#I have never written for dc

[lovetrouble123]

You Look At Me And I’m Weak

Synopsis: Batman has Catwoman, and Nightwing has Kitty.

TW: n/a

A/N: oh Jesus Christ I pulled this out my ass lol so here’s my 2nd fic on tumblr ig???

Masterlist

★⋆. ࿐࿔

Once becoming Nightwing, Dick Grayson expected the code name ‘Robin’ to never come up again. It started with him and it would end with him, but when Jason, Tim and Damian all came into the picture, he realized that he had created a legacy.

It probably wasn’t the best legacy to have created, especially since he was the first Robin but also the oldest, which left the others to have a lot to live up to. But in some strange way…it connected all of them.

Though all the siblings had their own lives, their roots were connected to being a Robin at some point. But for Dick Grayson, there was one thing that separated him from his siblings.

One person.

One girl.

Bruce had lead by example, cats and bats don’t get along and a relationship would be strenuous and complicated.

But Dick wasn’t a bat anymore…well, technically at his core he was. But now he was a bird, meaning that cats and birds could get along, right?

He had moved away from Gotham City and to Blüdhaven to investigate some murders, only to stay when he realized how bad off Blüdhaven was in comparison. At the time, he assumed the cat wouldn’t follow, but she did.

“Birdy~,” a sweet voice called from behind.

“You know I hate that name,” Dick replied as he sat on the edge of a Blüdhaven building that was tall enough to overlook the city.

He didn’t have to turn around to know who was behind him. He was long past the days of her sneaking up on him and scaring the daylights out of him.

He was way past his Robin days.

Her boots clicked against the rooftop as she approached him, her steps barely heard. “Well, you shouldn’t have stuck with being a bird then.” She sassed as she sat down beside the Blüdhaven vigilante, her legs dangling over the ledge like his were.

“What would you rather I be?” He asked with a small head tilt as he looked at her face that was illuminated by the bright moonlight above.

“Not sure.” She trails off, “I can’t really imagine you as anything but a bird.”

His blue eyes were hidden behind his domino mask, but he was sure she could feel his gaze on her. “And why’s that?” He asked as he reached a gloved hand out and traced the scar on her arm that ran from her shoulder all the way down to her wrist.

He had always had a habit of tracing that scar. A scar that he had given her back as Robin, and something he still felt guilty for.

At the time, the two were enemies—rivals.

He was still fairly new to the Robin gig when the two met that night at the museum. He remembered Bruce handling Selina Kyle (his situationship that was still going on after all these years) while he handled Selina’s new protégée—Kitty.

He hadn’t had meant to hurt her that badly, but who knew baterangs were so sharp?

“Birds are cat’s natural prey.”

“Still trying to catch me, huh?”

“I’ve already caught you,” Kitty replied with a smirk.

He moved his hand away from her arm but continued to look at her, this time with a small and amused smile. “And what do you plan to do with me?”

She shrugged, “not sure…but I’ll keep you updated.”

“You could always let me go. You know, fly away?” Dick suggested as a small snort of laughter escaped the girl beside him. She tried to hide it and keep a straight face, to keep up her seductive persona, but she ultimately failed.

“You think I would?”

“Why not?”

“What if someone else finds my bird and captures him?”

Her words made Dick feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside, as if he was a teenage boy again.

He had been here too many times with Kitty.

And this feeling wasn’t anything new.

“Should’ve put a collar on me then,” Dick joked as he shifted closer to her.

“You can’t put a collar on a bird.”

“No, but you can put a collar on a cat.” Dick quipped, his eyes flickering to her lips for a moment.

Kitty’s eyes widened at his words and looked away to hide the ever growing flush on her cheeks.

Oh. He had struck a nerve.

A gloved hand found the girls chin and gently guided her to look at him again, in his direction. Their faces were close.

Too close.

“Don’t get all shy now, Kitty.”

She was warm.

When had the two of them gotten so close?

He ran his thumb over her bottom lip.

They were so close that they could feel the others breath.

Just kiss her already. Dick’s mind encouraged, you and her have been dancing around each other like this for years now. You can flirt with her all day with no problem, but you can’t even kiss her?

The world around them ceased to exist as they stared at each other.

He had been pining after her for years now, and it all started at that museum whether they knew it or not.

It started with an apology.

And then she seemed to find him wherever he went.

And now, the lines between ‘just friends’ and romance was becoming blurred.

“Screw it,” Dick said aloud though it was to himself. He moved the hand that was her chin to her cheek and he placed his other hand on her other cheek. With both hands cupping her face, he kissed her.

And he had been waiting to do it for years.

And now, it was finally happening.

Over the years the two had gotten close, but now, they were closer than they ever expected—both mentally and physically.

Kitty’s hands found Dick’s shoulders as she held his shoulders in an attempt to steady herself in the deepening kiss.

Ever since he was a teenager and found himself falling for the cat, he had dreamed of her—of this moment.

She was a thief.

A pretty thief who had stolen his heart all those years ago whether she knew it or not.

He needed air.

He was the first to break away from the kiss and they stared at each other in silence.

She was breathtaking with her flushed cheeks and the small pants she let out as she tried to regain air.

He cupped her cheeks as he came down from his high.

God, he wanted to kiss her again…and again…and again…and again until he forgot how to breathe or how to form a coherent thought or sentence.

He wanted her like air.

Kitty was the first to break the silence as she removed her hands from Dick’s shoulders and placed a hand on his chest, giving him a small and light push to create some distance.

“So, uh…that happened.”

