#steph and duke were already out in the car waiting | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

weekend-conspiracy-theorist · 2 years

Text

in which bonding happens despite all of tim's best efforts (a further continuation of the tim&steph role swap au)

"Wait," Stephanie said. She stood in the doorway to the kitchen, dressed in some of Dick's jeans--rolled up four times--and a sweatshirt she'd stolen from Damian who'd stolen it from Cass who'd stolen it from Bruce. It was massive and nearly threadbare, and somehow it still smelled like the big man's woodsy cologne. "Jason's here."

"Well ob-fucking-served," the man in question drawled. He twitched up the knees of his sweats as he squatted to peer into the fridge. "I came here on the back of your bike, if you recall."

"Dick's here. Duke's asleep upstairs. And I'm here," Stephanie said, ignoring him as she tapped her fingers against her chest, her eyebrows rising.

"Been a while," Cassandra said, because of course she was the first one to understand what Stephanie was getting at. She was perched on the counter, a pint of ice cream cradled in her palms. Alfred would usually have something to say about both kitchen hygiene and appropriate post-patrol snacks, but he was on one of his ever-so-rare vacations. Besides, Cass could always get away with stuff like that. Her puppy dog eyes were legend.

"That's everybody who doesn't actually live here accounted for. I can't remember the last time we were all here for the night," Stephanie said. "Have we ever all been here for the night?"

"Not all," Dick corrected. "Babs isn't here."

Steph tipped her head in acknowledgement. "She's not really one of Bruce's brood, but, point."

"So call her," Bruce said. He was sitting at the small circular table in the corner, reading a newspaper like it wasn't 2:30 in the morning. "I'm not aware of any especially pressing Birds of Prey missions occuring at the moment, and the Justice League can make do without having Oracle on call for one night. The more the merrier."

"That is a categorically false statement, Father," Damian said sourly. He was trying to lean into Jason's side to force him away from the fridge, but Jason was refusing to budge. He kept moving the same couple of tubs around; Stephanie was pretty sure he already knew what he wanted and was just working on driving Damian nuts.

Stephanie snorted, entering the kitchen just to ruffle her Robin's hair. "Movie nights are so much more fun with more people," she promised. It was a mark of how far they'd come over the last couple years that he briefly stopped shoving at Jason's shoulder to lean into her touch, rather than slap her away.

"--c'mon," Dick wheedled, his voice low as it drifted out from the next room. "It'll be fun. Everybody's here except Alfred, which means no responsible adult to make us all go to sleep." A snort. "Yeah, like B counts. We'll watch too many movies and then crash until it's basically time to patrol tomorrow night." A pause. "It's Saturday, and you aren't working at the library tomorrow because you've got all Sundays off this month. Nice try, beautiful."

He laughed, bright, and Stephanie suddenly realized there was somebody else missing.

"Hey, Brucie baby, is it cool if I invite Boyfriend?" she asked, in a tone of voice that made it clear she didn't actually care about his response, and Cassandra perked up immediately. She loved Tim almost as much as Steph did--and she already knew what wrangling him into a spontaneous social event was going to entail.

"You'll have to borrow Dick's car."

"Why Dick's car?" Jason asked. He was slowly, insistently leaning back towards Damian; the kid's socked feet were beginning to slide across the tile, but he continued ahoving back stubbornly.

"Child locks," Stephanie said serenely, "so he can't jump out of a moving vehicle in the middle of his kidnapping."

"H--what?" Bruce finally looked up from his newspaper.

"Tim's a slippery little bastard," Cass said around a mouthful of ice cream, and Stephanie burst out laughing.

"I love it when you've been watching too many crime procedurals!"

"Still true," Cass insisted.

"It really is," Stephanie said fondly. "Boyfriend's been free running around Gotham, dodging the mafia, the rogues, and the bats, since he was like eleven; he knows the city at least as well as... we do..."

She trailed off as Dick reentered the room, looking around at all of her very talented and competent friends and family members. The idea that was crossing her mind was... oh. Oh, Tim was gonna hate this, right up until he got way too into it.

This was gonna be so much more fun than movie night.

***

The thing was that, vigilante or not, Tim wasn't useless in a physical fight.

He'd been taking martial arts lessons since he was old enough to be obnoxious enough to make his beleagured parents give in and sign him up for them, and he'd racked up first and second level black belts in a couple different disciplines over the years. He'd also taken a number of more directly actionable self-defense courses and spent his teens intermittently sparring with two of the most badass women in Gotham. Even if they'd usually been focused on fun rather than training, it was hard to walk away from those spars not having learned something from watching Batgirl and Robin at work. As a general rule, Tim felt pretty good about his chances versus one or even two of any random goons he might run into on the streets over the course of his investigations. He could maybe even bump that to three random goons if he had a bo staff on him at the time.

But the other thing was that Batgirl was no random goon.

Stephanie showed up at his door at three AM, an oh-so-familiar glitter of mischief in her blue eyes. She demanded he accompany her to a movie night at Wayne Manor. Tim said fuck no; Steph said fuck yes; Tim said how did you even know I'd be awake; Steph said are you kidding me; Tim said fuck off; Steph shouldered her way in when he tried to close the door. Because he knew exactly what was coming next, Tim threw the first punch.

He was still on his ass in the middle of his living room in under sixty seconds.

"Come on, Girlfriend, I really was trying to go to sleep," he complained, heatless, as she grabbed his boots and shoved them on his feet. He'd gone utterly boneless, refusing to help, but that didn't deter Stephanie.

"Oh, live a little," she told him dismissively. "I've been wanting to show you off for years, and now everyone finally knows who you are and that you know who we are." She yanked his laces tight, and some suspicious little piece of Tim's mind noted that these were his work boots, his favorite boots, the boots that he'd replaced over and over again since the two of them, age fifteen, had spent eight months tracking ankle injuries, blisters, durability, and overall comfort to determine the best style and brand for running Gotham's rooftops.

She knew him well enough to know he was going to make a break for it first chance he got. So why was she choosing footwear that would make it easier on him?

Tim pushed himself up onto his elbows, narrowing his eyes at her, and Stephanie just rolled hers. "Like I can't catch you anyway," she said dryly. "And this way you won't turn your ankle in the process."

"Uh huh," Tim said, suspicious. Idly, he noted that she was probably correct; Tim was sneakier, and better at basic free running, but Stephanie was obviously no slouch, and her grappling hook more than made up the difference.

"Uh huh," Stephanie repeated, mocking, and she dragged him to his feet. As she frogmarched him out of his apartment and down to a boring silver car, she kept his arm drawn up behind his back like he was a perp in a cable cop show.

"Thanks for resisting the urge to bang my head on the roof," he muttered, propping his right foot up on the dash as he slouched into the passenger seat. Despite his body language, he was watching her like a hawk.

"Hardest thing I've ever done," Stephanie said cheerfully. She threw the car into drive.

The car--because this was not Stephanie Brown's car.

Tim had been in Stephanie's car a thousand times. Tim had helped Stephanie save up for her car, during a time period when they were both determined not to use a cent of Drake or Wayne money on themselves. The thing was a shit heap, and in the three years since she'd bought it, Tim had rebuilt the engine, replaced the drive shaft, caught a bus across the city to help her change a half dozen flats, and regularly topped off the oil because it had a slow leak somewhere that, somehow, rebuilding the engine had not fixed. Point was: Tim knew Stephanie's car inside and out, and this was not it.

The mystery distracted him, briefly, from the escape plans running through the back of his mind. This car wasn't nice enough to be one of Bruce Wayne's fleet, but is was way too nice for Stephanie to have borrowed it off of Jason "I blow up my ride every other week" Todd. It wasn't adapted for Barbara Gordon, and Cass didn't have a car.

"Is this Dick Grayson's?" Tim asked, blankly, as he flipped down the sun visor on the driver's side to see if any pictures of redheads fell out. He'd win a long standing bet with himself if they included Roy Harper or Wally West.

Stephanie slapped his hand away. "Yes. I was on my bike tonight, and I didn't want to end up road pizza because you decided to be a little bitch about being introduced to my family."

"Crystal and I have a ninety-eight day snapchat streak," Tim protested.

Mystery solved, he refocused on his escape route. With another tingle of suspicion, he buzzed the window up and down and noted that the child locks were not engaged. Stephanie had another angle here. She was inviting him to run. Tim hated to play into her hands, but there was no way he was blithely agreeing to a movie night at Wayne Manor either, so he was just going to have to fuck around and find out what it was.

"My other family," Stephanie said dryly.

"You know, they say never to meet your heroes; they're always a disappointment. Nearly seven years we've known each other, ex-Robin, and--"

Red light. Stephanie was on the inside lane, with a line of traffic to her right. She'd have to wait for the green and either turn left or make her way back into the right lane to park before she could follow him.

Tim was out of the car almost before Stephanie had even hit the brakes, launching himself over the hood of the car in the next lane and sprinting for the nearest alley. Behind him, Batgirl cackled with delight. He didn't go up the fire escape--Stephanie would expect him to--and instead darted down the narrow passage from one alley to the next before cutting to the next street over.

He slowed to a walk, refusing to draw attention to himself, and jay walked at the next street corner when he had a break in traffic. This was the opposite direction from his apartment, but until he knew what Stephanie's game was--

Someone, Tim noted, catching the reflection of a tall figure in a red hoodie in a dark shop window, was following him. He probably should have been nervous, but he recognized their gait. Hell--he still probably should have been nervous.

But the pieces had just clicked into place.

Tim stopped, spinning on his heel, and confronted Jason Todd's sharp grin with one of his own.

"Modified rooftop tag rules?" he guessed, catching the domino mask that Jason tossed to him. This game was going to an occupy an interesting grey zone between Wayne and Bat--no need to attract the wrong kind of attention running around in their costumes, but no need to flaunt the skills they shouldn't have by running around as civilians either. With that mask, Tim was being invited into that nebulous space alongside them. "No grappling hooks, no weaponry, light contact. Name of the game: get Tim Drake from here to Bristol? And let me guess--there's no win state for me. If I make it back to my apartment, Steph's just showing up again."

"You might actually be a third as clever as Brown claims you are," Jason drawled. "I'm not giving you a head start."

"Thirty seconds," Tim bartered. He inspected the mask with a wrinkled nose. "How the fuck do you put this thing on anyway?"

"Fifteen. Did the Replacement seriously never slap one of these on you sometime in the last seven years?" Jason stepped forward, hand extended toward the mask--

Tim grabbed the sleeve of his hoodie and yanked, and the combination of leverage and surprise--he was stronger than he looked--sent Jason stumbling. A swift kick to the back of his knee brought him fully to the ground, and Tim was off like a shot. "Fifteen seconds!" he shouted behind himself, applying the mask as he ran.

He'd be lucky if Jason had ever intended to give him five, hence the theatrics, and Steph had to have found somewhere to park the car by now. Unless she was staying mobile, circling to give Jason a chance to grab him and toss him bodily into the trunk?

Tim pivoted to cut left instead of right, the wrong way up a one way street from where Steph would probably be coming if she was still in the car, and headed for the laundromat in the middle of the block. They had a spare key in the flower pot next to the door, roof access on the communal stairwell, and their building was taller than those to either side.

He made it three blocks south by rooftop before he noticed his next opponent. This one was short.

Tim exhaled shortly through his nose and quickly melted into the shadows, glad that the crewneck sweatshirt he'd been wearing when Stephanie crashed into his apartment was dark green. He could have used a hood to hide his pale-ass face, but things certainly could have been worse.

He hadn't realized the whole family was in on this game. Good thing he'd had the flash of inspiration to leave his phone in the car to prevent Stephanie from easily tracking him, but he'd have to be extra careful to avoid CCTV cameras in case Oracle was watching.

Tim didn't have a win state. He could turn himself over, give in before he wore himself out fruitlessly--

But, shit. Stephanie knew him too well. He couldn't resist the opportunity to test himself against the bats.

Damian hadn't spotted him yet, Tim didn't think. Despite their numbers, despite their superior training, Tim was at an ever so slight advantage against the bats for this one night, and this one night only: with the exception of Stephanie and Cassandra, they didn't know him. They had no real idea what he was capable of.

And only one bird had ever spotted him in over a decade of bat-watching.

Tim had been focused on speed more than stealth for those first three blocks, but he switched up his tactics as soon as he spotted Robin lurking in the lee of that gargoyle. He adjusted his path, giving that corner a subtle berth, and began to cut his way east instead, eyes sharp for movement along adjacent rooftops.

Ah, there--

Dick Grayson was still, silent. Experienced. Tim almost missed him, but at nearly the last second he spotted the subtle discoloration in the shadows from the bat logo on his tshirt.

Tim didn't do anything so stupid as to suddenly change direction or duck back behind a barrier, motions that would draw the eye, but he did release a silent huff of laughter. A little on the nose, there, Nightwing.

Tim wondered if he was still being tracked somehow; Dick had to have moved into that position since Tim had reached this rooftop, unless Tim had managed to breeze past him without either of them noticing. Stephanie may have dropped a tracker on him when she grabbed him out of his apartment. There could also be one in the mask. Tim ghosted a hand over it, but he couldn't feel any telling lumps.

More immediate concerns, he decided.

He slowed to a stop, footsteps silent on the rooftop, and considered the angles. The gap from this building to the next in the direction that wouldn't take him directly past Dick Grayson's hiding spot was longer than he could make both safely and quietly--it was going to require a big leap and a somersalt to absorb his momentum, and Tim's tumbling was rather less refined than the rest of his free running skills. His other two options involved passing directly in front of Dick or taking a supremely rusty and no doubt loud fire escape.

Well. Nightwing was one of the primary tacticians for the Titans for a reason, wasn't he?

Tim didn't like his odds against the Flying Grayson in a foot race. He really didn't like his odds in even a light contact spar. So it was time to get creative.

Good thing the moon was dim tonight.

So slowly he practically might as well have not been moving, Tim reversed his last few steps. Sticking to the shadows meant sticking close to cover--which meant things like, say, rooftop access doors. Once he was fully out of Grayson's line of sight, Tim leaned down to pocket the corner of a brick which had begun to crumble. Then he jumped silently, catching the top of the rough brick wall with the tips of his fingers, and easily hauled himself upwards, taking care not to brush his body against the brick for risk of making a sound.

He stayed low, grateful for his many nights of practicing keeping his steps silent while crouched, and made the jump from his rooftop access door to the one Dick was hiding behind with nary a crunch. His shadow passed briefly across the ground, barely perceptible due to the dim light of the crescent moon--

Dick probably would have seen it anyway, but Tim threw the piece of brick in the opposite direction from where his shadow would fall, the soft skitter of sound drawing Dick's attention for just that one split second.

His heart beat impossibly loudly in his throat as Tim made his way oh-so-carefully across the top of the rooftop access door, and then he lowered himself silently back to the roof proper. He paused there, straining his ears over the rushing of his own blood, and after three seconds--

With barely more than a breath of sound, Dick Grayson asked, "You sure he's on this building, O?"

Tim slipped away, back the way he'd come.

***

It took Tim another half an hour to earn himself enough distance from any of the bats to have a moment to inspect his clothing for any trackers. He found two, one randomly on the back of his sweatshirt--he suspected Stephanie had placed it while frogmarching him down the stairs--and one on his left boot. He lobbed one and then the other onto the next rooftop his current path would have suggested he was headed for, and he debated taking off the mask as well.

But it hardly seemed sporting for them to track him that way. Oh, sure, they were all misdirecting and cheating as flagrantly as they could manage, but the mask was an open invite for him to meet them at their level.

So the mask stayed, for now.

Tim had started making his way north before he strayed too close to the Alley, knowing that his extremely thorough baseline knowledge of the entire city still paled in comparison to Jason's intimate knowledge of the neighborhood of Park Row. Plus, several of the kinds of people who would be awake at 4 AM in Park Row--street kids, working girls--were the kinds of people who would both, one, know Tim, and two, know Jason. They liked Tim well enough around the Alley, his ever-blossoming reputation as a fairly cheap and very good PI endearing him to the area, but he held no delusions that they wouldn't happily sell them out to the Red Hood, especially for something as low stakes as a game of tag.

The back tracking had nearly cut the game off early as the bats were able to converge on him more tightly, but Tim had managed to give Damian the slip after a nerve racking foot race, by dint of the fact that the no grapple rule kept the pipsqueak from making the same kinds of jumps that Tim could with his longer legs.

(Stephanie made fun of him for being short, but it was only really true in comparison to the super modelesque superheroes she ran around with on a daily basis--he was five foot nine more or less on the dot, barely half an inch shorter than Steph herself. He had no delusions that he'd stay taller than Damian for very long, given that the kid seemed to be taking so closely after Bruce 6'2" Wayne, but for now, the kid remained thirteen.)

With the trackers hopefully eliminated and his muscles fully warmed, Tim was tentatively hopeful that he could keep things going for another hour, so long as he was able to avoid Cassandra.

As soon as he ran into Cassandra, that was game over. He had no delusions about being able to sneak past her, fewer delusions still about his ability to outrun her despite his legs being longer than hers, and he could only last sixty seconds against Stephanie in a fight--on a very good day, he could last twenty against Cass.

To be fair, Tim had a realistic sense of his hand-to-hand combat skill. The game would be as good as over as soon as any of them got close enough to force a spar; he just had higher hopes about his ability to ghost the rest of them.

Stephanie, he was fairly certain by now, had stayed in the car. That was a kind concession, taking the player off the board who knew him best, and he knew it was a gift he'd only get this once, so Steph could be smug about how well her bestie had run the rest of the bats in circles for the night. He'd also proven he could outrun Damian, so long as the rooftops aligned appropriately, and he knew he could outrun Jason, too. The Red Hood was remarkably nimble for a man of his size, but Tim was nimbler. More nimble? God, he'd be exhausted if he wasn't pumped so full of adrenaline.

That wasn't to say that any stupid mistake or run of bad luck couldn't result in Hood or Robin being his downfall, so much as that it was simply more likely to be Nightwing or Black Bat, unless they collectively managed to corner him. He needed to put some distance between himself and those trackers to make sure he avoided that outcome.

In a sudden stroke of inspiration, Tim took the nearest fire escape down to ground level, pulled off and pocketed the domino, walked calmly to the edge of the sidewalk, and hailed a taxi.

Was this cheating? Probably. He'd be nice enough to use his credit card so Oracle would know where he was once he got there.

***

"Yeah, I found the trackers. Just like you said, C; he found 'em and ditched 'em as soon as he had enough space to breathe." Jason huffed over the comm line, and Stephanie grinned as she idled at the red light. "I'm going to be perfectly real with you, ladies; kid really is a slippery little bastard. I thought this was going to be over a lot faster."

"We did figure he'd ditched the trackers; that's why we're already working a grid over the surrounding area," Dick pointed out.

Damian was quiet, probably pouting over having come the closest to Tim and losing him over a gap between buildings that was too long for his pre-pubescent legs to jump without resorting to using a line. Stephanie only felt a little bad. She'd warned them not to underestimate Boyfriend; so had Cass. But the boys were all just a bit arrogant about being trained by Batman, and clearly no rich kid from Bristol could have picked up enough off the street to be a threat, even though they knew he'd been running with Stephanie for the entirety of her Robin career.

Even though Batman was once just a rich kid from Bristol.

(Stephanie, maybe, had still not mentioned exactly how she and Tim had met, or that Dick, and Jason, and Bruce had all missed having a stalker over the years.)

"I just got a ping," Babs said, sounding fifty percent annoyed and fifty percent deeply amused. "Little fucker took a cab up to the Diamond District. You'd probably all best converge on Steph's position and catch a lift up there."

Steph ignored the light as it changed, since no other cars were approaching this particular corner at the moment, and pinched her nose shut and tilted back her head. Her chest heaved silently.

There was a long silence over the comm line.

"You sure it's him and not a misdirect?" Dick asked, as he finally seemed to clue in to the fact that Tim was smart enough to know they'd be watching his credit cards.

"He turned to the nearest CCTV camera and blew me a kiss once the cab pulled away."

There was another, shorter silence, and then Jason said, "In all of our strategy about the kid's training and skills and lack thereof, I think we forgot to take one very fucking important thing into consideration: he's been Stephanie Brown's best friend since he was fourteen. That kind of dickishness is contagious."

