#so hes Gotham funny but that means nothing in the real world | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

arkhamsrevenge · 2 years

Text

Lost and Resurrected Pt. 2

A little while later, Jason and I were still walking away from the house of Al Ghul.

“Alive.” Jason finally whispered.

“Yeah. Yeah, we both are.” I whispered back.

“No, no, the Joker’s still alive. He killed me and he’s still alive to murder and maim and hurt others. Why didn’t Batman...why didn’t...”

“Why didn’t Batman kill the Joker? He hasn’t any other time the Joker killed someone.” I said softly.

“I’m different. I was Robin.” HOLD THE PHONE WHAT?!?!

“You-I-UH what?” I stuttered. Jason stopped walking. “You’re..you were Robin so that means you personally knew Batman. And Batman is Bruce Wayne.” I can’t believe I didn't put that together sooner. Shit. Jason nodded slowly.

“How’d you put that together?”

“I know you’re the boy Jason Todd who died in a bombing in Ethiopia caused by The Joker.” I answered.

“Who are you?” Jason asked. I blinked, realizing we never got far introduction wise.

“Y/N L/N.” I answered. “Wait. Elliots kid?” I nodded. “You’re the daughter of Thomas Elliot the world-famous doctor.?” I nodded again. “You’re supposed to be dead.” I smirked. “So are you.” Jason shook his head.

“Fuck. This is nuts. Do you remember what happened?”

“Uh, no. I remember my dad calling to me and then nothing. I woke up in the pit, then I was next to you.” I lowered my eyes.

“Huh.” Then Jason kept walking. I followed him, like a lost puppy. Where was I supposed to go? Suddenly Jason stopped and turned back around. “I have no idea how to even tell you this, but your father is dead. Shot by the Joker after he abused an Oprea.” Jason’s vomit left me speechless. How long have I been dead? My father’s now dead? Why wasn’t I crying or breaking down? What’s wrong with me?

“How do you know?” I asked calmly. Jason’s eyes were burning into me waiting for a bigger reaction.

“I-was there. Next to Bruce Wayne.” I blinked, hello? Why aren’t I sad?

“They were childhood best friends.” I stated. Jason seemed to be waiting, for a tear, a sob, anything.

“Yeah.”

“Huh.” I mimicked Jason’s cool tone from earlier then started walking again. Jason soon followed behind me.

“Where are we going?” Jason asked.

“I don’t know to be honest.” I answered.

“Are you ok?” Jason’s tone was odd, like he was sort of freaked out. I stopped to face him.

“Uh, yeah. I’m...good.” I said smiling. I felt pretty good, free.

“Really?” Jason grabbed my shoulders hard, bringing me close. “Because I just flat out told you that your father is dead and you’re smiling.” He said through his teeth. His grip was stronger than before and HURT. But still, I wasn't upset or felt scared. Just nothing. “Yeah. As I said, I’m good.” I blinked not knowing what else he wanted. Jason studied with me a bit more. “You’re gonna leave bruises.” I finally said after a couple of minutes of silence. Jason let go instantly. Like I was the one hurting him.

“Sorry. I just...I’m angry right now.” I shrugged.

“You have every right to be. Batman’s supposed to protect people. Protect you and when he didn’t. He could have at least killed the Joker. I mean, he killed you, his Robin.” Jason’s eyes met mine.

“Batman never did care about his Robins anyway. I think I know why I was brought back.” I tilted my head. “I’m back to do what must be done. I’m going to kill Batman. I’m to kill the myth of him as well.” Jason growled.

“Funny thing about a myth. It wasn’t real to begin with.” I said my eyes were brightening. Jason thought for a second, his brow furrowed. He swallowed and opened his mouth like he wanted to say something but was hesitant.

“I’d like to help.” I said, taking his anxiety away a bit. Jason relaxed his brow.

“OK.” I smiled again.

“OK.” I stretched out my hand to Jason. He took my hand into his. He’s still cold. His hands felt like ice.

“OK Y/N, keep up. You’re in for a hell of a ride.”

Jason took me back to Gotham City where he is currently in a ridiculous-looking black wet suit attaching a bomb to the Batmobile. I watched, ready with the detonator in hand. Jason was going to give a signal when he was all set and out of range. He attached the bomb successfully and slunk away. I watched him like a hawk. He perched himself a couple of feet away from my hiding spot. Batman appeared and got into his Batmobile. My thumb sat on the trigger; eyes focused on Jason. Waiting for him to give me the signal. My heart pounded in my ears, my lips were dry, and my eyes were starting to sting from not blinking. Afraid I’d miss the signal, but it never came. Jason just kept staring at the Batmobile. Eventually, it drove away. I molded into the shadows as Jason made his way back over to me. Without a word he took the detonator and started walking away. I followed a few inches behind him. Soon we entered our safe house. 2 bedrooms, one bath, and a small kitchen. All founded by Talia.

“It’s not what you guys think.” Jason finally said his back hunched, hands gripping the sink. “I didn’t lose my nerve.” Talia appeared behind me, her eyes flickering to me and then back to Jason. “I just...it would have been too easy.” I breathed out a laugh.

“You want more.” Jason faced Talila and me. “You want more, yes?” Jason closed his eyes and nodded. “So, let’s take more than just the myth. Let’s take the city, the wealth, the crime. EVERYTHING. Watch him watch his city turn on him, then end him. That part you do yourself of course.” I added. Jason opened his eyes and a ghost of a smirk appeared.

“You’re nuts. But right. I want all that and more. Will you help me?” Jason asked.

“Me or Talia?” I questioned. Jason paused for a moment.

“Both.” I turned to Talia.

“Of course,” she stated, lowering her eyes. I didn’t know it then, but she would tell me later that at that moment she realized she had released a curse upon this world.

Talia paid for us to spend time with this German named Egon. He’s a hit make for hire with...side hustles let's say and drinks the same gross ass cherry energy drink all day. Wonder how this guy sleeps but anyway, he refused to teach me because I’m a woman but at night when everyone's asleep, Jason teaches me everything. I also...stole some books from Egon. He has a lot of books on the mystic arts. Heaven knows why but during the day when Jason is training, I teach myself magic. There’s some dark shit in here but hey, this will give us an advantage. So, I read practice, and learn all I can. I even wrote all my shit in code that only I read just in case some of Egon’s guys go snooping. One of them already tried something with me. It was late, Jason was asleep, just came back from getting x-rays of his ribs, they were broken but I fixed them. He just needed to sleep off the wave of exhaustion that took over him after he was finally not in pain, though he tried to hide it from me. I had walked to the bathroom, usually, Jason would have been with me as he insists on doing so, (I don’t know why concerning he doesn’t care if I die but whatever). Anyway, I was walking back when a man whistled at me. I ignored it when,

“It’s not polite to ignore someone,” I remember picking up the pace a bit more annoyed if anything. “Hey, bitch. I’m talking to you!” This guy roared and grabbed me by the throat, pinning me against the wall. “I haven’t been this close to a woman long.” His breath reeked of tobacco. “And you won’t get this one.” I sneered, I raised my hand and grabbed the one holding my throat. It broke instantly. The man screamed in agony on his knees. I grabbed his jaw and snapped that too. “Now you can’t use this dirty mouth for a while.” And then I left him there, screaming. Jason had woken up from the noise, noticed I was gone, and met me just before I entered our room. He was about to yell at me when his eyes caught something on my neck. I bet that jackass left a mark. Oh well. “Yes?” I questioned. His eyes slowly looked back up at mine. He then moved aside and let me walk into our shared room. I was headed for my bed when Jason caught my wrist. He closed the door behind him and locked it. Jason’s hand moved from my wrist to the top of my back, the other clicked the light switch above us. He then slowly bent me backward; taking his free hand and placing it behind my head. I was confused at first but then realized he was trying to look at my neck more closely but didn’t want me to stain it by looking up. I didn’t dare move, but we stayed like that for a couple of seconds until he brought me back up again. My eyes never leaving him, I wondered what on earth was going through his head. Then, then, he did something even odder, he took the hand that was resting on the top of my back and started to trace all over my throat.

“Does this hurt?” Jason’s voice was quiet. We’ve been here 3 months and never once had he acted like...this. Whatever this is. I stepped away from him slowly. Taking his hand in mine and placing it by his side.

“No. I’m good. Go back to sleep, you had broken ribs today.” Jason was about to say something when I clicked the light back off. But that morning, Jason was Jason again. Scoffing at me reading all the “magic bullshit” books that LITERALLY healed his ribs not too long ago. He complained like always at the end of the day when I asked him to teach me everything, he learned that day. Even though Jason constantly told me I was a pain in his ass, he never went to sleep without knowing I mastered everything he had.

“Hey, Princess,” Ah and yes Jason started calling me ‘Princess’ cause I’m cooped up all day reading like I’m locked in a tower. I closed my book and looked up at him.

“Yeah?” I called back.

“We gotta go.” I blinked

“Why?”

“Egon’s running a child trafficking ring and we gotta catch up to the truck he has with all the kids in it and then kill him.” Jason explained. I sat there for a second, then raised my hand, and instantly all our things were packed up.

“OK, lead the way.”

#jason todd imagine #jason todd x you #jason todd #jason peter todd #red hood x y/n #jason todd x reader #red hood imagine

63 notes · View notes

ze-lda-waave-64 · 2 years

Text

LMuch like in real life I would imagine that the Joker is viewed largely as misunderstood and is even considered good by a lot of people, he is like the first ever celebrity serial killer because his crimes are largely hidden from the public and he is viewed as largely unaccountable for his actions he is largely considered the most unaccountable for his actions by Arkham asylum though also the most difficult to rightfully deal with. I can't really stand the whole creepy monster movie serial killer thing he would be kind of like Jared letos joker but he wouldn't wear shorts, have tattoos or be so trashy.

A few times he kills people publicly in public and nothing happens, he becomes like this famous Andy Warhol type figure except he is a serial killer and criminal, he probably is an artist I kind of imagine. I also imagine he is very good st leading and getting people to follow him, he has kind of like a cult celebrity following at one point he does kind of become a famous celebrity in Gotham.

While he is not necessarily a physical threat i would imagine he almost is super human in that he has this kind of super sanity ability which makes him hyper conscious and aware of everything that is happening he is able to think really quickly and put together plans or connections on the fly right away and is really good at using weapons and knives, usually has a cache of really dangerous machine guns, weapons, rocket launchers and even flame throwers. I don't know if he is really comedic though he doesn't try to outright be funny, his whole motif is that he finds comedy in the harsh cruelty of life and due to him being a nihilist, is why he is kind of insane. Well, he basically is insane in some way though it'd hard to stay at times. No one knows his true past or former identity and life.

I would imagine that like Marilyn Manson he does speak on podiums at times and gives speeches, appears at public events and even music videos and the like.

He as a result I'd very glamorous at times and always has a big entourage of criminals and lackeys with him most of the time.

I think Harley Quinn would almost be like Katie Holmes at first she is starting struck and comes to idolize the Joker and becomes his first go to criminal psychologist and warden.

I imagine also he had above average hand eye coordination, and can be a threat for example because sometimes he works around the clock and doesn't sleep at all very much and isn't effected by this, he can be brutally efficient if he wants to be. Due to Batman opposing the Joker he garners a lot of negative attention. Joker lots the attention and drama that facing Batman creates and gives him meaning in his otherwise nihilist world view spiraling out of control (that's kind of his whole thing he spirals in and out of control in and out of sanity at all times)

4 notes · View notes

adcfan · 3 years

Text

WARNED

He could clearly tell from the slightest wrinkle of irritation adoring the top left of her pale forehead that she is beyond annoyed. How could he blame her? After all it was him who lured the bird out of its comfortable nest in the middle of a tough night. From the height he could perceive the darker shades of her shadows dancing along the way she traced making him more curious to explore the limit of the demon’s braveness.

The edges of his lips pulled up to carve an honest smile as his eyes momentarily rested on the dagger resting against her waist that he once offered her in the middle of a battle, a year ago.

With a loud thud he made his presence noticeable startling her to the core in the process. His armor blazed a bright shade of jade green, bathed in the late moonlight that managed to get the taste of his attire. His eyes searched hers involuntarily, seeking to find any glimpse of game she or the titans might have planned to play on him. But all he could find was curiosity.

Curious? Is she really curious?

“So, you decided to show up in the middle of a young, wanting night, far from your protective shell behalf of a demons’ call”. If it wasn’t for the mask he is wearing, she could see the imperceptible grim plastered over his face with ease. “And here I thought ravens aren’t creatures of the night”, his brows made a childish hunch testing her temper further more than she could actually take.

“What do you want?”, her voice remained cold as she tried her best to control all the urge to take him down on the very spot. His cape danced in unity with her robe as he approached her a little more without her noticing for a very long second. “Aren’t you forgetting a very special day, beloved?”. And that was definitely a hint of sadness that was sprinkled all over the Al Ghul’s tone.

Right, as if he could actually feel sad over anything with all the blood in his hands.

“I am not in for a game, Al Ghul. I have got a whole city to save and a good night’s sleep to resume, but here I am, in the middle of an abandoned area with a ruthless assassin who threatened to explode the best half of the city and what’s next? Seizure?”. Almost a devilish chuckle escaped his lips as if he had conquered the entire world.

“Oh for gods shake, little bird. Do you really think I will abandon the best of all nights in Nanda Parbat to blast a worthless city like Kansas?”, now he is definitely getting on her nerves. “But I must say, I had half a mind to blow the Titans bridge five minutes ago”, his all time devilish smile still painted his arrogant look. Raven barely recognized how Damian managed to corner her against the cold wall whose uneven surface pressed itself against her flawless skin dripping it with the night’s best dew.

“I am not asking you again, Ra’s. Tell me what you want with me before I banish you into a dimension of never return”.

“You hurt me, beloved. Don’t you remember the anniversary of our marriage?”

Married? With him? A year ago?

“If this is some sort of silly joke, you better stop it right now, Ra’s. It’s definitely not funny.”, her voice trembled with doubts by each passing second. She lingered over her left ring finger as if she has seen her own hands for the first time in all her life. No ring? Well that’s a relief.

He is just kidding or may be…

Or may be not

“Do I look like one who makes senseless jokes like the green monkey your tower owns”.

Thanks to Gar, at least his pride is hurt a little.

“I didn’t say that, but if you insist on it… I may”, and she sure as hell liked hurting his weak point - his pride.

“Then how about I insisting on maintaining a decent distance between Conner and you, beloved”, for the first time in almost half an hour his words had the true taste of jealous.

“You are my wife and it is my business to keep flirty hybrids like him away from you. Well, if you don’t have to do it the easy way then I will have the pleasure of teaching him decency in my own way, beloved”. Is the night getting unnaturally warmer or…

Oh no! When did he get this closer to her.

And how the hell she didn’t notice it for this long.

If not for the pitch dark night sky, she could actually feel herself blacking out.

“If it is Conner the one you have your problems with then why the hell did you make me come here?” To reveal that she may be married to the Ra’s of League of Assassin’s a year ago? Probably, yes.

“I thought you would never ask. Let’s say I am here to get a gift”

Right, she barely knew that she got married and now he wants a gift in the middle of a night?

“I don’t have a ring”, the words spilled out even before she could realize it.

May be she lost her brain just like Beast Boy.

“I don’t think it is mandatory for a married couple have to propose during anniversaries, beloved”, his breath flowed through her entire being warming up all her dark desires that might love to make him hers and only hers even if…

Stop. Stop right there Raven.

“I mean, I don’t even have a ring and how could I be your wife when I don’t even have a ring”

Way to go Raven, what’s next a Priest?

“The dagger, Raven. It means a sealed bond in my heritage. A bond made between a husband and a wife, which you willing took to save the pathetic Titans a year ago in the League of Shadows base.” His voice grew more husky and his breathe drove her senses away as he nibbled at her ear lobe. She was supposed to be mad, she was supposed to blast him to pieces and scatter every inch of his being at different dimensions for revealing something as important as being married, but his tone - well, that’s definitely not helping.

“What now? You want me to quit being a Titan, take sides with you and go against them?”

“Baby steps, beloved. Baby steps”. His left hand toyed with the hem of her dress, further breaking the already half broken control towards her urging needs that pooled in very being.

“Just a kiss and a promise to keep that coward Conner away from you will do”. She could feel the cold air of the young night kissing her wide spread pale skin that already missed the warmth touch of the assassin.

“And if I resist?”

“You really think you could resist me, beloved? Since it is our anniversary I will be generous enough to make another request”. His eyes grew darker with every words as his katana slightly battered against the cold wall.

“How about blasting the Titans tower to the ground while that stupid Gar and Jaime are trying with their half-celled brains to defuse the bomb or how about giving black fire all the 18 ways to kill Kori like a true assassin in the middle of their fight right now in Kansas or how about giving Slade Wilson the true identity of Dick Grayson and his fellow bat clan or how about letting Conner suffer in the hands of Bizarre Superman, left alone to die by a Kryptonite stabbing.” He hummed the last few parts as he withdraw from the spot he previously stood.

“On second thought how about all of the above?”

“You are kidding. I would have received an alert signal at least if one of these is happening right now”.

“You mean this?” Damian raised a small communicator from his pocket still humming like an undisturbed teenager enjoying his long drive to no destiny at all.

“Give it back”. She raised her hand trying to snatch the communicator but in vain.

“Did I forget to mention that you have to be a grown woman to snatch a stuff, beloved”. His eye brow arched itself up.

That’s it. She could bear all of his sarcasms, all of his threats and even all of his flirts but not even for the shake of Azar would she let this damn Demon Spawn comment on her height and hurt her pride in nothing more than mere seconds. That’s not going to happen. Not today.

Raven rose to her tip-toes grabbing Damian’s collar to support her in the process but accidentally twirled their legs and slipped right on top of him. Their lips were locked like the mere existence of one depends on the other, when Raven realized the state she has put herself into.

Yeah, that’s how you snatch a communicator from a tall guy, who threatens to blast your whole family.

She would be cheating herself the entire time if she hesitated to accept that she did like the Demon’s head for a reasonably long time now. But she is definitely not going to let her pride get hurt.

“So, you got your gift. Now defuse the bomb and un-mess every mess you made”

“And all it took was calling you - short”. Damian let an almost an inaudible chuckle escape his throat.

He pulled out the dagger from Raven’s waist band and seethed it properly. “Don’t hurt yourself playing with this doll, beloved”.

“My team…”, Raven question was cut short by Damian as he spoke.

“They are safe. For now”

BOOM…

From the frequency of the sound wave she could say that it was near the Titans Tower.

“Well, except for one I guess”

With one last peck on her lips he disappeared into the shadows as if he never existed a few minutes ago.

Thank Azar!

There was not a single scratch on the tower. Not even one. At least he kept few of his words.

But the real horror stroke her when she felt no living presence inside the tower.

“Umm.. Rae what are you doing up late in the night?”, Dick asked as he and the other Titans entered the tower with handful of shopping bags. “You are all fine?”. She will never spell it out loud but deep down she knew that she couldn’t stand their loss. She blinked a few times to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

“Yeah, we are fine. It’s a little cold out there. But don’t worry we won’t catch a cold, Rae. If that’s what you are worried about”, Gar uttered with no care in the world as he glanced through the contents of the fridge.

“Where have you been?” was all she managed to ask when she realized that she wasn’t dreaming.

“We were out…”, Kori barely had a chance to finish when Raven added “Crime fighting?”

“Ah… shopping, Raven. I don’t think it is a custom on Earth to crime fight every time you step out into the public, is it Dick?”.

“Unless or otherwise you are in Gotham, no”, Dick replied as he loaded the fridge with the contents of the grocery bags.

“So, where is Conner?”, inquired Jaime as he entered the main hall. “Isn’t he in the tower?”, Kori added.

“There wasn’t anyone in the tower when I arrived”, Raven replied as a loud thud followed their conversation.

“Conner!”, Gar yelled as he reached him. The rest of the Titans followed by.

“What the hell happened dude?”, asked Gar as he tried to touch the bruise near his right eye.

“OUCH!”

“That’s just a small bruise, Conner. I have seen worse”, Dick replied while analyzing his wounds.

“And a broken wrist”, Conner added trying to rise his wounded hand but in vain.

“It’s just a minor injury, amigo. You will be alright as soon as the Sun’s back”, Jaime reassured him while attending to his wounds.

“Here, let me heal you”, Raven offered taking a step towards but the wound deepened as if it was being cut from inside out. Conner could barely resist the urge to break the table he sat on.

“Raven, is that a Kryptonite you are wearing?”, Dick pointed at the green stone that somehow perfectly settled around her neck.

“If that’s causing our flirty Superboy to yell like a mad man then it is definitely a Kent-repellent”, Jaime added.

“A kryptonite? Not again”, Conner banged his head against the wall as if that would make his day any better.

If you don’t have to do it the easy way then I will have the pleasure of teaching him decency in my own way.

“Raven, I know you mean no harm but I don’t think Conner could take any more kryptonite today. So, would you mind…”, Gar tried to get rid of the kryptonite that adorned her neck.

“Here let me try”, Kori flared a small star bolt which seemed to have no effect on it either.

“It seems you have to stay away from Conner for a few days until we find a way to remove that thing off your neck. By the way, it seems to have no effect on you Raven. You may leave, we will take care of Conner”

Seems like he played a particular demon played his part well at keeping Raven away from Conner.

Raven made a short nod and walked towards her room. In the background, she could clearly hear the boys filling Conner with questions about the attack.

“So, was it Bizarre the reason behind this?”, Dick asked as he finished cleaning the wounds.

“No, it was a masked man with a Katana”, Conner replied.

“And you - a bullet proof being got this from a Katana?”, Gar’s curiosity reached its peak when Conner made Kryptonian curses under his breathe.

“Stop touching my wound, Gar”

“You call yourself a super but you can’t stand a broken wrist” Gar arched both of his eye brows wanting for a genuine explanation.

“I have not even once been injected, Pea-brain” was all Raven could hear, when she disappeared into her own shadows.

- Samuel Damian Fernandez

Hi, everyone! This is just a one shot, not a great one but worth giving a try. Like I have mentioned before English is my 8th priority language. So, if you find faults in my work just let me know. Also, share your thoughts on this one shot, so I may get an idea for future modifications.

Punardarśaāya 😉 👋

#damirae #demon birds #rachel roth #raven #damian wayne #damian x raven #teen titans #damian al ghul #dc #bat family #demon of azarath #raven roth #damian #damian al ghul wayne #evil au

106 notes · View notes

olivia-anderson-fanfic · 3 years

Text

Into The Unknown, Part 9

First

It was kind of weird how quickly they got acclimated to civilian life.

Sure, Marinette often came out of the day with way too much energy, but they could burn off most of it by sparring. A ten to twenty minute session a day (excluding warm ups and cool downs, which added another thirty minutes or so) was enough to maintain their physiques and get rid of the uncomfortable energy that came with the sudden loss of constant danger in their lives.

