#The League thinks Batman found an abused child and took him in

[ragingbookdragon]

The Start of Something Great

Outlaws x Tamaranean!Reader

Word Count: 2.5K Warnings: Explicit Language, Mentions of Violence and Past Abuse

Author's Note: So this is technically the start of all those One-Shots with the T!Reader. In order, they are the one you're reading right now, then this one, this one, and this one. Enjoy! -Thorne

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She watched the group socialize from her position in the corner; she’d never been out and open like Kori was. She’d always preferred to watch in silence, to observe…the years she spent captive, formed her mindset of watching and waiting for moments of weakness. Speaking of Kori, she watched her step into the room with Dick; their hands tightly clasped together.

Fighting a laugh, she glanced out the window, turning her attention to the waves as they crashed against the rocks below the tower. She wondered why she was here. She wasn’t a part of the Titans…not really. Her animosity towards leniency on justice put her at odds with just about everyone within the group, and especially the Justice League. Well, except for Diana; the Amazon was the only one who truly understood her reasoning.

But as for letting criminals go free? It didn’t happen. Rarely ever, did (Y/N) allow a criminal to walk away from her, and her mind drifted to the memory of her first mission with the Titans.

***

She stepped out of the smoldering hole in the warehouse wall and strode to the criminal crawling from her. Placing her foot square between his pelvis and spine, she stepped down with all her strength and listened to his spine crack under the strain. He let out a bloodcurdling scream and she rolled him over with her foot, glaring down at him, watching as he begged.

“Please!”

A white hot star-bolt formed in her hand and she raised it, speaking coldly. “The women you assaulted and killed did not want to die either.”

The man began to cry as she flung the bolt, watching his body incinerate, and turn to ash; she turned and began walking away, ignoring the concerned look from her sister, and the angry looks from her teammates.

They hadn’t even gotten five feet into the tower when Dick was on her like a beast to a fresh kill. “What the hell was that, (Y/N)?”

She glowered, warning him darkly, “Watch how you speak to me, Richard. I am not Kori. And you should believe me when I tell you that what I feel for you is nothing short of loathing. And loathing is quick to turn deadly should I be pushed.” (Y/N) turned to leave when he moved in front of her again.

“It doesn’t matter what you feel! You owe us an explanation!” He shot back.

She barked a cold laugh. “I owe you nothing, least of all an explanation.”

“You murdered him!”

(Y/N) narrowed her gaze. “And the point you are trying to make is?”

Dick threw his hands into the air. “It was wrong!”

“Was what he did to those innocent women also wrong?” she countered and he all but recoiled.

“Of course! But that doesn’t—”

“But nothing. He was a despicable criminal, and he deserved to die for his crimes.” (Y/N) turned around and began walking to the door.

“We aren’t executioners, Kiyahnd’r.” Dick admonished.

She froze in her spot and glanced over her shoulder, her eyes frosty towards them. “Perhaps not you, Richard. But you were not raped and beaten repeatedly as a young child.” Her gaze narrowed. “My justice is absolute in the face people who do the same thing that was done to me and my sisters. Never forget that.”

***

(Y/N) blinked, dragging herself from the memory; it hadn’t been long after that, that she found herself tangled in combat with the Justice League. Apparently, she had held out against them far longer than anyone ever had, managing to overpower The Flash and Martian Manhunter. She had almost defeated Batman when Wonder Woman and Superman intervened, subduing her. That was a fun day for (Y/N), and she remembered how Batman had made her concede killing people…mostly anyway.

The years had been decent to her and she came to terms with her life, even branching out into modeling like Kori did. They ruled the runways. But the “lone wolf” style she’d developed while in captivity still ruled her, and she found it increasingly hard to keep continuing the team. They had all gathered in the room, and she rose from her seat.

Immediately, the talking stopped as everyone turned to stare at her; Dick smiled at her from his seat, Kori perched herself across his thighs. “You alright, (Y/N)?” She met his eyes before moving to the table and setting down a small metal piece. It clinked and their eyes moved to it, as Dick questioned, “What’s that?”

“You know what it is, Richard.”

He glanced over, looking at the item, and took in the realization of what it was. “Your key to the tower?”

(Y/N) nodded. “As of now, I formally relinquish my role as a Titan.” Ignoring the shocked gasps and stares, she continued. “I will be leaving at dusk.” (Y/N) made her way to the door. “Thank you…and goodbye.” She didn’t wait for their replies, moving to her bedroom.

She closed the door and sat beside the window, occasionally glancing at her packed bag. (Y/N) had money saved up over the years, from odd jobs to her professional modeling career worldwide and she still had big money rolling into her bank account from other various sources. She would be alright; she just needed to find a place to live on her own and thrive.

A knock tore her from her thoughts, and she turned to the door. “Enter.” In walked Kori and Dick, and she sighed knowingly. “Delivering the parting words?”

“Kiyahnd’r…are you sure you want to leave?”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes. “Very.”

They sat down on her bed, a couple feet away, and Dick leaned forward. “You don’t have to leave, (Y/N).”

“I am aware,” she noted. “but this is something that I want to do.”

“Why Kiyahnd’r?”

(Y/N)’s eyes flitted to Kori. “Because this is not where I belong.”

“Don’t say that, (Y/N). You—”

She raised a hand. “Do not try and cushion the blow, Richard.” She rose and stared out the window. “It has been plain to see all these years that you all will never trust me.” (Y/N) glanced at Dick. “Or accept me onto your team.”

Dick went silent, and Kori nudged him. “Say something.”

“What do you want me to say? She’s kinda right.”

“Dick!”

(Y/N) stopped Kori. “Do not be angry at him, Koriand’r. Richard is right.” She paused. “I am not you Koriand’r…I allow my past to define how I live my life.” Her eyes moved to her sister’s, and a hint of sorrow crossed her tone. “I cannot let go of our pasts. It will haunt me forever, and I need to find my own path…away from this place.”

The two of them went silent, then Dick said, “If you don’t have anywhere to go…Jason’s been in need of a partner lately.”

(Y/N) scoffed. “That moronic imbecile? Certainly not.”

Dick snickered as Kori sighed. “Jason is not stupid, sister.”

“Truly? There have been a few times where he has fooled me.”

Kori sighed again, as Dick rose from the bed, moving to (Y/N). “Look…I know you think I don’t like you—”

“You do not like me.”

Dick rolled his eyes and corrected, “Wrong, Miss Know-It-All. I happen to like you very much. In fact—”

(Y/N) cut him off, turning to Kori. “Be cautious sister, you apparently have competition for Richard’s affections.” Kori and (Y/N) giggled as Dick raised his hands in exasperation.

He marched to the door with them still raised. “I give up! I came in here to wish you goodbye and good luck, and this is what I receive!” He was almost out the door when (Y/N) pulled him back, spinning him around to pull him in for a brief but heartfelt hug.

She pulled away and glanced at him. “For all you have done for me…and for all the times you have tried to help me…thank you, Richard.”

He grinned up at her and squeezed her round her middle. “See…you love me after all.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes and picked up her bags. “Do not push it Dick. You still anger me.”

“You aren’t the first person to tell me that.” Dick shrugged.

She snorted and moved to the door, stopping and glancing at them. “And I most certainly will not be the last.”

***

The flight to Gotham City was quiet, and she remembered the first time she arrived.

***

The portal opened and she fell through it, still fighting off the Psions who followed her. They crash-landed into a building, and the rubble was lit up like the sun as she threw star-bolts at them. The fighting lasted for a few minutes, and in the end, she stood victorious among the scattered body parts. Her mind raced as she tried to remember where her sister had gone, and the next thing she realized, a Psion was on her back.

She cursed in her native tongue as it clawed at her, and gathered energy into her palm to kill it when it flew off her, landing a good distance away. She rolled to her side and coughed; a hand appeared in her vision, and she looked up to see a man in black standing over her.

His lips moved, and she knew words were coming out, but it sounded like gibberish. The hand extended towards her more, and she took it, allowing him to help her stand. He kept speaking and she rolled her eyes, reaching out and grabbing his face; she brought their lips together, and words and languages flowed through her mind.

She released him and he simply gaped at her, too stunned to move; she snorted. “Apologies. My race learns by psychophysically connecting with one another. The most effective way is through oral contact.”

“…You just learned to speak English from kissing me?”

She nodded. “Is that what you call it? English? What a strange name it is.” The corner of his mouth rose, and she stood up straight. “I am Kiyahnd’r of…well…it does not matter.” She paused. “My name is Kiyahnd’r.”

He nodded. “I’m Batman.”

***

(Y/N) felt the corners of her mouth raise at the memory; it had been a very long time since she’d thought about it, and it reminded her of how lucky she’d been to learn the languages from Bruce. Kori only received a small amount from Dick; (Y/N) had received twenty-three different dialects, all fluently. The fleeting memories lasted only so long, and the plane began to ascend, signaling her arrival.

She stepped off of the plane and made her way to the baggage claim, picking up her bag and moving to the doors when she saw a familiar man. (Y/N) stared as he walked towards her.

He stopped in front of her and smirked. “Need a ride, doll?”

She rolled her eyes. “Dick called you then.”

“Called a few hours ago saying you were leaving the Titans and coming to find me and Roy.”

(Y/N) scoffed. “I was coming to Gotham. I was not coming to see the both of you.” She glared at him.

“Sticks and stones, (Y/N).”

“Go crawl into a bush, Jason.”

His hand curled around the handle of her suitcase and he lifted it, nodding his head to the door. “Car’s outside.” Jason moved forward, and (Y/N) was left with no choice but to follow him. She watched as he put her suitcase in the trunk, then turned to her. “You hungry?”

“Are you going to cook?”

Jason paused as he was getting in the driver’s door; he looked at her, an eyebrow raised. “Do you want me to cook?”

She moved to sit in the passenger seat. “So long as you make something good.”

He grinned as he sat in the seat, starting the car. “I always make good food.”

(Y/N) let out a ‘hmpf’. “We shall see.”

***

The drive to his apartment was slow and when they arrived, the sun was setting low beyond the skyline. They climbed the stairs and entered his apartment; (Y/N) hummed. “I wasn’t sure that your apartment would be as tidy as it is. It is rather shocking.”

Jason grunted as he moved into the kitchen, pulling out pans from the cabinets. “Sorry doll, the role of messy Robin is Tim.” He paused and glanced at her. “And sometimes, Dick…but mostly Timmy.”

(Y/N) snorted and motioned to her bag. “Where should I put my things?”

Jason nodded down the hallway. “Second door on your right. I changed the sheets and cleaned it, so you should be happy.”

She said nothing and walked to the bedroom. It was a little dull for her tastes, but nothing she couldn’t fix with a trip to the department store and IKEA. She walked back out and sat at the bar, watching Jason cook for them. When he was finished, they sat out on the balcony sharing a bottle of wine.

(Y/N) swallowed it, gagging, “Earth wine is disgusting.”

“Wine’s a peculiar taste,” he snorted, taking a sip. “You have to get used to it.”

She grunted and replied, “I do not want to be used to it. It tastes like…I do not even know what it tastes like. All I know is that it is disgusting.”

“You’re just a Debbie-Downer, aren’t you, (Y/N)?”

“I do not know what that is but I can tell it is not positive.”

“Nevermind.” Jason chuckled and they lapsed into a comfortable silence, eating their dinner, and when they were finished, they climbed to the roof and watched the stars; Jason leaned over. “So, why did you leave the Titans?”

(Y/N) sighed quietly, murmuring, “I did not want to be within their company any longer.”

He eyed her. “And?”

“And I did not want to be ostracized anymore.” (Y/N) inhaled. “I am not Kori. She was accepted easily within the Titans because she is kind and sweet. But I? No…I was never one to be accepted. My attitude and stance on how I deal with criminals was not something the Titans were too keen on keeping.”

Jason listened silently, then tipped his head. “Dick told you to come find me then?”

She shrugged. “More or less.” (Y/N) glanced at him. “I assume he had an inkling that because we are so similar in our mindsets on criminals that we would get along and be able to work together.”

“Red Hood, Arsenal, and Supernova,” Jason grinned. “It’s got a great ring to it.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes. “I regret this decision already.”

He scooted closer and slung an arm around her shoulders, ignoring the way she growled low in her throat. “Don’t be like that, doll…we’re gonna make a kick-ass team.”

(Y/N) opened her mouth to retort when a light shone in the sky; she glanced at Jason, tipping her head to it. “Well…let us go and show what a team we will make.” She rose, holding out a hand. “Shall we, Red Hood?”

Jason glanced at her hand before taking it, smirking. “Hell yeah.”

[rason-rodd]

Snowmen and Assassins - Older!Damian Wayne x Fem!Reader

Summary: This is Y/N’s first Christmas among the League of Assassins but a monastery of deadly assassins is maybe not the right place to celebrate this winter tradition. 

Author’s note: Bat-Christmas Day 12 ;-) Damian in this story is highly inspired by Batman beyond! Damian as he took his grandfather’s place as leader of the League of Assassins. And I will fight anyone who doesn’t believe Adult Damian will be the most devoted boyfriend to ever exist. (#assassinprincecharming)

Tagged: 100% Fluff

Sitting at the candlelit desk that used to belong to his grandfather, working on a personal project that could not wait, Damian Wayne could hear the unclear yet outraged groans and growls of his counsellor – whose name was Zeh-Ro - echoing outside of the door. He was clearly angry but it was nothing new or surprising.     Lately, and especially since Damian’s reconciliation with his father and your arrival in the Himalayan monastery, the old white-haired man had taken the rude habit to question Damian’s every decision as leader of the League of Assassin in ways that were highly inappropriate for a man of his status. Of course this misplaced attitude was never welcomed or tolerated by the young leader, and each tantrums had all encountered either a stone-cold stoicism or a burning rage. A type of reaction Damian had inherited from his father, Bruce.             “This is highly unacceptable!” Damian sighed, fully aware that his bodyguard, Koru, would not be able to prevent Zeh-Ro from entering his private quarters any longer. “Let me see him!” The heavy wooden door suddenly burst open, making all the soft dancing flames shudder, almost in panic, as if they were aware of the incoming wrath. “What is wrong, Zeh-Ro?”   “This woman … This woman is a disgrace! How dares she?!” The red of his angry face was clashing with the whiteness of his dishevelled hair, a scarlet colour only Y/N and her light-hearted shenanigans could give him. “I’m sure whatever Y/N did it is not that terrible.” Damian declared with a discreet amused smirk. “Not that terrible? Not that terrible?” The old man repeated almost out of breath. “That woman has a knack of bringing shame to herself … and to ourselves … and to our cause. To you. She is a foreign child who knows nothing of our culture, nothing of our traditions. I said it before and I say it again. Her place is not here!” Damian put what he was doing in the drawer of his desk that he slammed almost violently and stood up. But not even his menacing eyes or his towering stature seemed to frighten Zeh-Ro who kept mumbling his anger at him. “Your grandfather would have never approved of her! The league does not approve of her! This silly infatuation needs to end and it needs to end now!”   “No.” Zeh-ro eyes widened suddenly. He had expected more that a single word. He had expected more consideration, even more anger. “No?” Damian didn’t bother to repeat and smoothly close the gap between him and his counsellor in an attempt to establish his undeniable authority on him.           “And from now on I would not tolerate you interfere in my privacy. My love life is none of your concern Zeh-ro, nor is Y/N.”           “But she…” Damian cut him short, tired of hearing and seeing the man. “I will hear no more. Now leave.” Fortunately, he beat a retreat and exited the room while muttering insults in Arabic that Damian chose to ignore. He had other matters to take care of.           Only when the man finally was out of sight, did the leader of the league choose to relax and lose his aggressive austerity. “Will he ever learn?” He asked Koru who almost allowed himself to smile. “I’m afraid not, master.” Damian sighed again and put on his long green kimono that he carelessly knotted around his strong waist. “What has Y/N done again?”     “ I believe it is better for you to see it, master.”

***

In spite of the cashmere gloves you were wearing, your hands were red and freezing just as your cheeks and the tip of your nose. Unsurprising since you had been spending the afternoon playing in the snow with the few children of the league who had been bold enough to follow you in your shenanigans.     Not that it had been your goal all along. In fact, you had never thought about asking anyone to follow you in your “Not so top-secret Christmas mission ” as you had named it when the little rascals had found you baking Christmas cookies in the kitchen this morning and curiously asked what you were up to.           Before that, you had just planned to bake for your lover and decorate a Christmas tree in your shared quarters, away from prying eyes, perfectly aware of the fuss your silly little actions would cause if anyone caught you trying to celebrate Christmas.         But then, the children had simply said, “We’ve never celebrated Christmas.” with their little eyes shining with sadness.      

And so here you were. Building snowmen right under the noses of mighty assassins glaring at you as if you were committing the most awful crime in the world.   Their reactions had hurt you at first, just as many other things they had done – or hadn’t done- since your arrival in the monastery in spite of all your relentless attempts at fitting in. But then you had realised that they should not matter and that you should focus only on the magic, on the happiness of the children by your side occasionally fighting with snowballs and acting - maybe for the first time of their life - as who they truly were, kids.

“Beloved?” You slightly jumped and dropped the small little stone carefully chosen to be the left eye of your snowman on the ground. “Damian.” You didn’t know how to react. Usually, Damian was always there to defend you, finding excuses to all the times your attitude wasn’t appreciated or approved by the league. But there was a difference between forgetting to remove your shoes at the entrance of Ra’s Al Ghul’s temple and celebrating an occidental tradition in a monastery of assassins. Maybe had you gone too far this time. “What are you doing?”         “Look… I know this looks bad. But it’s my first winter here, my first Christmas away from my family and I thought …”           “That you could celebrate it here.” He looked so serious you couldn’t tell if he was mad at you or if he simply was tired of you not being “the right paramour” for him – a term Damian’s counsellor had spit to your face quite a few times. “I get that I might have gone too far this time. I can stop if that’s what you want.”

Damian knelt to pick the little black stone you had dropped and suddenly, much to your surprise and to those around you, placed it on your snowman’s face. “By all means, continue.” And with a gentle timid smile, he turned around to where he came from. You blinked quite a couple of times; unable to believe what you had just seen or to demonstrate all the happiness this small action had given you.           But then you gasped as a huge snowball hit Damian right in the back of his head. “God damn …” He cursed more out of surprise than out of pain and turned back around with a glare you had never seen. Your eyes widened and you looked at the terrorised children who were all pointing at the culprit. Guess boldness and courage had their limits. “How dare you throw a snowball at the Demon’s Head? And behind his back?” He growled, definitely angry and the poor children looked down, petrified. “I guess someone has to teach you how to play fairly.”  

And then a snowball hit your shoulder, making you scream loudly. “Ahhh” But then you saw that Damian was laughing like you had never heard him laugh before. And goodness, how contagious it was. “You’re going to pay for this!” You harrumphed trying to remove the snow from inside your coat. “Choose your partners, kids. This battle is to death.”

***

“I let you win.” Damian declared as he removed his thick leather boots once in your quarters. “Plus you had better partners. Mine were all incompetent. I scored all the points myself.”       “Of course, Dami. Of Course.” You smiled and removed your wool coat to place it by the fireplace where you chose to stay a little to enjoy its welcome warmth after this cold afternoon outside.       “You know. You’re starting to show, beloved.” Damian said as he approached you to lovingly hug you from behind and kiss your neck, his strong hands on your slightly round belly that were keep a four-months little secret no one knew about yet. “Yeah. We won’t be able to keep hiding it for too long.” You put your hands on Damian’s, adoring his sudden proximity and his devotion to you and to your little one growing inside of you. “I guess that’s gonna make some people boil over.”           “Who cares?” He kissed your temple and let his soft lips remain on your skin just to smell its perfume. You let go in his embrace, wondering how this loving man could be the leader of such a deadly organisation. Speaking of deadly organisation …   “By the way, thank you for this afternoon, for defending me again. I know it often undermines you especially in Zeh-Ro’s eyes.” You heard Damian sigh and tense a little before turning you around to face him. “Beloved, when will you realise I do not care about what Zeh-Ro thinks, about what anyone thinks? I’m happy to defend you. At least it shows them that I am not my grandfather and that they can’t expect me to be him.” “ But …” You tried to protest and he gestured you to be quiet with a finger on your lips. “No buts. I love all the things you do here. I love all the love you bring to this place, to me. And I want out child to experience it. I don’t want him to live the joyless loveless childhood I lived.” You smiled at his words but your eyes reflected the sadness he had in his. You knew about his past, about Talia and Ra’s and all the things they made him go through, the exhausting relentless and abusive trainings and the heavy burden they had placed on his young shoulders when he was just a little boy. And so you cupped his cheek and softly kissed him in on tiptoe, keeping his broad body against yours that seemed so tiny and fragile in comparison to his. Though, the most fragile person in this room right now was him.               “I have something for you, beloved.” Damian said as he slowly let go of you for a moment to take something he had left in his desk. “I hope you’ll like it.”

You slightly shook the box he had just given you, curious to know what’s inside. “You know it’s not Christmas yet.”   “I know. It’s not really a Christmas gift” You narrowed your eyes trying to read in his what he was hiding from you. “Just open it.” He chuckled and you grinned, your hands already tearing the wrapping up. It was a wooden small box. “You’re not asking me to marry you, are you?” You asked cheekily and Damian laughed. “Not yet.” He smirked but you chose to ignore it for now, too excited to know what was in the box.

It was a beautiful Christmas tree star, certainly made of crystal judging by how fragile and translucent it looked, and definitely very ancient. “Damian, it’s beautiful.” “You like it?” “I love it!” You corrected as you delicately touched it with your fingertips. “Good. Cause there’s a Christmas tree in the main hall that is waiting for it.” He looked at your eyes brighten instantly and as beautifully and brightly as the star you were holding, glad he could finally make you feel at home as much as you could make him feel at home. “Merry Christmas, beloved.”   “Merry Christmas, Damian.”           Merry Christmas, indeed. 

[heyitsani]

A Dream Ripping at the Seams

@damianwayneweek fic Reverse Robins

Word Count: 5024

Rating: Teen and up

Warnings: Referenced past child abuse, canonical character death mentioned

Pairing: None

Summary: He had planned the whole thing out.  The moment he had seen the notes in Richard’s file on the computer, he had known he needed to get him out of there and away from Batman as soon as possible.  He refused to lose another brother.  

Saving Richard because he failed to save Todd was his only priority.

