#Tim is down to help too cause 'clone rights!'

[bluerosefox]

Eldritch Kidnappings

hmmmm a Kon/Danny/Tim idea? Maybe? Depends if anyone wanna ship all three but leaving it open ended (or if Tim is already dating Bernard just make it a Kon/Danny only?). AND a deaged Ellie.

Red Robin and Superboy (the original) were at a JL meeting. It was boring to be honest. Nothing to much was happening besides the normal stuff for all the heroes there. No big crises or world/universe ending danger.

Or at least it was...

Because not soon after a glowing green portal ripped opened and a large eldritch creature stuck its huge head and half of its body out. Every hero there went on high alert and into fighting stances, ready to defend the Watchtower. Once the creature was halfway in the room its eyes snapped opened, glowing near Lazarus Pit green colored but like brighter? neon?, and darted around the room before stopping right on Superboy.

Without warning or words the creature quickly reached out, using at first two arms/hands before more sprang out and swatted away heroes in the room that attacked. It quickly took a hold of Superboy who tired use his strength to get free but found the being stronger than him. Red Robin, in a panic to save his best friend (and crush, shhh maybe) quickly joined in but instead of being swatted away like the others gets snagged by a hand and soon found himself captured as well.

Just as quickly as the creature appeared, it retreated back into the still open portal, dragging the two with and not caring at all of the powers, fists, or shouting being thrown at it.

Then it was gone.

Leaving the JL in a panic.

-x-x-

"-And thats why I need your help! I understand its a lot to ask but please, any help will be welcomed." the eldritch being, or rather Danny Phantom begged as he worriedly glanced at them.

So... It turns out the eldritch being was a young halfa ghost hero named Phantom that needed their help stabilizing his clone/sister/maybe daughter?

She was apparently melting and needed stable DNA when he had rushed her to a ghost doctor and was told. But Danny had no clue how to stabilize a clone and the fruitloop that cloned him the notes were bare bones and frankly terrible. In his desperate need for help Danny had sought out clues/advice from his mentor who basically pointed him to Superboy and Red Robin in his frustrating riddling way.

Superboy's DNA had the stable cloning gene/code they needed. Red Robin was smart enough to help figure out a way to put it Danielle 'Elle' Phantom. (it also helped that he had dabbled into cloning during his... bad year)

So yeah, Danny in his panic to save his clone went full on eldritch monster and opened a portal during their meeting and dragged them to the Far Frozen where Ellie was currently suspended in a ecto healing pod and was now begging for their help, promising them anything if they helped out.

The catch? If they put Superboy's DNA in Ellie she'll de-age to her true age and no longer be a 'pure' clone.

Instead she'll be their (Danny and Conner's) kid.

[flamingpudding]

Dan's Rage Room

It all started as a little Joke for Danny. Jazz mentioned Dan needing a place to decompress and that resulted in Danny getting a crazy idea while he sat in the Buisness Class Course of his Highschool. It wasn't supposed to become a serious business but somehow the little warehouse in Amity Park he secured, through blackmailing Vlad cause the man owns him after all he was put through. Became an official big store, once Dani put up a sign saying 'Dan's Rage Room' as joke.

People of Amity Park apparently thought it was a legit store. And damn... Danny shouldn't have been as surprised as he was when more and more people appeared and asked how much an hour costed. It was Sam and Tucker that then convinced him to make it a legitimate Business, Jazz and his mother helped him fill out the form. And so 'Dan's Rage Room' became Danny's very own Business. Though he did try to push splitten ownership onto his clones/time selves/ cousins/ clone siblings / clone kids (It's complicated okay? Danny still hasn't figured out how to categorise Dan and Dani, but hey they were family.) But Dan and Dani refused to take any sort of owner ship, even when everything originally started as a place for Dan to unwind.

Eitherway his Business grew, and Danny ended up expanding to other cities, figuring out that if Amity Park's people needed this, others would too. With a bit of help and unwilling on his part teaching from Vlad. Danny opened up more Stores, Central City, Metropolis, Star City. Unintentionally Danny made enough money so much that he didn't knew what to do with it and suddenly felt a new kind of understanding for Sam. Despite being sure his parents likely already did that Danny made money Fonds for Jazz, Dan and Dani. He didn't have much hope to go to collage himself considering his grades but that was fine with him. (According to what clockwork let slip and he hadn't told anyone, he would become King of the Infinite realms anyway, no need for a college degree for that, right?)

And wenn his sister decided she wanted to go to university in Gotham, the most crime riddled city known? None of the three D's hesitated to follow. Danny opened another branch of 'Dan's Rage Room' deciding that would finance their live in Gotham and still be an outlet for Dan.

What Danny didn't expect was the amount of people that weren't just 'goons' like he expected paying to let loose in there. Not that he recognised them but some of Danny's new regulars made sure he knew who some of the apparent Big Names showing up to his store were.

Jason at first thought that a new drug place had opened up at the border to Crime Alley, but after observation and seeing not just Goons but also regular Gothamites frequenting the place. Jason gave it a cautious shot, he wallst into the place completely geared up as Red Hood expecting some muscular unkept drug dealer or something at the reception, but what he found was a boy that didn't look older than Tim, small lanky and looking weirdly tired. That took the wind out of his sails as he stared stunned at the kid for a moment.

"Ah... I see guns. A bullet room then? You seem new too, first time? An hour costs 50 bucks added 5 for every additional half an hour." The boy looked up briefly before looking back down at the book he was reading, muttering something about his sister making him visit online classes.

Jason was just about to say something when someone walked in behind him and he blinked. A fucking dump truck of muscle walked in flaming white hair looking ready to rip something apart. The kid didn't even look up as they held up a green card and the guy stomped past him into a door, Jason assumed lead to the... rage rooms?

It took a moment but once he composed himself again, Jason opened his mouth again only to get interrupted by a little girl stomping in next, screeching about a fruitloop and stupid galas and stupid boys. Again the boy at the reception didn't even loop up, holding another green card to the girl who then proceeded to go through the same door the other guy had.

Once again it took Jason a moment to compose himself again, before he spoke, gruff and voice modulated. "One hour... gun room." He would snoop around if he could but if this really was just a rage room business... well he had some unresolved frustrations with B stocked up he could let loose.

Jason quickly became a regular at that place, he kept visiting it, even when he found out some of their big Villains frequented the place too. Though apparently the Joker was band. One day a big ass sign appeared on the side of the building spelling out 'NO CLOWNS ALLOWED'. When he asked Danny, he had gotten to know the boy at the reception desk by now and found some uncanny resemblance to his little brother, the boy had just shrugged and said "I hate clowns." Laughter barked out of Jason for no reason and he took his regular room card chuckling a "You and me, and 99% of Gotham kid."

That place quickly became one of Jasons safe heavens. Even if he ever only went there in full Red Hood gear. This place helped him manage his rage and anger. Some of his siblings started to use that room too, he knew Damian went there too. In full Robin gear mind you but apparently they had a room where he could fully test out his swords skills. Good for the kid.

But what stung though was Bruce, that man still didn't trust the place, something about background checks not adding up.

Jason was going to refute that, that was until one day he noticed an unusual amount of white van all around Danny's store. And only moments after he entered the store guys completely and ridiculously dressed in white stormed the place holding what Jason thought was futuristic Guns at the Danny's head who appeared somewhat unfazed. Well no one could place Jason for pulling out his own gun and holding it onto the dressed in White guy's head while the man spewed some nonsense about ghosts and more. Like hell he was let these people destroy a new safe heaven.

If Jason spread the word in the underground and suddenly, villains, goons and gothamites as well as vigilantes (his overprotective brothers really, Dick was not going to let someone destroy a place his little wing and baby bat loved to frequent...) started a reverse hunt on people ridiculously dressed like them. It wasn't his doing. And he certainly loved the frustration it caused Bruce too, seeing as even Gordon and the police force, corrupt or not, were in on it too. Governmental institution or not, Jason would make sure the GIW would be going down soon enough.

[clockwayswrites]

City Pigeons Bleed Green Part 17

Somewhere in the back of Bruce’s mind, there a voice that was grateful that no one Bruce had slept with had experimented on their own child. With Talia and himself there were already lines that had been crossed, but what Danny had been through was another level of horrible. Which is why that tiny voice didn’t mater.

This wasn’t about Bruce, this was about Danny. Danny who looked ready to bolt again. Bruce reached out and placed his hand on Danny’s still cold cheek.

“Danny, being my clone doesn’t make being my son any less true.”

“That’s not—” Danny’s eyes welled with tears again and he leaned into the touch even as his foot scooted backwards. “That’s not how it works.”

“It does for us. Our family is messy. It’s complicated and confusing and… wonderful,” Bruce said. He spoke slowly both so that his words were clear, but also so that he could find the right words. “It’s a butler and orphans, assassins and demi-gods, sons and daughters and sometimes people who are neither. You being a clone is just one more thing in that mix. You’re still my son, if you’d like to be.”

“You can’t want me, I’m dead,” Danny insisted.

Jason set a pot down, loud enough that Danny’s eyes flickered to him.

“Kid, Danny, that doesn’t mater,” Jason said in a carefully controlled tone. “It’s the same as I’ve said before, they all know I died.”

Danny’s eyes widened, causing the tears to sleep free. He blinked rapidly.

“…Oh.”

-

They’re sat around the living room, each with their own mug of hot chocolate, even Bruce Wayne— even… well, Danny supposed it would be Tim Drake-Wayne, once he had shown up. He had flown through the door as he spoke through gulped breaths of air. He didn’t have a domino on either. They all sipped slowly at their drinks.

They were waiting for him to talk.

Talking seemed an insurmountable challenge.

Danny took another sip of the hot chocolate and licked the sugar sprinkle bat from his lips. He didn’t look at them as he spoke.

“Dick Grayson, Jason Wayne, Tim Drake-Wyane. Cassandra Wayne… Duke Thomas, and Damian Wayne. I don’t know Spoiler or Oracle. I only… I looked up Bruce Wayne on a library computer after I ran. That’s why I know.”

“Close friends of the family,” Mr. Wayne said.

“And ex-girlfriends,” Night— Dick spoke up.

“Right. Red— Tim said him and Spoiler had dated.” Danny mumbled. He glanced over at Hood from under his bangs. Hood… Jason? Hood. Too many changes. Hood hadn’t said anything since he had revealed everything.

He must have noticed Danny looking though, because he sent a melancholy smile Danny’s way. “I get it. We kept a really huge piece of information from you, but we didn’t lie. When we said you had us no matter what Bruce Wayne did, we meant it.”

“But he’s your dad.”

“And that means we're all very good at not listening to him,” Tim said proudly.

Mr. Wayne just gave an amused snort at that.

“Dandelion,” Hood said, ignoring his family, “the first time that you looked up at Red and I we both clocked who you were instantly.”

“Not the clone part,” Red added.

This time it was Danny who gave a little snort.

(Fuck, they even snorted the same.)

Hood just flicked Red off. Tim. “Sure, not the clone part.”

“Because someone wouldn’t let me take DNA,” Tim interrupted again.

“It’s corrupted anyways,” Danny said and suddenly all eyes were on him again. He ducked his head down into a shrug. “From my death. This form I guess it would match enough? But my ghost form wouldn’t be any help.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Tim said softly. “But also Hood was right, you didn’t deserve us doing that to you right then, even if I just wanted to help. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t know that you came from Bruce. You just came from him in a different way than we thought.”

“You were family right away, kid,” Hood said. “If didn’t matter your name or pronouns or history or if you’ve died or even that you’re a clone. As soon as we got a good look at you, you were family.”

Danny could feel the tears coming again and he wiped at his eyes in frustration. He wanted to just stop crying today.

“You could have been wrong,” Danny said. They didn’t get it, why didn’t they get it?

“Could have. But you were still a hurt kid that needed help,” Hood said.

“You don’t need blood to be family,” Dick said. “Me and Jason and Tim and Cass and Duke… Alfred, none of have blood with each other or Bruce and Damian. If you had turned out to not be related to Bruce at all? Well, you were already family.”

The tears came now and Danny couldn’t stop them. The hot chocolate was taken carefully from his hands by Jason while Dick pulled him into a hug.

“I don’t— I don’t get it,” Danny said through the sobs. “Why can you all— why can you all love me after a month when they— when my— when the people that were supposed to be my parents never did?”