Stephanie couldn't hold it in any more; she burst out laughing.

***

Tim made his way out of the Diamond District at a moderate pace.

He'd earned himself at least a ten minute head start with the cab maneuver, and he'd politely balanced it against choosing a corner of the city which was difficult and dangerous to maneuver without a grapple. The glittering skyscrapers were too high and too far apart for free running, so Tim stuck to the streets, doing his best to avoid the abundance of cameras in the area.

It would be easier once he hit Little Italy, and easier still once he hit Chinatown.

Of course, the sky was also starting to lighten ever so slightly, and whatever negligible crowd-blending advantage Tim would gain from the increased number of people on the streets was going to be far outweighed by the lessening of the shadows he relied on for cover. He hadn't seen hide nor hair of Duke Thomas yet, either, but he suspected Steph had a plan to pull him in--and maybe even Harper Row--as soon as they awoke. Tim's sweatshirt would quickly become a liability if this dragged on too long, too; it was that time of year where the nights were cool but the days were hot, and even pre-dawn there was unlikely to be an abundance of sweaters or jackets along the street.

Unfortunately, he couldn't just ditch it. He'd been dressed for bed when Steph kidnapped him; he wasn't wearing another shirt under it.

He'd helped Stephanie prove her point by now, hadn't he? And for all that he loved her, and for all that he was touched by the faith she had in his ability to fuck with her beloved and beloathed vigilante family, the fact of the matter remained that this sleepless night was one hundred percent, completely and totally, her fault.

And there was no fucking win state for him, he reminded himself with a surge of annoyance.

Not unless he made one for himself, anyway.

Tim made his way back to the rooftops and picked up his pace as soon as he hit Little Italy, favoring speed over stealth once more as he put distance between himself and the last camera Oracle would be able to track him to.

And then Tim found his way to one of Gotham's few remaining pay phones. He dialed a number he knew by heart.

***

It was quiet. Too quiet.

By the time they'd made it to the Diamond District, Babs reported that Tim had made his way back out of it and taken to the roofs of Little Italy. It was harder for her to track him there, but the lack of cars on the street this time of day meant they were moving significantly faster than he was by foot. Babs suspected Tim had at best a five minute headstart at this point, and she was able to direct them to four or five square blocks, at which point the boys and Cass hit the streets by foot once more.

It had been ten, maybe fifteen minutes since then, and Stephanie was starting to get a niggling suspicion in the back of her mind that Tim had found a way to reverse the stacking of the deck.

"Cass," she said, dubiously. "What did I forget?"

The silence on the other end of the comm was contemplative. Finally, Cassandra said, "Tim's competitive."

Stephanie huffed, tapping her fingers restlessly against the steering wheel, and shook her head. "This whole game was predicated on Tim being competitive enough to take on an unbeatable challenge."

"Tim's very competitive," Cassandra said dryly. "And he's mean. You didn't even give him a way to win. So he's going to change the rules."

"What does that mean?" Dick asked.

"No idea," Cassandra admitted. "Stephanie?"

She shook her head, pulling into a parking space and throwing the car into park so she could take a moment to just think. "The goal of the game is getting Tim to the Manor. He could undercut us and get himself to the Manor."

"Boring," Cassandra asserted.

"He could go to his boyfriend's place and count on us not being big enough dicks to kidnap him from it."

"He'd be wrong," Jason said. "And you'd be the first one busting down the door, so he definitely knows it."

"Um," Stephanie said. She knew how that little gremlin brain of Tim's worked. She knew she did.

"I see movement on an adjacent rooftop," Damian said suddenly. "I will intercept."

...Tim knew that Steph knew how his little gremlin brain worked. And underneath how much fun he was having with this game of tag, he was definitely pissed (in a loving way) at her for dragging him out of bed at 3 AM.

"Oh," she said, resignation flooding her tone. "I know what I forgot. There's a player we left off the board, and Boyfriend's had his phone number memorized since he was nine and figured out that his next door neighbor was the Batman."

The passenger door opened, and Tim dropped gracelessly into the same seat he'd so abruptly vacated nearly two hours earlier. "We'll make a detective out of you yet, Stephanie Brown," he said cheerfully, ringing in stereo across the comms, and then he shot her with one of the bat symbol emblazoned paintball guns that Bruce kept in the cave to practice dodging projectiles.

***

Tim went quietly--and smugly--to the Manor in the end. He rode shotgun with Bruce in the Corvette, because everyone else was forbidden to come near it with wet paint still dripping off of their clothes. Even Cass had gotten hit, one graze out of almost an entire belt of paintballs, because Tim had helped Bruce corner her after he'd finished sending a Snapchat of Steph's grumpy face to her mother.

He leaned against Stephanie's shoulder after she made it back to the kitchen after her shower. Her hair dripped down over his sweatshirt, but he didn't seem to mind. "I can't believe you didn't even ask him if he wanted to play."

Stephanie threw her hands in the air. "He thinks rooftop tag is stupid and distracting!"

"On patrol," Bruce said, mildly. He was back at the table, reading the newspaper again like it was two decades ago. Barbara sat across from him, looking distinctly disgruntled.

She'd been kind enough to Tim to play hard mode, opting to set up with a laptop in one of the Manor's living rooms rather than use the Cave or remain in her Clocktower, and as such she had managed to miss both Tim's phone call to Bruce and the Bat himself sneaking down to the Cave to grab the paintball guns. The only person taking the whole thing even more personally was Damian, who was off sulking in his room while Dick tried to convince him to come back downstairs.

Stephanie glowered at the side of Bruce's head, but she peaceably accepted the pint of ice cream that Cass pressed into her hand.

"Oh," Tim said blithely. "Live a little, why don't you."

She shrugged her shoulder, a half-hearted attempt to dislodge him. "I should've done more than broken your nose the first time we met."

Tim laughed.

"You broke his nose?" Bruce asked, sounding disapproving.

"With a brick," Tim confirmed.

"Nice one, Replacement."

"I felt your angelic hands guiding me in that moment," she said sweetly, and Jason flipped her off.

Bruce's eyes fluttered closed, and he lowered the newspaper to the table. "A brick," he repeated.

"Right to the face. It was a lovestory for the ages," Tim said wistfully.

"Two Kinsey fives against the world," Steph agreed, leaning her head onto his. She hung her spoon from her mouth upside down, speaking around it with a sigh. "Aw, Boyfrien'. Wha'd we h've t' go 'n' grow up f'r?"

Tim's shoulders shook as he laughed, silently. "Beats me, Girlfriend. Think Bart could take us back to that time if we asked him nicely enough?"

"There's two of them," Barbara told Bruce, sounding the most long-suffering that she had ever sounded. "What did we do to deserve this, do you think?"

"None of you deserve her, actually," Tim said flatly. "Except you, Cass," he amended, as her head jerked up.

Cass nodded, satisfied, and returned to her ice cream.

"You're gonna make me blush," Stephanie muttered, and to her horror it was true. She hid her face behind her pint of rocky road.

"Do you understand how lucky you got when you found her?" Tim demanded, jabbing a finger at Bruce.

"I do," Bruce said, gently, and Tim hesitated, the angry wind abruptly gone from his sails.

"Good," he said awkwardly. "I wouldn't want to have to fight you over it, because quite frankly you'd wipe the floor with me. You all would. My primary tactic tonight was distance."

"I could have caught you a couple times," Cassandra confirmed apologetically. "Just didn't want to spoil the fun." She winked.

"That's my job," Stephanie agreed automatically, and Tim snorted. It was a pity snort, but she didn't care.

"Mm." Bruce returned to his newspaper. "We'll have to do something about that. You've certainly got potential. An innovative thinker with a strong moral compass, and god knows Gotham can use all the reputable private investigators it can get, to help fill the gaps that we can't address and the cops won't. It'd be a shame if you got in over your head and weren't able to keep yourself safe."

Tim blinked. "Girlfriend, did the Batman just offer to train me?" he asked weakly.

Cassandra and Jason laughed at him, and Stephanie reached up to pat his cheek sympathetically. "He didn't offer, Boyfriend. You ain't gettin' a choice here."

#stephanie brown #tim drake #cassandra cain #bruce wayne #and others but I'd say they're the most important #the tim&steph role swap au #I wrote this #too lazy to copy edit; ignore any typos lol

19 notes · View notes

somedayistodayoth · 1 year

Text

Flowers for a Ghost || Self-Para

She took a plane to somewhere out in space. To start a life and maybe change the world;

Mist dusted the nights air with familiarity. Bringing a cool chill in its wake. A shiver danced on the surface of Steph’s skin as she walked through the empty parking lot. Students and faculty had deserted the premises for the night and frankly, she couldn’t blame them. The day had been harrowing and exhausting. A shrill beep followed by the rough sound of her car doors unlocking echoed throughout the immobile night. She closed the distance between where she stood and her parked car quickly. Anxiety hovering just below the surface with horrific worst case scenarios. What if someone waited in her car? What if someone lurked in the shadows? What if, what if, what if. She silenced her thoughts, not wanting to stress over hypotheticals. This wasn’t the time. Grabbing the handle of the passenger door, she pulled it open and deposited her things on the front seat. In under an hour, she would be home. Her shoulders relaxed at the impending comfort.

Steph had stayed longer than intended on campus. After closing up the bookstore and finishing her shift, she’d went to the Commons to study with a group from her Applied Psychology course. One hour had somehow turned into four. The good part was she was confident about her first exam. Rounding the car, she climbed into the drivers side, the engine starting with a simple press of a button. She wasn’t going to linger anymore, not when there was not a soul in sight. Pulling out of the parking space, she began her journey home. On nights like these, the streets were peaceful. Truthfully, it was some of her favorite times. It gave her time to process, think and rationalize her experiences throughout the day.

Thoughts filled her mind in the peacefulness of the night. She was so close to graduating. All that was left was one semester. Then her life could begin. She wanted to study for LSAT, maybe apply to Duke’s law program. The perspectives excited her. Throughout her life, she hadn’t really had much direction. An issue both her parents nagged on during her teenage years, but something had switched inside of her after the death of her father. That one traumatic event created a new path and opened her eyes for a future she’d never seen before. Excitement bubbled up in her throat. She was so close. She knew her father would be proud. After all, their paths aligned almost perfectly.

Who will bring me flowers when it's over? And who will give me comfort when it's cold?

The outburst of her ringtone jolted her from her thoughts, her heartbeat jumping in her throat. After a second, she realized it was only her phone -someone was calling, probably her mom-and laughed at how easily she spooked. One of her hands lifted to her throat in an attempt to calm her racing heart. It’s only your phone, stupid, she chided internally with a slight tilt of her head. Taking her eyes off the road for a split second, she leaned over to grab the device from the front pocket of her backpack.

It happened all at once. The signal light blinking red, and her seeing its importance far too late. A thunderous honk interrupted the stillness of the night. Headlights blurred through her drivers side window as the truck honked a third, fourth, fifth time in warning. Steph righted herself instantly, forgetting the ringing phone in her haste. “Shit,” she uttered, her eyes rounding in terror. Her foot slammed down on the brakes but it was already too late. Everything halted like someone pressed a button to stop time completely. She was paralyzed, face turned towards the impending brightness. Her hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly it turned her knuckles white, and her eyes swelled with finality. She was going to die. There was a boom before it registered. An eighteen wheeler truck had smashed into the side of her VW, her vehicle skating across the pavement like a feather floating up, up, up.

Who will I belong to when the day just won't give in? And who will tell me how it ends and how it all begins?

The loud whip of metal colliding with metal elicited an angry scream that would haunt the night for hours to come.

Don't ever say g o o d b y e .

#self-para #c: Stephanie Walker

1 note · View note

ragingbookdragon · 3 years

Text

Even Though We May Be Hopeless Hearts Just Passing Through, I Was Made For Loving You PT. 1

Batsis x Kyle Rayner

Word Count: 2.1K Warnings: Explicit Language

Author's Note: I realize the other story didn't follow the whole, dating the brother's best friend trope, so I decided to remedy it. And what do you get when you cross a hopeless romantic with someone who's new to love? Perfection. That's what. Enjoy! -Thorne

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

Saturday mornings, in Dick’s opinion, were meant for sleeping in and quite possibly going to IHOP when everyone finally crawled out of bed at ten. They were not meant for being shoved in the side by a little brother.

“Golden-boy,” a voice grouched from beneath the bedside. “Your phone’s been going off for an hour. Either put it on silent or answer the goddamn thing.”

Dick let out a tired ‘pfft’, rolling onto his stomach, face buried in the side of the bed as he looked down to the floor. “Annoyed much, Little-wing?”

“I am going to shove that phone so far up your—”

Reaching over, Dick put the phone to his ear. “Hello?”

Where are you?

“Still in bed,” he responded, sentence ending in a groan as he stretched. “Why?”

You were supposed to be on the flight back to Gotham two hours ago.

Dick’s eyes went wide, and he sat up, gaping at the bedside clock. “It’s today.”

It is today. I can’t believe you forgot it was today.

“Oh my God, it’s today and we missed our flight.” He stumbled out of the bed, barely registering the shout from Jason as his foot landed in his brother’s stomach. “Jason, get up! It’s today!’

“What’s today?” his little brother griped, rubbing his abdomen.

“(Y/N)’s coming back!”

Jason’s eyes went wide, and he scrambled to his feet, hurriedly finding his bag to change out of his nightclothes. “Christ, I can’t believe we forgot that (Y/N) was coming home today!” he looked at Dick. “This is your fault.”

“My fault?” Dick yelped. “How is this my fault!”

He scowled. “Big brother wanted everyone to be with a sibling for the night, so they’d be together and be punctual but you and I both know neither of us have any concept of time.” His scowl grew. “I knew I should’ve bunked with Cass. She’s on time no matter what happens.”

Dick threw Jason’s sweatshirt at him. “Dress now, bitch later.” He put the phone back to his ear. “We missed our flight, but we can drive there.”

Your car’s in the shop.

“Shit,” he hissed, spinning in a circle to help his brain circuit enough to think of something new. “Uh-uh-uh—”

“Kyle!” Jason shouted, pointing at him. “Kyle’s like thirty minutes away from Manhattan! We’ll go to him for a ride!”

Dick grinned. “We’ll find Kyle.”

You sure Kyle’s at home?

“Pfft, Kyle’s always home on the weekends. He’s lazy.”

Just get here. (Y/N)’s plane is going to land in less than four hours.

“We’ll be there,” he said. “Is Diana coming too?”

Of course. She is (Y/N)’s mother.

“Nice. Alright, see you in Gotham, Bruce.”

Love you boys. And be careful. I’ve already heard that Cass, Tim, and Steph got into a fender-bender with Damian and Duke.

Dick blinked. “They’re…they’re legitimately driving separate cars? How’d they hit each other?”

Don’t ask.

The line went dead, and Dick looked at his brother. “Ready?”

Jason nodded. “Already got an Uber to Kyle’s place.”

“We could always just Uber to Gotham?” he offered, and Jason recoiled with a shocked look.

“And pay a ridiculous amount of money instead of just paying Kyle’s gas? Fuck no, big brother.” He shoved his wallet and keys into his pockets. “C’mon!” he chirped, rather excitedly. “Our baby sister’s coming home!”

***

When he swung the door open to yell at whoever was pounding on it, he wasn’t expecting to see two of his best friends grinning like idiots. “Wha—”

He’d barely gotten a word out when Jason shoved a bag of fast food in his hands. “Get dressed. You’ve gotta drive us to Gotham City.”

Kyle blinked, glancing down at the bag before looking at Dick. “Why?”

“Our sister’s coming home, and we overslept and missed out flight outta here.”

“And you came to me…why?” he asked.

“Because you have the functioning car.” Jason retorted, antsy on his feet. “C’mon Kyle. We have to hurry! (Y/N)’s coming home!”

Figuring it was better to agree than to argue, Kyle relented, handing back the bag of food before he disappeared into his apartment, reappearing moments later, dressed in a pair of dark blue jeans, a graphic tee, and his usual slim casual jacket. He took the bag back and started digging around in it.

“Who’s (Y/N)?” he inquired, biting into a breakfast burrito as he locked his front door behind him.

“Our baby sister.” Jason said.

“I thought Cass was your baby sister?”

Dick nodded, getting out his own breakfast from the bag. “She is. But (Y/N)’s like…the OG baby sister.”

Kyle blinked, glancing over at him as he pushed the elevator button. “That makes no sense.”

“He means that (Y/N) was around before Cass was.”

“And she isn’t with you guys why?”

“She’s been on Themyscira for the last few years training with her grandmother and the other Amazons.” Jason answered as if it was the most normal thing in the world, stepping onto the elevator.

Kyle merely stared at the two brothers who were looking back at him; he felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. “Wait, your sister’s an Amazon?”

“Yep.”

“Who’s her mom?” he asked, stepping between them.

“Wonder Woman.” Dick said.

Strike two. “Who’s her dad?”

“Batman.” Jason responded.

Believe it or not, Kyle went three for three punches to the gut. “Bruce and Diana had a kid together?”

“Yeah.” Dick murmured. “I think it’s also why B’s so insistent against inter-team-relations.” He nudged Jason behind Kyle. “First time he attempts dating a coworker he ends up with a baby.”

Jason snorted. “And all those lessons about, ‘Children, whatever you do, don’t date anyone on your team. It’ll only lead to babies and limited visitation’.” He laughed again, then he frowned. “I don’t think any of us have followed that lesson.”

Dick opened his mouth to make an excuse but all that came out was a pitiful, deflate of air followed by, “That’s actually a good point.”

The elevator dinged and they watched the doors open before walking out towards the parking garage. They climbed into Kyle’s car, Jason in the front because his legs were longer than Dick’s, and Dick was a contortionist anyways so if anyone deserved to have their knees in their chest, it was him.

Halfway through the drive Kyle asked, “You guys are paying for my gas, aren’t you?”

All he received was unsure responses and he merely sighed.

***

He figured he should’ve just dropped Jason and Dick off at the airport in Gotham and drove home, but he couldn’t help but want to see just what the daughter of Wonder Woman and Batman looked like. He imagined a little girl dressed in a Batman suit three sizes too big and wielding a sword and a lasso way too heavy for her. It made him smile, the way that the two brothers gushed about (Y/N). From their praise, she was their world. Kyle had to see her though, because nothing was going to satiate that curiosity of seeing the big Batman’s daughter.

He watched Dick and Jason crane their necks like birds as they looked around. And honestly, the family shouldn’t have been that hard to find considering that every time Kyle was around the entirety of the Batfamily, they were like psychos on steroids—he very much so understood why the entirety of Gotham’s villains became flighty when every member of the Batfamily was out patrolling.

Kyle wasn’t expecting a voice to crack over the airport, loud and bubbly. “Brothers!”

All three of them stopped, even him who wasn’t even a sibling, looking over towards the call and Kyle’s jaw dropped as a young woman sprinted over to Dick and Jason, slamming into them with the weight of a train. The three of them collapsed into a pile on the floor, but they were laughing so Kyle assumed the siblings were alright.

“Princess!”

“Baby girl!”

“Oh, I am so glad to see you both!” she exclaimed. “I have waited so long to come home!” she was on her feet in moments, pulling them to theirs as if they weighed nothing. And Kyle knew Jason weighed a lot—he’d been crushed under his best friend before in fights.

Suddenly, she stopped and looked over at Kyle who immediately felt his heart lurch under her sharp gaze. “Who is this you have brought?”

Jason gestured to him. “(Y/N) this is Kyle. He’s a friend of Dick and mine. Kyle, this is our little sister, (Y/N).”

She huffed laugh. “I am not little, Jason. I am twenty-one.” Reaching out, she immediately pulled Kyle in for a hug, squeezing him tightly. “It is good to meet you, Kyle.”

“You too,” he murmured, feeling his cheeks warm as she pulled away and placed her hands on his shoulders.

“Any friend of my brothers is a friend of mine.” (Y/N) smiled. “Are you a superhero as well?”

He couldn’t help but toss a quick glance towards Jason who nodded. “Uh, yeah. I’m a Green Lantern.”

(Y/N)’s eyes widened in wonder, and she let go of his shoulders in favor of grabbing at his hands until she found his ring. She stared at it, murmuring quiet, ‘ooo’s and ah’s’. “That is simply amazing!” she chirped, looking at him, and then she silently gasped, raising his hand near his eyes. “Oh…your eyes are almost the same color as your ring.”

