#so one of the league members comes up to him and says

[eggfriedricedwasian]

I have this little au floating around in my head.

The "Bruce Wayne is Tim Drake's Bio Parent" au BUT with a twist where it's also "Talia al Ghul is Tim Drake's Bio Parent".

Essentially it's just one of those fics where Tim is fostered and NOT a vigilante and the rest of the fam don't know that Tim knows that they are vigilantes and want to keep it that way.

BUT.

They also don't know that Tim is Bruce and Talia's bio kid bc he looks nothing like Damian or anything.

That being said, Talia and Tim know.

Tim is where he is now because Talia was pregnant with him and hid him and trained him till he was 5 before giving him up bc Ra's was becoming too dangerous and obsessive for an heir and she couldn't have Tim being that.

Now about Damian though..

Damian was grown in an artificial tube, a test tube baby(Im pretty sure this is canon but idk).

For the sake of it, Ra's was the one who made him with Talia and Bruce's DNA.

So everything proceeds as normal(ish) and the family is none the wiser and Tim is all the wiser.

Tim, behind their backs, is secretly tailing Damian and taking down any Assassins after Damian.

There would be assassins after him if they knew he was alive and his relations, but alas not.

It all comes to light one way or another.

1) Damian is pushing his blood son agenda and Tim's like "Hah! No. You were grown in a tube, Talia was pregnant with me after a night with Bruce. So IM the blood soon. You're the DNA son"

2) They catch Tim taking down assassins

3) Assassins come directly after Damian and Tim just takes them down by himself.

4) Damian angst where he's scared of getting taken back to the league and Tim's like "They'll have to go through me first. I'm the first son, and the rightful heir, so they'll have to get me first before they get you." and he has to out himself.

5) Tim's heavily injured from taking down so many assassins and everything cones to light.

6) Someone jokingly says how similar most of them look and suggests a blood test.

7) Someone goes snooping and finds a) knives from the LoA that every member carries(1 on each person) b) paternity/maternity tests between Tim, Bruce, and Talia all coming back positive or c) both

[kpiuniverse]

The One where the Justice League assume #2

If pressed, Oliver will deny it—but Batman being stuck in medical does a real number on the team’s morale.

Which is ironic, considering Batman’s chronic lack of support for anything not directly tied to the mission.

Still. He’s Batman. A founding member of the Justice League, an inspiration to the rookies, a trusted ally to the veterans. As aggravating as the man is, no one’s exactly celebrating the fact that their latest mission injuries will have him bedridden for the foreseeable future.

Oliver’s already in a gloomy mood about it. He tries to shake it off by making himself useful—or, well, busy—in the communal kitchen. The fully stocked pantry provides distraction, if nothing else. He rifles through the extensive jerky selection, chewing absently on a spicy one while internally grumbling about how Bruce would show his affection by quietly stocking obscure flavors of protein snacks for the team without telling anyone.

That’s just so Bruce. Consideration by way of calorie management.

He’s mid-chew when Clark slumps down in front of him.

And okay. That’s a surprise.

Sure, Clark Kent has made a career out of slouching like he’s allergic to spinal integrity. But Superman?

Superman stands tall, proud, glowing with hope and moral certainty. He’s the poster boy for Truth, Justice, and Posture. He doesn’t slink into chairs like someone who’s just lost custody of his dog.

That’s Oliver’s job. He’s the one with the edgy relatability for their human members. What’s next, they’re going to start publicly acknowledging Batman’s soft spot for kids?

The team’s morale is bad enough without Superman sulking into the kitchen like a kicked puppy.

"What’s wrong?" Oliver asks, already halfway to suiting up and punching whatever caused this.

Clark sighs. A sound so loud it might’ve echoed through the hull of the Watchtower. "Nothing," he mumbles. "Just…"

"Just?"

"Nightwing."

Oh.

Oliver has zero complaints about the League’s newest recruit. The guy’s top-tier—skilled, adaptable, and easy to work with. He slid into League dynamics like he was born for it. Everyone likes him.

If all rookies adjusted like Nightwing, Oliver would lose a lot fewer arrows to "training accidents."

"What about Nightwing?" he presses. If something’s wrong with him, that’s not good for morale either.

(And when exactly did Oliver become the team’s mom, anyway?)

Clark sighs. Audibly. Again. Oliver seriously considers flicking him in the forehead.

"He went to see Batman," Clark finally says. "In the medbay."

Oliver blinks. Then stares.

"You mean Batman Batman? Brooding, suspicious, privacy-obsessed, ‘I sleep in shadows’ Batman? That Batman?"

His first thought is that Clark’s been swapped out for some evil doppelgänger, and that maybe all of Batman’s endless contingency plans and "mandatory" drills actually serve a purpose beyond driving the team into submission.

His second thought is that Batman would be proud of that reaction.

Bastard.

What could have possibly possessed Superman to let anyone near Batman while he’s out cold, defenseless, and—most importantly—in nothing but a hospital gown?

"You sure like to live dangerously, Blue," Oliver whistles. "Bats is going to have your head on a spike when he finds out Nightwing saw him without his beloved cowl."

Clark just shrugs and reaches for the jerky defenselessly lying around on the table.

"It doesn’t matter."

Flying to the rescue of his well-deserved snack, Oliver slaps the Super’s hand away, earning himself a scowl.

Clark frowns. "Nightwing knows."

He’s actively pouting now. It’s honestly kind of adorable—until Oliver realizes he’s not pouting about the dried beef he was just denied.

"What do you mean, Nightwing knows?"

Clark gives him a look. The look.

"I mean, he knows who Batman is. Probably has for longer than any of us, come to think of it," Clark chuckles. "I mean, given what they are to each other…"

He trails off, reaching again for the meat strips, practically making heart eyes at him from the table.

This time, Oliver lets him.

What they are to each other.

Clark doesn’t mean…?

"You don’t mean…?"

Clark nods solemnly. "Yep. Exactly that. How were we all so blind? I have no idea."

He stands, casually snatching another piece of jerky while Oliver just sits there, reeling.

"Well, it’s them, after all. No wonder they managed to keep such a close relationship under wraps."

Unaware of the internal chaos he’s just triggered, Clark leaves the room.

Oliver can only stare at the door, stuck on a single, horrifying thought.

"Batman and Nightwing are married."

Well. He sighs.

Marriage is supposed to boost morale, after all.

[superbat-lmao]

I have been thinking about sidekicks, new Justice League members, Justice League policy, and member hierarchies.

It’s going to be mostly unrelated before I get into the JL stuff.

This is based off my own experience of being the least experienced person in the room who reports directly to someone who carries a high amount of authority within the room.

When I am serving on committees (added as an administrative aid) and I have comments or feedback about a situation, I don’t contribute directly to the committee. Usually, I make notes and address my concerns either directly to the committee chair or my boss after a meeting has ended.

This is for two reasons.

The first is that I will not publicly contradict my boss. Some of the committees that meet have to deal with safety regulations or other processes (high level science) that I don’t know anything about. I am new and inexperienced, so any “suggestions” I have are usually phrased more as a question because I can’t often follow the full conversation (and am not expected to). However, if I go through my boss, who knows more about the subject, I can often get small process-specific concessions made to certain policies that make them easier to implement. Without undermining my boss.

The second is that sometimes my boss doesn’t know the ins and outs of a specific process (big picture information vs day-to-day). If I approach the committee chair after the fact, I am not opening up what I have to say to criticism. Because there is a larger financial governing body whose policies we are beholden to, there is no criticism that can come from our smaller department. It comes directly from a state accounting policy. Asking anyone to weigh in on a policy we don’t have control over bogs down conversation. So if anything that impacts those policies comes up in meetings, I address it separately so that it is implemented in a way that follows the strict guidelines and does not add more administrative work on others (because it often bypasses them and takes the most direct route of responsibility: me).

