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lily-drake · 1 year

Note

Part 4 of timinette siblings with Kon and Bart coming over and bonding?

Maybe they were on an off-world mission of something and they video-called him

A second Anonymous person asked: If you make a part 4 (you do not have to) for the sibling Tim and Marinette, I think its time we see some protective big brother Tim moments don't you think? Stepping in when he spots a guy crowding his sister to suing Lila and Alya when he discovers the bullying, and the blog. Helping Mama Sabine bring evidence to the school board over the mistreatment of Mari, maybe his reaction to hearing Damien calling Mari a 'harlot' or 'tramp' (Tim totally goes to Luka for 'how to be best big bro' advice)

So I’ve decided to put them together. Enjoy!

Siblings Don’t Stand Back and Watch, They Always Get Involved

First <> Previous

Tim absolutely ADORED his sister. She had done so much for him and he could never thank her and her their parents enough. Tim had gone from hating who he was and feeling like a tool to be used and tossed away to knowing that he was loved and needed not for his intellect and what he could give, he was needed because he existed and they enjoyed spending time with him. They were all so supportive of him and his choices, and he almost cried when they said it was okay if he didn’t want to talk some days and just silently stayed with him. No interrogation, no forceful tactics, not even a hint of manipulation, they just loved and cared for him.

He had explained all of this to Cass during a lunch they had together while Marinette was at school. She had smiled brightly at him and said,

“Happy for you Little Brother. They good for you.”

Her tone was gentle and he could hear and feel the joy and love that she felt for him. Once he was finished retelling everything that had happened since they had seen each other in person he asked her about her time in Hong Kong and about all of the different things she had done and learned there. He loved the way her eyes lit up as she signed out all of her experiences. The way she moved her hands with such excitement and the swiftness showed just how much she loved the new city she called home.

After they finished their lunch Cass asked if they could surprise Marinette at school. Now that Tim thought about it, he’s never actually been to Marinette’s school before, and it had been months. He quickly nodded and they headed to Collège Françoise Dupont to surprise their little sister at her school. Once they got close enough to the school they could hear a loud commotion which worried Tim.

“Look at Maritrash!”

“Where are your bodyguards now, huh?”

“Not so invincible now, are you?”

“I can’t believe she would do that to Lila!”

“What happened to the sweet girl we once knew?”

Tim and Cass made eye contact for a moment before both rushed through the crowd and through the school in search of the small bluenette. He had heard things here and there about how cruel some of the people here could be, heard about the girl that could twist anything, but it seems that it was extremely downplayed if this was what was happening during their lunch hour.

They shoved their way toward the center of the gathered mass of students to see Marinette in the center, food completely covering her, and every time she took a step toward the crowd in hopes of an opening to escape, she was pushed back and something else was thrown at her. And near the center watching what was going on with a face full of sorrow, but eyes full of gleeful malice and Tim snapped.

“Marinette!”

He yelled while rushing towards her which caused her gaze to snap towards him. He quickly pulled her to his chest which caused her to start shaking, her breath spiking slightly, his shirt becoming damp. He needed to get them out of Paris and quickly before Hawkmoth got the opportunity to use her rightful emotions against her.

“Cass, I need you to call Kon.”

He yelled over the cacophony of people yelling and shouting profanities toward him. He couldn’t focus on that right now though, he had to stay vigilant and protect his sister. She was priority number one at the moment. He wondered where the others were, but then recalled that Chloe, Adrien, and Kagami were on a business meeting with their parents out of the country. It didn’t help that Kagami and Luka were out in different schools, but that didn’t explain where Juleka was, and he couldn’t find her in the crowd at all. He could feel things begin to hit him, but that didn’t matter because they weren’t hitting Mari.

Bang

The entirety of the school froze and turned toward where the noise had come from. Teachers began to pile out of the room with looks of fury and outrage even before they noticed the crowd of students, but once they did their looks made even Tim shiver in fear.

“So you think it’s funny to trap the entire faculty in the boardroom just so you could cause havoc? Well you’ve all got another thing coming to you.”

The girl with sinister tear filled eyes spoke, clinging to another student.

“M-Marinette did it! We tried to get her to-to stop, bu-”

“I’ve heard enough from you Rossi! After a similar stunt was pulled we were able to get the camera footage sent directly to our phones, we know exactly what happened, and so will your parents.”

At that the girl paled, and Tim felt a vindictive satisfaction. There was a small yank on his sleeve and he looked to the side to see Cass pulling him towards the doors. Kon must have arrived.

“Hey, I have a few friends that want to meet you. Follow me.”

He whispered softly into her ear. She nodded wordlessly and let herself be pulled along as they traveled past all of the students who were still being yelled at by the teachers and staff. Once they made it to the stairs Kon ran up to them and looked all three of them over, slightly panicked.

“What happened Tim?”

“Can you take us to the tower? We need to get out of here quickly.”

Tim urgently replied.

“Lila might become Akumatized.”

Marinette murmured against his chest. Tim ran his fingers through her hair and whispered,

“It’ll be you if we don’t leave now.”

Tim gently pushed her towards Kon and looked him directly in the eye,

“This is Marinette, take her first and make sure she’s safe.”

Kon nodded and waited till Marinette came towards him before he picked her up and left. Tim slowly clenched his fists and took in long slow breaths before relaxing them again. He needed to be level headed right now, he needed to tell their parents about what happened. Sabine had told him all about how she, Tom, and many other parents protested against the school to the school board and how, because of that, the school had gotten new administration and a stricter zero-tolerance policy. They needed to know about this.

Cass placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, grounding him, keeping him present. He carefully placed his hand atop hers, taking one last calming breath before giving her a small nod.

“I need to go tell Tom and Sabine about what’s happening.”

Cass gave a serious nod and once Tim released her hand they made the quick walk to the bakery.

To say Sabine was upset would be the understatement of the century, she was enraged.

“I knew it! I knew that it wouldn’t be enough. We are either transferring to homeschool or to a new school completely. Kagami said that the school she attends gives out scholarships, I just know Marientte would be able to get one with her designs. She is never going back to that Hell Hole ever again!”

Sabine yelled as she paced anxiously around the apartment flat. She made a quick turn and looked Tim directly in the eyes, her face softening as she did so when Tim flinched back.

“Sorry dear. Thank you for saving Marinette. Please make sure that she’ll be okay for us.”

Tim nodded.

“Of course. You’ve all helped me so much, and I’d do anything for her.”

Sabine pulled him into a tight hug that he quickly returned.

“I’m so proud of you Tim. You truly are one of the greatest souls to be on this Earth.”

Tim could feel his eyes water, but he quickly pushed them back feeling Cass’s gaze on the two of them. He could feel the soft smile she was sending the both of them. Sabine pulled away a few moments later only to leave a gentle kiss to his temple.

“Tell Marinette that she can stay with your friends as long as she would like. It will take some time for me to complete the transfer process, but it will happen.”

Tim nodded, his eyes showing a determined fierceness.

“Of course.”

Tim felt his phone buzz. Kon was back.

“Be safe. I love you Tim, and please tell Marinette that I love her too.”

Tim nodded shyly, still unused to the open shows of affection.

“I will.”

A pause.

“I love you too.”

It wasn’t the first time he had told them that, but the words still felt foreign on his tongue. Sabine softened a little more, placing one last kiss on his temple before she stood up and left. And with that, Cass and Tim left the small apartment to meet Kon who was waiting for them right outside.

“How is she?”

Tim immediately asked. Kon stared at Tim in shock, his heartbeat was through the roof.

“She was very distraught, but Cassie is taking care of her right now.”

Tim let out a sigh of relief.

“That’s good, Cassie should be able to help her. Alright, I need you to take us.”

Kon raised a brow, he had so many questions, but from the panicked look on his friend’s (practically brother’s) face, he knew that he wasn’t going to get them until this was resolved. He bent down slightly, letting Tim climb onto his back before he scooped Cass up and they flew to Titans Tower.

________

Marinette paced around the room like a caged animal. There was so much that could go wrong, and she was stuck here unable to do anything. Cassie and Bart watched her with concerned eyes. Kon had only given them the briefest rundown of everything, saying that this was “a friend of Tim” and that he had asked for him to bring her here.

