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i-talk-too-much · 1 year

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A Misunderstanding (Part 2)

Dick Grayson x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2,272

Warnings: none, smut in later chapters

A/N: it's been *checks watch* way longer than I thought it would be. oops. also, I made a little oopsie in part 1, I originally wrote her final was in two days, but it was actually supposed to be in a week… so I have that changed now ahaha. Anyways

(Part 1)

Summary: You and Dick were childhood friends before you both drifted apart - him living with Bruce and you moving away. You are reunited after you move to Gotham and Nightwing saves you from a criminal.

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Dick laid awake in his bed that night, the covers splayed around his legs. The thoughts swarming his mind about the earlier meeting kept him awake. Your face, your mannerisms, everything – nothing changed after sixteen years.

No, that’s not true. You had changed. You were no longer the kid he knew back when he was in the circus. You grew up, just as he had. And the time in your apartment proved it.

He didn’t know what pushed him to visit you. To check on you, he said, but that was something he thought of in the moment, a simple excuse to talk to you more.

He brought his hands to his face, palms against his eyes as he sighed into the still air.

He felt like an idiot. How could he have let the time go? Why did he not respond to your letter all those years ago?

Actually, Dick knew why. He knew exactly why he dropped the letter into his drawer and forced himself to ignore it. But, it seemed so stupid in retrospect.

He shifted to lay on his side, hoping the change in position would allow him some much needed sleep. Instead, his eyes caught sight of his desk.

A thought formed in his mind and he sat up.

He could write you a letter – a letter explaining what happened. Maybe he could ask to meet-up, if you were willing.

And with hope filling his chest, he left his messy bed and set to work.

——

You were stressed. Stressed out of your goddamn mind for the exam that was tomorrow.

Honestly, you probably didn’t have to be as worried as you were – you had been putting your all into your classes. But, it never hurt to study more, to go to the library for a last-minute review.

Reaching the first floor of your apartment building, you passed by the long hallway of mailboxes.

You paused by the entrance, deciding on a whim to look in your own. It was long since due for a check-in, a pile of letters no doubt straining against the small compartment. Everything was digital nowadays, including your bills. Opening the small storage in the wall, you wondered what kind of mail you’d receive.

There was less than you imagined. Approximately six sat inside and you pulled them out, sorting through each, none grabbing your attention. That was, until the last letter came into view.

It was sleek – the envelope colored black with the flap on the back taped down by a dark blue sticker. It was charming. You read the white-inked ‘from’ address, the name almost making you drop everything you were holding.

Dick Grayson.

“What the hell,” you slowly whispered into the empty hallway, your brows furrowing. You re-read it two more times, disbelieving the written name.

How the hell did he get your address? And why was he sending you a letter now? It’s been sixteen years! He should’ve forgotten all about you at this point.

You thought he had, after not receiving a reply. A nostalgic ache settled in your chest, the familiarity of it making you shake your head, stuffing the black letter and the others into your bag. You didn’t have time for this, you needed to get to the library.

The walk to the building was filled with thoughts about nothing but the letter. What could he have written? What would have made him send you a message, sixteen years after you sent yours? Did he only now receive the letter you sent?

You scoffed at the last idea.

You had more faith in the postal service than the fucking police, there’s no way it was only now delivered. Then, what could the reason be? It felt as if the envelope was burning a hole in your bag, you being acutely aware of it sitting inside, holding the answers to all your questions.

By the time you arrived at your destination, you had mentally gone through every possibility. Countless scenarios ran through your mind and none of them seemed to fit.

This was bad – you needed to focus on studying.

Finding a secluded area in the library – a table in the back – you plopped into a chair and pulled out your laptop, some papers and set to work. Every so often, your eyes traveled to your bag, the letter taunting you. It was after thirty minutes passed and all you managed to do was stare at a page thoughtlessly, that you finally decided to open it.

You gently took out the envelope and slowly peeled the blue sticker from the back. Lifting the flap, the page inside felt expensive. Sliding the paper out and unfolding it, your eyes scanned the words, absorbing the content inside.

To Y/N:

Hope you’re doing well. It’s been a long while since we've last seen each other, huh?

…Mainly my fault, I admit.

I did get your letter all those years ago, but I placed it in a cabinet and forgot. Life became busy, time sped by, and I never had the chance to look at what you sent me.

Until I began looking through old bins in storage and found yours inside.

I promise I never forgot about you. Not one day. I just never had…time.

I know it's been almost 16 years, and it might be a bit late for me to mend ties – but would you want to grab coffee sometime?

Here's my number if you–

You stopped reading, feeling an inexplicable wave of indignation course through your veins.

Were you that easy to brush aside? To forget? Surely, in sixteen years, there would have been at least a moment where he could've reached out to you.

And yet, here he was, sixteen years later with a half-assed explanation and a nonchalance that irritated you.

He was funny if he thought you would cave so easily. To rush to send him a message, to call and hear his voice.

You ignored the slight clench of your heart.

If he made you wait sixteen years, he'd have to accept waiting a little bit more.

——

You didn’t know how you got through that exam, but you did.

The moment your feet stepped onto the sidewalk outside your college building, you felt an imaginary weight lift off your shoulders. Taking a deep breath, the air inside your lungs almost felt cleaner. Almost.

With the results of that exam out of your hands now, all that was left was to enjoy the break and wait for the final grade. You had half the mind to go out to the club to celebrate, but the recent mugging still made your blood run cold.

Bing-watching a show with take-out it was, then.

And two hours later, that was still the plan – until a certain hero dropped by your fire escape window and invited himself inside to lounge on your couch.

"Is this gonna be like – a thing?" You motioned ambiguously toward the situation with your hands. "You stopping by my apartment on your patrols?"

He shrugged and grinned, a cheeky smile reaching his eyes. "It can if you want it to be."

You resisted the urge to roll your eyes, instead opting to offer the man some of your food. “Want some? It just came, like, fifteen minutes ago.”

He smiled at the hand-out, taking the deliciously-filled plate with both hands and chowing down as he settled back into the cushioned seat. “Plus, I’m on break. The others can call if they need me,” he said, stuffing his mouth with a forkful of food. “So, what are we watching?”

“Well,” you began. ”I’m watching a space documentary. You’re trespassing.”

Nightwing gasped dramatically, splaying a hand across his chest. “Me? Trespassing? I would never.”

You chortled, deciding right then that he’d always be permitted in your apartment – but you wouldn’t tell him that. Pressing play on the remote, you leaned back and copied his position against the couch.

While you were absorbed in the beautifully rendered scenes of the cosmos, you didn’t notice Nightwing glancing around your living room, taking in every little detail. His eyes landed on a certain black envelope sitting on a desk by the window.

“Damn, that’s insane!” You exclaimed, amazed by the facts shown on the screen. You leaned forward and placed your fork down with your finished plate on the coffee table. “Hey, do you think the stars–” you cut off, seeing his head turned toward the window. “Nightwing?”

He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment until he replied, “yeah? Sorry, what were you saying?”

You paused, observing his expression before responding softly. “Everything all right?”

“No, yeah, definitely. Just got distracted by something shiny, s’all.” He got up, taking his empty plate along with yours to the kitchen sink. “You know, that black envelope looks fancy. Looks like one of those wealthy Gala invitations.”

“Huh?” Your eyes fitted over to your desk. “Ah, that? Nah, it’s just a letter from someone I knew.”

“Knew?” You heard the sound of running water and dishes clattering. What a gentleman. “Not a lover, then?”

“Pfft, no,” you laughed, taking a sip from your cup. “He’s a childhood friend I lost contact with. Somehow he found my address and sent a letter.” After a moment, you added, “and now that I think about it, it’s a little creepy.”

Forced laughter seemed to bubble from Nightwing’s lips, the sound reverberating through the small apartment.

“Can I ask who the sender is?” His voice held a light note to it. You raised a brow.

“Why? Jealous?” You teased, almost wishing he was.

A bark of a laugh escaped his being as he replied. “Jealous? Yeah, sure, let’s call it that.”

Deciding to satiate his curiosity, you answered truthfully. “If you really want to know, it’s from Dick Grayson.”

“Grayson, huh? Bruce Wanyne’s trust fund kid?” At your wordless confirmation, his lips upturned in a joking manner.

“Tell you what, if he’s creepy,” Nightwing paused, placing his hands on his hips. “I’ll protect you from him.”

“Oh, yeah?” Your lips matched his own, humor thick in your voice. “And how are you going to do that?”

He crossed his arms. “With my fighting skills,” he answered defensively, then mumbled, “obviously.”

You chuckled at the pout on his lips. “Obviously.”

“In all seriousness though,” he moved around across the room and lifted the letter before continuing, “wouldn’t hurt to reach out to him, if you’re comfortable. Did you two part on bad terms?”

“I mean,” you paused, resting your cheek on your palm and mulled over the answer. “I don’t think so?”

Nightwing shrugged. “Then it’d probably be fine, right?”

You opened your mouth to respond, but something about his attention to the letter felt off. With the way he was acting, it seemed personal. You narrowed your eyes.

“You know,” you tilted your head. “With how determined you are, it’s almost like…”

Nightwing’s head swirled toward you, waiting for you to finish your sentence.

“You’re friends with him, aren’t you?”

His shoulders visibly sagged at your statement, the corner of his lip lifting. “Was it that obvious?”

“Wait, so is that how he got my address? From you?” You stood up, slowly walking towards the man standing by the desk as you became lost in thought. “Was that why you were shocked when you saw my ID? Did Dick talk to you about me?” Hope filled your voice, the emotion speeding up your words.

Nightwing raised his hands, stopping you from crashing into his chest. “Slow your roll, Y/N. One question at a time.”

“Did you tell him my address,” you asked, crossing your arms and straightening your back.

“I did,” he answered. No part of him appeared guilty, however.

Your mouth tightened with displeasure. “Without my permission? Why?”

He brought his hand to the side of his head, scratching the space behind his ear.

“I knew how much he wanted to see you again, so I thought it'd be fine.” After a moment of your unwavering stare, he quickly added, “and now that I see your reaction, I’m never going to do that again before asking you.”

You breathed out a laugh. “You say that like there’ll be others asking for my address.”

Nightwing’s body relaxed at your softened expression. ”Knowing you for as long as I have, I’m sure there will be.”

You take a moment during the lull in conversation to walk toward the couch and sit on the armrest.

“What’s he like?” You brought your uncertain gaze to his. ”Do you think I should reply to him?”

He leaned back against the desk and lifted his shoulders nonchalantly. “From my standpoint, I’d say go for it. If you decide he’s not worth it, just block him. No harm, no foul.”

He moved toward the window, opening it just enough to slip onto the fire escape before turning back and facing you.

“And if he was truly a dickhead, I’d tell you. In the end, though, it’s up to you. Your choice.”

——

That night, you kept turning the letter in your hands, rereading the last lines.

Here’s my number if you want to give it a chance. Text or call, anytime.

(xxx) xxx-xxxx

Your friend always,

Dick Grayson

Nightwing was right.

There’s no harm in catching up with an old friend. And if things go south, you could just block him and move on. You've moved on once before, you could do it again.

Contemplating it one last time, you steeled your resolve and saved his number into your phone before typing out a message.

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Tagging: @bluebirdhangingonawheepingtree @hungryhungarian @escapism-r-us @xasement @zbeez-outlet @scrambled-eggs-y

#dick grayson x reader #dick grayson x y/n #dick grayson x you #dick grayson #dick grayson fic #A Misunderstanding #nightwing x reader #nightwing x you #nightwing x y/n #nightwing fic #nightwing

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dark-night-hero · 13 days

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What if Jason Todd has an older sister. A sicky older sister that is still overprotective of her younger brother Jason knowing the environment they live in. So when Jason was taken by other than Batman himself, it was natural that she came along with them. But unlike her younger brother, she refuses to be adopted by Bruce. Still she lived at the manor, having her sickness treated with proper medications all thanks to B.

What if Jason's older sister just happened to be at the same age as Dick Grayson. And just as Jason became the new Robin and enter the world of vigilante, she, his older sister too come in her own way to as she is now the one left behind to handle the bat cave in front of the computers and monitors. And oh man, she was good at it. She was also very talented when it comes to technology, coming up with the most absurd yet possible, somehow made possible by her.

What if she was never good when it comes to physical things, with her continues medication, she was going well but still not good. Still, she was tought by the basics way on how to protect herself by none other than Dick, the former Robin and now know as Nightwing. They are not that close, at least on the eyes of others. But the fact that He always response at her coms when he rarely does when it comes to others says something different.

What if Jason Todd sister was never close to Bruce. She did not hate him, but it was not like she trust him enough either. She respects him, she was thankful for the man who saved them from that hell. But unlike Jason who had grown some emotional attachment to the man, she never does. Growing up having to mostly take care of her brother before she went sick, she knew how cunning adults can be. She was just not ready to trust a man who suddenly appeared in their life, sure he was the famous Bruce Wayne. In a split of seconds they went from rags to riches and she would never forget where they came from. Still, if Jason see them as a part of his family, then so be it. She was fine with that.

What if the night when Batman came home with her younger brother all bruised and bloody in his arms, cold and unmoving in his arms. She looked at him with bloodshot eyes, colors similar to the kid in his arms eyes never to be opened again. "You said you'll go and get him." She sound helpless. She could the countless wound all over their little brother's small body. "I'm sorry." He utter, unable to look at her in the eyes. "I- I was too late." She cannot hear what B said after that, a ringing sound piercing their ears can be head. Not that she liked to listen. After all it was quite obvious to her what was in front of them. Jason died, her only remaining family member died. Before she knew it, everything went black.

What if a few weeks after the funeral, she woke up, with her body yet to recover from the illness that she was slowly recovering from thanks to medical attention given to her, she was bedridden for weeks before finally waking up. So knwoing the truth, she was silent. Visiting her brothers grave was the first thing she did when she woke up and then proceed to drown herself into moutains of new technology blue prints. The mood in the house was not good after Jason's death. All of them were grieving, all of them needed time for themselves, specially her. In some cases she could have left, one of her main reason is that Batman left that stupid clown alive. He was better off dead. After all that stupid crazy clown did to her brother, what he deserve was death not just get fucking thrown behind jail ward. Nevertheless she did not say anything, just doing her job behind the screen and finsihing your blue prints. She remained in the lab, working on her invention as far as her mind allows her.

And then one day, Bruce came home with a boy- a new Robin. Her eyes looks like she was staring at the void, scaring the kid as she looks at him, making him hide behind Bruce. "It's only been a few months." She mumble to herself. "Does Jason... Does Jason mean nothing to you." It was not a question, it was a statement. Her blue emotionless eyes met with a pair of dusky blue ones. "Ha... hahahaha the clown... now this brat. In the end he meant nothing you." "He-" "Shut up Richard." She spoke and side eye him. "I'm leaving."

What if the same day she said she was leaving, with her devices and invention in hand, she raided the Arkham Asylum with one goal in mind. Kill the clown. She was about to be successful when just as she was about to pull the trigger that will end the wounded clown, she was held back- detained by a familiar vigilantes. "Let go." There was a blood dripping down her lips, after all, the clown would not go down without a fightm "Let go, Nightwing." But he did not. Instead her eyes turned to the Bat. "I will kill him myself, I have some unfinished business with Joker." "This not the answer, Jason wouldn't wan-" "Don't you dare utter my brothers name, Batman." Her glare at him was intense. Batman was about to speak once again, was about to tell her something when smoke filled the room, all coming some the suit made by her. A following thud then can be heard, and a familiar groan coming from Nightwing. "Let's pretend this never happened. And the next time we see each other, just you know I'll be on the other side."

What if, a months after Jason death. A flip within his older sister has been switched. And that very same day Batman came home with a new robin. Jason Todd's older sister tired to kill Jocker only to failed. That day, she find herself back in the place where she never thought she would go back again, into the crime alley.