(Not that this Gotham wasn’t dangerous, but it was… markedly less so. The Rogues Gallery didn’t exist in this world, what with Batman not existing, so the only thing that they really had to fear was mob activities and the occasional mugging. As long as they kept their noses clean and never stopped to tell a person the time, there was no reason for them to be scared.)

Other than that… it was almost too easy to get used to the new life that they lived.

Marinette woke up first in the mornings for work and would take care of Damian while she got ready. Tim had baby duty for the nine hours a day she was at work and commuting, so it was the least she could do.

And, really, he wasn’t all that difficult now that she was starting to get the hang of the whole baby thing.

Damian was trying to mimic her -- anticipatory socialization, she was pretty sure it was called (Or was it imprinting? Observational learning? Damn it, her psych major was not coming through for her right then). She found it cute and it was completely normal so she was perfectly fine encouraging it: she had gotten him mini versions of all of her makeup brushes.

One time, though, this backfired on her: he had dipped one of the cheap makeup brushes she’d gotten him into her makeup when she wasn’t looking and applied it to his face.

Marinette glanced down -- he had been quiet for too long, never a good thing -- and gasped. “Dami, you can’t whitewash yourself!”

Damian looked up at her, eyes wide with confusion.

She tried not to pout because he might take it wrong. Why must her best jokes always come to her when no one was around to hear?

“Don’t touch the powder stuff, please. It's not for babies, it's for grown ups.”

Damian frowned and looked down at his brush. She gently took it from him and worked at getting the makeup out.

When she gave it back to him he still seemed a little sad.

She sighed and gave him a short hug. “I’m not mad. I promise. It’s just… not your color!”

(The real reason was that makeup is very expensive, but kids don’t really understand money so she needed an excuse.)

Damian was still a little pouty. She didn’t know what to do. Damn. She supposed that served her right. She shouldn't have dared to think that she was getting the hang of having the whole ‘having a baby’ thing.

She sighed and looked down at him for a few moments, thinking. He was sitting in the high chair they kept him in when both of them were too busy to hold him. Usually he would be swinging his legs back and forth like a toddler -- probably because he was a toddler -- but now he was remarkably still, green eyes wide as he looked up at her.

She glanced at the time. Damian had woken her up early that morning, so she had extra time to get ready…

Marinette pulled her phone from her pocket and checked the internet.

… hm. Makeup could be toxic to babies. Good to know.

She grabbed one of her makeup wipes and scrubbed it from his face. She’d make sure to tell Tim so he could look out for any rashes the kid might get.

Then, she pulled out a comb and started brushing the tiny curls on Damian’s head. There wasn’t much, so it was mostly just dragging against his scalp, but the kid seemed pleased so she kept doing that for a few minutes.

At one point, he tried to take the comb from her. She allowed it, figuring he wanted to try and brush his own hair, but then he reached for her.

She leaned down to take him out of the chair, she was mostly done getting ready anyways, but instead he started trying to brush her hair.

… oh.

She felt, strangely, like crying. Her kid -- sorry, this kid -- was just so cute.

… but she didn’t want to mess up her hair...

He made a vague whining sound and she was weak.

She could always fix her hair on the train or something, she supposed.

She hesitantly leaned down so he could brush her hair. “Fuck it? I guess?”

“Fuck it,” Damian said, giving a short nod.

She groaned internally. “I’m actually going to have to stop swearing, aren’t I?”

“Fuck it!” Damian said again, louder this time.

Her lips twitched. “You’re so right, Dami. Who cares about a few little swears?”

“I do,” said Tim, who was apparently standing in the doorway.

She yelped. She probably would have flinched away if Damian hadn’t managed to make a giant knot in her hair in the few seconds that she had let him touch it.

She turned and sent Tim a weak smile. “You’re up early.”

He rolled his eyes. “Please stop teaching him swears.”

“I mean… it’s kind of funny, though.”

“It’s not.”

Marinette groaned overdramatically and turned to look at Damian. “He’s such a stick in the mud, amiright?”

“Sti-in-mu,” Damian said, nodding.

Tim huffed. “I’m starting to think he likes you better.”

“As he should,” Marinette said. She picked up the baby and nuzzled her nose against his. “Who’s a smart baby? You are!”

Damian giggled and tried to nuzzle her back.

Tim hummed as he went around the apartment, sweeping the floors. He and Marinette had come to a kind of unspoken agreement: he would do the cleaning, and she would do the cooking. It was only fair, since Tim’s standards for cleanliness were higher than hers and she was the only one out of the three people there that was physically capable of cooking an edible meal.

(Yes, he was aware that he was comparing his cooking skills to that of a baby. It was accurate, okay?)

Damian crawled along after him. He was trying to help, Tim was pretty sure, swatting the floor behind where Tim was cleaning...

Tim smiled. Maybe he should get the kid some fake cleaning supplies like Marinette had done with all of her makeup brushes. Would he like that? Only one way to find out, he supposed. He found the grocery list and wrote it down.

When he turned back to where he had left Damian -- which, he reminded himself, he shouldn’t be doing, because the kid was surprisingly fast when it came to trying to get himself killed -- and found the kid…

Holy shit.

He was walking.

Tim watched with a bright smile as Damian struggled to his feet and took a few steps towards him.

It didn’t last long. Damian had only really managed about three steps before he fell back to his knees and crawled the rest of the way. But…

Tim made a slightly embarrassing squealing noise in the back of his throat and leaned down, scooping the baby up in his arms and hugging him close. He couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off of his face.

“Look at you! Walking! Oh my god! Oh my god oh my god oh my god!”

Damian was blinked up at him in wide-eyed confusion.

Tim leaned forward and pressed a kiss to the top of the kid’s head and refused to pull back until he had calmed down a little.

He smiled down at his younger brother, who looked delighted at the attention but also very confused as to what was going on.

He looked around until he found Kaalki, who had been on his phone doing… horse things? God things? Who cares?

“Please tell me you took a video of that.”

“Nope. I did get a picture of you kissing his forehead, though.”

Tim huffed a little. “Delete that.”

“Too late. Already sent it to Marinette.”

Even this wasn’t enough to dampen his mood.

And Tim knew that the fact that Damian was walking had almost nothing to do with him, but he was proud, damn it. Or maybe the better way of saying it was that he was happy for the kid? He didn’t know, he had always been terrible with emotions. It was a good emotion, though, that much he was sure of.

He kissed Damian’s forehead again and smiled when the baby giggled at him and reached out, smushing his cheeks in his hands.

“Hello,” Tim struggled to say with the baby hands pressing in on his face.

“Nano,” Damian said.

“Close enough,” he said. “Want to watch some TV to celebrate?”

Damian nodded vigorously. Tim wondered, vaguely, if the kid understood what he was saying or if he just kind of gave answers when he knew that Marinette and Tim were asking him things.

Didn't matter. Tim would put on that one weird show with the talking cat that Damian liked and they could watch that until Marinette got home.

And, when she did, she practically ran over. She didn’t even take off her shoes, a sure sign that she was excited.

Damian looked away from the TV and smiled. “Mar-ree.”

Marinette’s mouth dropped open for a second… and then curled into a bright smile.

“You’re so… cute!” She cooed. “Yes! Hi! Good to see you, Dami!”

Tim pouted, slightly jealous.

She seemed to notice because she stuck her tongue out at him. “You got to see his first steps and I didn’t. I deserve this.”

He disagreed. The pout on his face remained until Damian saw and twisted around in his lap, leaning up and wrapping his arms around his neck in a kind of hug. Because it was kind of hard to stay sad when he was doing that.

He hugged the kid back for a few moments and then drew back, planting a kiss on his nose.

Marinette hesitated.

“Can I… have him for a few minutes? I want to see him walk.”

Tim considered this.

Then he smiled. “Only if I can take a video.”

“I would have made you do it, anyways,” she said.

Tim chuckled softly and handed the baby over so they could take the video.

She slipped into the apartment after a long day of work.

Tim was fluffing the pillows, apparently out of apartment to clean.

Damian looked up from the pillow he was hitting at the sound of the door clicking closed, and he seemed to light up. He grabbed Tim’s hand with one hand for his attention and pointed at her excitedly with the other.

“Nano! Yanzur! Mar-ree!”

“Yeah, that’s Mari,” Tim agreed.

Marinette flexed her feet now that they were out of the god-forsaken heels that she had been wearing.

“Hi, Dami. How was your day?” She asked.

Damian didn’t understand the question and certainly didn’t know enough words to respond, but he seemed sated by the acknowledgement of his existence. He slowly slid off of the couch and started his way over to her.

Marinette smiled faintly, amused. She looked over at Tim while she waited for him to get to her.

“So… he told you to look at me, that I get… but what is a ‘Nano’?”

“That’s what he’s calling me now, I think,” Tim said, slightly flushed.

She blinked. “That… isn’t even close to your name.”

“I know,” he said, shrugging helplessly.

Her lips twitched. “Maybe he’s calling you short.”

Tim threw the pillow he had been fluffing at her.

She let it hit her -- it was a pillow, it wasn’t like it would hurt -- and then stuck her tongue out at him. “Don’t blame me! I’m but an innocent bystander in this! He’s the one that did it!”

Damian tugged on the fabric of her shirt. She looked down, a grin still on her face. He made grabby hands and she obliged with ease, picking him up and nuzzling her nose against his.

Then, her eyes sparkled with mirth.

“Tell me, Dami, is Tim short?”

Damian looked between the two of them. Marinette was nodding and Tim was shaking his head vigorously.

“... shor!”

Marinette burst into a fit of giggles while Tim groaned.

“I hate you.”

Her amusement didn’t die down in the slightest. “Oh, if you hate me, then I guess I’m only making food for Dami and I. Hope you didn’t eat all the leftovers for lunch today...”