Both of these decisions are purely political in nature. I do not contradict my boss in group situations, even if I do in private conversations. No one can go around him by asking me to do something he’s said no to. Second, because people see that I am picking appropriate times/places to discuss policies that aren’t subject to change, I am often given more information/responsibility since I am the one handling these affairs. I am given control in our departmental policies in that I shape who becomes the point of contact for those processes. Other people irrelevant to the process do not get to weigh in or interject themselves.

Also, because I conduct myself like this, if I am ever forced to play my hand (my boss goes on vacation) and I have to make decisions in his absence, people usually abide my my decisions and authority even though they have more direct authority than I do.

It would be interesting to see fics that deal with the structure of the JL more in a bureaucratic sense. Having a formal hierarchy for heroes, formal channels for reporting/committees. How sidekicks fit into the mix, the command structure for new recruits. Especially the more that heroes keep joining.

I can’t imagine the Robins, Titans or YJ following such procedures, instead trying to circumvent some League policies. Too used to relying on their own authority. Or too used to questioning Batman.

But a fic from the perspective of a new hero watching how other “sidekicks” flaunt the rules or outright disobey them with little to no consequences? Or having more say in League policy/procedure despite being lesser known?

Sure, Nightwing is a well known name, but Red Robin, Spolier, Batgirl/Black Bat, civilian Doctor Damian or his hero name? Hell, Red Hood was a villian/Rogue/crimelord. Any of them bypassing established channels would be crazy to watch from a new members perspective.

I feel like Red Robin would structure the JL like the departments of Wayne Enterprises or Drake Industries. There would be committees and policies for creating/amending League policy. How to handle such a high volume of heroes and vigilantes without the direct oversight of the founders/big three (incapacitation, death, mind-controlled, going Rogue, ect.). That kind of thing. Can’t risk any one person being the lynchpin.

But also, being able to ignore policy? The rules?

That’s power.

[yourlocalsurrealism]

So this low-key makes no sense but:

Bruce has a metagene. It is that any cape he wears has a pocket dimension. The robins have an uncontrollable urge to hide in it.

It doesn't even need to be a legitimate cape. He was playing superheroes with a besheet when he was seven, and he pulled a medieval battle axe out of it. The Wayne's have never owned a medieval battle axe. Alfred, Thomas and Martha were extremely confused and concerned about it's origins.

Yes, I know Bruce isn't a meta. But it'd be really funny if he was. Especially with such a specific, weird power. That's how he fits all the stuff in his cape.

Like, snacks, and weapons, and Tim swears that one time he saw him just make a whole motorcycle appear from it.

Dick was cold on patrol once, and Bruce opened his cape, and just thought nothing of the fact that Dick just disappeared into it, dismissed it as a result of a really heavy warm cape.

Dick found himself in a warm, cozy, dark place, and immediately decided to go there as much as possible. He then told Jason, who didn't believe him at first but then found himself in the pocket dimension and was like "fuck yeah this is awesome".

He didn't tell Tim, and Tim didn't feel as if he was allowed to ask Batman to hide under his cape even when he was cold, so it took several years of vigilante-ing before Tim figured it out.

Damian didn't really have any chances to hide in Bruce's cape before he was lost in time, the cape didn't work the same for dick, and by the time Bruce was back, Damian believed he was too old for such childish things as seeking shelter in his father's cape.

The robins just think that Bruce got his cape enchanted somehow, and just didn't care to tell them in typical Bruce fashion. Bruce has no idea about this and is just happy that his kids like him enough to feel comfortable with him during patrol.

[batsandbirdbrains]

I want the entire Justice League to just be so fucking scared of Dick!Robin. He’s like 8-10 when they first meet him, but he’s somehow more horrifying than Batman. He’s teeny tiny and a cross between a fluttery little sprite and a shadowy demon. They’re still not sure if Batman is human or not, but they’re all convinced that Robin is some sort of entity. He’s a ghoul, a spirit, an eldritch horror that must haunt Gotham for some Godforsaken reason. And he either picked Batman to latch onto, or Batman saw him and plucked him up and thought he’d make a good companion.

One day, he gets so mad at Green Lantern for poking fun at Batman that he bites him so hard, Hal’s arm bleeds. Batman had grabbed him by his cape and dangled him in the air, telling him to apologize, but Robin just hung there with his arms crossed and a pout on his face. He did eventually say sorry. They all knew he didn’t mean it. He had blood drying on his lips. He didn’t wipe it away. It wasn’t until Batman put him down that the bat even noticed, then used his cape to clean him up.

The next time they saw him, he was giggling and asking Hal if yellow is his greatest weakness, and if his own yellow cape causes Hal pain. Then he leaned forward and whispered, “I hope it does” before giggling again and skipping away to ask Superman something.

Hal didn’t come to the Watchtower for two months after that.

Dick is enamored by Superman. He loves him. Follows after him all the time, is always asking Superman to take him flying. Clark takes him every so often, but cackling laugh Robin lets out while they’re in the air sends a chill down his spine.

Martian Manhunter admits that he once accidentally brushed against Robin’s mind, but all he picked up was distorted circus music.

That freaks everyone out, and now they hear it in their own heads whenever they catch a glimpse of Robin.

When he starts growing like a real boy? Horrible. Creepy. They don’t like it one bit. He’s acting too human, he’s making them think he’s real.

When he starts hanging out with their sidekicks? Nope. They all try to put a stop to it. The sidekicks all disobey them with a roll of their eyes. Then he becomes the leader of their little group, calling themselves the Titans? Oh God, he must be starting some sort of army.

Then a new Robin appears, and they all meet Nightwing, but they have no idea Nightwing used to be Robin. So when Nightwing becomes a member of the JL, they don’t think twice about him. They think Nightwing is a great guy. Very open. Very friendly. They all consider him a good friend.

Then it comes out after a few months that he used to be Robin, and all the original JL members practically squeak and distance themselves from him immediately. They’re terrified of him.

“You’re the little demon that bit me?” Hal shrieks.

Nightwing laughs, but he’s shrugging and looking so sheepish, so embarrassed.

“You were being mean to my dad!”

And the fact that Batman is Nightwing’s dad just makes them all freeze. Because they never actually considered that an option.

They’re still convinced he’s not entirely human, though. It would explain how he’s so flippy and bendy.

Dick has way too much fun when he realizes they actually think he’s not a human. He torments them just a little bit, in retaliation. Bruce watches from afar, both annoyed with his coworkers and amused by his son’s antics.

[faramirsonofgondor]

AU where Dick gets de-aged and thinks that Jason is Bruce because they look really similar, and Jason is the around the age Bruce was when Dick was that age. When everyone tries explaining the situation to Dick he doesn’t really get it because he was de-aged to a time when his English isn’t great and he doesn’t understand as much about time/dimension travel and all that. Like Dick is smart enough to grasp that there’s something different about the situation and he can tell the small differences between his Bruce and Jason but he still doesn’t really get it and just decides that Jason is the next best thing until he gets his Bruce back. And every time the real Bruce says that he’s Bruce, Dick just shakes his head and goes “My Bruce isn’t old.” or “My Bruce doesn’t have gray hair.” or something like that. Eventually everyone just gives up trying to explain it all and lets him think whatever he wants.

They decide to let Jason handle him, mostly because Dick hisses anytime anyone else comes near. Jason, who remembers Bruce constantly singing Dick’s praises, and who has heard everyone speak about Dick as though he’s an angel, thinks this is going to be a walk in the park. It is not. Jason looks away for one moment and Dick’s climbing the walls (literally - not metaphorically). He goes to the bathroom and somehow Dick managed to climb out the window and is halfway downtown. He tries to sleep and Dick is in his room like a creepy ass ninja - staring down at him, waiting for something (Dick had a nightmare). He breathes and suddenly Dick is ranting about killing his parents’ murderer. He tries to help Dick with his English and the kid starts making up words. He decides that they should patrol so that Dick can let some of his energy out, and suddenly there’s a maniacal cackle and he’s surrounded by goons that were taken down in the most brutal sense (are those bite marks???)