Dick removed his own hands from her face, “master of words.” He said he poked her side playfully, causing Kitty to let out a small squeak of surprise.

“H-Hey—!”

“Oh so you can handle all the flirting but you draw the line at poking?” Dick mused with a smirk.

Kitty used all her strength to push Dick harshly which caused him to tumble back onto the rooftop, but he caught himself on his elbows. He grinned, “strike another nerve?”

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” Dick said as he sat up and tried to cup her cheeks again.

Just one more—.

Kitty shoved his hands away, “you practically assaulted me.”

“How?”

“You kissed me without my consent,” Kitty answered as she flicked Dick’s forehead. “That’s assault.”

He rubbed the spot she flicked once she pulled away from him. “Was it that bad?”

She crossed her arms with a huff, “of course it was.”

Dick playfully scoffed and dropped his hand, “yeah cuz you totally didn’t kiss me back.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on patrol or something?”

“And aren’t you supposed to be stealing something?”

“Not tonight.”

“Oh yeah? Why not?”

“Cuz,” she trailed off with flushed cheeks and a meek voice. “I think I’ve been stolen.”

Dick’s breath caught in his throat at her words but he quickly composed himself, “I’m a thief now?”

“Role reversal I guess.”

Did she even realize how charming she was?

“And if I don’t return it?”

“I would typically claw your eyes out.” She then softly smiled, “but I don’t know anymore.”

Dick’s gaze softened beneath his domino mask at her admission. His heart sped a little and in that moment the only word he could muster out was her name—her real name.

She was speechless at how he said her name, her real name. It wasn’t often she called anything but her code name Kitty, but with how he said it like a prayer?

It caused her to shiver.

“Yes?”

He shifted his body to fully face her as he took in her appearance. Her eyes sparkled under the moonlight, her hair flowed gently in the cool midnight breeze…

She was breathtaking, and he was in love with her.

He loves her.

It was something he had known for years now. But it suddenly hit him how much and how deeply his love ran for her…

Bruce taught him and lead by example.

Don’t get involved with cats, and keep relationships at arms length or better yet, don’t have one.

But how could he keep an arms length relationship or not have one at all when he was a lover boy?

Stolen glances, brief touches, compliments, playful banter that could easily be mistaken for flirting—he was in love.

Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson, the formal Robin and now Nightwing was foolishly, idiotically and hopelessly in love.

“Can we..?” Dick trailed off, “what if we stopped playing this game?”

“Meaning..?”

He stopped for a moment.

Was this really happening?

Was he about to confess his love to her?

Was he really going to confess how weak he was for Y/N?

Yes.

He was tired of this same song and dance they had preformed for years, even if the two of them hadn’t fully understood it themselves.

All it took was a kiss, and he suddenly realized how much he loved her.

He understood how much he wanted to touch her and kiss her until he ran out of breath.

“What if we stopped this whole…cat and bird thing?”

“Which would make us..?”

His gloved hands gently grabbed hers, and for once, he dropped the playfully persona and focused on how her hands seemed to fit perfectly in his own.

He focused on her.

He focused on the now.

“I want this to be more than a silly game…I want to be yours, and I want you to be mine.”

There he said it.

He brought her hands up to her mouth and gently kissed them.

“I want to be able to kiss you without holding back. I want to be able to hold you and call you mine. I want to take you on dates and—.”

“Me?”

“You.” He took a breath in to calm his nerves. “I love you, Y/N and I’ve loved you for years now.”

And then, she kissed him.

He had expected plenty of responses from her, but a kiss was far from his mind.

He expected her to laugh and turn him down.

He expected her to yell at him.

He expected her…not to kiss him.

It was short kiss but one that held so much passion.

She pulled away, “but if you want me so bad…” she stood up. “You’ll have to catch me first.”

And then, she took off into the Blüdhaven night, her figure being seen running and jumping away from him.

From Gotham City to Blüdhaven.

From Robin to Nightwing.

Richard ‘Dick’ Grayson was hopelessly in love…

[gothamite-rambler]

Days in the League of Assassins and being a babysitter: Little Damian, 5 y.o.

Jason and young Damian were in a training room, tasked with fighting each other so Ra's al Ghul could train his grandson.

Ra’s (frustrated): Jason, you’ve been standing there for fifteen minutes. Spar! Begin!

Jason (flatly while checking his fingernails for any hang nails): No.

Ra’s: I need to see if he can fight! Fight the boy, he can handle it!

Little Damian held up his tiny fists, circling them around and ready to fight. Jason shook his head with a smile making Damian pause and sway back and forth.

Jason: This is fucked up, and I’m not doing it. Don’t say fucked, Damian.

Damian nodded silently. He looked down at his shoes, opening and closing them as if he were a penguin.

Jason (holding his arm out towards Damian): I’m not attacking him. He’s not at the piss-me-off age yet!

Ra’s: Allah, give me patience. You’re not around him all the time, I am! He's a true terror most of the time. Just look at that face!

Jason glanced at Damian, who slowly blinked frog-like, then waved at his brother.

Jason (sarcastic): Uh-huh, real demon child. Looks like he'll suck my soul. Well… he is related to you.

Ra’s: اذهب إلى الجحيم — that’s a compliment if anything! Don’t repeat the first part, Damian.

Damian: Okay. Akhi Jason, what’s that on your shoe?

Jason looked down at his shoes, confused, only to be met with a staff to the head. He winced, clutching his sore head, ready to fight, until he realized it was Damian who had hit him.

Damian (snickering): Got you. Now fall down or be prepared for another bop to the head!

