door open to the spare room, Dick let Duke go ahead of him again so he could check it out and get comfortable.  The queen sized bed sat against the far wall, dressed in white and on a raised platform. The opposite wall held a long dresser with a flat screen hanging above it.  To the left was the closet and the right the in-suite bathroom.

“I’ll let you get settled. Jason should be here soon so if you want to meet him, you can come out.  If not, no problem.”

“Thanks, Officer Grayson.” Dick laughed and shook his head.

“Just call me Dick, Duke.” The teen nodded and set his bags down at the foot of the bed before Dick left and closed the door behind him.

It wasn’t even three minutes later that Dick’s phone was ringing and Jason’s name and face were flashing at him.

“Hey,” he greeted, moving into the kitchen to make some coffee.  It was bound to be a long night for him.

“I’m downstairs. Should I come in or just drop and ditch?”

“Drop and ditch? Really?”  Jason laughed through the line and Dick felt fondness blossom in his chest.  “Come in. The kid said he didn’t care, but I don’t know if he’ll come out to meet you.”

“Cool.  I’ll be up in a minute.”

“Door is unlocked,” Dick told him before letting his phone drop down onto the counter and he continued setting up the coffee maker.  He made enough for Jason even though he knew the other man would probably put on a pot for tea if he stayed for longer than a few minutes.

Dick heard the rustling of bags before he heard Jason.  “Hey handsome,” the familiar tone called out as he rounded the corner from the hallway, lazy smile on his face.

“Hey yourself,” Dick smiled back, tilting his head back to accept the kiss the younger man pressed to his mouth before he set the bags down on the counter near the fridge. “Sorry about today.  I really was looking forward to it.”

“I was too, but we have plenty of dates ahead of us.  I can’t exactly blame you for this one.”  And no, Dick supposed he couldn’t.  “Besides, I’m still getting to see you.  Just because it’s not what we had originally planned doesn’t mean that it’s not just as good.”

“You cheeseball,” Dick teased, leaning back against the island and crossing his arms over his chest as he watched Jason unload the bags.  He noticed all the things that had been on the list and a few other items. “Is that…?”  Pushing forward, Dick glanced over the items sitting there. “You’ve been talking with Alfred.”

“I figured if I couldn’t spend today with you, I would probably get the chance in the next day or so. And since you’re being you and having such a big heart, I wanted to spoil you for it,” Jason shrugged.  Dick let his eyes scan over the ingredients to make crab stuffed mushrooms before reaching up to pull Jason in for a kiss by the back of his neck.  There was a soft thud of whatever Jason had been holding as it hit the counter so his arms could circle around Dick’s waist and pull the older man in closer.

Dick knew he should stop this now because Duke was just in the other room and Dick really didn’t want to make him feel uncomfortable, but Jason was always so tempting and his mouth was just so talented.

“We should stop,” he managed to say, pulling back for a second before surging forward again and reconnecting their mouths.  Jason hummed in response, taking control of the kiss so he could slow it down.

“We really should.  We don’t want to scar the kid.”

“No, we don’t,” Dick agreed. But even though he had pulled back enough to look into Jason’s turquoise eyes, he didn’t separate their bodies.  “But I also don’t want to hide, so…”  The silence that fell between them was comfortable as they just soaked each other in.  It had become so easy to lose himself in Jason in the months since they had started dating for real.  It got easier and easier with each passing day.  To the point where Dick was pretty sure this was it.  

Jason was it.

“Oh, sorry,” a meek voice sounded, pulling the pair apart.

“Duke, hey,” Dick smiled at the teen, trying to hide the awkwardness.  Thankfully, they had stopped the kissing and were just starring at each other at that point.  Still awkward, but not as bad.  “Did you need something?”

Duke shrugged a shoulder and looked at Jason for a moment before his eyes went back to Dick.  “You said I could meet Jason if I wanted to. I also wanted to get something to drink. I could smell the coffee,” he gestured to the now ready pot.

Jason stepped forward with his hand out, “I’m Jason.  It’s nice to meet you.”  Dick watched them exchange a handshake before he grabbed a mug out of the cabinet for Duke.