“Wait, Mari, let’s talk about this --.”

~~~~~

@unoriginalmess @hammalammadamdam @astrynyx @laurcad123 @927roses-and-stuff

#the nano thing is an actual thing that happened to me #i still dont know how my sibling came up with that #my real name is even further away from nano than olivia is #into the unknown #maribat #timinette #timari #timmari #shutterbug #tim drake #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #red robin

92 notes · View notes

batarangsoundsdumb · 3 years

Text

guess fucking what? my inbox is so fucking full right now i'm unloading all of this shit in one post.

For the 11th gotham memes: gothamites react to bruce being jacked in a tiktok he made with kids, like super yoked, ripped as hell

fucking hilarious thanks. i think i did it in one meme post, but i genuinely don't remember which one

i dunno which of the batfam would do this but one time i was sleeping over at a friends house and ended up on the floor bc the bed was so very small and i just stayed there because the rug was soft

that's a drunk jason move i don't know what to tell you

tim and jason are "i listen to pop punk" solidarity. whenever jason highjacks the batmobile theyll go on long ass car rides blaring mcr and paramore and then never talk about it again

as they should!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! tim: no jason it's my turn using the aux cord i gotta put on my jams jason: don't you dare put on weird shit tim: don't worry, you're gonna love this *plays fearless (taylor's version)

hear me out hear me out, red hood stans 🤝 nightwing stans t h i g h s

holy shit yes.

SNL au: Bruce breaks character when pretending to superman and says something like "I'm not superman! You've seen his gps!! It's from 2001!!!" @sabeanybabe

superman flies past the snl building the next day just to say 'actually it's from 2005, i'm not a heathen'

does your back hurt from carrying the batfam fandom

it hurts more from the exotic rock collection i keep in my backpack, but thanks for the concern.

I love your posts by why would you always leave the best parts in the tags?

as a treat for the people that check the tags ;) (and also because i'm committed to the short post aesthetic)

somehow your playlist was everything i never knew i needed. i mean it. this is my new favorite playlist.

and don't you dare get a new favourite playlist!

babe ur stoner tim playlist is exactly too perfect, earth is literally blessed by ur existence

babe thanks so much! i love my stoner tim playlist because it's just my usual playlist but people think it's an artistic choice that i put taylor swift and britney spears in there, when it's just what i unironically like listening to

JANDKSKDK BILLY RAY CYRUS ON THE STONER TIM PLAYLIST I LOVE IT IT

again it's not even an ironic choice, i know every single word and i genuinely like the song

The last chapter of Fundamentals of Casework has me crying at work. Thanks I love it @dudelookitsalesbian

oh babe, i'm sorry, but also, not sorry i love chapter 4 so much it's my lovechild with the 'mental illness' tag

soooo....stumbled on your tumblr by some stroke of fate??? read your DC fanfic first. which is PHENOMENAL btw. then found all the batmemes; the funniest thing EVER bc everyone forgets about regular old gothamites. kept scrolling and your blog pops up as recommended. clicked on the ao3 for shits and giggles and waddaya know?!?!? it's YOU!!! you're LEGEND!!!! ever seen that meme? it's a video of a cat that got into a baseball field and the two announcers get really invested in his escape attempt and start giving a play by play of the cat instead of the game. memeable moment: "GREAT stuff from the Cat!!!"

i seriously think about this ask every single day and it's so fucking funny to me that i've never seen the meme you're referencing, but i still find myself going 'GREAT stuff from the Cat!!!' whenever i see something funny. but wow i'm glad you liked this steaming pile of garbage

Fav dc character overall? And fav batfamily character?

don't ask me to pick between the loves of my life, but i can tell you i've cried about every single batfamily member and also wally west (my beloved)

What's your opinion on fans having a problem with batfam being "too big"? And some even claim that batfam is just "Bruce Alfred Dick Damian" and the rest of them are just "friends and allies" (source: reddit) Personally, I like batfam because of this reason but idk

stupid. a family can never be too big. i'm not that big a fan of like huge batfam stuff with everybody from every single universe, because as much as it's funny for bruce to have like 30 kids, it just feels a little too OOC for me.

This is the best tag I've seen involving the batfam, thanks for thinking of it

This is canon now @nctxrejects

lmao yeah i think at that point alfred has had to sit through like at least a dozen coming out talks and just has a pride flag collection in the attic that he pulls out whenever a kid comes out

idk why batfam hits different as compared to any other superhero family

bc it's found family and usually the other superhero families are almost all genetically related in one way or another

I don't know if you watch the umbrella academy but I saw your last post about batcest and saw the similarities. But the thing is (although I think it's weird) in TUA, they addressed it by saying "they were raised as weapons, not siblings" or something along those lines, which is simply not the case with batfam.

yeah i watched tua but i also thought it was ridiculous and they still treated each other as siblings so i didn't like the luthor/allison thing, and am glad they stopped doing that shit bc it fucking sucked.

Hot take: Batcest shippers are the same people who believe adopted siblings are not actual siblings

smoking hot take: batcest shippers are the people who watch 'my sister got stuck in the washing machine' porn

Duke was adopted by Bruce?

not technically no, but do i, tumblr user batarangsoundsdumb, look like i care?

True story but I had to change my freaking name because it used to be "Damien" and most people would go "OH LIKE DAMIAN WAYNE" like please I'm just tryna live

true story, but i don't actually think of damian when i hear the name damian, literally the first thing that pops up is damian darkh like bruh what?

apparently dc comics company supported comic stores by giving out new titles and stuff during the beginning of the pandemic to help them run and I just think that's wholesome

ah yeah that's so fucking cool, still don't like dc, the company, because this world is a capitalist hellhole and we're all owned by warner brothers or disney with no in between.

ayo looking at tumblr head canons and finding out bruce is actually a terrible father is a punch in the gut

lmao yes, in like 50% of comics bruce is a terrible father and it gives me whiplash

oooh I just saw the jason todd vs winter soldier post and the real question is: batman vs iron man

while iron man has like hundreds of cases of armor, batman could throw out an emp and have the guy dropping out of the sky in 2 seconds.

dickfast = fastdick = quickdick = quickie

magnum hot take

hey bata(?) just thought I'd let you know I have copied the obnoxious emoji and Billy Ray post for use on simping men going forth

thank you 😘🌷 (@spacebarsidecar)

why would you do that to your followers???? i get why i did it, but why would you???

what is scarecrow made the nightwing funko pop himself, like those diy-ers that paint over other ones

oh god no, horrible take, horrible take, that's a disgusting thought oh no

I see your HC that Bruce and Oliver fucked and raise you this: Dick and Roy ALSO fucked

yes they did and it was a horrible moment for jason to find out dick has fucked both of his best friends

"at this rate bruce adds like 1 child to his family every decade or so" Duke is introduced in 2013, Damian as Damian, not as an unnamed child, in 2006. And he is already 14 years old, Robins rarely remain Robins after 16 😬 It looks like a new Robin and Batkid will appear in a couple of years

i mean i can't wait? but somebody will probably die first tho, we're due for another major character death. my money's on either cass or duke this time.

BRO you're so right all of your Bruce's ex headcanons are amazing but they aren't ships, that's kinda wild. Like I don't want any peeks into how their relationship was I just want to see everyone make fun of them

lmao YES it's just i love bruce being a slut, like good for him.

I am in love with your posts your honour thank you

omg thanks are we like,, gonna kiss now?

The justice league needs to have a meeting to discuss how many of their members/partners have slept with bruce. Because through a combination of cannon & fannon (if DC wasn’t homophobic) we have AT LEAST: 1) clark 2) lois 3) oliver 4) dinah 5) john

Thats not counting villains or random civilians @dudelookitsalesbian

yes yes yes, they'll have a yearly meeting about how many of their collective exes could be out for revenge and batman's list just keeps getting longer.

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

and what about it?

when steph's fighting livewire and she zaps her with lighting and nothing happens and then they both just. stand there awkwardly for a second and talk. yeah i couldn't stop laughing at that batgirl steph is the BEST

oh yeah that was fucking hilarious and i think it would be so cool and sexy of dc to give steph a little comic series,,, as a treat

Hi I absolutely adore all of yours "Bruce and Oliver very badly pretending they didn't fuck each other" memes

lmao i do too

I need you to know that “Bruce Wayne had frosted tips” is one of my favorite Bruce takes of all time it’s so galaxy brained. you’re right and you should say it

he also painted his hair blonde once when he was travelling and in conclusion, this is why he's being blackmailed by the gotham gazette.

you know my thing about gordon being branded as the only good cop in gotham is its a load of shit like arguably he's a good person and not working to screw people over or anything but the fact that he also works w. batman makes him a shit cop. like yea batman is better than the mob but its still illegal its still an abuse of power he just not making bank

babe, all cops are bad cops. (but yeah youre absolutely right, working with vigilantes makes you a shit cop, but also working against vigilantes just makes you an asshole cop yanno?)

ruh roh i think i’m about to add “so not yeehaw” every time i don’t like something

that's a very good vocabulary upgrade

somehow i feel like steph already knew. like babs obviously knew but i feel like bruce got high/drunk in front of steph and started telling his boarding school stories and steph was just like “oh you fucked up i’m never gonna forget this”

steph and bruce have weird uncle/rebellious niece dynamic and they just hang out sometimes and bruce will be like 'i once broke my arm when i tripped over a hedge when i was drunk so oliver drove me to the hospital on an electric scooter' and steph will just have to sit there with that knowledge in her head.

Hello I just wanted to tell you you are So right in all your steph opinions bc she is, in fact amazing and I think that's very sexy of you. Ps. Your Bruce/Oliver fic is hilarious

babe, thank you so much and yes steph is amazing and i love her and she deserves the world and she's the best member of the batfam hands down. also thanks

In Supersons we see a couple of kids that are implied to be Damian and Jon's children and the boy has laser eyes and can fly, so I asume he's not adopted. The girl, who calls Bruce grandpa, can also fly, btw. So it's canon (probably by accident) that Jon can have kids and he must have married one of Bruce's kids. (I'm hoping for Damian, mostly because any other of his children would be waaaaaaaaaaaaay too old.) @artemisa97

lmao that was probably an accident seeing as jon is a 17 year old superhero in the year 3000 (by the jonas brothers)

You know, I'm a die hard fan of your memes, but I gotta say one thing: if Gothamites actually took gas mask everywhere with them, then the Scarecrow would just be a weird dude in a weird costume, and not a villain oh so scary. DC really should just takes notes from you.

bold of you to assume there's no gothamite anti-maskers

How does it feel being the funniest person on this app?

horrible, next question.

I can't listen to Green Day or Billy Joel without thinking of your post about how Bruce got arrested at a Billy Joel concert @nightwings-kid

yeah that's your mistake, i on the other hand can't enjoy billy joel without thinking about the glee rendition of 'uptown girl'

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

superman: so what do you do in your free time? batman, thinking about the superman fanfiction he's writing on the batcomputer: i have no free time

bruce and oliver be like boyfriends to co-workers 401k (do the justice leagues get 401ks??? not that bruce and ollie would need them, but-)

lmao yes just 400 thousand words of bruce realising 'oh dip oliver is such a fucking dumbass' (also i don't know what a 401 k is but i assume they don't?)

Gothamites would totally boo superman as he saves Gotham while batman is out. @meenje

he's like 'okay think about that next time you want to be saved from an alien octopus'

I just took long break from dc comics and I come back to see ric grayson ??

i think it's very cool and sexy of dc to see dick and just think 'you know what? let's just give him a traumatic brain injury' and then didn't develop his character in any real way

SPEAKING OF RIC GRAYSON, gothamites making confused memes out of ric grayson is much needed

'dick grayson is my taxi driver? can anyone explain what the fuck happened he looks like an italian plumber?'

i hate to say it but batfam are def "marvel characters" in that sense they are characters who are human but become superheroes unlike most dc characters who are gods trying to be human maybe this is why I like batfam

fair enough

#this is only like half of it #but at least you can get like a few answers #yanno fuck it #bataranswers #ask #asks #anon

217 notes · View notes

gellavonhamster · 3 years

Text

ghost stories

Suicide Squad (2016) || characters: El Diablo feat. everyone else || post-canon, sort of a fix-it

ao3 link eng || this was first written and published on ao3 in Russian in 2016 but I didn't attempt to translate it into English back then.

Harley is the first to see him.

She catches the smell first. Something appears to be burning, and she checks cautiously if there is something wrong with the coffee machine. She doesn’t find anything suspicious – not that the appliances about to flame up smell like that anyway. Could it be that there’s a fire starting? That would be funny, but seems like there’s hardly a chance. It is the smell of a bonfire at the beach, of the fallen leaves being burned in the yards in fall, of a melting candle in the church; weirdly, all this at the same time. A smell that seems too pure for Belle Reve, for Gotham, for everything that makes up her life these days.

Harley looks around once again – and springs to her feet like she’s been stung.

Chato Santana is standing next to her cage.

“Diablo?” she whispers, unable to believe her eyes. She would’ve thought she’s lost her marbles if there were any left to lose.

“Harley,” says Diablo, and it’s his voice, his shy, sad smile, his eyes and his tattoos, and Harley squeals in delight as she rushes to him. The bars of the cage are live, so she only dares to stick out the tips of her fingers. He touches them with his hand – certainly alive, certainly not a product of her mind being tortured by boredom and monotony – and she laughs.

“You’re alive, alive, alive! How did you survive? And how did they let you in?”

“It’s a long story. And I don’t think I have much time,” Diablo looks guilty. He’s still holding her hand and looking at her so earnestly it’s almost worrying. “Harley… don’t go with him.”

“Huh? What do you mean, honey?”

“He’s coming here. Don’t leave with him, Harley, stay. It sounds strange, but this would really be for the best.”

“Don’t leave with whom?” she can’t follow him. He gives her a melancholic look – and suddenly disappears. Without any smoke or flames or any other special effects. She can’t wrap her head around how it happened – it’s just that he was here a moment ago, and now there’s no one beside her, and she’s reaching out towards nothing.

“Diablo?” she calls, and when she gets no answer, she decides to get things straight by asking the guards. What kind of cruel joke is this? Only one person is allowed to joke here, and that person is her. “Hello there! Mister jailer, yoo-hoo! Where’s my friend?”

No one is in a hurry to respond. Finally, one of the armed-to-the-teeth guards approaches the cage.

“Why are you yelling, lady?”

“Where’s my friend?” Harley asks petulantly. “He was here just now, and we didn’t finish talking. Where did you take him?”

“There was no one here.”

“What do you mean ‘no one’? I just talked to him!”

The guard examines her from head to foot. Looks like he’s chewing gum, which, combined with his empty apathetic stare, makes him look like a cow.

“Definitely crazy,” he sums up, and leaves. Irritated, Harley forgets to take caution, hits the bars and falls down on the floor right away, writhing in pain.

“Well, well, well,” she whispers, playing the recent events over in her head. Chato was very much corporeal – not a ghost, then. Yet the guards didn’t notice him, and then he vanished into thin air. Harley thinks about the being Chato transformed into by the end of the battle – an ancient one, as if straight from the walls of some Aztec temple. Could some petty bomb kill such a being? Could the Enchantress’s brother have survived too?

“I am friends with a god,” she informs the ceiling. “Incredible.”

About an hour later, her Puddin’ comes for her, and she forgets the advice Diablo gave her.

Croc sees him on the night of the same day. He knows for sure that it is night thanks to the TV listings – the only reference point for time and days of the week that he has. Not that it was bothering him too much, truth be told. Monday or Sunday, every day in Belle Reve is a carbon copy of the day before. However, Croc doesn’t complain. He has a roof over his head, water, food – even better food than he used to have in the sewers in days gone by – and a TV, and it is honestly not too hard to do without such extras as companionship and fresh experiences. Still, he is glad to see Diablo. Even though first he lunges at him with his fangs bared, because he doesn’t immediately recognize him and supposes that Waller and company are sick of feeding him and decided to kill him. Or to put someone else in his quarters, which would have been no less audacious.

“Croc, it’s me,” Diablo hastens to say, and lights up a flame over his left palm – so unusual and out of place in the dampness of Croc’s cell. Croc freezes and watches the flame for some seconds. That must really be Diablo; there are hardly many people in the world capable of such tricks.

“Hey, man,” Croc says. “Whatcha doing here?”

“Just checking up on you.”

Well, that must definitely be Diablo. Croc knows that there are hardly many people in the world who’d care to check up on him, but that sounds like something El Diablo would do. Back then, during the mission, he was friendly, asked “You okay?” after each skirmish, and could clap him on the shoulder without shuddering. And there are definitely even less people in the world that would touch him willingly.

“Did they just let you in like that?” wonders Croc. Diablo gives him a slight smile.

“They don’t know I’m here.”

“So you’re, like, a ghost?” Croc asks. It occurred to him from the very beginning, but it sounds particularly joyless when said out loud.

Diablo gestures vaguely. “I’m still figuring it out myself, to be honest.”

“Hmm,” Croc glances over his cell. A bag of food on the cot catches his eye. “You want a burger?”

“Nah, I’m good. Save it for yourself.”

“They’ll bring more today, I’m telling ya.”

“Then I want one.”

“Then you’re not a ghost,” grins Croc, and the fact that Diablo doesn’t flinch or try to look away also proves that this is the real Chato Santana, because most people don’t like seeing Croc smile.

And so he and Diablo, who kind of is a ghost but kind of isn’t, sit there eating burgers and watching some crap on MTV. Life has taught Croc not to be surprised by anything, so everything’s fine.

“So what happened after the bomb went off?” Croc asks. Diablo opens his mouth, and then closes it again, apparently at a loss how to explain.

“I was smoke,” he speaks finally. “Then I was flames. Then I became myself again.”

“I see,” Croc replies, although, of course, he can’t see shit.

“Who are you talking to?” comes the guard’s voice from behind the door. “Hey, scum!”

Croc puts the burger aside.

“Wait a bit,” he tells Chato, gets up, and heads for the door.

When he comes to the bean hole, the guard already looks like he regrets calling him.

“No one,” Crock smiles as widely as only he can, and the guard, who isn’t among the people able to watch him smile without blinking an eye, steps back reflexively. “But come inside, and I’ll talk to you if you wanna. How about that?”

When he turns around, Chato has already disappeared, and Croc could have assumed he has dreamed it all, but there are two half-eaten burgers on the cot, not one.

Digger sees him next, and he isn’t even amazed. The bastards keep drugging him with all sorts of shit to calm him down. Usually after the shot he just lies there, feverish, and can’t even move, let alone stand up, but who knows, perhaps they’re testing some new poison on him. Or they’ve started using something stronger because they noticed that a couple of hours after the usual stuff he’s already able to yell, bang at the door, and do everything he can to get the best of them while cooped up inside. Or it’s simply that there’s already so much of this shit in his blood that it’s impossible not to have any screws loose, try as he might to keep them in place. In any case, he’s not exactly shocked when, as he tosses and turns on the floor after another injection, he turns his head and sees El Diablo, large as life and twice as ugly.

“Fuck me sideways,” Digger says. He doesn’t have any energy to be mad yet. “I must be tripping.”

“You’re not tripping,” Diablo objects.

“You died. So I must be.”

“I didn’t die either.”

Diablo sits down cross-legged on the floor next to him.

“Has it crossed your mind that if you stop getting on their nerves, they might start treating you better?” he asks.

“Go to hell.”

“Message received.”

There’s a footfall outside; a whole bunch of people must be running somewhere.

“They’ve turned the entire joint upside down,” says Digger, because it’s been ages since he has spoken to anyone who’d at least pretend to listen, so a hallucination will do. “Blondie escaped.”

“I know,” Diablo replies gloomily. “I tried to warn her not to go with the Joker, but she didn’t listen to me.”

“Why warn her?” Digger asks. Harley Quinn is no bosom friend of his, but she kind of tore out the heart of the witch who kind of tried to end the world, and anyway, teammates probably should take interest in each other’s lives. Probably. He’s never really made sense of that teamwork stuff. “What’s he gonna do to her?”

“At best, what he always does.”

Two tiny figures of fire appear on Diablo’s open palm – a man and a woman. The man backhands the woman across her face, and she falls down. Digger watches the dancing flames with fascination, and meanwhile in his head, bit by bit, stroke by stroke, a plan starts to take shape. He wouldn’t be Captain motherfucking Boomerang if he fails to use any opportunity that turns up – even a ghost of one.

“Listen, mate,” he begins cajolingly. “If you’re really here and it’s not just me tripping… help an old friend out, won’t you? I’m fed up with being stuck here, you know.”

“I’m not gonna help you escape,” Diablo says calmly. “How do you imagine that would even happen?”

“Can’t you just burn the entire Belle Reve to the bloody ground?”

Diablo smiles.

“I can,” he admits. “But I won’t.”

The next thing he knows, the son of a bitch is gone without a trace. Anger and offence must be giving Digger strength, because he manages to leap to his feet. Like a lunatic, he thrashes around the cell, looking for at least some kind of proof that someone else was here a moment ago.

“Oi!” he shouts, knowing damn well that the guards have long stopped listening to what he has to say. “Grab the devil! A convict escaped! Hey, wankers!”

But he’s feeling lightheaded, and this shit must be really strong, and he collapses, badly hitting his head.

Tatsu sees him next – late at night, in her apartment. She’s a light sleeper, and wakes up as soon as she hears footsteps. The sword is close at hand, and she grabs it instantly, blade swishing through the air.

“Who’s there?” Tatsu asks, and then repeats in English. “Who’s there?”

There is nowhere to hide in her bedroom. The only furniture is the mattress and the pair of chairs she uses to hang her clothes on. Everything is on the floor or on the windowsill – weapons, her laptop, the book she tried to read before going to sleep but could not concentrate on. It is an ascetic, comfortless dwelling that does not look permanent and is not supposed to become so. Fate and Amanda Waller, though, seem to have other plans in this respect.

There is nowhere to hide in her bedroom – but someone’s definitely walking in the antechamber; she flings the door open – and sees El Diablo, standing by the entrance and looking around. In a blink of an eye Tatsu is next to him, and the blade of the Soultaker is pressed to his neck.

“Katana, it’s me,” Diablo says, unfazed. “Chato Santana.”

“Chato Santana is dead,” she says through her teeth. Chato Santana was a gangster who killed, albeit by a tragic accident, his own family – but she fought side by side with him, he sacrificed himself to save the world, he called their squad his family and died for them. That is enough for her not to let anyone use his name as a cover. “Who are you?”

“I’m alive,” Diablo replies. He puts his hands up to show he’s unarmed, and forks of flame appear on his palms. “Or sort of.”

Sort of.

Tatsu lowers the sword and looks warily at the man standing in front of her.

“How did you…”

“You’re gonna have a new mission soon. Demand that Waller tells you everything.”

“About what?”

“I couldn’t overhear that,” he says with regret. “But…”

Something knocks on the window. Tatsu turns around quickly, but that must’ve been just a tree branch hitting the windowpane. When she turns back to Chato, he’s already gone, and her apartment is silent.

It’s just four in the morning, but she can’t make herself fall asleep again. Having poured a cup of tea, Tatsu sits down on the mattress and thinks, think, thinks about what just happened. Tatsu believes in ghosts – her sword is teeming with them, so she wouldn’t say that her worldview is shaken. Still, this is strange, very strange. What did he want to tell her? Why did he disappear so abruptly? Like… a broadcast was interrupted.

Colonel Flag calls her at daybreak and tells her that there’s a shoot-out between two gangs on the outskirts of Gotham, with metahumans on both sides. When Tatsu arrives at Belle Reve, it turns out they must have considered it to be not enough to ruin her Saturday morning, because she is asked – more like ordered, actually – to escort an inmate from his cell, an inmate who attacks anyone who tries to enter and has already injured three guards with his bare hands, and it’s not reasonable to sedate him before the mission, and “he’s likely to obey if it’s you, Katana” – the last is Rick’s argument, and if he told that to her face and not on the phone, she would have had to strain every nerve not to hit him with something.

No one tries to attack her when she enters the cell of Captain Boomerang – Harkness is sitting on the floor quite still, his arms around his knees, and when he notices her, he even smiles with bruised lips.

“Hello, gorgeous,” he says. “Am I hallucinating you too?”

“No,” the question is unexpected and confuses her. “Why?”

“Well, they keep injecting me some crap, and lately I’ve been seeing things,” Harkness explains peacefully, even eagerly. His voice is quiet and hoarse, which, combined with his Australian accent, leads to Tatsu being barely able to make out half of what he’s saying. To hear him better, she crouches down next to him, still gripping the sword hilt – there is no telling if he isn’t just making her come closer to take her down and bolt. “Saw the devil yesterday.”

“The devil?”

“Our devil. Día… de fucking Muertos. Chato Santana.”

Tatsu gives a shiver and, having lost her balance, half sits down, half falls on the dirty floor.

She isn’t the only one to have seen him. She isn’t the only one he wanted to send a message to.

“Hey, luv,” Harkness frowns and reaches out to touch her knee lightly. “You all right?”

“Same as you, more or less,” she wants to reply, which of course would mean she isn’t, not at all.

“What did he tell you?” she asks him instead.

When Floyd sees him, he is hardly surprised, since the others have already warned him. Boomerang, Croc, and Katana tell him everything while they’re waiting for the helo, and had it been just Boomerang, who believes inexplicably that he has a sense of humour although he certainly doesn’t, Floyd most likely wouldn’t have believed his ghost stories, but it is even harder to believe that Croc, let alone Katana would agree to take part in such pranks. Which is why he listens to them closely and takes note: okay, then he doesn’t have to worry about his mental heath if the late Santana suddenly appears out of nowhere to give some advice or share some news or simply ask how he’s doing. So the four of them keep whispering to one another like kids at the back of the class until their transport arrives – just the four of them, which is a pity. If there is anyone on the team that he had missed a little, it’s Harley. Floyd knows some things about the Joker, for it isn’t possible, as they write in the papers, to belong to the criminal world of Gotham and not know anything about the Joker. Floyd knows what Flag had spilled to him when visiting him in his cell or escorting him there after a visit to Zoe. Floyd thinks that in his entire lifetime he hasn’t understood a thing about love – is it even possible to understand it, on the other hand? – but he feels like the mad and brilliant Harley, Harley the whimsical, Harley the loving deserves better.

