#-Jason was eating chips while Tim was in there because he was hoping to freak him out further if he woke up

[shittyfandomwritings]

Too Good To Be True - Jason Todd x Reader

Summary: You live in a reality where Jason Todd and his family only exists in comics. In other words, you’re real - and he’s not. Until one day, when you actually meet him.

Warnings: slight angst, maybe a bit of OOC Jason, torture, death

Note: i may be considering a pt 2

Word Count: 2k

“Y/N!”

You jolt awake, sliding off your chair and onto your bedroom floor. Groaning, you prop yourself up on one sarm, holding your head with the other, as you look up at your roommate, Aria.

Aria’s eyes sweep the room, her eyebrows furrowing disapprovingly at the state of your bedroom: clothes are thrown over your chair, your dresser and on your bed, food wrappers litter the floor, a dirty coffee-stained cup sits on your desk, while comic books are piled on every surface in the room - your desk, your bed, your drawers, even the floor.

She leans against the doorway. “What time did you sleep last night?”

You rub your head sheepishly. “Uh… 5?”

Aria shakes her head, and holds out a hand to you. “You have to stop staying up so late. It’s a Saturday.”

“Uh, that’s exactly why I stay up so late. There’s no work tomorrow.” You accept her hand.

“Comics aren’t worth sleep,” she scolds. You gasp at this, but she continues chewing you out. “You can’t keep up this lifestyle just for an obsession with a fictional family.”

You are too tired to argue with her, so you just block out her reprimands and take a seat at the breakfast bar as she prepares lunch.

“They’re not just fiction,” you mutter to yourself once you’re sure she’s not listening. “They’re my life.”

All day, every day, you go through the exact same thing: you reading comic books or fanfiction, and people telling you that you’re a mature adult who shouldn’t spend so much time on “childish” works of fiction and obsessing over a fictional character. You’re sick and tired of it, because you’re a grown adult who can do whatever the hell you want to do.

It hurts that you’ll never be able to really know Jason Todd and his family in real life, since - well, since they’re not real. And, in the grand scheme of things, just because you know basically everything there is to know about him, it doesn’t matter, because he doesn’t exist.

You try not to think about it, but with more and more people reminding you every single day about your existence and his non-existence, it’s getting harder to forget and ignore the cold truth.

But whatever. Comic books are apart of your identity. It’s the thing that makes you special, makes you stand out, makes you that stereotypical comic book nerd.

And you wouldn’t change it for the world.

You get through the day groggily with your daily dose of fanfiction, chips, coffee, and comics. At night, you do what you always do - stay up reading until you eventually fall asleep.

You drift off into sleep, but no sooner than 2 minutes later, you wake up again. Stumbling over to the window (which you normally wouldn’t do, but you feel more energised, which is very strange; usually you would be too lethargic to even get up upon waking), you open the blinds to see that the sun is shining brightly.

Looks like it’s another day on this painful planet.

Walking out of the room, you notice that your vision is oddly bright, like someone put an instagram filter over your eyes and sources of light become too bright and make your eyes go out of focus, but you dismiss it. Perhaps it’s just your eyes playing tricks on you.

“Aria?” You call out. “Are you here?”

No one answers you, leading you to assume that she went for a run, but she has left you a sandwich, so that’s good. After eating breakfast, you change into thicker clothing and head downtown to the library to borrow some comics, even though you have a lot of unread books at home.

Okay, yeah, that’s basically what you do every day, but it doesn’t get boring.

You step into the cozy library that seems more like a small cafe with books and dim, aesthetically pleasing lighting, and nod at the librarian, who smiles back. You don’t know her name, but she did allow you to slip in to borrow some books after closing hours, so you sort of respect her in a way.

You make a beeline for the comics section and start to select certain favourite issues. You’ve already read 90% of the comics section, so now you basically just reread them over and over again. Sometimes it gets boring, but you’re too broke to buy new issues.

While browsing, you flip through some pages of Red Hood and The Outlaws #2, but to your shock and horror, the pages are completely blank.