Jason rolled his eyes but dramatically fell to the ground to give Damian the win. The little boy pressed his foot on Jason’s arm, triumphant.

Damian: I win!

Ra’s: That doesn’t—

Jason: Ra’s, finish that sentence, and I’m shooting you in the kneecaps!

Ra's: Oh, fine! Damian, you win. Adequate job.

Jason (handing Damian candy from his pocket): Here ya go.

Damian (happy): A fruit chew!

Ra's: Stop giving him American sweets!

[warrior-of-storms]

Okay but do you know what really gets me?

There's no one left in-universe who can or will talk about Jaybin as he really was.

Bruce is the founder of the Jaybin Slander Department;

Alfred is no better.

Dick wasn't around much, didn't know him that well.

If Barbara ever interacted with him in his original run, I haven't found it yet.

I mean, he had some interactions with the Teen Titans, but was he really close with any of them?

I suppose Gordon could, assuming he isn't in on the Jason-bashing. I haven't seen it but I could be missing something.

And, well, Jason... somehow, I don't think anyone's asking Jason what he was like as a kid, nor is he really a reliable source. Autobiographical memory is weird.

No one in-universe will ever really talk about this bright, friendly, eager kid, and it's a tragedy.

He was smart and clever and had so much compassion.

He wanted so badly to help people, and he found joy in his work as Robin.

He had a dramatic flair and he was kind of a nerd and he was really funny on occasion.

He was so deeply, fundamentally good, and the fact that somehow his legacy has been twisted into one of anger and recklessness is honestly a crime.

It makes me so desperately sad that there's not a single character who can even start to undo the lasting damage of a four-decade smear campaign against a kid who did nothing to deserve it.

[remcadll]

Wow crazy how it’s been two months since mha ended. what the hell was that btw

[stealingyourbones]

I THINK it would be nice if Barry Allen got smacked into an Amity Park dimension and had to like. Figure his own way out. Get enough lose change to meet his dietary needs. Find somewhere to squat. Just this dude and his wits and his ability to be Totally Normal about whatever the hell is going on. Sure. Ghosts are real now. There's a portal...somewhere? In some family home downtown? Do they never shut it off...???

How hard would it be to, say, do a little recon...? He has to get back, duh, and this couple seems to have figured it out, so...

Meanwhile Danny has the abrupt realization that someone is occasionally in his house. What the hell kind of ghost is this.

.

[batboopp]

[arcade-confetti]

"Jason was the happy robin" this, "jason was the angry robin" that. Let's all be fully honest here Jason was the lonely robin

[lady-corrine]

My "hottest take" is that I don't wish for a dickkory return in canon because absolutely nothing and no one from current DC could ever equal, let alone surpass, the amazing content that this fandom has created and keeps creating for dickkory. From the art, the fics, the fanart comics — they are all absolutely beautiful and do so much justice to Kory and Dick as a couple and as individual characters in a way DC never can. And ultimately dickkory is insanely popular, so their status in current comics did not affect the public's opinion on them, being largely irrelevant to everyone. 🤷‍♀️

[mynameisjag]

For @babbling-babull and their prompt!

Plastic Man gets mistaken for a ghost.

Hope you enjoy it.

“Under the Ecto-Acts, you must surrender and give yourself up for extermination and experimentation!”

Plastic Man just sighed as he sagged like a wet noodle on the light post he was on top off, “Jeez, you guys are relentless.”

White suited men had their guns aimed up at him, they had been nonstop on their hunt of him which was more annoying then anything else.

Like come on already!

The first group he had taken out by wrapping around them and taking them for a spin as a giant ball, the second group he took out with the first in a game of bowling ball. Then there was the two who rudely interrupted his lunch at the diner and boy did they not care for being juggled out the door.

Taking the form of one of the vans steering wheels and trapping them inside as the kept going around and around and around a turn about probably didn’t help.

The suits in that escapade went from white to a mix of colors after all the spinning got to them.

Also the pickpocketing…so much pickpocketing…actually they might be after him more for that then these so called Ecto-Acts…which sounded fake. No one in the League ever mentioned them before.

Speaking of which, he can hear the faint buzz of a com link beeping at him to connect, “Yellow! Plastic here!”

He brought one of his hands closer to his face, forming his hand into shape of a googled eyed Flash as the man began speaking, “Plastic Man, hi! Um, so, yeah, there are no laws or Ecto-Acts, no-one knows what those men are talking about.”

“Well, they sure act like they knew what they were talking about,” he extended an eyeball out like telescope, eyeing the group below as the continued on their rant.

“Yeah, so, there’s an investigation now, think you can round them up and get them ready for transport?”

Patrick popped everything back into place, now standing on top of the light pole like Superman, “Are you kidding me, I can do it faster then you can get here!”

He precede to slinky his way down, his presence signaling the men to start shooting and missing ever shot.

“I’ll take that bet!”

It was a bet that Flash lost…he was always late to the party and this time would be no different.

[hayaku14]

pushing daisies kaishin au #2

pushing daisies au where shinichi has been able to revive dead animals, plants, even people since he was a child.

kudou "i can literally talk to the dead" shinichi

shinichi's parents didn’t exactly encouraged him to use this power. especially not in public. they’ve seen him revive and re-kill dead plants and animals in the same breath, it doesn’t take a detective to figure out what could happen near a human corpse.

but a young shinichi is curious, a young shinichi admired his father, and a young shinichi wanted to prove himself a detective. but most of all, a young shinichi wanted to help.

so when he saw his father struggle in solving a particular case, a young shinichi figured that maybe asking straight from the source would help give them a hint.

the complete horror in yusaku's eyes shinichi saw that day made him promise himself to never do it again.

shinichi realizes later on that reviving someone just for a clue on the whos, hows, and whys of their death only to touch them again, to basically kill them again, is sick and twisted and the realization leaves him feeling raw and dirty.

he then decides that if he’s gonna find out the truth, if he’s gonna bring justice, it’s not by making the victims suffer a second death. he will unravel the mystery not by magic but by logic.

the curious case of kuroba kaito

hakuba immediately contacts shinichi.