Notes: Guess what! IT’S MY BIRTHDAY! And it also happens to be Reverse Robins day for Damian Wayne week!  So to celebrate, I wrote this fic to give to all of you lovely people.  But especially those in the RR Discord who are always willing to encourage me to run with an idea that comes up last minute.

Also, this fic ends abruptly and that’s the point.  I might continue it, I might not.  But it’s supposed to feel sudden and full of questions.

To clear up confusion: Dick was 10 when adopted, Jason died when he was 15 and Dick 11, Dick is 12 (nearly 13) when the story starts, and 13 when it ends.

You can also read it on AO3 here

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Damian waited until he had the opportunity to get Richard away from the manor for the afternoon before he approached the subject with the boy.  He hadn’t been certain he would need to, at first, but the longer Richard was in the house with his father the more he saw the signs he had seen with Jason. And that meant he needed to act.

So he had asked Richard if he wanted Damian to pick him up from school one Friday in February so they could go for ice cream before dinner.  Richard had, unsurprisingly, agreed enthusiastically like Damian had known he would.  With the kid’s sweet tooth, he never turned down things like ice cream.  Especially since it wasn’t something the circus really got much of apparently.  Traveling in trailers didn’t allow for too many luxuries like freezers.

“Richard,” Damian started once they were seated on a bench in a local park, not far from a playground that the child was eyeing.  When the sapphire eyes turned on him, Damian took a deep breath and looked directly at him. “I know you have figured out what Father and the rest of us do in the night.”  Richard nodded, smiling as he licked his cone.  “Has Father approached you about training yet?”

The boy nodded again, and Damian pressed his lips together.  Twelve years old.  Twelve.  None of them had been that young outside of himself, but his situation was different. Being born into the League of Assassins made for a different upbringing.  “Is that bad?”

Shaking his head, Damian made sure his face was neutral before speaking again.  “No, but I have concerns.”  The boy blinked at him, but remained silent as though he was waiting for his brother to tell him what it was he was concerned about.  “You do not know of my childhood, but it was far from…pleasant. I was raised in a place called Nanda Parbat that trains people to be the kind of people Batman fights against.”

“But you were a kid?” Richard sounded confused; ice cream forgotten as he tried to sort through what Damian was saying.  And what he wasn’t saying.  “Why would you train a kid like that?”

“Because that was the way things were done there.”

“Then they were done wrong.”

Damian let out a soft laugh, corner of his mouth raising just slightly at the thought of this twelve-year-old child telling him that he had been raised wrong.  “Be that as it may, you are correct that I was a kid and that should not have been my childhood.”

Richard hummed and went back to his ice cream, looking out at a pair of dogs playing in the grass. Damian observed him as he watched the dogs, wondering what he was thinking.  He wasn’t sure how to ask the boy to do what exactly he was thinking, but he just hoped Richard would go along with it.  That he would agree to leave because this was not the life he should be living.

“Dami?”  Richard looked back to him, and Damian raised his eyebrows.  “You don’t want me to train with Batman.”  Damian shook his head.  “Ever?”

And wasn’t that the real question?

Damian wasn’t sure if he wanted Richard, the purest of them all, to be exposed to how ugly the world was the same way the rest of them had been.  It would ruin him.  It would steal the innocence that Damian found himself desperately wanting to protect. It would tear out everything good in him and leave him a shell.  

“Never,” he admitted quietly.  Richard dropped his gaze again and chewed on his lower lip.  “I want you to understand why.  My childhood aside, I do not want to see what happened to Todd happen to you. I do not want you to lose yourself the way I have seen Drake do.  I do not want you to realize the ugly truths of the world long before your time the way Cain or Brown have.  I want to protect you from all of that.”

With brows drawn down, Richard looked at him again.  He was looking at Damian with that look, the one he had seen Cain look at him with too many times to count.  The look that penetrated all the walls and shields he had put around his mind and heart.

“You want me to leave.”

“I want to take you away from here and hide us both until you are able to stand your own against Father on the subject,” he quickly corrected, not wanting Richard to think he wasn’t welcome in the Wayne family.  “I want to protect you from a fate I wish we all could have been protected from.”

Richard took a lick of his ice cream and Damian waited, worried the boy would tell him no and then tell his father everything Damian had planned.  “Okay.”

“Okay?”

Richard nodded.  “Okay.”

And Damian released his held breath, relief washing over him.  He could save one of them, the best of them.  He could do one right thing in his life, a life filled with so many wrong things.

“We leave in a week.” Richard’s eyes turned determined, and he gave a firm nod before looking over toward the playground again.

“Can I play after my ice cream is finished?”  Damian laughed and nodded, too relieved to deny him anything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Who is she?”  Richard asked, tugging on the black chuba Damian had selected for himself the moment they had touched down in Tibet.  The weather was fairly cool, and he hadn’t thought to purchase the proper wears before he had put his plan into motion. But thankfully he had anticipated needing to switch enough money into Yuan to get them by for the first couple of months.  It had made purchasing weather friendly clothing for himself and Richard much easier.

Looking down at Richard, Damian frowned and followed his eyeline to the familiar statue that stood at the top of the mountain, guarding over Nanda Parbat.  “She is Ruma Kushna,” he told Richard, who couldn’t seem to tear his eyes away from the beautiful stone statue.  He couldn’t blame the kid, he had been fascinated with the goddess when he had been younger.  She had been formidable and even his grandfather had spoken highly of the goddess. “She watches over all of those in Nanda Parbat.”

Richard frowned and looked away from the statue, blue eyes skittering over the various people wandering around the market they were making their way through in an attempt to find lodging.  “She is not kind then,” the boy said, looking up at Damian with a fierce look.

“What makes you say that?”

Richard shrugged and looked away, curiosity stealing the boy’s attention once more.  But Damian couldn’t forget that look for stubborn protectiveness that had covered Richard’s face in the moment.  It had been breathtaking if he were honest.  He couldn’t remember the last time someone had looked at him like that when they weren’t preparing to fight him for one reason or another.

Pausing at a stall with various spices that smelled familiar and distant at the same time, Damian gave the older woman a friendly smile.  “Tashi delek,” he greeted her, giving a small bow of his head.  “My son and I are looking for lodging, do you know of anyone with vacancies in their home that would spare space for us?  We are willing to pay.”

The woman seemed to consider him closely, glancing from him to Richard and then back again.  He knew his excuse of Richard being his son was flimsy when someone considered their age difference, but it was the story he needed to stick to for the time being.  He couldn’t risk someone looking too deeply into their relation if they thought they were merely brothers.  And Damian would be drawn and quartered before someone took Richard from him and returned him to Bruce.

“I have a spare sleeping quarter if you could spare your strength,” the woman finally replied, kindness heavy in her old eyes.

“Tuchi che!”  Richard exclaimed, smiling brightly at the woman who almost looked surprised at his enthusiasm.  Damian struggled to hold back a smile of his own as he gave the woman a firm nod, silently agreeing to her terms.

“I am Damian and this is Richard.  We are grateful for your hospitality.”  The woman chuckled and waved them off, telling them to scout the market for anything they might need since their packs were small and probably did not hold much out of the bare necessities.  “What should we call you?”

The woman’s smile warmed, and she leaned back.  “I am Amala,” she responded.  “Now go find you both some clothing that is not of the city but of the mountain.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“You are al Ghul,” Amala stated as she handed over the cup of tea.  Damian froze, eyes wide as he looked at the woman who still looked at him with that same kindness she had since that first meeting almost four months ago.  But he couldn’t figure out how she could possibly look at him that way if she knew who his family was.  “The League is well known in our village, as small as we may be.  They look after their own on the mountain.  But there were whispers of the Heir refusing to return and the Demon Head demanding justice.”

Looking down at his teacup, cradled in both hands to warm his palms from the cool night air coming in from under the door, he sighed before glancing back toward the corner where Richard was sleeping.  Confirming Amala’s words would put them both in danger of being discovered.  He had picked this village because it meant they were right under his grandfather and mother’s noses.  They would never look for him here.

But if he lied, he risked having to run with Richard again.  And the child was finally settling nicely in the village.  He had made friends with some of the other children and he was catching up on his studies.  The last thing Damian wanted to do was uproot him yet again.  His life had been disrupted enough since the death of his parents.

“I am he,” Damian admitted, looking back to Amala.  The woman smiled knowingly before pressing a finger to her lips in a ‘shhhh’ motion and Damian let out a sigh of relief.  “How did you figure it out?”

The woman shrugged.  “You have your mother’s eyes,” she said, as if that was enough to give it all away.  “And your mother used to bring you down here as a babe, just learning to walk the mountain.  I recognized you the moment you approached my stall at market.”

“Has anyone else?”

“Not that I have heard.”

But that didn’t mean they hadn’t.  If someone told his mother or even one of the footmen, Damian would need to pick Richard up and run.  He wouldn’t have a choice.  He probably should do it now before anyone had the chance to come after them.

“Thank you, for trusting us then.”

Amala waved a hand.  “I could see in your eyes that you were running from something.  That you were protecting your son from something.”  Damian held back the cringe at the word son, knowing she had to have figured out that Richard wasn’t his.  “You are safe in my home.  I will not bring harm upon you.  No matter if it is from up the mountain or from far away.”

Damian swallowed, bowing his head against the onslaught of emotion that hit him from her words.  “Thank you,” he whispered, unable to look at her just yet.  “Protecting him is all I am after.”  He looked over at Richard again and blinked away the tears.  “It is my only goal.”

“And that is what makes you a good father,” she said softly, “blood or not.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Baba!”  Richard called out; voice distorted as it came into the house from outside where he had been helping plant some new seedlings.  “Dami!”  That made Damian pause.  It had been a while since Richard had called him by his name, out of habit or fear Damian couldn’t be sure which.  But it made a small sense of panic arise in his chest and had him dropping the piece he had been sketching and immediately run out the front door.

He froze when he saw a man kneeling in front of Richard, black cloak and hood pulled over his head, hiding his face from Damian but not from Richard.  But when the man looked up, Damian felt his stomach drop.

“No,” he whispered, hurrying forward and pushing Richard behind him as he glared at Timothy Drake, his father’s second eldest but first adopted child.  “You are not welcome here, Drake,” he said lowly, English rusty from lack of use since coming to Tibet.

Drake held up his hands and took a step back, but Damian held tighter onto Richard who tried to move out from behind his legs.  “I am not here to cause trouble, Damian,” Drake offered.  And Damian knew him well enough to know the man was being honest.  But it didn’t mean he could let his guard down. “He doesn’t know I’m here.  He doesn’t know I found you.”

“Trackers.”

“Rerouted.”

Taking a deep breath, Damian glanced around before giving Drake a nod and herding Richard into the house, knowing Drake would following them.  “Richard, go work on your schooling.”  Richard looked up at him, frowning at the order, before glancing over at Drake.  “Now, Richard.”  And though Damian knew the child didn’t want to, Richard walked away with a pout to the table where his schoolwork sat waiting.  “How did you find us?”  

“It wasn’t easy, you covered your tracks better than any of us expected,” Drake said, eyes watching Richard as he took his seat and began writing in the notebook.  Damian could tell he was curious, but Damian needed answers before Drake got his own.  “I looked at footage we had searched through a million times and got lucky.”

“And Father doesn’t know? I’m meant to believe you simply didn’t tell him?  You?”

“He thinks I’m off world with the Titans.”

“That doesn’t answer why you didn’t tell him.”

Drake seemed to consider his answer for a moment before shrugging both his shoulders.  “Dick didn’t seem to be in distress in the footage I found. He looked like he wanted to be with you.”

“I explained it to him before we left.  He agreed to come with me on his own.”

“Why did you take him?”

A familiar anger built in his core and Damian had to push it down with a few deep breaths before he could answer Drake without yelling.  “Because I would not let him sacrifice Richard the same way he sacrificed all of us. Because since losing Todd, he has lost sight of the true mission and we have become nothing but soldiers to him. I would die before I let that man turn Richard another glass case bearing a bloodied suit of armor,” he growled, fists clenched tightly.  

Drake watched him with those eyes, the ones Damian had always hated because it always felt like he was a risk and Drake was calculating how dangerous he was in any given moment.  As if Drake was just like his father, with a file of ways to put an end to Damian because part of him was too dangerous to be trusted.

“Your secret is safe with me,” Drake finally said, looking back to Richard with a nod.  “I didn’t believe you could have taken him for anything other than his own good.”  The cool blue eyes looked back to Damian and had lost some of the calculating look.  “B won’t stop though, Damian.  He’s desperate to find you both even though it’s been over six months.  I don’t know how long until he realizes that you hid both of you in plain sight of the League.  Does Ra’s or Talia know you’re here?”

“Not that they have revealed to me,” Damian admitted.  “Our patron, she knows of my heritage and has sworn an oath of secrecy.  But she is League loyal due to their protection.”

Damian watched Drake fully take in the appearance of the home they were in, the simple nature of it all and Damian couldn’t help but wonder what the man thought of him now.  What did he think of the haughty Wayne heir who had loved to shove that fact in every ones faces, telling them that he was the heir to one of the richest men in the world.  That he was heir to Batman, the Dark Knight.  The Damian standing in front of Drake was far from that person as Damian could probably get.

“This has not only saved him,” Drake finally said, looking directly at Damian.  There was no lie that Damian could see and though he wanted to deny what his brother said, his eyes glanced over to Richard and knew it was the truth. He was not who he had been before they had left Gotham.  He had been losing himself in his own grief and it was only the deep seeded fear of losing yet another family member that forced him to pull out of it and take action.

But he couldn’t admit that to Drake, could he?  “I wouldn’t lose him the way we lost Todd.  I did what I had to do.  He never would have listened.”

“No, he wouldn’t have.”

“And has anything changed?” Drake frowned; eyebrows furrowed. And that was enough of an answer for Damian.  “He’s just become obsessed with finding us instead.”

Drake nodded.  “It’s been bad enough that Superman watches Gotham from afar to keep B from doing something he might regret.”  And Damian knew, yet again, that he had made the right choice in getting Richard away from that.  “Can I give you a burner that only I know about?”  Damian’s eyes snapped back to Drake, having drifted back to Richard yet again.  “I want to be able to give you a heads up if he comes your way.  It might not be much of one, but maybe enough for you to get a head start.”

It wasn’t a bad idea, having that option, but Damian also knew it might give his father access to the pair of them without Drake even knowing.  But Drake did know technology more than anyone else in the family. Perhaps it was a risk he could take.

“All right,” Damian relented, giving a nod.  Drake’s features looked relieved, to the point where Damian wondered if he had made the wrong decision.  But he could work on the device later and see if it had been bugged or tampered with in any way.

Drake dug into his small pack and pulled out a small phone, probably a prototype that Wayne Tech had decided wasn’t worth the trouble.  He quickly showed Damian how to turn it on and use the basic features before it was turned off yet again and Damian was tucking it into the pocket of his pants.

“I need to go, I can’t reroute much longer.  But if you need anything, please call me.  I have your back.”  Damian gave a nod before watching Drake walk over to Richard and kneel down to talk quietly with the teen.  He didn’t bother listening in, knowing Richard would tell him what was said later, but he did watch.  He watched Richard listen and nod, responding with his own words before reaching out and hugging the man around the neck.  

When Drake stood and turned to leave, Damian was fairly certain he saw a sheen of tears in his eyes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian knew something was different the instant he walked into the small house, even if he couldn’t immediately tell what.  It caused him to stop short in the doorway, Richard smacking into him because he had been too absorbed in the book of mathematics one of the men of the village had shared with him.

“Baba, what…?”  The child complained but Damian’s eyes focused on the figure in the corner of the room instead, not answering.

“Mother.”

The woman moved forward, like a serpent seeking prey, into the light with a smirk on her face.  “Son,” she greeted, eyes looking over his ragged appearance from his day of labor with a hint of distain before stopping on Richard. “You really do have too much of your father in you.”

Rolling his eyes, Damian shuffled Richard into the house and nudged him toward their sleeping corner. And though he didn’t think his mother meant them harm, he still kept his body between the two of them and coiled his muscles to prepare for a fight.

“What are you doing here? How did you even know?”

“Oh please, Damian,” Talia sighed and came closer before lounging in one of the chairs near the fireplace.  “Do you honestly think we weren’t aware the moment you landed in Tibet?  That we weren’t tracking you from the very start? You have forgotten your roots.”

Damian narrowed his eyes. “Then why did you wait so long to approach me?”

“Because we did not need you.”  That made Damian tense further.  The League needing him would lead to nothing good, he knew that deep in his core.  “I have something in Nanda Parbat that requires your attention before it can be dealt with.  And no,” she held up a hand to stop his question, “it is not your father. But it does have a link to him.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian couldn’t believe what he was seeing.  He couldn’t trust his own eyes in that moment.  It wasn’t possible.  Was it? No, he had seen the body.  He had been there as the coffin had been lowered into the plot and covered with dirt.  He had laid his hand on the tombstone and apologized for not being able to get to him in time.

But that was definitely Jason Todd in front of him.

“How is this possible?”  Damian asked, glad he had put Richard in his old rooms while he handled this.  Richard had known Todd for only a year before he had died. This was not something Damian wanted to expose the teen to before he knew what the point of all of this was.

“We are not certain. We can’t even say how long he has been like this.  He has been dead for nearly 18 months and we have had him here for the past six.” Damian frowned, walking closer to Todd, trying to catch the teen’s eye.  “He is alive and everything is in working order, but it is as though death stole his soul.”

“Of course it did!  He died!”  Damian snapped, looking back at his mother who stood a ways back watching but looked bored.  “We buried him.  We…” Breathing heavily through his nose, Damian looked back to Todd and shook his head.  They had mourned him.  And now he was there, living and breathing but lifeless.  Everything that had made him Jason Todd seemed to have been stripped away.  “What do you intend to do with him?”

His mother’s heels clicked on the marble floor as she moved closer and stopped once she reached the pair. He watched a slender hand reach out and pet the side of Jason’s face.  Annoyed, Damian’s hand shot out and grabbed his mother’s wrist to stop the obscene gesture.  “What do you intend to do with him,” he growled, gripping her wrist tightly and turning to fully face her.  He narrowed his eyes and stared her down, not willing to let her brush him off.  She had brought him here for a reason.

“We will put him in the Pit, of course,” she said, unaffected by the grip he had on her or the look on his face.  “We just wanted to see if a familiar face might wake him up first.”

“Mother,” Damian gasped, releasing her and stepping back.  “We do not put innocents in the Pit.  It is not done.”

Talia raised a brow and Damian glowered.  “There is no ‘we’, Damian.  You made your choice.”

“You cannot do that to him. He had anger before his death.  He was murdered brutally.  These are all things the League has always avoided in resurrections.”  Damian looked over at Jason’s empty eyes and frowned, shaking his head.  “You cannot sentence him to that Madness.  He is a child.”

“He is no more a child than any of you were.  My Beloved has only had one true child in his home and you stole him away in fear of him turning your precious Richard into the same monster each of you fight off daily.” Talia tilted her head, considering him. “You most of all, my son.”

“You created the monster long before he got his hands on it.”

A slender shoulder rose and fell gracefully.  “Perhaps, but you have Demon blood in your veins and you have always been destined for so much more than this charade of a life you have taken up.”

Damian clenched his jaw and looked away from his mother, unable to deny her words.  He knew this farce he and Richard had been living would not sustain them forever, but he knew it was what the teen needed at the moment. If he returned Richard to Gotham, his father would rip the child away from him and Damian would lose him to the fight he desperately wanted to protect Richard from.  The Bat would get into his head and Damian would lose.

No, returning to Gotham would never be an option until Richard was old enough to stand on his own.

“You could remain here. Take up your title again and we could train and teach the boy to be the very best.”  Damian immediately shook his head.  That wasn’t any better than the fate that awaited them in Gotham.  “It is only a matter of time before he finds you. He will exhaust all resources and then call upon me.  He will come to Nanda Parbat and hear the tinkling laughter that reminds him so much of the boy his own son had stolen away from him.  He will follow the sound to a yard where a teen with black hair and sapphire eyes kneels in the dirt, pulling weeds from around the plants that have just begun to sprout.

“He will watch in wonder at the change a year, perhaps two years, has made in the boy.  And then he will see the man who is responsible for the heartache and fear he experienced over that time, standing in the window watching the teen just as he had been.  And he will take him back.  He will threaten them both with everything in his itinerary until there is no choice but to return.”

“And then he will ruin him,” Damian whispered, closing his eyes because he knew his mother was right. It was the fear that kept him up each and every night.  His father would never stop searching and he would eventually get desperate enough to turn to Ra’s for help.  And he would come himself to plead his case because otherwise Ra’s would laugh in his face and behead whoever was foolish enough to come in his stead.

Opening his eyes, he stared into the familiar one watching him closely.  “You win.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damian hated that his mother insisted on Richard being in the room with them when Todd was placed in the Pit, but he wasn’t in any position to argue.  He just hoped that nothing happened that would require him to use the sword strapped to his back in order to keep Richard safe.  The last thing he wanted was for the teen to see that side of him, the side that would require him to take up arms against another of his brothers.

But Richard stood just behind him, stubborn look on his face as he watched Todd over near the Pit. The green glow of the waters within gave the room an ethrial look but made Jason look sickly.  With that blank look on his face, Damian felt his heart ache for the boy he remembered.  He had tried harder with Todd than he had with Drake, but it didn’t mean he was the best of brothers.  He hoped the teen knew he had tried.

But emotions had never been his forte.

Thankfully, he was doing even better with Richard than he had with any of the others.  The teen had taught him much more than he ever thought possibly while he had taught the boy what little he had to offer outside of self-defense. Which, he had taught him as well. Just not to the same effect that training to be a Cape would have done.

“Are you ready to witness true magic, Richard?”  Damian frowned over at his mother when she entered the room and moved over to stand with the two of them.  He looked back and down toward the teen, who he found watching his mother with narrowed, untrusting eyes.  Good boy.

Damian had made sure that he always questioned his surroundings and stayed wary of those he didn’t know. Apparently, Talia al Ghul fell in that category.

The woman simply quirked an eyebrow at him before she walked over to where the footmen were getting ready to move Todd to the platform.  Reaching out, Damian tugged Richard closer to him in hopes to shield him from the coming disaster.  His mother might be certain this was a good idea, surely for her own gain, but he knew this was not something that should be done.  But as good of a fighter Damian was, he could not take on the entire League. And he would need to do just that if he wanted to get Todd out of there before he was manipulated and twisted into a shadow of the teen he had been.

