#‘Bruce. I cannot say no to you. Please don’t ask me to do that.’

[wolfjackle-creates]

Something Next to Normal

Tim's having a regular day at school when a classmate ropes him into helping with the school play as the light technician. Tim agrees to one rehearsal, but his responsibilities as Robin keep him so busy. He knows he'll have to turn down the position. Then he learns what Next to Normal is about. Tim absolutely cannot do this. --- Alfred is proud of Tim for taking on an extracurricular. The boy spends so much time alone. Having an excuse to spend time with other students his age can only be good for him. He wants to go see the show, but Tim counsels against it. After looking it up, Alfred spends a night in sleepless grief. But when day comes and he's face-to-face with Tim, he realizes the living boy in front of him needs him and something has to change.

This fic is inspired by a conversation I had with @yaderyngoch that you can find here.

Next to Normal is a super emotional musical that deals with surviving after grief. And the themes fit so well with Tim's early tenure as Robin that once the connection had been made, I couldn't stop thinking about it. Within hours, I was asking yaderyngoch if they minded if I started writing. A month later, this is what came of it.

Thanks to @greensword101 and @flipwizardstarlight for helping beta!

I plan to release chapter two in about a week.

Chapter 1 word count: 5,969

Content Warning: Bruce doesn't take a parental role towards Tim. And, at this point, he's not being a very good mentor either. He's too caught up in his own grief. The comfort will come up in chapter two.

-----

“Tim, Tim! There you are!”

Tim turned to see Alex, a senior in the journalism and drama clubs, waving a hand above his head and running towards him down the school hallway. “Hey, Alex. What’s wrong?”

Alex stopped right in front of him and bent over panting. He held one finger up, silently asking Tim to wait a moment. Finally, still somewhat breathless, he said, “We found out last night that my dad got a major promotion at work.”

“That’s awesome, congrats!” said Tim.

But Alex shook his head. “They want him to start immediately. Job’s out in California so we’ll have to move.”

Tim grimaced in sympathy. “Dude, that sucks. When will you be moving?”

“End of the week. But look, we need your help.”

Tim cocked his head. He wasn't really that close to Alex, though they were friendly. “How can I help? I assume your dad’s company will be providing movers and stuff.”

Alex waved him off. “Not like that. I mean with the musical! Performances are happening in a month and I’m in charge of lighting. You’re literally the only person in the whole school who I think could learn everything in time.”

Tim bit his lip. He was already falling behind on his homework due to his Robin responsibilities. “I don’t know, I’m really busy right now…”

“Please, Tim,” begged Alex. “Just come to today’s rehearsal. It’s right after class. Give it a shot, and if you hate it, I’ll figure something else out. But please, one rehearsal.”

Tim hesitated a moment longer, but the pleading in Alex’s eyes got to him. He never could help being useful. “Okay, one rehearsal.”

---

The moment Tim entered the auditorium, Alex waved to him. “Tim! You made it, awesome. Come on, let me introduce you to Mrs. V.”

Before Tim could do more than say, “Hi,” back, Alex grabbed his wrist and dragged him to the front of the auditorium.

“Mrs. V! This is Tim.”

Tim smiled up at the woman and held out his hand just as his mother had taught him. “Nice to make your acquaintance, Ma’am.”

She looked to be in her late thirties and had bushy black hair and dark eyes. She cocked her head at him, but shook his hand. “You look awfully young to be in high school, Tim. Will your parents mind you staying late?”

“I skipped a grade,” said Tim, brushing past the question like he always did. Starting high school at barely thirteen was unusual enough, and he was small for his age. “And I’ll be talking it over with them tonight to see if I can make it work.” An utter lie, of course. Tim’s parents wouldn’t be home for a few weeks yet. But they made a good excuse. “I’ll be able to let you know tomorrow for sure.”

“And, Alex, you really think he’ll be able to learn everything?”

Alex was nodding before she’d even finished speaking. “Yep. He might be a freshman, and a young one at that, but he’s brilliant. He was in the journalism club in middle school, right?” Alex waited for Mrs. V to nod before continuing. “So their teacher brought them to the high school to get a look at our recording studio here. Tim figured out the equipment in, like, ten minutes. To the point where he was correcting Dave last year’s president of the high school club. We’ve integrated nearly all of his suggestions into our broadcasts this year.”

Her eyes widened, and she looked at Tim with much more interest. “Then I hope your parents let you join us,” she said.

Tim didn’t let his expression slip and wondered what his parents would say if he ever bothered to ask their permission. Oh, who was he kidding? They wouldn’t care so long as it didn’t interfere with his school image.

“As I’m sure you’ve heard, I’m Mrs. Vasilakis, but most students just call me Mrs. V. Today we’ll be doing a run through of the show from top to bottom with scripts in hand so Alex can show you what he does and you can get used to the show. We’re doing Next to Normal, are you familiar with it?”

Tim shook his head. “I don’t know many musicals, I’m sorry.”

She waved him off. “Well, I hope we can get you interested. Alex, I can give you twenty minutes to show him the controls while I corral this group and get them warmed up.”

“Thanks, Mrs. V! Come on, Tim. You can toss your backpack down on any empty seat.”

Tim did as instructed and followed Alex to the back of the auditorium.

Alex led him to a small door with a “Do Not Enter” sign hung on it. He pulled out a key and unlocked the door. “Mrs. V lets me keep the key, though she might want you to get it from her every time. I guess they had issues a few years back with people sneaking up here. Something was stolen or broken or something and since then admin refuses to allow students open access.”

Tim nodded his understanding, but a glance at the lock proved it was as cheap as they came. He didn’t know how it worked to actually keep anyone out.

The door led to a narrow stairway and at the top was a room just large enough for the lights, their controls, and two chairs. Alex sat in one and gestured Tim to the other.

“Home, sweet, home,” said Alex grinning. “So, you ever seen any of this stuff before?”

“Some of it,” admitted Tim. Enough of the Gotham rogues had a flare for the dramatics that he’d seen some weird light shows, even if he hadn’t been on the job that long yet. “But I’ve never been in charge of it.”

“Still better than I could say when I started. We’ve tried to keep things labeled pretty clearly so that helps. These dials are the over head lights, these are over stage lights, spotlights. The set up here is pretty good for a high school, but we’re still limited in what we can do. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a professionally performed play or musical, but don’t worry. We won’t be doing anything nearly so fancy.”

“I haven’t, actually,” commented Tim. He thought he had it all figured out, but it would be good to see everything in action. “I think my mom likes plays, but I’ve never gone with her. I think she is afraid I’d struggle sitting quietly for that long.”

“Would you?”

Tim laughed. “Probably a year or two ago. I’d be good now. But back on topic, what’s most important?”

“Right, yeah. Of course that’s what you want to know. Basically make sure anyone who is speaking has a light on them. And that anyone who is on stage can be seen, even if they’re in shadow. This show isn’t the worst, but there are a few moments where multiple characters are singing in contrast to each other. And if we can show the space between them while still lighting them, it’d be great.”

“I… what?” Tim had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

Alex grimaced. “I suppose that doesn’t make sense—“

A loud piercing whistle sounded from below them.

“Well, you’ll see when we get into it. Just watch what I do, yeah?”

Tim shrugged again. “Sure. I’m good at learning on my feet.”

Alex grinned. “It’s why I’m begging you to do this!” He watched the stage a minute and nodded to himself. “Okay, we’re gonna lower all the lights. You always start in dark. This is how we do that.”

Tim watched intently, taking even more notes, as Alex deftly adjusted dials until everything sat in darkness.

Then Alex turned on a spotlight, showing a boy a girl—playing a mother and son—arguing before the boy stormed out of the house. Then the girl started singing about her family. When she reached the line about her daughter, “And my daughter though a genius is a freak,” another spotlight turned on and Tim watched as Alex pointed it at a different girl sitting at a table with a textbook and papers spread in front of her.

He cringed when he heard the mom character say, “I’m going to have sex with your father,” and decided he didn’t really care about the story. Instead he focused on following Alex’s actions. The daughter took over the song, so Alex turned off the light on the mother.

Soon enough, four actors were on stage, trading off lines as they sung about it being “just another day.” And Tim understood what Alex was doing. Each had a spotlight on them, but the shadows were deep between the characters because they didn’t seem to like each other very much, even if they were a family.

Soon it was hard to even follow the words with everyone singing together. Tim really didn’t think he was going to like the show. He had his own struggles with his family and with Bruce. He didn’t really want to watch a fictional family’s struggles.

Whatever, he didn’t have to enjoy himself today.

So he tuned it out. He focused on how Alex played with the lights to make sure everything could be seen. He watched the difference between solos and ensemble moments. When spotlights were used versus lighting the whole stage.

Despite Tim’s best attempts, he couldn’t help but learn about the family. The daughter, Natalie, was the character he liked the most. The son, Gabe, was just an asshole. The dad, Dan, was trying to hold everything together and failing miserably. And the mom, Diana, was falling apart as badly as Bruce and they couldn’t seem to find a good treatment for her.

But all of that was just background to the lighting techniques he was learning. Then when Diana came out with a birthday cake for Gabe, Dan had to take her to the side and remind her that “he’s been dead, sixteen years,” and Tim stopped breathing.

”He’s not here.” echoed in Tim’s ears.

His blood ran cold, and he stared at the stage is shock. The reveal had been a complete surprise, but suddenly so much about the show made sense. And yet all Tim could think of was Bruce, still clinging to the memory of Jason, putting himself—and all of Gotham—at risk in the process.

“You all right?” whispered Alex.

“Huh?” Tim shook his head to reorient himself. His heart was beating too fast. Why was he reacting so strongly? But all he could hear were the words, “He’s not here,” repeating in his mind. Tim forced a smile just as his mother had taught him, though. “Oh, yeah. Of course. Just didn’t expect that.”

Alex laughed even as the music turned more upbeat, the tone jarring compared to the one before. He turned the lights up to match the new tone. “One of the best twists in a musical in my opinion. Forgot you wouldn’t know to expect it.”

Tim just hummed as Diana took center stage again. Her words, “Do you know what it’s like to die alive,” made him cross his arms and clench his fists around his shirt. Why was it that despite the actors in front of him, all he could see was Bruce throwing himself into fight after fight?

But Diana was worse than Bruce. She still had a daughter. One who was still a kid and relied on her. Didn’t she care? He forced himself to tune out her words and returned to taking notes on what Alex did.

He managed well enough until Natalie’s next song came on. Her first three lines went by, worming their way into his head until, “She’s not there,” made him stop.

All he could do was stare at the stage as the girl sang. Each line seemed to hit harder than the last.

“He’s immortal, forever alive. Then there’s me.”

The actress filled every line with a resigned desperation for something, anything, to be different. Tim’s breath froze in his chest. Was his heart still beating? He could hear the blood rushing in his ears, but somehow the words from the stage broke through even that.

“He’s your hero, forever your son. He’s not here. I am here.”

His eyes burned, and he bit his cheek to give himself something else to focus on.

Then Diana tried to comfort Natalie. “You know I love you. I love you as much as I can.”

Tim clenched his fists hard to hide their shaking even as Natalie threw her arms up in frustration on the stage. Why was he reacting so strongly? He wasn’t the same as Natalie. Bruce wasn’t his dad so it didn’t matter if Bruce couldn’t even look at him half the time. He had parents. They might not be home right now, but they loved him. They did.

He wasn’t Natalie.

“Please look closely and find her before she fades away!”

Tim barely heard the rest of the song. Was he breathing? He needed to breathe. He let out a shaky breath.

“Tim? You sure you’re good?”

He needed to focus. His mom would be so disappointed in him. He smiled, just like he’d learned to do for the galas he’d been forced to attend from the age of five. “Of course, Alex. Sorry. I just didn’t realize how good a singer Rose is.”

Alex grinned. “Yeah. She’s really good. Got the role of Natalie as a junior if you can believe it.” He paused speaking to adjust more lights. “Are you following what I’m doing?”

“Yeah, definitely.”

Compartmentalize. Tim could do this. He’d been doing it for years. And he’d only gotten better at it since becoming Robin.

The next song, sung by Gabe again, made his heartbeat ratchet back up. Tim hated Gabe for reasons he couldn’t articulate even to himself. But hearing the ghost of the dead son sing about how he was alive as he danced around his mom, crowding her, had Tim biting his cheek so hard he tasted blood. He stopped, closed his eyes for two seconds, and focused again on what Alex was doing. On the way the lights followed Gabe as he haunted, taunted, the rest of his family in turn.

He’d get through this. He’d promised one rehearsal and that’s what he’d get through. Tomorrow he’d say he couldn’t do it.

Even as all the characters begged, “Catch me I’m falling,” Tim focused on just learning his job. When Dan and Diana blew off Natalie’s recital, he clenched his fist, but kept his breathing steady.

Alex didn’t ask if he was okay, just kept up a quiet stream of instructions.

Diana’s failed suicide, done at the behest of Gabe’s ghost, reminded him of all his nightmares of being too late and finding Bruce’s body broken and bloody one day when trying to follow him on patrol. The nightmares that always made him wake screaming.

Tim forced himself not to think of Alfred when Dan sang about standing with his “feet right on the ground” whenever Diana went off flying. He ignored the way Dan wished for someone to give him a lift. And if Tim’s breath caught when Dan sang his was “just a slower suicide,” it didn’t matter because Alex didn’t notice. He just focused on how Alex softened the lights to make the scene more melancholy.

Finally, after Diana agreed to ECT at Dan’s pleading, Alex turned the lights all the way down, then all the way back up.

“And this is the end of act one! What do you think so far?”

Tim swallowed and shrugged. “I didn’t realize they made musicals like this. Are they common?”

“This one was pretty groundbreaking when it came out. More recently, we’ve got Be More Chill and Dear Evan Hansen. But I’ll tell you a secret, I like this one way more.”

Tim hummed and looked over the lighting equipment. “It’s definitely intense. They’re doing a good job.”

“Yep. So for the real show, intermission will last about twenty minutes. Three minutes before curtain, you’ll want to dim the lights briefly to warn people to get back to their seats. Right now, Mrs. V is going to talk to the actors and give some pointers for a few minutes. Give everyone a chance to catch their breaths. Need the bathroom?”

Tim shook his head.

“Then what questions do you have for me?”

Over the next few minutes, Tim made sure to ask any question he could think of. By the time Mrs. V let out another whistle to call everyone to their places, Tim was pretty sure he could manage lighting for the rest of the show. Though when Alex took up the position, Tim didn’t fight him.

No reason to seem too eager when he wouldn’t be taking the project on.

The next act started and Tim tried to pay minimal attention to the musical. Though when the characters realized Diana had amnesia from the treatment and Dan decided the proper response was to just not mention their son, he couldn’t hold back a snort.

Amusement that died in his throat when Natalie revealed what life had actually been like for her. At least he couldn’t draw any parallels there. Neither his parents nor Bruce had been present enough in his childhood to screw his up the way Diana had screwed over Natalie’s.