What if a few years later, Nightwing came across his old flame, within the premises of the crime alley. "An uninvited guest have come to pay a visit." Despite the domino mask, Nightwing knew who was behind it. "You're... the new crime lord?" "Why so shock boy wonder?" She laugh, sitting pretty in her made up throne. "Can't believe that the timid, weak girl behind the screen manage to take over the gotham underworld?" Then she glare at him. "I have no business with you, leave. Never set foot in my territory ever again, say the same message to the bat and little birdies."

What if one day they figure out that she was replaced by another figure head in the gothams underworld, Red Hood, and she seemed to vanished. Would her sudden disappearance caused the reveal and confrontation that was needed long ago? Or will it cause an even big issue beyond measure?

[ⓒdark-night-hero] 2024°

: Sorry for the inaccuracy in some points, I am a fan of the batfam but never get to read the actual comics of dc but I have seen a few movies haha. I just had this thoughts in mind. So yeah, please no hate, this is just a what ifs :"( :")

#dark night hero #dc jason todd #dc bruce wayne #dc dick grayson #dc tim drake #jason todd angst #jason todd imagine #dick grayson #dick grayson imagine #batfam imagine #bat fam #batman imagine

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uummi · 11 months

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Written for @dicktimweek 2023

Day 1: Soulmate AU | Nightwing!Tim | Time Loop Day

Words Count: 1508

Title: Day of the dead

Pairing: Dick Grayson/Tim Drake

Warnings: Major Character Death| Blood and Gore| Suicide| Emotional Instability| Self-harm Done Unwittingly

Tim was falling from the sky at an unhealthy speed

His eyes were closed, his body had become even weaker since he was last seen, there were wounds hidden by traces of blood at the points where his wings were

He wasn't making any kind of movement to fly. Dick thought once more, had Tim learned to float in the blue the moment he jumped out of the nest with a sense of betrayal?

Just a few more steps... Why don't you make an effort to catch?

If there was Tim instead of him, he would have handled this situation in one go

Dick dared not think about anything else as he looked at the corpse stuck in the middle of the street in a new costume unlike his childish Robin one

Which is the biggest thing that Tim forgot because he felt betrayed was that he would always be Dick's first Robin, and Dick always liked to see his soulmate in his own colors

Tim's tiny body was bent at an abnormal angle, his eyes inside the domino were left open by the impact of the collision

There was a pool of blood formed by the effect of the rain that started around, and most civilians were closing their eyes in pain and trying to go home

Because they knew that no one would get help from Batman today. Dick wasn't going anywhere, he wasn't going to leave Tim alone once again

Even if the one he loves will never notice again

Even though his black suit was dyed red, he sat on the floor without caring about the blood pond. He took the glove off over his thin fingers and began to touch the body, which began to fade slowly

He stood for a few seconds in the smiling pinkness. Shamefully giving his first kiss by pulling him into a corner at one of Bruce's parties, that beautiful lips were turning increasingly blue

Dick still remembered very clearly the taste of the soft piece of meat, how he wiped Tim's tears from his slightly brimming eyes and how they went back to the party while joking with each other

He could hear the other superheroes starting to gather around him, those who had known averted their eyes from Dick, while others questioned why Batman was so interested in a small runaway bird, but he still didn't get up

As soon as he was left alone, he joined his hands together and began to beg

One more time he said, please, just one more time...

It couldn't have ended like this, they had so many more plans

This should not have been the end

So the question is, how many more times did he have the strength to do this?..

Dick let out a scream that filled his throat, quickly opened his eyes and kicked the coverlet above him with a feeling of tightness. He knew that Damian was scribbling something on his art notebook he picked up on the opposite seat and was watching him with one eyebrow up when he reacted, but he didn't care

He just cursed towards the calendar, which sewed up his blueness and blinked in front of him, and then felt that he couldn't breathe with all the emotions that came with a tremor

He took his head between his hands and closed his mind to the tears decaying from his eyes and the ugly choking sounds

How many was that? Why every time Tim slipped through his fingers to turning into a dust?

He had tried every move he could think of. He caught Tim in time, but his little soulmate took his last breath before he even had a chance to get help from internal bleeding

Or he participate in the battle with Ra's with him but still did not manage to prevent his fall

Tim held out his hand for a moment and tried to get help. His angel still trusted him, which made Dick happy for a moment

The worst case scenario was when he found Tim without him entering Gotham and helped him make his plans which made Dick think he had achieved just a second

Everything went well for that one, he even prevented Tim from suffocating due to the air pressure because he was trying to fly high, but before he had time to celebrate, his baby was poisoned by a ninja

His non-existent spleen also weakened his normally strong immune system, taking away his chance of survival

He nervously pulled his hands from his head and threw them on top of each other. He ignored the noise that formed, such as his nails gaining strength or sounds coming out of sandpaper

It was so ridiculous, it didn't mean anything

What more could he have done to save Tim?

He should never have let him go. If necessary, he had to imprison the little body inside the mansion and ensure that his energy, born with a smile on his face, was protected at the risk of being destroyed and becoming a hollow shell

And now, because of Dick, who couldn't manage to use the chances he had properly, there was no chance that he would ever be more than that empty shell again

The scraping sounds increased a little more, although the inside of his nails slowly turned red, their speed increased even more

Damian got up from his chair, was his picture finished?

If he asked the boy, would he give him a picture of Tim as a gift?

A smell was beginning to come to his nose

Would Tim's hair have continued to smell of coffee as usual?

Pain, pain, pain...

He couldn't take it anymore...

'Richard, stop it!'

He woke up with a sudden start and shot a glance at Damian, who was calling to him

He was looking scared, Dick wonder if something had happened

Besides, why did his arms hurt so much?..

He stared at the blood flowing down his arm like a stream and realized that he was experiencing enlightenment in an instant

He was really a complete idiot

Between both of their relationships, Tim had always been the smarter one, and Dick was definitely proud of that

This time he began to laugh, not noticing the frightened gaze of Alfred, who came with Damian's fearful scream. Of course, why hadn't it occurred to him before?

It was always because of that little boy in his soul who believed that he could save everyone because he was a hero

No, Dick knew that death was necessary. And that there must be a reason for the rules that the gods set when creating soulmates

So it wasn't about Tim

It was about Dick...

That's why he didn't do any extra work that evening. He accepted Tim's words asking him to trust him, he even tried to refuse to trust him once in this endless loop to result in with Tim did not even let Dick catch him, he fought with the ninjas attacking them with Damian, listened to the sounds coming from Tim via the radio, and just as the cracking crackles of the glass began to fill his ears, he went up in the air

He let the wind blow his cloak for a few seconds

He wouldn't have a chance anymore, so he wanted to forget

They had come to the end, hadn't they?

He cut the rope that allowed him to glide with the help of a knife at the moment when Tim and his own body met. Although he knew that the young boy's eyes were looking around in surprise and he was trying to forcibly move their bodies away, he began to smile peacefully

Really why hadn't he thought of it before? There was no way he could have saved Tim on this same day, so they both had to die together

He ignored the screams, took the tiny hands that were nailing his arms decently between his own calloused hands and gave them a tiny kiss

Tears were beginning to flow from the eyes of his little baby, he was barely looking at his tool belt, looking for something to help them stay in the air at least for a while longer

Did it just occur to you that you know how to fly? Didn't I teach you, Tim, you need to flap your wings

Nothing would work, the two of them would integrate into the ground together, it would be impossible for them to separate

The gods give humans some people who will complete them in the creation of humanity

Maybe a grace maybe paying for a sin the bodies where two half-souls live would die in the same time period

Dick was cursed as usual, so for the last few times, his soulmate had tried to rise to eternity by leaving him behind

Never again... Never again...

This life and beyond...

They were always going to be together...

Gotham cried to its two guardian who fell in the next morning

#dicktim #batcest #dicktimweek #dicktimweek2023

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albatmobile · 1 year

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The Art of Rehabilitating Snowbirds Chapter 10

𓅪 After not hearing from Roy or Jason for five years, you suddenly find yourself taking in extra income as a babysitter for Roy and Jason's child.

𓅪 Rated: M | TW: Joker, violence | 6.3k includes: Wayne gala, slow dancing with the batboys (u know we got height difference w dami), wet adventures w jay ;p, finally the backstory about the scar

fem!Reader x Jason Todd x Roy Harper [masterlist]

Chapter Ten: Your Protector | ao3 - wattpad

THEN

True to his word, Jason got you an invite to the annual Wayne Gala.

Your mom only had one nice dress that she’d stolen while in Europe (X) , but it was a perfect outfit for the event, so you stole it from her closet. It wasn’t like she'd notice on the off chance she did stop by the apartment.

You’d pinned your hair in a few places to give your locks some dramatic volume to match the elegance of the night. Your light, smokey makeup accentuated the color of the vibrant blue dress and, somehow, ended up matching Damian’s navy suit.

Roy hadn’t been invited, though you already knew his rambunctious behavior would not bode well with an uptight, stuffy environment like this, but you?

You loved this.

Even though you were too shy to mingle and your mother’s dress was definitely made for someone her age and not yours, you were just as glad to follow Damian around as he forced himself to socialize under Bruce's watchful, read: warning, gaze.

He only really stopped to talk to a few people who eyed up your scantily clad body with a certain snobbish glare that only Gotham elitists could manage. You, on the other hand, were just happy to have found any sort of formal outfit. After the fourth grandma gawked at your tits, you asked Damian if he wanted you to leave, but he assured you made the event ‘much more tolerable.’ That was Damian speak for: he’s really glad you came.

It wasn’t until half an hour later that you managed to find the table of Waynes and were truly able to enjoy the gala. Tim and Dick waved you over eagerly, leaving Damian to trudge petulantly behind the slight train of your dress. Dick donned a dark gray, plaid suit complete with his usual messy-on-purpose locks, while Tim wore a plain, burgundy three-piece with an oddly patterned, colorful tie.

“Where’s Jason?” You searched around the sea of well-dressed socialites, but his signature gray streak was nowhere to be found.

“Well, hello to you too,” Dick was already standing when you approached and Tim was quick to do the same. “Nightwing Blue?” He raised a brow at the color of your mother’s dress.

You glanced down at the silky fabric and began to smooth out the nonexistent wrinkles as you inspected the color. “I’d say it’s more of a darker Celtic blue than anything he’s had, but I definitely appreciate that that’s the first thing that came to mind.” You fist-bumped, noticing the glares from an older couple at the table next to you at such informal contact with, god forbid , a Wayne.

You pulled back sheepishly, allowing your hands to return to fiddle with the skirt of your dress.

“Don’t be that blood-orange bitch (X) ,” Damian snorted as he swatted at your unceasing nervous hands. “It’s fucking blue.”

“You wouldn’t even know that meme if it weren’t for me!” You admonished him.

He tutted lightly and checked out of your conversation with his brothers to focus instead on the dancing couples behind you. Your eyes flickered from Dick and Tim to Damian’s, following his line of sight as a new song took over.

“Why do you keep acting like you want to dance?” You questioned, “You wouldn’t even dance with me at the party.”

“That god-awful seizure you and Roy had together wasn’t dancing. This, ” He gestured to the graceful movements of the socialites right next to you, “is dancing.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think that was Damian’s way of asking you to dance. Right, little wing?” You both turned to Dick’s crinkle-eyed smile, startled.

You turned back to Damian and took in his embarrassed state with slight amusement, “You want to dance?” You asked.

He looked at you warily, “You’re asking me?”

You raised a brow at him, “Would you have asked me?”

“No.”

You snorted and held out your hand as an open invitation, “Then, that’s why I asked you, twerp.”

“I resent that,” But he took your hand, nonetheless and guided you away from his analytical brothers, who still seemed baffled, if not slightly intrigued, by the entire interaction.

When you arrived on the floor, he came face to face with you before allowing his guiding hand to drop from your grasp. You’d never had any ballroom dancing experience and felt completely lost. Damian didn't seem to care as he confidently took your hand in his own and firmly placed the other on the small of your waist and drew you closer to him.

“Resent what?” You unwittingly let out a giggle as he immediately drew you into a spin that had you grasping for his shoulders. You caught your breath as your mirthful eyes peered down into his intense gaze. “The nickname or the fact that I asked you?”

He huffed, looking away from you, “Both.”

You let out a laugh in his arms, but it was cut off when he suddenly tightened his hold around your waist, steadily dipping your taller form languidly toward the polished wood below. His hazel eyes trailed down the exposed curves of your body shamelessly and you let him, relishing in his attention.

The band changed the tempo, starting a slower, sensual rhythm. You watched as the couples around you quickly shifted to an intimate embrace. Damian followed suit and raised you up to nestle you against his chest, adjusting his grip slightly lower on your waist.

With your already standing height difference and no help from your heels, the close position left him face-to-face with your over-spilling corset. You could practically feel the emanating heat of his cheeks against your chest. You startled slightly when his head slowly came to rest against it, but you quickly found your bearings and drew him closer. You laughed lightly as his eyes innocently met yours, knowing that, while he was far from the innocent boy he was portraying, he was still somewhat vulnerable like this.

Hell, if you hadn’t known any better, you’d probably thought he was going to kiss you or something.

A twinkle of hope rang out like ripples across his dark eyes. You couldn’t help the low gasp you produced at the sight.

Was your first kiss going to be with the Wayne heir at the Wayne Gala?

What the fuck?!

His poised lips parted and your eyes darted to follow as his tongue peeked out and glided self-consciously across them. A ringing note settled lowly across the crowd, drawing your eyes to his with a silent question. His hands dragging up to rest at the back of your neck was the only response you needed to bend slightly to meet him on an even level. You allowed your eyelids to flutter shut as you leaned into his constipated thinking face that you’d come to love. You noticed, with a hint of amusement, how he seemed to wait for you to lead with bated breath.

“Damian.”

You stepped away from him so fast you nearly tripped over your heels and fell into the couple beside you. When you regained your balance, you hesitantly met Bruce’s all-knowing gaze. With one look, he seemed to take in whatever information he hadn’t already deduced simply based on your shared eye contact. It was slightly invasive and incredibly creepy. Damian, on the other hand, seemed largely unaffected aside from his lingering blush.

Bruce gave Damian an unreadable look that Damian somehow understood in an instant. He then excused himself to follow behind Bruce’s retreating form without a glance your way. You shook your head, still spinning from the whirlwind of events that occurred in such a short amount of time and made your way over to Tim, who was busy petting an older woman’s crusty white dog. You greeted them both.

“Ah, I’m afraid I’m being stolen away,” Tim said once you arrived, petting the dog a final time before smiling at the woman. “Please continue to enjoy the evening, though! I think there’s an ice luge somewhere you should see.” The woman beamed with a jovial wave to your retreating forms as you made off toward Dick and Barbara at the aforementioned luge.

“Are you sure you don’t want to finish your conversation back there?” You looked back only to see the woman had already moved on to squeeze some poor kid’s cheeks.

He followed your line of sight with a chuckle, “Trust me, you’re doing me a favor.”

You shrugged, “Alright.”

The four of you messed around with the ice luge until Alfred caught wind of what was happening and came to usher you away. The last thing he needed was for you to get drunk at another manor party or worse- Dick got drunk enough to break out the karaoke machine. Alfred did, however, grant Tim the pleasure of taking a group photo in front of the ice sculpture.

Slightly buzzed and incredibly enraptured with your conversation with Tim, you hadn’t noticed the intensity of the pair of green eyes that rested on you from across the party until Tim’s eyes repeatedly shifted over your shoulder. Finally, you turned around to see just what the fuck he was looking at-

Oh.

There he was, across the room.

You watched, hypnotized, as Jason’s half-lidded emeralds shocked yours through the throng of people between you. He smirked once he realized he had your attention and made a slow show of tugging at his tie until it was sufficiently loosened.

He wasn’t wearing a jacket, you noted as your eyes trailed up his exposed forearms to his rolled-up sleeves.

You cleared your throat, forcing yourself to tear your eyes from the steamy show Jason was putting on to nod vacantly at Tim’s hypothesis. You vaguely heard something in his explanation for why the unstable particles were able to comprehend continuous observation, but you could barely contain yourself from looking back at Jason.

“Oh, I never thought about it like that!” You said cheerily after half-paying attention, which only suited to spur on Tim’s enthusiastic babbling, much of which resembled your own.