“What’s with the gossiping?” Flag inquires suspiciously.

“Nothing!” Croc and Digger answer in unison, in unison, and Floyd facepalms because seriously, are they in some cheesy movie or what? They don’t tell Flag anything yet, but Floyd is almost sure that sooner or later Santana will visit him as well, because Flag is one of them too, after all. Not that he’s even trying to deny it; no one’s making him drop by Floyd’s cell every other day to chat about some nonsense through the steel door.

So Floyd is hardly surprised when, as he makes his way behind the dumpsters loading one gun after another, he notices a familiar, head-to-toe-tattooed figure standing nearby.

“There are snipers on the roof over there and around the corner of the shop,” Chato says instead of greeting. Floyd nods.

“I noticed.”

“Eight men in the drugstore on the other side of the street. Each with a machine gun.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve just been there.”

“Got it,” there’s no time for lengthy conversations. No time to say: glad you’re alive, man. No time to ascertain: are you alive, though? So he thinks over the plan of action, making a mental note to ask all these questions later, when there are no bullets whistling past their ears.

People like them deserve no guardian angels, frankly speaking, but they may have managed to earn one for all of them.

#suicide squad #el diablo #harley quinn #killer croc #captain boomerang #katana #deadshot #rick flag #dc #talk talk talk #my fic #gella talks skwad #this might have been the most challenging to translate so far #i'm so used to bookish slightly outdated speech and most of my fandoms allow that #and then bam modernity. ugh #also i know nothing about the geography of the dceu!united states. sorry about that.

39 notes · View notes

the-alice-of-hearts · 3 years

Text

Kids Again Ch 2

Ch 2: He likes to keep his burner on

First Next>

Marinette would always remember the first time she looked through her romantic Soulmate’s eyes. She was five years old when she started crying in the middle of the day in maternelle. Nino ran to get the teacher while she gasped, trying to form her feelings into words. Her parents came to pick her up and her maman held her while she cried. When she was able to tell them what she saw, they held her close.

Her papa told her that her Soulmate must have been even more scared than she was, but that she could help look over him.

Her maman said that she wasn’t responsible to be the one to save him, that the people who were responsible for this had a duty to take care of him. She also said she didn’t have to sacrifice her own life for his.

Her maman told her that if she showed him kindness and love, the universe would make sure that they could meet one day. Marinette kept that in her heart every day. She wanted to show her soulmate that the world could be a brighter place than the dark place he lived in. She lived every happy memory to its fullest, and every night she sent a prayer into the sky; asking her guardian spirits to watch over her soulmate.

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

When Marinette was nine, she woke up in the middle of the night in a panic. She saw through her soulmate’s eyes as he got stabbed, but even after that stopped, even as he passed out from the pain, she still felt emotions coming from her soulbond. She felt like she was watching someone die right in front of her. She was frozen in terror, knowing she could do nothing to change it. She didn’t go back to sleep that night, instead, she grabbed her sewing kit and started to take the pink applique flowers off her only black dress. She then went to work on making a veil. She also found the blue dress that she had worn to her great-grandfather’s funeral. She wasn’t sure what you were supposed to wear to a funeral for your soulmate’s family, but she wanted to be ready to get dressed in the morning.

When her mother came to wake her up in the morning she shifted her gaze up to her from the floor. She had sat there to write in her journal. She opened her mouth and asked her mom the important question she needed an answer to, “Maman, can you have more than one soulmate?”

______________________________

Sabine looked around her daughter’s room when she saw the dresses Marinette was sitting next to, “It does happen. What did you see Bǎobèi?” ((mandarin: baby))

Marinette shook her head, “I didn’t see it, mama. I just felt like I was watching someone really important to me die. I can still feel the link though, so it couldn’t have been my soulmate. But I didn’t see it, I just felt it... Could I have a platonic soulmate too?”

Sabine scooped her daughter up into her arms, “You could. I think it’s very possible you do.” Marinette started crying, “Shhh, it’s okay sweetheart.” She adjusted her grip on Marinette so she could move to sit them both onto her fainting couch. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She sniffled nodding, “what do you wear to mourn someone you aren’t related to?”

“In China, you would wear a dark color to the funeral of the death of a loved one who you aren’t related to. But not black. You only wear black for your parent’s or husband’s funeral. In France, you can wear black if you want to, but any dark color is okay. If you follow your gut feeling where does your platonic soulmate live?”

Marinette furrowed her brow, “I don’t know māma, I can’t see them.”

Sabine smoothed Marinette’s hair down, “Did your heart say somewhere when I asked you?”

Marinette nodded, “America. I thought about America… but I also thought about Paris…”

She looked at her daughter in contemplation, “Meiyun, do you remember how I taught you to meditate?” Marinette nodded, “I want you to meditate with me, but I want you to focus on your soul link. Can you do that for me?”

Marinette nodded. She sat up and got into a relaxed position. Taking in a deep breath she closed her eyes. After a few moments, Sabine started talking to her, “When you breathe in I want you to gather up all your emotions, and then, as you breathe out, let them flow to the background of your mind.”

Marinette smiled, “Like music?”

She smiled at her daughter, “Exactly like music. Let your feelings be the beat of the song, and look for the melodies of your soulmates.” She watched Marinette breathe and then start to hum.

Sabine’s older sister had been a part of a multibond and she knew it ran in the family, but she wasn’t sure how she would be able to help her daughter. Her soulmate died when she was a girl, they were a platonic bond and she hadn’t even met them. Tom’s soulmate bond was also platonic. He had met him once and they were pen-pals, but their friendship had never gotten that close. When Marinette was born she had a spark in her eyes that Sabine knew was pointing towards a difficult journey for her daughter. When she started to see through her Soulmate’s eyes Sabine knew she was right. She looked at her little girl, so young and yet so strong. Her sister had the same strength when she was young, Sabine just hoped that her daughter wouldn’t follow the same path. When Marinette opened her eyes Sabine waited for her to talk, her daughter was young, but, when it was something important, she always tried to figure out what she was going to say before speaking.

“There are three other melodies. So if I include my own that makes four. My song and Jay's are really close, but the other two are a little lower? They are as close to each other as ours are though.”

Sabine smiled at her, “It sounds like you have two platonic soulmates, and that they are romantic soulmates. Multibonds are rarer in the world, but they happen more often than most people think. My sister had a multibond too, she had four soulmates total. That just means that you have a lot more love to give, and a lot more love to receive.”

Marinette nodded at her, “So I could find one of my Soulmates here in Paris?”

Sabine scooped her daughter up in her arms, “You might sweetie, but unless all four of you are together you might never know.”

Marinette tilted her head in confusion, “but why?”

Sabine smiled and booped Marinette on the nose, “soulmates have a spark when they meet each other. It’s your soul saying ‘you did it! You found my other parts!’ but that can’t happen until all the pieces of your soul are together.”

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

Eventually, Marinette learned how to pick out each of the distinct ‘voices’ of her soulmates. She knew when her platonic soulmates were hurting.

Each year her soulmate from America would mourn the same loss, her soulmate from Paris would have days where they would be filled with so much sadness and loneliness, and her Soulmate would have days where he couldn’t eat or would be running for his very life.

When her Paris bond started having the same hunger pains she got worried. She was used to the pains coming from Jason, knew exactly what they felt like and how long you went without proper nutrition before the pain kicked in.

She started reaching out to those around her, making sure that everyone she interacted with knew she was a person they could turn to.

She made herself known as someone who cared deeply about her friends.

When Chloé started being mean to her she spoke only kindness.

When Kim and Alix got into a fight she was there to hear both sides and help them see the other’s point of view.

When Nino got overwhelmed she sat quietly by his side so he knew he wasn’t alone.

She did everything she could for her friends because she was fighting the feeling that she could do nothing for her soulmates.

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

She was 11 when she learned all about the Gotham vigilantes.

She had some memories of Jason on the streets where he hid from Batman and had heard him talk about him, but she had never seen him.

Until she checked in Jason when he was caught in the middle of taking the tires off the batmobile. She hadn’t meant to look through his eyes, she was just very tired. When she closed her eyes for a little too long the soulbond drew her to him. She giggled when he was spooked in the middle of taking off tire number 4. She was worried when she felt his burst of fear when the vigilante placed him in the back of the batmobile. She watched him scared when he was taken to the bat-cave, heard him plead not to be taken to the cops. He sobbed telling the vigilante that he would rather die than go to the foster care system.

“Marinette, earth to Marinette.” Alix was waving their hand in front of her face, “you want to come back to Paris?”

“Huh? Oh!” Marinette jumped back. She looked around at her trio of friends.

“Dudette, what happened?” Nino reached out to hug her, then added in a soft voice, “you were laughing and then got this look of panic on your face.”

Kim was sitting behind the two of them, with Marinette by the wall she could see that the three of them had formed a barrier of sorts. She could see him watching to make sure that no one tried to eavesdrop on their conversation.

“It was really funny, he tried to steal the tires off the batmobile.”

Kim started to laugh at that, “no wonder you looked panicked. Did he get caught by the bat?”

Marinette bit her lip trying not to cry, nodding at Kim, “He did. He was so scared.”

That shut him up real quick, “Mari, look at me.” Kim reached out a hand, “Jason is going to be okay. You know he will, he’s been in tougher spots before.”

Alix scooched closer to her to lay against her shoulder, “not like he hasn’t gotten out of worse scrapes before. Didn’t you say he took down two guys with guns like last week?”

Marinette giggled and rubbed her eyes, “yeah, but they aren’t batman.”

Nino had been looking up any information about the vigilante he could find, “Netté, it says here that he has a strict no-killing policy and a soft spot for kids. Jason could beat the shit out of him and he still wouldn’t hurt him.”

That got a loud laugh from them.

“M. Lahiffe, do you have something you want to share with the class?”

They all snapped to attention, “No Ma’am.”

Their teacher nodded, “Then might I request that you all return to silent study time.”

_____________________________________

After school, they all ran to the bakery. It was a long-standing tradition to lay around Marinette’s living room and eat snacks while they did homework. Alix was throwing a paper ball into the air while Kim checked over their math assignment.

“I don’t know why you have me check, it’s not like I’m the best at math.”

“You are in this group. Nino is our french lit. guy. Mari can check over English assignments. I have History, you have maths. And then we struggle with science and geography as a group.”

“Hey! I’m good at geography!”

Alix threw their paper ball at him, “then you should have volunteered to check my geography assignment.”

Marinette interrupted the start of an argument that would become a bet that would lead to her cleaning up the mess, again. “Alix, you have to stop using so much slang in your English assignments.”

“Why? You do, I’ve seen your papers.”

“I use common slang, you’re using the slang that I’ve picked up from Jay. He uses a lot more regional slang. And you know our teacher has given you marks off for it in the past.”

“Not my fault that he didn’t understand my essay.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, “haven’t you ever heard of writing to your audience?”

Kim laughed at her, “Mari, you sound just like Nino!”

She stuck her tongue out at him, “at least I’m not the one teasing my foreign language tutor before she checks over my work.”

“You wouldn’t!” he turned on the full puppy eyes, “please Mari, you know I would fail without you.”

“Yeah, I know. Hand it over I finished Alix’s.”

They sat there for a while, each finishing their assignments and then checking over the other’s work. Quiet afternoons spent above the warm bakery always lulled them into a peaceful state. The soft sounds of writing and the speaker in the kitchen playing one of Nino’s new study playlists. Marinette always loved these moments when she felt so loved; surrounded by her best friends, able to hear drifts of the conversations on the street below. Moments like these were feelings she cherished, images that she engraved into her mind. Opening her small pink journal she started writing to Jason. She wanted to tell him everything about her life, so until she could see him in person she wrote to him.

Nino was the first one to break the gentle silence, “Netté, why do you think he was so scared?”

Alix and Kim both looked up from where they were doing the maths homework. With all their gazes on her she knew she had to say something, “he doesn’t want to go into the foster care system.” She took a deep breath and started to doodle on the corner of her page, “he, well he knows some kids who have been in the system. It’s really corrupt in Gotham. A lot… a lot of foster care parents are bad people. They abuse their wards and get the money from the system. Older kids get it worse, a-an-and he’s 13 now. S-s-so he would ha-ve a harder time getting a good family.”

She had started crying and was now quietly sobbing. Kim moved closer and picked her up to hold in his lap. Nino and Alix moved closer to join the group hug.

After she had calmed down enough to talk Alix asked her, “Mar, why don’t you try to check in on him?”

She sighed, whipping her tears away, “I tried earlier during lunch, I think he was asleep though.” She bit her lip, “I could try again maybe, but he seems calm now. What if I just worry him more?”

“It’s up to you Netté. We are here to support you, not tell you what you should do about your bond.”

She nodded, “I think I’ll wait then.”

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

Over the next two years, she learned a lot more about Gotham’s heroes vigilantes. Jason was the new Robin. His new brother was the first Robin, now he had a new alias Nightwing. Bruce Wayne is Batman was a huge secret that was dropped on her. One that her three closest friends knew too. They had been sworn to secrecy, but she couldn’t not tell them.

They were her small family, and if she wasn’t going to tell her parents then she was going to tell them. Sure, his identity needed to be protected. But what harm could four people from halfway across the world do? She started collecting news clippings of Robin. Each time he helped someone and they caught him on camera. The kids around the blocks he patrolled being in awe of the kid in the bright colors who would help anyone who needed it. She got to see him splitting off from patrol to take food to a building he knew had people living in it.

Then came the other good moments. His butler, who was more grandfather than employee, taught him how to cook. His new father, the adoption papers went through really fast, enrolled him in school. Bruce saw how much Jason liked to read and put a couple large bookcases in his room. Then bought him different books that he thought might interest him. He was trying, but things were still awkward sometimes. His brother, Richard but people called him Dick, was in the circus before becoming a Wayne. He taught Jason to use his natural dexterity to flip around attackers, telling him that a moving target was harder to hit. The robin colors made you easy to see, so you had to be fast and think on your feet. If you never stopped moving then they couldn't hit you.

Marinette asked her parents if she could continue her gymnastics classes. They were only a little surprised. She had taken a break when her soulbond had gotten to be too much, but knowing that he was safe meant she could focus on herself again.

That started with being fast and nimble and getting herself ready for when she ran the streets with him. She spent hours redesigning the Robin suit and making herself a hero persona. She had decided on Nightingale as a name and designed her suit in black and orange. She made her design a partner to her redesign of Jason’s Robin suit. She knew they were going to be partners, so they needed to match.

She just wished that she could be there with him now. Running the rooftops by his side, helping him, making sure he makes it home.

#maribat #jasonette #soulmates #Kids again fic

72 notes · View notes

lady-literature · 4 years

Text

no point wishing on stars

aka the jasonette aladdin au literally no one asked for

This is a great big amalgamation of semi-canon miraculous, batman and a heavy dose of bastardized Aladdin but here we go-

The story goes like this:

Jason is our beloved street rat turned prince Boy Wonder and billionaire’s son (not that he’s gotten that far yet).

Marinette is Ladybug, is the Guardian, is our modern-day Jasmine. She’s next in line after Fu to lead the Order, which, I suppose, is like High Royalty for superheroes/magic users.

But before she can take her rightful place, she needs a partner by her side. It’s so stupid rule that says she, as a Ladybug, needs a Black Cat by her side in order to be properly balanced.

The only problem is, she doesn’t want one. Or, well. More accurately, it’s that she doesn’t like the ones offered to her, and she doesn’t quite like the idea of being tied to someone she barely knows, especially not at fourteen.

There have been many Black Cat candidates to cross her path but there has been only one she did not immediately veto. Adrien Agreste may be a Black Cat, but he cannot be hers. He will never be anything more than her dearest brother, and that is not what Creation needs.

Creation and Destruction—life and death—have a certain type of relationship. They are lovers, mated and married in every meaning of the word.

And, for as much as she loves and adores Adrien as her brother in her soul, they will never be like that. She will never want him the way she must should he take up Destruction.

So yeah. Marinette has a problem. And yeah, she has some time to figure it out, but the Order is looking to have her figure it out sooner rather than later. Adrien is a good place holder for now, but if Marinette doesn’t choose a Black Cat by the time she’s twenty-one, Adrien will either have to do, or she forfeits her crown and the Ladybug miraculous (which she would never do, she loves her people and Tikki too much to ever do that).

(wait? Does this mean I made Adrien the human equivalent of Raja?… yes. Yes it does.)

And, to spice this up just a bit more, let’s say Hawkmoth is Jafar, yeah? This little shit is really trying to push his son to be the next Black Cat because he wants power what’s best for his son. So he be out here sabotaging potential Black Cats because he’s an asshole his son is the best candidate at the moment. He could give less than two shits about if Mari and Adrien actually like each other that way, he will shove his son at her until she has no choice but to choose him.

Anyway, so Mari leaves the temple one day. Which is fine, she’s not trapped there or anything, she can come and go as she pleases! (she may have to normally take someone with her and is currently ignoring that rule perhaps, but that’s besides the point!)

So she’s at a market in Gotham, strolling down the street, having a good time enjoying being around normal people, when she notices a boy getting into some trouble.

(I’ll give you three guesses as to who it is and the first two don’t count.)

Jason was stealing from market vendors because the hubbub of the street is distracting and nicking a few scraps here and there is practically child’s play. Only, he miscalculates.

One vendor was paying more attention than he thought.

Mari’s across the street and sees the whole thing. Sees the vendor grab Jason’s hand in a bruising grip and snarl in his face.

She’s in between the pair before she even realizes it, mouth already opening around some made-up story about ill-advised dares and how ‘it won’t happen again, sir’ and ‘here, I’ll pay for that right now, no harm done!’

Jason stares at her utterly baffled and, thankfully, silent until after she’d already grabbed his hand and pulled him away.

Only, she pulls him away down the wrong alley. (Look. Mari’s a real sweet-talker and knows how to smooth ruffled feathers, but she is hardly street smart.)

Jason swears, and it’s the first words she’s heard him speak, and then it’s him tugging her along. Up a fire escape and over the rooftops because Jason likes to think he’s tough, but there’s no way he’s picking a fight with five guys bigger than him and wearing masks.

He likes to keep his heart beating more than he wants to keep his pride unharmed thank you very much.

They end up on a rooftop, panting and like, seven blocks away. Marinette is now very lost and with a strange boy who she doesn’t know. He seems… nice, and she’s a good judge of character, but that doesn’t mean much when they’re still very much strangers.

But then the two just look at each other and suddenly they’re both laughing.

And that, my friends, is the start of a beautiful friendship.

***

During those first few months, she and Jason just seem to click.

Mari starts leaving the temple more and more to meet up with Jason, and on more than one occasion dragging behind her a picnic basket bigger than her. (it’s stupid to let one of her friends starve just because he’s too prideful to take her food. So she plans lots of picnics for them both, and pointedly ignores the way he eats and hoards most of the food she brings.)

He is her friend—though she would be lying if she said she didn’t like him a bit more than what one would consider friendly.

And Jason, who is funny and kind and made sharp by the life he’s been forced into, likes her right back. She is one of the few great parts of his life, a bright spot in the darkness he has called his world for so long, and there are few things he wouldn’t do for her.

It’s… scary—just a bit—how important she is to him.

He tries not to think about it too much.

And it doesn't really matter anyway, because she is good and bright and amazing and he is… there’s nothing he can give her in return. Nothing good, anyway.

She deserves someone better. Someone who could buy her things as pretty as her and take her nice places.

Someone who isn’t a street rat.

And then he learns she’s Ladybug, right up there with Wonder Woman and Robin and all the other amazing people set on saving the world, and he feels he got that much farther from her. How can he ever compare?

Jason doesn’t wish, because wishing is childish and he learned too young that shooting stars don’t exist and he’s come to terms with the fact that this is his life years ago, all right? He doesn't need the burden of hope to weigh him down now.

(but perhaps, deep down, tucked away in the corner of his heart, there might be a thought. Small and scared and aching, he might think, ‘if only I could be there with her, if only i could fly with her, maybe then I’d be enough’)

Six months after he meets Marinette, Jason comes across the Batmobile.

His first thought is, this can’t be real.

His second is, I could buy Mari a real birthday gift with this.

His third thought is less of a thought because he’s already got two tires off by that point and then suddenly Batman is there and Jason is swinging his tire iron.

This then leads—somehow—to him winding up at Wayne Manor with Bruce Wayne and then he learns about Batman and Robin and he gets to be Robin and-

(and what else is a Robin meant to do but fly?)

It’s too good to be true. Wishes don’t come true and good things don’t happen to him unless their name be Marinette but… but Jason’s here and it’s not a dream. He’s no prince but, well… he thinks this might just be as close as you can get.

And, okay. He really does try with the whole secrecy thing, because he can understand why that’s important but, I mean… it’s Marinette, who is Ladybug. There really was never any chance of Jason keeping that particular secret, Batman or no Batman.

And about,,, two years pass like this ig. Mari is almost seventeen now, and Jason turned seventeen recently and the pair are getting closer and closer every day. They’re toeing the line of ‘more than friends’ but neither have really taken that next step.

The pressure is on Mari from the Order because she’s getting older and as much as she likes Jason, knows him but he isn’t a good candidate for Destruction and Mari must think of her people first.

Jason doesn’t get to be hers to keep and that aches but what else is she meant to do? She cannot—does not—want to change him in any way. So they stay, in their strange little limbo, with neither making a move.

And then, the unthinkable happens.

Hawkmoth hears of the boy finally, and is, obviously, furious.

He doesn't care if this boy can be a Cat or not, he’s going to ruin all his plans. So, there’s only one solution. He needs to get rid of him.

(i’ll give you three guesses as to how and the first two don’t count!)

Robin—Jason—dies, and Marinette feels when he does. She doesn’t know why or what happened, but the moment he leaves the world her blood turns cold and she feels sick.

Jason hasn’t even looked at the ring and already Marinette could feel the thread that had begun to tie them together. When she hears of his death—when she learns that he’s gone—Marinette shatters.

She shatters and cries and the world tips just a little, with the force of her sorrow, with the agony of her screams.

(justice is blind, yes, but is she deaf? Can she deny the sobbing of such a being as Creation herself? Can she stand, unfeeling, before the agony she has wrought?)

Marinette does not bring Jason back to life… but she has done something close. Has opened the possibility. Is, perhaps, the reason that six months later he screams and claws and drags himself from his own grave.

He is wrong wrong wrong, but he is also alive.

The league finds him, as they must. And Talia throws him into the pits, as she must. And Jason is reborn, screaming and angry and violent, as he must.

Marinette had known, Before, that Jason would not be a good match for the ring. He was tough and wild and willing to get his hands dirty if that’s what it took, but that was not what his core was. He was familiar with the rust and decay of back alley streets, but that wasn’t where he belonged. He would throw a punch but he didn’t relish the blood on his knuckles after a fight.

Jason was surrounded by destruction, but that’s not what he was.

Now… now the destruction he spent so long dancing with has slipped through the cracks in his mind left behind by the explosion. It ripped through his skin and slithered through into his veins until it settled in his heart like an overly smug cat.

Death and Destruction are inside him, woven in his ribcage and fusing with his blood, pumping pumping pumping its deadly rhythm and Jason is helpless to deny it’s tune.

Jason is a being of Destruction through circumstance rather than design, but make no mistake, that does not make him less.

(in fact, it may even make him more. To be remade from one’s own destruction is a powerful thing, and to be remade into Destruction? Well. There are few things more… miraculous.)

And we all know the next part of the story right?

Marinette mourns and grows and lives.

Jason rages and learns and plans. He’s come far from that street rat of a boy, and farther still from Marinette's petite oiseau.

But, two years after he comes back, when he ventures back to Gotham for revenge, Marinette takes one look at this angry, violent man calling himself Red Hood and she knows. He’s too familiar, even as he stands before her, more changed than she ever thought possible.

She meets the Red Hood when he comes for the new Robin, sweet little Tim who Marinette had grown to like despite herself. (He is not Jason, and never will be, but the boy was too shy and clever and earnest for her to have remained cold to him just because he wore the same colors once worn by the man she loved.)

She loves Tim in the same way she loves Adrien, simply and wholly and uncomplicated.

And then she is there when Jason comes for him.

Their reunion is not the stuff of fairy tales. It is not the beginning of happily ever after or true love.

Their reunion is a punch in the gut because it doesn't matter that he’s alive—except it does, because Mari has never known she could be so happy and so shattered at the same time—she is farther from him than she’d ever imagined she could be.