“She doesn't seem very crash.”

Bart stage whispered as he snacked on a bag of potato chips. Cassie rolled her eyes at her friend,

“No, she doesn’t.”

Marinette wasn’t paying attention to their words though, she wasn’t even aware that they were talking. All she could do was listen to the thoughts in her mind telling her that something bad would happen and it would be all her fault. That because she was gone she would not be able to help or save her people if there was an attack which would make her the worst and most useless hero in the world! Then she would lose her Miraculous, Chat would demand that she pass on the guardianship because of how irresponsible she was, Tim would abandon her when he realized how useless of a sister she was and-

Warm arms wrapped around her causing her racing mind to pause.

“I need you to breathe Mars, I know you’re scared, but everything is going to be okay.”

Marinette sucked in a deep breath, she wasn’t even aware of how shallow they had been, but now that she thought about it she had been seeing small black dots in the corner of her vision.

“That’s it, you’re doing so good now. I’d never leave you Marinette, you and the others, you’re the last bit of family I have left. Even if you weren't, you're still my sister, and that means everything to me.”

Tears welled up in her eyes, but she needed to fight them back, she couldn’t have strong emotions, those emotions would attract,

“It’s okay to cry now. You’re not in Paris, if you need to cry I’m right here.”

She heard a door slide closed behind her, they were moving. When had they even started moving? Her body was gently moved down and she could feel herself sitting on her brother’s lap, her head resting against his chest letting her hear the steady beating of his heart.

Thump thump,

Thump thump.

It was a steady rhythm, soothing in more ways than one. Gentle fingers brushed through her hair and the dam broke as tears fell down her cheeks and sobs wracked her body. It wasn’t fair. She had done everything right, she was kind, patient, tried her best not to cause a scene, she forgave others, she helped them even when they didn’t like her, she had done everything right! So why did they all hate her then? What had she done, what was so bad about her, what did she do to make others hate her so much?!

“You didn’t do anything. It’s all on them, you are so good Marinette, far too good. They don’t deserve you, I don’t deserve you. But we’re going to get through this, we’re going to do it together. I’m not going to leave you to suffer on your own, I’ll stand by you, I’ll be your shoulder as long as you need me.”

Marinette clutched onto her brother, letting her hands fist around shirt. Marinette didn’t know how long they were there, how long she spent ruining his shirt with her tears and snot, it could have been a few hours, minutes, even a day. Despite that fact, Tim never once left her, always either rubbing her back, running fingers through her hair, humming, whispering comforting words, and just being the comforting presence that she needed. It made her heart warm and helped to silence the sobs and slow the tears. Tim loved her, he was here for. She had Adrien, Chloe, Kagami, Luka, and her parents too. She wasn’t alone. Marinette slowly lifted her gaze to stare at her brother where he gave her the softest most loving smile she’d ever seen on him.

“You feelinging any better?”

He asked. Marinette nodded, wiping the tears away with the back of her hand. Tim leaned backwards and grabbed a box of tissues from some corner of the room they were in.

“Thank you.”

She whispered hoarsely, using the tissues to wipe her eyes and a few more to wipe her nose. Now that she was thinking a little clearer she began to look around the room. A mess would be an understatement, but a pigsty would be an overstatement as well. She could tell it was a form of organized chaos, papers scattered across the floor, boards covering each of the walls with red strings wrapped around them, pens were scattered everywhere on the desk as well as stacks of manila folders filled to bursting with different papers, and when she looked up there was another board up there, this one was empty though, which was strange. It kind of looked like her room, except it was mostly paper rather than bolts and scraps of fabric.

“Is this your room?”

She asked, sniffling slightly. Tim blushed a little in embarrassment as he too looked around his room.

“Yea. It probably looked a lot worse before. I have no doubt that one of them was nice enough to clear out all of the trash and coffee mugs. I’ll be doing the dishes for a month.”

He replied, grumbling the last sentence. Marinette let out a small hum, leaning into the warmth that was her brother. So who are your friends? Tim smiled at that before he let out a long sigh.

“The one that took us here was Kon, he’s the one that we saved from that lab I told you about. The blonde is Cassandra Sandsmark , though we call her Cassie. She’s an Amazionian fighter, Wonder Woman’s sidekick, I think you too would get along really well. Probably too well.”

He mumbled. Clearing his throat he continued,

“The last one, the one who’s going to absolutely talk your ear off, is Bart. He’s a speedster from an apocalyptic future that is living here. So if he says something you don’t know or understand, there’s a high chance we don’t know either.”

Marinette giggled at that, causing time to smile as well.

“Your-er, Mom,”

She snickered again causing him to roll his eyes.

“Mom told me to let you know that she is going to try to transfer you to Kagami’s school. She’s probably already called her by now to ask her about scholarships and admissions. I’ll help of course, you deserve the best.”

Marinette sniffled again at that. She would be leaving her old school then. It wasn’t technically a bad thing, but it was still a foreign concept in her mind. That she would be able to leave and escape the cruelty there. She still had two years of school left and she had a feeling that they would be well spent at Kagami’s school, even if she did have to wear a uniform. She had once asked Tim why he wasn’t in school, she had learned that he had actually skipped three grades and instead of graduating, like he should have, got an online GED. He said that it didn’t matter to him since he “was running Bruce’s company before he even graduated”. Sabine and Marinette had not been thrilled to hear that.

“Can I meet your friends?”

Tim smiled at that, he knew she was just trying to change the subject but he would let it go. She deserved a break anyways.

“Yea, I can also get you some water since they’ll probably be in or near the kitchen anyways.”

With that marinette slowly stood up, Tim followed after her though he stretched his legs first before he opened his door and began his tour of his home-away-from-home.

__________

Tim watched from the sidelines with a smile as he watched his friends/family talk with Marinette. He had no doubt that they would all get along, but it was still a relief and a weight off his shoulders to truly see it happening. He watched Kon whisper something in her ear, Marinette glanced at him for a second and Tim felt nervous. The next thing he knew Marinette burst out laughing and Tim was blushing despite the fact that he had no idea what was said. He glanced over at Kon to see if he could get a hint of whatever story he was telling but only got a sly smirk and sideways glances from a chuckling Cassie. He didn’t know if he wanted to know what story they told her. They had so many stories, most of which he didn’t even remember due to his sleep deprived state that it was frankly concerning. For him at least, they seem to enjoy holding these stories over his head whenever they need something.

Slowly, Tim approached the group, his family, and hesitantly asked,

“What exactly did I miss?”

Kon shook his head and placed a finger to his lips, smug smirk still firmly in place. Marinette’s eyes glittered with mirth as she followed suit and shook her head.

“Sorry Tim-Tam, can’t say.”

“And why not?”

He asked, crossing his arms and lifting a brow to look at all of his team members. Bart zipped right next to him, causing a small breeze in the room before rushing out,

“It’s a secret story. Maybe one day you’ll be able to find a way to unlock it in one of your side quests.”

Cassie snickered as Tim pouted. He honestly hadn’t played one of his open world adventure games in a while. He mostly played any version of UMS with Marinette and her their family. Tim sighed, dropping his hands to his side casually enough as Bart placed an arm around his shoulders. He could tell that there was some sort of trap here, they were holding out on something but he couldn’t tell what yet. The kitchen was clean (that was a first); Kon, Cass, and Cassie were all gathered near Mari; and there was nothing that could be considered suspicious on the counters. There was just a bag of flour, one on his side of the counter and one in hers.

…….

Oh no. Tim could tell that Marinette knew that he figured out what she planned to do. So with almost inhuman speed she lord the bag and threw a handful of it at Tim. He quickly closed his eyes as the dusted wheat hit him square in the face. Quickly reaching for his own bag he began to throw flour at her, only missing and hitting Cassie instead. The fight went on for a while, everyone getting involved until they were all white as ghosts. Marinette and everyone else was laughing, he knew that this was her idea. Probably revenge for the last time he initiated this same kind of fight. It was worth it though. She was happy, she wasn’t worried about a thing, and hopefully she can accept his friends. Let them be a part of their small found family. Tim never liked standing on the sidelines before. But just watching her, seeing her happy like this even if it wasn’t fully him that made her smile like that. Maybe he could make an exception for his dislike, but only if he could see her like this more often.