“Creamer is in the fridge and sugar next to the coffee maker,” he told Duke as he handed over the mug. “Do you like crab, Duke?  Jason brought stuff to make crab stuffed mushrooms. He’s an amazing chef.”

“I like it well enough,” he muttered as he busied himself with the coffee.  “You own that food truck.  The egg roll one.  I’ve had it a few times when you park near GA during lunch.”

Jason nodded.  “Yup, that’s me.  The kids always enjoy us when we swing by.”  Duke nodded and Dick watched him as he fixed up his coffee just how he wanted it.  The silence felt awkward and while Dick usually good at filling silences up with his chatter, he wasn’t really sure what to say now.  So, he looked over at Jason, who was already looking at him, and raised his brows.  Jason’s only response was to shrug as he went back to busying himself with the food.

“Can I help?”  Duke spoke up again, pulling both of their attention back to him.  “I like to cook.”  Glancing back to Jason, Dick found him smiling and nodding.

He held out a bunch of celery and gestured to the knife stand.  “Cutting boards are in the cabinet above the knives,” he instructed, and Dick moved out of the way so the two of them could work.  

It turned out to be perfect timing as his phone started to ring with the number for CPS flashing.

“I’ll be in my room,” Dick waved his phone at the two of them and left them to their own devices. He picked up the call as he made his way through the living room and toward his room.  “This is Grayson,” he answered, walking into the room and shutting the door behind him.

“Dick, it’s Macy,” a familiar voice greeted him.  She was a social worker he had known since he had joined the force years ago.  “I hear you have Duke Thomas with you.”

“Yeah, Gordon called me in a few hours ago to come in and have me take him in.  I wasn’t expecting a call on a Saturday though, Mac.  Burning the midnight oil?”  He teased as he sat down on the edge of his bed, smiling as he heard his friend laughing on the other end.

“You got me.  But truth be told, Duke’s mom is actually one of us.  We all kind of jumped on this one.”  That made Dick’s eyebrows raise.  So, Duke knew that the odds of him being placed in foster care were low.  “And we’re in a pickle.”

“Because he’s 17?”

“Exactly.  No one wants to take him.  And the one home that might, which is a big might, is full and the kids are happy.”  Dick sighed, looking at his closed door knowing what he had to do.

“I might have an option.”

“Are you sure?  I know what you’re thinking, but do you think he would?”  And yeah, Dick was more than certain that this solution would actually work but he didn’t know how comfortable Duke would be.

Rubbing a hand over his face, Dick sighed again.  “Yeah, he’ll do it.  But Duke doesn’t seem comfortable with my level of affluent.  I’m not sure how he’ll handle Bruce’s.  Maybe I should just keep him here?”

“I hope you won’t,” Macy said honestly, and Dick made a noise of question.  “You’re only able to take one kid at a time given your career and space.  If you keep Duke, we lose an emergency home.”

“That’s a good point.” He frowned and thought for a moment, listening to the clacking of Macy obviously on her computer.  “Okay, I’ll call Bruce and talk to Duke once I hear what he has to say.  I’m going to keep Duke for a few days though.”  Macy agreed with his plan and hung up, leaving Dick in silence as he stared down at his phone.

But there wasn’t much to consider in the situation.  Duke needed a place and Dick needed to have his room open should another kid need the same help.  So Dick dialed Bruce’s number and waited for his father to answer.

“Dick,” the no nonsense greeting came through and a familiar warmth filled his chest.

“Bruce, how are you?” There was a grunt before some background talking and then silence.

“I’m thankful for this interruption to a mundane business meeting that was supposed to happen yesterday and not today,” his adoptive father said into the phone and Dick chuckled. He knew how much Bruce hated the corporate life, but kept it on because it was his father’s company.  Thankfully, Tim had enjoyed the business and Dick had been able to pursue a career he enjoyed.  “But something tells me that this is not a social call to check in since I’m pretty sure I remember Alfred mentioning you would be with Jason today and for all of us to leave you alone.”