Jason finally decides to push his pride aside and talk to Alfred and Bruce about, only for them to act like this is completely fucking normal??? Alfred even laughs at him and tells him that he’s lucky he doesn’t own a chandelier and only lives in a studio apartment. So, Jason tries to get help from some of Dick’s other friends, who do stop by and visit, but do NOT help and just say “good luck with that”??? Even the older members of the Justice League are no help. The only person who even offers to help Jason is DEATHSTROKE of all people, and Jason is almost desperate enough to consider it. It all ends when Jason finds a solution to the whole de-aging thing because he’s so tired of trying to take care of child Dick. Except Jason’s suffering doesn’t end because whenever he tries to talk about what kid Dick put him through, Dick tries to GASLIGHT HIM??? If Jason hears the words “It wasn’t that bad” one more time, he’s going to de-age that little shit again and drop him off on everyone else’s doorstep and see how much they like it.

[enigmaris]

DpxDc The Ultimate Enemy AU:

When danny goes to the future chasing after his evil future self, he runs into Batman, the only surviving member of the Justice League. The hero helps him track down Vlad and discover what happened. Before Danny goes back in time to stop the dark timeline, Batman stops him.

Batman gives him a code phrase and tells him that if things dont work out, if he cant save his family or if he needs help in his own time he should go to Bruce Wayne and tell him the code and the man will help him.

Batman with years of experience when it comes to his deranged teenaged vigilante children assumes that Danny will know that Batman just shared his secret identity. After all, all of his kids would have put it together with ease.

Unfortunately for Batman, Danny is not one of his detective kids. Danny assumes that Bruce Wayne is a friend of Batman's. He goes back to his past and manages to defeat Dan and Clockwork saves his family. He never forgets the code Batman gave him.

Fast forward a couple years, Danny is on the run, he needs help. He does what Batman told him to do and goes to Bruce Wayne. He gives the man the code and is immediately taken to Wayne Manor for some medical care.

Danny doesnt want to tell Wayne about his ghost half. When the man asks him why he was hurt and how he can help, Danny said he needed a place to stay and that Batman said that Bruce would help him. Danny begs Bruce not to tell anyone he is here, not even Batman. He needs a safe place to hide.

The code Danny gave? A batman original that means "this is a trusted part of the bat family who comes from a doomed timeline, do whatever they say"

But Danny doesnt know Bruce is Batman????

So like, from Bruce's perspective, this beat-up kid shows up from out of nowhere and gives him a code phrase that basically sets the entire bat fam on red alert. Because this kid just came back in time from a doomed world right?

But the Batman of that time didn't reveal his identity. So surely there must be a reason for that? Bruce has to trust the version of himself that lived that failed timeline, which means he can't reveal his identity.

But no. There was no reason. Batman just did that thing he always does where when talking to a dark haired, blue eyed teenage hero he just doesn't finish his sentences and assumes they understand him perfectly.

They almost never do, at least not at first, and he never, ever learns.

Shenanigans, as always, ensue.

[adreamfromnevermore]

AU Where the Justice League forms as usual except for one slight difference where Bruce just so happens to have been the one superheroing for the longest. (Excluding Diana, who got up to it in World War 1 and then mostly didn't while she learned about Man's World)

Bruce helps form the Justice League, ignoring all of the comments as they come to the sudden realization that Gotham's baby cryptid story is actually a man in a very intimidating armored suit who can and will break your arm if you cause problems for him. They are unaware that this is not the first team he's led, and actually he's used to teams full of mostly teenagers who also happen to be his children. This should be easier, this team is primarily adults.

He realizes rapidly that he doesn't understand these people.

His kids take bonding activities to mean learning a dozen different ways to break someones leg. That doesn't fly with these people. And that is most of Bruce's ideas, hell when he was a kid Alfred took every opportunity to get him out of his room and mostly that was with the agreement that Alfred would teach him how to defend himself. He's come by it honestly.

This team is not easier. They have more drama than when his house was actually full of kids. It's insane. He doesn't know what to do with it, usually he just sent the kids to their rooms or grounded them from patrol. That doesn't work here.

He comes to a strange crossroads. That falls apart when he forgets who he's working with and snaps at Hal with a full room of heroes that the next person to throw a punch or an insult without a reason too will be sparring with him.

A long standing rule in the batcave that worked two fold to prevent infighting between the kids and too ensure that they were well and truly trained.

It works wonders. No one says a word out of line for the rest of the debrief. Bruce becomes the unofficial mediator of the league over Clark because anytime he walked in on a fight it suddenly became 10 times more civil out of sheer terror of what he'd do to them in a sparring match.

Eventually they actually meet his kids. Well, one kid.

Half way through a mission (one of the rare ones in Gotham) the Bat comes to a complete stop at the edge of an alley. Every single league member on the team comes to a stop behind him. Slowly from the shadows of the alley a man in a red helmet stalks out to greet them.

"You don't call, you don't write"

"Red Hood."

"Don't Red Hood me! We've been worried sick!"

"I was at the cave last night."

"You didn't answer my texts B. You always answer my texts."

Somehow it ends with big and scary following them through the rest of the mission with a running commentary of how much Bats has let him down in his failure to respond in a timely manner to a text send less than an hour before he ran into them in the alley. It only ends when Red Robin shows up.

And even then it only ends because Hood can't keep himself from throwing a punch and Bruce has to snap at him that if he throws another one they're sparring when they get home.

And by god is Jason giving up the chance to punch his brothers.

[athenalvss]

WHO DID SHE DATE WITH? ( bruce wayne! )

summary: Batman had to stop a patrol for a meeting at the watchtower and the young Dick Grayson must wait there until his mother comes to get him, but something he heard once makes him start an investigation.

bruce wayne x wife! reader

open request - hot wife masterlist

They were patrolling the city when a call came from the Watchtower, so Batman had to take Robin there for a quick meeting with J'onn and Diana, but before leaving he left the boy a warning.

"Don't touch anything, don't bother anyone, your mother will come for you soon."

But Dick Grayson was a restless kid and too curious for his own good. He'd spent the last three minutes spinning around in a control chair, watching Barry and Hal talk and laugh. Why did he have to just sit there and not have a little fun with them? They looked funny.

But Bruce's words, "Don't touch anything, don't bother anyone, your mother will be here for you," were still on his mind, but it was too late; he was already breaking the second rule. Dick quietly slid out of his chair, walked over to them, and stood with his arms crossed. "Can I ask a question?"

Barry turned, still smiling. Hal raised an eyebrow. “Sure, little bat,” Hal said. “Do you want to know?”

Dick looked at them very seriously. "I want to know which member of the League my mom dated before she dated Bruce."

The silence was immediate.

Barry blinked. Hal choked on his coffee. Dick looked at them as if he'd asked about the weather.

"What... what did you say, champ?" Barry stammered.

"you heard right."

Hal and Barry exchanged a look of pure, shining curiosity.

“Is that… true?” Hal whispered.

"I've never heard of it," Barry said, leaning in as if Dick were revealing a state secret. "But now I need to know."

"Are you going to help me or not?" Dick, already a little tired, crossed his arms.

"Of course!" Hal responded immediately. "Anything for... the investigation..."

After a few long minutes of plotting the plan, it was finally put into motion. Hallway after hall, one by one, they began interrogating all available members.

Diana saw them coming from the hallway. “Hi, Dick,” she said with a sweet smile. “Are you behaving?”

Dick swallowed. “Yeah...well, technically no, but I'm doing some research.”

"Oh really?" Diana asked, interested.

Hal stepped forward. "Diana, this is for everyone's peace of mind. Do you know who Mrs. Wayne was with before Bruce?"

Diana gave a soft laugh, as if she'd just been asked for the recipe for immortality. "I know things..." she said enigmatically.

