#Nobody in Gotham is THAT friendly though

[chiropterx]

[Leave object on muse's desk meme.]

A bulging plastic bag was left at Kirk's office's door. Inside wasn't anything gruesome like a severed head. In fact once opened a delicious smell of the Iceberg Lounge's food billowed outward. There was an appetizer, entrée, and dessert inside their wrapped containers that were neatly stacked on top of one another. Beside the personalized take-out bag was a bottle of good wine wrapped in a paper bag. All of this, and tucked away was a small note.

"No charge. Let's talk some time. I hear you're onto great things.

Yours Truly, Oswald C. Cobblepot".

Leave an object in my ask and my muse will react to it being given to them.

This wasn't what he'd ordered. In fact, the usual deliveryman hadn't come by at all that day, security camera having alerted him to an unknown visitor passing by only to drop off this bag at his office door. Kirk notices the logo proudly emblazoned across the stark white plastic wrapping and pales visibly. The Iceberg Lounge, only the fanciest nightclub in all of Gotham. He'd never been to the Iceberg Lounge before. Couldn't afford it, especially not now he was living on his own (not that he had reason to go out partying anyway.) The logo on the bag seems to glare at him and it's all Kirk can do not to close the door and hope the bag was no longer there when he next opened it. It finally occurs to him to at least check if there's a letter attached just in case it was actually meant for one of his neighbours. No doubt they wouldn't be best pleased to find that dinner had been delivered to the wrong address and he hadn't even bothered to let them know about the mix-up so Kirk rummages through the contents, his stomach trying not to grumble at the exquisite smells emanating from within. Hell, there was even a bottle of wine included, no doubt just as expensive as the food included but finally he located a small note and is shocked to find it's addressed to him. What could Mr. Cobblepot possibly want with somebody like him? No charge? And onto great things? Kirk Langstrom was no partygoer. He barely registered on anybody's radar, his line of work too small, too niche to be of interest to anybody who wasn't deaf or similarly impaired and yet Oswald Cobblepot, owner of the Iceberg Lounge and upper-class businessman had heard of him, even taking the time to deliver a meal on the house. Part of Kirk was worried. Oswald Cobblepot, while a legitimate businessman, was also rumored to have had shady connections within the city... but then who didn't in Gotham? It was filthy and crime-ridden, had been since before he was born and would likely remain that way long after he was gone. Kirk was content to hide away from it all within the comforts of his little home, with just his vampire bats for company as he doggedly worked to find a cure for his and many other's chronic deafness. His stomach grumbled again as his nose again picked up the scents from within the boxes inside the carrier bag. Appetizers, dinner and dessert with a bottle of wine sure sounded a hell of a lot better than the scant inventory of his pantry (when had he last gone shopping anyway?) and so Kirk reached out hesitantly, picking up the bag by it's handles and crrying it inside. He would have cried at how good everything tasted had it not felt like ashes in his stomach as he wondered when Mr. Cobblepot might come calling, to discuss who knew what.

[help-itrappedmyself]

Danny Punches a Clown Pt. 3!

I have reached quota for people asking for part 3. This has gotten waaaaay more popular than I expected, but thank you to everyone for the support! ❤❤❤

Masterpost

~~~~~~~~~~

Danny was barely able to get any sleep before something was waking him up again. It was the same night as the clown fiasco. It wasn’t even morning yet, the sun wasn’t even out before he was awoken by the sounds of many vehicles stopping at the end of the alley he had camped in. 

“Start looking.” He heard a gruff voice say. He heard a few sounds of affirmation before someone started coming towards him, looking all around the alley.

Danny stood, grabbing his bag and sliding into the shadows as best as he could. He hopes that they’re not another creepy clown. They seemed to be the hero type, in a red suit with yellow belts across his chest. He was certainly not a civilian, but the way he was holding that stick did not make him seem friendly. Danny waits as long as possible before calling out.

“ Can I help you find something?” Danny asks, stepping forward. The boy stops immediately, staring right at him. Neither say anything for a moment. 

“ Guys, I found him.” The boy says to nobody, because that certainly didn’t sound like he was talking to Danny. Which meant that he was looking for Danny, which didn’t feel like a good thing.

“ Right, well, I’m going to go.” Danny mutters, trying to edge his way past the other boy. Unfortunately the other boy doesn’t quite let him, but he does put the stick away before stepping fully in front of Danny and blocking his path.

“ Are you okay?” The boy asks, holding his palms out in a calming gesture. Though getting a little close for Danny’s taste so he backs away a step. The boy just holds his hands up higher and doesn’t follow. “We know you were part of the hostage situation earlier, did the Joker hurt you at all?”

“ The Joker?” Danny mumbles, his eyebrows furrowing in thought before exclaiming, “ The crazy clown? You call him the Joker?”

The boy cocks his head to the side a little, lowering his arms, though keeping them in sight and away from his weapons.

“ Yes.” He answers. “ I’m Red Robin, how long have you been in Gotham?” The boy gives him and his backpack a quick scan which Danny does not appreciate because he knows he must be a mess right now.

“ That really depends, Red Robin.”

~~~~~~~~~~

@that-random-fangirl, @sebas-nights, @whataspectaclebear, @wolf-iz-2000, @bl-webtoonweeb (hey, if one of you could let me know if this tagging thing worked that would be great, thanks)

Next!

[emacrow]

When 20 year old Danny moved into gotham for Space Engineer University, his apartment that was set up thanks to Sam had exploded due to a super villain. (joker)

Leaving Danny's only available apartment that was stuck to a seedy part of Gotham. Nobody didn't told him that most of Gotham's waters that wasn't from the rich area was very very pollution with nasty rancid junk ectoplasm.

Ellie and Dan were with him due to a core accident with a forgotten fenton trap that hadn't been torn down yet, but they were now 4 and 6 years old physically and mentally until The medicine Frostbite specifically made for them to take every once a month, help their core regained the loss energy to reform back to their natural state later.

Luckily he had the fenton ectoplasm water pipes filter to throughly clean out the nasty junk to turn back into normal pure ectoplasm mixed water which was a bit light greenish blue to the normal person's eyes but glowing green to liminals, ghosts and halfas. Though he had to sneakily goes transport down in the sewer to fixes those rusty ol pipes, made a undead zombie friend whom seem to be trapped in a terrible limbo of saying a repeated phase.

Then danny felt a bit terrible that some of the neighborhoods also had the same problems with the pipes. Whom is the mayor to not investigate this much rusty pipes that had a a few thousands spirits and feral blob ghosts of the deceased not properly buried!?!

Seeing sick looking children outside with a bad case of slow bad ectoplasm poisoning jerk at his slow beating heart. He knew that if it goes on, there is going to be enough corrupted ectoplasm to cause a lminals to go completely crazy with enough mixed dark ghostly intentions and territorial issues from the restless spirits (a certain leader of assassin sneezed)

The protection mixed space core in him was nearly feral at this point of all the harm that had been done to the people of gotham before Danny gave in, called in his parents to sent him a couple hundred of fenton ectoplasm water pipe filters and grab emergency fenton shovel smacker to start building proper graves for the restless spirits..

By next three month, just looking at his window to see the street kids playing outside actually acting like children, looking more healthy and lively, the anemic lady next door who just had a baby seem more calm and friendly instead of paranoid and scared when he first met her with a package of freshly baked fenton Brownies.

He had almost replaced 3/5 of gothams rusty ol waters pipes, had made nearly 10 thousands Graves more then what he had expected after diving deep in the Gotham's oceans, lakes, ponds, and abandoned public pools.

So far that Gotham has gotten a positive effect when the first morning of August came in, as that the Gotham's news went viral as the black smog clouds that mostly covered Gotham's skies had parted to reveal a beautiful sky along side with incredible decreased in Crimes in certain parts of gothams.

Only for Danny to arrived into his Apartment to see Gotham's City Spirit, who was absolutely jaw dropping gorgeous sitting on his Couch with Dan and ellie chatting her ears off.

Meanwhile a certain bat fam are becoming more and more anxious as the decreased in crimes at night became to the point that tim is becoming more paranoid then gollum from the rings, damian is becoming nearly feral with the lack of criminals to beat upon, dick is actually enjoying the break, dick had been commenting on the lovely colors that gotham had been getting lately, and Jason haven't contact them in weeks ago until last Friday coming by for Dinner feeling and seemingly like the ol Robin he once was before that Bruce had actually ugly cried clinging to him when Jason hugged him.

[starwrighter]

Dude, get a restraining order

(Masterpost) (Ao3 link) (Previous) (Next)

(As promised Damian falls in love at first sight!)

Minutes ticked by like hours as his English teacher droned on about topics he’d learned years ago. Surface-level information dumbed down to its simplest form. Todd had already given him the assigned book years ago. A classic written sometime in the 1950s. He’d claimed it’d be a book he could relate to. He’d quizzed himself, writing an essay to prove he actually read it when Todd came around again. 

He guessed that’s why when the discussions of symbolism and deeper meanings started, his interest plummeted. He focused on a worksheet, only half listening as the teacher read aloud. Vocabulary and its context, all of it so dull. painfully easy, but still father wouldn’t allow him to skip grades, nor would the school. Something about him having “Poor social skills,”

Tch, lies and slander. It wasn’t his fault his classmates were too cowardly to speak to him face to face. They’d been the ones to label him as intimidating and cold. If not being a spineless pushover made him intolerable, then he didn't want to be friendly. He wouldn’t allow himself to be taken advantage of, and he sure as hell wouldn’t let anyone talk down to him without facing the consequences. 

He didn't need to be social with these hooligans. A waste of time! Plus, he’s certain everyone in class already held a certain distaste for him. It’d be better if he was homeschooled, but father said he needed to be seen by the public so the media wouldn't talk. Journalists and tabloid writers were like vultures they'd squawk regardless if he was in school or not. Father hadn't seen his argument valid so he was stuck with yet another year of this dull nonsense.

A new transfer student from a small town in Illinois should be here today. An outsider spending a whole seven months in Gotham, it should be equal parts entertaining as it’d be inconvenient. The backlash that’d hit them if they let said transfer student die within city borders would be tremendous. He could only hope this Daniel Fenton wasn’t just late and instead backed out like any sensible person would.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case as the teacher stepped outside, coming back with a smile of faux sweetness on their face, waving her hand, signaling someone inside.

A boy with eyes blue like sapphire stones stepped into the classroom. His shoulders lax but the way he fidgeted in place screamed he’d rather be anywhere but here. His features were soft, electrical scaring running down the left side of his face, creeping down the boy’s chin and neck. Hair pitch black with short splotches of white-ish gray framed his face. A small silver necklace shaped like Saturn hung from his neck, a clear dress code violation, but clearly, he hadn’t been accosted for it yet. Their teacher encouraged him to introduce himself.

“Hi, My name’s Danny and I hope I don’t die here,” Daniel joked, his posture jovial despite the morbidity of his words.

“Though, I wouldn’t be shocked if I did,” He finished, earning a quiet chuckle from those who could see the boy’s scars. 

Daniel glanced around the front row, eyes landing on the empty spot beside him. Daniel quickly took this spot without hesitation, ignoring the multiple students who waved him over with a simple gesture to the left side of his face.

With a closer view of Daniel's left eye, he could see the slight milky discoloration of the pupil and iris. He's likely blind in that eye, but the circumstances of him being born with the impairment are unlikely, judging by the damage around his eye socket. It had healed well for what he could only infer was a grievous injury. The scar tissue looked fresh, no older than a year or so, signaling this partial blindness was relatively new.

He seemed relieved that the teacher was reading out loud like nobody had offered him any sort of accommodation for his disability. Considering Daniel came from a small town in Illinois, he doubted any school accommodations were made for him besides maybe a week or so off school when he was recovering. Gotham wasn’t much better, but Father poured a decent amount into the city’s healthcare and educational systems. 

“Tuck your necklace under your shirt,” He whispered to his new seatmate when the teacher turned her back. “It breaks the dress code, you’ll never get it back if a teacher spots it,” A warning deadly serious, a bit stern for something as frivolous as a piece of jewelry, but Daniel looked as if that simple warning had saved his life. Daniel shoved the necklace under his dress shirt with alarming speed, tucking the thin, bronze chain beneath his collar, making the boy’s neck look deceptively bare. 

They both continued their work in silence, mutual respect between the two of them to stay out of each other’s way. When Daniel’s pencil lead broke, Damian offered him a sharpener. When their teacher called on him despite his hand being down, Danny answered instead, giddy that “he” was called on. Giving the English teacher the easy choice of admitting she was targeting students or playing the part of a welcoming teacher eager to have the half-blind kid engage with her class.

Daniel did it on purpose too, that was sure. He made class time more bearable that was certain as well. The way his seatmate engaged the subject in an intelligent manner despite frequent mutters of English not “being his subject,” was admirable.

When brought into discussion, Daniel meshed with his new peers relatively quickly, quick to snap in with a clever quip when the opportunity arose. He was by no means a social butterfly but fell into the rhythm of a conversation with practiced ease. 