She reaches out for him, voice cracking around his name—because who else could this familiar stranger be?—and something in her shatters all over again when he flinches back from her touch.

“No,” he says, and it is a million things at once. He sends one last glare to Tim, who is still behind her, and then he’s gone.

***

Jason tries to avoid her.

Marinette allows this for a whole month before the whispers in the streets and the stories Tim comes back to her with, become too much.

She knows he is angry and out for revenge and building an empire out of the criminals that infest their city, but she doesn’t care. He was gone for two whole years and Marinette is tired of not seeing him-hearing him-touching him.

She has missed him like an ache in her chest and she doesn't care if he hates her or is furious with her, she just wants to see him. She needs to reassure herself that he’s alive, that he’s real.

And, it seems, the universe is on her side in this. In her chest, nestled there in the space next to her heart, there is what she can only describe as a compass, pointing to wherever Jason is like he’s her own personal north star.

The first few times, she’s yelled at or ran off. Or he runs off. Either way, for a while, the only moments she’s close to him are short and aching.

But she doesn’t let him run for long, and she doesn’t let him scare her off as she knows he’s trying to do.

Marinette had always been the more stubborn of the two.

Eventually, like a feral cat learning safety (like a hurt, scared animal relearning love), Jason lets her get close. He lets her in, lets her get close again.

The first time she sees him, without helmet or mask, she flings herself at him. Arms around his neck and legs wrapped around his waist, clutching him like her life depends on it. He takes her weight automatically, hand beneath her thighs while the other wraps around her back just as tightly. (he longs for touch, she has relearned, but he is also so frightened of it. She will have to be brave for them both)

The second time she sees his face bare once more, he is still thrumming with energy from a fight, is still high on the feeling of broken bones and blood on his knuckles. The force in his chest, the clawing and raging thing settled just off-center of the very core of him, pulls him toward her and Marinette meets him halfway, her own bright, ruthless force like a magnet in her chest.

They meet in a clash of hands on skin and lips anywhere they’ll land.

It is the first time they fall into bed together.

It will not be the last.

Now, you may be thinking, ‘Lady! This isn’t very Aladdin at all!’ and to that I tell you: I fucking warned you. What part of bastardized-Aladdin didn’t you get?

Also, shh. This is my favorite part!

So Mari is in her own personal little honeymoon stage, right? She practically could not be happier because Jason is alive and he’s hers and, even if he’s more violent and a crime boss, he’s stopped attacking his family at least. Which is good, because Mari really didn’t like the sad look Tim wore every time he brought up Jason.

And, oh yeah. Through a combination of her own detective work and Tikki, little Mari realizes that Jason is her Black Cat. Is the only person her Black Cat could be, not because of destiny—though that had helped—but because of coincidence and the bond the pair forged themselves.

So Mari is, obviously, on cloud nine at the moment and she tells Adrien and Fu who are ecstatic for her, and announcements are going to be made the second Mari tells Jason and what could possibly go wrong?

Well, a lot of things really but the first thing is that, basically, Mari is asking Jason to marry her. Just a bit. And while they both know, in that nebulous way they always have, that they love each other, neither of them have ever actually said it.

And also, they aren’t really dating right now either. Mari’s been too busy trying to just get near Jason again that she hasn’t much been paying attention to normal relationship things like dates or labels.

So when she brings it up Jason is… well, caught off guard is likely an understatement. Which then makes Mari realize what exactly she’s just done and- shit. She’s ruined everything and Jason is going to run away again and the compass in her chest is just going to be a reminder of what she can’t have and-

Jason, who only moments before was terrified and in danger of bolting—because this is a lot and magic-marrying Mari comes with responsibilities and rules and a thousand strings he doesn't know what to do with—now stops and stares at her, babbling and so obviously panicked and something in him abruptly settles.

She starts pacing and he grabs her hand when she passes by close enough, reeling her into his body. She comes easily even in her frazzled state and the vicious clawing thing in his chest sighs contentedly.

“Why?” he asks, and it is a million things at once. Why him, why now, why, why, why?

There are a million ways she could answer, but the easiest? The most important answer is simply this: “Because I love you.”

His breath shudders in his chest at her words and her hands raise to settle on his cheek and the back of his neck, a protection of one of the most vulnerable parts of him, and he leans into her touch like a man starved.

Gods, Jason has loved her for years.

He loved her Before and he loved her in the pits, when all he had was the hate they kept stuffing in his chest, and he loves her now. She is his sun and he will spin around her for the rest of his life. But when it all comes down to it, one simple fact doesn’t change:

“I don’t deserve your love.”

Her hands press harder into his skin, like she can force him to understand through touch alone. “If everyone only got the love they deserved no one would be truly loved,” she counters.

“You would,” he says, quick and quiet and honest. Her breath hitches and he watches her eyes go wide. The hands he has on her hips tighten at the emotions he finds there.

“Oh,” she whispers, already pulling him down to meet her. “Oh you stupid, beautiful man.”

And then they’re kissing and- and it is not the first time they’ve done this, but there is something very different about this one.

They’re kissing, and this time, it feels very much like coming home.

***

And, perhaps, that is not the end.

Because there is still one wish left.

Because Jafar-Hawkmoth is still there, and he’s still murderous, and there a very real chance he’s going to ruin the wedding somehow.

Because there is never truly an end to a story, it just simply stops being told.

But none of that really matters. Our princess and her dearest street rat are together at last, and together they’ll get through whatever happens after the story stops being told.

They’ve always had a thing for impossible odds after all.

#maribat #jasonette #my typewriter #aladdin au

236 notes · View notes

pl-panda · 4 years

Text

To marry a Vigilante: Part 1

MASTERLIST || First || Previous || Next

Disclaimer: Masterlist

------

When they finally pulled apart, Marinette needed a moment for her brain to restart. She was sure she would melt right then and there. At the same time, she wanted to jump and scream from sheer ecstasy. It was all she ever wanted and now she had it.

Damian stared at her empty expression.

“I think you broke her.” Plagg suddenly zoomed out of her pocket, followed by Tikki who tried (and failed) to catch him.

This was enough for Mari to finally start thinking coherently. “Um… Yeah… I… Maybe…” Or mostly coherently at least.

“Habibti. Breathe. In. Out. In. Out.” Damian guided her. Slowly, Mari returned to her senses.

“Thank you… I think I might have kinda lost my breath there.” She gave him an apologetic smile.

“Nothing happened. Now I think I need to leave or my brothers will get some stupid idea and I will have to practice my skill with a sword.” Damian deadpanned.

“Since I know I can’t stop you, please at least don’t kill them until I get to know them better?”

“I can try, but no promises.” He turned to leave, but she grabbed his hand.

“Oh! Wait!” She fumbled through her pocket for a moment before pulling out a small box. Plagg immediately was pulled inside it (much to Tikki’s amusement). “Damian Wayne. As Guardian of the Miraculous, I give you the miraculous of the Black Cat, which gives you the power of destruction. I trust you to protect it and use it to help others.”

Damian was stunned only for a short moment and definitely didn’t move his mouth like a fish. Definitely. “I accept that honor and thank you for your trust.”

“There is no one I would trust more than you with this. If not for your and your family’s help, I would’ve never caught Hawkmoth or the Cat.”

“Don’t sell yourself short. You’re brilliant and it was only a matter of time.”

“Time I might’ve not had. Chat was working with Hawkmoth. Who knows when I would’ve fallen into a trap…”

“It’s all over now, Habibti.” He grabbed her hand. “Everything is going to be better now.” When she smiled he let go and opened the box. Plagg appeared in a flash.

“For the record, I hate these boxes.”

“Stop complaining. If you stayed there it wouldn’t have been so bad.” Tikki scolded him.

Marinette giggled at the interaction of the two little gods. Damian just shook his head and donned the ring.

“Can I see how you’ll look?” She asked before her smile took a more grin-like look. “I want to see if you’ll have a cute cat-ears.”

“Maybe when you are in Gotham.” He scoffed. “Thank you, angel. It’s the best Christmas gift you could’ve given me. Your trust means more than gold to me.”

“But Christmas is still a long way away…” Mari tried to dismiss him, but seeing his expression she doubled back. He looked almost scared. Almost, since Damian Wayne did not get scared.

“Angel… Christmas Eve is tomorrow. That’s why your class is leaving on Monday. You are all going to be attending the Wayne New Year Gala next Friday.”

“But… But… Wouldn’t there be decorations in stores? And Santa Clauses on the street? Or at least…”

“There were. Mostly Miraculous themed though. I can’t believe you didn’t notice.” He said with a bit too much amusement slipping into his voice.

“Kwami! Kwami! Kwami!” She started to pace. “I completely forgot! How could I have forgotten Christmas!?” She was close to collapsing. Damian was quickly by her, holding her wrists together to not accidentally get slapped by her flailing arms.

“Habibti. There is nothing to worry about. You already gave everyone the greatest gift possible by ridding them of that terrorist. I admit I regret that we will not be able to spend our first Christmas together as a family, but the last several months were the best of my life already. You don’t need to give me anything more.”

“But… But…” She was at the edge of crying.

“Marinette. Don’t worry. I have an idea.” Tikki reassured her Chosen. “Go tell your parents to pack everything.”

“But… Maman and I must be here at six on Monday” She tried to argue.

“You will be. Kaalki owes me a favor.” The kwami dismissed her.

“But… But I can’t just abuse the miraculous.”

“Marinette. All Kwami love you. They would be happy to help you if the need arose.” Tikki nuzzled into her cheek. Mari finally relented.

“Fine… But I’m buying her three boxes of sugar cubes,” she said with conviction.

The two kwami giggled and Damian cracked a smile.

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

Adrien cursed loudly. He barely managed to escape those damn heroes. And to think that his Lady marries some American ragtag instead of him? That’s how she repaid him for his loyalty? For all of his sacrifices? That was just a travesty.

But it didn’t matter in the end. She didn’t deserve to be Ladybug anyway and now finally, the world could be free from her. Of course, heroes could try to save her. They could even succeed. But he made a point. He severed all the ties with that cursed bitch. Now he could focus on his true soulmate: Marinette. She was the real Ladybug. She was loyal, honest, brave, kind, selfless, beautiful. They’re made for each other. In a perfect world, they would be with one another if he was not blinded by the imposter. She had a crush on him in the past, but he ruined it. Now he had to work trice as hard to get her to join him.

“Don’t worry mother. We will have our family again.” He said, looking at the stasis chamber.

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

When Marinette and her parents exited the portal in Wayne Manor, they were greeted by Alfred the Butler and Alfred the Cat.

“Ah. Young Madame Marinette, Madame Cheng, Master Dupain. It is my pleasure to welcome you. I was told you would be arriving through… extraordinary means.” He greeted them.

“We’re sorry for all the trouble we’re causing you on such short notice.” Marinette immediately started to apologize.

“You are no trouble at all. Definitely not compared to the usual Christmas mess.” He dismissed her apology. She wanted to protest, but the cat jumped onto her and she instinctively grabbed him and hugged.

“I see Alfred the Cat likes you, Angel.” Damian’s voice came from behind. Immediately, Marinette whirled around, only to stare into a pair of green eyes.

“Damian!” She wanted to hug him, but the cat was a bit in the way. Instead, she just leaned over and pressed a chaste kiss to his lips. They both smiled.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” Sabine spoke. “Is Cassandra home? I would like to meet my niece. We spoke several times over the phone, but meeting in person is…”

“She is in the gym, practicing ballet,” Alfred informed her.

“Thank you. Tom, be a kind husband, and carry my things to our room. And don’t forget the bag.” She patted Tom’s cheek before leaving.

“Come, Habibti. I will show you the garden.” Damian grabbed her waiting hand.

“Take my bags too, dad? Thanks!” Mari shouted without looking back before she, Damian, and the cat left the room, leaving Tom with half the house packed into bags.

“Why do women carry so much with them…?” He sighed.

“It’s a mystery of the world that we, mere mortals, will never know, Sir,” Alfred answered in his usual tone.

---------

“Cassandra?” Sabine asked, leaning through the doors leading to the gym. The mats that would usually cover the ground were all rolled in the corner to make space. A large mirror covered the entire right wall. A lone girl in a white ballet outfit danced to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker ballet music.

The girl did not answer or break her dance, but Sabine noted that her gaze shifted toward doors in the mirror. It was just a short moment to assess the threat without breaking concentration on whatever one did. It was the same as she often did. It was an instinct learned through years of training. David Cain better stayed in that cell or else.

When the song ended, Cass turned the music off and walked closer to Sabine until they were standing about a foot apart.

“You’re a great dancer.” The woman started. Cass only nodded in response.

“Practice.” She said. There was more awkward silence where the two measured each other.

“I’m sorry sweetie. For what happened to you. If I knew, I would’ve searched for you and gave you a proper home.” A tear appeared in Sabine’s eye. When they spoke through video, it was mostly about meaningless things to get used to one another or neutral subjects. Now, in person, Sabine wanted to get all regret off her heart.

“No… fault.” The girl answered. “All… good.”

“Can I… Hug you?” Sabine asked, fully aware that not everyone liked physical contact.

“Hug?” Cass asked. To this day, only Dick or Tim wanted to give her hugs and it was rare. “Okay?” She more asked than agreed, but her aunt responded by slowly pulling the girl to her heart.

“I’m still sorry. If I see my sister, she is gonna get her ear screamed off.” She assured the girl. “How could she… You’re such a sweet girl.”

Cassandra Cain smiled. She liked being hugged by that woman. And the image of her mother cowering before her older sister was too funny.

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

“Damian!” Marinette shouted as he dragged her through the garden. It was much colder in Gotham than in Paris. And it was still only late morning here while she left Paris in the afternoon. She was a bit tired.

“I want to show you something, Angel. Come on! Before my brothers find us and drag me into their ‘Christmas spirit’ stuff.” He groaned at the thought.

“Christmas is important!” She argued.

“Definitely when you are here.” He answered easily. It was lucky he was too focused on the road to look back because she blushed… hard.

They walked through the forest that was on the manor grounds until they entered a small clearing. In the center, there was a stone garden gazebo with the fire burning in the center. It definitely gave heat, but little smoke dispersed in the air before it could alert anyone to that location. There were several stone benches inside.

“I found it during one of my… escape attempts when I was younger.” He admitted. “Now I use it as a retreat from my brothers. The herb mixture I use as fuel gives no smoke.”

“Why bring me here?” She asked.

“I just thought that we should enjoy the peace before the hurricane that my brothers become washes over us.”

Mari giggled. “I met your brothers.”

“No. You saw them. I had to live with them for the last five years. They are crazy.”

“It can’t be that bad… right?”

“Last year Todd set the Christmas Tree on fire.” He deadpanned.

“Okay, that might’ve been an accident.” She tried to argue.

“Four years ago Grayson decided to show his acrobatic skill to put a star on the top of the tree. He ended up crashing it on us and the dinner table.”

“It… happens?” She said, but with less conviction.

“Two years ago, Drake decided to surprise Brown and bought her a life-sized statue of them made out of chocolate.”

“It doesn’t sound that bad…”

“Except that insomniac idiot accidentally ordered it made out of chocolate ice cream!”

“Oh…” Marinette didn’t have an answer for that.

“So as I said, they can be a bit much.”

“Don’t worry. I still think it could be worse. My Nona once gave my parents a motorbike with two sidecars as a Christmas gift.”

“Tt. That sounds normal.”

“Except one of them was made as a crib for me. I was one at the time.”

Damian cracked a smile.

“I still think you will thank me for showing you this place.”

“May I remind you that you will all be stuck with my mom for the better part of the exchange. She will keep them in check.” Mari huffed.

“I don’t doubt that.” He pulled his phone and showed her a photo of Sabine standing over Talia. The next one was of unconscious Talia with Tom standing over her with the broken chair.

Mari giggled and she would later swear that Damian laughed a bit. Not that anyone saw them. Well, no human. Alfred the Cat could hardly testify.

------

Masterlist // Next

#arranged marriage AU #Damian Wayne #Damian al Ghul #marinette x damian #maridami #maribat #marinette dupain cheng #guardian!marinette #miraculous #miraculous ladybug #maribat au #miraculous lb #tiger miraculous #miraculous sabine

196 notes · View notes

headcans-oneshots-and-stuff · 4 years

Text

Batboys x Cosplayer!reader (preference)

Requested by the great @middevil465: Batboys dating a cosplayer,but downside is that they have to put up with their sewing at 2am

Dick:

Okay so this boy will be your biggest fanboy

ESPECIALLY if you cosplay him as Nightwing

(Not to be kinky on main, but depending on how..uhm... showing... the costume is he might get a bit frisky if ya know what I mean)

He wants to help as much as possible

You have to finish sewing that cape, but your wig isn’t styled yet? Don’t worry, Dick has enough expirence from his long hair phase to take care of that for you!

You want to cosplay a certain hero (or villain), but can’t fid that specific item that would make the cosplay perfect (maybe a weapon, a mask, etc.)? Dick might or might not steal borrow said item from the original hero for you (of course he gives it back after you had a photoshoot or something similar and he always feels a bit bad for the hero (not for the villains tho))

Now to the “downsides”

Dick, unlike some of his siblings, actually rather enjoys sleep

“I need my beauty sleep, all this perfection doesn’t come from nothing”

And he is honestly torn

He loves and supports you so so so much and he understands that you can be your most productive around the nighttimes, but he just came back from like two to three hours of patrol after a whole day of working at the police station and he honestly just want to sleeeeeeeeeeeep

So he finds a comprimise and fucking sound isolates the room your sewing in

It’s a win-win if we think about it and you probably would go as far as to just completely take over the room to make it your own little cosplay studio

Everyone sleeps is happy

Jason:

Jason is a whole ass hurricane

Don’t misunderstand me, he loves your hobby and he thinks it’s cool, but how excited he is depends on who exactly you cosplay

Him? Amazing, showstopping, great, breathtaking, nothing more amazing ever happened in this triste gray world before that

Robin (also slightly depending on which incarnation)? Cute, want to cuddle, 9/10 would do again

Batman? “That looks nice babe, you can take it off now” (Please don’t wear a more feminine toned (or just in general reaveling if you’re not female) batman cosplay. Jason is not ready for that amount of daddy issues)

Someone like Harley, Ivy, Selina? Hell, even penguine or Riddler? He digs it for some reason and he might even show the respective rouge a picture of the cosplay (if he knows that it’s not possible to identify you).

They all love it, possible have a little fanclub

You cosplay as any other hero? Depending on how much of a little fangirl Jason is he will be really exsited and happy with you

Now, if you, for some unknown reason like losing your brain, because quite honestly that’s what it would take for me, decide to cosplay the Joker...

Welp, you’re single now... Sorry not sorry, but Jason is not okay with that

But that’s just a real extreme so let’s get away from that again, shall we?

Jason is used to being kept awake at night, be it from his thoughts or his nightmares (Housten, we’re sinking to deep)

So when he comes home from patrol around 2/3 a.m. and finds you sitting in the living room or the bedroom on your sewing machine (a gift from Bruce so state of the art technology and relativly silent, BUT NOT SILENT ENOUGH)

He just sighs

He might just sit down beside you and watch or chat a bit or, if he feels a bit more touchy, stand beside you and braide your hair

When you’re finished he’ll pick you up and cuddle with you in bed, trapping you effectivly for the next 8 to 10 hours

Tim:

Did someone say couple cosplay? Because Yes. Yes you do

It isn’t that Tim ever really thought of doing cosplay or plans to use his rare free time to do it, but as soon as seing you cosplay literally anyone, he’s sold

He is a gigantic fanboy, has you cosplaying him (not Red Robin, just Tim) as his lock screen and you cosplaying Red Robin as his home screen

He’s not sure what it is, but one day he’s just sitting at his computer doing Wayne Inc. stuff when you send him a picture of you cosplaying someone and just has a metaphorical lightbulb over his head

He sneakily finds out who you will cosplay next and luckily for him it’s Zelda

He puts everything in order and the day you want to test the cosplay out, see if everything goes together and you can pull it off, a wild Link appears

He did one hell of a job for his first cosplay (he might have had Wayne Inc. designers for the upcoming clothing line do it, but who cares amiright?)

After that it’s kind of a tradition that once in a while the two of you pull off a couple cosplay and it’s the cutest thing ever

The highlight was when you cosplayed Batman and Catwoman on a (private) halloween party, just with the catch that you had it gender bend so Catman and Batwoman (not the Batwoman-Batwoman, but y’know what I mean), not breaking the character to the amusement of everyone present (excpet maybe Bruce who acts annoyed, but kinda thinks it’s funny)

So now to the nights

contrary to popular belief I do think Tim sleeps more than an hour or two at times

Maybe not in a healthy rythm or with any logic behind it, but he does

Mostly

Just not nights for the most part, it’s mostly in the afternoon after a few hours at Wayne Inc, or the homeoffice or college (depending on which Tim!state we’re thinking off) and before Patrol

so when he comes home to find you sewing he’s actually rather happy

He won’t let you go to bed after you’re finished until you’re really tired or if you have something important the next day

You will watch a movie or do something stupid or even go out and see what Gotham city can give you around 3 a.m. (of course with a hidden weapon on tim’s part and him not letting you out of sight)

Those nights are his favorite

Damian:

Damian, like so many things, doesn’t quite understand

What’s the appeal of dressing yourself like someone you’re not?

Why do you wear fake hair?

He also doesn’t seem to see any connection between him dressing up every DAMN NIGHT

It’s two completely different situations for him

It’s not like he does anything against that hobby of yours, but at least at the beginning he just keeps out of it

That most likely will change if you ever decide to cosplay him (as Robin)

If he comes to visit you after school at your place and he walks into your room (given your parents opened the front door for you) seeing you in a surprisingly good replica of his costume?

Bby boy is sold

The better the replica looks the quicker he is to fuzz over it

After that he kinda sees the point behind it (or not, but he supports it now and wants you to have even better, more detailed, costumes)

He’ll get you so much stuff

You want to cosplay someone, but the only wig you have that fits is a bit too long?

Well hillerihoo, you got a new one that fits perfectly and is almost life-like now

Don’t ever mention that you don’t feel comfortable with him spending so much money for you, because he won’t stop

He’ll find his ways to spoil you, believe me

quick interruption before we go to the night part:

If you’re Damian’s GF, you’re most likely bound to be good friends with Jon

So it’s only a question of time until he asks you to cosplay him

If you do he’ll be excited like a puppy you just gave a treat while Damian will pout

A lot

And I mean A LOT

You’ll either have to suffer through a few days of pouty Damian or you make an even better Cosplay of him (as Robin) or Batman (both works for him since he sees himself as the future Batman already)

That’ll make him happy again

Now to the night-part

Okay so let’s assume we’re talking about Teen!Damian (obviously also Teen!reader!!!)

You two won’t be living together so that won’t be a problem and since you’re living with y’alls parents and I will assume they won’t be happy about you sewing at 2 a.m.

Also, Damian will offer to have people make the costumes for you, but he will let that go if you tell him that making the costumes is a big part about all that, the part that makes it so amazing

IF we’re talking about grown up!Damian and Reader and the two of you live together, it’ll be a lot similair to Dick (in as he get’s you your own little cosplay studio) so that he won’t be kept awake by it

but somedays he’s more like Jason and will stay up with you and to keep you company during these creative sessions

479 notes · View notes

stxleslyds · 3 years

Text

MY TOUGHTS ON PART FOUR OF RED HOOD BY CHIP ZDARSKY :)

THIS ONE IS A MESS.

But first a little rant about my feelings about Red Hood in general at the moment.

I am not going to lie, it took me a long time to read this comic, I am kind of tired of reading this book, I feel like I lower my expectations each issue that passes by and I still get disappointed at the result.

Maybe I just love a Jason Todd that is no more and I have to accept the one we have now, but here is the thing, if this is what we get then I just don’t like it, and on rough days I hate it. These are very negative thoughts about one of the two DC characters that I love and I don’t enjoy having them, I don’t want DC to keep giving us this version of Jason or these versions of Jason, each time they change little things that just change the character from the one that he once was even more.

I feel a bit defeated about it and I don’t know, on one side I want to fight and scream so they can finally give Jason the characterization he deserves and for them to give up the bland formula they have going on with him and on the other side I just want them to stop, stop writing Jason Todd/Red Hood and that is so sad, imagine loving a character and wanting the publisher to stop making content with them because what they give is just terrible. I don’t know, this is a rant that I felt like writing before I read the issue (I did skimm it briefly), so don’t take this as part of the review, its just me explaining my feelings right now.

Anyway, I will start the review now, sorry for the rant.

Wonderful, this book is on crack (or should I say Cheerdrops?), the thing with this particular issue is that I had a great laugh, it’s funny but in a good way, it's stupid and it kind of doesn’t make sense, the only way to describe Zdarsky’s writing here is with a phrase that we say here in my country “se pisa el palito”, which means that he lies about something and after some time he reveals the truth himself by mistake or because he got confused, in this case Zdarsky makes Jason say something like “this time I have come prepared” but he is actually not prepared at all and like two pages later (within the same scene) he has Jason call himself an amateur, it's very weird and to me it translates to Zdarsky not liking Jason or just not caring about him at all.

And that sucks and it really bothers me. As I have said before this anthologies book might be called Batman: Urban Legends but the particular story I am reading is a RED HOOD one, I am not here for Batman content, I am here for Jason Todd content.

The fact that we are not getting a Jason-specific story in a Red Hood book is killing me, it would suck if we get, let’s say, a Nightwing book and its all about his relationship with Barbara…That is not a Nightwing book, that’s a Nightwing and (fake) Oracle book.