“Danny—”

“They killed me!” Danny roared. He was shaking now and Dick help him tighter. “They made me just to kill me and cut me into pieces! I was their son! I was…. I was their son. Why couldn’t they love me?”

Between one blink and the next Mr. Wayne was up from his chair and in front of Danny. His large hand was so warm on Danny’s cheek. Danny sobbed harder.

“I don’t know, sweetheart, I don’t know because you are so loveable. It’s something wrong with them, not with you. I already know you’re wonderful and I can’t wait to get to know you more.”

Danny didn’t get it.

Danny didn’t believe it yet.

But god did Danny want it.

Danny flung himself forwards, landing in the arms that were waiting to catch him, and let himself cry.

-

“Nose bleed stopped and he’s resting now. Jay is staying in there with him in case he wakes,” Dick said as he closed the door to Danny’s bedroom softly behind him. A sad, wet blue lump was in his other hand. “We’ll try to get his bear dried out, it was in the bag he took.”

“See if the dryer has an air dry setting,” Bruce said. When both sons in the room looked at him in surprise he just gave a little shrug. “Dickie used to play with Zitka outside all the time. I learned to help make sure she was always ready for bed.”

Dickie gave a little laugh. It was heavily tinged with stress, but it was a laugh. Bruce would take what he could get right then. Jay still had a job, so he’d be alright for now. Dick would need to stay busy and close to people, but both those would do most of the work for the moment. It was Tim that Bruce had to worry about the moment; he was being very silent.

“Tim, chum, are you done with your drink?”

Tim blinked up from staring down at said drink. “What?”

Bruce crouched down in front of Tim (trying not to think of how he crouched down in front of a sobbing Danny just a bit ago) and took the mug. “What are you turning over in that head of yours, chum?”

Tim fiddled with his nails now that the mug was out of his hands. Bruce wouldn’t stop it unless Tim managed to make himself bleed. It wouldn’t be the first time or the last.

“Sweetheart?”

“It’s going to take him a long time to believe us— this,” Tim said, the words almost a rush.

Bruce nodded slowly. “That makes sense.”

“And he could run again,” Tim continued, still speaking quickly. “It could all be going well and then suddenly he could be thinking of running again because he’s doubting things.”

“Okay Tim,” Bruce said with careful words. His mind was running through all the times when Tim had pulled away from the family, “what do you think we can do to help that?”

Tim shrugged and looked away. “I guess— I mean, saying things to him is good but it won’t get as far as actions. And those actions need to include making him feeling useful.”

“But—” Dick started, the dryer now rumbling away in the linen closet.

“I’m not saying make him do work,” Tim interrupted. “But until he can consistently believe that we want him in the family, him feeling useful will help give him a reason to stay. As long as he’s useful, he won’t think that there’s no reason for him to stay when he thinks no one wants him around.”

Gently, Bruce reached out and took Tim’s hand away from where his cuticle had started to split and bleed. He pulled out his handkerchief and dabbed at the spot gently. “We’ll make sure to offer him ways to help out. We’ll talk as a family about where the lines will be and what sort of work is alright, especially as Danny is still healing.”

Tim took a careful breath and nodded. “Good.”

“And Tim?” Bruce waited until Tim was looking at him to continue. “I love you and I’m very glad that you are part of this family.”

-

Bruce sent Dick back to the manor after Cass arrived. They talked about what was best and agreed together that for Danny, Bruce still needed to be here in the morning. Bruce knew Dick hated to leave, but he was the other one who could handle Damian and whatever moods this may have invoked. And they were both worried about pulling Jason away from Danny right then.

Once Dick had wrangled Damian, they all had a meeting. Jason joined in with headphones Tim delivered and stayed mostly silent. Alfred lingered behind Dick’s shoulder.

Bruce went over the day, doing his best to treat it like a debrief just so that he could get through it without his heart breaking the rest of the way.

Danny had run of his own volition, afraid that those who had hurt him would find them. He was most afraid of them hurting Jason and Damian. (Dick pulled Damian close). He wasn’t Bruce’s son, biologically speaking, but his clone. They would try, with permission, to take some blood and analyze it soon. There were worries about the state of Danny’s DNA that Bruce wanted them to look into, for Danny’s safety.

There was worry any tests might set Danny off.

Danny knew about their identities, though they did not share Stephanie and Barbara’s name— both girls gave their go ahead. He seemed confused, but alright. They had to be ready for a possible out burst over it later after everything that had sunk in.

They would be sure to give Danny things to do that made him a quick part of the family, Bruce wanted everyone to think what those would be. There was to be nothing that was patrolling or anything dangerous. They would all agree on the list.

When Bruce ran out of things to say, Alfred stepped forward, there as always to help with the next step. “Is there anything specific I should prepare for his room?”

“Blue,” Cass suggested.

“Stars,” Tim said from where he was tucked into Cass’ side. “He likes space. Maybe one of those projectors that turns the ceiling into the night sky?”

“Soft blankets,” Jason spoke, a quiet addition.

“An air diffuser, natural scents like flowers and earth,” Dick chimed in.

“A… a pet,” Damian said, words uncharacteristically hesitant, though he straightened up defiantly at the look of confusion on everyone’s face. “If he is a flight risk, then a pet will be something he stays for. It will also be a responsibility for him that is little effort and not dangerous. Also, when he needs company but the family is… overwhelming, his pet will be there for him. There are many cats and some suitable dogsat the shelter right now, I will take him.”

Bruce’s mouth twitched up in a little smile. “That’s a very good idea, thank you. I’m sure Danny would like your help, after we introduce you two properly.”

Damian nodded, though that slight uncertainty was still there in the curve of his shoulders.

“Dami?” Dick prompted.

“When will I be able to meet him? Properly.”

“How about in a few days, before we move him to the manor, I’ll bring you over with me, okay ayouni? We can bring lunch with us and have a meal together,” Bruce offered.

Damian nodded sharply, a slight smile on his lips. “Acceptable.”

“Good. We will try to have everyone over before we move Danny, which will be mostly on his timetable. For now, everyone get some rest.”

There was a chime of voices agreeing to that and signing off. Bruce made sure he was the last to leave the call.

---

AN: It's... mmm... not great day, so you all are getting this now instead of tomorrow when ao3 updates. Stay delightful, darlings <3

[witherby]

The Littlest Wayne: Meet the Family, Part 3

Part 2 is Here!

Masterlist is Here!

We're near the end, just one more part to wrap up the arc, after this. Word count is sitting just over 3000.

"Modifying an existing weapon with Kryptonite without cataloguing the fact that you'd taken any from inventory."

Dick flinches, head ducked low and shoulders hunched.

"Targeting a previously non-contacted, rogue entity without following the established rules of diplomacy."

Tim grimaces, gripping his biceps as his arms cross more firmly across his chest.

"Stealing my car, making a scene, and then having evidence of that scene blasted all over the media."

Damian bites down on the inside of his cheek, ears tinged red with shame.

Bruce glares at the three boys, then turns to Jason, who's lounging against the wall eating a mini babybel cheese, the perfect picture of nonchalance.

"And then, and then...you brought the rogue entity into the cave, didn't bother to restrain him, and blew our identities? Are every single one of you high out of your minds? Is it your first day out on the fucking field??"

Bruce shucks his gauntlets off and tosses them on the desk, next to the Batcomputer's keyboard, so he can run his fingers through his disheveled hair. There's more and more white growing from his temples of late, and his posture screams of a man so bone-achingly tired of the work he does every day that he can barely cope. It's a sobering sight to his children, but no one can bring themselves to vocalize it. Even Jason averts his eyes after a few seconds.

"This is the single biggest breach in protocol I've seen since I became Batman," Bruce continues, quietly. Angrily. "It's like you were all trying to break the record for how many rules you could disregard in one day."

He whirls around to face them, prepared to keep lecturing, but his eye starts twitching and he just shakes his head, fists clenched as he instead glares down the corridor where Superman and the kid are talking just out of eyesight.

"There aren't words for how frustrated I am with you, boys. I don't have the time to finish this discussion, on account of the rogue entity in the cave, but trust that Hal and I will speak with each and every one of you later."

Dick and Tim groan. Damian sighs. Jason unwraps another miniature cheese wheel and pops it into his mouth. He's pretending to be nonchalant, but he's smushing the accumulated wax into a big ball and leaving anxious indents in it with his thumbnail.

"We clear to go, then?" Jason asks. "Cause we need to get our story straight before Mousey asks Dick how he's feeling after huffing a big dose of Fear Toxin. At least one of us should go back upstairs pretty soon, in case they're having another insomnia fit and want company."

"Right," Dick nods, then frowns when the words register properly. "...wait. Why did I get dosed with Fear Toxin? Why didn't you get dosed?"

"Cause I'm the one that wears a full helmet in the field, and also the one that stopped 'em from coming downstairs when we got back in the first place."

"Okay? Tim and Damian don't wear helmets either? Why just me?"

"Cowl," Tim pipes up for the first time tonight. Dick flips him off.

"It's 'cause you dog-eared my book after I fucking told you to stop. It wrinkles up my pages. The only reason I didn't tell 'em you pissed yourself too is because you didn't mess with my First Editions."

"I...Dude?? The last time I borrowed a book from you was eight months ago????? Why are you holding grudges that long, you're being really petty —"

Bruce rubs his temples and leaves them to bicker as he strides down the hall, boots clicking against the stone floor. It doesn't take long before he hears voices from his Kryptonian visitors. The Superman clone is leaning against the wall, arms crossed in front of him and looking impatient.

"We're not opposed to more help protecting the planet," Bruce hears Clark pipe up. He's pacing slowly back and forth as he addresses the boy, cape swishing with every turn. He looks stressed. "But surely you must recognize how confusing that'll become, having two Superman's. Right?"

"Like I told Dick earlier," the kid speaks up, another bolt of irritation shooting down Bruce's spine, "I'm not here to help you. I'm here to replace you, as your better. As the beacon of hope this planet actually needs."

Clark makes a face. It's a cross between amusement and a grimace. He continues to pace. Bruce realizes he's avoiding making any eye contact with the boy.

"Is that something you think you're ready to do?" Clark asks.

Hesitation. The kid's arms tighten around him and he glares at the floor like it's done him a personal disservice.

"Soon," he says, "maybe not right this second, but I'm getting better every day. Faster. Stronger. More efficient. I'll be perfect soon, then you can fly back to where you came from."

"Don't tell his parents that," Bruce says. He reaches out and snatches the tail of Clark's cape as he turns again, halting his pacing. "They'd be livid if the infant they found in the middle of nowhere and raised to adulthood claims he has to leave because he's not actually their child."

A new emotion. Surprise. The kid didn't know Clark had a human family? How limited is his knowledge base? How expansive?

The super-clone doesn't seem to have a response to that. Bruce takes a small step closer to him. Not enough to box him against the wall, not enough to make him feel trapped. He's just trying to connect and gather some information.

"We've started off in probably the worst way possible," Bruce admits, "and I am sincerely sorry for what my kids did to you earlier today. It should have never happened. That's not at all how we make contact with new heroes."

No response. The boy doesn't become any angrier, but he doesn't seem to warm up either. Entirely fair.

"I'm Bruce," he says, offering his hand and forcing his face to soften. Protocol's fucked anyway, so there's no doubt the kid already knew this. When the kid's expression doesn't change, Bruce knows he was right. He drops his arm when the boy doesn't take it. "You said you weren't quite ready to take the mantle yet; so while our current Superman keeps his title, what can I call you?"

"Supe —" the boy starts, then hesitates again. He looks up and locks eyes with Bruce. They're an incredibly vivid blue, almost glowing in the low lighting of the cave. The irritation slips away from his face and turns almost fond. "... y'know they make some of the exact same faces you do. It's wild."

Bruce doesn't know who "they" are, so he doesn't respond. The boy sighs, arms dropping down to slip into his jacket pockets.

"Conner," the clone mutters. It suits him. It's a boyish name for a boyish face, and it strikes Bruce a little harder that he's talking to an adolescent. That his kids, some barely out of adolescence themselves, beat up and abducted what is essentially their peer. He needs a drink, a shower, and eight hours of sleep.

"Conner..." Bruce probes.

"No last name," the kid says. "Just Conner."

"I see." He lets out a sigh and then schools his expression to bring up the more important topic of discussion tonight. "Conner...does Lex Luthor know what you know? About our identities?"