Her smile made Kyle’s heart beat a little faster as she expressed, “They are beautiful.”

They gazed at each other, too captivated in the moment to understand that the family had gathered around them by then. Someone’s hand curled around (Y/N)’s wrist and she looked over seeing Dick tugging her hand away.

“C’mon Princess, let’s go get your things on the belt.”

She smiled and followed, giving a small wave to Kyle, who returned hers shakily whilst grinning like a dope.

Someone elbowed him in the ribs, and he gasped, holding his side as Jason muttered, “Don’t ever stare at my sister like that again.”

Kyle blinked, glancing at him. “What’re you talking about?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, you goddamn skirt-chaser.”

“I didn’t do anything!” Kyle spluttered.

“You’re thinking about it.” Jason warned, pointing a finger in his face. “Make a move on (Y/N) and I’ll kill you with your own ring.” Kyle recoiled just as she and Dick were coming back, both holding a suitcase.

“Father!” she called, glancing at Bruce. “Dick and I have retrieved my luggage.”

He smiled at her. “Let’s go put it in the SUV then.” He paused, looking over the large group. He and Diana had ridden together, and since his children had fender-benders, they’d picked up Cass, Tim, Stephanie, Duke, and Damian; there wasn’t room for (Y/N) too.

“Father? Is something the matter?” (Y/N) was staring at him with concern.

“There’s not enough room in the SUV for you too. Maybe we—”

“There’s room in my car for (Y/N)!” Kyle blurted out, smiling nervously at Bruce. “I can follow behind you.”

Before anyone could screech ‘NO!’, mainly Dick and Jason, (Y/N) lit up like the morning sun. “Oh, that is a wonderful idea!” she grabbed onto Diana’s arm. “We should all stop for ice-cream though! Mother, what do you say?”

She smiled at her and leaned over, kissing her head. “I say that sounds like a fantastic idea, daughter.”

Kyle grinned and held out his arm for (Y/N), her giggling as she took it. “You know, I don’t live in Gotham, (Y/N), but I do know a good gelato store around the area.”

“What is gelato?” she asked, and he groaned.

“Oh, I can’t believe you don’t know what that is.” He started off, pilling her along, leaving everyone behind. “Don’t worry, I’ll show you.”

Jason’s face pinched and he looked over at Bruce. “Can I break the no-kill rule just once?”

Bruce blinked, crossing his arms over his chest as he watched his daughter laughing along with Kyle, both looking like newlyweds already. “Believe it or not, I’m strongly considering it.”

“Bruce.” Diana admonished. “Let (Y/N) and Kyle become friends. You know she doesn’t have many outside this family here.”

Dick growled. “Except Kyle doesn’t want to be friends with (Y/N), Diana. He wants to be her boyfriend.”

“They just met though?”

“Yeah, and Kyle’s a propose on week two type of man,” Jason griped. “Jesus Christ, this is going to be a disaster.”

“I don’t know about you guys, but (Y/N) and Kyle said gelato and you guys are just standing here.” Tim said. “Can we go now?”

458 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

216 notes · View notes

justcourttee · 4 years

Note

Can you do one where all the Wayne’s meet marinette before knowing she’s dating Damian and something happened to her parents and Bruce already has the adoption papers and damiens like no father u can’t adopt my gf

This is so cute and was so much fun to write. Hope this is something like what you had in mind :) @leagrey

Family Dinner

“I would like to apologize in advance. Father and his feral mistakes are very lively people and I fear they will take too much of a liking to you. If it is at all uncomforting, just squeeze my hand and we will leave.”

Marinette glanced over as Damian stared menacingly at the oak doors in front of them. It had only been a year since she had met him, but he had never once mentioned the idea of her meeting his family. Maybe it was because he knew today was special and he knew that meeting them was her only request of him for the longest time.

“Do you feel uncomfortable Damian? If so, please don’t put yourself in this position because of me.”

“Tt, utter nonsense. Me? Uneasy? Now you are just babbling.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth at the sight of the red threatening to overtake his cheeks.

“Well then, I guess there is no point in standing outside all day huh?”

Before her fist even made contact with the door, it flung open. Several curious faces piled in the doorframe, all trying to get a good look at her in case Damian changed his mind in an instant.

“You idiots, back up now or I’m leaving with her.”

A mutter of apologies echoed through the door as Marinette bit back the chuckle. With a great sigh, Damian motioned for her to step through the entrance, his tense body signaling that he was already ready to throw in the towel.

“It’s so nice to finally meet you all, my name is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Her half-wave seemed to send a shock wave through the room as all eyes narrowed in on her, watching her every movement. Cautiously, she lowered her hand. A moment of silence passed and then two. Everyone seemed locked onto her, unsure of what to say and if she was being honest, she had the slightest idea as well.

“Are you all crowding her? Shameful. I thought I told you to wait in the dining room.”

It was as if the heavens had parted and uttered a command. Several bodies darted in different directions and in seconds, the hallway had been cleared save for Marinette, Damian, and an older man with graying hair and a killer smile on his face.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, we are truly honored that Master Damian has allowed you to grace us with your presence for dinner this evening. I apologize for Master Bruce’s charges. They really are all excellent kids, but rare elements such as yourself tend to erase their minds of any manners I worked so hard to instill in them.”

He shook his head in mock disappointment as he offered her his hand.

“Oh please, don’t worry about it, Mr. Alfred. I’m sure they were just as excited as I was.”

Taking his hand, she did her best to give a strong shake. His warm smile seemed so inviting, but the thought that he could clear a room with just a sentence shook her to her core.

“Please, just Alfred is fine. May I escort you to the dining room?”

Marinette nodded as she blindly reached backward for Damian’s hand to drag him along. If the butler had noticed, he made no comment as he led them.

“And here we are, I will return shortly with the first course for tonight. I do hope you enjoy the meal. I have prepared special platers for you and Master Damian to commandeer for your dietary restrictions.”

Before she even had the chance to thank him, he whisked away, leaving her to stand by Damian’s side in front of the largest dining room table she had ever seen.

“Welcome.”

Her eyes darted to the head of the table where a dashing man stood, his eyes kind and welcoming as he motioned to the two empty seats beside him. It all felt so overwhelming, too many sets of eyes for her to count were plastered on her alone. Shuffling along, she managed a small curtsey to the man before allowing Damian to help her into her seat.

A small murmur erupted from the dining room table. Had she done something wrong? Perhaps she had set herself up at the table, but Damian just got so flustered about those sorts of things, insisting he wanted to be a proper gentleman.

“I’ve heard very little about you Ms. Dupain-Cheng, but the little I have been able to wrestle out of my son has been nothing short of blessings.”

Marinette was sure her face was burning as she muttered a small thanks.

“I apologize for the huge turnout. When I mentioned to my oldest that Damian was bringing a friend home for dinner, it seems word spread fast. They all wanted to meet the person who managed to break through to him that wasn’t Jon.”

His smile appeared jokingly as he glanced over the near full table.

“But please, where are my manners? My name is Bruce and please feel comfortable to refer to me like that. The three boys across from you are my oldest Dick, Jason, Tim, and Duke.”

Dick's smile was blinding as he reached over the table to shake her hand vigorously.

“I’m so glad my little boy has made a friend and such a beautiful and well-mannered one as well!”

“Yeah, I wonder how he did that?” Jason, at least that’s what she believed his name was, stroked his chin thoughtfully as he stared down the two. Duke began to stroke his chin as well before he leaned across the table, shielding his mouth from where Damian sat.

“Hey, Marinette, blink twice if he’s threatening you or your family’s lives in any way.”

There was a small thud from under the table as Duke flinched slightly in his seat.

Bruce shook his head as he motioned past the boys and to the girls that sat on the other side of Damian.

“On this side of the table are my daughters in all but paperwork. Barbara, Cassandra, and Stephanie.”

“Uhm, you forgot one pop.”

The girl at the end of the table kicked her feet up onto the table, her mischievous smile poking at Bruce’s patience.

“How could I ever forget you, Harper? I was just saving you for last.”

Harper sent a wink in Marinette’s direction earning a giggle from the girl.

“Miss Harper, I must ask you to refrain from placing your feet on the table as I serve out the first course.”

Instantly she straightened in her seat as Alfred seemingly materialized from behind. The smile on his face as dangerous as ever. Marinette could finally see what Damian was worried about, his family was absolutely wild. Her eyes drifted from each person as they absentmindedly chatted in small groups.

Damian’s hand found hers under the table, giving her a slight reassuring squeeze.

“Marinette, I must apologize for dinner being so late. I had to work over today and even if I got out earlier than usual, I must admit it is not early enough. Please apologize to your parents for my inconsiderate job.”

Marinette swallowed hard as she sat down her fork.

“Oh, uhm, I suppose Damian didn’t tell you. I-uh-live on my own in the city.”

All of the chatter in the room fell silent and once more, she could feel the heat of every stare in the room on her.

“Oh? Are they okay with that? Gotham isn’t exactly known to be the safest at night.” His chuckle was humorless as he watched her bright eyes dull.

“I actually came to Gotham on my own merits, a fresh start if you will. My parents died last year in a bakery fire. Papa tried to find me, thinking I was home, but even as Maman begged him to leave the building, he couldn’t leave believing I was still in there.”

She felt a single hot tear trail down her cheek, but she was quick to wipe it away before any more could follow.

“I apologize, I had no idea.”

Marinette shook her head vigorously as the apologies spewed out of her mouth.

“Please, forget I said anything at all. I one hundred percent overshared. Now dinner will be so awkwardly, please, it’s been a year, I’m okay.”

The conversation started back slowly, but once it did, Marinette couldn’t stop laughing. She shared with them her business and talked about how she and Damian first met. Tim couldn’t wrap his head around the thought that Damian would have actually stopped on the street to comfort her.

“I mean, what are you? A demon tamer? Teach me your ways sensei.”

As Alfred collected the final plates for the evening, Marinette felt better than she had in a long time. When it came time to leave, Bruce offered to escort them back to the front.

“Miss Dupain-Cheng, may I ask how old you are?”

“16.”

Bruce’s stare was concerning as he reached out to pick up her hand.

“How do you live in an apartment then?”

“Oh, My grandmother signed the lease. She technically lives with me, but she’s such a free spirit, I couldn’t possibly expect her to stay in one spot. I mostly live there on my own. Honestly, I’m quite jealous of the large family Damian has, he is very lucky.”

Marinette thought she had to be hallucinating. Bruce Wayne almost seemed to be vibrating the more she talked.

“You know Marinette, this manor is quite spacious. If you ever need-”

“Absolutely not.”

In one quick movement, Damian was between them, his glare ready to cut through his own father.

“But Damian-”

“Father I cannot allow you to adopt my girlfriend!”

Bruce’s jaw dropped as he finally noticed the constant contact that the two had initiated all night. At first, he thought it could be just her way of keeping herself grounded, but the more he thought back on it, it did seem quite like how a couple would act.

“Dammit, now I owe Steph $20.”

Marinette peeked behind Bruce where all of Damian’s siblings stood exchanging money, Tim looking especially upset as he handed the blonde a crisp bill. For what felt like the billionth time tonight, Marinette felt her face flush.

“You are all utter buffoons. Father, we will complete this conversation later. As for now, I will escort Marinette back to her apartment and I will be taking the car.”

Damian’s hand intertwined with hers as she allowed herself to be dragged from the manor. A chorus of goodbyes echoed after her, even Alfred waved her goodbye as he graciously shut Bruce’s mouth for him. As she climbed into the car, Marinette leaned over to place a small kiss on Damian’s cheek.

“What was that for?” The stutter in his voice was something she adored, something that only ever appeared when she caught him off guard.

“Thank you for letting me meet your family today. It turned a bad day into a good one.”

“Yeah, whatever,” the red of his cheeks betrayed his indifferent attitude as he shifted the car into drive.

As the manor disappeared in the rearview mirror, only one thought remained on her mind. Just how would the conversation go with Bruce when Damian returned?

The thought alone made her smile.

Permanent Tag List:

@ash-amg @rebecarojas07 @heaven428 @long-lost-peace @thequeenofpotatoeunicornss @moongoddesskiana @nach0ava @iamablinkmarvelarmy @seraphkitty @clumsy-owl-4178 @pawsitivelymiraculous @mialuvscats @leagrey @smolplantmum @animegirlweeb @glitterflowercat

#maribat #marinette x damian #daminette

538 notes · View notes

bat-losers-inc · 3 years

Text

Song of Cassandra: Chapter 2

Warnings: Family Drama, Family Issues, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Emotional Baggage, and Child Neglect

Summary: What is Batman without a Robin? Everyone in the family makes jokes about the ‘dead robins club’, but Dick and Jason really do have measures set in place for the day Bruce loses sight of what’s really important. They won’t let Bruce sacrifice another Robin for the cause, even if that means separating Robin from Batman for good.

Pairings: Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson, Stephanie Brown/Tim Drake, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Stephanie Brown & Bruce Wayne, and Dick Grayson & Jason Todd

_____________________________________

Half a year later saw them performing a feat of brotherly bonding he’d never imagined possible: robbing Penguin together.

They’d left the Tricorner district behind in a streak of burnt rubber and a barrage of gunfire and ditched the getaway van in Chinatown at the first available 24-hour parking facility on the other side of the bridge. It was slower going on foot, but Chinatown’s busy night scene, combined with the heavy triad presence in this district, would make Penguin’s men hesitate before going in guns blazing. That was all the time they needed to slip away unseen.

Now, as they emerged from the darkness of the parking deck, Dick yanked the balaclava off his head. He grunted something unintelligible as he shouldered his way through the cluster of pedestrians that crowded the sidewalk.

“What?” asked Jason, pulling his own half-mask down from around his neck and jogging to catch up.

“I said, you’re a real bastard. You promised me this was would be easy!”

Jason glanced at him. He wanted to be sympathetic but he just couldn’t when Dick was glaring at him with that staticky mop of hair. He couldn’t keep the laughter out of his voice when he replied, “You’re the one who said we shouldn’t leave a paper trail! This is about as easy as stealing from Penguin’s bagman gets.”

In truth, he thought they were complaining just for the sake of complaining. After six months they both knew that pulling off this heist was less a matter of choice and more a matter of necessity. Failure meant returning to the storage locker Dick had procured outside of Port Adams and staring down their measly little bat-trust-fund: six safehouses, fifteen rolls of Kevlar fabric, a small arsenal, twenty-seven contacts typed into a Word document, and $5,025 split five ways. But what use would kevlar suits be if their siblings couldn’t afford to keep a roof over their heads? No, without the cash it was worth fuck-all.

Dick looked like he wanted to argue the point further but at that moment a convoy of police vehicles shot past them, sirens wailing and horns blaring loud enough to deafen a person. No doubt by now Penguin’s men had informed their boss about the botched exchange and pinned the blame on their nearest rivals, the Ghost Dragons. If that was the case, then Chinatown was a powder keg ready to explode into a minor gang war at any moment.

A flash of light reflected off the windows of a nearby apartment building. Jason stepped in between two parked cars to get a better look and found himself staring up at the cloud-heavy night sky illuminated in the glow of the bat signal.

He gripped the heavy duffel bag full of stolen cash closer to his chest like he expected Gotham’s dark knight to swoop down at any moment and tear it from his shoulder.

“Hey,” Dick tugged at his arm. “time to go.”

Batman was on the way and like the best of Gotham’s criminals, Jason and Dick made themselves scarce.

It took nearly forty minutes and three subway lines to make their way back to the self-storage facility. By then a pale glow had crept up from the horizon and spread across the water. Around them, the street lights began to shut off one after another. In the distance, Jason could just make out a tugboat as it pushed a barge out towards the open ocean.

By the time Dick pulled the storage locker door down behind them, they were tired-eyed and footsore.

Jason threw the duffel bag onto a table and propped himself against it as he fished one-handed under his t-shirt to undo the straps of his protective vest. He sighed in relief as the weight lifted off his shoulders. “How the hell did you stand wearing these things when you were on the force? Even with the undershirt, the chaffing is god-awful.”

“You get used to it,” Dick replied, making quick work of removing his own gear.

Jason doubted it but he was too tired to argue his point further. Instead, he found the six-pack that he’d stashed under the table earlier that day and snapped off a can.

“Heads up,” he called, as he pitched a can underhand to Dick who caught it against his chest.

Dick held it up for inspection. “Warm beer. What I’ve always wanted.”

“Oh shut up and celebrate with me, you asshole.”

He extended his arm across the table. Dick knocked beer cans with him and completely failed at hiding the shy grin tugging at the corners of his mouth, though god bless him he tried. “Cheers.”

Jason watched him crack open the top and chuckled as he hurriedly slurped at the foam that erupted over the rim. He knew that this morally gray lifestyle didn’t come easy to Dick but he couldn’t deny that he was happy he had stuck around with him for this long. He didn’t dare to say it out loud, but they actually made good partners.

He took a long drink from his own beer can before putting it aside. “Ok, come on. The faster we count this cash the sooner we can go to bed.”

Jason upturned the duffel bags, sending stacks of cash sliding out onto the metal tabletop while Dick pulled the banknote counter from the corner and lugged the machine up next to the pile. Together they started slipping the currency bands loose and feeding the stacks of cash into the machine, watching eagerly as the sum continued to tick upwards.

“Soo…” Jason drummed his thumbs on the table as the numbers continued to flash on the small screen, “How are things going with you and Babs?”

“What?” Dick’s eyebrows drew together. “Why?”

Jason shrugged. “I don’t know, I’m a little curious about what she thinks you do when you’re out late all the time… also, I’m bored.”

“You’re weird, is what you are.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Seriously? We’ve only spent the past six months together moonlighting as vigilante survivalists and I can’t ask one time how your love life is going.”

“No, no. Sorry, you’re right.” Dick held up a hand. “I told her I’ve been helping you out with an undercover case for a couple of months now. Said I owed you a favor.”

Jason grinned at him. “Well, that’s not a lie. Quite a few actually, but who’s counting.”

Dick punched him in the shoulder. “Actually, I should call her. Reassure her you didn’t get me killed before she calls in a search party.”

Jason chuckled and went back to the task of feeding bills into the machine as Dick rummaged through the backpack and fished out his phone.

“Hey, uhh...”

Jason glanced up and took in Dick’s furrowed expression as he stared down at his phone. He put down the stack of cash he was holding. “What’s the matter?”

“Something happened while we were out. I — shit I don’t know how to explain it but I’ve got like 15 missed messages from Barbara and Alfred. Did you bring your phone with you?”

Jason grabbed his backpack where his own phone was stashed and opened it to find a similar mass of missed calls and incoherently excited messages cluttering the screen. Some of the numbers he recognized, Steph, Barbara, and Alfred were all saved in his phone, but a few were from unknown senders. If he had to venture some guesses he’d say Cass, Duke… maybe Harper? Fuck, he never realized this many bat brats had his number. “I don’t get it… something about Tim? What about hell?”

“I’m calling Babs.”

Jason was aware of how uncomfortably loud their breathing sounded in the small storage locker as they stood around the table waiting for Dick’s call to connect.

“Dick?” Barbara’s voice asked loudly through the speaker. “Thank God! Where have you been? I’ve been calling and calling you.”

“Sorry, undercover mission, remember? What’s the big emergency? I didn’t get anything from Bruce.”

“You need to get back to the manor. Bruce found Tim!”

That didn’t make any sense. “What? You mean Bruce found Tim’s remains?”

Jason smacked his arm. “His remains? Are you fucking serious? What remains could Bruce possibly find after a death like that?”

“I don’t know, bone fragments—”

Dick’s argument sounded flimsy the moment it left his mouth and they both knew it. Jason just really hated to be the one who had to say it.

“If the heat from that explosion didn’t finish him off entirely then the pounding impact of like a hundred thousand missiles definitely did in whatever remains might have been left.”

“Guys—” called Babs.

“Oh, so you’re a forensic scientist now? You don’t know that—“

“Yes, I do!” He slammed a hand down on the table, his anger flaring. He really couldn’t do this backslide back into denial with Dick again. “There’s a reason we buried an empty box. Tim is literally dust in the wind.”