“Let us begin,” Ra’s said as he took his place on the opposite side of the Pit.

[chilling-in-the-dark]

The Superfam as Yandere’s Part 1: Clark Kent

This is a yandere story; it mentions elements of obsession, possessiveness, death, murder, kidnapping, and physical abuse. If any of this is triggering for you, I understand, and you don’t have to read it.

*Suicide Warning*

As Always Feedback is Welcome

Clark always wondered about the hand print on his chest, his parents said it was a birthmark, but Clark always thought that it was more. Growing up, he’d find himself staring at it, wondering what it meant because it just had to mean something, it had to.

Once Clark found out about where he was from, suddenly it made a lot more sense. Jor-El had explained that on Krypton, it would be used to identify one’s life mate or to use earth terminology, a soulmate, the person whom he’d spend the rest of his life with. It’d be the first place that they’d touch him.

Not the first place he’d touch them mind you, Jor-El had made that distinction clear, on Krypton it wouldn’t have mattered much, but on earth, it would make all the difference. Humans didn’t have pre-determined mates; they wouldn’t have the same instant connection. Clark supposed he could live with that, he’d just have to build a relationship with them the human way.

At least until he’d pulled you from a burning building, many people over the years had placed their hands over his mark while flying, but it hadn’t felt like this before, searing pain followed by soothing coolness, and even if Jor-El hadn’t explained it to him, Clark would have known you were his on the spot.

Everything in him vibrated with the need to make you his, to claim you. On Krypton, this wouldn’t have been a problem; his mate would have felt the same, but here on earth, relationships had to be built. Once you were safely back on the ground, it took more strength than Clark thought he possessed to release you, and it took even more strength to keep from frying the EMT, who wrapped a blanket around your shoulders.

As you watched superman fly off, you had no idea how much your life was going to change, and how badly you’d wish it didn’t.

Clark had thought he’d have more control then what he did, as it turns out it was harder to fight his Kryptonian instincts than he’d realized. At first, he’d settled for watching you, his periscopic and x-ray vision making this an easy task. Some days when he was feeling extraordinarily brave, he’d sneak into your apartment and just be surrounded by your life.

While Clark was there, he’d decided to use his time to find out whatever he could about you; that way, when the two of you got married, he could have everything on the farm perfect. His mother would have been so happy to meet you, but she’d passed away last year and would never get the chance to.

Clark shook off the sadness that thought brought; he’d found his soulmate he needed everything to be absolutely perfect for your first meeting, but before that, he’d have to get rid of that waste of space you called a husband.

After the man died in what the police would rule a tragic accident, you’d start going to a grief counseling group, one that Clark would take full advantage in joining, the death of his mother was still a fresh wound, after all, this would be a way to kill two birds with one stone.

Clark had just started talking about how his parents met, his father was getting his degree in agriculture, and his mother had been going to law school because of her parents wishes. Some man in a fancy suit interrupted Clark to say, “You can get a degree in farming.” In the most condescending tone, Clark had ever heard.

Clark was about to say something when you chimed in, “You’re the kind of person who thinks you can plant corn in the same soil every year, and it’ll be perfectly fine, aren’t you? Well, jokes on you, there’s some legitimate science that goes into farming.” The group counselor got everything back on track after that, Clark finished his story about his parents

When the group was over, you’d came up to him and started talking, “I’m sorry about Robert he can be a real jerk sometimes, but he’s lost someone just like the rest of us. I shouldn’t have lost my temper with him honestly,” You said, rubbing the back of your neck nervously.

Clark remembered the man’s story. It had been just over a year ago when his little sister who’d been attending Central City University had called him really freaked out and said she was coming back to Metropolis but on her way she’d died in a tragic car accident. The girl’s body had been so charred that they could only identify her by a necklace her brother had given her.

Clark thought it sounded similar to the story of how Barry brought his wife home, just a much more gruesome version, really all Flash had done was liberate the girl from years of unnecessary struggle. What really was the point in getting her doctorate when the young little thing wasn’t going to be able to use it anyways. Berry had been taking excellent care of her; she was even about to give birth to their first child soon. Clark still thought it was a bit too early for that, Berry’s wife had yet had time to properly adjust to married life, but who was he to judge.

What did it matter anyway when her brother had given Clark the perfect point to insert himself into your life? Over the next year, the two of you got to know each other better, and Clark couldn’t be happier, at least he thought so until one day when you’d kissed him.

The rain had suddenly just started pouring down, and the two of you were hiding under an awning of a local café, giggling like mad, and then you grabbed onto his tie and pulled him down to your level. When you pressed your lips against his, Clarks heart soared. Clark wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you right up against him with strength you didn’t know he possessed. You smiled against his lips, happy for the first time since your husband died. If only you knew where this would end.

Three months later, he pulled you onto a rooftop, removed his glasses, and jumped off the edge. “Clark,” you’d screamed as you started running over to where he ledge, only to have him land in front of you. “You’re,” You gulped.

“Superman,” Clark said finishing your sentence. You ran like hell, you cared for Clark, and you were grateful to superman, who was well apparently also Clark, but you couldn’t lose anyone else like you had your husband. So, you decided to lose Clark now, while he was still alive, and your heart would only ache because of a breakup and not a funeral.

You cried yourself to sleep that night.

You woke up in a strange place to the sound of a rooster crowing, you felt your heart in your throat, and then Clark walked in and started acting like you’d been married for years and refusing to acknowledge when you’d tried talking sense into him.

You’d learned to play along, but he’d never truly broke you, and years later, a few days before Jon was five, you ran as fast and far as you could. Part of you felt guilty for leaving Jon behind, but he was just like his father; you could see it already.

You knew you couldn’t run forever, so somehow, you’d ended up standing in front of the hall of Justice waiting for the league. It was a dumb plan, who would even know if they’d believe you, but they couldn’t approve of Clark kidnaping a woman and forcing her to have a kid.

You’d been relieved when batman brought you back into the members-only part of the hall, they believed you or were at least taking your allegations seriously. You didn’t realize what a mistake it would be to go to Clark’s friends until Bruce stabbed you in the neck with a tranquilizer.

You wanted to cry when you woke up tied to a support beam in the Kent farms storm cellar. You’d been so close to freedom, why did you think that the Justice League didn’t know about you.

Clark came down into the cellar later that night with dinner in tow, and when he asked you why you ran away, you spit in his face, you were done playing the docile little housewife. For years you’d bent to this man’s will even having a child you didn’t want, well no more.

Clark didn’t bring you food for three days after that, and in those days, the only reason Clark came down was to let you use the bucket in the corner he’d been calling your bathroom, still you’d held firm. You’d lost track of time, but after nearly two years had passed in that damn cellar, you spotted it hiding in the corner.

A rusty knife lay buried under buckets of what was probably the lead paint Clark had used to make sure Jon couldn’t see in here. You’d been fraying your ropes against the beam since Clark had brought you breakfast, and once it was a hair away from braking, you waited until you were sure Clark wasn’t coming back for a while.

Once you were sure, Clark wasn’t going to come back; you snapped your rope and ran over to the knife. No matter how heavy the blade felt in your hand, you were under no illusions of being able to take down superman. If you couldn’t have your freedom by running away, you’d take it another way, you thought as you closed your eyes and pressed the blade to your throat.

When Clark came back to the cellar with your dinner, he couldn’t believe what he saw, his soulmate was lifelessly laying on the floor surrounded by her own blood.

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[just-an-aussie-fandom-hermit]

( 2/2 ) i mean if i recall correctly didn't bruce take them in to provide homes for them after they lost their parents & often tried to talk them out of crime fighting even though a lot of them would go off & fight crime on their own accord ( whether he allowed it or not) ?

Anon you’re absolutely right!

(This is a long one so be warned).

He didn’t adopt/mentor the kids with the sole purpose of turning them into child soldiers or abusing them at all. His abusive and neglectful behaviour stands in stark contrast to his personality and moral code; most of these kids came from horrific backgrounds, so he would make himself as welcoming as possible to allow these kids to be kids, like they deserve to be. Vigilantism is their way of taking their life into their own hands and making change. His behaviour is nothing short of contradictory and I despise the various writers who made him that way.

I don’t have any sources/comic panels prepared but I want to answer this anyway:

Dick Grayson had just seen his parents die, and was filled with vengeance — he would have gone after Tony Zucco anyway, better to do it on Bruce’s terms. Also, he had spent several nights in a juvenile centre after his parents died (that’s where he ended up) and was beaten up brutally on basically his first night there. Bruce knew he wouldn’t survive, let alone thrive in the system, so he took him in. Robin was initially meant to be a temporary thing, to take down Zucco as well as his coworkers/superiors in the mob. After an encounter with the Joker in which Dick is bedridden, Bruce fires Dick from being Robin for his own safety. He later becomes Nightwing after going through a personality crisis and wondering who he was without Robin.

Barbara Gordon? She was going to be a crime fighter anyway — like Stephanie (we’ll get back to her) she made her own suit and went out on her own accord. Her dad is the police comissioner, but she recognised that the system wasn’t working — because of the mob, political corruption, police inadequacy and criminal conduct (which was/is the norm anyway), all that wonderful stuff — and felt that she had to do something. Bruce is vehemently against this but after a while he realises “oh god, she’s not going to stop,” and decides that, like Dick, it’s better for Babs to do the vigilante thing on his terms, because he’d spent years training for this, and Barbara was a child/teen.

Jason Todd lived on the streets after he stopped living with his abusive father (Willis) and his deceased, drug addicted mother (Catherine). He just saw a kid who had it extremely rough (homeless, formerly abused), and thought “I already have one child under my care, I can care for another, that’s reasonable.” Making him Robin was not only a constructive outlet for his anger, but also not Bruce’s intention at all. He may have met Jason as Batman, but he did not force the mantle of Robin onto him.

Tim Drake had already been BatWatch for years and had figured out who the Bats actually were. After Jason died, Tim saw how broken, angry and violent Bruce had become and he knew it was only a matter of time before something gave. He literally blackmailed his way into becoming Robin (via Dick, now Nightwing) because “Batman needs a Robin,” and he decided “I might as well be that Robin.” Bruce was incredibly resistant, because his son had just been murdered, and he doesn’t want that to happen to any other child — and he brushes Tim off for a while. When he does become Robin, it’s reluctant. He takes him in not just to him Robin but also because his parents are horribly neglectful (hence why he had so much free time as a child to be BatWatch and such) and only ever showed serious interest in his life while they were grooming him to be CEO of their company or when they felt Bruce was a threat to their parental authority (rightfully so.)

Stephanie Brown’s dad is Cluemaster, a minor villain who thought himself the nemesis of the Riddler (Nigma paid this guy no mind,) and left clues at his crime scenes in a similar manner to Riddler. As such her home life was tumultuous if not outright abusive and neglectful. Her mother (Crystal) is a drug user so she doesn’t spend a lot of time in the house. She created her own identity (Spoiler) to “spoil” her father’s plans and clues so Batman could take him and his buddies down. She comes into contact with Tim (ie. throws a brick at him) and works with the Bats so she wouldn’t get herself killed doing it alone.

Cassandra Cain is the daughter of two of the greatest assassins in the world (David Cain and Lady Shiva) and was never taught any form of spoken or written language. Instead, she learned to read body language and micro-expressions, all so she could become the best possible bodyguard for Ra’s al Ghul (head of the League of Shadows) and an excellent assassin. This backfired, and she ran away after witnessing/committing her first assassination and saw the pain and terror in her target — she spent several years on the run before Bruce found her and took her in. Fighting was all she knew, and she wanted to do the “good” fighting (vigilantism/working with the Justice League) instead of being an assassin. It was a way to reclaim her childhood and to help her create an identity of her own, separate from the League of Shadows.

Duke Thomas? He joined and later lead the We Are Robin movement to defend Gotham in Bruce’s abscence (‘Batman: Endgame’ I think is the storyline). I’m not as familiar with his story but he creates his own vigilante identity, The Signal, after his parents went insane (thanks Joker). He went into foster care while police search for his parents, and did generally did not have a Good Time. At this time, Bruce’s memory of being Batman had been erased, and it was Duke’s sense of justice and need to help others that set him on the course to become Batman again. He was never a Robin, and he works mostly in the daytimes, but Duke Thomas became a Bat of his own accord. Bruce simply brought The Signal under the cape and gave him a support network just as he had done for Babs and Steph (the other self-made vigelantes).

Damian Wayne. Biological son of Bruce and Talia al Ghul. In the current continuity he’s the product of a sexual assault, but either way, his purpose is to become the heir to the League of Assassins and their international criminal empire and shadow governments — he’s a manufactured soldier (hence why you might come across a lot of “test-tube baby” jokes, because he was grown mostly in an artificial womb.) Talia drops him off in Gotham in order to help Damian escape from Ra’s, and Bruce makes him Robin to give him an outlet for his anger and violence — in a non-homicidal fashion. Like Cass, all he knew was fighting and violence, but becoming Robin was a way for him to not only reclaim his lost childhood but also create an identity other than the killing machine he was intended to be.

Harper Row is another child from an abusive household — emancipating herself and her brother Colin from their father, Harper’s skill with engineering gives her the means to become a vigilante (Taser Girl?? I believe). Bluebird is her vigilante alias under Batman (her hair is a magnificent shade of blue) but is currently inactive, focusing on her career and education. Again i’m not super familiar with her character, but that’s the gist.

The important take-away is that these kids chose to become who they are — Bruce didn’t just pick them off the street like “you’re a Robin now have fun sweetie :)”, making them a Bat/Robin was simply a means to help these kids.

[peppersonironi]

Batfam/Avengers Crossover Chapter Three: Morning Routines

Tagging: @the-fair-maiden-of-fandom

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Category: Gen

Fandoms: Batman - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types

Relationships: Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne, Natasha Romanov & Damian Wayne, Clint Barton & Cassandra Cain, Tim Drake & Peter Parker, Peter Parker & Tim Drake & Duke Thomas, Pamela Isley/Harleen Quinzel, Tim Drake/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Dick Grayson/Wally West, Roy Harper/Koriand'r/Jason Todd,

Characters: Bruce Wayne, Selina Kyle, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown, Barbara Gordon, Justice League (DCU), Alfred Pennyworth, Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, Thor (Marvel), Bruce Banner, Peter Parker, Alfred the Cat (DCU), Bat-Cow (DCU), Goliath (DCU), Selina Kyle’s Cat Isis, Kate Kane (DCU), Duke Thomas,

Additional Tags: Batbrothers (DCU), Avengers Meet The Batfam, MCU/Batfam crossover, Crossover, no beta we die like robins, rated T for Jason’s language, I bleeped it out though. Just to be safe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, canon? What’s canon?, Deaf Clint Barton,Deaf Character, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Happy Batfamily (DCU), Birdflash and joyfire are implied/referenced,

Summary: Now that the Avengers have begun to settle into the Manor, they get to know the inhabitants.

Notes: Yo, I do take requests for scenarios, pov’s, and characters to show up!

Steve awoke in one of the most comfortable beds he had ever slept in. For a moment he was relaxed as the sun streamed in through the large window. Then he sat straight up. How did he get here?

Then he remembered. After the Justice League had left, Batman - he still felt weird calling him Bruce - led them into an elevator which emerged in a richly adorned sitting room. The entrance to the elevator being in the Grandfather clock which lay to the side of the room. A butler - a butler! Even Tony didn’t have one of those - had met them there. Batman had informed him that they would be staying for a while, and the butler had quickly led them to free rooms, assuring the Avengers that clothes would be provided before dinner. He had spoken the truth, as a change of clothes were provided shortly. Steve suspected they were pilfered from the manor’s residents.

Steve got out of bed and went over to the neatly stacked pile of clothes, and got dressed. He had been given cargo pants and a gray t-shirt. He then left his room and began to follow the smell of breakfast - a heavenly mixture of coffee, maple syrup, bacon, and blueberry pancakes.

Nat, Tony, and Clint were already in the kitchen when he arrived. They were sitting on stools at the island along with Tim Drake and Cassandra Cain. The Butler was placing a heaping pile of pancakes on the table whilst handing Tim a pot of coffee.

Steve walked over and sat down. "Good morning," he said. "They look great sir, thank you."

The Butler smiled. "Call me Alfred, everyone else does." He spoke with a crisp british accent, which Steve hadn’t noticed the evening before.

Steve nodded as he took some pancakes and bacon. Everyone else started chowing down as well, with the exception of Tim. Tim looked horrible, if Steve was being honest. He had dark circles under his eyes, and his lids were drooped.

Tim was about to pour some coffee, when Steve noticed he was clearly going to miss the mug. Steve opened his mouth to say something when Cassandra Cain reached over and casually pushed the mug over.

Tim filled up the mug. He either hadn’t noticed, or hadn’t cared.

Cassandra went back to her  seat. "You sleep?"

Tim shrugged. "No more than usual. I had patrol, then worked on that eastside murder case."

Cassandra frowned. “ Sleep ,” she said vehemently.

"What's patrol?" Clint asked curiously.

Tim frowned. “We go out and patrol Gotham. Take care of crime. Typical vigilante stuff.”

This gave Steve pause. “You handle petty crime?”

Tim blinked. “You don’t? I thought you said you were superheroes?"

Natasha nodded. “So you’re like Peter. He protects Manhattan. The rest of us only got together due to an alien invasion. We’re what you would call the . . . heavy hitters.”

Cassandra nodded. “City needs us. Without . . .” She pursed her lips and moved her hands around. “Bad things happen.”

“Once you have finished, might I suggest you explore the manor or cave?” Alfred said as he placed more bacon on the table. “Master Bruce has a full gym and training areas in the Batcave which you are welcome to use. After all, if you are to stay here, you might as well have something to do.”

Steve stood up from his now finished meal. “Thank you Alfred, I believe I will. I think I remember the way to the cave. Thank you for the meal.”

Tony nodded. “See you down there, I guess.” Clint and Natasha agreed.

*****

Steve entered the cave to find that he was not the first one there. Standing on the main platform was an honest-to-god cow.

It was brown and white, with stubby horns and a baleful look. On its forehead was a brown patch that looked suspiciously like a bat. The cow mood.

“Bat-Cow! Get away from the invader!” Damian Wayne swooped in out of nowhere and landed in front of the now named Bat-Cow. “What are you doing in the cave?” He asked, his sword drawn and pointed at Steve’s chest.

“The butler - Alfred -  said I could come down here to workout,” Steve replied. He was still trying to get over the fact that a cow was in front of him, being guarded by an eleven year-old in black training clothes that looked a lot like a ninja’s.

“T-t,” Damian replied, clearly unimpressed.

“Well, um. . . Is that a cow?” Steve couldn’t help himself.

“Yes of course. Are you blind? This is Bat-Cow. Bat-Cow, this is one of the invaders by the name of Steve Rogers. Stay away, he’s probably not even a vegetarian.” With that, the boy and the cow strolled away, and Steve turned to go.

*****

Steve found the gym platform and set to work. It was quite nice equipment, and Steve enjoyed using it. He wasn’t the only one, as both Jason Todd and Stephanie Brown were there with him in gym clothes. They both wore gray sweatpants, but Stephanie also wore a purple sports bra, almost the same color as her suit. Stephanie was using some resistance bands and Jason was bench pressing.

Steve walked in muttering about cows, which gained a smile from Jason, who inevitably heard him.

“If a cow surprises you,” Jason said between lifts, “then wait till you see Goliath.”

“I’m sorry, what?” Steve asked as he settled into a warm-up.

“One of Damian’s other . . . pets.” Stephanie said, a grimace on her face. “But boy, I can’t wait till I see your face!” She laughed as she finished up, and moved onto chin-ups.

Steve frowned, but let it slide. There was silence after a while as he settled into his routine. Eventually he moved over to bench presses. He began to set up the weights, glad there were so many, as he usually needed a lot more than the average man.

Steve looked over at Jason, who was still pressing. On closer inspection he was benching almost 400 pounds.

“Do you have super strength,” Steve asked before he could help himself.

Jason snorted and finished up his last few reps, setting the bar down then sitting up. He wiped his face as he answered Steve. “Nope, I don’t need superstength to get these babies.”

He lifted up his arms and flexed. This sent Stephanie into a giggle fit. “You,” She said between snorts, “Jason Peter Todd, are utterly ridiculous.”

Jason smiled as well before turning back to Steve. “But really, none of us bats have super strength. All we have is skill, and kicka** personalities.”

Steve frowned, but nodded anyway. He went to begin bench pressing when Stephanie asked him, “That Stark guy said you were a supersoldier, I assume that super strength comes with it?”

“Yup. There was an experimental serum that the scientists of World War II chose me to test. I worked in the army for a while, before I got frozen in ice due to taking down a Nazi ship. I got rescued and joined the Avengers to help stop an alien invasion.”

Jason muttered something that sounded suspiciously like “cheater.”

Stephanie glared at him. Before standing up and speaking cheerfully “Well, I’m going to go spar with whoever’s available. See you later?” Stephanie walked off, grabbing a purple water bottle on the way out.

Jason nodded. He moved on in his workout, and Steve went back to his bench presses. After a while, Jason had left to spar. Steve finished up himself, then decided to follow. He remembered seeing a fighting area on his way down, so he left the gym and started his search.

*****

Steve didn’t have to search for long, as the platform in question was easily the most crowded. It was the largest, with some thin mats on the floor. Steve wasn’t sure that they would provide much protection.

Thor was standing near the center, holding Mjolnir, and looking quite uncomfortable. He was seemingly being questioned by Damian, Jason, and Cassandra. Tim, Duke, Peter, Nat, Bruce (Banner), Tony, Bruce  (Wayne) and Clint stood to the side. Their faces were a mixture of worry (Nat, Bruce Banner, Tony, and Clint), Amusement, (Tim, Dick and Duke), and confusion (Peter and Bruce Wayne).

Steve walked up to Nat. “What’s going on?” He asked.

“They're questioning the technicalities of being worthy of the hammer,” She said with a frown. “Specifically how many and how often you murder to be excluded.”

Steve frowned right along with her as he turned to the conversation.

“But is there a time frame?” Jason was asking. “Like say you don’t kill for like two weeks, and you’ve been super good? Would that get you points?”