To his surprise, Conner rolls his eyes and snorts. "It really is like father and son..."

"Sorry, I don't think I under—"

"Listen." Conner pushes off the wall and faces Bruce fully. He hovers in the air a little bit, enough for them to be at each other's eye level. It's not a power play, just a desire to even the field.

"I already had this conversation with your eldest, over there," the clone states. He jerks his chin in Dick's direction, where he and Jason are currently wrestling each other on the floor and cursing one another out. Tim and Damian are watching and goading them on. "He bought my silence. I promise I won't tell Lex your identities."

"Bought it?" Both Bruce and Clark ask simultaneously. They exchange the same, cautious look between them, then Bruce looks back at Conner. "Money wouldn't be an object, as a ward of Luthor's. What kind of deal did he make with you?"

"Nothing sinister," Conner shrugs, "I wanted something, and he guaranteed I'd get it."

"What did you want?" Bruce asks, firmer now.

They continue staring at each other. Bruce gets the distinct feeling that the boy is bracing himself for a very negative reaction. Dread settles in his gut like a stone.

"Conner," he repeats, slowly, "what were you promised?"

Conner's eyes flicker upwards. It clicks, all of a sudden. Bruce has to take incredibly deep breaths to encourage proper blood flow through his body. The sudden roaring in his ears is absolutely not going to help him hear whatever bullshit reason Dick came up with to permit the rogue entity access to his youngest child, and what he even plans on doing with that access.

Something in Bruce's expression must change, because the clone floats back a couple inches as genuine fear crosses over his face for a second.

"I'm not going to hurt them," he says, sudden and insistent, "I swear to you, on my life. I don't want to do anything that would upset them, ever."

"Then what do you want with them?"

"I think we formed a connection when I stopped those arsonists at the conservatory —"

"Conner," Bruce snaps, "it's been a looong day, and there there's very little patience left in me. That's not your fault, but there's certainly not enough patience left for you to keep beating around the bush. Answer the question."

"I don't know!" The clone is floating a little higher, now, rising in time with his stress levels, and he's taken his hands out of his pockets to gesticulate as he speaks. "I can't answer that for you! There's just this... this pull, somewhere beyond my chest, that wasn't there until I met them at the conservatory. It's there and it's huge and it's choking me, okay? I need...I need to be around them. I need to figure out what this is. I need to figure out what it means."

He's become defensive again, glaring at Bruce and clenching his fists, though he's making no move to attack. It's obvious through his body language that he won't; this kid is ridiculously easy to read.

"So, yeah, I may be blackmailing your identities for personal gain. But if I can't see them I think —"

He hesitates. "I think I might spontaneously combust. Or go insane. Maybe both."

...Huh.

Bruce watches him a while, the familiarity of those words bringing back a conversation he'd had years ago. So long ago he'd damn-near forgotten about it entirely.

He can remember how tight Clark had gripped his arm after cornering him just outside Wayne Enterprises. He can remember 16-year-old Dick's frightened face, watching his personal hero corner his father like that. He can remember the panic he'd been forcing down because he was in his civvies, and hadn't thought to bring any Kryptonite with him.

"Bruce...it feels...it's like every emotion I've felt before now was fake. All my joys, all my pains, all the crushes I had in high school — shit, all the crying I did over my pa's grave, it's barely a drop in the bucket compared to what happens to my chest when I look at you. It's like a huge, uncontrollable pull, and it feels like I'm going to choke on it if you don't love me back. And I know, I know that's real shitty of me to say, and I'm so sorry it came out like this, but I'm burning. I'm burning for you, Bruce, and I can't keep that hidden anymore. Please let me love you. Please, please let me put this weight in my chest down."

"Clark, you need to let go of me."

"In a minute, please, in a minute. Bruce can I — can I kiss you?"

"No."

"No? No? That's it, no? Hey, look at me, tell me why not? Why no? Bruce, why —"

"Clark, you're hurting my dad! Get off him!!"

"I'm not hurting —" Clark stops. Looks down at Bruce's wrist, which is absolutely broken. Drops his arm like it's shocked him. "Oh god. Bruce. Bruce, I don't know what's wrong with me, I just —"

He doesn't finish his sentence. Bruce blinks, heart racing, and finds himself and Dick alone.

The boy is still speaking. About how he's only been alive for roughly two months. About how he swears that sneaking into your bedroom hadn't been anything but that pull in his chest calling him to introduce himself properly. About how he won't tell Lex a single thing that's happened to him inside this cave as long as he's able to come and see you as he pleases.

Bruce lets his mind absorb the most important pieces of information for him while he stares at Clark, and Clark stares back. Analyzing each other. Reassessing that ancient confrontation in the wake of this new context. Coming to the same conclusion about what happened between them almost twenty years ago. Contemplating the next steps once he agrees, because Bruce has to say yes this time. He has to give Conner what he's asking for.

Not for the sake of everyone's identities. There are contingencies upon contingencies mapped out for situations like this; he can have the problem cleared up in just a couple hours, but it's easier to just give in to the deal.

He has to let Conner see you, because trying to break or reject whatever bond he made with you stands the chance of yielding a truly catastrophic result. Clark's crash-out was huge and confusing and violent, and he'd been honing his powers for years up to that point. Bruce had needed to sedate and lock him in a red sun room at his worst, and only let him back out again when Clark promised to isolate himself in the Fortress until he could get it together.

What would this boy do, just weeks old, in the wake of such emotional devastation? How would he choose to cope?

"Yes," Bruce sighs. Conner stops in the middle of his rant, which had already shifted from anxious justification to vaguely threatening.

The kid drifts back down, feet just barely skating the ground. His eyes are wide.

"Yes?" He echoes. "You're actually gonna let me see them?"

"Yes, as long as they agree, too," Bruce says, leveling him with a stern scowl, "but you need to let someone know you're coming by ahead of time. No more late-night sneaking into my youngest's bedroom. In fact, don't enter their bedroom again for the foreseeable future."

Conner smiles at Bruce like he'd hung the moon and stars in the sky.

"Got it!"

"You won't be permitted to take them anywhere outside the Manor grounds."

"Okay!"

"And you'll need to let me place a tracker on you, which you will not remove under any circumstance."

"Okay!"

"If they tell me, at any point, that this arrangement upsets them, or that you've done something, it all immediately stops and you'll be out of here."

"Okay!"

"You'll also have to regularly convene with the League, as a new metahuman hero already working the field. We can't let you roam unaccounted for until you prove that you can be trusted beyond a reasonable doubt."

"Okay!"

Bruce can't think of any other immediate stipulations. He just goes back to rubbing his temples, wishing desperately for some acetaminophen and a double shot of whiskey.

"We need a way to contact you, and vice versa."

"Oka — uhh." Conner stops short at that one. He frowns. "Like, a phone? I don't have one of those."

That wouldn't be a problem. "Come back tomorrow afternoon. I'll have something prepared, and, if they're willing, you can have another meeting with my youngest."

Conner visibly brightens. Literally. The blue in his eyes actually glow for a half-second in unbridled joy.

"I'll be there!!"

Before anything else can be said, the boy is gone in a flash of color and a gust of wind. Bruce closes his eyes and holds up a hand before Clark can speak, and counts backwards from 30 in his head.

"Head home," he eventually says, ambling past him and towards the showers.

"We should talk about —"

"Tomorrow," Bruce insists, "come back tomorrow, when Hal is up to speed and Mouse is sufficiently briefed. We can discuss whatever you want then."

"Bruce." Clark very gently takes his wrist, the same one he'd broken twenty years ago, and thumbs over it. "I just...I'm sorry, again. About that whole mess. I'm sorry that it sounds like it very well might happen again. If you need anything —"

"I know." Bruce gives him a pointed, but not cruel, frown. "Whatever my husband and I can't handle, we'll reach out."

Clark nods. He averts his gaze and releases Bruce's hand.

"I'm gonna head home, then. Goodnight, B."

"Yeah," Bruce says, watching him fly off with a wave to the boys, who have since stopped fighting and are now getting their alibi straight when you ask after them in the morning. "Yeah... Goodnight."

[finny-again]

*pulls up a chair, sits down*

As I am still in timkon hell, I have decided to take a jab at another popular au for them, the clone baby au.

And boy do I have ideas:

First off, the idea is Tim tried to clone Kon like 99 times and on the 100th try it failed again, so he had this wild idea to combine some of his DNA with Kon's. He like left some variables undecided like gender, and such. Cue the clone baby.

She's a perfect blend of the two, having Kon's skin tone and wavy-curly black locks. She has Tim's eyes and though still young she's definitely going to have Tim's features when she's older. She's perfect.

He names her Nova, Nova Drake. (Later on a common nickname he gives her is Supernova, which I think is flippin' adorable)

And then realization sets in and he's like, "ah fuckkkk." Because he just made a baby with his own DNA mixed with Kon's and he's like barely an adult and now he's responsible for a tiny being that he literally created.

At this point in time he's not Robin, Batman is "dead", but Tim knows he is alive (we will come back to that point later) andddd he's basically jobless.

So he like, panics and calls Cass. Cass is there so fast. She even brings Steph, and for once, Steph stays quiet. They just, sit down and tell him it's going to be okay.

In this au Kon comes back a few years later, probably around the time Nova is 4-ish. Things have, healed up with Tim and his relationship with the Batfam.

Nobody knows his secret identity, it's better that way so he can keep Nova a secret from the rest of the supers. The only people who know are the Batfam, who literally adore Nova to pieces. She is the little lady of the house and is treated as such.

Alfred takes care of Nova when Tim has to be Red Robin. And Barbara even steps in to help too at times.

Steph, Barbara and Cass are the best aunts. And Dick, Jason and Damian fight over who's her favourite uncle. Duke just smiles cause Nova said it was him while he was playing with her one time and told him not to tell the others because it'd make them sad.

Bruce is overwhelmed at first, cause holy shit Tim you did what and now there's a baby made with not only your DNA, but your dead best friends' too? He's a little stressed, but eventually gets over it and begins to treat her like his own granddaughter. He definitely spoils the crap outta her.

Nova starts to exhibit signs of Kryptonian powers, the most notable being Kon's tactile kinesis.

Nova once asked her daddy where her other parent was. Tim explained he had gone away to somewhere they couldn't follow. Nova, though unhappy at the answer, accepted it and just never asked again. She's definitely starting to also exhibit Tim's genius level intellect.

Anyways, Kon comes back. It's unexpected. Tim isn't prepared for it because a) he made peace with Kon being dead, and b) he literally saw him die. Turns out, he wasn't. And whomever finds Kon alive just shows everybody at the watchtower and Tim literally almost has a panic attack right then there. He's able to get out of there, although with a flimsy excuse which nobody buys.

He makes it back to the manor where he is found by Dick, curled up underneath the computer desk in the Batcave. Dick walks him through his panic attack, and then Tim explains what happened.

And that's as far as I've gotten but this was inspired by the fact that I was like, Tim and Kon are so girl dad coded it HURTS ME. Also, the whole timeline/universe is just a jumble of things I picked that I figured would fit in with my idea. So yeah. Remember kids, DC stands for, "Disregard Canon", and will run with that until the day I die.

[idunnomannn]

If it means you're safe.

------

If it meant that he'd make it out of this alive, Tim would do it again. In a heartbeat he would. If it means his little brother makes it to safety then that's all he cares about in the end, and he's trying, he's fighting so hard to keep the attention all on himself in order to give the younger enough of an opening to slip by. But Damian is throwing him a look, akin to one of reluctance that frustrates Tim more than anything because that's so unlike anything Damian. It's so non-Damian that Tim would question whether the kid was actually real or had somehow gotten cloned between here and the cave.

“I can help, Drake! There is no need for you to—” Damian’s protest dies on his tongue as Tim shoots him a look, “Now! Damian!” and Tim hates that he has to yell at him, after everything the last thing he wanted to do was leave off on a bad note, but he also couldn't afford to dance around with reassurances, especially when they might turn him into an even bigger liar than he already was at this point. Just when they'd finally started getting on better, just when they'd finally started acting like they didn't absolutely hate each other… Now this?

Tim’s attention is taken as he has to block a vicious swing aimed at his head, his forearm absorbing the impact before he then counters by pivoting on his foot with a swift strike from his staff. The blow connected, but there was no time to savor it as the group of individuals just kept coming, a relentless tide that pressed him further into a corner, each movement tightening the metaphorical noose around his throat while he swallowed dryly, holding them off as best he could.