Taglist:

@aespades @adrestar @astrynyx @doll246 @queenz-z @toodaloo-kangaroo @crazylittlemunchkin @seraphichana @dorkus-minimus @mysticsoulgirl @ritacrow-blog @snow-leopard-777 @fidget-eep @sometandomstuff333 @lady-phoenix-of-tardis @shreeing @achaoticmess1 @miraculous-ninja @liquid-luck-00 @buginetye @stainedglassm @prettylittlebutterflie @laurcad123 @iloontjeboontje @heartsong18 @raeuberprinzessin @when-no-wings-do-broomsticks @jennifer-rose123 @moon5608 @corporeal-terrestrial @skitarii-alpha-c6-555 @saltysugarysembei @phantom120 @kking13 @depressed-bitchy-demon @a-slytherinish-gryffindor @trippingovermyfeet @maribatforever @miraculous-ninjabird

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maccreadysbaby · 5 months

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okay. We all love Bentley, but how did Nico and Asten meet each other? They’re such opposites I hardly doubt they’d just click at school, especially with Asten being so much older

Oh yes, it’s much much angstier than that.

A Hundred Ways to Become a Wayne Drabbles

tw: mentions of past deaths, malnutrition, general angst

wanna read the extended fic? here’s the table of contents!

i’ve been pondering and pondering asten’s character for so long and this ask just brought it all together, yay! (portuguese is brought to you by google translate, sorry if it’s wrong lmao. feel free to translate it if you want, it’s just memories of his mom being sweet )

⚠️ THIS IS NOT PART OF BENTLEY’S MAIN STORYLINE, ITS BACKGROUND FOR ASTEN.

TWO YEARS PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF A HUNDRED WAYS TO BECOME A WAYNE, ONE YEAR PRIOR TO THE BEGINNING OF A HUNDRED DAYS TO BECOME A WAYNE

ASTEN EVANS SCUTTLED THROUGH THE NEIGHBORHOODS OF BRISTOL IN THE RAIN. The thunder rumbled and shook overhead, and it was loud, but it wasn’t enough to drown out the insatiable gnawing and cramping that surfaced in his stomach every time he moved.

How long had it been, two days? More? The aching was growing into nausea, and he couldn’t risk throwing up what he did have inside of him. Though he knew he didn’t have much. An empty stomach was better than an emptied one.

Sam said he’d be home on Friday before Asten was out of school, but he wasn’t. It was Sunday now, technically Monday because it was two in the morning, and the idiotic twenty-three-year-old had only called once to say he’d be home soon. The drive was taking longer than usual. He said he’d be home late Friday night.

Late Friday night had been fine. Asten could’ve waited for him to get there. Sure, the fridge and cabinets were empty, and he hadn’t even offered to pick up anything on the way home, but the eleven-year-old wasn’t that hungry.

Two days ago.

It was normal for Sam to be out of town working during the week, Asten survived on the breakfast and lunch served at school. Sure, the gap between lunch and the next breakfast was big (seventeen hours, actually.) but he could deal. He had to, because they didn’t have anything in their house. Sam always came back on weekends and ordered takeout.

Asten was always fed. Not necessarily full, never, but fed.

But not this weekend. Apparently Sam had taken leave without as much as a voicemail. Now the hunger had turned into pain, and he was reverting back to the things he did to keep himself alive when Sam was gone over the summer.

Thievery.

He picked the lock on the side door of a house in Bristol, inching inside without remorse. The homeowners pristine white kitchen, cabinets, countertops and all, was dressed with brass hardware and big pendant lights.

He loved when side doors opened straight into the kitchen.

He stepped inside, ignoring the painful rumbling and churning his stomach was doing. There were no cars in the driveway, and this house always had cars in the driveway. He knew because he’d been in this kitchen a few times over the summer. If the driveway was empty, the house was empty, which meant he could take all the food he wanted.

(Not really — just enough to appease his body while simultaneously taking just little enough that no one would notice when they got home. He was basically a master at it now.)

He closed the door quietly behind him. This house didn’t have security, or at least not good security. He’d never failed at cracking that side door, and he’d never been caught.

He sighed as soon as he spotted a fruit bowl on the kitchen island, but stopped short.

It was organized to perfection. They’d notice if he took something out of it.

With an annoyed huff, he turned instead toward the fridge, pulling the appliance open with a soft click.

It was full to the brim with leftovers and packaged things and drinks. He’d have to be careful not to leave holes or empty containers, but with the amount of stuff they had shoved between the plastic shelves, he could probably get enough to last a few days, at least.

Well, he thought he could.

“It’s just a kid!”

Asten jumped a mile, shoving the fridge closed with a wham. There was a man in the threshold of the kitchen, a man in pajamas with a bat that looked really mad and really strong.

Asten lunged for the door, but the man was too fast. He grabbed the boy’s forearm and jerked him backwards.

“Get the hell off me!” He shouted, twisting and jerking against the man’s grip. He worked his arm out but the man didn’t waste a second in grabbing him again, pulling him across the room by both arms. “Piss off! Let go!”

“Sit down, boy. Sit,” He ordered, practically forcing Asten onto one of the stools at the island. He fought against his arms to no avail. “You’re either gonna answer some of our questions, or the cops’ questions. Which one would you prefer?”

“Piss off,”

“A lively one, aren’t you?”

A woman had drifted into the threshold of the room, clad in a bathrobe, pajama pants, and slippers. Her dirty blonde hair hung past her shoulders and her blue eyes were dull with sleep and worry.

“Don’t you dare move, or I’m calling the police. I don’t think it would take them long to find a kid with bright blue hair,”

Asten huffed, wrenching his arms out of the man’s grip but not making any moves to get off the stool. Police were a no go. He’d be swiped away by social services faster than he could call for Sam, and that wasn’t necessarily on his to-do list.

“What are you doing breaking into our house?” The man barked. He retreated to the other side of the island and propped himself up across from Asten. The kid had direct access to the door. Either he really trusted him not to move, or he really trusted that he was faster. “We know you’ve done it at least once before. You’re lucky we were out of town.”

Asten said nothing.

The man leaned forward. “You’d better get to talking, boy, or it won’t be me asking.”

Asten, still, stayed silent, turning away from the man. All he really wanted to do now was leave. Getting caught was a rookie mistake, and getting caught and threatened with cops when Sam could very well be thirty minutes from home was not good. Not good at all.

He stayed silent, but his stomach worked up a loud protest, reminding him exactly why he was here in the first place.

He was so freaking hungry.

The man’s eyes flicked across him quickly, and Asten hoped he didn’t catch the way his face burned pink.

“You’re hungry. That it?”

“No,” Asten spat, a little too quickly for his own liking. “Piss off.” He added for good measure.

The man huffed. “Then why?”

Again, he said nothing. But the empty feeling was starting to creep more into nausea territory, and he didn’t like it.

The man huffed. “I’m waiting.”

Asten wanted to punch him in the face.

“Kid, you’d better start talking. Are you a street rat?”

“No,” Asten bit out, words dripping in a venom he hoped might deter the man. “I’m not.”

“Then why are you breaking into our house in the middle of the night just to raid the fridge?”

He didn’t intend on answering, but again, like life was laughing ever-so-hard in his face, his stomach did it for him, loud and emptily and embarrassingly. He wrapped his arms around his middle and inwardly cursed at it to freaking stop, curling his fists up into the fabric of his shirt.

“When was the last time you ate anything?”

“Piss off,” He hissed again. It was the only thing he planned on saying to these rich jerks.

“Hate to be captain obvious, but your stomach is talking more than you are,” He stated. Asten looked away when the man’s eyes drifted down to where his knuckles were turning white from gripping his own shirt, his face burning an even darker pink.

Screw this.

“We aren’t going to judge you, we just want to know what’s going on,” The man continued. The anger and adrenaline seemed to be slowly fading from his posture and voice, but that didn’t make him any more likable.

