#She all but yells that when she argues with Cass

[breadedsinner]

I think an overlying theme across all 3 of my canon girls and their relationships is "I need to believe there's hope for you, so that I can believe there's hope for me, too,".

[purpleturtle9000]

so like. does teen cass have parents somewhere that hear about her rivalry with four mutant turtles. do they think she's just really imaginative. do they believe her and give her tips on how to defeat them. i need to know.

[schrijverr]

We’re Adopted?!?

When Bruce’s kids end up on the Watchtower due to a set of unforeseen circumstances, Jason first tries to get the League to believe that they’re all biologically related to Bruce. He tries to avoid having Jason give everyone a sex talk by reminding him that he’s adopted. This leads to all his kids pretending that this is the first time they’ve heard of it, much to the horror of the League and the exasperation of Bruce.

Based on this post.

On AO3.

Ships: none

Warnings: none

~~~~

It finally happened. After years of successfully keeping the League from finding out about all the kids he has, they’ve finally met. And in the most dramatic way too. In a way it’s very suited for their family, but that is a detail Bruce had hoped to keep from the League.

However, it happens anyway and now his two teams have met.

They’re sitting in the common area of the Watchtower when the Zeta-Tube suddenly whirs to life and the Batmobile comes crashing into the area. It spins to a stop as if it had been in the middle of a chase, before the teleporter snatched them off the streets.

Bruce gets out of his chair and makes his way over. He isn’t too worried about them, since they’re here and while that might have meant danger before, they are safe with him now. If one of them had been terribly injured or left behind, they would be screaming and yelling already and that isn’t happening yet.

His eyes meet Tim’s, who is standing next to the car, his costume a little singed, hair askew and looking a little worse for wear. Apologetically he greets: “Hi, Justice League, promise we have a good reason to be here.”

For Bruce, this is quite normal chaos and these are his kids, but he notices that the Justice League has formed a defensive barrier around the Batmobile. They perceive his kids as a threat. It’s so absurd that he is quiet for a moment.

In that moment, Superman steps forward and demands to know: “Who are you and how did you get up here?”

“With a car no less,” Hal adds, sounding a little impressed, which doesn’t make Bruce smug in the slightest, no sir.

He is about to tell everyone to stand down when the doors of the car open and his kids come spilling out. It’s a bit of a car clown moment with how many vigilantes fit inside.

Dick nearly falls out of the side, with Damian following after him. Both of them have soot in their hair and scratches on their faces.

A singed Jason stumbling out on the other side as he loudly complains: “This is the last time we’re letting Spoiler drive.”

Steph’s costume is a little flame tattered too as she swings open the driving side and says: “I’d like to see you do better, asshole. At least it wasn’t like Signal’s first driving attempt.”

“Hey,” Duke exclaims, coming out of the car after Jason, looking a little banged up. “Just because I didn’t know where the missiles were, doesn’t mean it was terrible.”

“I didn’t eject anyone,” Steph pouts.

“Yes, you did!” Duke exclaims. “You very much did.”

“Well, not by accident,” Steph argues. “It was part of the plan.”

The other front door is now open and Cass is next to him. He puts an arm around her and pulls her into his cape. Then he decides to step in, because it seems the League doesn’t know what to do when they’re not viewed as an authority.

“What happened?” he asks.

Six heads snap his way, as if his kids had forgotten where they were. It wouldn’t be the first time, so he doesn’t even bother rolling his eyes.

Tim reports: “The Riddler broke out of Arkham, along with like a bunch of b-rate villains. They caused havoc, but we rounded them all up. Riddler took the time it took us to round them up to set up his trap. He went with a fire theme.”

“Is he contained now?” Bruce asks, a little concerned.

“Yeah, no problem, B, we got ‘em,” Steph assures him casually with a thumbs up.

“Sorry, uhm, excuse me, Batman, do you know these people?” Clark asks in that awkward, polite way of his.

Bruce contemplates for a second what he should answer. Then decides that he wants to know what happened and doesn’t want to deal with questions. So he just says: “My associates. Now report, how did you end up here?”

“Associates,” Jason snorts.

However, he is ignored by his siblings as Damian reports: “We have caught the Riddler, however we did so without solving the last of his riddles. So, he sprang his trap after we took him down and we became the target of some missiles.”

“Oh my god, are you okay?” one of the League members exclaims under their breath.

“Tt, of course we’re okay,” Damian spits back. “Unlike you, we have been trained.”

“And we learned our lesson; always solve all of Riddler’s riddles,” Steph grins, giving them all a thumbs up.

“I already said that, but who listens to Red Robin? Nobody,” Tim complains.

Before it can turn into a squabble fest again, Bruce clears his throat and Dick jumps in to get them back on track, explaining: “We tried to get away in the Batmobile, but we couldn’t outrun it forever. So we decided the best way to escape was to use the Zeta-Tube connection.”

“It was great, Spoiler sent replacement flying so he could put in the code,” Jason laughs.

“I wanted to beam us to the Cave, but with the amount of time we had, just taking us to the most recently used coordinates was smarter,” Tim explains. He checks his arm computer then says: “The chatter on the police coms is that the missile made impact where we disappeared. No one was in the area when it went off, but there is property damage. And a few of the new recruits are convinced we’re supernatural, since none of our remains are being found.”

That last bit gets a few laughs from the assembled vigilantes. Most of Gotham PD have resigned themselves to the fact that the protectors of Gotham are humans, who seemingly pull of the impossible from time to time.

However, there are always newer members, who come up with great conspiracies about how they aren’t human and that’s why they pull it off. Bruce knows that it’s a bit of a game between his kids to see who can get them to believe the weirdest shit about them.

So, he just lets them have the moment of amusement after what must have been a highly tense moment.

Then he asks: “Where is Bluebird?” since he hasn’t seen Harper among the crowd, which is weird, because she’s on the night shift, while Duke is on the day shift.

“She the one, who figured out where Riddler was and caught him,” Dick says proudly. “She was escorting him to Arkham when she noticed he was being off. Without her we would’ve never made it to the Batmobile on time.”

Bruce makes a mental note to thank her for saving his other kids when he sees her.

“We also let Oracle know we’re okay, so she can inform her and Batwoman when she gets back from her mission, just in case she saw the news,” Dick goes on.

“Wait,” they get interrupted by Hal. “How many more heroes are you going to pull out of your sleeve? What happened to Mr. I Work alone? Am I being crazy here? Why are you all just standing there?”

Clark says: “Well, it’s obvious Batman knows these people and they do not seem like a threat to us, so I was going to wait until they’d given a report before demanding answers.”

“And we will demand answers, Batman,” Diana adds, making Bruce swallow a little. “We are your friends, we hoped there would be some trust there. You seem to have a whole different team of warriors. That is something you share.”

“Don’t mind, B, he just comes with permanently built in paranoia, it’s nothing against you,” Dick tells them.

In the background, Jason snorts: “Did you hear that guys? We’re his team of warriors. His associates.”

Damian huffs at that: “These imbeciles obviously do not know what they are on about and I refuse to be referred to as such, when I am the blood son.”

“I don’t know, Robin,” Steph laughs. “It almost starts to feel like he cares. I mean, he obviously has been bragging about us.”

“He has not spoken a word about us,” Damian exclaims.

In the background, Bruce can feel a headache coming. He has tried to keep his kids away from the League for their own safety. They can’t use his kids against him, should they become compromised, if they don’t know they exist.

However, they do know now and not only that, it seems like his kids are here to cause trouble on purpose now that they finally get to meet, who they refer to as, ‘his work friends AKA the only friends he has’. Delightful.

Indeed, the League has picked up on the words Jason set Damian up for, because Hal repeats: “Blood son?”

And Clark frowns: “They do seem quite young.”

“Batman, are you employing babes to protect Gotham with you?” Diana exclaims in horror.

“I am highly trained, who dares to call me a baby,” Damian protests immediately and while his siblings would usually laugh at him, they now also feel offended.

All of them have had to defend their age to people, including Bruce. They don’t like being questioned. So all of them are falling over themselves to defend their position as protectors of Gotham.

Bruce decides to help them, explaining: “There are more teen heroes, most of you have or had a sidekick. These vigilantes keep each other safe, they have the safety of back up and I also provide good gear. They’re not running around without a clue of what to do.”

“Ahww, I knew you cared, old man,” Steph coos, while Cass taps a genuine thank you in Morse code on his arm.

“Batman, I appreciate that you look out of them, but most sidekicks have had superpowers that are related to one of the heroes and sought out a mentor to help,” Clark says gently. “You have no powers, where did you get these kids?”

And in hindsight, he should have known better than to hesitate. However, at the times, he does, because the circus, the streets, the neighbor’s and some villains, are not really good answers to that question, no matter how true. And he doesn’t know if he wants to explain.

Still, he has to admit that he melts slightly when Cass speaks up to say: “His kids.”

Plus, it’s kind of funny how most League member jump out of their skin at the sudden voice, since none of them had spotted Cass before. Not even those with superhuman senses. His daughter is so talented.

Arguably the funniest reaction is Hal, who shrieks: “Where the fuck did you get these kids, Spooky!” as he violently startles backwards.

However, Jason jumps on the opportunity, sending Bruce a shit eating grin before he does (he might still be wearing the helmet, but Bruce knows him). He says: “Well, when two people love each other very much, they-”

No, just no. Absolutely not.

The League already thinks him to be a bit of a weirdo, who is steeped in paranoia. They respect him, but they’re always a little wary of him too (which is good in a way, he doesn’t want them close to his secret identity with the threat they could pose). Still, he doesn’t want them to think he practically bred an army of shadow-y vigilantes to protect Gotham. He’d never live it down.

“Hood,” he quickly cuts Jason off, before he can continue with his nonsense. Then he tiredly reminds him: “You’re adopted.”

“WHAT!” Jason shrieks, ripping his helmet off to reveal a shocked and betrayed face even with his domino mask. “How could you keep that from me?”

It seems like everyone needs a second to recover and process after the outburst. However, Jason is gaining steam and dramatically barrels on: “For years. Years! I lived with you, you fed me, you cared for me. You are my dad. At least you were. Was that all a lie? Some ruse? How- Why- I deserved to know.”

Bruce is shocked, unable to form words. His relationship with Jason has been rough, though getting better. It’s still tentative, though, so to hear Jason refer to him as dad throws him off in one of the best ways. Until he realizes Jason is fucking with him.

Even then, it is kind of nice that Jason is messing with him. When he looks, he sees that Jason is having fun under the mask of betrayal. It doesn’t have a bitter undertone, like it would have a few months ago. Instead, it feels a little like all the times Jason messed with him in front of Commissioner Gordon, back when he was Robin.

So, later Bruce will cut himself some slack for basking in that feeling for long enough that the others catch on and join in.

It starts with Steph, who has never claimed him as her father a day in his life, but will always be committed to a bit. She sniffles: “I can’t believe you’d lie to our brother like that. Soon you’ll tell us we’re all adopted.”

“Spoiler,” Bruce warns, hoping to deter anyone else from joining in.

That doesn’t happen, instead, Dick pulls Duke into a hug and exclaims: “Yeah, next you’ll tell us Signal here isn’t our half brother, like you didn’t leave his mother at the altar.” He narrows his eyes and adds: “I was the flower boy too, I can’t believe you did that to her.”

He sees Duke’s calculating gaze, flitting between Dick and himself and knows it’s only a matter of time before he picks a side, so he grunts: “Signal, don’t-”

“She talked about it until her death. Don’t tell me she made it up,” Duke suddenly says, picking the side of his siblings. Bruce would be more glad about him getting along with them, if it weren’t for the fact that in joining him, he left Bruce.

“You monster,” Jason butts back in again, not having had the spotlight in too long. “Look what you’ve done. You can’t just drop something like that on us. You can’t just pull the rug out from under us. Adopted. Or am I the only one? Huh? Is that it? Are all of them your real kids except for me?”

It’s a little too close to home, so Bruce stumbles: “No, of course, you’re always my kid. But this isn’t news to you. To any of you.”

“So we are all adopted?” Tim shrieks, stumbling forwards to clutch Bruce’s arm. “Those people you took me away from, were they my real parents? Did you lie to me?”

And this is just unfair. They’re not allowed to gang up on him like this and be dramatic. They know he doesn’t know what to do when they get like this. He gave them a home, he kept them as safe as he could, he loves them. What has he done to deserve this?

Dick and Duke are still embracing each other and Bruce is pretty sure Dick is weeping. Steph is definitely fake crying, while Jason is consoling her. Tim is still clutching his one arm, babbling about being taken from his parents.

Cass is his favorite right now, because she isn’t playing along with her sibling, just quietly huddling into his side. Damian would share the spot, but Bruce knows that the only reason he isn’t playing along, is because he doesn’t know what their game is and how he can use it to his advantage.

Indeed, he joins in – though not entirely purposefully – because he asks: “Father, I am your true son right? I am the blood son, not these imbeciles.”

Jason is definitely hiding a snort as a sob and in that moment, Bruce is tempted to disown Damian, just so he doesn’t have to deal with all this.

He can see how shocked the Justice League is, their eyes wide with horror, none of them having truly recovered at the sudden appearance at a gaggle of kids, who are now seemingly breaking down over the surprise news of being adopted.

He should’ve just let Jason give the League a sex talk.

So, he is tempted to not recognize Damian as his own, however, he knows how much Damian values his heritage and how insecure he is about his spot in the family. And he does look genuinely worried about what’s happening. So, Bruce has to sigh and reward the vulnerability that he shows with compassion, saying: “Yes, Robin.”

Jason lets out a pained groan and says: “So it is true? We really are adopted?” then breaks down crying. It’s almost impressive how well he can sob on demand. How well all of them can, Bruce wonders when they learned that and who taught them that.

The League, meanwhile has also apparently reached their limits and Hal suddenly explodes: “Fucking hell, Bats. Is that how you’re telling them that? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

Around him all the others start to nod in agreement and Bruce knows that some of those shaking shoulders of his kids aren’t sobs but laughter at this point. He wonders if it’s wrong to return any of them, despite knowing that he would never give any of them up, even with all the gray hairs they’re giving him.