Anyway, this issue in general is like a connector, the things that happen are all happening because they will be developed in the next issues but what is said here is absolutely absurd so I will be talking about that.

This issue starts with a flashback and Jason from the present (who is currently a popsicle because he fell in Freeze’s trap) having a monologue. The flashback is set when Jason finds out that his birth mother is alive and is being used by the Joker so he (in civilian clothes) and Batman at doing some reckon. What I want to dive into is the monologue because it's interesting but also very dumb so here we go.

“What was I supposed to do? I thought I was an orphan; I carried that sadness and anger everywhere I went and then I found the woman who gave birth to me halfway across the world. I found her…and the Joker. He was blackmailing my mother, forcing her to help him steal medical supplies, which he replaced with a deadly gas, that was being hauled to a village.”

“Batman knew what he had to do. Save people, forever saving people. Batman has always been a master of control, every situation, everyone around him. He’s always known just how to handle everything. Until I came along.”

“How could he be surprised? How could the great Batman not know? I wouldn’t listen to him and he couldn’t hear me. And the fucking cycle continues.”

The first part of the monologue is pretty simple it's basically setting the scene in time and space for the reader and it also gives us a little insight on how Jason was feeling at the time which was quite nice. It sets up the fact that Jason wanted to help his birth mother out of a horrible situation, he wanted to save her from the Joker. (Hear that DC, haters and fanon, Jason was a good Robin and a loving and caring son!!!!!)

In the second paragraph of the monologue I would have assumed that Dick never existed in this universe because the idea of Batman being able to control Robin!Dick or Gotham back in the day by himself is incredibly funny to me but because Dick exists and has been mentioned in this story already I will just take it as Zdarsky wanting to really push the “Jason could never reach the level of good Robin because he was reckless and nothing like Dick” and the “Dick was always completely obedient and Batman’s perfect little soldier” narratives. It sucks man, this is like bad fanon made real and I don’t like it!

During this part we also have a little dialogue between Batman and Jason where the narrative of Jason being so incredibly reckless is explicitly shown once more.

Let me repeat myself, Jason didn’t take on the Joker because he wanted to prove himself to the Bat or to prove that he was as good a Robin as Dick was, Jason did what he did because he wanted to save the last person that he had that he felt was family, he wanted to save the woman who birthed him and that he was hoping he could call a mother. He worried and cared for this woman and then he was betrayed and it ended up ending with him dying at the hands of a mad man that to this day is still alive.

Jason wasn’t reckless for the sake of being reckless, he took the decisions he took because he didn’t feel heard by the man that was supposed to protect him and care for him, a man that had the same feelings of sadness over being an orphan, a man that despite being the greatest detective to ever detective in the multiverse couldn’t understand that Jason felt like the woman that was his birth mother could come first in his list of priorities. Jason was a child and the adult responsible of him at the time bares the fault of his death as much as the mad man that committed the crime.

There, I fucking said it.

Gladly in the third paragraph of the monologue Jason calls out Bruce on his bullshit.

Also, what the hell was Bruce thinking leaving Jason stranded in the middle of the dessert, the man literally takes the only mode of transportation away from him. What the hell.

That’s it for the first glimpse at the past, now we are in the present with Ice!Jason where Zdarsky lies to our faces, he says that Jason is prepared for this situation…I am sorry but I do not believe this.

Anyway, Jason does manage to break the ice but he trips on the iced floor almost as soon as he breaks free and falls in a hole. Are you kidding me? I know this is supposed to be funny but Jason has been written as this incompetent dumbass in this book so much that this is just insulting.

He manages to escape for three or four seconds but he realises once more that the whole thing was a trap because Freeze had actually closed all the exists with ice because he meant to trap the Bat (also maybe Freeze is under the effects of Cheerdrops?), Jason also tries to use his guns even though he had already thought about the fact that they wouldn’t fire because of the cold AND he didn’t pack his explosives, yeah… “I am now prepared”, sure Jan.

The last thing we see in this scene is Freeze getting ready to ice Red Hood once more before we start jumping from past to present scenes as Jason’s monologue continues, he does that a lot in this issue, it’s quite impressive.

We jump into the past and we see Jason going to help his mother in his Robin suit, her betrayal and the Joker being ready to torture and kill a child. From there we go back to the present where Jason manages to ask Oracle for help but not anyone’s he asks for the Batman’s help.

First let’s talk about the monologue that happens across these scenes because it has some interesting takes.

“Stupid amateur, its not going to be okay, not if we keep repeating the same mistakes. He never trusted me, I never trusted him. Neither of us lived up to the idea of ‘Batman and Robin’, the ‘Dynamic Duo’. Because Batman and Robin requires trust, it requires knowing you can’t do it alone.”

Let’s be honest as per the modern take on Batman and Robin (if it includes Bruce as Batman) the dynamic is quite dysfunctional, Batman doesn’t know how to care for a child and children shouldn’t be responsible for an adult’s safety, so the whole thing has been weird for every Robin, its not something that happened only to Jason but here is the thing, in Under the Red Hood (which is canon in this story) when Batman and Red Hood fought side by side Bruce said the following: “…Neither of us has the strength to take him out, it will require skill and teamwork. It happens before I have time to question it, a manoeuvre that comes without thought, executed as practiced and practiced many times in the cave.”

So, him and Jason worked well, they trusted each other and the work they were doing but that is not all, because they are in the middle of a fight the Red Hood doesn’t act recklessly and takes the opportunity attack the Bat when he is vulnerable, he sticks to the coordinated fight because he trusts it will work. Batman’s thoughts confirm that because he continues saying this: “To complete it (the manoeuvre) I’m forced to leave myself unprotected from an attack, an attack from the Red Hood. But the attack never comes, he just takes cover from the blast, like practiced.”

– Batman: Under the Red Hood, chapter 10.

This thing alone, written in 2005 kills the narrative of Bruce’s Batman and Jason’s Robin not working well together.

Secondly, I have to laugh about what it's actually said in the very last panels. I am sorry but it's too funny to me, I know it acts as a parallel to Jason asking for the Bat when he was about to die but this is a man, a grown man that has experience on this job, this situation would have never happened if Jason was written fairly. This is funny because of all the people in the world I would never imagine the Red Hood asking for Batman’s help. Fuck that.

Oracle of course contacts Batman but let me say something really quickly, Barbara and Bruce are both acting like Jason getting in trouble and needing help is an annoyance. What the hell is wrong with these people? Why would Jason work with Oracle or Batman in the first place?

Batman gets in the Batmobile as soon as he can and dares call Jason his son. No thank you sir, I will not be taking that kind of bullshit today. Anyway, the Bat also has a monologue because he can’t be less, here it goes.

“Jason. Dammit, son. I’m on my way, I won’t let you…” (explosions) “You’re alive. In the here, in the now. I know this, like magic…with a curse…You’re alive.”

“I don’t need to be there again, in the past. I’ve learned my lessons, the guilt doesn’t help me, it doesn’t have a hold on me anymore. You’re alive, Jason and I intend to keep it that way.”

To this I have to say the following, the only reason why Bruce is not feeling guilty about what happened to Jason is because Jason forgave Bruce/Batman for not arriving in time in order to save Jason from the explosion back in that warehouse all those years ago. Jason forgave Bruce when the final confrontation happened in UtRH. He did it because he believed that Bruce tried and still didn’t make it.

- Batman: Under the Red Hood, chapter 13.

And something else, Bruce might have been “keeping Jason alive” but he has harmed him. Rebirth RHatO #25 exists, I don’t know if it's canon within this particular story but I can’t not bring it up if this is what this man has to say.

My take on the Batman and Red Hood relationship is that it shouldn’t exist. Red Hood is not a Batman villain but he IS a Batman antagonist. STOP making Batman and Red Hood work together, with how things ended in UtRH Jason would never work with Bruce again. I am sorry but the concept of the Batfamily with Jason as a willing participant is the biggest lie this fandom and Lobdell gave us.

Enough of my takes, let's go back to the issue because it's ending is closer and the funniest panels in this whole ass book are coming!

Batman does Batman shit and as he grapples out of the Batmobile, he manages to get Ice!Jason out of a truck and everything comes to a stop, the bad guys come out of said vehicle and one of them is going in Red Hood's direction with the intention of killing him, Batman of course saves Jason and starts fighting the rest of the baddies.

I will show you funny panel number one.

You really want to make me believe that Bruce can pull that move, shut up!!!! There is no way! That’s some Nightwing level of leg work, stop it, if the Bat pulls that move he will break something or get stuck like that…

Ahh it doesn’t matter because as Batman finishes defeating all the baddies he goes to Jason’s side and here is where funny panel number 2 comes!

STOP IT, WHAT THE HELL IS THISSS? I am losing my mind over this, have you ever seen something and thought “oh this is wrong wrong” like what? This interaction is so wild to me, everything about it makes no sense…Imagine putting Jason Todd in such a vulnerable position that he is, I don’t know, happy or glad that the Bat showed up and that Batman would say that he will always be there for Jason, this shit is hilarious.

But that’s not the end, at this point nothing should shock me (as far as character designs) but this dude shows up…

Who the hell is this guy, and why does he look like that, why are all these new character designs the same and horrible? He reminds me of the weird discount-Joker-looking dude that we had in Rebirth RHatO #52

Anyway, the new dude that will be called Cheer (apparently) and Freeze ice Batman as well and that’s it, our Red Hood related suffering is over up until next month!

This one, this one was wild, I don’t know what else to say about it…I am honestly drained after reading the issue and writing this.

Let me know what you thought about this issue and if you want to read my reviews of the previous parts I will link them here! Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3!

#jason todd #red hood #robin jason todd #batman urban legends #urban legends red hood #red hood outlaw

49 notes · View notes

a-la-la-llama · 4 years

Text

The one where Marinette Steals the Batmobile #1

I’m trying to get a schedule going for my writing and planning on writing one-shots and posting them every Monday. We’ll see How this goes, Enjoy!

Part 2 Part 3

Fifteen year old Marinette didn’t know what her future would hold but her younger self did not expect this. Five months before her thirteenth birthday she was given the Ladybug Miraculous. After that she was named the guardian of more than a dozen pocket sized gods while still trying to defeat Paris’ villian. By the time she turned fourteen, she had defeated her partner's father, took a hold of all the miraculous’, and became an orphan. The kwami’s supported her in her time of need and understood she was adjusting to not having all her previous weight on her shoulders and the grief of losing her parents in the final battle. With no real person to turn to, she decided to lose herself. What better place for a teenage superhero to retire in than a dark city filled with highly unstable people such as herself. With the Kwami’s and her parents, Master Fu’s, and her own savings she teleported to Gotham City.

Just because the miraculous were made to stop evil did not mean the Kwami didn’t like getting into mischief. Especially a certain cat, fox, and mouse with no one but the god of creation to stop them. The same thing could be said about Marinette, however, she too was curious about making trouble. The city was practically in rubble but it already had heroes and she no longer wanted the weight of being a hero. Marinette also couldn’t stand the long faces of the tiny gods who wanted nothing more to explore the world. Within the first months of her stay in Gotham she became a well known thief that could rival the infamous Catwoman. She never stole anything for her own gain of course, most of the time it was miraculous’ in museums or bad people’s stuff. At the moment she has three notorious gangs wanting her head for stealing their guns and feeding them to Plagg. The only thing ever left behind was a red symbol much like the design of Master Fu's box.

“Kitten! I’m so bored, why can’t we go out?”, Plagg whined atop of Marinette’s head.

“You heard what Tikki said, we have to lay low for now since we stole that emerald and ancient headware piece from the museum”, she said.

“But those new kwami’s are so mean!”, Trixx added.

“That’s why they are in the box and you guys are allowed to roam around.”, countered Marinette.

“Mari, you really shouldn't be wearing this many miraculous.”, chided Tikki from her tray of cookies.

“I’m fine, I am only wearing five anyway!”, she responded.

“I for one think three days is enough time. Plus, we don’t have to steal anything, just go out for a joy run!”, Mullo said.

“I agree, please Mari!”, Trixx begged.

“It’s not up to me Miri’s, you have to beg Tikki.”, she responded. Marinette smiled as the three swarmed the red god with pleas and threats to destroy all the cookies in the house. It was all worth the glare Tikki sent her way before she gave in.

“Fine. No stealing, I swear if I find out you did I’ll make you return it!”, the goddess threatened. Just like that a multi mouse, fox, and cat made their way across the rooftops for their latest adventure.

“What should we do, now?”, asked MultiMouse.

MultiMinou narrowed her eyes at a dark parking lot with only one car parked in it. “Since we finished our joy run, how about we take a joy ride?”, she said with a cat-like grin.

MultiFox wagged her tail in excitement, “It looks nice too! I bet Kalkii would help us transport it to the Kwami dimension to take it for a spin.”, she squealed.

MultiMouse divided herself once more, “Mullo. Kalkii. Merge!”

The four jumped off the roof they were perched on and made their way towards the car before transforming into their smallest selves. Entering the car through the front all the way to the air ducts was a simple task for the mice. Once inside, Multi Mouse, Minou, and Fox worked on the gas pedals and steering wheel while MultiHorse worked on the portal in the passenger seat.

“How do we even start this thing!”, Minou whined.

“It has a screen right here. Maybe we push it?”, suggested Mouse.

Tapping the screen, the car let out a soft hum before various blue lights turned on. The mice all had one thing on their mind, “Merde!”

Marinette had had a couple of run-ins with the dubbed ‘BatFam’ in her time in Gotham already. She had expected it to because of her being a well-known thief and all, of course they would try to stop her. Marinette also had a huge upper-hand against them with her powers. One minute her bright orange tail is being chased by three and the next she is standing right in front of them watching them curse, wondering where she went. Illusions were the best thing to ever have! Marinette especially liked messing with the youngest one because of how angry he would get. Once, she saw him wait until no one was there and proceed to cut a trash bin in half with his katana. When he is with the one with the red helmet the two curse like sailors. The boy who has a cowl that looks like an egg, similar to Aspik, gets frustrated when his heat sensor malfunction when he is looking right at her. When the youngest isn’t around she’ll tail the one in blue and whisper things while he is patrolling. Most of the time it’s ‘Boo!’ or ‘Rawr!’ and what she has heard the people in his ear call him before as Minou, ‘Dick’. The man screams like a little girl and gets paranoid easily. When he tries to tell his partners they brush him off!

That wasn’t the point right now. The point was, Marinette found herself trying to steal the Batmobile. As if matters couldn’t get any worse, MultiFox turned to her left to see the youngest and Batman making their way towards her, trying to steal the Batmobile! So, MultiMinou did the only logical thing to do. As soon as the portal opened she slammed on the gas leaving the two in her dust. Darn Plagg and his chaotic-ness! Hopefully the drive would be worth the wrath of Tikki.

It was not worth Tikki’s anger at all. Of course Marinette, Mullo, Trixx, and Kalkii threw Plagg under the bus for it but they didn’t get out of it unscathed. True to her word unlike the five, Tikki forced them to return the vehicle to Batman the next night. They also had to write a note apologizing to Batman for all the trouble they caused. MultiBug went with the four as they teleported straight into the secret Batcave and pushed the car out of the portal. Luckily no one seemed to be there and they left quickly after placing the note on the windshield.

Red Robin was there. Red Robin blinked once. Twice. Red Robin rubbed his eyes.

The Batmobile was still there but the five identical girls were gone.

He calmly turned around back towards the computer. He must be hallucinating right? When was the last time he slept? That didn’t matter. He had to check the cameras to see if they got that and once the rest got back from patrol they could tell him if it was real. He turned back one more time towards the car and noticed the note. Better to not touch it in case it disappeared again. Coffee. He needs coffee to explain this.

Marinette ended up passed out on the couch as soon as they got home just like Tikki predicted. Seriously, that girl should listen to her more. Miraculous’ can take a huge toll on humans. All the active Kwami were nested on top of her unconscious body when Tikki decided to ask what exactly was on the note.

“The note? Oh that note! Well…”,Plagg dragged out with a yawn.

Dear Mr.Batman and Traffic Light boy.

We are very sorry for taking your Batmobile for the day and I swear we didn’t mean to. We thought it was an abandoned car and wanted to learn how to drive. When we got in we realized this was a mistake but you were very close to us and we didn’t want to get in trouble so we took it! Don’t worry, we didn’t do anything with it but drive. Since we are making confessions do you think we should add the rest? Might as well Kitten so she doesn’t get mad at us. No, Trix don’t write that, stop it!

-We were the ones that scared the Blue Boy.

-Tell him that ‘Dick’ isn’t a very good vigilante name.

-Traffic-Light boy we saw you cut that trash bin in half.

-Traffic-Light boy and Red Helmet need to watch their language.

-Egg head, your cowl looks like an egg.

-Those guns we stole all got destroyed, don’t worry! Have you ever melted them? It’s really cool to watch.

-We ate that granola bar that Red Helmet had in his pocket.

-It made us feel really funny.

-We caught Egg head when he passed out while grapple hooking.

-Oh, write that we are really evil. I wanna make them scared!

-We are really evil!

-Blue Boy has really good jokes that make us laugh.

“Then it’s signed with their usual red symbol, a green cat print, mouse ears, fox tail, and a horse spur.”, Alfred concluded.

“Shiitake mushrooms! They knew my identity and didn’t even realize it.” Nightwing screeched, grabbing his hair.

“That granola bar was a ‘special’ brownie.”, Red Hood stated.

“I do NOT look like an egg! ...Ok maybe I do.”, sighed Red Robin.

“I told you I kept hearing things and I was RIGHT!”, shouted Nightwing.

“They can’t be real if they liked your jokes, Grayson.”, Robin said.

“Ouch, Traffic-Light boy! That felt like you cut me in half like that trash can.”, teased Nightwing.

Batman took the note from Alfred and rewatched the footage from the caves cameras. They five looked younger than Robin and obviously held some type of magical abilities to create a portal. From what he could tell they weren’t actually doing bad things and when they did they felt guilty about it. He pulled up the note left at the museum that was also an apology.

“They are just kids, Alfred.”, Batman mumbled.

Alfred hummed. “Kids who need some guidance I suppose, Master Bruce?”, he suggested.

#maribat #The One Where Marinette

768 notes · View notes

oh-for-fic-sake · 4 years

Text

Admiring the view

Masterlist

Warnings: Adult content +18 only!, smut, fluff , slight angst, window sex, bitches being bitchy,posessive male

A/n:Enjoyed writing this let me know what you think, im trying desperatly to keep bruce in character any way enjoy xxx

You and Bruce plan to meet for lunch at the tower thats if your let into the building.

Admiring The View

Bruce sat tapping a foot impatiently under the desk as the man in front of him drolled on about a 'funny thing that happened at golf last week' that wasn't actually that funny or interesting. But being the perfect business man that he is he still managed to force a laugh looking invested into the story that was meant to butter him up. The man Mr Fells owner of a computer parts manufacturer was tying to get in his good graces so Bruce would loan him an extortionate some money to start another company as his current one sunk into bankruptcy after being sued. The man had effectively stolen a whole generation of employee's pension's counting the money they paid in as profits and had been spent on Mr Fell's new yacht . It was a nice boat, he might buy it off of the man when he becomes bankrupt. He smirked at that. When the time came for his employees to retire they found they couldn't withdraw anything and was in the middle of a court battle. Bruce was not going to give this man a cent not that the greasy old fuck knew that yet. He fished in his pocket checking his phone for what seemed the hundredth time. He smiled when he saw the text he'd been awaiting all day from you.

-Just got off the bus, be there in five xx

"Sorry am I keeping you from something Bruce?" The man asked as Bruce locked his phone leaving it on his desk.

"Well I do have another appointment in about 5 minutes so I'm going to have to ask you to leave it there, I will have a decision for you in the next few days, I will have Mary phone you." He said still standing behind the desk, really he wanted to tell the man that he could go fuck himself, call him a sleaze ball and tell him that he wasn't getting anything.But that was bad business. Bruce followed him to the door shaking hands with him as he entered the elevator. His face dropped once the doors closed and he walked back across the large waiting area.

"Still trying to screw you over then?" His secretary Mary called out to him, a woman in her late thirties that he was glad to have her around she was laid back more friend than employee which made people gossip, trying to make up an 'office romance' despite her being happily married to a lovely woman named Chelsea he smiled.

"Yeah seems more now ,he's desperate find out whats happened would you? And in the next few days phone him up and tell him to fuck off." He replied

"I will ring and inform him that Wayne enterprises has decided to decline an investment into his new venture.... unless I'm allowed to actually tell him to fuck off? if that's the case give me ten minutes I'll go down and do it now face to face" She laughed he rolled his eyes.

"Maybe option one is more appropriate, option two can be the back up."

"Build my hopes and tear me down why don't you and I'm glad that your finally throwing him out, if I have to have to sit here and listen to his misogynistic prattle I will kill him Bruce, and don't think I'm joking either I know were I'd dump the body, I've had fantasies."

"Oh really? didn't think he was your type" he said teasingly

"You know what I meant"

"There nothing else on today?" He said chuckling a little approaching her behind the desk peaking at her screen she gave him a look over her thick 'boho' glasses then sighed

"No not that I can see" he nodded patting her shoulder

"Tell you what pack up and have the rest of the day to yourself . Think of it as an apology for having to put up with Mr Fells in here today" she smiled slyly leaning back.

"Really? You sure its got nothing to do with your visitor?" She asked teasingly he turned back and leaned over her screen knowing that notes from the main front desk came up to her directly.

"What is y/n here already?" Then stopped as she laughed out loud.

" caught you so you are waiting for someone? But you never bring them here so she must be something special. Tell me has someone managed to tame the king of Gotham himself? The great Bruce Wayne?" He pulled back crossing his arms trying to look stern before cracking a grin as she continued to smile at him cheekily.

"You could say that. Stay and meet her with any luck you'll be seeing more of her."

"You know what I think I will."

"shes taking a while tho better phone her, in case shes got herself lost."

Meanwhile

You pressed the bell for the bus to stop walking off as it pulled up to the bus stop texting Bruce that you were nearly there. You looked up at the tall building peaking between the others as it towered over the city. Today you finished early and Bruce had invited you to lunch, telling you that Alfred would pick you up. You declined stating that you paid for a yearly bus ticket and you'd bloody well get your moneys worth. You were excited you'd never been to this part of the city before and was looking forward to being shown 'the tower' as Bruce called it. Well more so looking forward to seeing the view of Gotham from soo high up. You smiled quickly crossing the road and followed the crowds of people down to the huge building.

Hesitating feeling almost under dressedas everyone walked around in there expensive suits you glanced down at your black leggings and button up slightly over sized blouse with small foxes on it and scuffed flats. You walked in to the huge lobby not entirely sure where to go, feeling a few of the people stealing glances at you security included eyeing you carefully as you looked around then decided to pull out your phone to text Bruce looking down concentrating you jumped when you were approached by security.

"Miss can I help you? Are you lost?" You smiled up at him

"Oh no, well I suppose I am, I'm just not sure where to go. Not been here before" you ended with a chuckle he nodded eyeing you up and down suspiciously

"If you go over there you can check in and find out where you need to be." He said pointing to a long black polished welcome desk with immaculate women sitting behind it. You smiled thanking him making your way over to them, you felt them watch you as you took uneasy steps to the desk. The two large security guards hovered close to you wandering around instead of returning to the main doors where they had been originally. A pretty brunette faced you faltering then smiled.

"Hello can I take your name?"

"Err y/n Cooke?" She smiled typing into the system then frowned obviously not finding you she typed away for a few moments clicking here and there then sighed eyeing you up and down.

"Ok.. if you could just take a seat over there." Pointing to a row of leather sofas in front of them. You watched as she whispered to a colleague and walked through a small hidden door leading out into the lobby she stood in front of you.

"Can I ask what you came here for today? Your not on the system." You nodded

"Bruce invited me this morning , he is finishing early and wanted to show me around." You said naively waving your phone at her she nodded sighing.

"I suppose this 'Bruce' happens to be Mr Wayne? I'm going to have to ask you to leave the grounds." You frowned as her not following.

"What? He really did ask me to come over. We're going out tonight you can ask him if you dont believe me" You said she looked at you pitifully before scoffing her face turned mean nodding to the two guards.

"Honestly you fan girls never cease to amaze me. Each one as delusional as the last, tho you more so, you really expect me to believe that someone like you is going out with Mr Wayne, sorry but I don't see him as a man who scrapes the bottom of the barrel."you gasped as her words cut into you she smirked.

" Your wasting my time,some of us in the real world actually have work to do. Get a grip what ever fantasy your living in isn't real, any relationship you think you might have doesn't exists. You think your the first woman to come in and try to Pass yourself of as a client to get into his office? No there have been many. Now I think you should leave before I call security and cause a scene. And from one woman to another get some help. This isn't healthy." She spat the words out through clenched teeth stepping back and made her way to wards the desk shaking her head as the other women giggled. You sat there for a moment trying desperately not to cry from the verbal beat down she gave you. Unsure why it had upset you so much it could be that you weret prepared for it or maybe that there was a crowd of people to see it. Sniffling back tears finally collecting yourself you rose just as you go to walk out your phone rang a photo of you and Bruce on the screen. You sighed sniffing back tears trying to sound normal held the phone to your ear