“Shut up,” Asten spat. “Didn’t your parents teach you not to talk about things you don’t know?”

The man backed off, raising his hands in a surrender. Asten brought his knees up and curled in on himself so tightly he hoped his stomach wouldn’t be able to make any more noise. He felt so utterly naked in front of them. He should’ve checked the house better.

He swallowed down the throbbing ache and constant pain jabbing him in the gut. “Just let me go. I won’t come back.”

The man seemed to consider it for a second. And then that second was over.

“Then just tell us what’s going on, kid,”

He wanted to scream. He wasn’t just about to tell these random rich people that he hadn’t eaten since school on Friday and his guardian was never home. He wasn’t just about to tell them that he lived in the poorest part of the city where people routinely emptied the dumpsters of all their edible contents because no one else could freaking afford food, either. It was a miracle Sam was keeping up with Asten’s enrollment in school. Gotham Academy was freaking expensive.

Maybe that’s why they didn’t have anything else.

He stayed quiet again. He missed Brazil. He missed São Paulo. He missed being able to eat food every day and not having to rely on school for it. When his parents, his guardians were home and tucked him into bed and woke him up and drove him to school.

He missed his parents.

Now here he was, a useless rat living out of a one room apartment with an uncle that barely passed as a guardian, no longer happy in Brazil but shoved in the worst part of New Jersey. A part so bad that other people in the city didn’t even call it Park Row anymore, but Crime Alley, hungry all of the time and wishing everything short of death on the truck driver that crashed into his parents car that night. It was that drivers fault he was fighting with his stomach in some rich family’s kitchen. Everything was that stupid truck drivers fault.

He felt a familiar, but at the same time distant burn behind his eyes, and he swallowed down the lump that was starting to form in his throat. He wasn’t going to cry in front of these people.

“Kid? You got an answer for me?”

The man’s piercing blue gaze cut him to his core, and he looked away again. His stomach chose the worst time to growl as loud as humanly possible, even through his makeshift position, and he muttered a string of profanities under his breath, tugging at his shirt and begging it to stop. His eyes burned harder.

“Stop it, Ed, you’re scaring him,” The woman’s voice came this time, and she drifted up near her husband. “We want to help you, sweetheart. Can you tell me your name?”

“No,” He snapped, not looking over at the couple because of the way his eyes were burning. With the incessant pain and cramping of his insides, the lump in his throat he was trying to desperately to shove away, and the memories of his mother asking him how his day was in a bubbly Portuguese floating around in his head, he was going to lose this battle with the rich people’s questioning no matter what.

“We aren’t going to call the cops, I promise. We just want to have an idea what’s going on. You broke in because you’re hungry, right? When was the last time you ate?”

Freaking hell, these people were not going to shut up, were they? Did they think it was fun to sit in their kitchen when they should be sleeping and pick out all of Asten’s insecurities?

He huffed, burying his face in his knees. “Friday. School.”

“Oh, honey…” The woman whispered in sympathy. “Edward, get him some food.”

Asten sat up. He was not about to accept pity food from these rich nobodies who didn’t even know his name. “No. It’s fine, I’m fine. Just let me leave. I… I want to leave.”

The man went to work despite his protests, and the woman began rounding the counter toward him. “It’s okay, honey.”

“Get away from me,” He hissed as she drew near, so she stopped. “Just let me go back outside.”

“So you can find someone else to rob? Yeah right,” The man snorted from his spot in front of the fridge. “You go out that door, your face is on wanted posters.”

“Edward!” The woman scolded, then focused back on Asten. “Friday is a long time to go without food, honey. You’re probably not feeling too great, am I right?”

She was right. His head was pounding, he was so hungry he felt like he might throw up air, he really, really, really wanted his mom, and he was about to cry.

He said nothing, but pressed his face into his knees to hide it from her.

He wanted to curl up in a hole and die. It would be less embarrassing than this. Even a kid from Crime Alley who had eaten out of a dumpster at least a couple times still had a little bit of dignity. Especially if he went to Gotham Academy, which he did. If any of his schoolmates heard about this, if it got spread on the news…

He felt someone touch him, a hand that landed gently on his back, and he flinched upright and swatted it away.

“I said get away from me!”

The woman withdrew her hand with a little bit of shock on her face, but it quickly faded. “I’m not going to hurt you, baby.”

Hell, did everything about this woman have to remind him of his mom? Even the tone with which she called him baby was the same.

Wow, life was really having fun torturing him right now.

“Go away,” He muttered. He tried his best to make it at least a little threatening, but given that he was one more delicately spoken pet name away from bursting into tears, it wasn’t in the slightest. It actually sounded more like a plea, like he was being beaten on the street and begging his assailants to leave him alone. (Which he had done a handful of times already. He lived in Crime Alley, after all.)

He felt like he was going to throw up.

“Oh, sweetheart…” The woman cooed like Asten was some kind of helpless little animal. He didn’t realize why she was doing it until he felt something wet on his face.

Oh freaking great. This was exactly the opposite of how he wanted his night to go.

“It’s okay, honey. You’re safe with us,” She said softly, and as if Asten hadn’t told her not to touch him just shy of five times already, she did. She raked a hand through his black and blue hair.

“Como foi seu dia na escola, amor?” His mother asked sweetly as soon as he walked in the door. She was standing in the threshold of the dining room in a red apron with her almost black hair tied up in a messy bun. She reached over and brushed her hand through his hair. “Você precisa de um corte de cabelo.”

The random rich woman did it again, and Asten started to cry, miserably, curling in tighter on himself. He hadn’t really cried since his parents died. He was shipped off to Gotham so fast he didn’t even have time to think about it.

“Venha aqui meu amor. Porque voce esta chorando? Qual é o problema?” His mother pulled her crying, eight-year-old son into her arms, cradling him close to her chest. “Oh meu amor. Tudo vai ficar bem.”

Now Asten was eleven, stealing to stay alive and helplessly pulled against one rich woman’s chest in a weird position on a barstool. He pretended the embrace was good enough. (It wasn’t, because it wasn’t hers.)

But he hid his face away in the woman’s bathrobe anyways, letting her warmth seep into all the parts of him that had grown cold since his parents died. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough, part of him would always be frozen, but it felt good for now. He hadn’t been hugged since before his parents died eleven months ago, but he didn’t unravel his arms from around himself to hug her back.

Was it possible that food might not have been the only thing he was hungry for? Because the way she was holding him satiated something inside that he didn’t even know was there. He’d never admit it, and he hadn’t even realized it until now, but he never wanted this woman to let go of him.

“That’s it, sweetheart,” She whispered lightly, keeping one arm around him and using the other to keep his head against her bathrobe. “You’re gonna be okay.”

He didn’t feel okay. Sure, he was hungry, but the hunger ran so much deeper than his physical needs and the only one that could stop it was dead. Could he starve to death when it wasn’t food he was hungry for? Could the death of his parents, the culture shock of moving to America, and the unending voice inside of his head that cried please help the cold go away really kill him? It felt like it.

He was falling apart in a random woman’s arms and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Why was this happening right now? This whole situation would’ve been embarrassing enough if his stomach hadn’t been growling louder than a rabid dog, but having to pick up the pieces of himself off of their fancy tile floor before he went back to the cold, filthy, streets of Crime Alley was borderline humiliating. He was sure he’d spend the rest of his life cursing that truck driver’s name into the wind.

“I’ve got you, baby,” She whispered gently, rubbing the back of his head with her thumb in a slow, soothing rhythm. “You’re not alone.”

He only cried harder. He was so alone. He would always be alone because they weren’t there anymore.

“We’re going to get some food in you, then I’ll drive you home. How’s that sound?”

Asten shook his head into her fuzzy robe. “No. I-I can walk.”

“Where do you live?” She inquired gently. Something about her voice sounding so much like his mother’s made it nearly impossible to lie.

“Crime Alley,” He sniffled.

She let out a puff of air. “You’re not walking all the way to Park Row. That’s almost a two hours walk, at least. Maybe three. I don’t care to drive you home.”