He does think about it though, especially when Clark cautiously says: “It seems unnecessarily cruel, Batman. They’ve just been chased through the streets by missiles. You could have waited.”

“Yes, it is very cruel,” Diana agrees. “And I do not know you to be cruel.”

Usually, Bruce has an image to maintain, but that image includes him working alone and having no sense of humor or humanity, so obviously it’s incorrect. Besides, any reputation he might have had has just been ruined by his kids. He doesn’t have to take this judgment from his friends.

So, he throws his hands up and, bordering on a whine, says: “I’m not cruel. They all know they’re adopted. All of them were over nine when it happened. Hell, not even all of them are adopted. Not all of them wanted to be. They know! They’re just messing with me.”

It’s quiet after his outburst.

Both the League and his kids blink for a few times. It’s clear that the League doesn’t know what to believe, but his kids are luckily done with the chaos. Though, Bruce doesn’t know if he’s happy with that when he sees some of their faces morph into grins.

Dick decides to put him out of his misery first, letting go of Duke to skip forwards and sling an arm around Bruce, which he grudgingly allows. He never says no to hugs from his kids, no matter what stunt they’ve just pulled.

“He’s right,” Dick smiles at everyone. Then he jokingly tugs on one of the ears on his cowl – something he has done since his early days as Robin – as he teases: “He didn’t mind. Right, B? You are a softie under there.”

“Who cares if he minds,” Jason says loudly. “That was hilarious, did you see everyone’s faces when replacement told them he’d stolen him out of his home. Golden. I’m gonna ask O for that footage the second we get back.”

Now the League is looking at them with even more confusion. Unsure of what to do now.

Bruce wants to let them suffer, but he also doesn’t want to give his kids room to do something else to embarrass him. So, he takes the reigns saying: “Just to clear it all up; this is Nightwing, my oldest.”

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you,” Dick gives the League a bright smile.

“My second or third oldest – we’re not sure – Red Hood,” Bruce continues on, gesturing to Jason, who just gives them a salute. “And, again, the second or third oldest, Black Bat.” She waves at them, startling some again, since they’d forgotten she was there. Hm, they might have to do another stealth and awareness training day.

“This is Spoiler, she is not one of mine technically,” he continues on introducing everyone there.

Steph grins at all of them and says: “I eat his food and steal his money, but I’m not having him sign shit. All of the perks, none of the accountability.”

“And how you remind me of that,” Bruce sighs, before gesturing to Tim and saying: ��This is Red Robin, my fourth kid. He is adopted, but also emancipated. And I did not steal him away from his parents.”

“Technically, he did, because they were kinda shitty, but only legally when they died,” Tim corrects, which is not necessary and Bruce will be answering questions about that for months. Judging by the smug look on his face, Tim knows.

Deciding not to engage for now, he moves on to Duke. “This is Signal, he is my ward. He normally works the day shift.”

“Hello,” Duke squeaks awkwardly.

“And this is Robin, he is the youngest,” Bruce finishes his introductions.

“I am the blood son of the Bat and the one true heir,” Damian exclaims proudly.

“Yeah, yeah, we know, brat,” Jason rolls his eyes. “You were once B’s sperm. Whoop-die-doo.”

Multiple faces contort at that, with Tim and Steph both exclaiming how gross that is and how he didn’t have to phrase it like that and how they never want to hear about Bruce’s sex life ever again in any way, shape, or form.

Hal comments: “Wait, you actually have a kid?”

Bruce fights the urge to facepalm as he deadpans: “Just a second ago, you were willing to believe I had seven or more, why do you seem surprised?”

That renders Hal speechless, which is good, because Bruce doesn’t want to be here anymore. He wants to check up properly on his kids, check up on Gotham, and be as far away from the League and their questions as he can.

So, he uses the silence to says: “Now, as interesting as this has all been, we are going home. I have a city to check on and kids to ground.”

All around him protests start up about how he either has no power over them and can’t ground them or that they’re too mature and well trained fro childish things such as grounding. But Bruce is great at tuning them out when needs must, so he types in the last of the Batcave coordinates and lets the Zeta-Tube take them home.

~~

A/N:

I love coming up with convoluted reasons of why the batfam would be in the Watchtower lmao

Also Alfred totally taught them to cry on command, knowing they would use it for evil <3

[ew-selfish-art]

My brain is unwilling to let go of Twin AU prompts. Sorry for the long post lmao.

Jazz and Jason are getting pretty serious in their relationship, and honestly, they’ve both been hesitant to introduce their family members to one another despite constantly talking about them. They’ve been dating since she started her doctoral studies at Gotham U and she’s about to defend her dissertation, so it really is about time. He saved her in her first week as the Red Hood and he immediately felt at home with her (something, something liminal), she runs into him the next day at a coffee shop and thanks him for taking the time to help her. 

Identities are obviously blown. Jason knows that her brother works in ‘politics’ and her younger sister is a travel blogger, and that the three of them don’t talk to her mad scientist parents anymore. Jazz knows that he came back from the dead, his adoptive family had a slew of issues in addition to their hero-complexes and that he would be prepared to kill for any one of his siblings. Their communication skills are top notch. 

But then came the issue of actually meeting the family. Like Jazz knows all of the drama between the siblings but could not pick them out of a line up, or more importantly, know who to talk to if an emergency situation came up. Jason agrees, that yeah, it would probably be for the best if he could at least identify her little brother and sister if they had to like, meet at hospital or something. 

So that was the plan. Invite just siblings over to their shared apartment, no parents and no fuss. (She even called Danny ahead of time to tell him not to portal straight into the apartment, he needed to walk in the door like a normal person. They could share Ghost King secrets later.) 

Tim arrives first, he’d been working a case nearby and Jazz & Jason live pretty close to a nice coffeeshop, so he stopped along the way. He’d done some creeping to figure out that she drinks Chai so he brought one for her. Creepy and yet, endearing. 

Ellie comes in second from the window, launching into a story about how annoying it was to find the place with all the gloom, didn’t this city have any respect for the dead? Tim doesn’t get it but Jason is laughing along so Tim files it away for later. 

Dick comes in with a shit ton of Pizza he panic ordered, a fruit bouquet and two bottles of wine from Bruce’s cellar. Duke came along with him, a large tupperware of Alfred’s cookies. 

Then Steph, Babs and Cass show up, immediately treating Jazz like family while also being hella suspicious about the whole thing. She notices them looking at her hands and Jazz explains that no, they weren’t doing this because Jason proposed. Steph and Cass are annoyed at Jason but tell Jazz she could do better if she wanted. Babs is happy they aren’t rushing into anything (she’s the only one besides Tim that knows how long they’ve been dating- this is just to throw out a red herring for the others)

Everyone is getting along and having a great time, Ellie being a natural entertainer along side Dick, everyone trying to tell embarrassing stories about Jason. Loud noises are coming from the hallway when they realize that neither Damian nor Danny had arrived. 

Rushing out the door, the boys are alternating putting each other into choke holds and arguing about not being clones. Danny keeps phasing out of Damian’s grip and Damian keeps pulling out more knives. The hallway looks like it had been blown up and the two are continuing to yell at one another about going to a family dinner. Jason and Jazz just stare at them from the doorway, and wouldn’t you know it, they look like fucking twins. 

Jazz grabs Danny, Jason grabs Damian, and everyone is fucking confused. Both sides of the family can confirm growing up with the twins, that neither are a clone. Ellie helpfully supplies that she’s the clone and that opens a whole other bag of chaos. 

Eventually they get everyone to sit down for dinner and the night gets weirder from there. 

[nattblacklupin]

Invisible string

Pairing: Cassian x Fem! Reader

Warnings: Nothing, just fluff

Summary: Cassian and Y/N celebrate their anniversary

Masterlist

Being mates with Cassian was one of the best things that happened in your life. Never would you have thought that you could ever get so lucky. Cassian was the kindest man you ever met. Never did he do something to hurt you - unless you wanted him to, of course.

At the same time, you're pretty sure that you two are really made for each other and were supposed to happen in every life. Both of you went through hell and back, yet came stronger than ever before. Remembering the times before you even knew that you were mates, you had a special kind of bond with each other.

Cassian was always with you. It didn't matter if just sitting next to you or on battlefield. If he wasn't with you, something was wrong. No one can easily force him to leave you alone. If it, of course, wasn't your wish. But even then, he would wait close to where you were in case you needed his help. He would manipulate the mountains to move if they were keeping you away from him. And mother help anyone that dares to hurt you, let's just say they never tried to do it again. Cassian gave them a big piece of his mind. No one will get away with hurting you, not when he's here.

Today was the day that marked your three year old anniversary since you officially accepted the bond. You were still freshly mated compared to your friends, but it didn't make your relationship any different - it's not like you two weren't already acting like a mated couple for nearly two hundred years.

"Hurry Cass, we aren't going to make it on time!"

You yelled at Cassian while putting on your high heels. On this special day you choose to have a date in your favourite restaurant in whole Velaris. It was where you found out about the mating bond, and since then, it became a tradition to go there on special occasions.

"No need to hurry, pretty girl. We got enough time."

You looked his way and were left breathless. Cassian really did go all out with his look today. Dark red tuxedo matched your dress like you planned. It wouldn't be you two if you didn't match in any way. He even slicked back his hair. You loved when his hair was wild and free, but this slicked back look surely did suit him too. Before you could decide to stay home and enjoy your anniversary in your bed - by doing some more pleasurable things that dinner - you quickly stood up and grabbed his hand.

"Let's go, big boy"

The flight there was fast and peaceful. You always enjoyed flying with Cassian. The comfort his arms brought you mixed with the freedom you felt when wind ruffles your hair, was something you could never get enough and you hoped with all your heart that it wouldn't go away, not now, not ever.

You sat in your favourite spot, with cassian opposite to you. He took your hand in his and smiled at you with a look in his eyes that let you know everything he was feeling. Love flowing through the bond, nearly overwhelming you with how much of it there was. But you're basking in his love, enjoying every moment of it, like it could be your last.

"Hello, what can I get you?"

Cassian and you quickly order without even paying much attention to the waiter. Both of you were too busy looking at each other like it was your first time together. The looks she gave Cassian didn't go unnoticed by you though. Being used to women giving your mate unwanted attention, you ignored it. Hoping that she would get the hint and stop before you would have to step in.

She didn't get the hint. She was insulting you while flirting with Cassian, and you don't plan on letting her go away with this. That's how you got in this situation in the first place. You stand tall in front of Cassian, holding his hand while arguing with her. You held your head high, not backing down from an argument with some fae woman that wants your mate.

"Mates don't always have to be together. He can choose someone like me. No one would probably even blame him"

"No one would blame your mate for not choosing you with how you are acting. But that's what happens, you know. Mates don't always have to be together"

With that, your hold on Cassian got tighter, and you started walking away from the restaurant. You are too busy thinking about the audacity of that waitress to even notice what's happening around you. That's why it took you by suprised when Cassian pulled you into his chest and kissed you deeply.

"Isn't it just so pretty"

You looked confused at him, wondering where still will lead off. "What?" Your voice quieter than whisper.

"To think," his lips slightly brushed yours, "that all along there was some Invisible string, tying you to me." You were the one to close off the distance first. Kissing like there was no tomorrow, like you didn't see each other for years. But there was enough time - enough time for you to fulfil all your dreams and do everything your mind thinks of.

"One single thread of gold tied me to you"

[gildedlead]

All of the Wayne kids’ favorite Leaguers: True and Real and Accurate

Dick: Wonder Woman! Bear with me. Please. I think Superman was his favorite BEFORE he met Clark. Once he learned how big of a dork he was, the magic was sort of lost, doubly so when Clark became his unofficial stepdad. Diana? She stayed cool. Not to mention that in his Robin days, she often humored whatever hare-brained impulses he’d get. Please picture Batman’s bewildered expression when he finds Dick dangling from the Watchtower light fixture he specifically designed to be impossible for him to reach. Diana just, -shrug- “He said please.” You threw him Diana. You threw that child. She’d probably still throw him if he asked nicely, hell, she’d probably do it even before he has to ask. It’s ‘Boy Wonder’, not ‘Boy Bat’.

Jason: Black Canary. ‘Wonder Woman is Jason’s fav’ believers PLEASE hear me out. I think that Diana is Jason’s favorite in a ‘celebrity crush’ way, but Dinah is Jason’s favorite in a ‘cool aunt’ way. He met her unofficially at the Watchtower, but actually started hanging out with her thanks to Roy. They both like motorcycles and kicking ass, plus Young Justice having Canary as a therapist melds well with my vision of her helping Jason heal. And I think she’s used to yelling at Bruce on Oliver’s behalf, so it’s no big to do it on Jason’s too.

Tim: The Flash! If Dinah is the cool aunt, Barry is the cool uncle. Guy that shows up at the function with all the best snacks. He might eat half of them himself but damn if he didn’t bring them. In all seriousness, Tim saw pretty great merit in knowing a forensics guy that he can basically talk to anytime he’s stumped with a case without having to go through the “sorry to wake you” song and dance. Barry occasionally gets unhinged texts that are in the vein of “hey can you go about ten minutes back in time and tell past me about _____”. They’re usually pretty low stakes but sometimes there’s just a “got stabbed, do-over?” jumpscare sprinkled in. Bruce will never ever get shit from Barry about kid troubles. That man is a saint in Flash’s eyes.

Cass: Captain Marvel. She didn’t like him at all during their first meeting. For a person that’s good at reading body language, I imagine that seeing genuinely childish behavior on a grown man would be giving some crazy mixed signals. Once she learns that his powers are magic in origin rather than being alien or meta, her mind opens up a little more to the possibility that his exterior appearance might not be indicative of his actual identity. Cass guesses his age by their next proper meeting and makes it her business to keep an eye on him, always asking Bruce about him after he returns from League missions. Your honor, that 7’5” brick wall Champion of Magic is actually just Cass’ little buddy. She’s gonna get him some ice cream or something.