Tim's focus only flickers with a cold panic, rising up his spine as he realized he’d lost sight of Damian.

In a desperate sweep of the room at the risk of getting caught off guard and taking on more damage, his eyes finally land on the spikey tufts of hair.

There!

Frozen at the top of the stairs, staring back with wide reluctant eyes stood the youngest Wayne.

Tim's brows knit together, and he wants to frown at the sight of the kid looking so torn because that was not an expression he'd seen the kid use. Ever. It only makes this moment that much more gut wrenching, a feeling he knows that Damian felt too as they locked eyes. For all that the kid was, hesitancy and Damian Wayne were never associated.

Tim smiles—Damian frowns. It's forced obviously, but he needs Damian to leave, to get a head start before they turn their attention to him next. That can't happen, Tim won't let it.

Tim knows if Damian stays any longer he'll witness yet another death, not that the boy was a stranger to the concept. But regardless of how Damian viewed himself or the league training he had, Tim will always see him as a child despite their differences and past conflicts—an innocent kid who got roped into this shit storm without a choice because he wasn't given the chance to have one.

For all that…. Tim knows if he doesn't make Damian leave now, then he'll join the fight and then they'll both go down together.

That is so far off from how he planned to let this play out.

“Just go, I'll catch up with you when I'm done here. You know where Nightwing set his coordinates,” Tim shouts over the loud clanging of weapons, grunting as he blocks several more hits and attempts to slice him in half. He nearly gets his head lobbed off in the process which in turn causes Damian to backpedal at the sight much to Tim's frustration. “Find him! I'll be right behind you.”

Damian holds his breath as he watches Tim slip out of yet another corner, narrowly avoiding being trapped. He's on the verge of protesting again, of insisting there’s a better way, but the look Tim shoots him stops the words in his throat. It sinks in his chest—cold and final—that this might be the last time he ever says anything to him. So he settles for a tight, clipped, “Don’t die. I don’t think Father could handle it.”

Tim doesn’t respond. Neither of them says anything more.

Damian slips out the back entrance. Even as the sounds of combat fade behind him, he refuses to dwell on the fact that Tim didn’t have a copy of the rendezvous plan—just a hastily scrawled grid of coordinates crumpled and shoved into Damian’s smaller hands.

He grits his teeth and forces himself forward.

------

Another throw away fic I started but never actually finished. Open ended I guess??

[fukcnoplease]

Thanks to a certain krosrios on instagram ive been thinking up a new dpxdc fanfic

Cause listen having Danny leave his town cause of angst or college is cool. Having Danielle leave the town out of angst or just because is grand.

But hear me out

Dan going to Gotham because he has bonded enough with Team Phantom that they trust him to not destroy the world. He has gotten attached to Dani and reattached to Jazz and though he wont admit it is maybe a little too attached to purposefully destroy what they love.

Maybe he is following Jazz to keep her safe. Maybe he is just getting out of dodge for personal reasons and someone (cough cough) nudged him in the direction of Gotham.

But like imagine

Some angry kid settles down in crime alley of all places and quickly becomes talk of the town bc for how agressive he is he is also well known for helping when he can, in a perhaps too agressive way (not unlike a certain red hooded individual).

I imagine he is probably in his twenties and while lanky in his human form built like a tank in his ghost form. He works at a bouncer at a local bar or club and makes some side cash fixing appliances for people.

Some kids start whispering about him maybe being red hood or being related to red hood which obviously catches the vigilantes attention. Especially when some young street kid pulls a “well you would help me wouldnt you…. DAN??” *stares hard to see his reaction*

When Hood doesnt find anything he reluctantly flags it to Tim who only manages to find the name Daniel Fenton but that cant be right. His phone is actively pinging him in a small town in illinois. Unless its a twin of some kind? Or a clone, time jokes, but that cant be it bc thats just some kid. Nobody would have a reason to clone him.

Regardless some random unidentified man who can clearly fight and for whatever reason sets Jason off is a pretty big red flag. And while neither Tim nor Jason particularly wanna tell the Bat since they dont have anything concrete it is pretty concerning.

Maybe they end up breaking into a tired Dan’s apartment and questioning him.

Maybe Duke is walking through town and sees a kind old lady lecturing a fucking ghost?? God??? Guy??? And shoving food into his hands even tho he looks like he could kill her.

Maybe Barbara is spooked by a guy appearing beside her in a bookshop and reaching around her to grab a pretty in depth psychology book.

Maybe Tim finds him later with a young girl who looks just like him playing in the park.

Who knows!! I just think there is a lot to work with and his personality would be just wonderful to add into the batfamily boilin pot.

[snakeredbirdbatkatana]

TimKonBartCassie Clone Baby AU

Part 2

He jolts awake from if you call weird dream's about a gun slinging toddler with a flying a dog a restful sleep, to awake in a second.

It takes about ten more seconds for him to realize he is in his room at Titans Tower, his kid is gone which he is not currently too worried about once he remembers the conversation from last night.

He's already heading back to the lounge figuring it a good place to hunt down a secret keeping Impulse and everyone else.

Kon is holding him the baby asleep, while Bart rests in Cassie's lap. Various baby items from bibs, diapers, and clothes are neatly placed to the side of the couch.

Kon greets him with a soft smile that he can't help but return before sliding down next to Bart.

It's comfortable and he's grateful that's no one's mad, that they all just accepted Luci once again he's surprised by how family just goes with it no matter what.

He loves them so much.

It's only been about two minutes before Cassie breaks the silence.

"Alright, we don't know how much you remember but you passed out, we figured the sleep deprivation caught up, Kon carried you to bed, we wanted to wait until you were awake to finish the discussion about everything."

Tim breathes he wants to know everything Bart knows but logically this doesn't just concern them if Jason has a kid he has to inform him. Nevermind that he needs to get back to Gotham and talk to everybody.

"Ok, I think we all should head to Gotham, I can call a family meeting, Bart can finish saying whatever he knows to everyone, because I don't think it's fair that we sit with information that could effect everyone, but I don't just want to decided or do anything I already did, something pretty big without talking to you guys."

"I agree mostly the cave would be the best place, I'm not exactly ecstatic about talking to everyone. I think Rob's right, also I want Jon to meet his nephew."

Kon brings up a point that he hadn't factored in Bruce is a grandfather now Dick is a uncle so is Jason and Damian. He also kinda really wants to show off his baby he finally understands why Bruce keeps photos of them all in his wallet.

"I agree Diana is gonna be all over our little hellraiser and it's a lot easier if we just gather everyone up and do one giant explanation, than doing it a million times. Also I don't know about anyone else but free babysitting is a perk, kiddo didn't want to sleep at all most likely cause Mom passed out on the floor but who knows?"

Tim can't disagree other than, wait why is he mom?

"Tim you talked in your sleep and were very offended that Dad has baby memorie before Mom cause you created him."

Kon laughs distracting him with his sparkly eyes, how unfair.

"I didn't mean to say that out loud and yes I did all the complicated stuff so I will be Mom if I want to although I will share with Cassie if I have to." He pouts. 

It's surreal that he really does mean that and for some reason mom or dad it doesn't matter one bit he has a little baby, his own baby bird.

"Alright boys I think we should get a move on, Tim send out a message and have Batman gather everyone up, he will probably have an easier time then we would."

He grabs his phone he didn't even realize that he had it luckly it's late enough in the day that work and school for everyone shouldn't be a problem.

He texts both Bruce and Alfred that something happened no one is hurt, but he needs everyone in the cave from Supers, Bats, Titans, Outlaws, Wonder Woman's essentially if we would want them to know something important they need to be there as fast as possible.

Not even ten seconds later his phone rings which he expected.

"Tim what's happening?"

He's terrified it's really setting in that he has a a kid.

That he has to tell Bruce.

Yet he's relieved it's Batman, It's Bruce, it's Dad.

He fix anything and hopefully teach him how to change a diaper.

He can't stop the sob that follows.

"I just need you to do this, please Dad it's... I did something stupid, but so amazing and just please I need you ok. I am coming with Young Justice it involves all of us and make sure our family's there, just please. I can't explain over the phone."

"Ok sweetheart I don't know what's going on but it will be ok. Anything can be figured out. Alfred is calling everyone will be here in about an hour. Are you ok? Injuried?"

"No I'm ok just make sure everyone's there Dick, Alfred just we need them. I'll be there in about an hour and a half. I love you."

He hangs up.

-

Bruce is terrified he never dialed so quickly in his life and his son sounds well upset doesn't even begin to cover it, but he knows it's important he only had to look at Alfred before he was calling Jason who was already with Roy picking up Lian.

Dick, Damian, Duke, Cass already are waiting in the cave he practically screamed for them to get down here.

Alfred quietly informing them that something happened and that everyone needs to get to the cave.

Bruce can't move he hears Jason come in but he can't greet him.

Soon the Titans arrive conversing with mainly Roy and Dick.

Clark, Diana and Barry arrive soon after.

He sees Jon talking quietly with Damian finally he gets up.

Looks at his children, teammates and everyone he could possible think of might need to know about a catastrophic event.

He clears his throat.

"I received a message from Young Justice, I don't know what happened, all I know is it's something major apperently no one is injured but they need us I expect whatever is going on is upsetting they will need our support."

He looks at his boys and Cass trying to push reassurance but he doesn't succeed.

Clark and Diana look two seconds away from flying to Titans Tower only stopped by Alfred.

It's been a little over an hour and Bruce wants nothing more than to hunt down his son, and wrap him in his cape but he's stopped by Zeta Tube turning on.

Everyone turns.

Out steps an exhausted looking Connor Kent, followed by Cassie Sandsmark who shoot a quick smile at Bruce which immediately confuses him.

They both block the zeta glaring at everyone until Bart Allen appears holding up a clearly exhausted Tim who still has tear tracks on his face.

He looks like he is gonna drop at any minute but before Bruce can rush to his son.

Tim steps away from all three wrapped in Superboy's Jacket.

The leather falls.

There's a baby.

A exhausted grin comes across Tim's face before he speaks.

"I had a baby, these are the parents also Bart has a story to share...... Surprise?"

Before Bruce can even blink Dick is across the room followed by Jason.

Jason who quickly steals the bundle with a soft coo.

Dick kisses Tim's forehead before picking him up

"I gotcha little brother, to the med bay we go."

Jason follows a step behind purposefully keeping the baby in sight of his third son.

It takes less than a minute before Alfred is checking over Tim only to be quickly interrupted by Kon who is laughing.

"Rob, that phasing could use some work, yes we have a baby, he did not however give birth to it in the traditional sense. Not that I don't agree with the coddling he deserves it. What I want to know is why exactly did you people just steal our kid, if Mom needs a break he's got three Dads over here."

Dick interrupts from his place by Tim's side.

"My little brother is my priority he will be taken care of by me. I assume little brother goes where baby goes so baby will also be taken care of by me. I also could care less of how Littlest Bird came to be, all that matters is my brother and the baby are healthy and ok."

He glares straight at Connor which Bruce quickly joins him how dare that boy. His baby had a baby. He needs his family.

Everyone is still frozen other than his boys.

He walks over to Jason to get a closer look at his granddaughter based off the pink blanket.

He wants to hold her and keep her safe until Tim can but Jason looks two seconds away from shooting anyone who gets to close so she will be perfectly safe.

He will check on his baby instead.

He kisses Tim on the forehead who is being prescribed rest and fluids by Alfred. He will also not be walking anywhere for the foreseeable future he is assuming that there wasn't an actual birth but any excuse to carry his children he will take it.

Damian, and Cass have joined around Tim. Clearly both on guard with their brother so clearly vulnerable. 

"I am really glad you guys are taking it so well, but Bart has important information for us all, and Jay, I would like my baby and maybe a hug from Dick in that order."

Quickly she is given back to Tim and Dick joins wrapping around them a soft smile directed at them both.

"Yeah it might be best if I start talking, cause I think Rob is gonna kill me if I don't."

[bluerosefox]

Save Her

Guys I came up with a new DPxDC AU where we get Deaged!Dani(Ellie), Mom!Cass, and Dad!Danny.

"Cass... Are you sure you want to do this?" Tim asked one more time before he would put the last code in. He knew she was sure, more than willing to deal with it but he just needed one more confirmation before they all started what couldn't be stopped.