The fuel you threw his way allowed you to turn around again and you bit your lip at the sight that met you. It was as if Jason hadn’t even noticed you’d ever looked away because he was still taking each step with a tantalizing carefulness that left you desperately gulping for air.

He reached off a nearby tray and downed a champagne flute before seamlessly placing it on another tray, never faltering in the process. You were left to wonder how could you be so turned on just by the way he walked.

“Do you think?” Tim asked suddenly, effectively stopping you from drooling any further.

“Hmm?” You turned back toward Tim only to see him glaring. “What?!”

“Hey,” Jason’s low voice rumbled your name against the roar of the party deliciously. “Wanna dance?”

Tim took in your awed form and huffed to himself, “Of course.”

“What was that, Timbo?”

“We were just debating Quantum Physics relating to the Zeno Effect and how it could be linked to dark matter,” He said, looking to you for backup, but you were too entranced by Jason’s raw, sexual prowess to respond.

Jason easily noticed your hypnotized state and smirked, “No one cares what dark, kinky shit you’re into, Timmy. Let the woman dance.”

He didn’t wait for a response, though and you put up no protest when he guided your transfixed form away from Tim. You tried to shoot an apologetic glance back at him but were ultimately too enraptured with the weight of Jason’s steady hand resting at the small of your back to do so.

You were surprised he’d even suggested this in the first place, considering how reluctant he’d been to even dance at his own party. You thought back to Damian’s random desire to dance tonight and chalked it up to the most likely cause: dancing plague-causing fungi.

While Jason easily lost himself in the crowd ahead, you still felt Tim’s watchful gaze on you until you disappeared into the hallway just outside of the ballroom. A quick movement you'd caught out of the corner of your eyes had you slightly jogging to catch up with Jason’s suited form. You watched as he flitted around the caterers that lingered in the area before finally disappearing behind a corner with a beckoning finger.

A giggle escaped from your lips at the realization he wanted you to chase him.

You couldn’t help but find the entire situation highly amusing. Well, you chasing Jason around a mansion in an evening gown like some princess movie was amusing; you nearly falling face-first to the ground from the overwhelming length of your mom’s dress- not so much.

You flipped him off when he stopped some ways ahead of you to mock your plight. You quickly righted yourself and bunched the length of the satin fabric in your fists.

And, so, the chase continued.

“You’re never gonna catch up to me in those heels, babe,” He was jogging backwards now, complete with a tipsy, shit-eating grin. You wanted to rip it right off of his dumb, attractive face. “I could do this for hours .” You, on the other hand, were already panting lightly, with your ankles ringing out angrily in tandem with each stomp you took. You were sprinting at that point and yet were somehow further away from Jason than you’d ever been. “All that training, what? Three times a week?” His eyes wrinkled with mirth at your over-exerted form. “Damian’s bullshit about finding your anchor or something.”

“Fuck off ,” You whined, coming to a stop to lean against the wall of the empty corridor, attempting to catch your breath.

The sounds of the party had long faded. Not even the caterers had a reason to be this deep into the manor; yet, there you were with Jason.

You rubbed lightly at each ankle, rolling them one after the other. It was your second time wearing heels and these were a lot higher than the ones you’d worn to the party by a long shot, so your feet were definitely feeling it.

When you finally looked up, you noticed the hallway was empty. The glass doors at the end of the hall, however, were wide open, beckoning you closer. You limped down the hall before noticing Jason in the garden through one of the windows, waiting with his back turned to you.

“You like the chase or something, freak?” You nudged his shoulder with your own when you finally sidled up beside him.

“You don’t?” He raised a brow at you.

It felt like a question you would only truly understand enough to answer if you'd been older, but, for now, you merely shrugged. You were still figuring, well, everything out.

“Why’d we come all the way out here to dance?” You asked instead.

The gardens were done the Wayne way: over the top and absolutely magical. Everything was placed with precise intention that left you feeling like you were right smack in the middle of a fairytale.

You could somewhat hear the music, but it was more like a muted warble that carried throughout the courtyard with a quiet hum. Still, definitely nothing loud enough to truly dance to.

His gaze returned back to the fountain in front of you, “You may be enjoying that shitshow, but this is more my speed.” You looked around at the quiet that surrounded the two of you, noticing as he shifted beside you to face you.

The water from the extravagant fountain trickled in the silence while the symphonious sounds of the night chirped around you.

“I’m cool with whatever.”

He laughed, genuinely laughed, before extending his pale hand out toward you, “Cool.”

Your eyes crinkled, easily meeting his cold grip with your own, “Cool.”

A brassy tune settled across the garden as Jason walked forward to close the remaining distance between the two of you. His hold was relaxed, more tender than Damian’s rigid form had been. You allowed yourself to melt into his arms.

His feet moved with intention as he managed to avoid every misstep you made and changed direction with ease each time, dragging you lazily with him into a new rhythm. You giggled when he spun you once and roared when he continued to spin you, all while using his free hand to help your skirt lavishly fan out.

“Now I see why Roy calls you what he does.”

You snorted. “Can’t even say the nickname now, even when I’m quite literally a princess at a ball?”

Jason rolled his eyes and finished spinning you before drawing you flush against his sturdy chest. You gulped, allowing your eyes to travel up the careless, wrinkled remains of his suit all the way up to his emerald eyes.

Why was he looking at you like that? You hadn’t actually kissed that one night in the library as far as you knew, but damn, did this seem familiar.

Unlike with Damian, you rested your head on Jason’s chest. Your eyelashes accidentally tickled against his bare skin when they fluttered open to stare at the protruding veins and scattered moles that lay across the expanse of his pale neck.

“You are a princess.” You smiled, lips lightly brushing against the delicate skin of his neck in the process before you shifted to meet his gaze once again.

As if to prove him wrong, your weakened ankles collapsed from under you. Jason caught you with ease, bending his knees as he helped right you on your feet. It was a wonder you could look as beautiful as the socialites inside and still be as clumsy as you were.

“Maybe just to you and Roy,” You insisted with a gorgeous smile that left Jason visibly affected.

“Maybe,” He said weakly, drawing his face closer to yours with a delicate finger placed under your chin. He dragged you lazily up until your wet lips were practically against his. You waited for him to take charge and just fucking kiss you already , but his mouth merely twisted into a smirk. “You know, babe, I really didn’t think you’d actually go through with all of this.”

What?

You sighed, wishing he would shut up and stop stalling, “Coming to the gala? I mean, you did invite me, Jason.”

“No, not that,” He snorted. “I knew you’d come-”

You cut him off, “If you knew I’d come, then why did you ditch me until just now?” You were still centimeters away from locking lips, but the growing frustration between you was threatening to kill the mood with every passing word he spoke.

“I might’ve had a few,” Jason removed his finger from your chin, quickly sensing the shift. “Didn’t help to see you with the replacement. Maybe I just wanted to see where your loyalty really lies.”

“My loyalty?” You struggled from his grip and stepped away from him, feeling your guard go up immediately. “What do you mean?”

He sighed, rubbing at his temple, “I just didn’t expect you to follow me ’sall.”

“You…” You couldn’t possibly be hearing him right. Right? Clearly, he’d had too many and lost whatever weak filter he usually had. “Jason, you mean to tell me you invited me out here as a joke?”

“Not a joke,” He reassured you like that was somehow any better.

"A test then?" You rephrased.

“I suppose more like a test than anything, yes.”

“Jason…” You trailed off, not even recognizing your friend in front of you. “I don’t need to be fucking tested , you cunt.” The Jason you’d come to know would never have the nerve to say something so casual yet cruel.

He laughed humorlessly as he walked away from you and closer to the fountain, “You did.”

“Fuck you. No, I didn’t. What would even make you say something like that?” You followed after him, coming to a stop right next to him.

“Maybe because you’re so god damned annoying and never shut the fuck up,” He uncharacteristically snapped. “Ever thought about that?”

You gasped, feeling your patience slip further and further away with each passing second, “Says the stuck-up, angsty, woe-is-me fucker who has mood swings every two fucking seconds.” You shot him a venomous glare, “And that’s being generous.”

It was then that he got up in your face. You couldn’t help but be startled by his sudden anger.

“Oh yeah?”

You pulled yourself together, steeling yourself for whatever Jason threw your way.

“Yeah, buddy. Two can play this game,” You said indignantly. “And, you know what?”

“I have a feeling you’re gonna tell me anyway, babe,” He drawled tonelessly.

Your face instantly scrunched up in anger, “I am!”

He gestured for you to continue, “Go on then.”

“My loyalty is with myself and only that. Don’t get it fucking twisted.” His breath caught in his throat unexpectedly at your statement. You used this to your advantage, stomping forward to take his face into your hands with a confidence you weren’t used to having. “Where does your loyalty lie, Jason?” His eyes flashed passionately with an intensity you easily met.

Did it still sound like the two of you were about to kiss?

If it had been a movie or one of those steamy romance novels he claimed weren’t his, maybe.

But this?

This was you and Jason Todd.

You pushed first, knowing it wouldn’t move him at all, but it was the thought that counted, “Back the fuck up, Todd .”

“Or what?” His eyes were pure electricity, crackling like heat lightening in the sweetness of the intimate night.

“Or find out what I’m about,” You insisted sharply.

"What you’re about?" He firmly poked you in the forehead with a mocking laugh. Your jaw clenched. “Find out what I’m actually about, babe. I taught you everything you know, dumbass, so go ahead. Try it again and see what happens,” He threatened your last name like a curse.

You smiled widely and humorlessly at the challenge, replicating exactly what Damian had told his family. Any time you would argue or spar, without fail, you’d have a creepy smile adorning your face. It was unnerving and you knew this, but you didn’t care if Jason thought you were psycho when you were already .0005 seconds away from pushing his smug ass into the fountain.

“This is so rich,” You gestured between the two of you. “For once, just once !” You reiterated, “I think I finally understand how you actually feel about me, then we go back to this dumb shit.”

You pushed him harder this time, which he replicated easily with a swift shove back.

Then, you were falling.

You felt the concrete ledge of the fountain hit your calf before you felt the shocking cold of the water as you plunged down into the fountain’s shallow basin. You thought, no knew , that he let you pull him in after you, probably after some guilty conscious thing, or whatever. Probably to protect you from hitting the bruising, stone bottom.

Whatever.

The running water from the fountain, along with the guests out front, were the only noises that stirred across the courtyard when you and Jason resurfaced.

You were both soaked to the bone in the middle of the Wayne Manor Gardens, arguing, poking and pushing at each other while Joker’s goons closed. A low, ominous chuckle reverberated throughout the gardens, though the chilling echo didn’t quite reach either of your ears yet through all the hormonal ruckus and splashing.

Jason pushed you back down into the algae-ridden water each time you tried to get back up, so you returned the favor by kicking the shit out of his ankles in order to get him low enough for you to tackle him back into the water too.

“You wanna fucking play,” He spat out your name in a low rumble. The noise tickled the tips of your ears as he pulled you into a loose headlock, which… felt good?

You stopped kicking up water, trying to place your confused thoughts while an intense blush steadily crept across your damp cheeks.

Jason, sensing your lack of movement, quickly let go, effectively dropping you on your ass in the fountain one final time. You both cursed at the same time and guiltily glanced at each other. It wasn't long before you were both laughing at the stupidity of the whole fight. Hell, the entire situation.

Jason waded closer to your shaking, wet form with a shit-eating grin and put his arm around your neck again, this time lighter.

“I bet you liked that shit.” He chuckled darkly and secured a slightly tighter grip. Feeling his muscled body flush against yours with his heat seeping through the cold wet of your own body, you couldn’t help the choked moan that escaped your rosy lips. “Oh,” He released you in an instant.

You turned around with your finger pointed, ready to start yelling again out of embarrassment when you heard it. A sound shook you to your core.

Goosebumps subconsciously trailed up your body like splintering ice.

You strained to make sense of the maniacal laughter that appeared seemingly out of nowhere, but Jason seemed to sober up fast enough for the both of you. He slipped out of the fountain at a lightning speed that you’d only ever seen him use during training. Before you could process anything, he grabbed you from around your midsection and hoisted you out of the freezing water.

Your dress was long and now extremely heavy as you tried to maneuver around its incapacitating weight to give you the ability to attack if need be, but it seemed to be in vain. He pulled you into as fast of a run as you could manage with your already strained ankles and added weight.

If earlier in the halls was any indication of how this chase would go, you and Jason both knew it would be over quickly.

Your breath came out in strained pants, unable to focus on the twists and turns as Jason guided you through hall after hall. You were definitely slowing him down and the goons were hot on your trail. You could practically hear their high-pitched, hyena-like cackling as if they were directly next to you.

Their presence was like an overbearing shadow that was threatening to envelop you whole.

At the last moment, Jason doubled back to a dumbwaiter shaft to shove you into the opening. He piled the remaining damp fabric of your dress in with you just as a group of burly men came into sight.

Under your weight, the mechanism dropped out from under you, sending you sprawling down until it smacked the ground hard. Upon impact, the cart jostled, sending shockwaves of pain reverberating across every bone in your body. You heard what sounded like struggles from above the shaft where you’d just come from and quickly realized that if they opened the hatch, they'd be able to aim their guns down and shoot at you.

Based on the howling laughing and gaudy face makeup, you deduced that these were most likely Joker’s men and you knew they wouldn’t mess around. Anyone who came into contact with them would most likely be injured and robbed, if not killed.

You gathered your bearings and heavy dress as you gracelessly fell into what you realized instantly to be the manor kitchen. While you’d only been in here a few times, you felt comfortable enough to know you could probably fit in the ground-level cabinets. After seeing how many cabinets there were in the expansive kitchen, you felt pretty secure in your hiding place.

You evened out your breathing, thinking back to what had just happened.

You now had the burden of time, left to wonder if everyone was okay. It was almost a curse to be here and safe while everyone else was still out there in the chaos. Your pitying, however, only lasted minutes before you heard a barrage of footsteps trampling around the marble tile of the kitchen.

It sure didn’t sound like scared party guests.

“How quaint,” You froze at the chilling voice that scratched at your ears. Joker . “I’m absolutely starving someone fetch me something.”

You heard Joker’s goons ripping apart everything in the kitchen and were startled by the banging of cabinets being opened on either side of you. It was only a matter of seconds before you’d be discovered. Your brain was completely shutting down.

“Well, well. What do we have here?” It was a big, bald man who ripped you from your hiding spot, leaving you no time to duck your head. You ended up smacking it against the top of the cabinet as you were aggressively pulled out.

You winced, trying to resort back to your self-defense training, but it was all eluding you as you were pulled tightly against his chest. The man secured both your arms with his own in an unescapable grasp. You were completely immobile, no matter how much you struggled.

“My dear,” Joker’s scarred smile slithered across his grotesque face, leaving you to uselessly pull away from his sudden close proximity. You could only escape so far back, however, before the back of your head hit your captor’s chest, “You’re completely missing the party upstairs! Shall we escort you back? You are, after all, the main event.” You didn’t say anything, attempting to avoid eye contact, but he grabbed your face, squishing your cheeks as he did so to force your eyes to peer into his grizzly, yellowed ones. “It’s so rude to ignore someone. You’re amongst civilized people; best to act like a lady ,” He emphasized it with a swift crack of his jester-looking cane against your calf.

You cried out in agony as he replicated the violent movement with a bout of creepy giggles on your other leg. You quickly lost your balance, completely relying on the man restraining you to keep you standing. You uselessly dangled in his arms as your legs were too weak to support themselves anymore.

“What do we do with her boss?” You felt his chest vibrate with every word.

The goons around you eyed you up animalistcally. How you wished you could pull up your slipping bodice to regain some sense of modesty in front of these heathens, but it wasn't in the cards.

“Were you not listening, idiot?! Take her to the ballroom. Batman should surely be on his way at this point.” He skipped in place. “I love it when a plan comes together!” He glared at the man behind you and hissed. “Why are you not moving, you pillock? TAKE HER- NOW !” He erupted into an abrupt anger that easily silenced all the chuckles in the room.