Steph: Green Lantern. Hal and Barry are like uncles, except if Barry is the cool one, Hal is the cringe one. Lucky for Hal, being a boyfailure is a good way to amuse Steph. Those two are gonna spend hours arguing with Bruce just for the hell of it, backing each other up on completely incorrect claims (Steph does it because it’s funny, Hal does it because he believes her). He does get bonus points for bringing her cool space snacks whenever he comes back from trips off-world. One of her favorite foods is a sort of hi-chew/gum thing from some other planet in Sector 2418 that doesn’t dissolve or lose its flavor, even after chewing it for days on end.

Damian: Aquaman. He’s a king. Like, an actual king. And he can communicate with fish. Arthur heard about Damian’s temper from the rest of the Leaguers and straight up does not believe it because every time he’s spoken to Damian, it’s been “hello your majesty can you introduce me to an octopus I have a few questions for it”. This one’s short. But I feel it speaks for itself.

Duke: Superman. Clark was NOT told about Signal taking up the day shift in Gotham until he was flying in to compare notes (read: flirt), with Bruce and met Duke when they both went to intercept a carjacking. Clark tries to be responsible like “I feel obligated to let you know that Batman doesn’t take kindly to metas in his city”, only for Duke to point at the big ol bat on his chest. After that, Duke usually intercepts Big Blue’s flight path anytime he comes into Gotham and the two just kind of hang out and shoot the shit while he does his patrol. Duke is also a little bit stoked to be regularly hanging out with The Superman, but even after the awe wears off, he can’t help but still think of Clark as just a cool, friendly guy. He gets someone to share the airspace with, Clark gets a bat he can stay in the sun with, it’s a win/win all around. Congrats Clark, you got one.

[dovakiinwitcher]

Batfamily As Interactions With My Own Siblings

- Call and response with quotes or song lyrics. Dick and/or Steph use this most often since most of their siblings are angsty (Jason, Tim, Damian, Cass), so this forces them to acknowledge them. To not respond is of the HIGHEST offense.

- Sometimes Damian, or Cass, will come flying out of nowhere to surprise attack one of their siblings. Frankly, all of them do this, but those two are most common. Poor Duke is always the most caught off guard, in spite of his powers.

- Tim is almost always the last one down for dinner. Sometimes, he doesn’t even come down until after everyone else has eaten. Alfred is always kind enough to leave a plate for him to reheat. One time, he found that plate on the floor beneath a laundry basket that was propped up by a stick, cartoon-trap style. His siblings were hiding around the corner, watching him intently.

- Jason sometimes gets distracted in the bathroom, picking at scabs or old scars on his face in the mirror. His siblings (particularly Damian) get really pissed if they've heard the toilet flush and still have to wait for ten minutes to use the bathroom. (Jason has pointed out that there are other bathrooms. This doesn't prevent him from getting yelled at.)

- Duke has been known to go on fierce literary rants to Jason. Most recently about a certain shitty book he had to read for school.

- Tim started a DnD campaign with Dick, Barbara, and Duke. The party got sidetracked going undercover as an "exterminator" company, and helping a poor milliner jumpstart her hat business (don't ask how those were related). Tim is scared that they may have completely forgotten their original quest.

- Sometimes Steph forgets who she's told something to, and will repeat information to people who've already heard this from her.

- Jason, on the other hand, will forget what he HAS been told by people, and infuriates people with his questions of things he's already "had this conversation about."

- Bruce has repeatedly told Damian that Batcow is not a house pet. Nonetheless, he's found Damian in his room reading a book to his cow several times.

- Dick and Jason have reenacted many YouTube videos on patrols, from quoting back and forth to one another, to performing dangerous parkour stunts.

- Damian once tried to strangle Jason after he won Unstable Unicorns by almost exclusively trolling Damian and preventing him from gaining a final unicorn five times in a row. In one game. Damian has still not forgiven him.

- Jason once offered Tim a hit of his cigarette. Dick later found out and flipped his shit.

- The kitchen is a hazardous place to be. The kids pretend to stab each other a lot.

- Jason communicates primarily through saying either "I'll kill you," or "I'd rather die." Although sometimes, when someone's talking (typically Steph or Dick), he'll randomly interject to say, "you're a [insert obscure twist of their words]."

- For example, Steph was once vacuuming the rug with a very old vacuum and said, "this vacuum would be terrible at cocaine." Jason replied from the couch, not looking up from his book, "you're a terrible cocaine vacuum."

- The siblings binged the Chernobyl HBO series in one night. Right off the bat, Damian went on a rant about how irresponsible the guy committing suicide was for not finding his cat a new home first and just leaving out food. He also had to leave the room during the dog part in later episodes. When Dick was sent to tell him it was over, he was found with his face buried in Titus and/or Ace's fur.

- On a lighter note, Jason commentated over many of the really heavy parts of that documentary, making it way funnier than it was supposed to be. Sometimes he genuinely argued with the TV.

- There is a quote book of obscure things they've said out of context. Here are some excerpts:

"Haha, losers, imagine having parents." - Jason

"And that's why child labor is good and justifiable." - Steph

"They really underestimate my stabbing abilities." - Damian

"This jacket is vegan leather. Which means I skinned a vegan and turned them into a jacket." - Cass

"That's how my brain works; it doesn't." - Tim

"But we're stressful together." - Dick

"As Thomas the Tank Engine once said: chuga chuga choo choo, I'm a sexy dinosaur." - Also Dick

"If you wouldn't have been killed by Nazis, are you even an interesting person?" - Duke

"Alright, shit pisser, let's rumble." - Jason

"Keep your rabid animal away from my crab legs." - Barbara

- Barbara has a tendency to play true crime podcasts while she works. People only ever seem to walk in during the weirdest parts. She doesn't feel the need to explain herself; she finds the looks on their faces hilarious.

- The household Alexa will respond to Dick unprompted, and it genuinely freaks him out. It doesn't do that for anyone else, and he thinks it's out to get him. This is why he has a Google at home in Blüdhaven instead.

- Jason isn't the most hygienic person, which concerns the family sometimes. Dick had learned that when he visits wherever Jason is living at the moment and "oops, forgets" his shampoo or body wash or whatever, Jason will end up using it. Jason has caught on, but will never openly admit that he's grateful for it.

- Dick will ruffle Damian's hair out of affection. Tim will do it to piss him off.

- Tim and Damian often kick each other without any other interaction. Bruce finds it troubling. Dick reminds him that he and Jason used to do the same thing (mainly Jason kicking Dick).

- When Tim and Steph play video games, it's not uncommon for Steph to hijack a car just to try to run Tim over while he tries to do side quests.

- Cass is the Super Smash Bros champion. And the Mario Kart champion. And tends to carry everyone when playing multi-player. Mostly because Steph tries to sabotage them at every corner, and only Cass is able to adapt.

I may do more of these, but I didn't want this to be TOO long.

[simp-for-the-batfam]

It is a rare day when the Batfamily has a declared day and night off (usually instituted by Alfred when everyone is injured). They decided to spend the day watching a movie together. Only, Bruce is fed up with the Batkids spending too much time arguing over what movie they should watch and turns it to a random channel that happened to be playing Phineas and Ferb. He states that 'if you act like children, you watch childish things'. Little did Bruce know how much of a pain it would cause him.

First off, Damian has never seen the show, but now that he has, the OWCA agents, especially Agent P, are his favorites. He is already compiling a list of measurements as to give Alfred to make custom fedoras for Titus, Alfred the Cat, Batcow, and any other pet the Wayne's own. Alfred already has the sewing machine out. Damian even commissioned one for Hailey that Dick can't wait to put on her. And on a completely unrelated note, an animal smuggling ring that Damian busted last week happened to have an abused platypus that Damian has now decided would be better fit in the Wayne Manner than taken care of in some wildlife preserve.

Dick remembers trying to recreate do everything Phineas and Ferb's summer as a kid, and is now determined to do it again. While everyone is distracted by the show, he calling is order and favors, determined to make things and contacting anyone who could help. He already has the Teen Titans on his side. He even ordered roller coaster parts that should come tomorrow and who knows what else. While he might not be able to personally build everything, he knows people who could. But for some reason, the parts never arrive at the manor.

Jason is hardcore identifying with Candace. While he is not the oldest, he knows what it is like to have the perfect sibling that never gets caught for their wrongdoing (*cough*cough* Dick). He already had to go through Dick's crazy summer plans before when he was Robin, trying to stop Dick from getting himself killed, and he doesn't want to do it again. Throughout the show, he is trying to bust Dick whenever he leaves to make a suspicious phone call, but Dick always says he is ordering takeout. Jason is pulling his hair out wondering how come no one has questioned the amount of times Dick has left to order food and how none of it has arrived yet. When he gets a chance, he sings E.V.I.L. B.O.Y.Z. directed toward Dick, who sits up front looking completely innocent.

The minute Phineas and Ferb is mentioned, Stephanie quicky fled the room only to roll back in full Duckie Momo apparel. She has on a Duckie Momo onesie, Duckie Momo slippers, and Duckie Momo glasses. In fact, the whole floor has become a Duckie Momo nest, complet with blankets and pillows. She even had a matching onesie for Cass. She also came in knowing all of the songs word for word and had so much fun recreating the "Squirrels in my pants" dance.

When Cass isn't in the Duckie Momo nest with Steph, cuddling a Duckie Momo plushie, she is copying fight scenes from the show. It started off as Steph asking if she could do a move Agent P did, only for her to recreate the whole scene. Now everyone is wanting Cass to copy any of the animals fighting moves, but she declined until she also got a fedora. Damian quickly got her one and declared her an honorary OWCA Agent. Dick tried to join in, but failed. Jason about died laughing about how a platypus could beat Dick in a fight, only for Damian to yell, "Agent P is a worthy opponent, Todd!" with Cass nodding in agreement. Either way, Dick has mainly been pouting ever since.

Tim has been up for about a week before he got dragged into family time. Now, he is just staring numbly at the TV, saying 'mood' whenever Doofenshmirtz talks about his awful childhood backstories (like the one where his parents didn't show up for his birth), giving Bruce an aneurysm each time. Tim is already on the edge, and Bruce just hopes he doesn't gain any motivation to copy Doof's 'take over the Tri-state area' schemes. Bruce especially worries whenever Tim spots a machine and says 'I could build that'.

Unbeknownst to Bruce, Barbara already has the schematics for all of Doof's machines as well as Phineas and Ferb's. What started as a bored interest during summer as a child grew over time, especially with all resources she gained by being Batgirl and Oracle. The information on both are kept in separate secret heavily protected files to keep Tim away from Doof's and Dick away from Phineas and Ferb's. She even has a warning system in place if either of them get close to making one of the machines, either on accident or on purpose, and diverts them away from completing it. The system also includes orders to return any shipments made solely for the purpose of recreating a machine and deleting any records of the order in the first place (hence why Dick's shipment never came). But Babs is content with letting Bruce worry and continues to watch the show with a Duckie Momo blanket spread over her lap (courtesy of Steph).

Since Duke was still working day shift (he wasn't as injured as the others and wanted to flee before there was bloodshed over choosing the movie), he comes back home and happens to conveniently be listening to a playlist of Phineas and Ferb's greatest hits. Upon seeing everyone, Duke takes an earbud out and asks, "Whatcha doin'?" The only answer he got was Steph throwing another Duckie Momo onesie in his face.

An hour later, Jason and Steph are singing BUSTED on top of a table, Jason as a warning to Dick and Steph just for the heck of it. Meanwhile, Cass and Duke acts as Duckie Momo backup dancers with full choreography. Dick wanted to join in as well, but Jason forced him to sit down and watch, hoping the message will sink through, but Dick thinks it is because they don't like his dancing so now he is pouting again. Tim is waving his cellphone light as if this is the most meaningful part of the night, while Damian is about to wrestle the fedora onto Alfred the Cat, as the cat keeps batting it away. All the while, Babs is recording everything.

Bruce is reminded that this is why you should never watch daytime television and turns the channel, despite the cries of anguish. Only to be horrified when Alfred reminds him and the children that show is can be viewed on Disney + and can be streamed at anytime. He runs back to his room as the beginning notes to the intro fill the air and all his children sing along.

[mockstarling]

Au where the Waynes have to make a reality TV show because people get too close to finding out who they are. Everyone develops their public persona as follows.

Brucie Wayne:

Wears makeup all the time.

Really clumsy but has a quick reaction time regarding when his kids are about to fight. Yes, he can sense it from the other side of the house.

Mama bear, will panic if someone gets as much as a papercut.

Always wears dark colors because if he wears anything else he always manages to get them dirty somehow.

Will sing to pop songs, gets all the lyrics wrong except the chorus.

Glitter. He always wears at least one thing that is glittery at all times. He also uses a glittery bat-themed pencil pouch in his office (cass got it for him as a joke).

Kathy Kane:

A gay aunt icon.

Fashionable but in a classy way/simple enough to still fight if needed.

Will physically attack one of Bruce's kids to "prepare them for if they get kidnapped".

Damian's favorite, he will go ask her for permission first instead of Bruce. She typically allows him before looking at the camera like 'this is about to be good'.

Is one of the best at giving advice.

Will not hesitate to argue with Bruce's friends (the Justice League in their civilian personas) with the passion of a kid who wants ice cream.

Dick Grayson:

Nice older brother type/has answered to "mom" on screen multiple times before.

Knows all Disney songs by heart and will start singing them as his brothers fight.

The one who posts the most on social media and believes they're "in with the kids".

Is in college but tries his best to make time with his family.

Recites vines with passion as he burns everything in th kitchen.

Always wears "rich people clothing that compliments his best features".

Jason Todd:

Was announced alive before the show started so he's been here since season one and may or may not be the reason that they had to start the show in the first place because people were like, "oh, he could be Red Hood. . . wait".

He's normally the one who starts shit/drama on the show.

He has some of the best comebacks out of his brothers. And yes, most of them are along the lines of, "I died, bitch! I'll kill us both and drag you to hell myself! They love me there, unlike some people!"

Claims he doesn't remember what happened those years he was "dead" and says that he still have bad memory problems to get out of doing stuff because he "forgot".

Plays into the bad boy/street kid stereotypes.

Tends to yell a lot/doesn't have an inside voice for shit.