Often, when not writing he fidgeted, picking at black and white polish on his nails or twirling a pencil between two fingers. He’d rest his face on his palm and pursed his lips when confused. Though his mannerisms were somewhat awkward, some might call them cute.

It wasn‘t long until class was over, the bell calling all the students to coagulate by the door, slowly filing into the hallway. All except him and Daniel, who stared at a schedule and a map with furrowed brows. They shared their next class too, an idea that filled him with an odd giddiness.

Damian pulled a copy of his own schedule from his bag, tapping Daniels's shoulder and showing him their matching second-hour classes.

“It would be easier if we went together,” 

Daniel smiled, canines sharpened to a point. His heart boomed in his chest, a strange but…Pleasant experience. It was too early to tell, but he thinks he’ll enjoy having Daniel here for the next seven months.

[theyhavetakenovermylife]

Shadows Entwined: Part 3

BatmanVsTmnt!Leonardo x sidekick!reader

Part 1 Part 2 / Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Bonus (18+)

In which Leonardo and (H/N) meet again.

-------------------------------------

A/N: Just a friendly reminder, that the Robin in Batman Vs TMNT is Damian Wayne. The son of Bruce Wayne and Talia al Ghul. Aka, Ra’s al Ghul’s grandson. That little dude is trained to kill.

Warnings: Spelling, talk of breaking bones, only slight research on Damian Wayne, long af today.

The reader and the turtles are 19.

—--------------------------------------

When Donnie said he had an idea, Leonardo didn’t expect to involve an underwater cave network that Gotham City somehow had been hiding. Michelangelo was right, this city was bonkers, in more was than Leo ever had imagined.

Leo, Mikey and Raph followed Donnie through the never ending cave system, before finally breaking the water surface, in a lit tunnel. Leo’s first thought was wondering if Batman and his sidekick ever made use of these tunnels. How often did she wonder about these waters, if ever? It was a strange thought and Leo knew it, but somehow, everything he had seen along the way, had reminded him of her.

“Look”, Raph spoke up, breaking the silence and thoughts running through Leo’s head. “I love being an amphibian as much as the next guy-”.

“Amphibious”, Donnie corrected. “We’re still reptiles”.

“Yeah, thanks for that, but you sure this cave leads anywhere?”

“Glad you asked! I am sure actually”, Donnie started explaining. “I made a database of every reported Batman sighting, and ran them through an algorithm that-”.

“Donnie”. Leo placed a hand on his younger brother’s shoulder. "Nobody cares. Where are you taking us?” Leo tried to sound, well, at least a little happy, even though a little bundle of something was building up inside of him. Nervousness? Anxiety? Couldn’t be. Why would he be nervous or anxious?

“The answer should be right through…” Donnie turned and continued in the direction they had been walking in, only to be met by a big opening in the caves. To say that what they discovered was shocking, would be an understatement. A big open cave with what looked like a taxidermy dinosaur, several glass display cases with Batman costumes, and a giant coin among other things.

“Ta-da!”, Donnie stated with his arms out. “The… Bat… Man… Cave… Huh?”

“This is pretty cool”, Leo admitted. Why did he feel so small all of sudden?

“Pretty cool?!” Mikey already looked like a child that had had too much sugar. “This is amazing! I don’t know what to put my grabby paws on first!”

As Mikey started running around, screaming like a child, Leo casted a glance around the cave. All he was Batman but no… her. Not her in person, nor anything that indicated you spend time here. Was it wrong that Leo had kind of hoped you’d be there? That when he and his brothers emerged from the water, you would be there, ready for another round? It was because he wanted to beat you. Or that was at least what he told himself. It wasn’t in line with how he saw himself, but he would much rather admit to wanting revenge, so he didn’t have to admit to anything else. Like how he hoped you would comment his eyes again. Not that he would admit it, but the thought of you being that close to him again, made tingles erupt in his stomach.

For a second Leo was scared that he was the one that began to chur at the thought of you, only to realize it was Donatello, who had gotten his eyes on a big computer.

“I don’t see any sign that the Shredder, nor the Foot Clan have been here”, Leo said, desperately trying to distract himself from the thought of you.

“Yeah. And I just see the signs of a dude with too much time and way too much money on his hands”, Raph said, looking skeptically at the Batman costumes.

“Most of these files are encrypted too heavily”, sounded Donnie’s voice from in front of the big computer. “But it looks to me like Batman has been tracking the laboratory break ins, like he’s been looking for the Foot’s next move! Same as us!”

“Hey guys! Check it out!” All three brothers turned, in fear of what Mikey had gotten himself into now. They found Mikey, sitting on top of the taxidermy t-rex, dressed in a Batman cape. “I’m Batman! And I’m riding a t-rex! I’ve never been so happy in my entire life!”

Leo’s first thought was to look around, slightly in fear of what you would think, if you found his little brother like that. “Mikey! Get down!”

“Nah man, I live up here now!”

“You should listen to him”.

Mikey turned to look at the source of this new voice, only to be met by a figure in the shadows right behind him. It was a boy. Not a very old one. Dressed in red, black, yellow and green, his eyes had a look that could kill. Yet Mikey didn’t find the child threatening in any way. Instead he turned his head to the side and let out an audible, “aww!”

The young boy sprung at Mikey, causing the two of them to fall off the t-rex and land on the ground, with Mikey’s back against the stone. Mikey held the boy above him, trying his best to hold his small hands away from his face.

“Take that mask off! Now!”, the boy yelled through gritted teeth, while Mikey was struggling to keep the mask on.

“Help!”, Mikey yelled out. “A tiny dude is like, totally trying to kill me!”

All brothers rushed to help Mikey, as the young boy pulled the mask and cap off of Mikey before jumping back, greeting distance between the two. Leo cursed himself, as his first thoughts were; did you know this kid? Did he know you?

“What are you, like five?”, Donnie asked, taken aback by the young boy in front of him.

“How did you get in here?!”, the boy asked, before jumping over Donatello, taking his bow staff and hitting him in the back of his head with it.

Leo stepped forwards with his hands held up. “Hey little guy. We didn’t come here to fight”. But Leo should have known better. Just like you, this little guy knew when to take advantage of an opening. Using Donatello’s bow staff, he hit the side of both of Leo’s knees, making them crack in a horrible way. “Jes!”, Leo yelled out, falling to the ground. At least you didn’t try to break his legs. Leo would much rather have fought against you, and not this little demon of a child.

All four of the turtle brothers were taken aback by the boy's fighting skills. Leo’s knees were aching, Donnie’s head was hurting, and Raph’s arms would soon form black marks. And the fight hadn't even been five minutes. It ended when Mikey yelled “sneak attack”, before tackling the boy, causing them to tumble around, ending with Mikey on top of the boy, retracted into his shell. The boy screamed all sorts of things out of anger, including how he would have their heads. Leo found the scene strange, just like all the other things he had seen in Gotham. Yet, there was something strangely wholesome about it. Almost domestic. A young boy being sat upon, by what felt like a teasing older brother.

Leo almost had to shake those thoughts out of his head. This wasn’t wholesome nor domestic. They were in Batman’s home (Leo wouldn’t point fingers. He and his family called the sewers home), and this little gremlin might have known something they didn’t.

“Let’s just try and reason with him, before-”. The sound of a car engine cut Leo off mid sentence. “...that”. He already had a suspicion of who it might be.

The Batmobil drove into the cave at full speed, before Batman jumped out of it, landing in front of them with this strong stare, followed by you and Batgirl. Leo had not expected his stomach to jump at the sight of you. Neither had you expected the sight of the blue turtle to make your stomach drop. Maybe it was the conversation with Batman and Batgirl, that now caused the fast heartbeat in your chest, at the sight of the turtle. Or maybe it was the sight of one of them sitting on your little brother, that caused you to clench your fists.

“Get off Robin”. He narrowed his eyes. “Now!”

The orange turtle got off of your brother, and turned to try and help him. Robin, as proud as he was sometimes, refused the turtle’s help, pulling his arm away.

“How did you get into this cave?” You unclenched your fist at the sound of Batman’s voice. Most people would find his tone scary, fearing the angry outburst that would never come. But to you and your bat family, it was a comfort. Batman cared about you, Robin, Batgirl and all of those that came before, and that meant he was willing to protect all of you from any danger. Especially strange turtles that have made it into the Batcave.

Leo took notice of your unclenching fists, and your position just behind. Covered enough to be protected, yet open enough to jump in if needed. Robin, found his place beside Batman, close enough for you to put a protective hand on his shoulder. That weird domestic picture formed in Leo’s head once more.

“Oh, well”, Donnie started. “There weren’t many security measures in the northern tunnel. We had to swim for a bit, but…” Donnie stopped as Batman frowned his brows. “I’m realizing you actually don’t want constructive criticism right now”, Donnie said, slowly pulling his head back into his shell.

“What I want are answers”, Batman said, eyes unmoving as he stared the turtles down.

“Look”. Leo stepped forward, causing you to tighten your grip on Robin’s shoulder, just a bit. But it was enough for Robin to notice, making him shoot you a questioning glare. “We’re not here to fight. My name is Leonardo”. Your grip softened on Robin’s shoulder, causing him to look at you in even more confusion. He knew you were a more expressive type than he and his father, and the sight of four mutant turtles in the Batcave might have shocked you, but so many reactions at once were not common. Not even for you.

Leonardo continued. “These are my brothers. Raphael, Donatello and Michelangelo”. The orange turtle started waving at the mention of his name.

“Seriously?”, Batgirl asked, showing more amusement than the rest of the bat family.

“Our father was really into renaissance painters”, Donatello clarified.

“And he’s a rat!”, Michelangelo added.

Robin turned his head towards you. “Did… Did he just say a rat?”, he asked in a hushed tone.

“He did”, you nodded.

Leonardo had to breathe for a moment, after hearing your voice, before continuing. “We’re not your enemy. We came to stop Shredder and the Footclan. Honestly, we thought you might be Shredder’s new partner”.

Robin turned to you once more. “Foot?” You shrugged.

“Shredder”, Batman repeated. “So that’s his name... I’ve heard of a Footclan, but I thought they went extinct ages ago”.

“They’re ninja”, Raphael said. “You know, sneaky”. He moved his hands up in front of his face, as if he was hiding behind them.

“Sooooo…”. Robin moved from your protective hand and straight to the side of Batman. “Are we not going to beat up these green losers?”

Batman looked down towards his son. “It’s not looking like it, no”.

Robin sighed out loud, and you couldn’t stop yourself from smiling. Leo saw as you crossed your arms, and moved all your weight to your left leg, coming ever so slightly out from Batman’s protection.

“Then I may as well tell you that I know exactly who the Shredder and the Foot are working with”, your brother said, letting the small anger building inside of him overshadow his slight disappointment. And when you heard him say the name of his grandfather, you very well understood that anger.

—

“They are strange”, Robin told you, watching as Batman and Batgirl was talking to the turtles.

“They are indeed strange”, you agreed, fidgeting with whatever gadget you had in your hand, fighting the urge to look up. Because if you looked up, you would look at him. And if you looked at him, he would notice. And if he would notice, then so would Batman, and so would Robin, and Batgirl, and all of Leonardo’s brothers… Better just to focus on… what it was you had in your hand…

“I tried to break the blue one’s legs with the purple’s bow staff”, Robin said, his eyes shining proud. You finally dared to look in the direction of Leonardo, focusing on his legs. You couldn’t see any signs of injury.

“You should have aimed for the knee caps”, you told him, eyes still on the knees of the turtles.

“I did!”, Robin exclaimed, laying flat against the table. “And he did fall! But they didn’t break!”

You took a chance and looked at Leonardo’s face, studying for any signs of discomfort. None. None at all.

That should have been it. You should have looked away, so you could concentrate on that thing you had in your hand. But you didn’t. Your eyes stayed on Leonardo’s face. He was listening to something Batman told him. Most likely information about Ra's al Ghul. He looked very concentrated, with his brows frowning and his arms crossed. You noted that he was almost as stoic as Batman. You haven’t seen him smile a single time. No smiles when he fought the Penguin, no smiles in the alley, and no smiles in the Batcave. The only time you had seen him other than frowning, was when you told him he had pretty eyes.

Robin noticed your sudden silence, and looked at you in confusion. His sister never left him unanswered. She would never let an opportunity to tease him fly. But then he noticed how you had stopped fumbling with your glove, and now sat staring. Confused he looked from you, to what your eyes had been caught by.

Leonardo?

Robin looked back and forth a few times, before it finally clicked for him. He slammed his hand flat against the table, causing you to yelp and stare at your shocked little brother.

“Are you crushing on a turtle?!”

You slapped your hand against his mouth so fast, that the young Robin could only scream and fight. Confused by the sudden commotion, all of them turned to look at you.

“What did he say?”, Mikey asked, obviously intreacted

“Uh”, you said in a slight panic, trying to hold Robin still as he was lashing out against you. “He asked where Alfred was! He’s so hungry he could eat a turtle!” Batman started rubbing the bridge of his nose.