When Diana finally remembered her son, Tim expected the breakdown.

He couldn’t help but feel for Natalie as she left the house again to get into trouble. Memories of nights spent in Gotham when he was way too young threatened to overtake him.

He managed to push through it and get himself back under control by focusing on Alex’s actions. He paid vague attention to the musical, too invested in the story to fully ignore it. But he directed most of his focus to Alex. So many of the songs started with one character before changing to another, so he’d have to learn them well enough to know when to switch the lights as each person took over.

Diana’s therapist begged her to stay a patient, to not give in to her depression. But it was clear she’d had enough. Would Bruce give up one day? Decide to stop fighting and let himself die?

Only…it turned out Diana wasn’t fully giving up on life. She apologized to Natalie who was clearly caught between finding it too little, too late and hope that this time might be real.

He couldn’t help the ache he felt when Natalie and Diana agreed that a life “next to normal” would work just fine for them.

Tim knew what it was like to strive for a normal life. One where his parents were home. One where he was told “good job” when he did well on a school assignment or finally figured out how to do that flip.

Maybe it was time to give up that dream, though. Be like Natalie and settle for something else. The thought made his eyes burn, but he pushed it aside.

Surely Diana didn’t have to leave just for everyone to find a way to heal? Wasn’t there a way for them to figure it out together?

But Diana left and everyone, even Gabe, seemed to find a measure of peace.

Then Alex turned the lights down again until the entire auditorium was in darkness once more.

Mrs. V began clapping and called out “Well done, everyone!”

Alex turned all the lights back on and leaned back in his chair as Mrs. V addressed the actors.

“So, any more questions for me?” asked Alex.

---

“How was your extracurricular, Master Tim?” asked Alfred when Tim slipped into the passenger seat.

Tim shrugged and pretended he wasn’t still shaking inside from the music. “It was all right. But I think I’ll have to tell Alex I can’t do it. Just so busy, you know?”

Alfred tutted. “If you want to do it, we can make the time. Master Dick had his gymnastics meets. And Master Ja—”

Alfred cut himself off and Tim looked out the window. So many conversations ended that way in the manor. But he remembered Dan’s song about needing someone to lift him up. “You can talk about him, you know. To me. If you need to.” Tim didn’t look at Alfred as he spoke, just continued staring out the window.

“Thank you, Master Tim.”

The rest of the car ride passed in silence as Natalie’s refrain, “I’m not here,” echoed in Tim’s head. He focused on keeping his breathing steady and his hands still. He was fine.

When they got to the manor, Tim took over his corner of the dining room table and pulled out his homework. Laptop set up on an angle to his left, papers on his right. Start with math because that was the easiest.

Only he couldn’t focus on the numbers at all. For possibly the first time in his life, they didn’t make sense.

Catch me I’m falling.

Tim grit his teeth and grabbed his headphones. Maybe if he just listened to the soundtrack again, the songs would get out of his head?

He started it from the beginning. His pencil tapped against his papers in time to the beat. When he got to Natalie’s song, even his pencil stilled as he stared unseeing at his homework.

Then Gabe started singing “I’m Alive!” and Tim grabbed his phone and jabbed the back button. He couldn’t. He couldn’t listen to that one.

Natalie singing about being invisible might cause his hands to shake and his heart to beat hard, but it was better. He stared at his phone, watching the lyrics pass by. When the final words appeared, he jabbed the single repeat button to make sure he wouldn’t be jump scared again by Jason’s, Gabe’s song.

He had no idea how many times he’d listened to “Superboy and the Invisible Girl” when Alfred cleared his throat behind him. “How is your homework going, Master Tim?”

Only his months of training kept him from jumping in his seat. He looked over his math and realized he’d only managed to get through two problems. “Going great, Alfred. What’s up?”

Alfred raised an eyebrow at him, but didn’t call him out on his lie. “Dinner is nearly ready. Why don’t you put away your things and help me carry it out?”

“Of course! I’ll be right there. Just give me two minutes.”

Alfred smiled and clasped his shoulder. “Take your time. I’ll go inform Master Bruce.”

Tim nodded as he gathered up his papers and closed his laptop. Within moments, his things were neatly packed and his backpack hidden in the hallway closet.

Dinner at Wayne Manor was as awkward as they all were. Tim sat two seats away from Bruce and kept quiet. The first time he’d eaten here, Tim had tried to ask Bruce about his day, but Bruce merely stared at him for an entire minute before grunting and going back to his food. Tim hadn’t tried again.

He should’ve refused the ride home and taken the three buses and a cab that it took to get from Gotham to Bristol. Then he could’ve eaten in his own home. At least there it was silent because no one else was around rather than whatever this mess was.

Through it all, he could hear the echo of Natalie’s song. He felt invisible sitting there in complete silence.

With no conversation and all three of them focused on their plates, Tim finished eating within ten minutes.

“Would you like anything else, Master Tim?”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

Bruce grunted. “Then report to the cave. I need to debrief you before tonight’s patrol. And I want to evaluate where you are in your training.”

Tim jumped to his feet. “Of course. I’ll bring my dishes to the kitchen and head right down.”

The debrief was boring. Edward Nygma had escaped Arkham, so Bruce had Tim review several of his old riddles. Tim had kept up with those when they had happened and really didn’t learn anything new. The Riddler’s cases had always interested him the most.

Not that he said anything of course. From the direction of Jason’s memorial, he could hear the echo of the words, “I’m alive!”

If one thing could be said for training, it was that it required enough of his focus to drown out Jason’s voice. Bruce hit hard and fast and scolded whenever Tim wasn’t able to dodge. But it was fine. He was getting better.

To his surprise, when they finished, Bruce merely grunted at him and turned away to change into his suit. Tim must’ve done really well, and he bit back a smile. Usually they spent at least ten minutes going over everything Tim had done wrong.

Patrol itself started fine. They were looking for leads on Nygma, but in the meantime just stopped anything they came across. The euphoria of patrol chased away the echo of any songs that might have haunted him otherwise.

Everything was going fine. Until Tim saw a woman in scrubs getting cornered in an alley by three large men. He looked around, but Bruce was already two streets away. “Batman?” he asked over comms.

“Hurry up, Robin.”

Tim bit his lip and debated following, but then the woman began begging. “No, please. I promise I don’t have anything.”

“You’ve got a phone, don’t you?” asked one of the men as he took another step forward.

“And even if not, bet there’s something else we could get from you.”

Tim did not like the smile on the second speaker’s face. Mind made up, he shot his grappling hook and swung down, making sure to land on Asshole #2’s shoulder’s, knocking him to the ground.

“Pretty sure she said she’s got nothing for you. Why don’t you leave her alone?” He stood on the asshole’s back.

“Shit, it’s the kid!”

“Where’s the bat?”

“Get offa me!”

Tim jumped off #2’s back as the man pushed himself up. Dick’s acrobatic training meant he landed on his feet, and Shiva’s training had him pulling out his staff and extending it into the man’s stomach as he did.

While #2 was bent over trying to regain his breath, Tim swung it to the left to get the Asshole #1. The woman, meanwhile, pulled out a canister of pepper spray and got the third directly in his face.

Tim grinned at her. “Thanks, ma’am!”

“I should be thanking you, Robin. Glad to see you back out on the streets!”

The pepper spray victim collapsed to the ground and was scrubbing his face, leaving Tim with just two to take down. He managed to get both incapacitated quickly and zip-tied their hands behind their backs.

He was finishing with their ankles when he heard, “Robin,” from behind him.

Shit, that was definitely Bruce’s I’m-not-happy voice. Tim forced a grin and turned. “Hiya, B!” he said, just as he’d heard Dick or Jason do when they were in trouble on patrol. “You missed the fun.”

Only, unlike with Jason and Dick, Bruce’s jaw tightened and his hand clenched into a fist.

But he didn’t say anything. So Tim turned back to the woman. “Want me to escort you home? How much farther do you have?” He knew Bruce wouldn’t be happy with that, either, but he couldn’t just leave her.

“Just two blocks more. Would you mind?”

“Not at all!” Tim turned to Bruce, still grinning. “You can call this in, right? I’ll be right back!”

“Robin!” barked Bruce.

“Yeah?” Tim pretended to have no idea Bruce was upset. He was shaking inside, but he was Robin right now. And Robin was brave and bright, no matter how scary Batman was.

“You do not wander off.”

So Tim cocked his head. “Oh, you want to come, too? I’m sure that’ll make Ms…” he looked at the woman curiously.

“Emma,” she supplied.

“Ms. Emma feel even safer. Are the cops on their way for these three jerks?”

Batman grunted and Tim’s grin grew.

In a stage whisper, he told Emma, “That’s Batman’s ‘yes’ grunt. Let’s go. These three will hold until the police get here.”

Emma laughed and led the way down the street. “I’m gonna be the safest person in Gotham, then. Thanks, Robin, Batman.”

“So, Ms. Emma, do you work at the hospital nearby?”

“Yep. I’m a night shift nurse. Usually I drive to and from, but my car’s in the shop. And I’m only a twenty minute walk from work. Thought I could risk it for one day.”

Tim nodded. “That’s how they get you.”

Emma laughed and ruffled his hair. “You’re absolutely right. I’ll just wait until one of my coworkers can give me a ride home tomorrow.”

“How much longer until your car is ready?”

Emma sighed. “I don’t get paid until Friday. Then I can authorize the work to start.”

Tim hummed in sympathy, but was already making plans to track down Emma’s name and figure out which mechanic she used. Surely it’d make sense for Robin and Batman to pay her bill after helping her out. And a bit extra to move it to the top of the line.

Tim asked Emma about her work and she regaled him with stories from a Gotham ER for the rest of the walk. Bruce stalked silently behind them.

When Emma stopped in front of an apartment complex, she turned to face Tim. “Thanks for walking me home, Robin.”

“Anytime, Ms. Emma.”

She leaned down and hugged him tightly. Tim’s eyes widened in shock at the sudden warmth. His heart beat hard in his chest and he could feel every point of contact like it burned. Just as he realized he should lift his arms and hug her back, though, she was pulling away.

“Good night, Robin! And you, Batman.”

Bruce just grunted, and Tim wanted to roll his eyes. “Good night to you, too. Stay safe!”

“I will, thanks to you.” She waved as she unlocked the door and disappeared inside.

“Batmobile, now.”

Tim bit back a sigh. “Of course, Batman,” he said. He didn’t bother pretending to be cheerful now that they didn’t have an audience.

Bruce spun and shot his grappling hook, swinging away. Tim followed on his heels. Tim knew he was in for a scolding, but didn’t dare dally on the trip over.

When he got to the alley, Bruce was waiting next to the driver’s side door. He grunted and gestured for Tim to get in.

Tim’s hand didn’t shake as he opened the door, but his stomach felt like lead, and he knew it was only long practice at hiding his nerves that kept it steady. Bruce slid into the driver’s seat and pulled out.

Even with his gloves on, Tim could tell Bruce was gripping the steering wheel as tightly as possible. And his jaw was clenched shut in displeasure. Tim bit his lip, unable to break the silence that settled in the car.

Silence that stretched for long minutes. Tim began to hope he’d be able to avoid the lecture he knew was brewing.

Then Bruce opened his mouth. “What was that?” His voice was cold and hard.

“What? Saving a woman?” Tim pretended he wasn’t shaking inside.

Bruce practically growled at him. “You disappeared!”

Tim kept his back straight and kept his eyes trained on the road ahead. He would not react to the anger directed his way. Keep it straightforward and factual, like giving a report. “A woman was being harassed by three men. They didn’t even have a gun and you were a block and a half ahead already. I knew it’d be a quick intervention so I intervened.”

“You do not go off on your own, ever.”

“I had it handled, Batman—”

“I don’t care! You always ask for backup before entering into combat situations. What if one of them had a hidden gun?”

“I know how to fight against opponents with firearms.” Tim kept his voice steady no matter how much he wanted to shout back.

“You can’t keep running off, Jason!”

Both of them froze. Tim stared straight ahead, every muscle tense, just waiting for Bruce to say something else. The buildings raced past them as they rapidly approached the end of the street.

Only Bruce didn’t hit the breaks. And the building across the street was getting closer.

“Watch the road!” screamed Tim.

Bruce cursed and jerked the wheel, just barely managing to follow the turn of the road rather than slam into the building. Tim had to his arm to keep from banging his head against the side window as his seatbelt dug into his chest.

Once they were back on the road and traveling at a more reasonable speed, Bruce spoke again. “Tim—”

“Don’t.” Tim gripped his uniform over his heart. His throat was tight and his eyes burned and he couldn’t get that damn song out of his head. He wanted to collapse forward, rest his head between his knees and just breathe, but he couldn’t take his eyes off the road, terrified Bruce would get distracted again. “Just. Don’t.”

For once, Bruce listened. The rest of the ride to the cave passed in silence.

The moment the car pulled to a stop, Tim was out the door. He stomped over to the changing area and began stripping out of his uniform. He needed it off.

“Master Tim? Are you all right?”

“Fine, Alfred,” said Tim.

“What happened? Do I need to check you for injuries? Or Master Bruce?”

Tim grit his teeth, but shook his head. “We’re both just peachy.” Tim ripped off his under layer, stripping down to his boxers. “See?” He spun so Alfred could see he had no new injuries.

Alfred’s eyes narrowed as he took in Tim’s body. “Very well,” he said after a pause.

Tim grabbed a mostly clean shirt and pair of jeans from his locker and pulled them on. “I’m going home now.”

“Let me prepare you a small after patrol snack before you do,” said Alfred.

“Not hungry.” Tim’s stomach was still in knots. He could see the brick wall getting closer through the windshield and feel the jerk as Bruce had to turn too hard to keep them from crashing.

Alfred opened his mouth, but closed it again with a sigh and nodded. “Very well, Master Tim. Thank you for joining us for dinner tonight.”

Tim nodded his acknowledgment, though he regretted ever agreeing, and grabbed his skateboard out of his locker. He’d changed so quickly that Bruce was only now approaching the changing area himself. Tim straightened his back and looked Bruce in the eyes. “I will report to the cave at twenty-two hundred hours for tomorrow’s patrol.”

Then, before Bruce could do more than nod, he tossed down his board and jumped on. Twenty minutes later, he was in his own room at Drake manor and climbing into a shower, heat turned up so high it was almost scalding.

It still didn’t make him feel as warm as a stranger’s hug.

And finally, in the privacy of his own house, with three locked doors between himself and the world, Tim collapsed to his knees and cried.

---

Alex was waiting for him when he got off the bus at school the next morning.

“Hey, Tim! Have you made your decision yet?”

And Tim thought about leaving school and going back to an empty mansion with his parents who-knows-where or to Wayne Manor and another awkward dinner.

He opened his mouth to say he couldn’t, that he was too busy.