"Things?" the three exclaimed in unison.

"But its not my thing to tell."

"Diana, please!"

She winked and left without another word. Dick sighed a little in frustration. Obviously, Diana knew. They went out at least twice a week to spend time together, but his mother's confidant would never tell them anything.

The next person to be questioned was Aquaman, but he didn't turn out as well as they thought.

"Arthur. Did you ever go on a date with Bruce's wife?"

Arthur stopped talking to Mera and looked at them like they were talking prawns. "What? No! Of course not! I'm a married man."

"But before..."

"I'm still a decent man!" he exclaimed, crossing his arms in real offense.

Dick scribbled “Vehement denial, he was standing in front of his wife, he’d be a good suspect, but definitely not the mom type.”

“Who else is missing?” he asked quietly.

"Green Arrow isn't here today," Hal replied. "I think he was coming later."

"And I don't know if you want to include Plastic Man," Barry added, wincing. "But he'll probably say yes just to spite your dad."

Dick nodded thoughtfully.

"I think J'onn's" Barry said after counting on his fingers.

Dick looked at him expressionlessly. "Barry… really?"

Barry threw up his hands, offended, "Okay, okay, let's move on to the next one," Barry said, assuming his previous guess wasn't that smart.

The next person to be questioned was Superman, the man was sitting there in one of the chairs looking at his cup with a smile. "May I know what this little operation is up to?

Dick, Barry, and Hal stopped in front of him as if they were guilty in a trial.

"We're... solving a mystery," Dick replied seriously.

"We want to know which League member Bruce's wife dated before she was with him" Barry added, unfiltered.

Hal nodded solemnly, as if they were carrying on a noble cause.

Clark gave a short, relaxed laugh. He placed his cup on the table and looked at them with the calm expression of someone who's seen it all... and isn't impressed by anything. "All I can tell you..." he said calmly, "is that Bruce wasn't the first... but he was the last."

And with that, he picked up his cup again and stared off into space as if he'd just finished reading the end of a great novel. The three of them fell silent.

"What does that mean?" Hal muttered, confused.

"It means he didn't say anything," Barry complained. .

"It's a closing line to avoid getting into trouble," Dick said, arms crossed.

Frustrated, they walked away from the area. No more clues, no more answers. They returned to where they had started, near the checkpoint, and slumped into their chairs like defeated detectives.

Barry sighed. “I thought we were going to settle something today. What are we, the Uncertainty League?”

"We could have gotten more if we'd put more pressure on Diana," Hal said, annoyed.

"The worst part is, I'm even more confused than before," Dick muttered.

They were silent when the zeta tubes sounded, revealing that you and Oliver Queen were walking in together. Laughing, knowing, at ease, like two old friends sharing a joke from years ago. Oliver had the biggest smile on the planet. You gave him a gentle push on the arm as if he were remembering something only you two knew.

The three observers watched them pass, frozen. Dick narrowed his eyes. Barry opened his mouth slowly. Hal let out a soft, "No way..." voice.

And when you found Dick after looking around, you gave him a loving smile. "Hi, honey. Did you behave?" "

"Yes, Mom…" he replied, slowly lowering his notebook.

Oliver looked at them with a raised eyebrow, noticing the suspicious glances. "What's going on? Are you plotting against Batman?"

"No," they all said at the same time.

you watched them with a barely amused smile. "Are you ready to go, Dick?"

Dick stood up and walked toward you, but before leaving, he looked over his shoulder at Oliver. "Just so you know... if it was you, I'm going to find out."

Oliver stood still for half a second, then raised his hands with an innocent smile.

As mother and son walked down the hall, Hal and Barry slowly turned to Oliver. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

Oliver smiled. "A gentleman has no memory."

[ddream1010]

A lot of people play with the idea of the Justice League summoning Danny as a ghost/ghost king/ghost prince, thinking he’s Pariah Dark. That’s all fun and good, and the guilty pleasure of reading their surprise is always fun, but surely they wouldn’t be so outdated about it?

Danny’s friend is Tucker—a tech geek—who’s to say he won’t hook his friend up with a phone line for Intergalactic Kingly (technically Princely, but King sounds better) Duties? In fact, why wait for the Justice League to call him? It’s not like they know the Realms have got a new system yet, and Danny ought to give them some free help the first few times, just to clear a bit of the old bad air between them.

Let’s say a few of the members have got them selves in a bind with a certain ancient artifact that’s cursed with ectoplasm. All it takes is one confused question—

“Wait, the things cursed with whatsit now?” Captain Marvel asked, leaning close to try and get a better look.

Zatanna held up a hand, warning him away. “Ectoplasm. Don’t get close, we’re certain it’s got similarities to Lazarus water, but we don’t fully understand it.”

He frowned, holding the artifact farther away from himself. “That doesn’t bode well for me.”

Zatanna sighed. “Let me call John over, I think we need to summon—“

And with that, the requirement of “Ectoplasm” and “Summon” being spoken was fulfilled, and the landline phone rang.

Naturally, they were a bit confused at first, as they distinctly remembered not having a landline phone on their station in the middle of space. However, never fear, because all it takes is a healthy bit of communication and customer service.

“Hi! You wanted to summon something to deal with ectoplasm?” A cheery voice said when Zatanna picked up the phone.

“Ye—“

“Fantastic! I’ll be there in a jiffy,” the voice said. They seemed almost at a desperate level of enthusiasm, as if they were relieved someone needed them.

Captain Marvel glanced between the ancient sword his hands were glued to and the phone. “Did they say they were coming here?”

“I did!” A voice announced, surprising both of them. They both immediately took defensive positions, fully launching attacks at Danny—

“And just like that, I was there to help! See?” Danny said jovially, swiping away a stray bit of blood from when the two had attacked him. “Easy and fast, without the hassle of a ritual!” Danny finished his pitch just in time for the sword to let out an ominous roar as it unstuck itself from Captain Marvel’s hands.

“You’ve made this worse!” Zatanna accused, lunging for the sword.

“Wait! I’m not done!” Danny cried, waving his hands for her to not approach.

The sword immediately locked onto her, glowing green and launching itself toward her. Danny just managed to grab onto it and turn them both intangible, passing right through the magician.

He glared at the sword. “You’re not making me look good right now,” he whispered. The sword shook in his hands agitatedly, swaying its point toward Zatanna. “No,” Danny scolded. “Bad dog. Go back to the Zone, now.”

The sassy sword whacked him in the forehead. Danny stuck his tongue out at it. The sword glowed a bright, iridescent green before disappearing completely.

He sagged. “Oh thank the Ancients.”

Dusting off his hands, he turned back to the other two and smiled. “So? Five stars? Four stars? I’ll take a three-point-five…”

With no response, Danny’s face drooped, black eyebrows furrowing. “Shit…that bad?”

Captain Marvel shared a glance with Zatanna and scratched his neck sheepishly. “We…probably won’t be needing your help again, dude. We’ll just get the Ghost King. Um, thanks though…”

The lady looked even less friendly. Her expression read: “we don’t know you, don’t show up uninvited.”

Danny sighed, opened a portal, and—after sparing them one final, sorrowful glance because he couldn’t help it—stepped back into the Ghost Zone.

The familiar sight of Long Now greeted him. Clockwork was there to meet him, offering him a cup of tea.

“While I am not experienced in such endeavors, I have heard many humans also experience a rough first day on the job,” he said.

Danny groaned, shedding his human form. “You know what? Screw this ‘revamp the summoning’ thing. Next time, I’ll just let them summon me, thinking they’ll get Pariah.”

Clockwork smiled, a mysterious knowing glint in his eyes. “Now wouldn’t that be a funny idea?”

[damselneedssaving]

boys will be boys

robin (dick grayson) x f!reader, kid flash (wally west) x f!reader

Tasked with your safety, and enthralled by your beauty, both Kid Flash and Robin trip over themselves to welcome you into the Cave. The end result? Two boys having a cat fight over a girl.