Tim Drake:

Tired heir to the Wayne family business.

Gets physically thrown around by his brothers (mainly Jason) the most.

Is intelligent but tends to mess up on the simplest things.

Always has coffee on him and when he doesn't he is either going to fight someone or pull a prank.

Is always working on "school" (cases).

Tends to wear more normal clothing because it's most comfortable but he has been know to fall asleep in full on suits before.

Stephanie Brown:

Sings the most out of everyone.

Will never hesitate to tip off one of the Waynes about another one if food is involved.

Is always trying new clothing styles and has rearrange their room the most.

Is the type to try something because they saw it on social media.

Is a ray of sun shine when compared to everyone else.

Is the best at jokes.

Cassandra Cain:

Communicates by sign language when she gets too frustrated/overwhelmed.

Dances the best out of anyone so no one ever challenges her.

Is a silent threat when it comes to pranks.

Has been caught mid-heist (when trying to sneak food from the kitchen) by the crew.

Has successfully stolen the most of Bruce's stuff.

Is the most common one to get tea first because everyone in the family likes her enough to rant about the others.

Duke Thomas:

Will not hesitate to pick cass's side in any argument.

Started a war between the Wayne Brothers without them putting together that he started it until that season was out.

The one who always make sure everyone eats.

Has pulled the most pranks on Bruce's friends (the Justice League's cilvilian personas) because they mistakenly took him out to be the most collected out of the bats.

The one who has the best insider information when shit goes down.

No one knows for sure if he's a Wayne but he has a room in the manor and is always there so people just assume Bruce took in another one.

Damian Wayne:

Took it upon himself to look the best out of all his siblings so he spend days researching on social media outfit ideas and how to do makeup because he's "better than everyone else".

Has showed an interests in fighting with weapons, the arts, and history.

Was very quickly assigned the "furry baby dad" title from fans because of the amount of pets he has.

Is still an angry baby but the family has found that he actually explains his side of stuff to the camera really well.

Experiences the most character development throughout the show as it takes place during his teenage years.

Has been caught uses "baby voice" when interacting with his pets.

[bet-on-me-13]

Silent Chaos prompt

I don’t know if that is the actual ship name, but Dani Phantom usually has Chaos in her ship name and Cass is really sneaky so Silent? idk, anyways-

I have an idea for an angst story involving this ship

Dani and Cass have been friends for a while now, and recently started dating, but the rest of her family doesn’t really trust Dani. She doesn’t have any sort of backstory, she seems to be (badly) hiding Meta Abilities for unknown reasons, she constantly references a Brother somewhere in Illinois who doesn’t seem to exist, and she is nowhere to be seen some nights. So overall she seems very suspicious.

Cass feels slightly betrayed that her Family doesn’t trust her Girlfriend, even when she vouches for her. There’s too many red flags for them to ignore, so she can’t really argue with them, but she still feels like they should trust her judgement.

Dani meanwhile has a passive aggressive relationship with them at best. She kind of dislikes them because they have made their opinions on their relationship apparent, but she tries to be passive for Cass.

This all comes to a head one night when Dani is at her night job. She is a low level henchmen working for Penguin, cause she needs to pay the bills some way and she can’t exactly set up citizenship while being hunted by the GIW. Dani also hates the idea of mooching off of her girlfriend. She gets involved in a fight with the Bat Family, and she is managing to barely hold her own, even while still hiding her powers.

She is wearing a classic Goon mask, so they can’t recognize her as she fights them.

Orphan joins the fight, and during their scuffle they rip each others masks off. They are both shocked, and Cass freezes long enough to get shot in the back by a stray bullet.

Dani just falls to her knees as the battle ends, the other Goons retreating as she stays with Cass on the ground. The rest of the Bat Family rush up to her and push her away, trying to tend to Cass. Maybe Damian even says something along the lines of “I knew we couldn’t trust you!”

But Dani knows she needs to hurry. Cass was shot in the Spine, which is going to kill her soon, not even mentioning the blood loss. So she rushes in, phasing past the Bat Family members that try to stop her, and jumps into Cass’s Body to Overshadow her. While being overshadowed, Cass has all of her powers including her Regeneration, but it’s going to take a while to heal damage this intense.

She manages to at least stabilize her, and then uses her floating to get cass upright.

The Bat Family immediately try to restrain her, try to do anything to force her out of Cass’s body, anything to save their sister. But Dani refuses, and can’t get a word in to explain. They are being very aggressive, verbally not physically obviously, accusing her of a bunch of stuff while yelling at her to get out of their sister. 

Eventually, Dani can’t take it anymore and has to run away. Flying away at top speed, she manages to get away and hide in an abandoned apartment while she focuses on healing Cass’s body. She also leaves a letter in her pocket, explaining what happened and that she needed to leave after this, because the GIW would hear about this and try to capture her.

Meanwhile, the Bat Family is assuming the worst as per usual. They think Dani only became friends with Cass in the first place to get the chance to steal her body, or to blackmail them by using Cass as a hostage, or something equally horrible.

They eventually find a lead. Dani had the same powers as an Ectoplasmic Entity, meaning she is an imprint of a Human Consciousness which has absolutely no empathetic or emotional feelings whatsoever. This further solidifies their theory that Dani was just using Cass this entire time.

(If they had been in a more right state of mind, they would have found that the Dr’s who published that study later retracted it for misinformation)

They also find out that there is a Government Agency called the GIW who works to hunt these sort of creatures. Out of options (JLD is off world), they contact the GIW under their Civilian identities, claiming that a Ghost kidnapped Cass in the night and escaped.

The GIW appears, manages to trap Dani as she is getting for supplies to patch Cass’s body up, and delivers her to the Waynes so they can perform an “exorcism” (basically they just boot Dani out of Cass’s body using Blood Blossoms)

Cass is released from the Overshadowing, still very much injured but stable and healing thanks to Dani. The GIW capture Dani as she tries to escape, and take her away.

Cass is put in the Medical Wing, and when she wakes up, she asks where Dani is. Bruce tells her that Dani was arrested for kidnapping her, and she wouldn’t hurt her anymore. Cass is angry, she had some memory of being overshadowed, and she could hear Dani’s panicked thoughts the entire time.

She was desperate to save her, even risking using up all of her energy to heal her. She used up all of her emergency funds to buy medical supplies, even knowing she would need them soon because her Power Usage would attract “them”

She tells them to leave her alone. And when they try to stay, she nearly screams at them, before her muteness kicks in and she just signs ‘Leave’, throwing a piece of paper at them. They pick it up and leave as she starts crying to herself

 It is the letter from Dani, apologizing for having to Overshadow her and apologizing for not telling her about the Night Job. She explains that once she is healed, Dani is going to have to leave and never come back, because the GIW will find her if she stays. And she can’t risk being captured, because the might do what they did her brother to her.

They are confused, finally second guessing themselves, and leave her in peace as they go to do a more thorough investigation. Now that they are in their right minds, and have seen Dani’s Ghost Form, Tim feels like it’s kind of Familiar.

He looks it up, and lo and behold, he finds an Article about “Phantom and Phantasm”, the Ghost Fighting Heroes of Amity Park who mysteriously disappeared about 7 months ago.

Right after the “Anti-Ecto Acts” were passed in Congress.

Which, now that he’s looking them up and reading more thoroughly, seem extremely unethical. They gave the GIW permission to do anything they want with Ghosts, declaring them non-sentient and completely malicious.

The Anti-Ecto Acts, combined with the letter mentioning her brother, makes Tim realize what’s going on.

The GIW killed the Hero Phantom, and they just gave them the Hero Phantasm. 

And that is the perfect explanation for all of their suspicions about Dani. She has no backstory because she died years ago (presumably), she was hiding her powers because the GIW would find her is she used them, her brother doesn’t seem to exist because he’s dead, and she disappeared some nights because she can’t get a Legal job and unfortunately Goon Work is one of the better paying jobs in the city.

And she ran away because they were screaming at her in a rage, not because she wanted to kidnap their sister. She was terrified of them.

Looking back to the studies on Ectoplasmic Entities, They had been retracted years ago after the Dr’s who published it discovered that Ghosts were sentient after all, and not all of them were malicious. Since then they had been speaking out against the Anti-Ecto Acts, saying that the GIW had killed their son, which, looking at their collateral damage records, was not hard to believe.

They had fucked up. And both Cass and Dani were suffering for it.

[justrandomfanfictionskh]

MDC Commissions: The Ghost King

(A series of one shots where Marinette has some extremely unusual clients. What could possible go wrong? ao3)

When Marinette moved to Gotham after retiring as Ladybug, she had expected craziness and chaos. And living with her biological father and his family, had made her believe that she had seen everything. For example, when she sat down to breakfast that morning she had been fully prepared to see Damian and Jason engaged in a rubber band war over the head of a slumped Tim, who couldn't decide if he was awake or asleep. She didn't flinch to see Dick balancing six trays of breakfast food, while Alfred followed him with barely concealed panic. She didn't even raise an eyebrow when Bruce came in with bag under his eyes, and switched Tim's coffee with his own empty mug. Barbara rolling in arguing about the probability of aliens owning all of the bowling alleys with Duke was a completely casual conversation. And Steph filming everything while she cackled was just the cherry on top. 

She sat down next to Cass (the only other kid who was quiet), as Dick precariously started setting down the trays, and Bruce called for his other two sons to sit down. They were getting a little violent, and he wasn't having much luck. It was only once the last tray was on the table, that everyone finally settled down to eat, but Marinette had a feeling that it was only a matter of time before Jason and Damian decided to start chucking food at each other. At which point, Dick would yell "Food Fight" and they'd all be required by sibling law to join in. However, Marinette was not prepared for what happened literally two seconds after everyone was seated.

Alfred had just set down the coffee pot, causing Tim to jerk awake, when a bright flash of light in the middle of the table had everyone leaping into a fighting stance. They stood silent as they watched the glowing ball of light drift lazily around the table and settle in front of her. She squinted as it flashed blindingly before dropping something on her plate with an audible "Thunk." Marinette blinked the stars out of her eyes and stared down at a thick, glowing green scroll. It was very official looking with a glowing green wax seal and a golden center. 

Marinette stared at it in wonder, and took a long sip of her coffee. It was far to early for this. 

"Uh Mari," Dick was the first to speak as they all stared at the scroll. "What's that?"

She looked up at him blank faced, "It's a scroll Dick."

"I know that but---" Dick scoffed but Steph interrupted him with an eager, 

"What's it say?"

"I wouldn't open it Mars," Duke said hesitantly, "That green light around it is...well it's some powerful other worldly shit, I'll say that much."

"Hmm," Marinette hummed.

"Still," Barbara said, "We can't ignore it. What if it's Guardian business?"

"Has the Order ever contacted you this way before?" Bruce asked eyeing the thing like it was a bomb full of joker gass.

"Nope," Marinette said still not moving. 

"We should destroy it," Damian said simply reaching for the sword he had stashed under the table. 

"Bad idea," Cass said softly, "Important."

"But it could be a trap," Tim said lifting his mug and staring in confusion when he found it empty. "I can run some tests on it maybe."

"I'm with Demon," Jason said gruffly, "That thing is giving me the heebie jeebies."

"Did you just say heebie jeebies?" Stephanie said in confusion. 

"Whatever it is I don't think you should touch it Mari," Bruce said.

"Seriously Jay?" Steph said, "Heebie Jeebies?" 

"I agree with father," Damian said tensely, "This thing reeks of magic. Perhaps we should call a magic user." 

"I can call Zatanna," Dick offered. 

"Heebie jeebies?" 

"Let it go Steph, this is serious!"

 "But...heebie jeebies?"

The dinning room descended into utter chaos literally not even five minutes into their meal. Marinette sighed and took another sip of her coffee as her family yelled around her. She had been up all night helping Barbara with Oracle stuff and finishing up some designs for her company. And listening to her siblings fight over how to deal with ominous glowing scrolls that appeared during their breakfast was not how she wanted to start the morning. She opened her purse and Tikki flew out to look at the scroll, as Jason knocked over his chair about to launch at Steph. Tikki nodded as Dick moved to stop Jason from attacking Steph. This time Cass had taken over recording the insanity. 

Everyone froze as Marinette picked up the scroll. But nothing happened. She didn't suddenly combust or summon hellfire upon them all, so she took that as a good sign and broke the seal. Immediately, her entire family began to panic and some even lunged to snatch the scroll away from her. Marinette leaped back keeping the scroll as far away from them as she could. She sent them a confused, disapproving look as if to say, "Back off it's my magic scroll get your own!" But she read the words out loud just the same.

"To the right honorable, MDC, from the court of his Majesty the Ruler of the Infinite Realms, The Ghost King, Guardian of the Eternal Souls, Protector of the Living World, The Sleepless One, The Halfa, Keeper of the Abyss, etc. Greetings.

His majesty humbly requests your services in the designing of his coronation attire for his ascension to the throne of the Deathless King. Should you accept this most honorable, and glorious commission, simply preform the included spell before the end of five days. Preferably between 4 and 5 o'clock central. Money is no object unless you wish some other form of Eternal payment. In which case, terms will have to be agreed upon in person. You will also be invited, along with a guest of your choosing, to witness this most monumental event within the Infinite Realms.

Kindest Regards,

The King's Advisor, Physician, and Head Scientist, and Leader of the Far Frozen

Frostbite. "

Marinette looked up at her family who were staring at her in awe. None of them quiet new how to take this, so for a moment there was complete silence. In her head Marinette began counting down, "Three...two...one." And the entire dinning room erupted into chaos. Marinette just sighed as she returned her attention to the commission. "What even is my life?" she muttered.

Marinette summoned the Ghost King in the private studio at her fashion house. She reserved this studio for her VIP commissions like Jagged, Clara, Diana, and her family. At that moment it was just her, Jason, and the kwamis, which was already causing chaos as half of the little gods flew around in an attempt to help without actually helping. Jason was making no attempt to corral them like he had promised to do, and instead decided to just stand and scowl as Marinette prepared the summoning circle exactly as it was depicted on the scroll. Marinette had just wanted it to be her and the kwamis, but her family all resolutely refused. Apparently, summoning an unknown, mythical, entity of unquestionable power by herself was not something they were comfortable with. So they compromised and decided that Jason was best suited to over see the meeting. After all, one of the titles was "the Ghost King" and Jason was a zombie...technically. 