You were going to beat Damian so hard the moment Bruce looked away!

[gunebuggiesprompts]

Word of the Day dpxdc Prompt #25

July 29: Bully Pulpit

With Danny's positions in public as being Phantom, the half ghost half human teen who was the superhero, he is responsible for keeping all malevolent ghosts in the Ghost Zone. At first, he was excited to be finally seen as the hero he always aimed to be, but then he realized the real pressure of it. It was a lot harder than the other superheroes made it out to seem. One wrong move, and he was seen as dangerous and a menace all over again, having to build up his reputation once again just in order for people to cooperate with him whenever he tried to save them. Not only that, but it seemed ghosts took his status as an invitation to try to cause trouble, especially with Danny being there to clean it up afterward.

Danny was starting to become beyond stressed, so whenever Jazz told him he needed to take a break, he didn't argue. He temporarily shut down the portal in his parent's basement, as that allowed most ghosts to get through, even though some of them either opened up their own portals or went through natural ones. He then decided that he didn't want to be in the public eye for a while, not liking all the eyes that were usually on him. So a good place for him to vacation at and not be caught as Danny Fenton, the halfa superhero Danny Phantom, was the city of Gotham. With the civilians there usually keeping to themselves, it seemed to be the perfect place to rent a hotel and just chill for once. Not only that, but most ghosts avoided the place due to the powerful ghosts named Lady Gotham claiming the place.

It was going great, Danny made sure to keep all ghost activities to a minimum and always wore sunglasses and a baseball bat, somehow making it so that nobody noticed him as ridiculous as it was (though people also didn't link him with his superhero persona, so it kinda made sense). Then it all crashed whenever Lady Gotham caught wind of him, upset that a ghost somehow infiltrated her haunt without even asking, and influenced her own knights to subconcioisly get rid of the problem.

Danny didn't realize that until he noticed that there were several not so friendly faces always in the corner of his vision, and he was starting to believe he had been caught as soon as he started to relax.

[forthegothicheroine]

How Other Great Detectives Would Solve the Riddler Murders

A series I do sometimes. This is based on The Batman (2022). I will be assuming that none of these universes have already established superheroes and supervillains unless it's also in that canon.

Sam Vimes: The Watch as a whole might solve the case, but Vimes is going to be in the wrong headspace. Carcer was bad enough as playful serial killers go, but a serial killer who liked Sam Vimes and wanted to be his best buddy? I think that would make Vimes need his own stay in Arkham.

Sam and Peter: This one is my favorite, it works so horribly well! The Riddler, having been a huge fan of American Vandal, addresses his messages to these two teenage goobers (and it is in fact in the form of vandalism.) Selina ends up saving their lives due to secondhand embarassment when she sees them trying to interview Carmine Falcone about whether he was on any Gothamite subreddits. (Oswald Cobblepot was happy to talk to them about it!) It all comes down to whether the pressure of stopping a serial killer causes the boys to bloom or break, and I'd like to hope it would be the former.

Phryne Fisher: I totally get why the Riddler would fixate on and write letters to Phryne, she's a very good person to fixate on and write letters to! (I've often said she's like if Catwoman were Batman.) Phryne sleeps with Selina and gets surprisingly flirtatious with Oswald. Having already taken down a cocaine ring, she knows enough to honeypot her way into the lower floor of the Iceberg, and very narrowly avoids death at the hands of Falcone. She can solve riddles easily enough, though I don't know if she'd put them together in time to stop the flooding of the city. I'll call this success with a similar casualty rate to Batman's.

Sammy Keyes: This one is a real dick move on the Riddler's part. Addressing your serial killer messages to a tween girl who'd been involved in catching other criminals, thus revealing she's living in an apartment illegally and potentially getting her taken away by social services? It's absolutely something he would do to make a broader social point, but still it's a serious dick move. I think Sammy is way out of her depth here but I want her to succeed because I love the idea of subsequent Sammy Keys books having recurring characters that include the one cop slightly sympathetic to her, the junior high mean girl, and the serial killer who sends her cryptic letters from incarceration.

L: I just know that somehow this is going to involve Edward Nasthon, Forensic CPA, being on the team to catch the Riddler and him and L having a vaguely but unconsumatedly homoerotic dance between friend and enemy. I don't think he'd want to kill L, though, since he'd rather have him alive to acknowledge him as the smartest coolest guy ever, so I'll give L the edge here.

Jane Marple: No matter how I twist it, I just can't see a scenario in which the Riddler would send serial killer messages to Miss Marple. Instead, I think Edward Nashton would just meet her at a tea shop, they'd have a friendly conversation about the novel she's reading, and then she'd call up the police and tell them she's found the Riddler.

Columbo: This isn't a great setup for Columbo, since his method of detection is all about catching people in their lies, which is hard to do with a killer who is a nobody and who keeps to the shadows. He would definitely put Falcone away in the course of the investigation, but I don't know if that's enough to stop the grander scheme in play. If he does catch him, though, he would stop the flood because Edward Nashton would be SO vulnerable to casual conversations about hypothetical approaches to crime.

Philip Marlowe: I think Marlowe would kind of work his way backwards here. He'd get deep into the grime of Gotham, end up stopping a plot to flood the city, follow that up by an investigation into the mob and unconsummated sexual tension with Selina, just barely escape getting murdered by Falcone, get hit on the head by Cobblepot and have hallucinations involving penguins with umbrellas, then finally catch Edward Nashton, the petty little nobody who killed people to make himself feel like somebody.

Dale Cooper: This is a good case for Cooper, lots of subplots that lead into other subplots, nothing overtly supernatural but a vague general feeling of curses and doom. He would find deeper meaning in all the coded riddles that pointed to dark truths about the universe, topped off with dreams of cats and penguins doing his taxes. I sure hope the Riddler is willing to wait for all that before flooding the city, because Coop works at his own damn pace.

Hercule Poirot: I can see Poirot fitting in to the art deco Gotham of the animated series, but the modernist urban grime of the 2021 film is viscerally unpleasant to imagine him in. He could solve the riddles and aid the police, certainly, but more than any of the other detectives, my mind is rebelling against my attempts to imagine these people in the same room at the same time.

Sam Spade: Selina Kyle hires him to help get her friend out of a jam at the same time as Cobblepot hires him to get a few murders discreetly solved before the cops get too nosy, and then Falcone tries to have him whacked when he gets too close on both accounts. The Riddler would take him completely by surprise, but I'm having so much fun imagining Edward Nashton looking up at him with big Peter Lorre eyes and babbling about what crime really means that I'll allow him to at least stick around for that. I think he can get out of this still alive, but it would be a close call.

Kinsey Milhone: Why her, she wonders? Sure, she's a detective, but she's hardly a household name. She goes through all her files to see if this could be connected to anything she's ever worked on, and lo and behold, back when she was an insurance fraud investigator, they always worked with a forensic CPA named Edward Nashton. Now, what could have ever become of that guy...

Sherlock Holmes: Sherlock Holmes either immediately solves this or fails utterly, and it all comes down to how quickly you think he could decode things using a computer.

[hallowsden]

DC x DP Idea Thing #3

Voluntary Admissions AU

What if Danny voluntarily Admitted himself to Arkham Asylum as a patient?

"Patient #10304-M, also known as, for his safety and security, Janus D. Astrophel. Voluntarily Admitted himself to Arkham Asylum on [date is scratched off with a thick, green ink], having arrived in a rather critical and vulnerable position, both physical and mental."

Rumors often spread quickly in Arkham. After all, not much better things to do when you're locked up and deemed either crazy, dangerous or even both in the eyes of Gotham. So it wasn't a surprise when news spread like wildfire amongst inmates and patients inside those dreadful halls.

A new addition had joined the ranks of the madhouse. Voluntarily at that. Likely the youngest patient to roam these halls for a non-Gothamite at least. After all, no native Gothamite would willingly put themselves in such hell.

The newbie went by Janus Astrophel. Kid seemed anything but normal. Seemed like he'd fit in well with Gotham's brand of sickness after a bit. Then again, kid looks as fragile as a twig. Almost as skinny as Crane, creepy as him too. Gives off Freeze vibes though, oddly enough, with hints of Dent.

[Those types of comments were quickly picked up by the aforementioned rogues. Rather than start a scene, they took interest immediately after hearing more words of the newcomer.]

Astrophel's a meta, just from the collar he adorns on his neck. Seemed modified as well. Didn't look like the standard ones the super-powered rogues commonly wore. Nobody knew what power he had. Seemed like it helped him more than anything though.

[Some inmates recalled when Astrophel first arrived. Didn't have a collar the first day. Kid could barely stand and was bleeding profusely. Next day, kid looked better, wearing the collar everyone associates with him now. Some think it's like Freeze's suit in a way. No one said a word bout it after receiving a cold glare]

Thing was, it ain't just the collar or how sickly he seemed that caught people's eyes.

Scars. Kid's littered with them. Some managed to glimpse a multitude of what looks like surgery scars [vivisected was often echoed, especially from Quinn and Nygma], and others looked like he was zapped by lightning [Litchenberg Scars around the chest specifically]. Kid even wore some stitches where his joints were [Frankenstein was an insult for a brief moment before Dent flipped a coin and shit them up]. Some would've mistaken him for some sort of zombie, like Grundy, had it not been for the fact people had seen him breathe and bleed... Albeit, it was a toxic green rather than crimson red.

Rather discerning as it held a resemblance to certain Demon Head's waters...

Kid didn't talk much. He was polite and friendly, sure. Some of the rogues took a shine to him. He seemed scared, though, not that anybody blamed him. Arkham was filled with rogues who earned their titles and infamy for a reason. But he wasn't scared of others... No. Crane said the kid held a certain look of fear...

Astrophel was afraid of himself... Everyone can't help but wonder why.

[They later see a glimpse as to why after he saw Joker for the first time. Least to say, Quinn called dibs even though others would like to say otherwise]

[howl-fantasies]

It’s Maggie’s 23rd birthday and Oswald plans a surprise party for her. Even her actual siblings (Oliver and Thea) show up, as well as Bruce, Alfred and Selena, (to a mostly villain centred event, but they don’t need to know that). As Maggie is about to make a wish and blow out the candles, Jerome crashes the party and tries to kidnap Maggie… what happens?

Ahahaha!

Remember the scene where Oswald is in a restaurant and basically everyone is armed? Well, it would be something similar.

Warning: violence, blood, profanities, it's Gotham. English isn't my first language.

Gifts and pictures aren't mine. Credits go to their owner.

Word Count: 2.061

Tags: @keffirinne @flaysthings

Everybody was having a good time as Maggie feels so much joy she was ready to see fireworks bursting out of it. How did Oswald managed to negotiate peace and regroup so many villains, citizen (Alfred and Bruce), cops (Jim and Harvey) and her family under the same roof? *Spoiler: Y/N and Victor were in charge of convincing the villains. Remember Victor's friendly visits during the establishment of Pax Penguina? Same vibes*

Now she was in the middle of the crowd singing "Happy Birthday", she voluntarily ignore the guns held by the Zsaszs discretely threatening others villains, and focused on the gigantic birthday cake being carefully put on the table in front of her.

She felt Oswald warm hand on her right shoulder as the audience was now clapping and encouraged her to blow the 23 candles on it. "Happy Birthday my dear!" Cheered Cobblepot with a huge smile and proud tears in his eyes. "Make a wish!"

The young woman leaned just a bit and took a deep breath, closing her eyes while thinking about what she could ask for. It only took her a second before she opened them again, ready to exhale as strongly as she could to extinguish all little flames in one blow.

It never happened, though. A deafening explosion shook the whole building, surprising every person present in the room. Only a second later, the double doors were literally ripped off their hinges, crashing a few feet away.

"Well, well, well", a sinister voice raised from the chaos. "Celebrating a birthday and nobody sent me an invitation?"

Magnolia swore she heard Y/N swear from somewhere behind her. But she was too shocked to turn around and scold her for her foul mouth. Even Oswald let it slide, choosing to screech at the man entering the room.

"What the hell do you think you are doing, Jerome?! How dare you barge into MY hideout and ruining everything I've worked so much for?!" Now the little man was yelling.

The redhead didn't seem to mind, though. He even leaned against the damaged doorframe nonchalantly and even had the gal to yawn like he was bored. When Oswald stopped, he finally straightened and point a lazy finger at Maggie.

"I'm here to deliver my own special little gift for the doll." He started. "Forgive me but I let it home, you'll have to follow me here for me to give it to you." He added with a maniacal and sinister grin. She shuddered. Yup, she preferred Victor's.

"I have a better suggestion, Jerome." Y/N's sultry voice broke Maggie raising panic and caught the man's attention. His terrifying rictus was now directed on the hitwoman.

"Oh? Do tell, love." He said, barely dodging a bullet. Victor.

Y/N walked until she was standing just next to Magnolia, cheering her up with her presence. Discreetly pushing her with her right arm in Jim's and Harvey direction. She obliged. Jim took the hint too and was now on her right, a "GCPD!" Probably bubbling into his throat. But he waited to see what Y/N had to say.