He didn’t have it in him to argue. He kinda felt like throwing up, and the crying wasn’t helping, not at all. He swiftly decided he was never crying like this again, ever. Never. And he was never going to show his face around this house again once this was over.

The knot inside of him that only halfway passed as an actual stomach tightened with a stab, a lingering agony that threatened to swallow him whole. He coiled up ever tighter, the urge to literally throw up nothing more than sink water all over their pretty marble floor growing exponentially.

The woman picked up on it, because why wouldn’t she? “I know. I know it hurts.“

Asten kind of wanted to scream again, because no she freaking didn’t. She lived in Bristol, where snobby rich people yelled at builders for putting the wrong shade of nickel knobs on their cabinets. She didn’t freaking know how it felt to be so empty your own stomach acid seemed to burn holes in your organs.

Asten didn’t move, in fear of literally throwing up in their floor, until the man put a glass plate on the counter with a soft clink.

On it was a messy brick of something that looked like lasagne, probably from a package, steaming from being shoved in the microwave. The edges were rough like they’d been cut around. These people’s forgotten leftovers were better than anything Asten had eaten all week.

He didn’t waste any time inhaling it. When asked if he wanted more, he said no. He wasn’t a stranger to eating so much when Sam got back on the weekends that he made himself sick, and he wasn’t going to do that. Not when he had school tomorrow.

So, the woman changed her clothes and drove him back to his shabby little apartment building that looked kind of like it should’ve been foreclosed on. But not before he saw someone standing on the stairs of her house. It was too dark to make out anything about them, but they were small, and they scuttled back to the second floor the moment he laid eyes on them.

It was only a little weird when, on Monday, some tiny blonde nine-year-old named Nico decided that he wanted to be Asten’s best friend. (Literally, he came up to him in class and said that.)

He was a bit weirded out, but he didn’t have friends anyways, so he obliged.

By the end of the week he was already being invited over to his house for dinner. Which was weird, but he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity for good food.

He was sure he’d never been closer to dying from embarrassment than when he and Nico took the bus to the exact same house where he very nearly left part of his soul (and his thoroughly digested sink water) in the kitchen.

He was never going to get away from these people, was he?

(No, he wasn’t.)

—

dedicated to @sassenashsworld 💚

—

tag list! (If you want me to remove or add you, ask in comments!)

@fleur-alise @sarcopterygiian @cademygod

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ressaart · 5 months

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more doodles because i am extremely stressed

#does tim look like he is going in for a hug with kon? yes. was it intentional? no #second time drawing cass and i need to work on my vision for her i think #kon is going to college here #so is bernard #tim refuses to go back to school #also a lil red hood in the corner because i missed jason tbh #cassandra cain #kon el #conner kent #tim drake #jason todd #bernard dowd #red robin #black bat #red hood #superboy #my art

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lylethewaterguy · 2 years

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There’s a criminal lack of content about Bruce and his daughter

#cassandra cain #bruce wayne #batgirl #batman #batfam #lyle the art guy #I was reading a fanfic and the batbros were having a group hug #and cass wasn’t even mentioned #and so I just needed to see her being hugged

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fic-ive-read · 1 year

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Link To The Fic

#jason todd #tim drake #original characters #dick grayson #stephanie brown #bernard dowd #cassandra cain #bruce wayne #pov outsider #good sibling jason todd #child protective services #good sibling dick grayson #purposeful brother acquisition #batfamily #poison ivy #tim drake needs a hug #background #tim drake/bernard dowd

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west-coast-baby · 1 year

Photo

Hugs.

#batman #orphan #bruce wayne #cassandra cain #hugs #support #comfort #bruce #cass #i want a hug #comics #bat cave?#vigilantes #heros #they need hugs too #Damn #I need a hug too

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ao3statistics · 4 months

Note

Most popular tags on Ao3 connecting to Cass or Steph please

Here you go! For Cass Cain aka Orphan aka Black Bat aka Batgirl.

This is self-made. Date: 01.01.2024.

I assume no guarantee or liability for the completeness, correctness and accuracy of this chart despite my best efforts.

Includes fanfictions in all languages available on Ao3, NOT English only.

Character tags and ship tags were excluded.

More charts will follow. :)

Want to have a chart for different pairings, headcanons etc. in your favourite fandom? Send me an ask!

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omgbelleoftheball · 2 years

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WAYNE FAMILY ADVENTURES EPISODES 45 & 46 ARE THE BEST ONES BY FAR!

I won’t spoil anything but omg 🥺 Jason and Bruce’s moment, it was so wholesome I can’t even

ITS WHAT WE DESERVE!

#batfamily #batfam #batman #robin 2021 #dick grayson #nightwing #batman wayne family adventures #cassandra cain #jason todd #red hood #jason todd deserves better #the joker #jason todd in young justice #jason todd red hood #jason todd needs a hug

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the-coffeeaddict-tim-drake · 4 days

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Just a Kid Next Door - Chapter 2

Bruce is finally back from being stuck in the time stream. Tim managed to save Batman and his loved ones. Now it is time for Tim to go home and rest. But the problem is that, Tim has no home. Or that's what he thinks so.

This will be a multichapter fic on how did Tim reconcile with his family. It will be full of angst, family feels and family shenanigans.

Masterlist

Here in the link to read the story in ao3.

-------------------------------CHAPTER 2---------------------------------

The first thing Bruce sees after opening his eyes is a flash of blinding light, followed by a very blurry face. The person had black hair and light eyes and was calling out his name, that too in a very panicked voice.

His first instinct was to become alert. Even in his dizzy state, he tried his best to observe and analyze his surroundings.

It took Bruce a minute to realize that the person in front of him is his son. The person is one of his kids from his brood of children.

But Bruce was not able to figure out which one though. It was maybe due to his very blurry eyesight or his very concussed head, he concluded.

One of his hand reached out to touch his son’s face. He might not be able to see clearly to find which one of his kid is in front of him, but he could definitely find out through touch.

He first touched his kid’s face and then went to feel his shoulder.

‘Mm, Too fair to be Duke, little shorter and eyes too blue to be Jason, too tall to be Damian and too built to be Tim. Oh, it must be Dick.” he finally concluded.

Bruce and Batman are two different people.

Batman is a powerful vigilante. He channels his grief and pain into protecting his city, Gotham. He’s a master of countless disciplines and he strike fear into the heart of criminals to bring them to justice.

But Bruce is first and foremost, a Father. Bruce Wayne, the Gotham’s prince (not a Prince any more though), the billionaire playboy and philanthropist is a Father. His first priority will always be his Family. His family is the most important thing to him, whether biological or chosen.

And in this moment, he was not Batman. He was just Bruce. A Father.

Bruce missed his kids so much. He still don’t know how many days or even months he had actually missed, but he’s more than glad that he is back. He is not going to let any of his kids and Alfred out of his sight for the next few days.

He then heard Dick’s voice, rough, like he’s been crying for quite some time now.

“Shit, B. You woke up. Do you- you want me to call anyone, like – like, shit …um like Clark or someone. Wait B, um…lemme”

‘Huh, he sounds very strange.’ he thought.

Suddenly he feels a hand under his head and sees a thumb and a forefinger opening his eyes wider. He then realized that he’s being checked for concussion.

“Oh, you are definitely concussed.”

“Grn” he groaned.

He reached out and embraced his kid. He don’t want to miss anymore of his time by waiting. He is going to smother all his kids with hugs until they put up a fight with him.

Dick went still for a few seconds. And then he started to weep, his whole body wracked by sobs.

As much he tries to be a good parent, Bruce is never really the one for dealing with emotions in a healthy manner. And he will never forgive himself for passing on that trait to his children, because his children rarely cried to cope up with feelings. Hence Dick’s sudden outburst threw Bruce off guard.

“Oh, I-I missed y-you so much B, please don’t ever leave us ever again. Don’t leave me al-alone, please. Everyone thought you died, Bruce.” His whole body was shaking.

Bruce’s heart ached. Each of his kid’s sob was like a dagger piercing his heart. Bruce never wished for his children to go through the same trauma he did as a kid when his parents died. And yet, here he is.