Of course Alfred had told them that.  “I am technically with him, but something came up with work so things had to adjust.”

“Dick, you are working too hard.  You need a day off.  Do no make me call Jim and berate him for overworking my son.”

“I didn’t work today, but Gordon called me in for an emergency foster.”  Bruce hummed and Dick knew he was waiting to hear what he had to do with this.  “All of the homes were full, and the only option was the juvenile center or me.”

“I see.”  

Dick remembered what Bruce had done for him after getting him out of the center when he was eight. He remembered the comfort from the nightmares from the memories of that place.  And he knew Bruce would always remember.  How he had worked so hard to try and get the monsters removed from the staff, but hadn’t been able to get them all.

“There’s no where for him to go.  I just got off the phone with CPS and since Duke’s mom is a social worker, they tried their best but there’s nothing.  And they don’t want me to keep him because I can only take one kid at a time.”

Bruce hummed again and Dick waited to see if he would put it together.  “I know what you’re getting at, but I would like to talk to him before I agree.”

“Tomorrow?  He’s making dinner with Jay and I’d rather not have you meet my boyfriend like this for the first official time,” Dick joked, but Bruce chuckled and agreed.

“I will bring breakfast and coffee.”

“Great.  I’ll fill him in on everything tonight.  And then call CPS tomorrow.”

“I’ll be over at 9 then. See you then, Chum.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

Dick hung up the phone and rubbed at his forehead just as his bedroom door pushed open and Jason’s head popped in.  

“Everything okay?” Dick nodded and pushed himself off the bed to head back out.  “We just put the mushrooms in, and I have a couple other things working, but Duke wanted to know how to work your record player.  Apparently, you have some good vinyl options.”

“Told you I had good taste in music.”

Jason snorted and walked ahead of him as they moved into the living room.  “If by good you mean old, then yeah.  Sure.”

Dick just shook his head with a wide grin as he walked over to where Duke was flipping through all the records he had near the record player that Damian and Tim had given him for Christmas a few years back after the one he had had before had broken.

“These are classics, Dick. How long have you been collecting?” Duke asked as he looked over a Supremes record.

“Half of them were my dad’s.  But I grab the oldies when I see them at the local music shop,” Dick shrugged.  It was one of the few things he had kept going after the death of his parents.  One of the few things that had brought comfort and not pain.  Leaning over, Dick plugged the machine in and flicked it on so Duke could play whatever he fancied.  

Once the teen had settled on Simon & Garfunkel, Dick glanced to see where Jason was.  Seeing him at the stove, stirring something, he nodded and turned back to Duke.  “I need to talk to you about your situation.”  That made Duke straighten up and lose a bit of the happiness in his eyes, but Dick knew he needed to be made aware.

“There’s no place for me,” he said, sighing.

“Not in the current homes, no.  I could keep you here, but I am one of the few emergency options and can only have one kid at a time because of my job and the lack of space.”  Duke nodded and his shoulders drooped a bit.  “But my dad has plenty of room and he has taken fosters in the past, two of which he adopted.”

Duke looked confused and Dick smiled.  “My brother Tim and I were fosters.  And he said he’s happy to have you stay with him, but would like to meet you tomorrow before any decisions are made.  He wants to be sure you’d be comfortable and that it would be a good fit.”

“And if it’s not?”

“Then I suppose the city will have to either grant me another space or they’ll lose an emergency home.”  The relieved look on Duke’s face almost broke Dick’s heart.  So he placed a hand on the teen’s shoulder and ducked his head to look him right in the eyes.  “I will not let you go to that center.  And I will not let you be kicked to the curb by the system when you turn 18.  And the entire CPS office is on your side.”

Nodding his head, Dick sighed.  “Yeah, they know my mom.”  Dick nodded, showing he knew.  He gave Duke’s shoulder a squeeze before letting go.

“Bruce will be here tomorrow at 9 with breakfast.  You’ll chat and then he’ll leave so you can think it over.  There will be no pressure and no rush.  You can stay here as long as it takes you to decide.”

“Thanks, Dick.”  He sounded a little choked and Dick wanted to hug him, but instead he straightened up and took a step back.  