“Sure, Alex. I’d love to.”

-----

And that's chapter 1! Hope you enjoy!

Totally look up some of the songs from Next to Normal. They hit hard. Especially when imposed on the bats.

[bruciemilf]

Need a teen! Bruce au where he’s exactly like Justice League! Batman and Battinson in one. That mf put the fear of every god in Ra’s Al Ghul.

Everytime he’s in a room with someone over 30 “Teenagers” by My Chemical Romance plays in the background.

Despite that, in his own way, he’s as gentle as can be with his league. Give me a young Diana who’s getting spat on and ripped apart by the media in a way not one of her male teammates get.

And she’s Wonder Woman. She shouldn’t be affected by it. And she is, anyway. Bruce relates to that in an uncomfortable degree.

“When I first became Batman, weak men tried standing in my way, too. “

“And what did you do?”

“I stepped over them.”

He has a tiny Robin he occasionally has to keep on a leash.

Give me somewhat teen mom Bruce who struggles to wrangle his unruly six year old who likes flipping from rooftop to rooftop and thinks fighting Bane is a piece of cake.

“If Tati can do it, so can I!”

“Dick,” he paused, before handing him a handfull of candy. “Wonderful emotional manipulation. Good job.”

“:D”

[logicallyblind]

Okay okay but consider possible batfam fic idea:  

so Bruce is in an emergency justice league meeting that got called but because its taking place at night he has a comm on in his ear playing at a low volume because all of the batfam are out on patrol around gotham covering his patrol route for him and because you know B is a paranoid, overprotective fucker he just to make sure everything is going smoothly for his kids but he doesn’t plan on actually letting them know he’s tapped into their network because he can already hear the lecture from Dick about trusting them to take care of the city.  

So he’s listening to them quietly while also paying attention to Clark talking about some alien diplomacy issue and his kids are YAPPING away about the stupidest shit to one another cause they don’t have B telling them off for ‘unprofessional unnecessary chatter while on patrol’ and  you’re getting a mix of all the dynamics between them all and the longer the meeting is going on the more B’s eye is just TWITCHING because his Dad senses are just going hay wire and he is just here like ‘I cannot say anything in front of the league because they cannot know I have children cause I'm Batman and I work alone blah blah blah’, usual brooding, but Damian and Tim are squabbling with one another about a rescue that took place an hour ago and Dick is challenging Jason to a parkour contest and Steph is challenging the Riddler to a riddle off with riddles she made up and have no answer just to piss him off and his dad sense is just like an alarm going off and then he just cant take it anymore cause Duke (pretend he’s on nightshift to make up for the man down or smth idk shh) says something like ‘I'm going to do my book report in the morning Richard leave me be’ even though Bruce KNOWS he isn't going to do it in the morning, this has happened before they have an AGREEMENT, a CONTRACT god damn it but they don't know Bruce is listening to the comms Duke just goes something like “its fine B won't even find out!” and Bruce just LOSES it there and then and just presses his comm and goes “NO. No, stfu all of you I am taking charge here” and he just starts going off on them all for the different things they were whining about like

“No Signal, go and do your damn book report right now you are not going to be doing it in the morning you always say you will and you never wake up early enough to get it done so then you end up speed doing it in the car while nearly stress crying and I am cannot deal with that while running on 49 hours of no sleep so go and do it right this damn minute. I am TIRED, I am tired boy go. GO. I love you, goodnight.” 

“N go and unload the damn dishwasher. I asked you four. FOUR days ago to do it and A is not coming home until next week please I am begging you I have been drinking my coffee out of bowls and a straw for days now. Thank you, I love you goodnight.”  

“Red Robin. Put the coffee down. No- I know its in your hand I can feel it. I can feel it in my BONES child you cannot hide from me, down. Now. Good. Get a piece of fruit and go to bed. No I don't give a fuck if- no. I don't care if the pentagon has laughably easy security to bypass right now it has been over 72 hours since you closed your eyes I WILL call A I will, I’ll do it right now. I’m calling him right now- good okay goodnight. I’m sending Dick to check on you to make sure you’re actually sleep. I love you too goodnight”  

“Robin I know you're there. Damn right go to bed, Titus can go with you yes you don't have to ask every night baby its going to be the same answer, I love you goodnight.” 

“Hood and Spoiler stop trying to goad rogues into fighting each other and go home. Hood will you- thank you. Goodnight I love you both....no S I will not ask Ivy if she’ll make you real life lil shop of horrors plant to leave at your ex’s house please stop asking. Goodnight.”   

"C are you- I love you too."

And he just lets out this enormous, patented Dad sigh and looks up after a few moments and realizes the entire justice league is just watching him absolutely GOBSMACKED because oh my god how long has this been going on for?? because like what the fuck this was cold, calculated, ‘they think he's actually a robot’ Batman, who just all of a sudden just went BOOM father mode is activated, this is a patriARCH, you know? Daddy bats alright. And he's just like, his facial expression doesn't so much as twitch but a light blush just appears on his entire face and then Clark is just like HEART EYES and Hal is just like HEARTEYES (??!!) and Barry is suddenly having a sexuality crisis because what the fuck is this, and Diana is just like, speechless but in love and he just mumbles after a few moments “...you can continue your speech Clark I apologize for my lapse in professionalism” and Hal is just like “NAH MOTHERFUCKER YOU ARE NOT BREEZING PAST THAT WHAT THE FUCK SPOOKY??” and then the entire situation just devolves in chaos.  

[alyakthedorklord]

Chiroptophobia: the Fear of Bats.

Bruce Wayne is Scared of Bats. This is a Canon Fact.

In a difference from canon, Batman pretends to actually BE a bat man.

(Again, “Loading and Aspect Ratio” by JUBE514 situation with fake wings. Please go read it I love it so much.)

Bruce turns himself into a physical manifestation of his personal worst nightmares, and sets out to be a street cryptid. People see him flinching from bright lights and loud noises (he hasn’t slept in three days and he really hates guns) twitching weirdly (testing his wings function/stimming) not fully understanding human social niceties (you cannot tell me this man isn't Autistic) and, duh, wings, and go ah yes this being is Inhuman.

However, people KNOW Brucie Wayne™ is petrified of bats. There was an incident at a party when one flew through a window, another at a zoo, there was this one time Manbat showed up and he practically teleported away. No one saw him for a whole month, even after Batman had captured Manbat. (He got injured in the fight.)

By extension, this means that Bruce Wayne is afraid of Batman. Just- absolutely terrified of him. No ones seen them in the same place. Ever. Bruce Wayne actually publicly refuses to even believe in the cryptid for YEARS past when he's already been proven to exist.

When the Justice League gets called in to protect Bruce and his smattering of children from some plot (batman conspicuously absent, despite Gotham being his territory) Bruce straight up tells the league that he doesn’t believe in Batman, and he feels much safer with “real heroes” rather than “a urban legend spawned from overdramatic furries and gang wars.”

The justice league is, obviously, confused.

Certified little shits Dick, Jason, and Tim, (because we’re going with JUBE514’s canon and jason doesn’t die they’re all brothers f off-)

ANYWAYS: Certified Little Shits Dick, Jason, and Tim, ready for chaos/solidifying secret identities: “Don’t worry! We believe in batman! We saw him!” :D

They then proceed to tell the justice league that Bruce HAS met Batman, but he has a phobia of bats, so when Batman saved them at a gala Bruce screamed so loud and shrill he threw off the bat-hearing and then punched batman in the face so hard he knocked him out cold, grabbed then-baby Jason and ran. (Nightwing and the second Robin had to HEROICALLY rescue a dazed Batman, Dick saw it with his own eyes!)

Bruce was so scared of the bat coming to take revenge that he jumped at every shadow for a whole month. Why, Jason, (who was younger then) had slept in Bruce's bed to keep him safe! (Dick is crooning about his cute little brother. Jason, who is hitting his growth spurt and not a little kid anymore, is infinitely embarrassed.) Right now, Brucie has settled into firmly denying Batman’s entire existence so that he can sleep soundly at night.

“Why is he so scared of bats?” The Justice League is wondering. Oh, they are so glad they asked!

“Alfred told us a story once,” Dick says, eyes wide and innocent as he prepares to lie through his fucking teeth, “that when Bruce was little, really little, he got trapped in a cave filled with bats, and his dad had to come rescue him. Apparently, Little Bruce had been crying about a massive bat, even bigger than he was, with glowing red eyes and human hands and (gasp) wait oh my goodness gracious what if that was the BATMAN :0”

“The baby batman.” Jadon adds.

“Batboy?” Tim wonders.

“Alfred, do you think Bruce met Batman when they were little?” Dick asks.

“I believe,” Alfred “the greatest enabler” Pennyworth hums, offering fresh baked scones to thier gleeful audience, “that Master Bruce referred to what he saw as ‘the bat king’ and reported seeing him outside his window several times over the years.”

“Maybe it really was him! Will you ask Batman for us?” Tim asks, already planning to hack the watchtower cameras and set up some popcorn with his brothers.

The Justice League, who have learned more about the Batman in one conversation than they have over MANY years of working together, tell the Wayne children that it will be their Genuine Pleasure to quiz batman on his interactions with BRUCIE WAYNE who has, apparently, laid batman out cold with one punch.

Alfred adds on that he personally thinks the Batman is being rather courteous to Master Bruce, as “bat king” sightings were after “difficult times” and he doesn’t come near the manor otherwise, as robin had been the one to return some family heirlooms that one time they were stolen. He calls the batman and his robins “polite young gentlemen” and then leaves.

But now the gears are turning in the justice leagues heads. Batman? Courteous? Polite? Batman is not Courteous or Polite. Not unless something else is going on.

Now. From their point of view. Batman lives in the cave systems under the richest houses in Gotham, Phantom of the Opera style, hiding his meta form (because this batman is playing cryptid really well. Maybe he was a mutant baby of some Rich Gothamites, who threw him into the caves in shame!) He’s been watching Bruce Wayne, likely as he struggled with the highly reported on demise of his parents, seeing the effects that crime had on the boy that fell into his cave all those years ago. Batman has always been so protective of children, so hateful of guns, obviously the Wayne tragedy is part of what motivates him. He loves Gotham dearly, territorial of it to the point of keeping other heroes out, and yet he breaks that rule here, for Gotham's prince, solely for Bruce’s comfort.

Bruce, another person who obviously loves the city of Gotham just as much, putting millions into charity and relief efforts. Who is clearly very protective of his children, even if he usually has no spine, to the point of attacking his greatest fear to keep then safe, and good enough to land a hit, even. (Bruce Wayne is also considerably attractive.)

Its all so clear to the Justice League: Batman is madly in love with Bruce Wayne. Has been for years. To the point of watching him sleep, on occasion. How very tragic! Batman, in love with someone he can never be with! Not only would it paint a massive target on Bruce’s back if they ever did get together- there’s no questioning what Gotham villains would do if they discovered this, (and denying himself love out of an attempt to keep others safe is EXACTLY the kind of self-sacrificing nonsense Batman would pull) But Batman can’t even truly see the man he’s in love with without Brucie running away in terror! Well, the poor guy… how sad…

This conclusion can be supported by the following evidence-

Batman being the one to catch the guy who put the hit out on Bruce. He sent them to babysit/make sure Bruce was safe while dealt with the actual threat. (Bruce had a suspiciously long bathroom break/a nap)

Batman’s first appearance being right after Bruce Wayne returned to Gotham. Was the bat following him to protect him in those missing years? Or maybe he decided to clean up the city now that his beloved had returned?

Batman always being seen near where Bruce is. He’s never once been at the watchtower when Bruce has a public appearance- he must be watching over him, a silent guardian in case someone gets it in their head to kidnap Gotham’s Prince.

Batman insisting that Bruce is innocent in a corporate scheme, despite evidence to the contrary. (Hes right in the end, of course, but they’ve never seen him ignore evidence so clear.)

Batman casually referencing Wayne Tech/Foundation inner workings- he keeps an eye on them, of course. (If he can’t be close to the object of his affections, the league reasons, of course he’d make sure that Bruce’s company and projects are on the right track)

Nightwing, when asked, confirms the Bruce Punching Batman story. He says “honestly I think B was impressed! Caught him off guard!” (Since when does Batman lower his guard? Only when he’d be… distracted, perhaps…)

Superman saves Bruce, who thanks him with a kiss on the cheek. Later, justice league was teasing Clark, batman huffs and leaves the room. He’s CLEARLY jealous! Superman feels just awful!

Batman inexplicably knowing social dances/high society manners- he must have learned by watching (stalking) bruce! He can navigate high profile talk if he wants to, he just doesn’t want to most of the time. but if the situation calls for it he can talk like the Richest of Pricks in a way that only comes with observation.

Batman bristling when some of the league members start making Comments on Brucie Wayne’s Physical Attributes. (Jealousy? Defensiveness? Perhaps… embarrassment at GL’s detailed explanation on what he’d do with a chance in bed with Brucie.)

Batman absolutely freezing up when confronted with any of the above evidence. (He’s trying SO HARD not to laugh/go tell his kids)

Dick/Jason being big enough to wear the Bat-wings rather than thier own and be convincing- they save Bruce, though the man passes out (from fear? Blood loss from an injury? Perhaps- he is faking) and Dick/Jason, either out of genuine concern for their dad or general “how can i stir the pot” chaos, gently strokes his hair away from his face in an act of compassion that the cameras just so happen to catch. (There’s a few tears shed in the justice league- poor batman! He can’t be with his love!)

The robins (in both identities) telling the justice league that they've seen batman watching him.

“oh yeah he does background checks on aaaaaall bruces conquests. Had a conniption when brucie found a mafia boss that one time.”

“And when he found out Bruce and Two-face had a fling!”

(The league notes that often, if a criminal gets too close to Brucie, they’re put away not long after. B is usually collecting evidence in his civilian ID. But it looks like angry Batman wanted them to get the hell away from his mans.)

The Justice League is swooning over this tragic, forbidden love story. Batman is a little creepy but hey. He apparently grew up in a cave system. Its a wonder he's as well adjusted as he is. Batman has their sympathy, he seems less unflappable/untouchable, they’re a little more understanding with him now. Superman is all too happy to be a rebound, if needed. There are magic users offering glamour spells. Green Lantern is making exposure therapy innuendos.

The robins can’t believe how lucky they got. They’re def grounded but B can’t be too mad bc his secret identity is FUKIN SET.

Alfred is rather proud of Batman's new nickname in the league being “the bat king” and keeps sending batman along with cookies. The league thinks Batman is checking up on bruce with his butler. Its a mess.

Eventually, Batman loses a bet to one of his kids. Committing to the Bit with an exasperated sigh (he’s definitely not having fun, shut up jason.)

He admits to his crush.

[just-dreaming-marvel]

LEGACY ~ 6

LEGACY MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 1,840ish

Summary: You go on your first mission, but are tasked with staying on the quinjet.