“Uh. . .” The look on Thor’s face was priceless.

“T-t,” Damian said. “What about the technicalities behind the actual murder? Perhaps if a seven year old went on a killing spree? Would age exempt him?”

“I’m not sure a child would-”

“Not their fault?” Cassandra asked. “Forced? Didn’t know?”

Jason frowned. “Yeah, would the kid be declared unworthy if they were forced to kill? Or they didn’t know what they were doing?”

“Well, I-”

“What about mind control? Manipulation? Amnesia?” Jason asked.

“I’m sorry, but -”

“Do the more you kill, the more unworthy you become?” Damian asked, “Or until you hit a certain body count, it's a free-for-all?”

Thor sputtered. “Free-for-all?!”

“Or what if they were really bad people?” Jason asked. “Like other murderers? Pedophiles? Rapists? Drug dealers who sell to kids? If they did something wrong, would that cancel out your own wrongness?”

“These kids are hard-core,” Clint muttered.

“They raise a good point though,” Duke replied.

Tim nodded. “Ten Bucks its Damian who throws dear Thor off the edge.”

“Cass is feisty though.” Dick replied

Duke snorted. “Hah, never bet against Jason!”

All three exchanged handshakes.

“Okay,” Jason said, waving his arms about as he spoke with the utmost seriousness. “Does the way you kill affect how bad it is? Like would slowly and painfully bleeding to death be worse than a bullet to the head? Or say a sniper rifle compared to a handgun? Since one is more personal?”

Thor gaped at the young man.

“ Why kill.” Cassandra asked. “Told? Want? Accident?”

“What if it was to save yourself?” Damian asked. “If it was self-preservation, would that account for anything?”

“What if you were saving someone else?” Jason added. “Either directly, or just making the world a safer place?”

Thor frowned. “I do not speak for Mjolnir, but I assume all murder is murder.” The kids looked disappointed, so Thor continued. “However, if you wish to try to lift it, You have my permission to do so.”

“Naw, it's okay,” Jason said as the kids walked off looking dejected. “Doubt we could anyways, as Thor here just clarified.”

This caused the most uproar out of everything else in the conversation. Thor looked stricken, along with Peter, Bruce Banner, and Tony. Natasha and Clint looked at each other worriedly, Bruce Wayne, Tim, and Duke just rolled their eyes. And Steve was just confused.

“You kill?” Steve asked, as he started to worry if this universe was much more different than he had originally thought.

“Cassandra, Damian, and Jason had … unusual circumstances.” Bruce Wayne said simply. There was a silence after that. Then Bruce continued. “Well, we were about to start some sparring. If you’d like to join us, you are more than welcome to.”

Steve stood straight. He’d been looking forward to seeing them fight. “Sure,” he said as Tim, Dick and Duke exchanged ten dollar bils. “Sounds fun.”

[movedyoakkemae]

dick & bruce throughout the years.

trigger warnings: eating disorders, murder, child abuse, allusions to rape, allusions to suicidal behaviours.

Dick and Bruce have a very complicated relationship that has gone from being great to terrible to mellowed to terrible to mellow again. I’d like to preface this that I don’t hate Bruce -- he is not a perfect father, and he does care very much for Dick, but in some ways, that isn’t enough when coupled with some of the actions that he has taken. Despite the fact that, at twenty-five, Dick has forgiven Bruce for a lot of his faults over the years, he has not forgotten. 

For the sake of ease, I’ve split this meta into sections of the vague timeline and, sometimes, differences in their interactions. Like everything in Dick’s backstory, this is a mix of canon, fanon, and my own headcanons. I will not push this on Bruce writers and if there’s stuff not canon to your Bruce, I’m willing to adjust. 

Early Robin Years. (Ages 9 - 14). 

Dick was a relatively angry and traumatised kid from his parents’ murder, and when he first moved into the manor, he didn’t want a parent in Bruce. He wanted his parents back. He was belligerent towards anything he felt was parental affection. He also had terrible nightmares and night terrors, to the point where he wouldn’t sleep most nights. He also wouldn’t eat much -- a few pieces of fruit here and there. 

When Dick was training to be Robin, he actually ended up doing a lot better. He still couldn’t sleep through the night, but he actually could sleep for five-six hours instead of two-three. He also started eating more (even if he still didn’t have much of an appetite), and things got even better when he started patrolling as Robin. 

This, in part, is why Bruce wasn’t as reluctant to let Dick out as Robin as some reasonable parents might expect him to be. Well, in a lot of ways, he was, but seeing how being Robin positively affected Dick, he couldn’t bare to stop him from being Robin. 

Their relationship was probably the healthiest during this time period. Bruce had been exactly what he needed in an adult figure at this time, and despite not labelling as “father and son” between them, it was very clearly a father and son relationship to most outsiders. In some ways, perhaps more of a father and an adult son, with Dick oftentimes being Bruce’s emotional support, but Bruce also would ground Dick to make sure he did his homework, and that’s not what one does with an adult son. 

However, when Dick was eleven and Two Face beat him into unconsciousness, Bruce did fire Dick as Robin for the first time. Dick ran away from Wayne Manor and joined the junior League of Assassins as “Freddy Lloyd”. Alfred was the one who went in search of Dick while Bruce dealt with the Arkham escapees. Bruce and Dick crossed paths, and Bruce and Dick together took down the leader of the junior League of Assassins and Bruce said that he would rehire Dick again as Robin if he listened to his instructions. Dick agreed, and the two of them went to take down Two-Face. 

Also, just a general note, it’s Dick who cajoles Bruce into making friends with who would eventually be the other members of the Justice League, which includes Clark, since Clark and Bruce didn’t meet until after Dick came into Bruce’s life. Dick was often, even as a little kid, teaching Bruce to connect to other people ( and, sometimes, how ). 

Late Robin Years. (Ages 14 - 18). 

However, Dick and Bruce were feeling that same strain when Dick started to make his own decisions and founded the Titans (along with the rest of the Fab Five). Bruce was dealing with his “my child is growing up” phrase that all parents eventually go through and was dealing with it... poorly. It wasn’t so bad while Dick was still fourteen, but when Dick reached sixteen and was starting to go out on dates and hanging out with the Titans more, they started to get into a lot more arguments. 

Also, at this point, both of them were emotionally against their original deal (”You’re not my dad.” “I don’t want to replace your father.”) and Dick did think of Bruce as a father figure and Bruce did think of Dick as a son. However, Dick was feeling the strain of being unsure of whether or not Bruce actually wanted him around because he cared about him or because Bruce wanted to control him. Bruce was not helping in matters because he didn’t outright say that he cared about Dick and was aggressive in his worry. 

This all came to an explosive conclusion when Dick gets fired from being Robin after being shot by the Joker. As I mention here, Dick had assumed that being fired meant that Bruce was kicking him out of the manor and out of his life, so he left and moved into the Titans Tower full-time. (A lot of the Titans had to be stopped from heading to Gotham and kicking Bruce’s ass). 

Nightwing & Batman Years (Ages 18 - 23). 

In the beginning of Dick’s rise to Nightwing, their relationship was still contentious. Dick had all but assumed that Bruce threw him out, and Bruce didn’t really do anything to mitigate these thoughts. They didn’t speak to each other for a year (aside from maybe an awkward phone call or two) until Jason was adopted by Bruce. 

As I mention in my Dick & Jason meta, as found here, Dick did not take out his anger towards Bruce on Jason. Instead, he came into the manor and asked Bruce why wasn’t he adopted by him (although, he didn’t begrudge the fact that Jason had been). Bruce admitted that he missed Dick but then asked him to immediately leave the manor. Dick, hurt and reeling from both what he wanted and then having it taken away, did as Bruce asked him to. This caused another bout of silence between the two of them until Dick found out that Jason became Robin. 

In this, Dick became furious. Bruce fired him for getting injured in the line-of-duty and not putting his full focus in Gotham once, and now Bruce was going to take his mother’s name and his family’s colours and give it to Jason? Dick stormed into Gotham and nearly came to blows with Bruce about it, and there was a lot of tension throughout their relationship. 

This came to a head when Jason dies while Dick was in space and Bruce didn’t even give him a call about it. Dick arrives and Bruce is immediately confrontational and Dick tells Bruce that he wasn’t there to fight. Bruce continues being confrontational and Dick rises up in response when he feels that Bruce is blaming him. Bruce punches Dick in the face when he thinks that Dick is blaming him for Jason’s death and then shouts an angry tirade and officially breaks all ties with Dick. 

Regardless of his age and the fact that Bruce was mourning and that both were eventually confrontational, I do consider this punch to be child abuse. This, coupled with Dick also mourning Jason’s loss and assuming that he wasn’t considered to be family, causes the silence between Dick and Bruce to become frosty. 

Tim in a lot of ways saved Bruce’s life but also saved Dick and Bruce’s relationship. When Tim came into the picture, he managed to get Dick and Bruce to reconcile as well, as it helped that Dick often times came into Gotham to hang out with Tim a lot more than he did with Jason (due to guilt over the fact that he wasn’t 100% around for Jason when Jason needed him). It took a while, but Dick eventually forgave Bruce and they began speaking again, even if it was awkward and stilted at first.

Bruce during this time even admitted to Dick that he does think of Dick as his son and that he feels guilty over the fact that he didn’t adopt Dick when he was a kid and that he was genuinely proud of how Dick grew up, which was great and one of the few times that Bruce was actually emotionally available for Dick. 

Now, my thoughts on the Blockbuster and Tarantula plotline will be its own meta later, but a lot of Dick’s denial about what happened with Tarantula caused him to focus more on what happened with Blockbuster and Bruce’s reaction to the fact that Dick essentially allowed Blockbuster to die. (There is, in part, fear of what Bruce’s reaction to be if he found out what happened on that rooftop, but Dick buries it down. Pretends it doesn’t exist). 

Bruce’s confrontation with Dick when Dick was suicidal was both good and kind of worrying, with him being aggressive but saying a lot of what Dick needed to hear. Dick felt a little bit more confident that Bruce wasn’t going to kick him out or hate him for his role in Blockbuster’s death, and the two of them were a bit better for it. 

In my timeline, two years later, Dick was adopted by Bruce when he was 22. Dick signed the papers without hesitation, but he didn’t attach “-Wayne” to his last name. He still didn’t feel comfortable with calling Bruce “Dad” to his face, and very rarely did he refer to Bruce as “Dad” or “his father” internally or to the other siblings. In some ways, the lateness of the adoption made him feel awkward, but it still mostly strengthen the idea that Bruce wasn’t just going to throw Dick away. 

There isn’t much to say on their relationship while the family thought Bruce was dead. Dick missed Bruce a lot and wished he hadn’t been dead. 

Back-to-Nightwing & Grayson & Back-to-Nightwing-Again Years (Ages 24 - Present). 

Dick had spent some time when Bruce was back as another Batman but bowed out after a few days because he assumed that Bruce and Damian would want to have the time to relearn how to be father and son again without him in the picture. Dick also knew that he would eventually flip his shit @ Bruce in another argument, and he didn’t want Damian to see that, so he left. 

By leaving as early as he did and without waiting for another fall-out to emerge, Dick and Bruce actually had a good relationship until Forever Evil happened. 

Bruce, so upset over the fact that he had to watch Dick die in front of him, reacts in absolutely the worst way possible -- literally gets into a fist-fight with Dick and forces him to go undercover while making Dick be complicit in keeping the secret of him being alive from the family. This is the worst absolute fucking thing Bruce could have done at this point and, literally, I will never forget this. 

Dick was pissed when he came back from being Grayson, but he swallowed it back down because Damian was alive and he didn’t want anything to stain both his and Damian’s return. He was so absolutely furious, though, that Bruce had kept Damian’s return from him because Bruce knew that Dick would have given up on Spyral and came back if he knew Damian had come back to life. 

Still, he didn’t argue with Bruce, didn’t even argue with his family members who blamed him solely for the Spyral and him “lying” about being dead. He took that blame, left for the newly rebuilt Bludhaven, and is trying to ignore everything that went down around the whole Agent Grayson debacle. He’s mostly succeeded and is good at acting like everything’s 100% alright between him and Bruce on his side. 

Just in general, Dick is always worried about what Bruce thinks of him. He never thinks he’s good enough for Bruce, even though Bruce could say over and over again that he thinks of Dick as being better than him in almost every way. In most instances, Bruce doesn’t apologise for things, Dick has to reach out himself and fix things, and then Dick takes on the burden of Bruce’s lack of emotional responsibilities and has to “understand” Bruce and why he won’t apologise. 

In a lot of ways, their dynamic is unhealthy. Dick really feels the need on taking on the role of Bruce’s emotional support and takes the brunt of Bruce’s lack of emotional intelligence. Often times, Dick internalises it as being his fault. They do really love and care for each other, but Bruce just needs to be not only a better father, but also a better person and be able to apologise for his mistakes. He has on occasion, or has risen to the occasion and actually shared his emotions in a positive way, but not always. 

Dick doesn’t hesitate to call Bruce out when Bruce is being shit to the rest of the family, but sometimes with when it happens to him, it’s a mixed bag. Sometimes he calls Bruce out about it, sometimes he internalises it. It’s not always Bruce’s fault whenever Dick internalises his perception of Bruce’s negative opinion, but Bruce could be doing more to showcase that he would always love, care, and support Dick. It also doesn’t help that sometimes he gives mixed signals in that regard (i.e., telling Dick he missed him and then immediately telling him to get out of the manor). 

They love each other, but Bruce especially needs to be better at communicating and needs to actually reach out more in a way that’s not confrontational or condescending or ignorant to the fact that Dick is an adult but still his kid. Bruce is often times good at small gestures but bad at emotional conversations, and sometimes Dick needs that. 

Some metas written by other people that I feel also encapsulate how I feel about Dick & Bruce really well.

The “Don’t Be My Parent” v. “Why the fuck didn’t you adopt me?” & Bruce’s failings as a parent during this. 

Dick & Bruce’s mixture of friends, brothers, and father & son. 

[imaginedcreaderinsert]

You know you are your own assassin — Bruce Wayne x Reader x Jason Todd

SUMMARY: /the promised quadruple/. You were eighteen and in love. You have been for the past four years with his figure, what he meant and what he represented to the rest of the city – more importantly, what he represented to you, everything he was in your little world. Even so, you are very aware of your position as one of his adopted dear children and never try anything, neither public nor in private…  And it would have stayed that way had you not insisted on patrolling alone, being exclusive. Sure, Tim and Damian could come up – from time to time in the same areas you both chose, but you were made for him. You were incredibly protective of Bruce, Batman – to you they were the same person. He rescued you and he opened HIS world to you. You are still trapped in that room, you are still in that cruel position, with your arms trembling and your head down to the floor, offering your bare back to a stranger who uses the skin left unmarked to put the fire down, make himself a new one with-

WORD COUNT: 6810 (almost 7k of smut lol)

TW:  Smut (more explicit than usual, I believe), swearing, some light angst and implied abuse (not sexual). No one is here related by blood, thus it is not incest, but to each it’s own. This four part fic it’s not for the faint-hearted.

A/N: I kid you not 2810 of context/angst/explanation because I can’t do PWP and then, the rest, all NSFW/LEMON with Todd. There’s a bit with Bruce -- things will escalate as the chapter advance. There will be a total of four, if things go right! As mentioned on the Trigger Warning, it can be considered that it is some kind of incestual lowkey relationship, but none of them are related and they try to break from the frame. Again, this is pure dirty indulgence. You have been warned twice!

People that asked to be tagged: @sarcasmismyfirstlove, @dora-the-grownup

You were not normal, not like the rest. Maybe that is why Mr. Wayne —Bruce— had never forced a strict education upon you, contrary to the others. Even Todd had attended at some point Gotham Academy before being expelled; but it was not your style. Maybe your past-self dreamt of glory, trophies and competitive environments in a very possible future with other Ivy League material, but not this time, not in this life. You had gone through enough, and it was just not in you to continue with that path. You were mediocre at best, nothing really catching on your interest save the occasional English class (some books caught on your attention. Not for too long, but it made Alfred and Mr. Wayne feel better).

           At first it had been thought that it was just typical teenage behavior, but then the visits to therapy became increasingly longer and more preoccupying; your memories and attitude had gotten worse the older you got. You came from a rough background (more than the rest, arguably; close to Jason one could say); mom OD’d, and dad left for a better family, someone who was less broken, less problematic. You had served as an ashtray to your mom’s ex-boyfriend (between some other little things) after she had died for some time, and it had ended quite badly, but for the better. The night you rebelled was the night Batman found you, and quite literally saved you. You had blown the ashes straight into his eyes, and he, while crying, had tried to pin you, strangle you, hit you. He had managed to do the two first ones, but you never thought you would die. It didn’t come to your head at all, you knew you had to fight, survive somehow – as small as you were you understood some things, such as pride and stubbornness. Your father who victoriously thought he ran from you both, you little psychopaths, was not going to be happier, was not going to fuck up your entire life. And maybe this other temporal dude did for some years, but you would make it, you would, you would-

           Your lungs burnt as he flew from your little body and the Batman came into appearance, broken windows, magnanimous appearance. It was brief, it was easy:  you spit into the ground, blood and air making their way through your mouth. You couldn’t imagine how much your life would change.

           He adopted you, and as you become older, he saw it as the most inevitable invitation, option for him to try.

           “Do you want to train with Jason and Richard sometime?”

           …

           You were eighteen and in love. You have been for the past four years with his figure, what he meant and what he represented to the rest of the city – more importantly, what he represented to you, everything he was in your little world. Even so, you are very aware of your position as one of his adopted dear children and never try anything, neither public nor in private…  And it would have stayed that way had you not insisted on patrolling alone, being exclusive. Sure, Tim and Damian could come up – from time to time in the same areas you both chose, but you were made for him. You were incredibly protective of Bruce, Batman – to you they were the same person. He rescued you and he opened HIS world to you. You are still trapped in that room, you are still in that cruel position, with your arms trembling and your head down to the floor, offering your bare back to a stranger who uses the skin left unmarked to put the fire down, make himself a new one with-

           “Batgirl, with me?”. You hope it’s his first call. He is meticulous, perfectionist; he won’t take any less from anyone.

           “Yes, a hundred percent. Was checking the other entrances.”

           …

           “Let me guess, another perfect mission?”. Timothy asks, taking off his mask, slowly getting his cape off. You help, humming to yourself happy. “I don’t know why I still ask.”

           “Because you care. He still prefers me.” You gloat, taking a look at his back: some bruises that will last for days, but nothing that cannot be fixed with a warm bed and rest. You slap his back, making him groan. Damian scoffs. “What, something to argue?”

           “He does not prefer you. He just won’t say no because you are a soft spot. And well, no one else wants to go with him. You just always call it first.” The atmosphere is different. Damian is not hurt per se, but you can tell he’s pissed off about something.

           “Jealousy does not suit you, Damian. I thought your thing was being cold and brief.”. You are unsure and a bit wary of where he wants to take it to. Damian and you had never been on the best terms, as much respect as you had him (so young and so good, lethal; you wished you could have started sooner, have his gifts. Maybe Bruce would like you more that way).

           “You did not understand me. I’m saying you are father’s weak sidekick, not that you are his. That’s why he concedes, so that he can take a better control on you.”

           There’s a brief silence in the cave. If Dick had been here, if Jason was here they would have stopped him already; Tim is not one for conflicts, thus can’t think one anything to start with, to comment on. He hopes Alfred or Bruce will appear so that he can’t stop what he can foresee is a catastrophe.

           “You are wrong.” But you are late answering. You took some time, you considered; that’s what you’ve always been afraid of, not being enough – good, strong, courageous, dexterous to follow his pace. It’s eaten you since the first mission you both went to together. He always chose you, not the other way around. “He prefers me, I’m his favorite because I know what I’m doing, I’m-“

           “You never talk back to him, you always obey, you always follow his directions without offering any feedback, any refinements to the plan”. Damian lists, perfectly, without missing a beat like he has been harboring it for some time. “You are father’s-how was it that you said, Tim? Father’s little girl?”. Tim looks mortified as you look at him, incredulous that he would say something so hurtful behind your back. Surprised that they both have been having those opinions to themselves. “In fact, this is, I believe, the most I’ve heard you use a first person in public. As I’ve said, you comply with anything he says. So, if that’s being a good Batgirl then yes, you are the best, (Y/N).”

           You are astonished. You are not weak; you voice out your opinions you-you can be more than a little girl afraid of little Daddy not liking her anymore. Bruce has made that abundantly clear throughout the years – he adores you, he would do anything for you. He won’t abandon you, he won’t leave you for something better.

           …

           So you plan to help the next big hit; Damian and Tim are included, seeing as it is a big one, but all the trust that Bruce has had on you vanishes as soon as the mission starts. You are not moving in your element, too insecure, shy almost when giving orders and unable to command the Robins. The mission goes out okay, but nothing more than that: barely acceptable, as he tells you as soon as all of you are out, incredibly exhausted and beaten.

           The desperation to show him you are the one has been too apparent, has ultimately fucked everything out. The stress and impotence is completely eating you out as you rest in a roof, not too far from the building you’ve destroyed not too long ago (which was not supposed to happen, but it has been your last resource).

           “Drake, Robin, home: now. Batgirl, stay.”

           Damian scoffs while Tim tries to give you a pat, which you evade, still bitter because of his comment some weeks ago. Yes, it has been proven that you can’t, you are unable to-

           “What were you thinking? This has-I’ve never taught you anything like this, Batgirl. You have always been-“

           “Good? Obedient? Compliant?” He seems slightly shocked at seeing your response. You have always looked at him straight in the eye, honest and slightly (always, since a child) terrified – that he will abandon you, that he will leave you in a dark room, prohibit you from his spare attention.

           “Capable, discreet, intelligent. Specially quick in your feet, and had I not moved you aisde-“

           “Is this going to be you telling me everything I did wrong? Because I know, believe me, I am-“

           “No, this is me being angry at you for mixing feelings in this mission”. Your face goes white. He is serious, cruel almost in his eyes even when you can’t see him because of his mask. Is he going to think of you as something disgusting, as- “You were trying to prove a point to Robin? Drake? That was not the purpose of the mission, Batgirl. You let your feelings get in between and because of that-“

           You sigh, almost in relief to yourself, this time looking at him straight in the eye. He’s not sweaty, but rather tired. His shoulders are still tense, his figure incredibly marked because of his suit, his jaw perfectly-

           “You are not taking the lead anytime soon. You are better following me.” And you would agree some years before, but you are 18, you are not his brat, to be scolded and ordered to follow without a say in anything as easy as it has been before. Damian was right.