"Hi Bruce." You whispered leaning down grabbing your bag and slowly making your way to the door when the two guards began to make their way towards you.

"Hey where are you? You didn't get lost did you I knew I should have sent Alfred."

"No I didn't get lost I..well. something came up." You sniffed feeling the judgmental stares and laughs as you walked out with your head down. Trying to hold back your tears had made your voice higher. You heard him growl down the phone.

"What? What happe- are you crying?" You shook your head sniffing

"N-no dont be silly why would you think that?" you said taking a deep shuddering breath trying not to cry.

"Stop.. where are you whats happened? , y/n I can still hear you moving I said stop." He sounded stern almost angry you hadn't meant to but you did stop moving wiping at your face.

"I can't the guards are following me out, I'm being escorted out"

"What? Why?"

"No its fine... I will see you at the manor tonight"

"No you will not. You will tell me now what happened..... come one sweets what happened talk to me"For some reason that seemed to break the flood gates as tears began rolling down the sides of your face again whimpering.

"Apparently Bruce Wayne doesn't scrape the bottom of the barrel." You said bitterly into the phone wiping at your eyes sniffing as more tears fell you were so embarrassed you could hear the receptionist still laughing with her colleagues. Bruce was silent you took it as a sign to continue.

"She was just rude, said some nasty things ,she didnt believe that I was here to see you, then called security...its fine. I will just go"

"What did she say? And dont you lie to me" he growled you almost hear him his jaw clench.

"Bruce-"

"Tell me!" He was angry and sounded almost worried.

" That I'm delusional...that we dont have a relationship, you couldnt possibly be with someone like me as that means youd be scraping the bottom of the barrel." You waited for a reply he growled then bellowed down the receiver.

"Who the fuck does she think!- Hold on are you still down stairs? Hang on" He moved the phone away but you still heard him speaking you cringed he sounded angry. Very angry you picked up his shoes tapping quickly across the floor.

"Mary, has a security call been made in the lobby? It has? Cancel it.. now yes. And find out who the fuck is on lobby" You heard the faint sound of elevator doors closing but paid no mind as you looked at the two men came up behind you trying to usher you out.

"I'm on my way now you stay exactly where you are. I mean it don't you dare leave this building, if you let them scared you away there will be hell to pay" he ground out then hung up.You sighed looking into your phone taking a moment to brace yourself before dropping it in your bag zipping it up and slinging it over your shoulder wiping at your eyes. The guard spoke up as you didn't move opting to turn around looking for at the elevators finding them easily as one counted down through the floors from the top. It must have been Bruce. You counted with it for a few breaths if it was him he was already half way down the building.

"Miss your going to have to leave." You snapped your head away and shook your head at them.

"You don't understand-"

"No you don't understand you've been asked to leave"

"And I've also just been ordered to stay put by Bruce" you replied more confident now that you knew Bruce was coming down to get you. Getting a glare he took a threatening step towards you.

"If you don't remove yourself then I'm going to be forced to remove you and press charges of trespassing which will go on your record and you will be banned from all Wayne enterprises owned establishments."

"Well you can try, but I doubt he will let that happen this has been a huge misunderstanding." He sighed at you

"Please don't make me drag you out" you saw the elevator doors open revealing your very pissed off looking boyfriend. You flinched he looked almost scary standing taller, he carried himself... different he looked determined then he locked eyes with you and you froze, that intense gaze made you quiver.

"Well don't say I didn't try to warn you" he frowned at that not noticing the way people parted letting the big boss storm across the lobby uninterrupted. Glancing at him as they all but jumped out of his way not wanting to have that anger directed at them , watching to see what poor soul was gojng to be on the receiving end. Bruce's quick steps and angry aura was quickly drawing the attention of the whole lobby as the small crowd watched Bruce quickly cut across the space. Holy shit he looked incredible.The security guard grabbed your forearm ready to drag you out as Bruce stopped behind him.

"What is going on here?" The man gasped turning around as he heard the sharp edge to Bruce's words. Bruce looked at the hand on your arm and practically snarled posessively

"Is he bothering you love?." The guard stood back dropping your arm as if it had scalded him looking between the two of you as Bruce held out a hand catching your wrist gently.

"Mr Wayne you know this women?" He asked panicked Bruce pulled you to him by your arm looking to see if the guard had left any marks rubbing it gently. He glanced at the shorter man with stern eyes pulling you off to the side putting you behind him a little.

"Well I'd hope so considering she's my girlfriend." You gaped at him not expecting him to be so blunt or loud he was loud enough for those around you to hear. The onlookers did a shitty job of covering there shock as they continued to eavesdrop. You snapped out of it placing a hand on his chest trying to calm him down as he squared up against the man who dared touch you. You felt sorry to the guard he didnt do anything wrong in your eyes.

"Bruce he was just doing his job." he huffed casting a look down at you contemplating.

"Your right love. Could you tell me who told you to escort her out of the building?" he raised a hand in the direction of the welcome desk. You heard the poor man sigh in relief as Bruce cast his icy gaze at the desk pulling you behind him you staggered before he grabbed your waist possessively pulling you beside him tucking you into his body protectivly tracing small circles with his fingers in an attempt to calm you.

"Bruce, just leave it please can we go upstairs" you pleaded quietly to him he frowned

"we will but not yet, who upset you?" he asked waving a hand across the desk motioning to the women.

"Bruce please it wasn't that bad lets go"

"No I'm not leaving until I have a word with her, now you can stall all you want sweets but I'm going to find out who it was. No one treats you like that especially in MY company now are you going to be a good girl and tell me?" you couldn't help the way your pussy fluttered at his words, you'd never seen him this protective before a part of you relished in it wanted more even, this was Bruce the boss. Determined and dominant. He looked devastatingly sexy wound tight standing taller and broader, not bothering to pay any mind to the others whispering around him, you felt safe knowing you were here in the arms of the biggest alpha male in the room. Probably the whole tower. He sighed looking at you from the top of his eyes.

"You wont tell me fine then, I'm a good detective I'm sure I can work it out" he stated simply pulling you the few feet up to the desk all of the women squirmed uneasy under his heavy gaze as he looked across them. The one who had upset you shrunk looking more frightened then the others, she shuddered when Bruce locked onto her.

"Considering how panicked you look I'm assuming you are the one who dealt with Miss Cooke?" he said evenly she looked up slowly nodding. Eyes wide gulping. you couldn't help it as your pussy throbbed and you nipples pebbled as bruces stern voice seemed to dominate the huge lobby ,the once nasty smug woman was now cowering slightly.

"I'd like to know what happened" he ordered in a deep voice your breathing bacame shallow at the sound, she started stuttering a reply.

"W-well Mr Wayne.. I-I took her name and c-couldn't find her on the system, I checked all departments and bookings and she wasn't on there so asked her to wait in the lobby... i-it could have been an error." he nodded understanding that even with the top of the range computers he had there was still room for error mostly human error but it did happen ,he motioned for her to go on.

"Then when I came out to ask here where she was headed.... I'm sorry Mr Wayne I didn't believe her.. she said that she was coming to see you I thought she was another girl trying to sneak past the desk I'm so sorry." she quivered. So did you but not necessarily for the same reason flushing a little not just at the attention you had directed your way but also because of the heat that was building between your legs. It didn't help having his warm hand pressing on the side of your waist low enough that it cupped the swell of your hip the heal of his hand covering the top of your ass. you shifted from one foot to the other trying to relieve some of the ache as your movement rubbed your swollen clit between your lips.oh fuck.

"Tell me what are you supposed to do when someone comes in asking for me personally? I'm sure that it was covered in your training" he asked with a heavy tone. You whined in your throat hearing the thick stern voice carry throught the lobby, which had become very quiet. He massaged his fingers into your side letting you mnow he had heard you flushed brighter. She cleared her throat.

"Er-erm we are supposed to message Mary on your floor." she answered wishing the floor could swallow her up.

"Yes but instead you decided to make derogatory remarks to her and embarrass her before having her thrown out. Why is that?" he said making her gulp as she stood pin straight shaking a little fully prepaird to be sacked on the spot he didn't give the woman a chance to reply.

"Tell me what was the comment about me scraping the bottom of the barrel? Or how about you tell me why i couldnt possibly be with a beautiful woman such as her? Or you could explain to me when it became apropriate for you to call my geusts delusional? do you think that is the type of professionalism people expect to find here? that this is the type of people I want representing my company on any level least of all the front line? " he snapped out at her you grasped his blazer.

"Bruce enough,, its done ok? its done please?" he looked from your pleading face to the thoroughly embarrassed woman who looked like she was about to cry. He lifted a hand pulling a tissue from the box on the desk offering it to her, she reached out slowly accepting it. He took a deep breath, part of him wanted to continue. This woman had made you cry, made you feel less than yourself after he'd spent the last few months building up your confidence. But worst of all she made you want to run from him. You had only just stopped questioning your relationship. And this woman had nearly destroyed your new found confidence for no other reason then to make herself look and feel important.

"Go home, take today off tomorrow you will resit the training for this position including the probation period and hopefully you can continue here with a fresh attitude following all protocols, I am not running a school playground I am running a company and this childish bullying has no place here if you dont sort it out your out do I make myself clear." he scolded she used the tissue wiping her eyes nodding

"Yes Mr Wayne" thanking him yet absolutely mortified that she'd been dressed down to such a degree in front of everyone. Bruce satisfied turned walking to the elevators pulling you in along side him, you couldn't help feeling a little sorry for the woman as you took a fleeting glance at her as the doors began to close on the scene catching the gasps as bruce tucked his face into your hair kissing you just befor they shut completely.

"Are you ok now?" he asked stepping closer rubbing your shoulders kissing the back of your neck. you shuddered moaning softly try to contain it you knew you'd failed as he smirked nipping you lightly.

Ooh I think you are? is someone a little worked up?" he wound his arms around your waist tugging you back flush against him slipping a hand between your legs. You moaned rocking into him.

"I've never seen you like that... well only on our second date but you weren't as ... intense you were so sexy.... I think I've got a new fantasy" you summarised he hummed cradling you hiding his face in your neck taking a slow breath before pulling back releasing your mound much to your despair.

"I will see to you in a moment, but I would like to introduce someone to you." he winked making you blush. The doors opened revealing a large modern hall that opened to a medium sized stylish waiting area secretary desk to the left of a heavy looking door with frosted glass paneling the same frosted glass on one side of the door behind the desk A tall woman sat at. she stood up laughing.

"I've got to say Wayne that just made up for my day sitting with Mr Fells."

"You watche dthrough security then?" He asked directing you towarss her she nodded

"The secretaries name is Kirsty Knell, she has a track record of being rude acordjng to the complaints at HR, two major incidents gaining two strikes technically she should be let go as this is her thrid but you've already said for retraining she wont last this probation,she doesn't play well with women it seems. But Ive already sent for her to retrain for the remainder of the week" she said as you both came to a stop befor the desk she come out from behinde the desk holding out a hand

"Hello I'm mary Collins Bruce's secartary" you smiled shaking her hand

"Y/n Cooke ,Bruces..girlfriend nice to meet you" she smiled giving Bruce a playful wink

"Well can I just say he is a lucky man."

"Oh er haha thank you?" you stuttered blushing unsure what to make of the energetic woman.

"Tomorrow phone up Clark for an interview about Y/n I don't care when, book it for at the manor." she nodded at him more interested in watching you.

"Will do.....oh Bruce she's adorable.... Anyway theres a new pass on the desk for her to keep... and thats about it I'm off gonna go surprise the missus at work. See you on Thursday. Make good choices." she left through the still waiting elevator. you stared after her as the doors closed. Bruce laughed picking up the pass and small card that had the companies logo on it.

"This is for you ,it'll get you in and around the building tho after today I doubt anyone is going to stop you again." you took it sliding it into your bag

"Why couldn't you have given me this before?" you cried at him he raised an eyebrow.

"Are you whining? it sounds like your whining, and I was going to give it to you today front desk is meant to message Mary when someone asks to see me" you pouted a little following him into his office. You looked around , it was sleek and modern then you gasped as you spotted the huge floor to ceiling window to the back it had a beautiful view of Gotham... and made you realise you were high..... really high you slowly walked around the chairs and desk dropping your bag on one of the chairs.

"I've never been this high up before." he traced your steps standing behind you as you tentatively touched the cool glas feeling as tho you could fall.

"Sounds like a challenge, are you sure feeling better now?" you rolled your eyes at him when he asked

"Yes I'm fine... cant blame them I mean I'm not what you usually go for.. but you did just reduce her to tears... and it was so hot I've never seen you in boss mode before" he groaned in your ear shifting a little turning you around pushing you against the glass. You trembled as the cool of the glass penetrated your thin blouse.

" I love you" you smiled leaning in kissing him gently then pulled away.

"I love you to" you gasped not noticing him move until his hand cupped you through your leggings again, lifting to your tip toes as he curled a finger slipping it between your needy lips running back and forth across your opening then settled on your clit rolling it hard.

"wow I suppose you really did like that display downstairs your almost flooding your panties, tell me how much did it turn you on when I came down there to put people in there place?" you moaned nodding as his fingers swirled finding your entrance again digging deeper pumping in and out in strong shallow thrusts through your leggings and panties.

"A lot OOHH FUCKBruce we cant,...OOHH God .. Bruuuce your not playing fair." you whined as he continued to play with you knowing just how to toe the line before letting you build to fast.

"Ooohh but baby we can." he whispered against your temple then spinning you he maneuvered you around to face the window pressing your breasts and side of your face on it pulling your hips back securing your arms across the back of your waist as one large hand curled around both crossed forearms. He ground himself against you. You let out a cry trying to wiggle away from him. But just ended up fubbjng your breasts on the cool glass making your nippled impossibly hard.

"Bruce oh my god some one will see!" you admonished at him confused as to why the thought of being caught thrilled you sending a hot rush down you spine setteling in your fluttering lower tummy. He leaned over you brushing his erection against you his chest ghosting your back, letting out a breathy chuckle in your ear before dropping his voice down and octave.

"I know exciting isn't it?" you whined out at him in protest as he rubbed himself across you with descisive strokes teasing you in the way only he knew how

"Bruuuce" you tried again he laughed

"Don't worry sweets we are at least 6 stories above everyone else, you think I'd ever let anyone else see you?"

"YES! of course you would." you yelled unable to stop yourself from grinding back on him he really did laugh at that kissing your neck he noticed that his marks had healed. He tutted couldn't have that now could we?. You squeaked at him when a hand crept up to your throat holding you still as he began kissing your neck, sloppy opened mouthed kisses following licks and bites tugging lightly between his teeth, you closed your eyes tight as your body sung under his ministrations.

"OH-OOHH Bruce pleas-PLEASE fuck." you moaned and withered as he used his hips to stop your movements tucking them under you slightly before thrusting up grinding on your engorged clit nearly taking your weight off your feet.

"AAHH SHIT!" you let out a high keen as he rocked his pelvis side to side his cock rubbing across you through clothes you now wished wasn't there. He pulled back spying the purple mark blossoming on your neck he gave a final lick before moving to stand tall behind you pressing on the dip between your shoulders as you tried to follow him.

"Ah ah not so fast I'm not done with you yet, there was so many things I had planned in here for today... but I'm afraid you will have to settle for a quicky instead...after all I have made lunch reservations." he said as he dragged down your leggings and panties one hand bunched up the blouse that hung over your ass hiding your quivering pussy. Securing it in the hand that held your arms steady he licked his lips as he revealed the juicy plump lips that peaked out from between your thighs. You gasped rubbing your thighs together trying to ease some of the tension you could feel his eyes staring at you. He chuckled enjoying the mewls he cause when he started slapping your thighs untill they parted he undid his zipper pulling himself free before letting your pussy kiss the crown of his cock lightly. You rocked back trying to get him to do ... Somthing anything.

"OH baby is this what you want?" he asked teasing you pressing the head just inside of you just so you felt the first sting of him stretching you before pulling out tapping your clit with it. You sobbed nodding

"I thought you said this was a quicky?" you protested trying to follow him back. Growling aggravated when the hand holding your arms stopped you just shy of him.

"Well You've got me there" that was all the warning you got as he thrust forward bottoming out. You cried in shock as he held still arching his hips up into you forcing you to curve your spine and then some, like always he stretched your walls tight causeing a small sting that always make you quiver around him it sent tingles through your whole body and made your skin prickle, he copied his movement from before tilting up trying to support your weight on his cock only it was embedded within you this time. You moaned in slight pain as the angle had him pressed hard against your cervix. You tense fisting your hands trying to bear your weight down on him wanting more of the addictive pleasure and pain mix. He dropped his hips before thrusting back up holding you high again.

"Or maybe this is what you wanted? I'm going to fuck you and everyone will know your mine, you wont be able to walk straight when we leave thats a promise" he grunted in your ear then began pumping into you slowing building his thrusts into a merciless pace. All you could do was enjoy the ride as he railed you ,panting hard fogging the window with every breath crying and moaning as he used you chasing his own pleasure, his groans were louder as he felt your pussy tensing refusing to let got of him, he couldnt pull out even if he wanted to. You bucked against his pistoning hips feeling your climax building looking down at the peole below you felt yourself spasm arojnd him feeling him throb as his veins caught every nerve inside of you ,when the first tremors shook your body you squirmed that familiar burning heat trickled down into your tummy falling lower and lower as your tummy tensed again and again, he must have felt it as he lowered his hand catching your clit rolling it back and forth. One harsh pinch is all it took for you to fall throwing your head back

"BRUUUCE AH FUCK" you cried high and loud as your body was overcome by bone rattling shudders your pussy spasming around him as you came your pussy ,assaging hjm desperatly trying to milk him it worked as he followed instantly arching his hips up holding still one hand landing on the glass beside you the a loud thump that echoed through the office his deep grunts readched your ears desperate needy as he finished inside of you painting your insides marking it as his and his alone. Both panting he took a few seconds catching his breath then he pulled you back a few steps sitting in his high back chair taking you with him on his lap still nestled inside you, you melted into him as the final tremors ebbed away leavjng you sated and relaxed your head lolling back onto his shoulder, he glanced at the clock on the wall and chuckled

"We missed are reservation.."

"Fuck the reservation" you replied breathlessly still panting hard trying to get your breath back he kissed your shoulder through your blouse.

"Well now I can check that off the list." he said cheerfully groaning as he shifted in his chair releasing your arms rubbing them soothingly as he pulled you up his legs eagerly stuffing more of himself inside of you, you whined at the tenderness that aslway came after being with him.

"List?" you asked now having come back down to earth he nuzzled into your neck humming.

"yeah I have a list of places I want to fuck you in."

"And of course your office is one of them" you laughed weakly his chest rumbled on your back as he growled.

"Not exactly... desk was my first preference, it was the first fantasy I had of you actually... the day we met to be exact" you rolled your eyes

"your unbelievable"

"But I have to admit I've always wanted to try window sex,and mirror sex hey and maybe in the board room god knows I need something to think about to get me through those god awful meetings." you sighed at him

"Something tells me if you had your way we'd fuck in every room in this building"

"Dont tempt me that's not a bad idea" you slapped his thigh lightly

"Its a very bad idea..... imagine the chafing" he let out a belly laugh before leaning forward catching your panties and leggings in one and dragging them over your knees removing himself carefully he pulled them back up patting your bottom

"There we go now how about we get out of here?" he said putting himself back into his trousers zipping them back up you stood taking small steps on shaky legs grabbing the desk as you nearly fell he smirked

"Oh shut up" you said seeing the smug man raise his hands

"Didn't say a word" he held you steady handing you your bag going to the elevator hitting the basement level to the company car park. you sighed leaning against him.

"So where are we going then?" you asked he smoothed the hair away from your neck leaving a kiss on it.

"Home? Tim's coffee machine has been installed so I'd like you to test it before he comes home just to see if it works."

"He got the one we have at work didn't he?"

"yep"

"Why doesn't that surprise me? I'll give it a go but I really would like a shower first" he shook his head pushing you out of the doors to the Aston Martin parked in his spot unlocking it.

"That's a thought I'm gonna fuck you in all my cars to. And your not allowed to have a shower yet, theres somthing about the thought of you at the manor dripping with me all day, tha just uugh it gets me going. You can join me in the shower tonight." you blushed at the thought of him watching you all day arpused knowing how messy he had made you, your pussy throbbed almost painfully.

"O-oh I'm staying over then?" he nodded entering the car you followed

"Yes your staying for a while now that we are going public, and it might be an idea to take a week off, I just want you close until the initial buzz is over." you nodded as he started up the car.

"A-are you ok with all that?" he smiled beaming at you

"Of course I love you and I'm not letting you go your stuck with me I'm afraid. I'm looking forward to being able to show you off, knowing Mary she will phone him today so Clark will probably be in touch within the next few days I would have thought the interview will be Friday or even Saturday. So you'll probably be at the manor for the next 2 weeks or so" he pulled the car out of the car park onto the main road you nodded

"I will tell Jack to go and pack some bags and come over."

"No need I will have Alfred pick him up when he goes to pick up Damien and explain it to him..they can stop at yours on the way home... how do you feel about Jacuzzi sex?" you rolled your eyes

"How did you go from Jack packing bags to pool sex?"

"I thought about telling him not to bother bringing your swimming costume. He and Damien have been swimming lately." you laughed leaning back in the seat shifting whimpering as you felt him seeping onto your panties.

"Are you sure I cant shower when we get back, This is uncomfortable." he gave you a side glance you could see his mind working but he said nothing.

"Ok how about this you let me shower and then we can have Jacuzzi sex tomorrow when the boys are at school?" you reasoned

"Share the shower to save water?"you nodded giggling at his compromise.

"Deal" he agreed way to quickly

"H-HEY! was that a set up?!? you are unbelievable Mr Wayne" he smirked gripping your thigh massaging it with his fingers you pouted.

"Unbelievably good getting shower sex and Jacuzzi sex, fuck yes, three days and three things off my list I'm on a roll." he said pulling of the main road. Honestly this man was always running rings around you.

#bruce wayne x y/n #bruce wayne smut #bruce wayned fic #bruce wayne imagine #bruce wayne x reader #batman x y/n #batmom imagines #dc x reader #dc x y/n

1K notes · View notes

yellowocaballero · 3 years

Note

hi i know it's been the hottest of seconds but director's cut for the prophetic spring if you're still doing these? 👀

Sure! I’ve spoken a lot about the prophetic spring, but I’m fairly certain I could give some meta information about my intense life-long obsession with Tim Drake. Dude has been showing up in my fics since I was 14.

But actually, the ficlet I wrote ages ago might be more interesting? So here it is. Exploring a dynamic that was WAY underserved for how important it is: the Steph, Cass, Tim dynamic!

No CW that haven’t appeared in the prophetic spring, but specific mention for drug addiction and drug depiction, as well as references to molestation, abortion, torture, and suicide. Story under the cut.

Tim stared down into the toilet bowl. It was a little yellowed. He needed to clean it.

He stared at the small baggie of pills in his hand.

He visualized dropping it into the bowl, flushing it. Possibly mutating an alligator, or giving the race of mole people that lived in the Gotham sewers a nice surprise.

Tim sighed, and pocketed the drugs. Maybe tomorrow.

A month after the incident with a runaway foster kid and a, in retrospect, kind of embarrassing fake fight with his older brother, Tim got a text from an unknown number. To make matters worse, it was at an insane hour of the day - noon.

Texts from strangers were hardly uncommon. Tim had an extensive contact network, growing larger by the day, but he had set up a Google Voice on his computer so they were all routed through a program there. Being bothered at all hours of the day on his phone was hardly his idea of a good time. The only people who really had his real number were his bullshit ‘friends’ and his asshole ‘family’. He hadn’t even given his number to his ‘friends’ - he had given it to Kon under strict confidentiality, and then Kon had given it to all of Young Justice. Asshole.

405-555-1998: dropping by in three hours so make sure ur presentable :)

As Tim had just woken up, most of his brain was occupied by a single whuh?

Just as his mind swirled in sleepy confusion, his phone buzzed again.

405-555-1998: B1706XQE45

The code checked out. It was an ally, not an unknown or an enemy.

Tim groaned, covering his eyes with an elbow. He needed coffee.

****

The coffee was a new thing - rather, it was something he had drunk plenty of growing up, because there had been nobody around to inform him that coffee was bad for developing brains. Growing up completely unsupervised was probably why Tim was a drug addict now. He could totally blame this on his parents never loving him.