“he was...a friend. if i have to gather all the best detectives to catch his murderer then so be it.”

hakuba goes on to explain.

it was a kid heist. shots were fired. snipers. kaitou kid was caught on camera falling, as if he’d been shot, but he appears a minute later flying away on his glider with not a speck of blood on his suit. all should be well however, a few buildings away in an alleyway, the body of kuroba kaito is found dead. gunshots through the heart and chest.

a simple explanation would’ve been that the glider was a fake activated by kid’s assistant as a last ditch effort to save his legacy and this kuroba kaito was kaitou kid himself. he would’ve said it out loud but by the look on hakuba’s face, he can tell that he already connected those dots long before shinichi even stepped foot in the morgue. that wasn’t what hakuba called him for.

“can i...take a look at the body alone?”

hakuba raises an eye at him but moves to leave without questioning. "alright then. i have to check on another friend anyway. she's been...distraught ever since she heard the news and..." hakuba's words trail away as his eyes unconsciously drifted towards kuroba kaito's covered body. shinichi patiently waits through the quiet pain that he sees on hakuba. the pinch in his brows, the tenseness of his body. he must've been a really good friend.

hakuba shakes his head and turns his attention back to shinichi. "sorry, i...its been a long day. i'll leave you here then. call me if you find anything."

left alone, shinichi carefully zips open the body bag covering kaitou kid's upper body. he looked eerily similar to himself and imagining his own body cold and dead in the morgue sent a shiver down his spine. shaking his head, he pulls a chair close and reads through the file hakuba brought him.

"no witnesses. no camera. not a trace nor lead to anything. just some reports on mysterious gunshots in previous heists that lead to nowhere." they were professionals, whoever did this, shinichi thought. it was not going to be an easy case.

he takes another peek at the body. so this was kaitou kid, huh. too young to be the same as the one before his hiatus. perhaps a successor? motive could be related to his predecessor. his mother hasn't said anything of interest. does she really not know or is she protecting him? he runs his hand through his hair. there's too little information to go on...unless...

temptation rears its head. the source of information is right there in front of him. one touch and it could open up new leads to the case. an immediate disgust twists deep into his gut. he promised himself to never use it on people. to never kill. his father's haunted eyes embedded in his mind. he shouldn't. he really shouldn't. but he remembers the anguished look on hakuba's face. if he was going to do it, this might be the only good time. any longer and his touch would not revive kid. and gone along with him would be vital information to catch his murderer.

shinichi heaves a deep sigh. he has never used his abilities on dead people since that one incident as a child but he couldn't shake off the look on hakuba's face. it was now or never. shinichi reaches for kid's hand.

---

pushing daisies au #1

[yap-city]

I love that Kon puts the choice back in her hands. Doesn’t tell her not to kill him, doesn’t tell her there’s a right or wrong answer. Just makes her take a second to think and then hands the power back to her.

I feel like if anyone else on the team had caught that arrow, things would have escalated. I think Bart and Cassie would have tried to talk, but stopped her with force if necessary. Tim would be going on about trusting her to make “the right choice,” talking about how this is “a line you can’t cross.” Tim might hand her that arrow back, but only once he was sure she wouldn’t fire it.

But that’s not what Kon does. I have no doubt he wants Cissie to show mercy here, but he’s doesn’t try to force that on her.

Kon has made a lot of mistakes. His debut in The Death of Superman, especially, has him fucking up a lot. People get hurt—some people get killed—because Kon is reckless and impulsive and stupid.

And over and over again in that arc, other heroes responded to that by lecturing him. By telling him he was just a kid, that he couldn’t be trusted to make his own choices. Kon, fresh out of Cadmus and experiencing free will for the first time in his brief existence, did not react well to everyone threatening to take away what little choices he had.

Now, let’s talk about Cissie—forced into this life by her mother, trained to be a hero basically since birth. In YJ #7, Cissie admits that she doesn’t even know if she likes being Arrowette. She’s been living her mother’s dream so long, she doesn’t even know who she is anymore—“I have no idea how much of what’s in my head is from her or from me, or if there’s any ‘me’ left.”

She’s had her whole life decided for her, but this—this impulsive revenge plot where she’s chasing her friend’s murderer through the woods—this is her choice. She’s not thinking about what her mother would want, what her team would want. She’s not thinking at all.

Kon knows what it’s like to rush in without thinking, to be so overwhelmed with anger and grief and the need to do something. He’s knows Cissie’s not herself right now, she’ll probably regret this—but the last thing she needs is yet another person telling her how to feel.

So he doesn’t fight her. He doesn’t lecture her. Doesn’t even tell her, “hey, maybe you shouldn’t kill this unarmed civilian. Maybe you should consider the possibility that this won’t help you with your grief.”

Instead, he does what he wishes someone had done for him. He hits pause on the moment. Talks to Cissie like an equal, like a friend. He asks her “Stop. Think. Is this what you want?”

And then he hands the reigns back to her. He trusts her enough to put the power back in her hands.