A heaviness fell across the room as everyone moved in sinister tandem to grapple your injured, sopping form back up to the ballroom. You’d lost sight of the Joker on the way up but quickly found yourself face-to-face with Batman and Robin.

You wanted to laugh.

It'd been your dream to meet the crime-fighting duo for as long as you could remember, but not like this. Not while you were being pushed and pulled around like meat by these goons.

The heroes took you in, ruined makeup and hair, a dress that was barely covering your nipples and your legs that were doing more wobbling than holding you up after Joker's barrage of attacks.

“Let her go.” Batman’s voice was like velvet as it fell unsettlingly across the frenzied room of rich socialites.

Robin, on the other hand, looked absolutely rabid. It was as if he were barely holding himself back from killing the men behind you who stopped pushing you around at the commanding tone. Without their support, you quickly crumpled to the floor like a doll with a gasp of pain that emanated throughout the wooden walls of the ballroom.

Looking deeper into the audience, you saw Jason’s dripping form standing with fists held at his side next to a highly concerned Tim. They noticed your gaze and held it in what was supposed to be comforting, but it only made your stomach churn.

You were in trouble.

Big trouble.

The men snicked at your pathetic form as you scrambled to pull up your bodice over your exposed chest. You hoped Batman’s arrival meant that Joker was going to leave you alone, but you doubted it. You were only safe for the time being, though it was merely borrowed time.

You stared up at Batman’s form fearfully. From this angle, he was just as frightening to you as he was to the men behind you. You tore your eyes from his daunting form, searching around the room for some way to escape, but with your busted legs, you knew you wouldn’t be able to get far.

You were helpless.

“This is between me and Joker.” It was a ruthless growl that had you shrinking back along with the goons behind you.

At the resounding silence, Robin let out a frustrated cry.

“COME OUT AND FACE US, YOU COWARD,” Robin snarled, drawing his sword in an instant. You gazed at it in amazement as he unsheathed the impressive weapon and held it with a certain elegance that couldn’t be portrayed in any of the comic books you’d read.

“Haven’t you ever heard of the little old saying, ‘ be careful what you wish for ?’” Joker drawled as he theatrically circled your form, skipping and hopping once every few steps or so in a jerky, disturbing manner that had you shrinking away. “Oh, no, no, no . That won’t do. You’re the main event, sweetheart!” You shook your head, closing your eyes as he leaned in close enough for you to feel the warmth radiating from his face. You could smell the rancid sourness and gunpowder that emanated from his cackling form. Before you could blink, he battered you with the front, then the back of his hand, forcing your eyes open as he gripped your cheeks in a way that caused your mouth to pout outward comically. “Look at me, look at me ,” He whined in an eerie, childlike voice. “ LOOK AT ME.” Your eyes shot open at the intensity of his voice against his gritted, yellowed teeth, “Good. Good, girl.”

He giggled hauntingly at your terrified form before socking you squarely in the eye. You cried out at the intense blow that had you falling to the floor from sheer force. Once he was satisfied with your pained state, he turned his attention back to Batman.

You knew you probably had a black eye and bruised cheeks already from the hits, but if the vigilante didn't intervene soon, you knew it was about to get so much worse. And fast.

“See, this is good. We’re all here,” He knelt next to you before grabbing your face to haul you back into a kneeling position. You felt like a doll as you allowed him to lead your body where he saw fit. You hated it.

You hated him.

Mostly, you hated yourself for not having the energy to fight back.

He shook your face once more before releasing his clenched grip to stand and walk around whimsically again like he hadn’t just beat the shit out of you. “Celebrating, drinking expensive wine.” He motioned one of the waiters with a tray filled with champagne flutes forward.

They slowly walked toward him as he continued to beckon them obnoxiously. He smirked as worried murmurs settled across the room before grabbing the one closest to the waiter's body with a slow intensity.

You knew Joker was unpredictable, but this? This was just psychotic.

He held up the glass toward Batman in a calm, silent cheer before taking a sip.

You turned your attention back to Robin, who was busy sneaking toward you at the Joker’s brief lapse in attention, but it wasn't enough time. Joker opened his eyes just in time to see Robin nearly reaching you. The psychotic man didn’t hesitate to throw the filled glass of champagne directly at you. Robin was quick to take the hit as he pulled you into his arms and let his back take the brunt of the assault.

He hadn’t spoken since drawing his sword, but you didn’t have time to wonder why.

"You see," Joker’s henchmen were on you in seconds, savagely swinging haymakers Robin’s way to distract him from you. Meanwhile, Batman had also been swarmed as he tried to advance on Joker, only to be clubbed over the head by multiple henchmen wielding baseball bats. “It’s best I get what I want, Batsy . Or do you really just want to see her struggle as much as I do?”

As soon as he finished speaking, he rushed to your struggling form, producing a wicked-looking knife. You immediately stilled in the sea of your captor’s grasps. Multiple men tugged you back and forth, brushing the sockets of your arms as they caused the Joker’s intentional grip on the blade to slide back and forth against the delicate skin on your neck.

Blood steadily seeped from the stinging wound like a curtain of red. You hoped that, if this light cut into your skin had shed this much blood, that he wouldn’t go any deeper.

“Drop her,” Joker said suddenly and the goons obliged. You wailed in pain as you were dropped into the small pool of your blood that had collected onto the floor below you. He pulled you back up by your hair, causing you to wince at the stinging that spread across your scalp as he brought the knife to its point just below the stinging cut you felt on your throat. “That’s better, now. Isn’t it, sweetie?” You gulped and instantly regretted it as the blade sunk into the new spot he'd picked on your neck.

“ANSWER ME,” He tugged your hair again, forcing your head upward to look at him. You winced as you met his crazed eyes through your exhausted, half-lidded ones. His hits had really taken it out of you. That, coupled with the steady blood loss, you could hardly keep your eyes focused. “Pathetic,” He ran the blade up your throat in a swift, searing act of violence, leaving more blood in its path.

You struggled to take in air, though you knew he’d only grazed your skin. If he cut any deeper, you’d be toast.

He yanked your hair backward harshly, startling you from your brief thoughts, as he used the momentum of the motion to send you sprawling to the hardwood floor. Your body landed with a resounding thump as the back of your head made contact with the brutal surface below.

“Inject her,” Joker said monotonously, waving his henchmen on as if he'd become bored with the whole ordeal. You were swooped up again before you could regain your bearings, watching Robin desperately clawing in your direction, but he had too many men on him to allow him to come to your rescue. You were held in a similar fashion you’d been in the kitchen as a goon stepped forward and held out a briefcase. Joker’s giddy form, who danced at the sight. “Oh, goody! I do love a good concoction!” He unlocked the case to produce a bulky syringe filled with toxic-looking green liquid. “Number one outta mean something good, eh, Bats?”

You struggled at your human restraints while simultaneously looking for Jason and Tim in the crowd, but they’d moved from where you’d last seen them. Your stomach sank. Regardless of the gala guests, you felt completely alone in the crowded ballroom.

Your whole chest and bodice were slick and stained from the waterfall of crimson that steadily gushed from your gashes. You tried not to panic and to stay alert, but your head grew fuzzier with each passing moment.

All your injuries were mounting as your original adrenaline from the kitchen had worn thin, if not vanishing entirely. You braced yourself for what was to come next.

A/N: aint no party like a wayne party, right? oof

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#reader x jason todd #damian wayne x reader #reader x roy harper #reader x jason todd x roy harper #my fic: the art of rehabilitating snowbirds #my fic:ars

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queenmayor23 · 11 months

Text

Love In The Dark (Fire and Rain)

Batman's neighbors, The Drakes, were secluded billionaires. Bruce invited them on vacation in an attempt to merge the companies. A missile hit the plane, leaving Bruce as the sole survivor and Ra's al Ghul's most promising prodigy to take the place of the young Tim Drake. After years of sidekick training, "Tim" picks up a street rat Jason Todd stealing hubcaps off the Robin Cycle and forms a relationship with him.

~Years Ago~

---Gotham City---

There was a knock on the door, steady and hard.

"Coming!" The owner of the shitty upscale apartment yelled, but it wasn't fast enough for the beggar, so there was another knock, this time louder.

"I said, "Coming!" Give me a minute to get to the door." The door was swung open. "What the hell do you-"

A freshly turned eighteen-year-old stands there, his black suit soaked from the pouring rain. "Missed you at the funeral, Dick." He spoke monotonously as if all the color was drained from the world, and there was nothing but grey.

"Tim."

"Doesn't matter. I missed it too. Didn't even see the body. When I got there, he was putting the shovel into the ground to mark the headstone."

The only person he could confide in wasn't there for him, which hurt him deeply.

"Bruce said it would be better for you if we didn't make a big deal about it."

"And you listened? You know how I feel about Jason. You were my only friend for the longest time, and you knew everything. Things Donna and Garth wouldn't fathom to think about me. The three of us were brothers first, no matter Jason's feelings." He was speechless. His mouth was moving, but no words or sounds came out.

"Tim. I'm sorry-"

"Are you? You've yet to let me in despite the pouring rain and the cold front. You've barely said anything besides your notecards Daddy put together for you. Dick, I went and looked at the cameras. I watched as he dug, dropped Jason's body, covered it, and cried for two hours. He obviously is dealing with it very roughly. So rough that the phone lines are down at the manor, even the emergency line. He sealed off the entrance from the Cave and locked all the gates after I left."

"I'm-"

"STOP SAYING I'M SORRY! Hug me. Ask me if I'm okay. Be Jason's brother. Be MY brother." The young man screamed, surely waking everyone on the floor.

Dick Grayson refused to touch Tim, not only because Bruce told him to, but if he did, he would be no help to his little brother. Dick knew Tim was hurting, but he didn't need the screaming to realize that. Despite his face being covered in rain and his hair drenched, Dick saw the single tear fall out of Tim's eye, and from that, his emotions weren't far behind.

"Fine. Just thought you would be better than him. Guess not. If you need me, fuck off." Tim turned around and headed back onto Gotham's streets.

He landed at the back entrance for the Nest. He inputs his code.

"Invalid entry."

He tries again.

"Invalid entry. Please try again."

He punches the console and makes another attempt.

"Invalid entry."

"Override 01"

"Voice recognition required."

The angry, broken-hearted ex-Robin deepens his voice until it is unrecognizable, nearly a growl, and he speaks. "I'm Batman." The Bat Symbol spins as it loads, and the screen glows green.

"Access granted." The elevator doors open, and he steps in, going to the residential floor.

It was dark. The only light was from the perpetual fireplace in the center of the floor and the illuminated glass placards. Tim walks to the kitchen pulling a glass and the "secret" bottle of whiskey from under the stove. He pours a drink and powers through. Then another. And another. And another. He makes one more drink and saunters back to the living room, and there it is, five sheets of glass, one representing each bird-themed hero. The blue Nightwing, the red "RR", a black spraypainted "R", a blue dove, and a red hawk. It all reminded Tim of what he had lost. Dawn left because she tried to get Hank clean, but he kept sneaking it behind her back. Dawn confronted Dick about the situation. He decided that as long as Hank could adequately do the job, he could stay, so she left. Jason was dead. Hank was probably doing a line of cocaine while shooting himself up with heroin. And it was all because of Dick. If Dick would've helped, they would be one happy bird family. Since he didn't, one was buried on this stormy night, one was knocking on death's door, another was dying a fate worse than death, and the other didn't want anything to do with them.

"Aargh!" The glass went flying across the room. Nightwing's panel was down, and the blue spotlight used to color the glass reflected through the window to the city. Then Tim picked up the bowl of decorative rocks from the coffee table. He and Hank thought they were stupid when they moved in, but Dawn liked them, so Hank changed his tune, and the impressionable Tim did anything to be like the cool kids. Dawn was gone, and so was Dove's panel, the white light untamed. Hank was off his rocker, and his panel soared to the floor in pieces. There was no Robin anymore, so they would have to replace it. Tim just made the contractor's job easier. The shattered glass on the floor was the pride and joy of the Nest just moments ago. When they installed it, Jason wanted to personalize his because he was an outcast. Dick allowed it after explaining why Hank couldn't do his design of a big red penis. On dark nights, you could see the symbols in the night sky. To some, they were symbols of hope. Others, chaos. But if you were looking for that hope tonight, all you would see was some lights and a red "RR" backlit by a gold luminescence.

Tim screamed and cried, breaking the dishware until nothing was left but the one glass and the bottle he had been drinking all night. It was nearing empty, and Tim could barely see straight. That's when he heard the 80s rock coming from down the hall. Tim gulped the rest of the bottle like it was the only thing to keep him going.

He slowly made his way down the hall, tripping and stumbling along the way. His training with Batman prepared him for the most potent Fear Toxin but not the 60-year-old whiskey. He listened to the soft music get louder. Then, Tim drunkenly pushes open the door revealing Hank Hall in a tank top and shorts. He sits on his bed, pulling the rubber band tight with his teeth, getting ready to insert the needle in his arm.

He looks up to see the new adult bracing himself against the doorframe. He releases the tension on the band and drops the needle on the bed. "What the hell are you doing here, kid?"

"Ju-just taking the edge off. You know, doing the fun part of grieving where you drink until you feel like a fish. What's that you got there? A little heroine? What-whats got you down in the dumps? It can't be Jason because the only person who's allowed to grieve him is me. That memo came from the big bat himself, so don't worry, I got it all handled." Tim walks into the room and picks up the needle. "Don't want to accidentally sit on this, so I'll take it off your hands." Tim walks away, heading out of the room. Hank gets up, chasing Tim down the hall and into the lab seeing all the damage passing the living room and kitchen.

"Give me the needle, kid. You're hurt. I get that. What's in that syringe is something stronger than street drugs." Hank tries to talk Tim down as he ties the rubber band around his bicep.

"I'm not a kid anymore." Tim chuckles. "I don't think I've ever been a "kid". Except when I first met you guys, but what kid goes out in the middle of the night on patrol. I was raised to kill. Something like death shouldn't affect me like this."

"Death gets us all. Nobody can run from it."

"That's where you're wrong, Hanky Panky. See, there's this thing called a Lazarus Pit, and the man who raised me... Not the bat fucker but Ra's al Ghul he- he used it to keep himself youthful. He let me use it a few times. Without it, I- I would have never made it to Gotham. But I'm here. Crying like a little girl because my best friend is in the ground when there is a Lazarus Pit under WAYNE FUCKING MANOR!"

"Wait?" Hank starts to think but is too slow for Tim.

"That's right! Bruce could've brought Jason back to life if he wanted."

"Does Dick know?"

"Who cares? He's just going to say some bullshit about Bruce not wanting to make a big deal about-"

"Stay here." Hank runs out of the lab, and Tim twirls the syringe in his hand. He strides over to the computer, and Tim places the contents of the syringe into a vial, taking the vial to the scanner. After waiting a few seconds for the scan, the computer analyzes the particles showing the genetic sequence of the serum.

"Mirakuru. Genetically it looks like Bane Venom or that weird formula Mark Desmond created." Tim researches the serum, articles, database archives, and encrypted files flood the screen. "Mirakuru is a super-soldier serum created by the Japanese during World War II that causes enhanced physical abilities once injected. Use of the serum can risk death or warp the person's mind and personality, driving the subject to insanity, aggression, and hostility." He finished reading. "Sounds like a regular day in Gotham."

Tim takes the vial from the scanner and inserts it into a syringe gun. "Let's warp my mind." Tim injects himself with the serum causing him to convulse for a moment before regaining control of his body.

Tim goes to the Bird House, a room designated for their suits, and takes a pistol from Searcher's suit. Then, he calls the elevator and leaves the building.

Hank ran back to his room, looking for his phone. He finds it and dials the last number he called.

"Dammit, Dick, pick up the phone!" After several forwards to voicemail, he calls another number.

"Hello?"

"Thank fucking God you got service on that damn island."

"Hank? Wha- How did you get my number?"

"That doesn't matter right now. You need to ask for the keys to that invisible jet because Tim is off his fucking rocker."

"Hank, Tim is grieving. We all are. He not only lost Jason, but he lost his team too. Light did a number on all of us. So Tim throwing a tantrum or two is understandable."