"TEAM, THIS IS [NAME] [LAST]."

You rub your arm, gaze flitting to the right as the man who saved your life introduces you to the team he reassured you would keep it safe.

"Her life is currently in grave danger, so until the League is able to solve the issue, she'll be a temporary resident of the Cave. I trust you all with her safety."

A whistle makes its way into your ears, causing your eyes to fall back onto the group of teens just in time to catch one of the boys taking a step forward, pupils dilated and gaze trained solely onto you.

"Well hello there, beautiful."

You're barely able to blink before he's then shoved to the side with a yelp and one of your hands is cupped by another boy, this one with shades covering his eyes, which would have had you wondering what he was feeling... if not for the huge grin stretched from one side of his face to the other.

"The name's Robin," he introduces, that grin of his bleeding into his tone, "I'm sort of the leader of the group." He then punctuates his words with a shrug, as if to silently add, 'No big deal.'

A scoff sounds from the side, and you look over to see the boy Robin shoved dusting himself off like he had just rolled in dirt.

"Yeah right, that's Aqualad, dipshit."

Robin's grin falls, brows furrowing over the top of his shades as he takes one hand off yours to instead rest on his hip. "Uh, yeah, he's holding the position for me."

"Sure. Whatever you say."

Robin's furrowed brows linger on the boy for a minute before he turns to you again, smile quick to make its way back onto his face.

"Anyway, let me give you a tour of the place," he offers, but before you even have a chance to respond, to say the first word you have since entering this cave, someone else interrupts you.

"Ahem."

Your eyes look past Robin, landing on the rest of the group, all standing there with the same deadpan look on their face. Seriously, it's a little uncanny.

"I believe it is our turn to introduce ourselves to Miss [Name]."

"Oh," you pipe up before anyone else can say another word, "Please, just call me [Name]. I think I'm a little young for 'miss'."

The boy you responded to smiles, lips parting to no doubt introduce himself.

At least, that is, until he's interrupted.

And who other by, than the Boy Wonder himself?

"Don't mind him, Aqualad's always been a bit too strait-laced."

Before you can bask in the way Aqualad, as you now know him, allows his expression to fall back into a deadpan, Robin coaxes your gaze back to his own obscured one with a gentle tug of your hand, and somehow, despite not being able to see even a hint of his eyes behind the dark shades, you can still see the mischief sparkling in them.

"Don't worry, I'll introduce the team to you."

That and the sigh that then comes out one of the other member's mouths is enough to quirk your lips up, something light and airy finally bubbling out from your chest in a way that stretches Robin's smile back into a grin, and causes your previously tall shoulders to fall.

Huh. You didn't even realise they were tense.

"Well? Are you gonna introduce us? Or are you gonna keep staring at her like an idiot?"

"Oh right." Robin perks up, lifting his free hand to gesture behind him. "[Name], that's Artemis, Aqualad, Miss M, Superboy, and—"

Batman's sidekick lets out a yelp, and suddenly, your hand is once again cupped between two other ones—this pair though, a lot different to the last.

"I'm Kid Flash."

You blink, lifting your eyes up from the hands holding your own to the half-lidded eyes they belong to.

"But you can just call me Wally." The boy winks.

Your lips twitch up at that, and you tilt your head towards him, allowing your eyes to crinkle in a way that audibly hitches his breath before responding with a nice, warm, "Nice to meet you, Wally."

"Holy shit," Wally barely breathes out above a whisper, "I think you're the love of my life."

Before you even have a chance to laugh at his words, you're taken aback by...

...is that a cackle?

"Love of your life?" Robin's voice breaks through the cackle before he seamlessly lets out another, much to your bafflement.

From the corner of your eye, you can see the way Wally's smile falls flat. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing." Robin waves at the air as though batting away his own laughter. Though if that's what he's doing, then he sure as hell is putting the least amount of effort in it as possible. "It's just... I thought that was Miss M."

Wally sends him a look that's all daggers, pairing it with a, "You thought wrong." before further sharpening those daggers when the Boy Wonder lets out another cackle.

"Ignore him, babe." Wally turns back to you. "He's got a few screws loose."

"And you've got a few commitment issues."

If steam wasn't blowing out of Wally's ears before, it sure as hell is now, and he makes sure it's known when, in a streak of orange lightning, he appears right before Robin's smirking face, glaring down at the younger boy who stands tall and very much unflinching.

"You wanna go, punk?!"

"If you think you can take me."

Meanwhile, you make use of your hand's newly acquired freedom to grip your arm again, sending Aqualad, if you remember correctly, a wobbly smile before asking, "Is it always like this here?"

"For the most part, yes."

[radiance1]

By all accounts, it shouldn't have worked.

By all bloody accounts, that should not have worked.

Constantine will repeat.

That, by all accounts, should not have worked.

The warehouse was shitty. The materials were shitty. The summoning circle was shitty. The chanting was shitty. The magic was shitty.

By all accounts, the summoning should not have worked.

So Constantine couldn't give much of a shit about really stopping it because the summoning was so shitty it shouldn't have worked by an means possible.

So what. In the ever-loving fuck. Was the Ghost King, known tyrant of the Infinite Realms. Standing in the middle of the circle and not, last he checked, imprisoned?

That was another thing that he thought would have made it fail, actually. Because the Ghost King was incapacitated, asleep, gone, unavailable, nada.

So what. The fuck. Was he doing. Here?

Constantine knew the day was going to well to stay that way but wow. The universe loves to fuck him over, apparently.

Or the Justice League in specific.

Or both.

Doesn't matter, because now he has to bullshit his way out of this or get ready to brawl for his life.

Good thing he's good at both of those things, then.

Mostly the bullshit-

"Phantom what the fuck are you doing-" Constantine wheezed out, watching one of their newest members-a ghost going by the name Phantom-fly over in front of the known tyrant and-

Oh.

Oh, holy shit this won't end well.

Ghost King.

Phantom. A ghost.

Well, shit.

This is fine. This is totally fine. He just needs to bullshit his way out of this or face two powerhouses.

This is fine.

He's done worse.

"Sup War" Phantom said, floating around the summoning circle that contained the king of all ghosts like it wasn't a problem. "Didn't expect to be seeing you here."

"Ward." The Ghost King inclined his head slightly, eyes trained on Phantom. "I would not have come here if not for Time's insistence and I have been meaning to..." The King paused, hands gripping and ungrasping the pommel of his sword. "...Check in... on you."

"Aww, were you worried about lil old meeeee?" Phantom, ever the little shit and holy shit did Constantine want to go over there and shut him up, said. Floating around until he was staring upside down in the Ghost King's face. "Didn't know you were so soft, pa."

"I am not soft." The King huffed, flame dancing at the edges of his hair. "I was merely... concerned. Over how you would be acclimating to your circumstances. This world's League of Justice covers far more than your small haunt."

"Weeeell, it's not that bad honestly." Phantom admitted. "Haven't really done anything too big yet just some smallish things here and there. So, you know." The ghost boy shrugged, swinging back in the air to turn upright and crossing his legs. "Nothing too bad."

"Good." The Ghost King nodded, shoulders slumping so slightly that if Constantine wasn't looking, he wouldn't have seen it. "That is good. Yes. Good." The King slightly cleared his throat, grasping and ungrasping the pommel of his sword.

Silence echoed in the warehouse as the King seemingly looked for words to say.

"Would you..." He cleared his throat again, squaring his shoulders and standing up straighter. "Would you like to join me and Time for a meeting? It has been some time since you had last joined us." The King shifted slightly before adding. "Of course, if you're busy you do not have too."

"Sure." Phantom said, rolling back and forth in the air as he hummed. "Been a while since we've had some family time-"

"Family time?" Constantine caught someone-who he thinks was Green Lantern-say. He was just as bewildered.