           “We are partners! That means that-“

           “We are”. He says softly, stopping you momentarily from getting more and more angry. It calms you, you almost smile before his cruel mouths gets opened once more. “But we are not equal. And I mean it by far. You are far from acceptable Batgirl level.”

           It feels like a slap in the face. Did he meant it to light a fire down your ass? Because you grow desperate, as he turns around, maybe planning to leave you alone to fume, wallow in your own sadness – which you would if jealousy didn’t surge in your chest. Incredible jealousy, terrible green jealousy which creeps it all out and eliminates any rational filter from your mouth.

           “Is it because of Barbara?”. You’ve heard that speech a lot of times in soap operas. He’s not even his-nothing! She is nothing, but still she can’t get her head around him taking in another Batgirl. Specially that redhead. “Is she your new protegée? Are you going to fund her to college, get her into the Ivy League you couldn’t get me because I’m such a big fuck up?”

           He stops, noticing it goes far beyond a simple mission or a simple riled up from the Robins. But he has seen something tonight that he has never been able to teach you before, too afraid of being too much on you, too strict and harsh when you’ve had it bad already with such authoritarian figures in your life. He has missed the point completely, and he feels frustrated because of it.

           “This is only because of how soft I have been on you, (Y/N).” The name is a stab to the heart. He has never used it, save for a soft reprimand. Never like this. “How childish your behavior has been, putting our lives at risk just for proving what? That you can lead a team, me? You’ve clearly showed you can’t, you are lost, just a girl trying to make herself bigger, stronger than she really is, because all you really are is-“

           “Shut up!” You irrationally explode, afraid of him continuing, saying the final ‘you are out’. You won’t let him. You will do anything before going that way.

           “You are off duty, case closed!”. He has never raised his voice, almost making you flinch, afraid of his tone but the meaning of his words. No! Love me, don’t abandon me!

           “No. No! I won’t have it, no! No, Bruce, wait! No!”

           There are tears in your eyes as you ran behind him. You try to grab him twice as you shout the same words, trying to make him look you. If you do that, if he does-maybe you have a chance. Maybe you still-yes. Yes, you will. He won’t leave you, he can’t. You will die before he never looks at you again, before he drops you out like you are nothing, like you are just another obstacle in his life like your father considered you. He won’t!

           “Bruce, no!”. You are using names, maybe hoping he will at least shout you, as your voice gets higher and higher; more desperate. It doesn’t work, and your hands start to tremble, out of pure fear and desperation. “No! This is not about me, it is about us!”. It’s the first time you’ve voiced it, getting in front of him. His eyes get slightly bigger, clearly surprised as well. “It’s you getting overprotective with me, again! I’m not a small child, I’m not immature, I have been a woman since long before anything changed, since before we had to change our suits or-anything, really! I won’t have it, I won’t abide by your rules, I won’t-“

           “Then leave. No one is stopping you.”

           It breaks your heart. You know what it is: it’s Bruce pushing people off, aside. You’ve seen it done with some other women, his own Robins, out of fear of losing another one, being too closed, too attached again and not recovering. You understand him better than anyone and he’s letting you leave? He WANTS you to leave? No, he has never done that, save J. But J. is a special case, it’s not you, you are-you are special, you are his, inevitably his. He loves you, he-

           “No! How dare you!” You shout, furious tears running down your face. “Everything I have done, I have because of you! Because you wanted it, because you praised me, valued me for doing things right, good for you! You made me into this, you gave me an identity and now you are taking it from me!” You start punching his chest, getting in front of him again; this time he brushes you aside harder, you taking his arm and taking him with you, moving it. It starts getting violent. You’ve never sparred with him, never have fought seriously with him. “I’ve fucked it up, but surely, surely-“

           He fights, maybe stopping your hopeful words, eyes: does he really NOT know? He punches you, you evade, easily enough; but then you start hitting each other hard, grabbing each other, letting the other fall into the ground and then trying to kick, seriously. You are not afraid, if anything, you are invigorated to prove him right: you are worthy, enough.

           You finally sweep the floor with your right leg, making him jump to evade it, just so that you can kick him in the middle of his chest, making him retrocede. He grabs your feet but you manage, miraculously, to make him fall into the ground, with great force. It doesn’t seem like he’s getting up any time soon, but still, you struggle, getting on his hips, his broad chest and still defiant, furious.

           “No!” You shout, blocking his attack, pinning his legs and arms to the ground. He can’t fight, he won’t fight. And it takes you a few extra seconds to see the position you are in, alone and panting in a random rooftop, alone.

           There’s a silence, where you think he thinks you’ve calmed down. But to the contrary, your heart is beating extremely fast. You don’t think, not really, after almost losing him. There’s an acknowledged look on him of you being able to pin him down, having the abilities. Bruce thinks he might use it as a speech to reassure her, maybe retract himself.

           But then you kiss him. You furiously grab him by his jaw, stopping him from struggling or moving you aside. He stays frozen in his place, hands still as you have let them go, your hips grounded on his abdomen, making her gasp as she grinds, almost tentatively, virginally, making him finally react. This is it. It’s the moment of truth, of never going back to being the same.

           “I have loved you since I was fourteen. You saved me when I was twelve, and you have been everything my father never was. I have not once seen you as a paternal figure, Bruce. Take it or leave it. Hate me or love me. I can’t do grey areas.”

           …

           Damian might not be very observant of personal relationships, but he can sense there is something off. Well, there has been for some time; and he doesn’t know if Timothy has deliberately decided not to comment on it, or if he doesn’t really see it, but something has changed in the dynamics. It’s not only that you are now rotating (each of them get to have one night with Bruce when patrolling), but something is… Off whenever Bruce glances (Y/N) or she does it back at him. They can’t keep it for long, and he can only wonder what has happened since the last mission. It’s been some weeks, but he hasn’t seen much interaction around the house.

           Father does not come down for breakfast, and (Y/N) did the same for a week. Then, after her first patrol after announcing they now had a rota, she had started occasionally coming down for a fruit or two, then going back up.

           So for once he decides to break the rules and follows them. He abandons a part of Gotham where tonight anything could happen – but his interest is on them, which seem to almost playfully get as far from each other before getting closer again and changing positions as they move. Almost as if they want to lose him, but he’s too clever. He sees a pattern and not in her, but in father.

           And he really wishes he knew better, he didn’t follow them. Because he can never unseen her, opening slightly, in the front, her suit, showing cleavage and bronzed skin under the moonlight, seductive lips opening up as her hands rest on his chest, stoic as he is. Is he giving in, are they-? No, they couldn’t, father is-

           Yes, he pushes her. Softly, but does so. And that’s enough for Damian, that’s enough for him tonight on things he did not really want to know.

           …

           “No, it is pretty quiet. Maybe the cold makes villains hibernate or something.” She playfully says as they stop in a rooftop, not too far from the worst neighborhoods in Gotham. He can sense a tone, something foreign and somewhat wrong but-but still as she zips down her suit he can’t stop her. His eyes are glued to skin, the marks they reveal slowly. Beautiful, not shameful like she has made them appear for years. “Do you maybe want to… Today?”

           She tempts. She gets closer, on her toes, almost reaching him-but he can’t let that happen again. The first time was too hard, and this time would be impossible, alone. Worse than that, they could be see, heard: Drake and Robin are too clever, too smart for their own good. Maybe they already-do they? Will they? He softly pushes her as he can feel her in his mouth, hot and wet, like she promised other parts would be if only he-

           “I told you not to do that ever again, (Y/N). It won’t happen. Ever.” There’s a moment of fragility in her eyes as she lowers down, offended, hurt. He can see it all over her face, breath becoming labored and eyes worried.

           “But I-you, you let me-“

           “And that was my fault”: She will do it again. And it will only become more aggressive, assertive, as time passes. “I assume it. Now you have to do it. And I’m going to continue on patrolling, but don’t think of going of your own. Go to the Manor now, seeing as you can’t control yourself tonight.”

           It sounds strangely erotic to her, and he can see the flutter in her eyes, but he is dominant in that aspect as well. He won’t let her tempt him. And as he moves to jump, escape almost the uncomfortable feeling in his abdomen, he can hear her groan and metal kicking.

…

           You felt like crying. He had grabbed you back that night, and you had felt closer, different to him the last nights. You though you had broken every familiar tie he ever thought he had with you, but it seems he doesn’t even know how to react. And as pathetic as you sound, you’ve been starving for too long, too much; he was your sexual awakening, the first man you thought when you first masturbated, and also the first name you moaned as you came with your own hand. Sexuality was a thing you were not lost in, that you controlled; and you had almost offered yourself to him that night and he had turned you down. What was it that could tempt him them? Something that could break him, that could make him like you, give in-because he WANTED to give in. You had felt it that night on the rooftop: for the very first time something hard between your thighs, surprising you and making you tentatively grind on that, which he had stopped you shortly after, almost harshly. He was afraid of wanting you – but he did.

           “What is a kitten like you doing all by herself in such a cold night? Have you lost Daddy Wayne?”. He teases, making you sigh as soon as you heard him, making you hide your head between your legs, trying to get the starting tears of your eyes off. “You are going to get cold like that. He won’t like it, kitten.”

           “Fuck off, Red.” You call him, making him smirk. At least you can come up with something back. Jason Todd, Jay or Red. He had been a previous Robin but after his death/not death he had joined the Outlaws and-shit, you have lost count or can’t really say where is right now. The thing is, he had been the closest to you: everyone thought it was Dick, seeing as you were always hanging together in pictures and places, always cuddling or giving each other some “sibling” love (it was not. I had never been. Dick had something on him that resembled Bruce a bit, but you had never told him that). But no, it was Jason: he was the one you shared the most with, the one who understood the fucked-up feelings and thoughts that you had. He was probably the first to know about your little crush on Bruce, but he never judged. “I’m really not in the mood.”

           “Not in the mood because he rejected you? Don’t you want to get naked anymore and show off your tits?”. Fuck, he saw you. You close your eyes, groaning still with your head in between your legs; darkness embraces you, and somehow you feel more comfortable, until you feel a jerk from your hair, which you complain about quite quickly. It’s him, forcing you to look at his eyes. “Are you not wet anymore, prepared for him?”

           “Dumbass, you are being really gross, what is really going on with-“

           “I’m not Daddy and because of that you can’t respect me? You won’t respect me like you do to him or Dick?”. Yes, he has always been a little jealous of both: the stars that glowed in your eyes as you talked about them. You might have known of this but chose to ignore it at times. It was not convenient to you as you needed to rant on someone. “Were you thinking of throwing yourself at Dick? Maybe him taking your virginity, your tight little pussy?”. You blush at the words, your back against the wall firmer, like you are trying to fuse with the stone. He is keeping you in your place, taking you by your chin and forcing his eyes on yours, scrutinizing and harsh. “Because you are, right? Still saving yourself for his cock. And trust me, kitten; everything about him is big.”

           You are hot and bothered in your place. Your knees are pressing themselves together in your position, and you can feel the wetness out of your pussy getting your underwear uncomfortable. It’s not a pleasing sensation, more so than that, someone else (your half-brother) causing you that while thinking of your adoptive paternal figure.

           “Have you tried to spy him in the cave? The showers?”. He tries. You don’t answer as he gets closer to your mouth, and when you whimper and nod, he laughs. Instead, he redirects himself to your neck, making you gasp and move, almost fight, against him. Almost, being a key word because you don’t really try. “Have you ever touched yourself thinking about him? Pressed in a little finger inside your cunt to-“

           “I have only played with my clit”. You say, too quickly, writhing under the pressure of his body against the firm marble behind you which is making you shiver (it has nothing to do with his hot lips on your jaw, doing down on your neck and leaving marks, lapping and kissing like you are something delectable. He is taking his time). “Jay!”

           You grab onto his shoulders, and his figure, bigger than that of Dick’s, almost can make your imagination go far, almost can make you think is someone else the one that’s taking you: which immediately makes you open your legs, giving him access to your body and his cock to rub off on your core, tight on your skin, leaving little to nothing to anyone’s imagination.

           “Smart girl. Have you had someone else’s fingers on you?”

           “No.”

           “You are in for a ride, princess.”

           Red Hood and Batgirl were allies, had been partners in more than one occasion (whenever Batman needed the help, they had started to rely on each other. You had been a great meeting point). Jason and (Y/N) were friends, confidants of each other. They had been something deeper, and you couldn’t deny the attractive he posed in comparison with Bruce. You have had a wet dream or two with him more than once; big guys just did something to you that you couldn’t explain, Jason being the perfect example. He grasps the zipper in the front of your suit and slowly takes it down, making you gasp and shiver against the coldness of the city against your very hot skin. It’s unbearable to wear such a skin tight suit when your body is so hot, horny and desperate for contact. You almost take, harshly, the upper part of your body off you, with a little chuckling help from him – but he is controlling the situation, never letting you get ahead of yourself.

           “I think I can feel a wet spot. Are you wearing-? Oh, yes you are. How cute” He murmurs into your skin, his skillful fingers getting into the lowest part of where his fingers can trace, having gone down your chest with his fingertips down your body. “Jackpot. Fuck you are so wet. I thought I would have to eat you out, but you are lubing yourself quite well… And I wanted to so badly, princess. But it looks like you can do something else for me, can you? I’ve made you hot enough. Light me up, I want to burn.”

           You kiss him, desperate enough. Fuck him, he started it anyways; why shouldn’t you follow? Are you going to stop yourself again, maybe rejecting the one person that desires you? No, no way. You kiss him desperately, moving your hips against his and he corresponds: you feel him hot, big, against your core; your legs are almost out of the suit, almost naked in front of the whole Gotham. You feel wild, unleashed for the first time and you realize that’s what you’ve always been with him. He has never restricted you, tried to tie you down to some cliché or bounded you to the morality of society.

           He gets up and you sit better, your back straightened up. Eagerly, making him laugh, you take him out of his pants: commando, of course he is. It springs out, almost slapping you in your face: like a cheap porno, honestly. You still lick him up slowly, unsurely. Jason is, after all, your first sexual contact with someone more or less your age, a real man. You’ve never had a pulsing cock in your hands: maybe a dildo, a silicon one or something that you’ve tried to get into you (you’ve never gave in, too afraid of doing it on your own, being too loud); but never like this, so real and hot, veiny and hard. It’s soft at the same time, as you move your hand on his shaft and fap him slowly, letting him rest his tip on your hot tongue, offering it in a slutty way for him to use. He doesn’t give in, letting you explore him, maybe knowing it is your first time doing that as well.

           Slowly, at your own pace, you take him into your mouth. You first suck him in taking more than just the tip, then a bit more, a bit more after that until you are halfway there and-well, you choke. Your gag reflex kicks him, something unknown to you until then: but it didn’t feel bad, it just tells you to go slower, no rush to get it all in. You suck him, looking at him directly and giving him sweet eyes while you look for his approval, his praise which you get in the form of pats in your head, caressing your hair until he grabs it with more force. Eventually you are sucking him out, hot and hard in your tongue, your pussy getting wet by each ticking second, but he’s fucking your mouth as well. He keeps a normal pace, not too slow but not too unforgiving while you open more your legs, grinding a bit on the floor like looking for relief; he chuckles and promises something after you finish him, which you more forcefully try to do.

           But he stops you.

           “Such a bitch in heat, I swear I didn’t know you had it in you. Did you try to touch yourself while sucking me off? Bad move. I come first, just as I did to you before.” He is dominant, clear, taking himself off your mouth. You whimper, crawling to him half-naked, almost completely getting out of the suit, left behind like some dead skin. “On the floor, lay down. I’m fucking your mouth. Properly.”

           You shiver, doing as he says; it is cold, and you shiver, protesting almost, until he gets on top of you, moving slightly up, his legs pinning down your arms, to both sides of your body, close to it, so you can’t struggle or stop him. He is serious about it, and you are close to dripping on your own underwear so much it will get stained. It’s a pool, to say the least.

           “Open up. I’m not stopping, so breathe in.”

           You nod, vigorously and he gets in. He starts slow, letting you get used and breathing by your nose, but he quickly takes up the pace. It’s unforgiving to your throat, but he seems to have caught on the limit of your reflex: he always stops before it’s too much, even if he triggers it a bit at time, making you choke – tears form around your eyes, and as much as you try to struggle against his arms to push him slightly off, control him a bit, he doesn’t let go. His legs are huge, thighs muscular: you won’t make it.

           “You are taking each inch of it, gorgeous. All by yourself. You are going to make daddy cum.”. The kink sends you crazy. You close your legs, trying to squeeze them into giving you pleasure, even when you can’t properly follow it. You are frustrated because of it, but perfectly know how good it’s going to feel once he starts giving it some attention. “Daddy is going to cum, okay kitten? And you are going to take it all, drink down my milk and ask for more. You are my perfect kitten, aren’t you?”

           The pet name was not a kink you knew you had, but you want to be perfect for him, for everyone. But specially him, so special and unique in so many ways. You’ve never really thought of Jason that way, but now that he’s fucking your mouth, you can only think of him fucking your pussy, at that same pace and kissing your neck. The thought makes you shiver, close your eyes in pure bliss.

           “So close, I’m at it, gorgeous, I’m there”.

           He warns, and you can prepare for it a bit. Just a bit, before it gets too much on your mouth and he quickly moves, cumming on your face as well. He paints it white, making you close your eyes: he wipes the rest on your eyelids almost delicately, smirking.

           “My kitten looks good in white, but she made a bit of a mess, didn’t she?”. You are gasping for air, too tired on the ground, too cold almost suddenly, wetness uncomfortable on your underwear. “You got it easy, I’m not going to make you-“

           Still you lick him out. You get on top of him this time and lick his cock out, the remaining’s until it’s clean and soft in your hand. But you can sense it’s still interested, as you touch him a bit up and down, try and and elicit some reaction from him.

           “Fuck me”. You almost beg, above him, incredibly frustrated and wet: but his mobile starts ringing up and you know it’s trouble. It never announces nothing good. You don’t even have to see the ID, as he gets kisses you and gets up, giving you his jacket to cover yourself a bit.

           “Just a second, princess”. But you know it will be more than just one second. That was the attractive part of Jason Todd: his unavailability which had been so present in your life, as Bruce had been such a busy man all of his life. Jason being emotionally and sometimes physically unavailable had been such a big attractive on you. “Yeah, I know. No, I wasn’t-okay, yes, I’m going.” He hangs up, dejectedly turning himself around and looking at you, on the rooftop and with your legs closed together; probably not letting your wetness expand. “I have to go. Believe when I say I would rather stay here, gorgeous, and fuck you out in this same rooftop until someone had to come up to see who the fuck was I killing, cause that’s how much I’m going to make you scream”. He crouches down to kiss you, almost too sweet for how he normally is. Maybe he does really care about your first time. Is it all an excuse? “Hey, don’t go there. I see you are thinking, angel. I really really want to fuck you. And make you cum again… And again… And again”. He says, getting to your neck and kissing it repeatedly as he mumbles the same word over and over again. Like he’s lost on it, on your essence, how sweet you smell to him. “It’s just orders, okay? Keep the jacket and give me a show next time we are alone. I’ll come back for it, I swear… But I have to take something in return to keep me warm in this cold night. Can I?”

           Your breath hitches as his eyes go down on your legs. You nod, unsure of what he is really going to do, until he grabs both of your legs and easily opens them up, revealing a very dark spot in your grey underwear, making you pant excitedly. He makes his way in, kissing your ankle and moving upwards until he’s on your knee. His mobile starts to ring up again and he growls almost: it really must be urgent. He almost urgently takes off your underwear, and with a grin, smells it. You blush, getting your suit closer so that you can dress up slowly, legs still a bit weak.

           He disappears, getting your knickers into his pocket casually, and jumps off the roof. You really want him to go back to you and properly do what he has promised. You don’t want anything more tonight than him.

           …

           “I still think you were too rough on her.” Batman begrudgingly comments, almost mutters under his breath: too ashamed, too angry? Jason can’t really say.

           “And here I was thinking you enjoyed the show. The protectiveness now doesn’t help much, B., to be honest.”

           He grunts, closing his arms and looking at the rest of the city, almost hovering it. But Jason knows better, smirking almost under his red helmet.

           “I just said you had to redirect his attention onto you, Jason. Make her forget about me.”

           “And I did, but believe me, she wanted it. You can’t believe how much she was dripping.” He says too quickly, impossible for Bruce to cut off. He learns too much, he didn’t want to. “Trust me, as long as I’m on the scene he won’t bother you. And if it weren’t for you, I would be pounding her virgin pussy right now.”

           There’s an acknowledging silence between them. Both of them know why he called at that precise moment: he thought they would really do it, take her first time, in the middle of a rooftop. He really thought Jason would take her in front of him, break her and pound on her while he was looking.

           “Just-“

           “Just nothing, Bruce. You’re fucking jealous, you have a type; she checks every box. Why are you making me do this? Why don’t you give in? I’ve seen you with younger models clinging onto your arms.”

           He sighs, almost tiredly; has he been explaining that a lot? Maybe Dick knows of it as well? He takes a note to call him later, put him up to date on what the Batman has been up to. And how incredibly naughty he has been.

           “I can’t have something happened like what happened to you, Jason. I-“

           “Yeah, yadda yadda yadda. Your cock, your rules I guess – but hey, catch!” He throws him something, quickly, while already making an escape for it. “Brought you a little something. Enjoy, they are still wet and warm!”

           And of course it had been her underwear, heat and covered in her juices, dripping on them. Some of it was still wet, a little pool of sticky self-lubricant on the core of it. Had she cummed without knowing? There was enough there to make someone like him think she did. It looks so delectable, so edible when he’s grabbing it so close to his own mouth. It’s too easy to stick his own tongue down, take a bit and groan onto the feeling, the flavor: it’s hot, it’s slightly salted more importantly, empty. He knows he will cum onto them later, in private; he knows he can jerk off all the times thinking on her cute little pussy on his mouth, eating her out until her body can’t take him on anymore, but it won’t be enough. It will never be her legs opened up around him, moving and dripping around his head, making her cum again and again and again…

             BONUS for next chp.