Cass stared at Tim, her face straight and her eyes firm without a hint of doubt. She nodded in his direction, despite the growing nervousness in her stomach for a second even with Stephanie squeezed her hand in reassurance and support.

Cass turned her gaze to the little girl, no older than thirteen, suspended in a tank full of green glowing goo and asleep. Her vitals showing up on screens near the tank coming from the wires that were hooked up to her inside the tank.

She said her name was Danielle Masters but had also said she wouldn't mind a new name once she was no longer just a clone but instead Cass's new daughter. She had only asked to include her 'dad', a Danny Fenton/Phantom, in her future naming decision too

Cass took a breath and said softly but determined "Save her."

Tim nodded back and entered the final code into the computer.

-x-x-

Basically-

Cass, while in Hong Kong, finds a destabilizing Dani.

Cass see's the desperation and fear Dani is in and helps as best as she can.

She manages to help but they both seem to know the next time this happens will be Dani's last.

Dani is very, very sick at this point and needs help even standing up.

Cass see's and remembers herself at this age and wants to help.

They do become friends and learn each other backstories

Cass goes to the one person she knows who might to be able to help with the destabilizing clone problem.

Tim, Tim is that person. (Because he's friends with Conner, and no doubt knows Conner's DNA and how it works, AND the fact he tried his hand at the whole cloning thing.... Tim told Cass everything once things settled down after his BruceQuest was done)

They fill him in on what is happening and he starts helping, mostly cause Cass asked and because "Clone rights!" (side note, he asked if its okay to tell Conner, when yes, Conner comes over and chats with Dani the entire time whenever he has free time) (the image of Conner sitting at her bedside as they chat is in my head btw)

Tim finds out the reason Dani is destabilizing so badly is because she's not 'complete', she needs a female donor technically because she's female not male (unlike Conner who is stable because he is male with male donors)

They find out that after trying to see of ways to save her that Cass was the closest that could donate her DNA (they also discover there might be a connection between ectoplasm and the Pits, they don't wanna run the risk of asking a LOA member) (If I remember right Cass grew around the Pits for a while and was even tossed in them after a fight with Shiva)

Tim also brings them news that Danielle's body is rapidly destabilizing due to her body/hormones trying to 'mature' her since she is at that age and she has less than a week.

Everyone knows there is no time to think of trying to save her in any other ways.

Tim says that if they do this, they have to technically 'remake' her body to the actual age she is (a couple months old/a few years old? Depends on the writer) and there was a high chance of her not remembering her old self. That the male DNA in her, the one that seemed to be the most is Daniel 'Danny' Fenton's DNA will be considered father DNA and if Cass does this, her's will be the mother DNA. (Vlad's DNA, because he would try to put his own in, would be 'pushed out')

Cass would become Dani's mother.

Both Cass and Dani talk about it.

Cass wants to help her, she had become friends with Dani and loves her like a little sister already but will try to love her as a daughter as well.

Dani wants to live an actual life.

They agree to it.

Tim sets everything up, Conner is helping around/keeping Dani comfortable/happy.

Cass told Steph and Babs whats happening and they're helping/being supportive once they find out everything.

Meanwhile Tim and Babs has Dick, and Damian go to Amity Park to find out whats happening there/bring Danny to her so they can explain what happened to Dani. (Dick and Damian have no clue why just yet but will find out when they get back, but oh boy is Amity a mess between the GIW, ecto-acts, crazy fruitloop mayor/villain ghost, and other stuff)

Cass and Tim tell Jason and he's helping Alfred (who basically already knows) set up a room for the newest arrival. Jason is gonna stick around if to just see Bruce's face when he gets called a 'grandpa' for the first time.

Duke takes this all in stride when told and just goes along with things now because this is life with the Batfam. He also helps with the room and keeping Dani company until the day.

Bruce was on a space mission thus comes home to find a new group of teens with his kids. One (with black hair and violet/purple eyes) is talking about a purple back gorillas with Damian and swapping vegan recipes, another (wearing a red beanie and has glasses) is getting into tech talk with Tim and Babs, a girl with red hair is talking classic books with Jason and giving Duke advice with school and stress, and another boy (one who could pass as one of his own adopted kids) is cracking jokes/puns with Dick, and telling Steph stories about his Rogues(!?).

Bruce isn't ready when Cass comes up behind him, nearly dancing in her spot and hands him something.

He is given a baby/toddler that looks like Cass but had darker hair and bright blue eyes.

He almost faints when Cass signs to him that he's holding his granddaughter, her baby.

He does faint when Cass notices the signs and takes her baby back before he falls over.

[samgirl98]

Dammit Clockwork! A Little Warning Next Time?

Wrote this while bored at work and on my iPhone so its not my best

“Come in,” a voice said at the other side of the door. Danny took a deep breath to calm his nerves. It was just his new boss. What's the worst that could happen? He'd get fired and have to find a new job.

Of course, being in Gotham, finding a job that wasn't Wayne Enterprise would be hard, especially one that offered such a sweet deal, like the scholarship and health benefits he would receive. So, no, Danny couldn't screw this up.

Danny didn't know why the CEO wanted to meet the scholarship recipients/ new employees one-on-one, but who was he to question it? After all, rich people were weird.

Danny took one last deep breath and swallowed his nerves. Everything would be fine.

He entered and came face-to-face with Tim Drake, CEO of WE.

They stared at each other for all of five seconds before Mr. Drake jumped over his desk.

Danny gave an embarrassing shriek as he fell to the ground hard. Ow, that hurt! To be fair, though, what else was he supposed to do when tackled by someone who could be his twin? Or a clone.

Well, maybe biting him hadn't been a good idea.

Danny heard a hiss above him as he bit down harder. There was no way in the Infinite Realms he would let go anytime soon. If this was a clone sent to kill him, Danny had to protect himself. Then he could worry about deprogramming him.

The look-alike tried to shake off Danny, causing him to bite down even harder.

And things had just started calming down, too.

His parents had kicked him out after they found out he was Phantom. He had been homeless on his eighteenth birthday, but honestly, being homeless and not vivisected was better than what he thought was going to happen.

Thankfully, the trio and Jazz had made a plan in case Danny had to run away from his parents. Sam had opened a bank account for Danny with a little over twenty thousand dollars. He was lucky he didn't have to use the fake IDs Tucker had set up. His parents had let him take his papers.

Which was how he found out he was adopted.

Danny had talked to the air in the little motel room he had ended up that night, begging for help from Clockwork. Danny didn't know if Clockwork had pitied him, but the Ancient had appeared. Clockwork had given Danny a vague clue about family in Gotham—Oh, the guy he was wrestling was probably the family he was hinted at.

Dammit, Clockwork, couldn't he have warned Danny?

Danny let go of Tim Drake.

Who was Drake to him? A sibling, a twin?

Danny didn't know yet.

Tim Drake was about to attack again when Danny put his hands up in surrender.

“Wait, wait!”

The other teenager stopped. Tim was breathing hard from the little impromptu fight they had been in.

Danny was glad that his half-dead status made it hard for him to have to catch his breath. It was impossible to run out of breath when one didn't have to breathe technically.

“Who are you,” the other boy asked.

“Fenton! Danny Fenton. I’m the new hire?”

Danny hated that the last sentence came out as a question.

“You bit me!”

“And you tackled me! Now that we have that out of the way, you're not a clone, are you,” Danny asked warily. After all, that wasn't out of the realm of possibilities for him.

“What? No! I was about to ask you the same thing.”

“Why would a rich CEO be afraid of cloning,” Danny asked.

“Why would a small-town guy from the middle of nowhere America be afraid of cloning,” Tim fired back.

“Touche,” Danny said.

Neither of them said anything. They stared at each other until Danny broke the awkward silence.

“So, what now?”

“Now we take a DNA test and try to figure out what the hell is going on.”

“Ahh, I'm adopted and was told by mystical means that I have family in Gotham and was going to find them ‘when the time was right.’ I'm guessing now is that time.”

“That explains nothing,” Tim said in a hysteric voice. “What do you mean mystic means, and could you be more vague?”

Danny shrugged again, “Welcome to my world.”

A few hours later, through rich guys' means, Danny Fenton and Tim Drake had a piece of paper confirming they were twins.

Well, Danny’s afterlife just got interesting.

Later, Tim is going to feel pissed that Damian respects Danny but still treats Tim like crap.

They both try to hide their heroic tendencies from each other and fail miserably. Jason bonds with Danny over dying and death jokes. Danny also has to fight off Bruce with a broom. No, he doesn't want to get adopted again.

Sam and Tucker are laughing at Danny’s predicament and Jazz gives Tim the equivalent of a shovel talk not to hurt her baby brother or else.

DPXDC Prompt #131

Danny started his new job at Wayne industries today and he was a little nervous about messing up. His adopted family the Fentons kicked him out after finding out he was Phantom. Danny was a little disappointed but it was better than how he thought they’d react. He knew he had other family and from what little cryptic Clockwork told him they lived in Gotham.

He gets to his new bosses office and knocks on his door. When he’s told to come in Danny does so but then comes face to face by what he can only assume is his twin and the CEO of the company, Tim Drake. Danny had about 5 seconds before he found himself pinned to the floor.

[thirdrootwriting]

Brother of my Brother (Infinite Crisis - Bad End) pt4

Tim in a rolly chair, what crimes against space-time and the natural order will he commit?

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 4

Tim spins around in front of the Batcave's monitors not really looking at anything in particular and letting his head just float.

Nature vs nurture. Conner had been born and mostly grown in a test tube (metaphorically speaking at least, literally more like a multi-million life support tank), with most of his early social interactions being Tim, Cassie, Bart, Superman, and Gram and Gramps Kent. If he was re-cloned and exposed to that same stimulus (but better because they wouldn’t be blind-siding Supes this time) he'd basically be the same person right?

It would be like, -it would be like he'd just lost his memories, but he'd still be back and be Conner. A happier Conner even, knowing that he was born because he'd been wanted as a friend, comrade, brother, and  son rather than just a living, breathing monument to Luthor's Superman fetish as Conner himself had once bitterly put it.

Tim does another spin his head tilted back to look at the Cave's ceiling. Up in the darkness above, chittering bat eyes reflect back the harsh, artificial light of the Batcomputer's monitors. They probably had space for the lab set-up down here.

Tim spins again in his chair.

Cloning wouldn't work on Steph or Dick though.

Well, actually cloning them be a hell of a lot easier both in terms of getting a good DNA sample (Bruce definitely had those on file), and cause they were baseline humans not a lab-constructed mix of Kryptonian-human-whatever else Luthor'd needed to throw in to make it work DNA.

A human clone would grow up too slow though, and he had no way to perfectly replicate their original environments outside of some sort of Mad Hatter-esque dream machine. Tim wouldn’t even want to replicate their childhoods artificially; it would be straight up torture to make some poor innocent kid go through Steph's experience with her dad and Dick's witnessing his parents' murder - not to mention all the messed up stuff they'd had to deal with during their vigilante careers.

Tim wanted  his brother and Steph to come back, not to torture some little kid that shared their respective genetic sequences. Cloning was definitely a no-go for those two.

Tim lets his next spin in the chair leave him facing the computer's monitor and types in a couple of phrases to bring up everything they've got on the Lazarus Pits and any possibly related phenomenon.

Glowing green meteors that completely prevented aging like what had effected Vandal Savage. The immortality and resurrection potion that some say led to the birth of the Demon Nezha from the ancient general Li Jing's long-dead and much-beloved son. What they'd been able to dig up of Jason's case, and how his body had been awoken before he'd been dunked in those frothing green waters.

There's something here, something beyond the use of the Lazarus Pits as a method to prevent aging, heal severe injury, or bring back a near intact and recently deceased corpse. Taken together, there seems to be a way to activate their powers beyond how Ra's and the League of Assassins regularly use them. Tim chews on his tongue.

The thing was Tim was no expert on magic or mysticism, and didn't have a readily available team of experts through Wayne Enterprise on the subjects  like he did for anything related to biology or engineering. He'd need to somehow not only obtain sample of the Pit's waters but also locate masters in the schools of mysticism that had extensively studied that Lazarus Pits over centuries if Tim wanted to get anywhere with this, and that would be difficult. Anybody good guy enough to want to work with heroes would likely be against any attempts at raising the dead. Not to mention everyone knew how jealously Ra's guarded access to the Lazarus Pits, without Batman's help…

Tim bites harder on his tongue and considers alternatives. There had been other ways 'back from the dead', hadn't there? Ways that had more to do with messing with the multiverse - time travel, universe bending, and that sort of thing?