"Since you're not only a clown but the whole fucking circus," she drawled, swiftly grabbing her guns, immediately imitated by Victor and the Zsaszettes. "You're going to entertain us. Here. You want to groove? I'mma show you how to move." Her steel-cold voice had the merit to reduce his stupid grin. Just a bit. Just for a second. Just before his infamous laugh resonated inside of the room.

"...Aha.ha.ah. Sorry to disappoint, sweetheart. But it'll have to wait. Maggie and I have an appointment", suddenly, all doors flew open, letting dozen of creepy clown-masked goons go inside.

Oh god. Now she was panicking. Her eyes immediately landed on Bruce, who was already looking at her in alarm. Just next to him, Selina was adjusting her position, ready to fight like a feral cat and clawing some faces and eyes. Magnolia heard Alfred also swearing under his breath. It was going to be a bloodbath, she knew it.

Victor's light voice brought her back to present.

"Okie-dokie, time to boogie!"

His intervention seemed to awaken the whole room. In less than a second, every guest reach under an arm, a leg, in the band of their trouser, under a table and... even inside the platform supporting her birthday cake.

"GCPD!" Shouted Jim. Then it started. The shooting, the whistle of bullets all around them, the noise of broken tableware. Magnolia ducked and immediately search for somewhere to take cover, spotting Bruce a few meters from her.

"Bruce! Come here!" She urged, grabbing his thin arm and pulling him with her behind a heavy table. "Where is Selina?!" She shouted. The young billionaire breathing was erratic. "I don't know, she jumped on someone and I lost her in the crowd! Alfred is looking for her and told me to hide!" He cried.

At this very moment, the Magnolia regretted not having a freaking gun on her. She felt hopeless as she heard the bloodbath. Oswald's voice was the easier to identify. He was furious.

A pair of shiny shoes caught her attention and she felt her heart stops. "Bang", she heard a mocking voice say, a gun pointed at her face but not firing. Victor sadistic grin was the next thing she registered. The fucker had the gal to play goofball now?!

"It's not funny Victor!" Magnolia yelled in anger. "Aren't you supposed to help your wife?!"

His grin never fade and he didn't turn as a clown goon rushed in his back, ready to shoot him and making her scream. *Bang* A clean shot in Jerome's goon head and the man fell heavily on the floor. Dead. Victor didn't even look.

Only grabbing a gun from one of his leg's holsters and holding it for her to grab. "Y/N has my six", his eyes lifted up quickly and his other hand quickly raised, pulling the trigger and shooting somewhere in the crowd, just before lowering his gaze again with a twisted grin.

"And I've got hers. Gothamite relationship goal here, Mags." He said, throwing her the smaller gun. "Barrel pointing at the target", he mocked. Only a middle finger would answer that properly.

He just laughed, like the maniac he was, before it brutally stopped and he looked pissed, moving like a man on a mission out of her sight. Now in possession of a weapon, Magnolia felt a bit better. She turned to look at Bruce, still a bit pale after seeing Victor Zsasz this close. "Bruce! We have to get you out of here", she called.

The teen moved his head mimicking a no. "We can't leave without Selina and Alfred! And what about you?!"

The young woman sighed. He had a point. She slowly straightened and peaked above the table. Absolute chaos.

She spotted Oswald with a machine gun screaming at some goons as he pierced their skin, Ed dodging bullets behind his own table, losing his bowler hat in the process. Jim beating the shit out of another goon and Harvey tackling another on the ground. Victor and Y/N making a remake of Mister and Mrs Smith, back against back and firing quickly.

Then, finally, Alfred, who shot another goon while Selina jumped on his acolyte and clawed his eyes with fury. "I can see them!" Maggie shouted to Bruce, only to feel her forearm suddenly grabbed by the teen's hand. He was shaking like a leaf. Oh dear.

"Gotcha~" She heard in her back, making her jump out of her skin and abruptly turn to face the voice. Oh no. Just in front of her, Jerome was threatening them with his own machine gun, his unnatural wide smile ready to split his jaw in half. Oh no, no, no.

She saw his brown eyes sliding on Bruce. "You're welcome to follow us, Brucie. In fact, I want you to." He laughed. No way. Maggie jumped on her feet, she didn't even take the time to think and put herself in front of Wayne, lifting her arm holding Victor's gun and also threatening Jerome with it. "Leave him alone, Jerome!"

Now the redhead was laughing hysterically. "My, oh my! Are you threatening me with a gun doll? Ahahahaha! Sorry to tell you this, but usually, it's the guy holding a machine gun who has the right to make demands. Put your toy away, love, we don't have all day."

His eyes took a quick look around before he whispered for just them to hear like they were plotting or sharing a secret, "Plus, I don't want your parents to catch us, they are terrifying". The nerve!

She must have waited too long to move. Jerome grabbed her arm roughly making her yelp in pain and Bruce scream in fear. But Valeska didn't care and started to pull her behind him, shooting here and there to clear his path and pointing the barrel of his machine gun on Bruce to deter him to flee. "You come with us Brucie."

His lack of focus on her was her cue. So what if he had a machine gun and she only had a 'little gun'? A bullet was still a bullet, as Y/N always said. The florist shoved her gun directly on his thigh and didn't wait for him to fully understand what was happening to pull the trigger.

Jerome's shout was music on her ears. She didn't savor it, though and pull the trigger again, aiming at his upper arm, the one holding his machine gun. Another yell. "Run Bruce!" Shouted Maggie as she was starting to run in Y/N and Victor direction. Screw their escape, they needed brute force after what she did.

"You fucking bitch!" She heard on her back, making her stop and turn around with wide eyes as Valeska was aiming at her with one arm, ready to pierce her skin.

"MAGGIE! DON'T FUCKING STOP RUNNING IDIOT!" She heard Y/N yell a few meters away, just as Veleska pulled the trigger. Everyone screamed and her too as she felt the white hot pain explode in her calf, making her lose her balance and crash on the floor.

Another crashing sound caught her attention: Jim jumped on Jerome, disarming him and allowing the cop to beat him to a pulp. "Maggie! Oh my god are you ok?" Bruce hide her the rest of the beating. The young woman felt a bit dizzy and shaken but slowly nodded before she winced when she felt the pain and the blood rush out of the bullet wound.

A gloved hand pushed Wayne on the side and she was now facing Y/N. She was angry, she could tell by the hard frown on her face. Her piercing eyes were assessing the damages on her calf. "You stupid, foolish child," she muttered, lifting her eyes to scrutinize her face. "If someone is ready to shoot you, run. Find a safe spot and then fucking shoot them back. Never stand frozen, idiot. Unless you have a fucking death wish." She said coldly.

Magnolia nodded stupidly, ready to apologize, just when another gloved hand finds itself on Y/N's shoulder and another one gave her a thumb up. "Wooh! Your shoots were terrific. Good job here little one."

Maggie had to give it to Jerome: yes, her 'parents' were terrifying. She facepalmed as Y/N was shoving her elbow deep in her husband belly to tell him to shut the fuck up.

Both were roughly shoved to the side by Oswald. "Get out of the way you brutes!" Both hitman and woman grunted in discomfort as they ungracefully landed on their butt. Despite the situation, Maggie giggled earning Y/N's middle finder.

"Oh my god dear, are you ok? Don't move, we're going to call an ambulance don't worry!" Cobblepot babbled, holding her shoulders for dear life. "It shouldn't have happened", he now muttered as she could feel his guilt.

"Jerome is unpredictable, Oz, nobody could have seen it coming", The young woman said with a gentle smile. She couldn't help herself and giggled again. "For sure I'll not forget my 23rd birthday."

"She's losing it, Jim," she heard Harvey mutters in Oswald's back. This time she truly laughed.

--

A/N - I hope you liked it! Have a beautiful day/night dear, read you soon. Take care!

[valeskakingdom]

Split (part31)

"I'll admit, I deluded myself considering Ed," Scarlet admitted as she and Oswald walked down the street "I thought he mocked it all, but...he was serious about it"

"I'm glad you both get along well" Oswald smiled, walking next to her - well more limping next to her "It means a lot to me."

"How so?" Scarlet frowned.

"Well, you both are some of my closest friends. It always makes me happy to see when my friends get along with each other." Oswald explained, facing her. He meant everything by word. He was happy to see Ed and Scarlet talking because he saw them both as his best friends. Who would not be happy about it then?

"I see," Scarlet gave a slow condescending nod, it was strange for her to be called 'Oswald's best friend'. Sure, she got along well with Oswald, but are they friends then? She couldn't remember agreeing with that "We have to mean a lot to you"

"You do. I trust you the most." Oswald smiled "I-I mean, you both have been by my side over the time, you especially. You helped me and protected me when you were around, I appreciate that a lot."

"I've never really considered you as a friend, Oswald, to be honest." Scarlet muttered "More as a colleague or some guy I used to work with over some time."

"I understand" You definitely saw the disappointment in his eyes. He thought the team work between Scarlet and him was special. He thought they were something that used to be called 'best friends' like Ed and him.

"But believe it or not," Scarlet started, looking at him in his disappointed face "I somehow got used to work with you. Even though, you disrupted my plans several times and I could have killed you for that," Scarlet hissed that part "You can be a fine guy."

"I appreciate that a lot what you're saying." Oswald smiled, having the little hope she would consider him as a friend any time "I apologize for the times I've disrupted your plans. I assume I was selfish and wanted to let only my plans work."

"You were an ass, indeed, and you were the one that brought us all into this shit." Scarlet told him "But I'm not mad at you if you think that. I was but... you're the reason why I'm released from Arkham, so I can't stay mad at you for long" Ironically, Scarlet peeked his cheek like an infant, making him smile.

It became quiet and peaceful around them two while walking through Gotham. Nobody said a word. They went along some stores, the GCPD without being noticed by citizens or officers, the banks... it was like two good friends were spending a nice day, quietly.

After a while though, Oswald started thinking. He thought back about the things he remembered so far, the times he spent with Butch, with Oswald, with Scarlet... with his mother. His mother. She was a gorgeous person, so friendly, so kind, so lovely. He remembered her scent that resembled roses, he remembered her warmth he felt through her embraces, he remembered the huge amount of kisses she gave him every time he was about to leave home. He also remembered her death. He couldn't remember how she died, he just remembered that she died. He sighed for himself, he missed her a lot. He longed for her, for her closeness. He wanted to feel her closeness one more time, and where could he feel it? Right, at her grave.

"Scarlet?" Oswald hesitatingly asked her, facing her, while they crossed the street "Can I ask you to do me a favor?"

"Which one?" Scarlet frowned "I'm not bringing you to any of your friends again. Even though Ed was fine, I don't wanna have a 50/50 chance whether your friend reacts like Butch or Ed"

"Can you bring me to the cemetery? I'd like to pay my mother's grave a visit since I didn't have the chance to bid farewell to her. I'd like to be with her one last time." When he said that, Scarlet saw this seriousness and the sorrow in his eyes. She knew it was important for him to bid farewell to the only person he truly loved.

"Sure." Scarlet simply nodded.

***

It started raining when they arrived the cemetery, which dampened Oswald's mood a lot. Not only that he now realized he lost his mother forever, the dull weather and atmosphere just strengthened his negative feelings. Scarlet saw that, and she didn't know what to do or what to say. Of course, in her past she felt feelings like these, she remembered all of thoughts she had at that time - but she all bottled them up and tried not to show them because she was scared of being told she was weak. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't - but none of her family ever hugged her when she felt sad like that, never gave her the feeling of being loved, never was there for her - she was all alone. And so situations like these either confused her in an emotional way, or she stayed completely cold like now.

"Hello, mother," Oswald tried not to cry when he stood in front of the grave, reading her tombstone "What a lovely spot. I'm so sorry I couldn't be here for the funeral." Oswald sniffeled "But I think you'd be proud of me. I'm a changed man. Or at least I'm trying to be. To be honest, I don't know I'm gonna make it without you.

"Hello?" Suddenly a man with a big spray walked towards them. He seemed to be a fine older man, maybe from a richer household according to his clothings "I'm terribly sorry. I don't mean to interrupt"

"Not at all" Oswald wiped his tears away from his cheeks, he chuckled after he saw all the flowers the man apparently bought for his mother's grave "Lilies"

"Her favorite, if memory serves." The man said.

"Yes. They were" Oswald nodded. He had to smile because he remembered all the times his mother cheered and smiled whenever he brought her these type of flowers. She couldn't have enough of them, she sometimes said she wished to have a glass house full of lilies.

"Did you know her?" Oswald dared to ask when the man placed the spray right in front of the tombstone.

"A long time ago. I found her again only in death, I'm afraid." The man sighed "I'm Elijah Van Dahl" he reached out for Oswald's hand to shake it.

"Oswald Cobblepot," Oswald smiled "That's my friend Scarlet." Oswald pointed at Scarlet "She brought me to the cemetery." This introduction made Scarlet feel a little tense. Whole Gotham City knew her from her infamous actions, people immediately would call the police if they recognized her.