Notes: THERE’S A FEW! First, sorry if there were any mistakes I didn’t catch! My puppy, Milo, gets jealous when I’m on the computer. He likes to slam his paws on the keyboard, try to close my laptop, and try to eat my hand. Second, I’m actually really excited for RDJ to play Doom! I know there are various opinions about the casting, but I’m excited. I’d love to hear your views, but please be respectful.

Everyone went to get suited up. You quickly followed after Tony.

“Can I come?” you asked, ready to plead your case.

“No.” Tony didn’t even bother looking at you as he answered. “Absolutely not.”

“Why not? I’m plenty old enough and I am trained. Not to forget that I also took out three of the Iron Legion bots before you even took out one.”

“It’s not happening. Too dangerous.”

“Obviously here’s not much better! You created that murder bot in our home, Dad! And you know that he wants something from me. So is it really safer for me to stay here?”

Tony came to a sudden stop, with you at his heels. You held your breath as you watched him clench and unclench his fists. Finally, he turned around. “Fine. But you’re staying on the quinjet with Bruce until I say otherwise. No arguments.”

“I can do that.” You were trying your best to suppress the smile that longed to form on your lips.

He sighed and turned back around. “Come on,” he started back down the hallway to the room where his suits were kept, “we don’t have a lot of time.”

You followed after your father, making sure you respected his nervousness despite your excitement to finally be allowed to go along with the Team. Instead of going straight to his suit when the two of you arrived in the room, Tony went to a cabinet on the wall. He opened it and pulled out a folded suit, similar to Nat’s. He came back over to you, holding it out for you to take. You lifted it up, allowing it to unfold to see the whole thing. It was black and clearly going to stick to your every curve. The texture of the material was protective on the outside and comfortable on the inside.

“The design is based off of Natasha’s,” Tony explained. “I added some more protection and pockets. JARVIS was built into it… Looks like I’m going to have to change that…”

You quickly hugged Tony. “Thank you so much, Dad.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart.” He pulled away. “Go get changed and grab your weapons. I’ll see you on the quinjet.”

~~~

Steve was already prepping the quinjet when you arrived, mission ready. He did a double take, not realizing it was you at first.

“What are you doing?” He asked, his authoritative voice was in full force.

“Dad said I can go,” you replied.

“No.”

“What?” You were completely taken back.

“I said no.”

“You trained me, Steve. You even said that I was ready.”

“You’re not.”

“I am, you know it. You’re just scared because it seems like Ultron has an interest in me.”

“Yes, so you need to stay here. That’s an order.”

“An order?” You were growing angry. “I cannot believe you… I thought you believed in me.”

“This is about your safety, Y/N.”

“I’m not safe here! Ultron was made here! Ultron attacked here! And will probably again.” Steve clenched his jaw, clearly he didn’t want to admit that you were right. “Besides, Dad already said I’m not allowed to leave the quinjet unless he says otherwise. You won’t have to worry about me, Captain.” 

You walked away and took a seat in a corner of the quinjet, farthest away from Steve.

~~~

The Team had no real plan going in. Bruce and you were in the quinjet, over hearing everything. Including when the fighting started.

“Guys,” Bruce called over the comms. “Is this a code green?”

No one responded. You were getting restless.

“I’m going in,” you stated, lowering the ramp.

“Wait! No!” Bruce rushed over. “Y/N, you have to stay here. Tony’s orders.”

“Tony may be my father, but I’m an adult. I’m also well trained. I can hold my own.”

You pulled away from Bruce and jogged down the ramp. Observing the area, you noticed two people, about your age, next to one of the rusting boats. You had recognized them from the information Steve went over in the quinjet: the Maximoff twins. The girl suddenly stood up, red mist coming from her hands toward you. You ducked but as the mist passed you, you realized that you were never the intended target.

“Bruce!” You spun around screaming. It was too late. The mist hit him, his eyes turning red before he turned into the Hulk. “Shit.” You pressed your comms piece in hope that they were back online. “Um, guys, we have an unplanned code green out here. The Maximoff girl made Bruce turn into the Hulk.”

There was no answer. You ran away from the quinjet as the Hulk marched out. He roared before angrily heading towards the nearby city. Suddenly, you had been grabbed. Before you knew it, you were standing in front of the Maximoff girl, the boy having used his speed to get you there. The unexpected speed wasn’t sitting well with you but you were trying your best to hold it together. You couldn’t lose it on your first mission.

“Interesting…” the girl mumbled, stepping closer to you. “Somehow you’re blocking me. How?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you replied.

“I can tell you’re a child of HYDRA.” The girl walked around you, studying you. She said it like it was obvious. “I’m sure that has something to do with it.”

“She must be the girl that Ultron was telling us about,” the boy said. “He said that she’d join us once she knew the truth about her past.”

“I will never join you,” you argued. “No matter what.” The girl’s red mist floated from her hands and swirled around your head. “You don’t want to do this.”

“Oh, yes, I do,” she responded. 

You felt her enter your mind. It was almost like she was walking around in there, looking for something. You couldn’t move, like she was preventing you from doing so. A pain started building in your head as she continued to move around. You clenched your eyes closed to try and prevent the building tears from spilling.

“You’re fighting me,” the girl stated. “What ability do you have that allows you to do that?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you said. “Get out of my head!”

Suddenly, the girl retreated. Your eyes opened to see her shocked expression. “How did you do that?”

“I didn’t do anything!”

You needed to find a way out of this situation. The boy was too fast for you to run and the girl could easily stop you. Before you had to make a plan, you heard a giant crash coming from the direction of the city. The three of you looked over to see that the Hulk and the Hulkbuster armor had just taken down a large building. A swish went past you and you realized the twins were gone. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed movement. Your hand went to the holster on your right thigh as you turned. You relaxed slightly when you realized that it was Clint and Natasha. But upon closer inspection, you noticed that Nat was barely holding herself up, that Clint was practically carrying her. Steve and Thor weren’t far behind, both in a dazed state.

They reached the quinjet first, everyone splitting up to sit or stand alone. Clint went up to the pilot’s seat. They were so dazed that no one had noticed you weren’t in the quinjet. They continued to not notice when you arrived and when Tony and Bruce arrived. Bruce sat on the ground, completely guilt ridden, while Tony went straight to a seat with a screen. Clint on the quinjet off the ground. You found a seat against the wall, furthest from anyone, thinking about your interaction with the Maximoff’s. The quinjet was completely silent until Maria called.

“The news is loving you guys,” Maria told Tony. “Nobody else is. There’s been no official call for Banner’s arrest, but it’s in the air.”

“The Stark Relief Foundation?” Tony wondered.

“Already on the scene. How’s the team?”

“Everyone’s… we took a hit. We’ll shake it off.”

“Well for now, I’d stay in stealth mode. And stay away from here.”

“So, run and hide?”

“Until we can find Ultron, I don’t have a lot else to offer.”

“Neither do we.” Tony sighed as he ended the call. He got up and walked over to Clint. “Hey, you wanna switch out?”

“No, I’m good,” Clint replied. “You should check on your daughter, now’s a good time, cause we’re still a few hours out.”

“A few hours from where?”

“A safe house.”

Tony left Clint and came over to sit next to you. “Hey, kid.”

“Hey,” you responded.

He could tell that something was off. Just by looking at you, Tony could tell that you had a run in with the Maximoff’s. “Did she get to you, too?”

“She tried… But she said that I was blocking and fighting her… They knew that I was a child of HYDRA. And… and Ultron had told them about me.”

“I knew you shouldn’t have come.” Tony shook his head.

“What I don’t get is why they didn’t capture me and take me with them… none of this is adding up. Dad…” You looked at him with tears gathering in your eyes. “I’m scared.”

Tony swung an arm around your shoulders, pulling you into his side. You leaned your head against his shoulder before he pressed a kiss to your head. “I’ll protect you, I promise.”

“What if you can’t protect me from it this time? What if you can’t protect me from the truth about who I am?”

Tony stayed silent. In all honesty, he was scared too. Of Ultron, of the future, of the possibility of something happening to you. He had always known that your past would catch up to you eventually, he had just hoped it would be when you were far enough away from it in age. “The truth about who you are… you are Y/N Stark, my daughter. You are strong and brilliant and never cease to amaze me. You are you, Y/N, no matter what is in your past. And whatever it is, I will always be at your side, protecting you.”

“Thank you, Dad.”

Your head was still pounding, not helping you with the emotions you were already feeling. You glanced around the room, eyes stopped at Steve. He was clearly in his own head. You were worried about him and wished you could help. Suddenly, your vision was filled with a black and white scene. Steve was in uniform, dancing with Peggy. The war was over. You gasped as it disappeared as quickly as it came.

“Are you alright?” Tony whispered as Steve met your eyes. They were wide.

“I’m fine,” you swallowed, quickly diverting your eyes from Steve. “Just a headache.” 

You knew, deep down, that it was anything but a normal headache. The Maximoff girl had opened something up in your brain, you just didn’t know what.

next chapter >

[crazyunsexycool]

Bucky - Lottie baby you cannot kiss Tommy, in fact you cannot kiss boys, they have cooties, it's disgusting

Lottie - Eww daddy

*Lottie sees Bucky and Sugar kissing each other next morning*

Lottie yells - Eww Mommy! You cannot kiss boys! Boys have cooties, Daddy is a boy! Daddy you gonna get mommy yucky! Move away and pushes Bucky away from sugar

😂😭

If she can’t get kisses no one can! Also Lottie is so dramatic that she’s going to take this to the extreme.

Warning: super barely there implied smut...

Boys have cooties

“Doll,” Bucky says as he has yet another conversation about Lottie and her friend that is a boy, not to be confused with boyfriend, Tommy. He’d never allow her to have a boyfriend ever. “You can’t give Tommy kisses.”

“But why?”

“Because 1. You’re not supposed to have a boyfriend and 2. You’re too little.”

“Am not. And mama gabe you kisses.”

“Yeah but…” Bucky had no argument so he did the only thing he could, he went with a childish answer. “Boys have cooties. And they’re yucky. Not cute at all, they can ruin your dresses.”

“No!”

“Yes and your bows. Cooties get everywhere if you kiss boys. You would get green spots on your face and everything."

“I won’t kiss a boy evuh again.” Lottie says before starting to run away.

“Good… wait again? What do you mean again?” Bucky asked but Lottie had already gotten to her room.

~~~~~~~~~

Bucky had forgotten about his conversation with Lottie the night before. He was busy giving his wife kisses and a little bit more. This morning he was feeling extra loving and handsy. Although the kids were used to seeing their parents give each other quick kisses this morning would bring a little bit of chaos.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" Lottie shrieked as she ran into the kitchen. She immedietly started pushing her way in between you and Bucky. "Get away from mama!"

"Doll, what's wrong?"

"You gibe mama kisses. Why?"

You look at Bucky confused. "Sweet Angel, daddy gives me kisses all the time."

That was the wrong thing to say because Lottie started crying and trying to pull you down and check your face.

"Why can't daddy give me kisses?" You run your hand up and down Lottie's back trying to soothe her.

"Because... boys habe cooties and cooties are yucky. Daddy says it."

You look up at Bucky who is face palming.

"Really? Cooties?"

Bucky just gives a resigned shrug.

“Sweet Angel, I promise I’m fine. I don’t have cooties.”

“No, daddy says you get sick if you get cooties, mama.”

“Well then how about we go to my office and I’ll show you that I don’t have cooties?”

“Ok, but no mo’ kisses fo daddy.” Lottie pleads.

“I think that’s a great idea.” You look up and smirk at Bucky. “No more kisses for daddy. Lets go.”

~~~~~~

“What did you do now?” Sam asked Bucky as he walked out of Duckie’s lab. He smelled like disinfectant.

“What are you talking about? Sugar called me up here.”

“Yeah well Y/N and Lottie are in there with Doc and they’re having all the guys get a disinfecting treatment.” Sam huffs while crossing his arms over his chest. “Something about getting rid of cooties.”

“Oh for fucks sake.” Bucky shakes his head and walks past Sam.

In the lab were you, Duckie and Lottie with goggles, gloves and masks on. Standing in a line were Tony, Bruce, Thor, Clint, Loki, Vision, Steve and Henry. Wanda and Nat were sitting to the side and pointing out spots that weren’t disinfected.

“What the hell is going on?”

Everyone turns to look at Bucky. The guys were irritated but the women, except for Lottie, were all amused.

“We are treating the cootie outbreak before it gets out of hand. Please join the line.” Duckie informs the line.

All the guys get hand sanitizer, their faces wiped with a baby wipe and a blast from an air compressor to get rid of all the germs. And if they do a good job they get a hug from Lottie. One by one all the guys go down the line to get their treatment. Bucky finally gets to the end, all the women are just snickering and joking about how ridiculous he’s being.

“Wait.” Nat yells just as Bucky’s about to walk out. “I think Bucky’s case of the cooties is at a level 1.”

“Oh no.” Lottie gasps.

“What?”

“Level 1 cootie infection is very dangerous. We have to go into full decontamination.” Duckie adds while trying not to laugh.

“Oh come on. It’s not that serious.”

“Is so sewious.”

“How unfortunate. No kisses for you for the rest of the day.”

“Sugar.” Bucky whines but he’s being pushed into the small decontamination station in the corner of the lab. He sighs and accepts his fate as Lottie presses the button.

“Look at that Lottie, you saved all the boys from the cooties.”

“Yeah and tomowwow I sabe Tommy too. Then I can gibe him kisses.”

“Wait what? No! No kissing Tommy!”

“Can’t he-uh you daddy. The cooties is too loud.”

Everyone starts laughing as they walk out of the lab while you stay behind. You hold up a towel for Bucky but just sent you a light hearted glare.

“Why would you lie about cooties?”

“She told me she gave Tommy a big kiss. She’s too young.”

“It was Tommy’s birthday and Lottie wanted to get him a gift. He loves chocolate so she chose the big chocolate kiss.“

Bucky just stares at you. He remembers you reminding him that Lottie got him that candy.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, oh.” You wrap your arms around his neck. “But look on the bright side. Now you’re cootie free and we can pick up where we left off.”

“Not in my lab. Get out before I have to burn the place to the ground.”

You laugh at Duckie’s glare and grab Bucky’s hand to lead him out of the lab.

Will Bucky ever be ok with Lottie giving Tommy kisses of any kind? Probably not. But he will always to everything he can to protect her. Even make up fake diseases to do so.

[emo-batboy]

Fan pages on Twitter with Bruce are making me think of one thing. Kpop Twitter. Do u think they would be making fancams of him too? Photocards? Posters? Buying 10 copies of vogue just for different cover with him?