“But I didn’t be-believe them. I somehow knew you were alive. I-I never stopped searching for you”

Bruce hugged him even harder. He knew his children were smart, but he was doubtful that they would find out the minuscule clues he left and put two and two together.

But he had hoped.

He never lost hope in his family. He knew they would eventually save him.

And he is proud that he wasn’t wrong.

Dick was now quiet, but Bruce can still feel him crying.

“It’s okay chum, don’t worry. I’m here and I’m not going to leave you alone, sweetheart. Never.” said Bruce, his voice sounding foreign to himself.

“Y-Yeah?”

“Hm-mm, I’m going to bore you all with my facts about dinosaurs. You are going to love every minute of it.” He chided.

Dick let out a hearty chuckle. Bruce was glad to have elevated the mood.

They were occupied by comfortable silence for the next few minutes, Bruce lying on the med bay bed with Dick’s head on his chest and his arms embracing the boy. He felt dizzy, and his eyes started to droop due to his tiredness.

“You are my son, Dick. I’m never going to leave you alone. Never.” He murmured, before falling into deep slumber.

What he failed to notice before going to sleep was, Tim going very still, almost still like a rock.

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

Rain pounded the streets of Gotham. The flooded sewers and subways forced the residents to walk in the rain, soaking wet. The Bat Signal almost invisible due to the cloudburst.

Gotham is a busy city. Social workers working days to fix the city, young CEOs and entrepreneurs walking hurriedly in the crack of dawn and the elites from the nicer parts of the town attending Galas after Galas to keep up their appearances and earn fortunes.

But the City is extremely busy at nights though. Stealth bodies clad in darker shades of Kevlar and spandex can be seen jumping from building to building, fighting rouges and lurking in the shadows, protecting the city.

But nights like these makes it extremely difficult to do their job. Along with the rain came the criminals.

Gotham is a busy City. Not even the dangerous calamities stopped the rogues in the slightest.

That’s why the Batman and the newest Robin can be seen launching their fists and using their acrobatic skills to fight the Penguin and his men

“You cannot catch me, Batman” Oswald snickered. He used his bladed Umbrella to fight against Batman

The Robin was using his Katana to block the blows while performing various impressive fighting techniques thought by the league to fight the Penguin’s men. They stood no chance against the young warrior.

Batman leaped from rooftop to rooftop while throwing his Batrangs at The Penguin, which he was able to block with his shield like umbrella.

The sound of bullet being fired dominated the swishing sounds of cape and the men’s grunts of pain. Many lost their stance and put down their weapon due to the sudden gunshot. Batman used this distraction to jump on Oswald and knock him down.

From out of the shadows emerged a built figure, clad in dark grey Kevlar, brown leather jacket and a very contrasting red helmet which hid the vigilante's entire face, pointing one of his many guns to the sky. The red Bat symbol on his chest glimmering due to droplets of rain.

“I thought you stopped killing” gruffed Batman.

“Aw, you’re welcome, Goldie. I will save you at any given chance. And, don’t be narcissistic. It’s a rubber bullet. And I did not shoot anyone by the way.” The Red Hood replied, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

“tt, you did nothing Hood.” Robin came and stood next to the Batman after tying up the men for the officers.

“Be grateful, Gremlin”

“tt” Robin tutted, shaking his head.

“What are you doing here anyways, Hood? I thought Crime alley is your area.” Batman asked, wiping off the blood from his lips.

“Surprise, seems like our cases are connected after all. I had an intel that Penguin and Black mask are working on some shady stuff together”

“Oh” came out of Dick’s mouth.

Their conversation was interrupted by sudden swoosh of wind. This alerted the three to jump into their fighting stance.

“Fucking hell, Superman. You could have warned us it was just you.” Said Red Hood, relaxing.

“Sorry, but I have an important news.” Replied Superman, eyeing the three of them carefully.

“Batman is back. We saved him from time stream. Wonder Woman and Flash managed to bring him back to the Batcave.”

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impyssadobsessions · 5 months

Note

DP × DC where Daniel is adopted by the Fenton's, but he isn't a Wayne/al Ghul, but rather, he's Cassandra Cain's older brother who managed to slip his leash and escape. Before his biological donor could find and recover him, Daniel Cain is instead found by Jazmine Fenton, who brings Daniel to her parents and tells them she wants him to be her little brother. Madeline does not ask about Daniel's family as she can see the damage, and Jack shows off his talent for seeing the good in eople to see that the kid needs a good home.

All it takes is one call to Vlad, who is in a trifecta relationship with the Fenton adults, to make the arrangements. Gone is Daniel Cain, and in his place is Daniel Vladimir Fenton.

Danny tries to forget much of his past until some encouragement from Jazz makes Danny decide to track down his past, using his connections to he Infinite Realms and his status as the Kind Benevolent Ghost King he begins his search. Eventually, the ghosts point him towards Gotham, where he meets a girl who reminds him of Dani.

This is in a scenario where Madeline and Jack accept that their adopted son is Phantom. They also accept that Plasmius is Vlad's other half and welcome both parts with open arms, mostly Jack's open arms via the Fenton Bear Hug.

Danny is now searching Gorham for his past, unaware that the girl he first met was, in fact, the little sister he never knew of nor that his biological donor, David Cain is also in Gotham.

Ooo interesting setup~ Wonder how Cassandra would handle all this. I can see her not believing it at first- then perhaps confused/hurt why he never tried to find her. But essentially can see her being happy to have another brother. Especially as I can see Danny getting protective. Ahh Bruce be upset, this ones taken- jk. But oof yeah they probably run into their father.

This one too I had sitting in my box because I didn't know what to add~ >w< but it is a cool start up to a fic.

#dp x dc #dpxdc #danny fenton #cassandra cain #dc x dp #crossover #asks #prompt #dpxdc prompt

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kingcrow01 · 4 months

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DC x Marvel Fic Recs

@jas-per11 @letthedeadghostrest

Hello! I saw your post, and I've been meaning to rec some DC x Marvel fics anyways, so I'll do that here. I don't know what you've read, so I'll start with

Peter Parker / DC Series:

The Dark Matter Multiverse Series by @mysterycyclone

Dark Matter is the blueprint for most Peter Parker / DC fics, and it's also fucking fantastic. If you're reading a crossover and don't understand why, without explanation, Peter is talking to ghosts? Why he by default ends up living in a firehouse? Read Dark Matter.

Spider and Bat Friends Series by @emmacortana

So far, 12 well written and hilarious works from my all-time favorite author, Miss emmacortana. This, coming from someone with over 1,500 bookmarks. She's that good.

Bitsy and The Bats Series Series by @wibbwoby

Haven't read this one in a while, so I don't have much to say, but Rated T for Traumatized is an absolute classic.

Pizzaverse Series by Irisen

A heavier read, wherein Peter tries to keep his job, make rent, and has a lot of unfortunate run-ins with Gotham's rogues.

Peter & The BatBoys (Doctor AU) Series by @thepoppypress

Peter is the Wayne family's doctor. He has a... chaotic time. I've only read Part 1, but I am still including this here because it's a series.

Peter Parker needs a hug (From the BatFamily) Series by @true-blue-fool

Shorter fics about Peter bonding with the Batfamily. Part 3 is especially cute.

Spider and Bats Series by @superklutzkent

Peter Parker whump, featuring the Batfam. All of the whump.

Let's take a break and look at some DC x Marvel fics that DON'T feature Peter:

Steve Rogers: Man out of Time and Place Series by RavenclawAngel

After Civil War, Steve gets exiled to DCs earth and builds a new team.

from the nucleus flight Series by @blackkatmagic

Khonshu whisks (Comic) Moon Knight away to DC. Very well written and passionate. If it's not your thing, don't let the Bruce Wayne/Marc Spector tag dissuade you from reading; since it's unfinished, the ship hasn't happened yet, and it's too good of a fic to miss out on.

The Devil's in Gotham (Remastered) by @prince-link13

Matt Murdock moves to Gotham and befriends Jason Todd, his neighbor. Bruce Wayne/Matt Murdock

Marvel/DC Crossovers Series by @bamboozled-and-alone

What it says on the tin. My favorite, part 2, is Matt Murdock taking care of Damian Wayne.