Maybe she’ll still kill this guy. If she does, at least her and Kon can both take solace in the fact that she stopped to consider another option. At least she’ll know she’s finally doing something because she wants to, not because yet another choice was ripped away from her.

[raynewolferune]

Meta Jazz, the Arkham Intern Therapist Pt 2.1

Note: The writing bug bit me while wading through the comments and replies so you guys get more! 😁 Special thanks to @the-scarecrow-of-aus & @starlightcat04 for helping spark this continuation!

Also, so you're not confused, this part is from Kon's POV and backtracks to before the Bane incident to explain how Kon started going undercover in Arkham. Pt 2.2 has the Bane incident from Kon's POV.

~*~*~

When Kon got the call from Tim asking if he'd be willing to do a favor for him, he hadn't expected it to be an undercover assignment in the infamous Arkham Asylum itself.

"You want me to do what?" He asked staring at Tim in disbelief once he reached the Nest to debrief.

"Go undercover as a new guard in Arkham." Tim repeated with a deadpan expression looking over his shoulder at Kon from his computer chair. Holy fuck, his eyebags were bad. 

"Have you slept in the past week, Tim?" Kon asked, taking in his best friend's appearance.

Tim frowned at the question. 

"I don't see how that's relevant but yes." He answered, heartbeat unchanging. Which didn't really mean anything since it was Tim but Kon decided he'd believe him. 

For now. 

Kon sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Okay, I'll do it." He said. "Can you tell me why we need someone undercover at least?" 

Tim eyes widened, startled by the question like he was surprised Kon didn't know yet even though Tim hadn't told him yet. Okay, deep breaths, calm down, Tim clearly hasn't slept in at least two days. Kon coached himself as his temper flared up at the evidence that Tim wasn't taking care of himself again. All the Supers agreed: sometimes you just wish you could beat some sense into the Bats and make them take care of themselves like normal human beings.

"Ah. Right." Tim said, turning back to the computer and pulling up some files as he explained. "Two thing have occured within roughly fifteen days of each other that together are rather suspicious. First, Dr. Thomas Rylie, Jonathan Crane's undergraduate roommate and classmate throughout undergrad and grad school, was hired to work as one of the new in house psychiatrists at Arkham Asylum. They also got their doctorates from the same school during the same time frame and both focused on the impact fear has on the brain. Dr. Rylie's focus was on fear conditioning and Dr. Crane's focus was on fear responses." Well, that sounds suspicious. 

"Second, Gotham University lost their minds and began an undergraduate and graduate internship program partnering with Arkham Asylum." 

Kon went cold. They did what?

Pictures of the Asylum, University, and three people -presumably Scarecrow, Dr. Rylie, and a young woman- filled the computer screen now. 

"The internship program has only one applicant so far and she'd already started working at the Arkham. Her name is Jasmine Fenton and her background is...sparse, to say the least." Tim turned in his chair to face Kon.

"I'm too recognizable in Gotham and among the rogues to successfully go undercover in Arkham so I've set you up with an apartment and ID as 'Kyle Jennings.' You're scheduled to start work at Arkham as a new guard tomorrow morning."

"Okay," Kon said with a nod. "What do you need confirmed? What are the primary objectives?" He prodded Tim again since his friend's sleep deprived brain seemed to think that was enough information for debriefing. It wasn't. Definitely not. A lot was implied but it wouldn't be the first time Tim had completely different intentions than what Kon had understood from his briefing. Sleep deprived Tim frequently assumed others could read his mind or something. Sleep deprived Tim was wrong.

"We need to determine if Dr. Rylie is here working for Scarecrow as part of some new scheme. We need to determine if Jasmine Fenton is complicit. We need to know if Gotham U is also in on it. And we need to find out what exactly Scarecrow is the planning." Tim stated automatically as he ticked each one off on his fingers.

"Got it. Guess I'll head over to my new apartment then and start prepping for tomorrow." Kon said, heading towards the exit. Tim hummed in agreement waving a hand in his direction as he left. That dumbass was probably already absorbed in the next case. Kon sighed, hopefully Tim would at least pass out sometime later tonight.

~*~*~

Kon's first day at Arkham wasn't anything special. He didn't see Jasmine, Dr. Rylie, or Scarecrow. He didn't see any rogues or doctors at all. It was just a really Gotham kind of orientation. 

"This is where we keep a cache of stun grenades, long-range scope rifles, tranquilizer rounds, and rubber bullets." His new supervisor and guide through orientation, Alex Fhizer, said as he showed Kon how to access, inventory, lock, and re-conceal the cache. "Everytime you pass by a cache on patrol, you will check the inventory again and sign off on it with the date and time. If anything is different from the previous inventory entry, you will immediately radio the tower and the island will be put on lockdown." Greyish Hazel eyes peered out of a weathered face staring Kon down. "You will never neglect to inventory a cache while on patrol. You will never neglect to report an inventory discrepancy. The first time you do you will be fired immediately and you can count yourself damn lucky if that's all that happens to you." 

Fhizer was intense, man.

"Yes, Sir." Kon answered. Fhizer's hard look lasted another long moment before the older man gave a firm nod and continued showing Kon the ropes.

~*~*~

The second day was no where near as chill as the first. Hell, his brain was already starting to warp, there hadn't been anything chill about that orientation.

Kon started his second day by boarding the Arkham transport bus with the rest of the staff and early morning visitors to the island. That was where he saw Jasmine Fenton in the flesh for the first time. 