"And if Time sent you here then it must be important." Danny paused before shrugging. "Or maybe not, can never know with him. But yea, sure. I'll come."

"Wonderful." The Ghost King smiled. Smiled. At Phantom. "Then I shall. Leave. Now. To do. Things. Yes. Things." The summoning circle flashed a familiar green, the same green when the King was first being summoned. "Goodbye, ward."

"You can call me son, you know."

The King paused for a moment, blinking slowly before hesitantly nodding.

"Then goodbye. Son."

The circle flashed and just like that. The king was gone.

"Kid. What the fuck." Whoever said- okay wait no that was Constantine, him. But yea fuck it he agrees with himself. "What the fuck." He repeated.

Phantom, the brat, only gave him a shit eating grin and a peace sign before disappearing on the spot.

[demonic0angel]

Twenty something year old Danny becomes a preschool teacher to a class of young meta and liminal kids, he helps to keep the kids calm when they discover their abilities and is genuinely one of the better teachers at the school. He's also a part-time member of the Justice League.

He's in the middle of a meeting when he gets a call from a freaked out substitute teacher saying one of the kids is stuck halfway through the wall and doesn't know what to do. Danny excuses himself and explains that one of his kids is having a small problem and he'll be right back and then leaves not realizing the chaos he left behind in his wake as the Justice League believe that Phantom has multiple kids and is a single father.

Phantom laughed nervously. “I need to pick this up real quick.” His phone continued to ring until Phantom had exited the meeting room.

However, he seemed to have forgotten to go far to avoid eavesdroppers or he was too worried to find somewhere else to pick up the call, because he only stopped behind the door to answer.

“What happened? Are they okay?” He said, sounding urgent. “Do I need to get there?”

“One of your kids is stuck!” Came a voice from the phone.

Everyone within the meeting room was leaning in, nosey as ever. Batman, who was presenting, was even tilting his entire body to the door, the only indication of his listening in.

The voice continued, “I’m so sorry, sir, I don’t know how to get them out! It’s causing a panic and no one can help me and all of the kids are crying for you!”

“How many are there? Are they all okay?”

The voice sniffled, clearly distressed and crying herself. “All ten of them are here. They’re all okay, it’s just that Etiel is stuck in the wall and no one can get him out. It’s freaking them all out.”

Phantom muttered, “Fiddlesticks. Okay, uhm. Try to calm them down, if you can. Can you find Cindy? She’s the most responsible, she’ll know what to do. And tell her that when I come back, I’ll make sure to reward her for her help. I’ll try to get there as fast as I can.”

Phantom then hung up the call after a few more words of encouragement and reassurance to the other person on the line. Then he hung up the call and came back into the room, looking apologetic. Everyone quickly pretended to be doing nothing.

Flash was holding seventeen new orders of fast food burgers, but Phantom was too distracted to notice.

“Is there something wrong?” Superman coughed awkwardly.

“Yes, I’m very sorry, but I have an emergency at home. Is it possible for me to get notes of the meeting later to review? I’m sorry— I know that this meeting had been planned for a while.”

Wonder Woman said, her voice very gentle, “Of course. We shall send you a review of the meeting in an email. Please, go home and rest assured. Take care of your little ones.”

Phantom blinked and then chuckled. “You heard that, huh? Thank you. I have to go now, so bye! Thanks again!” Without hesitation, he then flew off like a streak of light.

They were silent for a moment longer.

Then they all turned to Batman.

“Are you happy that you’re not alone in the club of single father with over 2 kids?”

“….. hn.”

Batman was determined to have more friends with kids and poor Phantom wasn’t going to know what hit him.

[fanaroff]

DP x DC: Downed Danny Prompt

The Justice League are enlisted/hired by the GIW to capture and contain a dangerous ecto-entity. With the media blackout of Amity Park, the JL only have Constance’s input on these types of creatures. Since dangerous beings of the Infinite Realms, ones with intent on destruction, are the ones known to leave the Realms, the JL believe the GIW and begin to work with them on a plan.

The GIW have a ghost contained as bait. A big white creature covered in fur and ice, not unlike descriptions of yeti. It growls and howls at anyone that happens to come near or make eye contact. It speaks in what seems to be a mix of Esperanto and static. What is understood from it tends to be along the lines of “destroy you if you-“ before whatever is said is lost to ear-splitting static.

The creature is all claws and danger and does little to make the JL think that the entity they are after is not a villain. It only makes it seem more likely.

With a trap set far north, above any human civilization that could get caught in the crossfire, and following the tracking path the entity seems to be taking (following the bait), they wait to enact their plan. Drs. Jack and Maddie Fenton work with them to create the weapons and containment unit that can burst on with the press of a button.

When the entity appears, the JL do not expect it to look like a child. At least, not this much. All lanky limbs and awkward posture, it almost seems the perfect image of a teenager. Until one notices… the uncanniness. Bright, wild, green eyes that reminds Batman of one of his sons. Untamed white hair that drifts without a breeze. Claws. Fangs. It’s not human.

It barks something that strange screeching mixed language at them. It’s angry and has spotted the bait. It says the same thing, this time it’s hands light up green. Demanding. Its stance changes. It’s looking for a fight.

The yeti says something back that seems to only anger the entity further. Its fangs seems to grow longer, nails sharper, eyes brighter, and it aims a hand in the general direction of those present, outside of the yeti.

This is “Phantom.” The ecto-entity the GIW have been after for its destruction on the living plane for years. The one that seems hundreds of years old with pottery and paintings and crafts backing up the claim. It needs to be stopped. So the JL don’t hesitate.

The skill sets of ghosts were explained early on, so each member is ready with a Fenton-made weapon. Phantom’s eyes only harden when they aim them towards him.

Rather than immediately fight, like they assumed it would do, it flies straight towards the yeti. And suddenly, it’s falling.

None of the JL took the shot, but one of the Fenton’s (bundled in ghost proof arctic gear and holding the strongest hitting weapons), did.

Phantom goes down, hard.

The yeti flips out, growling and pulling at the exit chains that bind it. It’s making horrible, gut wrenching sounds and pulling towards the downed ghost until the binds break and it’s leaping towards it. The GIW slam on the ghost shield containment unit and the two are trapped together.

It’s only when the yeti is making mournful cries, holding a small shape as close as it can, green spilling and staining the white, white snow does the JL think that maybe, just maybe, they fucked up. That they should have done more research rather than blindly trust a group that convinced them that they only have humanity’s best interest.

*Feel free to use or add to it. I may make a full detailed one-shot of it soon too

[batsandbirdbrains]

But I think it would be so funny if, because Dick was so young when Bruce took him in, that so many people forget that Dick isn’t Bruce’s biological child. Like once Dick is older than say 16/17, most interviewers and reporters and journalists drop the “adopted” part of “adopted son,” and sometimes they might even comment on how much Dick looks like Bruce, how similar they both are.

And maybe sometimes Dick and Bruce even forget. Like Dick knows Bruce isn’t his biological dad, but maybe he thinks of his parents as like “mom and first dad” and Bruce is “second dad” and he sort of forgets that he’s not actually related to Bruce.

Bruce knows that most of kids are adopted. But the others were all older when Bruce first took them in (maybe they were all at least 13, so already in their teens) but Dick was an itty bitty little thing. He was only 8. And he didn’t go to school at first when Bruce took him in, because he had been home schooled and he’d been nervous about going to a normal school, so Bruce didn’t make him start going to Gotham Academy until the following Fall, and even then he was only in the third grade. Practically a baby.

Maybe when Dick is in his 20s, he and his siblings are being interviewed before a gala. And something comes up about being adopted, and the others all say their bits, but then when the interviewer turns to Dick, he’s just chilling with his arm around Damian, and he looks at the interviewer like he’s waiting for the next question. And maybe the interviewer is looking at his notes, looking for the next question, and Jason elbows Dick in the ribs and just says, “Dickface, don’t you have anything to add?”