           “U must be kiddinf”

           “Shit you not”

           “pics or it didnt happe”

           “Jaybird has sent unknown.jpg”

           “fffff u really did take em. so u fucked her?”

           “bat wouldn’t let me. And why the fuck are you writing

           Oh, nevermind. I’m so naïve. Are the pics the ones I sent you when she was drunk with Roy, the vid or the ones still from the mission?”

           “both.”

           “Oh, fuck off. You’re such a degenerate, D. And to think she stills thinks of you as her dear big brother… And here you are, jerking off to her in a suit, drunk and a vid of her tits moving. Pathetic.”

           Some minutes pass on without an answer. Jason grows more disgusted by the moment. Fucking horny dog.

           “If it’s open season I’m going next, J. Two can play this little game.”

           “Are you threatening me?”

           “I’m promising you.”

[teentitanimals]

Batfamily Switched AU

Not sure what to call this AU, but basically, what if the Core Kids (Dick, Babs, Jason, Tim, Cass, Steph, Damian) switched places with the New Kids? As in, the New Kids are the ones Bruce adopted, Bruce met first? Anyway, I wrote this at 3am

How the New Kids become the Core Kids

Harper and Cullen Row are the first kids. Harper is age 14 while Cullen is 8. Batman had saved them from getting gaybashed and beat up. Instead of returning them home, Bruce's heart is moved by seeing Harper cry her eyes out about not wanting to go back to her abusive dad, and then of Cullen crying about missing their dead mom. So, he finds enough evidence to put their dad in jail, and then Bruce Wayne adopts them. Harper ends up becoming Bluebird, figuring out on her own that Bruce is Batman.

Duke is Harper's Babs. An incident that happened during the day left his parents Jokerized, and his cousin Jay got custody of him. Duke became the Signal and started working during the daytime due to what happened to his parents. Batman and Bluebird would eventually confront him and officially let him be a member of the team. Duke would be age 14 when he becomes the Signal, and Harper is 16.

Henry Jr. and Claire come next. They were saved by Batman when they were younger, and had gained superpowers that drained their life force when used. They called themselves Gotham Guy and Gotham Girl, and Henry killed himself when he overused their powers after death. Claire, left broken and alone, was adopted by Bruce at age 14.

Carrie is Catgirl. Not Robin or Batgirl, as those mantles don't exist. She's more OOC in this universe. She's spiteful due to her parents lack of attention towards her and seeks to gain that attention by becoming a thief under the name Catgirl, inspired by Catwoman who does slightly take her under her wing, but encourages her to go home and stay safe. After she nearly dies and gets saved by Batman, she realizes she's on the wrong side of the fight. She starts fighting for good, and when Batman hears about her home life, he gathers enough evidence to jail her parents for child negligence, and Bruce Wayne adopts her. Carrie is age 12 when she first starts, and when Harper and Duke are 18 and 16.

Lance Bruner is the Jason Todd of this au. Canonically, he died and stayed dead. Here, he gets ressurected. He got adopted by Bruce due to the agreement between their two now dead fathers. Harper was 19, Duke 17, Claire 15, Carrie and Cullen are 13. Lance was adopted at age 14. In this au, Cullen has been managing the comms under the codename Oracle, and Lance, having found out the big secret, managed to get a voice changer and pretended to be Cullen on the comms. He thought Bruce didn't care about him, and that he never payed attention to him due to his other "siblings". He purposely put the Batfamily in danger, before realizing what he had done. He rushed out to save Batman, sacrificing himself on the process. He dies at age 14, nearly 15.

Helena Wayne crosses over from her world (Earth-2), but she's much younger, only 12. Her world was war torn, and her mother had used a Boom Toom to have Helena escape. Helena discovers and joins the Batfamily when Harper is pushed 20. Wanting to connect with her mother more, she asks Carrie if she can be the next Catgirl, and Carrie agrees, allowing Helena to become Catgirl while Carrie took on the new name of Huntress.

Next, Alina Wayne enters the picture. Her mother, Mariah Shelley, confronts Bruce about Alina being his. The canonical events happen where Mariah gets hit and put in a coma by the Joker, Joker kidnaps Alina, Batman rescues her, and she gets adopted by Bruce at age 9. Alina at age 11 wants to become a superhero, and Harper passes on the Bluebird mantle to her, becoming Nightwing, the name inspired by Superman's stories. Cullen becomes her Flamebird, leaving behind his days as Oracle.

When Lance is 16, he gets ressurected and then trained by the League of Assassins until he is 18. By then, Harper is 23, Duke is 21, Claire is 19, Carrie and Cullen are 17, Helena is 16, and Alina is 12. He takes on the name Red Hood and basically follows the same path Jason did. He feels as though his sacrifice was for nothing- Batman did nothing to get revenge for him, and he just replaced him with new kids, two biological daughters, anyway.

Run down of current positions: Harper is Nightwing (23), Duke is the Signal (21), Claire is Gotham Girl (19), Lance is Red Hood (18), Carrie is Huntress (17), Cullen is Flamebird (17), Helena is Catgirl (16), and Alina is Bluebird (12).

Now onto how the Core Kids become the New Kids

Dick comes in three years before Alina gets adopted. His parents are killed in the same manner, except there is no Bruce Wayne watching, although there still is a Tim Drake watching. He gets adopted by circus family that remains in Gotham. He gets inspired by the Batfamily and decides to strike out as Robin, age 10 (Harper is 20). Batman starts training him alongside Alina, and the two become good friends. The Robin mantle functions a little differently in this universe.

Barbara comes next. She comes in when Dick is 11 and she is 13. She wants to help fight crime, but she starts fighting in the daytime like Duke, just as Batgirl. She sort of becomes his sidekick, in a way.

When Dick is 15, Jason is 11 and living on the streets. Robin discovers him when he tries to steal his R-Cycle's tires. Dick gets Jason to go into the system in hopes to get him in a good family, but then they discover that this orphanage is actually a human trafficking ring. They both defeat it, and before Batman can even think to adopt Jason, Dick convinces his family to do so. Jason eventually dubs himself Red Robin, partner to Dick, who changes his alias to Blue Robin.

Enter Tim, who is still out stalking all of the Batfamily. He realizes that Dick is Blue Robin and deduces that Jason is Red Robin after that. When Dick is 17 and Jason is 13, Tim is 11. He chases down Dick and Jason and asks to join their "Robin group". Since We Are Robin does not exist in this universe, this is basically it's equal, in a way. Tim has to convince them by then deducing the rest of the Batfamily's identities, but they eventually allow him aboard as Yellow Robin. He functions more as an Oracle at first since Dick and Jason don't let him out until he has proper training.

Cassandra was raised by her father the same way as canon, and she ran away same way as canon. She pops in just around the same time as Tim, and she does it by saving Commissioner Gordon's life when she's 13. Barbara, age 18 at this point, is impressed, and takes her in legally as a ward (not adopted sadly due to the 5 year gal- they're more like sisters here). Cass works best at night, but since she is trained by Babs, she does operate during the daytime as well. Babs gives her the Batgirl mantle while she becomes Black Bat.

Also around the same time, Stephanie, age 12, becomes Spoiler for the same reasons as canon. She runs into the Robins more frequently than the Batfamily and therefore becomes closer to them. After her mother is killed, Dick gets his family to adopt her and she decides to become Purple Robin.

After her adoption, Tim's father is killed (his mother was killed awhile ago), and Dick's family adopts him.

All is well and easy going, until we enter Damian Wayne. Harper is 30 and Dick is 20. Damian is given to his father at age 10, but unfortunately, Batman is 'killed', and Harper takes up the mantle of Batman. Harper offers for Damian to stay with the family, and even briefly gives him the Bluebird title with Alina's permission, but he's too… well, Damian, and Harper is not Dick in this universe even if she's Nightwing. Damian runs away, but is hesitant to return to the League of Assassins. Luck would have it, the Robins find him. With a lot of push and shove, Dick eventually legally makes Damian his ward, giving him a reason to stay in Gotham since he was never made public as Bruce's child, and never adopted (although there was paperwork).

By the time Bruce comes back 'from the dead', Damian has made a name for himself as the Green Robin, and he doesn't want to leave his ragtag group of… siblings? Uncles and aunts? Family. Not sure exactly what they are, but they're family. Since Helena and Alina exist as Bruce's bio-kids already, Damian's "I am the One True Heir!" doesn't work, and his arrogance is stunted because of that. He found a place in the Robins where he never did in the Manor. So, Dick legally adopts him and he changes his name to Damian Grayson.

Eventually, the public would know Damian is Bruce's blood son, but the cover story would be that he was put in an orphanage and adopted by Dick. Damian eventually creates a relationship with his father. Other events that happen is Claire stops being Gotham Girl and becomes Oracle, as she realized being out on the field made her more likely to use her powers instinctively.

The final positions: Harper is Nightwing (31), Duke is the Signal (29), Claire is Oracle (27), Lance is Red Hood (26), Carrie is Huntress (25), Cullen is Flamebird (25), Helena is Catgirl (24), Barbara is Black Bat (23), Dick is Blue Robin (21), Alina is Bluebird (20), Cass is Batgirl (17), Jason is Red Robin (17), Steph is Purple Robin (16), Tim is Yellow Robin (15), and Damian is Green Robin (11).

Legally adopted by Bruce: Harper, Claire, Lance, Carrie, Cullen, Helena and Alina.

[batfam-backstory-swap-au]

Batfamily Backstory Swap

Duke Grayson: Duke was raised among circus lights and tightrope heights, born to the famous Flying Graysons Duke lived a fulfilling and exciting life as a circus performer with his parents. Until his parents suffered an accident on a routine performance they've done hundreds of times before. The incident devastated Duke and left him a wreck. Seeing his own trauma reflected in the young man Bruce Wayne took him in as his own. With a new life and new family it didn't take Duke long to join his adoptive fathers crusade as his partner Lark. Duke served as Lark for many years so long, until he felt as though he was drowning in his fathers shadow. Wanting to strike out on his own Duke left the nest, left the city, eventually settling in the city of Bludhaven operating under the mantle of Night Owl

Damian Gordon: All his life Damian Gordon has followed his fathers career with awe and pride. Being the police commissioners son filled Damian with a sense of purpose, he wanted to be just like his father, and opened his eyes to the importance of the Gordon legacy. When his father began openly working with the Bat Damian took a solid interest as well eventually taking on the mantle of Shadow Bat(whether Batman liked it or not) so he could help the city just like his father until the day he could accomplish his dream of joining the Gotham Police Department himself. Even when assaulted and crippled by the Joker Damian's determination was unyielding. His dreams dashed he poured over any information he could find regarding computers and technology, eventually adopting the moniker of Oracle his heroics now behind the scene but no less deeply felt than before.

Dick Todd: Dick wasn't fortunate enough to be born in an affluent family, in fact Dick didn't seem to have much luck at all as a child. Born to a poorer family with dubious criminal connections Dick often found himself relying on his wits and streetsmarts and would often wind up prowling the streets of Gotham trying to get by. A chance encounter where he tried to steal the tires from what he just assumed was some rich assholes fancy car lead him to being taken in by The Batman himself. Dick enjoyed a brief stint as the second Lark until the Joker set his sights on the Batman's protégé. Dick didn't survive the encounter and his passing sent the Batfamily into turmoil. Emotions flared even hotter when Dick returned years later calling himself Flamebird. Believing himself replaced and Bruce selfish for daring to endanger more lives with his unwillingness to kill. Flamebird set out to prove a lethal point to his once father and all of Gotham.

Cassandra Drake: Grew up next to the Waynes and often passed her time watching the bat family through a camera lens. After Dicks death she tracked down the Batman wanting to help him in his mission of protecting Gotham, taking up the mantle of Lark. Eventually she struck out on her own and reinvented herself as Sparrow.

Jason Cain: The unwanted son of Lady Shiva and deadly weapon since birth for his father David Cain. Born by Shiva as part of a crooked deal with David Jason was raised solely by his father to be a deadly weapon. Taught to be relentless in combat and understand movement as though it were a language. Jason was neglected and never quite learned how to speak or read, all he knew was combat and torture at the hands of his father. When the day came that Jason took his first life the boy was so horrified that what he had done he ran and only stopped running when he fell into the arms of Bruce Wayne. When Damian Gordon became incapable of keeping the Shadow Bat mantle, Jason took it in his stead, and now Jason spends his time fighting side by side with his family while trying to acclimate to the unfamiliar environment.

Tim Brown: Tim was the son of C List Gotham super criminal Cluemaster. Cluemaster's parenting skills left a lot to be desired and Tim having been mistreated and abused by his father all his life donned the cap and cowl life purely fueled by the power of spite. He took on the name Spoiler, always intent to spoil his fathers escapades. It didn't take long for Tim's nightly activities led to him meeting and befriending Cassandra Drake which soon pulled the young man into the fold of the Batfamily.

Barbara Al Ghul-Wayne: Barbara was raised in the enigmatic League of Assaians, born of a union between Bruce Wayne and Talia Al Ghul. She was raised and trained as an assassin and she knew was of the best of them. It wasn't until Talia smuggled her out of the league and out of her birthright that Barbaras life was thrown into upheaval. In an effort to get her daughter away from the toxic influence of the league Talia left her daughter in the hands of Bruce Wayne Barbara's father. Here with her father Barbra became the newest Lark and found herself struggling to adapt and learn to the new standards of her father and her new role.

Stephanie Thomas: Steph lived a mostly normal life in the incredibly not normal Gotham City. It was easy to think Gotham's madness would never touch them. Until the day it did and Joker got a hold on her parents driving them mad. She did the only thing you can do when faced in tragedy in Gotham City. She went on the streets and became a vigilante herself. The Batman eventually took notice and took her under his wing seeing the potential and determination she had within her. Steph eventually settled on the name Black Light and she holds the distinction of being the only meta within the Batfamily.

[arsenicgodhead]

Top 5 Friends of Damian Wayne I’d Like to See Again

It’s been way too long since Damian had his own solo title, or really any title written by someone who didn’t think he was a little brat with no friends (R.I.P. Tomasi’s run on Super Sons, which ended WAY too soon). In each new title that Damian starred or co-starred in, he’s had a rotating cast of buds who disappeared when the boy changed writers. Check out my top 5 friends of Damian Wayne who should return to mainstream comics under the cut.

#5 - Sara Meyer

Making her debut in the too-short-lived first volume of Peter J. Tomasi and Jorge Jiménez’s Super Sons, Sara Meyer comes from a family that suddenly got powers of their own due to the Amazo Virus. By day, the Meyers masqueraded as the perfect family – but by night the parents’ in fighting broke the family apart, driving Sara’s brother Reggie to become the villainous Kid Amazo.

In her first and only appearance, Sara is held prisoner by her older brother as she watches him kill android replicas of her and her parents over and over, until she uses her own powers to transfer her consciousness into an android duplicate and escape, seeking the help of the Super Sons. She spends most of her appearance helping Damian and Jon take down her old brother, showcasing her technopathic powers alongside her raw hatred for her abusive, borderline psychopathic sibling. Sadly, she faded into obscurity after this arc and hasn’t been seen again.

#4 - Suren Darga

Suren was the big bad of the New 53 series Robin Son of Batman right up until the penultimate issue 12, where Damian pulls a Naruto and befriends his enemy. Damian and Maya decide to take Suren under their wing and give the violent young sorcerer the same chance at redemption that Damian got – which Suren is more than happy to take.

The series ends with Suren, Damian, and Maya riding off into the sunset. Suren had truly rejected his Darga heritage in much the same way that Damian has rejected his Al Ghul roots. It looks like the next arc of Robin: Son of Batman would’ve delved into Suren’s path to redemption. Unfortunately, the book was cancelled to make room for the new DC Rebirth titles, and Suren was lost to the sands of time.

#3 - Mara Al Ghul, A.K.A. “The Demon’s Thumb”

Less of a friend and more of a mortal enemy – but still family – Mara was a shining light of potential in an otherwise mediocre incarnation of the Teen Titans. Her cousin Damian was Ra’s’ (Ras’? Ra’s-es?) golden grandson and preferred vessel, meaning that Mara lived her whole life as Grandpa’s second choice.

She finally got her moment in the sun when Damian defected to the ranks of the Bat Family. Mara got her revenge in the form of a chance to hunt and kill the Teen Titans with her own group of anti-titans – the elite “Demon’s Hand”; a group of kids in training to join the league of assassins. The hand lost to the Titans and were denied their entry as full-fledged members of the league, but Mara swore her revenge on Damian. We’ve never seen her make good on that promise, though, since she never appeared again after that arc.

#2 - Maya Ducard, A.K.A. “Nobody”

Maya Ducard is an orphan whose father (the first Nobody) was killed by Damian in the New 52 series Batman and Robin. Her dad wasn’t great – in fact, Maya didn’t even really like him. But he was still her dad, so she tried to kill Damian in a plot for revenge. Her and Damian talked out their feelings, and the two ended up sharing a very tight sibling-like bond.

Unlike Suren, Maya actually made it to the Rebirth universe – she made an appearance in Superman and even in the first volume of Super Sons. This was the last we saw of her though – unlike Colin, she doesn’t have a return date coming anytime soon.

#1 - Colin Wilkes, A.K.A. “Abuse”

Making his debut in Paul Dini and Dustin Ngyuen’s Detective Comics #847, Colin was a 10-year-old orphan boy who had been moved from foster home to foster home and developed several mental illnesses and crippling abandonment issues along the way. The boy was kidnapped by Scarecrow and saved by Batman, but not before being pumped full of Scarecrow’s homebrewed Bane venom. Batman thought he had purged the boy’s system of the toxin, but Collin soon found that he could control his transformation and decided to use his powers to help abused children on the streets of Gotham – taking up the moniker “Abuse” for the job.

It was in this role that he met Damian. The two took down Victor Zsasz’s child fighting ring in Streets of Gotham #10-12 and became fast friends. This friendship is farther explored in Nguyen’s series Lil’ Gotham, which is making a comeback in February of 2020 as the young reader-targeted children’s book Gotham Tales: Once Upon a Crime. Colin Wilkes fans rejoice – the redhead is making an appearance!

And those are my top 5 friends of Damian Wayne that I’d like to see again in comics. I really hope DC brings them back in some way, shape, or form. Perhaps as new members of the Teen Titans? Or side characters in a new Damian Wayne solo title? Any way they go about it, I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d love to see these faces again.

[scandalsavagefanfic]

You know how Bruce took Jason to the place where he died, hoping Jason could remember something to help resurrect Damian? What if Bruce actually succeeded in triggering Jason's memory of what happened on the day he died, but instead of getting the information he needs to revive Damian, Jason goes into shock and dies. Or worse he returns to the state he was in mentally when he crawled out of his grave?

You’re my favorite kind of monster. My angst soulmate.

This is the first comic book that made me cry. We’ve been talking a lot lately about Bruce punching Tim in Batman #71 and some people even talk about Bruce beating the shit out of Jason in RHatO #25 but frankly, in my opinion, this is the most fucked up thing Bruce has ever done (and that’s not even counting the fact that after he subjects Jason to this, Jason punches him (as he should), and he punches Jason back).

Trying to summarize it in the thing I wrote for this wouldn’t have done it justice so I included the panels which roll right into the little ficlet I wrote for this. So you’ll want read the comic panels like they’re part of the story, because they are.

[[If you haven’t read Batman and Robin (2011) #20 by Peter Tomasi and Patrick Gleason, you should. The really heartbreaking stuff takes place immediately following the panels I’ve included]]

Regress 

Words: 1121 (not counting the ones in the panels)

Rating: …Teen?

Warnings: emotional abuse/manipulation, panic attacks, seizures, severe traumatic brain injuries, severe ptsd

He doesn’t register the increasingly labored breathing at his side until movement out of the corner of his eye interrupts his speech.

Jason is doubled over, one elbow bracing himself across his knees, fingers of the other hand digging deep into the dirt, steadying himself against the ground.

“Jason?” Bruce says in concern, stepping toward him. But the younger man, raises his hand in a halting motion and stumbles away a few steps putting more space between them.

Stunned, Bruce watches in confusion as Jason takes too many deep, frantic breaths as though he can’t get any air. He’s hyperventilating, his face suddenly clammy; pale and wet with sweat.

When Jason squeezes his eyes closed only for them to fly wide open almost immediately to stare at ground, refusing to blink until tears well up and drop into the dust, that’s when Bruce is shaken from his shocked stupor and rushes to the younger man’s side. 

Just in time to catch him as he suddenly seizes, collapsing into Bruce’s arms while convulsions wrack his body.

He knows the look of abject terror on Jason’s face is reflected on his own. He has no idea what’s happening, how something like this could come on so suddenly, without warning. 

Jason doesn’t have a history of panic attacks or seizures. But his pulse has skyrocketed. It’s racing so fast Bruce is worried he’s going to have a stroke or go into cardiac arrest. 

“Jason, I-I know it’s hard son, but you need to focus. Please, try to breath or you’re going to–” 

Or you’re going to die.

Bruce chokes on the rest of the words. He looks up, out at the rubble of the warehouse that only a couple years ago had blown up around his tortured son and killed him slowly as it filled his ruined lungs with poisonous smoke.

His gaze snaps back down a moment before a wet gurgle sounds from within Jason’s throat. Instantly, without hesitation, Bruce turns Jason onto his side. So he doesn’t drown in the vomit that spills beneath them, splashing onto Batman’s boots. 

It doesn’t even register in Bruce’s mind. Jason’s pulse is still ratcheting higher and higher. 

He keeps Jason securely in his lap, pressed close against his armor, with one arm. Both eyes fixed intently on the youthful face twisted in agony, watching for any changes, trying to not fixate on the way one pupil is a pinprick while the other is dilated so wide there isn’t the slightest hint of color. With his free hand he starts desperately fishing for the strongest sedative he can safely administer to someone Jason’s size.

Suddenly, Jason’s eyes shut tightly again, his mouth falls open in a silent scream, and he grabs at his head; pressing against his temples with all his strength before taking fistfuls of hair and trying to pull them out. 

Terror isn’t strong enough to describe the kind of fear that floods every cell of Bruce’s body and it’s only years of practice that allow him to compartmentalize his guilt and shove it aside. He can’t afford– Jason can’t afford– for him to fall apart.

Letting his violently spasming, child slip gently from his lap to the ground so that he can effectively retrieve the sedative is at once the hardest and easiest thing he’s ever done.