"Disbanding the Titans, I get. Drinking his problems away, I get. You didn't see how he wrecked the living room and the kitchen. You didn't see how drunk off his ass he is. He's craving drugs. He has drugs. And you know how anti-drugs he is after the Stephanie Brown situation."

"Where would he get something that would actually affect his body? The street stuff isn't going to cut it."

Hank sighs. "He got it from me."

"Are you serious, Hank? You know what, why did I think any higher of you? Of course, you would call someone else to clean up your mess. Dawn was right about you." The phone call ends.

"Shit."

Hank searches his phone for another number to call, and he hears the elevator's ding. He darts to the Bird House and calls the elevator, but it returns vacant. The undone strap of Pat's holster gives him cause for alarm. Tim hated using guns. He called them a coward's weapon, one of the few things he and Jason actually fought over. Jason had a black eye for a month and was pulled from patrol for insubordination, but Tim snuck him out. Hank runs to the lab seeing a used gun on the table and the screen showing his Mirakuru research. Hank calls Zatanna Zatara a last-ditch effort to stop his friend.

"Zee, I know you can't bring anybody from the dead, but if you could, right now would be the time to do it. Tim is out on the streets and about to do some damage. Not including he injected himself with a super drug. I'm going after him, but please, you're the last person I know who can help him."

"You're right. I can't bring back the dead, but I can give him some comfort. Find Tim and get him alone. I have a plan."

In the dark and damp streets of Gotham, the rain had stopped. Tim wandered in his soaking wet clothes picking fights with anyone he deemed worthy of one. He walked the sidewalk in front of an alleyway where a man held a couple at gunpoint. A shot rang out. The two men stood there in fear holding each other close, shielding their eyes from their horrifying death. After realizing they were unharmed, they opened their eyes. They saw their attacker standing still and a bloodstain growing on his shirt. The man dropped to the ground; the couple looked up and saw Tim's silhouette illuminated by the blinking streetlamp, still holding the gun as if he were waiting for a glamor photo.

The burlier of the men tried to focus his sight on his hero, but Tim was gone. Walking further down the street, Tim is run over by a guy in a red hoodie running down the road. "Hey!" Ignoring the call, the guy continues running. In his anger, Tim chases after him. After running for a few minutes, Tim sees the assailant run into an abandoned building. "Got you now fuck face."

Tim holds the gun tight in his hand and slowly enters. "You forgot to say sorry. You fucking lowlife."

Stalking further into the building, Tim comes to a wall and hears music on the other side. He follows the wall to find a door, and after the count of three, he kicks the door in. It was a barroom, and at the sight of the gun-wielding young man, everyone cleared out. The band leaves their instruments in a hurry to escape the possible gunfire. Tim scans the room looking for the guy he ran down, but he's gone.

"Am I at the seeing things stage?"

Tim walks behind the bar fixing himself another drink.

"If you get to drink, then I want a beer."

Tim lets the words enter one ear and exit the other. "I am definitely hearing things." He pours the whiskey into a glass and fixes himself a bowl of fruit from the fridge under the bar top. A song begins to play on the drums. It was Jason's favorite song from Hank's playlist, a point of contention between the two during parties at The Nest. But this one song was the musical opinion they agreed on.

"Got it bad, got it bad, got it bad. I'm hot for teacher. I've got it bad, so bad. I'm hot for teacher."

It was his voice. It was THE voice. It was Jason's voice. Tim turned around and looked at the poorly lit stage, the lights obscuring the face attached to the drummer's body.

"No. It can't be. Bruce refused to put you in the pit. Zee can't bring back the dead, and Zatara has been missing, so I will ask you this once. Who are you?"

"It's me-"

"Bullshit!" Tim screamed, squeezing the glass so tight it cracked, spilling into his palm. He put the glass down on the bar top, wiping the wasted alcohol on his pants, which were still uncomfortably wet. It was like he took the polar plunge challenge fully clothed and never dried off.

"It's me whether you believe me or not. I'm here to give you closure." The drummer stands.

"Give me the wrong answer, and I'll shoot. How did you die?"

After a few breaths, the voice, who may or may not be Jason, responded. "Joker's girlfriend kidnaped me, and about an hour later, Joker took a crowbar to my face and blew up the building on top of me." There was a slight beat before the gun clip was unloaded on the stage. The drummer jumped down in the nick of time, dodging bullets aimed at him, although sloppily.

"Jace never called Harley the Joker's girlfriend. He either called her Harley or the Queen of Arkham." The guy took a couple steps towards Tim, and now in the light, Tim could see his face. The face that matched the voice. Jason slowly moved toward Tim, the gun aimed at his heart.

"You don't want to do that, Red. Put the gun down. You hate feeling it in your hand. You-"

"Take another step, and I'll shoot!" Tim was so distracted he didn't hear the round of police sirens going off outside.

"Red, calm down. You don't even know if I'm even real. Look at yourself. If I were alive, I would be so pissed. You made a promise to me. Do you remember what it was?"

"I promised to not let you become something you're not. You're not your parents-"

"So, do you think this stunt your pulling is honoring that promise?"

"That was for you, not me."

"And you held me accountable. For everything. Cleaning the bikes, making sure the oil was changed on the BatMobile, and polishing boots, even Dick's from his Robin days. I had protocols in the BatHandbook memorized more than Alfred, and on top of that, I was training, doing chores, out on patrol with Bats, and going to school."

"You think I wasn't doing my fair share of tasks?"

"I know you did. That's why I admire you so much. I never loved you."

Tim's face didn't show it, but he was stabbed in the heart. Was it true? Did Jason never love him? What about at the stadium? That was more of an order. Had Tim been fooling himself all this time? Reaching for something that he would never have. Was love an unachievable goal for an assassin like him? All of these questions and thoughts ran through his head. Suddenly a boom made him flinch as three thugs came into the building, entering the barroom.

"Put the gun down, kid. I don't wanna hurt ya."

The men entered the room. Muscular tough guys, with physiques rivaling Bruce and Hank.

"Are they real?" Jason said out loud, but who he said it to could be brought into question.

In his reckless mind-fogged state, Tim aimed the gun at the mobsters and pulled the trigger. When nothing came out, he grabbed a barstool and swung it against one guy's face breaking it into pieces. Then, Tim took two of the legs and used them as batons. It was a scary and bloody scene. When Tim was done, they weren't breathing.

Outside, more police sirens approach the building. An unmarked vehicle came to a halt. An older man steps out, walking with a cane. Hank turns around, sees the man, and instantly fends him off.

"Commissioner, I know what this looks like, but we-"

"Hall, I have reports of shots fired and a trail of people severely beaten within an inch of their life. Whoever is in there has to pay."

Hank sighs. "How we looking, Zee?"

Zatanna stands facing the door, eyes as bright as the moon and her gloves glowing to match. "Stable on my end."

"Oracle?"

"It's bad, Hank. The cops need medical attention. If it weren't for Zatanna's spell, they would've been dead. You have to keep my dad from going in there." Oracle speaks from Hank's earpiece.

"Commissioner, I need you to hold your men back. We almost have him ready to come out."

"Who's in there? Two-Face? Mad Hatter? Zsasz?"

"I can't tell you at the moment."

"Why?"

"You're not going to like who it is, and I'm not letting your daughter blame me for your blood pressure being higher than Wayne Tower."

"For God's sake Hall, I have people in there, and if they don't come out, I go in."

"I am begging you for ten more minutes. We have everything under control."

Commissioner Gordon sighs, knowing the stakes of keeping his officers in the building. "You have ten. One second more, and I'm pulling the plug."

Back inside, Tim sits the bodies on the wall, having them lean on each other for support, and throws the empty gun on top of them. He turns to Jason. "Now, where were we?"

"The highlights were me saying I never loved you, you threatening me, and questioning whether any of this was real. You're hopped up on Mirakuru and drunk out of your mind. Ooo, what if it's a spell?" Jason says with a slight grin on his face.

"Bringing Jason back is out of Zee's wheelhouse. And there's no one else who can do that."

"She is becoming a master of illusion. She should take that act on the road, like her father. Well, that didn't end too well for him. Hopefully, she can do better. Now that I think about it, Zee never did find Giovanni? She probably would have if she had her team behind her. With all of those Bat resources at your disposal-"

"Bruce looked for him. We all did. It was like he vanished into thin air, but with magic involved, he could be anywhere."

"The tech genius believing in magic isn't that funny. No, what would really be funny is if this was all a dream."

Hearing this, Tim was taken aback. Could this be a dream? When did it start? Was it after the building? Was it when he watched Bruce bury the body? Is he laid out on the floor in the lab with a needle in his arm from the Mirakuru?

"If this is a dream, there's only one way to wake up." Tim takes another wooden stool, smashes it like the first time, and picks up the leg with the sharpest end. He swings it around in his hand for a moment. Tim grips it tightly and proceeds to impale his chest. After a loud response to the pain, he twists the wood beam deeper when another voice enters the room.

"Stop."

Tim looked to the door to see the woman he called his sister dressed in black and red leathery armor.

"Nyssa?"

"Father has requested that you return immediately. Your time in Gotham has expired, and you shall resume your duties with him, Al Layl."

Al Layl was a name that became foreign to Tim, but that's how he knew everything had happened. That the pain he experienced was not something he conjured as a punishment. He looked about the room and saw the bodies he piled together.

"Nyssa, I did-"

"There is no time for apologies. You are an assassin again. Act like it." Nyssa pulls the wood from Al Layl's chest and patches it up for travel.

"Are we done here?"

Nyssa's eyes pivot to Jason. "Yes, we-" A crowd of gangsters floods the room aiming weapons at Al Layl.

"Hands where we can see them."

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Hank runs in after them. "Zee, drop the spell." Then, in a blinding light, the barroom returned to an empty warehouse. The gangsters turned into GCPD cops wearing SWAT gear, including the ones in the corner. Al Layl saw everything for what it was, but one thing stayed the same, Jason was still there looking confused.

"It's okay. You can take it off now!" Hank yelled across the empty space.

Jason scratched at his neck, peeling off his skin to reveal himself. "Nice to meet you, Timothy."

"Christopher Chance, the Human Target."

"In my flesh."

"All this-"

Hank interrupts Al Layl, talking straight to Nyssa. "He needs to get out of here now, or Gordon will arrest him. Jet's waiting on the roof."

Hank, Chris, and the police officers walk out of the building. "Where is he?"

"I told you, Commissioner. We had everything under control." From the corner of Hank's eye, he sees Chris and Zatanna meet Dick Grayson behind one of the tactical trucks. Dick makes eye contact with Hank, and Hank somberly and inaudibly mouths, "Thank you," Dick nods, leaving the crime scene with Zee and Chris following.

"Under control? Explain "under control" to the families that I have to tell that their son or daughter won't come home because they're dead!"

"Whelm yourself, Gordon.."

"You know what? I'm done. Done with you, with Batman and his Robins, the Tit-" Gordon grabs his chest dropping his cane, and his breathing falls short.

"Commissioner?" Hank notices the sweat covering his face and hands. Gordon begins to fall, but Hank moves closer, catching him. "Medic! I need a medic over here!" Hank yells as the paramedics ride away the officers that Al Layl piled up.

"Gordon. Gordon? Say something, Jim." Jim doesn't move. He takes a breath, but when his chest falls, it never rises again.

"Hank, what's going on? Hank, talk to me." Hank heard in his ear, forgetting Oracle was on the other side.

"The Commissioner is down. He's dead, Barbara."

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ao3feed-brucewayne · 1 year

Text

Who will catch me when I fall?

by Purple_Hyancith

The last thing Peter heard was a shout, "Peter, No!" and a body slamming onto him. The there was a light, a blinding white light.

And pain, so much pain.

And the next thing he knew, he was falling from hundreds of feet up, and accelerating towards a warehouse.

And then everything went dark as he heard his bones shatter.

He loses consciousness for what felt like forever, but he knew it was only a while.

He wakes up with a start, the first thing he notices is that he didn't have his suit on, and that he was in some sort of pod, it opened and before his legs betrayed him, he was caught by a man a couple years older than him in a blue suit.

'Wow there buddy' he spoke. "My name's Nightwing-- let's get you out of here' and then everything went black.

Words: 793, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Series: Part 12 of Batman oc - stories

Fandoms: Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Doctor Strange (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man (Movies), Black Panther (Marvel Movies), Batman - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, DC Extended Universe

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con

Categories: F/M, Gen

Characters: Peter Parker, Spider-Man, Batman, Dick Grayson, Bruce Wayne, Original Female Character(s) of Color, Nightwing, Red Robin - Character, Robin (DCU), Spoiler, Signal, Duke Thomas, Stephanie Brown, Cassandra Cain, Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Wonder Woman - Character, Thanos, Superman, Doctor Strange, Shuri, Arsenal, Tony Stark, John Constantine, Harley Quinn, Rogues Gallery (Batman), Tim Drake, Oracle, Barbara Gordon

Relationships: Peter Parker/Original Female Character(s), Peter Parker & Original Female Character(s), Tim Drake & Peter Parker & Duke Thomas, Dick Grayson & Peter Parker & Jason Todd, Peter Parker & Bruce Wayne, Peter Parker & the Batfamily, Gotham City & Peter Parker, Batman & Spider-Man

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Dimension Travel, Not Canon Compliant, Marvel/DC, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, BAMF Peter Parker, BAMF Original Female Character, Homeless Peter Parker, Depressed Peter Parker

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/46682125

#IFTTT #bruce wayne #batman #the dark knight #the cape crusader #gotham #dc universe #ao3 #ao3feed

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kittymaine · 8 months

Text

Safety Net

Summary: Damian is seriously injured while pursuing the Joker and has to be carried out on a spine board.

Whumptober Fill - Day 1. Prompt: Safety Net

A high-pitched ringing noise was the first thing he became aware of. His vision came back next, but it was just a swirl of colors that made him feel like the room was spinning in circles. Damian flung his hand out and hit something solid that grabbed him back.

Damian struggled for a second, but even in his addled state, he could tell his movements were so weak that whoever was holding him probably couldn't even tell he was pulling away.

He felt hands on his shoulders, pressing him down, and the feeling in his body came roaring back with a vengeance. He was laying on a cold hard surface and his back on fire. Every functioning nerve left in his back was lighting up like a Christmas tree. The pain was so sudden and intense that all his other senses faded back out.

Damian wasn't sure if he passed out or if he just lost all track of time while the pain in his back overwhelmed every synapse of his brain, but when he finally came back to himself, he could just barely hear voices around him. They were muffled, just the suggestion of words and inflections filtering through his ears.

He tried hard to control his breathing, but the pain was still so big. Still, he was an al Ghul, trained to ignore and overcome his pain. Whatever had happened to him, he had to pull himself together. He was painfully vulnerable as he was, prone on the ground, effectively deaf and blind to whatever was happening around him. He couldn't remember how he had ended up where he was, but it could be a matter of life and death for him to gather his sense.

Damian forced his eyes open first. He didn't remember shutting them, but when he forced them open, his vision swam. He could see a lot of gray, flecked here and there with neon pink, and then a flash of a very familiar blue. Nightwing blue. Something in him relaxed at that sight.

"Damian! Damian, are you awake?" Grayson asked, his voice still sounding muffled and far away, but distinct enough for Damian to make out.

As Damian relaxed at Dick's voice, some of the pain bled away. Whatever the situation, if Grayson was there, then he could rely on him for support. Grayson's trustworthiness was beyond reproach.

Damian tried to open his mouth and form words, but his tongue felt thick and swollen and all he could taste was blood.

"It's okay. Don't try to talk. Just stay still and help will be here soon," Grayson said. He was putting on a front and trying to sound reassuring, Damian could tell. He knew him too well to miss the slight tremble in the vowels, the way the control was too tight on the inflections.

Maybe there was a reason to worry then.

"Shit, that was a hard hit. Is the kid okay?" a deep voice asked over the splash of heavy boots jogging through puddles. Todd. Not as ideal, but he was at least an ally.

"He'll be okay," Grayson replied tightly, aggravation bleeding through around the edges of his words. The feel of rough Kevlar gloves brushed against Damian's cheek. He became aware that his face also hurt.