And Dick hisses and swats Jason’s arm in retaliation, but he looks confused. And then he just, “Oh, I’m adopted too! I forgot lmao” and all of his siblings are so confused at how he can forget that, but Dick just smiles and chats with the interviewer (who’s looking very sheepish bc he also forgot). The only one who doesn’t look baffled is Damian, because Damian firmly believes that if any of his siblings turn out to secretly be his blood sibling, it will be Dick. He maybe sort of hopes it will happen sometimes.

Maybe when they’re around the Justice League as Batman and Nightwing, a newer member might ask how old Batman was when Nightwing was born. And they both sort of blue screen for a minute before Dick laughs and says, “oh, that’s right, I’m adopted! He’s only like 15 years older than me, give or take.”

“Don’t you dare age me,” Bruce hisses. “I’m only 14 years older than you.”

Dick just snorts at him. The other JL member looks so startled that Batman seems to actually have a sense of humor.

[totally-here]

3 times Phantom's Guardian was Mentioned + 1 Time He Showed Up

One

Phantom’s introduction to Young Justice wasn’t as dramatic as Empress’ or Slobo’s, or even Arrowette’s first introduction to the cave. No, it wasn’t during the Olympics, or on a battlefield, and he didn’t come in injured and looking for help. 

Impulse just brought Phantom in one day and insisted that he should join because he’s their age, interested in justice, and now that Greta’s human again they need another ghost member. So Phantom stayed, popping in and out for missions but never really sticking around all that long. 

Today is one of the days that Phantom’s with them on a mission, that being looking around a lab of the Brain’s that had an energy surge recently, despite it being presumably abandoned. 

Kon got paired up with Phantom to check the rest out first, since they both have better hearing than Anita and Tim, who were both still in the main room working on checking the computers for previous activity. 

The room is dark except for the light green ball glowing slightly above Phantom’s hand. He waves it around enough for it to reflect off of glass, then throws it up to the ceiling. The light expands enough to illuminate the room. 

Phantom mumbles about not knowing he could do that. Kon ignores him and moves closer to inspect the glass tubes to the side of several monitors set up. 

“Looks like cloning equipment,” Phantom says, casually. He drags a finger through the dust gathering on one of the monitors. “Don’t think they’ve been activated recently, though, so that’s good.”

“What? You got a problem with clones or something?” It’s a quick and defensive answer, and Phantom puts his hands up in surrender. 

“Not in concept.” He shrugs and joins Kon near the tubes. “But not a lot of people ask before making clones.”

“So I don’t need to sic Superman on you?” Obviously Kon could chew Phantom out himself, but few can do a “not mad, just disappointed” face better than Clark. 

Phantom scrunches his face. “Why would you need to?” 

Kon stops pretending to inspect the tube and stares at Phantom. “You do know I’m a clone, right?” The blank look on Phantom’s face tells him that no, he did not. “Well I am. Clone of Superman, though we’re pretty much brothers now.”

“Cool,” Phantom says, not a bit less friendly. He hesitates for a second before continuing, “Could I maybe ask you how you got there? Me and my clone have landed on cousins, but that was also, like, given to us by her evil dad. So.”

Phantom trails off. Huh, that makes three members of the team that have been cloned. Not a lot, but it’s weird that it’s happened three times. 

“You’re making sure she feels accepted, right?” 

“Yeah! Well, whenever she’s around. She,” Phantom waves his hand around, looking for the right word, “She’s a wanderer. Exploring the world and stuff. But Richard has a room for her at home, and I remind her of that whenever she does stop by.” 

“Well, first of all, don’t push it so hard,” Kon says. Phantom nods enthusiastically. “And second, who’s Richard?”

Kon doesn’t know a lot of Richards, and he doesn’t think that Phantom ever mentioned one before. Or even if he remembers his living life. 

“Oh, he’s my, uh, guardian? I guess that’s the best term. The guy I’m living with who forces me to go to school sometimes.” Phantom looks away and back to the tubes. 

Before Kon can ask for more details, Robin and Empress come in with a report of dead computers and wanting to know where they’re at with the cloning room.

They’re unimpressed with their lack of progress.

Two

Wally doesn’t really need to come by the Hamilton Lodge that often, not when that’s Young Justice’s territory and he doesn’t want to get involved in all of That.

But Red Tornado said that the team has a file on a planet that’s very quickly becoming a league problem, and he figured it might be a good time to try to check in with Bart, anyway. Make sure he hasn’t run any cars off cliffs again and all that. 

So he stops by Manchester to ask Bart about the file, then they both head East to actually find it. 

When they arrive at the hotel minutes later, Wally’s surprised to actually find it… clean? There’s no visible trash or overturned furniture or anything else he’d expect from an abandoned hotel filled with teenagers. Well, maybe not filled, lately. He doesn’t think anyone’s living here currently, with Greta at Elias’ for the school year and Slobo gone. 

Still, the room smells slightly of artificial pine scent, and Bart perks up before disappearing and reappearing rapidly, holding a teammate up by his armpits. Said teammate just accepts this, his legs folding into a wispy tail, and head rolling against his shoulders. 

“This is Phantom!” Bart holds him up higher. Phantom waves. Wally’s only heard of him through Max’s updates, the same way he would hear about Preston or Carol, but with more wariness about the supposed ghost. 

Actually looking at the pale face and glowing green eyes contrasting against the darker than dark jumpsuit, Wally’s a little more ready to accept his claim at being undead. 

“He stress cleans,” Bart explains, moving to carry Phantom under his arm. Wally bites down the urge to tell him to put him down, but only because Phantom doesn’t resist the hold, only moving to get into a more comfortable position. His hands are touching the floor. “So what happened?” 

Bart directs the question downwards, and Phantom heaves a very dramatic sigh. Definitely a teenager. It does raise the question of who exactly this kid’s mentor is. Hopefully he does have one. Maybe he’s the Spectre’s kid?

Phantom phases through the arm holding him only to lay on top of Bart’s hair. “I accidentally called Richard dad. And then fled.” 

Bart nods sagely. “Classic. One time I accidentally called Max dad, so I had to start a fire to distract him.”

Phantom sighs again, almost dreamily. “Genius.” 

Wally doesn’t have time to unpack all of that. Well he does, but he’s not going to, because there’s really only one Richard that comes to mind that might have the heart to take in a dead kid, even if he doesn’t go by his full name.

But surely Dick would have told him, or any other Titan, if he had adopted a kid. Right?

But there’s still a little shadow of doubt. Maybe Dick wanted it to be a secret, or it was really new or had a rocky start. Phantom doesn’t seem to hold himself like a Bat, but it’s not a guarantee Dick would have trained him. 

“The lodge looks nice,” Wally offers out loud, which Phantom shrugs at and wraps his tail around Bart’s head to keep secure. “Anyway, Impulse. The file on Myrg?” 

“Oh yeah!” Again, Bart disappears then reappears a few seconds later with a paper file. They really need to start digitizing more of these things. “That’s the planet where we played baseball so that they wouldn’t destroy Earth!” 

“You what.” 

The prospect of Dick following in his dad’s footsteps is forgotten in the face of what the hell Young Justice got up to on Myrg. 

Three

Tim may be in a…Predicament. 

It’s not his fault. Really. He knew what he was doing. He couldn’t let a civilian fall for the trap. But they were already so close, so he just, kinda, pushed himself into the rope instead. 

So there Robin is, tied upside down in a warehouse, with the Joker below next to an overly complicated control panel. The clown’s rambling about bombs hidden all over the city that Tim knows Batman is already tracking down with Batgirl. 

Tim’s not really paying attention to the rant because of that, more focused on wiggling enough to get the spare mini-birdarang out of his glove to cut the rope without notifying the Joker. 

“Yikes, bad time?” Asks Phantom’s voice beside him. Based on the source and accounting for the slight echo, he’s floating with his head near Tim’s, likely upside down. “Want some help?” 