Still Marinette wasn't sure how well he would do in a fight. If it came to that, then the kwamis would be her best shot at protecting them. She wasn't sure how Jason's guns would do against something called, "The Keeper of the Abyss." Still she was glad he was here, in a way. "Alright!" she said standing, "It's ready!"

"Hmph," Jason grunted, "I don't like this, Pixie."

"Oh come on," Marinette said with a smile as she tried to hide her own terror, "Don't tell me you're not a little bit curious."

Jason shook his head and muttered something about not wanting to die again, which Marinette elected to ignore. Instead she began the chant and called upon the Ghost King, the Ruler of the Infinite Realms, The Bringer of the Frost, Guardian of the Eternal Souls, Protector of the Living World, The Sleepless One, The Halfa, Keeper of the Abyss, etc. " Man this guy has a lot of titles," she thought. The runes began to glow as the light began to melt upward into a swirling portal of ink and stars. The edges of the portal were wrapped in a shifting green cloud that reminded Marinette of the Lazarus Pit. "That's...probably...not a good sign," she thought but it was too late. Because a white hand emerged from the blackness and Marinette felt the magic in the room surge with the sudden pressure of power. She gasped, and her breath came our in a cloud as the hand was followed by a foot. The kwami gathered around her ready to fight, and Jason's hand flew to his gun. They all held their breath as the Ruler of the Infinite Realms emerged, in all of his power and glory.

"All I'm saying, Jazz, is that I don't see the point! I mean it's not like I'm going to be dressing like this while I'm king!" A teenage boy cried as he stepped casually from the portal. 

"It's not about you, Danny!" said the tall, red haired woman who followed him into the studio, "It's about your subjects. They need to see that you're taking this seriously, so they know to take you seriously. By presenting yourself as a king before them, they will be more likely to trust you as their king."

"She's right Danny," said a goth goth girl, "You're entering the world of high ghostly society. In those circles image is everything whether your alive or dead. Ha, you're gonna love it!"

The boy, Danny, groaned into his hands, and then turned to face Marinette and Jason who were staring in quiet shock and confusion. "Hi!" He said stepping forward holding out his hand to shake, "I'm Danny Phantom, future King of the Infinite Realms, nice to meet ya!" 

Marinette blue screened for a moment as she took in her client. This...was not what she was expecting. She had been fully prepared to meet some sort of strange eldritch animal/human/void type hybrid. Instead she got a teenage, human boy who couldn't have been older than 16. The only thing unusual about was his snow white hair, and glowing green eyes. She could work with this. So, Marinette smiled and shook his hand, "Marinette Dupain-Cheng-Wayne, MDC, the pleasure is all mine. And this is my brother, Jason Todd, he's going to be assisting us today!"

Danny looked over at Jason and gaped, "Dude!" he exclaimed, "You core is messed up! What happened to you?!"

"Danny!" the red head, Jazz exclaimed, "Be nice! I'm sorry," she said addressing Jason, "My brother might be one of the most powerful beings in the multiverse, but he's still a teenager and often forgets his manners. I'm Jazz by the way!" She held out her hand, and Jason numbly shook it as his eyes expressed that he was still trying to mentally process what was happening. 

"And I'm Sam," the goth girl said stepping forward as the portal closed behind her, "I'm a big fan of your work, Miss. MDC. Your eco friendly punk spring collection was truly inspired!" 

"Thank you," Marinette said with a smile, "And I see you're wearing some of it! I have to say, the way you've dressed up the vest is amazing, I never would have thought to match it with that color skirt!" 

Sam blushed as she straighten the faux dark green leather vest. Jason then took the opportunity to speak up saying, "I hate to interrupt but...what's the story here?"

"Oh," Danny said as they all moved toward the couches that surrounded the circular stage, where the finished products would be touched up and fitted. "Well you see our parents," he gestured between himself and his sister, "are scientists who for some reason decided to study ghosts."

"We thought they were crazy!" Jazz exclaimed with a desperate laugh.

"They are crazy," Sam said, "Just turns our they were also right."

"They built a portal to what they called the Ghost Zone," Danny explained, "It's kind of like the afterlife in between afterlives. A realm between realms...sort of...it's complicated. And that's not really the point, the point is, they thought it didn't work. Until, Sam, Tucker and I were goofing off in the lab and there was an...'accident.'"

"And you died?!" Marinette asked in concerned.

"Yes, no, sorta kinda," Danny said casually, "I half died. I'm half dead. I'm half ghost."

"The technical term is Halfa," Jazz explained.

"Danny is alive," Sam said, "But at the same time, he's dead."

"Schrodinger's kid," Jason muttered, and Danny beamed. 

"Yeah, you see! This guy gets it!" He exclaimed. "So anyway, now that the portal was open someone had to make sure that the ghosts didn't overwhelm the land of the living, and vise versa. And since I am both living and dead, I was the only one who could do it."

Marinette twisted one of her earrings with a glance at Tikki, who was shuffling the other kwamis out of sight since there was clearly no danger, "I get that."

She and Danny exchanged an understanding look, before he continued, "Yeah, well, one of those ghosts turned out to be the actual Ghost King who had gone all tyrant, and tried to disrupt the balance between life and death thus destroying both realms. I might have beaten him in single combat thus accidently becoming the next Ghost King." 

"How do you accidently become the Ghost King?" Jason said incredulously. 

"By beating the former monarch in single combat, I thought we just established that?" Danny said.

"Any way," Jazz said purposefully, "Danny was still in high school at the time, so he couldn't exactly claim the throne. And besides there was a lot about inter-death politics that he had to learn. So we had to hold off on the coronation until he was ready." 

"And now here you are!" Marinette said brightly. 

"Here we are!" Danny said in return. "Got to say though, randomly becoming the guardian of one of the cornerstones of all existence before all before my 18th birthday, not how I expected my life to turn out. But like you said 'here we are!'"

Marinette glanced at the kwami again and said softly, "Yeah, I get that to."

Danny cocked his head at her, as his glowing green eyes met her piercing blue one. He nodded and said, "Alright then, let's get started shall we. I'm trusting you, Blue eyes!"

Jason scowled at the nickname, but Marinette chuckled and retrieved her tape measure, but stopped as she took in his outfit. It looked like a black and white, rubber hazmat suit that was custom made to fit him. It wasn't the worst thing she had ever seen, and the flaming D, she guessed was a nice touch, but it the girls were right. It didn't scream "King of the Infinite Realms." But it raised a pressing question for her. 

"So how do your clothes work?"

"Uh...well...let's see," Danny said as he looked down at his outfit. "Well I suppose I should explain how ghosts work. You see all of this," he gestured to his face and limbs with exaggerated motions, "Is basically all ectoplasm, energy, and magic shaped by the self image of my psyche. So I can shift it to change based on my self image, and that includes my clothes, if I focus. The thing holding it all together is my core." He tapped is chest where his heart should have been. "Basically it's like a...vessel? Yeah, a vessel for my psyche, or spirit, or soul, whatever word you want to use." 

"So do you want me to just draw you an outfit, and then you can shift your clothes into that. It might be easier."

"Nuh-uh," Sam said, "That wont work. He can shapeshift, but it's not his specialty. He always shifts back within thirty minutes or sometimes less."

Jazz nodded, "The best thing would be to make him an outfit for his human form, and then he can shift to match that. We can even infuse the fabrics with some of his ectoplasm, so it will be easier for his psyche to recognize it as a part of him."

Marinette froze at the phrasing, and suddenly why Danny was so hesitant to change his ghostly look. His clothes were a part of his self image. This was how his spirit perceived his existence. Marinette began studying hit clothes a lot more closely. Any thing she did could alter his self image for all of eternity, if she wasn't careful. Marinette took a deep breath. This was probably going to end up being the most important piece of her career. "Ok," she said allowing her voice to communicate to Danny just how serious she was taking this commission. "I think I understand. In that case, I'm going to need measurements of both your human form, and your ghost form. If there are any discrepancies, I'm going to need to know now."

Danny smiled softly at her. "Ok." And there was no more arguing or complaining, as he stood patiently while she took his measurements, first in his ghost form, and then in his human form. Jason was writing down the numbers diligently. Almost too diligently, but Marinette understood his silence when he said, 

"So this core thing...you said I had one but there was something wrong with it."

"Hmm," Danny said, "Oh yeah. Did you die and get resurrected or something?" Jason nodded silently, completely engrossed in the notepad. "Well, whoever did it did an awful job!"

"Danny!" Jazz exclaimed.

"What? It's true!"

"But that's not how you say it. I am so sorry Jason, my brother can be a little insensitive."

"No it's ok," Jason said, "I'd rather have it blunt and honest, than sugar coated. So what's wrong with me?"

"Nothing's wrong with you per se," Danny mused after a moment of studying Jason. "So obviously you died. And the circumstances were just right so that instead of going to one of the 'afterlives' you went to the space between, the Infinite Realms. Which is probably why you don't remember what happened in between your two lives. Am I right?"

"You'd know better than me," Jason laughed dryly. 'Like you said I don't remember."

 "Probably for the best. But anyway," Danny continued, "When you were resurrected, it was done very badly, because you're core is warped. Don't worry it's still intact, so your spirit's safe. But the warped core combined with the corrupted ectoplasm running through your veins! Yeesh! Frankly I'm surprised you're not frothing at the mouth, homicidal maniac right now. Cause that amount of contamination is not good for you mental stability." 

The siblings froze and exchanged desperate, almost hopeful looks. "The pit madness," Marinette whispered. 

"I get...angry sometimes," Jason explained. "I see green, and then red, and then I...I hurt people."

The girls looked at him with pity, but Danny just nodded with understanding. "Makes sense," was all he said, but Marinette could instantly see the relief of those words wash over Jason's whole being. She knew how much he fought, how much he struggled with his sanity. They tried to help, but pit madness wasn't like normal mental illnesses. It was steeped in ancient magic and the forces of nature them selves. In the end the only advice any of the could logistically give Jason was to fight it. Therapy could give him tools, but when push came to shove none of them understood what it was like. 

And to have someone, anyone, say that it made sense. That his reactions to the corruption inside him were not strange, abnormal or grotesque. To have his actions fit inside the bounds of an expected response, a symptom of something that could be categorized...Marinette could not imagine the relief Jason must have been feeling. But it whatever his emotions were they all seemed to be summed up in his next chocked out words, “Is…is there a cure.”

“Yeah, of course there is!” Danny said with his cheerful casualness, that broke all of Jason’s carefully crafted walls. “I can schedule an appointment for you with Frostbite. He’s done some incredible research into the development of Ghost cores. Once, he filters that ectoplasm in your blood stream, it shouldn’t be too difficult to get your core back to it’s proper shape. You’ll have to spend a few days in the Ghost Zone, a week at most. But then your core will start filtering and shaping the ectoplasm on it’s own…think of it as a liver transplant, but with magic and shit.”

“Wow,” Jason breathed. “I…uh…ha…I.t…thank you!”

Danny smiled, “Eh, what are kings for. I mean you are technically one of my subjects.”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said still smiling.

Danny grinned. “When you die, again, you’ll go to the Ghost Zone. My zone. You’re stuck with me buddy!”

Jason threw back his head with a clear bright laugh that was all too rare in Marinette’s opinion. And hearing it now as it rang with hope and joy, only made Marinette’s smile brighter and fuller. They continued to talk about what it would take to get Jason to the Ghost Zone for his “core transplant” as Danny was now calling it. And Marinette was slowly getting a clearer picture of what she was going to make for the young king. 

When she finished her measurements and pulled out her note book to start some rough sketches, she turned back to Danny and said, “Ok so we can talk about what you don’t want once I have some ideas mapped out. But first I want to know if there is anything that you do want. A favorite color, a piece of jewelry, a type of belt, anything like that?”

“Your symbol,” Sam said immediately. “You need to have your symbol.”

“I think you should keep your usual color scheme,” Jazz said calmly, “It’s like your signature.”

“Danny?” Marinette asked pointedly. 

He thought for a moment and the grinned saying, “Can I get a cape?”

The girls rolled their eyes, and Jason put his head in his hand. But Marinette just beamed and said, “I’ll see what I can do.”

(Who should Marinette design for next?! Comment your requests)

[nelkcats]

Hood Assistant

Prompt Part 1 Part 3 Part 4 Next Ao3

Part 5

-----

It isn't what we say or think that defines us, but what we do

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

Jason couldn't help but feel a surge of protection towards the boy in his arms, he looked so fragile as he tried to stop himself from shivering and snuggled into his chest.

Even though he should feel uncomfortable since they had only met for a couple of days, he didn't push him away, on the contrary, he hid him. Maybe it was some kind of newfound instinct but he wasn't comfortable letting anyone see the cheerful boy in such a dull way, as if the world was trying to eat him up and Jason was his only refuge.

Strangely the pits began to respond to him, he could feel the fury running through his veins, but he wasn't trying to tear the boy to pieces as usual, it almost seemed like it was trying to protect him. His confusion lasted a couple of seconds before the world became clear to his eyes, everything became extremely dangerous, almost oppressive and he had to suppress a groan when he heard footsteps near his location.

Scarecrow had been distracted by the crow that kept leading him away from the alley by yelling and pecking, unlike his previous chatty self the little crow only said "Kar Kar Kar", in its own way the little bird knew the strange man was a threat and he was trying to protect his new family.

Although Jason couldn't see it, the shadows where they were began to darken, hiding them completely inside the alley, the only thing that could be seen with the naked eye were the bright toxic green eyes he was showing, which, instead of being obstructed by the gas mask, made a more ominous scene for the observer. Scarecrow felt a chill run down his spine as the temperature around him dropped but he brushed it off in favor of continuing to chase the troublesome bird.

—----------

On the other side of the city, inside the mansion the alarms from the Batcave were heard, something extremely rare at that time of day.