"Nice to meet you" Elijah friendly said nodding to her, while Scarlet just gave him a little fake smile in response. She was watching him, already waiting for the reaction when he realized she was a mass murderer - but this reaction never came.

"Cobblepot?" Elijah questioned when he just realized what Oswald had actually said after a while "You're related to Gertrude?"

"My mother" Oswald smiled, being a little confused about his reaction. Why did he ask that? What was this intention behind that?

"Mother?" Elijah asked again, he couldn't believe what he was hearing for some certain reason. He and Gertrude were lovers a long time ago, they loved each other, they planned a future together - but this sadly never happened, instead Gertrude suddenly aborted all the contact with him without letting him know why "You're Gertrude's son?"

"Yes" Oswald said, still being confused about Elijah's reaction "I'm sorry but how did you know my mother, exactly?"

"How old are you?" Elijah asked him. He had an assumption but he wasn't sure whether he was right with it. Around the time where Gertrude left Elijah, she was different than usual. She was moody, she snapped, she cried a lot. Her behavior was strange - it came so all of a sudden without a warning and Elijah never understood why. Was it his fault? Did Gertrude have a secret she never told him?

"Excuse me-..." Oswald was about to say something but he was interrupted by Elijah.

"How old are you?" Elijah asked again "Gertrude left-..."

"Thirty one" Oswald answered.

"Thirty one years ago, yes. That's right." Now Elijah realized something, his assumption had to be right "Oh my God. She... She never told me!"

"Told you what?" Oswald was even more confused than before. What did his mother never told him? Who was this guy at all? What did he have to do with his mother? What was all behind that?

"That I had a son" They both stared at each other, realizing what now just happened. Elijah was Oswald's father. In the past, Gertrude was so different because she was pregnant and she broke up with him because her feelings took over and she wouldn't know how he'd react.

"So that means you're my..." Oswald didn't even dare to say it. He couldn't believe it. Was it real? Was he the one? Was he the one he was waiting for to meet? The one he longed for all the time?

"I'm your father" Elijah couldn't believe himself. He met his son he had with Getrude. He was kinda shocked but also surprised, he also felt a little guilty because if Gertrude had mentioned to be pregnant, Elijah surely would have cared about him and Gertrude. He would have helped her to raise a child, he would have tried to be the best father for his son.

Instead of saying anything, Oswald hugged his father immediately. He couldn't believe it. He had a father, a nice one, someone where he knew he would have cared about him if he was present in the past. His father Elijah hugged him tight as well. He was happy to finally have his son in his arms, to meet another part of his family - the lost part. He wished he got to know him much earlier that he could she him stuff and raise him to a good man. He wished he could have given him the love he needed.

"Can you believe that, Scarlet? That's my father," Oswald excitingly told her, giving her the biggest smile he has ever made.

"I can see that," Scarlet nodded, she tried to show some empathy to not act like the biggest weirdo in front of Oswald's father. She still had the assumption that he could notice anything if she behaved the wrong way "And I'm happy for you."

"Hey, if you both wouldn't mind, you can come visit me and my family for dinner. My family would surely love to see and meet you." Elijah offered politely. He would love to introduce his family to Oswald and Scarlet.

"That sounds wonderful, yes I'm coming." Oswald nodded eagerly "What about you, Scarlet? You're coming, too?"

Before she could answer though, she heard her phone ringing - it had to be Andy, so it was something important. Plus, she was glad he was calling right now, he was literally rescuing her out of a tensed situation. He was her band-aid to get out of it.

"Oh, uhm... I guess I need to go back to work, so no. But you know what, Ossy? Have fun with your dad, I'll see you around. It was nice to meet you Elijah!" And so she disappeared fast between all the tombstones to answer the call "What's up Andy?"

"Just missed you, babe." He stated, Scaret could feel his grin through the phone when he called her that name "Arkham ain't the same when you're not around. It's pretty quiet and boring."

"It's never the same without me" Scarlet teased him with a grin in her face.

"You're right, the times without you were better" Andy teased back, making Scarlet chuckle "But jokes aside, how is it being a free woman?"

"I had no free minute until now because I watched Oswald." Scarlet muttered rolling her eyes in annoyance "Hugo Strange told me so"

"Is he still controlling you?" Andy asked kinda concerned, he remembered the times when Hugo Strange did - these times were horrible. Scarlet suffered from a lot of pain and torture, he didn't want this to happen to her again.

"Not that I know of. Ever since I left Arkham, his voice disappeared in my head as he stopped controlling me in my actions." Scarlet explained "But his actions and thoughts are questionable, anyway."

"You think he has something specific in mind with you?" Andy asked again.

"Presumably." Scarlet shrugged "Did he plan something on you, yet?" She hoped not, she hoped Andy was free from the horrible therapy shit she and Oswald went through.

"We started with conversational therapy. I don't really think much of it. It obvious he tries to manipulate me and tries to figure out what's between you and me."

"What do you mean by that?" Scarlet was confused, why would Hugo Strange try to figure out what's between Andy and her? That wouldn't make sense, especially not after she was released.

"I assume he tries to figure out my sensitive spots to break me. He first started with my family and friends, and now it's you." Andy said "I think he wants to drive me insane, through telling me lies about you."

"What kind of lies?" Scarlet asked again. She had an idea of what Hugo Strange was trying to achieve: He tried to incite Andy against Scarlet. He confronted him with lies to make him fuzzy-headed, to build up anger and madness which would lead to an eventual fight of life and death - probably to see who's stronger and who's got better skills.

"They're all based on an emotional way. Last session he tried to make me angry with telling me you use me as a replacement for Jerome, that you just care about yourself and your needs." Andy chuckled "It's just hilarious"

"Don't ever believe him what he says" Scarlet warned him. Andy was clever indeed, but nobody knew how long he stood this manipulation.

"Don't worry, I won't. I know these types of games too well." Andy let out a slight laughter "I'll just turn the tables. I won't go into his stupid manipulation attempts, I will simply beat him with his own weapons."

"Just don't underestimate him, don't do the same fault as I did. Hugo Strange is a beast."

"Oh, is lil Patel worried about me?" Andy started to tease her again, in fact he knew how much she hated it.

"You wish, asshole" Scarlet slightly chuckled "Are you planning on any jailbreaks soon? You need help with something?"

"Nah, not yet. It's too early for the jailbreak since I figured, Hugo Strange tries to find out whether you and I have a strong bond. He would already wait for you to come either or to do something" Andy explained. Before he could say any further, you heard voices through the phone - probably from some guard who were coming around.

"The guards?" Scarlet asked.

"Yeah, it's time for a new therapy session" Andy sighed "I'll call back soon."

[crimewavezx]

pairing: Dano!riddler × reader.

a/n: It's gonna get spicy soon I promise :>

Cw: obsessive thoughts

words: 2.2k

Ao3

Chapter 1

<?>

Chapter 2: Coffee

You stare at the machine. It's old, should be thrown out. You've already begged the owner but he is adamant it does the job. Sure, it spits out coffee when you throw some in, but it's too dark, burnt almost and has a strange plastic taste to it.

You've spent the last hour opening it up to clean the parts which you were sure hadn't been cleaned since it's conception. You made sure everything fit in it's place and you had been brewing pot after pot, sampling your work. But you still weren't satisfied.

The burnt taste still lingered and now you were sure you could taste the cleaner you used. You made it worse somehow.

You slump against the wall across the cleaner and look to it. Why couldn't it know you needed this job to work? That you needed good coffee? You needed to be friendly, to be cute, you needed the strange men coming in late at night to see you could your job.

You sigh. You cant afford anything else. Finding a job in gotham is impossible. Truly. If it's not mob work it's underpaid. If it's a livable wage your likely going to be mob work that isn't explicitly mob work. Their roots spread deep. You couldn't touch it. Wouldn't allow yourself to fall into that hole. You know what happens when you give yourself over to the life. The cost-- but oh god the money is good. So good. You knew that much.

You knew that if you just told yourself a lie to keep yourself happy you wouldn't have to worry about making rent, or what to eat for dinner. Life would be so easy, wouldn't it? You would just have to accept the price of looking away. The blood on your hands. Maybe it wasn't innocent blood. Maybe it didn't matter.

But this diner seemed innocuous enough. If it was mob work, well they only wanted coffee and you could do coffee. So you thought. Nobody seemed to complain about the last server so why should you care? Why do you care so much?

You can't help the anger which rises in you looking at the coffee maker. It's stubborn. Stubborn like you.

You pull the maker from the wall. You stare at it before chucking it across the kitchen. You can only hear the shattering of the coffee pot. It breaks apart into a million different little pieces.

Your hand finds your mouth. You can only look in horror at the glass all over the floor. You did that.

Joey the cook comes rushing into the kitchen. He looks to you then the late coffee maker. "What'd you do that for?" He yells.

You shake your head. "It didn't work"

He approaches you, "so you break it? Is that how this works? You gonna break the rest of the kitchen next? Look around you girl, nothing works like it should."

He walks over to the microwave and gives it a bang over the top. It lights up. "You gonna cause anymore problems?"

You look at him. The tears start well before you register them. God, it's just a coffee maker. Just stupid coffee. Just a stupid job in a stupid city.

"No, Joey. I won't. I'm sorry" you say.

Joey holds open his arms, as though offering a hug. You look at him. "Free hug" he says.

You hug him. He's warm. It feels better. He gives you a reassuring pat on the back, "don't be so hard on yourself, kid. There's a big electronics store down the road, why don't you go buy a replacement? And I'll tell the boss it really did crap out, and you saved the day." Joey breaks away from you and opens up his wallet. He pulls out a hundred dollar bill.

You gawk as he places it into your hand. "Make it a nice one," he says.

"Joey, I--" you start.

"Hush," he stops you. "The late night crowd will be coming soon, better hurry"

You nod and leave the diner. You knew what electronic store Joey talked about. It's a big warehouse full of electrinic junk, open all night. Shady business but you were in a desperate position now. You were so thankful he was being nice.

Joey is a big guy, real mob type. At first he intimated you as he seldom said a word to you. But he was never rude or cross, he was always very forgiving on your mistakes when you first stated. You were so thankful he wasn't really mad. You would have to find a good way to thank him.

It's getting dark now as you approach the store. In Gotham the dark is invasive. Seeming to eat away at everything. Luckily a single street lamp broke the dark and you found the stores open door.

You enter cautiously. A man's voice greets you. "Welcome, what can I help you with?" You look to a counter along the wall beside you and see a man perched on a stool.

"I'm just looking for a coffee machine," he stands and silently begins walking further into the warehouse. It's dimly lit, the overhead lights were just bulbs attached to long wires.

You don't recognize half the junk you pass. You try not too pay too much attention to what you were looking at, too scared you would see something you shouldn't see at all.

You notice how everything seems winding. Like the store is built to pull you in further, deeper into its belly. You shudder.

Finally he veers right into a narrow aisle Where coffee makers line the shelves. Some were in boxes, some not, but there is a lot to choose from. "I'll be up front when your done" the man leaves you.

You curse a little to yourself as you're sure you'll get lost without him to guide you back to the front.

You look at the wall of coffee makers. You try looking for the same model you have, but it's difficult to make out everything at once. It's so dark in here.

In your frustration you just grab the first box which looked unopened. Better chances it would actually work that way.

You start your attempt at making your way back to what you thought is the front of the store. You think of the turns the man made but it's hard to recall with everything being so dim. You soon realize you are just heading further into the massive maze of a warehouse. It just keeps winding and winding, no marker or indicator to anything at all. Just aisles of electronic junk.

You start to panic. You really shouldn't be here. You don't belong here in what is very likely a criminal's fantasy. You just need a stupid coffee pot because you were stupid and broke the other. And now you were running out of time. It's getting close to your shift starting and you weren't going to be able to find your way out of this godforsaken warehouse.

As you start to truly panic, you look to your right and see a man peeking around an aisle further down. You couldn't make him out clearly as he quickly moves back when you spot him.

"Hey!" You cry and move towards him. It's a really dumb idea to approach a strange man in a shady store, but you'd be damned if you remain lost in here.

"Hey!" You call again. You get to the aisle and see, to your suprise, Edward attempting to hide around another corner. But you've already seen him. You smile at him.

He shuffles nervously in place and quietly murmurs a hello. You see him move to leave but he stops. In his hands he holds a strange box, with wires poking out along the tops and sides. It looks strangely hostile in his hands. He sees you looking and moves to hold the box to his side.

You swallow down your anxiety, "Edward, oh its so great to see a familair face. I really hate to bother you but I'm lost in here."

Edward smiles a little, but still looks on edge, "Yeah, it's easy to get lost" Is all he says. He doesn't move.

"Do you know how to get out?" You ask.

He blinks, as though not realizing you were asking him to show you out. He hesitates, fidgeting with the strange box. "Right. Okay. I'll walk you out." He slips the box into his jacket pocket. You don't question it.