“Jesus Christ!” Barbara’s voice erupted loudly through the speakerphone. “Kill it with the broody back and forth already and actually listen to me, would you? I’m not talking about bone fragments or anything like that. I’m saying Bruce found Tim. Tim! He’s alive.”

Jason met Dick’s eyes over the phone, confusion written as starkly across Dick’s face as it must have been on his own. “What? I— What?”

“I really don’t understand it all myself. But Tim said he’s been held captive by Mr. Oz in another dimension for this whole time. Can you believe it? All this time we thought he was dead and...”

Jason didn’t catch that last bit. He was too busy bent over the table as all the blood rushed to his head.

He was gonna hurl. “That doesn’t make any fucking sense.”

They’d all given up on the hope of Tim miraculously surviving a long time ago and this sudden news felt like he was experiencing emotional whiplash. This had to be some kind of sick joke or a trick... a doppelganger sent by the newest enemy on the rise against Batman.

Dick’s thoughts were apparently spiraling in the same direction as his own for he ran a hand roughly across his mouth and asked, “You saw him yourself? You’re sure it’s him, our Tim?”

But it wasn’t a big cosmic joke. As much as Jason couldn’t believe it, it wasn’t and that was made clear with every new piece of information Babs gave them.

“Yes, he was standing right in front of me only an hour ago — crying and hugging everyone.”

Dick turned to look at Jason, but he was already rounding the table and yanking Dick into a bruising hug.

“He’s alive,” Dick cried into the shoulder of his t-shirt. His voice overflowed with the most contagiously hysterical mixture of joy. Jason laughed through his own tears. “You bet your ass he is!”

He couldn’t explain what had come over him. He and Dick had never really been close — and they definitely weren’t huggers — but the last few months had been so full of this gnawing air of anxiety — their family continuing to fracture, the resources running dry — that the full realization was starting to hit them that this plan might have been formed too late to do any real good. They could feel the clock running out and they were both expecting the other shoe to drop any day now but then out of the blue… this.

Dick pushed away from him suddenly and wiped at his eyes.

“Uh…” he tried to clear his throat. “We, uh, we should get back to the cave and go see him for ourselves. Babs, he still there, right?”

“Yeah, Bruce is debriefing him.”

And just like that, Jason’s joy seized painfully in his chest. It hurt the way a seatbelt does in a car crash, knocking the air out of your lungs and bringing you up short. He watched Dick rush around him, grabbing up his belongings in a disorganized fashion.

“Dick, I can’t come with you.”

“What?” Dick asked, breathless. He turned back from the door. “Yes, you can. C’mon, get your stuff, the money can wait till tomorrow.”

Jason shook his head. Fuck, how the hell was he supposed to explain this to him without looking like the one asshole member of this family who didn’t want to visit his little brother recently brought back from the dead.

Dick paused, his hand dropping from the door handle. “What? Because of what happened between you and Bruce?”

I was a fool for ever believing in you. Even now Bruce’s words lingered at the back of his head. An invisible brand that still held its heat.

“Jason, I know what went down between you and Bruce was… heavy, to say the least, but you’re still family. You do know that, right? You’re still my family and if you want to see Tim, Bruce can do fuck-all to stop it. I’ll make sure of it.”

Jason could only huff a sad laugh at that because God did he want to believe that too, but he knew it wasn’t that simple. Tim would always be his family, but Bruce… he’d crossed a point of no return with Bruce on the night that the fortress was destroyed. The violence of his assault had done more than break a few bones— it had finally shattered that last shred of trust he’d stupidly harbored in him that when push came to shove Bruce would value the son over the soldier. I broke his rules for the last time and now he sees me as nothing more than an unredeemable criminal that escaped Batman’s justice. One of his little soldiers gone AWOL.

“Yeah, I know. It’s just… I can’t face him yet— I—” he trailed off. He’d been laying low since his return to Gotham, but even still Jason thought the only reason he’d survived this long was because Bruce was too consumed with Tim’s death to spend a spare thought on him. He wasn’t ready to walk into that cave tonight and find out what would happen now that Tim was back in the picture and Bruce’s anger focused back on him.

It felt like a horrible selfish thing to think about saving his own skin when his little brother had come back from the dead, but as his eyes lingered at the collection of items piled around the storage locker he was reminded that no one was going to do it for him. After all, that was how this plan had all started right? Someone had to be the one to craft the safety net for the next Robin to fall of Batman’s mighty pedestal.

“You should go. Tell Tim I’m glad he inherited my cockroach-like ability to not stay dead.”

“Jason…” Dick twisted the jacket he held in his hands.

“Go.” It came out sharper than he’d intended, despite his best efforts to push his emotions down. He was quick to try to smooth it over with a tight smile that he knew fooled neither of them. “I’ll stop by his apartment tomorrow once all the hype has died down. Besides, someone needs to finish up here.”

He nodded at the banknote counter.

The one thing he’d always valued about Dick, more than his caring nature, was that he knew when to stop pushing an issue.

“Alright,” Dick shifted his grip on his jacket again. His phone was chiming once more in the back pocket of his jeans. No doubt another family member asking where he was. “I’ll call you tomorrow to check in.”

“Sure.”

After the door to the storage locker fell shut, Jason let his gaze travel around the room again. So Tim was back, alive and well as far as any of them were concerned. A nagging part of Jason’s mind wondered worriedly if gaining him back would slowly undo all the plans they had made together. Would Dick continue to worry about the next crisis to befall their little family or would Tim’s return renew his neverending faith in the impossible until he eventually forgot what it was that drove him to his breaking point?

Jason picked up another stack of banknotes and slid it into the machine. As the numbers continued to rise once more he did his best to prepare himself for the idea that he would be alone in this mission once more. Another bitter pill to swallow but he couldn’t do it. It lodged itself raw and unpleasant at the back of his throat.

18 notes · View notes

flying-nightwing · 4 years

Text

Damn Him

Hi, this is average af but I needed to post something. You’ll probably be disappointed lmao. Anyway, enjoy some Dick Grayson content!

More on my masterlist, pinned as a top post!

Pairing: Dick Grayson x Reader

Word count: 4798

Warnings: None

Summary: Dick Grayson never seems to say the right thing around you, and it’s not quite for the reason you initially thought

You looked up from your book when your cellphone vibrated on your desk beside you. You were in the midst of studying for your last exam of the semester, so you had your phone on a strict do not disturb schedule, which meant it remained on 24/7. Your notifications were blocked for any social media, text or calls you might receive, well, except for your one emergency contact: Bruce Wayne. He knew he was supposed to contact you only if he had no other choice but ask for your help, and never had he even used that card ever since you knew him. Reluctantly, you put down you book and marker to switch them for your phone. Turning on the screen, you ignored the various hidden notifications, focusing only on the single line that stared back at you.

Call me when you can - B.

Sighing, you unlocked your phone and pressed the contact name, then the phone icon next to it. It rang twice before Bruce picked up.

"(Y/N), how are you?"

"A bit stressed out, but it could be worse" You replied truthfully. "What's up?"

"I hope you know I wouldn't do this if I had any other solution" He began. "But I need your help on a recon mission, almost all my effective got busted last night"

"Oh my, are they okay?" You frowned with concern, even if he couldn't see you.

"Yes, don't worry" He said, "I'll explain in person, that is if you agree to come. I'd understand if you refused, though"

You rubbed the bridge of your nose and closed your eyes for a second. You owed a lot to Bruce, and since it was a simple recon stakeout, you could take one or two nights off to help him out. You were already ahead of schedule in your studying and confident in your knowledge of the material.

"Yeah, sure, I'll be there" You finally answered. "What time do you want me over?"

"As soon as you can"

"Aight, see ya"

You hung up the phone and put it back on your desk, observing it for a second. It had been gifted to you by Bruce after you began going on missions more regularly with the batlings, he said that way he knew for sure all communications would be secure and sheltered from hacking or government surveillance. You had to admit, having an encrypted phone was pretty neat, as it ran entirely on Wayne Enterprises servers and networks. The simple thought of not having to suffer through youtube ads was satisfactory enough on its own to justify the need for it, even if you didn't join missions as much as you used to.

You finally stood up and went to change from your yoga pants and loose tank top to black jeans and a sweater, then jumped in your car and drove to the manor. You punched in your code at the gate and took the right to the garages, where you entered a second code to open the doors. Your car was several notches under those parked there, but you had to have something less flashy as not to attract too much attention. Still, it was more than a majority of college students even had. You had to thank Bruce for that too. He wasn't your adopted father per say, since he found you a few days before your eighteenth birthday, but he still acted like a guardian and mentor for you.

You jogged down to the batcave, where you instantly spotted a chatty blonde sprawled in a seat, making wild gesture. She sprung up straight at the sound of you coming in and her face split in a wide grin. She jumped on her feet and skipped toward you.

"Hey giiiiirl" She drawled out excitedly. "Long time no see!"

"Hey Steph" You chuckled, going for the hug. "Sorry I didn't call, I have no excuses"

"Don't worry about it" She waved off with an airy laugh. She knew how busy school kept you, and how you kind of wanted to separate yourself fromthe vigilante life. "I'm just glad you're here"

"So am I" Bruce called from the computers. He gave you a subtle smile, and you nodded back to him. "It seems like we're in a bit of an impasse here"

You didn't miss the quick glare he sent to Tim and Steph, who sheepishly avoided looking back at him. It didn't seem too serious though, or the air would have drastically changed.

"Before he says anything, know it wasn't our fault" Steph hurried to say.

"We were totally ambushed by Vicky Vale" Tim nodded along."No idea what she did there, but she was, and she saw right through our disguises.We had to bolt before she exposed us"

You frowned in confusion. "Okay can someone tell me what is going on here?"

"Tim and Steph were supposed to go undercover and cozy up with the high leaders of what I have suspicions on good authority are transiting premium grade opium into the US and Europe, and are close partners to Count Vertigo" Bruce began, already exhausted. "But as they said, Vicky Vale was somehow invited to the banquet and singled them out immediately before they could get even near the big guys"

"My magnificent blond mane attracts way too much attention, I'm afraid" Steph sighed sadly, making you chuckle. "It's a curse, babes. I tell ya"

"Keep telling yourself that, Stephi" A new voice came from the top of the stairs. You both wanted suddenly to go back to your books as a big part of why you barely tag along on missions anymore skipped down the stairs. Damn Dick Grayson, damn him. "We all know covert missions are not your strong point"

"I'm gonna kill you in your sleep, Grayson" She smiled sweetly at him.

"No, because you suck at being subtle" He returned the grin, just as sweetly if not more. He ruffled her hair as he passed by. "What's up Timbo"

He hummed something unintelligible, flipping his brother off. Dick laughed, then almost added something when he finally noticed you. His laughter died down and his eyes widened, and suddenly he looked uncomfortable. "Oh, you're here"

"So it seems" You replied as flatly as he spoke. It wasn't new, you had never known how to act around each other. Did you hate him? Of course not, you had absolutely no reason to. Did you consider him your friend? Hard to say. All you knew was that any and every encounter you had with Dick Grayson was awkward. You got along with Tim just fine, and even Jason when he was still around. You loved Cass and Duke, and you even managed to get on Dami's good side, or most of the time anyway. But Dick remained a mystery to you, one that had eluded you for years now. You didn't understand a single thing about that boy, and you doubted you ever would. You've had conversations before, loads of them, and you had no doubt he would make an amazing friend, but you couldn't seem to get past the stage of acquaintances.

Which was frankly disappointing, because you had been instantly attracted by his charms and easygoing nature when you first met. You had been drawn to him, and you couldn't try and pretend you hadn't pinned after him for the longest time. But you hit a wall when his behaviour began changing wildly around you, right around the time you slipped flirts every now and then to let him know that you were into him. Right now, you were just really over his poor attempts at pretending he never noticed it happen.

"So" Bruce spoke up, breaking the tension that had suddenly arisen in the cave. "Tomorrow night we'll have a new opening to try and get to them, hopefully without interruption this time. I've taken a look at the list, and no reporter was on it. We should be good"

"But Tim and Steph already got busted" You pointed out. "They'll know something is up if they show up again"

"That's why they will be seen at the Gotham Charity Auction at the museum" He explained, meeting your eyes. "That's why I called you up. You'll be going undercover with Dick as husband and wife"

"What?" Dick coughed almost immediately. "We're not–" He laughed nervously. "Us? As a married couple? This is ridiculous"

Your head turned sharply toward him, your eyebrows raised in disbelief. "Wow, thanks a lot for the vote of confidence" You snapped. "I didn't know being my fake husband was such a terrible perspective"

"No– Wait– That's not–" He stuttered, his eyes wide. "I didn't mean it that way"

"Sure" You rolled your eyes, before turning to Bruce again. He had an unreadable expression on his face, more unreadable than usually anyway. Tim and Steph stood there in stunned silence, not daring to speak up. "What's the briefing?"

Bruce glanced in between you and Dick, before looking back at you again. "Félix Lachance and Stella Gustavsson, they're the one you need to befriend. Since you're not known to the public, it'll be easier for Dick to pass under the radar and not cause an incident like last time"

"We get it, B" Tim muttered under his breath as Bruce passed you the files with the pictures.

"I need you to retrieve any information you can" He continued, ignoring Tim's comment. "Names of business partners, location of transactions, dates, anything, you know the gig. Your occupation and alias if you want one will be at your discretion, I trust you can deal with that. As always you need to be extremely careful as not to alert them, because this is our last chance to get the critical Intel we need to take this down. So I'll need you at your A game, both of you"

This was a warning and you knew it. He let you know more or less subtly to put aside whatever was happening between you and behave like adults. You straightened your back and took a deep breath, getting your head in the right mindset.

"Alright, I'll be ready for tomorrow night" You nodded as you gathered the files. "Can I stay over tonight? There is no point in trying to study now"

"You don't need to ask, (Y/N), you're always welcome here" Bruce said, a hint of fondness in his voice. He always liked having you around, he said your presence tamed the boys. You nodded and made your way upstairs, finding the room you claimed as your own for about a year, and the same you always came back to when you stayed the night.

You went to the drawers, fishing out old training clothes you had left behind. You weren't sure all those were yours, they were probably mixed with pieces you stole from Steph and Cass. In return, they probably did also steal from your drawer occasionally, balancing it all out. You were about to change into something comfy for bed when a soft knock at your door caught your attention. You walked to it and tentatively opening the door, your expression flattening when you saw how it was.

"Yes?"

"Hey um" Dick scratched the back of his neck. "I just wanted to say, I'm sorry it came out that way. I just meant that it would be, you know, weird"

You stared at him blankly. "You're not helping your case here, Dick"

"Shit, that's not what I mean either!" He hurried to say, realizing his mistake. But you were already closing the door. "Please (Y/N)–"

"Get some rest Dick" You said as you pushed the door closed. You sighed and shook your head before adding in a whisper, "God knows we'll need it"

------

You had done covert missions before, but this was the first time you were operating in such conditions. You finished retouching your hair, staring at yourself in the mirror, wondering whether or not it was more expensive than your total life income. The floor length champagne coloured dress was stunning, tailored to your form and just sparkly enough to let you shine through the design. You suspected the shoes were made especially to fit with the dress, as they resembled its lace and belt colour. You were sporting on top of that a heavy diamond necklace with matching earrings, proving the general high cost of the outfit. Your comm was carefully tucked in your ear, functional and well hidden.

"Oh my my" Steph whistled lowly. "If I wasn't dating Timbers I would date you"

You laughed. "This is the outfit talking. You haven't seen me tired and puffy in sweatpants just yet"

"Grump, just take the damn compliment" She playfully poked your exposed shoulder.

"Alright alright, thanks" You rolled your eyes. "Since it's gonna be the only one coming from this household anyway"

Steph wiggled her eyebrows. "Wouldn't be so sure about that" She said in a sing-song voice. "Your fake boyfriend may have some thoughts too"

"Ha" You snorted, walking out of your room with her following at your side. "It's good, that you're wishful thinking. The boy can't seem to talk to me without insulting me lately"

"Trust me, he won't be able to resist to this bombshell" She gestured at your form. "Dick's a people pleaser, and looking like a whole five course meal like that, you sure are easy to please if you want my opinion"

You shook your head, a small grin on your face. Steph had always been your favourite for a reason. She knew how you felt about Dick, but she never meddled. Well, not more than she typically would anyway, and not enough to cross your boundaries. And even then, she had no explanation either for his behaviour. You finally reached the foyer, where Bruce was dressed casually, sleeves rolled up and without a tie, talking to an all dressed up Dick, his hair now dark red and with almost black contact lenses. Your heels clicking on the stairs was what snapped their attention to you; Bruce nodding at his choice of dress for you, and Dick, his mouth slightly agape. You felt Steph gently but excitedly elbowing your ribs.

"Ah, (Y/N), there you are" Bruce said. "I'm glad to see the dress fits well"

"Yeah" Dick tried to smile, but it came out more like a grimace. "You look okay"

You blinked in disbelief as you heard Steph's facepalm behind you. You closed your eyes and exhaled through your nose, while Bruce shook his head slightly at his son.

"Yikes" Tim made his presence known. You shared this one word mood immensely right about now. "Way to go D"

Dick cleared his throat, trying to push back the embarrassment blush creeping up his cheeks. "Uh, shall we go?"

"That would be preferable, yes" Bruce replied, making Steph choke and cover he laughter with a cough. The way he said it was clearly meant to be a jab to his son's tactless attitude. "Be careful"

"Of course" You smiled tightly and all but dragged Dick outside. You'd take one of Bruce's luxury car to get there, and it was already waiting in the driveway. Dick pressed the door button and slowly, they lifted up to let you in. You slid in the passenger seat without waiting for Dick's help and you kept your eyes on the windshield in from of you as he began to drive. The ride was silent until he decided to speak again, tentatively.

"It's nice to see you all dressed up, for once" He said, still clearly not thinking of his choice of words more carefully. "It's different. A good different!"

For once? Was he serious?

You audibly sighed. "I'm begging you to just stop talking"

"What?" He objected, confused. "What did I say wrong this time– Oh"

"Yeah" You replied, your tone clipped and dry.

"I'm an idiot" He mumbled under his breath. That you could agree on, but you didn't voice it out loud.

He couldn't pull into the driveway fast enough. You slipped on your fake engagement ring as Dick stopped in front of the awaiting valet, doing himself the same thing. You both had a recording device slipped in your clothes, and the ring allowed you to turn it on and off at will, as well as the comm in your ear. You turned both off for the awaiting scan at the entrance, as not to emit detectable frequencies.

"Ready?" He asked, and you gave him a firm nod. He got out first and rounded the car, opening your door for you as he would be expected to by this particular crowd. You took his offered hand to climb out and linked your arm to his as he gave the keys to the valet in exchange for a ticket. He left a tip before you walked inside, registering to the guest list. You passed the security checkpoint without a hassle and found yourself in the hall where the auction was held. You turned on your comm and recording device again.

"Recon first, then regroup?" You suggested in a mutter as you were both visually scanning the room.

"Yep" He replied shortly. "B, copy?"

"Crystal clear"

"Good. Let's go"

While Dick headed to the bar, you opted for the art collection on display, pretending to scout for potential pieces to bid on. But your eyes weren't on the expensive paintings and statues, but moved around the room to spot some VIP lounge or area where the big shots might hang out at. There was a room where attendees came and went, but you shrugged it off as there wasn't enough security for the profile you were searching for. You paused your recon for small talk here and there, and you were in the middle of a casual chat about painted landscapes with an older gentleman when Dick rejoined your side, handing you a drink.

"There you are honey" He smiled sweetly, his unusually dark brown eyes reflecting the light from the chandelier.

"Joey, my love, allow me to introduce you to Sir Fernand Bretworth of Essex" His alias flew out of your mouth naturally, then you took a small sip of your drink. Non alcoholic, nice thinking. "We were discussing impressionism and its influence on modern art"

You wanted to smirk at the clueless look Dick gave you. He was a prodigy in a lot of things, but art wasn't one. It was more Damian's thing, or Tim's if he tried hard enough, but definitely not Dick's. Take that now.

"Ah, yes..." He replied slowly. "Fascinating indeed"

"Alright" You let out a small, cover up laugh as your hand rested on his bicep. "My husband has little interest in art, my apologies"

"No offence taken" He chuckled. "I'll leave you two, my wife must be looking for me. An old fool like me gets easily distracted!"