She has got to be part Amazonian, was his first thought upon seeing her. She was around 6ft tall with a thick mane of red hair tightly braided reaching all the way down to her waist. Jasmine was wearing teal stud earrings, a silver bangle type bracelet on her left wrist, a white blouse, black slacks, and black flats. She carried a small, clear purse that only held a small notepad, pen, house key, chapstick, and a thin teal wallet that presumably contained her IDs, debit cards, and a small amount of cash. Damn, she was tall.

Kon's concentration was broken by the quiet sound of metal crunching slightly beneath his fingers. He immediately loosened his grip on the hand rail, checking for damage with a wince. He breathed a soft sigh of relief when he saw the damage was almost entirely unnoticeable to the naked eye. He'd have to mind his strength more closely. Kon was too used to the farm and facilities that were all reinforced to handle casual use from people with super strength. 

Tim's notes indicated Arkham wasn't reinforced for super strength anywhere. Not even along the outer walls. The facility had opted to use suppression collars on their meta inmates instead since they were cheaper and easier to repair and replace according to the official reports. However, Tim's notes had also mentioned that Arkham had reinforced the outer walls to account for super strength at one point. They'd poured nearly every dime the facility could spare into the project for months until the Joker himself had taken it personally. The madman had absolutely obliterated the reinforced outer walls until no part of them remained standing. Given Joker had destroyed the walls without having any meta powers at all and his history of viciously attacking -damn near mauling- anyone that tried to put him in a straight jacket, Kon didn't really blame Arkham for stopping while they were ahead.

Kon looked up as the bus jolted to a stop. The other passengers filing off around him. He watched as Jasmine Fenton was met by Dr. Rylie in front of the bus as he waited to disembark. 

"Ms. Jasmine!" Dr. Rylie greeted her enthusiastically with a broad open grin and beaming eyes. He reached towards her with both arms, hands open and she reached back. Their right hands clasped as their left hands landed on the other's upper arms as the two greeted one another openly. Kon wasn't very familiar with intern-mentor relationships nor what would be considered normal or professional for them, but it looked like a rather affectionate greeting for them having been strangers two weeks ago. That was strange, wasn't it? Was Tim right to be worried about them?

"Ms. Jasmine is the first and only applicant for Dr. Rylie, Director Keener, and Dean Byle's hairbrained idea to hire more doctors for this place." One of the older guards that had been standing just behind him on the bus explained having apparently noticed Kon watching the pair.

"They just seemed rather affectionate for Gotham." Kon shrugged dismissively as he turned to look over his shoulder at his new colleague. The shorter man laughed.

"A bit, yeah." He agreed. "I think Dr. Rylie is just desperate for this program to work out." He continued as they finally managed to get off the bus. Dr. Rylie and Ms. Fenton were gone now. "Pretty much everyone's been treating her like a princess." 

"That doesn't seem fair to everyone else." Kon commented, dropping back a bit to let the older man lead the way to the guards room for morning debriefing and to get their assignments. He'd already memorized the layouts but 'Kyle Jennings' shouldn't have yet.

"Who cares about fair as long as it works?" The guard answered. "If treating her like a princess scores more interns for the program in the long run, and if one intern every year ends up interested in sticking around, I'll be happy to cater to every single one of them." He confessed, stopping in the middle of the hall to turn and face Kon directly. Kon glimpsed the name Ryans as the silver name badge flashed the briefly reflecting the overhead lights. "You non-gothamites just don't get it. We're desperate for whatever help we can get." 

"That's why I applied here." Kon lied. "Going to school across the bay, I heard a lot about what went down over here while I was in college. I want to help." 

Ryans gave a short solemn nod then turned and led the rest of the way to the break room. 

~*~*~

Day four undercover was when Kon officially met Jasmine Fenton. 

Everything had been going well so far with his undercover assignment. He'd settled in to the role of Kyle Jennings, been getting along well with his new coworkers including Ryans and Fhizer, and hadn't yet managed to screw up inventorying the caches during the outer patrol loops. That being said, Kon was having other issues.

The worst part of being an unstable Kryptonian clone was that his strength tended to fluctuate. It normally wasn't much of an issue when he was surrounded by reinforced everything in his daily life but here at Arkham it was becoming a problem. Case in point, Kon thought to himself with an exhausted groan as his freshly made coffee mug shattered in his hand.

"Oh come on." He sighed snatching a handful of paper towels from the counter and bending to wipe up the coffee and ceramic shards on the floor. At least he was the only one in the room when it shattered. The door clicked softly behind him and Kon jumped twisting to look. 

Jasmine Fenton stood behind him having just closed the door to the break room after entering.

"What happened here?" She asked, sounding bewildered with slightly wide eyes as she took in the mess on the floor. Thank God. She didn't see it.

"Guess I was a bit more tired than I thought." He said with a forced laugh in order to hide his nerves. "Slipped right through my fingers."

She nodded, accepting his words at face value. 

"I've done that more than a few times close to finals." She admitted. "You guys have 10 hour shifts, right? You must be exhausted. When's your next day off?"

"The day after tomorrow." Kon said. "This is day 3 for me since orientation doesn't count."

"You get 2 days off followed by an on-call day, right?" She asked.

"Right," Kon agreed. "AKA 2 days of freedom and a day chained to the Bowery." He joked.

"Absolutely terrible, they may as well put an ankle monitor on you." She cracked back grinning. Kon snickered. The door opened again.

"I see you found another non-gothamite here." Dr. Rylie said striding into the break room with a wide grin.

"Sounds like that makes three of us." Kon agreed. Outside of Joker, he had never seen a gothamite grin that wide in his life.