As you walk behind him you are eager to talk to him again. After he left last night you keep wondering whether you really did bother him. You think quickly of something to say.

"Do you come here often?" You ask.

You see his head shake, followed by a short snort. "That's a familair question," he remarks, sounding amused.

You laugh, "well I don't know what to say. This place freaks me out."

"it's probably good that it does." He says. Your silent. He's right.

You were at the front now. Edward turns to you with a sheepish look. You expect him to say something but he only looks down.

The man at the counter speaks first, "find one?"

You are still looking at Edward. "I think so."

You pay with the cash Joey gave you and leave quickly with Edward at your side.

You look at Edward with confusion as he starts to walk with you in the direction of the diner. "You're going to walk with me?"

He gazes up at the sky. It's truly dark now. "It's late isn't? For you to be out alone. Gotham is a bad place."

You nod. "Yeah, guess so. Thanks. And thanks for getting me out of there. Really thought I was going to be stuck for a moment."

He is silent. You walk like this for a while. Just in silence with one another. It feels nice to just be with him like this. He's being friendly. Which suprises you. You think to ask him about last night but he speaks first.

"What happened to the other one?" He gestures towards the box in your hands.

You laugh, "I broke the other one. It didn't work. But hey, hopefully your coffee should be drinkable tonight."

"It was fine last night." There's that word again. Fine. You sigh.

"Did I bother you yesterday?"

It's really hard for him to pretend like he isn't just so excited to be here. Walking next to you. He can feel your body so close to him. He swallows. "No, you didn't bother me." It bothers him that he likes you so bad. That he can't say. Can't say it to you.

You face him. "Oh. Well you just left in a hurry. I didn't make any more pie tonight cause I thought you didn't like it."

He laughs. Like a real, genuine laugh. It suprises you. You laugh in return.

"Just frozen tonight then, huh?"

"Just frozen."

"Bummer." But he sounds amused. He's still smiling when you enter the diner together. He takes his seat at the counter and props his head up onto his hands.

You smile at him. He looks really cute. It's almost too much. "Don't get too excited. I still have to setup this bad boy."

"Take your time." He watches you move into the kitchen. Joey had ready swept up the glass and cleared a spot on the table for you. You feel a little nervous working with Edward watching you. He seems more...amiable tonight. More lively, you suppose. You keep casting him looks to affirm he still watchs you. His eyes barely move away.

You half expect him to pull out his journal but he doesn't. No, no, he's too enraptured by you. He really adores how often you are nice to him when you really shouldn't be at all. So nice. You are so nice.

It'll be too cruel when the time comes. When he's taken away from you. Or when you're taken from him. You'll see the truth and that will end it all.

Everything will change. You'll change. How nice will you be then? Will you still smile? Will the horror of having known him hurt you? Will you no longer want to be nice to the quiet ones? Will you be distrustful? It feels good to have an impact. Even then, Even then.

Setting up the coffee maker is easy. It's a newer model, so it has fewer levers and cranks. Just buttons for your ease and enjoyment.

It chimes with a gentle tone as it finishes making the last of the pot. The color is a healthy brown and the smell! God the smell is actually like that of coffee, just as warm and inviting as you'd ever known.

You are eager to pour Edward a cup. He seems just as eager to enjoy it.

With a grin you place the cup in front of him. "Edward, It is done." The steam rolls off the cup in gentle waves. You swell with pride.

"Finally!" He cries. He goes to grab the mug but you stop him.

"Careful! It's hot. You have to wait."

"I have to enjoy it with my eyes for now?" He giggles.

"Yes, just that."

He smiles at you. "Can do."

<?>

[arguablysomaya]

not to bother you but do you by any chance have any more batfam fic recs? i read all the ones you recommended already and now im starved for content lmao

np lmao i have prepared for this

Just a friendly kidnapping by @Ceciliedr 

Jason decides drastic measures are in order, when his workaholic little brother refuses to take a day off. Tim is going on vacation whether he wants to or not.

As always the bat’s antics confuse the hell out of the team. Especially since Red Hood is officially a highly dangerous wanted criminal.

cryptid bats are such a good trope 

And the Scene Slips Away (To the Evenness I Fake) by @ Kirazalea

One mistake is all it took to force Jason back into the wonderful world of the Wayne family. Now publicly and legally alive once more, he's forced to spend the next two weeks of his life stuck in the Manor with the whole family. This leads to several strengthened relationships and the realization that maybe he's missed a few things over the years. Things that he's now determined to get to the bottom of.

Also known as the "Tim comes out to his family, the public finds out Jason Todd is actually alive, Jason finds out about Mirage and Tarantula, and they all are confronted with the fact that dealing with public relations as millionaire superheroes is actually The Worst (though not necessarily in that order)" Frankenstein of a fic that nobody asked for but I'm giving you anyways

*insert crying noises* this bad boy can fit so much emotion in it

American Ninja Worrier by @DangerBeckett

It's just like Tim to give a poor college student a start in the business world. Kid's a bleeding heart, and usually, that's the sort of thing Jason avoids at all costs. He prefers his bleeding hearts on the literal side, and despite Bruce's best efforts, he's never had a head for business.

Unfortunately, though, this time the business is ninjas, and that's the sort of thing that makes Jason take notice. Because Bruce is useless, and someone's gotta make sure Tim's new internship program doesn't take down all of Gotham.

That's Jason's job, after all.

most accurate tim drake i’ve ever read, added bonus of being fucking hilarious

the art of turning a bed into a home by @ anaksemuabangsa 

“We’ll feel better if we sleep in the same place,” Dick reasons, shifting the blankets and piling them on top of a stiff Tim. “When I was smaller, every time Bruce caught me having a nightmare, he used to stay with me until I fell asleep again,” he continues.

In which Bruce's kids develop a habit fit for princes and princesses.

(Somebody get them to sleep, please.)

the whole good habits series is pog asf but this one is my personal favorite. it’s so fluffy ;-;

“Get out of my room.” by @damthosefandoms

Dick likes to mess with his little brother. Jason enjoys being a little shit to his older brother. Everyone always says they’ll get along when they get older. They’re not so sure about that.

hands down the most realistic sibling relationship i’ve ever seen. fulfills my headcanon that dick and jason are just like me and my little brother. Also check out Older SIblings: A Plague on Our Society by the same author bc LMAO

Young Justice Visit the Suez Canal by @charleswaterloo 

There is an enormous container ship called the Ever Given stuck in the Suez Canal. Young Justice is on the case. During their short adventure, they also: make a massive sand sculpture, enjoy some fanfiction and unblock the Suez Canal. Not in that order. * ‘I am thinking,’ Tim said, with extreme calm, ‘That you have made something that looks like a very large penis when viewed from above.’

‘It’s a dick and balls, yeah.’ Bart said without embarrassment. ‘It’s poetic! I’m ending the journey like it started.’ * ‘Did you -’ Dick began, laughing so hard he couldn’t breathe. ‘Did you really tell him to at least “make the shaft bigger”? Bart told Wally and he told me but I have to know if it’s true, Tim. My life depends on it.’

you remember that boat that ended capitalism for like a week? yeah.

contagious by @Valkirin 

In a happier Gotham where Robin insisted on bringing his new brother Jason home from patrol, the second Robin is dosed with Poison Ivy's cuddle pollen and finds their personal photographer.

an alternate take on tim joining the family that is much more happy

Whatever it is that brothers do by @ididloveyou_once

Jason’s fairly certain his evening plans hadn’t included playing nursemaid for a reckless, self-sacrificing and frustratingly stubborn vigilante. Not to mention that said vigilante was his dumb fucking brother.

Or: Nightwing is badly injured and Hood’s the only one around to help.

*melty noises* they care about each other...........

Way Down, Hadestown

In which Damian's dead and Tim has lost one too many people to accept that.

Platonic Orpheus-Eurydice not-AU set after Damian's canonical death (that I am still deeply bitter about). Likely throws Wonder Woman canon right out of the window.

*melty noises intensity* THEY CARE ABOUT EACH OTHER TO THE FUCKING GRAVE also the lore is cool as hell in this one

the entire Grade School series by KagSesshlove

Imagine that Damian goes to a regular school full time. And has to do things that normal grade-schoolers have to do. This is his life now: pretending to be a normal 10 year old at school all for the sake of the public. But, honestly, the public would rather he not.

fucking hilarious series, i especially like My Family by Damian Wayne

i have so many more LMAO 

[squishneedsahero]

Maybe It Isn’t all Bad

Awesomest of Them All 2.0

Part 2 of 13

Word Count: 1714

Batman x Batmom!Reader

You know what the bat family needs? Someone to pull them together and give them all the love they deserve. Who better to do that than you? An author rising to stardom in Gotham who catches the eye of a billionaire with your standoffish attitude at a huge social gathering. You are yourself and never pretend to be more or less than that. Plus you're the most stubborn person in the world, refusing to let good things go without reason.

This is a rewrite of my story Awesomest of Them All, I wanted to see how much I've improved over 3 years.

It had been two months since you published your book, and it had taken off. Tons of people loved it and even more had read it. Because of this you were suddenly a popular public figure of Gotham, and of course like all other public figures you were invited to one of the many galas that happen in this city. You hated it. You, y/n l/n the nobody who lived in a shabby apartment and just happened to get lucky with your book. What you wouldn't give to go back to being a nobody so you could spend your Friday night watching Netflix alone on your couch.

Unfortunately you weren't sure how the snobby rich people,who thought they were better than everyone else, would take you rejecting their invitation the first of probably many. But this was a charity gala hosted by Bruce Wayne: play boy, billionaire, and one of the few people present that seems somewhat genuine even if you didn't think he had a single thought behind his eyes. So maybe it wasn't all bad cause all the rich people were donating to charity and Bruce usually made sure the money went somewhere good.

You had worn an elegant gown, preferring it to the ones that let your ass hang out the bottom. The dress was fabulously elegant and made you feel like a queen. You had paired it with your your highest high heels, stilettos that you could stab someone with if it came down to it. So far the night had been filled with pointless conversations and lots and lots of introductions, all while dancing a waltz.

Lets be honest you won't remember most of the new people you had met, you could've met the Queen of England and not have known it. You didn't remember not because you had been drinking, even if you had thought about it many times, but because there were so many people that wanted to get you and your new found popularity under their thumb and gain through you.

You had finally gotten a break by standing by the buffet table and eating the food they seemed to be letting go to waste. If nothing else you would singlehandedly make sure the food didn't get wasted. You kept trying to think of an excuse to go home, but so far couldn't think of anything. Your planning was interrupted when yet another person came up to you, except his face is somewhat familiar. "Hi," you say after you hurriedly swallow a bite of food.

"Hello, Miss (y/n) (l/n)," he begins, knowing your name but you not knowing his, "may I have this dance?" He asks, great another dance luckily you were used to being on your feet thanks to waitressing otherwise you'd be worried about them falling off with all this meaningless dancing. Why couldn't rich people be more fun with their dancing, most of them were white, playing some pop songs, and the Cupid Shuffle could only make things better.

"Yes, Mister..." you pause as you try to place him, you know you know him but you'd seen so many faces like that tonight that it was a blur.

"Wayne," He finishes for you.

"I'd love to dance with you Mr.Wayne," you lie through that smile that was plastered to your face. You offer your hand and wish desperately you had taken your chance to escape when you'd had it only moments before.

He takes the hand you offer to him and leads you out to the dance floor, waltzing yet again, at least you didn't have to lead cause you had no idea what you were doing. "My son read your book," he begins, trying to start up a friendly conversation, "he's keeps trying to convince me to read it."

"That's nice," you respond awkwardly, what were you supposed to do? Try to convince him to read it too? Hell no, you are not going to act like an airhead and promote yourself.

"He doesn't know that I've already read it," Bruce says. You laugh before you can stop yourself, you almost apologize but he laughs as well. "I enjoyed reading it, it was very well written." Maybe he did actually have real thoughts in his head unlike how the media portrayed him.

"Thank you," you say a slight blush making is way onto your cheeks. He was quite attractive after all and here he was complimenting you. The smile on your lips becomes more genuine as the two of you continue dancing, making light conversation, and surprisingly it was quite enjoyable.

Before you know it the party is over. And you'd spent almost half of it dancing with one man. "Thank you for the dance."

"It was my pleasure," he says, and you find yourself blushing for the millionth time that night. Maybe these parties weren't all bad, you'd found a friend you could have intelligent conversations with after all.

You find yourself invited to almost every gala that happens in the city over the next few months and every time Bruce is there the two of you spend most of the time dancing and talking with each other. The conversations between the two of you are pleasant, covering many topics, and most importantly they aren't meaningless like all the other conversations you were forced into at galas.

Bruce would get your opinion on things such as how the money he got for charity should be spent since you had been more recently living among the people he was trying to help. Like you weren't bad off by any means but you hadn't owned a car, relying on bus routes to get around the city and working 40+ hours a week to keep your head above water. You had been better off than many in Gotham but you had been closer to the poverty than Bruce had, even considering his night job. The fact that he genuinely cared and wanted your opinion amazed you. He was the first and probably only friend you made among the one percent at those parties.