Not a drug addict, Tim thought to himself anxiously as the coffee sputtered into the extra large gallon pot. Just someone who...uses drugs...in an unhealthy way. Substance abu - substance user, who just used it maybe as a bad coping mechanism. Not that Tim had good coping mechanisms, but it was better than sawing off heads or becoming a drug lord. When you thought about it, it was either being a serial killer or doing drugs, so logically it means that he should do more drugs to decrease the amount of fun little murders he does -

Tim made toast.

The coffee was a new thing, because he was trying to use it to replace the drugs. He had cut back. The stupid little sorority that called themselves the Birds of Prey had been talking to him about it. He had agreed to try. It was best to set expectations low, so he couldn’t disappoint. Actually, Tim loved disappointing, maybe he should set them higher. Maybe he could make inspirational speeches about how he was a good guy now? Ha ha.

The three hours had been a deft move. The texter knew noon was his average wake-up time at best, and the three hours gave him enough time to sober up if he had been high or drunk at the time. Tim didn’t like to start popping the minute he woke up, but - well, sometimes he did. Or sometimes he was awake at noon because he had been on an all-nighter drug binge. They hadn’t given their name, either, which meant that it was somebody who he wouldn’t want to see.

He could bounce, escape to some corner of Gotham until they gave up. Except he had the sense that whoever had gone through the effort to get his number wasn’t the type to give up. Almost nobody Tim knew was the type to give up. His ‘friends’ and his ‘family’ never gave up. On anybody but him.

A voice in his head, not quite yet suffocated, sounding altogether too much like the Replacement, echoed in endless attempts to get him to come back. Oh, whatever. Kid was a try-hard. He needed better taste in made up families.

Over the next three hours, he debated his tactics. If he wasn’t escaping and the texter was playing the buddy card, then the situation probably wasn’t dangerous. He strapped in his armor under the baggy pyjamas that he never took off anyway, and spitefully made no effort to control his hair. He did put on make-up, an old hand from keeping CPS off Bruce’s trail - man, he should have pretended Bruce was molesting him, that would have been funny as fuck - to hide the bags under his eyes. No use looking pathetic.

He hid a few more weapons around his apartment. He anxiously checked his phone, staring not at the new texts but at Harley’s offer sent a week ago. He still hadn’t replied. He didn’t know what to do with it.

As if he could ever feel safe sleeping under the same roof as her?

As if he ever felt safe anywhere?

Maybe he had nothing to lose. That was the greatest part about this, the most wonderful aspect of what he had done to everybody in his life. When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose. That’s freedom, or so Janis had always told him. She knew what she was about. Overdosing on heroin at 27 - that was understanding what it meant, to have nothing. To be free. He was almost jealous.

At two on the dot, a polite knock echoed through the apartment. Tim looked up from where he was relaxing on the couch, with all of the possible entry points in his line of sight. That wasn’t a knock he had memorized, and he had memorized everyone’s knocks.

Nothing for it. He’d have to get rid of them as quickly as possible. Maybe he can pull the insane sociopath schtick again; that had always been effective in ditching his parents. Tim sighed, walked over to the door, swiped his thumb against the keypad, undid the three deadbolts, and opened door only to see -

Stephanie Brown, hands propped on her hips and smiling widely. Cassandra Wayne, standing right behind her, serene as ever.

Tim closed the door - or he tried. Steph had expected the move, and the minute he had opened the door her foot had jutted out and blocked him from closing the door. Effortlessly, she wrenched it back open and stepped into his apartment, forcing him to press against the wall and scowl as insane women infiltrated his space.

“Wow,” Steph said loudly, “this place looks like a wreck!”

Tim groaned.

***

The thing with Steph and Cass was this:

How to describe it?

The sister he had never expected, the best friend he had never thought he would have. Cass was his twin, Robin’s shadow, the other side of his mountain. Bruce had adopted Cass barely five months after he became Robin, and Tim had unabashedly resented her for stealing Bruce’s attention so quickly. He had always liked her more, but Bruce had liked everyone more than Tim, so maybe it was no surprise. She was sweet, kind, gentle, and no trouble. Tim wasn’t any trouble either, but he couldn’t be the rest of it if it bit him in his ass.

Robin was the brain. Cass was the muscle. They were a team so closely linked, conjoined at the hip, that Tim couldn’t remember a patrol ever done without her. Bruce had let them start patrolling alone at fourteen (“You didn’t let me work alone until I was fifteen, and I was an assassin,” Damian had spat), and they had been an unbeatable team. Robin’s hand-to-hand was weak, but nobody ever got through Batgirl. Batgirl struggled with technical knowledge, reading and writing and investigating and chasing down leads, the only area where Tim had ever excelled. Together, they had almost been as good as Batman. Sometimes, Tim had let himself think that they might be better.

They had been so similar. Everyone had always said so. They’re both so quiet, the Justice League had said. Emotionless little freaks, the Rogues had said. Neither of them blink, their schoolmates had said. But there had been nothing to say, not between them: they could have a conversation without words, without even Sign. Cass had known every twitch of Tim’s body, had understood him down to his core. Nobody else ever had. Everybody had always called Tim inscrutable and impossible to understand - but to Cass, Tim had been an open book. She knew every inch of him. And she had loved him anyway.

And Steph! When Steph had found them when they were fourteen veering on fifteen, and from then on it was as if she had always been there. She was so big, so smiling, so much, and she had never apologized for any of it. Nothing scared her. To Tim, that was the perfect vigilante - somebody who was scared of nothing, who never hesitated, who was good.

Not even Bruce could intimidate her. When Tim was fourteen, he had thought that was the most amazing thing in the world. Bruce intimidated everyone, but Steph had just stuck out her tongue and kept badly backflipping off roofs anyway. Through twin convincing, Tim and Cass had convinced Bruce to give her a chance, and Spoiler had slot into their dynamic perfectly. She was their best friend, always.

She wasn’t good at hand-to-hand at first, but Tim had improved by then, and they could cover her. She improved faster than he had, and judging from the reconnaissance footage Tim had frantically consumed after he came back to life, she was amazing now. She was wickedly smart, practical and down to Earth. If Tim was better at hacking into a computer, Steph was the one who found the post-it note with the password stuck under the desk.

But more than any of that, she had brought the social skills. She had brought the calming presence, the sweet hand to victims and civilians, and her good humor was infectious. Steph was good with people. She was a born leader. Resilient. Brave. Everybody liked her. Everybody loved her. Tim had. She had loved him too. She could have done so much better than Tim and Cass, weird little societal rejects, but she had chosen them as her family.

It had been the three of them. For as long as Tim’s life had meaning, for as long as he had been loved, they had loved him. Tim had grown up alone, in a world of one, and they had infiltrated it. They had expanded it, and they dragged his life into more than just Tim. Into Tim-and-Cass-and-Steph. Into Robin-Batgirl-Spoiler. Into meaning, and love.

Tim hated them. And he wanted them to suffer.

“That’s the Stephanie Brown I remember,” Tim sneered, closing the door behind him. Steph had quickly thrown herself onto Tim’s couch, clearly somewhat surprised at how comfortable it was, and Cass had perched daintily on the arm. Cass had always refused to sit like a normal person - she would rather sit on the backs of sofas, or on the arm, or perched on chairs like a bird - “If I had known you were coming I would have jumped cities.”

“We would have chased you down and you know that,” Steph said cheerfully, like she said fucking everything. “Besides, if you had known we were coming you would have gone into witness protection. You’ve been avoiding the fuck outta us.”

“Wonder why,” Tim said, injecting as much mean-spirited sarcasm into his voice as possible. “I need more coffee, don’t go through my shit.”

The apartment was small, and the kitchen had a cut-away wall where he could see through into the living room. Stephanie hated nothing more than being ignored or looked down upon, and if he dismissed her and didn’t react then she’d grow infuriated with him and leave. He couldn’t fight with her, because if it came down to a battle of rhetoric or emotions she’d win single-handedly. She was so good with words. Cass...had no weaknesses.

Which was inconvenient, because it was Cass he absolutely had to get rid of as soon as possible. She was very emotional, and more than a little sensitive. Especially to rejection. If he was cruel enough to her, she’d start crying and leave. There was only one problem with that.

As he jammed more grounds into the machine he watched the girls out of the corner of his eye. They weren’t talking or whispering to each other, both fully aware of how well Tim could read lips. They weren’t even having one of those body language conversations they could only have with each other, aware that Tim could crack that too. Instead Stephanie was casually sprawled on his couch, looking for all the world like a middle aged dad watching the football game, looking around the room. Cass, as usual, was zoning out. Or, of course, looked like she was zoning out - Tim could tell that she was waiting for something to happen, and was preparing herself for it.

Shit. Tim fought the urge to gnaw on his fingernail. Cass was going to be a problem.

He risked another glance backwards. She could see him, so she knew. Fuck. He had never been on the other side of her mind reading. It was fucking inconvenient. Psychics should be shot on sight.

The coffee sloshed into the biggest cup he could find in his kitchen, and Tim began draining it immediately as he leaned over the cutaway. He kept the cup held up to his face, obscuring it. Face covered, everything under the elbows covered - best he could do without preparation.

“This little field trip sanctified by Sgt. Brother?” Tim asked, sipping the scalding hot coffee. Not hot enough. He needed - he needed - they’d see -

“We’re nineteen, we don’t need his permission for everything we do,” Steph said, amused. So she was going to speak for Cass - hardly unusual, as whenever they were all together Steph tended to be the only one who spoke - but seeing as Tim was Tim then it was definitely a strategy.

“He lets his precious baby sisters knock on the door of drug lords for fun?” Tim sneered.

“If they’re incompetent and retired, sure!”

Tim gritted his teeth. Don’t rise to her bait. Don’t. She was the best person in the family at getting a rise out of their enemies. He didn’t stand a chance.

“What do you want?”

“We thought we’d take you roller skating at the rink,” Steph chirped.

Tim stared at her.

“Or the pool,” Steph said, faux-thoughtfully. “Or just the mall?”

Fuck this. Tim headed for the door, ready to walk out of the building barefoot in his pyjamas. He tugged at the doorknob, only to find that it wouldn’t open.

Tim breathed in through his nose, then out through his mouth. There were other exits. He was not trapped. Had his apartment always been so small? He could have sworn that it was bigger.

He turned around slowly. Stephanie was grinning at him, twirling what looked like a small plastic cylinder. Tim recognized it instantly - fancy League tech. Overrides all electronic locks and controls them. They all used it to trap perps and heighten their fear tactics. Tim jammed his thumb on the keypad. Nothing happened.

Cass glanced at Steph, and made a small motion. Tim couldn’t interpret it. Why couldn’t he interpret it? Did they have a new code? It was Cass. When nobody else had understood her, Tim always had. Now they had their own language, one that Tim couldn’t interpret anymore. Tim was lost in translation, always drifting.

“We aren’t bringing you in,” Steph said, just as light as ever. No trace of pity or caution or gentleness in her voice: just relentless cheer. “Literally all we want to do is talk. Play a board game, maybe?”

Tim’s eyes flickered to the hidden panel in the wall next to him where he had stashed a gun and a sword.

“Bro,” Steph said, “you really don’t want to escalate this.”

“Do you think you can take me?” Tim asked curiously, letting his hand drift to his arm. He shook his long pyjama sleeve down to cover his wrist. “That’s pretty cute. Last time I checked, you’re the shittiest at hand-to-hand in your team.”

But Steph just rolled her eyes. Shit, wasn’t he supposed to be ignoring her? He couldn’t, not so long as she kept pushing and pushing. Not so long as she was in his house. “Leave off. Just because Jay and I are the last people in the fam who weren’t trained in Mystical Ninja Arts doesn’t mean I’m incompetent. Hands in the air, by the way.”

Stephanie was overly sentimental. New tactic. He raised his hands slightly in the air, caught reaching for the weapon hidden in his armor. “Incompetent enough to let me die.”

There. Finally. Thank god, Tim thought he was losing his touch. The muscles clenched in Stephanie’s jaw, and just a twitch of her eye - banishing a bad memory. “Everybody’s been saying you’ve turned rude. I guess you’ve just been avoiding us because you don’t want to hurt our feelings, right?”

“I didn’t remember a lot when I was first resurrected,” Tim said casually, despite the fact that he had never told anybody about the first awful six months. Something about Steph and Cass just pried it out of him, like invasive surgery. Or an autopsy. “I remember everything about those six months, though. Homeless. Practically retarded. Brain damage does that to you, you know. I lived on the streets, did you know that? It was a miracle I lived through it.” He gasped, as if he was remembering something. “I slept on 34th street! You lived near there, didn’t you? Maybe you even walked by me.”

Steph went white. Cass’ expression froze. He was pushing hard, but these two wouldn’t react to anything less. Steph could trade barbs better than he could, even now.

“It’s a good thing Talia found me,” Tim continued. “She was the only one who cared.”

That did it. Steph tensed, leaning forward, and even Cass stiffened. “Is that what she told you? How can you believe her?”

Tim just shrugged, walking back to the kitchen and hiding his body language again. He took an extra loud slurp of the coffee, just to be annoying. “Talia never lied to me. She said that nobody cared enough to save me. And guess what!”

Steph’s jaw clenched again. She was a hot head. A fierce temper, an impulsive girl who jumped in feet first and sanity second. Woman, now. When had that happened? “Cut that shit out. We all know what you’re doing. You’ve been doing it to everyone. Did you think Connor didn’t warn us?”

Snitch. Tim slurped his coffee again. “Connor’s been telling everyone to give me space.”

“Yeah, everyone but us.” She stood up now, ignoring the flicker of a frown on Cass’ face, and folded her arms. A challenge against the world. Against Tim. It didn’t matter. “You don’t believe half the shit you’re spewing. You’ve never believed your own bullshit, Tim. You’re just saying it to drive everybody away. It’s not going to work on us.”

“Why?” Tim asked innocently. “You’re too thick?”

“Because we love you!” Steph cried. Tim rolled his eyes. As if he hadn’t heard that one before. “Saving Richie proved it, you aren’t as insane as you keep pretending you are. You know what you’re doing is wrong, you just don’t care.”

“Wow, you caught me.” Tim took another long swig of his coffee. It was making his hands jittery. Good. “Local genius aware of his actions. Call the press. Call Uncle Clark, he needs a scoop.” He arched an eyebrow at Steph. She hated that expression of his - she had always found it so aristocratic and pretentious. Joke’s on her, he was pretentious. “Do you mind if I go do a line? I’m not high enough for this conversation.”

If she had told him who she was, he would have done a line anyway just to spite her, and she knew it. “You don’t want to try,” Steph said stubbornly, “but you’re trying. You don’t want to care, but you care. You don’t want to feel it, but it hurts so much you can’t bear it. You can’t get anything past us, Tim. It’s always just been us. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

Doesn’t that mean -

“What that means,” Tim said, and he found the words scraping his throat. He found himself talking a little louder than he meant to. The coffee, you know. Made you jittery. “is that you should have saved me. If you loved me so fucking much, you would have been anything other than useless. You’ve always been the most useless girl in the world, Steph. You couldn’t save your crook of a dad or your junkie of a mom. You couldn’t save your baby and you couldn’t save me. You’re ghetto trash putting on airs, and everyone can smell it on you.”

As soon as he said it, he tensed. He shifted his stance, ready to throw the coffee and spill the scalding liquid on her. Obscure her vision. It would take a second for her to vault the cover, so he could duck down. From there he could get the gun, shoot the window, jump out the window. She couldn’t win. Tim had the most powerful weapon in the world in his disposal and that was his infinite, burning hate. His hate for Steph and Cass burned him to the ground, and his world with it, and he was going to burn them to cinders because he couldn’t do anything else.

But Steph didn’t move. Cass got off the sofa. She walked up to Steph, and gently pressed a hand on her shoulder. She squeezed. Steph exhaled, long and shaking, and nodded at Cass. She walked into Tim’s bedroom - hey! - and shut the door.

Then Cass stared at Tim, and there was no more need for words. Not between them.

Tim vaulted the cut away wall, aiming for her feet first. Cass didn’t dodge - that would imply that she moved like an object moved. She moved like water moved - swift and supple, with such infinite grace and precision that it was like she wasn’t human at all.

But he had gotten better. He didn’t spend two and half years trained by the League of Assassins in crochet. Tim lashed out with a foot, she dodged again. He threw a punch, she moved. He feinted, clearly leaving her an opening, and she didn’t take it.

Bitch.

Cass shoved away his coffee table, sending it skidding across the floor and opening the floor space. The rug became their arena, tight and intimate, no room for maneuverability. Tim acted and she reacted, Tim lashed out a sweep kick and she jumped over it, Tim tried to grapple and she broke his hold. She never threw him to the ground, never pinned him. She just moved.

She was good, but not good enough to toy with him and win completely. The way to win against Cass was to leverage your height - Tim was taller than he once was, although that wasn’t saying much - weight, and strength against her. A couple good hits and she was down.

The issue, of course, was hitting her.

He got a hit in. It was much easier when she wasn’t even fighting back. She rolled with it effortlessly, taking the impact to gain a little space between them. She breathed deeply, sweat rolling down her neck. Tim used to take a cold compress and press it to that neck. She used to smile at him. Thank you.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Cass said.

“Too bad,” Tim said.

Fights weren’t like in television, long and choreographed extended scenes to entertain and thrill. When Ro - Tim was in a fight, a real fight, it was typically finished in less than a minute. The only way that a match can get long is if the other person was deliberately tiring you out - a risky strategy - or if you were of completely equal strengths with similar fighting styles. Or if it was a spar.

As Tim tried to hit her again and again, he realized that it was a spar.

No, not even that. It was a conversation.

Tim grabbed her wrist, and said: I want you to hurt. Cass broke the hold, telling him that he can’t. Tim leveraged the motion and kneed her in the back, telling her that the only goal of this fight was pain. Cass let the impact take her down to the mat, an incredibly disadvantageous position, but rolled out of the way just as Tim tried to exploit the opportunity. I’m not scared of you. Tim hit again, and again, and again, failing every time. I want you gone, Tim said, and this is the only way I know how to do it.

This is what Tim said: as much as I once loved you, I now hate you. The infinite depths of my love, my twin sister, how we moved in perfect sync. I hate it all. As much as I cared, I now hate. Feel this hate. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Cass said.

They moved in perfect sync, even now. Cass couldn’t predict his movements before he made them, like she used to - his training was different now, developed and refined. But Cass knew the League of Assassins too, had been trained by them just as he had, and they were written into her bones when they were only carved into Tim’s. After his third patented Talia move, she adjusted to fit his style, and their fight metamorphosed into more of a dance. Like they used to.

“Why not!” Tim screamed, the stupidest possible thing to do in a fight, but Cass didn’t take advantage of his exhale. He lashed out a fist to cover the opening, but it was lazy and over-extended, and she dodged easily. “I’m going to kill you!”

“I’m not going to hurt you.”

Tim desperately tried to call the green to his vision. It was so easy. All he had to do was tap into that rage. Talia had called it blood lust. Said it was normal, even good. But it wouldn’t come. Where was it? It was his only friend.

Desperately, Tim went in for another punch to the face - Cass’ jaw was the weakest part of her body, an old injury - but he over-extended again, and this time Cass took the opportunity. She grabbed his arm and pulled him forward, dropping him to the mat. She didn’t try to twist him around, instead landing him on his back. Bad move for her.

She kneed him in the chest, putting her full hundred and thirty pounds on him. She twisted his hands behind his back, pinning him, and Tim could do barely more than wheeze.

He looked at her in the eyes for the first time. They were infuriatingly calm. Her hair was tangled and clumped with sweat, but she wasn’t breathing hard. Her expression was placid and serene, as if she was watching one of her stupid fucking nature documentaries instead of pinning her brother to a hard and scratchy rug in a shithole apartment, three years after he was tortured to insanity and shot himself in the head.

So much time had passed. So much had happened, nasty and festering and putrid, and Tim had let it happen. He had made it happen. There was a rot in Tim, and it had eaten him up until there was nothing inside. If you cut him open, would it spill out? Would it infect her, infect Steph? Could he make them suffer?

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Cass repeated. “So don’t be scared.”

“Scared?! I’m not fucking -” Tim wheezed, cut off by the lack of air as Cass pressed down.

“I’m sorry you’re scared. I didn’t mean to leave you alone. But I did. I’m sorry.”

“I’m going to kill -”

Cass pressed down on his chest again, cutting him off. She had finally done the one thing nobody in Tim’s life had ever figured out: how to make him shut up. “You can be as mean to me as you want. It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you. I’ll stay.”

Tim wheezed. In that, maybe, Cass heard something, because she continued as if he had spoken. Or maybe she just wanted the chance to talk. It had been stolen from her for thirteen years, and it was valuable to her.

“You do not have to be kind. You do not have to hug me, even if I want you to. You do not have to be my brother. I know it hurts too much. But you are me. I am you. You do not even have to try for that. I do not have to give it to you. You have it.”

Tim couldn’t help it. He cried a little, and then he couldn’t stop.

Cass got off him, but she kept her promise. She didn’t hug him. She just propped him up against the sofa, holding his hand, and didn’t speak. At some point the door creaked, and he felt Stephanie next to him.

This is why, Tim thought hysterically, he had been avoiding them.

He knew this would happen. There was no hiding from Cass. There was no posturing, no pretending. She didn’t want anything from him. She never had. There was nothing he could say that would drive her away, because Cass did not listen to the words people spoke. She spoke only for clarity, when she could not afford for her words to be misconstrued, and for the comfort of others.

Cass knew that he had been lying out of his ass. Cass knew that he wasn’t as insane as he pretended, as cruel as he wanted to be.

He couldn’t make Cass hate him. Shit.

None of them said anything. Nothing needed to be said, not between the three of them. Cass might be having a silent conversation in Sign with Steph, but he didn’t care enough to open his eyes and look. When they had first met, it used to make Steph so mad that Tim and Cass were having ‘secret conversations’. She had poured over her dictionaries, learning as quickly as physically possible so she could keep up. Everything Steph had, she had worked hard for.

Steph was in college now. Premed. She wanted to be an ER doctor. Steph wasn’t a genius, she had to study hard. She wouldn’t be able to superhero in med school, so she was ready to hang up her cape for a few years until she achieved her dream. Steph said that she could do just as much good as a doctor as a superhero. She hadn’t always wanted it. When they were kids and Bruce used to ask her what she wanted to do when she grew up, in his awkward faux-dad way, she had always shrugged and said that she might be a nurse.

“Why not med school?” Bruce had suggested, between sleepy spoonfuls of oatmeal. She used to spend more nights at their place than at her own. Her mom hadn’t noticed.

Steph had just shrugged awkwardly, nibbling her whole-wheat organic toast that she would stare at suspiciously. Rich people, she would say, sighing. “I would never be able to afford it. And no way I’m smart enough.”

“You’re good enough,” Bruce said, which was the closest he ever came to praising somebody. “I’ll pay for it.”

Steph had gaped. Cass had eaten her Lucky Charms smugly. Tim had rolled his eyes. “An in-the-know doctor for the vigilante community would be invaluable,” he had informed her, pretentious and callous. “We could use you.”

“You deserve it,” Cass had signed.

“You have a bright future, Stephanie,” Bruce said, buckling under the panic of being a responsible adult. “I would hate to see you waste it.”

He would hate to see any of them waste their future. He had hated to see what Tim had become. He knew that. The last time he had ever seen Bruce, it was just to disappoint him. Bruce was the only parent he had ever had, and his standards were so sky high it was impossible to do anything other than disappoint.

The fact of the matter was this: he loved Cass and Steph more than he loved Bruce. He could hate Bruce. He could hate himself. But Cass and Steph…

Bruce had ear-marked a lot of money for Steph, both for whatever continuing education she chose and for her future. It had raised a lot of questions among the lawyer team, but ultimately she had been written off as another of his strays. Tim had left her a lot of money too. There probably wasn’t any point: when she married Cass she’d have equal access to the fortune. Rich people, Stephanie used to whisper in awe, looking at organic toast.

Cass was majoring in dance. She wanted to be a ballerina.

Tim’s future...Tim’s future…

“Or we can watch a nature documentary,” Steph said out loud. “If we all promise not to say a fucking word.”

Incredibly, unmistakably, irrevocably, Tim groaned. “Not the fucking bee one again.”

“I like the bees,” Cass said serenely.

“If you aren’t going to get out of my house can I at least smoke up?” Tim asked miserably.

“I brought gummy bears,” Steph said, chipper as ever, “which are way better.”

“I’m going to the fucking bathroom,” Tim grumbled, which everybody knew was as good as a yes.

“If you take anything I’ll know,” Cass said serenely, and also threatened.

“Fuck you, bitch.”

Steph and Cass high-fived, and Tim sulked angrily to the bathroom. He took a second to look at himself in the mirror - looking for Tim Drake, failing, as always - before opening it and grabbing his baggie of pills.

He looked at it. He looked at the toilet. He looked at the baggie.

He didn’t flush them. He put them back in the medicine cabinet. Tomorrow. He’ll do them tomorrow. Not today. He can hold out for 24 hours. It’ll be fine.

For a wild, stupid, insane second, Tim wondered if he could say that tomorrow too. If tomorrow he would look at them and say: maybe tomorrow. And the day after that. And the day after that…

If there was a future, for a fuck-up like him.

The faint strains of Cass’ stupid fucking bee documentary began playing through the thin walls of his shitty little apartment, and Tim turned out the lights of his bathroom and closed the door, locking it securely behind him.

#i write a lot of shit i don't post and i don't feel the need to post it a lot of the time #but sometimes im like. ah yeah that does exist maybe they'll care #my writing #tim drake #batman #batfam #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #do not FUCKING get met started on tim cass and steph im OBSESSED

37 notes · View notes