You laughed along with him until he was out of earshot. Then you dropped your hand and turned to him. "Noticed anything?"

"Yeah, there is a guarded room with special access" He said as you walked deeper into the crowd not to look suspicious. "Only owned of a special pass can go in, and the guards are very thorough"

"Great" You breathed. "Now let's hope out lovebirds will come out to mingle"

"As it turns out..." He trailed off, and instinctively, you began turning your head toward where his gaze lead. He immediately redirected your head back to him with a firm, but gentle touch on your cheek. His hand remained there for about three seconds longer than necessary, until he realized what he did and retracted his arm. You could have almost enjoyed it if he didn't look like he was touched by literal fire. "Don't look"

"Sorry" You mumbled, avoiding his gaze.

"... They got out, they're talking to people" He informed you, ignoring what just went down. "You go for Stella, I'll take Felix. Remember, friendly but not suspicious. Sweet talk your way into spilling the beans"

"I know" You bit back, your voice low. "Not my first mission, remember? I know what to do"

"I was just reminding you"

"Yeah, I got that" You scoffed. "If you don't trust me, just say so, it'll save you trouble of babying me"

"Come on, that's not–"

He began arguing, but you walked away before you could slip up and say his real name. It would give him one more reason to come down on you like you were a beginner in need of guidance. You were rusty, not stupid. You didn't need him insulting your undercover talents as well. You stopped in front of a beautiful emerald necklace that had a start bid of ten millions dollars and took a long sip of your drink, now kind of bummed it was non alcoholic. But that very detail was probably why you felt a presence approaching you from behind, giving you a few seconds to compose yourself and sweep your frustration under the rug.

"Trouble in paradise?"

You turned around, surprised. It looked like the voice made you jump, when it was in fact the nature of the question that threw you off, as well as the person who had spoken. Before you could ask, the Stella Gustavsson smiled warmly and nodded to where Dick had been seconds earlier.

"I saw what happened" She began, and your heart skipped a beat, hoping she hadn't overheard. "Those frustrated hands gesture are all too familiar. What did he do?"

You relaxed slightly, for now. "We've been having trouble lately, well, more than usually" You explained with a little complicit cock of your head. She seemed to get it. You, on the other hand, knew Dick was hearing everything on his comm, so you decided to go for it. "He's acting... Weird. Can't seem to talk to me without irritating me, whether on purpose or not. I'm sorry, I'm venting to a stranger, I can't imagine how it must look look like.

"Don't worry about it dear, I asked" She winked, extending her hand. "I'm Stella"

"Aleka" You shook her hand.

"Your dress is stunning, by the way!" She exclaimed. "Which designer?”

You froze for a second before shrugging. "No idea, my designer got it for me" You brushed off. "As long as it looks good, I don't care where it comes from"

"Amen" She said, taking a sip of her champagne. "Although, I need to know the name of your designer. They have amazing taste, and I'm looking for a new one for myself"

Oh shit.

"It's B" You replied instantly.

"Bee?"

"Yeah" You nodded, and she looked at you incredulously. "I mean, that's what we all call him. I'm sure he has a name, but I pay him to dress me, not to know his personal life"

"Harsh, (Y/N)" Bruce said in your ear, and you remembered he had been listening to everything. "But nice save"

She laughed, unaware of the comments from Batman himself. "That is very true. How have I not met you before? I feel we have a lot in common"

"I sincerely have no idea" You replied, adding a little gasp of disbelief.

"You're different from this crowd, I can feel it" She kept going on as you started walking side by side in the exposition room. "Everyone here only cares about petty, trivial things. You have a head on your shoulders, you're smart. Too bad your man can't seem to see what's in front of him"

You sighed in agreement to hide the fist pump of victory that threatened to come up. Just like that, you had won Stella over. "I don't know what to do about it. I've tried to talk to him, but it just makes it worse"

"But have you tried to make him jealous?" She suggested with a perfectly shaped eyebrow raised. "There are plenty of young men around, or older bachelors if you're into that. Flirt with them, make sure he sees you, he'll come running, take my word"

"It won't work, he's not–" Even my boyfriend, you were about to say, but you saved your fall just on time. Still, you could practically see Dick's glare in the back of your head at the almost slip up. "Jealous. He's not a jealous man, he's very confident and secure"

"What a shame" She drawled out, going for her champagne again. "Here's what you can do then. Go to him, take him by the neck and french kiss him like there is no tomorrow”

You choked on your saliva as she watched you with a mischievous grin. "Excuse me?"

"It's guaranteed to work, darling" She lifted her shoulder in an elegant shrug. "Then you hold him off. You'll thank me later tonight when you're back at home, just wait and see"

You were about to argue some more, but her insisting stare told you she wasn't just going to let it go. So you scanned the crowd for Dick, spotting him casually excusing himself from a conversation group, going for a refill at the bar. You reached him and grabbed him by the elbow, bringing him face to face with you. You made sure your back was to Stella before beginning to explain the situation.

"I heard" He told you in a mutter, making sure his lips were unreadable under Stella's stare from the distance.

"Then you know what she expects" You sighed, slipping your hands behind his neck. "It doesn't have to be deep, just convincing. Can you do this without grimacing?"

You thought he would stumble into some weak apology, or say something clever. He did neither, instead dived straight for your lips so quickly it was you who was taken by surprise. Naturally, all you could do is kiss him back and try to keep up with him. At some point you thought he would break off, but you weren't prepared for him to actually deepen the kiss. He wasn't letting you go, and it made you dizzy in all the best ways. Let's say you were thankful for his arm around your waist right about now. Finally, you still had to breathe, so you parted reluctantly.

"What was that for?" You asked, your eyes still dazed.

"An apology for irritating you unintentionally" He grinned boyishly, for probably the first time ever directed at you. "I'm an idiot"

"Can confirm" You replied, bringing him down on your lips again. This time, it was a bit shorter, but the spark was still very much present. "You should have done this a long time ago"

"I know" He nodded, his head slightly down and his puppy dog eyes shining even underneath the dark contact lenses. "You're a bit intimidating, I didn't know how to act"

You let out a loud laugh at his confession. "You're kidding"

He pouted.

"Me?" You repeated. "But you're– You're you!"

"Well, duh" He chuckled. "You've got me all tangled in here," He pointed at his chest. "Made me nervous all the time"

You melted just a little bit at his little display, before remembering doing this was a specialty of his. You were just not used to be on the receiving end of it. "You're lucky you're cute, and that I'm already sold on you"

The bright grin returned.

"As heartwarming as this moment is, please focus on the task at hand" Bruce's stern voice echoed in your head, and you were suddenly reminded your conversation had been integrally transmitted to him.

"Right, sorry" Dick apologized sheepishly.

"See, I told you"

This time, you were taken by surprise by Stella walking on you. Even Bruce's intervention hadn't quite brought you back to reality. Damn Dick Grayson, damn him. You turned around, trying to hide your flustered state and instead focusing on the tall gentleman at her side. Must be Felix Lachance, you thought.

"It works every time" She added, sipping from a new glass of champagne.

"You were right" You let out an airy laugh. "Stella, this is my husband Joey Moore. Joey, this is my new friend Stella"

They shook hands before she introduced her husband to the both of you. You already knew his name, but you both pretended you didn't for the sake of your covers.

"Nice to meet you two" Félix smiled politely.

"Hey, would you like to go for a drink after this?" Stella asked. "I sure would like to get to know you two better"

Dick and you exchanged a glance, knowing you had locked the target. Acquiring intel from now on would only be a piece of cake, the base was laid for further actions. You smiled, returning your glance to Stella.

"That would be absolutely lovely"

#dick grayson #dick grayson x reader #dick grayson imagine #nightwing #nightwing x reader #nightwing imagine #dc #dcu #dc universe #dc imagine #dcu imagine #dc universe imagine #batfam #batfam imagine #imagine #nightwing x you #dick grayson x you

273 notes · View notes

headcans-oneshots-and-stuff · 4 years

Text

Changes... (Batsis OS)

Warning: Angst, self-degradation, OOC Bruce, Angst again, body-shaming (mentioned) Word count: 3094 Summary: Your family notices that you start to change. When you deny the changes they start to investigate... What they find doesn’t make them happy.

This was requested by an astonishing Anon: Hi! First of all, I love your blog! I was wondering if you could write about the bat family defending their bat sister from a fat-shaming boyfriend. Please and Thank you!! 😁 A/N: This went way further and into a completely different direction than I had expected...But I still like it and I hope so will you. It’s not really about the defending and more about the consoling, but I added some defending (more or less) at the end. I also knowingly tried not to actually say what body type the reader has so that everyone can imagine they’re own version. Body shaming can go in both directions after all.

Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. They couldn't quite put their finger on it, but something about the way you acted and held yourself seemed different to your family. Other than one would think it wasn't one of your siblings who lived with you who noticed it first. Maybe it was because they actively tried to ignore it, or it was because they didn't want you to be different than usual, but nonetheless, the person who noticed first was Duke. Ever since he became the signal, ever since he became part of the family, you, as the heart and soul of Wayne Manor, made it your personal quest to make him feel included. And as part of this quest, the two of you met up bi-weekly for- how you called them- "brother-sister-dates". You always made 100% sure to cancel everything else in order to attend. So when you cancelled one, saying you didn't feel well and that you'd make it up to him the next time, he was confused. But it wasn't enough to worry him. But when you cancelled the next date because you had "other business that just couldn't wait," was when it started to bother him. But he didn't have any real proof that there was something wrong so he couldn't do anything but mentioned it to the rest of the family when they were going through Gotham on your day off.

It was then that the rest started to realize it too. At first, they saw little changes. That you went to your room almost every day as soon as you came home. That you sat there quiet when it was time to eat dinner. That your smile stopped reaching your eyes. It was almost uncanny. But when they asked you about it, you smiled and waved it off. Said things like: "Don't be silly, everything is alright," or "Don't worry your pretty little heads, I'm fine." That calmed them for a while, but it still gnarled on their minds. But then the big changes came. You started to stay out after school longer, coming back in the evening saying- much to Alfred dismay- that you've already eaten. You asked Bruce to be excused from Patrol for a while, saying that you didn't feel like you were on top of your game and since he also realized that something was wrong, but didn't know what to do about it, he allowed it, saying that a few weeks without you, while you were training, wouldn't be a problem. The biggest change where your clothes. You usually wore things with fun, colourful prints on them. Dresses with roses and tulips. Skirts with numbers and signs. Blouses with Avocados on them. And you usually wore fitting pumps or sneakers. Some people would compare the way you dressed to how they imagined a modern fairy to dress. But now... Now you wore dull oversized sweaters over duller oversized shirts with grey, black or dark-blue jeans and black shoes. Jason recognized some sweaters to be his, others looked like they could be from Bruce himself. It was like you were trying to disappear in the fabric. But again, when they asked you, you found a way to escape the question. It was then that they had enough. Something was very, very wrong with you and they intended to fix it. They wanted their sunshine back. Their Y/N. And so the trailing began. After a rather violent fight about who would be the best choice, it was Cass who was waiting on the roof of Gotham Acadamy for the bell to ring and you to leave school. What happened after wasn't what she expected. When you stepped out of the building there was a boy walking along with you. He had his arm around your shoulder and smiled at you, but- even though you also smiled- your whole posture told Cass that you felt uncomfortable and inferior. The two of you walked to an old, rusty car parked on the school ground and got into it, immediately driving away. It was easy for your sister to keep up with the car, but something bothered her. Here and there she caught glimpses of you on the passenger seat and there was a darkness in your eyes that made her blood boil. The car stopped at an apartment building in one of Gotham's nicer neighbourhoods and the boy, who held your wrist tightly and dragged you along as if you were an in-obedient dog, entered and drove with the elevator to one of the higher level apartments. With some swift movements, Cass found herself standing on one of the windowsills that allowed insight into a room that seemed to belong to a boy your age and was this highly likely to belong to whoever you went with after school. Her thesis proved positive when the door opened and the boy, still dragging you by the wrist, came storming in. After he had closed the door he finally let you go and Cass noticed how you started rubbing the spot where his hand had been. Her anger started bubbling up further, but she couldn't intervene. She watched as you sat down onto his bad, seemingly making yourself as small as possible, while the boy ravaged through his room. Talking constantly and keeping on making a mess with his things, seemingly no real goal in mind. Sometimes it seems like he asked you questions, but he never waited for an answer, only looking at you annoyed before getting back to what he was doing before. That went on for almost an hour, now and then he stopped on one spot for a few minutes, playing with something or just looking at you with some unidentifiable look in his eyes. You never said a word, never moved either. Then he finally stopped and sat down beside you on his bed. His hand found yours, but you made no move to escape his grin. In fact, you returned the hold and kissed him on his cheek. Cass's eyes widened and she was utterly bewildered when the boy turned his head and his lips met yours in a kiss that would be sweet if the boy wasn't such a brute about it. The hand that didn't grab yours moved to your thigh and harshly grasped it. Cass's hand was raised and she was close to crashing the window and getting you out of his grasp, but then the boy stopped kissing you and moved away. He looked...disappointed. Cass saw that he sighed and she saw the look of displeasure in his eyes and the look of regret in yours. You said something and Cass read the words "I'm sorry," from your lips. That seemed to anger the boy even further and the following conversation- or rather monologue- was loud enough for Cass to hear it through the window. The family really had to do something about this situation.

The sun was already leaving the sky when you came home. You hadn't noticed Cass following you on your way, nor did you notice the eerie quiet filling the manor. You only noticed something was off when you got to your room and found your dad sitting on your bed. He was looking at a picture that usually sat on your bedside table. It depicted a scene that happened on a stormy fall day a few years earlier. You had made big plans to go to a fair with all your siblings, but they all had to cancel because of the weather. The disappointment had been crushing, but Damian, Cass and Tim wouldn't let you stay so sad. They came into your room, told you to get dressed in rainproof clothes and immediately left again. When you came outside in your bright yellow rain boots, jacket and hat, you were welcomed by the sight of your family in matching rain outfits in all different shades of black, red and, in Steph and Babara's case, purple. That was how it came to the picture. On it, you were sitting on Jason's shoulders, your arm around Damian who sat on Dick, with the rest of your family in similar positions beside you, all of you soaking wet. Soaking wet, but happy. Bruce noticed your presence and looked up, meanwhile laying the picture back at its place, a sad smile on his face. He patted the space beside him. You sighed, but complied with his silent demand and sat down beside him. As soon as you were beside him he embraced you with one arm and pulled you to him, laying his chin onto your head and keeping you close. You reciprocated the hug warily, not quite knowing what this could be about. Had something happened? Did someone die? were the thoughts that immediately filled your head. After a few minutes, Bruce let go of you again but kept his hand on your shoulder. "Is-Is everything okay?" you asked worried, your brows furrowed. "Don't worry, everyone's fine, I'm not here to give you any bad messages." "Then why are you here?" you asked, now rather confused by the situation. Your father wasn't a cold man or anything like that, but he wasn't the most emotional person either. you were happy to get a hug or an "I'm proud of you" once in a while, but that was how things were with him. "I noticed," he started, but seemed to wrestle for words, "that you have been absent lately." You flinched, hoping he wouldn't notice, but knowing that he most likely did. It wasn't easy to hide things from the 'greatest detective in the world'. "It's really nothing, okay?" you said softly as if you were the one who comforted him, "I'm a teenager. I'm just going through some girl stuff right now." That was your ace. The 'girl-card'. Something Bruce couldn't quite refute and would hopefully get him off your back for the time being. He would most likely ask one of your sisters to ask you again a few days from now, but you would be able to think something up until then. Now you just wanted some peace. "I know that you're lying," blocked Bruce your excuse with a hesitating voice. It threw you off. "What?" "Listen, I know I should've tried to talk to you first, but," he sighed and you noticed that he took his hand away, "I asked one of your siblings to follow you." Your eyes widened, while what Bruce just said sunk in. "You- You did what?" you asked, your voice trembling dangerously. "We all noticed that something is wrong with you. I didn't know what else to-" "How could you!" you screamed, jumping off of the bed and backing away from Bruce. "Y/N, listen-" "NO! YOU LISTEN! IT'S MY LIFE AND, AS LONG AS I DON'T WANT IT TO BE, IT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS WHAT'S GOING ON INSIDE IT!" Now Bruce stood up, trying not to seem threatening, but still towering over you. "Y/N, we are just very worried okay? You're keeping things from us, then you start your wardrobe, and now-" he stopped and looked at you unhappily. His eyes were full of sadness and something that you identified as pity. Seeing that expression cooled you down a bit. Your trembling shoulders coming to a rest. Bruce sat down again and looked at his hands as if you were a wild animal that could be driven away when you got looked at wrong. You stayed where you were, maybe not as furious as before, but still angry. For a while, it stayed silent in your room, neither of you moving from where you were. It was as if time stood still. It was Bruce who broke that stasis. "I know about the boy." Your breath hitched and you crossed your arms in front of your chest, thinking that you knew where this was supposed to go. "I wanted to tell you, okay? We only become an item a few weeks ago, I was still searching for a way," you said somewhat bitterly. "That's not what I meant." "It's not?" now you were confused again. "Then- then what do you mean?" "Cass heard what he said to you. What he called you." Your heart skipped a beat and not in a good way. You wanted to say something, but the words got stuck in your throat and all that was left were the tears build up in your eyes. Bruce was still not looking at you, but you noticed that he was clenching his fist angrily. "How could you just let him say these things to you?" You managed to swallow the lump of unsaid words in your throat, finding the energy to say something. "It's not like that... He- He really loves me," you mumbled, still not being able to fight the tears that now threatened to spill. Your dad finally looked at you with a look of utter unbelief plastered over his face. "How can you think that?" "He told me," you mumbled weakly, avoiding his eyes and sliding down onto the floor below you. "Y/N, sweety, please look at me." You kept looking at the floor, not wanting to see the disappointment in his eyes. "Please," he said again and his shoes came into your field of view. You took a deep breath and rubbed over your eyes to clean them from the tears that fogged your sight. Then you looked up and met the loving, caring eyes of your father. Not the disappointment you expected, you were used to lately. "Y/N you can talk to me." Now the sobs started to shake your body. "He said he loves me," you stated again, this time louder, shaking your head. Bruce sighed again, clearly not happy about the situation and still worried, and sank down beside you, but still keeping some distance between you. "Do you love him," he asked the question that you had been frightened off. "I do," you said firmly, before looking at your hands and at the still slightly red mark on your wrist, before you paddled back: "I-I don't know. I don't think so." "Then why are you with him? It is okay to change your mind, it is okay if you change. You don't have to be with him just because you liked him a week ago, you know that right?" You didn't answer, you didn't look at him, you didn't move. "Y/N?" "I know... but-" you shake your head and returned to your previous silence. "But what?" "It doesn't matter if I love him. I can be happy that he likes me." Bruce was speechless at what you said but quickly caught himself again. "What do you mean?" The sobs started again and you buried your face in your hands. "You know what he says, what he thinks about me... about my body. He says that no one could ever like someone like me." It was hard for Bruce to understand your muffled speech, but the parts that he understood combined with what Cass had told him about was enough for him to know what you were talking about. "Oh honey," he mumbled and engulfed you in his arms, pulling your sobbing form into his chest "Why would you ever believe him?" Even though he asked a question, he knew not to expect an answer. And he knew it anyways. When someone you liked, even if it was not romantically yet, told you again and again that you were too fat/thin, ugly, a disgrace... After a while, you'd start to believe it. "I know this might sound hard to believe right now, but you're beautiful the way you are. You don't have to change for someone who doesn't deserve you. And if you ever feel the way you do right now, I want you to know that you can come to me, come to everyone in this family, and we will tell you just how amazing you are," Bruce mumbled into your hair, loud enough for you to hear, in a soothing manner. As if on cue the door fell open and your siblings all came tumbling in. And seeing the great vigilantes of the bat family laying on top of each other on the floor managed to get you to let out a mix between a sob and a giggle. Maybe it was time for you to come back to your family...