"Oracle to the Batcave, it's an emergency" was heard over all the communications.

Bruce quickly moved away from the press conference upon noticing the vibration in his watch, he used those seconds to ask what was happening, camouflaging the question as a cough; he didn't get very far before reporters surrounded him questioning if the millionaire had gotten sick after spending so much time renovating the community pool, he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Tim was half asleep on his computer but the call jerked him up, he panicked realizing he had a meeting with Wayne Enterprises in an hour but concentrated on the information Babs was about to tell him, priorities (and a bit of responsibility dodging).

When they were going to the kitchen for a snack, two siblings noticed the alert, they rushed but after considering for a few seconds Cass pushed Dick down the stairs, Dick for his part did a somersault landing perfectly on the floor, his gymnastics skills weren't rusty at all.

"Smug" Steph complained from her place on the sofa, she had come to the mansion to visit Cass, but as was the unspoken rule: she had stayed a little longer.

"This is not the time for games, I need assistance in Crime Alley, Crane started his attack and Jason is compromised" Barbara said desperately over the comms, she needed help fast "Are you guys available?"

"It's 4pm, it's too early for the bats to come out" Steph yawned, she would have liked to go out and show off her status as the best member of the bats but her suit was at home, maybe she could find a spare on the batcave.

"And Gotham has never seen us fight during the day, well, most of us." Tim gave Duke a curious look after he had entered through the mansion gates.

"Oh no, you are not going to let me fight the madman alone" he frowned "I just came for my afternoon snack, I'll go back to my patrol after that"

"This is not the time to argue! I don't care if you paint your costume red or put on a clown nose, I need someone supporting Jason with Crane now" Barbara voiced with frustration in her voice "he has a civilian who succumbed to the fear gas and Scarecrow changed the formula, this is urgent"

"Well, I guess the bats will be out early today, it'll be a scary day" Dick joked, although he didn't feel so amused after hearing about his brother's situation.

"I can help with the formula from the cave, I'm not as good with the Batcomputer as Tim but I can do it" Steph affirmed, even if Spoiler didn't go out on the streets she was going to find a way to help.

"Why? I can manage the computer from here while you go out on the field, Scarecrow's greatest strength is his formula so bats with masks integrated into the suit should be a better option" he stated confidently.

"Master Timothy, I hope you're not planning on skipping your 5 o'clock meeting." Alfred scolded the boy gently from behind.

"There's no time for meetings Alfie, Damian's at school and I can handle the computer better anyway" he smiled.

"No, we are enough bats, you can go to your meeting and Steph can handle the computer in the same way as you, the important thing is to get to Jay, this is not up for discussion" Dick spoke while frowning slightly, perhaps it was his concern as an older brother but he couldn't help but want to get to the place as soon as possible. Tim couldn't help but sigh at the tone and gave up on attending the absurd income meeting.

"Civilian, danger" Cass pointed out worriedly, the real issue wasn't saving Jason in this case.

"Yeah, I don't know how Jay ended up with a civilian but we have to get him out of there" Dick nodded "however, it's true that we can't go out that openly in the daytime, Duke do you think you can do something with that?"

"I can hide you," the latest addition to Bruce's adoption papers grumbled, "and focus on the crazy man while Jason is brought out."

"That will do" Barbara spoke a little more relieved "my break is about to end so I won't be able to help in such a direct way, but I will do my best"

"Okay, Orphan and Signal, it's time for the daytime operation" Dick spoke taking temporary leadership of the mission, he ignored the grunts of his siblings at the name "Spoiler, we'll be counting on you"

With that said, everyone went to the cave to take their respective suits; Except for Steph, who didn't really see the need to do it, and even if she was risking Bruce's wrath over the secret identities, she'd figure it out later, she was sure there wasn't much he could do considering she wasn't actually legally adopted, that would be a problem for her future self.

"It's a shame Jarro can't accompany us" Steph joked "seeing that he's in space and everything"

The other bats seemed distracted, from Dick she could understand it but she didn't know what Cass and Duke were thinking, the civilian? It was likely, she really hoped "the rescue" would go well.

—-------

Danny was scared, once the gas got into his system it didn't affect him like it would do on a human or one of the crows as it was originally intended to.

Hallucinations began to appear before his eyes, confusing themselves with memories, and his ghostly characteristics were more present than ever.

The only thing saving him from a complete transformation was Jason. He could feel Jason's gentle touch hiding him from the world, nestling his head on his chest.

Danny kept trying by all possible means to contain everything that could scare someone; He bit his lip, ignoring the sensation of his fangs gently piercing his skin.

Too ghostly for humans

Spectra's voice was heard perfectly in his head. Though years had passed since that incident, it had lingered within his memory, Jazz would have called it trauma, he wasn't so sure.

What are you?

He wanted to scream as the multiple times being called a monster or a threat played through his head. Until now he had no correct answer to that question, not since he was named a "True halfa" and Clockwork informed him that Plasmius was slowly dying.

Are you dead? That is cool! How did you die? Maybe you're a corpse and not a ghost, or a ghost zombie!

The innocent comment of a little boy brought him to tears, it was absurd. The "hero" Phantom had run away at that moment, he knew there was no way the boy would know that the memory affected him, that he could feel the flashes of electricity under his skin. Remembering the pain and the impotence, that didn't make it any better.

He remembered the nights he'd spent awake wondering if the accident had killed him, if he was really a ghost possessing his own corpse and was just prolonging the inevitable.

We don't need you! You are a threat!

Was there anything worse for a child than being rejected by his parents? Every time Danny heard Dr. Fentons yelling at him, whether they intended it or not, he felt the same way. If they told Phantom he wasn't necessary, Danny was the one listening to his parents, when Danny was shot, because they did not bother to repair the guns in his house so they wouldn't be pointed at him, he felt unimportant. What's the point of being showered with loving words while being stabbed through the heart?

You should leave the city

The only comment he pondered for hours. More than harming him, that random person made him understand that maybe Amity Park couldn't be his home anymore, maybe it was time to move on and stop being just Danny the Fenton creep or Phantom the hated hero. Perhaps it was selfish to want to be both.

Why do you always seek attention? We do not want you here and we will not fall for your games!

One of Dr. Fenton's comments flashed through his head, and Danny couldn't help but laugh as he sobbed into Jay's shirt, probably looking as pathetic as he felt. He hated the attention, he hated it so much.

"I didn't want to be a hero" he murmured, although his words were hardly understandable at that moment "I didn't want, I wanted to live, why did it have to be me? Why did they force me to protect them?"

Danny continued to babble on in frustration, the only reason he kept acting like the hero was because of Sam and Tucker, but he always thought it was unfair. Why did the whole town expect a dead child to protect them? Why were they not doing anything when they saw him bleeding ectoplasm in the middle of the street? Why didn't they stop the Fentons when they were developing dangerous weapons or talking about skinning him alive?

When did the living stop caring about the dead? Despite all that he did for the city, very few took into account that he was still a child, a child with too much responsibility, a child too wounded, who continued to heal others.

The situation was absurd. How many more times would he have to pick up his broken heart, praying that it could stick again even if they stole pieces? How much more could he ignore how the city never offered to give him a proper resting place?

He recalled a time as Phantom, in one of his weak moments remarking to a reporter that he never had a grave or proper rest. The rumor spread but apart from Mr. Lancer and some classmates giving him flowers, nobody did anything.

It was stupid really, but ghosts needed graves, graves were symbolic to them, it meant you died but you were loved. That no one noticed his death, the fact no one mourned him, had always felt like a void inside his soul. A void begging for affection.

But what was he supposed to do? Ask Jazz, who had her own coping methods, to lay a grave for his half-alive brother? Did he have to remind his best friends that the portal killed him? Perhaps it did it wrong, or halfway, but he died, undoubtedly.

Sam and Tucker liked to ignore the fact that his friend had come in screaming and came out in ashes. They saw it as a setback, and Danny understood, he wasn't going to spiral them into guilt just to make himself feel better, it was unfair.

"Will you leave me too?" He questioned raising his bright eyes to look at Jason "Are you going to break my heart? I'm warning you: I don't know if I can keep fixing it"

Jason gasped at the blue-green look in the boy's eyes, he could feel the anticipation, the way he was waiting for a positive answer. And he realized that no one had the right to destroy a person that much, because he had a feeling that Danny hadn't done that to himself.

But he could see the signs, he could see how this boy with teary eyes and fear of rejection was the same boy who had walked in without a care in the world to serve a bowl of soup to orphaned children, he could see how he needed approval, positive affection; And that maybe hit a little too close to home, because he knew he wasn't the one to give him those things.

"I won't leave you alone" he chose to reply "but you shouldn't offer your heart to strangers so easily Doll"

"It's funny that you say that" the halfa commented sadly "because you're not a stranger, honestly I gave it to so many people that I don't know how much is left of it, I'm sorry if I'm defective"

"No." Jason's grunt startled Danny, who turned to look at him in alarm.

"No?" He asked confused, for some reason Jason's neon green eyes sent him a sense of security, something inside him screaming protected, safe. To the point where he didn't actually wonder if his eyes weren't a different color earlier.

"No, people are not defective because they are not objects" although he was wearing the gas mask it was obvious that he was frowning "I don't care how many stupid things people told you, you are not defective, you are just human and if you have the nerve to say i'm worth it, I can give you back the same fucking feeling, you cute motherfucker"

"Does that mean you don't want it?" The boy asked instead. He didn't want to have another existential crisis over his humanity when he was barely conscious with the effects of the gas, he felt so drugged. Though his heart definitely sped up at the other's words, did Jason believe he was worth it? he'd have to talk to Johnny about it later, and yell for a while, if he was lucky enough to remember.

"Although I'd love to have it, I'd like you to save it for someone who can take better care of it" Jason spoke, noting that the boy wasn't concentrating on the positive things "you're not in the right state of mind right now Doll, don't do things you'll doubt later"

"But I-"

Their conversation was interrupted when they heard voices in the distance. Jason got back into a defensive position as Danny hid in his chest again, barely controlling the memories that threatened to flash before his eyes. He couldn't succumb again, he had to remember: Jason was safe, Jason was safe.

—--------

The moment Duke arrived on the scene he felt a chill run down his spine, the light and darkness in that whole part of town just felt incorrect, and a feeling of wrongness ran through his body.

"I didn't know it was getting cold in Gotham," Dick complained as he rubbed his arms in an attempt to keep himself warm. He momentarily wondered if Crane was working with Freeze.

"Focus, mission, find brother " Cass motioned to both of them, putting on the gas mask and adjusting it correctly around her face; the language was still a bit confusing for Cass, she was used to having her intentions read through their fights so expressing it in words was always tedious. That's why she usually chose to speak in shorter sentences, to the point instead of winding around, a bit the opposite of her older brother in a certain way.

"You're right, we're getting closer to the place marked by Oracle" Dick nodded as he headed into one of the alleys, both he and Signal had their gas masks on. It was then that he heard noises near one of the alleys.

He leaned out to see the cause of all the fuss and saw how his route was divided in two, on the one hand Cane was fighting with a crow? On the side of the road, looking completely exasperated and furious, Dick honestly took pity on the animal.

On the other side shadows seemed to be covering the alley, although it was hard to see through the smoke, Dick could make out a familiar figure, who had completely toxic green eyes and was snarling at him, yeah, that could be a problem.

"I found Jay" he commented unsure, it was always risky to approach his little brother when he was affected by the pits. He honestly listened to his warnings more as a way to reassure his brother that he was safe, he wasn't afraid of him at all, no matter how much Bruce seemed to think Jason was a mindless being during the episodes.

Dick saw it from a different perspective, Jason "Pitter" Todd was a more primitive form (and Jay absolutely hated the pun Dick created, he repeated the word Peter at least eighty times before giving up), but he retained his consciousness, he didn't instantly turned into a mindless being who went for blood and guts, he was more of a very aggressive person who put instincts as the first priority, being very prone to acting out. Still, definitely Jason.

"We have a problem, Cass come with me and help me determine Jay's condition, Duke take care of Crane" Dick ordered over the comms, to deal with "Pitter" it was better to have Cass on his side, although he was considered more expressive, she was considerably better in reading emotions.

"Oh come on, I said I wasn't going to face the madman alone." Signal frowned, although he was relieved not to have to go near the glowing black hole he could see from where Jason stood, no, he'd heard enough warnings to know it was a bad idea.

"Dayshift" Dick sneered from the comms "we can't be as seen as you can, at least the alley can cover us but we cant help it”

Duke still grumbled as he walked to the opposite side of the strange shadows, where Crane could be seen frustrated with a small crow.

"Are you serious?" Duke questioned in disbelief as he watched the little bird beating one of Gotham's worst villains just by pestering him to death.

"What's next, an army?"  He asked mockingly, however he swallowed his words at the moment when he heard a "Kar" above his head, he looked up and felt hundreds of red eyes watching from the beams of the electrical cables "yes, excellent, an army of crows, exactly what we need for a Scarecrow"

"Kar, Kar, Kar" several of the crows began to sing, for a moment he wondered what they were doing until he turned his gaze to Crane, who was covering his suit as the crow pecked at him.

The little crow moved away from Crane to quickly fly with the others and as if he were a general in a speech he spoke "Kar, sacrifice, Kar", the crow flapped his wings looking determined.

Duke was genuinely concerned about what the crows were learning in Gotham, who had taught them the word sacrifice? And why were they so scary?

"You won't be able to beat me, aerial beasts!" Scarecrow yelled furiously, firing more of the gas. The birds were not affected as they only flew a little higher. Some of them looked genuinely murderous, though, so the gas might have caused a reaction in them.

"Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice" the crows began to sing in unison, Duke felt that he had become a spectator in a horror movie.

"Really, what the hell?" Duke questioned in dismay, he was supposed to write this on the report, dammit.

He moved a little out of the way when he saw the crows preparing to fly toward Crane. He knew what his battles were and this was not one of them.

Almost to confirm his point, hundreds of crows swooped down on Crane at once, pecking and effectively trapping him in one of the alley corners. When they finished him off, the villain had minor injuries all over his body and was surprisingly unconscious. Duke was internally grateful that Crane used so much protection or maybe they would have gouged out his eyes, crows were scary.