*takes off glasses* now I cannot reveal the secrets of my Twitter au BUT you came to the right person :DD

NOW CONSIDER

BRUCE WAYNE AS A FORMER MODEL (idk if this has been done before with Battinson? Let me know so I can read it)

So maybe Bruce did some covers for a business magazine in his late teens or early 20’s and it went really well!!

a few luxury brands asked if this fresh-faced Bruce Wayne would consider being an ambassador. Maybe a brand of watches, suits, sunglasses, something business-like or old money

He agrees to work with some suit company cuz his dad loves the brand and he likes them too now

This earns him his first ever taste of A-List Celeb Status. He is on the cover of magazines, not just business and fashion: Gossip magazines. Tabloids. People recognize him and want his autograph. Paparazzi follow him to lunch dates with friends.

They want to know his favorite color, cereal brand, ice cream flavor, and not because they want to be billionaires like him (poor little nepo baby) but because they love him so much they want to know every little detail of his life.

He is given the title of heartthrob over and over again (and I mean look at him, ofc he is)

He despises it with every cell in his body.

BUT he keeps working for this one luxury tailor brand until his contract ends. Maybe two or three years?

He has a good relationship with them, still. Wears their suits mostly, recommends it to friends if they need a new one. But he’s decided it’s not for him anymore.

Now. Every year, during New York Fashion Week, Bruce is invited to walk in their show. (This brand gives all of their ambassadors the opportunity.) Sometimes, he says yes. Sometimes, he doesn’t.

He refuses for a few years (during his vengeance era) until Bruce Wayne changes and decides to make more appearances. NY Fashion Week comes around, and Bruce returns for one (1) show.

Oh lordie the stans

They arrive in droves

EVERYBODY AND THEIR MOTHER SEES THE CLIP OF BRUCE WAYNE WALKING AT THE FASHION SHOW!!

He tears up that fucking runway! He’s a seasoned veteran of course he does

THE BRAND BEGS BRUCE TO COME BACK

And ya know what?

He says yes

Cuz he wants to be personable, likable, approachable, a role model (no pun intended)

His bitterness is slowly dissipating, and he’s grown stronger after the stress of his early 20’s and the hatred of his late 20’s. He’s an Adult TM who can handle it.

This is when he learns about the new emergence of stan culture :)

The edits are EVERYWHERE

Some are from his new collections and looks

Others are made up of early 2010’s Bruce Wayne

Imagine like those sparkly ones with cute music in the background and it’s just Bruce smiling

(And then there’s the thirst trap ones, you know those one)

Pretty boy billionaire Bruce Wayne and his army of fans could declare a nation. They’re your cousin, your friend, your teacher, your goddamn accountant.

Old posters from Tiger Beat 2009 go up on eBay for thousands of dollars

And those old “vintage” fashion magazines where he’s on the cover, those could cost you rent

Bruce walks some new shows and agrees to pose for some magazines (fashion AND business, among others)

Vogue offers him the cover, which he accepts

They run out of stock.

(How is that even possible?)

Fancams of him walking down the street and attending press conferences crop up? That’s what surprises him the most.

He is still very camera shy but the more he gets to know the regular fansites, he feels more comfortable waving and talking to them. (And hopefully they don’t suspect a thing. PLEASE don’t suspect a thing.)

There are a lot of events where they’re not allowed in but if it’s a public event, they will be there

(There are some creepy ones tho, and Alfred handles them accordingly) (with a call to the police) (and occasionally a hose)

It’s fun tho, allows Brucie Wayne, Billionaire Nepo Baby Extraordinaire, to become separate from his nightly persona

This is how Bruce becomes very familiar with Stan Twitter

But he still refuses to make an account for his own sanity

It’s for the best

[yourmotherismylover]

i need a comprehensive list of each bat and pony bff pair

IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED!!

I want to say Dick and Applejack because they’re both my favorites, but honestly I think Dick and Twighlight have all the same problems so they would really get each other. Like that episode where Twighlight gets so stressed she hasn’t learned anything, so she makes problems that she can then solve?? Dick is the only one who understands the insane anxiety and need to please the parental figure. (Not that he would do the same thing though, he’s driven by being as unproblematic as possible.) He sees himself as the glue that holds the family together, even though that’s not always true. He’s known for putting undue pressure on himself and has great advice to give everyone else, just absolutely cannot take it himself. (He’s so emotionally intelligent and mature except when it comes to him and Bruce, what a dumpster fire) (literally Twighlight and Celestia but way less healthy)

I think Jason and Rarity would hangout together and gossip at galas, but also, Rarity is the paragon of generosity. It makes me think of how Jason treats the kids in crime alley, always kind and gentle with them when he’s so gruesome with everything else. I think that Rarity would also admire his violence a little bit, as she’s known to snap and get dirty when she really has to. Rarity cares for other people more than anything, which she has repeatedly displayed in the show. I think Jason is also a very empathetic person, though he is extremely jaded. He hides that part of himself, but I think Rarity would be able to see it in him.

I saw an argument being made for Tim and Applejack, but I think Tim and Luna would go really well together. They both work extremely hard and are often under appreciated. Citing specifically that episode where Luna creates a creature that haunts her dreams, then takes on the guilt of it escaping and tries to stop it all by herself. It reminds me of Tim basically forcing himself onto Bruce as Robin, choosing to take on a huge responsibility, and for a long time, not getting any kind of thank you. Luna talks a lot about not being seen for all the hard work she does and always being overshadowed by Celestia, but also harboring guilt about being Nightmare Moon. Tim was the only Robin who really chose to take up the mantle, but that also means inheriting the name of Dick Grayson, the Boy Wonder, and Jason Todd, the dead kid. He tries equally to live up to those names, but also exist outside of them, neither of which is possible for him.

I initially said Damian and Rainbowdash would be a good pair because they’re both outwardly arrogant as a defense, but someone said Damian and Flutteryshy would bond over animals. I absolutely agree with that. There are things that don’t make sense to Damian, like how to act in certain social situations, how to make friends, etc, but animals do make sense to him. I think the same goes for Fluttershy, and being around animals is the best opportunity for them to come out of their shells, even though those shells look so different. For Damian, that’s being aggressive and intimidating, and Fluttershy is completely the opposite. However, she sees his softness with animals and gains a great appreciation for his fierce protectiveness of the things he loves. She understands he’s a complex and good person, and doesn’t just treat him like a kid. She was able to see the same qualities in Discord, and knows better than to dismiss a person based on surface level interactions.

Now hear me out… Bruce Wayne and Daring Do. There’s the obvious double life, but they seem to face a lot of similar problems with that life. A.K. Yearling is in the public eye and is hearing what people think of Daring Do. It’s not always positive. There’s an episode where Daring Do receives a lot of backlash over the destruction she causes in the name of the greater good, and A.K. Yearling takes on a lot of guilt and chooses to retire from Daring Do for a short time. Batman is of course, not always the good guy, but he makes those hard choices. A.K. doesn’t have that family aspect in her life, but I think we forget, Bruce had a long period of time when he was stoutly solo. They have the same drive to protect. For Bruce, it’s Gotham and his family, and for A.K., it’s history and artifacts. They are extremely driven people that has something in them that says they *can’t* give up. A.K. is quite gruff when we first meet her, and Rainbowdash has a hard time breaking her way into A.K.’s heart. They each become the personality that is needed to finish the job. The mission comes first. A.K. may be the only person who understands why Bruce needs to be Batman. Obviously he’s raised a bunch of little vigilantes, but they each take turns outgrowing Robin, and outgrowing him. There’s an episode of Young Justice where Dick says he just doesn’t have the same drive that Batman has, to sacrifice everything, to always complete the mission. Bruce will never fully let anyone in, which of course causes problems with him and his children. They want to understand him, but they can’t get all the insight they need. A.K. is the only person he doesn’t have to let in, because she’s gone down the same path he has all on her own.

I did not realize I would have so much to say because that is a HUGE wall of text, but they are so important to me. If anyone has any other thoughts/ideas or wants to hear about other bats/ponies, PLEASE TELL ME. I love to yap

[breedingreading19]

After having a rough night at work, I hop in my car and pick up my phone before texting Jason.

“Hey Jay, last night was awful at work. Do you mind if I come to sleep with you for the day, or do you have plans?” I text him and smile, finally seeing him messaging me he was home safe from his own job or, as he called it, patrol. I put my phone in my cup holder before driving over to his apartment, hoping he would text me back before I arrived. Still, I had a key to his apartment, and after six months of dating and him always making himself welcome in my apartment, I knew he wouldn’t care if I walked in and fell asleep in his bed even if he didn’t plan on being there most of the day. The drive to his apartment was a bit of a long one from the hospital but nothing crazy as I park in front of his apartment and make my way up the stairs to the 2nd floor. I checked my phone, and surprisingly, he hadn’t texted me back, which was odd for him, but it was almost 9 am, so maybe for once in his life, he went to bed at a decent time.  I walk up to his door and insert the key, and knock as I twist the doorknob and walk inside trying to be quiet as I turn around and am instead greeted with Jason sitting in his recliner at the opposite end of the living room and an older gentleman with a mostly bald head but some silver hair on the sides of his head and nice polo shirt and black slacks that sat on the long grey sofa on the wall of the living room.

“I am so sorry, um I’ll show myself out Jay, I didn’t know you were expecting someone” I say as I tightly put my lips together looking at Jason as he quickly shakes his head and stands up.

“No, don’t go. I just didn’t know you were stopping by” he says as he wraps an arm around me and kisses my forehead and I notice he feels slightly tense, not like when he comes home from patrol but more like there’s a certain edge to the room. He pulls away and faces the old man as he stands up and walks towards us with a smile on his face as he greets me.

“I’m Alfred Penyworth, Master Waynes butler and I was just stopping by to check on Master Jason. He never mentioned he was seeing anyone so it’s a pleasure to meet you” he says as he extends his hand out to me with an extremely warm smile but changes to one of disapproval as his head turns to Jason as he mentions how Jay never mentioned me to him.

I just laugh a little as he finishes up and I take his hand and shake it. “Emma, and is this like a fun little joke between you two?” I ask laughing as I look up at Jason and then back to the older gentleman as I question his mention of working for Bruce Wayne and calling Jason ‘Master’.

“No, Miss I work for and Master Wayne and took care of Master Jason for many years before he… grew up and moved out.” He says looking at me confused as my face becomes extremely confused as I look at Jason. Jason face turning pale, and he starts to look slightly sheepish as both of our eyes lock onto one another.

“Well, do not feel bad. Jason has never mentioned you or Mr. Wayne to me so it appears that this was our first meeting and acknowledgment of one another” I say turning my head to Alfread and smile tensely as my confusion and slight annoyance with Jason start to build up as I begin to realize how much of Jason’s life he had been keeping from me. I also realize how my current appearance must look to the man standing in front of me as I stand in front of him in Navy blue scrubs and extremely frizzy hair tied up in a messy bun and no make-up. “I also apologize for my current appearance, Mr. Alfred. Hopefully, you will remember my appearance by our next interaction and not this one,” I say as my hand begins to pat down my hair.

He just chuckles a bit before he speaks up and turns to Jason, “I’ll be heading out, you two have a wonderful day and please Master Jason, do not be a stranger, and dear you look wonderful, just like you got off work which I believe you did. It was wonderful meeting you and I cannot wait till the next time” Alfread says as he turns back to me and smiles before stepping around me and stepping out the door leaving me and Jason alone and he quietly walks to the door and locks it.

“What else do you need to tell me Jason other than you’re the son of a billionaire, of course?” I ask biting the inside of my cheek as I look at him annoyed.

“It’s complicated, I never meant to hide anything from you. It’s just one of those things that’s hard to talk about and then I didn’t know how to mention it to you once we got serious enough to mention it and I… I fucked up but I want to talk about it” he says as he runs his hand through his hair as he looks sadly at me, and I crack. I see how sad he looks, and I can’t stay mad at him for long when he looks so defeated.

“You did but I forgive you if we can talk about it, your completely honest with me and you listen to why I’m mad” I say as I walk up to him and wrap my arms around him, “Oh and I can borrow one of your shirts and grab a shower together before bed?” I say lightly smiling at him as I look down at my scrubs before looking back up at him as I hear bit of laughter escape his lips as he nods his head yes. I pull away from him and grab his hand as I walk back with him to his room and bathe keeping quiet as I pull open his second drawer with a few of my things along with some old shirts if his I managed to steal. I pull out a pair of underwear and a band t-shirt of his that had holes in it from a bad night out in Gotham. I walk into the bathroom and see Jay taking his clothes off as I enter and lay my stuff on the vanity before doing the same.

“So, your foster family was Bruce Wayne?” I ask as I unclip my hair from its clip laying down and pulling my scrubs off and throwing them in the corner of the bathroom.

Jason takes a second and leaves a slight awkwardness in the room as he gathers his thoughts together while he hops in the shower, and I follow behind him. “Yea, he technically raised me but we haven’t been on the best terms since… since” He says and leads off as he looks down at the ground as the water runs off his hair and drips down his body as my lips tighten up as I reach for the shampoo and pour some in my hands.

“You don’t have to say It Jay, just close your eyes for a moment” I whisper as his eyes flutter closed as my hands find his hair and I begin massaging it through his head as I see his facial expressions change and his shoulders begin to relax as the haunted thoughts leaves his mind as my hands leave his scalp and grab the shampoo to do my own as Jason wraps his arms around my body as I feel his head lean onto mu shoulder as his hands find mine and grab the shampoo bottle.

“Please?” I hear him whisper in my ear as the water rains down on his hair and the soap washes down onto my shoulder and let go of the bottle as he takes  the bottle and his hand comes up to my chin and lightly tilts my head up as I feel his other hand massage my head as he washes my hair as continues to talk, his hand eventually sliding back down my body to my wait as he just pulls me close to him as he talks.

“I do hope you know I didn’t mean to keep it from you, I just wish me, and Bruce’s relationship was better. He, he can be a lot but Alfred was the butler but he’s the closest thing to a grandfather I guess and he’s been stopping by here and there since I saw Bruce again since I,” He stops for a moment and takes a breath as I feel a wash cloth begin running down my back and arms as I close my eyes as I relax into Jasons touch. “Since I came back home,”

“I’m sorry Jay, I, mhm, really am, but next time tell me these things,” I say as his hands find a tense muscle in my upper back, and he begins kneading the muscle out.

“I know, it’s just hard” he says as he moves his hands from my back, and I open my eyes before turning around and look up at his as he avoids my gaze and I put my hand on his cheek as I grab the other washcloth.