"B is taking care of the clown. Did you call-"

"The car is on the way," Grayson said, his voice winding tighter. "It will be here in two minutes tops."

"Is the car gonna be okay?" Todd asked. He sounded close. He also sounded unusually tense, but Damian wasn't familiar enough with Jason to make any in depth extrapolations on his mental state.

God, his back hurt. He hoped the Batmobile had a sedative stocked. He wasn't too proud to admit in the privacy of his own mind that he preferred a temporary oblivion to the pain still snaking through his body, making his hands shake and his teeth grit.

"His spine is made of steel polymer, but we still need to get him into the med bay quick," Grayson answered quietly. The hand had moved to his head and was doing a very gentle check through his short cropped hair for cracks and bleeding. Even gloved, the feel of fingers against his scalp was a welcome distraction.

"Excuse me, his spine is WHAT?!" Todd shouted.

Damian didn't have the mental capacity to try and choke back the cry of pain that the sudden, loud noise shot through his head. He guessed it was probably a concussion, but the pain was nothing compared to whatever was happening to his back, so he hadn't noticed it until then.

"Shut up," Grayson bit out with barely leashed rage.

Damian breathed through his teeth and faded out for a bit while Grayson and Todd went back and forth. God, he just wanted to pass out. Couldn't he just pass out?

He was brought back by the sound of a big engine rumbling, wide tires splashing through the same puddles Todd had likely splashed through. Just as he heard the car come to a slow stop, he also heard the distinctive snap of his father's cape opening to slow his fall.

Damian cracked open his aching eyes. His vision was clearer, though still somewhat blurred. He watched Batman descend from between two skyscrapers like a dark avenging monster, the rain and fog and reflection of neon lights rendering him an artistic fever dream of light and shadow.

He closed his eyes before his father landed. The pain was still throbbing through him, but the adrenaline was wearing off and with it more pain was becoming clear to him. His face hurt and was swelling. His head was ringing like someone had played pinball with his skull.

"Status," his father barked once his footsteps were close.

There was the sound of clattering, something plastic being sat down beside him. Probably the spine board from the car.

"Conscious," Grayson bit out. "Just barely. We need to get him to Leslie. Hood-"

"Got it," Todd said, all business.

Damian felt steady, familiar hands on his neck and shoulders. That was likely Grayson holding his head still in case his spinal cord was broken or almost broken. He felt two more sets of hands on his hips and feet. Todd and Father.

He took a deep breath in, but knew there wouldn't be much preparing. This was going to hurt.

"On three," Grayson said. "One, two three."

On three all of them moved him straight down a few inches and Damian just barely choked back a scream at the last second. He was back to only feeling his back now. If he had a head and face, he wouldn't have known it at that moment.

"Over on three. One, two, three," Grayson said, voice tight and determined.

Again, they shifted him over, this time onto the hard plastic board. A small strangled scream broke through the barrier of his teeth this time, but he couldn't muster much thought about it around the pain threatening to take over every thought in his head.

They were going fast for his sake, he knew that. But the pain was so incandescent that he could barely put the thought together before it drifted away like so much smoke.

"Up. One, two, three."

There was no breath left to scream by that point. Damian could only make small, agonized panting sounds, but even that sounded far away. There was only pain now. He could feel himself losing his grip on consciousness, and he gratefully let go. There was no point in holding on, nothing to protect against, no point in trying to preserve his dignity. Grayson was there and he could trust in him.

When he came to again, he was in the Batmobile speeding through Gotham. The seats laid down to let the spine board and the person strapped to it fit inside the custom-built cabin. Damian was a lot smaller than most of the other vigilantes that worked with his father, so he didn't need the legroom that extended down into the trunk. He stared up at the rain flecked window and watched neon signs and billboards blur past, low-hanging clouds obscuring the words. He noted the graffiti splattered on the under side of bridges, little patches of color in a dull gray world of rain and snow.

His father was driving, but Grayson was in the only remaining back seat holding Damian's hand. Damian squeezed and Grayson squeezed back.

Grayson could be trusted. So long as he was there, Damian could relax. Grayson would take care of him.

#whumptober2023 #safety net #batman #robin #batfam #fanfiction #serious injury #spinal injury #medical procedures #kittywrites #no.1 #dcu comics

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azlrse · 3 years

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The Lakeside Killers (Yandere Serial Killers Shigaraki/Dabi x GN!Reader)

Synopsis: nothing's gonna ruin your perfect summer camp with your peers, or is it???

CW: ANGST, Murder, Violence, Suggestive themes, Yandere Themes, Mutilation, Fear Street spoilers, kidnapping, delusional thoughts, implied drugging, forced marriage, Stockholm Syndrome.

A/N: I love the Fear Street Trilogy and I highly recommend it watching it. I was inspired by the ask (it was a little different so I came up with a different plot) I sent to my favorite writer months ago. Also, both Tomura and Dabi are inspired by the Nightwing Killer aka Thomas Slater. Enjoy reading while I finish the part 3 of Fire Exit.

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Imagine this...

You and your best group of friends are planning to spend the rest of summer in a camp that was found in the middle of the woods. You are also calling them as you pack your things on two suitcases that contains your clothes that would last for a month and important necessities such as your phone charger and flashlight. You've come up with different scenarios as you laid in bed but alas, you couldn't sleep due to your uttermost excitement. There's nothing gonna ruin your perfect summer with your best buddies, or so was it??

You bid your family good bye as a bus pulled up on your driveway, dragging your things on the back of the bus. As you climbed in on the ride, cheers and screams erupted from your friends as they saw you, waving them a hello as a reply as you took a seat beside your best friend. At the back of the bus, red and cyan colored eyes are locked at you while you interacted with your peers happily, excited to spend a month with them before all of you will proceed to your 3rd year of college.

You knew these guys but only interacted with the both of them during classes or doing a group project since your 1st years, hence they became in love and obsessive due to your kindness and didn't treated like the way your peers did to them. Many people feared nor didn't liked them for their behavior and how they harshly treated their peers like that.

The both of them imagined that you took a seat with them instead of your pathetic friends, kissing them as sweet words came out from their voices. Why do you even want to be with your friends when you have two 'boyfriends' to look after and protect you?

"hey look Shigaraki, it's our babydoll." He commented as he took a bud from his ear, an annoyed grunt came out as Tomura stared at you instantly as a small red blush appeared on his face. You're looking marvelous at the outfit you wore for camp; tall boots, long socks, a hoodie tied on your waist, damn you look hot.

You catch a glimpse the both of them at the back and you waved at them. As they saw you waving at them, Dabi let out a smirk (which made you warm on the inside) and Tomura waved back at you with a huge grin on his face. One of your friends was disturbed at the blue haired boy's grin, calling it creepy as the others agreed with them, making him pissed off.

3 hours later, the bus arrived at the campgrounds, tall trees surrounding the place with lots of wood cabins. "LET'S GO!!" Cheers of excitement poured out as you and your classmates gathered your things from the bus, walking towards the main hall of the camp. Dabi spoke at you if you wanted to hangout with Tomura as soon as you finished putting up your stuff in your cabin. You're going to agree at their proposal but your friends called on you first, sending in a glare at them.

You've stayed at the camp for 4 weeks now and just like you predicted, it's the best experience ever. It's a good thing you've convinced your parents to let you join the camp, even if they said no many times. A party was held at the side of the lake for the students of the school and you couldn't deny the invite. Loud music and drinks were poured out as the other students are messily making out on the corner. Both Dabi and Tomura saw you and brings in an extra drugged drink for you to sip on. They couldn't talk to you since you are always ALWAYS stick your so-called friends and that's the cause of their intense jealousy. As soon as they approach you, they saw red when the person they knew you have a crush on approached you and proceeds to flirt with you, sending a flustered laugh from you. This is their limit. They are done with your bullshit. They're gonna get rid of them. You only need them. Not your friends, not your classmates, not the person you really liked. YOU. BELONG. TO. THEM.

"They're going to steal them from the both of you...kill them....kill them...KILL THEM!!"

Angry footsteps marched their way to the tool shed where hardware tools were stored. Opening the door of the shed, eyes landed on the sharp axe and machete....

"Be right back, I'm going to get something from the cabin" you said, realizing that you forgot your phone to take pictures since in two days, you'll be returning from camp. Arriving at the cabin, a strong metallic smell came to your nose as you came near to your cabin. "(F/N)? Are you okay? Why does it smell like a road kill there?" You worriedly spoke, but no response. You opened the door and a scream emitted from you, a gruesome scene was discovered; body parts were chopped, their insides where exposed, your friend's eyes were wide open while their mouth was still opened as if they're screaming for help.

Soon enough, screams and running footsteps were heard outside as the voice of the camp counselor told everyone to abandon their things and run for the bus for two killers were roaming in camp, killing anyone who came to their path. Snatching up your phone from the nightstand, you made your way back to the lake to reunite with your friends, telling them to get out of here but it's too late, bodies of your friends piled up, burning in blue flames while the smell of burning flesh made you nauseous. Your best friend scream for you to run, only for an axe proceeded to decapitated their head, earning a scream from you. "DABI, TOMURA!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

From the screams you made, their heads turn at you. Tomura, carrying an axe, eeriely smiled as you as he kicked the head of your best friend towards you. "Do you like this darling?" Dabi spoke as a bloody machete was pulled out from the person you liked. They were covered in blood and dust from head to toe while. You shook your head in disbelief and in fear as you back away from the scene, earning a disapproving grin from Dabi.

"You know, this wouldn't happen if you could just hang out with us. It's making us pissed off when the person we both infatuated with goes with the wrong crowd. You know that we love you so much than the person you liked...' Tomura rasped out as he makes his way towards you, a bloody axe dragging behind him

"wh-what are you t-talking about?" You stuttered as sweat and tears ran on your cheeks. "What he means darling is that, we are deeply in love with you and this..." The man with the black hair points at the bodies, both disassembled and burned "this is how we proved our love to you..." He grinned, being enjoyed by your paranoid state.

You began to back away once more but Tomura spoke out, "if you run away, just like the others, we'll do something that we'll regret...."

"Now come here, baby, come to the arms on the two men who loved you dearly..."

"NO BOTH OF YOU ARE PSYCHOS!! MURDERERS!! MONSTERS!!!"

You ran as fast as you can as you heard screams of desperation for you to come back at them, promising you that they'll take care and love you for the rest of your lives. You didn't believe them, from the twisted actions they did for the name of love. You ran even faster as you heard the crunching of leaves behind you. The main hall was just infront of you, your weak legs began to catch the bus for your freedom. 'Almost there (Y/N) you are almost there-'

A shovel came to your face, sending you crashing on the pile of dead leaves and dirt. Blood came rushing from your nose as you let out a groaning pain. "Great job, handjob" Dabi said as he huffed while Tomura came out from the tree, dropping the shovel he found on the dirt. "Whatever.." he muttered.

You began to reach for your phone, calling for help until a hand reached for your phone, sending it into a pile of dust. Tears of fear and paranoia slide down your face as you begged for them to let you go, promising them that you won't tell the authorities about them. They didn't believed it, not even a bit, not even your tears could convince them to let you go.

"Can't believe you disobeyed our order, sweetheart. I believe I have an idea about your punishment..." Dabi spoke as his grip from you tighten while Tomura stepped your left leg. Knowing what are they going to do, you began to scream for help but the black haired man covered your mouth, your body trashing around in panic. "I'm sorry my love, but this is the only way..." He spoke nonchalantly as he began to touch your leg with all 5 of his fingers, turning your leg into dust and to finish it off, he raised an axe on your leg and soon enough, a painful scream was heard as a way to say good bye to your precious leg.

You passed out due to the shock and pain you experienced after Tomura cut off your leg and Dabi cauterized the newly amputated leg with his flames, a ripped clothing from Tomura's shirt was used as a bandage for your leg. Police sirens were heard from the distance as the two of them began to ran away from the scene, Dabi carrying you on his arms while Tomura planted a kiss on your forehead. Now you won't escape from them! You are going to be with them forever! What's the purpose of escape when your leg was taken away?

You, the student that aced every test and exam, the one that made people's day and a kind person, is now deemed dead both by the authorities and pro-heroes....

Even if you are still alive and held captive by the killers, who killed your friends and peers, for the sake for their twisted love for you...

------

Many years later...

"They said that you can hear the screams of the murdered people here at night, begging for their suffering to end and pass on to the after life. It also said that the killers are on the loose but it's just a myth" A small girl with cyan eyes and (h/c) hair, whose age was 10, spoke to her little brother with (e/c) and baby blue hair with a mole underneath his eyes and was 4 years younger than his sister. He hold her hand as she finished off telling the Legend of the Lakeside killers. "A-are they real sissy?" (S/N) spoke.

"it's not real, sweetie..."

Their heads turn at the source of the sound. It's their mother/father, with a prosthetic leg, smiling at them as they enjoyed the view from the lake. "It's really beautiful mama/papa! Is this where you met dad and daddy?" (D/N) spoke excitedly.

"Yes, this is where I met them.."

After the both of them parked the car, Dabi and Shigaraki hold your hand lovingly as your daughter jump up and down happily and ran towards the lake, joining her little brother.

It may be hard for you to forget all the horrible events that traumatized you, the same area where your husbands' murdered your friends and peers. The marriage could be loveless at first but you got the hang of it....

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

Do not republish, edit, or repost to other websites.

Reblogs and likes are appreciated! 💕

#shigaraki x reader #dabi x reader #yandere #yandere bnha #yandere bnha x reader #yandere shigaraki #yandere dabi x reader #yandere dabi #shigaraki imagine #dabi imagine #fear street #bnha x reader #yandere imagines

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robinofgothamcity · 3 years

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♡ starting prompt: “if I was your boyfriend, I’d pepper you with kisses and gifts and spoil you so bad.”

♡ pairing: tim drake (Robin YJ S2) x fem reader

♡ lyric inspiration: “if we go down then we go down together, we’ll get away with everything, we’ll show them we are better.”

♡ note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes

Tim Drake was a special one, everyone knew that. he wasn’t Dick, the happy go lucky Robin, he for sure wasn’t Jason Todd, the sarcastic and very rude Robin. he was the tactical Robin, the one who made sure everything went as planned, whether it was on a mission or when all of you decided to hangout.

you were not apart of his plan. at all.

when you first joined the team, you were very similar to Garfield and Bart. very playful, extremely flexible when it came to hanging out with everyone on the team which made you very likable amongst them. Tim didn’t really like it at first.

he thought all you liked to do was have fun and play games but when he finally saw you out on the field, he was more than impressed. it was like a flip of a switch. your playful personality immediately went out the window and it was like you became a whole other person.

the team at the moment was having a bit down time. more than usual that is. you were lying around the lair, kicking your legs up against Bart as Nightwing walked in with Robin following behind him.

“hey guys!” you murmured through a mouthful of chips, “afternoon ( hero name ), enjoying that bag of chips?” Nightwing asked. you nodded happily as Bart reached in and ate some, “what has all of you here? you guys aren’t usually around at this time of day,” Garfield exclaimed.

Robin sat next to you, making sure he didn’t sit too close to you. when he started developing his crush on you, he immediately sensed himself getting nervous around you so he made it his mission to remain a close yet far distance.

“we need to talk to the team and since some of you are here, we figured it was best to break the news to you now,” you gave Tim and the rest of the boys a nervous look, “is the team breaking up? because I can’t afford to be back on the street,” you practically blurted.

Nightwing laughed, shaking his head, “nothing like that! the city of Gotham actually wants to honor the team this weekend at a special dinner,” Nightwing said. you sighed in relief as he continued, “they want it to be a black tie event so all of you need to be dressed appropriately. Wonder Woman herself offered to buy your attire if you choose to attend,” he mentioned to you.

you perked up in excitement.

“awesome! I’ll give her a call right now, thanking her in advanced,” you said, getting up from the couch and heading to the nearest phones. Tim sighed, watching you walk away as Nightwing gave his brother a look of confusion.