After the talk with Bruce (and later your siblings and Alfred who all wanted to let you know just how much they loved you), you stayed home for a few days with your father's permission to get back to your old self, not answering a single call or message from your (now Ex-)boyfriend. But you couldn't stay out of school forever so your siblings made a plan. They'd deal with that douche of the equivalent of human trash. Obviously (since some of them were grown-ups with jobs and responsibilities) not all of them were able to come, but the next Monday morning when you, Damian and Cass left the car and stepped onto the school ground, Jason, Tim, Duke and Harper were already waiting near the brick wall surrounding Gotham Academy. When they saw the three off you, they came over and immediately encircled you like your small private army. You slightly rolled your eyes at them, knowing that they couldn't just walk with you through school the whole day, but smiled nonetheless. That smile faltered when you saw him standing in the entrance, looking angry. Around the same time you caught sight of him, he saw you and immediately started to stomp over to you, seemingly not noticing the people surrounding you. His eyes were focused on you and made your skin freeze, it was like you were fixed to the ground. Harper, who had been walking behind you, noticed your lack of movement and followed your eyes. "Is that him?" she asked loud enough for your other siblings to notice. You nodded. "Damian, take Y/N to her first class please, the others and I have a few things we want to talk about with that jackass," stated Jason with no room for discussion. Not that Damian cared who tried to anyways: "But I also want-" "I appreciate the enthusiasm, but we just want to scare him, maybe rough him up a bit, but not kill him." Damian scoffed, but still took your hand uncharacteristically soft and walked with you to another entrance to the building, taking you away from the riot that was to follow. Let's just say that your Ex never bothered or even talked to you the way he did before (or in general) again.

775 notes · View notes

itsmeevie01 · 4 years

Text

Bio!Dad Bruce Month Day 8- Driving!

Marinette smiled at her brother as he helped her unload her bags from the car. When he had called and asked if she wanted to come visit for a month, the fifteen-year-old had jumped at the chance to get out of Paris. When she had landed, the first thing she had done was take a deep breath and started to process everything that had happened over the school year. At the sound of Tim scrambling down to give her a hug, Marinette brought herself back to the present. The taller teen caught her up in a hug and she clung to him and giggled. When he put her down, Marinette turned at towards the sound of measured steps nearing the group. The boy approaching her scowled and crossed his arms. Marinette shook her head fondly at him and waved.

She knew that Damien wasn’t her biggest fan, but she still tried her hardest to get along with the youngest in the family. While she had been greeting Damien, Cass had made her way over, and moved Tim out of the way. Once the girls had reunited, Marinette made to pick up her bags, only to have three sets of hands reach to stop her. With a huff, the noirette set her gaze on her younger brother. “Well, Damian, shall we?” the boy looked her over with sharp green eyes and nodded.

” Yes, sister, we shall.” The duo made their way up the drive to the manor, where Alfred was standing and watching them with a fond smile.

As they made their way closer, Marinette studied the butler. When she had, once, asked how long her had been taking care of the family, the man had smiled at her and simply said “A very long time now, Miss Marinette.” No matter who she asked, that was the clearest answer she could get.

Dick, Cass, and Tim soon followed, each carrying a bag. While Marinette had insisted that she didn’t need the extra bags, Dick had insisted that she pack an absurd amount of clothing. He had promised the extra bags would be paid for, and that was that. Marinette was not pleased, to say the least, but had reluctantly agree to her brother’s wishes.

At dinner that evening, Marinette was surprised to be greeted by Jason plopping down across form her. When she cast an uncertain glance at the chair that belonged to Bruce, Jason smirked. “B had to leave the country for something and took Duke with him. Suddenly, I had an open invitation to the manor again.” At her unimpressed response the young adult grinned. “I can’t wait to raise hell while mi here.” At Jason’s proclamation, Dick cleared his throat.

“actually, you won’t be raising hell, because none of us are going to be here.” At the looks of shock that were flooding the table, Dick smirked. “The reason we are all here is…DRUM ROLL PLEASE” Tim rolled his eyes but obliged the oldest, “we are going on a family vacation!” Damien groaned and Cass smiled.

“Dam it Dick, really?” came from Tim, while Jason shook his head in disbelief. Marinette, on the other hand blinked in confusion.

“what…what do you mean, a vacation? Is that why you had me pack an absurd amount of stuff?”

“Correct! And we are going to have so! Much! Fun!” At Dick’s excitement, Tim rolled his eyes and leaned over to whisper to Marinette

“how likely is it that someone is in the emergency room by the end of the first week?” She shook her head in response,

“that’s not even worth betting over.” Tim huffed at the ease she had used to cut off his train of thought.

“50 bucks say we are taking a plane.”

“I say were carpooling. Dick would see it as family bonding.”

“done. When your handing over the money, just remember to be thankful that we aren’t cooped up in tin cans with the rest of the hoard for weeks on end.”

“and when you hand over your money, make sure we are in the same car. I want a little bit of sanity on this trip.” The teens shook on their bet and turned to see the rest of the family looking at them, obviously wondering what exactly had taken place. Marinette flashed a smile at them, “sorry, did you need something?”

The next morning when Dick went around knocking on doors and waking up the family, only two went left unopened. When he bounded into the kitchen however, he found two pairs of blue eyes watching him from the table, coffee mugs in hand. He shook his head and moved to pour a bowl of cereal. When he turned back towards the table, he found them still looking at him. “yes?” it seemed that his question was all that was needed to prompt them.

“where are we going?” Tim started them off.

“it’s a surprise”

“when do we leave?” Marinette cut in before he had time to finish talking.

“two hours. Alfred packed everyone’s bags on the sly.”

“how long is the trip?” Marinette again.

“a few weeks. Why? Afraid you’ll miss Gotham?”

“when is our flight?” Tim, who was asking with quite a lot of hope

“who said anything about a flight?”

“shit.” At Tim’s face, Dick looked surprised. Marinette however, looked practically gleeful.

“looks like I won that bet! Hand it over, brother.” The pain on the seventeen-year-olds face was laughable.

“but- “

“Tim! 50. Dollars.”

“he hasn’t said we are taking the cars yet!”

“its implied, you genius. Honestly, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one!” Tim halfheartedly glared at her as he handed over a crisp $50 and returned to his coffee. Before Dick could ask any more questions, Jason and Cass mad their presence know, while Damian followed a few minutes later.

When Alfred had helped Dick usher the rest of the family over to two cars, he turned to face them with a big smile. While they jostled each other, Steph climbed out of her car and hurried over, looking very pleased with herself. She paused by one of the cars and deposited her bag before joining them.

“alright, now that everyone is here, lets get started. We have two cars and will be rotating through drivers. Sorry, Damian and Net, you two are forbidden form touching the wheel. Now, I have decided on our seating arrangements already. Jason, Tim, and Ste- “

“and Little Bit. Marinette rides with us.” Dick blinked at the interruption and tried to protest only to see the other three nodding at Tim’s proclamation. He sighed.

“fine. Damian, Cass. You two will ride with me. If something comes up, we’ll rearrange. Now, today we are going to make it our goal to get closer to the middle of the country. After that, we will re-evaluate and pick a destination. Load up!”

The first four hours were fine. No, they were more than fine. Then, Jason got bored and started to play music to get on the other’s nerves. When he got banished to the back, Stephanie pounced at the chance to move up front and keep Tim company. In theory, it was a good idea. That is, until the blonde demanded that they stop every half hour for food. After the third pitstop, Tim moved her stuff in the back and kidnapped Marinette’s phone. When the others reconvened, there was a slight scuffle before they realized that Tim had made the call. Since neither of the others wanted to drive, Marinette happily settled into the passenger seat. The next three hours when by quickly. By the time Tim pulled over for gas, Jason and Steph had fallen asleep. While he took care of the car, Marinette slipped into the convince store and restocked on snacks and drinks. Tim grinned at her collection that she hauled out. “magnum bars? Really?”

“yup. Best ice cream you can find.” He snorted at her,

“maybe out here in the middle of nowhere. When we get home, remind me to take you for the good stuff.” The girl rolled her eyes and plopped back into her seat.

“let’s go, before Dick thinks we died.”

The next morning, when they all piled back into the cars, the other car called. After a loud…conversation, they settled on working towards St. Louis, and going from there. Once the groups were well and truly on the road again, Jason started them on games. First was truth or dare. After that was never have I ever, food edition. (A/N-when my friends car trip, we play this. Instead of a shot, you eat. That’s all.) after the four had exhausted all of their tame, non-hero topics, the Gotamites started to slip some of their exploits that Marinette Was Not Supposed to Know About into the game. Once they had gotten as far as they could without revealing their secret identities as the Vigilante Bats of Gotham, they moved on to telling embarrassing stories. After lunch, where they stopped and switched drivers, Tim and Marinette got into a debate over a shared book series, while Jason and Steph played loud music and sang off key up front. After dinner, when they switched back, Jason and Steph once again fell asleep.

Two hours out from St. Louis, Tim turned to his little sister. “Hey Little Bit, how would you like to drive for a bit? I know you have your permit.” Marinette threw a glance over her shoulder and grinned at him.

“are you sure? Dad won’t ride with me when I drive. He says I’m worse than Jason.” Tim sniggered at the face she made while imitating their father.

“as long as we don’t die permanently, we should be fine. Its late enough that you should be ok to drive.” The smile she shot his way made Tim decide immediately that whatever happened during the next two hours, he would do the best he could to let her drive again.

An hour and a half, Tim wasn’t sure if he was right to give the keys to his sister. Somehow, they had beat Dick to the hotel. As Jason and Steph yawned and stretched, the other two made their way towards their hotel for the night. When Dick pulled up 45 minutes later, they had made their way inside, and Jason and Steph had already crashed in their respective rooms. Marinette was sitting in the room she was sharing with Cass while chatting with Tim, who looked a little pale. When Dick stopped by to gather the keys for the room he was sharing with Damian, he shot his brother a worried look.

The next morning, when Dick admitted that it would probably be good to switch up the cars, Jason and Steph jumped at the chance to switch cars. In return, Cass joined the other teens. Without the presence of anyone top pretend at being an adult, the three were able to mess around. When they checked their GPS, the group realized they not only had they been speeding, but they were quite far further than they had planned for lunch. After looking up the nearest food, Tim turned to Marinette and held out the keys. When Cass realized what was going on, she sniggered. That evening, the trio beat the others by over an hour. When asked, they all shrugged and said that they were just having fun.

Two weeks later, after the siblings had returned to the manor, Tim offered to bring Marinette with him while he ran into WE to pick up some paperwork. When the girl had nodded, her brother had grinned and tossed her the keys. At Dick’s shocked splutter, Tim turned and raised an eyebrow at his brother.

“what? Little Bit knows how to drive.” Dick shook his head fervently.

“Tim no! B said that Net was Not to Touch the Keys Unless It Was an Emergency!” Tim sniggered, and Cass who had been listening to their interaction, rolled her eyes. At Dick’s offended look, she looked to Tim. He sighed.

“Dick, she drove for as much of our trip as I did. Plus, I promised her ice cream.”

Dick Grayson’s shouting that followed the duo as they sped out of the drive could be heard echoing for miles, but neither sibling cared.

#b!dbwm #b!dbwm2020 #maribat #My writing #miraculous ladybug #this just apeared #oops #Mari is 15 here #yes i skipped over Damian joining the fam #we will get there #ml x dc

156 notes · View notes

fearfulkittenwrites · 4 years

Text

“I’m allergic to bullshit” and Stealing the batmobile

Summary: The Robins have the awful habit of stealing the batmobile (it comes with the mantle), and Steph and Tim are no exception. But they are surrounded by very perceptive vigilantes, and the task becomes a little impossible with a full house.

“Steph, Tim...” Dick called as they got off the stairs, arms crossing as he stopped “What are you doing?”

Word count: 1176

Notes: Hey! This work was beta'd by @3ambird, thank you so much for the help! They are absolutely amazing, and helped me so much with this work! Also, it was requested by @pricetagofficial so this is a reminder that you can always come talk to me and request me stuff! Thank you for clicking this work, I hope you like it!

Link for it on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26310628

Dick and Jason were sitting across from each other on the couch, each of them trying to gain more space with his feet, lightly kicking and pushing the other’s legs. Cass never quite understood why they did it, since the manor had more than enough couches for both of the huge men. Duke got back from the kitchen, and he handed his sister a glass of water before settling down on the armchair across from her spot.

“So, where is Damian again?” Duke asks Dick, taking his focus away from the intense war of feet.

“Hm? Oh, he’s with Bruce on that golfing thing for charity or whatever.” Dick answers, getting kicked in the butt for ignoring Jay. “Ow!” He retaliates, kicking at Jason’s legs “I’m trying to have a conversation here.”

“What about Steph and Tim? Did they go too?” Duke asks again, ignoring the fight as his brothers keep moving around.

“Nah, they’re still around.” Dick replies, smirking as his foot pushes Jason’s face away, muffling his voice.

“Are you sure? Because if that’s so, they’re awfully quiet...” Duke points out.

“They went down to the Cave.” Cass says.

All of them freeze and go silent for a moment.

“Oh, shit.” Dick exclaims. Suddenly, the four batkids leap from the couch and rush to the batcave, all of them in such a hurry that Jason forgets to put on his shoes, meaning he won’t stop complaining as he steps on the cold metal stairs down to the cave.

“Steph, Tim...” Dick called as they got off the stairs, arms crossing as he stopped “What are you doing?”

“Nothing!” The blonde girl answers from the vehicle bay, her head popping up from behind the batmobile.

“Doesn’t look like nothin’ to me.” Jason teases, stopping next to Dick.

“We were making out.” Tim says.

“Sure.” Duke states almost cynically, as Tim was not nearly flustered enough for that to be true. “Why were you making out in your uniforms, behind the batmobile?”

“The batcave can be very romantic...?” He tries.

Cass gives them a look that clearly means ‘seriously?’.

“Alright, human lie detector,” Tim starts, standing up “We weren’t making out.”

“Like that wasn’t obvious.” Steph complains, rolling her eyes.

“Hey!” Tim exclaims “I didn’t see you trying to cover our asses.”

“And why do you need to cover your asses?” Dick asks.

“Uhhhhh, no reason.” The teen puts his hands behind his back while Steph covers her face with a hand, clearly done with Tim’s terrible deflections.

“How can someone be so brilliant and so stupid at the same time?” She mutters.

“You think I’m brilliant?” Tim smiles.

“And stupid.” Jason points out “Just so we’re clear.”

“How come you can lie to B with a blank face, but now you’re a total mess?” Duke crosses his arms.

“With Bruce it’s usually after I’ve done whatever he’s calling me out for. I never prepared for this.” Tim explains.

“That’s a lie.” Steph cuts in, rolling her eyes yet again “He admitted yesterday that he just can’t lie to Dick.”

“Damn straight.” Dick says, a smile on his face as Tim blushes and stutters after her statement “So, tell me Tim, what were you two planning on doing?”

“We were...”

“Waxing the Batmobile!” Steph stepped in, a little desperate.

Jason’s tongue slipped through his lips before he bursted out laughing until he got red in the face.

“Yeah, okay, what were you really doing?” Dick asks, Jason still laughing like a mad man behind him, being briefly joined by Duke, who was incredibly amused by the vigilante’s laughter.

“What?” Steph tries “Why don’t you believe me? We just wanted to surprise Bruce. Make a nice thing for him, y’know?”

Jason starts coughing his lungs out, probably due to all the laughter. Dick sighs, turning around and patting his biggest little brother’s back.

“I told you to stop smoking.” He murmurs.

“No, it’s not that...” Jason struggled to catch his breath “I think that I might be allergic to bullshit. Your bullshit, specifically.” He points to Steph.

“Oh, shut up.” She retorts, crossing her arms.

Dick gives Tim a look.

“Okay! Fine!” He blurts out, overwhelmed by his brother’s prying at this point “We were going to steal the Batmobile. We just wanted to drive around town playing spice girls and catchy k-pop songs.”

All of them blink slowly, exchanging looks.

“That’s... it?” Dick says.

“...Yes?” Tim replies, unsure.

“Why didn’t you tell us then?” Dick asks “We thought you were doing something really dangerous.”

“Wait.” Steph says, looking at her four siblings “You’re not mad?”

“Pffft.” Jason mocked “Mad? Kid, every Robin steals Batman’s car. It’s like a rite of passage at this point.”

“Even Damian?”

“Especially Damian.” Duke says “He doesn’t do it for fun, but he has done it.”

“What about you and Cass? You aren’t Robins.”

“Hey! I am a Robin, thank you very much.” Duke crosses his arms.

“I won’t interfere in your rite of passage.” Cass signed.

“Are you guys serious?” Tim says.

“Yeah, go ahead, have fun.” Dick reaches into his pocket “Here.” He offers them a car key “I have like, three copies, you guys can have that one if you like. Just try not to crash.”

“Wow, thanks!” Steph takes it “I had no clue you could be a cool brother.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Dick ruffles her hair “I mean it, don’t crash the car. And don’t run red lights unless there’s an emergency.”

“Alright, captain tight pants,” Jason mocks, tapping his brother’s back “Let them have fun.”

Steph and Tim soon took off in the Batmobile, blasting “Wannabe” on the speakers, loud enough for their brothers to feel the vibrations on their bones.

“Shouldn’t we have told them about the alarm on Bruce’s phone?” Duke asks.

“And ruin the fun?” Jason smirked “You still have a lot to learn.”

Just then, Dick’s phone rang.

“Is it him?” Jason peeked over his shoulder.

“Yeah. All of you, shut up for a second.” Dick puts the phone to his ear “Hey, B. What’s up?” A pause, small murmurs coming from the phone “What? Really?” More phone noise “Well, that’s weird. You know, I could’ve sworn I saw Steph and Tim going down to the cave a little earlier. But I don’t think they’d... Yeah. Mhmm.” Dick nodded “No, you should totally check on them. I can’t believe they’d do this. Alright, bye. Take care, B.”

“So?” Jason asked, eyes gleaming.

“He’s onto them.” Dick snorts “They are so screwed.”

Cass smiles a little, and Jason laughs.

“God, I feel kinda bad now.” Duke grimaced.

“Remember that time they set every single device in the house to play that baby shark song, each of them a minute apart from each other, the first going off at six in the morning?” Dick says “On a sunday?”

“Yeah, okay, I don’t feel bad anymore.” Duke frowns “They’re getting off easy.”

“Oh, baby bro,” Jason throws an arm around his shoulders “You’re dumber than I thought if you think I’m not already planning more.”

78 notes · View notes

fishfingersandjellybabies · 4 years

Text

Whumptober 2020 Day 7 - Support/Carrying

Characters: Jason Todd, Tim Drake Summary: Jason knew a thing or two about in securities. A/N: Tim gets hopped up on pain killers later and thanks Damian for not laughing at him and Damian’s never been more confused in his life. Jason just pats his head and tells him to smile and nod.

Ao3

Jason couldn’t help but chuckle throughout the whole ordeal.

“In you go, little baby.” He teased, lowering Tim as gently as he could.

Tim groaned dramatically. “Just leave me here to die, man.”

“No can do.” Jason sighed wistfully. “Cassie likes you too much. She’d kill me if I left you here.” He sniffed, waited until Tim situated himself to a little more comfortable a position. “Besides, embarrassment is a shitty thing to die of.”

“That’s why you’d leave me here. I’d rather die of the elements, than embarrassment.” Tim snapped. He slumped back. “I mean, picture yourself in my position. You really want to be wheeled back into the bunker with a broken leg…in a freaking kids’ wagon?”

They’d found it next to the dumpster of the apartment building they’d just left. And if Jason hadn’t also been hurt in the fight – a dislocated left shoulder and sprained ankle at least – then they wouldn’t have even looked at it twice. He’d have carried Tim on his own.

But considering they’d been captured and driven to said apartment building, and that they were closer to the Bat-Bunker downtown than where their bikes might be, it was really their only option if they wanted to get anywhere before bleeding out or exhausting themselves to the point of collapse.

Jason snorted again in amusement. “I don’t know, man. I might feel like I was in a parade or something.”

“Yeah, the world’s saddest parade. Whoopie.” Tim scoffed, crossing his arms. He tensed his muscles, took a deep inhale.

“Leg hurt?” Tim pursed his lips, reluctantly nodded. “Then this is what we’ve gotta do, kid. Sorry we don’t all have fancy cars like B-man has.”