"Love, love, love" the little crow repeated happily, his attitude had changed the moment they defeated the villain but Duke had learned not to trust the little creature, small and terrifying.

"Yeah, thanks for doing my job for me, I think" Signal wasn't sure how he was supposed to react to the current situation "at least I didn't do it alone, I guess"

Almost as a signal, the crows withdrew and the scary little buddy made its way to the alley where Dick and Cass were possibly standing, well, that was no longer his problem.

His day shift was officially over, better turn Scarecrow over to the police, he would have to tell Bruce to control Arkham in case he tried to escape again. But his current priority was the pancakes Alfred had in the fridge, without a doubt.

He collected a sample of Crane's gas as he returned, he was sure there would be a couple of casualties by the end of the day so it was best to give Steph a sample when he got to the mansion. Also because of the aggressiveness of the crows, he could add some negative side effects to the birds as a consequence for the new fear gas formula, honestly Duke didn't feel like dealing with bloodier crows than normal.

—--------

"Scared, out of it, protective" Cass informed Dick as soon as he was a few feet away from where Jason seemed to be snarling at him in full rage, although he wasn't quite sure as the mask muffled the noise. This reaction was a bit more intense than he had expected at first, but he still felt that he could deal with it.

"It's fine Little Wing, it's me" Dick held up both hands, a sign that he was obviously unarmed, it was better to treat Jay the way Damian treated the feral cats at the animal shelter. Not that he was going to tell Jay that, ever.

"It took you long enough, bastard" he answered annoyed, but still not loosening his grip on Danny, who seemed to be shaking more the more people got closer, how did he know? One more mystery among many.

"Yeah, sorry, we were a bit busy when the alert came in" Dick sighed "now, if you can hand me the civilian"

"No" was the quick answer.

"No, don't leave me, no," Danny muttered, clinging closer to Jason's shirt, barely understanding what was going on in the conversation beyond a few sentences. He was wondering if he should buy Jay a new shirt, his brain felt so tired all of a sudden.

"Alert, danger, stay away" Cass signed from next to him, it was obvious that neither of them wanted to get away. Although strangely, Cass felt more aggressiveness from the civilian than from Jason himself at the suggestion.

The temperature dropped again, but most of them didn't notice, Dick sighed looking at Jay with a frown "What do you expect us to do Jay? Signal registered taking Scarecrow a few seconds ago"

"Go with him" Jason grumbled, if there was no danger, better, he could get out of the toxic air and take Danny away from there.

"Come on Little Wing, you know I can't leave you in this state" Nightwing denied, just as stubborn as his brother "What are you going to do when I'm gone?"

"Take Danny home" he replied, although the green in his eyes didn't shine as brightly, he still looked quite alert about the whole situation, any wrong move could bring the pits back to full.

"I assume you know the civilian" Dick muttered curiously "Okay but I'm still going to help you, where does Danny live?"

Although the question was said in a friendly tone, the silence that followed was definitely awkward, Jason couldn't help but thank the gas mask, at least that way they couldn't see the embarrassed blush spreading all over his face. He was purposely ignoring that Cass would know for sure, she wasn't a snitch

"You don't know where he lives, right?" Dick asked, knowing that kind of silence all too well.

"It's none of your business," Jason complained, although the friendly interaction seemed to be taking him out of his fury.

"That's my business, where are you hoping to take him? One of your safe houses?" He teased, though his brother's silence was definitely revealing "wait, you're not being serious, are you sure you didn't inhale some gas?"

"I'm sure Big Bird, so shut up, go help with the damn antidote and call me when it's ready," Jason said annoyed, carefully getting up from where he had lain down to give Danny more comfort and starting to walk away from them.

"Not a good time, let it go" Cass signed to her older brother, she detected a lot with that little interaction and thought that the explanation required a complicated sentence to clarify.

"I understand Cass, I'm just worried" Nightwing sighed sadly, he wasn't looking forward to telling B anything.

"Understandable" Cass nodded. It was normal that after bringing Jason back, his "old" family would become attached to him, that could be bad in the long run if Jay refused to clarify things, but it was none of Cass's business. Even if she loved her family, she couldn't express feelings for them, it was better to let them figure it out.

No one noticed Shadow leaning out curiously and watching Jason take Danny away before deciding to disappear, taking the darkness that had settled in the alley with them.

—-----

"Amorpho, I need a favor" Johnny called the ghost through his ghost phone, he wasn't going to call it Fenton phone 2.0 because Technus would be extremely offended.

"Not even a hello? Why should I listen to you?" Amorpho questioned curiously from the other side of the line.

"You can pretend to be Danny and visit the human world" the blonde ghost bribed.

"Tempting, tell me more about this favor" Amorpho said, it was not a secret that he enjoyed imitating the halfa.

"Well, the boy has to attend classes, but his crush apparently kidnapped him and he can't" Johnny explained quickly, he had been worried for a few seconds but Shadow assured him that the halfa wasn't in danger. However Johnny remembered Danny's insistence on his attendance.

"You want me to pretend to be him and attend classes?" Amorpho questioned in disbelief, he had better things to do with his time "And what do you mean with kidnapped?"

"That doesn't matter, but yes, If you accept you can do whatever you want as long as nobody dies after it" Johnny assured, Danny owed him a favor for all the work.

"Whatever I want? Okay, you have a deal" Amorpho agreed, though he still had questions about the kidnapping part.

"Great! I will call Wulf to open the portal to the university, your first class is advanced physics, good luck! Don't forget that you already accepted!" The blond hung up the call before the other ghost could react.

"You mean right now? What the hell is advanced physics? JOHNNY-" By the time the ghost reacted it was too late.

"I think that went well" The blond smiled.

—------

For his part, Jason was grateful to his siblings for being on time. He hated the situation he had inadvertently gotten himself into, but he hated more that Danny was sacrificing himself like it didn't matter. How dare he? He was going to smack the bastard with self-esteem even if he forced it.

He couldn't show it correctly because his head was still filled with that need for PROTECTION before the boy he had in his arms. Jason sighed, deciding to carry him in his arms princess style. Personally he preferred the potato bag style on his shoulder but Danny had been very displeased at the suggestion to get off his chest. Which shouldn't embarrass him nearly as much as it did.

Danny felt calm listening to Jason's heartbeat, it relaxed him as the illusions momentarily disappeared from his head. Jason was the solid ground of him, corny as it sounded.

"I want you to know that this is your fault" he claimed to the boy in his arms as he threw the gas mask to the side of the room once he got to the safe house "but since I don't know where the hell you live you're going to stay here until the antidote is ready"

Jason tried to separate Danny from him then, but every time the boy went more than 5 minutes without finding him he would start to panic and show obvious signs of Scarecrow's hallucinations. Jay was undoubtedly upset to see the bubbly boy turned into a dependent anxiety bag.

Curiously, from the bedroom window a crow could be seen sleeping peacefully, although no one was paying attention to it, the bird looked happy with that arrangement, without noticing the intruder, the boys continued talking.

"Okay Doll, you win, I'll sleep here tonight" Jason finally relented "but we should wake up early tomorrow for a nice breakfast, okay?"

Danny nodded, feeling better now that both of them were in bed and he could hear the boy's heartbeat again. He wriggled in an attempt to get into Jason's arms, where he felt safe and warm.

"You're really persistent" Jay complained, but he let him do what he wanted anyway "What's wrong cutie?"

"I didn't want you to go away in the middle of the night," Danny murmured looking worried, Jason swore he saw one of his eyes being more of a greenish blue for a few seconds, he wondered if he was seeing things "Are you leaving?"

"No, for now I do not intend to do it" the man sighed, wondering if he should add eye color to the long list to investigate "rest, I promise I'll be here in case someone bad comes, okay?"

"Okay" with one last sleepy yawn Danny settled back to listen to the heartbeat of his love interest "I hope Hood doesn't get mad at me"

"He won't find out," Jason teased, feeling a little amused "and if he does he'll have to get over it."

Stroking the boy's hair as he slept, Jason noticed a few familiar white strands tucked strategically behind the black hair. It gave him a bad feeling.

He decided to address his suspicions at another time, when memories of Danny forcing himself not to shake wouldn't flicker in his mind, when the expressive blue eyes didn't look so empty and sad inside his memories, and the sound of his laughter wouldn't change to sobs inside his mind.

Jason knew trauma well, and he wasn't overly happy to admit he recognized Danny having one. He ran his fingers gently over the boy's hand, Danny obviously hurt himself to stop the fear if the marks were a sign. He wondered why only one of his hands was hurt, but when he caught a glimpse of a large scar he decided not to push his luck so much. He needed to learn to wait, and maybe trust Danny a little bit, just a little bit.

I'm going to show you that you're worth it Cutie Doll, even if it takes me all my life.

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

Aaand tag time, but first a little clarification: Crane's fear gas was destined to kill the crows after a time to take the gas in their bodies (as an infection) but since it was a prototype, it failed, the crows only became more aggressive; Anyway, the fear gas was destined to affect humans too, this part was a success, except that Danny is not completely human, right? double ups.

The effect worked halfway into him, causing hallucinations but of memories he fears, he is able to resist it if he focuses on something that anchors him to reality (but he is very tired of the mental effort); That is why sometimes he seems lucid and sometimes not, he is a very drugged and sensitive halfa!

@skulld3mort-1fan@sorryiwonnoob@idfk-man10@avelnfear@criticaloverthinker@confusedandghostly @lunadoll36 @spidey29phangirl @suppengott @yjfk@apointlessbox@mimilikey@thegatorsgoose@jaggedheart11@dyinggirldied@pyramaniac@akikkobara@thedragonqueen1998@lostlightandfoundcrazy@xye-chan@saltyladynightmare @ashleysmshly @thewondersoflebanon@illusionwolfwriter24r8@littlefeather345@asphyxia778@amercurio@leftmiraclechaos @dixiwoods @satoshy12@lyra689@meira-3919@quietlyscared@plotwholls @kyrianclawraith @blacksea21090@basilf1res @flowers-n-fauna @8-29pm@phantom-dc@luer-mirin@taniaundertaleau@cloriform@readerkayden@oddlydrawnpuppets@basementloser@little-green-asparagus@echoednonny@yummy-yummy-mmmbones@confusionchaos@ectoplasm024@autumnwulf@666deaddash999@redhoneysugarorange@blue-avis@sailor-goddess@satanicrutialspecialist

[kayssweetdreams]

The Perfect Finale Ch23

All of Wonderworld seemed to fly into a panic. Yin. The Banished Maestro. The Maestro who had nearly DESTROYED WONDERWORLD ITSELF had somehow come BACK. The Tims started chirping in fear as All Negati had retreated into the shadows, including the Negabosses. The Costumes had initiated to initiate an "Emergency Evacuation of Wonderworld" as BOTH Maestros were frozen in fear.

"It's Yin! What do we do?!" Emma shouted "Emma dear. You and the others must flee. Leave taking care of Yin to Lance and Me." Balan said, though his voice also was laced with fear. "But we still didn't find Kaylo! And if Yin is here, then his first target is going to be her!" Mei said. "Mei. This is not up for debate. Follow the Costumes so that you don't suffer a grisly fate." Lance said, his voice cold and serious, but also sounding scared.

Lora narrows her eyes "Lance. We are NOT leaving without her." She said. Unfortunately, the maestros weren't going to argue. Lance snapped his fingers and called upon the Negabosses. In a second, they dragged the humans into the deepest and darkest part of Wonderworld...the realm of the Negati. The humans resisted as much as they could...but when you pit a costume-less human against a Negaboss...it was a losing battle.

"Grim! Let go!" Iben said, hoping her own Negaboss would listen to reason. "Iben. No. You have no idea what Yin is like! If he is coming back to Wonderworld, then the power he will have will be overwhelming! He could kill you! Destroy ALL of you!" Grim shouts, trying to get Iben to stop struggling. "We can't just LEAVE Wonderworld! What will happen to everyone?! To Balan and Lance! They barely survived the last encounter with Yin!" Attilio yells.

"But Clown Bro! Yin isn't Lance! He won't take pity on humans! If he sees you he will most likely reduce you to a smoking crater!" Princess Marey said, holding the clown like a toy and shivering in fear. "Well we have to do something! He'll kill Balan and Lance!" Cass shouts. "There's nothing we can do...Yin is a maestro, and maestros are the highest power in Wonderworld...nobody can oppose a Maestro's power." Purrla pointed out

The humans felt more helpless than when Lance had trapped them all in Wonderworld the first time. If there was no higher power than Maestro, and Balan and Lance were the only two maestros that could BARELY fight Yin...what could they do Unbeknownst to them, Kaylo had been seeing what was going on, and she was trembling in fear. She was WITH what Yin wanted...and he was HERE. And nobody else knew where she was. "What am I going to do?! That crazy psycho is here!!" She panicked.

That's when she heard the coaxing Wonderworld sound again "Dear Child...You and your friends must defend the future of Wonderworld..." it whispered "But how?! How do you fight against something as strong as a maestro? Let alone one as crazy and bloodthirsty as Yin?!" She asked out. "You will know...Yin will not get what he is after..." the sounds said.

The pink haired girl didn't know what it was talking about, but that's when the crystalline heart began to float in front of her "Take me now...Descendant of Mirabella. Protect the heart of Wonderworld..." it said.

That was the thing she heard before everything faded to white...

Mei belongs to @sundove88

Rebecca belongs to @thehyperrequiem

Trisha Jane belongs to @lovelyteng

Lora belongs to @alex-frostwalker

Aria belongs to @shadowqueen402

[stargirlwindreader]

Elriel headcanony thoughts pt.1 🥀

- they’re not a couple who argues often but even when they do they aren’t able to ever stay mad at each other and they never sleep away from each other

- Elain gets her dream wedding! Their ceremony is a celebration of the love they’ve chosen and their vows are a representation of the bond they’ve built!! Also Elain would love planning a wedding heheh <3

- They’re both obsessed with introducing each other as their ‘husband / wife’. Especially if they’re visiting another courts or walking through markets/stores, by the time they leave every person in the area knows Elain Archeron is Azriel’s wife. He never wants to hide their love again.