“May I?” I ask as my other hand reaches for the soap by him and he just shakes his head as he lightly takes the wash cloth out of my hand as he passes my own as he begins washing his chest as he runs the wash cloth over the white rough scar that ran down his chest in the shape of a Y as I smiled tightly at him as I began washing myself before continuing on our conversation. “I know it’s hard but all things in a relationship are, but you have to be willing to do the hard things so the two of us can survive. I understand why you won’t tell me about being Red Hood, but I do want to know about the average parts of your life. The parts you can share with me” I explain as I look up at him as he washes off his body he just nods solemnly as he closes his eyes and I grab onto the shower bar as I stand on my toes and kiss his cheek and run a hand over his hair as I move my arms around his neck and pull him in close. “I’m not upset, I just want to be proactive so… so we can make this work because I really care about you and I know you really care about me” I stand back down flatly on my feet as Jason pulls his head up and nods more confidently as we finish up the shower in comfortable silence as I begin processing what this possibly meant for Jason and his childhood. My mind drifts with tons of questions as I feel a hand touch my shoulder as his voice brings me back to reality as my brain begins to process his words

“Babe, babe?”

“Sorry!”  I exclaim as I look at Jay a little startled as I begin to remember where and what I was doing and Jay just shakes his head before reaching past me and turning off the water as I wrap my arms around my body covering my breasts as Jason stepped out and grabs a towel and wraps it around my body before doing the same to his own as he dries himself off quickly before doing the same to me. “You don’t have to” I begin to say as he shoots me a look of disapproval as he begins to speak

“I know I don’t, but you don’t have to love me the way you do. Yet everyday I wake up to see a new way you amaze me so the least you can let me do is this” He says as he bends down on his knees and begins drying my lower body off as he moves up my body until no water remained before he moved away from me and grabbed my underwear and the T-shirt as I step out of the shower and I go to grab the clothes out of his hand but his face changes to one of a plea as he speaks. “Please let me do this for you, you know I prefer this than to say it” he says as he pulls the clothes back behind his back and his hand comes up to my face and I nod. Knowing that Jason couldn’t tell her how he felt but this, things like this was how he showed her how he felt about her and the bond the two shared as Jason picked up my feet one at a time and slipped the underwear on and up my body  and leaving a few slow gentle kisses on my hips as he stands back up and pulled the shirt over my head before slipping his arm under the back of my thighs and picked me up in his arms as I laugh slightly.

“Jason, you spoil me too much” I say lowly cuddling into his arms and bare chest as he walks over to the bed before laying me down on the bed as he moves towards the dresser in the room and him grabbing underwear for himself.

“You told me the last time you fell asleep on the couch that being carried by me was a perk of having such a strong boyfriend so I think you should use that perk more often” He says with a slight playful tone as I can tell he’s trying to change the feeling of the room as his head turn towards the clock seeing it was almost 10 am and both of us had places to be come this evening.

“I do not remember this, so you don’t get to use this against me. That was exhausted sleepy Emma so that was not I” I say back accusingly and playfully as he plops into the bed and pulls his blankets up over us before wrapping his arms around my body and pulling me close as I giggle into his chest once more for the day.

“You need to sleep” I hear him say into my wet hair as I frown knowing he was correct but deep down I wanted to stay like this all day with him. To be able to actually spend time with him and enjoy as time passes not worried about what craziness would happen at work and knowing that Jason was safe and breathing beside of me as I lay my eyes on the many deep and scary scars as they littered his chest.

“I’ll be fine, I’ve worked off of less” I say humming into his chest as he pulls away and gives me a pointed look as I know he hated when I didn’t prioritize my health the way I do his own or my friends.

“Sleep baby, we both need it” he says as he kisses my forehead and lays his head down on his pillow and closes his eyes as I look up at his and admire how peaceful his body seemed as he fell into a peaceful lull called sleep. I take a moment and try and preserve this moment into my mind as I see how the white fluff in his hair curls into some of he black hair that naturally grew on his head and the way his chest peacefully raised up and down, the only thing that I needed was the bright emerald green eyes that laid closed, the eyes that laid so many emotions that he kept inside that obviously screamed to be let out but he kept inside, all of them being both good and bad but damn it I knew I loved him despite them all. My mind carries on with these thoughts as I close my own eyes and what feels like hours later, I fall in sleeps precious arms myself.                                                                                                                                                     

[suzukiblu]

den mother Tony from "oh don't you dare look back, just keep your eyes on me" AU excerpt:

“What?” Tony says in alarm, jerking his head up from the repulsor he was in the middle of fine-tuning. He thinks he just hallucinated something.

“We need you to babysit for this rut,” Darcy repeats from the other end of the video call. The sentence makes no more sense the second time around.

“No you don’t,” Tony says inanely. “Where’s Barton?”

“Home,” Darcy says.

"Rogers?"

"Mission with Natasha and Sam."

“Thor and Foster?”

“Off-planet.”

“Pepper?”

“Running your company.”

“. . . J.A.R.V.I.S.?”

“Tony,” Darcy says patiently. “Can you handle this or not?”

“What?” Tony sputters indignantly. “I can—absolutely I can handle this! I am more than capable of handling this!”

“Okay,” Darcy says. “We’ll drop the pups off in an hour, then.”

“Okay!” Tony says. “That’s fine. That works. I can handle that.”

“Thanks, Tony,” Darcy says, and hangs up. Tony panics.

“J.A.R.V.I.S.!” he says, dropping his tools. “What just happened?!”

“You agreed to babysit the children for the duration of Ms. Lewis’s upcoming rut, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. says. Tony panics further.

“They asked me to babysit?!” he says.

“Yes, sir.”

“On purpose?!”

“Apparently, sir.”

“Fuck!”

Tony does the reasonable thing, which is to call Pepper on the emergency frequency. She answers, looking alarmed.

“What’s wrong?!” she says.

“They want me to babysit!” Tony says frantically. Pepper . . . pauses.

“What,” she says.

“Babysit!” Tony repeats, gesturing wildly.

“Tony,” Pepper says with a clear lack of respect for the crisis level Tony is currently operating at. “I’m in the middle of a meeting.”

“I know,” Tony lies.

“J.A.R.V.I.S., please pencil us in for a call in an hour,” Pepper says with a sigh.

“An hour?!” Tony protests. "They're getting here in an hour!"

“An hour,” she repeats firmly. “I’ll call you back then.”

“Pepper—!”

“An hour,” Pepper says, and ends the call. Tony groans, dropping his head into his grease-stained hands, then mutters a curse as he remembers the machine oil and grit all over them. This is what he gets for taking calls when he’s working, he thinks. This is what he gets for ever taking calls at all.

“I cannot believe they want me to babysit,” he says.

“Ms. Lewis did say you were the last option, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. says, which is not helpful.

“So how was I an option at all, then?!” Tony demands. “They know me! They know better than this! What’s wrong with Bruce?!”

“Dr. Banner informed Ms. Lewis and Sergeant Barnes that he was not capable of babysitting fairly early in the children’s lives,” J.A.R.V.I.S. reminds him.

“Yes, but that was him being paranoid about the Hulk, not him actually being incompetant to do it!” Tony says, getting up to start pacing behind the workbench. “I’m incompetant to do it!”

“I wouldn’t know, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. says, which, again, is not helpful. Tony groans again.

“Oh my god, I’m not prepared for this,” he says. “They’re dropping them off in an hour. One hour. My lab isn’t childproofed!”

“Yes it is, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S reminds him. “You’ve updated the childproofing in the Tower twice this year.”

“Not enough!” Tony says. “How often are they actually in here unsupervised? Never! They are never in here unsupervised!”

“You are technically supervision, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. says.

“Technically at best!” Tony says. “At best!”

“I suppose, sir,” J.A.R.V.I.S. says.

“Where’s Bruce?!” Tony demands, looking around the lab. He’s this close to calling Rhodey’s emergency frequency too, but Bruce is definitely closer. Rhodey’s in another damn state right now, and frankly it's a miracle it's not another damn country.

"I believe Dr. Banner is currently in his personal lab," J.A.R.V.I.S. says.

"Call him!" Tony says.

"Is that really the best idea right now, sir?" J.A.R.V.I.S. says.

"An hour, J.A.R.V.I.S.!" Tony says.

"I'll see if he's available, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. says diplomatically. He's saying "sir" an awful lot, which Tony suspects is him trying to placate him or something equally ridiculous, but he's too frazzled to call out his own AI for patronizing him right now. People are leaving children with him. On purpose! And he agreed to it!

He definitely does not have time to call out J.A.R.V.I.S. right now.

"Tony?" Bruce says as a screen pops up in front of him. "Is something wrong?"

"I need you in the fabrication lab," Tony says, because "come help me babysit the Winter Soldier's pups before I fuck them up" is obviously not gonna work. Bruce would probably just leave the damn Tower if he tried that. Possibly the country.

"I'll be right there," Bruce says, getting up from his seat as the screen blinks out. Small victories, Tony thinks.

"That wasn't entirely honest, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. says mildly disapprovingly. Tony still doesn't have time for AI patronization.

"It's an emergency," he says feelingly. "Bruce can be mad at me later, when the kids aren't all traumatized for life. Now what in this place is flammable and where can I hide it?"

[marauderundercover]

A Robin in the Making: Meeting the Justice League

Bruce frowns at the monitor.

“I already told Superman that I cannot, under any circumstances, come to the Watchtower this week.” He says firmly. Oliver runs a hand down his face, obviously aggravated.

“Batman, I’m telling you, if any of us could figure out how the hell to fix it, we would. And we wouldn’t be calling your stubborn ass.” He huffs out. Bruce’s eye twitches under his cowl.

“I don’t have anyone to watch Robin.” He says, telling only a partial truth.

“Then bring the kid with! I’m sure we can figure out something for him to do while you fix the monitor station.” Oliver says. Bruce starts to argue again, because it really wouldn’t only be his oldest that he’d have to bring along, when a familiar voice cuts in.

“Whoa, really? Can we go, B, please, please, please?” Dick begs, appearing at the edge of the cave with a domino already on his face. And just like that, Bruce has no choice but to cave. Something he was sure Dick knew.

“Fine. We’ll be there in twenty.” He says curtly before hanging up. Sighing, Bruce turns to look at Dick. “You do realize Mari is going to have to go too, right?” He asks. Dick nods rapidly.

“B, you’re not even ready for how totally awesome this is going to be! I’ll go grab M.” He says, darting back up the stairs. Bruce blows out a long breath. He’d told the League that he had prior engagements in Gotham that would keep him from being on call for this entire week. With Alfred in England for another five days, he had no one to watch Dick or Marinette. Which meant he hadn’t even been patrolling for very long. Just long enough for people to notice him (something he rarely wanted as Batman), and then he went right back to the manor. Dick, as he was almost a teenager, had tried to convince Bruce that he could watch Marinette by himself for a few hours. It wasn’t that Bruce didn’t trust his son. He did. He just also knew that Marinette and Dick had been partners in crime ever since Marinette first pulled herself into a standing position. She took off after her older brother and never looked back. It never failed to put a smile on Bruce’s face- well, as long as it wasn’t accompanied by mischievous giggling from the two. Before he can get too lost in his thoughts, he realizes that the giggles are definitely real and approaching quickly.

“Dick, make sure you’re holding onto her!” Bruce calls out. After Marinette had made her appearance, he’d made sure there were railings everywhere in the cave. Didn’t mean he completely trusted the railings to be failproof.

“Don’t worry daddy! Dickie’s got me!” Marinette calls out, and Bruce relaxes slightly. Until the two appear in sight and he sees what his three year old daughter is wearing.

“Richard, why does Marinette have a Robin uniform?” He asks, working hard to keep his tone calm. He already wasn’t thrilled that Dick was running around every other night fighting crime. It terrified him, but the idea of Dick going out as Robin by himself and getting injured because he didn’t tell Bruce where he was going- that fear far outweighed the fear that Bruce had when he would spot his son out of the corner of his eye while going against a mugger. But his daughter, who was still a toddler, wearing a domino mask was a little too much for him.

“It’s not really a uniform, B. She’s not gonna go out and kick the Joker’s butt or anything. I just thought it’d be cool for her to be able to match me if we ever got to meet the League together. Pretty cool, right?” Dick presses, and Bruce takes a second to breathe. Looking closer, the outfit clearly just mimicked the Robin colors, and was obviously not made to fight in. It was, unfortunately, cute. There was even a tiny bat symbol on the belt of it.

“I’m a hero!” Marinette chirps happily, grinning up at him. Bruce softens immediately, crouching down so he can be more on her level.

“You make a great hero, sweetheart. Now remember, what do you call Dickie when he gets his outfit on?” Bruce asks. Ever since she’d started talking, he’d tried to drill the importance of secret identities to her. He knew it wasn’t exactly traditional parenting, but he figured it was better than just lying to her about such a big part of his life. She grins widely.

“Dickie is Robin and you’re B.” She says, rattling the words off as if she’d rehearsed them (he knew she had). Bruce smiles and picks her up, tossing her gently into the air before catching her, heart warming as she giggles and shrieks.

“Very good.” He says, then pauses as he realizes she doesn’t have a secret identity.

“I say we call her Bug, cause that’s already what Lucius and you call her when she has to go to WE.” Dick pipes up, walking back into the main part of the cave as he pulls on his last shoe. Bruce glances down at his daughter.

“Does that work for you?” He asks. She nods, grinning. Bruce exhales deeply. “Very well. Who’s ready to meet the Justice League?”

---

The second they zeta onto the Watchtower, Dick runs to the center of the room, slowly turning as he tries to take in everything. He’d met a few of the other heroes at the Hall of Justice before, but B had never let him go to space before!

“Hey sport. Where’s your old man?” Ollie asks, walking in with his arms crossed. Dick nods towards the zeta tubes.

“He’s gotta get Bug set up first, but he said it was fine for me to come ahead.” Dick explains. Ollie frowns.

“Bug?” He asks. “Is that a person?” Dick nods.

“Yup! She’s my little sister.” He says, and Ollie’s jaw drops.

“She- what- Batman has more than one kid?” He gasps. Dick snorts. It was always funny to see people’s reactions to B having kids. Before he can explain more, the zeta tube announces B and Mari’s arrival.

“B! B, look! Stars!” Marinette gasps, immediately tugging B over to the windows. Dick giggles at the look on Ollie’s face.

“Green Arrow. I assume you have figured out where Robin and Bug can go?” B asks, glancing back at the other hero while Mari was focused on the stars. Ollie sputters for a minute.

“What- I- what the hell, Batman! We had an idea for Robin, not a freaking toddler!” He huffs out. Marinette tilts her head to the side, and Dick’s eyes widen. Uh oh.

“B? What does ‘hell’ mean?” She asks, frowning.

“Oh sh-”

“Unless you want to teach her two new words today, I suggest you shut your mouth.” Batman says lowly. Ollie’s jaw snaps shut as he nods slowly. B turns to Mari. “That’s not a word we use, Bug. Green Arrow is going to have to go sit in time out becuase he said it. You don’t want to sit in time out, right?” Mari shakes her head rapidly.

“No! No fank you.” She says, messing up her ‘th’ like usual. Dick thought it made her the cutest kid ever.

“Very well. Robin, stay here with Bug. I’ll walk Green Arrow to time out and send Superman back here.” B says. Dick nods, and Mari rushes over to him.