Tim gets the birdarang out and starts sawing at the thick rope. They should be fine anyway, but stalling the Joker for extra time would be helpful. “Can you possess the Joker? Just hold him still.”

“The correct term is overshadow, but sure.” The voice disappears, and a few seconds later the Joker freezes. 

His body jerks forward, then backward, and a laugh chokes out of his throat. His hand claws over his mouth at the noise and he hunches over. All movement halts before he rights himself, shaking out his hands and rolling his shoulders. Phantom looks up at Tim and his eyes are glowing. 

Tim cuts through the rope, kicking and using the momentum to right himself and land on his feet. He brushes past Phantom in Joker’s body to handle the control panel. He turns off the radio broadcast and dismantles the bomb strapped to the panel.

Threat handled, he turns to Phantom and holds up some handcuffs. “Let me arrest you?”

Phantom obliges, turning the Joker’s body around and putting his hands behind his back. Tim lets him walk by himself out of the warehouse and moves the handcuffs around a lamppost. The Joker’s body jerks again, then slumps forward, just as Phantom reappears next to him, scowling down at the unconscious body. 

“That felt really slimy. Zero out of ten, would not do again,” Phantom grouches. 

“Why’re you in Gotham?” Tim asks. It’s not like Phantom makes a habit of visiting. The last time he came into the city, he complained about feeling the dead under the streets. Fortunately, that let Tim uncover a few tunnels that Talons travel through. Phantom, however, was unnerved by the Talons and left quickly. 

“Oh, Solomon Grundy’s back in our sewers. Richard said I should probably tell one of you Gotham heroes, since you keep track of those guys.” He shakes out his hands like they were cramped in the Joker. 

They hadn’t seen Grundy in a while. Tim assumed he was currently in a less violent personality. “What’s he doing?” 

Phantom shrugs. “Just chilling. Mostly underground. I tried to talk to him but he only grunted back at me. He also tried to pick me up, dunno what that was about.”

“Maybe because you’re both dead?” Tim guessed. That would be a surface level connection. Ivy and Woodrue have had more luck working with Grundy than anyone, and Phantom definitely doesn’t have the connection to the Green that’d help with that. 

Police lights turn around the corner, and Tim shoots a grapple to get to the roof above them. Phantom follows, but disappears as soon as they’re on the roof. Going back home, probably. 

Cass drops down from the roof she was listening on. “Richard?”

“Not the same one.”

They both stick around long enough to watch the Joker get put into the cop car. 

Plus one

A spaceship landed in the forests of New York, and Cassie’s team was the first to respond to it. Technically not respond, but check it out, since there wasn’t any alert or anything. 

Still, Wonder Girl has Empress, Robin, and Superboy on the other side of the ship, watching what looks like the back door, while she, Impulse, and Phantom watch the other door and main window. She has binoculars, but the windows are so tinted she can’t quite make anything out. 

No aliens have come out yet, and she hesitates to have anyone go in, in case whoever inside does turn hostile. 

Impulse has offered to run through a total of five times already, and it’s a testament to his restraint that he hasn’t, and a testament to Cassie’s that she hasn’t yelled at him yet. Phantom at least isn’t being annoying, but he’s not necessarily helpful, either. He’s not even watching the spaceship anymore. Now he’s trying to make a flower crown out of dandelions. 

“Door’s opening on our side,” Robin says from the comms. “But no one’s coming out.” 

“Alright, good enough to try to get in,” Cassie decides. She turns to Phantom, who’s closing off the circle of flowers. Beside him, Impulse has since pulled out a gameboy. “Phantom, go in invisibly through the open door and report back. Try to see what their plans are.” 

“Oh, sure. One second.” Phantom finishes the crown and tries to put it on Bart’s head. It doesn’t quite fit over his mane of hair, but Phantom shrugs and leaves it sitting there anyway before going invisible. 

“Maybe I should shave my head again,” Bart says as his game character dies. 

He gets a resounding no in response. 

Half an hour later they have a very annoyed Green Lantern lecturing them about league jurisdiction and knowing when to call someone else. 

Apparently, the alien ship was just stopping to complete some maintenance, and did not appreciate any spying on them, and especially did not appreciate who did it. Green Lantern was more than happy to explain that Wonder Girl’s team is not really a part of the Justice League and he can help with their maintenance. They denied his help and left to find a place with less people in it. 

“-and you!” Green Lantern rounds on Phantom next, but Cassie knows none of them are really listening. Sure, they messed up by freaking out the visiting aliens, and yeah maybe they should have contacted the league about it, but they’ve dealt with stuff worse than this! It’s not Cassie’s fault she thought that this would have stuck to the formula. 

“Who even are you?” Green Lantern runs a hand through his black hair, stupid green gauntlets shining in the sunlight. “Do I need to call your mentor?” He frowns. “Or do they know you mess up alien technology by just being around it?” 

Phantom scoffs and rolls his eyes. “How was I supposed to know their tech would go all fuzzy when I came in?” 

“You wouldn’t have to know if you just stayed out of the spaceship!” 

“Hey!” Cassie cuts in. “Technically that was my call. It’s not all on Phantom.”

“I still could've been more careful,” Phantom says to her, ignoring Green Lantern as they argue about blame. 

“Cut it out for a second, okay?” Green Lantern puts a hand between them and they stop to glare at him. He pulls the hand back. “Look, can I just talk to one of your adults about this?” 

Robin glares. “We don’t need an adult. We have this under control.”

“Only because I’m here now.” 

“I’ll call my mentor,” Phantom says. Kon opens his mouth, most likely to offer to call Superman instead in hopes of a lighter sentence, but Bart covers his mouth, smiling like he knows something Cassie doesn’t. Tim and Anita share a look, and don’t intervene as Phantom pulls out a phone from his chest. 

It rings once before it’s picked up. Cassie can’t hear the other side of the conversation, but Kon’s eyebrows scrunch in confusion. “Hey, do you think you can pick me up? Green Lantern wants to talk to you.” Phantom looks Green Lantern up and down then says, “No, this one doesn’t have a cape.”

Phantom says goodbye after rattling off their coordinates, hangs up, and stares at Green Lantern in silence for a few seconds. 

And then a swirling mass of black seeps into the space next to Phantom. The end of a cane steps out of it, followed by a leg, then the rest of the immaculately dressed man holding the handle of the cane that’s shaped like a bird’s head. 

“Phantom,” The man says. His voice drips with condescension in only a way a british accent can, yet Phantom smiles up at him. The shadowy portal behind him disappears. “What, exactly, happened?”

“That’s the fucking Shade,” Anita hisses to Robin, who shrugs noncommittedly at her. Green Lantern seems to recognise him too, taking a step back and clenching his hand that holds his ring. 

“Well, the team and I were staking out this spaceship–super cool, by the way–and I went inside to check it out, but my presence messed with their tech–which was an accident–and they freaked out, so I freaked out, and then we kinda got into a little fight until Green Lantern came to mediate.”

“Hm. Is that right?” The Shade asks Green Lantern, who nods slowly, still anticipating an attack. “It seems like the problem’s fixed, then.”

“Well, yes, but–”

“And it does seem about time for these kids to get home, doesn't it?” The Shade pulls out an actual pocket watch, chain and all, from his suit pocket and takes his time in checking it. “I’ll see them home.” 

Shadows grow from behind the team, swirling until they become a giant, gaping maw that swallows them up and spits them out in a different forest, or maybe just a different part of the same forest. 

Either way, Cassie has to take a moment to make sure she doesn’t throw up from the sudden vertigo the shadow portal caused. 

The Shade looks at Phantom, and raises an eyebrow. “You can’t expect me to always bail you out.” 

Phantom shrugs, looking guilty. “I know. Thanks, Richard.”

Oh, so that’s who Richard is. Annoyingly, neither Tim or Bart look surprised by this revelation.