"Dr. Thomas Rylie, a pleasure to meet you." Dr. Rylie introduced himself holding out his hand to shake. Kon shook his hand as gently as possible, mindful his strength was on the fritz.

"Kyle Jennings, nice to meet you. I just started as a guard earlier this week." He said then held his hand out to shake Jasmine's.

"Jasmine Fenton, I'm an intern therapist. This is my second week here." She greeted with a warm smile shaking Kon's hand. She didn't say anything about being glad to meet him, Kon noted. It wasn't exactly strange behavior but something made him take note of it anyway. Like by not saying it she was saying she hadn't decided whether meeting him was a good or bad thing yet. Dr. Rylie didn't seem to notice anything off with the interaction though as he went about making his own coffee. The three of them made idle small talk as they made their own coffees. Once his new cup was ready, Kon bid them both goodbye and went on his way. While they were his main objective, lingering too long this early into their aquantiantship would probably be strange.

He had several other small friendly interactions with both of them over the next few days. Taking the time for greetings, small talk, and sharing small bits of casual background info from Kyle Jennings's past to encourage them both to open up to him. He also broke a clipboard, two more coffee cups, several pens, and a doorknob during that time as his strength continued to fluctuate. The doorknob had been particularly embarrassing. He had gone to open the door for Jasmine when he saw her with her arms full of files and somehow managed to twist it in such a way that the screws holding it in place sheered off and the knob came off in his hand. Collins, his partner for building patrol that day, burst out laughing hysterically as Kon stared at the doorknob in horror.

"No worries, man." Collins said, clapping Kon on the shoulder still snickering. "Someone else probably broke it and put it back so they wouldn't get scolded or something."

"Yeah," Kon said with a nervous laugh. "That must be what happened."

Jasmine's eyes flicked between the two of them then she grinned.

"And here I thought you just really hated that door." She teased Kon. He felt his face heat up as Collins laughed at him again.

"It is an ugly door." Collins agreed enthusiastically smirking.

"Terribly ugly. Hideous even," Jasmine said with a smile.

"Possibly even traumatizing to behold," Collins continued to smirk.

"You've got me. I have a deep rooted traumatic fear of metal taupe doors." Kon deadpanned ears burning. Jasmine snickered as Kon got the door open for her and they went their separate ways.

~*~*~

"What have you found so far?" Tim asked. Kon did not have the words to express how much he didn't want to be at the Nest at 3am on his first day off from undercover work. If it was anyone other than Tim he wouldn't have even answered the phone.

"Literally nothing," Kon said dryly. "I am still the newest of newbies at Arkham. I practically spent the whole week being babysat by senior guardsmen." He sighed, reminding himself that it wasn't Tim's fault that he was a little insomniac goblin and that Kon really did love his friend and would be sad if he hurt Tim's feelings. Eventually. When he woke up again in the morning. "I did start befriending them both though. It's slow going since we're in different areas but nearly being the only non-gothamites there seems to be helping me make some headway at least." 

There was one other non-gothamite on staff, a medical nurse named Sharon Earley. She was in her mid-thirties and the most sour and unpleasant person Kon had had the displeasure of meeting so far on Arkham's staff. Not that Kon could blame her for that. Not when she had several large ragged scars spanning from her chin and down both of her arms from when Zsazz had gotten hold of her alone after dark her second year at Arkham. It was a damn miracle she'd survived him. Kon didn't know how she managed it but he wouldn't try to find out either. Ryans had taken him aside right before he first met Nurse Earley and warned him not to stare or ask about any of it and then explained the bare basics of what happened to her after they'd left. 

Tim probably had a file with every detail of that night as well as information about Sharon Earley's life both before and after that night somewhere on his computer. The thought made Kon nauseous. 

"Good, good," Tim said absently as he updated the mission file on his computer. The keys clicked so rapidly that Kon again reconsidered whether or not his best friend had super speed. "Better to keep them from suspecting than to rush in anyway." 

"Exactly." 

Tim continued asking questions about every little detail he could think of concerning Dr. Rylie, Jasmine Fenton, and the rogues currently in Arkham.

"They don't let me near those guys yet. I'm too new." Kon said when Tim asked if Scarecrow looked to be plotting more than usual.

"They don't?" Tim sounded surprised, going so far as to stop typing so he could turn and stare at Kon. The clone was amused to note something about his statement had managed to wake Tim up enough to be visibly shocked instead blank-faced with exhaustion.

"Of course not," Kon answered trying to keep the amusement from his voice as much as possible. "As many times as your rogues have broken out they're leary of letting new hires near them in case they're goons in disguise." 

Tim sank back into his chair looking like Kon had uprooted his whole world by proving the Earth really was flat via actual science.

"That's impossible." Tim said sounding faint. "Everytime there's a mass breakout, we always hear that some of the guards helped them escape. How?..." He trailed off, eyes darting rapidly like he was tracking lines of an invisible conspiracy board in the air in front of him. Kon shrugged, uncomfortable with this new information.

"Scuttlebutt is that the people helping them escape are visitors. The guards get blamed because the goons visit wearing clothes similar to the guard uniform from a distance. All blue polo shirts and black pants look similar at a distance." Kon explained. "It also doesn't help that the guards can't really do much to stop the escape attempts since they only have stun grenades, tranquilizer darts, batons, low voltage tazers, and rubber bullets to fight back with. So as long as enough people are involved in the escape attempt at least some of them will make it out even if the guards manage to to tranquilize several of them." 

Tim still looked like Kon was blowing his mind. It was such a rare experience that Kon had to continue.