The book starts to dissolve in your hands, and you step back clumsily. What did you just do? What the hell is going on?

You back up and stumble into a hard chest, whirling around to see -

Holy shit.

Is that Jason fucking Todd?

You open your mouth to speak, to say something, but nothing comes out, so you end up gaping at him like a fish.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, you finally find it in yourself to speak, albeit stutteringly and stammeringly. “I - uh, you, I mean - sorry.” Your cheeks turn embarrassingly red. “For - bumping into you. I mean.”

A small smile appears on his lips. “It’s fine.”

Another awkward silence passes before you voice the question you were dying to ask. “So, uh, I’m Y/N L/N. What’s your name?”

“Oh, I’m Jason. Jason Todd.”

Your heart stops and you choke on air. You freak out internally. Mini Y/Ns are running around screaming “HOLY FUCK” over and over again, and Jason has to wave his hand in front of your face to catch your attention.

Yeah, you’re pretty sure your whole face is a tomato right now.

Over the period of 2 hours, you guys get past the awkwardness and get more comfortable with each other, and really hit it off. He’s funnier than you could have ever imagined, definitely more handsome, but maybe just as charming. You pretend not to know everything there is to know about this man, and he doesn’t seem to suspect a thing.

At the end of the day, Jason and you walk out of the library (after half an hour of the librarian shushing you two and glaring), hand in hand. You feel like you’re floating on a cloud. This is your dream, come true.

The next two months are even better. You learn something new about him every day, and it’s genuinely new - the comics never got this personal. You constantly feel like you’re in a dream. Everything is so perfect, and it’s honestly too good to be true… but it is.

Isn’t it?

You begin to notice strange occurrences in your daily life. For one, you haven’t seen Aria ever since you met Jason. It’s like she’s been completely wiped off the grid. You have no idea where she is, what she’s doing… You’re getting worried. There has to be something wrong.

Two days into the third month you’ve known Jason, he asks you to be his girlfriend. Practically bursting at the seams with excitement, you kiss him, and well, damn, he’s a better kisser than you could’ve ever imagined.

Halfway into the second month of your relationship, he tells you that he’s a vigilante, and you pretend to be shocked. But your worry is definitely the most genuine it’s ever been.

Jason insists on teaching you basic self-defence, and you oblige. It’s not the best idea, because every session ends up in making out, but it turns out to be especially handy… when you get kidnapped by the Joker, on his death anniversary.

This is the most hurt you’ve ever felt in your lifetime. Your ribs throb continually, waves of excruciating pain rolling over you.

“I deeply apologise for the inconvenience, but a little birdie told me that another bird holds you dear to his heart.” The Joker grins down at you, flashing sharp yellow teeth, madness dancing in his eyes as he brandishes a crowbar. “So here’s hoping your death will rip him apart!”

He swings the crowbar at you again, causing blood to dribble from your mouth. “How was that? Feel good?” He cackles insanely.

You tilt your chin up as much as you can, give him a defiant look, and spit blood at him. You miss, but it’s the thought that counts.

He scowls, hitting you again. It definitely hurts but you prefer his scowl over his laugh. You allow yourself this small victory, before your eyes start to get heavy.

“Oh yes! I almost forgot.” The madman takes out a small piece of paper and a pen out of his bloody purple suit, and scribbles something on it, then shows it to you. It reads, “HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, JASON!”

He places the note beside your head. Even more blood collects in your mouth, and you begin to drift into unconsciousness. He swings the crowbar once again, and you are gone.

The last thing you see is the glass ceiling shattering, and 3 costumed figures dropping out. The last thing you taste is the blood in your mouth. The last thing you smell is the stench of your blood.

The last thing you hear is Jason’s anguished yell.

And you wake.

Clutching at your ribs, you pant. You are blood-free, in your bedroom, and in your pyjamas. Not a bloody body in an abandoned warehouse. There is no trace of The Joker, Jason, Tim or Dick. Confusion overtakes you.

Then it hits you, the truth that deep down you’ve known or at least suspected, the truth that you’ve rejected and tried to forget about.