“C’mon! Let’s do flips!” She says excitedly. Dick grins, immediately rushing over to help her with her cartwheels. He loved being a big brother.

@maribat-get-in

[ramsywasalittlelamb]

you make me feel like i am young again

A Harvey Dent-Centric agere fic! Regressor!Harvey Dent and Bruce Wayne, Caregiver!Alfred Pennyworth, Hurt/Comfort, 1.9k Words! photos found on pinterest!

Warnings: Accidents/Bed-wetting, Diapers, Panic Attack/Anxiety/Fear if I need to add anymore, please let me know :]

Day 6, Comics Agere Week, Nightmares!

Harvey is so dear and precious to me, specifically from the Batman 89 book/comic. I cannot tell you how much this fic means to me, so I hope you all love it <3

Title from Lovesong - The Cure

Harvey wakes up with tears in his eyes, gasping for a breath as he looks around the dark room. It’s not his room, which makes his heart and mind race faster, immediately scrambling and detangling himself from the sheets to get out of the soft, plush, and wet bed— Wet bed?

He falls to the floor with a thud, looking to the bed to see a wet spot where he laid, only to realize there’s a wetness on his pajama pants as well.

Pressure builds in his throat as he tries to hold back a sob, holding a shaky hand over his mouth in an attempt to muffle the sounds, hot tears streaming down his face.

The door to the bedroom opens, letting in a stream of light that makes him squint, a choked sob leaving his mouth when he sees a figure standing in the doorway.

“-od heavens, darling, are you hurt?” A gentle, British voice speaks soothingly above him, his ears deciding to tune in at the last few words. He blinks away the tears and squints up at the stranger and— Oh. It’s Alfred.

Wait, Alfred?

He lets out another hiccup, furrowing his brows as he tries to remember the question the man had asked, but Alfred’s gentle touch on his shoulder and cheek is so nice and comforting, he can’t help but lean into it as he sniffles.

“Oh, sweetheart. Take a deep breath for me and then we can go get cleaned up, alright?” The older says, and while he struggles for a few attempts, he manages to take a full inhale without stuttering with encouragement and praises from Alfred. A warmth blooms in his chest at his words. Why was he upset again?

“Alfie?” A smaller sounding voice calls from the doorway as Alfred helps Harvey to his feet. He looks over to see Bruce in his pajamas, a pacifier clipped to the shirt pocket, and a soft-looking brown teddy bear in his hand. “Is he okay?”

Bruce. Right. He’s at the manor.

“Yes, dear. I think he just had a bit of a fright during his sleep.” Alfred says, both of his hands now holding Harvey’s trembling hand. His eyes catch a glimpse of the accident he left on the bed and his bottom lip begins to wobble again, Alfred quickly yet gently turns Harvey’s face to his own, a sympathetic smile displayed.

“Don’t you worry about it, let’s get you tidied up and back in bed.” Alfred says, keeping one hand intertwined with Harvey’s, then taking Bruce’s hand once they approach the doorway.

The three walk down the hall, hand in hand with one another. Harvey still feels on edge, still shaken up by the nightmare he can’t remember, and without even looking he knows Bruce is staring at him. In the back of his head, he knows he’s looking out of concern and worry, but judgment is forefront in his mind.

Soon he finds himself being tugged into a room, a child’s room, he soon realizes. A crib with a mobile, a changing table and your typical nursery furnishings fill the area, a light blue color is consistent in the room as well. Though he probably wouldn’t admit it out loud, he’s more than thankful that a nightlight is plugged into a wall outlet, considering every room has been blocked from light with blackout curtains.

He only looks away from the soft and pastel decorations when Alfred’s hand is placed on his arm, Bruce now rummaging through a bin with his teddy in his arms and the pacifier in his mouth. “Do you feel like talking, dear?” Alfred asks.

And.. no. He really doesn’t, and for once he’s really glad that the Wayne family has a consistent track record of being overly concerned and essentially playing a game of 20 questions anytime someone shows the slightest bit of unwellness. He shakes his head no.

“Okay, that’s perfectly fine. Thank you for telling me.” The butler says, patting Harvey’s arm with a reassuring smile. “I’m going to ask you a few questions, I want you to tap my left hand for no, and my right for yes. Does that sound alright?” He says, holding out his hands in front of Harvey with his palms open and facing up. Harvey taps the right hand, which gives Alfred a smile.

“Perfect. Your first question is if you’d like to sleep in my bedroom. Bruce will most likely end up lying with me, and you are more than welcome to come in and join, but do what you’re comfortable with, dear.” He says, and it takes not even a second for Harvey to know he doesn’t want to be alone for the rest of the night, his hand raises to tap at Alfred’s right hand with speed.

Alfred chuckles at his quick response. “Now, you’ve had an accident,— which is perfectly normal and fine,— which means you need to be cleaned up to get the mess off of you. Would you want help getting cleaned and changed?” Alfred asks softly, his tone so gentle and comforting to Harvey’s ears, even at the mention of his accident he doesn’t tear up.

He ponders the question for a moment. Would the help be nice considering he still feels a bit wobbly on his feet? Definitely. He’s unsure that he wants help though. He trusts Alfred and Bruce, he’s regressed around them before, but it sounds overwhelming— too many new things and experiences today to handle it. He taps Alfred’s left hand.

“Okay, last question. I would like to prevent another accident from happening, we have padding that you can use. Would you like to put it on? And remember dear, only say yes to what you’re comfortable with. I’d rather clean up many messes than have you go out of your comfort level.”

The thought of wearing protection, to his own surprise, doesn’t sound terrible at the moment. He didn’t typically use them, but tonight’s not a very typical night. Plus, not causing another mess sounds even better, and it would make him less upset if he did have an accident. He taps Alfred’s right hand, making Alfred nod and moving his hands to take Harvey’s and run his thumbs over his knuckles.

“Good job, darling. You’re so brave and you did so well answering those questions for me.” Alfred praises, a warm tingly feeling spreading through Harvey’s body as a smile makes its way onto his face. “Now, I’m going to get the sheets in the wash. Everything you’ll need is on the changing table, and Bruce will just be right outside the door in case you change your mind about needing help. Okay?”

Harvey nods, glancing at Bruce who watches from afar, holding both his teddy bear and a new stuffed animal from the bin, a similarly sized lion, of which he places on the stack of clothes atop of the dresser next to the clothes that are messily folded. Alfred pats Harvey’s hand before letting go and taking Bruce’s as they leave the room, shutting the door behind them.

Harvey tries to make quick work of cleaning himself up and changing, and though it’s a bit of a struggle with his unsteadiness, he manages and succeeds in all steps, aside from putting an old and worn out shirt on backwards.

He begins to walk towards the door before his eyes catch on the lion sitting on the dresser. He stares at it for a moment, debating if he should take it or not, until he decides that he can go without it— the others have already done so much for him, he can’t take a plush to bed as well.

He opens the door slowly, peeking his head out to see Bruce sitting on the floor across the hall, his head shooting up when he hears the creak of the door. “You need help?” Bruce says, already getting up and making his way over to Harvey.

He shakes his head, opening the door and reaching to grab Bruce’s hand, who complies easily, but a frown settles on his face as he looks at Harvey’s hands. “Where’s tha- tha lion?” He says, looking at Harvey with confusion at the lack of the plush. Harvey points to the inside of the room, to which Bruce leads them back inside, grabbing the lion and stuffing it in Harvey’s hand.

“Yours.” Bruce states. It’s clearly not up for debate, not that Harvey was going to anyway.

Bruce holds onto Harvey’s hand tightly as they make their way back into the hallway the same time Alfred comes around the corner, a smile splayed on his face at the two as he walks towards them. “Oh! How precious you two are! Such wonderful cuties, good job to both of you for being so brave!” He says, standing on his tiptoes to place a kiss on Bruce’s forehead, who leans down so Alfred can reach, then turning to Harvey to do the same, leaving a bright smile on Harvey’s flushed face.

“Let us get settled for bed now, hm?” Alfred says, taking the two boy’s hands again, carefully making their way down the stairs and to Alfred’s room. It’s dimly lit like every other area of the manor, but it’s filled with warm lightning from floor and bedside lamps, there’s a comfort in it that’s similar to when Harvey went to his grandparents house for the weekend. Those were always his favorite.

Bruce immediately lets go of Alfred’s hand as they enter through the doorway, eagerly making his way over to the bed like this is a practiced routine and wriggles his way underneath the covers. Alfred chuckles and moves further into the room, only to turn around with a frown when Harvey doesn’t move with him. “Sweetheart? Is everything okay?”

Harvey shifts on his feet, fidgeting with the mane of the lion in his hands as he looks between Bruce and Alfred. He feels like he’s intruding on something special to them, maybe agreeing to this was a bad idea and he was just taking advantage of their kindness— “Harv! You- you should come cuddle with me. Alfie says I give the best hugs!” Bruce says, interrupting his stream of thoughts.

“If you feel like you want to have your own bed at any point in the night, wake me up and we’ll get you settled in a room nearby. Okay dear?” Alfred says. Harvey takes a moment to focus on Alfred and not Bruce’s eyes on him, but with the reminder that he can leave at any point during the night if it gets too much.. It's nice to have options, especially if it’d mean taking back his previous agreement.

Alfred nods and gets the two boys bundled and tucked in the bed, Bruce in the middle, hugging Harvey who wraps his arms around Bruce’s midsection and lays his head on his chest, listening to the thump of his heart.

“Goodnight, sweet boys.” Alfred says as he clicks off the lamp to his side and gets himself situated beside Bruce, making sure the boys are still tucked in to ensure warmth throughout the night before closing his eyes.

“Night alfie.” Bruce says, closing his eyes and holding his teddy bear tightly in his free arm. Harvey reaches across Bruce to tap Alfred’s hand— his own way of saying goodnight. He feels Alfred tap his hand back, causing a smile to appear on his face.

He closes his eyes, the smile still present as he holds the plush lion and Bruce closer. It’s a nice thought while going to bed that he has people who care about him enough to go through the events of tonight. It’s a nice thought that he’s not alone.

It’s a nice thought— feeling,— that he’s loved.

[gay-dorito-dust]

do you have your own batboys fancast? Also who do you picture as Bruce any fic with him I just picture Christian Bale, sorry I love asking people this to try help me with my own because for the life of me I cannot place jason I just picture him as a comic drawing, I cannot unsee Brenton Thwaites as dick and I don't want to because he was perfect imo And Anna Diop was the perfect starfire! I want a starfire movie with her 😩 I LOVED the Gotham Alfred but also Michael Caine forever also, I think David Castañeda would be a good older damian especially a Batman damian. Idk if you've watched any arrowverse stuff but I freaking loved their Nyssa!! Also do you have a Talia fancast, I also just picture Talia as a comic drawing because I cannot place her although I sometimes picture her as Tarja Turunen because I think Tarja is so cool! Sorry for all my rambling I hope I'm not being annoying apologies

Totally unrelated but I am forever in love with the arrowverse Laurel Lance, she also needs her own movie 😭 on the verge of rewatching that entire ass longgg show/crossovers for any Laurel scraps I can get, she was actually perfect 🥰 All the canaries were so cool esp when Sara became the white canary

I don’t usually get into the whole fan cast stuff as if probably suck at it tbh but when it comes to Jason I’ve seen Jensen Ackles come up along with Matthew Daddario, both of whom I love but just don’t see as Jason Todd in the slightest.

Like yes Jensen did voice Jason in under the red hood but I don’t think that’s a plausible excuse to have him play as the live action version. I love him but no.

The guy they had as Jason in titans brought a lot of emotion to the character as Jason practically wears his heart on his sleeve, but he just didn’t fit, I love him but he didn’t work.

Dick I’m not too certain tbh

Anna Diop, love her, gimme more of her as Starfire plz and thank you.

Michael Cain was amazing as Alfred, would love to see him as the character for a small part but I don’t think he would tbh.

Damian Wayne, all I can say is I hope they don’t fuck his character up bc people already do that enough with mischaracterising him to be someone he isn’t, I haven’t read comics and even I know half of the stuff ppl make up about him are bullshit.

So I just hope they get him right for DC’s sake.

There is a lot of dc characters that I don’t see a lot of actors being able to fully embody bc no one is ever going to be happy with the outcome, everyone is hard to please as they want the casting to be perfect and that’s just not possible.

I don’t watch much of the arrow verse but the actress for Laura lance? Love, love,love her. Gay as fuck for her ngl.

Now for Talia? I’ve got no clue, none at all, as I’ve said before fancasts aren’t my thing and I haven’t seen many ppl talking about how they would like as Talia tbh. If they ever do I hope it’s faithful to the comic character and not a watered down version of her but that’s asking too much apparently.

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Caught In A Web ~ 6

CAUGHT IN A WEB MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 1,620ish

Summary: You met up with Tony, hoping that he doesn't know the truth about you.

Notes: I hope you enjoy this chapter!

“How much do you know about your new lab assistant?” Tony asked, barging into Bruce’s lab. 

Tony hadn’t been able to sleep all night with the possibility that you might, well, be you. You had said that you were given a big opportunity and were hesitant to take it. Was this the opportunity you were talking about? Was he the reason you were hesitant to take it? 

But then… what if you weren’t the new lab assistant? What if it was just a coincidence? 

But why didn’t you tell him the truth if you were? Were you ashamed to know him? Were you just being nice?

Or what Tony just overthinking this whole situation?

“Y/N?” Bruce questioned. He looked up at his friend, pulling his glasses from his face. “Not much, she’s pretty quiet. Why?”

“Just wondering,” he shrugged, trying to not make it seem like he was headed for your area.

“Did you meet her?”

“Last night. I saw the lights on and thought it was you.”

“Are you asking because you find her attractive? Tony, you cannot date in the workplace again. After Pepper—“

“That’s not it.” Though, Tony had to admit that Bruce’s new lab assistant was attractive.

“Are you sure?”

“I saw the work she was doing. Seems like she can hold her own.”

“She can. She’s just as good as the university said.”

Tony nodded, looking over your work. “Maybe I could borrow her sometime? You know, one of my late-night projects?”

“Tony,” Bruce’s voice was a warning.

“That’s not what I meant!”

“Please keep it in your pants, that’s all I’m asking.”