“At least he’s out of town.” Tim mumbled as Jason picked up the wagon’s handle. “I might just kill myself if he was there when we got in.”

“Right, he’d be the worst.” Jason drawled as he rolled his eyes. “So it’s great that it’ll just be Damian there instead, huh?”

Tim froze as Jason stepped out onto the street. “…He’s out of town.”

Jason clicked his tongue, waving as a drunk couple walked by them, staring. “Got back last night. He and ‘Wing are staying at the Tower for some dumb sentimental reason. I don’t know, kid didn’t say why.”

“Oh no.” Tim slouched in the wagon, let the back ledge dig into his neck. “Oh…no.”

“What, thought you were just going to run into our sister? A certain blonde?” Jason laughed. “And Duke is with B.”

Tim hid his face in his hands, curled in on himself. “Jay, please, for the love of god. Seriously. Just kill me.”

Jason stopped at a crosswalk, watching the blinking orange hand. He glanced back at Tim, but frowned. At first he thought Tim was just being purposefully dramatic, but as he watched Tim run his fingers through his hair, sigh deeply every few seconds, keep his eyes closed in focus, he frowned.

“…The kid isn’t going to make fun of you. You know that right?” Jason mumbled. “He’s grown past that shit. He…kinda likes you now, I’m pretty sure.”

“Yeah, okay.” Tim scoffed. “If you say so.”

“I’m serious.” Jason pushed. “And, really, so what if Bruce saw you? I mean, he’s going to know you broke your leg eventually. Probably by tomorrow, from Alfred.”

Tim remained curled around himself, sheepishly shrugged his shoulders.

“…You never got over that, did you?”

“…Got over what.”

“Thinking you’re not good enough.” Jason accused as the light turned and he stepped off the curb. “That one wrong move and you’re getting kicked out of the family, or the costume, or whatever.”

“Are you saying you did?” Tim snapped in defense. Jason didn’t take it personally.

“I never had to get over a fear of being kicked out. I left of my own free will.” Jason hummed.

“Oh yeah. You left so hard you come back every Sunday for brunch still.” Tim pouted. “And keep a room at the manor, and use the library and the kitchen and-”

“Alright so maybe left was the wrong word.” Jason drawled. “But…you know…” He sighed. “See, that’s the difference between me, Dick, Cass, Steph, and the rest of you. You all still care too much about impressing each other and being good enough and shit. Legacies.”

“That is literally the opposite of what is true for you and the girls. Your legacy is just from an evil madman.” Tim hummed. “Dick is the only one who creates his own legacies, not follows one. And even him you can’t count completely. He was Batman for god’s-”

“Will you let me just compliment you, Red?” Jason cut off. “Fuck almighty!”

Tim sucked his lips through his teeth.

“…I’m not going to stand here and tell you that you shouldn’t feel not good enough. Every one of us do, and me telling you that you are good enough and always have been might not get through that wall in your brain, especially now that you got knocked on your ass. I get that. Totally.” Jason explained. “But what I am going to remind you of is the fact that the family loves you. A lot.”

“Yeah, I kno-”

“No, you don’t.” Jason hummed simply. “Because if you did, you wouldn’t be more focused on being embarrassed than the fact that you’re hurt.”

Tim blinked, and glanced at his leg.

“And…yeah, okay. If there’s one thing I learned about our ragtag crew of psychopaths, it’s that they’re…eternally unconditional.” Jason lifted his hand to flip off a car that catcalled them as it sped by. “That means forever, no matter what. I learned that in recent years. Damian luckily learned it faster than the rest of us, thanks to Dickie. The girls are better at emoting than the rest of us so they got it on like, day one. So. Now it’s your turn.”

Tim silently reached out to test the pressure points on his legs, feel where it’s more painful.

“Christ, kid and I have killed people. You’re really going to let your brain make you think they’re going to suddenly hate you or think less of you because you broke your leg?”

“I mean…” Tim tried to smile. “I didn’t say that…”

“You didn’t have to.” Jason smirked. “Like you just said yourself in a roundabout way, I’ve already been there.”

Tim leaned forward, doubling over his leg, stretching his back a little, focusing on that pain, not the one in his leg.

“Now their worry over your leg, and yes I include Robin in that, that’ll probably be a little annoying and smothering.” Jason rambled. “But they’re not smothering because they hate you, that’s for sure. So. You know. Try to remind yourself of that when your brain starts to get a little wild.”

Tim glanced up as they rounded the corner. “…You including yourself in this little emotional intervention?”

“I’m pulling you in a fucking wagon in downtown Gotham City.” Jason snapped. “What the hell do you think?”

Tim smiled. Laughed lightly, but grabbed his chest when it rattled his nerves and flared through his leg.

“…Thanks, Jay.”

“Don’t mention it.” Jason sighed, looking up at Wayne Tower as it appeared in the distance. “Seriously, don’t. Dick and Duke will never let me live it down.”

#Tim Drake #Jason Todd #whumptober2020

44 notes · View notes

thebluenebula · 3 years

Text

First Xmas Gala

Ashleigh Wayne Au Fic Masterlist

The day of the Gala has come, and Ash couldn't be more nervous, but with her family by her side everything will be fine, right?

Preparing for the Gala

. . . . .

I didn't sleep that night. I got up at five, shower, shaved, and cleaned myself up. I tried to do something with my hair, but there wasn't much I could do, so I ended up leaving it as it was.

As I headed back to my room, I spotted the boys in Dick's room, getting ready. The five of them were wearing similar black suits, each had unique accessory matching the Wayne wearing it. Dick, Duke, and Damien all had ties, blue, yellow, and green respectively, Tim a red bowtie, and Jay a loose floor length skirt.

I stared in aww at my brothers. "You guys look stunning."

Dick looked up at me curiously. "Thank you. Are you wearing that?"

I was still in the clothes I'd worn the day before. "First off, I already look better then you."

Jay snickered. "That's not hard."

"Secondly, no. I'm going to get changed now."

Duke adjusted his tie. "Well hurry."

I headed to my room, stripped and looked into wardrobe. The suit, or the dress? The suit was nice, and I knew I'd be comfortable, I wouldn't stand out, but I had to wear the dress. I wanted to wear the dress.

I examined myself in the mirror. The blue dress hugged my body, not too tightly, but enough. The long skirt hid the sneakers, and tracksuit bottoms I was wearing underneath. I rubbed my bare arm. It felt right, but could I really wear it in front of all those people? In front of Cassie?

Someone knocked on the door. I recognised Harper's knock. "You decent, Ash?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Mind if we come in?"

I unlocked the door for them. Carrie, and Harper walked in. I looked at the girls. Harper was wearing a black suit, with a blue undershirt, while Carrie was wearing her green sun dress

"You look amazing." We all said in unison. It was followed by a burst of giggles.

Carrie leaned against my dresser. "So, are you ready for your first Gala?"

"I guess so."

"You look worried."

"All things considered, the Galas the least of my worries."

"Cassie?"

I turned back to the mirror. "Yes. Do you think she'll like this dress, or should I wear a suit?"

Harper came up behind me, and wrapped her arms around me. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts. You like it, so nothing else matters, plus I know Cassie will love it. You want to know how I know?"

"How?"

"Cause you're in it."

I leaned my head back into her. "Thank you, Harper."

In the mirror, I watched as Carrie pick up my pair of fishnet gloves. "You've been taking fashion tips from Dinah I see."

I took them from her, and pulled them on. "Zee, actually. She's got great style. Would one of you mind taking a picture of me?"

Carrie grabbed my phone. "Not at all. Strike a pose."

I smiled as she took a step back to get a proper shot. As the camera flashed, I felt a sudden weight on my back.

I tried to steady myself as Harper clung to my back. "Photobomb!"

I giggled as we fell onto the bed, knocking her off of me. "Photohog more like it."

When we were done laughing, Carrie took a proper photo, then one of the three of us together. I sent them to Siobhan, then the three of us headed downstairs.

Everyone was gathered in the living room. Bruce was the first to spot us. "Ashleigh, you look stunning."

Kate appeared behind him. "Understatement of the century."

I could feel my face reddening. "Thank you."

The same could be said for them. Bruce was wearing a pitch black suit. In a dim light room, he'd be hard to spot. Maybe that was the point. Kate's outfit was at least bit more colorful. Her black dress had intricate red lines swirling through it.

Carrie coughed, drawing our attention to her, and Harper. "There are other children in the room looking for positive verbal reassurement."

Bruce russeled their hair. "You two are just as stunning as ever."

Carrie fixed her hair in one motion. "Good. Thank you."

Harper was not so lucky. She gave Bruce a sour look as she pushed the loose hair from her face. "Yeah, thanks."

I looked around the room, admiring everyones outfits. I'd seen Bab's dress the day she got it, but it looked even better on her. The green empire dress worked so well for her. As for Steph, and Cass they both wore matching sun dresses. The only difference being the colours, purple, and black respectively, both with splashes of yellow.

We took the obligitory family photos. First, all of us together. Then the adults. Then the kids. Then a couple more in our own little groups.

Steph had taken on the role of 'parent who wants way too many pictures'. She insisted on getting dozens of pictures of everyone. After what felt like a hundred pictures, Steph left me alone, and went to get pictures of Bruce.

Kate took my hand in hers. "You nervous?"

"More then I've ever been."

She gave it a gentle squeeze. "You'll be fine."

"What if I fuck it up?"

"You won't."

"I'm going to do something wrong or forget something- The flowers! What did I do with the flowers?"

"Calm down."

I thought for a minute as to where I left them. "They were in my room. I'll go get them."

I turned to go get them, but Kate grabbed my shoulder. "You stay here, I'll get them."

Kate left, and returned a few minutes later with my flowers. She set them down nearby, and we chatted as we waited.

Since the Supers and the Wonders were also going to the Gala, Bruce had suggested they all carpool with us. It wasn't long before the Supers arrived, much to Tim, and Damien's delight.

Clark wore a lovely tan suit, Lois a very professional looking black suit, she was still very much in reporter mode. Conner, and Jon wore near identical Superman-esc suits. They we're adorable, and clearly Tim agreed, considering how quickly he jumped into Conner's arms. Kara had a lovely yellow bouffant dress, and Karen a green sheath dress. It made her look like a news anchor. Of course a news anchor wouldn't wear a green dress.

Artemis arrived soon after to pick up Jay. She had a beautiful red dress on, that ended just past her knees. I was kind of expecting her show up with the other Wonders. She assured us that the others had just run into some delays and would be here soon.

As the two went to leave, Jay stopped, and turned to me. "Piece of advice, make sure to use pro- oww!"

Artemis smacked the back of his head. "Don't you dare finish that."

"I was joking."

For just a moment I was worried that if I messed this up Artemis would break my arm, then I realized how ridiculous that was. Cassie was more then capable of doing that herself.

The two left on Artemis's motorbike, because leaving in a car or limo would have been far too boring for them.

Bruce leaned into me, and whispered. "You did have 'the talk', right?"

"Yes! What do you people think is going to happen tonight?"

Kate flashed a cheeky smile. "All cards are on the table."

I was spared delving any further into that conversation by the doorbell. Alfred left the room to answer it. It had to be the Wonders. Too late for me to back out now.

Alfred with Diana, Donna, and Cassie. I felt my heart beat faster as I saw them. Diana was wearing a blue bodice gown, Donna a sleevless black sheath dress with stars down both sides, and Cassie was wearing a red spaghetti top, and a blue skirt with stars, it looked like the one from Wonders Woman's old costume.

"Sorry for the delay." Diana apologised. "Someone forgot to check the tank before we left."

Donna sighed. "I said I was sorry."

Cassie hit them. "You two, stop fighting."

Once Cassie managed to stop the two bickering, they split off to socialise. Diana went to Bruce, and Clark, Donna to Dick, and Babs, and Cassie found her way to me.

She had a beaming smile on her face. "You look amazing."

"Thank you. You look beautiful."

She gestured to my gloves. "Got them from Zee?"

"She recommended a store."

I gestured to her skirt. "Diana's?"

"Bingo."

The two of us began chatting. Tim, Cass, and Steph joined us. We giggled amongst ourselves until the time came for us to leave.

Alfred walked over to us. "Miss Ashleigh, Miss Sandsmark, I believe it is time we leave."

Alfred, and Cassie began walking off. I went to follow them, but Steph grabbed my arm, and gestured to the flowers. "Forgetting something."

"Oh yeah." I quickly grabbed them. "Thanks."

Cass kissed my cheek. "Head up, be proud."

"Thanks."

I caught up with the two. Cassie looked at me. "What held you up?"

"I forgot something." I presented the flowers to her.

She examined them. "They're beautiful. What are they?"

"Flowers."

She punched my arm. "I know that. What kind?"

"Oh. The red ones are amaryllis, the yellow are orchids, and the blue ones are larkspur."

"I've never heard of that last one."

"Neither have I."

"Did you just choose these because of my costume?"

"For the most part."

"Dork. I love them."

We wandered out to the car that Alfred had for us. We sat into the back.

"Flowers, and our own car, not a bad start to a date."

"The seperate car was Dick's idea." I admitted.

"In that case I'm surprised it's not filled with rose petals and candles."

"Oh don't worry, he wanted to."

"He's like a cliche romance novel, in the best ways. What stopped him?"

"Babs had him a short leash. He wanted to arrange a romantic candle lit dinner in the fanciest restraunt in Gotham. I figured that might be too much."

"That's ridiculous but sweet. Someone going to be lucky to have him one day."

"Yeah, they are. Would you have liked that?"

"I'll love whatever we do, as long as we do it together."

"I'll remember that for next time."

She smiled "Already thinking about a next time?"

"No. I mean yeah, but- sorry."

"It's alright, Ash. You don't have to be nervous."

"Says you. I don't think I've ever seen you nervous."

"I'm nervous right now."

"About the date?"

"Yeah."

"You have nothing to worry about, this is going to be the best date I've ever been on."

"How are you so sure?"

"I've never been on a date before."

Cassie laughed. "Doesn't that mean it will also be the worst date you've ever been on?"

"Shush."

The rest of the ride was filled with our typical banter. It felt so natural that I forgot it was a date. I only remembered as we pulled up to the Gala. I stepped out of the car, turned, and offered Cassie a hand out. "M'lady."

She took my hand, and giggled. "You're such an idiot."

We headed into the building. As we walked in, hand in hand, I realized something. I was so worried about the date portion, I forgot to ask what you actually did at a Gala other then dance.

I guess I have to do as I usually do, figure it out along the way, and pretend I knew all along.

The first thing I spotted once we were inside was the huge Christmas tree. It was bigger then any I'd ever seen, and beautifully decorated.

I was quickly whisked away as Cassie pulled me along behind her. Hours passed as we chatted, and joked. It really didn't feel much different then when we normally hung out.

We talked to people, the Bats, the Wonders, others who I'd never met before. When it came to that, it was more Cassie talking, and me hiding behind her. I did notice that Artemis, and Jay were no where to be seen however.

Eventually, we spotted them standing by the food table. Cassie gently dragged me along behind her as we headed over to them.

Closer now I noticed that Artemis had her hand up Jay's skirt. The two were so busy with whatever they we're doing, they didn't hear us approach.

Cassie coughed. Artemis quickly straightened up, her hand accidently pulling Jay's skirt up. He quickly pushed it down. "Hey!"

"Don't blame me. You should have worn trousers under it."

"I like the breeze."

Cassie, and I giggled at the two. "Should we even ask?"

Jay reached into his skirt, and pulled out a resealable bag full of treats. "Stealing."

I looked at him curiously. "Where were you keeping that?"

"I have the inside lined with pockets."

Cassie shook her head while chuckling. "Why are you even stealing that food, it's free?"

Artemis shrugged. "It's more fun."

I nudged Jay. "You can't go one night without some kind of mischief can you?"

"God, no."

Artemis began whispering to Cassie. Jay, and I watched them curiously. The two girls looked to us. "One moment."

They walked away, still whispering. I turned to Jay. "What's going on?"

"I have no idea." He turned back to me. "Anyway, how's the date been?"

"Great."

"And the ride here?"

"It was good, yeah. We chatted."

Jay smirked. "Is that all you did?"

"I'm going to hit you, really fucking hard."

"So is that a yes?"

"This close, Jay."

"You wouldn't hit me."

"Keep pushing, and you'll find out."

Jay was about to respond when music suddenly came on. I watched as people gathered into the center of the room.

He nudged me. "You should go dance with her."

"I might mess up. The last thing I want is to fall over her, or the other way around."

"You've been practicing all week for this. You never once knocked Cass."

"That's Cass."

"Good point."

"If she doesn't bring it up, I think I'll just avoid it."

"Too bad." He grabbed the scruff of my dress, and dragged me towards Cassie.

I tried to pry his hands from my dress. "Jay, I swear to god."

"You are going to dance. Babs, and Cass spent all week teaching you."

"Fine."

We got to Cassie, and Artemis. They looked over at us. Jay kept a hold of the neck of my dress. "Ask."

I turned to Cassie. "Would you like to dance?"

Cassie smirked. "Depends, is Jay going to dance with us."

I elbowed his stomach. He recoiled, and let go of me. "No. He won't."

Artemis laughed as he grabbed her arm to stabilise himself. Cassie, and I headed out to the dance floor. She took my hand. "You know how to slow dance?"

I placed my free hand on her shoulder. "Yeah."

She placed her other hand on my side. "Guess I'm leading."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. I can lead if you'd prefer."

"It's alright, Ash."

We moved around the ballroom elegantly to the song. Eventually Cassie closed the gap between us. "You know, Ash. For a someone who seemed like they really didn't want to dance, you're quite good at it."

"I've been practicing."

"With Dick?"

"No. He wanted to show me, but Babs wouldn't let him. She, and Cass showed me."

"That explains it."

The song stopped, and we stepped apart. "What now?"

"Wanna take a walk?"

"Sure."

We soon found ourselves out to the balcony. It was empty. The silence was nice, as was the cool winter breeze. "Tonights been nice, Cassie. Thank you."

She leaned her head onto my shoulder. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"I'm sorry if it wasn't what you wanted."

"I wanted a date with you, Ash. The Gala was just a great excuse for it. Tonight's been everything I wanted."

"Tonight's been a night of firsts for me."

"Oh, yeah?"

"First Gala, first date, first slow dance, even my first time wearing a dress out. It's been an amazing night, Cassie, and I have you to thank for all of it."

"This nights not over yet, Ash."

"Something you had in mind?"

"I was thinking we spend more time out here."

"That'd be nice. Maybe we can do this again. The whole date thing."

"I'd love to. Any suggestions?"

"How about the restaurant Dick was on about?"

"Sounds like a nice place."

"It would be with you there."

Cassie looked at me. "Did you just attempt to flirt?"

"Depends, was it any good?"

She kissed my cheek. "Awful, but you tried."

I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks. I stared out into the darkness. It got dark so quickly during the winter. The Bats, usually, would be out on patrol by now, and I would be home worried sick, but not tonight. Tonight, I knew they were inside, enjoying themselves, safe, and that made me happy. As did Cassie's hand in mine.

Today was a good day.

. . . . .

Writing this fic was so hard for so many reasons. The primary one was just to find the motivation to finish it. I set a deadline for myself of the 10th. It is not but the 10th but close enough. I think this turned out great, hope you enjoy. I also intend to post a Xmas fic soon aswell, so look out for that if you're interested. Though it might not be out by Xmas if I'm not feeling like it.

7 notes · View notes

ragingbookdragon · 3 years

Text

ATTEND ALL THE PRIDE!

Batfamily x Batbrother One-Shot

Word Count: 1K Warnings: Explicit Language

Author's Note: For the ask I received! Remember to have fun at all parades this month! Be careful and be safe! Bring friends and family! Even if you don't identify with the LGBTQ+ community you are still allowed to come to Pride! Everyone is welcome at Pride!

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

Just because he was Bruce Wayne's son, a well-trained military sniper, and a world class black ops squad leader, it did not mean he had any sense of time when it came to being on leave. Once that clock started when they hit the tarmac after a mission, everyone lost sense of when they were supposed to meet up again—as much as they loved running with one another, they loved being on leave much more—especially the captain.

That being said, after a major mission of shutting down a world class terrorist organization ring and freeing some hundred plus captives, they all decided a few months of leave was deserved for saving a chunk of the world. And when he got back to Gotham in May, he’d slowly forgotten all about the next month and the pride that went with it.