“Duke, I could use a hand if you’re done indulging Dick in his old man music!”  Duke laughed and Dick rolled his eyes at the kid before jerking his head in Jason’s direction.  Dick watched him put the sleeve for the record down on the table and head back over to Jason to help the older man out.  Taking a moment to just observe the two, Dick took a few deep breaths to clear his head before he joined in.

Dick watched the closed door of Duke’s room while he sipped at his cup of coffee, local news playing in the background.  He had been up for about two hours already, working on a few things for cases he had at work, waiting for 9 o’clock to roll around and Bruce to arrive.  But that was in less than 30 minutes and Duke had yet to emerge from the room.  Dick was beginning to think he should knock on the door but didn’t want to pressure the kid or freak him out.

So instead, he turned his focus back to the papers on the coffee table and tried to get some things sorted.  Which managed to distract him enough that he didn’t notice the time passing or Duke emerging from his room about five minutes before Bruce was due to arrive.

“Is there more coffee?” The sound of Duke’s voice caught Dick off guard, and he jumped slightly, snapping his gaze up to the teen.   The same teen who was currently laughing at him. “Sorry.”

Dick waved it off. “Yeah, there’s still some in the pot. But it’s a couple hours old and Bruce is bringing fresh,” he told Duke.  He watched him internally debate whether or not to get a cup now or wait. And then he watched as the decision was pretty much made for him when the sound of the front door opening filled the room.  

“Honestly, Damian, knocking is the polite thing to do,” Dick could hear Bruce berating his brother, who he hadn’t thought would be coming by for their usual Sunday morning breakfast given the circumstances.

“What is the point of having a key, which Richard gave me, if I’m not going to use it?”  Damian questioned back as they rounded the corner and came into view.  The pair immediately paused when they found Dick still seated and Duke standing, watching them both.

“Dames, I didn’t think you’d be coming this morning,” Dick smiled, standing and moving over to greet the pair.

“Thomas, good to see you. Hopefully, Richard has been accommodating.”  Damian looked over his peer and gave a nod after Duke nodded.

Bruce stepped forward and held his hand out to the teen.  “Hello, Duke.  I am Bruce, it’s nice to meet you,” his words were formal, but his smile warm.  It brought forth a memory long forgotten of the same smile as Dick exited the center to find Bruce waiting by his fancy black car, Dick’s bag in hand.

Duke shook his hand in return and gave a tentative smile.  “It’s nice to meet you too, sir.”

“None of that sir, stuff. I am just Bruce.  Now, let’s have some breakfast and chat.  Leave these two to whatever it is they do on their Sunday mornings.”  Bruce clapped a hand onto Duke’s shoulder before guiding him into the kitchen so they could sort through whatever food Alfred had prepared and get their coffee fixed.

“I have that new game, shall we?”  Damian’s voice pulled Dick’s eyes away from his dad and the teen before he was pulled into his bedroom so they could play whatever zombie game Damian had managed to convince Bruce he had to have.  “Pennyworth made us our usual and I assume you’ve already consumed too much caffeine.”

“None of that judgment stuff,” Dick joked, grabbing the remote and wireless controllers to his game station before taking up his usual spot on the bed and Damian sitting next to him. They waited for the tv to rise from the hidden compartment in his footboard, Dick giving Damian his controller and Damian handing over his egg, bacon, and cheese sandwich.  He happily ate his food while Damian logged into the system and pulled up the game from his library.

“Father said you asked him to take Thomas in.”  Dick hummed in response and raised a brow when he looked at his brother, trying to figure out if this would be good or bad.  “He was one of the few who were kind to me before he even knew me.  I would like for him not to be placed in a situation where he would be…where someone might be unkind to him.”

Smiling, Dick wrapped an arm around his brother and gave him a sideways hug.  “If B doesn’t take him, he will be staying here.”  He watched Damian consider him and what he was saying before he got a nod and his brother turned back to the game.  “Now.  Let’s get this party started.  Wally said this game is intense and I’m curious what he thinks “intense” is these days.”