Echolocation Series by Firecat23

Matt Murdock and the bats; though, part 6 does have Team Red, meaning Peter.

Back to our regularly scheduled programming:

Peter Parker slash fics:

Cassandra Cain/Peter Parker

Along Came a Spider Series by @rags-n-bones

Quiet Respite by @faeriekit

I'm not too far in this one yet, but it's Faeriekit, so it's bound to be good.

Peter Parker/Tim Drake, affectionately called redspider

a shining spider web by Selador

Needling by LaughingFreak

How dimension travel can lead to love. Series by Psychic_Queen05

My current Favorite Ongoing Peter Parker / DC Crossovers:

The Ones Burnt by This_is_lovin

After the events of No Way Home, Dr. Strange's magic sends Peter to Gotham. He wakes up in another boy's body, and has to deal with the consequences. Part one just ended with a bang, you all should be there for part two, it's gonna be awesome.

Arachnomaly by @songue85

The (Comic) Amazing Spider-Man, being neighborly in Gotham. Plus some sick art from the author.

time flies by (bye) by WHYISEVERYNAMETAKEN

Two difficult years after No Way Home, Peter ends up in Gotham, but with a whole lot of introspection. One chapter left; you better be there.

All of the rest, that didn't fit in the prior categories:

Unforeseen Consequences by @mysterycyclone

Gotta Get to Rock Bottom! by @emmacortana

Read the initial notes first.

Set Naked on Your Kingdom by sassydandelion

Peter's Gotham Debut by BlankGeode, Leeavy

This Was Home by @emmacortana

The Peter Parker Theory by nicfics

and even though we are strange and exquisitely scarred by Wingfeather6913

What happens in New York by @violent138

A Long Way From Home (And No Way Back) by Vivia_wants_boba

Ignorance is Death by No_idea_what_Im_doing_lmaooo

One Dead Spider by Miellonek

If you do check out any of these fics, always leave a comment. Authors love those, it’s like catnip to them.

#dc #marvel #dc x marvel #fic rec #spiderman #spider man #peter parker #ao3

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that1emowitch · 1 month

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At the end of the world / Or the last thing I see / You are never coming home, never coming home

Prompt from @tuna-f-b: Do you still do request? If yes and angst is o.k: what would happend i all the bats died? Like how would the hero community react. The supers alone. Clark having to deal with losing his best friend(?) and the kids he basically co parented- as well as seeing his sons lose their best friends(?) Specially as ships that would be awesome angst

A/N: I'm not crying you're crying (Also, for those who don't know, Izzy is Duke's canon gf and one of the Robins from We Are Robin)

Words: 2504

TW: Mentions of blood, Major character death, Coping with loss, Self-blame, Mentions of relapse (drugs)

“If you’re watching this, I am either deceased or indefinitely unable to continue my duties as Batman. But the world still needs Batman. Gotham still needs Batman. My son Damian Wayne, if he is an adult, shall inherit my mantle— if not, Dick Grayson will take over until he is. In the event that he, too, is unavailable for any reason, the mantle goes to Tim Drake, after him, to Cassandra Cain, then Duke Thomas, then Stephanie Brown, then Jason Todd, should he accept it.”

In the video recording, Batman pauses, taking a deep breath.

“In the unfortunate event that the entire family is… deceased… I have a list of contingency plans on both the Bat-Computer and the Justice League’s primary databases. Oracle will help you access it, but in her… absence… the password is “a6ghr83kc02m”.”

Then video-Bruce takes off the cowl, his pale blue eyes looking straight into the camera.

“I know I was never the best with feelings. But I would like my children, my allies, and friends to know that I’m proud of you. And to my fellow Justice Leaguers… Diana and Clark, I am truly grateful for your companionship. I would never have made it this far without you. Barry, Arthur, Dinah, J’onn, you’ve all been good friends. Oliver, Hal… you’re not so bad either.”

Bruce turns around, and looks over his shoulder, the shadows of the Batcave making the scene even more dramatic.

“I wish you good luck.”

Then the clip ends.

A shuddering breath leaves Clark.

It’s real.

He’s really… They’re all…

He can’t do this anymore. He turns around and walks out the door, leaving the other core Justice Leaguers staring sombrely at the now-blank screen.

He doesn’t know when he started flying, when he started trying to escape. The walls of the Watchtower seem to be suffocating him, but he has enough sense not to just leave the airlock yet.

Instead he finds a corner by a window, far, far away from the others, where he can see a majestic view of Earth, the moon, and the Sun in perfect sync with each other.

He falls to his knees.

His breathing’s uneven, a tear rolls down his cheeks.

Then he feels a hand on his shoulder— soft, trembling, yet steady.

“Kal,” Diana whispers, sitting on the floor next to him. She doesn’t continue— she isn’t sure what to say.

“They’re all going to die, you know? We’re going to bury all of them. Everyone on Earth, everyone we know.” Clark’s voice trembles, in a way Superman’s never does. “It scares me so much.”

“Kal,” Diana says again, pulling Clark into a hug. “It’s okay. We’ve lost… We’ve lost so many of our friends. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to grieve.”

“How are you— how are you so—” Clark can’t form his words properly. He turns to Diana, to see her face tight with grief, eyes misty with unshed tears.

Her voice breaks slightly as she speaks. “I don’t want to believe they’re gone. But… we have to carry on. We’re the Justice League. Our people need us, Kal.”

“So we just go on and on? Forever?” Another tear runs down his cheek. “Ollie, Hal, Dinah, Lois, Jon, they’re all going to… they’re all going to die one day and we just have to… to go on?”

“I’m sorry, but it is the truth,” Diana whispers, her eyes stinging with hot tears. “We must find peace in the fact, right now, that Batman— Bruce, the Robins, they— they were so brave. Brave till the end. And they fell as warriors, defending our world. I’m sure they’ll all reach Elysium.”

“And Dickie, Damian, Jason, Tim, Cass, Duke—” Clark’s voice is hoarse. “They were so young, just kids… I… I know Dick, Jay, Tim, Cass… they were adults, but… they’re gone, they’re gone…”

“They were heroes, like you and me. Don’t forget that.”

“I… I know, I just—” Another shuddering breath escapes Clark. “I just— I…”

“It’s okay,” Her voice is forcefully steady, but with an undertone of heartbreak. “It’s okay…”

Dinah looks around the room, her heart heavy.

Clark has left, Diana’s gone after him— both of them need their space, she knows. They were close to Bruce and the other Bats in a way no one else in this room was.

Was.

The word still weighs down on her.

Hal speaks up finally, breaking the deafening silence. “I always thought he hated me.”

No one replies for a long moment.

“I miss the kids,” Barry says finally, his voice quiet. “They were just… Robin was only 14. The others, even Nightwing, they had… they had their whole lives ahead of them.”

More silence.

“Jason, when he was Robin— do y'all remember? Kid was always my favorite,” Ollie says finally. “Was always so sassy. Roy loves him.”

Loves. Dinah winces, but doesn’t correct him. It’s easier to believe they’re just gone for a little while.

“Bruce was a good man,” Arthur adds. “They all were.”

“Tim was, I believe, the smartest,” J’onn says, somber. “It was his plan that allowed us to save Earth.”

“Damian!” Dinah says suddenly, jumping from her seat. “His… his mother. She shouldn’t have to find out from someone else.”

Everyone freezes, faces tight.

Dinah sighs, looking down. “I’ll do it.”

Then she leaves the room, dragging what feels like a heavy weight tied to her soul. She has to do this.

Roy’s sitting in a corner of his apartment, hugging his knees. All he can think of is Jason.

He’s never coming back.

He can still feel the lingering ‘goodbye’ kiss Jason gave him not two days ago, he can still hear him say, “I’ll be back before you know it, babe.”

He never came back.

He’s dead. Dead— dead dead dead DEAD DEAD—

“Small Red not okay?” A booming voice snaps Roy out of his thoughts. He looks up to see Bizarro’s pale blue skin and cold eyes looming over him. He’s crying. “Red him coming back.”