-During her fae cycles, he cancels any and all missions he has. If she has the flu, he refuses to leave Velaris and stays at home to take care of her.

-The first time she winnows he hypes her up so much because he’s so PROUD of her. He’s always proud of her.

-When he comes back from especially hard missions, his more intrusive thoughts getting the best of him, she holds him till his breathing evens out. She also yells at Rhys for sending him on these kinds of missions again and again and Rhys is so intimidated that he refuses to let Azriel go on a torture mission for the next six months. Azriel rolls his eyes and says that they’re both being ridiculous, but Elain makes sure he gets a break. She protects him fiercely.

- They’re lovers but they’re best friends too. (Though I’m pretty sure this is canon)

-Az is ABSOLUTELY the ravishing type, and with Elain he’s almost cocky in an endearing way. He flirts with her and teases her and jokes with her and loves to make her blush and she loves it. She’s just as feisty and sassy with him too. And he loves it.

-The first time the extent of Elain’s power is unleashed is before Elriel has gotten together. Everyone watches her when the fight is over, in awe and from a distance. But Az walks straight to her, doesn’t hide from her the way she didn’t hide from him. She reaches for him, he lifts her in his arms, and flies her away from the battle. Until she’s ready to face it.

- Their love once unleashed is so open and free flowing and never ending. All of Prythian knows that the seer and shadowsinger of the night court are devoted to each other.

- Once they get together, Az calls her a term of endearment almost every time they speak. Love, my love, my lovely, my flower, El, Lainey, baby, my heart. The list goes on and on.

- At the same time, Az has trouble feeling worthy and deserving, so Elain loves to make sure he’s reminded of how much she means to him. She will walk into a room announcing ‘Where is the light of my life?’, she will walk around the garden under the moonlight and casually let him know the every star in the galaxy wouldn’t fill up her cup of love for him. She loves him fiercely, and wholly and proudly and it heals his heart.

- when they accept each other wholly, mates or not, Elain still wants to offer him the food. Surprisingly, she keeps it very simple, just a homemade stew and bread. But when he takes his first bite tears fill his eyes and he KNOWS it’s the same food his mother used to make for him in his happiest memories. She shyly sits across from him, wringing her hands, and tells him she asked his mother to teach her the recipe so she could make it for him whenever he wanted. A silent tear ran down his cheek and when he pulled her onto his lap to hug her and thank her, Azriel knew he was home.

- whenever it rains they will dance together in it.

- when Elain chooses to start training, just to get a sense of the basics of fighting, Azriel has the urge to punch Cassian (whose training her) in the face every time Elain winces. Elain glares at him to calm down but secretly giggled with Cass.

- Az trains Elain exclusively on dagger defense. They practice with Truth Teller and eventually Azriel designs a custom made dagger for Elain. He gifts it to her on her birthday - her first weapon. Elain is ecstatic and like him keeps her dagger strapped around her thigh at all times.

- My major headcanon is that MISS ELAIN IS A SINGER. She’s secretly singing at open night mics all over Velaris and the shadow singer is watching, mesmerised, from the shadows every time!!

🥀🥀🥀

[eletricheart]

Chaotic Peace

(Donna Beneviento x Reader)

*image creds to owner

Word count: 455

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

It was a peaceful day for Donna, she was working on some dolls when noticed the complete silence, which was odd considering the Dimitrescu girls were visiting. There was no high pitched laughing followed by you yelling and cursing Angie, nor the noise of multiples flies and laughter.

Donna stood up once two full minutes had gone by with nothing crashing. At first she considered you all died, but that would've been loud since you wouldn't go down without a fight.

The dollmaker took the elevator to the first floor with fidgeting hands, trying to not get too caught up in her own head. She was heading for the second floor when heard whispers coming from the kitchen. Moving silently she stood at the door watching you, Angie, Cass, Dani and Bella arguing over a broken oven.

You only noticed Donna when she released her breath in relief. Making everyone turn around like deers in highlight.

The dollmaker only pointed at the destruction before loud arguing broke free. The lady waited for it to cease so that her voice could be heard. "So, who did it? I'm not mad, I just want to know"

Bella was the first to speak. "It was me, I did it."

Donna shook her head. "I know you didn't do it. Cass?"

Cassandra was the second. "I don't wanna say it but Daniela has been really quiet."

Daniela turned with a gasp. "Oh really?!"

Bella tried to take the blame again but Donna didn't accept it. The dollmaker looked at you with a questioning look.

In which you took with surprise. "Don't look at me, look at Angie."

The doll tried to jump on you but Daniela held her. "I didn't break it you lying piece of sh-"

You cut her off before an hour of cursing. "How did you even know it was broken?!"

The doll gasps in frustration. "Because it's sitting right in front of us and it's broken."

Cassandra, not backing down, talked again. "Daniela was the last one seen close to it, she clearly did it!"

Dani looked as furious as ever, with only Bella separating both sisters. "I don't even do that crap, everyone knows I can't cook."

Hell broke loose again in the kitchen with Donna still at the door holding her head in her hands.

The oven was broken a few days ago when Donna was trying to bake but couldn't get the timing right, so she called her dolls to destroy it. The dollmaker expected that in a few minutes, Angie would go after you with a knife, Cassandra and Daniela would set the room on fire and Bella would call her mother and ask her to "save her from these savages".

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

masterlist

[msfcatlover]

OH BOY, GUESS WHO GOT CARRIED AWAY AGAIN!

Fuck it, I'm posting this one to AO3. It's self-contained and I'm proud of it.

For the record, ASL is Cass's primary (not body language) language in this. She uses her voice for emphasis, or for when people don't understand her signs and she wants to make sure they understand her (as long as it's cooperating. Words are hard sometimes.)

(Also, some sounds are just fun to say, but that's neither here nor there.)

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

Dick doesn’t meet Cassandra Wayne until he’s been living with her for almost a year. He thought he did, because he’d seen so many different sides of Cass (lounging around the house in workout clothes, silent & terrifying by his side as Batman, the harsh teacher & the gentle sister, telling deadpan jokes that usually make Dick double-take before he nearly falls over laughing,) but he never met Bruce Wayne’s Daughter, Cassandra Wayne until the first time his school called her.

Fighting, of course. Because children are cruel, and Dick refuses to just lay down & take it. It’s worse now that Bruce is dead. Before, Dick was just Bruce’s latest acquisition in a long line of assorted foster children, and everyone knew he was there to stay. Now… Dick heard Duke arguing with his service worker to keep Dick at the manor, trying to convince her that Dick shouldn’t be moved to a different placement during such a traumatic time, that the manor & the people in it were still all vetted as a safe place for Dick, even if someone else needed to file for guardianship. Dick’s pretty sure the only reason he’s still sleeping in his own bed is the kind of publicity the Waynes could bring down if someone tried to take Dick away.

(The other kids know it too. Just like they know Bruce’s kids never asked to be saddled with Dick. Just like they know Dick is new, and difficult, and doesn’t belong. They’re happy to tell Dick about it, no matter how many times he shuts them up with his fists.)

Normally, it would be Duke who answered the call, since he’s the one most likely to be awake at any point during the day. Duke will walk in, all casual power & disarming snark, charm the secretaries, dance circles around the other parents, get Dick’s punishment lowered, and then take Dick out for ice cream. Sometimes it will be Damian, who comes in like an ice storm, fury painted across every line of his form, and who will spend at least 10min locked in the principal’s office yelling at people. After, Damian bundles Dick off to the car, and then just sits there with his forehead pressed against the wheel for a minute before even looking over. “Don’t repeat any of what I said in there, okay?” And Dick will agree, and then they’ll go to the park.

That’s what Dick’s expecting: one of his new "brothers," come to talk to the adults and get Dick out of trouble. He did not expect Miss Cassandra Wayne, in all her glory.

She opens the door like she’s disgusted she even has to touch it, pushing it away the second she can so that a soft open turns into a sudden bang. Her hair is slicked back from her face, product taming the usual messy fly-aways, giving a severity to her expression Dick’s never seen before. She’s wearing a suit with a tight pencil skirt that makes her normally loping stride into something short & clipped, amplified even more by a pair of silver stiletto heels so narrow you could probably stab someone with them. Dark lipstick draws attention to the annoyed press of her mouth, diamonds glitter at her ears & throat, and her eyeliner is sharp enough to kill a man. Dick hasn't seen her wear makeup since the funeral. He can't remember seeing her wear jewelry at all.

She doesn’t look at the principal. She walks right past them, past the parents & other children, to Dick in the far corner. Cassandra Wayne crouches down in front of him, her face softening. She lifts one hand to Dick’s cheek, wiping away a tear that isn’t there and brushing her thumb over an already blossoming bruise. With her other hand, she signs to Dick, asking if he’s okay.

Dick’s hands are shaking. If he lifts one to tell her he’s fine, everyone will see it. He nods stiffly instead.

Cassandra’s eyes narrow. “Who started it?” she asks Dick, still without opening her mouth.

What’s Dick supposed to say? He’s the one who threw the first punch. They deserved it. The things they said… Dick doesn’t know how to make people be better, but he can make them regret being shit. And it’s a lot harder to pronounce slurs with a split lip or bitten tongue.

Cass reads him. The shame in Dick’s shoulders, the still-simmering anger in his clenched fists & jaw, the fear in his small swallow & the way he won’t meet her eyes. When one of the others asks if they can get on with it, she sees Dick’s flinch and the way he fights not to curl in on himself, to not give them the satisfaction of seeing his misery.

“What did they say?” Cassandra asks Dick. He wouldn’t repeat it, even if he knew the signs.

“Some of us have work—“ one of the parents says, and Cassandra’s hand swings back, snapping shut in a “No” that you don’t have to know a single sign to understand; so fast & so sharp, it looks more like a closing mouth. (The parent does, in fact, shut his mouth.)

Cassandra brings her hand back around. “What do you need?”

Maybe Dick is going to cry. “I’m so tired,” he tells her, the hand movements tiny like a whisper, but his whole body sagging into the emotion. “I want to go home.”

Cassandra Wayne nods once and stands. She looks at the principal like he’s something she'll have to scrape off her shoe, and she's not looking forward to the experience.

“I don’t see what’s so complicated,” Cassandra Wayne says, voicing her words for the first time. “We have reported this bullying problem before. Many times. Too many times. My child should not be in this office twice a week because you—“ she points at the principal, “—can’t enforce your own rules.”

Several jaws drop around the room. (Dick's is very nearly one of them.)

“Mr. Grayson—“ the principal starts.

“Doesn’t mock his classmates for their grief or call their family slurs,” Cassandra Wayne cuts him off. “Anyone who can’t manage to enforce that basic level of dignity doesn’t deserve to be called a ‘teacher.’” Her eyes flick to the side, sizing up the other adults in the room. “Or ‘parent.’”

“My daughter has a black eye—“

“Richard has a fractured cheekbone. And a history of being verbally assaulted by the students at this school.” Cassandra Wayne tilts her head slightly. “If you want to make this a legal battle, go ahead. You won’t win.”

Spluttering. The parents appear to have forgotten English. Or any other language.

The principal stands. “There’s no need to bring lawyers into this. But we cannot have a violent child at this school.”

“Then you don’t.”

“What?”

Cassandra Wayne lifts her chin, somehow staring down her nose at a group of people who are all taller than her. “You don’t. Richard is no longer your concern. Focus on your bullying problem.” She holds out one hand towards Dick without looking. He scrambles out of his chair to grab on. “Other schools will be happy to have him as a student.”

“You can’t just—“

“I can.”

Cassandra Wayne turns her back on the principal and leads Dick out the door, parting the parents before her. Dick has to half-jog to keep up with her the whole way out of the building. Despite her speed, Cassandra never once tugs or pulls on Dick, and he’s gone faster for longer in training & patrol; by the time they reach the limo, Dick’s not even winded.

Cassandra Wayne opens the door for Dick, then follows him inside.

Cass half-flops onto the seat beside Dick, slamming the door behind her. “Bullshit!” she signs, blowing a raspberry at the same time. Dick giggles. Cass smiles at him. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Dick says, hand & voice at the same time. She knows already, but she still relaxes at the words.

“We should’ve pulled you out weeks ago. Those idiots!” Dick giggles again as Cass’s hand goes from gesturing at the school to thumping against her forehead.

“Probably,” Dick agrees with her. He kicks his feet. “Can you actually pull me out, though? Don’t you need Duke for that?”

“Duke will agree with me if he knows what’s good for him.” Cass huffs. “Anyway, we both signed the papers. You’re mine as much as his.” She looks very pleased with herself.

Warmth bubbles up inside Dick’s chest. “Oh. That’s good. I wouldn’t want you to get in trouble.”

Cass laughs. “We’re Waynes.” She finger-spells the name for emphasis.

Something about that, the casual inclusion, the ease with which she throws her name to him, cuts deep. Dick must show something, because suddenly Cass is turned towards him, facing Dick full-on so he can see her serious face. She speaks & signs at the same time, her voice slow & clear, hands measured & precise.

“Those people—" (She signs idiots again.) "—don't know our family. No one does. You're one of us, whether you take the name or not.”

Cass takes Dick’s hands in hers. “You’re my brother,” she says softly, earnest truth radiating from every part of her body. “We care about you.”

It’s a lot.

It’s too much.

Dick’s chest is doing something painful, Dick’s eyes are burning, and Dick can’t stop the tears from spilling out down his cheeks. Dick’s voice is stuck in his throat, his hands curl into inexpressive fists to uselessly wipe the tears away. He doesn’t know what to say—

Cass wraps her arms around Dick and pulls him onto her lap. She strokes his hair and shushes his sobs, ignoring the tears & snot ruining her best business suit.

(Cass isn’t quite sure if she’s said the right thing—tears can be good or bad, and Dick’s feeling so much right now—until she catches Alfred’s eye in the rear view mirror. He’s a little misty-eyed himself, and giving her the proudest smile she’s seen in years. Cass smiles back, then turns her attention back to Dick. It’s nice to know she’s on the right path.)