After all, they had two whole Kara's, with Super-girl and Power-girl running around. Also it was an open Justice League secret that the Flashes messed with the space-time continuum and the multiverse all the time. Heck, just look at Bart!

Of course, messing with the space-time continuum enough to bring back dead people, especially after the whole multi-verse crisis they'd just had was a pretty big ask - both in terms of needed power and in potential consequences. If things went wrong, they could go very, very wrong. Like erasing other people's existence or diverting history wrong.

Still, Tim could work around that sort of thing with enough effort. Calculate variables and rationalize cause-and-effect till he had the perfect plan. Change things just enough to save two people (Steph who was so, so wonderful, bright, and fiercely good despite everything life had thrown at her. Dick who was so much to Tim, to so many people, that his death by itself was massacre for all it had taken). Wally West was powerful enough for it, loved Dick enough that if Tim's plan was good enough he'd be able to convince him.

Okay, space-time-travel seemed more feasible than the Lazarus Pits, but Tim couldn't play this from just one angle. He'd send over snippets of the Cadamus documents they'd confiscated so long ago to their Waynetech people through Batman's usual channels to get started on building the machines needed to bring back Conner. In the meantime, he'd put out feelers to West and do more research into any phenomena that could lead him to an unguarded or unclaimed Lazarus Pit.

Plan in place and feeling more grounded and real than he has since Batman left, Tim starts pulling up the necessary files.

A call from Oracle  shows up on the Batcomputer. He sends back a quick 'Busy' response.

Tim was likely going to have to do some world-traveling to find the necessary resources and experts. Who'd watch Gotham while he's gone though? Batman's not here (might never come back) and it's already hard enough keeping the lid on that. The second the city calms down from their latest near world-ending crisis and realizes the Dark Knight's not just busy tidying things up with the JLA but well and truly absent from his post, it will be chaos.

Gotham needs Batman, Batman needs Robin, and the real one is dead. The house of cards they've built as the city's protectors tumbling down around their ears.

(Just for now though.

Tim can fix this.

 He'll bring back Conner and his team will be alright. He'll bring back Steph and Cass will return and stop isolating herself. He'll bring Dick back home, just like Tim had done to earn the right to be Robin, and his big brother will either fix Bruce or step back in as Batman again.

Tim can fix this.)

Oracle rings again, and Tim sends back another 'Busy'.

Who will be Batman and keep Gotham from burning down around their ears in the meantime though? Tim certainly can't. Not only will he be busy trying to get back Conner, Steph, and Dick,  but he can barely be Robin somedays. He saw how heavy the cowl weighed on Bruce and Dick, how Azrael couldn't handle it…

Oracle's green, glowing icon takes over his screen and her  voice rings out through the Batcave. "Robin, don't you dare ignore me! I have access to the Batcave's computer, and I can see you sitting there."

Tim releases the bite he'd had on his tongue swallowing down the sharp iron taste of blood. It's a challenge not to snap at Barbara, "Oracle, I was planning my next move. Is this an emergency?"

Tim can tell he wasn't successful at not sounding annoyed, as the Oracle icon on his screen takes on a harsh expression. With Bruce having left them saying he has to go think about if there even should be a Batman after this, and with her sometimes boyfriend but always friend dead, Barbara hasn't been in the best of moods either.

"Do you think I'd be over-riding your computer like this if it wasn't an emergency?" Oracle responds in a dangerous tone.

Tim shakes his head, "Sorry, no. Ready for report." He trusts Barbara. In many ways she's as much of a mentor to him as Dick. Whereas his brother had taught Tim fighting and balance and how to keep cool under pressure, Barbara had focused on passing on her technical knowledge and information gathering skills.

(Sometimes, Tim thinks of his iteration of Robin as a hero born of Nightwing's kindness and grace, Oracle's skill and wit, Batman's justice and commitment. Goal posts set-up not just by those who've previously held the mantle but by seeing the best qualities of the people who've taught him. That's the sort of hero an inheritor of the title of Robin should be, and what he works towards.)

"Well brace yourself, because it isn't good." Oracle voice gets hard, like Joker-broke-out-of-Arkham hard. Whatever she's about to say is gonna be really bad. Tim braces himself, already flipping through memorized 'worst-case-scenario with Batman out of commission' plans Bruce had developed and drilled into him.

"We have reports from the police about sightings of a vigilante that appears to be Nightwing in the Narrows."

For one, single weightless second, Tim feels is so relieved he could cry. His big brother is back! Bruce will come home, everything will be -

It crashes, bleeding and bloody on the ground a second later, as reality and most likely probabilities work there way into his brain.

"Copycat? Illusion? Clayface?" Tim grits out, understanding the brittle nature of Oracle's tone better now. Those sorts of things are insulting to the extreme when the person being imitated is alive, like this, it tips over into desecration. Though given the nature of Gotham's rouges, it's not surprising they'd do this sort of thing, hit where it really, really hurts, if they’ve learned that Nightwing is gone.

Whoever it is must be relatively new or not afraid of the Bats though. Tim knows that Bruce left anybody who so much as breathed the word 'Robin' in the ICU and often permanently injured the first year after Jason's death.

Or worse, they know Batman isn't here to deliver a beatdown, and this is just to torture the remaining Bats. Oracle, all-knowing but now physically confined to her Clocktower, and the current Robin, clever and cautious but lacking the graceful skill of the first and reckless bravado of the second. Their current line-up is all the brains but lacking quite a bit of brawn without Bruce, Cass, or Dick.

"Too wet out right now for Clayface. It's actually affecting the environment so that discounts an illusion." Something deadly and low filters itself into Oracle's voice, "And if it's a copycat, then it's a bad one. Whoever it is, he's killing people."

Cold frustration sparks in Tim's chest, a match for the deadly frost of Oracle tone. He understands the concept of a mantle, that they become something more than themselves when they wear their uniforms. Batman was the Dark Knight that wielded fear and relentlessness to keep Gotham's own darkness at bay, whether it was Dick or Bruce wearing the cowl. Robin was hope and the promise that past the darkness of the night tomorrow would be a better day, whether it had been the original's fearless cheer or Tim's own stubbornness making that promise. Nightwing has only ever been Dick, but he's still made that identity larger than life, greater than just himself.

Oracle's green icon-face (her own digital mask) disappears from the screen and is replaced by grainy security footage showing an unfamiliar man in familiarly patterned black-and-blue fighting what looks to be gang activity in the Narrows. The bold deep-blue bird with wings spread across the costume's chest, the man's dark hair and the confident way he easily takes downs his opponents do at first all scream "Nightwing!", but it falls easily apart on closer look.

Whoever this pretender is, he looks wrong. His hair's a dark reddish-brown and curling where it catches the harsh-streetlights instead of true blue-black waves. His shoulders are too broad and he's too tall, built like a brawler not a aerialist, which is reflected in the way he fights. Effective, sure, but he's throwing punches more than kicks, blocks more than dodges, and he's using a single escrima stick like a baton or cudgel. Even the impostor's expression is off - smiling but not in a way that makes him seem happy, more likes he's bearing his teeth in a snarl than expressing glee.

It's obviously Nightwing, but not at all an attempt at pretending to be the real Nightwing.

Sort of like how Tim doesn't try to pretend to be the same Robin as Dick or, god forbid, as Jas-

"Is that -" the realization comes out of Tim as a hissed question. Surely, no matter how thoughtless, no matter how reckless, stupid, unthinking, ruining-everything again idiotic!

"So you thought so too." Oracle's voice is wry, almost exhausted in a way the indomitable Barbara Gordon never sounds, "Seems our prodigal son isn't done borrowing mantles just yet."

[spacedace]

So I have an idea for a dp x dc fic and I'm going to throw it here since i need to get it out of my head and i'm not sure i'll ever actually write it (and as always if anyone finds my rambles interesting any/all of it us up for grabs to run with):

Elle ends up crashing into the DC universe while exploring, but despite all the dimension/multivariate nonsense that always goes down (or maybe because of it) she can't actually get back, and the levels of ectoplasm are a lot lower than most dimensions which weakens her quite a bit.

There's enough for her to survive, and use her powers a little bit, but using them too much makes her get really weak/maybe even causes serious harm depending on how much she uses.

She finds this out when she tries to open a portal home and both fails to open the portal & passes out as a result of trying. Cut to Elle waking up in Cadmus and realizing "ah, fucked up unethical science, I am familiar with this fuckery" and escapes.

In the process of escaping she comes across Kon, who isn't "finished" yet. He's alive and aged up to a teenager, but isn't quite done with his programming/whatever (this idea came to me based entirely off what I've gleaned through fandom so I don't know the canon of Kon's whole time with Cadmus). Elle immediately realizes "Oh clone baby, that's not good" and breaks him out and takes him with her.

Kon in this doesn't know he's a clone of Superman, he doesn't know a lot of things considering how early into the clone info-dumling process he was in when Elle broke him out. He barely knows language and how to read. What he does know for sure though is that Cadmus is Bad and Getting the Fuck Out is Good so he's down to go with Elle

Queue them becoming friends and being on the run together, learning about this world/dimension together and coming to see each other as family. Eventually they end up in Gotham because it's one of the places that naturally has a higher ectopalsm level and because if you're in the right area no one cares if you have no legal ID (in some circles it's a plus).

Kon gets a lot of odd jobs before eventually ending up working at a strip club or burlesque bar or something (my idea is that it's years after escaping so he's in his early 20s at this point and not just a fresh baby clone anymore and he gets into it because he likes it and it's good money) while Elle uses her ghostly knowledge/what powers she can to work as like a psychic or something like that.

Meanwhile Justice League (with alive again Superman) have found out about the escaped Superman clone and, along with Cadmus, are desperately trying to track him down. The info they have is a bit murky, so they think it's actually *two* clones, one that had Martian dnd also thrown in to the mix based off a short clip they managed to find of Elle phasing through walls.

My idea is that it'd all finally come to a head when Constantine pulls Tim (and maybe also Damian) in on a JL Dark case that involves the Lazerus Pit and for reasons ends up having to hire Elle to help. I'm thinking it's a thing that Elle is a pretty respected name in certain magic circles due to her expert knowledge on the Infinite Realms, though she refuses to work for most people who seek her out - even though the money would be good - because usually it's only evil assholes that want to hire her.

She makes a deal with Jon to help (in exchange for something that would let her get a message to Danny letting him know what happened or something like that) and Kon joins in because there's no way he's trusting a dude Elle calls the "drunk soul slut" with his baby sister unattended, he doesn't *care* if she could handle herself it's not happening.

Anyway, Tim/Kon (and maybe some Damian/Elle) shenanigans during a Lazerus Pit/demon hunting road trip where eventually everyone figures out who Kon & Elle are, Elle manages to get a stable portal setup so she can go home and come back whenever she wants (Kon getting adopted by Danny? Kon getting adopted by Danny) and Kon joining Young Justice and having a good relationship with Clark (who had a lot more time to deal with things before meeting Kon and learned about him as a person before learning he was Clark's clone).

Anyway there would be a scene at the end where Kon would be in his superhero suit for the first time and just:

Clark: Did you choose a hero name yet?

Kon: Yeah, I figured I'd go with Supernova.

Clark, feeling touched: Yeah? Any particular reason?

Kon: It's cool, it has 'Super' in the name, and really it just seemed the easiest option, I'm used to responding to Nova, so *shrugs*

Clark: Yeah? Why's that? Nickname?

Kon: I guess kinda? It's my stage name at the strip club I work at

Clark: what

Tim, brain shut down by this revelation: ...do you do private shows?

Clark: w h a t

[bigskydreaming]

Hi, I was reading your post about Jason punching Dick in the face when Dick revealed he fake his death was bullshit ( which it was) and it reminded me of an issue/question that has bothered me for sometime.

Why did people believe Dick was actually dead?

I’m not the most avid comic reader so maybe I missed something but it was always weird to me that everyone just accepted this especially given how Bruce was acting or should I say wasn’t acting.