“any of you planning on asking any of the girls as a date?” Nightwing asked off handedly. Garfield and Bart instantly perked up, eyes darting in the direction of where you went, “definitely ( hero name ),” the two boys said.

suddenly, the air went thick as Bart, Garfield, and Tim looked at each other. a competitive stare fell on their faces as Nightwing could tell something was up, “mind telling me what all of you are thinking?” Nightwing asked them as Garfield and Bart instantly looked at each other.

“I’m asking her out!” the two of them shouted.

Nightwing shook his head disappointedly. he knew that this would become an issue. there wasn’t many girls on the team that could be asked out on a date so that really only left you and Cassie on terms of availability.

“please, like she’d accept you as a date,” Bart told Garfield as Garfield immediately stood up in defensive, “you’re the one to talk!” he retorted just as loudly.

Nightwing could tell his brother was thinking to himself. something he did often and while he wasn’t exactly the best at figuring it out, this time, he knew it had to do with the conversation at hand. every now and again, Dick could see the way Tim looked at you. some of it was eyes of admiration but more often than not, he had that lovestruck look.

Dick could just tell that Tim was also apart of the competition in trying to ask you out. you had walked back inside to the living room but this time with Cassie at your side. you were laughing at something she said before Garfield and Bart attacked you suddenly.

“do you want to be my date to the dinner?” they both yelled in unison. Cassie immediately started laughing as you stood in place, not knowing whether to accept or not, “uh, Garfield? I thought you seen me as a sister?” you asked, seeing Gar’s dejected face.

last week while all of you were playing a game of cards, he had mentioned that he thought of you as a sister in passing. while he never thought that the comment would ever come back to haunt him, sure enough it did. Gar hung his head low as Bart gave you a hopeful look.

“you serious?” you asked the redhead. Bart nodded excitedly, “yeah! we can get matching ties and dresses!” he practically boasted as he grabbed your hand, shaking it in excitement.

you shook your head, “whatever Allen, the color we’re wearing is dark green so find a tie and I can find a color to match a dress with it,” you stated, making Bart nod in agreement.

once you were out of earshot with Cassie, Bart fist pumped the air in excitement as he danced in place, “told you I’d get the girl!” he exclaimed happily. Tim sighed, not saying much as he tried to not make it sense that he was both jealous and disappointed.

he had no idea that they were going to ask you out this quickly. Tim figured that maybe he could get you alone and ask you out when the time was right but now....Bart had beat him to the punch and by the looks of it, you seemed pretty interested in him too.

Tim wasn’t one to get insecure about himself rather quickly but seeing someone he had grown to like over the course of the last few months, he felt that small bit of insecurity rise up.

Saturday morning at the lair was busier than usual. since Gar hadn’t acquired a date for tonight, between him and a few others, they offered to take patrol for the night. you were feeling nervous bubbles in your stomach. you had never gone on a date before and while you had never saw Bart as anything but a brother, maybe the dinner could change it.

you ironed out the forest green dress and hung it in your designated room closet. while you were trying on a few heels Wonder Woman had bought you, you heard a knock on your door before seeing Megan walk in with a solemn look on her face.

“hey Megan!” you exclaimed happily. she gave you a tight lipped smile, “Bart’s on the phone. he needs to tell you something,” she murmured, handing the phone over to you.

you grabbed it, hearing the hacking cough coming from the other end of the phone. you instantly sighed knowing exactly why Bart had called you. he wasn’t going to be able to make it to the dinner. he had caught the bug that Jaime had a few days before and wasn’t able to get out of bed.

“I told you not to hang out with him Thursday night,” you threatened, clutching your heel in your hand, “but did you listen? no you did not. now I have dress that won’t be worn because the IDIOT who had offered to be my date was irresponsible,” you exclaimed.

Bart tried to makeup an apology but you practically waved it off, “have fun in bed you jerk!” you said before hanging up. Megan gave you a sad look, “you’re really not going tonight?” you sighed, shaking your shoulders, “you should! Wonder Girl, Robin, Blue Beetle, Nightwing, Superboy, and the rest of us are still going. you could always just tag along with one of us!” she offered.

you thanked her silently. you figured since Wonder Woman had already bought the dress for you, you couldn’t just let it go to waste. “sure, I’ll tag with Wonder Girl tonight,” you murmured, trying not to seem disappointed.

Megan gave you a quick hug before letting you go back to doing your makeup. Tim walked in with his suit in hand as Megan walked out of your room, “what’s going on?” he asked Nightwing. he looked to his brother, “Bart caught the bug Blue had a few days ago and can’t go to the dinner with ( your name ), he whispered.

Tim tried not to seem happy by what he had just found out but since Bart was sick and Gar was staying for patrol, he figured his stars must’ve aligned. the dinner was going to be happening in under an hour and all he was told to do was bring his suit so all of you could head out in one car.

“that must be upsetting for her,” Tim replied, seeing as Dick started to laugh, “some how I get the sense that you aren’t as upset as she is,” he said before walking away.

Tim didn’t say anything as he heard Dick tell him to get dressed within the next few minutes before all of you were late. as Tim went into the bathroom, he heard you call Cassie or Megan over to your room. he wondered what you needed but figured it wasn’t his place to head over if you didn’t call for him.

putting on the suit didn’t take as long as he thought. all he needed was help tying the tie and he went back out to the front of the lair. “she looks great, doesn’t she?” he heard Zatanna say to Megan, “I feel kinda bad for Bart. he really missed out,” she added on.

you walked out of your room as you struggled to walk with your heels on. Garfield, Tim, and even Nightwing were a bit taken back by how you looked. you had never been so dressed up before so they were in a bit of shock as you walked out with Cassie.

“wow,” Garfield whispered, “can I be your date tonight?” he said as you smacked him in the back of his head, “sorry Gar, you have patrol or else I would actually take you up on that,” you giggled before sitting down on the couch.

Tim almost instantly sat next to you as he gave you a smile, “you look....fantastic,” he mentioned. you looked at the ground, not trying to get caught with a flustered expression, “thanks Rob, it means a lot coming from you,” you said, not realizing what you were actually saying.

Dick smiled to himself as he watched the interaction. his heart warmed up at the sight of the two of you. he knew Tim took himself a bit too seriously sometimes so seeing you break that harsh exterior made him happy. Tim needed to loosen up and maybe you would be the one to do that for him. hell, Tim trusted you with his life and that was not something he said often.

after all of you arrived to the dinner and thanked everyone who coordinated the event, all of you sat down at separate tables to eat. you had asked for a two seat table since you figured that Bart was going to join you but now, you realized that you’d probably be eating alone on the balcony.

just as you handed your jacket to the hostess, you saw Robin walking your way, “mind if I sit with you?” he asked nervously. you perked up, “of course! you sure you don’t wanna sit with Nightwing or even Blue?” you asked. Tim shook his head no, “I’d prefer if I sat with you,” he tried to say without a blush covering his face.

he pulled your chair out, making sure you were already seated before pushing you back in. Tim sat across from you, giving you a smile before looking to the hostess who was making her way over to the two of you again.

the night had went relatively quickly. that semi-awkward tension between the two of you quickly disappeared as both of you got comfortable around each other.

Robin, underneath that shell of his was a pretty funny guy. he would tell a joke that would have you crying from laughter for at least a few minutes and while the hostess that was attending the two of you had mentioned that it was getting a bit more cold and the two of you should just head in, neither you or Robin made the move to actually go inside.

the two of you were sitting down on cushioned lawn chairs, talking about a failed mission the two of you had went on a few months ago that made Bart lose his eyebrows due to an explosion.

“I swear, it was the funniest thing ever,” you said through giggles, “you really should have been on our team.” Tim sighed contently as he watched you run your hand through your hair, “hey, can I ask you something?” he asked suddenly.

you nodded, a bit nervous on why he changed his mood all of a sudden, “do you have a thing with Bart?” he asked. you were taken back, not knowing that this would be the question, “uh, no? we’re just friends. I know we were supposed to be each others dates but I think he really only asked me because of his little competition with Garfield,” you murmured, “why do you ask?”

the two of you had been leaning up against the rail of the balcony as you had taken Tim’s jacket earlier in the night and wrapped it around yourself.

“I was wondering...if after this dinner.....you’d be interested in going out on another date with me?”

you stayed silent for a moment, not knowing what to respond with.

“with me? really? I never thought of Mr.Perfect asking me out on a date,” you replied, trying not to make it too awkward, “I don’t think you’re any different than I am. I’ve liked you for a while now and have been wondering if you felt the same.”

you let out a sigh, “of course. I’d love too. I’m just not sure what you see in me is all,” you responded with. Tim grabbed your hand and held it, “you’re amazing. whether it’s on the field and kicking someone’s ass or just lounging around the lair with Gar and Bart. if I was your boyfriend, I’d pepper you with kisses and gifts and spoil you so bad,” he confessed.

you stayed silent, not knowing how to reply. you had never taken Tim as the romantic type and was not expecting that kind of confession.

Tim leaned in and placed the smallest kiss on your lips as he put his forehead on yours after he pulled away. you smiled, putting your hand on his cheek and brushing your thumb against it, “that means I should probably tell you who I really am,” Tim murmured, taking off his domino mask.

“I’m Tim, Tim Drake.”

“ ( your name ).”

#dc #DC imagines #dc imagine #dc x reader #DC comics #Tim Drake #tim drake imagine #Tim Drake x Y/n #tim drake x reader #red robin x reader #Red Robin #robin x reader #Bat Family #Bat Fam

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heyitsani · 2 years

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Self Love Retrospective

Rules: It’s time to love yourselves! Choose your 5 (or so) favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought to the world in 2021. Tag as many creators as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

Tagged by @nerd-by-definition

1. So Devoid of Color

This was actually my most popular story of the year. I wrote it for Dick Grayson week under the prompt of “Bruce hits Dick and doesn’t get away with it.” I enjoyed the exploration of the prompt because it came from Tim’s POV, so you didn’t get a lot of Dick mentally making excuses. And it was just a very emotionally raw piece.

The Cave went deathly silent in the aftermath.

For those 30 or so seconds immediately after the distinct sound of a fist hitting a cheekbone, it was like they had landed in a vacuum of sound.

It was such a startling contrast to the shouting that had led up to that exact moment. The fight between Dick and Bruce hadn’t been surprising. When Red Robin had called Nightwing on his private comm line to report that Robin had been shot on patrol, he had known the eldest would panic. And when he found out it was because Batman had made a mistake, Tim knew shit would hit the fan.

Quite literally.

2. I Just Want to Know You Better

This is probably in my top three favorite pieces of all time? It was a gift for two lovely friends for their birthdays and I wanted to branch out in a way I hadn’t before. So I changed up my style and I eliminated heroes and villains (though Gotham still had its issues) and kept parents alive. I got explore the lives of Jason and Dick if Bruce had never happened and if Dick hadn’t lost his parents. It’s my first and only circus fic thus far.

Gotham was a disgusting city.

Dick wouldn’t accept any other opinion because he knew, at the tender age of 10 years old, he was absolutely correct. It didn’t matter that the people of the city had a resilience and strength about them that he had noticed the very first time he remembered Haly’s had pitched their tents within the Gotham city limits. It didn’t matter the rich history of the city and the survival through years of corruption and evil. He didn’t care about those things.

No, he cared that the city seemed to bleed its life force into the ground it sat upon, into the mucky water at its shores. That each year they came, the city seemed grayer and sadder. More desperate. Where other cities sparked colors all around. Metropolis with it’s bright red and yellows, San Francisco with a rainbow of colors seeping into the very skin of each of the people wandering their limits, and even Star City with the dim, but ever-present greens and blues.

Dick hated it.

Until he didn’t.

3. Mr. Perfectly Fine

I think I would get in trouble if I didn’t include this one on the list because though it hasn’t received as much love as others, it was a favorite amongst my friends. It’s such a heartbreaking story of life after a breakup between Dick and Jason, exploring their life paths and how the one influences the other even years later. It’s an Au with actor!Dick and musician!Jason and spans over 20 years throughout the story.

And yes, it’s influenced by the Taylor Swift song.

“How long have you been in LA?”

“Just a few months,” a smooth voice sounded behind him, causing Dick to turn and find himself face to face with the man from the stage. The man with the voice that had literally demanded he come in off the street to see where it was coming from. “A celebrity in our dressing room, who would have thought that would ever happen?” There was a teasing glint in the man’s eyes that made Dick practically swoon.

Holding out a surprisingly steady hand, Dick licked his lips. “Dick Grayson,” he said, hoping his voice didn’t sound as breathless to them as it did in his own ears. The man smiled and took Dick’s hand in his larger one, giving a firm shake but not releasing it right away.

“Jason Todd.”

4. Weigh Down My Soul

Okay this one is kind of hit or miss. Jason being tricked by a Djinn and exploring life as he wishes Dick’s influence out of his. It kind of explores Dick’s manipulative side a bit because it’s a fight between him and Jason that sets the wishes in motion. But we also get to see how things would have been if Dick was removed from Gotham in various levels, what life for everyone would have been like.

Also, Orange Lantern!Dick makes an appearance and it’s *chef kiss*. Shoutout to @shannara810 for the idea.

“Are you fucking insane?!” Jason growled as he pulled off his helmet the moment he and Dick landed on a rooftop far enough away from the crime scene to not catch the attention of the cops, but close enough to be sure they got there in a timely manner. “Why the hell would you just give yourself over to them like that? We had it covered, we were good. Do you always have to be such a fucking masochist?!” He knew he wasn’t technically being fair, that things had been starting to go sideways, but he was still so pissed that Dick hadn’t even warned him. He had just jumped into the middle of the nest of criminals and “let them” get the drop on him.

“Why are you so upset? Everything worked out fine,” Dick pointed out, just making Jason’s temper flare hotter. “I’m more than capable of taking care of myself. And I don’t need you thinking you have any right to fight my battles for me!” He didn’t understand how the older man just didn’t get that people cared enough to not want him to sacrifice himself whenever he possibly could.

It made Jason want to put his fist through the brick wall to his left.

5. I Keep My Eyes Wide Open All the Time

Even though I started this one in 2020, I finished it in 2021 and I couldn’t not have my Past Lives AU mentioned. It’s my baby and through it I grew more and more in love with Damian as a character. In comics and fics. The first story explores a past life of Dick and Jason where a curse is put on them that forces them to live their life and all future lives in close proximity and in love, but never being allowed to be together. This is the sequel where Damian is given the chance to remember the lives that Dick and Jason now remember as well. Lives Damian was fully submerged in as well.

It’s kind of hard to explain without giving away the plot. But if you like time pieces and exploring familial bonds in and out of blood relation, give it a try.

“I have loved him for over a millennium, Dami, but we have never been allowed to be fully happy. Duty, law, or prejudice, along with a curse, has kept us from truly belonging to each other,” Richard explained. And Damian felt his heart clench at the thought of the two of them being close but never fully being able to give into their love. He thought of him and Jon. How he cared so deeply for the other man but feared what Father would think. Feared how he would react should anything happen to Jon because of him. But never had an outside force worked against the two of them. He couldn’t imagine how that would feel. “Now we can finally be together in the eyes of the law and I don’t want to wait anymore.”

“But me? Why not Father?”

Richard smile turned a little sad and Damian watched as he set his cup down before turning to look at Damian fully. “Because you were our son. Because you were of my blood and Jason loved you as though you were of his.” Dropping Richard’s gaze, Damian processed those words. “You were my son with a woman who was not kind or good, in any of her lives. She did some horrible things, but she also gave me you. And that love, that affection, has always been yours. Each and every lifetime, even though you are no longer my blood, you have always been mine.”

I have no idea who to tag that hasn’t already been tagged and/or done this already so I’ll just toss a few: @mlim8 @justtoarguewithyou @epistemologys @allthatsentimentalcandyfloss and anyone else who might want to show themselves some love.

#jaydick #fic recommendation #tag games #anikah writes

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roma107 · 2 years

Text

some of iracus easter eggs

before you read this, make sure you've read this fic on ao3 first.

summary: dick Grayson has fallen Or a look at how people reacted after dick's death.

dick grayson week 2022 - Day 1

- dick was gonna die at christmas or thanksgiving which would have amplified the angst tons but i decided to go with superhero day instead. felt more fitting. didn't want to ruin other holidays for his people forever yk.