“Okay, dad, whatever you say.”

~~~

You were grateful that it was Saturday and could stay on your floor without interruption. Besides, you really didn’t get much sleep since your mind was replaying the instance with Tony over and over again. You cringed as you thought about it all.

It took you all day to decide if you would meet up with Tony at your usual place. You were honestly scared to, but you decided to anyway. Stuffing your suit into your backpack, you headed out of the Tower. No one stopped you or questioned you which you were thankful for. Finding a private alley, you slipped your suit on and began a patrol over the city.

You hadn’t been out in your suit, using your powers, since before you moved into the Tower. It was nice to swing around again. 

“Hey, spidey girl,” Iron Man said as he flew up beside you. “Miss me?”

You couldn’t help but smile at the sound of his voice. “Hey, tin man. Glad to see you made it out alive.”

“I’m honored that you care.”

You scoffed. “Don’t be so sure about that. Maybe I was just bored.”

You swung up and flipped onto the roof that was your normal meeting spot. Placing yourself on the ledge, you watched as Tony flew down and placed himself beside you.

“How was the mission though?” You asked.

“It was successful,” he responded. His helmet surprisingly disappeared, showing his large brown eyes looking at you.

“What? What are you doing?” You leaned back like he was threatening to hurt you.

“What? Never seen my face before? Or am I really that ugly?”

“No… No, it’s just—we—we’ve never seen each other’s faces before. In… In person.”

“And? I thought it was time to show face.” He leaned over and playfully nudged you with his shoulder. “Maybe you should think about doing it too. Let me see your eyes.”

“My eyes?”

“Well, and maybe your nose and mouth and ears. Come on. Just a peek?”

“No.” You shook your head, moving back.

“Oh, come on, Y/N.” He tried to follow. “Just one peek.”

“I’m going to go.”

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait.” Tony quickly got up and flew in front of you, his helmet returning to cover his face. “There, look, face covered, better?”

“Tony…”

“I’m sorry, alright? I pushed too far. Please, sit back down. Let’s just talk. We haven’t seen each other in weeks and I want to hear about that opportunity you mentioned a month ago.”

You honestly debated about leaving, even though his pleas were getting to you. What were you supposed to say? That you were now working and living in his building? That you meet each other yesterday and your brain malfunctioned? You nodded and sat back down hesitantly. Tony sat back down beside you, leaving more space between the two of you than he would have normally.

“Okay, okay, what have you been up to since we last saw each other?” Tony asked. He was trying to be careful with his questions, especially with his suspicions about you being Bruce’s new lab assistant.

“I took that opportunity,” you answered carefully. “It’s been going good so far. I like it.”

“That’s good,” Tony nodded. “What are you doing there?” Your breath hitched, which Tony caught. He wasn’t willing to scare you away again, so he changed the subject. “I think we should get a new meeting spot.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, the view is pretty but this isn’t even the tallest building in New York or the one with the prettiest view.”

“And which building do you believe has the prettiest view?”

“Well there’s the Tower, but that one’s off-limits, obviously. There’s the One World Trade Center. Have you ever been on top of that?”

“I haven’t.”

Tony stood up and held out his armored hand. “Care for a ride?”

You couldn’t say no, you honestly couldn’t say anything though. All you could do was place your hand in his in response. Tony pulled you up and into him before wrapping an arm around you to keep you securely to him.

“Hang on,” he warned. You wrapped your arms around him before his suit took off.

Though your powers helped you stick close to Tony and there was no real need for his arm around you, you were enjoying it. The closeness, the proximity. How safe you felt with his arm around you. This was dangerous a dangerous game, falling in love with someone you didn’t truly know you. But you couldn’t stop yourself now. Admitting it to yourself as you kept close to him, you knew that you were screwed and that it was only going to get more complicated from this moment on.

Tony didn’t dare admit to himself that he wished he didn’t have his suit between the two of you. But you wanted him to keep the suit on for your comfort level and he was willing to do that for you. Whatever he could to keep this friendship going.

When the two of you reached the One World Trade Center, Tony slowly came down to rest his feet on top of the roof. He didn’t dare make the first move to let go, and you didn’t move too fast to get out of his hold either. You gasped as the view took your breath away. You pulled yourself from Tony’s grasp as you looked around. 

The sun was setting, causing vibrant yellows, oranges, and pinks to fill the sky. A few whispy clouds floated around. You moved carefully around, trying to get this view engrained in your memory. Despite the gorgeous sunset, Tony couldn’t keep his eyes off of you. He wished he could see the way your face was contorting in awe. The way your eyes probably sparkled and shined against the setting sun.

“You like it?” He asked.

“It’s beautiful,” you breathed out, still in awe at the look of the busy city against the setting sun.

As Tony watched you place yourself on the ledge and look down, he knew he couldn’t ruin this by trying to guess if you were truly Bruce’s new lab assistant. If this friendship was going to work—if it was going to turn into more—Tony was going to have to do it differently than he had in the past. He was going to respect your need for space and privacy and enjoy these moments with you. He would treat Bruce’s lab assistant with respect so that if he turned out to be you, you knew what type of man he truly could be. That he was trying to be.

“Thank you, Tony, for bringing me here,” you said once the sun had set.

“Of course,” he responded, a light smile on his lips that he wished you were willing to see.

“I should get going.” You needed to get back to your backpack before it was stolen, though you had webbed it up.

“Yeah, me too.”

“See you next Saturday?”

“How about Wednesday? Let’s add Wednesday to our schedule if that’s possible.”

You thought for a second, could you pull it off? What if Bruce needed you? You had Saturday and Sundays off clear, the rest of the week you were pretty on call for Bruce.

“I can’t Wednesdays,” you answered. “But I’m free Sundays.”

“Like tomorrow?”

“Like tomorrow,” you nodded.

“I can do that?”

“Our normal spot?”

“Of course.”

“Great.” You threw your arm out and launched a web at the pole on top of the One World Trade Center. “Guess I’ll see you then, tin man.”

“Stay safe, spidey girl.”

“Can’t make any promises.”

Tony watched as you circled around the pole before free-falling down to the nearest building. He watched you until he couldn’t see you anymore.

“Boss,” FRIDAY broke his trance. “I gathered the information you’ve asked of me and have the results.”

“I don’t care anymore, FRI,” Tony said. “If they’re the same person, let her tell me when she wants. It’s not worth breaking her trust.”

“Understood.”

next chapter >

TAGLIST IS CLOSED - Taglist Information

[dontttmindmeeeeee]

birdflash [shock]

I have been thinking about these for a couple of years and now I wish to put my pain upon you.

counting spoilers

[1] the slowburn *eats bars*

you CANNOT tell me this never happen. Who fell first? For me it’d be Wally sense he can love so much (about TOO much) and yk, Dick was raised by Bruce so yk.. pulling the mess that Young justice is, I feel like that’s when Dick had feelings for Wally. But Wally did try to move on and Artemis was a perfect distraction (not that Wally never loved her. He did, I find the ship quite cute but it ain’t my #1). Roy is sick and TIRED of seeing them pin for each other but they’re too blind to see. (😭) ofc, Wally “moved” on but Dick couldn’t quite do the same.. NOW

Edit: Bruce and Barry know each other and each other’s identity, don’t tell me why but it feels right and I’ve had this HC for so long.

[2] Wally’s death. (My personal hate.)

WALLY DIES. And he dies right after he and Dick fight. Dick ofc blames himself sense that’s HIS best friend and HIS long crush. He blames himself for not taking Wally sooner. He blames himself for not checking the outcomes that could’ve come so that they could’ve saved Wally. He blames himself for fighting Wally. He blames himself for basically everything that he couldn’t really change. (Other than confessing yk..) in the show it doesn’t even show anything ?? (Which sucks sense that’s literally his BEST FRIEND. Even platonic would’ve been fine. 🙄😒)

[3] Wally coming back.

My personally favorite, Wally coming back? Yes please. I’m not gonna get TOO much into it, might make another whole thing abt that BUT just so you know it was totally unpredictable and may be Bart’s fault.. (Wally was never mean to Bart, I REFUSE to think so. I also think he can talk super fast (and hear) but he’s also slow (not like comics)) but he meant well sense he literally brought him back

[4] the process of coming back.

noww, I think the flash family would kinda hide him, you might ask why? Let me tell you. That’s their Wally and he’s been gone for gods know long. (I don’t keep time well) and ofc, even in the speedthingy (forgot the name) he aged, sense that also confuse me. But yk, they hide him. But they can’t hide anything from Batman sense well.. HE’S BATMAN. So, when he show up (Wally) he’s super confused sense, new team?? New people?? Where his friends?? Where’s the mountain?? (Let’s say that if it was already destroyed before he left.. it wasn’t and I’m making HC, okay?) and yk, a lot of confusion.

[5] the meeting/reunion

Wally is just standing on Barry’s league chair while he and Bruce argue with each other. He’s bored Af but Barry told him to stay so he’ll listen. (For now.) that is until he hears a sharp breath and sense that someone is there. He turns around and sees Dick. Huh. Dick was there? (Loading screen appears right on his face) DICK WAS THERE?? He speed right there and jumps to give him a hug. “Dick!!” he yells excitedly and hugs him tightly. Dick literally has tears into his eyes (but has his mask so they don’t rlly see it) but hugs Wally back! They stay like that for a long time. On the ground. Hugging. I feel like Wally never had anyone with him and was always alone, how he hasn’t gotten crazy? Bro idk 🤷‍♀️

I’ll do another part with more but rn Im running out of time so like, yeah!! I’ll see you in the other part

[wonderlandleighleigh]

“Sophie. I never ask you for anything. I just need this one favor.”

Sophie Lennon stares at the much shorter woman, a disbelieving sneer on her face. “You do remember that I attempted to brain her mother with a Grammy six years ago, yes?” 

“And you apologized,” Susie reminds her. “And I have a very big, very important meeting, and I cannot take a five-year-old with me, and Midge is in her own very big, very important meeting, and Lenny is out of town and the parents are busy and the other kids are busy and I just - a couple of hours. That’s it.” 

Sophie shakes her head vigorously. “No. No. I know nothing about children, other than they tend to smell strange and be sticky.” 

The little girl standing next to Susie looks offended. “I don’t smell.” 

“Regardless,” Sophie snaps. “I am not babysitting Midge Maisel and Lenny Bruce’s child.” 

Which is how Sophie Lennon winds up babysitting Midge Maisel and Lenny Bruce’s child. 

Aside from Dawes, it’s really just the two of them in Sophie's opulent home, standing in the front hall. 

“Your house is pretty,” Lily tells her. 

“Yes, it is,” Sophie confirms. “One that children, in general, are not allowed in.” 

Lily frowns. “Oh.” 

Sophie detests that this child is so preternaturally adorable. Chocolate curls atop her head, much like Midge’s. Big, curious green-brown eyes. Button-nose. She huffs and holds her arms out. “What do children your age like to do?” 

She looks up at Sophie. “We…I like legos. And my dolls, but I left them at home. And - books. I like books. And - sometimes my sisters will have tea parties with me.” 

Sophie lights up. “Tea parties I can do. DAWES!” 

And so soon, they sit in the blue room, Lily’s little black mary jane-covered feet dangling off of her chair as she sips from a teacup that’s worth more than her entire life, and munches on tiny pastries. 

“Aren’t you going to eat anything?” Lily asks curiously. 

Sophie chuckles at her. “No, dear. If I eat those things, I’ll no longer be beautiful.” 

Lily frowns, feeling confused, looking down at the food on her plate. “Mama says it’s okay to have treats.” 

“Well, that’s why your mother is not as beautiful as she once was,” Sophie tells her sympathetically. 

The little girl’s eyes go wide with something like rage (looking exactly like Lenny’s when he’s angry), and she lifts a maroon, lobbing it at Sophie’s head. 

“What on earth!” 

“You’re mean!” Lily announces loudly, throwing a tiny danish at Sophie next before slipping down from her chair and dashing out of the blue room. “And your blue room isn’t blue!” 

“I most certainly am not!” Sophie yells back, getting to her feet and storming after the little girl. “I am honest!” 

When she steps out into the hall the little girl has disappeared. 

“Fuck,” Sophie spits out. “DAWES!” 

***** 

It takes a ridiculous amount of time to find Lily, but eventually, Sophie discovers her hiding under the desk in her library. 

“Little girl, what on earth are you doing?” Sophie asks, confused.

“Hiding from you,” Lily tells her. “You’re mean.” 

“I most certainly am not,” Sophie snaps. “I am realistic about things.” 

“Mean. Mean, mean, mean!” 

“Stop repeating that, it isn’t true!” 

“Fine. Say something nice about Mama.” 

Sophie stares at her for a moment, before narrowing her eyes. “Your mother…is…prompt.” 

“No, Mama is always late.” 

Sophie rolls her eyes. “For god’s sake.” 

Lily crosses her arms and lifts her chin, looking eerily like her mother.

Sophie takes a breath. “She makes…very good babka,” she tries awkwardly. 

The little girl looks a little more satisfied. “Yes she does.” 

“Will you please come out of there now?” 

Lily slides out, getting to her feet and brushing off her dress before looking around. “I like your library.” 

Sophie sighs as she looks, too. “It is impressive, isn’t it? It’s mostly for show.” 

“You don’t read any of the books?” Lily asks, getting a closer look at one of the shelves. 

“No, not really. I’m usually too busy.” 

“Oh.” 

“You like books.” 

Lily nods. “Daddy has lots of books and he reads some of them to me.” 

“Well that’s…bizarrely wholesome for Lenny.” Sophie sighs heavily and looks at the little girl again. “Are you ready to come out?” 

She considers, before nodding and getting to her feet. “Okay. What do we do now?” 

Sophie huffs.

***** 

Lenny Bruce is not generally an excitable man. 

Sure, he gets head up about political and social issues. Especially on stage for an audience. And as a parent, there are times when anxiety takes over. 

But mostly, he tries to keep level-headed.

Until his wife’s manager drops their kid off with the woman who attempted to murder said wife a few years ago. 

And so Lenny finds himself storming up to the terrible, ornate home, banging on the door. 

When Dawes opens it up, he doesn’t look at all surprised. “Mr. Bruce. I presume you are here for your daughter.” 

“You fucking bet I am,” Lenny growls, storming into the house. “Where is she - Lily?!” 

The telltale sound of her little feet dashing down the stairs, and the little girl appears, smiling happily. “HI, Daddy!” 

His shoulders visibly relax. “Time to go, Lil.” 

“But Sophie wasn’t done with the book she was reading,” Lily argues.

“Well, maybe she can finish it another time,” Lenny says hurriedly, glancing up at Sophie suspiciously as she waltzes down the stairs. 

“We were only reading, Leonard,” she tells him. “There isn’t any reason for alarm.” 

“And what were you reading my five-year-old?” he asks, still looking suspicious. 

“Tropic of Cancer!” Lily announces. 

Lenny almost chokes on hair. “Tropic of-” he looks back at Sophie. “Are you fucking kidding me?!” 

“It was in French, she could barely understand a word,” Sophie defends herself. 

“I know some words, Lily announces, affronted. “Softa is teaching me!” 

“Aaand we’re leaving,” Lenny says. “Thank you for this. Except not really.” he heads for the door and Lily waves over his shoulder.

“Bye, Mr. Dawes, Bye Miss Sophie,” Lily waves. 

Sophie sighs heavily. “Goodbye, Lily.” 

Once they’re out the door, Sophie turns to Dawes. “Pour me a drink, please.” 

He nods. “Yes, Madame.”