This is a man when his child died another child had to come along and told him sir you are being too violent and emotional you need supervision. When his other child died he went all over the universe to bring him back to life because he knew it was possible ( which was happening at the same time), so why didn’t anyone think it was weird he wasn’t doing that for Dick. Can you imagine Dick really dying that soon after Damian it would be injustice Batman Version. You are telling me that Tim, Jason or Barbara didn’t think it was weird that Bruce didn’t also bring Dick’s corpse to the bring Damian back to life mission or mention it to themselves. Like what more likely Dick dead and Bruce is handling it well or that he fake his death to do something stupid and Dangerous after his partner/brother/ little bit my son the feelings are complicated died after he was knocked out and woke up to his corpse.

Oh man, this is like, the entire nature of my beef?

(Slight derail just to emphasize the fact real quick that Dick DID actually die, he was just revived quickly, but like, the trauma of his death was very real and its not like anyone was clued into Luthor having a resurrection backdoor built into his literal murder of Dick in the actual moment of it happening. So Dick’s death wasn’t fake, and additionally, he didn’t have anything to do with like, telling people about it, because he was literally comatose in the cave and recovering while Bruce was telling people....by the time Dick woke up in the cave, we already know that Alfred at least had already been convinced by Bruce that Dick was dead, so I have a kneejerk need to pushback against the Dick faked his death narrative by reminding people wherever possible that Dick had no agency in the spreading of that narrative. 

It happened without him being involved, and the only actual contribution he ever made to it was just not revealing he was alive before Grayson #12, after Bruce like.....emotionally, mentally and physically badgered him into accepting that doing so would be directly harmful to his family and he didn’t want to be the reason more people died when like, people had just died because he ‘let’ himself be captured and interrogated by Power Woman’s Lasso of Submission, did he?

SORRY TO BE PEDANTIC, just wanted to start this off on a clarification, even though I know the aim of your ask was very much in tune with the rest of my response. A lot of people don’t read the actual comics, so like, I’m never gonna skip over an opportunity to emphasize that the shorthand people use to refer to Dick’s death and the year he was with Spyral, is like, literally just shorthand for describing it. Its not actually an accurate description of how all that went down and who had the most hand in it).

BUT ANYWAY. BACK TO THE MEAT OF THE BEEF.

Okay so like, not only was the entire family and Bruce himself giving Dick shit for his death and Spyral, like, PAINFULLY egregious because it was literal victim blaming in every possible sense of the word....

None of it made a LICK of sense with ANY of their characterizations, and they ONLY all accepted it on face value because the Plot Demanded It, and when you're like, no, as a reader I say The Plot Demanded It is not a good enough reason for me to be like well sure, that makes sense......looking at the characters ACTUAL actions at face value pretty much just makes them all look like assholes?

Like, Tim has never gracefully accepted anyone's death. Ever. This is core characterization for him. He will go to the ends of the earth for his loved ones and to bring them back, prove they're not dead, refuse to let death be the final verdict for them. He was tempted to use the Lazarus Pit to bring his parents back to life. He refused to accept Bruce was dead long before he had any proof whatsoever of that theory. He tried to clone his BFF/future-husband Kon in his fucking basement like, dude was two whole inches away from going Full Dark Side in his quest to bring back a lost loved one no matter WHAT the cost.....and then you've got Dick unmasked onscreen, killed offscreen, and Bruce then reporting to the rest of them with zero inflection 'oh Dick's dead now. Its very sad' and Tim's just like, sure. Sounds legit.

I mean?!?!

And you're SO RIGHT ABOUT THE DAMIAN THING! Bruce LITERALLY LITERALLY LITERALLY went BEYOND the ends of the Earth, like, he full on chartered a fucking space ship to fly his whole family out to APOKOLIPS to bring Damian back from the dead by going to EXTREME lengths.....WHILE everyone else thought Dick was dead....

And not a single person looked at Bruce and was like, okay, not that we're not down to do this for Damian because we miss Stabby Smurf something fierce ourselves, but.....what the fuck is UP with you dude? Why aren't you displaying ANY hint of this same kind of energy in regards to your eldest son that you said you watched die right in front of you?

Like....I don't know that we were actually ever told that Dick's coffin was empty or had a fake in it, but like....this family of detectives who refuse to accept death, defy death, COME BACK FROM THE DEAD....not a single one of them said like, okay, if I'm gonna like, ACCEPT accept that Dick is dead and gone for good, I need to at least just see him one last time? That's literally all it would have taken for someone to realize hey something's a little wonky here. Where's the dead body, Pops?

Since when has Jason ever missed an opportunity to prove Bruce is a) full of shit, b) acting like an emotionless robot and all his kids deserve better especially when they've just like....died, c) just factually incorrect and wrong and jumped to a conclusion before it was conclusively proved, d) lying like a liar or e) all of the above?

Nobody even ASKED if Dick's body could be put in a Lazarus Pit? Yeah, Jason wouldn't necessarily recommend it himself, given what it put him through, but actually fuck that, I take that back, because I'm NOT actually of the opinion that Jason full on hates his life and actively spends every second of every day wishing he hadn't been resurrected, even if it had come with a huge buffet of additional trauma and pain.

And that's kinda what's implied when people just take it for granted that he would never be on board with any scenario involving using a Lazarus Pit to bring Dick back, because it suggests that based even just on his own experiences and feelings, he honestly believes Dick would prefer being dead and not have ANY further opportunities to be with his loved ones, his friends, help save the damn world again at some future point.....that Jason, projecting based just off himself, legit feels Dick would rather be dead than have another shot at life even WITH the downsides of Lazarus Pit usage? Nope. Sorry, I don't buy it.

Speaking of not buying it.....you know what was missing from all those soliloquies the others monologued at Dick about how they felt and were hurt and just devastated by his death, to such a point they can't seem to muster a single shred of happiness that he's NOT dead still -

(seriously, Damian was the ONLY person in ALL THE LANDS OF EMOTION-HAVING who expressed ANY kind of positive reaction to having Dick back. We were so fucking cheated of like.....ANY opportunity to have the characters show just how much they valued him by just being fucking HAPPY he was alive, no matter what else was involved....and then most of fandom compounded that by for years being like mmmm, no, Dick didn't get yelled at enough by his family for what HE put THEM through. Needs more yelling. More punching too. Bad Dick. Bad. This is the only way you'll learn not to die and get shipped off on a mission that you don't want but at least is to protect your family after being beaten into it by your dad whilst victim blaming you for dying in the first place. WHEN WILL YOU LEARN TO THINK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE AND THEIR FEELINGS FOR A CHANGE, DICK?!?)

- But like, BUT I DIGRESS aside....you know what was missing from all those monologues about how hard DICK'S death and ensuing year of basically exile from his loved ones was for EVERYONE BUT HIM?

We never got a single line of explanation as to what everyone else officially thinks even happened to him in the first place?

Like, did Bruce straight up just say oh bad news kids, your brother umm. Expired. Spontaneously. There's no one to blame, he just keeled over, its all very sad.

Is that how that went down?

You're telling me that the explanation of Dick's death didn't come with a single pointed finger at someone for this family of blame-happy vigilantes to like, BLAME for the loss of this brother they all mourned oh so much, they just couldn't help but blame him for all the hurt it caused them?

The family that in every other fic is like OBSESSED with avenging and being avenged and all things vengeful and even tangentially vengeance-y....like didn't ask for a single detail on whomst the fuck deprived us of our brother-having?

Where were the attempts on Luthor's life by Jason (who I mean, yeah I know it was in a previous continuity, but erasing that timeline doesn't erase my awareness of the time Dick killed Jason's murderer so like.....mmm, just saying, woulda been nice)....where was the rage directed at the Crime Syndicate and references to how seriously and personally the Batfam took making sure that they were PUNISHED for all this and would never be free to wreak havoc on their world or their family again? What did they tell Damian when he came back to life, and how are you going to tell me that this fraternal little ball of fury didn't aim himself like a cannonball at whomever the fuck had DARED take HIS Batman from him when Damian wasn't around to have his back?

Not only does everyone else's desire to be avenged start falling really flat the second you factor in hey maybe Dick feels "mmm what about MY avenging" sometimes, and why doesn't anyone ever care about doing that for him.....but also, y'know what REALLY sucks about the ONLY person we actually SEE being blamed for Dick's death and ensuing absence being like....Dick himself?

Not only were his family all super keen on making all of this HIS fault and HIM the bad guy because of how it made them all feeeeeeel (and meanwhile fuck his feelings, am I right Batfam hfaklshfklahfkla).....

They somehow found a way to justify prioritizing this OVER ever even getting around to blaming some villain for his death in the FIRST place, in the entire year or so they thought he was still dead!

Like, you couldn't come up with a single target in all that time, but Dick's back two seconds, and you don't even give him a chance to EXPLAIN before you're punching him, shutting him down with 'I expected better from you' and turning away with 'I don't want to hear it, why am I surprised Dick Grayson disappointed me again'?

afshklfhalfhalfhla

Make it make sense!

And like, it won't, cuz it doesn't, and it never will, and like I said at the top, the ONLY reason it all played out this way is because DC doesn't give a fuck about character development and deemed it necessary to go down this way for the sake of the plot (which was totes worth it, I mean, glad we sacrificed characters for this A+ plot which was clearly the greatest plot of all time and definitely justified every story choice made or not made around it loooool).

BUT.

BUT BUT BUT.

The problem isn't JUST that DC is stupid, even though that is an eternal mood and quite the problem.

Its that the SECOND large parts of fandom decided to play along with DC and just accept the story at face value, only add to it and play into it exactly as it happened in canon with no significant deviations, and like, heaping on the LITERAL abuse from Dick's siblings while ignoring the LITERAL abuse from his father....

THAT....is when all of this becomes relevant.

Because the second people decided TO engage with the reasoning DC gave for what Bruce did and how and what Dick did and how and just not mess with any of that and have it all play out exactly like that...

The second people are like, okay we're FINE with not just dismissing this story as OOC writing that doesn't make any sense, and actually VALIDATING it to various degrees by engaging with it as is....

That's when 'OOC writing' stops being an excuse or explanation for alllll of the above gaps in character logic and actions.

Because its like, when you had abundant chance to REJECT this story and say nope, this was bullshit from start to finish and I'm not here for it, when you were just as capable of transforming literally ANY aspect of this story you didn't like into something that made more sense to you....

And you chose not to.

That's.....accepting it as valid writing. You were like, okay, I'm game to just treat this as a thing that happened, just like they said that happened.

For the chance to give Dick shit for it, see. For the angst, see.

And that's when I'm like okay cool, so when engaging with this story as is and accepting it on face value and just delving into the characters as they were SHOWN interacting with and around these events......for the angst or whatever....

You guys just all decided en masse to just hop, skip and jump over allllllllll the opportunities for angst inherent in examining even ANY SINGLE ONE of the above lapses in judgment or hypocrisy on the parts of the characters (who don't get to be excused by OOC writing if you're not going to call the story an example of OOC writing, whoops).

And its just like, uh, what's up with that?

[alchemist-of-altoids]

this au desperately needs a name bc i fuck with it so hard. i’m fully imagining that this is the trio at around 20-22ish. They all share an apartment in Gotham and are going to college. The trio make friends with Tim, Steph, and Cass at Gotham University. No secret plots on either side, no over the top angst. I’m also imagining that this takes place in an equivalent of the AGIT timeline. Spoilers for AGIT below the cut.