"Plus the tranquilizer darts and the rubber bullets have to be fired from different hardware." Kon told him. "Which sucks because you have to carry twice the amount of weight while chasing after the escapees which slows you down and it takes longer to swap between them."

There was something similar to mystified horror spreading across his friend's face now.

"Speaking if swapping between them, they have different ranges too." Kon continued gleefully. Half because it was fun wrecking Tim's worldview and half to actually impart the information. "Batons are short-range. Tranquilializer darts and stun grenades are mid-range. Rubber bullet riffles are long-range."

"If that's all it is, WE can fund then better gear to control the inmates." Tim interrupted turning back to the computer and swiftly typing out a list of things to send Arkham. Kon shook his head.

"That won't work." He disagreed gently. "They aren't failing because of the gear itself."

Tim turned back around to face him, confused. This was not going to be a fun conversation, Kon swallowed hard and forced himself to continue.

"The problem is that if you fire the rubber bullet riffles from mid or short range you could seriously injury or even kill the patient. If they get past mid-range, you'll miss them completely using tranquilizer darts or stun grenades. If you try to use either of those at short-range it'll be bad for you whether it's because they'll get hold of you before the tranquilizer knocks them out or because you'll stun yourself too."

Comprehension and trepidation began to dawn on Tim's face. He deflated in his chair, sinking lower and lower as he stared off into nowhere.

"You also can't hit them with more than one tranquilizer dart in a four hour window because you could accidently kill them that way. That also means even though you have a baton, you typically can't do enough damage to them to keept them from escaping because that might potentially kill them." Kon said completely solemn now as he relayed the information. "Because regardless of the reputation Arkham has or what the patients have done, it is still a hospital and they are still patients." 

Tim was staring directly at Kon now. Mouth open, face slack, eyes wide with a kind of numbed shock. Kon held his gaze.

"Yeah," Kon said after a moment. "Yeah, that's how I reacted too." He looked down, picking at his nails for a moment before forcing himself to stop and meet Tim's gaze again. "Phizer, my new 'boss', made sure to drill that into my head during orientation. 'Arkham's guards exist first and foremost to protect the patients. Arkham isn't supposed to be a prison. It's a medical facility. The patients are confined to the premises because their affliction has made them dangerous and they have to stay so that we can keep them and others safe from further harm. We are here to keep the patients and staff from hurting each other, themselves, or being hurt by people outside of Arkham's walls.' Not gonna lie, man." Kon said quirking a bitter grin as his did. "Hearing that kind of fucked me up a bit."

Tim sucked in a huge heaving breath then slowly let it out before he responded.

"I can't say I ever thought about it like that." He admitted in a soft strained voice. "Can't say I ever wanted to either." There was a bitter tinge to his words.

"Yeah, neither did I." Kon answered, shoulders slumping a bit. "Was there anything else you wanted to ask me? I kind of want to head back and sleep a bit."

Tim shook his head slowly.

"No, I think we're good at the moment." He said looking twice as exhausted and drained now as he did when Kon first got there. Kon nodded.

"Good night then. I'll see you later, man." He said, pushing off the wall he'd been leaning against and heading for the door.

"Be safe, Kon." Tim answered softly turning back to his computer.

[welcometogrouchland]

I'm going to be so real I do not understand tim & steph shippers who feel that Steph dating Tim again would save her character. You can make an argument that giving Tim a more compelling love interest would be beneficial for him! And you can at least make an argument that the fujo mischaracterization of Steph would stop. However she'd still, inevitably, be treated as a prop character/extension for someone more popular 😭 it also wouldn't make her appear in more books! Tim doesn't have many frequent appearances at the moment either! You can just say you like the couple and want them back together without acting like you have some kind of moral stance

[animatedmess]

Working on the first chapter of my first fanfic ever

It’s gonna be great

(Temporary title not yet determined lol)

(Also does anyone wanna beta read this once I finish?)

[royharperlargenaturals]

Every time some rebirth and animated batfam only completely mischaracterizes Wally, and erase how important Linda Park is to him by shoving Dick in as his favorite person, Dick’s parents death gets redrawn.

[jordan-allen-corps]

I literally didnt realise it was Halbarry week until today so, uh, I’m definitely in it this year I just completely forgot (FUCK) so I’ll probably post most of the fics after the actual due date but they’re being written!! Here’s the first one that’s mostly finished, following the Day Job/Night Life prompt.

”Just gimme—“ Barry glances behind him out the open door, zips to the frame, closes it with a soft click! and when Hal slips his pelvis through with a pop!, Barry is at his side in a blur, hair still whipping as he curls his fingers around Hal’s shoulders and feels the cold-warm touch of the construct uniform seep into his skin, tingling slightly. “What are you—?”

”A second, Bar—“

”Hal, I’m at work—“ Barry hisses through his teeth, reading his arms to tug Hal fully into the room. “People could see you—“

”Uh, uh,” Is all Hal says, the panel below him digging into his muscles painfully if his grimace is anything to go by. “Real convincing there, Allen.”

Of course, Hal doesn't care; if Barry is honest with himself, he doesn't either really, because this is Hal and he missed the guy and it's been a month since he saw him and damnit he’s willing to risk it a little. “Okay, just — get in here and gimme a hug— and keep it down.” And then, with a final tug, Barry heaves Hal through the window, slinging arms around him to catch when Hal slips on his feet — hit with the spark-tingle of the entire Corps uniform; helping him stand upright because sometimes Hal struggles with gravity a little once out of the vacuum of space. “Close the window behind you—“