Of course the two of you didn't only talk business, other more casual subjects came up. The two of you bonding over having dead parents, even if he was more traumatized and your wounds more recent. Then talking about school and how you had decided to skip college in order to pursue writing while he had been homeschooled then traveled the world instead of college, not that either of you were too old for college though. He was was 23-24, still young despite having adopted an 8 almost 9 year old and you were close to the same age as him.

The both of you being young, and single, did lead the two of you to have more than a friendship but that was after nearly a year of just talking at galas. Okay a year of just talking was a lie. It was probably only six months before the two of you found yourselves out in a garden and shared your first kiss. But it was an entire year before he finally asked you out, claiming it was a dare from Dick and to ease the pressure of the press.

You of course called him on those lies and pointed out the fact that there had not been a single other woman in his life since the two of you met. And said the only way you'd go out with him was if he'd, "just admit you like me." Needless to say he did.

That was part of the reason that he was so attracted to you. Despite what he knew about you from the one day he saved you from Joker, you were just unafraid to be yourself. You had never pretended or tried to pretend to fit in at the galas. You'd never been afraid to call him on his shit, even if it had risked your one friendship that made those galas bearable.

To your surprise when you had called him a dumbass for thinking it was acceptable to give a 9 year old unlimited access to the internet he laughed and said you were probably right. Then for some reason he thought it was a good idea to ask you for parenting advice and you told him that was a worse idea. You had less of an idea how to be a parent than he did, the only reason a 9 year old shouldn't have unlimited internet access was because he was a bit young to already get unrealistic expectations from porn. Mainly you had no idea, it just felt weird to turn a kid loose on the internet but then again you'd been a kid who ate mud and called it fun.

So, all the talking and asking opinions and just spending a ton of time together leads to Bruce asking you out. The press saw this coming from miles away and caught you both on your date, not that they didn't have pictures of the two of you hiding from people on a balcony. But an actual date?!? Amazing! All the internet fans were happy for you, the paparazzi loved you and would do anything to get pictures of the two of you.

The two of you became Gotham's it couple overnight but the best thing about it was that it was real. Both of you were blatantly honest, calling each other out when needed and defending each other at other moments. There were no secrets between the both of you and you wouldn't trade that for anything. It was amazing to you that you had finally found a man who saw you as his equal and if anything he was a man known for being a womanizer.

So that's how it all started, in the space of a year the two of you fell in love and were head over heels for each other. Dick played match maker every chance he got, since he adored you for some odd reason. And of course, when you finally met him Alfred approved of you and Bruce being together, the one person able to call him on his shit and have him listen. It was a miracle that Alfred had thought he'd never love to see.

[incoherentbabblings]

Has it been explained why Stephanie didn't have many or any friends before meeting Tim?

I give Dixon some credit here, Steph had 'friends' who he wrote her associating with, but she falls out with them when she gets pregnant and they're a bit... unrealistically dumb regarding teen pregnancy. I've never known so many fifteen year old girls to be ecstatic that their friend is preggo, but hey. Maybe Mr Dixon knows more than me about teenage girls. Woah that was a dig.

And then after Steph comes back from the dead she hangs out with a 'rough' crowd, but looking at her standing there in a pink top and her blonde hair, she clearly isn't meant to fit in with them. In fact she even tells Tim that she's half hanging around with them to keep them out of too much trouble.

Robin (1993) #61 - 'So's a tattoo' omg Tim shut the frick up comparing a baby to a tattoo wooft - and Robin Spoiler Special - But they're harmless really. Oh no! Waterguns.

I mean I look at her in the Batgirl run really trying to make friends at college. The girl is painfully awkward. She's drawn with really stiff and awkward body language, overshares and is overly friendly in efforts to get people to like her. I dunno, maybe being homeschooled for four years made her social skills plummet.

The reason out of universe for her lack of friends was nobody focused on her enough to show what her life was like outside of Tim. In universe, the citizens of Gotham are mean or do know what to do with emotional earnestness. She gets on best with Cass, someone who's not exactly gonna hold a grudge at Steph breaking social conventions, and Kara, who kind of uses Steph to practice human normal life things with, so again, not so bothered about the breaking of social conventions there. Kara doesn't even know what half of them are.

Batgirl (2009) #14 - Kara has clearly never enjoyed the mind boggingly awful game of scrabble.

Steph even admits she has very few friends. Cass, Wendy, Kara. Which to be fair to Steph, is probably enough for her, or a lot of people. Civvie friends though... well. Jordanna is right to call her weird. Cause she is a bit.

Steph didn't exactly have a ton of friends before Tim, but she didn't really get loads from knowing him after either.

[justcourttee]

It’s More Than Just a Game Pt 1

@qualitypeacepainter sent me this wonderful idea for a Daminette Volleyball AU. It will definitely have several parts and I am so excited to write it so I hope you enjoy and I hope it’s something like what you had in mind :)

“So this is what a tournament looks like?” Marinette inhaled deeply “Do you smell that Nino? Air Salonpas. It’s so satisfying.”

She didn’t bother waiting for his response, she knew he was only here for her sake. Nobody could match her excitement for this day. It took her weeks, but she finally scrambled together a makeshift team so that she could enter at least one volleyball tournament before her middle school days were over. They had exactly three days of practice, but it didn’t matter.

Marinette was here to win.

“There are a lot of good teams here, please don’t get your hopes up Mari.” Adrien reached out, placing a hand on her shoulder as if he were attempting to pull her back down to reality. “Nino and I only know the basics, this isn’t anything like baseball.”

“Yeah Marinette, I know you gave us all a crash course, but this is way different from basketball.”

“And soccer!”

Her teammates all shared the same discouraged look on their faces. They knew how hard Marinette trained. Every day after school, she’d set to herself, pass to herself, spike at the school wall while the basketball team practiced. She was always helping them out, so the least they could do was help her form a team, but volleyball was something none of them knew much of.

“You guys worry too much! You’re all super athletic and the best friends a girl could ask for. There is absolutely nothing that could get in our way-”

Her sentence was cut short as a yell of excitement echoed through the gym. Instantly her eyes locked on the source of the commotion. Gotham Middle had entered and the crowd’s excitement was all focused on them. The teams around them begin to whisper, passing drills stopping as everyone took the chance to size up the competition.

“-it’s the King of the Court-”

“-I thought they weren’t entering this tournament-”

“-we’re so screwed-”

It was as if the world was crashing down around her. Marinette knew all about Gotham Middle. They were always featured in Sports Weekly as the top school in the volleyball world. In fact, there was even one student who was being scouted for the US National team. The King of the Court, Damian Al Ghul Wayne.

“I-I think I need to use the bathroom.” Marinette clutched her stomach, her face paling the longer she stared.

“Are you okay?”  Nino tried to offer her a hand to steady herself but she simply waved him off, stumbling past him to the hallway, her eyes dazed.

It’s just one team. It’s not like they would have to play them first. Of course, they would have a warm-up game, something to get her team in the groove. Yeah, there was no doubt in her mind. She came here to win, not worry about some top-ranked school.

Slowly she stood up, taking a few deep breaths, the bathroom door a mere ten steps away.

“I’ve never even heard of Dupont Transfer Middle.”

“Apparently it’s some French school that sends students wanting to study in America. It’s like a prep for American high school. They spend their eighth-grade year there to perfect their English and take any courses that wouldn’t transfer over.”

Marinette glanced over her shoulder. Sure enough, standing in front of the water fountain were a couple of members of Gotham Middle. The only reason they would be concerned with her school would be..no..fate wouldn’t be that cruel right?

“They barely have a six-man team, they don’t even have a libero. Did they actually think they had a chance?”

“Hey!” Three sets of eyes turned in her direction, instantly wavering her nerve. “Don’t underestimate us.”

As if on cue, her stomach lurched once more, taking any confidence she had with it. The Gotham players shared a glance before busting into laughter.

“Is she serious? I think she is.”

“Is that the captain label on her uniform? Maybe we should show her some respect.”

Instantly, they all straightened, mock saluting her before dissolving back into a fit of laughter. Marinette wanted to give them a piece of her mind, but her stomach refused to let up.

“Hey, benchwarmers. It’s time for the warm-up. Quit wasting time.”

The three silenced, their face a mixture of fear and awe. Who could command such respect? The coach? The manager? Marinette’s eyes strayed to where the voice came from, her stomach immediately dropping.

“The King,” she slapped her hand over her mouth, hoping she hadn’t said it loud enough to offend the guy in front of her. He didn’t even glance in her direction, his fierce glare completely focused on his teammates.

“Right away sir. Kasey, fill up two more.”

Damian Wayne. He couldn’t have been more 5’7”, but compared to Marinette’s 5’1”, she was in awe. It was impressive how he could command so much respect with just one look. She watched as he turned, taking a few steps toward the gym before pausing once more.

“Relax James, you act like we’ll need a lot. Just look at our opponent.”

It was as if they completely ignored his warning. Their giggles only enraged Marinette.

“What did you sa-”

“Did I stutter? Quit wasting time. You’re barely benchwarmers, quit acting as though you’re good enough to look down on your opponent.”

Marinette watched as they all paled, gathering their bottles before rushing back into the gym. None of them dared to make eye contact with him. Marinette released a chuckle of her own. He might be terrifying, but he really wasn’t a bad guy. Marinette relaxed as she stood, a friendly smile tugging at her lips.

“You know, I was just about to say something to them myself.”

His glare shifted from his retreating teammates to where she stood. Instantly she felt a shiver down her spine.

“You’re not even physically ready to sit the bench, don’t talk as if we’re on the same level. What are you even doing here anyway? Making memories? This is a tournament for people who are serious.”

“I am serious, my team is serious. We’re here to win and that means we start by defeating you.”

Damian took a step forward. Suddenly those six inches felt a lot taller than they were. Marinette fought with herself to not move away.

“You say that like it’s so easy.” The waves flowing off of him made her want to shrivel up, but her anger anchored her feet.

“I may not look like much, but I can jump. Really high. I will jump over any wall your team puts in front of me.”

He simply scoffed, only fueling her rage. Everyone always underestimates her, she hated it. She just wanted to be taken seriously in the sport she loved.

“You will simply be a stepping stone on the way to our championship.”

Before she could even respond, Damian turned his back, returning to the court, leaving her fuming in her spot. She wanted to declare war, rush him and take him out before he could even step onto the floor, but her stomach had other plans. Gripping her gut, Marinette turned to the bathroom, her face paler than before she left the gym.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“Dudette! You were gone for like twenty minutes. It’s our turn to use the court. How do we warm-up?”

Marinette scanned the other side of the court to where Gotham Middle stood huddled, occasionally glancing back at her teammates. All except one. Damian stood alone, his arms crossed, his eyes closed. If she didn’t know any better, she would think he was meditating.

“Let’s work on passing. It’s something we all struggle with and I think we’ll really need it with this team.”

Five minutes passed and as they lined up for the beginning of the first set, Marinette’s eyes locked onto his from across the court. She already had a fire burning when she stepped into the gym, but it was as if he threw coal at her until she was ablaze ready to annihilate anything in her path.

“We will win.”

Her teammates shared a look of skepticism, but none voiced their concerns. They didn’t have to. It had only been ten minutes, but the score was already 12 - 0. The only one drenched in sweat was Marinette. The energy for the rest had been drained after the first service ace.

“Nino! Set me up!”

They were barely keeping the ball in the air with iffy passes that they were sure the ref was only letting slide out of pity. Nino was the only one who could decently set. It was nothing compared to the flawless and quick sets the King was serving on the other side, but Marinette could care less. All she wanted, was a chance to hit the ball.

His set was shaky, the ball wobbling as it flew, threatening to fall out of the sky at any moment. But to her, it was perfect. On instinct, Marinette jumped, her palm connecting to the ball. A satisfying thud came from the other side of the court as the gym silenced, trying to process what had happened.

“Did they just score?”

“Forget that, did you see how high she just jumped? She must’ve been a foot over the net!”

The whispers got louder until a single clap echoed from the crowd leading to another and another. As her feet touched the ground once more, Marinette immediately shot Damian a smug look. His mouth hung agape, his eyes a mixture of anger, and did she catch a hint of admiration? It was even more satisfying than the sound of the ball hitting the court.

“Why didn’t you get that?”

Marinette flinched as he turned on his teammates, his face fuming.

“Dude, you were in shock too! We didn’t think they had-”

“This is why you don’t underestimate anyone, ever. You give every team 100% of your effort.”

Damian turned back to the net, his eyes narrowing in on her. It took everything in her not to crumble as she picked up the ball, tossing it to Adrien. She had a kill. Her first one in a tournament and not even the terrifying demon behind her could stomp on her moment.

“Okay, guys! Here’s our chance. Let’s turn this around.”

Her excitement spread through the court, each of her teammate’s risking a smile. Their fire may not have been as bright as hers, but it was finally starting to shine through.