Everything was just a dream. That’s all it was. Your dream was just a dream, always has been. You feel like screaming. It was just way too good to be true, wasn’t it?

The door opens, and Aria pokes her head into your room. “You look terrible,” she points out. “Bad dream?”

You run your fingers through your hair, and tears spring to your eyes as you think about how real Jason felt. “Sort of,” you mutter.

***

It’s been two weeks, and you don’t feel that much better. You already hated the Joker, but now you can’t stand to see his face. Sometimes you miss Jason, a little bit.

Okay, you miss Jason a lot, and all the time. You just can’t stop thinking about him.

It’s even affecting your daily habits of comic book reading. You can’t read anything to do with Jason or the Batfam without feeling this pang in your chest.

Honestly, you’re getting sick of missing him. He’s a fictional character, for God’s sake! You aren’t saying that you thought you had a chance before, but ever since that dream, you actually know what it feels like to be loved by Jason Todd, and it hurts that you’ll never feel it again.

Maybe whatever deity above who gave you that dream wants you to just dream it, and then get over it, like it was a treat that you miss but eventually forget about. But it didn’t work that way. Not for you.

So you continue with your daily life, with week after week of boring normality.

It’s a normal day. You’re just walking to the library, and boom - you just smack right into someone’s chest. You back up and open your mouth to apologise when a white streak in the stranger’s hair catches your eye.

It can’t be. Could it?

He does look exactly like Jason Todd. But that can’t be, it’s just a coincidence, because Jason isn’t real, right?

Gaping, you clear your throat and manage to stammer out an apology, and a “I - I’m Y/N.”

He chuckles and says, “It’s fine. I’m Jason, by the way.”

And you swear you nearly faint.

requests are open!

request for a pt 2 if you want ;)

[audreycritter]

Hello, if you're still doing them flash fics, your last flash fic with Damian and the scientific study made me think of Dick, Alfred the Cat and Algernon?