Moments after he depresses the needle’s plunger, Jason’s convulsions slowly abate. His hands drop, boneless, away from his head. His breathing evens out. His lids drop heavier and heavier until he’s taken under. 

Finally his whole body relaxes.

Bruce takes a deep breath of relief and realizes he had been holding his own.

But now, in the silence, bathed in the harsh white from the Batmobile’s headlights, darkness pressing in, the crumbled remains of a dark tomb casting sharp, twisted shadows across the eerily still form of the teenager they once buried… now Bruce is left with only his own thoughts. 

I did this.

————————————————————-

Two months and two dozen specialists later, the best anyone can tell is that a severe panic attack triggered a seizure which tore open all the old wounds the Lazarus Pits had tentatively mended. The physical trauma inflicted on Jason’s brain is some of the most extensive the doctors had ever seen. And permanent.

He’s lucky to be alive, they’d said.

The last time Bruce saw Jason, the little patches of hair he had torn out had just started growing back. His eyes were vacant as he stared, unseeingly, into the distance. Tim had gently wiped up the clear fluid that occasionally leaked out of Jason’s ears with a tissue. Then, with one final angry, heartbroken glance back at Bruce, he’d wheeled an unresponsive Jason out of the manor, into his new van, and drove away.

Alfred had gone with them.

Tim and Barbara speak to him exactly twice after that. Once to extract Damian from the league after Ra’s managed to resurrect him. And the final time to help Dick finish with his undercover work at Spyral. 

None of them are surprised when they find out Bruce lied to them about Dick’s death.

Dick is horrified when he sees Jason again for the first time, when Tim and Barbara fill him in. The look of disgust he levels at Bruce cuts deep. Even though Bruce knows he deserves that and worse. 

Damian, who had been conflicted about what happened with Jason, it was cruel and heartless but it was done out of love for him, went easily with Dick to Bludhaven after everything. Dick’s right. It’s for the best.

Bruce deserves it all. He’s aware of that. What happened… what he did… it’s unforgivable.

But he can’t stop himself from checking in on them. Making sure they’re all right.

That’s how, nearly a year later, he learns they’ve all moved to New York together. They have the top TBI specialists there. The boys chose a place close enough to the city that they can do their night jobs but far enough outside the city limits that the lights are in the distance and the noise is non-existent. A peaceful house in a peaceful wood, tucked away from the world, where their broken brother can… can…

Exist.

They take hundreds of pictures. Jason is in every single of them. Never alone. Never forgotten. Always cared for.

But there’s still nothing behind that emotionless gaze.

Sometimes Bruce thinks about putting Jason in the Pit again. Even found himself, with no one to stop him, halfway to New York once. 

But the boys haven’t taken him. Dick and Tim and Damian haven’t tried it. They must have a reason.

And if one thing has been made abundantly clear to Bruce, it’s that his judgement absolutely cannot be trusted.

[rayewriting]

You Deserve More (More Than What I Have)

Fandom: Batman

Note: I know I'm a day late! Please forgive me, I got home at six, sat down at seven and been working this out till 1AM. Qalbi means “my heart” and Ekhwah means "older brother" in Arabic and Chikno means "son" in Romany (at least that’s what I found online!) I loved the idea of Damian taking care of Mar’i and him giving her a cutesy nickname and Damian and Dick openly acknowledging their relationship is different than just a brotherly bond so… I edited this chapter to make Mar'i call Damian "Ekhwah" instead of "Uncle D" to get that across. If I am wrong about the translations- PLEASE LET ME KNOW!!! I am not meaning to offend anyone, just trying to tie in Damian's and Dick heritage!

This is also an unexpected continuation of my Nightwing and Flamebird fic "Being Enough"! (find it under my DickandDamiweek2019 tag, its Day 1!)

Scars, so many scars on the little body that Damian possess.

“They are from training, Grayson,” his Robin says. But Dick knows better.

The scars come from abuse, the torture, he faced in his time with his mother. And Dick- Dick is appalled that, within ten years, Damian acquired so many. So many that Dick hasn’t heard all the stories and some of them Damian doesn’t remember getting- because he was to young to even try to remember. And the worst part is that Damian refuses to see them anything more than training mistakes, that they were not his fault that others hurt him. But Dick tells Damian every night, every time he sees one that Damian is not the one at fault, that Damian is an amazing, beautiful child that deserves so much more than the world has to offer.

His face has two, both difficult to see, but Dick does so immediately. One jagged cut on the left side reaching from his ear to his jaw.

 “The one on the left was from one of my instructors that got too close and tried to kill me,” Damian explained, in the middle of a night where Dick was still Batman and Damian his Robin, shaking in Dick’s arms after a nightmare, “I was sad because he was one of the few people nice to me. He said I reminded him of his child. Later that year, I discovered Mother forced him to do it for my training. I killed him, I did not know his real name, but he was called Khalil… for he was the friendliest in the League.”

The other is straight down his right eye, cutting through his eyebrow-

 “Grandfather did it. To train me to have me get acquainted to feeling pain,” Damian continued into Dick’s chest.

 “What they did is not your fault,” Dick said into Damian’s hair.

His left arm held a few, two parallel puncture holes near his wrist-

 Damian whispered, in the quiet after a rough night of patrol- neither of them ready to be alone, “I was bitten by a poisonous snake and the antidote was on the other side of a mountain. It was for training.”

 Dick wraps his arms around Robin, enclosing his partner in his cape, “That should not have been forced on you.”

In the bend of his right elbow, uncountable needle marks-

 “I was regularly injected with varies poisons and drugs, Mother said to grow immunity to them. Too many to count. It was part of my training,” Damian-in a t-shirt and shorts- spoke at the Batcomputer, when he noticed Stephanie looking at his arm for a good minute and a half. He kicked his legs out, and looks just like a regular twelve-year-old, except the words coming out of his mouth.

 Dick placed his hand on Damian’s shoulder and retorted, “It should not have been.”

Connecting Damian’s shoulder and elbow on the back of his right arm is a slice that Damian refuses to talk about, no matter how much Dick tries to whittle it out of him. (Damian’s cousin gave it to him, when he was sleeping in his quarters. Damian remembers his resulting actions every time he turns around to get ready for his day.)

His left leg only has one scar, a large burn covering the back of his thigh-

 As Damian changed into his suit for patrol with Dick and Bruce, saw their glances towards his legs and went on, “It was part of my torture training,” glanced at Bruce then continued, “Mother said that I was to be subjected to it for multiple weeks.”

 Dick left his Nightwing suit to pool around his waist, then pulled the fourteen-year-old into his arms, “She should not have done that. You are amazing just the way you are, Dames.”

His right leg has a matching burn and line down his shin-

 “I broke my leg, the medical staff had to do surgery to repair it,” Damian said to Jason. Damian, Dick, and Jason had ducked into a safehouse to wait out a thunderstorm that broke out in the middle of patrol. They had been in the middle of a change when Jason asked about it.

 “How did you break your leg?” Dick inquired.

 The fifteen-year-old paused for a few minutes- face contorted as if he was trying to remember- then, “I was being tortured by an enemy of the League. She broke my leg, so I broke her spine, then ran to the sea and swam twenty miles to a League ship I knew would pass at the time. They sent me to one of their medical facilities and I finished the mission in a week.” As he spoke the three of them rested on the couch, Dick stretching across the middle and left cushions, Damian sitting on the left on, and Jason walking into the kitchen for a bottle of water.

 “They did not deserve your loyalty,” Dick said softly, foot poked at Damian’s thigh.

His neck had one—

 Damian threw Dick’s door open, ran into Dick’s arms, and pointed to his neck, “It killed me… I think? Grandfather often put Mother in the Pit if she died during training. I don’t think Mother could stop him if I died. I-I can’t remember it very well… But when I woke up, Mother said I failed my training and had to do it over again. I didn’t remember till I had a nightmare last night.” Damian expounds, as if he had to get if off his chest, then broke down on Dick’s chest.

 “You deserved better than that. You deserve more than I have,” Dick said to the sixteen-year-old. Dick threw up that night and every time the light caught Damian’s neck just right, he- he grew green.

His hands had too many to count, burns, cuts and scrapes-

 “The only one I remember is the one Mother gave to me,” Damian quietly lets out, tracing his index finger over the small cut on the back of his hand. Dick, Kor’i, and Damian was in the middle of a movie at Dick’s apartment. Kor’i had visited during Damian’s visit- Dick hoped his girlfriend and Damian would get along- which they did, much to Dick’s surprise the first time, so they started monthly movie nights.

 Dick removed his arm from around Kor’i’s shoulders, clasped the seventeen-year-old’s hands in his and responded, “I’m sorry she hurt you. But I’m proud you don’t let it rule over you,” then placed kisses on all the scars he could find on the fingers and palms, when Dick was done, he wiped the tears that fall from the younger man’s eyes and the female alien wrapped her arms around Damian’s shoulders.

His chest is blanketed with multiple cuts and burns-

 Damian points to a small cut on his right pectoral muscle after Cass brushed her hand across his chest in questioning manner as Dick finished up stitching a knife wound on her forearm, “This is from a training with one of Mother’s guards,” long slice across from his right shoulder to left hip, “Grandfather wanted to know how many people I could take at once, I reached twelve before I passed out,” medium burn across the abdomen, “I was defending Mother from an inflamed log falling on her,” puncture marks on his left shoulder, “I was blindfolded and shot with an arrow, it was supposed to help with my spatial awareness,” then finally the long cut in the middle of his chest, “You remember this one, but the Heretic.”

 Cass nodded and grasped his hand, gave it a quick squeeze before she hopped of the gurney in the Batcave. Dick turns towards his twenty-year-old brother and pulled him into his arms, “You are so amazing, Dami, and these marks are just reminders. And I am so proud.”

Damian’s back is covered with bumps, cuts, burns-

 Dick rubbed Damian’s back as the twenty-three-year-old retched into the toilet, he could see the scars on Damian’s back and felt them under his palm. When Damian finished, Dick brought a glass of water up to his lips, Damian took a small sip, then spit it into the toilet, then flushed it. “Which one do you want to know about?”

 “Any of them, all of them.”

 “There are too many whip lashes for me to remember; everytime I passed out Grandfather would tie me to a post and ‘whip the exhaustion out of me’, there is the spinal replacement cut and the Heretic sword exit wound you remember, but I think…” Damian grabbed Dick’s hand moved it to the middle of his back then to the side just a bit, “I got stabbed there by a rogue assassin, had to replace my kidney,” Dick’s hand was guided to the opposite side but up some, “That was… one of Grandfather’s men, I think, I was walking to my next lesson and one of them threw a throwing star at me,” a burn mark on Damian’s right shoulder, “One of my instructors began to burn my clothes, and if I flinched or made a noise, she cut me with her knife.”

 Damian dropped Dick’s hand and threw his head back into the toilet to wretch again, and Dick resumed his massage, “You, Damian, are so amazing. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. You make me so happy for you to be a part of my family.”

 When the bathroom door opened, Dick’s head spun till he saw his daughter, “Mar’i what are you doing up, sweetie?” he asked.

 Mar’i looked at Damian as he rested his cheek against his arm that was on the toilet seat, “I had to potty, and I was wondering what was going on,” she said, “Is Ekhwah okay?”

 Damian smiled at the child, “I will be fine, Qalbi, and I am sorry you can not use your bathroom right now.”

 Dick stood up and washed his hands in the sink as Damian was talking, then turned to his daughter, “Why don’t you use Mommy and my bathroom? Come on.” Mar’i nodded and Dick grasped her hand, walked her to the master bedroom.

 When he opened the bedroom door, he saw Kor’i was blinking her eyes open and looked around, “Dick? What is happening?”

 Dick offered a small smile and opened his mouth to answer but Mar’i spoke first, “Ekhwah is sick and I had to potty. But, Daddy, I have a question,” then with all the seriousness a five-year-old can possess, she asked, “Why does Ekhwah have so many marks?”

 Couple of weeks later, Damian finds himself babysitting Mar’i, Kor’i and Dick trusting him to protect and care for their five-year-old daughter while they have a “date night”, she asks him, “Ekhwah, when did you get your scars?” tracing the marks of his arms up and down.

Damian just looks at the small child in his lap- as she was tired playing with her toys and wanted her Uncle D to talk to her, “Well, Qalbi, I got some of them when I was your age. Others I got when I was older.”

“Did your mommy and daddy not kiss them better? ‘Cause my mommy and daddy always kiss my boo-boos till I feel better.”

“No, my mother did not care for kisses and the like, and when I met my father, I was too old for kisses,” Damian explains, much to Mar’i’s surprise.

“Too old for kisses? How old is too old for kisses? I love kisses!” Mar’i exclaims, arms wrapping around Damian’s shoulders, finding comfort in his arms- as if thinking one day she would be refused kisses.

Damian’s heart seizes in his chest, the child’s innocence making him love her even more and he squeezes her to his chest, “I do not think you will ever grow too old for kisses, Qalbi. Your parents will give you kisses and hugs for as long as they can, as long as you let them.”

“Good, I love hugs and kisses. But, Ekhwah, where did your scars come from? They have to have hurt.” Mar’i asks innocently, green eyes wide and tan face scrunching in a pout.

The question causes Damian to stop, collecting his thoughts, then gently saying, “My scars come from my time in the League of Assassins. I was hurt a lot, everyday. My mother said that it was training; but, it was not. It was abuse; do you know what that means?” Damian looks at Mar’i, the small one shaking her head, “Abuse comes in many forms, but mine was mental and physical abuse. My mother- she was not a good person, when I was small, she hit me many times a day, forced me to do things that I did not want to do, and did not let me have my own opinions or thoughts. It is a very serious issue, and not to be treated lightly.”

Damian pauses and gives Mar’i a serious look and tells her, “Mar’i, if anyone—anyone—hurts you on purpose, it is not training or playing. Your mother and father will not hurt you like mine did, but know that if you get hurt by anyone or anything, I will help you. Promise me that if you feel hurt, scared, or angry, you talk to your parents- or me if you want- because I can grantee that we will always care for you.”

Mar’i nods, face serious and voice having a determined tilt, “I promise, Ekhwah, if I feel scared, hurt, or angry, I will tell Mommy, Daddy, or you.”

Damian hears a sniffle from the doorway and swivels his head to see Dick and Kor’i, both having watery eyes, walking into the room. Mar’i gets off Damian’s lap and runs over to her parents giving them hugs, “Mommy! Daddy!” Then she tugs on Dick’s pants, causing him to kneel in front of her, “Ekhwah said that his mommy didn’t like kisses and when he met Grandpa Bruce, he was too old for kisses! But he also said my parents aren’t like his; so, I won’t ever be too old for kisses.”

Dick looks at Damian with inquisitive eyes, which causes Damian roll his eyes and nod. Kor’i looks in between her husband and the person she has grown too love as a son, then tells Mar’i “Mar’i, you need to pick up your toys. It’s almost bedtime.”

Damian and Dick step out of the room and Dick wraps Damian into a hug, “I’m so proud of you, Chikno.”

“Why?”

Dick takes a step back and explains, “You openly acknowledged that your childhood was not training. That is a huge step and you took it. I’m just so happy you can see it now.”

Damian tilts his head to the side then shrugs his shoulders, “I guess.”

Suddenly Mar’i runs into the hall and flies, literally, into Damian’s arms, “Ekhwah! Can you tell me a bedtime story? I want to hear one about Nightwing and Flamebird!”

“Of course, but perhaps your father should join us, he is half of those stories.”

Dick watched as his two kids walk ahead of him, let’s a smile slide across his face, and follows them into Mar’i’s room.

[moviegroovies]

oh god after last time i really did think i was done but i must have unlocked some new level of hell because here we go, here we go, lost boys hcs PART 3!!!!

so ummmmm michael... is sort of dumb. 

like, ok, specifically??? i think he’s got a higher than average emotional intelligence, but he’s just one of those kids who’s bad at school. there’s some hints of this in the movie: when michael is telling sam that he can’t tell lucy about the vampirism thing, sam’s line is that it’s “not like getting a D in school, mike!”, implying that hiding that kind of thing is something the two of them have been over before, and a deleted subplot has him repeatedly insisting to lucy that he’s going to drop out of school to get a job and help her pay for things.

tbh i think he’s got that classic “child of divorce” thing going on. he feels like a burden on sparse resources and can’t stand the thought of wasting his days in school, where he doesn’t even want to be. he wants to help his mom! he gets a job for he so he can do that! what a good, sweet boy!!!

hmmm. dyslexic michael, anyone? like, i was going to say that he was particularly vexed by math & science, but the more i think about it, the more i’m leaning toward him maybe just being disinterested in those subjects, even though they’re the ones he’s better at, while english and history (but particularly english) really piss him off because studying takes so goddamn long.

so he gets like, C+/B- in math and science, consistent C- in history, and wavers C- to D+ or even lower in english. 

he’s so polite to his teachers that they help him when they can though, especially because they know he’s trying so hard, but he’s just not entirely gifted at this sort of stuff. 

the worst is when he has to keep his grades up to stay eligible for sports--that pressure just makes everything seem so much worse.

i think michael plays some of everything. he’s like, some kind of guard on the football team, not particularly their star player or anything, but i think he’s also got a starter position on the basketball team, and he is the star pitcher on the baseball team. 

physical stuff just comes easier to him than academic stuff, you know?

his high school girlfriend was a cheerleader, but they weren’t that serious. she was a kind of preppy girl, a little vapid, and it felt to michael like they only really dated because they were supposed to. breaking up with her kind of led to michael’s attraction to star; he saw her on the boardwalk and she looked like she dressed for herself and she was outwardly enjoying her time at the concert--plus, you know, she’s really pretty.

he hates to admit it, but michael’s favorite classes in school were the home ec classes that his guidance counselor suggested he take. he took shop first, which was okay, but really, what he liked to do the most was the cooking and sewing shit. when he joins the lost boys, he kind of “takes over” these roles from star (who had been pressured into acting the mother for all these assholes who could be her great grandfathers, easily), and it turns out that he’s a lot better at that stuff than she is. 

guess he was always kind of training to be david’s bitch after all.

the guys stop ribbing on him once he shows them how he can fix their clothes and shit, though. goddamn assholes.

michael’s main circle of friends in highschool was made up of other jocks, and like with his girlfriend, they weren’t super close. he often got excluded from stuff because he would insist he couldn’t do something or other on account of his mom needing him home that night, or he would get pissed at them for making fun of sam. 

michael said family comes first, fuckers!

he did drink and smoke and shit like that back in phoenix when he knew he wouldn’t be missed at home, though. he’s not a goody two shoes, really, he just didn’t want to make things harder than they were for his mom. 

one day he did come home drunk, and he’ll never forget how upset lucy looked. he still doesn’t feel like he’s made that up to her. ouch.

one of the guys michael hung out with, probably the closest michael had to a “best friend” was a dude named declan who he’d known since elementary school. declan as the only one of the jock guys who didn’t really hold it against him when he’d skip out on stuff, and the only one he ever even thought about telling the divorce shit to, although in the end, he chickened out of actually doing it. 

like i said, they weren’t best friends or anything, but they could have been, y’know?

one of the less nice dudes in his group (probs one michael got in fights with often) started dating michael’s girlfriend about a week after he moved. michael wasn’t really pissed by the time he found out about that; he had way bigger problems to worry about by then.

there was a guy that michael saw around who was kind of a beatnik loner outcast and almost definitely a fag. he liked shakespeare and oscar wilde and probably drew pretty things in the margins of his notebook, and the guys that michael hung out with trashed on him pretty much constantly. michael himself, however, had kind of a thing for the guy: he thought he was cool and would ask when he could to see what he was working on.

you know how michael acted around star at the very beginning of their association? that’s pretty much how he was around this dude. local bi disaster is bi.

the guy (i was going to say fuck it and name him after the guy who i’m sort of basing him on from peggy sue got married, but guess what my fucking luck is, that dude’s name is michael. jfc. let’s call him charlie) thought michael was just there to make fun of him like the others did, but he eventually, he might have come around to trusting that mike really was just interested in his art. 

maybe they made out or something before charlie eventually pushed back against him because he didn’t want to get fucking murdered by michael’s friends for making him queer if they got caught 

michael always felt like he should have pushed harder to have some sort of relationship with charlie, but once he moves to santa carla, there’s no use in thinking about it anymore.

unlike michael, sam did have a close circle of friends at school, even though he wasn’t as classically “popular” as his brother. 

it was probs this reason that made him take the move a lot harder than his brother did.

sam, also unlike michael, was/is really good at school. he’s super skilled at memorizing dates & facts (just look at him rattle off semi-obscure superman trivia lol), and pretty talented at writing to boot. he doesn’t like math as much, but if he works at it, it comes to him pretty quickly. 

gifted kid perks™

being that everything came easy to sam, and that he didn’t do any sports like michael did, he had a lot of downtime to read books and comics, keep up w/ pop culture, and hang out with his nerdy friends who liked to do the same. he was even in a d&d group

his character was an elf rogue.

it’s about gay rights

re: sports, it’s not that sam couldn’t be athletic, just that he didn’t ever really want to be. he used to do little league to be like michael and as a concession to his father, but really, he was always put in the outfield, and at the end of the day he would just rather read or watch tv than stand out in the hot sun playing this game he didn’t care about.

when they were little, michael trained himself to get better at reading so that he could read stuff to sam when their parents were fighting or their mom was away. he remembered how his parents (in better times) had read to him, and he knew it made sam feel better, so he put aside his difficulties and discomfort to read to his brother before bed.

the easiest things to read for him were comic books (he had some batmans and supermans and even a few wonder womans, although it wasn’t all superhero stuff. he also had richie rich and, of course, archies), which kind of sparked sam’s love for them--they were something he shared with his brother. <3

i’m thinking sam’s nerd club was the prototypical “mostly boys who never talked to a girl in their lives” type thing, but at the same time i’d like to imagine that at least one of them had a pretty brash (and nerdy) sister who pushed her way into the club, winning their respect by doing what sam did to frog brothers, only with star wars lore.

also, i’m kind of picturing a shy girl from their school who sam takes under his wing when she’s getting bullied, only to find out that she’s really into that stuff too.

she’s part of their d&d campaign; she plays a badass orc barbarian woman and consistently has the best luck with the dice. 

the girl is almost definitely a lesbian, but sam asks her to homecoming and stuff like that so that they’ll both have dates; they’re basically each other’s beards. 