It takes Roy a second to register that Bizarro speaks backwards. It takes everything in him to not punch him for saying that, for giving him false hope.

He feels something he hasn’t felt in years— feels that whisper in his mind— one hit and it’ll all feel better. Just one hit.

NO! He screams mentally. He feels like bashing his head open.

Instead he lifts his dead eyes to survey the rest of the room— Kori’s on the couch, staring into space. Artemis has a crying Lian in her arms, she’s showing her something— old photos of Jason. Talking, whispering in a broken voice.

No, no he should be the one comforting Lian—

What’s he gonna say?

That— That Jason— That her Papa’s gone forever? That he’s never— he’s never coming back?

No— Jay— Jay deserved so much better, he— he already died once before, he’s been through so much, things were supposed to be better now— not— no, he’s—

Roy feels Bizarro sit beside him, gently patting his arm.

He snaps out of his thoughts again, turning to Jason’s former teammate, his eyes red-rimmed. His voice raw, he whispers, “Jay’s gone…”

Wally’s standing in the Hall of Heroes, staring up at the holographic projection of Dick— he looks so majestic, so mighty, staring ahead with nothing but hope and courage in his eyes.

Nothing like the cold, dead body that Wally held in his arms just two days ago.

He’s surrounded by his teammates, his friends— Kaldur, M’gann, Artemis, Zatanna, L’gann, Garth— yet he feels so alone.

He sees it again— Dick bleeding out it his arms, his wounds so fatal he died before help arrived. Wally’s the fastest man alive, damn it, yet he couldn’t even save his best friend— his boyfriend. He feels the moment when Dick’s breathing stopped, when his body went limp, when his grip on Wally’s hand loosened.

Everyone’s quiet. M’gann’s stress baking again, L’gann by her side. Artemis and Zatanna are sitting together, Garth’s lingering in a corner, and Kaldur’s standing right beside Wally— close enough for comfort but not so close he’s lurking. He’s shaking.

He can still hear it, hear Dick forcing out his last words, telling Wally it’s okay, that he loves him, that it’ll be fine.

It’s not fine. Not without you.

He wants to scream.

He wants to cry, yell, hit something, do anything.

But he can’t move.

So he just stands there, almost as still as the holographic projection of Dick before him.

Kon is left reeling.

Tim… Tim is…

Tim’s dead.

Tim’s really gone.

He thinks, for just a second, that this is how Tim and Cassie must have felt when he and Bart “died”.

Bart is sitting beside him on the couch, leaning on his side, Cassie’s got her head on his lap. Neither of them speak— Bart’s not even fidgeting— they’re all just trying to be there for each other.

The other Titans are up and about, but staying close for comfort. Jaime and Gar are making food for everyone in the kitchen, Raven and Vic have come back to the tower to make sure the others are okay, and he’s sure Karen’s around too, somewhere.

Yet he feels so empty.

Feels nothing at all.

How can he, when his best friend is dead?

Jon hasn’t spoken in a bit. Not when his Mom brought him his favorite soup, not when Grandma and Grandpa showed up to ‘help’ him and Dad through this, not when Krypto plopped down beside him to comfort him.

He hugs the dog close.

Krypto’s technically Kon’s, but Jon’s sure Kon wouldn’t mind if he stole Krypto for a day.

Another sob escapes him, and he buries his head in Krypto’s back. The dog whines, licking Jon’s hand.

He can’t believe Damian’s gone.

Really gone.

And he didn’t know just how much he would miss his friend.

Dinah finds Talia Al Ghul on a building in Metropolis, overlooking the city. Her face is tight with sorrow, but she keeps herself in check, her back straight, head held high.

She already knows, Dinah deduces.

“I… I’m sorry,” Dinah starts, unsure of what to say. She knows, from her experience as a psychologist, that ‘sorry’ is the last thing a grieving person wants to hear, but she doesn’t have anything else to say.

Talia doesn’t reply for a long time. Then she says, her voice numb, “I should have known, when bringing Damian into this life, that I would also be bringing him amidst the dangers that come with.”

Dinah’s brows furrow. “It’s not your fault. You couldn’t have done anything at all.”

“I should have trained him better, I should have kept him close, I should—” Talia takes a shuddering breath. “I should have never brought him into this life.”

Dinah can’t argue with that— she knows how Damian had come to be, and it… wasn’t the best birth ever.

“Now leave, hero,” Talia says, her voice numb and cold. “Go back to protecting the world. Leave me be.”

Dinah wants to say something better, comfort the woman, but she can’t. So she just turns back, and leaves.

By the time Harper Row makes her way to the Clock Tower, there’s already quite a crowd there— Kate, Renee Montoya, Harley, Ivy, Silena, and Helena Bertinili— they’re crowding around Babs, comforting her. Luke Fox and Isabella Ortiz are at the computer, looking through something.

Harper tries to open her mouth to speak, but she can’t get the words out.

She makes her way over to Luke and Izzy, shoulders hunched.

Just three days ago she’d been hanging out with Duke and Izzy and Cass and Steph— they’d all been so carefree, so happy…

And now…

Once she gets close enough she realizes Izzy’s crying, and immediately wraps her arms around the shorter girl. Harper’s trying to hold back tears of her own, too. She feels Luke putting a hesitant hand on her shoulder, squeezing tight.

No one speaks for a long time, they just stand together, seeking comfort in each other.

Then Babs rolls her wheelchair to the center of the room, wiping at her bloodshot eyes. But when she speaks, she sounds surprisingly steady. She’s compartmentalizing, Harper realizes. Putting away Barbara and bringing Oracle back.

“Gotham needs her heroes, now more than ever,” Oracle says, head held high. “We must honor our friends by doing the one thing they’d have wanted— to keep fighting. Keep Gotham safe.”

She sighs, her face tight to fight away tears. “Luke. Batman’s contingency plan, in the Robins’ absence, was to pass you the mantle of Batman. Do you accept?”

Luke’s eyes grow wide slightly, but he straightens himself, looking away. “I… I accept. Dad isn’t going to be happy, but… Gotham needs Batman.”

“Thank you.” Oracle nods at him. “As per Bruce’s will, all Wayne assets, the Manor, and the Batcave are split between Kate, me, Alfred, and Lucius. I… Lucius and I are still figuring out who’s going to take over Wayne Enterprises, but on the vigilante side, I’ve got a plan.”

She turns to Ivy, Harley, Kate, Silena and Helena. “The Birds of Prey are needed here, now more than ever. Dinah— Black canary has offered to help us with Gotham, too.”

Harley nods, sniffling. Beside her, Ivy speaks up, “The… Most Rogues aren’t happy about this. They’re not rampaging— Bane has fashioned his own version of the Batsuit, he’s going around ‘saving’ people, screaming that Batman never dies. The Joker’s searching for Lazarus Pits and Bruce’s body. Jervis Tetch and Nygma held a get-together yesterday, in the memory of the Bats. I… I think they might help us.”

Harper’s gotta admit, she’s quite surprised about this. Even Babs freezes, taking in this information.

“Gotham needs Robin as much as she needs Batman,” Izzy speaks up from beside her, her voice small but firm. “The Robins can come back, this time you can give us formal training so we can actually help.”

Oracle turns to Luke. “Taking on Robins is your decision, Batman.”

Luke winces at that title— it doesn’t feel like an honor to him, it just feels like an incessant reminder that he’s the last one left. Because his friends are dead. But he nods, anyway, not trusting himself to speak right now.

Then Oracle addresses Harper. “I… would you like to be Batgirl?”

Harper’s heart stops. Memories flash into her head— seeing Steph in the Batgirl costume, seeing Cass in the Batgirl suit, both of whom are now gone.

“N— No,” Harper stutters out, eyes tearful. “I can’t— I’m sorry, Babs. I appreciate the offer, but… Cass was Batgirl. I can’t take her place.”

“I understand.” Babs just nods, lips pursed, misty-eyed. “We will all need to work hand-in-hand until everything settles, we will need to be vigilant. Carry on Batman’s legacy, for as long as we may need to.”

No one speaks again.

They all just let it sink in, hearts heavy.

They’re going to have to do this alone now.

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