***

Freshly showered and dressed, he wandered into the kitchen and collapsed in his set next to Bruce’s on the other side of the table, Dick next to him. His coffee had already been poured, hot and steaming like Alfred made best and he raised it to his lips, sipping quietly as his eyes moved around the breakfast room, taking in the sight of his family.

Dick and Damian were discussing something about the arcade rather animatedly—something about Cheese Vikings?, Jason and Steph were in an argument over who was a better Robin—so far Steph was winning, Tim was passed out on the side of the table—unsurprisingly, and Cass and Duke were busy stuffing waffles in their faces—smart cookies those two.

He glanced at his father, noticing that he had the paper, and he took a moment to read over the front page. Pride Month Comes to Gotham! Come Celebrate Today During the Pride Parade! Sponsored by Wayne Enterprises!

Blinking, he set his coffee cup down. “It’s June,” He blurted out, sounding rather shocked, and everyone looked at him.

“Yeah?” Dick said. “It’s been that way for about a week now, (Y/N).”

He looked at him. “No, Dick, it’s fucking Pride Month.” (Y/N) ignored Alfred’s admonishment of his expletive and jumped to his feet, face lighting up like the morning sun. “IT’S FUCKING PRIDE MONTH AND THE PARADE IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IN THE CITY STREETS!”

(Y/N) spun on his heel and sprinted out of the kitchen like a madman, his heavy footfalls sounding down the hallway and up the stairs before he came back down with a bunch of T-shirts in his hands. “I HAVE SHIRTS FOR ALL OF YOU!”

Tossing them one by one, he shouted, “BI FOR DICK! BI FOR JASON! PAN FOR STEPH! LESBIAN FOR CASS! PAN FOR TIMMY! AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE REST OF YOU ARE BUT I HAVE RAINBOW SHIRTS THAT SAY ‘LGBTQIA+ ALLIES’!”

Everyone looked at their shirts, all designed with the color of their respective flag, then at (Y/N) who was busy slipping his own pink, yellow, and blue shirt on. He grinned at them like a maniac. “Well don’t just sit there! Put the shirts on and let’s go! Pride Parade is happening, and we can’t miss it!”

Galvanized by his words, everyone started putting their shirts on, even Alfred and Bruce before they followed him to the SUV where he climbed in the driver’s seat.

“Hey, (Y/N)?” Jason asked.

“Yeah boy!”

“I applaud that you know my first orientation, but I hate to break it to you—I’m a demisexual bi.”

(Y/N) leaned over into the passenger’s side floorboard and shoved Dick’s legs out of the way before he yanked up a bag and unzipped it. He pulled out a rather large plastic package and threw it back at him, hitting him in the face. “EXPENSIVE FACE PAINT THAT’S NOT WORTH THE PRICE I PAID BUT WHATEVER! PAINT ALL THE FLAGS ON YOUR FACES!”

“Brother, you must really love Pride Parades.” Damian remarked and he nodded.

“LOVE ALL THE PARADES! LOVE PEOPLE! LOVE HAVING FUN! LOVE THE LGBTQ COMMUNITY!” he opened the garage and hit the gas, speeding down the driveway. “HAVE ALL THE FUN AT PRIDE! MEET ALL THE PEOPLE! MAKE ALL THE FRIENDS! CELEBRATE OUR UNIQUENESS!”

He tossed back more items, sunglasses, necklaces, hats, everything. “IDENTIFY YOURSELF! OR DON’T! IT’S YOUR RIGHT TO BE AS COMFORTABLE AS YOU WANT! BUT HAVE FUN!” he stopped at a red light and turned. “DO YOU REMEMBER MY RULES?”

Dick went first as the oldest, then Jason, Steph, Cass, Duke, Tim, and Damian. “Don’t add to the population.

“Don’t subtract from the population.”

“Don’t go to jail.”

“Don’t do anything stupid.”

“Don’t do anything you wouldn’t do.”

“And if you do—”

“Don’t get caught!” Damian finalized with a grin as Dick wrote the words ‘Not sure yet’ on his face. “I am excited to experience this!”

(Y/N) looked scandalized. “YOU’VE NEVER BEEN TO A PRIDE PARADE? OH, THE INHUMANITY!” he looked at his father and went jaw-slacked. “Dad, are you putting the bi-flag on your face?”

Bruce looked up from his compact mirror and nodded. “Mhm.”

“I didn’t know you were bi?”

“I didn’t know you were pansexual, (Y/N).” he retorted with a smile and (Y/N) grinned.

“What did you think I was?”

“In the closet.”

“HA!”

“Wait, so (Y/N),” Steph started. “When did you know you were pan?”

He blinked and pulled into a parking garage. “When I met Ghost-Maker in a LGBTQ nightclub and when home with him for the weekend.”

No one said a word, merely looking at Bruce who looked absolutely disgusted. “You slept with K?”

“Many times.” (Y/N) snorted, putting the car in park. “He’s extremely proficient at it. It’s a shame he doesn’t experience romantic attraction because I’d marry him in a heartbeat.”

Everyone gagged, but Jason nudged Tim in the ribs and snickered, “That’s pretty gay.”

And then the entire SUV was filled with cackles as they climbed out and marched into the rainbow filled streets, mile-wide grins on their faces and pride in their hearts.

246 notes · View notes

ranger-jedi-knight · 4 years

Text

A New Hero Ch 21

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20887313/chapters/63774805 Taglist: @bluesimani (OPEN)

Ok so here’s the next chap!! Date night for Daminette and...i still dont got a ship name for em...Dick/Alya/Xavier. Please help my sad ass out n suggest some possible ship names for em. Could be their names mashed together like daminette or even somethin bout personality or jobs. Idk, just somethin that fits em n doesn’t sound weird. Thank you very much. Anyways, it’s the date chap!! Next chap, idk maybe it’ll be xanila(Xan/Lila does that sound fine or ew?), or it could be a battle....ehehe or somethin else~. Ok, enjoy!

Alya giggled as she took the offered rose from Dick. “How long have you had this?” she asked with a tilt of her head as the officers around them cooed.

“I ordered it at lunch and had Sarah pick it up for me on her way back from her break an hour ago,” Dick replied with a soft smile as he took Alya’s other hand as she returned the smile.

“Why not wait to get it for when you pick me up after I get changed? While sweet, I’d rather not go out all grimy from a day of hard work,” she said and Dick gave a small shrug as he gave her hand a squeeze.

“Maybe I wanted to give it to you before we part?” he asked with his signature charming smile on his lips as he watched a faint blush decorate her cheeks.

“Oh! God, I forgot how cheesy you could be,” she said as Dick moved his other hand to push a strand of her hair behind her ear.

“Only for you and Xavier,” he whispered with a smile as she turned her face away from Dick because she knew she’d be blushing harder if she was looking at him.

“We should get going,” she mumbled and he nodded agreement.

“Yes, lets,” he agreed, leading her out of the precinct, waving to their coworker friends.

“Go get it, Alya!” one shouted causing Alya to laugh while her blush deepened knowing exactly what they meant.

“Maybe after the next date!” she shouted back before the doors closed behind them. Dick chuckled softly next to her as they reached her car.

“See you in an hour,” Dick whispered raising her hand to his lips to place a kiss onto her fingers.

“An hour,” she agreed, squeezing his hand before letting go and slipping into her car as he then held the door open. She smiled softly at him as he closed the door for her. Giving one last wave she left the precinct and he went to his own car to head home to get ready for his date. Once he was home, he ran past his brothers to clean up and put on a blue button-up and black pants. As he walked down the stairs he rolled the sleeves up to his elbows.

“Lookin spiffy Dickie boy. Got a hot date?” Jason asked with a smirk and Dick rolled his eyes.

“Yes, I do. Two hot dates even,” he said with a smirk, and that had Jason pausing.

“Damn, you actually asked them out. I’d have thought it’d take longer,” Jason said, causing Dick to once more roll his eyes.

“Har har har. I’m off now, hopefully, I’ll be able to beat rush hour. Go tease Damian for me,” Dick said grabbing his keys and Jason smirked as he started turning around.

“Not on your life, Todd!” Damian yelled out as his voice echoed thru the manor before it disappeared.

“Damian is leaving as well, Master Jason,” Alfred said and Jason turned to find Dick already out of the manor as well and frowned. “Please fetch Master Tim from work if he’s not back by 7,” Alfred said and Jason nodded. Getting the nod, Alfred turned around to continue what he was doing. The drive to Xavier’s home was quick. Xavier waved as he made his way to the car and slipped into the passenger seat, giving Dick a sweet smile. Dick returned the sweet smile as he looked over Xavier who seemed to be in his usual attire of a button-up shirt(a deep ocean blue instead of the white he wore at work), black pants, and his usual bowtie in a deep green that went well with the blue shirt.

“Hey. You look amazing, Dick,” Xavier whispered, taking Dick’s hand into his to give it a squeeze before they pulled away from the apartment complex.

“Hey, you look great yourself, Xavier. How’s your family?” Dick asked as they started toward Alya’s apartment.

“Melody is done with everyone at the hotel and the dance company is not appreciating her busy schedule. However, for mum, everything is fairly smooth sailing at the boutique. How are your brothers?” Xavier asked looking over at Dick, watching as the flickering on street lamps light up his face.

“Lovable pain in the asses. Jason gets a kick when he has to pull someone from their work, Tim gets distracted by his work so he’s the recipient of that. Damian is actually going out on a date with the girl he’s been crushing on for a while now. Duke is finally getting back tomorrow at some point, it really depends on how many stops the buses make. Steph and Cass. We have no idea when they’ll get back but they said things are going well over there so here’s to hoping,” Dick explained with a chuckle that Xavier shared.

“Tim is co-CEO of WE right?”

“Yes, why?” Dick tilted his head curiously at the question while Xavier chuckled.

“Melody said she had to go talk to CEO Tim about some things the board order her hotel have done since her GM is hiding from doing it even thou she’s not the most qualified too,” Xavier explained and Dick nodded at that.

“Ah, lazy people. But knowing Tim, hearing what’s wrong he’ll try fixing those mistakes,” Dick replied and Xavier nodded agreement from what he'd seen of Tim. They soon reached Alya’s apartment complex and watched with smiles as Alya seemed to be telling Xan something before hugging him and heading out. “Wow,” was all that left the two as they took in Alya wearing a fit and flare deep purple dress. A slim black belt around her waist covering the seam at the waist. She kept on her studs from work and had a black string necklace tied in a bow around her neck. She kept her makeup much the same with only eyeliner and pink lipstick. Her hair was braided and tied with a black ribbon and on her feet were small black, kitten wedges.

“Hi,” she whispered shyly when Xavier slipped from the car and held the door open for her so she could take the passenger seat. “You look great. You kept on your bow tie,” she said moving to straighten the bow tie since it moved since he left his apartment.

“Obviously, they’re part of the package. And may I say, you look lovely,” Xavier said, causing a faint blush to dust her cheeks when she smiled at him and squeezed his hand before he closed the door.

“Xavier’s correct, you look beautiful,” Dick said causing her blush to deepen. She was used to the precinct being silly what with complimenting everyone, especially her after she dressed like a Greek Goddess for Dick’s Halloween party for their coworkers(she couldn’t even remember who she dressed as, Dick remembers tho). She would have thought that conversation would have stopped since it’s been at least a couple of years. But alas. But hearing her dates say it, that was different than a friend.

“You two look quite handsome yourself,” Alya replied, happy to see faint blushes on their faces as well.

“I have a feeling, this will go well,” Dick said as they started toward the restaurant Dick got reservations for.

~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian had a small smile on his lips as he waited for Mari to come down. He glanced at his watch, pleased to see they had some time still before it was time for their reservation.

Lila smiled at Mari as the girl twitched beside her in the elevator. “Everything will be fine, Mari. You look amazing! That dress you made is amazing, it will knock his socks off. He clearly really likes you, I doubt you could do anything to make him change his mind, ok?” Lila asked and Mari nodded. She rubbed her hands down the red spaghetti-strapped dress, along the hemline were hidden ladybugs. Around her waist was a corset-like lace up belt that clipped together in the back, around the ribbon lace-up was black floral lace with hidden ladybugs. She left her purse in the room but Tikki and Kalki(along with Kalki’s glasses) were in her dress’s hidden pockets. She had a cropped black jacket over the dress with the lining inside red. She had on simple blac, kitten heels.

Mari gave her friend a small smile. ”Thanks, Lila. And tomorrow, I’ll help you prepare for your date with Xan on Saturday,” Mari said and Lila nodded agreement as they reached the lobby.

“Ok, see you later. Don’t stay out too late. Have fun,” Lila said, pulling the girl into a hug. Mari returned the hug before pulling away and leaving the elevator. With one last wave, Mari went throu the swinging door and left the hotel with a smile.

“Hi, Dami,” Mari greeted shyly as she reached Damian’s car. Damian was leaning against the car and smiled at Mari.

“Hello, Angel. May I say you look gorgeous,” he said, taking one of her hands into his and raising it to his lips to press a kiss to her hand. Mari smiled softly at that as she blushed.

“As long as I can return the sentiment. You look quite dashing,” she said and Damian smiled as he opened the door for her. When she was in and settled, he closed the door and made his way to the driver's seat. “Be prepared for in case our date gets interrupted, Dami,” she warned and he nodded with a smirk.

“Of course. Should you need help, I came prepared as well,” he replied, jerking his head to the backseat were a duffle bag sat inconspicuously. She smiled thankfully at that and took one of his hands into her and gave it a squeeze.

“Thank you,” she whispered, holding his hand between hers as he started driving.

~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim sighed as he scribbled some stuff down into his notes. He glanced up at his laptop to continue skimming over the report. His comm buzzed and he stopped writing to press a button to talk to his secretary. “Yes, Carrie?” he asked, tilting his head a bit.

“A, Miss Reeves, is here to speak to you. She works at the Crown Coast Hotel as an OM. Her hotel is housing the internship class,” Carrie said and Tim hummed in thought as to what the OM would need.

“Send her in,” Tim sighed out, he was so close to escaping the company. The door to his office swung open slowly to reveal a woman who looked similar to Dick’s date Xavier, her skin a couple shades lighter, which means this must be his sister Melody. She was wearing her Hotel’s uniform which was a white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, the logo right where a name tag would go. Her shirt was tucked into a black pencil skirt, and she had on black ballet flats. She somehow got her wavy-tight curls under control to be in a ponytail held by a red ribbon, no doubt there was a hair tie under it. “Hello, you must be Melody Reeves,” he greeted her and she gave him a smile as she went to shake his hand after moving a file to her other hand.

“Good evening, Mr. Drake-Wayne. I’m sorry to come on such short notice but your board that oversees all the hotels WE owns have made a mistake for my hotel,” she started and Tim nodded as he sat down behind his desk and pushed his notebook away to focus on the woman in front of him as she sat down across from him and leaned forward a bit to place the file onto his desk.

“Really? If that’s the case how come you came down and not the GM?” he asked curious since this seems to be something above her position's duties. A scowl painted her lips as she shook her head, her hair flying behind her.

“It’s because my GM doesn’t like to do the duties assigned to him. I brought it up to him when I realized but he didn’t want to come here and disturb you sir. But this cannot wait,” she explained and he nodded as he opened the file. While nothing stood out, he knew that Melody would know more since she was working at the hotel.

“What seems to be the problem then? I’m not well versed on the ins and outs of running or working in a hotel,” he said and she nodded and pointed to the first thing listed that the board agreed on.

“Starting here, the board ordered us to supply our sister hotel with spare microwaves and such appliances. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but as it is, most of our supply is in use. The few remaining we have we can’t give out since most of our’s are on their last legs. As it is, we are keeping a couple rooms unoccupied to strip them of anything we can to give to other rooms. And we’ve asked the board for help but they are leaving us to use the money we make to place the items but we don’t have enough money. Any money left is being squirreled away to either pay our employees or the repair men we call in when something major breaks,” she started pointing to different things under the first point so that he could understand better. As she explained he nodded along and started writing in the margins of the file.

This is how the next hour is spent for Tim, listening to everything the board decided for the next few months will go for a hotel is bad. They were just finishing up when Jason knocked as he pushed open the door. “Ready to go, Timmy-boi?” he asked with a sideways grin. Tim shook his head, glancing between Melody and Jason.

“Not yet, Jason. Give me a few more moments while I finish up this meeting with Ms. Reeves,” he said and Jason nodded and went to sit on one of the couches in Tim’s office. He glanced out and watched as two shadows, a girl and boy he could make out, jump across roofs. His eyes widened and he glanced back to Tim who was shaking the woman's hand.

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’ll speak to the board about this in the morning and make the appropriate changes,” he said and the woman had a grateful smile, seemingly brightening up the room in Tim’s opinion.

“No, thank you, Tim. Have a good night,” she said standing up and walking from the room and closing the door behind her.

“Tim, tell me you have binoculars in your office,” he said and Tim nodded wondering what Jason saw as he snatched the binoculars out of Tim’s hands. As he zoomed in on the two, he could tell the girl was in her early 20s and the boy late teens. They had stuff covering their faces, probably a precaution to protect themselves.

“What is it?” Tim asked, looking over Jason’s shoulders and making out the two shadowy figures.

“It seems there’s two people training. For what, I don’t know,” Jason said as he gave Tim the binoculars. Tim looked at the two and nodded agreement. They knew each other definitely and the moves they did weren’t filled with any intention besides practicing. As he lowered them, the two took off and Tim hummed. “What do you say?”

“I say those moves look familiar no?” Tim asked and Jason slowly nodded agreement. “There’s only a few people who know how to fight like that and most are busy. So that means that that is Xan. Which most likely means Lana’s with him. He’s probably training with her to prevent what happened to him happening to anyone else in the family,” Tim said and Jason slowly nodded.

“That would make sense, but Joker was the only one crazy enough to work with the League. And he’s out of the picture. Thank fucking god tho,” Jason muttered the last part under his breath. Tim couldn’t help overhearing tho and he couldn’t agree more with him. “But I guess, you can never be too prepared,” he continued and Tim nodded.

“Let’s not tell Bruce. We can’t stop people from preparing themselves to defend their home or family when they get caught up in a Rouge attack,” Tim said and Jason nodded agreement.

“Now, we need to get home. I don’t want to have Alfred giving me his disappointed look,” Jason said and Tim nodded, picking up his stuff and following him out. As he left his office he smiled at Carrie.

“Goodnight, Carrie. Don’t stay too late,” he called and Carrie nodded, pushing back some hair that had left her perfectly styled bun. He’d have told her to relax but knew she didn’t need to. The one time he brought her soup when she had laryngitis showed him that when she was at home she was relaxed. He could respect that she liked having everything look perfect when at work.

“Will do, sir. Goodnight,” she called back as she sent emails to assistants to make a meeting of the board for tomorrow morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Come on, Alya should be getting back soon. I want to know everything,” Lana said smiling over at Xan who nodded.

“Alright. We can continue tomorrow. Would you be ok with Damian and Mari coming along to help? They know more than me,” Xan replied and Lana nodded.

“Alright. If your sure they can help,” Lana agreed and Xan smiled with a nod.

If only you knew. Of course, they may tell you when they hear what your doing....we should also tell Als, Xan thought to himself as they ran across the rooftops to reach Alya’s place.

Alster @Bi_Arrow Had the best time with these two. Can't wait to go out with them again #datenight #wentwell #hadagreattime #poly *Alya smiling happily at the camera as her arms are wrapped around Dick and Xavier’s arms. The two are smiling softly as they lean in close to her*

Mari-aculous @MDC_Designs Can’t believe we waited so long to do this. But it was worth the wait #untilnexttime #cantwait #date

Damian @BloodBorne I’m glad you had a good time as well. Sleep well.

Ok, so here’s the next chap!! This was fast(relatively since it was delayed by my want to update a different fic but I got this out in like three days about). I hope you guys enjoyed this new chap!! I had fun writing this chap and we saw some things happening~~!! Maybe you can guess! Anyways, until next chap! -Love Willa<3<3<3

#fanfic #fanfic update #update #my writing #A New Hero #ANH #chap 21 #maribat #daminette #ml x dc #lana grayson #alya grayson #xander grayson #ocs

13 notes · View notes