Damian only snorted a laugh and started the game up for them.

“No!  Come on!  This algorithm is screwed!”  Dick tossed his controller down on the bed as Damian laughed and finished off the remaining zombies that had just killed Dick’s character off.  “Hand over the sweets, I earned them,” he grumbled, holding his hand out for the container that he knew had shortbread cookies in it. Damian held it out without complaint before he looked over at the doorway, causing Dick to look up.

“Father,” Damian greeted, and Bruce raised a brow at the sight of the two of them on the bed, food wrappers and various drinks on the bedside tables.

“Is this what you two get up to?”

“Sometimes,” Dick said around the cookie in his mouth.  Bruce sent him an unamused look.

“Damian, I would like to speak with Dick for a moment.”  Damian nodded and slipped off the bed, grabbing what little trash they had set aside and vacated the room without a backward glance.  Dick watched the man walk further into the room and shut the door behind him.  “I offered Duke a room in our home.  He said he would like a day to think about it and that he would tell you tomorrow before he goes to school what he decided.”

Dick nodded and set the container of cookies down next to him before swinging his legs off the bed. “Thanks, Bruce.  I know it’s probably not ideal, but Macy and I didn’t really know what else to do.”

Bruce waved a hand dismissively.  “It is fine. My hours at WE are not what they were when I adopted you or Tim and Duke is much older than either of you.”  Dick nodded and stood.  “I would like to have you over for dinner the day he moves in, if that is the decision he makes.  I think it might be a good time to bring Jason with you.”

“Sure, B,” Dick laughed. “I’ll mention it to Jason.”

“I just want to meet the man who seems to have made you so happy.  All my sons have wonderful things to say about him and even Duke mentioned him kindly.  And all of that has nothing on the fact that Alfred has been talking to him multiple times a week over the phone.”  The look on his father’s face made Dick duck his head and rub at the back of his neck.

“I know, I know.  I get it, I do.  I’ll talk to him about it.  I’m sure Artemis can man the truck if it’s a day he’s supposed to work,” Dick said, trying to sound apologetic but not at the same time.  “We aren’t avoiding you and he has technically met you before,” Dick reminded him of the hospital but was duly chastised by the look on Bruce’s face.  “Things have been weird with my schedule.”

“Of this, I am aware.” And yeah, Bruce had made his opinion clear on the fact that Dick had been working too hard.

“We’ll be there, I promise.” Bruce hummed and nodded.  Dick watched the other man for a moment, noticing his gaze on the massive wall of pictures that Donna had put up for him when he had moved into the place.  “B?”

Bruce shook himself out of his trance and looked back down to Dick with a smile, “I should get going since I have some work to get done, but I look forward to hearing from you tomorrow.”  Dick followed Bruce out of his room and found his brother and Duke in the living room, looking through the records.  Dick was coming to realize that Duke definitely had a love of music after him fawning over the player all night last night.  “Damian, I am leaving.  I assume you will call Alfred to collect you when you are ready to return home, per usual?”

“Yes, Father.”

“Duke, it was nice to meet you and I will wait for Dick’s call with your decision.”  The teen nodded and gave a small smile, but remained silent as he watched Bruce head toward the door and Dick followed.

“Thanks again, Dad,” Dick said as he leaned in the doorway, Bruce standing just outside in the hallway.

The smile on Bruce’s face was one he reserved for his sons.  “I do not tell you enough, but I am very proud of the man you became.  It shows in the amount of people who love you, just as your family does.  For whatever impact I had on the person you are, I am glad to have even the smallest influence.”

“Come on, B,” Dick laughed softly.  “I have just as much Wayne in me as I have Grayson.  You’re a good dad.  You have three sons who are good men to prove it.”  Bruce only nodded before glancing toward the elevator as it dinged and opened to reveal the only other person who lived on this floor.  “Love you, old man.  I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Love you too, Dick.” Dick watched the older man walk down the hall, nodding a greeting to Dick’s neighbor before slipping onto the still open elevator.  With a wave, Dick watched the doors slide shut and turned to head back inside.