Gay Rights.

one of the only ways michael could ever really relate to his dad was when they played baseball and the dad taught him Sports™ things, so sam not being at all interested in that stuff made him kind of a disappointment. even still (or maybe for that reason), michael was always the mama’s boy, while sam spent a long time desperate for his dad’s approval.

maybe bc michael and lucy tried really hard to protect him from just how shitty their dad really was, to be honest.

speaking of michael and sam’s dad, i’ve been doing a lot of thinking about him, and now i’ve got Opinions. 

contrary to what i guess is the general fandom consensus (at least from what i’ve seen? but my scope might not be that big regarding this character, so if i’m wrong, i’m wrong lol) regarding the dad, i can’t see him being particularly abusive physically. 

however, given how sweet and agreeable lucy is, i get a sense that there must have been something REALLY insurmountable in their relationship to make her decide that divorce was the only option. the way i see it, michael and sam’s father started as one of those anti-establishment punks who eventually grew up and just... snapped back the other way entirely to end up as the establishment himself. 

main justification for this is that scene w/ michael and star; he doesn’t just refer to his mother being an ex-hippie, he refers to his folks. plus, i mean, there must have been something about the man that endeared him to lucy, right?

so, over the course of their marriage, the guy goes from being a radical dreamer type with maybe some kind punk rock aspirations to being like.... reagan’s “moral majority.” 

he starts totally stomping down his old dreams and, in the process, mocking lucy for holding onto anything from their past (you know how she told sam part of the reason she divorced him was that “he never believed in the closet monster”? that was a symptom tbh). i imagine that this, in itself, was soul crushing, but what was really the last straw was when he started in on michael and sam: getting mad and telling michael that he wasn’t going to make it in the MLB and that he had to get his shitty grades up if he wanted to amount to anything (only making him hate school even more lbr), and openly disliking sam’s rejection of sports and stuff in favor of his comic books and MTV.

before the end, i think michael got in a lot of fights with his dad when he’d make passive-aggressive comments at sam for not being enough of a man. 

who made you the fucking authority on that, huh?

if he was ever actually physically violent with anyone, it was probably michael during these fights, or mayyyybe even lucy when she’d step in.

eventually, something just tips lucy’s goddamn scales, and she snaps and goes out right then and there to file for divorce. they never saw the point in signing a prenup or anything back then, y’know, so without really fighting for it, lucy wasn’t going to get anything in the divorce. 

she doesn’t. they leave arizona with just about the clothes on their backs.

if anyone actually fought against the divorce proceedings, honestly i think it was the dad. he had this idea of his respectable nuclear family, and, even though he was basically an emotionally neglectful POS to his sons, he hated the idea of his wallstreet suit-type coworkers coming to know that his home life was anything less than perfect. 

as a last ditch effort, he probably tried to win lucy back at the very last minute, even twisting her arm in an attempt to get her to stay for the boys’ sake, but he clearly no longer knows what attracted her to him in the first place, and the “effort” just makes her sad.

in her mind, she’s already gone by then, you know?

finally, he just ives up and signs the divorce papers. for a hot second it really fucks him up; he goes in to work unshaven and haggard, he’s back to eating like a bachelor, his heart isn’t in what he’s doing. this isn’t about grief over losing his family, though, is the shitty thing. not really. instead, he’s just dealing with uncertainty over how to remake his image. 

unfortunately, that’s about as much karma as their dad gets. by the time lucy, sam, and michael are gone for good, he finds it’s easiest to just pretend that they never happened. lucy didn’t demand it, but he sends the occasional bare bones childcare check in the mail and feels like he’s the goddamn father of the year or something, and meanwhile, he remarries a woman that’s both younger and more conservative than lucy, sooner or later fathering a son with her.

lucy isn’t cruel; she doesn’t want the boys to be totally cut off from their father, and even though they both pretty clearly sided with her in the divorce she offers him visitation rights and partial custody (saying that they could stay with him at least every summer and for whatever other holidays he wanted), but he mostly rejects this. 

when the boys try to call him to ask, he gives them a noncommittal answer about them maybe visiting next summer, after they’ve all gotten settled in. 

they pretty much stop calling after that. 

remember how i said michael has an above-average emotional intelligence? he’s definitely the one who helps lucy through the divorce the most. he picks up on the signals she sends about when she needs help and when she needs space, and chides sam for pushing her too hard every now and then.

sam, on the other hand, is definitely a good kid who cares about his mom a lot, but he’s a little more selfish and has a harder time acting like he’s got no problem leaving phoenix for her. the only real fights the two of them get into before all the vampire mess are centered around sam not being sympathetic enough to lucy and michael getting onto him for it.

i think that their dad might end up being a much better father and husband for his new family, and when the eventually visit him long enough to realize this, michael and sam... aren’t sure what to think.

like, they’re glad he’s not repeating the same mistakes he made before, but it’s not fair, is it? to see your little half-brother get the father you always wanted but never got. 

their new stepmom is a sweet lady, though. she really does want to try and welcome sam and michael into the family. sam, michael, and their dad all try, but in the end they find it uncomfortable, and the boys know it’s just a facade on all sides to make her happy. 

everyone is a little bit relieved when the boys just give up and go back to santa carla. 

when michael meets the lost boys (& subsequently learns about dwayne’s past with jasper and, you know, the total boner david has for him, and oh yeah, the fact that these guys are kind of universally gay asf), his only experience with gay shit had been his closeted fumbling with charlie and like, negative stereotypes from media, so he’s kind of amazed by these totally queer dudes who just... take no shit. 

like, he gets challenged to a motorcycle race and their leader doesn’t back down at all from the fight michael tries to incite, they take him back to drink and hang out in a semi-nasty man cave. these dudes aren’t what he expects from fags at all (they’re not sissies, and that’s kind of the end of his knowledge about the gay community at that time lol), and he just doesn’t... know what to think about them.

he kind of wants to be them.

like, you know how immediately after seeing them for the first time, michael buys himself a leather jacket and goes to get his ear pierced? there’s a reason for that, babes!

in other news, michael is a cancer and there’s nothing y’all can do about it.

i mean, i have Evidence behind my theory but also i’m just right.

but like, going back to that scene with michael and star again, when he’s introducing himself, you know how he tells her that he was nearly named moonbeam or moonchild or something like that? well, another name for cancers that i’ve seen is moonchildren, after the way cancer is ruled by the moon (and bc the term “cancer” itself has some... other connotations).

in conclusion, lucy really was That Bitch sgdfhghdh

[chilling-in-the-dark]

The Batboys Growing Up as Yanderes Part 4: Tim Drake

This is a yandere story; it mentions elements of obsession, possessiveness, death, murder, stalking, and kidnapping. If any of this is triggering for you, I understand, and you don’t have to read it.

As always, feedback is welcomed.

The first time Tim saw you he was nine, he was watching for Batman and Robin, but instead, he’d found you, a thief slipping in and out of trouble always performing daring but narrow escapes. It didn’t take him long to figure out who you were.

You were a child of one of Gotham’s elite, a runaway who’d been reported missing over a year ago. Officially you nobody knew why you’d left home, but unofficially it was said that you left because your father had been an abusive drunk. Tim really didn’t like to think about it or the circumstances that lead to you leading your current life.

By the time Tim had become robin, he’d had entire photo albums dictated to you, some of the photos were of you living your daily life as a street rat, but most were of you stealing things and evading the police.

Tim watched you silently for years; that is until Jason Todd died, and Batman went on a rampage. After he became robin Tim had nearly unlimited access to Bruce Wayne’s money.

You were fourteen the first time you’d come back to the den you’d made in the attic of an abandoned church to find an envelope of cash placed neatly on top of your sleeping bag. From your Admirer was written on the front in neat swirling cursive.

You shouldn’t have taken the money, even back then you knew this, money came with strings attached, but you needed it so very badly. It was a lot of money, like a lot of money, enough that you wouldn’t have to worry about starving for the next six months at least. Against your better judgment, you ended up keeping the money, but moved to a different location, hoping that your so-called Admirer wouldn’t be able to find you.

You found the next envelope six months later, it contained not only more money, but there was also a note written in the same handwriting, both the first and second envelopes had on the front.

I thought you looked lovely last night, you always do when you’re dodging trouble, but really if you needed more money you should have let me know, after-all I want nothing more than to take care of you angel.

Love,

Your Admirer

Your blood froze in your veins; you didn’t know how but they had, they’d found you again. This went on for several more years, your Admirer leaving money and you finding a new hiding place. You’d come to except this as your new routine, your Admirer never did anything that made you feel unsafe, at least until you turned seventeen, and something happened that made you run for your life.

You’d come home to find the standard biannual envelope of cash on your bed, but something was different this time. Inside the envelope, there were two photos enclosed with the money. The first was of you and your boyfriend in the middle of making out. There was a message written on the back in large angry scrawl was Did you think I wouldn’t find out. The next was of your boyfriends’ dead body, he’d been hung upside down so all of the blood could drain out of him. The killer had written you are mine in blood on the wall behind your boyfriend.

It took everything in you to keep from puking; once you’d pushed down the nausea and grief, you started to run to the nearest bus station. This time you were going to take the money and leave Gotham behind you; you’d heard Metropolis was beautiful this time of year. Little did you know you’d chosen the wrong city to run to.

Bruce and Mrs. Wayne were trying to figure out why Tim seemed even busier they unusual, that is, until they found the stash of photos Tim had taken of you. Some of them were of you evading the police, but most were of you living your daily life.

Mrs. Wayne saw a few that made her ask Bruce to give Tim the talk. She didn’t trust Jack Drake to have done it himself, and besides that, Tim’s talk would need to be a little different from other boys his age. He was a very special boy after all, he’d need a conversation that included his tendencies as well.

Bruce sat Tim down and got the whole story, how much he loved you, how long he’d watched you, the money he’d left, and you taking off on a bus to Metropolis, his plan to get you back, but he needed to get someplace to keep you ready first. Tim knew being so obsessed with someone wasn’t normal, but he’d done it anyway, watching you had made him feel less lonely.

Bruce just smiled at the boy and explained to him that what he was doing was all perfectly alright. If that was all that was wrong, it would be an easy fix. The manor already had everything they’d need to keep you safe and happy until you excepted Tim’s love.

In the meantime, Bruce could have a talk with the boy about not getting caught or dragging his vigilante identity into it. Ideally, the boy would have come out about it sooner; after all, he was nearly eighteen and ready to strike out on his own. Bruce worried whether he’d have time to teach Tim everything he needed to know.

All Clark needed was a photo of the girl, and she’d be found within the hour, it’s not Like Clark didn’t have his own wife tucked away on his family farm back in Smallville after all Bruce had helped catch her when she’d tried to run away last year. She’d run to the Justice League looking for help, not realizing most of them had someone they loved more than life, and they’d all give their right arm to keep them.

You hadn’t thought anything of it when superman flew overhead, after all, Metropolis was his city to look after, you’d seen the bat’s on patrol often enough in Gotham. Heck Robin had once saved you from a mugger.

Nor were you worried when a man who introduced himself as Clark came up and asked for directions either; why would you be, you weren’t in Gotham anymore, this city was so much safer. At least that’s what you thought, but you realized you should have been more cautious when your head started to spin because as soon as you turned around to point in the direction the man needed to head, he’d stabbed you with a needle.

In the half-second it took you to lose consciousness, you wondered if this was the mysterious Admirer who’d killed the love of your life, but you’d find out soon enough that it wasn’t him, no for better or worse the Admirer was Tim Drake.

You woke sometime later in an unfamiliar room with a killer headache, the first thing that should have tipped you off to the fact that this wasn’t your room was that the bed beneath you was soft, and so was the blanket that lay over top of you. At first, you thought you were alone, that is until you finally managed to pry open your eyes.

A boy about your age sat in a chair beside the bed, you knew who he was, anyone with half a brain would recognize Tim Drake. Having noticed your awakening, he leaned over the bed to gently run his thumb over your jaw. “Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said affectionately. He had the gall to look surprised when you slapped his had away and made a break for the set of doors nearest you. Which turned out to be a large walk-in closet.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Tim asked as he watched you fly over to the next set of double doors. His voice sickeningly sweet, he knew that what you were doing was a normal response to your situation. Tim wasn’t delusional enough to think that you’d love him right away, but he wasn’t like Dick. Tim wasn’t going to force your love because he knew given enough time, you’d come to care for him on your own.

You’d given up trying to open the obviously locked doors only to start pounding on them with your fist, screaming for help that would never come. Tim was torn between waiting for you to wear yourself out or stop you from hurting yourself, at least you hadn’t tried to attack him yet. Bruce had told stories about when Mrs. Wayne had spent time in this same room, he couldn’t even bring her breakfast without her trying to attack.

That gave Tim hope because they were one of the most loving couples he knew, he just needed patience, and you’d love him as much as he loved you. Tim had been patient for eight years, what was a few more in comparison to that. He kept the smile on his face as he walked up behind you and held your arms to your chest before you could do any permanent harm to yourself.

Tags:

@yanderepeterparker​

@idkmanicantenglish​

@prettyafghan

Grow up as only

@neon-phosphorecsent​

@foggyturtleknightangel

[foxydivaxx]

Bad Blood Chapter 1

Originally, this was meant to be connected to Young Justice: Demigods Arising but I have decided to tweak it a bit and make it the true Demigods Arising story of sorts. This is connected to the Osiris fic and whilst it is kinda Cassie-centric, it also focuses on other characters too. 

"Any news about Cassie?"

"Nah. No one has found her yet."

Tim sighs. It has been a month since Cassie disappeared after her humiliating defeat to Vanessa for the Wonder Girl title. Part of her regrets that decision to have said duel take place. She made that decision not considering what Cassie was going through then. The poor girl lost her then boyfriend Conner Kent and later got dumped by him. Sure, Conner returned but their relationship soon turned toxic to the point where the two engaged in a physical altercation in the School Hall that caused Cassie to get suspended for two weeks. As a result of this, Diana decided to punish her not taking into consideration Cassie’s physical and mental exhaustion at that point. According to Tatiana, Cassie overtrained herself and that led to Cassie’s humiliating defeat.

And now it is too late, Cassie has gone and would never return and if she ever returns, the girl would have joined the Dark Side which should not surprise anyone given her heritage and the negative influence of people like Ares. As if that wasn't bad enough, Cassie's younger twin sister Tatiana also followed suit. 

Adding more to the Cassie mystery is that she immediately deleted all her social media accounts on the same day as her defeat. That alone alarmed everyone as it is a well-known fact that Cassie loved taking selfies and playing around on social media and often talks to fans on there. But now that her presence is no longer felt, many began to panic, feeling that the poor girl might have committed suicide. This naturally led to the #JusticeForCassie campaign and #WonderWomanCancelled movement.

Please let Cassie not be dead.

Meanwhile in her room, Barbara was going through some files that she managed to dig up about HIVE case. So far she had managed to find some leads. Heck she can even say that she is far more competent and smarter than the entire Team as they are all a bunch of little kids. What was Batman thinking of putting little kids on a superhero team? Ok they are young kids, but they still could qualify for a wannabe superhero team since they all wear stupid outlandish costumes and use silly codenames, themselves and the so-called adults that call themselves Justice League. Seriously, what the fuck is that fucked up shit? Worst of the bunch as far as she is concerned is none other than Wonder Woman's little sidekick Cassie Sandsmark better known as Wonder Girl.

That girl is such a tragic trainwreck and a bitch. What did Tim and Conner ever see in her? What really pisses her off about the brat is that the girl reminds her of the stupid alien that Dick dated years ago. What was her name again? Oh yes Starfire. More like Hofire. Both of them are disgustingly beautiful. Starfire is a bit better because at least she can kick some ass. Cassie is completely useless that one forgets that she is supposed to be a fucking demigoddess yet someone like Damian can whoop her ass. She should even be able to go toe to toe with Supergirl and give her a nasty beatdown but nope, she gets her ass handed to her. Plus she dared to steal her Dickie from her.

Where did Diana find this child again? Oh yes, Diana did not find her instead the child fucking inserted herself into the Wonder Woman narrative just like Damian forced his way into the Robin title and never once earned nor deserved a single shit till recently. When will those brats learn? No wonder some people wished for Vanessa to take over as Wonder Girl. Ironically said girl is now Wonder Girl now how hilarious.

And alas, poor Cassie has disappeared and is nowhere to be seen. Well GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE! Barbara cackles evilly as she still plays around on her system.

Meanwhile at Gateway city, Tatiana was in her room with tears in her eyes whilst Donna comforts her. Cassie disappeared immediately after that defeat. One could understand why because that sort of defeat is very humiliating especially when the very girl that caused most of the unneeded drama in your life is responsible for it.

Making matters worse is the fact that many thought that Cassie was an irresponsible person and therefore unworthy to be Wonder Girl. This has been an ongoing debate for the past couple years. Sure Cassie has a temper but she can actually control said temper for the most part. The only reason that said rage has become more pronounced is as a result of Ares’ evil manipulation of his sister; something Diana and Zeus himself warned Cassie about. 

Cassie naturally took the bait since she had lost her powers during that time, not like anyone could blame her. Still the fact that many people bashed her for this, Diana included was horrible. Now after years of hypocrisy on the side of the heroes, no one should be surprised if Cassie suddenly and openly denounces them and exposes all their secrets or even goes all Superboy Prime on them or worse commit suicide.

Donna sighed. Sure Cassie has some shortcomings but Diana herself is a hypocrite, in fact everyone has been hypocritical when it comes to Cassie. A lot of the criticism being leveled upon the girl might as well be applied to other heroes as well like Conner or Tim for instance.

Ironically said hypocrisy has been thrown at Amon aka Osiris several times which is why said boy has distanced himself from the superhero community recently. Black Adam openly lambasted the League and everyone else for that and rightfully so. 

I hope you find happiness and peace Cassie. 

Just then Donna’s phone rings. She checks the phone and discovers that it is Kori calling her. She then answers the call. “Hi Kori.”

“Donna....you have to come down here quick!!”

A couple miles in New York, Cassie is standing on top of a rooftop, preparing to throw herself down and commit suicide. Now one would find it laughable since she is meant to be a demigoddess, until they realize one disturbing detailing: Cassie lost her powers yet again during the duel and has remained powerless ever since.

The rest of the Team bursts through the door. “CASSIE DON’T!!” Conner shouts. Cassie turns around with tears in her eyes. The others begin to feel guilty for making her feel that way.

“There is nothing left for me here. You have all made it clear that I do not belong here. So why waste my time when I can just elsewhere and find peace. Heck even Hell is more peaceful than here. I cannot stay with the gods because of they are going through their own drama and are killing each other anyway.” 

She takes a couple steps back. “Cassie I understand why you are mad at us and you have every right to hate us. But I want you to know that there are people that still love you regardless.” Kori says in the most gentle way possible.

It was at that moment that Cassie literally explodes. “LIES!! PURE UTTER LIES!! IF YOU ALL REALLY CARED, YOU WOULD HAVE ALLOWED ME TO PROPERLY EXPLAINED MYSELF!! YOU WOULD NOT HAVE ENCOURAGED TIM OR ANYONE TO BE ABUSIVE TO ME!!! YOU WOULD HAVE STOPPED BABS WHEN YOU SPREAD HER FILTHY GOSSIP ABOUT ME AND ALL OF YOU JOINED IN TO SLUTSHAME ME FOR YOUR PLEASURE!! YOU ARE AS BAD AS THE MEDIA!! PURE UTTER HYPOCRITES WHO ONLY CARE ABOUT HOOTING THEIR HORNS!! NOW I CAN SEE WHY PEOPLE LIKE JASON TURNED THEIR BACKS ON HUMANITY AND CHOSE TO DO HARDCORE JUSTICE!! YOU MOTHERFUCKERS ARE NOT SO DIFFERENT FROM THE VERY FOOLS WE HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FROM YEARS!!”

Everyone keeps quiet. Cassie clearly had been waiting for this moment and she has now gotten an audience. “Oh and speaking of failures, how many times have we been supposedly, not I used supposedly in quotation marks here because that shows how stupid you all are, were ahead of the bad guys only for them to outsmart us and somehow win?”

Dick and Kaldur exchange looks. “You know, had it not been for my father, I would have rotted in jail. Oh and special shoutout to the Black Adam family, the only family that ever truly cared about me. Plus of course Donna and Tatiana. The rest of you can go fuck yourselves and leave me be!!” She turns her back to them and ignores them as she walks over to the edge.

“Cassie wait...”

She stops and turns around as Vanessa walks in. “Cassie, listen I know you are mad. If you want to lash out. Take it out on me.” she says calmly, hands raised. Before anyone could say anything, Cassie stomps towards her so-called rival and aims a punch at Vanessa who does nothing to stop her.

Fortunately for her, Cassie stops mid-punch and drops to her knees and begins to break down in tears. Vanessa bends down and hugs her predecessor. “Listen Cass. No matter what anyone else says, you will always be Wonder Girl. In fact you are way better than I am. I do not like the great divide that Diana has created. There are other ways this could have been done.” she says. Cassie simply sobs, feeling very bad for lashing out.

“I...I’m so sorry...”

Vanessa smiles softly. “You do not have to apologise. We are both victims in this. Besides, I told Diana that I quit.” Cassie stares at her in disbelief. ”You did not have to.”

“Yet I did.”

Cassie shakes her head. “No. You remain Wonder Girl.” Cassie then smiles. “Besides, you earned it anyways.” Vanessa giggles and hugs her back. Everyone heaves a sigh of relief.

Osiris who had just arrived makes a slow descent next to them. “Cass, I understand you hate everyone and whatnot but if you throw yourself down there, chances are you might end up worse than Todd the moment they choose to bring you back from the dead. Or if you choose down a dark path now, you might end up the way Adam did years ago.”

The girl simply nods. “ I might as well go clear my mind of things for a while.”

He comes closer to her. “You know, you could have simply asked and I would gladly take you home with me so that you can get some breathing space since quite frankly, you need some of that.’ She rolls her eyes. “Fine. Let’s go.’ She wraps her arms around his neck with him wrapping his arms aorund her securely and together they fly away.

“Wait....that was it?“ says Garfield, earning a smack across the head from Raven. “Oww!!” he grumbles. Tim meanwhile stares up at the sky with jealousy in his eyes which is funny considering his relationship with Stephanie. 

So she has choosen him hm? This whole shit was a setup to make that announcement.