- superhero day is an actual thing. u.s. marvel employees created national superhero day on april 28, 1995 to celebrate everyone's favorite superhero

- alfred sees dick as his son, the same way he sees bruce. most of his quotes compare both men and notice the difference in their actions.

- my personal headcanon is that dick has some kind of eating disorder and when stressed, he goes mute

- there’s a a decade-long argument between the titans on who's dick's best friend. they didn't reach any conclusion. moreover, the number of people arguing increases every year

- if you liked the quote “ the noise of the family is a reflection of the calmness of the heart “ you should read stolen - it expands on this idea

- the feeling of not being enough to save the boys always hunts alfred. he always has to sit in the cave and wait for their bodies. this time he was hoping to reach the hospital before it was too late. he didn’t

- clark's part focuses on the idea of rebirth. most of his paragraphs started with "the first time...". it's referencing nightwing's legacy of change. dick has always had the courage to start anew when he needed to. he was never stuck in the past, always living in the present.

- dick dies holding damian and leaning on donna. i'm sorry, i don't know why i do that.

- dick dying peacefully while surrounded by his loved ones is his ideal death. dying while flying or well falling is a close second.

- coincidentally the color code pain scale follows their original colors. green, yellow, and red. blue is when the pain is off the charts.

- only dick grayson can lean on the man of steel without feeling fear or being brushed off

- the heroes couldn't return the favor and save him like he saved them multiple times before

- it's canon that the titans distract each other from pain by talks and jokes

- i know roy wasn't in titans annual #1 but roy’s quote still stands

- dick went with Roy on a trip to Ireland to Ireland to help him take care of Lian when he first started out as a father

- should i write the conversation between lian and roy? because it’s totally in my wips and all you have to do is tell me to continue it.

- check my work "d-word" where destiny and death had an interesting conversation when dick died before going to spyral.

- we have a bond, remember? you’ve been inside my mind, let me inside yours. - not comics' quote - taken from teen titans show

- have a wip around the idea of dick using swords. let me know if you want to read it.

- a reminder that ras calls bruce, dick, jason, and tim “detective”. you can guess which one is he talking to here.

- there was a part with haly but never got the chance to write it

- i also have a wip with ace, that i am not sure if i should finish. let me know if you enjoyed the dog's part.

- dogs can only see blue and yellow

- the pets call him dami because that's what dick always calls him and it stuck.

- after alfred's, dick's scent in the manor is the most prominent.

- ace knew from the moment he stepped into the room, that's why he insisted haley goes with him. he knew dick from the very beginning, he caught the change in his scent.

- was bruce in the cave destroying it? guess we will never know

- alfred was getting drunk. yes the proper british man lost it after losing his boy. it's actually canon that alfred got drunk last time dick died before joining spyral

- the longest i've ever written, wow. started this fic last july and finally pushed myself to finish it to celebrate dick's 82 years

#dick grayson #fic rec #iracus #easter eggs #dickgraysonweek2022 #mine #dickgraysonweek

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soulmate-game · 4 years

Text

Well that happened.

B!dbwm 2020

Day 6: Meeting the Justice League

Marinette paced in her bedroom in Wayne Manor, running her hands through her hair as Damian laid on her bed and played animal crossing while completely ignoring her freakout.

“Dami, how did I get myself into this mess?!” she asked, frantically pulling at her pigtails. Her brother snorted, rolling his eyes unsympathetically.

“You never use your brain until after you’ve already made important decisions,” he responded ruthlessly. “All of your mental capacity goes towards planning out completely inane things like birthday parties and actually caring about what our even more idiotic class thinks about you, so when you actually need it you don’t have any intelligence left to spare.”

Marinette turned her eyes on him, the blue lightening to an icy color in her panicked annoyance as she glared at him. “Gee, thanks. I can always trust my darling brother to have my back,” she said sarcastically, to which Damian only smirked.

“When it matters? Of course. But in this case, watching the fallout will be entertaining and not at all dangerous to your physical safety.”

Damian and Marinette had been sent to live in Paris a few years back, about a year after Damian had come back to life. Marinette had been far too attached to the twin she had thought she had lost for good, and had nearly driven him crazy with how overprotective she had gotten. Right alongside that, Damian had started to become even more stifled by Bruce’s own protectiveness and distrust of him, so he quit being Robin and they were sent to PAris to try and “recover” from their “trauma” somewhere “safe and peaceful, under the jurisdiction of the JLE.”

Yeah, that was a great idea. Up until they found out the hard way that the JLE had up and abandoned the Paris headquarters and taken up unofficial residence in England somewhere. And then Hawkmoth showed up. And of course, of fucking course, an old chinese man from the pacifistic organization that acted as a direct foil to the League where they grew up somehow decided that they, out of everyone in Paris, were the best people he could find to wield the power of tiny gods to save the city.

Sure, he was right, but Damian chewed him a new asshole as soon they met for trusting complete unvetted strangers with the gods of creation and destruction.

And now Marinette had finally managed to leak to Tim, who then spread the calculated slip of information to Bruce, that Paris had had a supervillain for the past few years and the JLE had been neglecting their jobs. Which turned into Batman setting up a meeting with Ladybug and Chat Noir (Damian had tried to tell everyone his name was Chance Noir, Dark Luck, NOT ‘chat noir,’ since the last thing he needed was to be associated with Selina in any way. Nobody listened, and now he was stuck with being called Chat Noir). They had a lovely discussion about all the shit Hawkmoth did, their lack of resources, and the lack of assistance/straight up refusal to believe their word that came from the JLE.

Which led to Batman inviting Ladybug to meet the Justice League to debrief on the Paris situation. Damian had been invited as Chat Noir, but had taken the smart path and opted out. Now Marinette had to not only go to the Justice League as Ladybug, but also as Batman's daughter Hummingbird, who was being brought in for consultation along with Damian as Robin.

“I’m gonna die again,” Marinette continued her catastrophizing, Tikki and Plagg sharing a glance at once another from their spot on her writing desk. “I’m gonna die of total embarrassment. Don’t bother resurrecting me Dami, I’m just gonna die all over again once Dad finds out who we are and kills me.”

Damian snorted. “Hah. Father killing anything, good one,” he snarked back blandly. “You’ll be fine. Remember, you’re the planner and I’m the one with actual skill. You have the strangest ability when it comes to getting out of situations like these by the skin of your teeth,” Damian grinned at something on the screen of his Switch before continuing. “You’ll be fine. And if you sell me out, I’ll bury you myself.”

Marinette stuck her tongue out at him. Neither of them wanted their dad to find out that they were LAdybug and Chat noir, especially since they had already explained to him the basics of the source of their powers. They were both certain that Bruce would completely ignore how well they had been handling the situation on their own for almost five years and jump straight to the “my murderous children should not be left with the powers of destruction and creation at their fingertips,” line of thought. Bruce had never trusted them alone before, why now?

“At least help me, shaqiq?” Marinette asked, walking over and plopping onto the ground next to her bed, so she could look straight into her twin’s bright green eyes. At first, he refused to even look at her, completely unmoved. Marinette hummed mischievously, a habit that was the source of her Gotham codename. “If I go down, I’m taking you with me.”

Damian finally huffed, scowling. “Fine.”

He knew better than to doubt her. Marinette always got her way when she decided she was wronged and needed to even the score for something. Always.

—* — * — * — * — *

Hummingbird. The smallest Bat, by far, and the fastest when it came to natural speed. Hard to spot, with the sole giveaway that a short playful hum could be heard if she thought she had her prey cornered. She was hardly ever wrong.

She had also been temporarily retired as she and Robin moved to some undisclosed location to get away from the vigilante life for a while. Or so Batman said. And for the most part, aside from the occasional League gathering here or glimpse that they got of the two’s civilian personas if someone visited the manor while they were there, Robin and Hummingbird stayed retired. Heroes who knew them wondered if Robin had finally given up and settled down somehow, if he was even capable of it. And they all speculated that Hummingbird was so scarred from Robin’s death that she wouldn't ever be able to leave his side again, retired or not.

Seeing Hummingbird in her navy blue and black uniform, almost identical to her brother’s but for the thick navy blue scarf that covered her neck and lower face, everyone in the Justice League who knew her thought they were right. She stood there, older and only a little taller, never leaving Robin’s side as they traded secretive glances and hand signals only they understood. They didn’t make any attempt to stray from one another’s side.

But Jon Kent, superboy and Damian’s oldest friend, was of a different mind. He had been by Marinette’s side after Damian died, and by both of theirs when he was brought back. This was not the same terrified dependence he had seen back then. His eyes narrowed.

The twins were scheming, and nobody else would notice until it was too late.

Quicker than they could blink, he was by their side with his trademark smile. “Hey guys! Long time no see!”

They gave the half-kryptonian identical deadpan expressions, sighing in tandem. “You facetimed us last night. And you flew to Paris to visit us last week,” Damian pointed out with a raised eyebrow. “Despite us expressly telling you not to.”

Jon shrugged. “If I listened to everything you two said all the time, we’d never have any fun. So, excited to meet this Ladybug girl? Dad says that your dad won’t tell him anything about her until she shows up.”

Hummingbird and Robin traded looks before Marinette answered. “Not really. We see Ladybug in action in Paris all the time—”

“She even saved Marinette from an Akuma who was obsessed with wanting to date her,” Damian interrupted with an insufferable grin. Marinette elbowed him hard, making her brother wince before chuckling at her red face.

“I could have saved myself just fine! It’s not my fault we have to lay low, or we might get kicked out of Paris for being past vigilantes!” Marinette argued, voice high as she protested how helpless Damian had made her sound. She puffed her cheeks out in annoyance. Damian’s grin widened into a predatory smirk that showed off teeth.

“Oh? What about that one time that Tsurugi got akumatized, and Chat Noir had to save you because she wanted to duel you for the right to date me and you were cornered?”

Marinette growled, throwing up her hands in frustration before smacking Damian’s shoulder angrily. He only laughed at her. “I’m leaving! Come find me when Ladybug finishes explaining the things we already know!” with that, a fuming and embarrassed Hummingbird stormed out of the room.

“Huh,” Flash remarked, leaning against the wall. “She looks a lot better than the last time I saw her. And she actually left your immediate vicinity. Willingly,” he remarked to Robin, who glared at the speedster.

“It’s been almost six years. If you think my sister is weak enough to be that thoroughly encumbered by the past for so long, you are greatly underestimating her,” he looked around to see almost all of the gathered League members staring at him. He grit his teeth and looked over at his father. “When is this woman going to arrive, anyway? You’d think she would actually be on time.”

Just then, a portal opened in the middle of the room and Ladybug walked through. Quickly shedding the brown costume that allowed her to teleport in, she was left in just her black and red-spotted combat suit. Seeing as they finally found out how to alter the costumes the Kwami gave them, Ladybug’s hair now sat in a braided bun on the crown of her head and her costume was made to look more like Nightwing’s with the ladybug symbol on her upper chest and between her shoulder blades on her back, with black gloves that reached up to her elbows and black knee-high boots with red stripes up the sides.

The brightly colored heroine smiled, seeming to light up the room with cheer that nearly put Jon to shame (it took her awhile to perfect that particular smile. She actually based it off Jon himself, and Damian was impressed by how accurate she had been able to make it over time. Not that he would say as much out loud).

That was when Diana started choking on thin air, and Damian and Marinette both realized that they had overlooked something rather major.

Hippolyta had been a Ladybug. Diana had met Tikki. Diana knew how to see past Tikki’s glamour.

At first, Ladybug tried to play it off. Maybe Diana would catch on and help her out. So she walked over, holding her hand out for Wonderwoman to shake and putting on another wide smile for good measure.

“Oh my Kwamii! It is so good to finally meet you, Wonderwoman, Tikki told me so much about you and your mother! Would you like to talk later—”

“Marinette Wayne, how in Zeus’ name did you become the new Ladybug?” Wonderwoman instantly yelled, making Marinette wilt. Damian tried backing away slowly, only for Diana’s eyes to then shoot over to him and narrow dangerously. “And you! I knew I felt something weird, but now I can pinpoint it. You are wielding the Black Cat! One of you explain what is going on. Now.”

Ladybug and Robin instantly looked away, getting ready to make a quick escape right as their father walked up behind Robin, putting a firm hand on his shoulders. As always when Batman smiled, it sent a shiver down everyone’s spine. Marinette gulped a little.

“I agree. Marinette, I forgot to tell you that we changed the locations of the League security cameras last night,” shit they were so busted. Bruce must have suspected them of something from the very beginning, stupid world’s greatest detective instincts— “But now that we have confirmed that my suspicions were correct, we can save that discussion for later. First, let’s debrief on the Paris situation like we agreed. Then, you two will explain why you decided not to tell me while you help each other clean the entire Batcave tonight.”

Damian didn’t open his hand for the entire meeting. He and Marinette made eye contact as soon as everyone sat down for a suddenly very uneasy debrief, silently agreeing that they would not let their father take away their Miraculous. They finally had names and reputations of their own, away from the Batclan and their father’s influence. They had learned more about themselves and what they were capable of in those past years as Miraculous wielders than in all the years of the rest of their lives combined. They wouldn’t give it up, not even for Bruce’s approval.

But when they got back to the Manor and began cleaning up the batcave as they had been ordered, they were surprised when Bruce made no mention of taking their jewelry back at all. And he stayed up with them, silently reviewing things on the Batcomputer as they cleaned. It could almost be considered family bonding.

By the time the twins were done cleaning the sun was about to rise, and finally their father spoke up for the first time since they had begun their punishment chore.

“I watched days worth of your Paris battles before going out to meet Ladybug and Chat Noir in person,” he said without ever turning around from his spot at the computer. “I was impressed. I still am. The teamwork was flawless, and the Parisian heroes never used deadly force. They even did their best to provide emotional support to the victims who were akumatized. I thought for sure at least one of you two would have been victims yourself, with all that you’ve been through. Anything can be a trigger for you, anything can make you vulnerable to Hawkmoth,” Bruce paused to take a sip of coffee. He didn’t have to look at his children’s reflections in the face of the Batcomputer to know they were drinking in every word he said. He did anyway, allowing a small smile that they couldn’t see to form on his lips.

“I scoured through every akuma attack one by one, trying to find the one where one or both of you were the ones possessed. But I only found more reasons to be impressed by the heroes instead. By the time I was done looking through every scrap of video I could find, I had a feeling I knew who you were. Hearing your voices in person cemented it further, but I wanted video proof. So, knowing that Marinette would have forgotten about agreeing to accompany me to a JL meeting, I asked Ladybug to debrief us.”

“You had us from the start,” Marinette sighed, shoulders slumping. But Damian said nothing, eyes wide as he picked up on the nuances of what Bruce was saying that Marinette was too tired to catch on to.

“I’m proud of you two.”

Then, even Marinette froze. The twins had identical expressions of shock on their faces, and Bruce finally turned around to look at them properly. For a long while, the three of them only made silent eye contact as dozens of emotions flew through the air silently, but understood. Then Damian and Marinette straightened up just and silently. Damian nodded to his father, Marinette gave him a vulnerable little smile, and then they both backed out and went to head to sleep.

And once they were gone, Bruce sighed in content. Seems his meet-the-Justice-League plan worked out perfectly. He had finally managed to say something right to his two most troublesome children, for the first time. He leaned back in his chair, gazing up at the dark bat-infested cave ceiling as one more tiny grin played on his face, a little melancholy this time.

Guess they never needed him to help them find their inner hero, after all. They had become even better at the whole hero thing than he was, and all on their own. Bruce closed his eyes, not noticing when Alfred draped a blanket over his body and left the Cave with a soft chuckle.

--*--*--*--*--*

This sucked, but I wanted to give you guys something. So. here you go I guess?

#maribat #b!dbwm2020 #b!dbwm #bio!dad bruce wayne #Platonic daminette #sibling daminette #Damian as Chat Noir #mlb x dc #ml x dc #Miraculous ladybug X DC #idk what happened don't yell at me #another one-hour fic

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