I loved this prompt. And here you go!GenDick Grayson, Tim Drake, Algernon the Rat, Alfred the CatRATBAITINGDick Grayson is a desperate man.He's a desperate man in his own apartment with doors and windows all shut and his brother’s rat cage in the corner of the living room. The problem is that the rat cage is empty.But Dick Grayson is also a man quick on his feet, used to formulating plans in mere seconds when the stakes are life or death. He's not taken two steps toward his phone before he knows what he will do.“Tim, I need your help,” he says when the younger man answers. “Meet me at the Manor. No, it has to be right now. I'll make it up to you.”Dick slips out of the apartment quickly, only opening the door enough for him to fit through. He drives to the Manor trying not to think about what Jason will say or do if anything happens to Algernon. An hour later, he's driving back to his apartment with Tim in the passenger seat holding an animal carrier with Alfred inside. Dick is grateful that if Jason is out of town, at least Damian is there with him. “No one can ever know about this,” he says to Tim as he drives and the teen scowls at the animal carrier. Inside, Alfred the Cat hisses.“What I don't understand,” Tim says in reply, “is why Dev asked you. I mean, I get Jason asking Dev, but Dev could have asked me and he didn't say anything.”“Maybe because you hate Algie,” Dick says lightly. “Maybe because there's a video of you ranting about it for ten minutes. And Dev likes the rat.”“That was the drugs talking,” Tim mutters stiffly. “And I don't like him but I would have taken care of him. You’ve had him for two days and already lost him.”Dick grumbles a little at that but shrugs and parks the car. Alfred the cat switches tactics and leaves off hissing to meow piteously. “He thinks we're at the vet,” Tim ventures as a guess. “He scratched Alfred last month when they went. I haven't seen him that mad in years.”“Alfred or Alfred?” Dick asks. Tim gives him an exasperated look. “Cat or Man?” Dick amends.“Who do you think?” Tim says as an answer and he climbs out of the car.They go up the stairs together to Dick’s apartment and shimmy through the narrow opening, one after another, and then Tim stands in the hall still holding the carrier.“So, want me to just, like, walk around and wait for the noise to get louder? Like a metal detector, I guess, but with a cat?” Tim asks and Dick shakes his head and takes the carrier. He sets it on the floor and puts a hand on the latch.“I'm gonna let him out and when he stops freaking out, we just follow him.”“For the record,” Tim says, his face twisted into a frown, “I think that is a terrible idea.”“Noted. But we're both fast and Alfred is lazy.”“Man or cat?” Tim asks dryly, unamused and now nervously tapping his foot. “Listen, if this ends with a dead rat, I wasn't even here.”“Deal,” Dick agrees. “But Algie won't die. It's gonna work. Just watch and get ready to move.”The cat carrier swings open and Alfred shoots out like a bullet and makes a blurred beeline for Dick’s bedroom. Both boys follow, Tim stumbling over the cat carrier, only to find Alfred hiding and hissing far back beneath Dick’s bed. “Good job, Dick,” Tim says, patting Dick on the back. Dick is already pulling boxes and bags from beneath the bed, quickly clearing the space. Alfred retreats deeper and hisses again.“Well,” Dick says, ducking his head against the floor to peer into the darkness. “I'm pretty sure if Algie’s under there, he’s gonna come out pretty soon.”Tim sighs and sits down cross legged by Dick.“I guess we just wait.”Two hours later, the cat has not moved. Tim closes the Netflix app on his phone after four episodes of a comedy show and he grins at Dick. They're both numb from just sitting on carpet for so long.“Well, it was worth it to hang out with you at least. But I'm starving.”“I guess if we still pay attention,” Dick says slowly, eyeing the bed. “This isn't working as well as I'd hoped.”They go to the kitchen and ten minutes later, Alfred saunters out and hops onto the back of the couch and lays there, tail twitching.“Dick,” Tim says, frozen in the kitchen doorway. Dick is at his side in an instant. The couch and the cat are between them and the spot of carpet where Algernon is calmly sitting, cleaning his own ears with tiny paws. Alfred yawns and looks at the rat, then back at Dick and Tim, and then falls asleep.Tim and Dick both exhale, slowly, and Dick creeps around the couch and when he's only a foot away Algernon starts moving. Dick reaches for him once but Algernon steps across the carpet in a quick, little trot and climbs into his cage.Dick leaps and shuts the door and then stands and cheers, both arms in the air. “Rat alive and contained!”Tim is laughing again, so hard he's got tears in his eyes and the bowl of chips in his hand is tipping precariously. “You lazy bastard,” Dick accuses the cat, who twitches his nose but doesn't wake.“It figures Damian would have literally the worst cat in the world,” Tim says, munching a chip. “I sort of actually hate that we're never going to be able to hold this over his head.”“You can't tell anyone,” Dick says, repeating his warning from earlier, aghast. “Tim. You have to promise. I'm a dead man if you breathe a word. Dev and Jason?”“Discowing,” Tim says, holding a chip up to examine it. “That's the price for my silence. One week.”“Tim,” Dick pleads. “Tim.”“Okay, three days. And you have to patrol, you can't skip it.”Dick sighs and puts both hands over his face.“Fine. Fine, three days. But if I find out you've told anyone, I'm making you wear it for twice as long.”“I thought you said you weren't ashamed of it,” Tim says with a lopsided smirk. “A time and place for everything, Timbo. I'm not ashamed of when it was right, but now is not that time.”“I'll get Alfred,” Tim says, sounding gleeful. “Let's get him back before someone realizes he's missing.”Dick double-checks the latch on the rat cage and then steals a chip from Tim’s bowl. “Next time, the rat can stay with you.”“Hell, no,” Tim exclaims. “No. I hate that thing. I just wanted to be asked, that's all. No, you keep him.”Dick should not be satisfied by how much Tim, for all his complaints, cuddles the limp, purring cat before putting him in the cat carrier, but he is a little bit. He eats chips while he watches and then Tim slams the metal door shut and examines his hands. Dick takes a moment to bend over the rat cage and talk to Algernon, who regards him seriously while nibbling on food.“Okay, let's go.”“What'd I tell you?” Dick asked, picking the carrier up. “My plan worked after all.”