“You’re right Marinette. We can’t promise anything flashy like the King over there, but we will get you the ball. No matter what it takes.”

This was the chance she was waiting for, the chance to motivate her team. Now that she had their attention, she didn’t want to waste one second of it.

.  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

“It was a close game Marinette. Please don’t be upset.”

Marinette waved off her friends, her smile tight.

“They won in two sets and we barely hit double digits both times, but it’s okay guys, really. Thank you so much for helping me out. I’m going to stay for a while, so go on without me. I wanna watch some more matches.”

Her friends shared a look of skepticism, but one by one they slowly stood, all leaving until she was the only one left. Marinette sighed as she stood herself, working up the courage to step back into the gym.

“I told you it was useless.”

Marinette glanced over her shoulder only to meet an annoyingly familiar face blocking the entrance.

“Don’t you have something better to do than gloat oh glorious king?”

“Tt, I only wanted to point out that your jump was impressive, but volleyball is not a sport that you can get by with athleticism alone. You set yourself up for failure.”

It was Marinette’s turn to scoff as she brushed past him, intent on not speaking another word.

“A piece of advice for you. Drop volleyball while it’s all fun and games for you. High school has no place for a foreigner with no talent.”

“I’ll beat you.” Her voice was soft but cold. Damian didn’t speak a response, but he didn’t move either as if he were taunting her to continue. Marinette turned her head until she had a full view of his scowling face. “Whether it be when fall comes and my team smoothers yours or even if it takes ten, twenty, no fifty years, I will destroy you King of the Court. All I have to do is be the last one standing, right?”

He didn’t respond, only offered her a small grunt before exiting the doors. Her eyes followed him until the bus doors closed and Gotham Middle pulled out of the parking lot.

“I will get better, just you wait Damian Wayne.” Marinette took a step forward, her eyes zeroing in on the match in front of her. High School was only three months away. Three short months to make her declaration a reality.

She smiled, the fire in her eyes stirring with a deadly glint. 

“Next time we meet, I will destroy the King of the Court.”

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[mochegato]

Hope on Board

Chapter 6 – Everything Happens in Its Own and Usually Most Inconvenient Possible Time

Chapter 1     Chapter 5

The gala was going better than anticipated.  Despite feeling like she stuck out like weed in a field of flowers, things seemed to be going well.  Marinette had talked with more people than she could remember and they all seemed to walk away happily and interested in her work except for a few pompous assholes who couldn’t keep their eyes off her growing chest.  Admittedly, she was showing more cleavage than she anticipated, but she was blaming that on the baby that was enlarging her chest already.

Luckily, she had Adrien to watch out for her and keep them from doing anything more than just look. More importantly, Tim seemed impressed with her designs for the gala and could pick out the outfits that were hers. That was two big checks for the night. The rest of her life might be going to hell, but at least this night was going smoothly.

Whereas she felt like she was an imposter in the ranks, Adrien seemed to blend into the crowd seamlessly. Laughing sensibly at the right times, sharing knowing looks that confused Marinette with the other party goers, smiling politely at the right bad jokes.  He led her to the right people to get to know and whispered in her ear the right things to say to them.

She watched Adrien flourish and felt a twinge of guilt.  This was the product of his dad.  She was benefitting from Gabriel’s abuse toward Adrien.  She grabbed Adrien’s arm to get his attention and looked up at him with sad eyes.  He gave her a soft smile and excused them politely from the conversation they were in. “It’s okay, Mari.  I’m okay,” he assured her.  He looked back out to the crowd.

“How about a fun one next?” he urged her.  

Marinette gave him a halfhearted smile and nodded.  If he could do this then so could she.  He was doing this for her.  She could hold up her end.  She nodded and smiled politely at people as she passed.  One woman lit up at her so Marinette stopped to talk to her, letting Adrien continue on without her.  After a very amusing conversation with a breath of fresh air named Selina Kyle, Marinette searched for Adrien in the crowd.  Luckily, he hadn’t wandered too far away.  She caught his attention and he turned to her with a wide smile.

“And this is Marinette Dupain-Cheng.  Marinette, this is Richard Grayson.”

Marinette looked over to the new man, still trying to keep all the names of people she had met already. There were too many names.  There was no way she was going to remember this new person’s name.  She looked in the new man’s eyes… familiar eyes and a familiar but strained smile. Why were those eyes familiar? “Fuck…” Marinette let out before she could stop herself.

Adrien froze.  Richard froze.  That name wasn’t right.  That definitely wasn’t the name he had given her.  Did he give her a fake name?  

“Uh, hi.” Dick offered with a strained smile.  “It’s nice to meet you. Dick Grayson.”  He wasn’t sure what their relationship was, but if she was in a relationship with Adrien, he wasn’t going to intentionally destroy it despite the twinge in his heart. That would explain the hasty exit from his apartment though.

“He is Bruce Wayne’s son,” Adrien gently reminded her, “Tim’s brother.”  

“Fuck!” Marinette groaned out louder. Tears were starting to appear in her eyes.  This could not be happening.  Not here.  Not now. She was not prepared for this conversation.  She was supposed to be networking for her job, for the partnership and her store. She did not have time for this!  Why now.  Why after all their searching and attempts to retrace her steps did it have to happen now?

He was Tim’s brother and Bruce Wayne’s son.  One of, if not the richest man in the world and the current holder of her exclusive contract.  Dick was going to hate her.  He was going to think she trapped him into this.  He was going to think she was a manipulative bitch who shouldn’t be allowed to raise children and take the baby away and never let her see it.  She would only get to see him or her or them whenever Richard took them out in public.  The baby was going to get a new mother and would call her ‘Maman’.  And what if that new mom didn’t like having a stepchild?  What if she didn’t love them like they deserved?  What if they thought Marinette didn’t want them?

“Are you okay?” Adrien asked quietly.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Marinette exclaimed shaking her hands to release anxiety.  She could no longer breathe and tears were starting to gather in the corner of her eyes.

“Mari?” Adrien looked between Marinette and Richard a few times before a realization set in.  “Oh my God.  He said his name was Dick.  It’s him! It’s ladybug shirt guy!” He said with a smile.  “We found him!  I’m telling Chloe.  She is going to die.”

“No!” Marinette jumped at him to grab his phone, attracting the attention of the people around them. But at this point, Marinette no longer cared.  She had more important things to focus on.

“Well, I have more mingling to do and you,” he pushed Marinette toward Dick hard enough for her to stumble and Dick to reach out and steady her, “have some talking to do.  Good luck.  I won’t go too far.  Let me know if you need me… for anything...”  He looked at Marinette sincerely with his last statement before giving Dick a less friendly look.  “… anything at all.”

Marinette looked up at Dick through her lashes.  Her fear was radiating out of her and it made Dick want to wrap her up and hold her until she smiled.  “How… how have you been?”

Marinette looked around them noticing now close everyone was and a few people who were leaning back expressly to eavesdrop.  She eyed them warily and responded loudly enough for them to hear, “We haven’t caught up in a bit.  Let’s go somewhere and talk where the music isn’t so loud.”

Dick followed her eyes and nodded, leading her out of the ballroom and into the closed section of the manor.  He could feel the apprehension as she walked, making him nervous as well.  He didn’t know what was about to happen but he could tell it was significant.  He just didn’t know if it was good significant or bad significant.

“We should be good here. Nobody but family is allowed back here.” He looked around anxiously as if to confirm, but really it was just something for him to do, something to focus on besides her.  “I was hoping to talk to you after… after that night but realized I didn’t get your number.  I tried going back to the club to look for you, but...”

“It closed.  Yeah… I tried going back to the club, too.” Dick brightened up at that.  She had searched for him too.  It wasn’t just him that wanted to try for something more.  “I wanted to maybe just show up at your door, but I think I was still drunk when I left and…,” she scrunched up her face in uncertainty, “I saw all the weapons on the counter and when I heard you waking up in the bedroom, I just ran.  I didn’t pay attention to where I was.  And then I thought about the weapons and thought… maybe I shouldn’t.”

The realization hit Dick and he cursed under his breath.  He was going to kill Jason.  “My brother is paranoid, Jason not Tim, who you apparently know.  Living in Gotham is bad enough but he… we get targeted a lot so he… those were his weapons, not mine.  I swear.  None of them were mine and they normally aren’t even there, I just wouldn’t let them take them to the club,” he rushed out to try to assure her.  

Her eyes searched his. He held his breath praying she found what she was looking for, or not finding it, depending on the question she was trying to answer.  Whichever answer let him talk to her again, he hoped she found it.  After a few moments, she must have found some answer because she gave him a weak smile and nodded slightly.  Dick let out the breath he had been holding.  She didn’t seem entirely convinced, but Dick would take it. He could work with it if she gave him a chance.  He nervously rubbed the back of his neck.  Now he had a chance, what was he going to do with it?  “So… how have you been?”

“Pregnant,” Marinette answered quickly, instantly regretting not saying it more sensitively, easing him into the realization.  She had freaked out, it stood to reason that he would as well.

Dick’s eyes widened in shock and his breath shortened.  He looked down to her belly and back up to her face.  A look of panic was plastered on his face.  He was not ready.  How did it even happen?  He thought they had used precautions.  And he had provided the condom and put it on so it wasn’t as though she could have sabotaged anything.  Holy shit! He was going to be a dad.  How was he going to balance that?  How was he going to be a dad and Nightwing? Shit!  He couldn’t take care of himself.  How was he supposed to take care of a child?  He was pretty sure they ate more than cereal.

“I’m so sorry!” Marinette rushed out seeing his whole body going into shock.  “I’m so very, very sorry!  I swear I don’t expect anything.  I don’t… I didn’t… This wasn’t on purpose.  I swear!  I wasn’t trying to get pregnant.” Tears were now freely falling down her cheeks and marring her dress.  Thank God she had waterproof mascara but the water stains were still making their mark.

“How…”

She chuckled mirthlessly. “Did you know semen leaks out before the… end?  Cuz’ I didn’t.” She wiped tears away as she spoke.  “Or rather I did, I just didn’t think it was enough to do anything.  But, if you’re truly lucky, that’s enough.  So if you wait to put a condom on until just before… the end, you can still get pregnant.”

“And you… you’re sure…” He didn’t know how to ask the question tactfully.

She drew a sharp breath and looked down wiping away a few more tears.  “Yeah.  I… I broke up with my boyfriend a little under a year ago.  There… um… there hasn’t been anyone else since then.”  

He nodded dumbly.  That was pretty conclusive.  Unless there was a sudden case of immaculate conception going on, that was his baby.  “Okay.”

She turned her eyes to him, her expression somber.  “I didn’t… I don’t expect you to do anything, not participation, not child support, nothing. I just… I thought you deserved to know even if you don’t want to be involved and I understand if this is too much for you.”

Dick looked up at her in surprise.  She was giving him an out.  She wasn’t expecting him to be a dad and help take care of them.  But for some reason, that realization only made his heart clench tighter.  Did he want an out?  Did he want to miss out on his child’s upbringing?  All of their firsts?  Their first step.  Their first summersault.  Their first word.  Their first laugh.  Their first breath.  

He didn’t.  He didn’t want to miss out on those things.  He pulled himself out of his spiral to see Marinette starting to turn away to leave.  He reached out and grabbed her hand before she could get too far away and pulled her into his chest, hugging her tightly.  “I want to be involved.  I want to be there.  I want to help.”  She froze for a few seconds before hugging him back just as strongly.  Her crying increased in his arms and he held her through it.  He wouldn’t let her go through any part of this alone, not anymore.

“I don’t know what you need, but I want to help provide it for you and… and our baby,” he said gently, pulling away just enough to wipe away her tears.  

She nodded at him, turning her eyes up to match his.  Dick felt his chest tighten.  Her eyes were glassy with tears but still gorgeous and captivating.  He moved the hand wiping the tears to cup her face. His thumb gently stroked her cheek. He leaned down toward her but her hand clasped over her lips before his lips could reach them, blocking his way. Her eyes bugged out and she ran to the trash can before throwing up.

“Oh my god,” she groaned, collapsed on the floor next to the trash can.  “And morning sickness has officially begun.  And it’s early.  Just so much luck.”  She looked up at him with an apologetic smile.  “Sorry you had to see that.”

Dick chuckled lightly, “Well, I did want to be there for all the firsts.  Come on,” he gently grabbed her hands to help her up, “let’s get you some water to rinse out your mouth and cleaned up a bit.  If you want to stay, I’d love to escort you around.  If you’d like to go home and rest, I’d love to take you home.  If you want to go somewhere and talk, I’d love to take you wherever you want.  But either way, can I get your phone number… and last name?  I want to help figure things out with you.  Maybe… if you’re interested… maybe go on a first date?  If you want to try for a relationship…. I mean… I understand if you don’t want to risk…”  

His stuttering cut off when she started giggling.  He looked up to match her eyes, a look of hope finally finding their way back into them. “I would really like that, too. And it’s Dupain-Cheng.  Marinette Dupain-Cheng.  It’s nice to officially meet you, Dick Grayson.”

Chapter 7

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