Dan, who is now physically a few years younger than Danny bc of the clone body, is a high school junior while Danny is a sophomore in college. Vlad has had a quasi-redemption arc. He’s still a little fucked up and evil, but is at least genuinely on Danny’s side and trying to reconnect with the Fentons. Afterall, he needs some parenting tips for raising Dan and Ellie. Speaking of the Fentons, they now know about Danny and have fully accepted him. They’re currently working on their biases and are even working with some ghosts to update their research. There are now 2 Valerie’s (I know that was probably a mistake but idc it’s canon to me). One is in Metropolis, working a journalism degree. She’s even working under THE Lois Lane. The other is currently going around the world, training, upgrading, preparing for the moment she will finally take down Phantom. She’s probably with the LoA or something. But anyways, back to the trio. Sam, overachiever that she is, doubled majored is pursuing both a PoliSci and a Law Degree. She wants to be able to use her privilege to help. Sam has also been deepening her connection to the Green and even the Red. She finds the Green comes more naturally, but wants to be connected to both in order to be able to help all parts of the environment. Tucker is undecided, and is just taking as many classes that interest him as possible. At this point, he could easily go into any tech field he wanted and absolutely kill it. His main issue is wanting to do too many things. Meanwhile, on the side he’s been working with the Duulman Egyptians in the Zone. Apparently, with enough work he could access the memories of every past life, dating all the way back to Duulman himself. Tucker thought that the whole magic thing they wanted him to learn would be tough, but it’s pretty much the same as technology. He picked it up pretty easily and has made some SICK arcanotech. Danny is going for an engineering degree, hoping that he can actually manage to hold to his dream of being an astronaut and so far it’s looking promising. Every since taking the crown, things have been so much more peaceful. He even took some business classes to help his parents learn how to actually run a company so they could make some real money. He also lost a bet and joined ballet, but found out that he actually really enjoyed it. He always thought he had two left feet, but these last couple years he’s seriously fallen in love with all types of dancing. Ballet and business are actually where he met some of his friends. Tim and Cass. They introduced him to Steph and their groups merged together. And on the Phantom side of things, it’s been going pretty well too. He’s really come to love Lady Gotham. She’s like an older sister or an aunt to him. And apparently him just being there was filtering out some of the stale, dirty, gross ectoplasm. He’d even take care of, frankly, a concerning number of curses on the city. There were still a few there, but removing them too quickly could cause problems. He’s had a few meeting in the Zone, but his kingly duties are mostly handled by the Council now. Well, the Council and the Senate. He loosely (VERY loosely) based a new form of government on the American government. He just didn’t feel right having all this power. Now, every major section of the Zone gets to elect a few ghosts to represent them in the Senate. And this whole thing has taken about a hundred tons of pressure off Danny’s shoulders. Plus, barring a few months before he realized this, the Observants were actually in charge of the governmental paperwork in the Zone. All in all, things were pretty good.

(This is all just background stuff for how I imagine this au. I might do more later, I might not. Who knows. Not me.)

not enough investigations done into the comedy potential of dcxdp. fixing that :D

[chamomileteainabuttercup]

beboots

How about Jangobi, with 4, 16, 36, 37?

Thanks for playing!  This one is a little bit of a challenge because, as I noted before, this is a ship I don’t really think about unless a particular gifset reappears on my dash and then I think about it for like fifteen minutes.  Getting it to work requires changing the plot quite a lot, of course, and I prefer to get the changes going from the very start of their interaction. 

4.  First impression of each other? Was it love at first sight?

Temuera Morrison has noted that at the beginning of the scene, his “hospitable Māori” impulse was to offer Obi-Wan a cup of tea, but since he wasn’t sure they have cups of tea in space he decided to just stick to the script.  

So in my version, he does offer him a cup of tea and Obi-Wan accepts and so they sit down with their tea and it’s all rather disarming.  Obi-Wan is still highly suspicious of Jango (which is only sensible) and Jango is still playing everything very close to the chest, but the mood is slightly softened by the sharing of tea - and if they’re feeling lavish, biscuits too.  Obi-Wan’s head is full of questions, like “What sort of man is this?  Ruthless bastard, or perhaps not totally ruthless, given the little boy?  Was he involved in an assassination attempt on a rather good friend of mine?  What can I find out about all this cloning business from him without letting him know how little I knew in the first place?” while Jango has two main questions, “How much does he know?” and “Am I going to have to do something about him?”  And he’d rather not have to do something about him, because he likes the look of him and this kind of cagey verbal game-playing is his idea of a bit of light fun.  Then again, he is a Jedi and they generally spell trouble - but there’s no reason not to enjoy being around him while the opportunity lasts. 

Oh, and while this conversation is going on, Boba is sitting on the floor nearby playing with his space Lego and every time Obi-Wan glances that way he’s looking daggers of suspicion at him.  Obi-Wan actually finds it rather amusing to be glared at like that by a cute little kid (he’s like an angry kitten) so he just smiles back and twinkles his eyes at him (Boba looks disgusted), and asks Jango how old his son is, and they agree that eleven’s a very nice age, before all the teen angst begins. 

Jango says calmly, “I’m not expecting to have much trouble with Boba,” and Obi-Wan replies, “Ha!  I wasn’t expecting to have this much trouble with Anakin,” so that gets them onto the difficulties and rewards of bringing up a bright and adventurous boy, whether as his dad or as a sort of older brother figure, and sharing stories about things Boba and Anakin have said and done, and before Obi-Wan knows it they’ve been chatting for an hour and he’s got completely side-tracked from finding out about clone skulduggery and has slipped into flirting with Jango fairly shamelessly.  Which doesn’t necessarily mean anything, Obi-Wan will flirt with more or less anything that can talk back, but he’s realising that there’s an awful lot of charisma about Jango and he’s beginning to feel fascinated. 

So no love at first sight, but in later years (because they do have later years together, Jango doesn’t lose his head) Obi-Wan likes to say, “You had me at ‘cuppa tea?’”

(but he really sealed the deal when he offered him a Tim Tam)

16.  Do they keep secrets? Lie? Cheat?

To start out, Jango is keeping all sorts of secrets and lies freely whenever he considers it necessary, or just convenient.  It’s only gradually, as he grows to like Obi-Wan personally more and more, that he begins to want to be honest with him.  For a while they have one of those “frenemies who encounter one another occasionally and engage in flirtatious banter and/or homoerotic combat” type relationships, but over the course of the Clone Wars as they meet again and again they get into situations where they need to trust and help each other, and Jango has cut ties with the Separatists because he prefers to be a free agent, and Obi-Wan begins to hope that if he had a strong enough personal reason, Jango might want to lay off the shady business and... and there he runs up against the fact that he shouldn’t be thinking in these terms, he can’t have that sort of relationship with Jango any more than he could with Satine, he just really really wants to.  And at least Jango doesn’t have a philosophical or ethical problem with violence. 

Obi-Wan isn’t actually celibate, he squares it with himself that his flirtations and anonymous hook-ups aren’t deep attachments or possessive relationships and therefore they are within the letter if not entirely the spirit of the rules, and the first few times it happens with Jango that justification works, but it starts to wear thin when he realises how much he misses him after he leaves.  When Jango, thinking he’ll surprise Obi-Wan when he unexpectedly sees him in a bar, walks in on one such hook-up, he’s angry and upset and Obi-Wan is rather shocked and thrilled to realise Jango considers this cheating, that he cares  enough to have hurt feelings about it.  He’d been thinking of himself as emotionally compromised without quite realising Jango couldn’t just take or leave him.  That’s really the “Oh” moment for Obi-Wan. 

So after a while they’re not keeping secrets from each other, but Obi-Wan is working very hard to keep the relationship a secret from the other Jedi, including his closest friends, and telling a lot of lies in the process (there is at least one comedy episode wherein Obi-Wan is trying to sneak away to see Jango and Anakin is trying to sneak away to see Padmé and each keeps getting in the other’s way without ever realising there is sneakiness on the other side). 

Not to mention keeping it a secret from all the clones.  Boy, is that a weird situation. 

36.  What’s their greatest strength as a couple? Their weakness?

They have excellent chemistry and both love sparking off each other, verbally and/or more physically.  They always find each other exciting and interesting.  Not so much a weakness as an obstacle is the fact that Boba still really doesn’t like Obi-Wan and doesn’t need a stepdad and thinks he has stupid hair (that part really stings).  He’s always been the apple of his father’s eye and never had to share his attention with anyone else he really cared about, so his dad actually falling in love with someone makes him feel insecure and jealous and grumpy.  Obi-Wan’s attempts to win him over are complicated by the fact that he can’t actually explain to anyone else why he’s trying so hard to be nice to snotty teen bounty hunting prodigy Boba Fett.  Boba really enjoys holding this over his head - but will never actually drop the blade because, as little as he likes his dad’s boyfriend, he is just grown-up enough to realise it would really hurt his dad if he spoiled things for them, and he doesn’t want to go that far.

37.  How much would they be willing to sacrifice for the other? Any lines they refuse to cross?

That’s the big problem, isn’t it?  Crossing lines.  Obi-Wan has a very strong moral, religious and cultural code, and he can’t sacrifice that without undoing his whole sense of identity.  He can be dangerously complacent about the rightness of the Jedi Order and the Republic it defends and persists in believing that if Jango only understood more about the Jedi he would accept that rightness.  From his perspective it often appears as if Jango doesn’t have a moral code at all. 

From Jango’s point of view, yes he does, but it’s very pragmatic and based more on principles of loyalty and personal integrity than on adherence to any laws or rules.  If he’s true to himself and to the small circle of people he cares about, that’s all that matters.  He cannot and will not compromise on his duty to Boba as a father, and that comes before even all those complicated issues of Mandalorian politics - but those issues will inevitably cause problems for them too, particularly given that even if he’s been able to get over his romantic feelings for Satine as his feelings for Jango grew, she’s still one of Obi-Wan’s oldest and dearest friends and he doesn’t want her to be overthrown.  And of course Jango is far from the only person who might want to overthrow her. 

Somehow all this is going to eventually involve a lightsaber/Darksaber duel between Maul and Jango in the Mandalorian throne room.  Holy shit that would be cool.  Fuck yeah!

uhhhh I don’t know whether or how any of this gets resolved but there’ll be ANGST and STURM UND DRANG and other German words for heavy shit.

[forestlingincorporated]

Damian isn't a foil for Tim they are the same. Damian had to prove himself2gain Robin. He was already in Gotham working as a solo hero b4 Bruce's death. He proved himself by helping batfam. risking his life2save Tim from dying before he became Robin. He had2earn the right2 be allowed2continue living, to work hard2be accepted by both his parents&his sibling besides Dick. Damian didn't know love could be unconditional till he met Dick. His mum disowned him&had clones as backup+Bruce rejected him

I think some people are getting stuck on Damian's journey rather than considering what the characters represent at the moment of Damian's initial introduction, which is the starting point of their co-journey. Also getting stuck on my use of "unconditional love/respect" in that particular post, when it was kinda supposed to be in conjunction with the other traits - "inherent birthright" and "nature."

I phrase it "unconditional love/respect" because Tim would think of it as having to earn love and Damian would think of it as being owed respect, but they're connected concepts.

Damian, upon first arrival, is very secure in the idea that he deserves respect - not just that, but he deserves more respect than other people. While he's clear Talia is often too busy for him, he's still very clear that he doesn't feel un-respected by her: mother would fight me if I asked, mother would let me do what I want, mother would buy me what I asked for. He's intentionally written to be spoiled.

He believes less in "unconditional love" as we understand it, and more that he automatically meets the criteria for unconditional respect himself. Not as a general rule owed to everyone, but as something specific to him. And early on, we see a version of Talia who is very tolerant of and even loving towards Damian, despite him being such a brat.

"Just do your best" just, quite frankly, isn't the sort of dialog that would be allotted to any other member of the League of Assassins. Damian is given this special treatment because this is a Good Mom Talia writer, and also Ra's al Ghul has need of Damian as a soon-to-be vessel. Damian is led to believe he's special, because Ra's needs Damian's body unharmed no matter how much he acts up, and this version Talia just... loves her son.

I say this version... because there are versions of Talia who are Bad Moms, so whether or not Damian realistically believes he's loved... kinda depends on the writer. And certainly, that trust and belief in his unconditional love and respect is fully and truly broken when Talia betrays him. It was there though, regardless of any later betrayal that changed the way Damian saw himself and the world, though some writers have retroactively made Talia a worse parent in his early years.

Damian's world is effectively turned upside down. He ends up having to work for everything, hence my saying Tim and Damian both end up believing in a meritocracy, but this is where Damian (and Tim) is both right and wrong: he IS owed loved, but he DOES have to earn the respect of others. He can't just act like an asshole and expect other people to like or respect him. Damian's circumstances just change, and he develops new belief systems.

This is character growth. It's not necessarily positive character growth initially, but with Dick's help, Damian does eventually reach an equilibrium. It's a good character arc.

Foils don't need to be polar opposites. In fact, being similar is very common, because it highlights their differences all the more. Tim and Damian both think Bruce loves the other more, which causes them to fight, and WHY they think that is what makes them foils. What they bring out in each other makes them foils. How their differences highlight who they are.

Tim and Damian each start to believe in the other's side, but in all the wrong ways ("I will never be as good as So-And-So because I can't meet X criteria"), so when I say Tim represents This and Damian represents That, we're really just talking about where they begin, because their stances fluctuate with their narrative journeys.